India HR Leaders to follow and Learn from on Twitter

 Twitter is a great learning tool for Business and HR Leaders. I have curated a list of Leaders you can follow and learn from . List in Alphabetical order 

@abhijitbhaduri

@achalkhanna1

@achyutmenon

@anisharavind

@anuranjita

@aquibusrai

@armaan_seth

@D_Brat

@gautamghosh

@harlinasodhi

@indianyash

@joyandlife

@kenashree

@_kavi

@kshankar21

@leenanairhr

@leenasahijwani

@madhavilal1

@mahasworld

@nathansv

@nishchae

@PankajBansalPB

@rajanns

@rajansinha

@rucsb

@sarangbrahme

@shraddhanjali_r

@shweta_hr

@sukhjitpasricha

@ThiruHR

Living Consciously

 

I met an incredible Woman at Bir Biling ,Himachal , India recently who has a flying training school for Paragliding ! Paragliders from different countries come to India BirBiling and her school provides training to Paragliders . She has achieved some flying record too ! ( Certain number of hours of flying ). When COVID put restrictions on #Travel, She owned a Tea Farm at Biling and started growing Chamomile and made a product Chamomile tea and sells it to friends family, visitors and guests of the Resort ! Gave livelihood to locals ....such ( #Women) #Entrepreneurs stories are inspiring ! #India #Nature #worklifeintegration #meditation

 

 

The Experience at Living Consciously Bootcamp was immersive. I deliberately didnt blog about it and want to hold those soul connections and journey etched in my memories forever. Not everything needs to be said out loud, Right ? Let pics do the talking .... 

Remembered Faiz when I saw Chamomile plantation and Cherry Tree...

 

guloñ meñ rañg bhare bād-e-nau-bahār chale

chale bhī aao ki gulshan kā kārobār chale ..

Its a Candidate Driven Market and Talent has won !

Talent Branding is a long term game .  Talent Branding is a specialised & complex role that cuts across 4 verticals - HR, Recruitment, Internal Communications, Marketing. Having delivered in this role both at IBM and WNS . I did a quick audit for Startups , while the Founders have got Funding and attention across Startup community , Product Startups needs to have visibility amongst the Right Talent Pool ( Engineering, Product, Business Development) which currently seems to be a gap area that needs to be filled in.  Talent Branding Score and Index seems to be low  , need to build it up to stand out from competition in the market . Careers Website doesnt exist. Where does the entire traffic get directed ? On Linkedin Career page visibility for People/ Culture is almost zilch. Culture needs to be highlighted through Digital ( owned media, paid media, earned media) . Need to find out if ATS ( Applicant Tracking System is in place, what kind of analytics, process, systems exist wrt HR/ HRTech to make People / Recruitment related business decisions and investments. What is the offer to acceptance ratio currently at Entry level, Lateral level and Leadership roles ? How soon Founders aspire to win award - Great Place to Work  ? Gone are the days when you post a job and expect talent to apply. Its candidate driven market and Talent needs to be wooed.    Employees are the Best Brand Ambassadors and Adovcates. That needs to be leveraged to optimum to attract future talent. 

Please write an email with your queries to  ruchibhatia23@gmail.com 

 

What is your Talent Branding Strategy ?

 Questions to CHROs / Recruitment / Talent / HR Leaders for reflection 

1. Who do you want to be as an Employer ? What is your Employment promise to Talent ?

2. Do you hire for culture fit or culture add ?

3. Do you hire for Diversity or Inclusion   ?

4. Do your Leaders practice inclusion first culture ?

5. Do you have a culture of Diversity and Inclusion ?

6. Are you LGBT Friendly employer ?

7. % Women in Top Leadership Roles ?

8. Are your current employees engaged with your organisation ?

9. Do you offer personalised Employee Experience ?

10. Do your Leaders display high Empathy at workplace ?

11. How much focus is given to Employee Wellness in your organization ?

12. Do you offer competitive Comp and Benefits to your employees ?

13. How do you evaluate hi potential ?

14. Do you offer fast track career growth for key technical talent in your company ?

15. How do you assess Talent ?

16. % Attrition . Are you able to retain talent ?

17. What is your Campus Hiring Strategy ?

18. What is the Recruitment Source Mix ?

19. What are your Recruitment Sourcing Strategies ?

20. Do you have Employee Referrals Program ?

21. Do you know what does Technical Talent want from the employer ? Do you meet their expectations ?

22. What is your Buy Build Borrow Strategy for Technical Talent ?

23. Do you emphasise on Candidate Experience during Recruitment ?

24. Do you have Social Media Guidelines for employees ?

25. Do you actively listen to segments of Talent and incorporate feedback into your HR Policies  ?

Client Brief

Attract quality candidates

• Improve offer acceptance rate

• Build greater awareness of Brand 

• To be seen in the same league as Accenture, PwC, KPMG, Bain & Co. etc.

• To change the perception form being just a service provider to a technology company that works

with the finest minds

• Improve employee and prospective employee experience

• To reinforce/reinforce employer value proposition

Gap -

No communication, engagement or Brand Messaging with key segments of Talent and Technical

Talent Pools

Key concepts to solve this problem

Owned Media / Paid Media / Earned Media 

Your Culture is your Brand

Leverage Employees as Brand Ambassadors

Leaders as Storytellers

Recruiters as Marketers

Woo the Passive Talent by targeted paid Campaigns communicating EVP to prospective Talent

Manage the internal and external reputation by dedicated communications campaign 

Activate Employee Advocacy Program to internal employees

Approach -

Define the Message ( EVP) Employer Value Proposition

Live the message ( Employee Experience)

Deliver the Message ( Branded Campaigns )  , Employee Ambassadors 

Create high quality Social Media Campaigns to engage with right Talent to communicate EVP

( Employment Promise ) to the Technical Talent.

Start nurturing the Talent pool even before you hire them . 

Education System In India

 

I attended Education conference in India few years ago. I heard a statement that if Silicon Valley of Education has to happen, it must happen in India. Fast forward to 2021, this is what is happening in India . With Many EdTech startups coming up from every nook and corner, India is ready for Digital and Online Learning.

Education is a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14 years. Byju has rolled out a fab initiative called Education for All with the intent of democratising education and provide learning opportunities to 5 million children from underserved communities  through use of Technology.

Technology makes learning fun
Technology  makes learning inclusive
Technology makes learning personalised

How can you get involved ?

As a Corporate , through CSR initiative , impact communities at large scale. Byju will offer study content free of cost to be distributed to your beneficiaries.
As an Individual , be the changemaker,  promote the initiative on your social media channels  and or volunteer to mentor a child.
As a non-profit, your outreach at the grassroots level can truly help communities and children at large. Make your outreach effective and impactful by providing BYJU’S learning content to the communities and schools you work with. Your insights coupled with our interactive study content, expert educators, and teachers can help us accomplish our goals together.
What is needed is Corporates , NGOs, Individuals to come together to support this grand mission To educate 5 million children and lift them up out of poverty .


How do you create Lifelong Learners ? By instilling a sense of curiosity . Children by nature are inquisitive and ask variety of questions to know the world around them.

India has population of 1.3 billion.
UN projects that Delhi will become the largest city in the world with 37 million people by 2028.
India is now the world’s fastest growing major economy .

India is a highly diverse country with a troubled past . Social Inequalities can be bridged through Education and Learning. If student in a far remote village can’t come to school, let schools go to them. Which is possible through mobile, internet access,  radio, low cost tablets loaded with learning content.

Enable Teachers to play the role of facilitator. If content is accessible 24 by 7, Teacher can facilitate conversations in classroom to help children read, write, speak, develop deeper understanding of the content.

Education in India has an ancient tradition that dates back to the Vedic Period (1500 to 500 BC). By the time European colonialists arrived, education mostly took place in traditional Hindu village schools called gurukuls.

Let each village become a Gurukul and you can be a change maker in Transforming Education in India and leading India towards path of economic prosperity.


Reference
1.  https://wenr.wes.org/2018/09/education-in-india
2.  https://byjus.com/educationforall/

Mental Well Being in the times of Pandemic

 Pic Courtsey - https://www.unicef.org/serbia/en/how-protect-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic

 

 Corona has disrupted lives of many. It is often known in HR circles that Corona is the real disruptor that caused Digital Transformation in most companies. Even those companies that had no work from home policy had to prepare themselves to enable employees to work from home overnight during lockdown. Some businesses thrived , some tumbled and some closed shops forever. I was in discussion with a SME Business owner, he made revenue of 5 crores in 3 months time period. Talk about being at the right place at right time and ability to make things happen. He is the Trusted go to person for many businesses, being in IT Infrastructure, he catered to business needs and solved complex problems innovatively.

I did a random survey on twitter to find out how Corona impacted work and lives of people . 50% said that it increased their workload.25% said their partners shared the workload. For singles, it meant doing all the chores and extending work hours. People dwelling in cities learnt to become independent and not be dependent on househelp .

Mental Health became a priority for organisations Organisations expected Employees to bring best version of themselves at work.
Managers had to learn how to be more empathetic to their teams to provide good employee experience .


“If I talk about my company then the support extended by them was excellent. We went to work from home model even one week before the govt declared the lockdown. We are still working from home. No salary cuts. They send regular mails to us mentioning that they have our back. “ @Parul_RajeevM on twitter

“Mine is comparatively small company set up (US based IT company) while my husband works at a senior position in an IT giant (Indian) but his  company has cut the variable component from salary of all the employees in his band “


Professionals had to deal with job losses, salary cuts. While others were lucky to retain their jobs. According to one estimate , 2.5 crore Job loss are estimated due to Covid in India alone. That number doesn’t count labor in informal economy . The hospitality and travel sector were worst affected. Every day I receive resumes by professionals who are looking for jobs . This added on anxiety to already stressed out lives. Mental health professionals were in much demand. People did not know how to deal with loneliness brought upon by epidemic.
Mental Health conversations were brought to the fore. Some of the celebrities committed suicide due to lack of work and lack of social support.  


Coming back to Mental Health , kids had to go through a lot as they couldn’t go out to play.

See this brilliant ad by Cadbury's how parental pressure affects kid's Mental Health 

Kids and Teachers had to learn new skills to study and teach online respectively. All of a sudden, people were required to spend uncountable number of hours online for learning, shopping, entertainment, staying in touch with colleagues, friends, family, parents.  

 

People had no option for Digital Detox but to remain online for living lives . Technology connect us all but also isolates us in indirect manner.  This caused a heavy toll on mental well being of people.

“The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. “ - CDC.GOV

Fear isn’t over yet. Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, your financial situation still concerns most people. But there is Hope. Thank God there are vaccines which are available in market now. We just have to make informed decision on which vaccine one must take. Vaccine politics is going on, consuming too much negative news also adds on to anxiety. 

Regarding Mental Health conversations, always a good thing to stay connected with community which offers solidarity and understand your mental health challenges in a non judgemental manner and through safe space. 

I discovered one such space on Clubhouse hosted by Sonam Mahajan . She has warmth , grace and empathy. Her club on Clubhouse  envisions to enhance individual and collective wellbeing by improving mental health. 

 HR Leaders are attempting to normalise MentalHealth conversations at workplace after learning lessons from Pandemic. 

In total, poor #mentalhealth was estimated to cost the world #economy approximately $2·5 trillion per year in poor health and reduced productivity in 2010, a cost projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030 - Source WEF

We have had enough of 2020 . Thank God it’s over.
Darkest night has brightest dawn .
Human Resilience to bounce back from setbacks is amazing. I am hopeful, 2021 will bring upon new hopes, dreams  and people will come up with new ways to live more balanced healthier lives. 

 

https://twitter.com/VijayNallawala/status/1346349110765309952?s=2

 

 

Employer Branding is the right choice to attract quality Top Talent, Social Hiring and achieve Business Goals

Image source: iStock.com

Employer Branding has gained prominence in last 4-5 years. Companies are realising that it is not enough to continue with old recruitment and hiring practices , if they were to hire best talent from the market . 

Each hire in a critical role is an investment for the organization.  Companies want to make sure that there are fewer hiring mistakes and they hire the right candidates which fit the culture of the organization and is a super star employee.  The buzzword for 2018 is Candidate Experience. Candidate experience is as important as Employee Experience. Many a times , passive candidates don’t apply to opportunities because of the time consuming application process. Linkedin offers an easy apply button and many companies Recruitment systems i.e. ATS ( Applicant Tracking Systems ) are integrated with LinkedIn. What it means for candidates is the ease of applying to companies with the click of a mouse, they can submit their cv in companies database. Linkedin easy apply is just one example of providing a seamless experience to potential candidates at the time of hiring. 

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain . 

Recruiters need to think and act like marketers to attract the best candidates. 

With the rise of different digital platforms , it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose how to advertise or market your jobs to potential candidates . Gone are the days , when candidates would apply to jobs without researching the company. Candidates research their potential employer on Glassdoor , read reviews, see ratings of Top Management as much as companies try to find about candidates.  Candidates want to know what it feels to work for your organization. What is the culture, what are the career and advancement opportunities, what kind of  learning does your company provide, what are the rewards for performers ,  what are the benefits and perks for working with your organization. In short, candidates assess their potential employers before applying for the jobs. Thats where lies the importance of employer branding. 

Companies rely on different source mix for diversity in hiring - example Career Sites , Employee Referrals, Job Boards, Social Media, sometimes external Recruitment agencies and Vendors. All these are potential options to reinforce your Branded messaging which is consistent as well as Authentic.

Employees stories make a really good option to indulge in Corporate Storytelling and showcase culture of your organisation. Stories of the employees when narrated in first person are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand message. 

Employees are adopting social media platforms , hence the Corporate Brand gets humanised. 

Effective employer branding is the combination of market research, advisory services, communications and marketing to achieve both a credible and desirable brand position. 

Finally, through talent acquisition and retention, the end purpose of employer branding is to stimulate business growth and achieve strategic business goals.