Are You A Specialist? Because Generalists Are Just Too Many!

In today’s competitive world, organisations don’t settle for generalist any more, they need specialists. 

By Tony Mira

If you’ve been a jack of all trades all these years, then it’s time you don that‘specialist’ hat; because generalists are just too many. While businesses thrive on a healthy mix of generalists and specialists, organisations now value expertise. Business intellectuals keep “domain expertise” their focal point to achieve positive business outcomes because specialization has become a durable source of benefit in today’s competitive business environment.

While multitasking has always been a sought after skill by organisations, the change in the workplace requirement has given rise to the need for a focused talent requirement.

As recruiting has ramped up across the world, firms have begun to realise that there is a significant shortage of specialised talent. Needless to say innovation and transformational initiatives that redefine a company’s competitive position comes from employees with deeper and specialised skill sets.

The Indian workplace, on the other hand, is constantly evolving and organisations these days are moving from a vertically integrated model to a more specialised model, giving rise to the need for a specialised talent force.

Labelled as the world’s most preferred outsourcing destination, the talent requirement in India is treading on a niche path. With specialised services being outsourced to India, there is a significant need for specialised talent that caters to the rising specialised requirements, across verticals.

According to industry body, Nasscom, domain experts are in high demand, specifically in the healthcare and retail sector. They are the growth drivers for India’s BPM market, which has grown from providing support services into offering end-to-end hybrid services. Narrowing this trend down to the healthcare BPM sector, medical coding is the most sought-after specialised requirement. Organisations are therefore on the search for the best coders. While there are abundant opportunities for medical coders in India, the numbers of experts are very limited. The same extends to different organisations for different services.

With this being the industry standard and the current employment scenario, organisations are in search for the best talent. The next question undoubtedly is – ‘what is expected from a specialist?’ In India, educational institutions have grown from offering common courses that may or may not have relevance to the industry, to offering industry-relevant training and education. They have realised the need to prepare candidates to face the industry. But what is still yet to evolve is the‘campus to corporate connect’. When employers look for a talent to suit their organisational requirement, they look for someone to fit in a particular job role. This is even critical with organisations such as Ajuba, which operates in a specialised vertical.

With the shortage of specialised talent that is high in demand, organisations are now prepared to go beyond merely recruiting candidates but to invest in training these candidates to fit specific roles.

To mitigate the woes in the process of preparing these specialists, institutions and organisations must recognise the fact that the campus to corporate transition is more than just recruitment. Organisations should be prepared to invest in campuses to mould specific talent and in turn, campuses must be willing to invest in corporates to prepare industry relevant students. Organisations need to develop strategies that give institutions access to skills. With proper preparation, organisations can add value to their business by addressing different facets of their business gamut. This includes core competency certifications by organisations and setting up training centres within campuses. Successful outcomes of approaching this initiative pro actively include – skill development at a more fundamental level and addressing industry needs, while preparing a candidate’s career path at the initial stage. These being the trends, 2014 will indeed witness a rise in recruiting such talent and India should be ready to cater to this rising demand of a specialised talent force.

The author is the founder and group CEO Ajuba Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

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Interview Of The Day: ‘Mobile Sourcing Is Growing As A Medium For Talent Acquisition’

Srikanth Rengarajan- executive director & president Operations, ManpowerGroup

A series of optimistic and constructive activities are expected to pick up in 2014. 

1. What are the three things that will change the face of recruitment in 2014? 

The three things are: 

• Recruiters will prefer skills rather than qualifications in the job seekers. Just a mere degree won’t get the job now. The corporate are willing to tap relevant and quality talent only. Skills in the niche areas of IT, social media, security and healthcare would be looked forward to.
• Companies will figure out the mobile recruitment terrain. With the advantages of receiving the job alerts on smart phones, candidates recording answers to written questions from their mobile devices, making the job interview as portable as the application and the employers accessing the interview videos as and when required, mobile sourcing is growing as a medium for talent acquisition.
• Accelerated internal movement is still needed. Continued growth in business units will mean that there will be a much greater need for the rapid movement of current employees into new areas where they can have a higher impact. Effective solutions involve either using corporate recruiters to proactively move underused employees or encouraging employee referrals to quickly identify a wider range of talent for internal openings. 

2. Which were the biggest influencers of 2013 that will continue to influence in 2014, as well? 

• The physical and the digital worlds are fusing and world is emerging with the ‘Internet of things’. It won’t just change the way people live and work, it would also bring new opportunities and markets for businesses. With more data, accessing anything anywhere faster and adoption of smart grid technology internet of things will change the way of work.
• Employee referral will grow as the most trusted, fast and cost effective hotspot for hiring. More and more companies are picking up to adopt this model for filling up vacant positions faster.
• Big Data: The predictive power of big data, when applied to human behavior, is set to revolutionise the way business operates. Big data analytics can be one of the major differentiators for progressive HR organisations from the ones that are not. Big data can predict the behavior of talent with the level of accuracy to allow an organisation to identify a typical profile of people that it should invest in. 

3. 2014 will be the year of: 

The year 2014 will have a positive outlook. A series of optimistic and constructive activities are expected to pick up in the near future.

• Increased employment, in terms of huge job creation for fresher hiring as well as lateral hiring.  The major sectors following a brisk hiring pace would be IT, ITeS, social media, healthcare, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and automotive industry.
• Emerging entrepreneurs and freelancers. Indian B-school graduates are relinquishing their high-profile corporate jobs to take on entrepreneurial ventures.
• Bridging the skill gap through government initiatives. 

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Suryanamaskar is more than weight loss

Suryanamaskar is more than weight loss (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

Suryanamaskar can do to your body what months of dieting cannot. And it can do to your mind what no spiritual discourse can. 

Not surprising, the world is going crackers over this ancient yogic tradition of worshipping the rising sun. What with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Victoria Beckham and Kareena Kapoor endorsing it over gym workouts and bizarre diets. 

From improving your posture, strengthening muscles to whittling extra inches around the waist, the benefits of Suryanamaskar are many, provided you adapt it the right way. A set of 12 fixed, cyclic postures define Suryanamaskar which when performed repeatedly at an easy pace can bring a sense of well being, almost immediately. However, those with a heart condition, arthritis or slip-disk, need their doctor's consent before starting the routine. Suryanamaskar's surging popularity notwithstanding, jumpstarting a schedule is most definitely not the best thing to do for a fitness novice. If you have been gravely out of form in a way that you haven't stretched your muscles in ages, first give your body some time to open up, which you can do with some flexibility and stamina-building exercises before embarking on the more arduous 'Suryanamaskar'. 

And once your body has registered a certain fitness level, you can begin with a set of three Suryanamaskars in the first instance and increase it to five then ten and more depending on your stamina. Anymore than clocking up numbers, it is important to get each posture right, for the very essence of this yogic ritual lies in perfecting every move. To say the least, it can be an uphill task for beginners. But our expert-backed warm-up exercises are sure to make Suryanamaskar less strenuous and ever so graceful. 

1. Neck: Breathe in while you turn your neck to the right and breathe out as you come back to the starting position. Again, breathe in while turning your neck to the left and breathe out in the centre. Repeat this movement thrice. Rotate your neck first clockwise and then anti-clockwise. 

2. Arm and shoulder: Stretch your arms out in front of your chest and move your palms up and down, then sideways. Further on, rotate your fist clockwise and anti-clockwise. To relax your arms, place your palm on your shoulder and move your shoulders first clockwise then anti-clockwise. 

3. Knee: Bend forwards with your palms resting on your knees, join your knees and move forwards and backwards. End the routine by rotating your knees clockwise and anti-clockwise. 

4. Stomach and back: Interlock your fingers over your chest and slowly raise your hands upwards while you breathe in and stand on your toes. Return to Position 1 as you breathe out. Repeat this cycle three times. 

5. Legs and waist: Stretch your legs wide in standing position, touch you left toe with the right hand, then the right toe with the left. Keep your knees straight while you do so. Repeat a few times. 

By now your body is suitably warmed up to begin the Suryanamaskar routine. Here is a step-by-step account of the 12 postures. Don't try this routine on a mat, you are better off on the bare floor or on the grass. 

Posture 1# Stand erect, ideally facing the morning sun. Fold your hands in prayer close to your chest and chant 'Om Suryadevaya Namah' thrice. 

Posture 2# With your hands together raise your arms up in the air while you breathe in. Bend over backwards forming an arch from the hands to your feet. The flexibility of the spine is ensured in this posture. 

Posture 3# Bring your hands down while you breathe out to touch the floor on either side of your feet. In this posture, it is imperative to keep your knees straight as you bend forward from the waist, and your head as close as possible to the knee. This posture helps melt the excess fat around the stomach by aiding digestion. 

Posture 4# While breathing in, put your hands flush with the floor and lower your hips and stretch your left leg back, allowing it to balance on your toes, and your right leg bent in a crouching stance. With your hands firmly on the ground and your arms straight as a die, raise your head upwards to face the sky. This one is for the flexibility of spine and leg muscles, and boosts immunity from diseases. 

Posture 5# As you breathe out, let your hands stay firmly on the ground and push your right leg back parallel to the left. Make sure your feet firmly touch the ground and your hip raised high. With your arms and knees straight lower your head to face your navel. 

Posture 6# Hold your breath as you bring your hips down while keeping your hands and feet in the same position, and stretch your whole body near the floor. With your face downward, bring your chest and knees to lightly brush the floor, and hold your hips slightly high. At this juncture, 8 points of your body are touching the floor - your palms, forehead, chest, knees and toes. 

Posture 7# This posture is a mere extension of Posture 6, in that you breathe in and straighten your arms and lift your chest upward in an arching stance, and your head thrown back facing the sky. Your arms, at this point, carry the weight of your body, with you knees and toes resting on the floor. 

Posture 8# Bring your body back to Posture 5 by raising your hips and lowering your chest and head. Keep your arms and knees straight while you do so, and place your feet flush with the floor. Then lower you head to face your navel. 

Posture 9# As you breathe in, return to a similar position as Posture 4, only this time you will be crouching on the left knee and stretching back your right leg. Place your hands firmly on the ground, and with the weight of your body on your arms move your chest forward and arch your head up to face the sky. 

Posture 10# From here, flow back to Posture 3 while keeping your hands flush with the floor and bringing your right foot side by side with your left one. As you straighten your knee, raise your back to arch in a standing position with your head as close as possible to the knee and your hands on either side of your feet. 

Posture 11# Take a deep breathe and raise your arms up in the air as you straighten your back and gradually bend over backwards, akin to Posture 2. Your knees stay straight all the while. 

Posture 12# Bring yourself to Posture 1 from here with your hands folded before your chest in prayer, and your spine erect, your knees straight and your eyes shut in meditation. 

With Posture 12 you complete one full circle of Suryanamaskar. From here you can flow back to Posture 2 to continue the routine. However, always follow up your Suryanamaskar regime with Savasana, better known as Corpse Pose. In this posture, you lay down on the floor with your legs and arms apart, your palms facing the sky, and eyes deep shut. Breathe in and out heavily and try to focus your thoughts on something happy. Stay on this way for a few minutes and you will feel a sense of calm run down your body like a drug. 

Weight loss is just one consequence; you can so much as put your life together with this ancient yogic tradition
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Xbox, Surface sales help Microsoft beat Q2 forecast

LOS ANGELES: Microsoft reported revenue and earnings for its fiscal second quarter that topped Wall Street expectations, as the company sold 3.9 million Xbox One consoles to retailers and doubled revenue from its line of Surface tablets from a quarter earlier.

Net income in the quarter through December climbed to $6.56 billion, or 78 cents per share, from $6.38 billion, or 76 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 14% to $24.52 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 68 cents per share on revenue of $23.67 billion.

Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer, who announced he'd step down by August, said in a statement the Redmond-based company's devices and consumer segment had a "great holiday quarter." A new CEO is expected to be announced soon.

Surface revenue rose to $893 million in the quarter, up from $400 million in the three months through September, as the company benefited from a summertime price cut to its first-generation models, unveiled the Surface 2 and expanded the number of places it is sold at retail.

"There's better hardware, the software continues to improve and there's better market perception," said Chris Suh, Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, in an interview with The Associated Press. He added that there has been "good pick-up" of Surface 2. "The trajectory is a lot better than a couple of quarters ago."

However, analysts continue to question the company's new focus on manufacturing hardware on top of its mainstay software business. The Surface division continued to lose money as the company strived to reach manufacturing scale that would make it profitable. Meanwhile, Xbox One, which launched in November, is still in the money-losing phase typical of new consoles, though that should change in later years as it profits from game sales.

Making matters worse on the hardware front, Microsoft plans to complete its $7.4 billion acquisition of Nokia's phone business and patent rights early this year, but the Finnish phone maker reported earlier in the day that its smartphone sales plummeted 29% in the December quarter despite releasing new Lumia models.

"I would call it a Herculean challenge to turn around that mobile business," said Daniel Ives, senior technology analyst with FBR Capital Markets. "They have a lot of wood to chop ahead."

The company withstood a steep decline in personal computer sales, which research firm Gartner pegged at a 7% decline worldwide in the December quarter and IDC put at 6%.

Microsoft said revenue from its flagship operating system fell just 3%, reflecting a 12% gain from PCs that its partners sold to enterprises, although it made no distinction between which version sold better, Windows 7 or its much-criticized Windows 8.1. Some businesses are still upgrading to Windows 7 as the company plans to end support for Windows XP in April. Windows revenue from consumer purchases fell 20 percent, dragged down by a sharp decline in China.

Overall, revenue from its devices and consumer segment grew 13% to $11.91 billion, while revenue from commercial products like server operating systems and cloud computing services grew 10 percent to $12.67 billion.

Microsoft's shares rose $1.29, or 3.6%, to $37.34 in after-hours trading on Thursday following the release of the results. Earlier, the stock closed the regular session up 13 cents at $36.06
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Qualcomm buys Palm patents from Hewlett-Packard

Qualcomm says the purchase covers 1,400 US patents and about 1,000 more foreign patients for the company's mobile computing technology.

SAN DIEGO: Cellphone chip-maker Qualcommsaid that it has acquired patents once owned by smartphone maker Palm from Hewlett-Packard for an undisclosed amount. 

Qualcomm says the purchase covers 1,400 US patents and about 1,000 more foreign patients for the company's mobile computing technology. 

Hewlett-Packard paid $1 billion for Palm in 2010 as part of its first foray into tablet computers and smartphones, which ran on Palm's operating system. The effort flopped and HP now sells tablets using Google's Android and a recently introduced version of Microsoft's Windows. Palo Alto, California-based HP hasn't re-entered the smartphone market. 

The Palm acquisition was one of three major purchases that have haunted HP, along with technology consulting service EDS and business software maker Autonomy. In November of 2012, Hewlett took an $8.8 billion writedown on the Autonomy acquisition, saying it was the victim of a multibillion-dollar fraud at the hands of the British company. Autonomy's former CEO said HP's allegations were false. 

HP last year sold Palm's mobile operating system, webOS, to LG Electronics, which now implants the software in internet-connected TVs. 

Qualcomm didn't elaborate on its plans for the Palm patent portfolio. Big tech companies in recent years have been looking to expand their patent portfolios to help introduce new technology and protect themselves from lawsuits. 

The San Diego company last year introduced a smartwatch called Toq to showcase the potential wearable devices that can connect to the internet
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Nokia's future without handset business

Nokia, which is selling its handset division to the US technology giant for $7.4 billion, said that the unit's sales fell 29%.

LONDON: Microsoft's push into the smartphone market may not get off to the best start. 

Nokia, which is selling its handset division to the US technology giant for $7.4 billion, said that the unit's sales fell 29%, to 2.6 billion euros, or $3.5 billion, in the fourth quarter. The operating loss for the division was 201 million euros. 

Sales of its smartphones declined 7% in the quarter to about 8.2 million units, despite an increase in consumer spending during the holiday season. 

Nokia's interim president, Timo Ihamuotila, said the company's midrange phone, the Lumia 520, had performed better than its high-end phones in the fourth quarter. The company said increased competition from other device manufacturers like Apple, Samsung and Sony was the primary cause for the drop in sales. 

"Breaking into the high-end market was always going to be a challenge for Microsoft and Nokia," said Nick Dillon, a senior telecommunications analyst at the research firm Ovum in London. "Windows phones still don't offer the same level of applications that are available on Android and Apple's iOS. The software is still lagging behind." 

After announcing the deal to buy Nokia's handset division in September, Microsoft said it wanted to combine its own marketing and development teams with those from the Nokia unit to increase its presence in the global smartphone market. 

Analysts said that Microsoft could still compete with rival phone makers but should focus on emerging markets like India and China, where the growing number of middle-class consumers are seeking to upgrade to smartphones. 

Nokia's quarterly earnings also gave investors their first look of what the Finnish technology giant would look like without the phone business. Most were not impressed. 

Excluding the sales from the handset unit, Nokia had a net loss of 25 million euros, about $34 million, in contrast to a profit of 193 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2012, and a drop in revenue of 21%, to about 3.5 billion euros. 

The company, which will retain its mobile infrastructure, mapping and intellectual property units after the deal with Microsoft is completed this quarter, said sales across the three divisions fell in the fourth quarter. 

That reflected in part reduced investments by some of the world's largest carriers in the infrastructure equipment used in high-speed mobile networks. 

Nokia's stock closed down 8.7%. 

As part of its overhaul, Nokia is expected to announce soon the results of a strategic review of its operations, including a potential dividend to shareholders from the proceeds of the phone sale. Ihamuotila, the interim president, declined to say when the results of the review would be released. 

The company's board also must decide on a new chief executive to succeed Stephen Elop, who will join Microsoft after the phone sale is completed. 

Analysts expect the company to focus on its mobile infrastructure business, which makes networking equipment for cellphone carriers. The unit, called NSN, represents about 90 percent of the revenue from the company's remaining operations
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Samsung quarterly profit dips first time in 2 years

For the first time in over two years, Samsung's quarterly net profit declined, amid concerns about slowing growth in smartphones.

SEOUL: For the first time in more than two years, Samsung's quarterly net profit declined from the previous quarter, the South Korean electronics powerhouse said, amid deepening concerns about slowing growth in thesmartphone market. 

The maker of the Galaxy smartphone said that its net earnings for the October-December period fell 11% from the third quarter to 7.3 trillion won ($6.8 billion). It's the first time in nine quarters that profit didn't grow from the previous quarter. 

Compared to a year earlier, net earnings inched up 4%. The results fell short of market expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 7.5 trillion won. 

Samsung Electronics blamed the strong won, high marketing costs to promote Galaxy devices and other one-time expenses, such as special bonuses to employees. 

The weaker-than-expected earnings raised speculation that Samsung's profit growth could come to halt. The company is the world's largest smartphone supplier and competes with Apple. 

Quarterly sales came to 59.3 trillion won, essentially unchanged from the previous quarter and up 6 percent over a year earlier. 

Samsung's IT and Mobile Communications division, which generated nearly 70% of its profit in the last few quarters, saw its profit fall to 5.5 trillion won from the previous quarter's 6.7 trillion won. 

Robert Yi, head of Investor Relations, said it would be difficult for the company to improve earnings during the first quarter of this year as display panels and TV businesses would likely be weak. Yi predicted that capital spending would be at a similar level as 2013.

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Apple to stay away from curved screen in 2014: WSJ

According to a new report, the new iPhones expected in the second half of this year won't include a curved display.

NEW DELHI: iPhone-maker Apple seems in no hurry to hop on to the curved screen smartphone bandwagon. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the new iPhones expected in the second half of this year won't include a curved display. 

Last year, both Samsung and LG introduced a fresh change in the smartphone design with their curved screen phones. Samsung launched Galaxy Round, a phone with vertical curved edges. This was followed by LG's G Flex, which boasts of curved screen and a self-healing back. 

The phones, which are believed to be the smartphone makers' baby steps towards fully flexible products, had led to speculations on Apple also launching a phone with flexible screen. 



A Bloomberg report too had claimed that Apple is developing new iPhone designs including ones with bigger screens with curved glass and enhanced sensors capable of detecting different levels of pressure. 

While Apple so far may not be keen on curved screens, Samsung appears to be betting big on their potential. 

According to a report in Tech Radar, some recent sketches from the US Patent and Trademark Office reveal that Samsung is working on a phone with curvature that slopes at the edges. There are speculations that the Samsung patent could be applied either to the unannounced Galaxy Note 4 or the Galaxy S5. 

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CNN’s Facebook, Twitter accounts hacked

The affected accounts included CNN's main Facebook account, CNN Politics' Facebook account and the Twitter pages for CNN and CNN's 'Security Clearance'.

WASHINGTON: The Syrian Electronic Armyclaimed responsibility on Thursday forhacking some of US broadcaster CNN's social media accounts.

The affected accounts included CNN's main Facebook account, CNN Politics' Facebook account and the Twitter pages for CNN and CNN's 'Security Clearance'.

Blogs for 'Political Ticker', 'The Lead', 'Security Clearance', 'The Situation Room' and 'Crossfire' were also hacked.



"The posts were deleted within minutes and the accounts have since been secured," CNN said in a story on its website.

It added that one of the posts on its Twitter account said: "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here...Stop lying... All your reports are fake!"

On its Twitter feed, the SEA said it was behind the hack. "Tonight, the #SEA decided to retaliate against #CNN's viciously lying reporting aimed at prolonging the suffering in #Syria," it said.



The group, which backs Syria's government, has previously hacked accounts of Skype, as well as The New York Times, Agence France-Presse and other media organizations.

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