In The Spotlight

The Leadership challenge for Indian IT 

Asian Age Article, 25/10/2010, Ganesh Natarajan

It is interesting to note that the issues that for very long were the bane of the IT sector – lack of flexibility in line leadership, non-availability of management talent and galloping salaries and attrition rates that threaten to choke our growth, are now being discussed at every industry forum and beginning to spread across all sectors of business and industry. At a discussion a while ago  in Mumbai hosted by an industry association in alliance with a global executive search firm, the three common issues that were discussed by a panel consisting of people from Manufacturing, FMCG, Real Estate, IT and Consulting firms were

- Where are the people? Will the educational institutions stop counting the numbers of people they teach and get money from and start focusing on providing quality and a real education to learners and ready them for high performance jobs in industry?

- How do we get managers to get prepared to face the challenges posed by relocation to smaller towns, integration of multiple cultures and processes as a result of M&As and the need to lead, at all levels of the hierarchy in organisations.

- How do Indian firms truly develop the “global” mindset and start embracing local talent rather than relying on sending their own kith and kin to locations around the world in the attack on global markets and production locations?

On of the participants spoke fondly of the management style of Tata group icon Rusi Modi who had the habit of showing around young trainees personally, hosting new year parties in the mines where most managers would shudder to take postings and leading by example when it came to taking on the toughest assignments in the most remote locations. I remember the early days of my career when the company I joined actually had to dangle a “double promotion” carrot to lure people from their Mumbai comfort zone to the not so distant town of Nasik – a challenge which became an opportunity for us as management trainees who took remote postings with glee because we could not afford the rentals of the big metropolis and were rewarded with large career opportunities beyond our wildest imagination. On a more recent note, our success in attracting and retaining the best talent at Zensar in the extremely competitive city of Pune is largely because of the fact that the entire CXO team lives and works in the city, providing the much needed access and opportunity that many people in their twenties and thirties value more than just filthy lucre!

The other oft repeated refrain is the ability to attract management graduates and it was amusing to listen to the usual complaint that the extraordinary salaries in IT are inhibiting recruitment in other sectors. The context has changed today with sectors like Retail and Investment Banking offering substantially higher salaries on campus and many of us who attract good talent in the premier B-schools are able to do it not because we pay more but because we offer the challenges and opportunities that many young MBAs value beyond the initial allure of the highest salary in the class. Leadership is all about attracting young people with a vision and an opportunity to contribute to a larger goal that can empower and uplift them and enable a level of performance for the individual and the organisation that surpasses traditional goals and targets.

Another common problem that most of the industry participants stressed was our continuing reluctance in India to take big risks with youngsters and gender variety. How long will we hold up only ICICI Bank as the shining light of bringing women to the senior management positions in large numbers and enabling at least two young people in their thirties to enter the hallowed board room when there are many many firms in the IT and BPO sector who are still reluctant to place big bets on young people and create a facilitating environment for young women to rise quickly through the corporate ranks to enter the highest echelons of the firm. The recent Women in Leadership movement in Indian IT has shown that there is enough talent and all it needs is nurturing. Indeed I was pleasantly surprised at an IT Awards function in Mumbai to present the women’s award to not just one but over a dozen women who shine brightly in the firmament of Indian IT and BPO, hopefully a sign that the Top Twenty companies of Dataquest will soon boast at least a handful of women CEOs – nothing could be better for the industry!

And to close with what the doyen of consulting, Mckinsey India founder Anupam “Tino” Puri said at the meeting – India can be the progenitors of best practices in many areas - let us make leadership capabilities in global IT one of them !