Monday, November 26, 2012

Banking up talent against the tide - IIPM Think Tank

Q. How do you see HR’S contribution to turnarounds?
A. HR plays a significant role in turnaround situations by creating and deploying people strategies. Such measures are influenced by the stage of evolution of the organisation and the continued challenges it faces. In Citi, we periodically conduct franchise wide skill inventory assessments, defining the competencies required to steer the organisation to the next level. The focus is to sponsor ‘responsible achievers’ who are result oriented and aligned to institutional objectives. This is achieved by promoting an environment conducive to positive change and clearly setting down role expectations. Such changes may be accomplished by supporting a culture of innovation and cost efficiencies where employees are encouraged to think and work on solutions that drive client excellence as a competitive advantage.

In one such initiative concluded recently at Citi, employees were encouraged to provide suggestions that would significantly drive efficiencies at lower costs. It included product and service innovations as well.

Q. Have you ever seen a turnaround situation closely?
A. Turnaround experiences are that of being nimble on the feet, thinking out-of-the-box and executing innovatively. Managing such situations is about understanding employee expectations and aspirations. In one such earlier assignment, I was required to manage extremely high attrition rates caused due to an uncertain business environment and a perception that specialised careers in ‘high-end technology’ can only flourish in an IT company. The announcement of a business restructuring exercise only accentuated the problem. Read more...