The rarest ability is the ability to recognise ability. It is never easy to gauge a candidate’s ability through an interview of a couple of hours. Unfortunately, even though interviews do not really reveal everything about a candidate, they are still used universally to gauge ability as nothing better has been discovered yet. Therefore, it is fairly certain that interviews will continue to be relied upon for decades.

In spite of an increasing number of sophisticated psychometric tools, these are not the answer as their results are dependent on the respondent answering questions truthfully. This does not happen as candidates are smart and give appropriate non-contradictory responses. With mis-hiring increasing and now accounting for over 50% in the top 100 organisations of the world, the stakes are high for improving interviewing techniques, especially as mis-hiring costs an organisation more than 26 times a candidate’s package.

Here are some Dos and Don’ts for interviews...

Meet candidates more than once: It is critical for an interviewer to understand a candidate’s DNA and what s/he is like as a human being, as the softer side is important too. Therefore, it is prudent to meet the candidate more than once. In the first interaction, understand the candidate’s DNA, and in the second interaction focus on the competencies. For a CEO position, in fact have three interactions — it will help in the third interaction if you focus on what the plan of action the candidate has if you hire him/her.

Ask for examples: Candidates love to talk about their past in glowing terms and their endeavour would be to present themselves in the best light. Therefore, expect exaggeration as well as the candidate stating what the interviewer wants to hear. Therefore, it is important that an interviewer strives to ascertain the truth. To get to the truth, it will help if we focus on the following: (a) How the results were achieved? (b) What was the strategy? (c) How were the roadblocks overcome? (d) What was the candidate’s individual contribution? Then, we should ask the candidate to give examples on which we can probe deeper.

Focus on gauging key drivers of a candidate: Actions of every human being are governed consciously and subconsciously by what are the key drivers of an individual. Understanding these will reveal a lot about the candidate, which often helps us gauge what actions the candidate is likely to take at a job.

Understand what candidate is not good at: More than strengths, it is really important to understand what a candidate is not good at. Also, discerning weaknesses is not easy as candidates will try to hide them. However, as every candidate is likely to be not good at a minimum of half a dozen things, it is important to know some of them as forewarned is forearmed. Also, it will help you provide a support system to help the candidate succeed. We must realise that every human being has more than nine weaknesses. So, however great the candidate is, understanding that everyone will have his/her share of idiosyncrasies is important. Therefore, it will help to focus on this, as it will give us a far sharper perspective about a candidate. While on this, do probe the failures of the candidate and do understand the learnings from them.

Don’t focus only on the past too much: Often, we tend to spend a majority of the interview on the past and what the candidate did at every assignment. It is indeed important, but do realise that it is not everything as the experience is the past and our interests are more determined by the future. The past is dated, as it then was a different world with far less complexity. Do understand about the candidate from the past, but it is more important to co-relate it with the future and what we want achieved. Finally, we must understand that the purpose of the interview is to understand the DNA of a candidate, what are the candidate’s key drivers in life and career, what the candidate is truly passionate about and what are the strengths as well as areas of improvement.

Full Coverage:Recruit right, or pay a big price for wrong choice

“Every organisation is at the risk of facing disruption, and the best way for you to safeguard yourself is by making sure that your organisation has the ability to look at every issue from different perspectives, rather than just have clones who all come from same backgrounds, same experiences and will mostly have the same viewpoints,”

Full Coverage:India Inc is not creating inclusive workplace for LGBT employees

Hiring a CEO for any company is very important as it can take it to a new growth trajectory or bring it hurtling down. Nothing is more important for an organisation than getting the best CEO as it is a make or break decision. There are hundreds of examples of organisations leapfrogging competition or losing their game. It is not an easy decision as the quantum of mis-hiring of a CEO has only been increasing. For a family owned business, the stakes are even higher. We do need to look at a variety of additional facets as hiring a CEO for a family owned business is very different from hiring a CEO for a multinational company.

The following are some pointers based on my experience of hiring around 100 CEOs or heads of institutions:

Understand the DNA of the owner/s: For a family owned business, it is imperative to first of all understand the mindset and DNA of the owner/s. They are likely to have far greater passion and emotional involvement in a business than a professional, and therefore there will be areas that one needs to tread with caution and sensitivity. This is because where there is emotion, there is likelihood of sensitivity and a soft corner for protecting the core values of the company and what is sacrosanct. This is more pronounced in first-generation owners as they have incubated the company and led it from start. Each company is unique as is each individual. Therefore, having a deep understanding of both is very important. The owners are unlikely in most cases to appreciate erosion of the core values of the company or what they believe has helped the company reach its present position. This is precisely what happened in Infosys when Vishal Sikka was hired as a CEO. It was a case of mis-hiring as it led to an early separation and caused a lot of controversy that harmed the business as well as the image of Infosys. It was not performance that led to the separation but attempting to change the DNA and core values of a great company that was truly admired.

Chemistry: Another important facet is chemistry between the owners and the CEO. It is really important to understand the kind of individual that gets along well with the owner. If the chemistry is not good, the parting will be early and the results will be suboptimal.

The compatibility and alignment between the owner and the CEO is thus very important. The reality is that all of us get along better with some type of people and struggle with some. It is simply a case of compatibility. Hence, this must be factored in first and the competencies must be looked at subsequently. If the chemistry is not good, results will always be suboptimal.

Adaptability and people skills: It is also very important that the candidate possesses good people skills as relationships are normally deep in a majority of family owned businesses. A warm individual able to cultivate relationships is more likely to succeed. It is therefore critical that the candidate has an ability to strike deep relationships with multiple key stakeholders in the company and outside.

Alignment with key outcomes desired: Finally, it is important that there be certain meeting of minds on what is needed to be achieved. If bottom line is more important than the top line, the kind of candidate best suited would be different from someone who excels in increasing the top line. I feel focusing on the three key objectives to be achieved in the next three years’ time frame brings a sharper focus on who is the best candidate. Three objectives are adequate in number as everything cannot have equal importance and it really helps to get the priorities right. Hiring for any position is not about getting a good candidate for a position but is instead about the who and why would he/she be best for you. Just as a good candidate for a startup is very different from one that is good for a scale-up. Similarly, the best candidate for a family owned business is very different from one that is the best for a multinational as the two cultures are very different.

In a word it is not just competencies and innate ability that determines success. Hiring for a family owned business is like a marriage, where compatibility is most important. After validating this, it’s best to ensure alignment on what is needed to be achieved as leaving it vague is not prudent.

Full Coverage:Family biz may not find right fit in successful MNC CEOs

Over 80% of businesses worldwide are family-owned. In India, it is estimated that 90% of the businesses are family-owned, and about 80% of the NSE’s m-cap is with such enterprises.

It is a matter of pride for Indians that as many as 12 Indian businesses made it to the list of 50 most profitable family-owned businesses in Asia. Therefore, they are far important than is commonly believed. As larger MNCs hit the headlines more, a number of professionals do not realise that opportunities in a family-owned business can be very lucrative.

Candidates specialising in working for a family-owned business can command a huge premium as well as have far more opportunities open to them because the size of the cake is far bigger. From the owners’ standpoint, the true potential of an organisation is only realised when organisations have professionals helping take the company to the next level.

Look at some of the most successful organisations today — they grow exponentially when they truly professionalise. However, it is very important for the owners to realise that the organisation will grow far faster if they ensure some of the points enumerated below. Most of the top family-owned businesses have done the following:

* Give adequate empowerment: It is not easy for owners to trust a professional easily, and that too immediately. Therefore, sometimes it can take a while for sufficient trust to develop. However, it is very important for an owner to understand that a professional will only be able to give results if he/she is trusted and sufficiently empowered. Building trust and giving sufficient confidence to a candidate that their talent is respected and they can change the status quo is very important. Several candidates complain that the feeling they get from the owner is, though they want quick results, they are not so happy with making far-reaching changes. Owners must realise that unless the status quo is changed, results will not be very different. It is therefore prudent to concentrate on results, leaving the how of it to be the prerogative of the professional. Best is to give empowerment with accountability.

* Respect the professional & his/her views: It is very important for the owner to treat a professional with respect and encourage the professional to speak freely. Fear of expressing an opinion or speaking their mind must be prevented. Owners tend to have ‘yes’ men around them who rarely speak their mind. Therefore, an atmosphere of open communication must be established by the owners by encouraging a professional to speak freely and even challenge their thinking. A number of organisations are starved of great talent because their organisations have a very subservient culture and, unfortunately, a perception exists that talent is neither respected nor is the freedom to speak freely given. A culture where professionals are respected and encouraged to speak freely gets best outcomes.

* Communicate clearly what is expected: It has been my experience of working with over 100 family-owned organisations that, very often, there is a gap in communicating clearly what indeed are the expectations and what are the dos and don’ts. A number of organisations presume that a candidate is well aware of the same when in reality there is fuzziness on this. Ideally, after a month, there should be a discussion with the candidate on the expectations and everything should be in black-and-white, leaving no room for lack of clarity on this. Also, if there are behavioural, cultural and style of management preferences, it is great if these are communicated by the owner directly as it helps if the rules of the games are clearly spelt out.

* Getting top talent without cost constraint: Whenever a small- or mid-sized company moves to the next level, a call that needs to be taken is — Should they get the best talent with cost constraint or without? Most family-owned companies start with employees who are loyal and can be trusted. They normally are not the most qualified or paid high salaries. Though it is not necessary that the most expensive candidate is the best, it must also be realised that paying more for a better candidate is far more prudent than compromising and hiring the second-best because of a cost constraint. Ability to innovate and hire anybody at any price is an advantage that family-owned businesses enjoy. So, it’s best to leverage on this key differentiator. You will notice that family-owned businesses that have grown exponentially have often taken the hard call to hire the best and then the company has just moved onto another trajectory. Business is all about having the best talent. The company with the best talent has the best chance of winning. Family-owned businesses are great to work for as there is so much that one can do and accomplish. However, owners must realise that they need to empower the candidate, respect the individual and encourage them to voice their views as well as make the changes.

Owners must articulate their expectations clearly as well as be obsessed with hiring the best talent for their company, who will adjust to their ecosystem well. Many more organisations can be taken to the next level if they have the best talent.

Full Coverage:Family biz must respect top execs’ views for best results

The organisations which leverage the moment as an opportunity to "build back better" will be able to recover rapidly and lay the foundation of a new world of work.

The ongoing pandemic has wrecked lives around the world. The widespread and months-long lockdown have thrown the global economy into a severe crisis - massive job losses, slashed incomes, the shutdown of many organisations and GDP experiencing the biggest falls. While the changes caused by Covid-19 may prove temporary, the world after the pandemic will clearly be different.

One thing is sure that the coronavirus crisis has hastened the arrival of the "future of work". From widescale remote working to a global revaluation of the care economy and increasing automation, the pandemic has dramatically transformed the world of work. Business leaders across the globe are therefore facing a major challenge around how to deploy people in these unprecedented times.

There is an opportunity to rebuild the business in a few areas:re-skilling and up-skilling; prioritising redeployment and re-employment; resetting education and jobs systems for the recovery and re-evaluating essential work and improving the quality of jobs.

The organisations which leverage the moment as an opportunity to "build back better" will be able to recover rapidly and lay the foundation of a new world of work.

Talent Management

A report by McKinsey suggests that in diverse regions like Europe, Africa, and the United States, up to a third of the workforce is vulnerable to furloughs and reduced income as a result of the crisis. It predicts that many millions of jobs could be lost permanently.

It has become crucially important that business leaders now identify the critical roles, map the skill requirements, and prepare the workforce for the evolving world of work. They would have to work in coordination with the other stakeholders like the government, the employees and related associations.

The process is broad and vast which requires building on the broad views of the sections, functions, and occupations at risk and emphasising on the roles that have become more significant and relevant amid the pandemic.

Re-skilling and up-skilling

In 2020 Global Human Capital Trends survey by Deloitte, 53 percent of respondents agreed that between half and their entire workforce will need to alter their skills and capabilities in the next three years.

Yet the organisations are also not well informed and updated as 59 percent of them said they need additional information to understand the readiness of their employees to meet new demands, and 38 percent agreed that identifying workforce development priorities and needs is a hindrance to workforce development.

In recent years, organisations have begun to prioritise the need for upskilling and reskilling to better prepare for the industry disruptions. As it has become quite clear that the pandemic will accelerate automation and digitisation across a range of industries and sectors, it calls for new mechanisms for skilling.

The surge in online education and training industry during lockdown signals the need for employers to double down on re-training workers and for governments to proactively build provisions around the same into the fiscal stimulus they are injecting into the economy to best prepare the workforce for the post-pandemic economy.

Recovery

The pandemic has produced an opportunity for organisations to reinvent their workplaces. The recovery process of each organisation will serve as a bridge between their immediate response to the outbreak and what its future will look like. The biggest challenge that organisations will likely face while they design their recovery model is the tension between getting back to routine work and rethinking work while embracing the new reality.

Organisations must keep in mind that transformative change can be unsettling for many workers, therefore, they must effectively accommodate diverse expectations of workers to build and retain the future of trust in their organisation.

How organisations handle post-pandemic recovery will significantly affect their brands, workforce and customers and ultimately define whether they are really operating as a true social enterprise.

Summing it all up

World Economic Forum, in January 2020, announced the creation of a Reskilling Revolution platform focused on improving education, jobs, and skills for a billion people by 2030.

Considering the current situation, it has now dedicated this platform to supporting governments, educators and companies to help students and workers and build back better skills and jobs systems for the post-pandemic recovery.

The pandemic has exposed more radiantly than ever before the inadequacies in the system of the past. Subsequently, it brings focus on the fundamental value of human potential, human life and human livelihoods. The crisis is the window of opportunity to invest money, time and effort in our most precious asset: our human capital.

Full Coverage:Resetting the agenda

India is now the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world with thousands more born every year. We have over 9,000 operating in technology alone in India, with as much as 1,900 added in just 2019. We have 30 unicorn Indian startups (valued at over $1 billion each) and there is a good chance that the numbers will continue to grow.

Hiring the best candidate is never easy. Statistics reveal that more than 50% of the hiring is ‘mis-hiring’ in any industry. For a startup, this percentage is even higher because the demands are very different. Some time ago, I met an owner of a wellknown startup on a flight. When I told him that I was a headhunter, he started sharing his disappointment on the vast percentage of his key hiring going wrong in spite of using well-known large international search firms.

He bemoaned the fact that he hired candidates with stellar track records, and yet they failed to deliver. The candidates either left him or he had to fire them, leading to a huge waste of money and time. The owner had hired candidates who had excelled in structured organisations with great systems and processes, but were just not suitable to working in ambiguity and an environment that was 24/7 and required rolling up of sleeves.

Great candidates with impressive credentials and track record sometimes are just not suited for a startup ecosystem as their DNA is very different. Fact of the matter is that no one, however great, can be successful in all environments. Both the candidates as well as organisations must look at compatibility of the individual with a very different ecosystem that has different rules and demands. The first thing to remember is that candidates must figure out whether they would enjoy working in a startup culture, as a wrong move can set a career back by years. A number of candidates are struggling today because of making wrong career choices.

Here is a checklist to keep in mind:

* Working in ambiguity: First, you need to enjoy working in ambiguity and getting energy from forging ahead in chaos. Just don’t expect well laid-out systems and processes along with a discipline to adhere to it. Expect chaos and fast-changing priorities. If you are not cut out for it, do not enter this ecosystem as the startup world will not change to accommodate your mindset. Sure, the degree of chaos and ambiguity will differ from what phase of evolution the organisation is in. However, you are most likely to encounter this to some degree. Some candidates thrive in working in such environments, and for them it is great place to work and grow, as rewards on great performance are truly much more.

* 24/7 world: If you are a 9-to-6 person, forget startups. They require a person who is truly passionate, workaholic and for whom work is worship. It is a high-energy and intense environment where you can expect a high degree of self-actualisation. However, you must forget work-life balance as the hours as well as timings can be crazy. You will get frustrated if you get energy from pursuing other interests as your calendar can go crazy at the worst of the times. Yes, rewards are tempting, and being part of making history is heady and satisfying. If the company flourishes, you may make more money than you can spend. But like most things in life, it comes with a cost.

* Working in a flat structure: The startup world does not believe in layers and layers in an organisation. It believes in keeping the team lean and mean. If your mindset is all about span of control — the number of employees reporting to you, how many layers of organisation do you oversee, or how much respect your designation and title carry — then, my friend, the startup world is not made for you and you are not made for the startup world. Some candidates get frustrated when, in a startup world, even a new entrant can challenge your brilliant idea and offer a better solution. Some get frustrated as they view this as a challenge to their seniority or authority and find the culture devoid of hierarchy, hitting their self-respect. You will enjoy working in a startup if you do not need to showcase your power and authority and love a close-knit environment where you enjoy the lack of frills. Yes, you will also be expected to roll up your sleeves as anything and everything is your responsibility and everyone’s job is equally important for the team.

* Problem-solving: You also need to be great at problem-solving. Some of us truly enjoy it and it gives us a lot of energy to solve problems. If you flourish in such an environment, you will get a lot of opportunity to showcase your talent as you do need to fix more things normally in a startup. The job satisfaction is, therefore, much more if you are compatible with a startup ecosystem. In addition, you do need to think on your feet as speed of decision-making is relatively faster and you will normally find that your bosses are short of time. It works best when you cut the crap and get to the main point, solution or idea — without too much of an introduction.

* Self-actualisation: The startups provide possibly the best opportunity to attain self-actualisation, and a huge number of candidates love this opportunity. The potential to give vent to your ideas is huge, as startups are very hungry for ideas, challenging old paradigms. The acceptability for new game-changing ideas is huge. In addition, decision-making is very fast, so you do not encounter bureaucracy or love of status quo from colleagues or your bosses. The rewards for your game-changing performance can also be huge. In addition, the culture is informal and friendly and, generally, you will notice that employees are very passionate and young with big dreams in their eyes. In short, a perfect environment to implement your ideas and make history.

The reality is that most human beings can work better in certain cultures/environments and will struggle in some that are not suitable to their mindset. It is a misconception to suppose that we can do equally well in any environment as we are adaptable. To play to your inherent strengths is prudent as is knowing what plays to your strengths and what does not. I have noticed a lot of brilliant candidates make the mistake of making career decisions that were just not prudent as they were simply not cut out for the environment, culture or compatible with working with certain mindsets.

Remember, a wrong move can push your career southwards just as a wrong hire can result in an organisation losing crores as mis-hiring is atrociously expensive and yet unfortunately very common. To attain your dreams, choose opportunities that play to your strengths and work in environment that you are compatible with.

Full Coverage:Be ready to roll up your sleeves in a startup

Industries will demand candidates that are nimble-footed, fast on the uptake as well as the ones who capitalize and leverage on how the consumer and customers’ demands are changing, says Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access.

With the global disruption in place, organisations across the spectrum are deliberating the strategy to take their operation and goals to the pre-Covid level. But what the time demands is an agile leadership. Organisations across boards are hiring executives having a dextrous outlook and a spirit of getting things done.

Speaking on the current trends of executive-level hiring in the light of companies’ restructuring drives, Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access, said, “They (companies) cannot afford to have average talent; so, they ease out the same and hire the talent which can move and shake things and give them results in these challenging times.”

While selecting the right executive for a specific job, Puri advises companies to look for the capability of the candidates in driving change. “It should be the best fit and not necessarily the best candidate. Great candidates in one organisation may not be fitting into the ecosystem of the other company. Therefore, you have to look in terms of competency,” he said.

Puri further said, “Depending on what the company wants to achieve from a candidate over a period of 3-5 years, you go backward and see who’s the best candidate who can deliver and help the company reach milestones.”

All industries are looking for executives with one added focus

Sectors like FMCG, services, BFSI, manufacturing, IT, healthcare, life sciences, and pharma, among others are looking for hiring senior executives. But one area remains common among them: They want to ride the digital wave.

Companies across sectors are looking for candidates, “with one added focus which is in terms of improving the digital footprint. Companies are looking at somebody to up the ante in digital which is right across the industry. They are looking at all the functions like CFO, CHRO, or COO,” Puri said.

Taking an optimistic view, Puri believes business is likely to get better in the coming two months and will take a little while to reach the pre-Covid level.

Commenting on the emerging CXO level hiring trends, he said, “The quality of hiring will continue to get better because the stakes are higher. Companies can't afford to make a mistake because obviously in this challenging environment if they get a wrong person for the job then obviously the repercussion of that is much more.”

“But it is also an opportunity. I think companies will try to look at different talent to what they already had. Because the playing condition requires very different kinds of people to what was earlier the case,” he added.

Puri further said that industries will demand candidates that are nimble-footed, fast on the uptake as well as the ones who capitalize and leverage on how the consumer and customers’ demands are changing.

“Companies have to forget the old world and look very closely at the new world and then course-correct,” he concluded.

Full Coverage:Organisations can not afford to have average talent

There are over 40,000 MNCs with more than 2.5 lakh overseas affiliates. The top 300 MNCs control over 25% of the world economy. Thus, they are a talent powerhouse and have a large role in the global economy. In India, we have had a long history of dealing with MNCs. Our tryst with them began in 1600 with East India Company being the first to hit our shores, followed by Dutch East India Company in 1602.

India Inc owes a lot to MNCs as they have had a large role in professionalisation of Indian management ethos and have brought the best international management practices to India. So, we just cannot ignore MNC talent.

MNC talent has helped India Inc compete with the best in the world. They helped Indian promoters look at the big picture and compete with the biggest MNC in their backyard. Decades ago, most really talented professionals were from MNCs as they not only attracted the best but also invested a lot in developing and shaping talent. However, there is no doubt that MNC talent today has lost some of its sheen. The gap that was prevalent in the past does not exist today as non-MNCs have really upped their game for both — attracting and developing talent. In fact, they have taken the best practices from MNCs and customised them to suit the Indian mindset.

Like candidates from any ecosystem, MNC ones are generally good at some things and not so good at some others. They are not an answer to all problems as decades of working in an MNC does tend to shape an individual’s thinking in both positive as well as negative ways. However, depending on what stage of evolution a company is in, there is no doubt than MNC talent can be very beneficial, especially if a company wants to globalise.

In any organisation, the ideal is a mix of MNC as well as non-MNC talent as there are huge gains for having diversity of talent. This has become even more important today as every company needs to reinvent and challenge old paradigms. Some organisations look down on MNC talent as their experience of hiring such candidates was bad. This is not fair, but there is a tendency to either be a fan of MNC talent or be very sceptical about it. Strangely, some MNCs today want to only look at non-MNC talent for diversity.

In fact, one of my large MNC clients specifically asked for talent predominantly from professionally run Indian corporates as his prior experience of hiring from professional family owned business was great. He felt they were more hungry, nimble footed and understood Indian consumer psyche better. Trust the world has moved a full circle and perceptions/misperceptions about a candidate from MNC/non-MNC exist far more than some of us realise.

Some just don’t want to touch MNC talent because of a bad experience and tend to label all MNC talent to be arrogant, too structured, too slow on decision-making or unable to work in ambiguity or simply roll up their sleeves. This could be true for some, whether from an MNC or a non-MNC, as everyone’s DNA is different. But thinking all MNC candidates have these traits is just not correct. There is no doubt that the mindset of a predominantly MNC candidate is different as the demands from an organisational standpoint also differ. It is also true that some great candidates from an MNC with a commendable track record have totally bombed in an Indian company with heart burning and loss of face on both sides. There are several exceptions, of great success as well, so nothing is universally true. However, it may be beneficial while hiring to dig deep on the DNA side of a candidate as well as validate a few other things that are most important, but commonly ignored as they don’t get flagged on a psychometric assessment. It may be beneficial, therefore, to reflect on what to expect from an MNC talent and where the strengths can be leveraged…

* High process-orientation: MNC candidates generally score well on this point as everything is well laid-out and all employees have to follow it, as otherwise there will be avoidable repercussions. Tolerance to breaking rules or cutting corners is minimal in an MNC as everything works on a template. To survive and move up, you need to be system-oriented. A candidate from a non-MNC moving to an MNC must know that high process-orientation is imperative and, if it is not part of his/her DNA, then it’s best to think hard before moving to an MNC. However, a candidate from an MNC moving to a family-owned business must understand that he/she should not expect a well laid-out process orientation of the same magnitude. I have noticed several candidates from MNCs getting frustrated and quitting in a hurry when faced with this scenario. Therefore, if you want to work in a highly structured environment only, validate this aspect about your prospective employer. Fortunately, today a few non-MNCs are also very system-oriented, but it is not universal.

* Presentation skills: These in a candidate from an MNC are generally good as they need to present to different stakeholders on a fairly regular basis. These skills get more sharpened as presentations may be to different geographies and some demanding stakeholders. Interestingly, 25-30% of the time in an MNC is spent on meetings, discussions and presentations. It may surprise some, but several candidates want to move from an MNC because some of them dislike the huge quantum of time that gets invested in aligning various stakeholders at different time zones and having to make multiple presentations, sometimes at odd times. Yes, not everyone enjoys this. So, do reflect on this and understand if your DNA is compatible.

* Higher bandwidth: Generally, MNCs have talent that is intellectually bright as most of them hire candidates from the best B-Schools/educational institutions. As a result, they get used to operating in this ecosystem as well as get quite dependent on working with bright individuals/subordinates. Some MNC candidates struggle when they transition to working with peers and subordinates not as intelligent, but having other skills and competencies of a superior nature. Unfortunately, high intellect can often breed arrogance or a superiority complex. A few MNC candidates fail in a non-MNC because of this trait and most are also oblivious of this side of their own personality. In a family owned business, you just cannot win hearts of your team or gain respect of the owners unless you are humble and down to earth. MNC candidates must validate this aspect of their personality when changing jobs.

* Better execution skills: Candidates from an MNC are generally good at execution as the implementation of policies, systems and strategy is relatively better monitored as they emanate from the HQ. They have no choice but to implement what is given to them by the system/bosses. However, MNC candidates are not the best at creation as a fair bit of thinking about what to do is handed to them by their bosses/HQ. They sometimes get fairly dependent on someone else thinking, and therefore creating something from scratch may not be their core strengths. MNC talent also is used to relatively slower decision-making as they are conditioned to an environment of alignment of multiple stakeholders, which takes time.

* Straight speaking: MNC candidates are also used to speaking their mind and being intellectually honest. They don’t mind challenging their bosses. This is conducive to better decision-making as the quality of discussions is good. In a culture of ‘boss is always right’, MNC talent sometimes struggles. Some owner-driven organisations having a subservient culture have struggled with retaining MNC talent for this reason. Owners hiring from an MNC must therefore realise that they need to be prepared for open discussions and the employee disagreeing with them. The evolved owners who realise this are better able to attract and retain talent .

Hiring MNC talent can be very beneficial, as mentioned earlier. But it is prudent to also understand that MNC talent may struggle with ambiguity, and an unstructured & unplanned business strategy. They need a good back-end and high quality of subordinates to deliver. Expectations also must be well laid-out as they get uncomfortable with fuzzy and moving targets. As their values are good, they often get frustrated when they are expected to cut corners or when structures within an organisation are not well laid-out or articulated.

In my opinion, companies will do better if they have a mix of MNC as well as non-MNC talent as then you get best of both the worlds. Organisations need both to survive and grow. So, having different mindsets may be an advantage. However, having preconceived notions about the merits or demerits about MNC talent is also not fair as not all talent is the same. But while hiring MNC talent in a non-MNC, validate their adaptability, humility, ability to roll up their sleeves, as well as working in ambiguity and a relatively unstructured environment. If the boxes are ticked, the chances of good hire are good. If you wish to globalise or bring more structure and process to your organisation, hire an MNC candidate with right DNA.

Full Coverage:Indian cos will do better with mix of MNC, non-MNC talent

Boards, therefore, are turning to longer-term CEO remuneration vehicles such as stock options, restricted stock and longer term performance awards. In the last few years, CEOs are being awarded through stocks while fixed pay and annual bonuses have been conservative. "The rationale is to put more compensation at risk so that the rewards are aligned with the company's performance," .

Full Coverage:Payback Time For CEOs

CEO salaries are going through the roof in India. “There’s just one word for it: talent,”. “There is such a paucity of it at every level, that you want to attract the best you can get and hold on to him or her. Compensation will have to go up accordingly.” And organisations, especially family-run ones, when they hire a CEO from the outside, want everything in the same person. “Competence, a great track record, great values, vision, a hunger to grow, the ability to solve problems — these are all a given,”

Full Coverage:It’s raining salaries: Mirror takes a look at the cash-rich corner offices of corporate India

Nearly 30% of his firm’s client companies are keen on cross-sector hiring. This number was merely 10% a couple of years ago.

Full Coverage:Cross-Industry hiring may double in a year

Everyone wants to be successful. Most professionals enter the corporate world with big dreams. They want to make it big and look good in their own eyes as well as those of peers, friends and family. The fact of the matter is that most of us enjoy being a hero. That’s nothing wrong, as it does motivate us to work harder and smarter. However, having met over 5,000 candidates in my career, I have noticed that often a number of very talented candidates do not attain their potential, simply because they do not strategise their career well enough.

Several candidates just look at opportunities in isolation and not make moves that will help take them to their goal. We do not realise that reaching the top position in our career is like playing a chess game where every move must be thought through and the potential of the opportunity to take us a step closer to our goal is important. Unfortunately, a career is not a 100-metre dash that some of us think it is. The moot question is, what can help accelerate your career? Are we focused on game-changing opportunities and their potential to help us take a quantum jump?

Fix a huge problem

Yes, the biggest opportunity for you is when you can fix a huge problem. If you are hungry for a huge opportunity, look for a huge problem that you can solve. Remember, no one wins a Nobel Prize by doing ordinary work. You need to excel, and bigger the problem the bigger the opportunity. A lot of capable professionals look at a problem and get scared. Life does not offer easy choices. So, if you think you have the capability to deliver, then seize the opportunity. Do be prepared to work hard and smart and, if you think you can fix a problem, do seize it with both hands. Yes, if you are successful, your career would move to a different orbit — you would have arrived and would be in huge demand. In reality, there is paucity of professionals who have fixed huge problems and, if you are one of them, the corporate world would woo you and you would command a huge premium. High risks, high gains. You will be a hero in the true sense. The world looks very closely at what you achieved for your employers, and you would reap huge rewards.

Give more and take less

Sometime ago, a very successful CEO of a very large company told me his secret of success. He felt it always pays to be underpaid rather than overpaid. It is funny but true that when you take money out of your equation, more game-changing opportunities fall into your lap as money is a distraction that confuses most people. I have noticed several professionals missing out on game-changing opportunities when they perceived money being 5-10% less than their expectations. They just missed the big picture as they gave more importance to money now and less to the opportunity to make a huge difference and reap rich rewards in the future. Strangely, I have noticed that people who make the most money are not chasing money, but instead focus on the quality of the opportunity. People who chase money often make suboptimal career decisions as they just get too tempted by increase in money.

We must remember that everyone looks at ROI (return on investment) of people and being overpaid can be both risky as well as dangerous as expectations and pressure increase manifold. Many of us find it difficult to perform when the pressure is huge, especially now in the post-Covid world. Thus, it pays in the long run to be not out of sync with market compensation. Being underpaid will ensure you can consider far more opportunities that in the medium and long term could be far more lucrative.

Leverage your strengths

It is very important to have high self-awareness and be equally conscious of our strengths and weaknesses. Believe me — self-awareness is not very high. If you don’t agree, just ask people to list out their areas of improvement and you will find most people will struggle beyond 2-3 at best. This, even though we all know The best of us have minimum 9 weaknesses. Therefore, if you are not aware of what you are not good at, you will make bad career decisions. The trick is to be aware of your strengths and take assignments where you can best leverage on them. Also, know what you are not good at to ensure the job demands are compatible with your strengths and weaknesses. You do need a platform to best exploit your talent. So, look for opportunities where your talent can flourish uninhabited. Suppose your biggest strength is out-of-the-box thinking and you work with an organisation that is bureaucratic, slow-moving or risk-averse. You will then not get a platform to exploit your potential, leading to suboptimal output and frustration.

Stay Humble and likeable

It is very important to stay humble and keep your ego at bay. Laugh at yourself to enable you to not take yourself too seriously. We must remember that we may be awesome at our work, but if we are not humble or likeable, we will miss out on the most important opportunities as arrogance is the biggest put-off. It is also not easy to stay humble as, bigger the success the bigger is the larger-than-life picture that the world will paint of ourselves. Staying grounded will not be easy. Better to have critics around you than flatterers. Seek areas of improvement and shun praise, but welcome criticism. Please, also do avoid ‘yes men’ around you as they will both fuel your ego as well as manipulate you.

Creditable track record

Ensure that your track record at every organisation you work for is commendable. Everyone wants to back a winning horse, and not losers. Ensure you leave a creditable performance track as it will comfort your prospective employers when they know you are a performer. Ensure cordial relationship with your previous employers as it will help you. It will help if you are perceived to be dependable, a good performer, professional and ethical. Our trail always remains, and sometimes catches up with us at the wrong time.

Some of us just get bitter about previous employers and mess up our reputation, not knowing the damage it could cause us in the future. Bad references about you will be very detrimental for future opportunities. In majority of the cases, the past catches up with us. Do not cause any damage to your previous employers as it is neither ethical nor prudent. I have noticed a number of careers getting destroyed as individuals, in trying to teach a lesson to their previous organisation, ended up spoiling their reputation of dependability and loyalty. Individuals can never be larger than organisations.

Hence, to be a hero we need to do heroic deeds. We should create our brand to be one of consistently delivering, ideally of a problem-solver, dependable, good value-for-money, aware of our strengths & weaknesses and best leveraging them. Sometimes a good game plan helps propel the career and takes it into a new orbit. Plan your career as you do plan a chess game, thinking about the consequences of every move. Let every move count and take you closer to your goal, which should be crystal clear in your mind.

Full Coverage:The Times of India: Factor in career growth, not just pay, while picking offer

“The kind of support that is needed to complain is not prevalent in traditional manufacturing companies that anyway have a low number of women employees,”

Full Coverage:Is India Inc. getting better sensitized on sexual harassment?

Start-ups are over that honeymoon phase where their mere mention would excite candidates on the other end of the spectrum.

Full Coverage:Exciting, but tough

Most people get nervous when it’s time for a job interview. Students, who are entering the job industry as freshers and are looking for a life-changing opportunity, need to focus on some ground rules while facing a job interview. The whole process of hiring isn’t about opting for a candidate with required skill sets; instead, it encompasses the overall personality and behavioural analysis of a person.

The interviewer always looks for perfection a candidate with the right knowledge, quality skills, discipline, presentation, positive attitude, and much more.

Some of the most important job interview tips from Fortune 500 CEOs and top hiring executives that can ensure you land the job are:

1. Do your homework well

Thoroughly research the company before your job interview. This is very important. Just like in life, I think it’s very important to go well prepared for an interview. One of the biggest mistakes that I have often seen candidates make, is to go unprepared for the interview, thinking that it is a casual interaction and they are just going for an open conversation.

It stems from the fact that either they are not too keen on the job at the first place, or worse still, they want to explore more, but don’t have the time and inclination to research and find out more information.

Nothing puts off a prospective employer more than an unprepared or a casual candidate. Whatever your interest levels for a job are, it is very important to show the right intent.

And by homework I certainly don’t mean going through a few pages of the website (while it is important as well). Make sure you have read up as much about the company, their businesses, P&L, read up their annual reports, went through the profile of the person(s) you are going to meet, read/ watch their interviews if they have done any.

Try and do a SWOT analysis of the organization. Find out what are they good at, not so good at and can be better at.

At senior levels, most of the interviews get decided by how well a candidate has thought on these points. Most often, the job goes to the candidate who comes the most prepared, shows the right intent, has done his homework well and asks the right questions.

The job doesn't go to a candidate who may have the best CV and credentials but didn't invest enough time and effort to make an impression on the prospective employer.

2. Make a crisp introduction

Keep your interview introduction brief! This is the most important point and most often decides the fate of the interview, and a point where 80% of the candidates go wrong. Everybody loves talking about themselves, but forget a simple fact, that most people are poor listeners.

A lot of interviewers will start the interview by asking for a brief introduction, but candidates would go endlessly long in introducing themselves and telling right from the time they were born to the date today, trying to take them through to each of their roles at length and end up either consuming significant amount of time, or boring the interviewer to an extent that he is praying for you to stop.

Always remember to make a brief and crisp introduction about yourself, cover both personal as well as professional summaries, cover your key milestones, and leave the field open enough for areas where you want the interviewer to focus upon.

All this should ideally not take more than 1.5-2 minutes, so that it gives both sides the chance to open up the conversation and get into more details on different subjects.

3. Dress well for the interview

This is very important as well, and often enough, taken lightly by the candidates. Very often we hear comments like I will wear what I feel like, I will dress up just like I go to work everyday, or Who cares how one dresses up in today’s digital age.

Now, while for certain roles, especially in technology, this may be ok at times to dress up casually, but for most other jobs, it is important to dress well, wear your best formals and make a good impression.

We always tell our candidates to dress up well for an interview, and show that you want the job. Eventually, dressing up well will never harm, but may just help you get a job.

For men, it is always recommended to wear a nicely tailored formal suit (basic, solid and understated colors and not one of the brighter ones please), wearing a tie is recommended but optional, depending on your comfort levels, nature of the job being interviewed for, and some idea of the person you are meeting with.

In case you know the interviewer prefers wearing a tie, one must make an attempt to wear one as well.

For women, choice between wearing western formals or Indian ethnic like a saree always exists. Wear what you feel is comfortable, and again some idea on the culture in the prospective organization can give you an idea to choose between the two.

4. Wear a smile

The most powerful and evergreen accessory to carry along for an interview is a smile. Always remember to smile, when you meet, greet and even during the course of the interview -- just a little, and not a wide grin though.

It always creates a positive impression, and creates a lasting image. A person is always more than likely to remember a person who was pleasing and maintained a nice smile.

5. Ask relevant questions

Always remember to ask questions. Come prepared with a couple of questions that you would want to know from the prospective employer.

Most of the time, questions come at the end of the discussion and it gives an opportunity to make one great closing impression. This is a tricky one, and one needs to pay attention to this.

Interviewers love candidates who ask intelligent questions as it gives them a perspective on the way a person thinks.

At the same time, a dumb question, or an unrelated question, or a self-explanatory question can equally tick the interviewer off, and can undo all the good work one may have done in the entire length of the conversation.

It again boils down to how well have you prepared yourself for the interview, but nonetheless, it is always advisable to carry a few questions along and bring them at an opportune time, depending on the flow of the conversation.

Also, equally important is to keep it restricted to one or two key questions, and not barrage the interviewer with a flurry of questions. Remember, you are the one being interviewed, and not the other way around.

- Article by Agamjeet Dang, Managing Partner, and Executive Access (Executive Search Firm)

Full Coverage:Job interview tips from Fortune 500 CEOs and top hiring executives

While interviewing for CXO positions, the candidates need to avoid some of the common mistakes that can certainly bring them failure instead of success.

The C-level corporate executive positions are witnessing a drastic overturn as millennials are taking the lead and securing the top positions. They aren’t just attaining big positions with bigger responsibilities, but they also get a chance to explore their true potential and showcase their strengths. While interviewing for CXO positions, the candidates need to avoid some of the common mistakes that can certainly bring them failure instead of success. Some of these mistakes are:

1. First and foremost, candidates seek jobs when they think they need one. Remember the golden rule, you don’t choose your jobs when you really need one, instead, you choose jobs which are the best for you, in terms of competencies, culture fit, future aspirations etc. Great jobs don’t wait for you, and you have to make sure you are going to the right one. And hence, it is important to view opportunities with an open mind, when you time on your hand, have a cushion of a job which you like and doing well at it. It’s important to play from a position of strength, and not from desperation. People make poor professional decisions, when they are desperately looking out.

2. Another common mistake candidates make is that they get swayed away by the brand perception of the prospective employer. I think sometimes we are too brand conscious, and we often go with the brand which is the most well- known. So many times, candidates reject great offers from brands which are relatively lesser known, in favor of companies, which may have a better brand perception, only to regret later. Remember, “All that glitters is not Gold”, and even some of the best brands (so to say) may have a bad culture, and that too, what may work for someone else may not work for you, and hence one shouldn’t generalize that if the brand is good, the job would be good with them as well, as it is important to know the right kind of culture which will suit you the most. Also, referring Jim Collins (famous author of Good to Great), how many brands that we knew of yesterday, would still feature amongst the greatest organizations today. And worse still, how many of those, will continue to exist tomorrow. And hence, it is important to look at the role, and the content of the job, understand what will bring the best out of you, and then decide for yourself, rather than be over-enthused with the brand of the prospective employer.

3.One bigger mistake that I have often seen candidates make is to go unprepared for the meeting/ interview, thinking that it is a casual interaction and they are just going for an open conversation. It stems from the fact that either they are not too keen on the job at the first place, or worse still, they want to explore more, but don’t have the time and inclination to research and find out more information. Nothing puts off a prospective employer more than an unprepared or a casual candidate. I often say to my candidates “even if you don’t think you are absolutely excited about the job in the first place, please make sure that you create 1/2 the best impression and show the right intent. Let the decision to accept/ decline the job offer be with you, and not with the prospective employer, who didn’t like you enough at the first place, because of a poor interview.” Let the choice be yours, and not turn into a story of “Grapes are sour”. Most often, the job goes to the candidate, who comes the most prepared, shows the right intent, has done his homework well and asks the right questions. And not to a candidate, who may have the best CV and credentials, but didn’t invest enough time and effort to make an impression on the prospective employer.

4.Another mistake, though in continuation to the previous one, is that many times candidates feel it is not important to dress up well for an interview. And very often we hear comments like “I will wear what I feel like”, “I will dress up just like I go to work every-day”, or “Who cares how one dresses up in today’s digital age”. Now, while for certain roles, especially in technology, this may be ok at times to dress up casually, but for most other jobs, it is important to dress well, wear your best formals and make a good impression. We always tell our candidates to dress up well for an interview, and show that you want the job. “Eventually, dressing up well will never harm, but may just help you get a job.”

Full Coverage:Mistakes CXO Candidates Make During Interview

The current scenario has led some companies to reduce/freeze hiring until the economic impact is assessed but several are continuing to recruit in a bid to reduce the pace of business slowdown.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent country-wide lockdown has severely impacted India's economy. Due to the unprecedented challenges, most of the organizations are already witnessing a significant decline in revenues, falling demand and hence this is likely to lead to job losses. It has become one of the biggest threats for financial markets, taking businesses, startups, and employees across industries for a wild, and notably scary ride.

According to the United Nations Conference on World Trade and Development, the coronavirus epidemic might cost the global economy $1-2 trillion in 2020, which has already started to pinch several sectors. The industries world over are bearing the brunt including Aviation, Hospitality, Retail, Entertainment, Tourism, Logistics, and many others including Financial Services. Leading economists are saying that what lies ahead could be worse than the “Great Recession”, some go so far as to say- a depression lies in the near future. According to them, even if the COVID-19 cases decline, the effects of the 1/3 lockdown will continue for at least a few quarters and will take around 6-9 months for things to start normalizing. Increasingly, we will notice that businesses will not operate in the same manner and the period of uncertainty and challenges will remain.

The current scenario has led some companies to reduce/freeze hiring until the economic impact is assessed but several are continuing to recruit in a bid to reduce the pace of business slowdown. This said several companies who were not adequately digital-ready are keen to hire Chief Digital / Technology Officers or transformation experts at a quick pace. Hence, there lies an opportunity to be tapped.

The current situation is likely to change some of the competencies that companies will look at while hiring, namely:

Emotional Intelligence
Interviewers will increasingly try to look at EQ (emotional intelligence/quotient) far more than IQ (intelligence quotient) as that’s more critical and will be a key differentiator among candidates. The way you deal with the situations and take decisions calmly which are not only intellectually but also emotionally right will become more pronounced.

Courage of conviction
Organizations are likely to prefer candidates who display the courage of conviction, are calm and composed in their thought process, and don’t fear to make decisions. This time will expect leaders to take the bull by the horns and need to stay the course.

Adaptability
An often used competency, but is most critical at this juncture. As most strategic plans have gone out of the window and been replaced by business continuity plans and quarterly/monthly plans in some cases; leaders will have to be adept at managing change. Also, at this stage with several organizations laying off employees will lead to roles being merged. Hence, employees who can quickly adapt, wear multiple hats, and be open to change will be more successful.

Risk Management and Cost prudence
Leaders must understand how to assess risks and mitigate them. Along with it, they should also be sensible when it comes to being cost prudent. More and more decision making is going to be based on sound business fundamentals, sound, and traditional risk management fundamentals. At such challenging times, the businesses which will survive will possibly the ones who will have cash on their balance sheets. Companies having cash in their reserves will be able to tide through this storm more efficiently and are likely to be more ready when the times change for the good. At the same time, businesses that are over-leveraged may struggle to pass through the coming months and quarters, will 2/3 find it difficult to service the debt and many may actually fold down. The age-old advice of our forefathers, of conserving cash and building savings, and funnelling savings into investments may come truer than ever before.

Age is just the number
With so much happening all around the world and companies’ future at stake, it calls for extraordinary leadership skills on the part of C-level executives. Hence, we will see organisations throw the concept of age out of the window and paving the way for more experience. Summarily, as Shakespeare quoted in Julius Caesar said: “Experience is the teacher of all things”.

Full Coverage:Parameters of Choosing C- level hiring post lockdown

We must understand that even after the situation becomes normal, the old way of doing business may not work and dealing with the new normal will be completely different.

We are living in unprecedented times, and no one has actually seen anything like this before, and everything else just pales in comparison. All logic, data, precedence is getting thrown out of the window. Not only has the world changed but so have the rules of doing business. Most certainly, the talent required to run business in these unprecedented times is very different now as the key business challenges have changed. Giving a cricketing analogy, just like you need a very different skillset and mindset to survive and thrive on spin-friendly tracks, likewise, it is an absolutely different ballgame to survive on green tops with swing and bounce under completely hostile conditions. It’s not easy to change one’s technique overnight, and it definitely requires some key characteristics to excel in diverse conditions.

Similarly, coming back to the corporate world, there needs to be a rethink, rewiring of talent, thought process and training to come out trumps and survive first in these 1/3 challenging times, as well as succeed in the post lockdown order. And, we must understand that even after the situation becomes normal, the old way of doing business may not work and dealing with the new normal will be completely different.

Universally, one needs to focus on the DNA of the candidate even more as neither have we been trained to work in this dynamic environment nor can we bank on old track record as the current business dynamics are completely new. Therefore, we do need to validate personal traits and mindset of a candidate far more. In my professional opinion, the following traits become very important.

1. Ability to work in ambiguity – This trait will become more and more pronounced. The business environment continues to become more challenging, and it is very important for the leaders to be able to work under ambiguity, with little or no precedent and be able to take decisions. While Indian organizations are generally better than Multinationals on this aspect, but we need to watch out for this trait more than ever in the leaders of tomorrow.

2. Quick decision making – Again, ability to make quick decisions, with little data, backing your gut, going by logic more, and not sitting and be found napping later would be the key in this new world order.

3. Out of box thinking – I think ability to come up with new ideas, out of the box thinking, spotting opportunities before anyone else does, will be of paramount importance. Need for creativity and innovation is always appreciated, and I feel it will be even more so in the times ahead.

4. Bottom line orientation as cash will be the king – Managing cash flows will be important, not only today but even more so tomorrow. We are already seeing companies with cash balances in the books sitting relatively better than the others. I think the need for a prudent leader, who is very strongly bottom line oriented, and does away with all profligate spending, someone who knows how to run a tight ship always, will be weighed in gold.

5. Calm demeanor – There will be more shocks and surprises as we go along so ability to stay calm and not panic is important. It is important for the leader to be calm under all circumstances with a balanced head, as people and colleagues will look upto the person to guide them.

6. Authenticity – I feel what will also test the mettle of leaders and companies more than ever will be authentic leadership. It will be important for the leaders to be authentic in their conduct, be open and transparent with the organization in terms of communication.

7. Execution Ability – Leaders will also be known for their relentless execution, staying the course and being constantly at it. I think the stamina, the stomach for a fight will be tested for the leaders of tomorrow and one has to be up for it more than ever.

Full Coverage:The challenging job of managing an organisation in the time of Lockdown

We are witnessing a time of tremendous change worldwide. With the continuous spread of novel coronavirus, countries across the world are grappling to curb its impact. The cascading effects of the global pandemic have shaken the global economy and businesses across sectors are bearing the brunt of market crash with some near to closure. With no clarity as to when normal course of life will resume, the situation remains gloomy.

Considering the uncertain times, there are two most likely possibilities. Firstly, the situation may remain bad for 3-6 months (in fact, may become worse in the immediate period), but followed by a quick “V” shape recovery, in which case, economy recovers quickly, businesses come roaring back and the consumers forget that all this ever happened, though there are less and less people optimistic about such a scenario happening with each passing day. Most of the research and experts are pointing towards the second scenario, i.e. the economy and society suffers through a period of six months, and demand starts picking up slowly after, people and businesses start resuming activity intermittently, and eventually in a period of 3-6 months from then, things start getting back to their normalcy. In which case, we are talking about the whole of this year, i.e. 20-21 being virtually written off.

Either of these scenarios would require leaders to stand out as there is a popular belief that the world may not be the same ever again. With so much happening all around and companies’ future at stake, it calls for extraordinary leadership on the part of CXOs to ensure that they not only survive first, but also tide through with minimum damage and with maximum possible chance of capitalizing when the economy recovers. Now, I know this is far easier said than done, and it is only prudent to talk about survival, and may be too fanciful to talk about building strengths and looking at opportunities, but this is what life is all about, isn’t it? Looking at opportunities when there exists none, and thinking differently than the herd.

Here are a few things that I would suggest that all leaders should keep in mind:

Bring down your cost structures
One need not over-emphasise the importance of this point. It is absolutely essential that the organizations and their leaders look at every cost very minutely at this time, and try and operate with as little as one can. Depending on whether you are manufacturing or a services business, your overall cost structure would be generally operating anywhere between 70%- 90%, and with revenues dropping to almost to half (even 80-90% in some businesses), one would need to look at each cost very minutely.

Start with your non-personnel cost first – rent, electricity, travel (anyways down to zero right now), marketing, business development and all such expenditures need to be relooked. One would have to look at personnel costs also carefully, as this will always be the highest for all organizations. Many organizations have already resorted to large scale layoffs for the non-essential staff or are resorting to deep pay-cuts. It is only recommended that the leaders look at it from a humane standpoint, and follow the mandate of the government in spirit. One would have to consider the implications of job losses and the non-availability of jobs in the market for the affected ones at this point. I am hearing a lot of positive stories of organizations preferring organization wide salary reductions, implemented in the top down manner (with the junior most given the least pinch) as well as covering for the barest essentials for the employees (school fees for children, rentals and other household expenses), and trust me that will win over your people for the longest time.

Drive operational efficiencies, build frugality
I have been saying this over and over again, and am a strong believer in driving efficiencies in tighter times. Generally, when the machinery is running full throttle, and growth is a given, it is easy to run a profligate business and not bother about efficiencies. But when the times are tough, it is all the more important to look at every business, every function, every process and look at efficiencies. It would not only help you bring down some of the costs further as I mentioned above, but more importantly help you run a far tighter ship, and make you absolutely ready and far sharper, when the iron is hot again.

It is also important to build a frugal mindset. Think of yourself as a business manager more than ever, and look at everything you do with that lens.

Build capabilities - will come in extremely handy
These are times when one has to keep the building blocks for the future in mind. This is why building capabilities for the future is more critical than ever. Now, there may be a counter argument to this that no one really knows the future in these uncertain times (eventually, who would have thought of Covid), but nonetheless, which ever business you are in, it is important to do a little crystal ball gazing, and use internal resources for building capabilities in key areas. Especially, if you have built reserves over the years, it is important to keep some of that aside and build strong capabilities in key areas. These will be weighed in gold when business activity picks up.

Plan for key skills now
In line with the above, it is a little bit contrarian, but important nonetheless to look at some key skills for the future as well. While it may be all doom and gloom at the moment, and it is only natural that organizations and leaders will try and preserve the existing, it is still important to look at what you have internally at the moment. There may be skills which were anyways not present yesterday, but may become absolutely necessary tomorrow, for instance CIO/CTO roles or digital transformation or analytics, risk, governance, fund raising and many more. You may be well advised to keep your eyes and ears open to such talent. There may also be good bargains available and you as a leader would be well advised to capitalize on this.

Keep a positive mind-set
Remember, you are not alone in this. What you, as an organization, as a leader and as an employee, are going through is not unique to you. Your industry may be slightly more impacted due to the nature of the business, but this pandemic has hit us all with equal force, across the globe, and no one is really spared. So, no point fretting about it or letting negativity creep in. It is important to keep a positive mind-set, and try and be of more use to your company and the leadership. One has to assume more responsibilities in these times, and the least you can do is to spread a little bit of positivity and optimism, however little it may be. As they say, “This too shall pass.”

Authentic communication
Again, it is of utmost importance to be as authentic as you can be in your communication. I have been saying this aloud, but the need for authentic leaders is and will be felt more than ever. Be honest, transparent, but more importantly thought through in your communication. Your teams, subordinates will be looking up to you as leaders for communication, direction and way forward. It is in times like these that one gets the true test of leadership. It is in times like these that the “Men will be differentiated from the boys”. So, communicate as authentically as you can. Your people will love you and stand with you, even if it means making small sacrifices for you and the organization. In fact, you will ensure long term longevity and retention for your people.

Full Coverage:Unprecedented Crisis calls for extraordinary leadership

While layoff may be the only viable option for many companies, the way it is carried out plays a crucial role.

With first quarter growth set to decline by anywhere between 30-40%, and both India and world economy staring at a recession this financial year, doing business has never been tougher before. Most companies have de-grown in the first two months of the year, and many of them by as much as 80-90% in terms of top-line. It’s been a fight to survive, with most companies being forced to cut down costs by as much as 40-50%, and with employee cost being invariably the highest component, sadly, a lot of talks about lay-offs are doing the rounds, not only within the startup ecosystem, but across businesses and companies, big and small, Indian as well as multinationals.

Too frequently, we have seen companies firing hundreds of their employees over a three-minute zoom call or a mail. While layoff may be the only viable option for many companies, the way it is carried out plays a crucial role. It has been a phase of completely unexpected turn of events for most of us, but an important realisation is just how essential it is to support laid-off employees as they exit an organisation. If companies can spend big numbers on the hiring process, won't it be prudent to spend a small fraction on the layoff process?

The reality is that while organisations do take their hiring processes very seriously, and they feel it goes a long way in building the right employer brand, very few actually realise that conversely layoffs, if not done in a humane manner, can damage employer brand in the immediate as well as long run. Too frequently organisations do bad layoffs, do them for the wrong reason, or worse, do both that have lasting negative knock-on effects.

It is here that an expert in the form of an Outplacement service plays a very important role. It enables companies to gain expert advice before any impact and help train their HR departments and managers with best practices for handling the separation with empathy. Career transition experts not only play a key role in helping employees deal with these tough times, but also in managing employer brands’ goodwill.

Offering outplacement service resonates with employees letting them know that the company takes care of its employees even when they have to exit. This leaves a favourable opinion for the organisation as a whole, about their superiors and subordinates, promoting a great place to work image and thereby building brand value. Outplacement is a vital element of talent mobility. When the opportunity to redeploy does not exist, outplacement is the next natural progression. Organisations that focus on helping and supporting their employees while restructuring or doing layoff process enjoy better brand protection. It also gives a tremendous comfort to the remaining employees and goes a long way in ensuring their better productivity and long-term commitment.

Outplacement services can help an organisation with a lot more than they can imagine, resulting in a much superior and engaging process:

1. Helping organisations decide objectively

Layoff should not be a random decision made overnight. Such decisions are crucial to a person's career, and hence require a process. At no cost, this decision should be influenced by favouritism and biases. Having a clear methodology will allow companies to minimize the harm layoffs cause. Outplacement experts help address crucial questions? Who should I let go and who not? How do I deal with this objectively? How do I communicate and break the news? What should I tell the retained staff so that they remain committed? How will I be perceived in the market?

2. Effective Communication

How would it feel if someone calls you or mails you to convey that you have been rendered jobless? It can mentally break a person. Communication plays a key role in every organisational decision. Sometimes even best intentions are not communicated effectively. Specialists play an important role here. They can guide better on the process. Also, they can help employee absorb the shock. It’s understandable and expected for the affected employee to feel upset, angry, resentful, de-spirited and lost in the beginning. He/she needs a shoulder, a vent to let it out. First couple of conversations with the person are absolutely important to set the tone and help the employee realize that this is for real and help come to terms with the decision.

3. Broadening Horizons

The biggest worry for the affected employee is to understand where all could the skills come in handy. After working in a particular role or an industry for a very long time, employees tend to get straightjacketed in their minds in terms of possibilities. An outplacement / career transitioning coach has to sit the person down, and help the employee realize where all could his/her skills fit in, and help broaden the horizons.

4. Helping find the right match

Next and most critical step is to help match the skills with the available opportunities outside. Again, this is something which outplacement agencies are good at as they have visibility to roles outside, have the right contacts and relationships which can open doors for the affected employee, often resulting in a successful outplacement in 3-6 months’ time frame.

Summing It All Up

Finding a new job in the present situation will take longer and will require more flexibility, preparation, tenacity, and creative thinking from the job seeker. This means that companies in the unfortunate position of having to conduct layoffs must be sensitive and cognizant to the increased needs of affected employees and respond in kind by providing employment help and support.

Full Coverage:Laying-off is not a 3-minute decision; it can have a long-term repercussion on your Employer Brand

Working for a startup can be an exciting, inspiring experience, allowing you to get into the real business world and enhance your learning on the ground floor of what could be the next big thing.

With small businesses responsible for nearly half of all private-sector employment, it is inevitable that a startup will eventually be part of your interview process. The startup India and digital India programs soaring high in the Indian economy explains the growth of entrepreneurs as well as the making of a skilled workforce. Working for a startup can be an exciting, inspiring experience, allowing you to get into the real business world and enhance your learning on the ground floor of what could be the next big thing.

USP/Value Proposition

The individual should look at the products or service offerings of the firm and its unique service proposition. The candidate should also consider the kind of value that the company can add to their customers. The candidates are also advised to check whether the offering can solve any of the burning issue/ current challenges in the market. The offering must bring innovation and provide superior technological benefits. The service or product offered by the company should also satisfy value for money and should be reliable for the targeted clientele. In short, the USPs of a Startup should be completely satisfactory for their discerning customers and should look at the challenges from a different angle. Today is the time to sail against the winds and startups must find innovative approaches to address the needs of their clients. There is no sense of working for a startup where the candidate cannot challenge his own capabilities and utilize His true potential to the fullest.

Promoter credentials, their Track record, Management Team, and Investors

The track record and credentials of the promoter and Management team should be carefully evaluated. An entrepreneur with leadership skills is the quintessential part of a startup, and the complete management team with all the qualities of a perfect leadership is also important. This is one of the key parameters to take a decision whether it is worthwhile joining the firm. Understanding the fundraising strategies and the background of the investors is very important otherwise this may have an impact on the scalability of the offering in the long run. When the investors are global, they would certainly bring a variety of experience and expertise to the startup. Right from a small startup to a grown organization, promoters’ credentials and successful track record of the management team should be considered important while joining the company. It is said that the foundation must be strong to build a better organization. Therefore before taking the decision of entering any of the startups the potential candidate must check the complete hierarchy of the management and their background.

The addressable market for the product or service, and Potential to grow

“The market size” or “the potential for the offering”, plays a major role for the startup. Scalability of the product or service is critical to take a decision whether the firm can sustain the short term and long term headwinds in the industry or market. Innovation is the key in the market; hence every product or service that enters the market should address the existing issues or should provide the needful services. In case if a Startup fails in the field of innovation and R&D, candidates should stay away from such organizations rather than making a hasty decision. One needs to evaluate whether the offering is a copycat or new innovation which is first of its kind in the market, as it means a lot if the organization is a leader or follower in the industry. To understand, if the offering has high entry barriers and intensive investments, the survival of the firm can be very high compared to a low entry barrier business.

Passion

Your passion towards the Products or the Services offering of the company is the real decision point that you will stay with your organization for long or part your ways sooner than decided. Right from the invention of the bulb to the airplane, it was the passion that drove the entrepreneur or the leader and their workforce to achieve their goal. With the evolution of Technology and Science, there have developed uncountable avenues of work field where a people can show their true potential driven by their passion. Passion has always been a key factor to succeed in anything that we do, in that way the individual should have a clear understanding and interest in the products or services offering of the firm. As the wise have said be with people who are equally passionate as you and follow the leaders who can motivate you to become even more passionate and dedicated to your work.

Societal impact, Macro or Micro Economic environment and Political Scenario

As we see today the offerings which have a high societal impact will last long with the customers. With the development of society and economy, people are having higher disposable income than before, and the requirements in daily life have also increased. The services or products which can be part of daily essentiality of people have the maximum probability to grow and flourish. The startup firms would get a major boost from the policymakers and the governments where the offering has a high impact on the society. This is advisable that one should target his career in industrial vertical which has a greater consumer base because that ensures the stability and future growth of the organization.

Work Culture, Ethos and Values of promoter team

Work culture, ethos & values, the way it deals with stakeholders of the organization matters a lot when it comes to a promoter-driven company. It is important to understand and gauge the clear intentions of the promoters whether they are here to stay long term or to create value and sell the firm on reaching a certain mass. This can be drawn from the teams and people closely work with the promoter team and infer some of the data points from the discussions. Empowerment, Freedom to take decisions and allowing employees to take risks are a good sign of promoter’s intentions of building a highly capable team and an organization.

One needs to look at the startup as a platform that provides an opportunity to create wealth, long-term equity and profit sharing or not just as another employment. The individual needs to think thoroughly whether it’s really worth jumping into a startup which has a toll on work-life balance and financial stress. As the millennials have the tendency to look for an accelerated growth, startup companies can pave a way for a fast track career growth.

Financial risk

On the risk side, as there is always an uncertainty of the market growth one should prepare themselves to face certain financial risk when stepping into a start-up. Although Domestic and international banks extending their services to Financially help the startups and even the grown organizations have made it simpler for the new Ventures to enter the market, yet the potential financial risk of failure of the startup model or underperformance of the services/ products can hamper the startups in long run. The evolution of BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector has also helped the startups to establish themselves and gain grounds. This is suggested that before joining a Startup the candidate should analyze the financial risk sector of the company and take the decision accordingly.

The author is Managing Partner of Executive Access, a leading executive search firm

Full Coverage:7 Things One Should Know Before Joining A Startup

Every job is not made for every employee. Everyone looks for certain criteria when looking for a job and if employers realise what these factors are, they will be able to hire the right talent for their company without spending too much.

When the needs of an employer and employee align, it makes for a fun and productive workplace where employees are motivated and grow fast.

Here is what young employees look for when joining a new workplace which you can use while hiring without paying top dollar:



1. Culture and empowerment

To provide an excellent work environment, culture and values, great career opportunities and flexi working hours, the culture of the organization has to be a strong selling point over money and convenience of being able to work from home may be appealing to those looking to spend less time commuting.

The organization has to be a great place to work and trust in leadership is very important. The millennials look for empowerment, freedom and beyond all, respect for individuals. As we all spend one-third of our time at work, if there are no challenges and monotonous work, people will move on in no time.

2. Alignment of employee values with company values

Don't look for talent only within the industry and or only their past track record, which would be expensive.

If a candidate has the right skill set and potential to grow, go for them if you clearly see their values align with your organization's values.

3. Total rewards

When the organization has a generous promotion policy, international postings and supports higher studies, it is highly beneficial to the organization in the long run.

Many organisations today offer 3 to 5-year compensation when they hire talent which makes the employee comfortable as he/she knows where they would be at the end of the term.

For a startup, offering stock options and long-term incentive or retention pay is also a good carrot to build wealth over a period of time. Some startups do give stock options for all their employees rather than only for key employees.

4. Cross-functional exposure

Providing cross-functional experience by job rotation is very critical to prepare better leaders for tomorrow as the disruptions and challenges are multifold in today's competitive world.

Identify high-potential talent, and groom and nurture them over a period of time. Grooming leaders within the organisation is always less expensive than hiring outside talent.

5. Client/customer management

When they get a chance to interact with a customer/client, it makes an employee take up ownership, and be accountable and responsible. This would come when the boss delegates the work.

6. Motivation

There is an old saying that says you should praise your employee in public or large gatherings and push them when they are alone in case they fail to deliver.

Motivation plays a vital role in taking the best from an individual. Ask your employees to take risks and allow them to fail.

7. Coaching/mentoring

Having a personal coach is the order of the day as we all have strengths and weakness. Coaches help you to manage time, emotions, empathy, peer pressure and stress.

Knowing your weakness is important more than knowing your strength which would minimize the flaws.

8. Career break returns

Opportunities are plenty for both men and women with a high disposable income, and now, workplaces offer women maternity leaves.

Large corporates in India do have special programmes or drives to attract employees returning from a career break as this talent is less expensive and experienced.

9. Consultant positions

When you can't pay top salaries, organisations even encourage some of their selected employees to come onboard as consultants on full-time or part-time basis.

Full Coverage:9 things employees look for in a job which you can use to hire top talent

Key Responsibilities And Skill Set Needed For Chief Diversity Officer
Chief Diversity Officer strategizes diversity and inclusion in the organization and ensures smooth internal functioning

Diversity and Inclusion has become integral for organizations, especially the industry leaders and Unicorns. The recent developments in the C-Suite of companies have created a position for Chief Diversity Officer (CDO), one who strategizes diversity and inclusion in the organization and ensures smooth internal functioning, further guiding administration and Human Resource Management. Some of the major qualities that a CDO must inherit are:

Ability to Manage Challenges and Diverse environment

You should have thorough understanding of the pain areas of diversity and minority people and the causes for this effect. The why-why analysis to be conducted and the root cause to be identified to take an effective solution to the problem. Foreseeing challenges and problems well in advance and solution mindset is much needed.

Trends and learnability

You should be thoroughly updated on the trends and mindset of the people to provide meaningful solutions. The person has to be well networked in the industry and able to set the bench marks. You should be a great listener with High EQ and learnability which is a critical success factor for a Diversity Officer

Un biased judgement

At times people show bias consciously and unconsciously which will widen the gap of inequality and this is being implemented across the organizations as a smart move to retain and attract talent.

Visionary and Entrepreneurial mindset & Achievement orientation

A visionary has the ability to see what others cannot see.The CDO should have the Vision of looking at the big picture. Having an Entrepreneurial mindset gives them the ability to aim big, take calculative risk and drive towards the goal in an efficient manner.

Self-principled and disciplined, Walk the talk

You should be high on ethics, Value driven, disciplined, and principled, being empathetic and walk the talk. Putting herself /oneself in to other person shoes would create an environment which will enable individuals for a dialogue with an open mind

Culture building

The CDO has to build a culture which is inspiring and creating many role models across the organization. Organizational efforts will need to focus beyond just the numbers. Today’s diversity is not the race and gender and it should create an environment where different voices are encouraged, heard and their opinions are valued and considered. The culture has to be in such way that it encourages global talent. The Global talent brings versatile backgrounds, personalities and thinking styles

Cultivate Equality at Work

The role of Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is to create an environment where everyone is challenged enough to take the best out and work closely with all the stake holders in the organization and communities. Equality at work will enable the organization to improve bottom-line and sustainable and also has a positive impact on society. Better diversity means better performance at work and it has proved that if there are many women leaders at tope has proved very effective for an organization

Inclusiveness

Sense of belonging is needed is to bring inclusiveness in the organization. Inclusion doesn’t come by mere achieving the gender ratios but by changing the mindset of people. Including minorities at decision making level and promoting them to the executive levels is much needed. Diversity and inclusion should not be treated as one off the initiative. Inclusive culture makes people respected and valued in team or group. When people are valued they put their best effort and live up to their potential.

Training

Training provides a platform to enable people to unleash their true potential and reminds them of dos and don’ts as a professional and individual. Some of the Global universities offer cultural diversity management programmes, these trainings offer people, the competencies needed and will to succeed. It will take people move to the next performance level

Empowerment

You should empower people and respect them for their nationality, religion, ethnic, education, sexual orientation, disability, personality and gender etc.

Conclusion

Ability to Manage Challenges and Diverse environment

“Diversity and inclusion should not only be a phrase on a piece of paper, It’s a mindset and should be lived actively every day”

Full Coverage:Key Responsibilities and Skill Set Needed For Chief Diversity Officer

The challenge today is not about bringing women into the origination but the how to make them successful at work. Great Talent is scarce today. Markets are dynamic and competitive, and if a company doesn’t put in efforts in understanding diversity and the benefits of diversity, in turn, they would have to pay a heavy price for productivity, Innovation, Culture, growth and inclusion.

Diversity is not about hiring women into leadership roles or showing a percentage of improvement in women hiring. It’s all about changing mindset, the way we behave with our colleagues, internal and external customers, suppliers and its habit where everyone should talk, walk, breath in everyday life. It should be a way of life.

By having women leaders in top management roles would help to become customer-centric and also to understand the customer preferences better. The challenge today is not about bringing women into the origination but the how to make them successful at work and the diverse talent has to be acquired across the organization

Poor Basics
The organization has to make its fundamentals right, many times companies aren’t good at the basics and that will make a big difference. The organization has to stand for its values, ethos, purpose and their existence in the society. Many times family businesses would have a short-term mindset when compared to Multi-National Companies. They are right in one way if they can’t survive today and there is no tomorrow. The organization must have values that are caring, trust and respect for people. Meritocracy, employee engagement and hiring top talent has to be organization prime agenda.

Poor Communication& No accountability
Many times organizations won’t talk about their diversity, Inclusion and current standing which would put the prospective employees in a dilemma. Men and women should speak about the organization and its value proposition and emotional side of it. Sharing success stories of employees and their experiences with data speaks for itself and allows leaders to account for results – whether it’s representation, actions e.g., hires, promotions, termination, compensation actions or sentiment. The qualitative analysis sentiment allows for deeper awareness and empathy that might, in turn, help people be heard and feel more respected.
Are diversity and inclusion CEO’s agenda or CHRO? It’s the collective responsibility across the organization. CEO, CHRO and leadership team should take the accountability for diversity results and shortfall. Also measure the progress and shortfall regularly and it has to be on top of organization agenda so that they breathe, sleep and retention of diverse talent.

Unstructured Business Strategy and Bias
There exists unconscious bias from leaders when they recruit talent and they like people with whom they would be comfortable with. This bias limits in acquiring great talent and retention of talent. Unconscious biases which translate into behaviours, opinions and actions. Including diversity is part of the business strategy of the organization and policies would have an impact on diversity hiring and retention. You need to have a Diversity and inclusion plan in place and the sooner is better to correct the challenges.

No Flexibility
Flexibility at work matters a lot for women and this is very important especially millennials and Gen Y. But it isn’t about work-life balance per se. Most of the women workforce career is very important in their lives and want to be a part of creating a great, enduring success and changing the world. And that implies a certain amount of work. But they want flexibility in those arrangements—the chance to make choices that enable them to be successful throughout their career and their personal lives.
Women and diverse candidates get attracted if there is a great corporate culture, belongingness, employee engagement and flexibility. When the organization shows that it had shown that women or diversity employees were taken care of in the past, have grown and given challenging assignments

Equal opportunity
Everyone in the organization should feel that there exist merit and performance to showcase their true strengths. The company culture revolves around its values, passion and culture which allows providing the flexible environment, generous benefits and frequent perks that help to retain the highly skilled employees.
Diversity and inclusion impact a business in three main ways, Results in better decision-making, strengthens corporate culture and better collaboration among teams. Diversity& Inclusion has to become a social responsibility.

Full Coverage:Why Finding Diverse Talent Remains A Challenge

Leadership has specific traits. A lot has been written, evaluated and spoken about what true leadership is. Leaders are expected to provide vision, objective, motivation, solution to meet the business objectives. Leaders are expected to deliver under any costs, they have but they are also human, and they too err. They also experience moments of indecisiveness, their confidence too gets shaken, they also get overwhelmed by the situation. They need guidance. Effectively mentoring takes care of these pitfalls that executive leaders can overcome.

Full Coverage:Why mentoring programs are necessary to retain your top talent?

Startups cannot grow if they have substandard employees. Working in a startup will boost your learning on the job more than anything, but what is it that startups look for? Here are the top leadership qualities startups need.

The startup culture is by now well settled in the Indian economy. They have moved to a higher level of maturity of their growth trajectory; I mean people are generally aware of the path and the logic a typical startup will follow as it tries to root itself in the business paradigm. Not so long ago, startups were an entity with a lot of curiosity, right from who the proprietor is, age (more specifically, how young s/he is), experience, and above all -- the key investors in the business.

Over the years, things have calmed down, and there are enough examples of success and failures for the newcomers to make their decisions. However, one aspect which I feel is yet to be resolved, and the founders over the years have mulled enough on, is to identify the right character for their leadership team.

While a lot depends on the space a startup is established, there are some essentials that the founder(s) look for when hiring the leadership team.

Here are the top 5 leadership qualities that startups look for in their employees:

1. You should love to take challenges head on

A startup is definitely not a cushy job. There are umpteen challenges to deal with -- in terms of people quantity and quality, financial resources, and yes, establishing the brand or concept or product itself.

It is for this reason that the founders look for toughness and tenacity in their core team.

And yes, they would look for a demonstrated past and NOT just someone who talks of the solution but has never come across a similar situation.

2. Experience of scaling up

Startups don't have the liberty of time. Market and investor pressures press hard for rapid growth. It's a different ball game compared to a steady state 6-10-12% growth characterized in an established business.

Startups need to grow by over 100% year on year. It is thus important to have leaders who have been associated with organisations which have the culture of achieving beyond the market growth.

The founders would typically look 'fire in the belly'. It is the way the person sets a target for himself and his team and that is what makes the difference.

3. The 3 Ps: Personality, Pedigree and Positivity

Startups need to transform themselves fast. The leaders should possess a definite aura around them. The aura or the charisma will come from the education background, the geography he or she has worked in (USA/ UK/Europe -- especially if the primary investors belong here), and the organisations the person has been associated within the recent past.

This helps in having a critical face of the organisation to the many stakeholders like the current and prospective clients, investors and shareholders. It is imperative that the startup creates a definite trust in all its stakeholders and having the 3Ps in perspective goes a long way.

4. Sectorial expertise

Not all but quite a few business segments go for this skill. While many a time, the owner or founder will have the primary knowledge of the sector, the CXOs -- especially the CEO and the COO -- is expected to have worked in a similar space.

In a typical startup, the offering is a new concept but the logic can be bought over from other business segments.

5. Flexibility to work in unpredictable conditions

This one is rare, but for me, it is very important for a founder. Establishing a startup is nothing less than sailing across deep waters. One comes across many unpredictable events and scenarios, decisions need to reverse, new ideas become old before they are experimented with, schedules go haywire, people move in and out at a drop of a hat, external environment in terms of governing laws, investor irritabilities etc -- all to be taken into stride and move ahead.

There is little time to look back and think.

Someone used to a stereotypical system and processes will not make the cut.

The startup environment is a different ball game and not everyone's cup of tea. The founders understand this well and are very choosy when selecting a candidate, not only for the leadership role but across the organisation.

Over the years, as the startups have matured, their ability to select the right person has vastly improved and has resulted in much better business performance.

Full Coverage:Top 5 leadership qualities startups look for in their employees

Gender gap needs to be dealt with at two levels, one at the organisation level and the other at the functional level.

About three decades back, as a management trainee, my batch mates and Iwere going through the induction program, which had planned visits across all the departments in the organization. Much to our surprise, it was virtually an all men set up, with no trace of a woman employee till we visited the PACKING department, where we saw an all women team working efficiently and elegantly.

On questioning, we were enlightened of the fact that women are much better than men in managing jobs of repetitive nature. Hence, instead of allocating men operators, traditionally women have been preferred for the department. However, in the recent past, special efforts were being initiated by global firms followed by the Indian firms, to bridge the gender gap.

Our head of research said that, “When executive access undertook a research to study the statistical characteristics of CEO profiles, one of the key observations was the strikingly negligible diversity representation at MD/CEO level, in many industries. The gender gap was starker as one went up higher in the organisation hierarchy”. She further added that, “Things are changing now with leaders increasingly being conscious of the need to reduce the gender gap and the mandate to fulfill a certain diversity percentage.

Gender mix is healthier in sectors like insurance, tourism, financial services, Pharmaceutical, Education and IT/ITES sectors and functionally in HR, Marketing, Legal and Communication roles and to some extent finance and accounts.

Gender gap needs to be dealt with at two levels, one at the organisation level and the other at the functional level:

Identify space for women talent: Someone would have gauged the suitability of women (at the worker level) for the packing job because the finger movements, eye hand co-ordination and working in groups are some of the skills where women score significantly over men. Leaders have to creatively dissect the various roles on their organization /function and align suitably without hampering the performance of the department/s. Six sigma, lean implementation, quality assurance, warehouse management are some of the roles on a shop floor, which require deliberation, convincing and diplomatic approach, and are physically less demanding. Other areas like customer service, purchase management, and design can also definitely be looked at.

Devise women friendly strategies: Our research findings say that diversity hiring, at the management trainee level and charting out a comprehensive development plan for them have reaped fruits for many MNC organisations. It is not only important to hire a female employee but equally important to retain her and provide her the best environment to perform.

Heightened Gender Diversity focus: Leaders can work towards appointing diversity champions, who will dedicatedly drive diversity friendly policies and recruitment practices. Flexi-options, child care facilities, security measures, stringent sexual harassment laws etc. are some popular plans adopted by many organizations today

Encourage “Ghar Vapasi”: It has been observed that a high percentage of females do not return to their jobs post maternity& other circumstances. Despite the willingness, and the urge, circumstances force them to stay back. Leaders can definitely bring back women on sabbatical &create policies to allow flexibility to women to execute their job partially or fully from home. This will help, first in RETAINING the female colleagues and secondly in helping the ones who have taken a break in their careers to return to their ‘HOME TURF”.

Develop the RIGHT attitude: Over the years, women have also been open to explore opportunities in hitherto all men arenas, but this is still an exception rather than a norm. With time, things will change and this gap will be bridged naturally. However, what will always remain of significance is the way a leader develops his own and also his team’s attitude and thoughts towards being more respectful to our women colleagues.

Full Coverage:How leaders can reduce ‘The Workplace Gender Gap’

Gender gap needs to be dealt with at two levels, one at the organisation level and the other at the functional level.

About three decades back, as a management trainee, my batch mates and Iwere going through the induction program, which had planned visits across all the departments in the organization. Much to our surprise, it was virtually an all men set up, with no trace of a woman employee till we visited the PACKING department, where we saw an all women team working efficiently and elegantly.

On questioning, we were enlightened of the fact that women are much better than men in managing jobs of repetitive nature. Hence, instead of allocating men operators, traditionally women have been preferred for the department. However, in the recent past, special efforts were being initiated by global firms followed by the Indian firms, to bridge the gender gap.

Our head of research said that, “When executive access undertook a research to study the statistical characteristics of CEO profiles, one of the key observations was the strikingly negligible diversity representation at MD/CEO level, in many industries. The gender gap was starker as one went up higher in the organisation hierarchy”. She further added that, “Things are changing now with leaders increasingly being conscious of the need to reduce the gender gap and the mandate to fulfill a certain diversity percentage.

Gender mix is healthier in sectors like insurance, tourism, financial services, Pharmaceutical, Education and IT/ITES sectors and functionally in HR, Marketing, Legal and Communication roles and to some extent finance and accounts.

Gender gap needs to be dealt with at two levels, one at the organisation level and the other at the functional level:

Identify space for women talent: Someone would have gauged the suitability of women (at the worker level) for the packing job because the finger movements, eye hand co-ordination and working in groups are some of the skills where women score significantly over men. Leaders have to creatively dissect the various roles on their organization /function and align suitably without hampering the performance of the department/s. Six sigma, lean implementation, quality assurance, warehouse management are some of the roles on a shop floor, which require deliberation, convincing and diplomatic approach, and are physically less demanding. Other areas like customer service, purchase management, and design can also definitely be looked at.

Devise women friendly strategies: Our research findings say that diversity hiring, at the management trainee level and charting out a comprehensive development plan for them have reaped fruits for many MNC organisations. It is not only important to hire a female employee but equally important to retain her and provide her the best environment to perform.

Heightened Gender Diversity focus: Leaders can work towards appointing diversity champions, who will dedicatedly drive diversity friendly policies and recruitment practices. Flexi-options, child care facilities, security measures, stringent sexual harassment laws etc. are some popular plans adopted by many organizations today

Encourage “Ghar Vapasi”: It has been observed that a high percentage of females do not return to their jobs post maternity& other circumstances. Despite the willingness, and the urge, circumstances force them to stay back. Leaders can definitely bring back women on sabbatical &create policies to allow flexibility to women to execute their job partially or fully from home. This will help, first in RETAINING the female colleagues and secondly in helping the ones who have taken a break in their careers to return to their ‘HOME TURF”.

Develop the RIGHT attitude: Over the years, women have also been open to explore opportunities in hitherto all men arenas, but this is still an exception rather than a norm. With time, things will change and this gap will be bridged naturally. However, what will always remain of significance is the way a leader develops his own and also his team’s attitude and thoughts towards being more respectful to our women colleagues.

Full Coverage:The Asian Age - How leaders can reduce ‘The Workplace Gender Gap’