MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE FOR INVESTORS IN KOWLEDGE BASED INDUSTRIES IN CHHATTISGARH

(The Blog post also serves as BACKGROUND to SURVEY–1: IS CHHATTISGARH READY TO BRING HOME PROFESSIONALS WORKING AWAY?)

It is widely believed that promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in knowledge based industries is important for future prospects of economic development in Chhattisgarh. Efforts are being made to encourage investments in diverse sectors associated with knowledge based technologies. However, inadequate availability of trained and skillful workforce is recognized as one of the key challenges for driving investments in knowledge intensive industries in the state. One section of subject matter experts believe that early mover companies will have the privilege of attracting skillful resources from the state, who are working in reputed companies at different locations outside their home state. In this way, if strategically worked out, early movers may have the advantage of having extremely useful set of human resources comprising of:-

1.       Talented fresh students from local colleges in Chhattisgarh (includes IIM,IIT - proposed, IIIT -proposed, NIT, AIIMS, HNLU, BIT, Central University, IGKV and many other institutes), with following advantages:-

a)      Flexibility of grooming young talents from diverse areas to become professionals trained in line with the prospects of companies and with aspirations of youngsters.

b)      Cost-effective and efficient human resource management in relatively cheaper and evolving cities of Chhattisgarh; professionals hailing from the state itself and starting their career in the state have good chances of long term association with early movers.

c)       Opportunity to capitalize on aspirations of younger employees to contribute towards multi-dimensional growth and expansion of the company within the state (for fresh students joining as early employees, this may translate to quicker rise in organizational ladder).

2.       Experienced but (may be) lesser trained resources available in local market with following prospects:-

a)      Organizations like CHIPS and CREDA have been implementing huge projects in knowledge based industries with the help of private players (under PPP) in the state; the local talent pool is actively involved in executing the projects in association with private players; a few of the local talents excel to more competitive places, after having local work experience.

b)      Local talents (with some experience) can easily be tapped for doing the nature of job, they are already carrying out, by providing benefits like superior employee care and superior work culture; they may also get value addition in terms of carrier growth and in terms of future career prospects through institutional bonding with a reputed and growing organization.

c)       Local market professionals have been efficiently carrying out repetitive, low tech and routine maintenance work in wide variety of areas (in different projects running in the state). Many of these professionals do not get an opportunity to exploit their potential due to lack of an environment for professional growth. Quite a few among them can be groomed to work on high end technologies and to take higher responsibilities.

d)      Motivated quality professionals with experience in less knowledge intensive industries may be engaged and encouraged to develop a different carrier path in emerging knowledge based industries; in many cases, previous industrial experience in different domains could become a valuable asset. 

3.       Experienced talent pool (from much competitive and matured market in different locations across the globe), which comes back from distant locations to their home state will have following prospects:-

a)      Quality human resources are most critical asset in knowledge based industries. They will be driving the business. They will enjoy the privilege of setting up new routines and new processes for the new offices. At the same time in the age of information, they can always remain connected with much established offices through different medium of communications.

b)      Natural temptation of professionals for driving an organization with vigor in a newly evolving ecology (for knowledge based industries) can be mobilized for business development opportunities (for example an IT project manager with experience in telecom operations may have inclination for business development and may like to take the role of Center Manager of a (say) non-voice BPO and take the challenge of growing the center leaps and bounds).

c)       Better job satisfaction due to better work-life balance and better recognition in social arena would be helpful in building healthy work culture in office.

d)      Opportunity to get closely connected with the villages in the vicinity of home towns (of the professionals) through organizational initiatives under CSR or other social initiatives.

A company that plans for a big investment in Chhattisgarh, may need to develop detailed understanding about its human resources requirements, which would require an understanding of the operational dynamics of the company to minute details with reasonably long term perspective in consideration.

However, once the Human Resource requirements are finalized, it would be possible to go ahead with the strategic planning and execution to mobilize resources; most appropriate mix of above mentioned three types of resources may be suitably recruited and assigned responsibilities. At the same time, efforts to promote development of quality professionals locally would need to be carried out through synchronized efforts with government agencies, with training institutes and academic institutions in the state.

Further, it is expected that the above arrangements may be a possibility for early movers in knowledge based industries in Chhattisgarh. Gradually, other competitors may start following the trend to explore possibilities in Chhattisgarh causing early mover advantages to start diminishing. By the time this begins to happen, state should have got matured enough to accommodate expansion of knowledge based industry. In this process, state will have developed an institutional infrastructure to nurture and absorb talents locally. In the follow-up to the development of infrastructural facilities with good supporting institutional facilities for human excellence in diverse areas, next level evolution would be triggered for development of an environment, which would be liberal, accommodative and progressive; where best of the best intellectuals and intellectual communities in general would love to reside. 

In view of the above, the most critical aspect is bringing back the talent pool working outside the state to work in the state for initial push to human resource requirements of the early investors. In this regards, it is mention worthy that at least for last four decades, Raipur-Bhilai area has prominently figured among quality education centers (for school level education) in Central India. Bilaspur and Korba have also been good centers for schooling in the state. Therefore, Chhattisgarh is assumed to have been consistently nurturing good talent for quite a long period of time. Thus, in corporate world, there is an acceptance of the fact that there are significant numbers of qualified professionals hailing from the state, who are working at different locations across the globe.  But, the widely raised question in this regards is - Would the professionals from Chhattisgarh, who are working away from the state be open and passionate to return to the home state and work? We have tried to conduct a survey for the same, which is an attempt to develop a broad understanding on the same.   

Details of the survey are elaborated in following blog post:-

RESULTS-SURVEY–1:IS CHHATTISGARH READY TO BRING HOME PROFESSIONALS WORKING AWAY?

References & Links:

www.iimraipur.ac.in

www.nitrr.ac.in

www.aiimsraipur.edu.in

www.hnlu.ac.in/home

www.ggu.ac.in

www.chips.gov.in

www.new.credacg.org

www.chhattisgarh.nic.in

www.business-standard.com/india/news/chhattisgarh-govt-gives-nod-to-extension-centre-iit-raipur/466955

www.cgdteraipur.ac.in/down2012/iiit_doc12.pdf

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5 POINTS ON RFD (RESULTS FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT)

AN INTRODUCTION TO RFD IS GIVEN IN FOLLOWING LINK (TO THE PREVIOUS BLOG-POST):-

http://santoshbehar.blogspot.in/2012/09/rfd-result-framework-document-for.html

RFD may be helpful in:-

a)    Promoting result oriented approach in planning and execution of policies by the government and

b)    Encouraging performance based assessment in government.

 

Therefore, RFD is a good beginning, but it has a long way to go. Looking forward, following are the five points, which may be considered for future changes to the RFD :-  

A.   RFD outlines a way to assess the extent to which the targets set by the departments are met during a financial year. Probably, it would be helpful  to take into account following aspects, while carrying out performance evaluation of government departments:-

 

1.    Quality of Decision Making

2.    Quality of Project Design, Project Management and Project Outcomes

 

B.   RFD presents an excellent mechanism (Vision -> Mission -> Objective -> Functions -> Actions ->Target -> Success Indicators) to streamline the efforts at grass-root level to work towards success of objectives (of the department), which may eventually result in success of mission and in fulfillment of vision. Further, this mechanism may be more effective in the long run, if the following points are taken into consideration, before mechanism is designed and put-up as a measure for performance:-

 

1.    Initial scenario analysis to benchmark current state of affairs for the department (something like business scenario analysis exercise done by corporations).

2.    Assessment of dynamics of state of affairs during the financial year and next few years. 

3.    Deduction of key variables which control the dynamics of state of affairs.

4.    Assessment of availability of resources and means with the government.

5.    Formulation of strategy for best possible utilization of resources (with reasonable assumptions).

 

Cabinet Secretariat (Performance Management), Government of India, has elaborated on formulation of strategy for departments in a separate section (Performance Strategy) in its web site. It may be a good idea to synchronize strategy of the departments with the RFD to give a composite picture on the direction, progress and performance.   

 

C.   Adhoc Task Force (ATF) would work as advisory body to assist the Cabinet Secretariat for review of RFD of the departments and for performance evaluation conducted during mid-year and during end-of-year. ATF would have prominent persons from different sections of society as its members.

 

But, a team of intellectuals and eminent persons, coming from (no matter) how so ever diverse background and with what so ever experiences, may not necessarily be representative of voice of citizens at large. Probably, additionally involving representatives from different groups of beneficiaries to have a say on how they may be able to help themselves with the policies/initiatives of the government may be useful.

In the information age, facilities of many channels of communications are available even at remote locations and communities are more vocal and open for considerate discussions; therefore to design a systematic way to involve representatives of different segments of beneficiaries (and stakeholders) to have their say in RFD may not be very difficult.     

 

D.   In the end of year evaluation of RFD (with respect to achievements), introducing a mechanism of feedback from the key beneficiaries and key stakeholders on different aspects of performance of a department may help in evolution of an environment, where departments may continuously improve themselves through sensible actions on the (received) feedback from different quarters. In this regards, gathering internal feedback from employees of the department and recording lessons learnt from execution experiences may also be helpful.     

 

E.   In any democratic set-up, which has a politically mature citizens, performance of government is in the middle of (the key issues in) the political spectrum. A sensible assessment of functioning of government in the prevailing environment may (for sure) get due attention in public.

But, citizens may be more comfortable to identify the government as a single entity (‘Integrated View of the Government’ or ‘One View of the Government’) and performance of all the departments may not sum up as the performance of the Government. In other words, it may not always be reasonable to make all the departments equally important in contributing to performance of the government. Let us take an example – In India, yearly performance of Agriculture Department will have far greater impact in the lives of citizens than yearly performance of (say) Sports Department. Thus, it may be more effective to have a weighting system for the departments by the top-most leadership of the government from the perspective of the performance of government in general. This may need a single RFD-like document (say Base RFD) to be drafted at the top-most level of government.  RFD of departments may be based on the Base RFD. Therefore, RFD for the departments may be prepared in such a way that objectives of each department converge to its role defined in Base RFD.

Further, Base RFD and RFDs of the departments could (in some way) be formally linked with the political mandate (mentioned in pre-election manifesto of the ruling party) given by the citizens to the government (for its term in office) and may be approved by the top most leadership in the government.      

 

 

REFERENCES:

www.performance.gov.in

www.performance.gov.in/RFD/prime%20Minister%20approval.pdf

www.performance.gov.in/PDF/RFD-Guidelines-2012-13.pdf

www.performance.gov.in/Performance-Strategy.html

 

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RFD (RESULTS FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT) FOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN GOVERNMENT

Citizens may identify government through multiple perspectives and their inter-relations. Therefore, perceived performance of the government may not always be reflection of real performance of the government. Thus, there is a need for a scientific way to objectively express performance of government.

 

On the other hand, many of the recommendations of the 6^th Pay Commission Report (2008) are based on performance of government employees quality of services rendered and achieved results. Similarly, the Second Administrative Reform Commission has several arguments insisting on performance of government and results management. The Performance Management Division in the Cabinet Secretariat is working to ensure effective implementation of the key recommendations of these two important high-level commissions.

The Prime Minister (of India) approved the outline of a “Performance Monitoring and Evaluation System (PMES) for Government Departments” vide PMO I.D. No. 1331721/PMO/2009-Pol dated 11.9.2009. Under PMES, each department is required to prepare a Results-Framework Document (RFD).

An RFD provides a summary of the most important results that a department/ministry expects to achieve during the financial year. This document has two main purposes:

(a) move the focus of the department from process-orientation to result-orientation, and

(b) provide an objective and fair basis to evaluate department’s overall performance at the end of the year.

- GUIDELINES FOR RESULTS-FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT (RFD), 2012-2013 (Refer - http://www.performance.gov.in/PDF/RFD-Guidelines-2012-13.pdf)

Performance Management Division (PMD) is an office constituted within the Cabinet Secretariat and is headed by a Secretary to Government of India. PMD is responsible for designing a performance management system in the government.

It is outlined in the PMES that, at the beginning of the year each department/ministry (which are adopting RFD) will prepare draft RFD, as per the guidelines lay down by the Cabinet Secretariat.

 

The draft RFD will be completed by 5^th March every year. The Cabinet Secretariat will review these drafts and provide feedback to the departments/ministries by 31st March every year. The final version of the RFD will be put on websites of respective departments/ministries by 15th April each year. 

After six months the RFD will be reviewed against achievements of each of the department/ministry by a committee on government performance (consisting of Cabinet Secretary, Finance Secretary, Expenditure Secretary, Secretary (Planning Commission), Secretary (Performance Management) and the Secretary of Department concerned).

At the end of the year, all ministries/departments will review and prepare a report listing the achievement of their Ministry/Departments against the agreed results. This report will be finalized by 01st May each year. After scrutiny by the cabinet secretariat, these results will be placed before Cabinet for information by 01st June every year.    

Most of the departments of Government of India have prepared RFD for the year 2012-13. The RFD for each of the department is posted in the web-sites of respective departments and also in the website of PMD (www.performance.gov.in).

In brief RFD has following six sections:-

i)             Section – 1

a.    Vision – A broad view of future prospects seen by the department under prevailing conditions

b.    Mission – Purpose of department's very existence is to carry out the mission for realization of vision; in brief mission represents necessary work from the perspective of who, what and why.

c.    Objectives – Developmental requirements to be achieved by the department in a particular sector through policies/programs over specific period of time.

d.    Functions – Functional mechanism of the department needs to be consistent with the allocation of business for the department. This is necessary for successful delivery of services and efficient running of the department.

ii)            Section-2

a.    Inter se Priorities among Key Objectives, Success Indicators and Targets

                                          i.               Suitable weight is given to the identified objectives (in Section - 1)

                     ii.         Actions are defined for each objectives,

 

                     iii.                For each action, suitable weight is given & success indicators are  chosen, and

                     iv.              Based on characteristics of action and those of corresponding success indicators, a performance criterion against each action is laid down.

 

iii)             Section-3

 

a.    Trend Value of Success Indicators

                                          i.                Values of the chosen success indicators in previous section (Section-2) for last few years along with their projected values in (current and) coming years are compared.

 

iv)           Section-4

a.    Description and Definition of Success Indicators and Proposed Measurement Methodology

                                          i.                Success indicators chosen in section-2 are precisely defined and methodology to measure each success indicator is deduced.

v)            Section-5

a.    Specific Performance Requirements from other Departments

                                          i.                Dependencies and expectations from other departments are listed for meeting of the targets (which are set for success of the objectives).

vi)           Section-6

a.    Broad outcomes and the expected impacts, the department/ministry has on national welfare are listed for couple of previous years and forecasted for the following years.  

Further Read on this Topic:

 

How can Result Framework be more effective in Performance Management for the Government of India?

Visit Next Blog at :-

http://santoshbehar.blogspot.in/2012/09/5-points-on-rfd-result-framework.html 

Your valuable comments and suggestions are always welcome :-)

REFERENCES:

www.performance.gov.in

www.performance.gov.in/RFD/prime%20Minister%20approval.pdf

www.performance.gov.in/PDF/RFD-Guidelines-2012-13.pdf

www.performance.gov.in/Performance-Strategy.html

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10 POINTS TO CONSIDER WHILE DESIGNING A BROCHURE

ILLUSTRATED WITH EXAMPLES

(Examples are taken from copyright materials on internet; therefore it may be fine to view these examples but may not be appropriate to copy or to use them. Analysis of these examples are views of the author and may not necessarily be in line with views of the owners of the examples)  

Considerations on Brochure Design are specific to the purpose of the brochure. However, here is an attempt to put up some important points one may in general like to consider while planning to design a brochure.

1.    Clear and unambiguous depiction of the Theme

A good brochure should convey the theme in the clear and unambiguous way. Following examples illustrate the point:-

Examples:-        

 

i. http://www.litmusbranding.com/images/brochures/large/philipstaylor-brochure-design.jpg

 

The above brochure of Phillips Taylor Brown (http://www.ptb.co.uk/) seems to demonstrate the theme of the IT Support Services company as something meaning to be : "Seamless Synchronization with Client (Technologies) to yield Enhanced Performance following the Industry Standard Best Practices"

ii. http://www.poweredtemplates.com/brochure-templates/global/03522/0/index.html

 

       Theme appears to be something like: 'Committed for the sake of Nature'

iii. http://livingwatersmart.ca/brochure.html

 

        Theme appears to be:close to 'Save Precious Water'

2.    Emphasis on Visuals

 

In many good brochures, much of the message is conveyed by visuals, only little written text is used to precisely put the key points and to display critical information needed by target audience.

 

 

Example:-

i.              http://www.exodusdesign.com/brochure_design.htm

 

3.    Catchy Tag Lines

In general brochures contain catchy tag lines to give the message in short and effective way. In the following art related brochure, a few tag lines suggest about - what exactly the art is going to make the target audience feel like?

Example:-

i. http://www.behance.net/gallery/Saint-Louis-Ballet-Company-aABallet-Is-Here/756265

Tag Lines:

Ballet is here, see where we can take you..... 

Ballet is passion.... Summer Season

Ballet is Adventure, Novelty, Prestige, Invention, Passion.....

Above Tag Lines, seems to convey - "Taking Ballet Dance lovers to a different world, where they will explore new horizons in dancing and have a fulfilling experience"

4.    Display of promoters, associated groups, accredited certificates

 

Presence of ‘Logos of Associated Groups’ are prominently displayed in good brochures to highlight the groups supporting the cause . Display of certifications adds to credibility and quality. This can be seen in the following examples....

Examples:

  i. http://cep.lau.edu.lb/programs/certificate-programs/fitness_poster.jpg

ii. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/15413836/Responsible-Business-Summit-2010-Brochure

    (Select 'Full Screen' options)

 

5.    Showcase of Excellence / Show Unique Attributes

 

Generally Brochures Showcase the Excellence through highlighting key points expected to be appreciated by target audience like -> Unique Attributes / Wider Reach / Progressive Excellence / Achievements / Progress / Growth / Evolution / How things got shaped, what lies ahead…..

Examples:

i. http://www.oocities.org/deivika_usha/brochurepage1.htm

ii. http://www.kddia.com/en/sites/default/files/file/KDDIA_map_DC_telehouse_20110118.pdf

iii. http://www.smiletemplates.com/brochure-templates/world-business-graph/01865/

 

 

6.    Professional Photography

Good use of photography can play a critical role in brochure design. At times professionally taken Pictures (and at times Use of Black and White Pictures or a Meaningful Painting) can create a big impact…

Examples:

Good Use of Black and White Photography, Painting and meaningful Picture of ancient devine sculpture in Yoga related Brochure:-

i. http://www.dakinigraphics.com/port_coll_yoga.htmii. 

Good use of photography:

ii. http://queenslandballet.com.au/assets/files/Attend/QB_Season_2012_Brochure.pdf              

7.    Brochure with Pocket

Brochure with Pockets are considered to be much popular with the audience / Pockets also facilitate providing a related CD/DVD / Feedback form…. 

Example:

i. http://www.stevenjoniak.com/hsbc-del-sorbo-group-brochure/hsbc-brochure2/

8.    Brochure Folding Styles

Brochure Folding Styles should also be considered among other attributes of Brochure Design

Example:

i. http://www.essence.co.in/brochure_1.html

9.    Cover Page and Background Images

A self explanatory Cover Page and an attractive Background Images can make a big difference.

Examples:

Background:-

i. http://ringvemedia.com/
ii. http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/brochure_background.html

Cover Page:-

i. http://bruceblackburn.com/development/epfl_standards/images/brochurecovers.png

10.    Internet Presence in Contact Details

Expectations for internet presence are high from net savvy audience. It may be good to have complete contact details explicitly showing presence on the internet, which may include:-

i)              E-mail

ii)             Web-Site

iii)            Social Networking sites like - Pinterest / Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn

iv)            Blog

(ALL THE WEB-SITES MENTIONED IN THE POSTING WERE LAST ACCESSED ON 26 AUG 2012)

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HOW ABOUT A UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS IN RAIPUR?

Sharing the Business Plan for 'University of Fine Arts in India' (proposed location - Raipur, Chhattisgarh). This is purely an academic work in the area of social entrepreneurship, which was submitted in the year 2010 as an assignment for course 'ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER' (ME2808 Entrepreneurship and Gender 7.5 credits) conducted by KTH, Stockholm. If you like the idea, please feel free to share it on your website or blog. Please do not put the business plan on any other server or provide a direct PDF download.

THE IDEA:

The business plan is to start a “University of Fine Arts” in the city of Raipur, India. This non-profit earning initiative is aimed at facilitating formal education in the area of Fine Arts in the Chhattisgarh region of India. Establishment of the university will help the cause of promoting awareness for different forms of human expression among residents of Chhattisgarh. It will also encourage a much focused study on way of lives of different tribes residing in remote areas of Chhattisgarh.

Art is a medium to express human emotions. Different forms of artistic expressions play key role in bringing sensitive social issues in public domain in true spirit of communicating the reality. Therefore, they present problems from perspectives, which are quite different from those being propagated through other accessible media (like electronic and print media) by influential agencies (may even include propaganda by different governments) for vested interests.

India is an ancient civilization trying hard to synchronize with the advanced countries in the on-going rapid changes sweeping across the globe. It is encountering many problems in different spheres. Democracy in India can be called a “Functional Anarchy” (as termed by John Kenneth Galbraith long back) to express the extent of irregularities in its governance and public administration. Identity politics, corruption, inequality and nepotism are not allowing  representative social leadership to evolve. Indian society is highly fragmented in terms of social status and heavily divided on caste lines. In remote areas, many tribal communities are endangered to extinction and so are their traditional art forms. Crimes against women are consistently rising in India. India has a very poor record in gender equality (in 2009 it has been ranked poorly at 114th position). India is also lagging in other indices of human development. On the other hand, Naxal movement (an extremist movement in favor of communist school of thoughts) is fast catching up in different parts of the country, especially in the state of Chhattisgarh. Thus, a need for an honest and effective medium to express problems from different perspectives appears evident. Working towards developing an infrastructure for promoting art form as expressions of public voice could be one of the best possible ways to harmonize different sections of society with governance. It will help in maintaining critical equilibrium among different forces by accommodating the un-heard off voice, public voice, government voice and the voice of international community. This will be instrumental in making the democracy function in sensible way thus contributing to an inclusive and sustainable growth.

On the other hand, lead by the encouraging progress in economic front, developments in last couple of decades have brought about unprecedented changes in social order in India. Despite deeply rooted traditional values, the vibrant population of this culturally diverse country has by and large reacted positively to the changes. A multi-dimensional transitioning process has been underway, which will eventually result in an evolution. However, there has not been any significant change in the field of formal education. To meet with the demands of emerging knowledge based industries, formal education is generally supplemented by external trainings mostly offered through training institutes. Highly regulated education system needs reforms to be able to come up with institutions matching world standards. Moreover, there is a need for creating infrastructure to support education in those areas of academic excellence which may not be directly useful to be absorbed by existing industrial set up but which have deep association with society and with development of mankind.

Current educational environment is conducive for establishment of world class University for faculties of Fine Arts. There are many reasons to support this. First is educational reforms are round the corner. Secondly, there are not many schools of Fine Arts in India. Thirdly, there are clear evidences supporting an inclination of youth towards diverse areas of studies including Fine Arts. Fourthly, with rising standard of living of the middle class, most parents are now in a position to financially support students for higher studies. Finally, on-going rapid development is opening numerous avenues in all the fields both at home and abroad. Thus, there is good possibility for many avenues of livelihood getting opened for scholars of Fine Arts.

The Business Plan can be accessed at:-
BUSINESS PLAN - UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS IN INDIA

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