The Consulting Business

Hi friends… Yes I am back after a long gap. This gap was needed as was setting up my own start up hence was very tied up but I always missed writing and interacting with you all.

Few months back when I took the decision to move out of comfort zone of VAS to consulting, people/friends in the industry were surprised and I was flooded with calls and smses. Well Well, I always wanted to get into consulting business as hearing others problem and solving them was something I learned from my grandmother, hence I can say that consulting is in blood even grand ma consulting is different from the consulting which I am trying to do.  I also get to hear that you need domain experts  for consulting, however I have different view.

Few days back as part of HR consultancy to a group I was talking to young gentleman and he after spending 1.5 yrs in the industry wants a change as he wants to learn something new. Now I don’t need to be domain expert of that industry to solve his problem. We all have faced this issue in our professional life and still face it. After spending sometime in the industry we feel we have learned all and want to move to other industry as other industry looks very promising but one thing we forget that whichever industry we join we will always face some issue. No industry is perfect. Everything has its own merit and demerit. Change is definitely spice of life but you cant have spicy food at all levels and at all the time. Somewhere you have to stop and think what exactly you want to do in life.

Now since we are discussing consulting business here let us also discuss strategy as strategy is the core of consulting. Lets take live example -  Chadha brothers killing each other was conspiracy or strategy by the rivals to bring their market value down. Whatever the facts are, strategy can change the future of the organization . It can change for better as well as for worse. It’s the strategy & its implementation defines the future of group. Now at what level you can strategize ( Not by planning to kill someone) but yes definitely help organization grow to next level by killing the rival product not brain. Because if you kill the brain you will have many brains standing to kill you and your business. Rivalry should be confined to business only. Killing the brain behind the strategy is not the solution but to hire the brain is definitely a good strategy to grow your business to next level. So how do you create strategic plan ? Strategic plan is a puzzle and whoever creates should ensure to solve it as well. And before you lay down the strategy you should ask yourself 3 magical questions ;-

1.       Where are we in terms of business now ?

2.       Which direction we are going ?

3.       How we will get there ?

Where are we in terms of business now :-

To answer this question we need to look at the foundational elements ( Mission and Value) of the organization. Mission and Value is for long term and is usually not revised on regular basis and that lay the foundation of the organization. Then you would like to look at your current strategic position by evaluating the internal and external environment. After evaluating you can conclude whether you need to shift and change or not. One should review the strategic position regularly through the use of SWOT/PEST

Which direction we are going?

Once you answer this question then you can be sure of answer of a question “What will my organization look like in the future” ? It’s the same question when you go for nursery admission for your child the teacher asks you “ Where do you see your child in next 10 yrs?” because teacher wants to understand which direction your thinking goes ? Where is your child headed in future ? Future is hard to predict but you definitely will enjoy predicting the future of your organization as you are the creator of that future. Following elements can help you determining the future for your organization

1.       Does your organization have sustainable competitive advantage ?

2.       Does your Vision statement is aligned with the Mission of the organization and does all the stake holders are aligned with the mission of the organization? Do all of them speak the same mission statement?

How we will get there ?

Once you achieve “where” and “which” you definitely will know “How”

Reaching your vision is the most important element of the strategy and its also the most time consuming. The reason it takes so much time to develop because there are number of ways to look at your current position and how to achieve vision. Picking the right one determines how quickly you can reach your destination. The road-map is the future of the company and must include the following points:-

1.       Strategic Objectives

2.       Strategy to achieve the objective

3.       Short term goals

4.       Action points

5.       Scorecard

6.       Execution

As per my understanding from all the above points the last point is the most difficult if the stakeholders are not properly aligned with the formation of the strategy.

A successful organization will also depend on the person driving the entire organization. As I mentioned earlier that brain behind any organization success is the key but as part of strategy you should not think of killing that brain because an intelligent brain always think ahead and would have mentored someone to replace him/her at anytime.

Ciao !

How important is the role of Middle managers in shaping up organization’s future

I was taught since childhood that the GODS were thought to have complete vision into the future. They saw everything to come, right down to the intricate details. Human beings on the other hand were seen as victims of fate, trapped in the moment and their emotions, unable to see beyond immediate dangers. Those heroes such as Odysseus  who were able to look beyond the present  and plan several steps ahead seems to defy fate, to approximate GODS in their ability to determine the future. The comparison is still valid.  Those among us who think farther ahead and patiently bring their plans to fruition seems to have GODLIKE power. Because most people are too imprisoned in the moment to plan with this kind of foresight, the ability to ignore immediate dangers and pleasures translates into power. It is power of being able to able to overcome the natural human tendency to react to things as they happen and instead to train oneself to step back, imagining the larger things taking shape beyond ones immediate vision.  The most ordinary cause of peoples mistake is their being too much frightened at the present danger, and not enough thought process which would have avoided this danger. The dangers that are remote, that looms in the distance – if we can see them as they take shape, how many mistakes we avoid. How many plans we would instantly abort if we realized we were avoiding small dangers only to step into larger one. So much of power is not what you do but what you do not do- the rash and foolish action that you refrain from before they get you into trouble. Will this have unintended consequences ? Will I stir up new enemies ? Will someone take advantage of my labors ? unhappy endings are much more common than happy endings – Do not be swayed by the happy endings in your mind. When you see several steps ahead and plan your moves all the way to the end you no longer will be tempted by emotion or by desire to improvise. Your clarity will rid you of the anxiety and vagueness that are the primary reasons  why so many fail to conclude their actions successfully. You see the ending and you tolerate no deviation.  So what we conclude….. We conclude that “ The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give glory to hard work to someone else. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by the circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead…….

The reason I have given the small description of thinking ahead as it is one of the most important characteristics of successful leader. Successful leaders not only think ahead but all their strategies are laid on planning and accordingly they give direction to the organization.  A top down approach to managing strategy and strategic changes sees middle managers as implementers of strategy. Their role is to put into effect  the directions established by top management by making sure that resources are allocated and controlled appropriately, monitoring performance and behavior of staff and if necessary explaining strategy to those reporting to them. Those who take such approach often tend to view middle managers not so much as the facilitators of the strategy but as blockages to its success. Indeed, this is sometimes seen as one reason for reducing the numbers and layers of management, so as to speed up communication between top management and organizational members and to reduce potential blockages and filters. In context of managing strategic change it is important to emphasize five important roles they play ;-

1.       The first is the systematic role of implementation and control.

2.       The second is the “translators” of strategy when it is established by senior management. Top management may set down a strategic direction but how it is made sense of in specific contexts may intentionally or not be left to middle managers. If misinterpretation of that intended strategy is to be avoided, it is therefore vital that middle managers understand and feel an ownership to it.

3.       Similarly, middle managers are likely to be involved in the reinterpretation and adjustment of strategic responses as events unfold.

4.       They are therefore crucial bridge between top management and member of the organization at lower levels.

5.       They are also in the position to be advisors to more senior management on what are likely to be the organizational blockages and requirements for change.

Middle managers may therefore contribute substantially either to galvanizing commitment to strategy and the change process or to blocking it. Such involvement could help to achieve positive role of commitment. The involvement of middle management in strategy development, the planning of and implementation of strategic change programmes and feedback on strategic change can therefore be very important. Also one of the most important aspects in all this is this hiring of middle managers. Since they are the backbone of the company it is very crucial and critical to hire the best of brains because if you hire best of brains you are definitely progressing towards right path and rest other things will automatically fall in place. Hence we can conclude that role of middle managers is very vital in the growth of an organization

Ciao !!

BCG - HR Matrix

BCG – HR Matrix

“He is very faithful to his boss” commented a colleague…  Now that’s called corridor gossiping. I said “ Is he a dog ?” because whenever one says faithful only one word comes to my mind i.e. “dog” and I personally believe that one should be faithful to the organisation not to the boss and trust me both are not same..I mean being faithful to the boss and being faithful to the organisation are 2 different perspective…… oops !! I think I am digressing from the topic.

I am sure we all have seen the below matrix called “ BCG matrix”. Boston Consulting Group analysis, portfolio diagram is a chart that had been created by Bruce Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in 1968 to help corporations with analyzing their business units or product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. Well Well Well !! what’s new in this ?? we all have studied and sometimes used as well in professional life but what we have not yet done is drawing the below matrix with respect to employees !!

Sudarshan Banerjee ex COO Hutchison Essar says “Most CEOs busy meeting shareholder expectations, tend to neglect People Excellence and end up creating a "we they" organization instead of working towards a " we " type, in today's knowledge economy, people are the biggest assets.”

Many world leaders agree that people are the biggest assets. So what we do in terms of asset management of our respective organizations ?. I am sure most of the people in HR would answer “ we compensate people well, Some will say we train them and let them choose their bosses ( LOL !!)

Have we ever tried mapping the people on above matrix……There will be few employees who contribute to higher growth of the company and contribute the most in the overall profit of the organization and they can be termed as “stars” of the company.  How do these people become “stars” ?

How do people lend competitive advantage ? There are several ways. First , people offer skills capabilities, systems, practices, speed, language, bonding and behaviors, which help execute firms strategy. There also will be “Cash Cows” in the organization, whose compensation would be highest in the organization and contribute highest in company’s profit. In my view stars are any day more effective than cash cows. Dogs are the ones who are being paid highest but contribution is nil. They are also called “bosses puppies”.  “Question Marks” are the ones whose compensations are low anf they contribute lowest to company’s profit. They can also be termed as “ Laggards”

Once we have defined or mapped each employee on the above matrix, it will become easy for us to move and train people to move from one quadrant to another. Dogs to be moved to cash cows and then to stars…..

Appraisal is the medium through which one can measure employees and fit them in the above matrix and then start working along with employees to move them from one quadrant to another. Objective of HR personnel to be able to make employees reach to the highest quadrant “ Star”.

How we can shift employees from one quadrant to another….Lets take example of one organization. Google promotes innovation in an unique way. It makes its work force adhere to 70/20/10 rule. An employee in Google is expected to spend 70 percent his or her time on own job, 20 percent on “continuous innovation” and 10 percent on “discontinuous innovation” in any area he or she deems productive.

HR function seeks to convert an adverse situation into an opportunity. HR often gets trapped in a policy role, mediating employee grievances, monitoring compliance with employment laws and enforcing code of conduct. What is more, the function often has seen its mission as one of helping workers overcome deficiencies and obstacles that hinder their performances. Without ignoring these tasks the new HR concentrates on the positive. How can firm enhance its revenue by doing more for its employees? Instead of trying to fix chronic employee weakness, how can firm tailor a role that matches and capitalizes on strengths? For instance after performance review rather than dwell on a talented marketing executives lack of knowledge in finance, a firm can seek to leverage executives creative talents   in broader marketing role – one that helps company expand in key overseas market.

The organisation designs do not remain static over a period of time. Environmental changes compel organisations redesign their structures. Along with changes in designs, organizations adopt uncertainty avoidance mechanisms, differentiation mechanisms and integrating mechanisms to cope with the compensation of environmental changes. These changes in the organisation designs need to be reinforced by innovative HRM strategies.

Finally HR executive role is not limited to distributing salary slips or structuring salary, its more than that and hence we can say that HR executive is becoming an effective change agent. Change management is very critical for any organisation and differentiates between the winning and losing organisation. While winning organisation adopts and prepare themselves to adapt and assimilate the change, losing organisations are overtaken by events, ruminate over the events and are left behind.     

Its entirely on the organisation and the important stakeholders of the organisation to make their babies ( employees) winning or losing one. Its time to smell the coffee and react to the situation rather than waiting for “boiling frog” syndrome.  It is important to remember that linking strategy and HRM effectively requires more than selection from series of practice choices. The challenge is to develop a configuration of HR practice choices that help implement the organisations strategy and enhance its competitiveness. A well designed strategy can fail if sufficient attention is not paid to the HR dimension. Hence we can conclude that in today’s environment HRM is strategically managed unit rather than supporting unit.

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