Friday 28 March 2014

Amazon: No plans to offer free video service

3/28/2014 12:00:00 pm BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Amazon: No plans to offer free video service

Amazon says it has no plans to offer a free streaming media service.

LOS ANGELES: Amazon says it has no plans to offer a free streaming media service, addressing speculation ahead of a media event in New York next Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Sally Fouts said that Amazon runs ads ahead of movie and game trailers, but the company has no plans to offer a free streaming media service.

The Wall Street Journal reported Amazon is considering an ad-supported streaming TV and music video service. The story followed an email Amazon sent reporters inviting them to hear about an update to its video business.

Amazon.com Inc. has invested heavily on making TV shows and movies available to customers who pay $99 a year for Amazon Prime. Members benefit from two-day shipping on certain items and access to videos including original series like "Betas" and "Alpha House."

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CEO Satya Nadella brings Microsoft closer to Apple

3/28/2014 11:56:00 am BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

CEO Satya Nadella brings Microsoft closer to Apple

Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella made his public debut on Thursday, pulling the wrapper off the company's latest thrust into cloud and mobility - Office for iPad.

ANGALORE: Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella made his public debut on Thursday, pulling the wrapper off the company's latest thrust into cloud and mobility - Office for iPad. In a live webcast from San Francisco, the India-born self-confessed cricket fan said Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point), which will soon go live in Apple App Store, would provide users with a high fidelity Office experience.

The strategy marks a shift from one of keeping Office within the walls of Microsoft's Windows operating system. Office will be available as a free download on Apple's iPad. Users can view word documents and give presentations with Office for free, but editing may require a subscription to Office 365, a subscription-based online suite. "The vision for Office 365 is for the '1 billion Office users and growing' to be able to access applications everywhere," he said.

Nadella, who has now spent 52 days as CEO of Microsoft, described his stint so far as "amazing" for someone who has spent 22 years of his adult life in the company. "You relearn the place," Nadella said.

He described how computing would continue to become more ubiquitous. "Every interaction we have with humans will be digitized more rapidly than ever." He spoke about the magical intersection of the cloud and the mobile. "It's important for the cloud to interact with the real world. The cloud that is not connected to devices is just latent potential," he added.

Nadella emphasized that Microsoft's Cloud for Mobile would address the needs of individuals and organizations, spanning devices.

"The coming together of three constituents - end user, developer and IT professional - with applications will enable individuals and organizations to do more." He felt the opportunity for developers to build applications on a rich surface area would help them do "more" in a secure environment.

Nadella called Windows a massive commitment for Microsoft. He said Microsoft would give a bigger picture over the coming days about its innovation agenda
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Competition Commission of India slaps Rs 1 crore fine on Google

3/28/2014 11:54:00 am BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Competition Commission of India slaps Rs 1 crore fine on Google

Google was penalised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for "non cooperation" in the pending investigation.

NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has fined Google Rs 1 crore "for failure to comply with the directions given by the director general (DG) seeking information and documents". CCI is probing Google for anti-competitive and unfair practices.

"The order was passed on a reference made by the DG to CCI alleging inter alia non-cooperation by Google in the pending investigations," said a CCI spokesperson.

Earlier BharatMatrimony and Consumer Unity & Trust Society had complained to CCI that Google abused its dominant position on the web and in the web advertising market to push its own services and unfairly promote the services of companies that were willing to pay more money to it.

On Thursday, CCI also directed Google to cooperate with the investigation by providing information and documents that may be required by the DG.

Google said that it was disappointed with the CCI order.

"We're disappointed by this development. While we are confident that our products are compliant with competition law in India, we continue to cooperate fully with the CCI's extensive and ongoing investigation. We've not yet received this procedural order, but will review it fully once we have," said a Google spokesperson.

Recently Medianama, a website that reports on web content and e-commerce business in India, revealed that CCI was asking Indian web companies their views on Google's advertisement and business practices in the country. CCI has reportedly sent a questionnaire to various web entities, seeking their views on whether Google was unfairly promoting its own services or abusing its dominant position in the search and advertisement business to the detriment of other websites and portals in the country.

Concerns over Google's alleged anti-competitive practices are not new. In the US in 2013, Federal Trade Commission, which was looking into Google's business practices, closed its antitrust review after Google voluntarily agreed to make two changes to its search and AdWords business.

In February this year Google reached a preliminary settlement with European Commission, which was probing the company for unfair trade practices. The settlement includes Google agreeing to show results from at least three competitors each time it shows its own results for searches related to shopping and travel
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SC installs Sunil Gavaskar as BCCI working president for IPL.... CSK & RR will play in this IPL

3/28/2014 11:47:00 am CRICKET No comments

Srinivasan should resign immediately, he should not stay on the post: Digvijava Singh #IPLScandal
5 minutes ago

I support IPL as it has made cricket more popular. There should be strict action against those involved in match fixing: Digvijaya Singh
Supreme court appoints BCCI Vice President Shivlal Yadav to take care of all non IPL BCCI affairs #IPLScandal
Sunil Gavaskar to get out of contractual agreements with BCCI for commentary #IPLSCandal
BCCI refutes Harish Salve's claim that MS Dhoni gave false statement to the Mudgal panel #IPLSCandal
SC directs Sunil Gavaskar to sufficiently compensate Sunil Gavaskar during the IPL #IPLScandal
No BCCI official to be linked with India Cements #IPLScandal
Sunil Gavaskar not do commentary during IPL 7
The Supreme Court has permitted Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings to participate in the IPL.
Supreme court installs Sunil Gavaskar as working president of BCCI only for IPL matches

First impressions: Samsung Galaxy S5

3/28/2014 11:44:00 am BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

First impressions: Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung has launched Galaxy S5 in India along with Galaxy Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo smartwatches and Gear Fit fitness band.

NEW DELHI: Samsung is back with a new flagship Galaxy phone - Galaxy S5. This is going to be the best, most powerful and most feature-rich Galaxy phone for around a year. While we will have the full review of the device in the coming weeks, we checked it out today at the launch event in New Delhi.

Here is what we think of Galaxy S5 based on the brief time we spent with the device:

The first thing you notice about Galaxy S5 is that the glossy plastic cover - much hated by users but much loved by Samsung - found on previous galaxy phones is finally gone. In its place, Samsung is using a back cover made of plastic that has a matte finish and that feels soft - almost like velvet - to the touch. The back cover also has a dotted pattern, but the dots are small.

We feel the change in the design and material of back cover is for the good. Galaxy S5 does look and feel better than Galaxy S4. However, it still can't match iPhone 5S or Xperia Z1 in terms of looks.

The other striking bit about Galaxy S5 is how light it feels despite packing in a large screen. With its rounded edges, it fits in the hand very well and due to its relatively low weight it is easy to hold and use it.

The build quality of Galaxy S5 looks top notch, though there is still not much of metal in the body. Mostly it is plastic, but to give the device a premium look, Samsung is using a frame in metal finish that fits around the phone.

The three buttons - two touch-sensitive buttons for Back and Menu options and one physical button for Home - sit below the screen. There are no onscreen buttons in Galaxy S5.

Galaxy S5 has a dust and water proof design. The USB 3.0 port on the device is covered with a flap.

The home button has a fingerprint scanner. In our use, we found it works well. A user has to swipe his finger on the Home button and if the fingerprints match, the phone unlocks. If the fingerprint scanner cannot unlock the phone, a user has the option of putting in password or PIN manually.

The other sensor - heart rate sensor - is located under the primary camera and also works well. It integrates with S Health app on the device and measures heart rate when a user places his or her finger on top of the scanner.

The Indian version of Galaxy S5 is powered by an Exynos processor. It has four A15 cores, which are meant for tasks that require high performance like gaming. These cores run at 1.9GHz. The processor also has four low-power A7 cores that run at 1.3GHz.

In our brief use, we found the device to have very good performance. Opening apps or scrolling through app drawer is lag-free and smooth. But we will need to play games, multitask and try out some demanding apps before we can say more about the performance part of the device.

The camera seems responsive and fast. We took some shots with and found the focus speed to be very fast. But this is another area that we will explore in detail in our full review.

Overall, Galaxy S5 seems an impressive device. The design and how it feels in hand is better compared to Galaxy S4. The features look good and so does performance. We will have more to say about it the full review in the coming weeks but our first impression is that this is going to be one of the best smartphones you will be able to buy this year.

A few words about Galaxy Gear Fit
Just like Galaxy S5, Gear Fit is surprisingly light. It also uses an all plastic - or rather rubber and plastic - design but on the wrist it looks really cool with its large 1.8-inch screen.

The device can track the physical activity of a user. It can measure the steps taken in a day or distance covered in a jogging session.

There is a heart rate sensor under the Gear Fit. But unlike Gear 2, it doesn't have a camera. Gear Fit will work with select Galaxy devices, including Galaxy S5. It can also show notifications like calls or messages received on the phone
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IPL shadow over India game in World T20

3/28/2014 11:41:00 am CRICKET No comments

IPL shadow over India game in World T20

Indian players Yuvraj Singh (centre), Suresh Raina (left) and Ravichandran Ashwin warm up during team's training session at rhe Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. (AFP Photo)

DHAKA: Has there ever been an occasion when a World Cup match involving India been reduced to a side show? In the wake of the damning interim order of the Supreme Court on N Srinivasan and the spot-fixing controversy, the team's ICC World T20 Super 10 encounter against hosts Bangladesh at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium, has been reduced to a footnote.

The team arrived at the stadium in their spacious greenline luxury bus at around 3 pm and Rohit Sharma, who addressed the media in place of skipper MS Dhoni, would have been surprised to see many non-Indian mediapersons showing interest.

Before the first question could be asked, the team's media manager Dr RN Baba, issued instructions to the media.

"No questions on what's happening back home. Questions only on World T20." That irked a senior journalist who retorted: "You need not state the obvious. We all know Rohit is not in a position to answer those questions."

ICC spokesperson then stepped in and said that Baba was just making a polite request.

The mood was restive and Rohit must have felt tackling Dale Steyn on a green top at Kingsmead would have been easier. A couple of western journalists though did ask him about how the team could concentrate with so much happening back home.

The opener handled those googlies well. "It's important for us to focus as we have a big job on our hands. When we came here, we were determined to win the tournament. We have won two out of two games and tomorrow (Friday) is another crucial match. At the moment, our focus is on this game," he said.

Another googly came in the form of a similar question as Rohit was asked if the players had spoken about these issues and followed news channels. "Not at all," was his reply.

After the press conference concluded, a large group of scribes surrounded Baba and asked him why Dhoni didn't address the media. He said, "He will be available only when the team loses. When the team wins, the performer of the day will speak."

Baba also denied that there was a BCCI diktat which prevented players from talking about the IPL controversy. "But they will not speak about it," he stressed.

The team trained at the academy nets at the eastern side of the ground on Thursday as hosts Bangladesh used the main training facilities.

It inconvenienced the photographers and TV crew no end as the area is very small. Dhoni, also vice-president of India Cements and skipper of Chennai Super Kings, would have enjoyed that. Everyone wanted a close-up of the man in the spotlight.

Was he tense? Was the team looking worried? Was he showing signs of nerves while batting? Nothing of that sort. He batted in two nets for close to 15 minutes, but avoided the area where he could be filmed without obstruction.

Dhoni's big shots though didn't quite come out right and he was even bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar twice.

A brief chat with head coach Duncan Fletcher and Joe Dawes followed and it was time to pack up. As Yuvraj Singh and he made their way to the exit gate, he mockingly pushed Yuvraj in full view of the media.

Prior to leaving the ground though, Yuvraj and Shikhar Dhawan discussed the state of Indian politics. "Tu khada ho raha hain, election main?" Yuvraj asked Dhawan.

"Khada hoga to bol. Tujhe vote dalunga, lekin Kejriwal ko nahin," he yelled as Dhoni struggled to control his laughter
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Dhoni lied about Meiyappan's role in CSK, alleges Salve

3/28/2014 11:39:00 am CRICKET 1 comment

Dhoni lied about Meiyappan's role in CSK, alleges Salve

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Harish Salve on Thursday accused MS Dhoni, captain of both the Indian cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings IPL team, of lying about the role of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of N Srinivasan, to the Supreme Court-appointed committee probing allegations of betting and spot-fixing in IPL.

Appearing for Cricket Association of Bihar, Salve told a bench of Justices A K Patnaik and FMI Kalifulla that Dhoni, who is also a vice-president in India Cements (which owns CSK), had -- along with Srinivasan -- told the Mudgal probe committee that Meiyappan "had nothing to do with the cricketing affairs of CSK and was a mere cricket enthusiast supporting CSK".

In its report, the probe panel stated, "Though the de-jure ownership (of CSK) vests with India Cements, the committee finds that Meiyappan was in fact acting as a team official if not the de-facto owner of CSK". It added that he had access to sensitive information, including team strategy. The panel had found him guilty of betting but had said further probe was necessary to establish whether there was truth in the spot-fixing allegations against him and others.

Salve drew from the panel's critical comments relating to Meiyappan to slam Dhoni's conduct. He said, "MS Dhoni is a vice-president of India Cements and captain of CSK. Look at his statement! You are also the captain of Indian cricket team and you are making a wrong statement supporting Srinivasan's stand before the inquiry panel that Meiyappan was a mere cricket enthusiast.

"Captain of Indian team is found guilty of corrupt conduct. He and Srinivasan were found making false statements before the apex court committee. This shows both Dhoni and Srinivasan indulged in a cover-up operation. That by itself is a corrupt conduct. For this, the CSK franchise should be terminated. But BCCI lets them off the hook with a mere reprimand. That is because Srinivasan comes to BCCI wearing a different hat, that of the board president.

"This shows the malady runs deep. The conflict of interest runs deep. L Sivaramakrishnan, R Ashwin, M Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja are all employees of India Cements. And here is Meiyappan having access to crucial team information and putting huge bets through punter Vindoo Dara Singh."

Salve said Srinivasan's seamless transition between India Cements chairperson and BCCI president must be taken to be at the core of the maladies haunting IPL and requested the court to hand over further investigation to an outside agency as BCCI could no longer be trusted with the probe.

"To unravel the entire facts behind the scandal, the probe needs to be handed over to CBI which must interrogate Meiyappan in custody. Only then will everything come out," he said, adding India Cements was "directly responsible for Meiyappan's conduct as it sought accreditation for him as official of CSK".

Salve said Srinivasan wears one hat and tells the SC panel that Meiyappan was a mere cricket enthusiast and then replaces the India Cements hat with the BCCI one to let off CSK with a reprimand. This made the court remark that "Srinivasan is a multi-faceted personality, an all-rounder".

When Salve said the truth had an uncanny habit of popping out, the bench said, "We all believe in 'Satyameva Jayate' (truth alone prevails). Truth may be suppressed for sometime, but ultimately it comes out and prevails."

Working Empowers You, Makes You Confident: Dipali Goenka, Wife of Welspun Group’s Chairman

3/27/2014 12:27:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Working Empowers You, Makes You Confident: Dipali Goenka, Wife of Welspun Group’s Chairman

Dipali Goenka is one of those who walked the rare path of getting married and raising children before making a career debut. She was 32 years old and a mother of two daughters, then aged 10 and 7, when she decided to step out from her cushioned living room and into the competitive board room.

It wasn’t easy for Goenka, even though she was the wife of the $4-billion Welspun Group’s chairman. Her husband had told her, “This can’t be a hobby as business will be at stake. You will have to show what you can do and prove your worth.”

A determined Goenka started from scratch, handling various roles in different departments from purchase to HR to design and worked her way up. Today, the 44-year-old heads the group’s home textile business.

“Women should work. They should go beyond clothes, bags and jewellery,” says Goenka, adding, “Working empowers you, it makes you confident and in charge of yourself.”

She says that work helps women understand their partners’ professional commitments and hence build an “evolved” relationship, keeping them on a par.

Nothing in life, however, comes free. Even as she juggled with the new routine, trying to take time out for her girls, Goenka missed out on her social life and in the bargain lost a few friends. “The price I paid was nothing compared to what I have learnt and continue to learn. But there were times I was tugged in all directions.” She narrates an incident when she was away at Harvard for a course and her daughter got typhoid. The disturbed mother wanted to come back but her husband comforted her and told her that she should stay put as she had gone all the way.

When Goenka joined the group in 2002, women comprised just a minuscule 2% of the workforce, which today has risen to 40%. Ironically, though the home textile industry is largely male-dominated, the products are mostly bought by women. “While men are all about IQ, women bring with them EQ,” says Goenka, who has worked towards creating an environment conducive for women employees in the corporate office as well as in the plants. “Women also bring diversity, balance and a different thought process.”

What took her so long to start her career innings? Goenka, who grew up in Jaipur, says it was important for her to be with her kids during their early years.

“Despite the father – as also servants – being there for the children, it is only the mother who can inculcate culture in them,” says Goenka, who draws her inspiration from her mother, who was the chairperson of an urban co-operative bank and who broke the glass ceiling in a conservative Marwari community where women are usually known to keep to the backstage.

The managing director of Welspun Global Brands advises women to be disciplined and committed if they want to be taken seriously. Since the time she hit work, there hasn’t been a single day that was boring, says the glamorous Goenka, who starts her day early and wraps up late.

“If you don’t wake up with a spring in your feet, the work is not worth it,” says the fitness freak and trained kathak dancer.

As she sums up, “Respect yourself woman. Period.”

‘Acquire Relevant Years Of Experience Before Moving To An Onsite Location’

3/27/2014 12:19:00 pm BUSINESS, EDUCATION, JOBS No comments

‘Acquire Relevant Years Of Experience Before Moving To An Onsite Location’

At some point or the other in your career map, it’s important to get onsite exposure, suggest experts

No matter what your line of profession is, it’s never too late to add an extra “something” to your portfolio. It can be adding new projects or taking up vocational courses/training, or even taking up an onsite role. Experts believe that it’s a great idea to get onsite exposure, as it adds value to an employee’s profile and personality.

Onsite roles are most common in the IT industry – and over the past decade, professionals have made good use of these opportunities. Today’s IT professionals are young and ambitious. They are constantly looking for newer challenges and better growth. An onsite role is just the right opportunity for these professionals, opine experts.

With the increasing number of projects in the IT companies, they are looking at specialty hiring (read: candidates with specialisations). Companies are either looking to hire people for their off-shore clients/partners or for their overseas divisions. In both these cases, however, they are looking at similar set of skills.

IT companies assign onsite projects to those employees who possess unique project handling skills and are equipped with everything that the onsite client is looking for. Depending on the employee’s years of experience and specialisation, the company determines which onsite project to assign.

During a recently held TimesJobs.com High-Tea chat session, Suvarna Deorukhkar, head – global HR – Policies & Practices, Fulcrum Worldwide, spoke about the technical requirements for onsite projects and the kind of skills that companies usually look out for.

“There’s tremendous scope for onsite data analyst roles. But one requires to have relevant years of experience and need to enhance his/her skills before moving to an onsite location,” she suggested. At Fulcrum, we assess employee’s technical and soft skills, before assigning them an onsite project. “In case we have more resources in one project, we manage the skills for different projects,” she added.

According to experts, some of the technologies which are popular outside India are informatica, virtualisation, data warehouse, web logic, liferay, service-oriented architecture and cloud computing. Talking about the onsite locations, Deorukhkar said, “We are focused on the US/European market; Brazil is another hub coming up for IT technology.”

Organisations are also providing relevant onsite trainings to freshers as well as existing employees. This is only to make sure that they match up the employees’ skill sets with that of their onsite partners/clients. Deorukhkar echoed similar views, “We have our major client base onsite – for this reason, we need to have employees travelling onsite frequently, both on long and short-term basis. We have our L&D and OT training departments, which takes cares of various training globally.”

It’s important that organisations constantly encourage the employees to take up onsite projects – for a global exposure and better understanding of the various business functions. According to experts, onsite exposure always adds value to an employee’s profile and personality. “Onsite project prepares you to take up a global role, where you can work under the culture and best practices across the globe,” said Deorukhkar.

Mentored Employees Learn Quickly And Effectively; Are Easily Retained

3/27/2014 12:17:00 pm BUSINESS, EDUCATION, JOBS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

Mentored Employees Learn Quickly And Effectively; Are Easily Retained

Employees perform efficiently when trained/mentored well

Vidur Gupta, director, Spectrum Talent Management, in conversation with TimesJobs.com, shares his views around why mentors play a crucial role in building an employee’s career and motivating him/her throughout.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Are good team leaders, also good mentors? Please comment.

Mentoring is an essential leadership skill. In addition to managing and motivating people, it’s also important that you can help others learn, grow and become more effective in their jobs. Good team leaders just don’t tell others what to do; they show them how to do it and why they should do it.

What impact does mentorship have on an employee’s performance?

Mentorship definitely helps improve employee productivity, especially for those who have entered a new position. Mentoring focuses on helping an individual acquire the skills necessary to do their job and possibly further their career development. Mentoring often leads to a more effective on-boarding and accelerated ability to work within a particular organisation’s structures and procedures; things that go beyond basic job knowledge. It has been seen that employees who experience mentoring are retained, learn more quickly and effectively.

These days a lot of organisations even opt for formal mentoring programmes for their employees.

5 things candidates can learn from their mentor at work.

To be modest; i.e. to acknowledge achievements and qualities of others
Positive outlook/optimism
Commitment/dedication
Fresh perspective/out-of-the-box thinking
- Emotional maturity
- Knowledge transfer

Without a mentor, what are the common ways of working on self- improvement?

Define your goals: Ask yourself – do you hope to broaden your business knowledge? Do you better understand the organisation’s culture; get some guidance on your career; develop specific skills?
Don’t limit yourself to one person: You can learn from many different people in many different ways. Remain open to developing learning relationships with a variety of colleagues.
Expand your knowledge: This may mean learning about an unfamiliar functions, such as finance or marketing; or it may mean getting a broader view of the organisation from someone at a higher level.
Own SWOT analysis
Try to take your genuine feedback from your boss/colleagues.
Time management

Do you think employees can become a better judge of performance by having a good mentor? Please explain.

Definitely, a good mentor can help the employee in providing a structured approach to review and analyse performance. Setting expectations, checking deviations and taking corrective measure can be done well in time.

80% Candidates Prefer A Job They Like, Even If It Pays Less: TimesJobs.com Study

3/27/2014 12:14:00 pm BUSINESS, JOBS, TECHNOLOGY No comments

80% Candidates Prefer A Job They Like, Even If It Pays Less: TimesJobs.com Study

Employees who love their job are more productive than the others. Key corporate factors that get positively affected by happy employees include shareholder ROI, higher customer satisfaction levels, increased revenue/profitability

Nearly 80 per cent candidates have mentioned that they would rather have a job they like with less salary, than a job they don’t like but which pays well, revealed a TimesJobs.com study.

According to Lovleen Bhatia, co-founder and director, Edureka, giving each individual a sense of ‘we at our organisation’ makes a lot of difference to the overall performance and output. “We at Edureka make sure that our employees are always motivated and love the significant role they play as an individual professional.” He added that to do this the organisation has to offer a positive work environment and focus on individuals’ career advancement which is just the beginning of helping employees feel at home.

Instilling feeling of job satisfaction and happiness is not a one-off task; organisations have to initiate the process from the initial hiring stage. Aravind Sankaran, director of global marketing and sales (Far East), Marlabs Inc. elaborates on this…

The interview stage: While there may be exceptions to the rule, matching a job opening with a prospective employees’ interest and career path is foremost! Being candid about the company, its plans, culture and career options will ensure that the surprises are lessened as and when one takes up the role. This way, non-job disturbances will be minimal or eliminated.

The orientation stage: Every company has its own unique culture. Paying serious attention and investing time in ensuring that the employees fit into the organisational culture will help them to start enjoying the environment.

The mentorship stage: Having a serious mentor-mentee plan in organisations is important to ensure that expectations vis-à-vis actual performance is monitored and course corrections are done to ensure employee success. Also, red flags can be observed and necessary actions can be taken.

The incentivising stage: Points 1 through 3 will ensure that employees will proudly wear the brand on their sleeve and become brand ambassadors. Rewarding them for going that extra mile to promote the brand will make them more engaged and connected with the brand.

The continuous engagement stage: It goes without saying that from the time the employee joins till they leave; continuous engagement is a key tool to ensure that they love their company, job and environment. Most importantly, an alumnus promoting the brand betters its strength.

Over the years organisations have understood that if they want their employees to take risks, they have to give them permission to fail. “We don’t have a pink paper policy; we encourage employees to take up challenges and not to challenge their limits,” said Bhatia.

Involving employees in every major decision is crucial. Benefits such as clear and frequent communication on company happenings, individual and department direction, and big-picture company direction, make all the difference in employee happiness. “Companies should consider surveying their own workforce to gauge their satisfaction levels. Insights from employees can point employers in the right direction for shaping a more a positive and creative work environment, and for developing more formal career development programmes,” concluded Bhatia.

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