Ram K Reddy A, Business HR Partner, SVR Infra Projects (ADRG)

Employee Engagement

2013-10-15T07:36:00.001-07:00

I have been to attend an interview days back and was given an opportunity to elucidate about employee engagement.

I actually see short term and long term goals pertaining to this subject. I have discussed a lot, but are very few to detail as per my knowledge.

I request all of you to add valid points covering under this subject to meet long term objectives.

Increasing employee engagement is among the top three items of the to do list of many Human Resources Managers. An engaged employee is defined as a person who is heartily involved in, and enthusiastic about his/her work. Employee engagement is the responsibility of business leader’s at all organizational levels. Organizations must invest on HRIS to hold high quality data to know the level of satisfaction in the organization and deploy new policies.

What will turn employee engagement into another short lived fad is if it is used by employers as a method to get people to work harder. My understanding of employee engagement is not that to treat it as just a duty, but practicing every day in every action, by front line leaders/Managers. There are many tools we are practicing, but some of my views pertaining to the subject are the below:

1. Offer volunteering opportunities to the employees to participate in CSR activities

Employee volunteering is the best employee engagement tool which is less conventional and often overlooked. During Employee volunteering activities like Tree planting, school renovation etc, lot of emotional bonding will develop between employees. We can also invite our customers to strengthening the relationship with our company and customers.

2. Servant leadership

Researches indicate that front line leaders play an important role in instilling a sense of engagement in co-workers. The quality of the connection between leaders and co-workers at all levels is crucial and touches the heart of each and every organization: relationships and the way people deal with each other.

Servant leaders’ statements like the following:

a) The team member is the expert and he has done excellent job.

b) Focus on the problem, not the individual.

c) Mistakes are okay if they do not repeat and learn from them.

d) You work for your team members, not for me.

3. Emergency Response

Personal assistance/presence in some of the emergency incidents such as accidents and serious sickness will always triumph employee's heart.

4. People Supporting Processes such as Clean & Safe Workplace, Problem Solving Teams/Groups, Visual/Transparent Management & Communication.

a) Problem solving teams/groups will have two roles, one is to support individuals as they do their work and the other is to solve problems to improve how the work is done.

b) Maintaining work environment safe Physically, Psychologically and Personal Health.

c) "I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant", a statement by Robert McCloskey. Develop channels like Formal Communications (Information sharing from the company to the employees, from the employees back to the management, and between the employees), Human Resources activities to keep the communication channels open and effective and Informal activities that are designed to facilitate and improve communication.

Please add you comments.

Regards
Ram

What is the first thing you should do in the organization didn't have HR department and you are first HR manager!

2012-04-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

Friends, here is my view and what I did on the above subject.

STAGE 1

Review the current practices / policies [if any].

Audit all HR activities that are performed [even the crude format].

HERE ARE THE CORE HR KRAs [ Key Result Areas]

KRA 1 :Recruitment / Selection.

KRA 2 :Workforce Planning and Diversity.

KRA 3 :Performance Management.

KRA 4 :Reward Management.

KRA 5 :Workplace Management and Relations.

KRA 6 :A Safe and Healthy Workplace.

KRA 7 :Building Capabilities and Organizational Learning.

KRA 8 :Effective HR Management Systems, Support and Monitoring.

STAGE 2

• Understand the organization.

• Understand the organization structure.

• Understand the organization systems.

• Understand the organization politics/influential people.

• Understand the organization / individual roles.

• Understand the organization / positions.

• Understand the individual job descriptions.

• Understand the job / job specifications etc…

STAGE 3

• Discuss the values / beliefs with senior management / CEO and the need for HR department.

• Discuss the expectations from HR department – short / medium / long term.

• Discuss with CEO, the organization's corporate objectives / strategies and how HR can contribute to the corporate objectives.

• Discuss / seek consensus on organization structure / management process.

• Discuss the current organization culture with senior management.

• Discuss with CEO / senior management the core activities / competences and business drivers of the organization.

To get a good start and hold on your credibility, you need these informations to start your work on HR department installation.

Get a copy of Corporate plan which outlines the Company's Vision, Mission, Corporate Objectives and Corporate Strategies. HR dept. is a support unit and hence must work closely with other depts.

STAGE 4

Even though there is currently no HR department, there are a number of HR activities are being carried out now. You have to know what they are / how it is being carried out / by whom. To collect and consolidate these, you need a quick HR Audit of the present situation.

AFTER you gather all the information and summarized, you should sit down with your boss [CEO] and discuss and prioritize the items, as follows:

• URGENT / IMPORTANT

• URGENT/ NOT IMPORTANT

• NOT URGENT/ IMPORTANT

• NOT URGENT / NOT IMPORTANT, BUT NEEDED DOWN THE LINE.

STAGE 5

Please REVIEW the HR MANUAL, as listed below.

Pick points out of it , as per your need, based on your discussion / audit results.

You may want to start up with

• HR DEPARTMENT OBJECTIVES.

• HR DEPARTMENT STRATEGIES.

• Draft on Recruitment / Selection Procedure / PROCESS.

• Draft on organization structure.

• Draft on job analysis / job descriptions / job specifications / competencies.

• Draft on payroll / compensation / administration.

• Appointment /Confirmation / Termination / Resignation / PROCEDURES / PROCESS.

• Induction program

• Orientation program

• Employee communications

• Training & development of the employees

• Performance Appraisals / management

Once you have the preliminary draft ready, you can start with your EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

STAGE 6

Review the HRM Processes, make a note of what you think are important for the company and the priority ones.

Please add your inputs so that others will learn.

Regards

Ram

Founder & Director HR

ADR Group

Email: ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Services: Infra & Fire Fighting| Property | Education | Product Promotion

Invitation for campus recruitments - A non profit activity

2012-01-21T21:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,

Sub: Campus Talent Pool: Ready to be placed in Pan Indian Corporate: A Request to your organization.

Greetings!

We are aware that your organization has been very active in the recent past and bagged orders in various prestigious Projects and looking forward for good talented fresh engineers who are ready to handle project implementation successfully.

We, ADR Group is committed to help untapped students in semi urban areas across India under our CSR activity called "Upadhi". Our mission is "Aiming for better society through our vision of providing employment for people in rural segments." Upadhi is completely a non-profit bustle where we will not charge any service fee neither from the government nor candidates or Corporates. Under "Upadhi" we have helped more than 500 graduates/Management students and placed them in various Corporates in current financial year. Please visit our blog to view our activities on http://notforprofit2010.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html.

We now have a Database of Students who have > 60% Aggregate (max 95%) , Well trained in all possible needs of Industry, Soft Skills and Project Deployment and execution in the fields of Engineering ( BE, Diploma), Pharmacy , MBA & MCA and other Graduate Studies.

We now request your esteemed organization to join hands and pick up the talented students ready to be placed in your related jobs across Pan India. We assure you that after Campus Selection, we will further train the Students by industry proven personalities exactly for your organizational needs in coordination with your HR before we send them to you. By the time our Students join your organization they shall be ready to handle various techniques including technology, behavioural, communication skills and attitude.

We request you to instruct your concerned HR Authorities to arrange Campus Interviews for our Students exclusively for your needs. This helps us to deliver ready man power who can take up challenges across pan India.

Regards
Ram
Email: ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Given employment to MBA freshers under Upadhi

2011-12-21T03:25:00.000-08:00

Last week I have helped few guys and arranged interviews for them in various organizations where I have good contacts. Few of them got shortlisted and joined. All these guys are from rural back ground and below poverty line. I have done this under my dream project "Not For Profit - Upadhi", the idea to provide employment to the people in rural India.

Details below:

SL NO	Company	No.of Selections	Qualification	Position Offered
1	Yashoda Hospital	7	MBA (Fin)	Exe-Auditing
2	CA firm	3	B.Com	Exe-Accounts
3	SVR Projects	3	D.Civil	Site Engineer

Since most of the companies are not ready to participate in public events like job fairs/Job melas, we have chosen few Engineering & Management colleges in semi urban areas and conducting campus selections to help students in those areas. Upadhi is completely a non profit bustle where we will not charge neither from companies nor colleges or candidates.

Till now I have helped more than 500 students with suitable employment under my charity activity. I request you to kindly support my vision of providing employment to youth in the rural areas. Please let me know if you have contacts in the industry to visit campus for selections. We have huge number of students from Graduation/BE/MCA/PG/MBA/Pharmacy etc. back ground.

Regards
Ram K Reddy A
Email: ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Resume screening. What should we check for in a resume!!

2011-12-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Dear HR Colleagues

Thought of sharing my knowledge on resume screening.

Resume is the best source for investigation of a guy's attitude and seriousness on his career. I usually consider the below parameters while screening the profiles.

Appearance of the resume. See format and approach.
Focus: Prospective candidate should demonstrate on his career or job objective. The objective is specific and focuses on the needs of the organization.
Spelling errors: More than two got immediately round filed. If you cannot even be bothered to spell-check your resume, you are not employable.
Large employment gaps.
Short periods of employment/too many jobs: Unless the positions were specified as contract positions, the person just looks like a job-hopper and or unemployable.
Growing responsibilities from one employment to another.
Check for accomplishments in his current and past employment.
Check domain knowledge: Candidate will mention so many technical skills in his resume. Check his projects for these skills whether implemented or not. Also check for relevant domain experience.
Consistency in educational percentage.
Check email address which he mention in his resume. If the email id is unprofessional like "sexyram@xyz.com" or "hiremenow@xyz.com" or "anotherdayanotherjob@xyz.com" etc.

I may be missed out some more points. I request all of you to add your inputs.

Regards

Ram

ADR GROUP

Services: Infra & Fire Fighting| Property | Education | Product Promotion

Manager must be a coach to help improve performance of his team

2011-09-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

If manager do not become skilled at coaching their team, it is doubtful that they will be able to attain the long term results not only for themselves but also their organizations. If a manager wants to be a leader, he or she must develop the ability to coach others. Coaching is an essential skill required by every successful manager in this new business era. Command or control leadership of managing team have gone long ago.

Coaching demands skill and time. Or I can say Knowledge and patience. Before playing a coach role managers must understand the purpose of coaching.

Let’s refer a quotation on leadership “Leader is not a person who can perform better than his team but the person who inspires his team to perform better than he can". This can be achieved exactly by good coaching. The objective of coaching is the same. In simple words, coaching is the act of helping his team to perform better.

Through coaching we can either target to develop entirely new skills or helping to improve the performance of a non performer or enhancement of existing skills. However, good coaching by managers will surely speed up the progress of employees and take their organizations a head high in the competition.

The question here is "why all the managers will not become coaches?" I see the below reasons.

1. They don’t understand the value of coaching.

2. Lack of skills.

3. Due to work pressure they may not get time.

How to overcome these barriers is the question. Here are the solutions.

Apply the rules on self: You cannot force the managers coaching responsibilities those whose attitudes always see "what is in it for me?" So showcase them the success stories of managers or business man in their organization to seize the opportunity to learn how to become an effective coach. Once they understand "something in it for me" then they achieve stronger results through the efforts, they will understand results can be yield not from commanding the employees but from coaching others.

Coaching is compulsory: Tell the managers very clearly to take coaching as a basic responsibility to create a coaching organization. As I described, coaching required time and skill. So provide them to the managers.

Train the managers on coaching skills and make them to practice.

Assign a coach to every manager: I suggest organizations to assign a coach to every new manager on day one of his joining, as a part of induction. Practical course is more effective than class room training. He will experience the benefits of coaching and become more committed to the practice. If you don’t have coaches, hire external coaches to work with your managers.

Reward the best coaches: Managers who are top performers are obviously best coaches. Encourage them by providing challenging roles and reward them. Message goes to entire organization.

I am not a coach but stood as a successful manager and honoured with titles including leadership excellence award from President HR when I was working with Reliance Communication as a Head HR for Andhra Pradesh. Please leave your comments.

Regards

Ram

ADR Group

Services: Infra & Fire Fighting| Property | Education | Product Promotion

Why incentive programs in organizations frequently fail??

2011-09-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

Have your past incentive programs been a disappointment to both you and your salespeople?

Sales incentive programs under perform or fail as a result if elements of the technique are executed improperly. Often, incentive programs fail miserably because of innate complexities either in their recording and reporting systems or in how rewards are won. If you put the salesperson in a position where he or she is forced to assess "To get this, I first have to sell this, plus these and not these and they must include these," you are creating a recipe for confusion, sales frustration and failure. In the end, the incentive program becomes a disincentive!

The monetary values of incentives are often not the critical factor in motivating salespeople to succeed. In my view, the money and the goodies were not primary motivation and not all salespeople are motivated the same way. Consequently, not all incentive programs work. Why is that?

The remedy? There can be no ambiguity. Anything less will result in a lack of interest, as well as a waste of time and money that can sometimes spill over into other departments whose task it is to administer and account.

From my experience, I'll make the following observations:

1) The 70-30 Rule: Thirty percent of the salespeople make seventy percent of the sales and profits. Too often, sales incentives - perhaps in an effort to be fair - are geared to the entire sales force. Enlightened marketing strategists know that the top thirty percent are already motivated. Simply put, a strategy that's geared to light a fire under the next thirty percent - the next logical group - doubles the business in a more cost efficient manner.

2) Salespeople by nature are like electricity. They naturally take the path of least resistance. That's not to say they are lazy or untoward. In fact, it's just the opposite. Good salespeople look to simplicity to make things happen.

3) Edison may have invented the light bulb, but it never went anywhere until a salesperson understood its benefits and made the first sale… and probably sold a lamp to go with it! Incentive programs don't just sell themselves. Too often, expensive motivational programs are overlooked in the field because representatives either don't understand their value and/or are unsure how to sell them. Many times, good incentive programs are written off as having missed the target, when in reality, they just weren't rolled out and managed properly.

4) Reward: Any reward-value can become an unmotivated, anticlimactic activity if the time span between winning and getting is too long. Successful incentive programs reward immediately! As a rule, the faster the reward is delivered, the greater the enthusiasm for the incentive program.

Although on some levels, salespeople are a complex breed, when it comes to incentives, they are - for the most part - quite predictable. Their nature is to react to excitement or challenge faster than most, and then move on. One way to maximize their natural bent and ensure greater program success is simply to cater to their natural motivators. "Get them their stuff QUICKLY!"

I have noticed huge attrition in the sales division in one of my previous organizations though attractive incentive policies were placed just because of this reason.

5) Recognition: At the risk of making salespeople appear shallow or monolithic (they are not), recognition amongst their peers is still the typical motivator, whether there's an incentive program or not. The rule again, is, there is no such thing as too much recognition! Salespeople by nature gravitate to the limelight much like other performers, and so there should be no shortage of achievement and overachievement recognitions that find their way - in a timely manner - to the public's eye.

Another fact that is frequently overlooked is that recognition, whether part of an incentive or not, is the least expensive means of motivation. In many cases, it's free! Often, shaking the hand of the president in front of the company is all it takes to galvanize the need to overachieve.

The Bottom Line: Manufacturers and Distributors must take greater care when designing motivational incentive programs. Find out what they want, then, give it to them. But make sure to keep it simple, keep it clear, promote it properly, reward immediately, don't try to target everybody, and, recognize, recognize… RECOGNIZE!

Regards

Ram

ADR Group

Services: Infra & Fire Fighting| Property | Education | Product Promotion

Enquire on ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in for any kind of support on the above services.

Difference between Business HR & Conventional HR

2011-08-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Corporate HR and Business HR are terms used to distinguish area of operations. In organizations which are concentrated on single core business the terms are one and the same.

There has been an increasing awareness in the past decades that HR functions were like an island for cool comfort jobs which are far away from the hard world of real business. In fact I have received many such comments on this from colleagues who were headed departments like Sales, IT, Finance, Customer care etc. In order to justify its own existence HR functions had to be connected with the strategy and day to day running of the business side of the organization.

Here is a small attempt to distinguish between Business HR and Traditional HR. Actually, the question behind writing this small article is “what roles can be identified for the current day HR department in the context of increasing globalization of the corporate domain?”

I used to perform the below KRA in previous organizations apart from the conventional HR operations. I introduced new revenue models in my previous organizations, increased profit ratio, enjoyed the pressure too and stood as a successful leader. Often, I happened to receive a query from HR community that “why not a CEO from HR background?”. Who will stop you if you handle the below KRA.

Business HR:

· The primary goal of Business HR is to increase employee productivity by focusing on business obstacles that occur outside of human resources.

· The primary actions of Business HR are to identify key HR areas where strategies can be implemented in the long run to improve the overall employee motivation and productivity.

· Ensuring Effective Manpower planning, recruitments, training & skills development, provide effective supervision and leadership, grievances handling and retention of team.

· Plan and direct the organization’s activities to achieve stated/agreed targets and standards for operational, quality, culture and statutory adherence.

· Review and report performance / progress of the organization on a regular basis & ensure the efficacy of System.

· Examine the functional operations and identify profit improvement / cost reduction opportunities.

· P & L responsibility.

· Maintain and develop organizational culture, values and reputation in its markets and with all staff, customers, suppliers, partners and regulatory/official bodies.

· Engage, Build and maintain effective long-term relationships with key members of the client team and discussing future Trend in Operations.

· Create cross-functional project teams to encourage team building & employee development in terms of Knowledge & Skills.

· Conducting continuous audits on MIS to ensure compliance and sound functioning of the process.

Corporate HR:

Corporate HR can play a significant role in monitoring the implementation of corporate HR policies throughout subsidiaries. HR can thus become "Champions of processes", building commitment of top management, providing training for managers and monitoring these processes. Corporate HR has a social responsibility to ensure future leaders are sensitive to and equipped to deal with global challenges. This creates a new role for HR as ‘guardian of culture’, overseeing the implementation of global values and systems.

However in a diversified organisation there may be need to have Corporate HR and individual SBU or Business HR as each business may need to have unique business requirement.

When Organisations grew and they could see the visible impact of good HR practices in their bottom line, they wanted HR to reach out to where the business is, rather than be restricted to cool comforts of corporate Office. Both are one and the same for a small company where there is only one HR dept but for a large organisation which has large geographical spread or multi business environment, the HR team at the Corporate Office would be called Corp HR and the HR presence in individual businesses would be called Business HR.

For Ex. Recruitment strategies are handled at Business HR level and hiring also happens there. There is a small team of senior recruiters at corporate office to handle corporate openings. However, Rewards are managed centrally. Salary structures, annual increments guidelines etc are all planned at corporate level. Payroll processing is at corporate level however entry is done at business level. Training is handled at business HR level however succession planning is done at corporate HR level.

Please add your suggestions in the same page as the viewers of this page also read the same.

Regards

Ram

Ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Differences between Jan Lokpal Bill and Govt Bill

2011-08-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

The streets are witnessing a demand that the government's Lok Pal Bill be replaced by the Jan Lok Pal Bill (JLP) as drafted by the team led by Anna Hazare. There are several significant differences between the two bills. In this note, we describe the some of these differences.

First, there is a divergence on the jurisdiction of the Lok Pal. Both bills include ministers, MPs for any action outside Parliament, and Group A officers (and equivalent) of the government. The government Bill includes the Prime Minister after he demits office whereas the JLP includes a sitting Prime Minister. The JLP includes any act of an MP in respect of a speech or vote in Parliament (which is now protected by Article 105 of the Constitution). The JLP includes judges; the government Bill excludes them. The JLP includes all government officials, while the government Bill does not include junior (below Group A) officials. The government Bill also includes officers of NGOs who receive government funds or any funds from the public; JLP does not cover NGOs.

Second, the two Bills differ on the composition. The government Bill has a chairperson and up to 8 members; at least half the members must have a judicial background. The JLP has a chairperson and 10 members, of which 4 have a judicial background.

Third, the process of selecting the Lok Pal members is different. The JLP has a two stage process. A search committee will shortlist potential candidates. The search committee will have 10 members; five of these would have retired as Chief Justice of India, Chief Election Commissioner or Comptroller and Auditor General; they will select the other five from civil society. The Lok Pal chairperson and members will be selected from this shortlist by a selection committee. The selection committee consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, two Supreme Court judges, two high court chief justices, the Chief Election Commissioner, the Comptroller and Auditor General and all previous Lok Pal chairpersons.

The government Bill has a simpler process. The selection will be made by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice, an eminent jurist and an eminent person in public life. The selection committee may, at its discretion, appoint a search committee to shortlist candidates.

Fourth, there are some differences in the qualifications of a member of the Lok Pal. The JLP requires a judicial member to have held judicial office for 10 years or been a high court or Supreme Court advocate for 15 years. The government Bill requires the judicial member to be a Supreme Court judge or a high court chief justice. For other members, the government Bill requires at least 25 years experience in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance or finance. The JLP has a lower age limit of 45 years, and disqualifies anyone who has been in government service in the previous two years.

Fifth, the process for removal of Lok Pal members is different. The government Bill permits the president to make a reference to the Supreme Court for an inquiry, followed by removal if the member is found to be biased or corrupt. The reference may be made by the president (a) on his own, (a) on a petition signed by 100 MPs or (c) on a petition by a citizen if the President is then satisfied that it should be referred. The President may also remove any member for insolvency, infirmity of mind or body, or engaging in paid employment.

The JLP has a different process. The process starts with a complaint by any person to the Supreme Court. If the court finds misbehaviour, infirmity of mind or body, insolvency or paid employment, it may recommend his removal to the President.

Sixth, the offences covered by the bills vary. The government Bill deals only with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The JLP, in addition, includes offences by public servants under the Indian Penal Code, victimization of whistleblowers and repeated violation of citizen's charter.

Seventh, the government Bill provides for an investigation wing under the Lok Pal. The JLP states that the CBI will be under the Lok Pal while investigating corruption cases.

Eighth, the government Bill provides for a prosecution wing of the Lok Pal. In the JLP, the CBI's prosecution wing will conduct this function.

Ninth, the process for prosecution is different. In the government Bill, the Lok Pal may initiate prosecution in a special court. A copy of the report is to be sent to the competent authority. No prior sanction is required. In the JLP, prosecution of the Prime Minister, ministers, MPs and judges of Supreme Court and high courts may be initiated only with the permission of a 7-judge bench of the Lok Pal.

Tenth, the JLP deals with grievance redressal of citizens, in addition to the process for prosecuting corruption cases. It requires every public authority to publish citizen's charters listing its commitments to citizens. The government Bill does not deal with grievance redressal.

Given the widespread media coverage and public discussions, it is important that citizens understand the differences and nuances. This may be a good opportunity to enact a law which includes the better provisions of each of these two bills.

-Courtesy IBN

Launching "Upadhi" in Prakasam District, AP

2011-08-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

Not-For-Profit – Upadhi

Mission: Aiming for better society through our vision of providing employment for people in rural segments.

To support our mission statement, we began with the idea of linking rural youth to job opportunities in Indian corporate and development-sector organizations. As a part of this noble cause we have taken Kurnool district, AP for a pilot project and initiated a program called “Upadhi”. Since its inauguration in April 2011 we have placed more than 600 candidates through various job fairs conducted under this project. All these candidates are from rural areas and financially weak families.

Upadhi is completely a nonprofit bustle where we will not charge any service fee neither from the government nor candidates or industries. From the perspective of the Indian economy, more jobs mean a contribution to GDP, more foreign exchange, more raw materials for industries, more manufactured goods and more services. Hence, employment for the rural youth has the potential to provide momentum to the giant wheel of the economy.

All able bodied un-employed persons in the 21 to 45 years age group of the local population shall be compulsorily enrolled to form human resources units in every Village / Panchayat. Enrollment shall be an incessant progression. And employment could be for any level i.e., a software engineer, medical, an MBA, nurse, pharmacist, carpenter, plumber, security guard, sales force, warehousing assistant, driver, etc.

With the confidence gained from the success and series of activities done earlier, we are now expanding our activity to Prakasam District basing at Kandukur town, Andhra Pradesh. When I was looking for a helping hand to make this program successful in Prakasam District, Mr. Srikanth has assured his kind support in terms of Finance, Hospitality & Infrastructure. Mr.Srikanth will announce the inauguration date in a press meet very soon.

Project Mentors:

Mr.Srikanth Chowdary Kancharla: A young Engineering graduate, A visionary leader started his career with CMC and then served major corporates for more than 6 years. Presently he is a Director at Prakasam Engineering College, Kandukur, AP. His vision and the values he believe in were made Prakasam Engineering College to stand as one of the best in AP. He is highly dedicated to the people of rural background in developing their skills and making them Industry Ready and placing them in different verticals.He was honored with "NTR Seva Award" from Honorable Governor Mr.Narsimhan, Andhra Pradesh for serving the flood affected areas at Kurnool, Organized by NTR Trust, Hyderabad.He is a member in CII,CSI and IEEE.

Ram K Reddy A, HR Business Partner: Ram has more than 15 years of experience in organizations leading the HR function. A hands-on experience as the Strategic HR and SBU Operations Head has helped Ram to polish his skills in the area of People Management. He has been associated with the organizations like Reliance ADA Group, Mind Source, Optimal Minds etc. He holds a Masters in Business Administration (HR) and PGDM in HR. He was honored with “Leadership Excellence” award from President HR, Reliance Communications.

Rural India is the heart of the nation. If it functions well, the country flourishes.

Let us reach the untapped potential.

Write a mail to ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in for further details.

The Top 5 Interview Questions That Employers Should Always Ask

2011-08-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

Making a decision on whom to hire during the job interview process isn’t an easy task. Finding and hiring the best candidates starts with asking the right interview questions. I never miss to ask the below questions to assess the job applicant whether he is a strong potential hire.

1. We all make mistakes on the job. Share with me 2 mistakes that you have made in your current or past job. How did you resolve these mistake(s) and what did you learn from the mistake?

Reason to ask this question: You can check their ability to acknowledge that they have made mistakes. You can check their ability to problem solve, fix mistakes, make decision under stress and whether the mistake became a learning experience or not. Also we can understand whether he can do better job when faced with a similar situation in the future.

2. If I were to contact your current supervisor/colleague today for a reference, what would he/she say about your work performance and commitment to the job?

Reason to ask this question: You can check his honest and his self-awareness on his work done.

3. What is your long term objective? Share with me 3 activities you do in a day to achieve your goal?

Reason to ask this question: Working without keeping a goal for life is equivalent to missing a heart in human body. This question will help us to understand whether the candidate does a goal in his life and how they in line their daily schedule towards it.

4. How does your past and current work experience that makes you the best fit for this position?

Reason to ask this question: This question requires the job applicant to give real life examples of their specific experience and skills sets and how this experience can be applied to the job that you are hiring for.

5. What is your life’s philosophy?

Reason to ask this question: We can predict his behaviour in the organization based on the philosophy he has adopted in his life.

Upadhi Jobfair - Wipro selections & Photos

2011-07-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

We have done a job fair on 26th July 2011 at Nandyal Taluk, Kurnool Dist, AP exclusively for B.Sc/BCA 2011 passed outs under "Upadhi" program which is a non profit charity activity to help the rural youth.

Details Below:

Number of students appeared in the Aptitude Test: 76

Number of students cleared the test: 22

Number of students cleared in HR round Interview & offered: 10

All these 10 students will join with Wipro after completion of formalities in 10 days. They will be trained by Wipro on various technologies and start working on various applications. And also simultaneously they will do an MS program from BITS PILANI at free of cost.

All the selected candidates are from farmer families and financially weak. I am really thankful to Wipro management and Wipro HR team Mr. Sunil, Mr. Narendra & Mr. Yaswanth for their kind support extended to help these rural students by giving them employment.

Regards

Ram

Best Mass Hiring Practices - My success story

2011-07-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Organizations face unique challenges when they must hire massive numbers of individuals. Organizations should shun opening large facilities requiring thousands of employees in places where there are low population rates. Local unemployment rates can play a key aspect in the success of firms’ mass recruitment efforts. To keep the recruitment momentum on, they must implement variety sourcing strategies and develop sufficient databank.

I am listing some of the innovative and low cost sourcing strategies designed and implemented by me that are reduced cost per hire up to 800% in my previous organization RADAG. This has been resulted in managing more than “16,000 walk-ins in 2008-09”, “20,000 walk-ins in 2009-10” and over “30,000 in 2010-11”. Most of these walk-ins for vacancies in Customer Care, Tele-calling, Frontline Sales, Networking Engineers, BPO, Insurance Sales Officers, Corporate Sales Executives, Engineers etc.

Sourcing Techniques:

· Job fairs through District Employment Exchanges (Free of cost).

· Job Fairs through Rajeev Udyogasree (Free of cost).

· Job Fairs through Community Associations & NGOs (Free of cost).

· Job Fairs through “School of Employability” agencies like NIIT, NIS Sparta etc. (Free of cost).

· Campus Recruitments (Free of cost. Colleges used to arrange Transportation and Accommodation).

· SMS Blast through company’s Bulk SMS division (Free of cost. We used to send SMS to Pre paid/Post paid customers with vacancies details every month).

· Pamphlets distribution (Free of cost. We used to keep a leaflet along with mobile bills).

· Pamphlets distribution through news papers (Very low cost method).

· Field Recruitment Activities through Field Recruiters. Their duty is just to head hunt sales force from targeting competitors. Every field recruiter has to get 120 people on boarded every month. (Very low cost method).

· Free Job postings on job portals (Free of cost. There are few websites where we can post at free of cost).

· Collecting two references from every candidate who attends the interview (Free of cost).

· Keeping Kiosks at crowded and residential areas through field recruiters (Very low cost method).

· Internal Job Postings.

· Social Media Networking (Free of cost).

· Implemented “Hiring as Teams” method extensively rather than taking individuals. (Free of cost).

· Pre-placement offers (Free of cost).

· Poster activities in crowded areas, business centres, cyber cafes etc. (Very low cost method).

· Pre induction by the HR Managers to increase the turn up ratio. This is one of the best practices I have introduced and implemented.

What can be done more?

1. Develop own job portal and make it popular through social media.

2. Collect list of village Panchayat officers and their addresses and post employment news.

3. Post employment news letter to colleges.

4. Recruit social media experts, create blogs, join the groups, publish articles and create a brand.

5. Network with placement agencies who can offer services at lower price.

6. Reach untapped potential in semi-urban areas. Correlate network in depth to District, Taluk and Mandal levels.

7. Mass mailing within permissible cyber law.

Friends, you can add your ideas. Please write a mail on ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in.

-Ram

The IIMs ways to beat the Stress

2011-07-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, students at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), took lessons from Kathak maes tro Birju Maharaj in, guess what, stress management.

It's not just IIM-B. IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and IIM-Kozhikode (IIM-K) have also incorporated stress management in their curricula.

Be it with faculty or students, premium business management schools are engaging newer initiatives for stress management.

"Birju Maharaj gave us a lot of examples from his life and also explained the role of music and dance in curbing stress in the corporate world. He explained to us the role of music and dance in the aspect of management and how it can help us keep track of our career goals in a highly competitive sphere without losing perspective, says Ashish Dongre, media cell coordinator at IIM-B.

"Some of our past speakers included V Rajaraman, the father of Indian cloud computing, and S Gopalakrishnan, chief executive officer of Infosys. We are looking at calling some sports personalities and politicians to give us their insight," he adds.

With B-schools witnessing high competition and stress levels on campuses, even stress among faculty is a recurring phenomenon.

For example, Prathap Oburai, a professor at IIM-A, went missing on July 1 during a pilgrimage in north India. The reason assigned was that he had been suffering from depression. That's why, with yoga sessions, gyms and guest lectures, B-schools are trying newer ways to beat stress.

"As a part of faculty initiatives, we have yoga sessions twice a week that can help in beating stress. We even have a separate meditation room for both students and faculties at the campus that is like a personal zone, where people can take some time in between their day," says Keyoor Purani, professor of marketing and chairperson of the staff welfare committee at IIM-K.

IIM-B has an elective course, personal value growth and career opportunities, for second year students of the post graduate programme in management and the post graduate programme in software enterprise management.

The course allows students to report any kind of stress to faculty members and interact with them for this.

B-schools have also observed that stress occurs specifically during the beginning of academic session and placements. Students at IIM-A will get mentors on campus from this year onwards.

"Each mentor will get eight students who then follows up on any student-related issues, including their entry into the campus to academic submissions to placement issues. After their admission, they can directly contact the mentor on queries they might have about the institute and who will even give them a guided tour of the campus," says Parampreet Singh, general secretary of the Students Affairs Council at IIM-A.

Around 50 second-year students from the post graduate programme in management and PGP in agri-business management have started this mentorship programme for the benefit of freshers.

IIM-K has also roped in a non-governmental organisation, MITR, whose team of counsellors and psychologists visits its campus every Wednesday to interact with students.

"The team of counsellors from MITR has also trained 15 students to act as mentors so they can help with stress management and provide support systems to other students," says Mansi Baranwal, coordinator, student media cell.

-Courtesy Rediff

Define Connection between Nature & Management

2011-07-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

Can any one define the connection between "Nature and Management".

Can somebody write 3 or 4 pages article on the topic and post on my blog??

Regards
Ram
ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Invitation to Upadhi Jobfair on 30th July 2011

2011-07-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision to serve the poor comes from passion, not position".

- John Maxwell

Mission: Aiming for better society through our vision of providing employment for people in rural segments.

In this context, we have organized job fairs in the past and placed around 450 candidates successfully in many companies those participated in the job fairs at Nandyal. Based on the need and request by the candidates, the ‘Job Fair’ is made a regular monthly event and we have allotted the last Saturday of every month for this activity.

I am happy to announce that I am going to organize one more job fair on 30th July 2011. I sincerely request you to convince your company to participate in this job fair.

Venue: Nandyal Town, Kurnool District, AP

Expected Crowd: Around 500 (Non graduates/Graduates/Engineering Graduates/MBA)

Regards

Ram

ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present – Positive Attitude

2011-07-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window.

The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue:

"There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations"

"Shared pain is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled"

"If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy"

"Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present."

- Ram

A Class with Drucker‐The Lost Lessons of the World’s Greatest Management Teacher

2011-07-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

Peter Drucker was many things to many people and to many organizations. He was, of course, considered the Father of Modern Management. He was a philosopher and an author and a profoundly thoughtful observer. He was a historian, and a father, and a husband, and an expert on Japanese art. Peter called himself a social ecologist, and he exercised courage in thought and prescription. Peter believed deeply that the human condition could be advanced by more effective management and more ethical leadership of every organization in every society—business, government, the non profit world, even the academy, where he resided most of his life. This is what he taught and wrote about, and Peter wrote some more than 30 books, many of them now classics. He inspired many others to pursue their own work. Think of Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence). Or Jim Collins (Built to Last and Good to Great), who says that either or both of his volumes could have been entitled simply: Peter was Right!

Peter’s insights and friendship through mentoring and coaching helped to transform entire organizations. Think of GE under Jack Welch. Or the development of the mega church in America under disciples such as Rick Warren. And, of course, Peter helped to inspire a whole generation of leaders in the non profit sector, whose role and importance and needs Peter was perhaps the first to identify and champion as worthy of management attention.

For all his distinctions and contributions, Peter was first and foremost a teacher. Fame never distracted him from his calling in the classroom, and his lectures were the stuff of legend: Seemingly unscripted, frequently unpredictable, and almost always provocative and original. The classroom was Peter’s cathedral. And this is where he regularly practiced his craft of both instruction and learning. Classically trained, broad and deep in range and scope of intellect and knowledge, Peter held forth, almost as a secular prophet. And yet his ultimate humility and humanity was also demonstrated by his conviction that from his students he had much to learn from as well. Teaching was really a partnership for Peter, and an almost sacred trust between teacher and students, where knowledge was not only disseminated but also created. The classroom, then, was really Peter’s first and last frontier of management, the ultimate knowledge-creating organization, a microcosm and laboratory for so many of his insights about human capital, purpose, objectives, innovation, and so much more. Bill Cohen brings that laboratory of learning alive to those of us who didn’t have the pleasure, privilege, or opportunity to sit at the feet of the master in Peter’s classroom. One can feel the energy, the humour, the discipline, the interaction, the edge, the energy, the simplicity, and the relevance of Peter’s practice of teaching.

Peter Drucker, who died in 2006 at the age of 97, was a living legend, one of the world's most respected thinkers on management and society. His thinking inspired many business leaders from around the world, as well as in the non profit sector, while influencing companies both large and small. Over six decades, as a journalist, teacher, consultant, and author of more than thirty-five books from his publishers Harper Collins, Drucker made management theory a respected discipline. He had a brimming lifetime of wisdom to share and expertise that reached well beyond the confines of the world’s largest companies.

Drucker was born in Vienna in 1909. He studied law in Germany, then moved to England to escape Nazism and later to the United States. In 1945, his book Concept of the Corporation, based on a two-year study of General Motors, became an instant best-seller. Beginning in 1971, he taught management at Claremont Graduate University in California, which in 1987 named its school of management after him. He was the ultimate guru to generations of executives and students of management theory. Here is a brief anthology of Drucker´s thoughts on how organizations succeed and why they may fail.

Some of Peter Drucker views

Results exist only on the outside

“The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that results exist only on the outside. The results of a business are satisfied customers. The result of a hospital is a healed patient. The result of a school is a student who has learned something and puts it to work ten years later. Inside an enterprise, there are only costs.”

Untapped human potential

“Managers are fond of saying ‘Our greatest asset is people.‘ They are fond of repeating the truism that the only real difference between one organization and another is the performance of people. All other resources one organization commands to exactly the same extent as does any other. And most managers know perfectly well that of all the resources, people are the least utilized and that little of the human potential of any organization is tapped and put to work constructively.“

Two missing elements

“Two of the missing elements in most management procedures are first, that the manager hasn’t been asked what information he needs to be able to do the job he has committed himself to, and second, he hasn’t been asked what information he needs in order to know how well he’s doing it.

Hence, people bitterly complain that they would like to manage themselves by objectives, but they can’t. Most of the time the answers to both questions could be written on the back of an envelope. There are very few answers in life that can’t be written on the back of an envelope.”

What is our Business?

“That business purpose and business mission are so rarely given adequate thought is perhaps the most important single cause of business frustration and business failure. Conversely, in outstanding businesses, success always rests to a large extent on raising the question ‘What is our business?’ clearly and deliberatively, and on answering it thoughtfully and thoroughly.

But there is also a need to ask ‘What should our business be?’ What opportunities are opening up or can be created to fulfil the purpose and mission of the business by making it into a different business?

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Business Strategies for Tomorrow

“Any institution needs to think strategically about what its business is doing and what it should be doing. It needs to think through what its customers pay it for. Every institution needs to think through what its strengths are. Are they the right strengths for its specific business? Are they deployed where they will produce results? And what specifically is the market for this particular business, both at the present time and in the years immediately ahead.”

“Most businesses and public service institutions believe it is possible to be a ‘leader’ in every area. But strengths are always specific, always unique. One gets paid only for strengths, one does not get paid for weaknesses. The question, therefore, is first: “What are our specific strengths?” And then: “Are they the right strengths?”

(From: Managing in Turbulent Times)

On Setting Priorities

“No business can do everything. Even if it has the money, it will never have enough good people. It has to set priorities. The worst thing is to try to do a little bit of everything. This ensures that nothing is being accomplished. It is better to pick the wrong priority than none at all, and, courage rather than analysis dictates the truly important role for identifying priorities:

Aim to:

· Pick the future as against the past.

· Focus on opportunity rather than on problems.

· Choose your own direction rather than climb on the bandwagon; and

· Aim high, aim for something that will make a difference, rather than for something that is ‘safe’ and easy to do.”

(From: The Effective Executive)

On Risk

“Of course, innovation is risky. But so is stepping into the car to drive to the supermarket for a loaf of bread. All economic activity is by definition high risk. And defending yesterday – that is, not innovating – is far more risky than making tomorrow.”

From: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

No Apology needed

“No apology is needed for profit as a necessity of economy and society. On the contrary, what a businessman should feel guilty about, what he should feel the need to apologize for, is failure to produce a profit appropriate to the economic and social functions which profit, and only profit, can develop.”

From: Management

Lifelong Learning

“The innovative organization requires a learning atmosphere throughout the entire business. It creates and maintains continuous learning. No one is allowed to consider himself ‘finished’ at any time. Learning is a continuous process for all members of the organization.”

Entrepreneurship

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

Four key competencies associated with leadership

Drucker identifies four key competencies associated with leadership. They are:

· A willingness to listen.

· A willingness to communicate.

· A willingness not to alibi yourself.

· A willingness to realize how unimportant you are compared to the task.

(Source: Leadership: Project and Human Capital Management)

If You Keep Doing What Worked in the Past, You’re Going to Fail

Continuing what led to past success will invariably lead to eventual future failure. If caught unawares, organizations must be willing to instantly abandon what was formerly successful. Better yet, an organization should assume an eventual revolutionary change is inevitable. Therefore, an organization should take actions to create its own future by making the revolutionary change itself, even though it means obsolescing the products or methods of its current and past success.

Develop Expertise outside your Field to be an effective Manager

It was essential that business executives master at least two disciplines, and that one of them must be outside of the field of business. Expertise in more than one field was good training for sudden responsibilities in yet another field, and was the only evidence that the manager was capable of mastering more than one discipline. Mastering at least two disciplines would have a number of beneficial effects. First, the executive would have the self-confidence of knowing that he was not limited to a single field. That he could, if called upon, do something entirely different, and do it well. Moreover, “Great advances in any field rarely come from a single discipline. Rather, they come from advances in one discipline being transplanted to another sphere, which is totally unfamiliar with these procedures, ideas, or methods which have never been applied to problems in this other domain.”

· Today’s strategic leader has additional challenges. Technology enables change to take place at near light-year velocity, and with much greater penalty for failure than ever before. The penalty for the organization extends deeper than simply the loss of a leader of great promise because a leader’s actions have a much longer timeline. A tactical leader may affect what happens over a period of weeks, months, or maybe a year. But, the strategic leader’s decisions, both good and bad, reach farther and farther into the future.

Drucker’s Approach to Becoming a Strategic Leader

To become a strategic leader, you need to become proactive and take action starting now. The object is to start to think and act strategically, and to handle the increased complexity resulting from the necessity to integrate numerous elements that are, in some cases, far removed from your basic expertise and experience. This process, as Drucker taught, requires you to develop expertise outside of your current thinking. This is the main element.

READ DAILY

The first supporting element for becoming a strategic thinker is based on extensive reading outside the general area of your primary expertise. I would recommend that you develop the habit of daily reading. Of course, the big problem for most of us is to find the time to read each day. It doesn’t have to be a very long time period. Thirty minutes is sufficient. If you set aside only thirty minutes for this special type of reading and do it every day, say, first thing when you first wake up in the morning, or the last thing right before you go to sleep in the evening, that’s182.5 hours a year. Or bump it up to an hour and take the hour away from watching television. Either 182.5 or 365 hours a year is impressive. That’s a lot of reading.

If you do this already, keep it up. However, this should not only be reading general management and professional books in business outside of your specialty. Also read general-interest books in history, politics, economics, social issues, etc., and even fiction. Don’t just read words, but engage with the author actively. If you disagree with the author’s “facts” or reasoning, that is so much the better. Think it through and refute the author as if he or she were right there with you.

· Today, you not only must read extensively in your own field to reach the top and to be successful, but you also need to read extensively in other fields as well.

You Can’t Predict the Future, but You Can Create It

The future, Drucker said again, is unpredictable, but can be created. Peter emphasized that while planning, especially strategic planning, was difficult and risky, it was one of management’s primary responsibilities. “Strategic planning is not about making decisions in the future,” he said, since decisions could only be made now, in the present. So what he was really talking about was making decisions now to create a desired future for our companies. This implied reaching the goals or objectives we set, regardless of the environmental conditions we might later encounter. However, it was crucial to start with our objectives. What exactly did we want to do? Only then could we decide on the actions we needed to take now, in the present, to realize these goals.

Peter made it very clear that the process of creating your future, anybody’s future, begins with your goals and objectives. These need to be crystal-clear. Then you need to determine the actions that must be taken today to achieve these objectives in the future. Drucker said there was danger in assuming that today’s trends, whatever they are, will continue into the future. This is where things become a bit tricky. How do you start and yet forget the past?

You Must Know Your People to Lead Them

· Get Out and Talk with Those You Would Lead

Then McKinsey consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman found a technique in use by executives in a number of successful companies, including Hewlett-Packard, GE, PepsiCo, Lucasfilm, Corning Glass, 3M, Disney, and Wal-Mart. They popularized this technique in their best-selling book In Search of Excellence (HarperCollins, 1982) and called it MBWA, which stands for “management by wandering around. The technique is hardly new.

Two thousand years ago, Julius Caesar was popular with his soldiers because he wandered around seeing for himself what was going on and learning the names of even the most junior subordinates.

You’ve got to see those that you lead and let them see you. Management consultant Harry K. Jones developed the following ten suggestions regarding how you implement MBWA:

1. Appear relaxed as you make your rounds. Employees will reflect your feelings and actions.

2. Remain open and responsive to questions and concerns.

3. Observe and listen, and let everyone see you doing it.

4. Make certain your visits are spontaneous and unplanned.

5. Talk with employees about their passions—whether family, hobbies, vacations, or sports.

6. Ask for suggestions to improve operations, products, service, sales, etc.

7. Try to spend an equal amount of time in all areas of your organization.

8. Catch your employees doing something right and recognize them publicly.

9. Convey the image of a coach—not an inspector.

10. Encourage your employees to show you how the real work of the company gets done.

There is little question that the leader of any organization of any size has an amazing impact on that organization and the outcome of whatever activity in which it is engaged. All of us have seen organizations that were previous failures, flourish when a new leader is put in charge. The new leader may have the same resources as the previous leader, or he or she may have more or less resources. It doesn’t seem to matter. What does matter is the leader himself. If it is the right person for the right job, frequently the turnaround is almost instantaneous.

For leaders at all levels, what this means is that it is critical that you know your people, their capabilities and limitations, and how they are likely to react in any situation. The more you can do this, the better you are able to lead them. Drucker knew this, and he taught and practiced it. By getting to know the people, without whom you will accomplish nothing, you can:

ü Know what’s going on in your organization every day.

ü Help those who need help.

ü Get help from those who can supply help.

ü Discover the real problems.

ü Uncover opportunities you didn’t know existed.

ü Praise and recognize those that deserve it.

ü Correct or discipline those that need it.

ü Get your word out fast.

ü Communicate your vision for the organization.

ü Insure everyone understands your goals and objectives.

The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership

1. Integrity First. “You are entirely right and absolutely correct in listing this as your first law. A leader can be well-liked and popular and even competent, and that’s all well and good, but if he lacks integrity of character he is not fit to be a leader.”

2. Know Your Stuff. “This seems obvious, but some managers do try to cut corners rather than mastering the knowledge that they must have and that is essential to the quality of their performance.”

3. Declare Your Expectations. “I’m uncertain what you mean by this. If you mean that a leader should declare his objectives and his mission—by all means, yes.”

4. Show Uncommon Commitment. “The failure of many is because they show no commitment, or commitment to the wrong goals. This gets back to your third law. Commitment comes from a worthy mission and then strong commitment.”

5. Expect Positive Results. “There is a cautionary tale here: one must not be a ‘Pollyanna’. Still, the central thought is correct: one cannot be negative and succeed in anything.”

6. Take Care of Your People. “Many managers are failing to do this, and it will catch up with them.”

7. Put Duty Before Self. “This should be the basis of all leadership. The leader cannot act in his own interests. It must be in the interests of the customer and the worker. This is the great weakness of American management today.”

Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's Teacher

2011-06-28T23:09:00.001-07:00

Teach him for every enemy there is a friend.

He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, that all men are not true, but teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader....

Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... But also give him quiet time to think about the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and the flowers on a green hillside.

Guide him away from jealousy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick...

In the school, teach him that it is far honourable to fail than to cheat... Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong...

Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon...

Teach him to listen to all men... but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad... Teach him there is no shame in tears, Teach him to scoff at cynics and to be beware of too much sweetness...

Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a crying mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient...

Let him have the patience to be brave.

Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order, but see what you can do because he is such a fine little fellow, my son!

Abraham Lincoln

Memories from Upadhi 3rd Job Fair

2011-06-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

We have done a job fair on 25th June 2011 at Nandyal Taluk, Kurnool Dist, AP exclusively for BE/BTech/B.Sc graduates under "Upadhi" program which is a non profit charity activity to help the rural youth. We have received wonderful response from the people.

Highlights:

Started registration process at 8am
Welcome note by me and present MLA Mr.Silpa Mohan Reddy
Representatives (Planman) of Google, Wipro BPO, Franklin Templeton, EIDOS Technologies conducted interviews
I spoke B.Sc graduates and explained about Wipro WASE program, interview types, interview tips etc. There will be an aptitude test to these graduates in the 1st week of July 11 and then HR interview subsequently
Out of 600 walk-ins 159 people are through in the 1st round of interview. All these candidates are from rural areas.
All these 159 guys will be called for further rounds in Hyderabad

We have plans to organize one more job fair on 23rd July 2011 at the same place. I request all of you to join your hands in this social cause.

Regards
Ram
ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Upadhi Job Fair on 25th June 2011 for Engineers, MBA and BSc graduates

2011-06-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision to serve the poor comes from passion, not position".

- John Maxwell

Mission: Aiming for better society through our vision of providing employment for people in rural segments.

To support our mission statement, we began with the idea of linking rural youth to job opportunities in Indian corporate and development-sector organizations. As a part of this noble cause we have taken Kurnool district, AP for a pilot project and initiated a program called “Silpa Upadhi”. To make this program successful the nonprofit division of ADR has connected with “Silpa Charities”, founded by Sh. Silpa Mohan Reddy who is a former minister and present MLA.

In this context, we have organized job fairs in the past and placed around 250 candidates successfully in 15 companies that participated in the job fairs at Nandyal. Based on the need and request by the candidates, the ‘Job Fair’ is made a regular monthly event and we have allotted the last Saturday of every month for this activity.

Regards

We are happy to announce that for this month’s job fair on 25th June the MNC’s have agreed to recruit the candidates for the vacant positions viz., GIS developers, technical sales, voice process support, financial advisors etc., The MNC companies that have agreed to participate include : Google, Franklin templeton, WIPRO, Genpact etc.,

S.NO	Company	Position	Qualification	Salary
1	FRANKLIN TEMPLETON	Financial Advisor	MBA (Finance/Marketing)	1.5 - 1.8 Lakh p.a
2	GOOGLE	GIS Developer	BTech/BE (Any Stream)	1.8 Lakh p.a
3	GENPACT	Voice Process Support	BTech/BE (Any Stream) MBA (Finance)	90K - 2.0 Lakh p.a
4	WIPRO BPO	Technical Support	BTech/BE (Any Stream) Only Freshers	1.2 Lakh p.a
5	WIPRO WASE	On the job training MS- Program BITS, Pilani	BSC (CS/IT/ELECTRONICS Physics/Mathemetics/Statics) BCA BCM (Only 2011 Passed outs)	1st year 90 K p.a 2nd year 1.2-1.44 lakh p.a 3rd year 2.16 Lakh p.a 4th year 2.76 Lakh P.a
6	EIDOS TECH	Technical Sales	MBA (Marketing)	1.2 - 1.5 Lakh p.a
All vacancies are at Hyderabad only All Candidates must be dressed in Formals and should wear Formal Shoes. Casuals Strictly Not Allowed. All Candidates are requested to bring 3 sets of resumes along with photocopies of Mark Sheets and 3 Colour Photos

Venue Details:

Silpa Seva Samithi, Beside TTD Kalyana Mandapam, Srinivasanagar, Nandyal Town, Kurnool Dist, Andhra Pradesh

Regards

Ram

Email: ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Secret Hidden in Plain Sight

2011-06-21T03:28:00.001-07:00

Secret Hidden in Plain Sight

Job losses, plant closings, chain stores disappearing, global competition … can things get any worse? Yes, they can and yes, they will … for many in this country. On the other hand, we find those unique individuals who choose to fight back, make a difference, and enjoy the benefits of doing so!

The story my friend sent me has been around for a very long time, but I never tire of hearing it and feel that every business person in the country needs to read it, understand it, and apply it daily. If that were to happen, you’d see the turnaround this country needs right now.

Wally – A Cab Driving Eagle

No one can make you serve customers well … that’s because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment….

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.” My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.” Wally smiled and said,”‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.” Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts …

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.”

“He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than 50 cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

The results you’re getting are the results you should be getting. If you want different results, you must change what you’re doing! There is no prize without the price.

Please write comments.

Ram

Job Fair on 25th June 2011 - Invitation to companies for participation

2011-06-03T02:00:00.000-07:00

Open Invitation to Corporates to participate in Job Fair under Upadhi Project

(A Non Profit Activity)

Dear Friends

Greetings. As a part of our non profit activity “Upadhi” we are conducting job fair once in every month. Accordingly we have done two job fairs, one in April11 (70 Selections) and another one in May 11 (209 selections). In order to give continuity to this program, we are planning one more job fair on 25^th June 2011 exclusively for BTech/BE/MCA/MBA qualified people based on the response from the companies. Details below:

Proposed Date: 25^th June 2011

Venue: Nandyal Town, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh which is 270 KM away from Hyderabad national highway.

Expected Crowd: Around 1000

Candidates Background: BE/BTech/MBA/MCA in all streams

Facilities to Companies: AC rooms for company representatives + Food + Stalls for interview assessment.

Entry Fee: Nil

"Upadhi" is completely a nonprofit bustle where we will not charge any service fee neither from the government nor candidates or industries. This project is running on our own funds. I sincerely request you/companies (who are actively involving in CSR projects) to help the rural youth with your participation in the job fair.

Please write a mail on ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in with your keenness so that I can personally meet and present.

Regards

Ram

LinkedIn: http://in.linkedin.com/pub/ram-k-reddy-a/1/b98/799

Upadhi Job Fair conducted on 28th May 11

2011-05-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

As a part of my dream project "Upadhi", the idea to linking rural youth to Indian Corporates, I have organized 2nd Job Fair on 28th May 2011.

Highlights

No.of Companies Participated: 13
No.of candidates presented: Around 300
No.of Candidates Selected: 209

Name of the companies Participated:

Sl.No.	Participated Companies	Selected Candidates
1.	Nandi Group of Companies	25
2.	Kapston Facilities Management	18
3.	Aditya Birla Group (More)	06
4.	Pani S.M.S	09
5.	Hetero Pharma	38
6.	Planman Consulting	20
7.	Net Ambit	12
8.	Standard Chattered Bank	06
9.	Telecon India / Smart Way Tours & Travels	20
10.	Apollo	14
11.	IIJT	12
12.	Shanti Info Solutions (Aadhar Project)	29

Upadhi Target for this year: 1000 Placements
Achievement till now : 320 Placements

We are going to organize one more job fair in June 2011.

Please refer ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in if any companies is interested to help me in this project. The below is the news coverage.

Ram

Upadhi Photos

2011-05-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

Friends

Please find Upadhi Inauguration photos.Also included Job Fair photos which we conducted on 23rd of April 2011.

Regards

Ram