The Percieved and Intrinsic Components of a Brand

Part 1

The best professional I have ever come across has been my ex-driver, who donned the role as a driver and also ran errands at my office. A high school drop-out, he lost his father in his teens. Professionalism ran in his blood. All the four years that he was with me, he was always on time. He was conscious of his responsibilities. He would never get hurt or be defensive. He took pains to understand his tasks properly and whenever he did not execute them, (an insignificant number of times), proactively kept me informed about his inability to do so. He understood the boundaries of his role and never ever trespassed it. He integrated with my team members beautifully to become, their “Anna”(Elder brother in Tamil).

Some of the other best professionals I have hired, have come from families where the bread winner happens to have climbed coconut trees, run biryani shops in small towns, painters, electricians, government school teachers and the list could go on. The breadwinners could only afford to send them to tier 2 or tier 3 colleges, in tier 2 or tier 3 cities. They exhibited an insatiable hunger to learn. Their approach to work , especially their planning and their ability to organize themselves was immaculate. The quality of their work was top class. Despite the fact that many of them, were not able to speak or write proper English, I have witnessed the miracle of application, when error free, complex documents, have been published in English by these people. The products of tier 2 or tier 3 colleges had it within them to produce the miracles. Some of the them were better than the products that best institutes that this country boasts off.

I would not rush to generalize or discuss that this could be an exception and need not be a rule. But the question that arises on the top of the mind, whether it is my driver or the professionals from tier 2 or tier 3 cities, lies the mysterious question, how did they learn to become what they became, since it is very difficult for their parent to have imparted many of the skills, knowledge or qualities. The best their parent could have done is to have done some broad goal setting.

Part 2

On tangential note, the (supposedly) wintry nights(December) in Chennai, witness the long queues for Kinder Garden admission(in June) to the best schools in Chennai. And here begins the quest for branding. Does the best schools impart the best education? Does the best schools have the best teachers?

Some statistics (Oct 15, 2014, The Hindu) (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/teacher-test-throws-up-low-scores/article6502443.ece)

Quote

The Central Teacher Eligibility test, introduced to bring in national standards in recruitment of teachers for classes I-VIII after the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, has consistently thrown up low scores with the highest pass percentage hovering around 10-11 per cent, nationally.

In Chennai, 1,035 candidates had registered for Paper I and 2,763 candidates for Paper II. It is mandatory for teachers to clear the CTET for appointment in classes I to VIII in central government schools.

In the September test conducted by CBSE, nationally, 11.95 per cent of the candidates cleared Paper I, meant for teachers intending to teach classes I-V.

In Paper II, meant for those intending to teach classes VI-VIII, just 2.8 per cent of the candidates passed the muster nationally. Candidates have to score 60 per cent and above to get the eligibility certificate.

The highest pass percentage in the Central Teacher Eligibility Test has hovered around 10-11 per cent, nationally

Unquote

What kind of education can be imparted by these teachers? What kind of role models can these teachers be?

Is there a gap between the perceived brand and the intrinsic merit our schools?

Do the unrequited dreams of parents stop after their wards get branded at these reputed schools.

The thirst does not seem to be quenched.

The next stop has to be the national schools of repute in Technology and Engineering who after its existence of more than fifty years do not seem to have produced a single noble laureate. A lot of tax payer’s money being spent on Engineering courses, whose main goal seems to be staff the services industry.

Are the teachers in the Technology and Engineering Colleges equipped enough to impart the necessary education?

Is there a gap between the perceived brand and the intrinsic merit of students coming out of our Technology and Engineering colleges?

The unrequited dreams of parents extrapolates to management Institutes, employment in organizations of repute and then goes on to caress the American dream, and then hovers around to find new competitive benchmarks of perceived brands and then drive their wards until they are completely out of focus.

Part 3

The first part of my post focuses on intrinsic individual excellence being achieved despite not studying in the best of colleges.

The second portion of my post focuses on the baggage that we carry as a society about perceived brands.

Clearly the intrinsic merits of individuals is not automatically guaranteed just because the individual has gone to a good school, or a reputed organization or studied abroad or worked abroad.

A student coming out of the best colleges, universities or organization’s is certainly not the gift of god to mankind!! The proof of the pudding has to be in the eating.

Are we discussing something new or is the general public not aware of this phenomena?

There may be nothing new that is being discussed. However sadly, there does not seem to be a collective will to solve this problem which seems to be perpetually haunting us and wrecking millions of lives and costing us a lot of money.

And a lot of decision making process is largely based on perception without data.

With influencers at large, their extraordinary unrequited desires, scary expectation and perceptions, there has to be a sense of urgency in bridging the gap between perception and fact. No further time must be lost.

The onus has to be on the providers of education and employment to help the public at large to set expectations which help them get a connect with reality.

IN fact Universities and employers can work together to resolving this predicament as they are the affected parties as well.

With so much of data available, it is now possible to compile that data and harness it into meaningful information for its stakeholders and prospective stakeholders.

Data must be published to set realistic expectations.

It must become imperative for all entities to publish meaningful brand indices, which will help stakeholders understand the brand value of entities and hopefully will effectively bridge the gap between perception and fact.

And I fervently hope that one day, there is a shift in perception(based on data), not in the distant future, it must become more fashionable and profitable to be a farmer in India, than an NRI in the USA!!!!

A Prayer for Everlasting Light

On the Auspicious occasion of Deepavali, here is a Prayer, wishing humanity, Happiness, now and forever.

A Prayer for Everlasting Light

…..

I am a spark of the Divine.

I have a responsibility to myself

I have a responsibility to my family

I have a responsibility to my society.

Recognize I can. Recognize I must. Recognize I will.

….

I shall strive to see the truth in the eyes.

I shall imbibe values, that will remove the friction in my journey.

Development of Knowledge, Skills and Competence, continuously shall be my three fold mantra to liberation.

I shall evolve and strive to understand and play to my true strengths.

Leverage I can. Leverage I must. Leverage I will.

….

I continue to be intrigued by equations of a parent

I continue to be stumped by a relationship, where giving can never exceed receiving

I continue to be intrigued by how a woman can love more than a man. I continue to be intrigued by the mysterious equations of love.

I continue to marvel at the greatest social invention called family.

Pay Forward, I can. Pay Forward, I must. Pay Forward I will.

….

I continue to be in awe of the genius of the creativity of the human being.

I continue to be in awe of the fascinating progress made by human civilization despite natural calamities, colossal tragedies and pestilential wars.

I continue to be a beneficiary of the contributions made by our forefathers.

I continue to be humbled at my own insignificance in the columns of colossus that straddled this world.

Give Back, I can. Give Back, I must. Give Back, I will.

….

“Aum Asato mā sad gamaya
Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
Mṛtyormā amṛtam gamaya
Aum śānti śānti śāntiḥ ” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28)

meaning of which is –

“From ignorance, lead me to truth;
From darkness, lead me to light;
From death, lead me to immortality
Aum peace, peace, peace ” –

Importance of Relationships in Talent Acquisition

Developing and maintaining a relationship

A successful recruiter must develop excellent relationship with the two primary stakeholders, the representatives of the hiring organization (whom we shall refer as Hiring Organization) and Applicant(s) (whom we shall refer as Applicant). The relationship will help the recruiter to transact with the hiring organization and the Applicant effectively and will give her the necessary credibility to influence the hiring organization in the recruitment process, if required.

It is very important to establish a relationship with the Hiring Organization. Relationships are the Building Blocks of business.

Relationship: The Hiring Organization perspective

How can relationship be developed with the Hiring organization?

The best way to strike a relationship with the Hiring organization is to be able to fulfill their requirements in a super quick way.

However it may not always be possible to provide resumes all the time at the pace required by the Hiring Organization.

The recruiter may be able to strike an instant relationship in case the recruiter shares a past background , experience and /or have some friends which the recruiter can leverage.

This may also not be possible.

It is here that some very important qualities would be needed to build and nurture a relationship with the Hiring Organization:

1. Remember that the Hiring Organization is talking to the recruiter because she is an expert at recruiting. Hence it is imperative that recruiter behaves as an expert. This will give a definite psychological advantage.
2. The recruiter may do well to listen to the requirement and reconfirm with the Hiring Organization if she has understood the requirement correctly.
3. The recruiter must seek all possible clarifications upfront.
4. The recruiter must also decide if she would like to take the assignment or not. If the recruiter does not like to take up the assignment, the recruiter may communicate politely stating the reason why she is not in a position to take up the assignment.
5. Once the recruiter decided to take up the assignment, communicate and commit the timelines by which the recruiter would be able to deliver the necessary goods.
6. Once the recruiter commits, the commitment must be fulfilled.
7. The recruiter shall do well to Communicate, Communicate and keep on communicating with the Hiring Organization at all pertinent points of time.
8. Once the recruiter has succeeded in her efforts in recruiting a suitable Applicant, the recruiter may want to follow up with the hiring organization to check how the Applicant is doing.
9. The recruiter must take pains to interact with the hiring organization regularly.
10. The recruiter must, at all points of time, remember that Hiring Organization is the customer and She is the king and always right.

Influencing: The Hiring organization perspective

The recruiter’s job involves a lot of selling. Recruiters are constantly involved in selling opportunities to both the hiring organization as well as the Applicants.

A recruiter has to understand that she is in a position to influence the Hiring Organization in her decision making.

To be able to influence the Hiring Organization, the relationship with the Hiring Organization should be mature.

The recruiter must have established past credibility on quality of the resources she has provided.

The recruiter must behave like an expert.

The recruiter must be able to communicate and interact with the Hiring Organization like an equal.

The recruiter must be in a position to qualitatively evaluate the Applicant.

In real time situation while dealing with the hiring organizations, they may not always shortlists the right profiles. Hence it is very important to be able to convincingly push across a good resumes which may be otherwise lost. To be able to convincingly push across a resume, the recruiter needs to

1. Be able to read the resumes and arrive at an understanding.
2. Be able to interact and interview the Applicant to understand her aspirations and motives.
3. Have a good understanding of the expectations of the hiring organization on the HR angle
4. Be able ability to understand a Job Description
5. Have a grasp of market intelligence, realities and constraints.

If the recruiter has good grasp of the above she may be in a position to discuss the case with great conviction and also be successful in handling the hiring organization.

There could be many variations of road block which the recruiter may hit with the hiring organization. If a recruiter is an expert at her job, she would be in a position to engage and influence the hiring organization effectively.

Relationship and Influencing: The Applicant perspective

An Applicant has multiple options. An Applicant is looking out for the job that provides her with the maximum salary along with super brand equity. She is under tremendous peer pressure. Also may look out for any overseas opportunity and may want to achieve it all, yesterday. A few of them look out for the role and long term growth and some of them make choices to move due the personal pressures.

We need to appreciate that many of the aspects pertaining to dealing with the hiring organization applies to the applicant also. It is important to develop a personal rapport, maintain and build a relationship with the Applicant and also be able to influence the Applicant very much on the lines of the hiring organization as we discussed earlier on.

It is very important to reinforce again that to be able to execute the above responsibilities the recruiter needs to position herself as an expert and be able to take a role in an advisory capacity in the proceedings. Yes, the recruiter is under a pressure to recruit and achieve her targets. It is however very important to observe that we are dealing with human beings and their career. It is very important to take adequate care and ensure that the Applicant gets the right job. This will enhance the credibility of the recruiter. Please remember that at no point of time the recruiter will forward a resume to the Hiring Organization if it endangers the career of an individual or can spoil the fortunes of the Hiring Organization.

The recruiter has to act in an advisory capacity. While interacting with the Applicant she must take a personal interest in her case and dispassionately advice her of opportunities, which means that the recruiter can advice her of options that will benefit the Applicant and not necessarily the recruiter. The recruiter must be knowledgeable about the industry practices, the best jobs available in the market, must be able to act like career counselor, must take interest in rewriting her resume if necessary, advice her of the precautions she has to take while attending the interview, understanding the offer and any other tips that will be helpful in the Applicant, advancing her career.

Groundhog Day: Evolution of Hope

I somehow seemed to have missed watching Ground Hog Day all these years.

With passing references to “Groundhog Day” in the reviews of “Over The Edge”, I became curious and caught up with “Groundhog Day”

The central premise of Groundhog Day:

What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing you did mattered?

What if there were no tomorrow?

Well the protagonist got incarcerated on a lustrous winter not by Space but by time !!!!

Would that mean there would be no consequences and no hangovers? Would that mean you could do whatever you wanted?

In Incarceration, are sown the seeds of introspection, which blooms into the bright alleys of redemption.

On one of the days, as the protagonist, downs an extravagant breakfast, in an ungainly fashion, with the lady of his subconscious. Argumentative interactions over the breakfast leads to tangential points of view resulting in the lady voicing, Sir Walter Scott:

The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.

To which the protagonist retorts, Do you think I am acting like this because I am ego centric.

The lady, is emphatic that she knows he is ego centric and that is his defining characteristic.

Not only is he egocentric, but also a narcissist, insensitive and meanness personified.

While there have been many tales of incarceration and the ensuing war to redeem against the fateful imposition, in Groundhog Day lies a pattern and route to hope. The enemy of course lies within and therefore when the individual is beset with a series of unavoidable emotions, hope is intrinsically built into the DNA of creation and it is within striking distance of the individual to exercise it, with a wonderful weapon called introspection.

Traverse these emotions, experience hope evolve and reverse your misfortunes.

1. Disbelief
2. Shock
3. Confusion
4. Anxiety
5. Avoidance
6. Helplessness
7. Despair
8. Introspection
9. Resolve
10. Hope

I am sure we all get incarcerated either by space, time or our own mindsets.

Reach out to our friend “introspection”, activate and energize the “resolve” within, “Hope” is just around the corner.

Other Must See films on Incarceration: Shawshank Redemption, Hurricane, Castaway, Papillon and Invictus

Offer Management in Talent Acquisition Life Cycle

An offer is an important objective for which the recruiter works.

An offer is made when there is an alignment and synchronization of expectation of the Applicant and the hiring organization on the following parameters:

1. Role
2. Designation
3. Work location
4. Compensation
5. Time to join

However it is not necessary that the Applicant will join after an offer is made.

It is important to understand why the offer is not accepted so as to help prevent similar kind of mistakes in the future.

Revisiting the recruitment process and introspecting on the same may give vital clues. The offer is probably declined since there could be a mismatch on one of the five parameters above.

The recruiter has to keep in mind that the need to understand the aspirations of the Applicant very well to minimize drop outs. This is best accomplished when the recruiter

1. Reads the resume well to understand the Applicants skill sets and career objectives
2. Disseminates the requirement, briefs/sells about the opportunity clearly and understand if the requirement really excites the Applicant
3. Interacts with the Applicant to understand Applicant’s aspirations well
4. Displays a good understanding of the Applicant profile and thereby earns the respect of the Applicant
5. Provides timely feedback on the progress of the case to the Applicant
6. Builds a relationship with the Applicant so that the Applicant feels comfortable and opens up
7. Negotiations may be an integral part of the offer roll out, a good rapport and relationship can help set up a favorable environment during the negotiation.

Elements of an offer

Understanding an Offer

An offer may not just be the salary that is being offered to the candidate.

The recruiter must understand that an offer that is being made has several components to it. It is the professional responsibility of the recruiter to roll out the offer or help the candidate understand the offer in entirety.

The offer has monthly components, yearly components, like Leave Travel Assistance, Statutory components like Provident Fund and retrials, components that could be paid to the candidate at the time of retirement or separation from the company like Gratuity, Superannuation.

The offer could have benefits like health care for the candidate/family and perquisites like Maintenance of Car, Driver, club membership etc.

Employee Stock Options could also be an important and attractive component of the offer.

Many companies could have attractive loan schemes.

The location of the company, the distance involved and time consumed in day to day travel could also be a significant component of the offer.

What is time off/leave available every year has an important bearing on the offer.

What is the role that is being offered? This has a bearing on the learning and growth for the individual. It also has an impact on the future growth for the individual.

Does the role require overseas travel? Does it require frequent travel? Overseas travel could be short term or long term. This could be an attractive financial reward. On the contrary frequent short term travel overseas or otherwise could affect the lives of candidate’s who are married. It is the professional responsibility of the recruiter to give clear details for the candidate to decide.

The offer includes critical ingredients like the area of the work that the candidate is going to be involved in and how does that particular area fit into the overall structure of the organization could have an impact on the candidate’s decision to take up the offer.

It is important to note that many of the candidate’s decision to work in organization are directly dependent on the Boss and coworkers he gets to work with. If it is possible to share this piece of information than the recruiter may want to share this.

The Company’s brand, the sustenance, growth potential and prospects of the Industry, the core values of the organization and how they are perceived in the market are also important ingredients that the recruiter may want to address while rolling out the offer.

Offer need not result in a joining.

This should be kept in the mind at all times. This will help the recruiter plan backup(s) for the same position and minimize the damage.

The relevant stakeholders need to be informed that the Applicant has not accepted the offer as early as possible.

In real time scenarios, there are Applicants who accept an offer and do not join in the last moment. This causes extraordinary embarrassment and also loss of credibility to the recruiter and recruiting organization.

This cannot be completely avoided but the damage can be minimized by constantly staying in touch with the Applicant and asking an explicit set of questions

1. An Applicant’s expectation is captured before sending the resume to a hiring organization, check if the offer made is in accordance with expectation of the Applicant
2. If there is a gap in the offer, check with the Applicant if she is happy?, if she is unhappy, please escalate to the hiring organization.
3. If the offer made is the best that can be offered, please inform the applicant that the offer is the best that can be made and start looking for backups in case if you have doubts about the Applicant’s level of acceptance.
4. In case the offer has been accepted by the Applicant, check as to when she intends to join.
5. Follow up to check the date of joining and also check if she has resigned.
6. If she has not resigned, find out when she is going to resign.
7. When you have ascertained that she has resigned, ask her if she can share with you the accepted copy of the resignation letter or a copy of the resignation letter.
8. If she is an out of station Applicant, check whether she needs accommodation when she relocates. Also check on her travel plans.
9. In case her resume is in the job site, you can request her to remove it. In case it is still floating around, the Applicant could be shopping.
10. Any one of your colleagues could pose the Applicant with other opportunities and gauge her intentions.
11. Regular follow ups, clear questions can help ascertain whether the offered applicant will join or not.

Please remember that these questions can only minimize the damage and cannot guarantee joining. An Applicant could always be retained at the existing organization or use your offer to find a better job.

How to Read a Resume

Resume is a very important document. It helps us to form a first level impression about the Applicant and do some basic due diligence about the Applicant.

The resume can throw a lot of light on the Applicant. The resume can give an insight into what the Applicant thinks about herself and what she has probably done.

The data in the resume has to be validated while interacting with the Applicant to confirm our understanding about the Applicant and form further assumptions.

Please read the resume very carefully. Read the resume completely.

A) Experience, Number of years: Validating details in the resume

Step 1: Register the overall experience of the Applicant

Step 2: Make sure the Start Dates and the End Dates of the employment are captured

Step 3: Calculate the duration of each employment the Applicant has worked in

Step 4: Add up the duration of each employment and calculate the total duration of the employment

Step 5: Check if the claim made about the overall experience and the total calculated in Step 4 match.

B) Gap in Employment History

While performing A, register the gaps in employment history and note it down. While talking to the Applicant makes sure you ask the Applicant what is the reason for the gaps

C) Educational Qualification: Validating the claims

Step 1 : Register the year of passing against every educational milestone right from X, XII etc.

Step 2 : Record unusual time taken to complete any educational qualification

Step 3 : Record if there are any gaps while studying, discontinuity in studies is common.

Step 4 : Check if any of the academic degree has been done through correspondence/distance education. Many organizations do not hire applicants who have done through correspondence/distance education.

Step 5 : Please be conscious that a normal person finishes her High School or Grade XII by the age of 18. In case there is a discrepancy between the age and the number of years taken to complete any educational milestone, record and investigate

D) Job Changes

Check for the number of changes made and if they have been made frequently.

E) Check for any special achievements

F) Do not be misguided by the summary in the first page, Read the complete resume.

G) Try to understand the role and contribution of the Applicant. The details pertaining to the organization are irrelevant.

While reading the resume the recruiter must get a feel and form a first level opinion about

1. The quality of the Applicant’s education

2. The quality of the organizations the Applicant has worked in

3. The number of years of relevant experience

4. The quality of experience based on role and contribution must sink in

5. If there are any special achievement, like being a fast tracker or if anything is positively or negatively, striking

6. For which Job Description will this resume be a good fit

Do not proceed evaluating an incomplete CV.

To Connect or Not to Connect? That is the question…

In LinkedIn Search is a function of your network and Search results are constrained by the size of your network. Arbitrarily adding connections and sending invites may not serve your needs.

To ensure that you have a delightful LinkedIn experience it is critical that you ask yourself why you want to be in LinkedIn and take time to articulate your needs? Your LinkedIn profile must clearly capture your needs. The strategy to nurture your network must be therefore synchronized with your needs.

This document examines the rationale behind sending and accepting invites in LinkedIn, a critical factor which will affect the quality of your network and therefore the quality of your LinkedIn experience.

Are you spending the same amount of

1. Time in Analyzing a LinkedIn profile
2. Performing the necessary due diligence
   

In trying to understand

1. The credibility of the LinkedIn profile
2. Adequacy for your needs

Before

1. Sending an Invite
2. Deciding to Accept an invite

Checklist before deciding to accept a connection

1. Ask yourself if the person who has sent the invite will make a difference to your Network?
2. Do you know him from the past? Is he a member of the family, alumni or any of your previous organizations?
3. Has the person sent a note explaining why he wants to network with you? This could have an impact of the quality of the relation.
4. Check if the profile(LinkedIn) is complete
5. Check the quality of the profile(LinkedIn). Does it reflect a basic level of professionalism and thoughtfulness?
6. If the profile(LinkedIn) is not complete, seek clarifications and inputs from the person who has sent you an invite
7. Check the shared connections. Check with the known connections if they have more details about the person or how well you know him?
8. Does he have similar and/or converging interests?
9. Will connecting to him lead you to important people and organizations that you want to connect with?
10. What is the size of his network? Will it make a significant difference to your network size?
11. Has the person driven traffic to his company website? Check if the company he is working in and the website where the traffic is being driven are one and the same?
12. Check the company link in LinkedIn and the website link in LinkedIn company page. Where is the traffic being directed?

Before you accept or decide to send an invite, Think !!!

1. Will the contact make a good connection. Will the contact be absolutely necessary for your needs?
2. Will this result into a mutually beneficial relationship. It is important that you add value to that contact as well!!
3. Is the LinkedIn profile credible? Take enough care to ascertain the details in the profile and ensure it is a genuine profile

Are you “SyncedIn”?

Important Lesson for transactional effectiveness within teams.

This document is an attempt to give insights into the recent contest we had announced on the eve of our forthcoming “Bread, Salt and Definitely Wine Social Media workshop” scheduled on the 10th of May 2014 at Hotel Atria in Bengaluru.

Please find attached the slide share link containing the questions of the contest.

Participate in our SyncedIn contest and win a free seat to our “The Bread, Salt & Definitely Wine” Social Media Workshop on 10 May, 2014 at Hotel Atria, Bengaluru from Raghunath Ramaswamy

These set of questions are designed to trigger thought on how team member could ideally transact with their immediate managers effectively.

Please find attached the slide share link containing the answers of the contest.

Are you SyncedIn?: Answers for our SyncedIn Contest from Raghunath Ramaswamy

 

Important takeaways of team members

1. Team members, may want to listen to their managers carefully and completely before answering the questions. Interrupting and trying to answer the questions In a hurry may reflect your anxiety or fear and the team member may run the risk of exposing himself or herself of situation the manager is probably not aware of.

2. Team members may be well advised to take the bull by the horns, provide the exact information, if required proactively, especially if things are in bad shape.

3. Team members may be ill advised to be defensive during an interaction.

4. Team members may be ill advised to get hurt during a team meeting. The hurt can be distracting and may not enable the team member to focus on the real task ahead.

5. Team members may not want to beat around the bush, give evasive answers and provide indirect answers.

6. Most importantly, Team members, may be well advised to cultivate the courage of accepting things that they have not been able to accomplish. This is the greater trick not only to disarm your manager but also to evolve as an accountable professional.

 

Reality connect for team members

Team members have to ask themselves, if they are really “SyncedIn”?

Teams works towards common goals, Organization works towards Business Goals.

Important components that go into achieving these goals can be broken down into Strategic and Transactional.

Strategic intent is converted into plans. Plans are broken down into activities that are essentially transactional in nature.

Organization execute their plans and work towards their business goals in teams.

The teams therefore have to be a  tightly coupled unit while executing the plans.

While pursuing any plan, most of the organizations are aware that there are several elements of the plan that need to fall in place. They are therefore ever ready with a  backup plan for any of the activity that may not get executed as per the plan.

The Leader of the Team, who is accountable for the deliverables, while executing the plans has to necessarily micromanage to know exactly if the progress is being made according to the plan and exercise his backup options if required.

Therefore it becomes the bounden duty of the team member to co-operate with his team leader and provide him with the necessary inputs to enable him achieve organizational goals.

It is important that the team member works with the team leader and arrives at a plan before executing the plan.

Once the plan is in the execution phase it is important that the team member co-operates with the team leader and furnishes him information as desired by him, even if the team member is not able to execute his part of the plan properly. Managers in organization more importantly need the right information to be able handle the situation, since they are well aware that most of the plans do not get executed as planned and in real time, there could be many a road block.

Sync In with your manager and your organization goals and steer your way to success.

Recruiter’s Oath

As a recruiter I deal with the careers of individuals. My actions could irreversibly change their fortunes. The fortunes of hiring organizations, who also I serve, are no less important than the lives of an applicant. I am straddled with great responsibility.

Integrity shall be the foundation of my competitiveness.

I understand that Recruitment is both an art and a science. As a practitioner of the art, it shall be my endeavor to educate myself continually, and update myself, so that I may be able to serve efficiently.

I shall constantly strive to hone my skills as a recruiter by diligently practicing’s the fundamentals which shall ensure a great recruiting culture.

It will always be my endeavor, to find the best fit applicant for any requirement.

I shall move with alacrity and purpose while servicing a requirement, search the appropriate Applicant at the quickest possible time and at optimal cost.

I shall keep my stakeholders informed of the progress made on their case at appropriate times.

I understand that Recruitment is not a number game but an opportunity to forge relationship with innumerable number of people.

I hope to evolve as an endearing and enduring recruiter.

Social Media Implementation: A Reality Connect

Enhance your Social Media Presence and Get Found for your needs. This is easily said than done.

There are hundreds of successful stories of how individuals and organizations have leveraged Social Media, enhanced their social media presence, and eventually got found for their needs.

The objective of this post to present the actual aspects that enhance your social media presence and a realistic effort required to leverage and implement social media successfully as an individual and as an organization.

There are three critical factors that determine your social media experience irrespective of platforms

1. Identity
2. Network
3. Engagement

Identity

Identity, the social media profile, like the LinkedIn profile or the Facebook profile represents the identity of an individual. The company page, like the LinkedIn company page or the Facebook company page, represents that identity of an organization.

What are the precautions that you may want to take before setting up your identity?

Great care has to be taken before setting up your identity. The identity is the foundation of your experience in social media and is a reflection of your needs. Most importantly, it must address and articulate, why you are present in social media(take into consideration both your present and future needs). This will not only determine the traffic coming to your profile but also will determine your strategy to nurture your network.

Creating an identity may be a largely one time exercise and may require some changes from time to time. Ideally, the Identity of an organization in social media platforms, where there are detailed provisions available, like LinkedIn, must be a mirror reflection of the competencies of your organization, showcased in your website. This could be very helpful in showcasing your services and sharing with the network that you construct.

Network

Having articulated your needs well, the next most important step is to proactively nurture a qualitative and quantitative network for your needs. The quality and quantity of your network will determine your social media experience. It is simply not possible to connect with everybody on a social media platform. The strategy to nurture a network must therefore be to connect with people who have similar interests, who may need you and/or with whom there is a sense of interdependence, either in the present or in the future.

Before you decide to construct a network in any social media platform, please take pains to understand how the network works in specific social media platforms. As an example, In LinkedIn, the network is configured as “Levels”(L1, L2 and L3) and in Twitter it is configured as “Followers” and “Following”. The network works in different ways. In LinkedIn, Search is a function of your network and search results are constrained by the size of your network. The Broadcasts that you therefore make, will be constrained by the size of the network. Similarly in Twitter, the broadcasts that you make will be constrained by your network, in addition to the hash tags that you decide to exercise.

Nurturing your network is a continuous activity. Great Care must be taken to nurture the network, proactively, taking the needs and interdependence into account. Your network is your net worth. Hence great care must be taken to organize your network and there must be a conscious effort to understand the distribution of your network and become conscious of your wealth of connections. It is also possible to scientifically arrive at the size of the network based on your needs. But while constructing the size, the quality of network cannot be compromised.

Engagement

While you could have a great identity and a great Network, it is the quality, consistency and regularity of your engagement that will impact your social media presence, enhance your reputation and help you to convert your connections into relationships.

As the needs of the individual and organizations evolve, the network on your social media platform evolves, and therefore the engagement with your network needs to keep on evolving. While engaging with your evolving network, you need to develop the virtues of listening. As much as you take pains to articulate your identity and therefore your needs, you must also constantly listen to the needs of your network and your engagement strategy has to be a function of your network’s needs. You need to respond to them either in the moment or wait for the moment. You must anticipate trends and must be accordingly be prepared. The heart of the engagement strategy is the content management strategy. Not only is it important to develop content, promoting the content is equally important.

Like nurturing a network, engagement is a continuous activity, required as long as the individual and/or the organization wants to leverage social media.

The importance of the regimen

The principles of social media for an individual and organization do not differ much. Based on the needs, a relevant identity, network and engagement has to be arrived at. While constructing the identity is one time task, nurturing a network and engaging them effectively is a continuous activity.

Since there is a clearly cut out task, it is imperative that every individual who either uses it for his individual purpose or organizational purpose must develop a daily regimen and get into a rhythm. Only then can the individual hope to leverage social media effectively.

Social Media Implementation: Vital steps

1. Articulate your holistic business needs and why you want to be in Social Media and arrive at your social media Goals.
2. Asses your existing Social Media Presence if any and evaluate the gap
3. Assess competitive landscape on Social Media
4. Assess the Risks involved, and arrive at mechanisms to handle adverse events.
5. Understand the quality and quantity of your network for your needs and arrive at a strategy to network.
6. Understand the Engagement required for your network, arrive at a content strategy and more importantly promote it regularly.
7. Based on the network and the engagement required arrive at the effort required to sustain this effort and therefore an organization required to support this initiative.

Implementation of Social Media is a very critical activity that requires very serious thought, effort, focus and a dedicated team to enable organizations leverage and succeed in social media.