Preparing the HR function for Industry 4.0 & the digital disruption

Today, we are standing at the beginning of a new decade that will be driven by the penetration of technology in human lives, reforming inter-personal relationships, changing business models and disrupting industries with the advent of Industry 4.0. Therefore, it is important to understand Industry 4.0 at a fundamental level and its associated dynamics which we will refer to as ‘The 3-Ws of Industry 4.0’. This will enable us to analyse the role of H in ‘HR’, transform the end-to-end talent and workforce spectrum and deploy resources such that organizations can disrupt rather than get disrupted.

What is Industry 4.0?	Implication on HR as a function
It is a network of cyber-physical systems with intelligent factories and workplaces driven by smart machines that communicate with each other, diagnose risks and initiate corrective actions. 4.0 aims at optimization of supply chains and value chains across organizations by gathering and analysing patterns of large volumes of data, otherwise impossible for humans. The penetration of use cases led by AI/ML/IoT/Big Data and Analytics to name a few.	This places a huge responsibility on the HR function to enable a smooth and successful transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 at an organization-wide level. Need of restructuring the employee acquisition, employee engagement and talent management processes to meet the changing psychological, financial, learning and development needs of employees – both humans and machines. Prepare the business and the workforce to embrace the culture of ‘Co-bot’, co-sharing workplace between humans and robots. Sensitize workforce to understand and co-opt with their machine counterparts for better collaboration.
Why move to Industry 4.0?	Implication on HR as a function
The shift from a services economy to a profit power economy post the global financial crisis, resulting to an ecosystem of contested boundaries can be tackled majorly by harnessing the power of data – its aggregation as well as analysis.	Urgent need of HR professionals to upskill themselves to leverage ‘Talent Sciences’ – the acumen of intuition by gathering employees’ and candidates’ data to hire and retain the best talent from the market.
Where is Industry 4.0 applicable?	Implication on HR as a function
The adoption of Industry 4.0 is changing the business models across the various segments of manufacturing and service sectors alike. From Shop floors to boutique manufacturing, from standardized service centres to personalized customer/ client value creation, industry 4.0 is changing the way producers and consumers meet, exchange ideas and transact.	Industry 4.0 is an opportunity for HR as a function to be the focal point for business critical decisions, revenue generation, business and corporate strategy formulation. With access to employee data, HR can gain a competitive edge and move from Operational reporting(descriptive analytics) to business strategy formulation(prescriptive analytics) alongside the Analytics Maturity model by Gartner. Thereby, getting representation in the executive board and function not just as a reactive member but also a proactive member to close the feedback loop of the talent available in the market, enabling the board in planning the future 4.0 strategy of the firm .

Few of the many potential use cases could be summed up as follows:
•Pre-Hire – use algorithms for optimized CV processing, candidate conversion rate, predict on-job success to variable factors, debunking the myth of correlation between high GPA scores and intelligence/smartness on – job. 
•Development – harness employee behaviour data, employ sentiment analysis to better equip managers in understanding their direct reports at a granular level.
•Succession Planning – employ the right mix of human + machine workforce, allowing humans to perform strategic tasks.
•Employee engagement – employ algorithms to understand patterns in predicting productivity spikes and redesign policies. 
•Performance management - AI/ML algorithms can help HR to set objective goals and measurements further adding to the transparency of the process. Additionally, real-time feedback can be provided to employees, resulting in course-correction at every stage rather than waiting for mid- or end-term performance cycles.
•Attrition management – analyse successful vs unsuccessful hires, use data to limit dysfunctional behaviour and enable collaboration by eliminating silo culture.

Thus, in my viewpoint if HR and organizations as a whole want to benefit and ride on the wave of digital disruption, they must adopt Industry 4.0, preparing the organization to focus on being the leader in the current ‘Attention economy’. 

We the Women!

Over the horizon, under the sea,
From far flung war rooms to the complex corporate tree.

Armed with wisdom and mind shackle-free,
Thou hath come a long way, Our Women in reverie.

Spread out your wings, weave a new desire,
Learn, Lead and Last, you have in your belly the needed fire.

Break Free from the cage that throws your ambitions on the burning pyre,
DO not be the damsel in distress, you were born only to inspire.

Let them not douse the strength of your power,
From your submissiveness , they stimulate their valor.

Accept not the hogwash of their sympathy,
Battle the challenges of womanhood gracefully.

As an entrepreneur or an employee,
rests on you the hopes of  a legacy.

So, Arise, Awake and march forward,
The millennial woman, you are here to be heard!!


Love,
Megha S.

Women Leadership: New Age Imperatives

We are in the era of Radical Shifts. The corporate dynamics is flipping at a fast rate and fostering gender equality remains a high visibility agenda across companies. While we may have seen a surge in the number of women entrepreneurs, the number of women CEOs and executive team members is stagnating. It stands at a meagre 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEO positions. Where is it emanating from?

According to the Women in Workplace study 2016 - Promotion rates for women lag behind those of men, for every 100 women promoted, 130 men are promoted. Secondly, at senior levels, women shift from line to staff roles. 90% of CEOs were promoted from line roles and 100% of those were men.

So why are women leaders important and how will we benefit from women leadership?

• Women have circular vision, one moment they could be talking about the latest pub in town and next moment giving you perspectives on the stock exchange. They can switch gears real quick, making them exceptional motivators and problem solvers.
• Women are multi-taskers and highly collaborative and process oriented.
• Women are skeptic by nature and look for legitimacy in the prospective solution to a problem. Thereby, building an authentic yet practical model for work.
• Improved staff retention, innovation and access to talent.
• Lead to higher employee engagement since the diverse strength of all employees can be leveraged.
• Role Model effect will lead to a better socio-economic quo,

Companies can enforce gender equality in the following ways:

• Stop relegating women contributions as supporting and not central/leading role.
• Develop women’s skills and capabilities by trainings.
•  Do not brush off critical feedback from women as non-competent.
• Commitment to gender diversity should be percolated from CEO to every employee.
• Put better systems in place to ensure the policies are working towards fair hiring, promotions and role alignments.
• Encourage and ensure direct interaction of women employees with senior management.

Finally, the women must follow the 3L Strategy to achieve leadership roles – Learn, Lead and Legacy:

•  It is not only what you know, but also who you know that defines success. So connect with people, transformational leaders and exchange knowledge and learn.
• Be fearless and be a good negotiator. Be aggressive wherever needed.
• Overcome traditional gender expectations with élan and grace to leave behind a positive legacy.

Women in the Changing dynamics of the Corporate world

International Women's day is fast approaching.March 8th, every year is marked as the IWD. Being an employee of an equal rights employer, the stress on IWD, gender equality at work, fair policies for woman and enforcement of a work culture free from gender-bias is a very important KRA for the policymakers of the organization.

We have certainly come a long way. From the confines of the four walls of the house, where women were being denied basic education to becoming literate, educated, skilled and highly skilled workforce of the Nation;women have surely come a long way.

Something that remains intact is the mindset of the average Indian Man or may be Men across the world. Therefore, we see fewer women at the top management positions than we see the men. There are a handful of such fiercely forceful ladies as Rekha Menon or Vanitha Narayanan in the IT industry and Arundhati Bhattacharya or Shanti Ekambaram in the Banking industry.

A Woman has always been epitomized as a caregiver, a fulfiller and a nurturer. Whereas, man has been exemplified as the bread earner, the hard worker and financially responsible.A female employee is still considered as a temporary asset to the team at least in the heads if not on papers.She will join, get married in due course, go on maternity leaves and that shall mark the end or slowdown of her career.Yes, it may mark a temporary slowdown, but she is not temporary. She is here to stay. The sooner we understand and realize this, the sooner we acknowledge that getting Ahead is a womanly trait too and that she should not be suppressed is when we will take the first step towards a balanced economical growth.

Disparities in financial remunerations due to gender bias is a commonly faced and discussed about topic. So many women face this challenge often. For an equal rights employer, it becomes obligatory to eradicate such unhealthy practises.

Let us give our women their due, unclog our mindsets and support them in their journey. Yes support - for they were, they are and will always remain to be the life givers on this planet and need a little handholding at stages, which in o way should impact their aspiration or desires.

There is an excellent video on Gender Equality at work(an advertisement by Tanishq). Go catch a glimpse of it here.

With Love,
Megha S.

Soul Mates Vs Twin Flame

We are all nothing more than a flame of light, for we are the soul and not the body. Each flame or soul as we most commonly call it, has transcended over hundreds of years and reached here - to this moment - 'The Now' that we are all into. Each one has its own journey, individual lessons to learn and then be absorbed back into the larger flame.

Have you ever met someone whom you felt an instant connect with? Like, you know this person for a long time, like you have felt this touch before whereas in reality you would have never even crossed paths in this life, in this physical plane.Well, I have. To be honest, I have met many such people. Some, that I am still in touch with. Others that came, taught valuable lessons, are still around me but we don't interact as often as we once did. May be their role in my life was limited to the phase where I met them. When they were needed the most, they were sent and now they are busy learning their own life lessons. These people are your soulmates. A soul mate may be anyone - not necessarily your life partner. You can actually have many soulmates. They are basically souls that are on the same wavelength as yours and come to the physical plane to help you in this journey. You may feel strongly for them. Having said that, let us understand it well, that it need not be romantic love for that soul. You may be able to comprehend words they don't speak, actions that they do not explain about. Yet, we believe in them. Why? Because, we have met before. We have known each other and our souls can look within us. The souls can connect.

There are other set of people, whom we do not connect with at all. Yet, life takes such turns and twists that we end up getting intertwined with them, into relationships that both the head and the heart isn't convinced about.We pause at multitude Red signals, know that the road ahead is bumpy, are most often not even willing to take risk, Yet, we plunge into it. Why? Because, there is this soul, you owe some debts. There is a karmic account that needs to be settled. It is best to settle it now and free yourself of it. So that you can crossover to the next life with lesser burden. I have had such encounters in my life too. Trust me, these are your energy drainers. They will suck out the positivity from your life and leave you devastated. But may be that is the reason they were sent to us. To help us learn patience, perseverance, feeling of loss and deceit. God help you if you have learnt it all. If not be prepared for some real fun, when you crossover too. (pun intended).

The third kind of souls are the most precious. They are your Twin Flames . Just when it was decided that a soul had to go on a physical plane to learn life's lessons (because it is believed that it is only when the soul takes the form of a body that it can experience hurt, anxiety, fear, jealousy and all that we keep close to the bosom with pride), the flame gets divided into two. It is more like a monozygotic twin where a fertilized egg splits into two separate embryos. The only difference lies in the fact that a monozygotic twin is born at the same time, but the Twin Flames may be sent over at different times.When the time is right, they meet. If the former or latter are doing a good job at learning their lessons is when they may not even meet in this life. That is the power of Free-Will. Destiny may have had some plan for you, but the outcome of the plan would have been left just in the Draft state with a note that Free will shall decide the course of events. It is then that you may or may not meet your Twin Flame.  But what a loss! If we don't. I am sure that feeling of being able to see, touch and feel your twin flame can transport you to another world. It can fill your life with a light so bright and divine that you would feel satiated and eternally blissful.

Many of us would like to accept and acknowledge that we may have met our Soulmates but not the Twin Flames or may be met your Twin Flame but they couldn't become your Life Mates. Possible, Isn't it?


With Love,
Megha S

Emotional Baggage - Can you Tame the Brain?

"Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got." - Robert Breault.

Life will not always be the way we plan it to be. Or perhaps, in few cases it is seldom the way it is planned to be. The only difference lies in the way our brains are programmed towards the acceptance of reality vs imagination. Few of us have a higher threshold limit whereas others may have very low threshold levels. The human brain can be absolutely tamed.

There was a research carried out by researchers of the University of Queensland in Australia and University of California at Berkeley in the year 2005 on the power of the human mind and how it could be reprogrammed. The study was conducted on 76 Tibetan Buddhist Monks in India who had mediated for thousands of hours and had been successful in altering the structure and function of their brains. This results to increased neuroplasticity. The advantages of the increased neuroplasticity is tremendous. It leads to unusually large propensity for happiness and reduced tendency towards negativity.

My husband has this extreme fascination for the himalayas and the Tibetan monks and their lifestyle. That keeps taking him every year on a ride to the himalayas and why not! The peace, tranquility and simplicity that the lives of the monks exemplify is truly captivating.

I am sure a lot of us would want that degree of peace in our lives. But it comes at the cost of self-discipline. Disciplining our mind to stay in the present. Let go off the past, let go off hurt, relationships, people, their actions or their words that caused us pain and be in a state of bliss.

How many of us really do that? We hold on to grudges over years together.We may never ever meet that person again, but their words still keep dancing in our heads. The more we think of them, the more fuel we add to the fire of hurt that was caused long back. It is sometimes best to forgive - forget and move on, not for anyone else, but our own sake.

If the memories of the past still have the power to stir fear in your heart,
Or
If the happenings of yester years still manage to encapsulate your heart with love and nostalgia,
Or
If you compare your present with the past, even if to epitomize your happiness today.

You are still stuck there, You still carry an emotional baggage that needs to be unpacked. Your yardstick for the measurement of your contentment should not be experiences from the past. Yes, experiences shape us into more informed and better prepared individuals. But, it is unjustified to compare two different phases or situations in life that can never meet.

If the past brings neither sorrow, nor happiness, neither trepidation nor yearning, it is then that you are truly living in the present. It is only through acceptance of one's life and its many events - good or bad does a human being become truly satisfied. When life's occurrences lose the power to alter the state of your mind, is when you have actually gotten over it.

And it is best to get rid off the past, so that the present can be written on a fresh slate waiting to be explored and enjoyed. We live only once. It is best to go with the flow and enjoy each day, as it comes.

Meditate, Exercise, Join a hobby class, do things that will help you understand yourself better. After all, the duty we owe ourselves is greater than that we owe to anyone else.

If you are looking for someone who can change your life, look no further, you had that person since birth - That person is 'You'.


With Love,
Megha S

It’s certainly time to analyze the OROP with our head: heads that have Wisdom, Wit and a pinch of Sensitivity

I have seldom written about any ongoing National issues on my personal blog. It has always centred on the finer aspects of life and relationships, morals and spirituality. But since I read the high-drama article of Mr. Chetan Bhagat in Times of India last Sunday, my mind has been wondering and conscience questioning that if we have ever hailed him as the Voice of the Indian youth.

·   Where do we - the young Indians stand in terms of morality and basic conduct?

·   Have we completely lost our gray matter to the gimmicks of grabbing public attention wherever we can?

·   Is our education system armed appropriately to provide us wisdom and not just printed papers under the cover of degrees?

My conscience, awareness and education tell me that there is a deep rooted evil in the system that is denying our veterans their right to OROP. So when an article like “It's time to analyze OROP with our head, not our heart” publishes under the pen of an army officer’s highly qualified Son, I can only look at it with pity and compassion.

I am not good at numbers, nor equipped to fetch the factual data at this point in order to judge whether there is any truth behind the calculation of Rs. 12,000 crore annual liability in the article. However, I cannot stoop low to put a price on the sect who ensure my Nation’s sovereignty.  Additionally, my understanding of the subject says that the delays caused by one government after the other and interplaying role of babus has brought us to the figure of Rs. 12,000 crore. The burden should not be put on OROP alone. The Army has been committed towards National well-being. At the time of Independence, on the appeal of the then Prime Minister, they accepted lesser salaries. This was a measure taken so that the government, that was already stressed under revenue collection would not be burdened anymore. We have come a long way since then. I think the time is long overdue when that one time measure needs to be revamped.

It has been very conveniently put in the article that in a country with limited resources, pensions amounting to Rs.60,000 crore per year is being spent on services (of the Army) already rendered. With no offence to the oh-so-revered Members of Parliament, I would like to ask, what makes writers like Chetan Bhagat keep their pen capped on the pension scheme for ex-MPs irrespective of their tenure.  As if it was not enough, the govt. is furthering the cause and is set to increase the rate of additional pension for each completed year in excess of five years, and an additional pension of Rs 2,000 per month instead of the current rate of Rs 1,500. Where is the money for this extravaganza coming from?

The Nation’s Army is meant to be taken pride in, respected and rewarded for their services today and forever. If they risk their lives, go to war during hostilities, let us at least have the audacity to support them when they are asking for their due.

Comparing the Army to several other government jobs that don’t have pension schemes shows a high degree of ignorance on the part of the writer. The Army doesn’t retire at 60. They don’t work for 8 hours flat. They don’t get paid for overtime. They don’t sleep in the cozy environs of their home. They work at field areas in not so friendly conditions, stay away from families and do not enjoy the best of all. I am sure there is much more to add to this list and other innumerable stories of their courage and valour.

My consistent following of the OROP on the news channels, newspapers, social media and basic understanding alone convince me on its genuineness. It’s a dismay that a celebrated national bestseller writer connects it to a prevarication that the army “guards the borders and so it should get what it wants”. They have earned it, they deserve it. They are peacefully seeking justice for somethings that has been long overdue.

And as far as the article published last Sunday in the National Newspaper is concerned, let us not forget; fiction writing places a person in a cocoon where there is ample space to give wings to one’s imagination. Seems like our writer fell a prey to it. Let imaginations fly but keep them restricted to fictitious characters and be sensible and sensitive enough to not target real people and events.

With Love,

Megha S.