On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Tavamani Gracy, Senior Vice President HR, Learning and Administration at Kinara Capital - a socially responsible fintech providing flexible, collateral-free loans to small businesses.

In this episode, we discuss with Gracy:

• How she found her calling to be an HR professional
• Framework to get clear on your remote or hybrid work policy
• Why data is HR's most important asset
• Proven ways to leverage diversity and inclusion in the workplace

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

Get highlights of this episode in our blog.

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Shishupal Rathore, Senior Vice President of Technology at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

With two decades of experience working as an IT leader across industries, Shishupal discusses with us:

• Secrets to managing technical teams
• Flexibility, adaptability, and agility as the professional growth drivers during remote work
• Ways to effectively measure the performance of remote workers
• How feedback to and from the candidates will improve your hiring process
• Building mutual respect in your workplace environment

Challenges faced while leading a team of engineers:

Shishupal says that engineers are really dynamic people. In particular, IT engineers are enthusiastic and sharp. He feels it is both an honour as well as a challenge to lead a group like this. He further describes engineers as very humble, who love to take ownership, and are extremely vocal.

As a leader, being dynamic and updated with new technology is necessary. It is challenging for a leader to understand the new trends and drive them in their own organization. People look for guidance from them. Thus leaders need to ensure a clear vision, flexible communication, patience, and listening skills. These qualities can help in keeping the team motivated.

Challenges his organization faced due to the pandemic:

The pandemic has brought a big disruptive change. No one knew how to tackle this situation. However, Shishupal mentions the flexibility, agility, and adaptability shown by the team members in coping with the situation and delivering projects.

When everyone started working from home, plenty of issues came up in their organization. Non-availability of hardware, internet bandwidth issues, power issues were a few of them that he mentioned. However, new solutions came up, and a new way of working was introduced. There was a lot of flexibility, and most people stood up to the moment.

One big issue that Shishupal observed was the expectation with the expansion of working hours. Among the blurred boundaries between work and home, the availability of the team was expected at all hours.
 
Managing performance of employees:

Shishupals’s company set its goals before the beginning of the pandemic. Hence, the parameters of these goals were not according to the ongoing situation. However, he feels that there has not been any major change in the basic parameters. However, one change our guest observed was the attitude of the people. They rose above the situation and demonstrated flexibility, adaptability, and commitment to work. The company found its most hardworking people during the pandemic.

Feedback system to make the hiring process better:

Candidates and hiring teams need to ensure open communication. Every level of the hiring process needs to be updated to the candidate. However, hiring has become a tricky process. Plenty of times, candidates do not turn up or go looking for better opportunities. Shishupal feels that ethics are getting compromised. The focus has shifted from a career to a job. People are focussing on job-hopping rather than building credibility. However, this should not stop the hiring manager from being transparent to the candidates. They should maintain professionalism and be open to sharing feedback. It can increase the chances of the candidate joining an organization. Understanding the candidates makes it easier to figure out whether they are interested or not.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

In this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we welcome Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder & CEO of Hesa Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an integrated B2B rural marketplace.

Vamsi is on a mission to connect brands to their rural consumers. He has visited more than four thousand villages in five different states to understand the nuances.

In this episode, we discuss with Vamsi:

• The challenges of bringing disruption in rural areas
• The secret to the future growth of social commerce
• The huge benefits a diverse team can bring
• The idea of Hesa Technologies: “India lives in its villages. Rural India is where the new and upcoming middle class is growing” 
• How different people-management skills are in the rural sector
• The overall outlook to the rural sector’s goals and approach

The level of tech acceptance in villages:

Over his years of experience, Vamsi observes that very few people understand technology in rural areas. That was the reason why this idea behind their startup was delayed till 2019. It was the year the penetration of the internet and other technologies reached these areas. After the onset of the pandemic, many people reverse migrated from urban to rural areas. Here is where Hesa gave these people the option to be micro-entrepreneurs. Vamsi says that the situation has been relatively easy now. Moreover, he feels that people in rural areas have an entrepreneurial mindset. Simple and accessible platforms like Hesa can offer them an opportunity to widen their reach. They offer continuous training facilities from their on-ground and backend teams.

New startups that are appropriate for the Indian market:

There are enormous opportunities available in rural areas. Vamsi feels that the rural areas consist of a huge customer base. Talking about any business vertical in rural areas turns into a billion-dollar opportunity. The entire challenge is to figure out a way to address this.
Vamsi says that there are plenty of fintech and agri-tech startups trying to change things at the grassroots level. He feels that the biggest challenge is that the end customer is not the user of the platform. Less than 7%-8% of rural consumers perform business transactions using smartphones.

It is the reason why this model is created. Influencers know how to use smartphones, and they can reach out to plenty of people to widen the scope of the businesses. Many agri-tech startups are paving their way into the industry. Vamsi talks about one of their innovation programs focusing on innovators in every household. A lot of innovations are happening at the grass-root level. Giving them market access is the right way to go about it.

Is increased migration acting as a barrier?

It is definitely a challenge, as Vamsi mentions. However, there are plenty of people who are going back to farming. He feels that we should find ways to get back to our roots and help the farming community to grow. It is a huge problem to solve and can be done at a government level. Marginal farmers having small acres of land are facing the major issue here. Due to financial constraints, they are bound to leave and work in industries. However, Vamsi is hopeful, saying that there are plenty of interventions already happening. There will definitely be a positive impact.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

Ashish combines a career in marketing (working with giants like Droom Technology, Fareportal, and Everest Industries) along with a relentlessly curious ‘mesh network’ brain for a perspective that analyses what it takes to build a team. It focuses on both the big picture and the nitty-gritty details of the area.

He currently brings that expertise to OYO as the Director of Performance Marketing & SEO - OYO Vacation Homes Europe. In this conversation with us, he shares:

• How having empathy and a problem-solving approach as a manager helps your team, brand, and your bottom line
• His thoughts on the 'danger of hiring for cultural fit'
• What big brands do better than the small ones—and what they don’t
• Why employer branding is as important as branding your products and services

Skills a manager requires to lead a team:

Ashish started his career as an individual contributor. His first task was learning how to execute and getting skilled. Ashish has been managing teams for the past four and a half years. He feels that any career journey starts from learning to managing teams and training people to move forward. A manager should lead his team through inspiration.

With the onset of the pandemic, companies have switched to the digitization of their everyday work. Thus Ashish explains that managers/people managers need to adapt to an attitude of constant learning. Plenty of organizations expect team managers to know multiple skills. For example, a marketing manager should know how to manage digital platforms and run advertising campaigns.

A good people manager goes through four steps while working on a task: (1) does the task, (2) teaches it to everyone, (3) assists them in doing it, (4) yet makes them independent.

Building successful and high-performing teams:
To develop successful teams, managers need to ensure that they train their team members to:

Be more cognizant.
Be self-motivated.
Be analytical.
Have a personal connect.

That is how managers can motivate and push their employees to perform better. Ashish further adds that knowing your team personally is necessary.
 
Is the term “cultural fit” misinterpreted?

Culture is defined by people, not by organizations. Thus Ashish concludes that the term “cultural fit” is misinterpreted. A startup looks for hustlers in the beginning. They expect one person to have multiple skills and multitask. However, once the organization grows, they start looking for subject matter experts. They want to execute things strategically. Therefore, cultural fit indicates a culture change. Culture is not black or white. It has to constantly evolve with the organization. This change is brought by the people of the organization themselves.

A better description for culture would be “evolving with the needs of the organization.”

Is employer branding as important as product branding?

A candidate needs to know the background of the company before joining it. Thus the purpose of employer branding is to attract the right set of people for the company. It is as necessary as branding products and services to attract customers. There is a huge supply of talent, and choosing the right talent has become even more difficult. The right trajectory, nurturing leaders, and hiring the right set of talent to augment this trajectory- all of this is achieved through employer branding. It can be executed via various channels.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

Get the highlights of this episode in our

If there is anyone who has worked across almost every HR function, it is Jahangir Shaikh. With over 16 years of experience in the HR fraternity, Jahangir is currently the Associate Director of Human Resources at CMS Info Systems.

In this episode, Jahangir talks about:

• How HR has gone beyond Excel sheets and PPTs using today's technologies
• Top 4 Human Resources job skills employers are seeking
• How he collaborates effectively with his remote team of 20 people at CMS
• Spotting a dishonest candidate and avoiding a faulty hire in the shady new world of fake resumes

What are the skills that emerging HR professionals should possess to adapt to technological changes?
 
Back in 2005, proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint presentation skills were expected out of HR professionals. In the last decade, there have been drastic changes in technology adopted by the organization and used by HRs in their daily functions. Mr. Shaikh talked about a few essential qualities that every HR professional should possess today for a successful career.
 
Firstly, it is an HR analytics skill that needs to be acquired by HR professionals. It is about data analytics and processing data available within an organization and outside an organization in the best possible manner. In today’s world, where every function is based on data, HR analytics skills have become crucial for HR professionals.
 
Secondly, business acumen is another skill that HR professionals are required to acquire. Be it any role in an organization, business acumen is a basic skill that every business professional should possess. This skill is crucial for the overall development of an organization as a whole to achieve greater heights.
 
Thirdly, digital literacy is the need of the hour. Presently, every organization is transforming and becoming more digitized. As nowadays digital literacy performs a critical function in rapidly transforming business organizations. Digital literacy means the ability to discover and evaluate information through digital platforms.
 
How to handle misrepresented and fake Resumes?
 
Mr. Shaikh shared his experience handling such resumes and vocalised that one study claims that more than 70% of fresh graduates misrepresent and lie in their resumes to get a job. The prominent industries suffering from this problem are the financial service, leisure & hospitality industry, and IT that are blue-collar jobs. People generally misrepresent their degrees, date of employment, and job description. An HR professional gets an expert in handling these problems with experience, and background verification of candidates has to be done through professional agencies. Another tool for tackling this problem could be a social media check, checking references, and a behavioral check of candidates during the interview.
 
Is technology in HR function boon or bane?
 
Mr. Shaikh personally has mixed feelings about the role of technology in HR functions. Technology is playing a crucial role in HR sub-functions like recruitment, training, engagement, payroll, compliances, operations, etc. Mr. Shaikh said earlier he used to maintain excel sheets for a payroll of all employees. While he accepts that the technology has taken over mundane tasks of HR and makes tasks error-free, the core of HR function is human and emotional touch which is currently missing. Human touch and emotional touch are something that HR professionals cannot compromise on. Just like every coin has two sides, the same goes for technology in HR functions.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Angad Singh Manchanda, Chief Executive Officer of Chimp&z Inc, a digital marketing agency.

Having worked as an entrepreneur for the last eight years, he shares his journey from working at a digital marketing agency to running his own.

In addition to some actionable employer branding tips for HR professionals, he also covers:

• How digitalisation has one-upped the HR
• Chimp&z’s #PrideOfAdvertising campaign
• Why entertaining content needs to be a part of any marketing strategy
• The little things that make remote employees feel appreciated

Digitalization transforming the recruiting process:

In the past one and a half years, no company interviewed candidates face to face. They are paying less attention to their appearance or behavior. It was only possible due to the tech tools which are now used in every organization. Angad feels that this change was needed. This change was supposed to happen five years ago. Digitalization has helped improve the hiring process, review systems, and a lot more. It enabled people to conveniently work in the comfort of their homes without the hassle of traveling.

The significance of Diversity and Inclusion:

According to Angad, inclusion and diversity should come to an organization naturally. It should not be created through external means. The significance this concept is achieving was long pending too. People from all communities deserve acceptance at their workplace. Organizations need to let their people know that there are equal opportunities available for everyone. Angad feels that inclusion is beneficial not only from a cultural perspective but also from a business perspective. More diversity offers more profits and productivity as well. There are plenty of companies taking the initiative towards better diversity and inclusion.

A creative take on employer branding:

Angad feels that employer branding can be a more entertaining process. Employer branding has always been a serious conversation. Thus companies should try and adapt some fun and quirky ideas for the same purpose. Communicating easily and bringing a smile to the audience’s face is definitely a better option for the companies. Employees and companies have a complex relationship similar to B2C communication. A company needs to put itself in an employee’s position and then communicate. It allows for better understanding from both sides.

The progress that remote work has made in India:

According to Angad, working from home in India is too far to make a positive impact. However, the companies are achieving good progress. Companies need to be empathetic towards their employees. They are having a lot of trouble working from home too. Companies should focus on encouraging work-life balance. Thus work from home is a great idea, but India is still a few years behind to make it flawless. Apart from these minor issues, companies are evolving to adapt to these changes. Certain steps like 1v1 conversations with the employees, sessions with psychologists and doctors can be helpful. Work from home has given India the alignment that it needed.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

Oleksandr Danylenko is perhaps the biggest expert in the automobile components industry today. Before his current role as Co-founder & Managing Director at Boodmo - India's largest online marketplace for car spare parts, he served as Finance Manager at Inter Cars Ukraine & Engineering Manager at Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines.

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, he talks about these roles, in addition to a smorgasbord of other insights: 

• What does it mean to be certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’
• Why should degree not be a hiring roadblock
• Boodmo’s strategy for better communication within remote teams
• Changes in hiring post-pandemic

Follow Oleksandr on LinkedIn

Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

Get the highlights of this episode in our blog.

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Brinda Krishnan, Global Head- Employer brand & Tech community, Agoda 

Having worked in advertising and marketing for over 15 years, Brinda frequently shares her perspectives on talent and brand through her articles on LinkedIn.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What should companies do to normalize career breaks
• The ‘art of storytelling’ in employer branding
• Why rejecting candidates is actually good for your employer brand
• How to use social media for a successful employer brand
• Why candidate experience during the hiring process is super-critical

Making your career break count:

Humans are designed to work and network. Articles written by Brinda mostly revolve around women and their career journeys. In this discussion, she emphasizes women choosing career breaks. If a woman picks this option, it does not mean she is not willing to work. She has to prioritize something else that she feels is more important. It is not a problem at an organizational level but a regional level. Hiring women offer more diversity in the workplace. Thus, currently, organizations provide plenty of networking options for people who might have taken career breaks. However, individuals have equal responsibility for understanding their priorities. They need to figure out the what, why, and how of restarting their careers. They need to stay sharp and updated with the industrial happenings. Moreover, they need to display confidence while interviewing and networking.

Power of storytelling in employer branding:

Brinda mentions how people enjoy storytelling. People like to experience a journey with people they can connect with. An organization can beat its storm. However, if a candidate is not connecting with them as a person, the effort made in employer branding gets totally wasted. Organizations need to focus on humanizing their brands through factors like sentiments, props, people, and modules.
Storytelling allows space for humor and sentiments that brands want the audience to carry back. And every organization needs a marketer to perform this effectively.

New ways of better employee recognition:

Employees appreciate a little recognition now and then. It motivates them to perform better. Since the majority of people are working from home, the simple modes of appreciation have changed. According to Brinda, organizations should put a great emphasis on driving peer-to-peer recognition. They can create simple online ‘thank you’ templates. In addition, colleague appreciation sessions, team shoutouts, and other virtual team-building activities. All these ideas turn out to be effective gestures to bridge the gap between homes and offices.

Offering a better candidate experience:

Candidates are the customers that should never be disappointed. Organizations should build an effective employer branding strategy backed with a strong employee value proposition (EVP).

Organizations should ensure that the EVP remains the same throughout the candidate journey.
The success of an entire candidate process heavily relies on the recruiters and interviewers. Thus recruiters should be made a part of the business discussions. Moreover, the hiring managers should be trained to reflect the organizational culture and EVP. They need to do their homework before interviewing a candidate.

The following key move to enhance this procedure is the simplification of the application process. Brinda talks about a survey that says 60% of candidates stop filling applications because of their length.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Lokesh Gautam

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, our guest is Ranjith Menon, Sr Vice President Global Human Resources at Hinduja Global Solutions.

In his two decades of experience in the HR function, Ranjith has lived and worked across five different countries helping several businesses with some notable HR initiatives. In this episode, he shares the differences in HR practices across countries.

In addition to sharing his thoughts on the future of work, he talks about employee engagement strategies for remote and hybrid teams and the top challenges of diversity in the workplace, with some real-world examples.

Differences in legal landscape from country to country

The labor-landscape in developed and developing countries are very different. Communication structure is different from country to country. For example, In Indonesia where national labor law mandates positions that require certain skills such as quality management, HR, cannot be held by people from outside the country. For an HR professional who wants quality management skills, you will have to look at the local market. You cannot hire from outside as you will not get a work permit. The solution was to bring an expert in-house and train the employees.

The difference in termination policies from country to country

When you terminate people in India, you will have to serve a notice period and provide severance packages to the employees.  In Europe, you will have to start communicating with the labor union to downsize. You will have to go through the whole process before you can approach employees. In certain countries, if someone is the only breadwinner/physical disabilities, only parent/etc., they cannot be the person to go in case of redundancies. In developed countries, there are other policies such as last in/first out where people that have joined the organization recently will be the first ones to go.

Maintaining diversity in companies

Companies need to be diverse to move forward. Diversity helps the company get fresh ideas and perspectives. However, maintaining diversity in certain sectors is difficult. For example, in engineering (mechanical, electricity), it is tough to have gender diversity. In finance, marketing, HR, it is relatively easy to maintain gender diversity.
Diversity should not be there just for the sake of it. You have to make a plethora of changes to have diversity. If you looked at the top 500 companies in the world, less than 5% have female CEOs. Companies single out stories of some successful women to show that they have maintained diversity. However, diversity is more than that. You cannot just have one woman on the board of directors and say that we have diversity in the company.

Work from home challenges in India

Implementing WFH policies comes with a certain set of problems in India. Our country has a lot of interstate migration. Due to that reason,  it is a very different challenge to get people to WFH. For example, employees provide the city address that they work at instead of their home address. When HR wants to ship the necessary equipment to them, it gets sent to the wrong addresses. Power outages are another problem. Companies have to ship UPS as well as with internet dongles. Problems such as internet bandwidth are also there. That’s not a problem you find in the USA, UK, etc.  It is another learning curve to figure out how to do things virtually such as work-related business practices, employee management, etc.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Lokesh Gautam

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, our guest is Clint Misquitta.

Besides leading learning and talent at Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, Clint is an author, traveller, and L&D leader. He has vast experience ranging from working in pharmaceutical behemoth Glenmark to Edelweiss, an insurance company.

With a background that extensive, it’s no surprise this episode covers a lot of ground. We discuss:

• The story behind his book, Ruthless Dictators
• Learning styles you should know before creating an L&D strategy
• Why developing your employees professionally is the key to retention
• Talent acquisition and recruitment trends in 2021

Ruthless dictators: inspiration and the central idea behind this book:

Clint tells us about the story behind writing his book. According to him, this book was an accident, not a choice. He tells us about the woman from Magna publications that he came across while working on a project. That is when they discussed his love for writing.

Clint further talks about the title of the book. He finalized “Ruthless Dictators” because of his love for history. He has a keen interest in learning about these dictators and their situation.

Segregating the framework of Learning and Development:

Clint starts on a very simple yet insightful note- the difference between being taught and learning.

Is tech a major factor in the success of L&D programs:

“Learning is the process, and the tech is the tool to aid the process.”

According to Clint, tech will not help if the process is not correct. People who have to prioritize other tasks over learning have to understand where the issue lies. The answer is simple- there is no clarity and alignment in the process.

The edge is to try and create a strong strategy to manage this process-

Clarity- The learner should know why the learning is necessary and how it relates to his aspirations.
Alignment- They should ensure that their manager is on board with his learning process. Most managers encourage this and facilitate the employee to upskill him.

It is the entire process of learning above which the tech providers stand. The organizations have to work with the managers to create a mature framework. Without this framework, tech tools cannot help. Moreover, it is necessary to understand that learning is a social endeavor. The process is more important than the tools used. Tech organizations need to understand this strategy and provide solutions to different companies accordingly. They need to collaborate with them effectively. Clint feels that the company should pay for maturing their learning process, not the content or platform.

BONUS: Willing to figure out ways to save your employee turnover cost? Read our latest blog post.

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Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Lokesh Gautam