Monday, June 25, 2007

IT's RAINING RESUMES AT GOOGLE..

Excuse me for writing about Google again , I'm obsessed with this company .
I was reading what makes it so great and happy to learn that It's not only it's ESOP , Free Food , Game Rooms , Massages , Happy Hours ( Thursday , 5PM) and so on. Most of the employees feel happy and satisfied because of it's "Culture" .
But the perks and the playfulness aren't why so many of the world's technophiles pine for a job at Google, named Fortune's 2007 "best company to work for," according to product manager Jonathan Rochelle.
"The perks give you a sense of feeling valued," Rochelle said. "But the most important thing for me is that I have what feels like the right amount of autonomy. I have a very high degree of decision-making power, and that doesn't mean I'm a senior person -- that's just the culture of Google. People take ownership of what they do and make decisions, so things get done quickly. Every day feels like a productive day."
Think through this , and answer this question " Would you like your kids ( when they grow up ) to join the organisation you are working for ? "

In the mean while ....If there's life on other planets, they are probably e-mailing their résumés to Google .

Friday, June 22, 2007

TO BLINK OR NOT ...

I recently finished reading "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell . I really liked the book . It speaks about :

  • Decisions taken in snap with a very little information can be as effective as calculated ones . He says just " Thin Slice" ( dealing with little information ) and do a snap decision .
  • You can learn how to take effective snap judgements
  • You can learn when you'll go wrong and when not to take these snap judgements

Malcom has tried to explain his point quoting many research reports that "Thin Slicing" really works .

Any takers for this ? What'll happen to those looong meetings , reams of paper for reports , analysis , in our corporate culture and still failing to take decisions .

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

PRE JOINING MEDICAL SCREENING .. WHY?

Why Organisations ( Corporates ) in India insist on Pre Joining Medical Fitness Tests ? Is this ethical ? Shouldn't they disclose what diseases ( if found ) they'll Reject ?
On the other side there are organisations / schools which talk of inclusion and give conducive environment to even those infected with HIV , and here organisations are asking it's job aspirants to go for " Medical Screening" ...What's this about ?

Few Organisations release there offer letters only post medical test , some ask to get it done before joining .

There need to be absolute transparency around this :

  • Why this Medical test is required ?
  • What specific ailments are they looking for ?
  • In what circumstances this will lead to rejection of the candidate ?
  • Will this report be shared with the candidate ?
I request organisations to stop this practice & spend this money on better causes

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

DISCOUNT ON STOCK

Nothing sells without discount offers, be it electronics, garments, shoes, books, etc. You name the thing and it’s available at discount. Those were the times when it use to be annual feature ( usually around Diwali , Christmas in India) , then came “ Clearance Sales “ , “ Inaugural Discount” , “ Renovation Sale “ , “ Odd Lot Discount” , “ Factory Price” , “ Early Bird” & “ Seconds Sale” . Thanks to Wal Mart there are “ Every Day Low Price Offers” and these days complete Malls house only “ Discount Stores” .

What Next … ICICI Bank is offering discount of Rs. 50 on it’s follow on Public Issue. Good going, but what next?

Imagine ....A job prospect in his interview telling his interviewer that I'll offer you 15% discount on my current package if you hire me ..

Every thing comes for a price ( may be for a discount also )

Saturday, June 16, 2007

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL

They say job is a god teacher , it teaches spme thing daily , every hour rather every moment . Most of the time it's what to do and many a times also what not to do . After 10 years of corporate working experience I think it's time to go back to school , formally . I was considering to refresh my MBA education , much has changed in the last 10 years . I came to know even "kotler" has been revised many a times.

Education too has changed since then . Doing a full time course from IIM / ISB requires at least one year ( difficult call to leave present job ; these EMIs change your life ) and also some ( may be lot) preparation from GMAT / CAT . The other easier options Management Development Programs ( MDPs or AMPs ) . When i researched on them , even they require reasonably big amount of money in a short time , almost INR 20000 a day for ISB.

I am thinking .... Cost Benefit Analysis you see.....

Friday, June 08, 2007

EMAIL IS PASSE ..TXT IS IN

PLS APRV 10.25% , 20MN DL ON WY.TKS

You are not excused if you don’t understand this . “TXT MSG” is the next big thing , it’s not only limited to the friendly chats between youngsters or coordinating for meeting times. The new users of this powerful tool are corporates . Email is passé , its only for records , this is how decisions happen in the rapidly changing amd highly competitive world.

By the way this txt is what a Manager wrote to seek approval from his boss for giving some special rate to his corporate client who was about to move his funds to another bank . It took around 45 seconds to close the deal . All his boss said was : “APRVD” , and the deal was closed . Emails , Approval notes shall certainly follow but afterwards , for records only.

TXT IS THE IN THING , IS IT APPROPRIATE IN THE CORPORATE WORLD ????

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

NON COMPETE CLAUSE

This one's not welcome from Infosys . ET reports that Infosys is soon going to ask it's employees to sign a NON COMPETE AGREEMENT letter . This means that Infosys's employees are contractually obligated to NOT join any of the competitors or clients with in six months of leaving Infosys.

Competition has been made clear including TCS, IBM, ACCENTURE , WIPRO. It might not be unusual but IS IT FAIR ?

Can Infosys sign an agreement saying that they'll not hire any staff from the IT BIG 5.????