Social Media : A productivity juggernaut v/s enhanced communication platform

When I read a discussion of my professors on policing Social Media where they discuss Infosys's decision to introduce social media policies, several questions were raised in my mind. The wings of social media has spanned to unchartered territories & dimensions. Will any policy to monitor employees’ social activity be a success??? Will it stop employees from expressing to the world online??? Will it allow the organization to make its brand SUSTAINABLE??? And the most important question of all – Will it improve the productivity of the employee who is refrained to express/communicate???

Earlier organizations used to ban the utilization of social media websites during work hours as employees tend to spend most of their time lingering over at these sites. This was genuine to an extent as the percentage of employees visiting social networking sites at the workplace globally raised to 24 per cent this year from just 18 per cent in 2008, even as more companies are restricting access to such Web sites.

Later employees’ online behavior was monitored as there were several complaints on employees’ passing personal comments online about their colleagues and company. This made it an issue on a personal front rather than considering it a professional case. Hence unruly behavior like these HAD to be monitored to deploy decorum within the workplace. As we all know there is a thin line between airing opinions and passing personal comments – “which shouldn’t be crossed”.

A lot of information can be availed online. Consider LinkedIn – An employee while describing his experience may reveal out company’s several sensitive and confidential information. May be his/her intent would not to disclose this data; but at the end of the day the company may lose heavily due to the mistake of its employee. Similar confrontations are possible in platforms such as Facebook or Orkut, where a employee may end up sharing sensitive data over social media networks.

So – Is Infosys right on its stand? I say, YES. Every technology has its pro’s and con’s. Same is the case with Social Media. Organizations must leverage on its benefits and should use it to effectively communicate and collaborate within. At the same time it must curb the misuse/inappropriate use of these platforms. And taking this as the stand point, I believe Infy has stepped the right foot forward. I hope this policy will not hamper the freedom of speech of its employees and at the same time wouldn’t allow exploitation of Social Media Platforms for personal confrontations/abuses with no literal background.

LEADERSHIP

An interesting presentation on Leadership:

Leadership

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Any Problem??

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       -It is a question of who is facing the riddle and how it is being tackled.

"Problem". What does this mean to you? Different people may define in their own different ways. If you go through the pages of the dictionary you may find it as 'a matter difficult to arrange'. 

To a tiny toddler of class 1st or 2nd, a problem means a sum containing lengthy statements which he will have to solve using simple mathematics. A little older child may feel that studies is the problem. A real burden on his shoulders which won’t allow him any free time to freak out or play with his friends. That might be his problem. Thus with the passing of age and time, an individual's definition of the word 'problem' goes on changing.

But has anyone given a thought why a problem appears to be so? Why does this very word bring twists and turns on our faces and in our lives also? Probably because we are under the misconception that we are the only ones suffering in our lives. We often forget that we are part of the so called web of social relationships, where each one has got his own way of approaching the present fix.

In this beautiful but deceptive world, each one of us gets stuck up by something or the other. But it is the way how one tackles his problems that matters most. The person will just end up disappointed if he breaks his head on simple matters. But as is it said that every lock has a key, problems do not come without solutions. One can take it as a riddle and solve it with enthusiasm. Thus a problem will become nothing but an adventurous way to travel through the journey of life. Each step of the problem will teach us a lot about life. If there is no spice in life, then what is the use of living?

So friends, never blame anyone else for the tough time you are facing. In some way or the other even you might be the reason for it. Instead, take it as a challenge and face it all by yourself. Then nobody will ask you "Any problem?".... :)

- Ranjini Ballal

Great Advertisements == Success in Sales???

There are some advertisements which are just FLAWLESS. Be it communication, execution or presentation - they just surpass the creative limits.

There are very few moments where I drown myself into an advertisement. It is like being lost into the world that the ad portrays. The ad has such immense effect that it leaves me dumbstruck for some while. One of those ads is the Tata Safari – ‘Reclaim your life’ ad. It has an intense musical background; superb visual presentation and has an extreme connect to the reality. I would even exaggerate by saying that it is one of the most impactful advertisements of all time. The music just allures you into its appeal and the message leaves you thinking…

Now the million dollar question arises – How does the product fare after the success of the ad?? Does it convert into a sales success story?? Does it leverage the impact it would created through its ad??

In Safari’s case its unfortunate – The product couldn’t perform as expected. The ad did raise eyeballs, but awareness on Tata Safari’s part was minimal. The ad was successful in establishing connect with the audience, but at the same time it failed in creating the Brand / the Aura for the product. The ads’ message ‘Reclaim your life’ somehow didn’t click on the mass level for Safari.

The purpose of the ad was to unleash Safari’s 4x4 and offroading capabilities; rather it communicated a message that was lot bigger than the product itself. However, this is a very debatable topic and would like my readers to comment on this and express their views.  

Watch out and enjoy d music…:

Punditz go SQUAMBLEinggg

Management Punditz has put its first step forward in its mission to "Learn-Share-Care-Communicate". Punditz have widened its channel and collaborated with Squamble. 


Have a look on the first post:

http://www.squamble.com/2010/08/04/auspicious-beginning-from-cadbury-2/

India’s no. 1 car – REVAMPED

Even after the entry of stylish, elegant and contemporary models such as Beat, Figo, Polo, Micra, etc.. Maruti’s leadership position remained unshaken. And the reason??? ALTO!!! One of the oldest models of Maruti Suzuki, the Alto still is the bestselling car on the Indian roads. Auto analysts are stunned by the performance of the oldies such as Alto, Santro and Omni. These cars remain the highest number-churning models for their manufacturers. And this behavior is totally unexplainable in the dynamic Indian car market. Many say that Indian buyers will always choose the tried and tested cars in the market and hence don’t dare to experiment.

But, Maruti never wanted to take chance with its fate. It knew that the competition in the lower A-segment category is gonna much stiffer after the launch of Nano, and the announcement of Hyundai planning its vehicle in this category made it more interesting. Even though Alto were doing its numbers well, Maruti HAD to respond to the demanding customers in this category. The customer in this category too has grown conscious in terms of style, features and attitude rather than just being focused on functionality.

This facelift of Alto is an extremely intelligent decision and will act as a factor of delight for customers in this segment. The increased engine capacity will add to the delight and give more powers in the hands of the entry level customers. And the new peppy K—series engine will make Alto a car to ride on long distances too, rather than just turning it around the city.

The first commercial of the New Alto K10 is out!!! Maruti has done an excellent job with K10 by not experimenting much with its looks (Remember what had happened to Zen after its revamped facelifted version Estilo??). The new K10 looks decently stylish and pumped with loads of features. Recently Maruti’s market share had skid below 50 percent in years!!! I believe this intelligent stint of Maruti will help it regain its lost charm and make the Indian Auto market a bit more challenging…

First look on the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 Official Commercial:

What is the most important Resource in any Organization???

When asked, which the most important resource in an organization is – many executives have a similar answer and that is – HUMAN RESOURCE. Earlier days it was easy for companies to hire a person and then evaluate him/her from time to time based on the performance. Employees had limited choice and had to stay in the organization whether they liked/disliked the place. As economy exploded, so did the choices – now retaining a talent is the most challenging situation in any organization. This is primarily due to transactional nature of relationship between the organization and the employees. It’s very difficult to establish a CONNECT between the employees and the organization.

This trend of heavy attrition and disloyalty didn’t evolve very recently, but happened over a period of time. It would be wrong to blame only the employees, companies should be equally blamed. My version of Good to Great for organizations would be those companies who stand by their values and establish relationships based on TRUST rather than transactional benefits. Have you ever thought why Infosys and Tata are the most sought after companies in India??

Let me showcase a real example – In fall of 2008, when recession had badly struck IT companies’ worldwide, lay-offs, extended working hours and salary drops was a common sight in all companies. There were around 1 Lakh engineering students who were waiting for their call from the companies they were placed. Leave calling, most of the companies didn’t even care to answer the queries of frantic students. Only Infosys maintained constant interaction with the students who were placed in Infosys, and called them for training only with a nominal delay of 6 months. While other engineers had no idea what their future is, Infosys engineers were already on their pre-defined path.

The above example just gives an instance on how Infosys has built a loyal work force over the years and has grown to be the biggest IT Company in India (Rightly said – Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values!!). Similarly Tata Steel is known as one of the best employers in India. A Tata Steel employee is said to work more enthusiastically and thus bring better productivity in the company operations. At an average a Tata Steel employee is said to be four times more productive than others. And thus we see Tata Steel emerge as one of the top five Steel manufacturers in world!!! And the secret behind this is the philosophy of Tata Steel which says – “We could have just built a Steel Plant. Instead, we built Tata Steel Parivar “.

In an era, where it is very difficult to satisfy your employees, just follow one mantra – Do what you say and don’t falter on your promises.

Tata steel Family (Parivar)

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