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The Industry Kurukshetra in India has a jobmarket Chakravyu comprising of Placement Consultants guarding the turf in the outer ring & HRD fellas guarding the precious turf as the warriors of inner concentric ring.

Bypassing The Gate Keepers

Anil Mahajan

In today’s scenario, most of the recruitment jobs for the open positions in corporates are outsourced. Pre-screening, for example, is done by headhunters & placement consultants. These placement consultants therefore form the First Ring of the gate keepers & need to be dealt with effectively.

Once you are cleared by the placement consultants, you stand a chance of meeting the Gate Keepers of the inner circle i.e., company HRD folk.

Only then can you hope to get through to the man who actually might hire you!

With an ineffective resume, your fate resembles that of Abhimanyu. You could bombard into the ring of placement consultants but could not get out of it —ALIVE. Your resume gets buried into the files of all the placement consultants. The Industry Kurukshetra here has a jobmarket Chakravyu comprising of Placement Consultants guarding the turf in the outer ring & HRD fellas guarding the precious turf as the warriors of inner concentric ring. Abhimanyu, or your resume personified, has to be totally Flawless, Energetic, Valiant & Appealing to by-pass these warriors. Abhimanyu, while in his mother’s womb, had learnt from his father Arjuna on how to effectively pierce both the rings. Extensive study of articles on resume or your Professional Resume Writer may help you in making your Resume so attractive & luring in the eyes of both the kinds of Gate Keepers that these warriors actually welcome you for meeting the precious turf comprising of Hiring Heads.

You need to develop strong interview techniques to win the fortress or an Offer letter. Career Doctors or good articles on the interview techniques can give you sufficient winning strategies. The JobMarket Chakravyu is impregnable for resumes of ordinary types. Piercing the Concentric circle-I to reach the Concentric circle-II & piercing the Concentric Circle-II to meet the precious Hiring Heads & eventually coming out with an offer or appointment letter is no joke. There are ways and means of developing the resume keeping the psycho-graphic & other factors that govern the working patterns and beliefs of both the kinds of Gate Keepers.

Bypassing the Outer ring comprising of Placement Consultants:

So, simply blasting a poorly written resume doesn’t cut ice with placement consultants. The tribe of placement consultants has developed a keen scanning eye & can easily & fatally bury your resume in his files forever.

The reasons could be many.

Maybe you have no talking personal letter addressed to him. Maybe you never spoke to him. But mainly it is because your resume is badly made & doesn’t give him the feel of a winning professional.

He is certainly not interested in proposing a professional with a losing streak(s) (amply present in your poorly written resume) to his client company. Even if you have never spoken to him, your resume speaks. And a poorly written resume talks death of the professional. Even if you have been speaking to him & cultivating him for years.

This placement consultant gatekeeper has over the years fine-tuned his senses. He is a pucca businessman & he doesn’t relish bidding on an ordinary horse or a donkey.

Your resume should appeal to a placement consultant. It should unleash substantial creative juices flow in this businessman & he should start seeing your resume as a thick wad of money or a cheque to be earned from his client company. This is a psychographic situation to be created by your all powerful & ascending resume being presented as a marketing tool rather than as a stale compendium of history. Your appropriately made resume must put most of the placement consultants in a competition to get you immediate job change.

Bypassing the inner ring comprising of corporate HRD folks is equally important & involves much more than putting together a resume in a layout and format that is pleasing to the eye.

Effective resume writing alone can help you by-pass both kinds of Gate Keepers & it  involves art, science, and a large helping of technology.

Many HRD Gate Keepers trash functional resumes as soon as they see them. Use a chronological resume format. If you apply for jobs online or through e-mail, paper quality and scannability are unimportant. Content, structure, format, and Strategy are much more important. Gate Keepers and hiring Heads view functional resumes with suspicion.

Authors of resume writing books, and unsophisticated resume writers who subscribe to their views, often advocate functional resumes for three reasons: it is a simple solution to a complex problem, the advocates do not know better, and they do not have to live with the consequences. If you assume that most people who make hiring decisions are of above-average intelligence, it stands to reason that they would recognize an overused method of hiding information. If you know how the human eye travels, and understand Gate Keepers psychology, you can hide negative information in plain sight.

HRD Gate Keepers are very fussy about the resume but at the same time they tend to accept the recommendations of the placement consultant. So, if your resume is approved by the placement consultant, most of the job is done & the Inner ring of HRD warriors crumbles to a large extent. It can disappear completely, if the mindset of a HRD Gate Keeper is kept in mind while designing the resume.

And lo! You get a date with the Hiring Head. Here the resume needs certain attributes & you need certain interview techniques to enable you to win the Offer / Appointment Letter Jackpot which we will discuss in the forthcoming issue. Maybe Abhimanyu now needs a charioteer of the likes of  SriKrishna to reveal the Srimad Bagwad Gita for winning the interview war.

By Anil Mahajan, MBA PGDIT (IIFT)

He has made pioneering contributions in the field of Resume Writing and Resume Management.

Courtesy Jobnet Magazine issue 101

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the Author

Posted under Job Hunting Tips, Job Interviews

Innovation and Quality Assurance are two key elements in the success of any consulting firm.

HRD in Consultancy Firms

Debasish Das

The structure of a consultancy firm is tremendously fluid in which power constantly shifts. Coordination and control are by mutual adjustment through information, communication,and interaction of competent experts. Ideally, all consulting firms would like to operate as adhocracies, the most difficult of the five configurations (Mintzberg) to describe because it is both complex and non-standardized.

In such an organization, the HRD systems are ought to be contextual and different even from those practiced in similar firms. A few HRD systems such as Recruitment and Career Planning, Training and Development, Performance Assessment and Development and Management of Motivation can be implemented to foster a developmental culture in Management Consultancy firms.

Recruitment and Career planning in consultancy firms is a challenging task, especially because of the ill-defined quantity and quality of manpower requirements. There is no “critical mass”which can be predicted or can be reached at without some experimentation. Similarly, since the key success factors of the jobs are difficult to define, the quality requirement is also ambiguous.

In a project-based company every project is unique. Hence, only a broad framework of the job requirement can be made. This framework should take into account the present and future operations of the firm. Management consultancy firms can target individuals, groups, organizations or societies at large. At the individual and group level, assignments in the areas of skill development, counseling, designing welfare schemes etc. may be expected. At the organization level, it could be system and procedure studies, designing organization structures, developing business strategies and so on. At the society level, consultants may be called for helping in development planning or suggesting policy initiatives of the government. So, the recruiters should take into account the areas of present operation and the shape it is going to take in the future. The strategy of recruiting graduates/post- graduates directly from the campuses and grooming them to become consultants may work only if the consulting firm is not focused and the consultants are not expected to develop expertise in a specific area. If the company is focused and wants consultants to be experts in the firm’s areas of operation, then it is wise to recruit successful managers in these areas. This is necessary because they can comprehend the magnitude of the problem, and recommend / implement more effective and corrective measures. This saves time and cost for the company. Today, more and more consulting firms are focusing their businesses in certain key sectors / functions.

A typical career plan for consultants in a focused firm would be -

- Experience in problem situation :developing expertise in key areas at junior level,
- Experience in problem solving : reinforcing expertise at middle level,
- Experience in problem avoidance : strategy planning and man-management
at senior level.
Training and development
As a starting point for the training needs, an analysis of career profiles of the consultants is essential. It is  also important to keep in mind the firm’s long term objectives.

Keeping these objectives in view, broadly the following strategies can bead opted:

- Develop expertise in those strategic areas, where the consultants have not developed expertise when firm is focused and the consultant is a generalist.
- Reinforce and update knowledge and skills in the areas of focus of the firm when the firm is focused and the consultant is an expert.
- Provide the consultants exposure to areas where they do not have expertise in a non focused firm with expert consultant. Here, the long-term objectives of the consulting firm is to operate in a wide range of sections/functions.
- Expose the consultants to all upcoming sectors/functions in a non-focused firm with generalist consultant .

Three key areas which every consultant should be well conversant with are knowledge and skills related to Man-management, Business development, and Quality assurance. At the post-training stage, designing an evaluation technique that gives the true indication of the effectiveness of the training and development programme is vital. At this stage Kitpatrick’s model [ Reaction (Trainees satisfaction), Learning (techniques / skills / attitudes), Behaviour (change in trainees behaviour which improves performance), Results (achievement of desired goals of the training programme) ] may be useful. Change in behaviour as well as change in on-the-job performance are difficult to find in a consultancy firm. These can be measured with some success if the consultant takes up an assignment for which the knowledge / skills acquired in the training programme are of use. The consultant should be able to use the knowledge / skills acquired, as soon as possible, in an assignment. However, assignments in consulting firms are decided by market forces and the focus areas of the firm.

Instead of measuring behavioral change and extent of goal achievement, evaluation should be done to find out how far the trainee is capable of customizing the knowledge and skills he / she acquires. The logic is that the training rogramme should give enough confidence and capability to the trainee to experiment with the skills and to innovate. Therefore,a slight variation of Kitpatrick’s model : [ Reaction (Trainees satisfaction), Learning (KSA understood and absorbed), Cusomization (Capability to experiment and innovate) ] will be more effective in evaluating the effectiveness of training programmes in a consulting firm.Performance assessment and development

It is important to foster a healthy relationship in the project teams to increase on-the-job learning. A healthy relationship is also required because effectiveness and efficiency of a team-member depends to a large extent on the members.

Therefore, the thrust of the performance assessment and development system should be on assessing teams and not individuals. At the same time, it should also clearly bring out the dynamics in the team and developmental needs of the team-members. The latter is required because in project based organizations, consultants may have to handle multi-functional assignments. The appraisal system should aim at changing group dynamics in a positive way, assessing team’s performance based on some quantitative criteria, and bringing out the training and developmental needs of individual members. In a consulting firm peformance appraisal system should not be used as a controlling mechanism. This becomes very important considering the fact that judging individual performances in the absence of clear-cut objectives may lead to a lot of subjectivity. This in turn will lead to frustration and may bring down the performance of the team as a whole.

Managing Motivation
Innovation and Quality Assurance are two key elements in the success of any consulting firm. Therefore, schemes for rewarding innovations be designed and implemented, and organizational recognition be given for high quality performances. Designing innovative compensation packages is another way of keeping the motivation of the consultants high, which shall include profit sharing, incentives for business development etc. The objective of development should be improvement of job performance and improvement of the quality of life in a broad sense. Hence, development with a focus is essential. The challenge to HRD in consulting firms lies in improving efficiency, developing its consultants to match with the dynamic external environment, and retaining them.

Courtesy Jobnet Magazine issue 101

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the Author

Posted under Management Resources/ HR

B.P.O. – Business Process Outsourcing - The New Mantra….. Moving up the value chain

by Viren Sarna, Principal Consultant – Techplexus Consulting

B.P.O. (Business Process Outsourcing) – what’s the opportunity and how it’s different?

The Nasscom-Mckinsey report says…. There will be $17 Billion market opportunity for India in IT enabled services by 2008.

The major chunk of business in IT enabled service industry will come from the top level of the B.P.O ladder rather than plain vanilla call centers.

As corporations worldwide realized, in the new economy, “Focus on to their core competencies” would differentiate them from their competitors, increase customer satisfaction and retention and thus increase their bottom-line. So started the concept of B.P.O (Business Process Outsourcing) — in plain terms — outsource the functions of a corporation that adds less value to specialist outsourcing firms and focus on “core competencies” like new product initiatives and Marketing activities.

Outsourcing has big advantages- specialist outsourcing service providers would do the job more efficiently and at a cost considerably less than in-house departments.

Due to technology advancements in communication, it has been possible for the companies worldwide to outsource the functions outside the country and leverage on cost and quality from other countries. India, which has already proved itself in software services domain, comes as a natural choice for US and European markets to outsource due to less expensive and highly qualified English-speaking people.

B.P.O is different from the software services domain, and B.P.O is opening tremendous opportunities in different functions from HR, Accounting, Transaction processing to Insurance claim verification. Opportunities exist for plain graduates as well as experienced professionals in the above said fields to make it as a career and move up the ladder in the outsourcing service provider companies. And we are talking of companies like GE Capital, Daksh, Spectramind, ExL Service, iEnergizer, Customerasset, e-funds, ATS Services etc.

General perception about call centers

Previously, general perception about call center/contact center is to make and receive calls or provide support but there is a lot more as we move up the value chain from plain call center to handling the business processes which involves the business decision activities impacting the bottomline of any company.

BPO, as the industry predicts is going to be the big market opportunity for India as there is talent available in different domains like HR, Accounting, support services with definitely the cost advantage and better quality.

Moving up the value chain – from call centers to specialized services

The term “call centre” is a misnomer. It can better be termed as Contact Centre, or Technical Support Centre. These centres are controlled by Technology, and call centre culture is developed to meet the demands and expectations of customers. Call center concept has started on the promise of cost savings and better customer satisfaction.

Graduating to BPO space…

Handling the calls is a very basic level of B.P.O and is at lowest level of BPO pyramid. As we move up the value chain, these centers handle more complex tasks, from payroll processing, insurance underwriting, transaction processing, account receivables to the research levels in different industries.

As they start handling the complex jobs of customers, the role of the outsourcing service providers also becomes crucial as they are handling sensitive data and carrying the brand of their customers. Some of the challenges faced by the service providers are

- Finding people.

- Keeping and developing people.

- Motivating people.

- Environment.

- Security.

- Migration of processes from customers.

- Performance and measurement.

Indian outsourcing service providers are working on their own objectives, domains and strategies to leverage the opportunities in the B.P.O space.

The HR perspective

Being a services organization and directly linked to customer’s customer, hiring and retaining right people are a major area of concern in the BPO outfits. Attrition rate is also high in this industry.

Today people issues dominate this industry — Finding, Training, retaining and motivating people. So, there is a requirement for synchronization between recruitment & selection process and the skill requirement & core cultural values of an organization. Skills’ set matching the job’s profile is one of the biggest factors for retaining people. Selection process should reinforce the culture of an organization.

Selection process -

Companies should hire HR consultants who should understand their Business models, verticals or domains the company is operating in and bridge the gap between the right people and the requirement.

Training and Motivating people -

Key elements for Motivating people-

- Environment for skill development and enhancement.

- Open and honest communication.

- Setting up achievable objectives.

- Identification and recognition of efforts and results.

- Recognition of Team Dynamics.

- Involvement in the success stories of an organization.

Technology and cost reduction is going to drive the B.P.O space. This may result to substitution of human operators with technology but that is going to happen in a different manner. Logically, the lower end of the value chain, viz commodity transactions would be shifted to IVR’s etc. but the complex jobs would be handled by human operators and thus will drive the B.P.O space. So we need to leverage the opportunities thrown up by B.P.O.s.

Courtesy : Jobnet magazine, issue 85

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the Author.

Posted under Management Resources/ HR

How to find The Best Candidate for your Company

Vijaylakshmi D’Souza

Getting the right kind of employees is the biggest tension for any organization. Ultimately good employees are the key factor to increasing the productivity of any organization.Most companies have financial constraints and budgets which become the determining factor in hiring people.How does one find the best candidates without compromise ?

First step is to examine your perception of what is best for your organization.A good candidate for one organization may not be suitable for another. Many factors go into defining suitability.Define the type of person you need for the job. Skills and market expertise count but personality and people skills count equally.

Identify the best way to source candidates.Identify Placement Agencies firms who could help you.The Jobnet Directory of Placement Firms is a good resource for it. Contact the Placement Consultants and give them a background of your company and the nature of your business. Give a detailed briefing to the Placement Consultants on your requirement –what kind of candidate you are looking for, what kind of background and qualifications are needed.If it is headhunting that is needed give them a list of your competitors.Explain at length the skills and expertise you require from the person you need to hire.

A quick elimination round saves time.Many companies opt for a preliminary screening.. It gives an opportunity of having an informal discussion about the position before the actual interview. This takes very little time and can save a lot of time for you and the candidate.

courtesy:Jobnet magazine, issue 181

Re -publication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the Author

Posted under Management Resources/ HR

Work Patterns and its effects in work groups

- HR, human resources departments can improve work performance and productivity within their organization by understanding the effect of employee mind- sets and by creating specific workgroups accordingly.

Ujjal Ghosh

A Mind is always independent on certain specific set of encumbrances on few specific issues like:

- Perceptions

- Acceptability

- Individual character, as how other’s perceive on a particular issue/s

- Understanding Patterns; sublime, disillusioned, conflicting, humility, defused understanding

These are partial implications, normally seen working at the back of any mindset; these are typical type of situations, with which one normally interfaces, under various kinds of situations.

GROUP

Formation of Social Groups, divulging into core functionaries on uncommon acceptability through understanding, discussion; coming in terms with the mental framework of core attitudes of mindset of individuals in a group-

- A sub group formation through ultimate weeding out of ‘Ultimate Issues”, on which “Acceptability” is established.

- WORK PATTERNS V/S WORK GROUPS have a Deeper implications of a Mutual understanding of mindset carrying a particular level of cross patterns of perceptions, on acceptability in direct relevance of an individual character/s of an individual, besides grooming of such patterns from a scratch of issues – whether he is in a team or individually representing his patterns, wavelength of thinking.

- The Deliberations at the individual level affects the “Group” Behavior patterns with which an individual attaches himself or herself. The conjugations of core sublime issues and those of disinclined issues.

Along with this is attached-

-Definition as outlined by” SELF” and how are “OTHERS” in a group so formed.

- How am ‘I’ different from other on one or more Issues?

- Ability to disassociate on variances, mobility factors as is brought into the foray of abilities, discussions and issues having some common factors of dependability.

- Challenges of diversified human behavior patterns.

- Their combinations the Do’s and Don’ts of minute variations.

- Culmination of several behavioral patterns.

The fear, psychosis within self, others in the group (A group would implicate heterogeneous group) A homogeneous group is a rare combination of factors which combines understanding, acceptability, rejection of common issues) with which a ‘Group’ intends to proceed with furtherance of their motives, aspirations.

ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY or absolute rejections are the Two Factors that comes into the forefront of discussions.

- We all fall into the above submissions, categorically representing the ‘Positive’, ‘Negative’ factors working with the human behavior.

- A lot of Interesting Submissions are seen falling in line which is being generated on the following aspects: -

- A near conflict type of resolutions

- A near acceptability on ‘Core Issues’

- A neutral type of reaction

- Deviation on submissions on ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’, ‘They’, ‘Us’ while submissions are generated

- Legible and Illegible competency factors

Some CORE Areas will remain the Grey Areas where people Do Not wish to divulge which is the most challenging part of human submissions.

- Here it is CAN WE Or CAN WE NOT accept specific egos, Id, superego that is attached with such Human Behaviourial submissions.

- More Challenging is the Individual v/s the group submission that is either alienated with certain specific submissions since somewhere down the line “We” are not very specific with ourselves, due to the peculiarities of ideologies imbibed in our mindset.

- No Assumption is a combination of Fair and Unfair, till it is finally accepted or rejected per the total submissions are generated out of the discussions we all participate and opine our views and opinions.

- VASTAVIKTA or the Truth always has to come in the forefront, that is the individual’s opinions, views are normally seen transpiring out of self submissions and could be a graveyard of non-acceptance, rejection and dejection.

- The Challenges are many, which have to be seen with role clarity, group dynamism, hidden implications of individual behaviour v/s group submissions.

- Some Thoughtful reservations on the following can throw light on following submissions: -

-Key accountability

-Reservations on specific issues shared and unshared

-Repercussions of Groups in discussions that are shared out of submissions in groups.

-Accepting facts and Issues, which have a direct forbearance on Key Issues.

-What do ‘Others’ in the Group expect or are expecting out of one or several individuals on their submissions.

-Why am I involved in a Role Conflict, does it have any implication on my ‘Self’ and how are others accepting me with ‘Me’ and myself, outlook, integrity, unusualness on issues requiring deeper submission of facts and figures, which helps in figuring out on emotions, anger, ego, selfishness, unclarity etc.arising out of a particular situation.

-The ‘IF’s and BUTs of any Issue, which has direct relevance on the factors of implications both at the individual level as well as those existing at the work place.

Offshoot of any behaviour comes from -

-Individual Traits

-Ego

-Self submissions

-Issues that are perceived as RIGHT and WRONG

-Cross Cultural Conflict

-Misuse of Relationship existing at the work place

-Deceptively

-Habits of the people

-Case of Overworking

-Emotional Stress levels

-Holistic Exposures if any at the work place

-Convergence on Micro issues like Dos and Don’ts

-Role Clarity of Job Description of individuals

-Goals and objectives of individuals placed within the organization

-Complacency factors

-Understanding the Core Issue/s related with the work.

OBJECTIONS-

- Every work place has its own set of Objections these must be correlated and evaluated appropriately

- All the eventualities be given due consideration as per rules and regulations that are implied and explicit. The doctrine of ultra vires has to be taken into consideration.

- It is for the Senior and the Top Management to ensure that objections are handled appropriately with a set pattern of acceptability on issues that require an understanding with clear on issues. Objections are existent on the distortions that are existent amongst what is to be carried out actually and what is not carried out actually.

-Stop Misuse of power at ‘Unwanted’ places, requiring deliberations

-Check the Bottom Line of Issues seeking appropriate want of attention

-People must try to evaluate and try searching out a near submission of facts related to:

-Unanimous decisions

-No Anonymous submissions

-Dissemination of facts

-Clear on Appraisals and the Ratings

-Review Sessions of Upgrading Welfare and Social Commitments

-An ongoing exercise on SWOT analysis for all levels of people working in a set up.

-Clear concept of work structures, job stresses and job specifications verses their Correlation

-No Thinking Gaps and have clear concept between observations and the execution process.

-If there are lacunae in the system which is bound to arise these must be weeded out in short review sessions, through-

-Discussions

-Understanding about factors that are affecting issues at individual as well as group as sharing

Research on an on going basis on Specific Submissions

-Issues that require prominence

-Identify the Decision Makers; Doers: Executors; Implementers and finally the end result

This will enable to establish a cordial harmonious relationship at work place as well as with individuals.

Ujjal Ghosh

For Opinions/suggestions keep these posted at-

Buchun14@rediffmail.com

ujjal14@yahoo.co.in

Posted under Management Resources/ HR

HRD in Consultancy Firms

The structure of a consultancy firm is tremendously fluid in which power constantly shifts. Coordination and control are by mutual adjustment through information, communication,and interaction of competent experts. Ideally, all consulting firms would like to operate as adhocracies, the most difficult of the five configurations (Mintzberg) to describe because it is both complex and non-standardized.

In such an organization, the HRD systems are ought to be contextual and different even from those practiced in similar firms. A few HRD systems such as Recruitment and Career Planning, Training and Development, Performance Assessment and Development and Management of Motivation can be implemented to foster a developmental culture in Management Consultancy firms.

Recruitment and Career planning in consultancy firms is a challenging task, especially because of the ill-defined quantity and quality of manpower requirements. There is no “critical mass”which can be predicted or can be reached at without some experimentation. Similarly, since the key success factors of the jobs are difficult to define, the quality requirement is also ambiguous.

In a project-based company every project is unique. Hence, only a broad framework of the job requirement can be made. This framework should take into account the present and future operations of the firm. Management consultancy firms can target individuals, groups, organizations or societies at large. At the individual and group level, assignments in the areas of skill development, counselling, designing welfare schemes etc. may be expected. At the organization level, it could be system and procedure studies, designing organisation structures, developing business strategies and so on. At the society level, consultants may be called for helping in development planning or suggesting policy initiatives of the government. So, the recruiters should take into account the areas of present operation and the shape it is going to take in the future. The strategyof recruiting graduates/post- graduates directly from the campuses and grooming them to become consultants may work only if the consulting firm is not focused and the consultants are not expected to develop expertise in a specific area. If the company is focused and wants consultants to be experts in the firm’s areas of operation, then it is wise to recruit successful managers in these areas. This is necessary because they can comprehend the magnitude of the problem, and recommend / implement more effective and corrective measures. This saves time and cost for the company. Today, more and more consulting firms are focusing their businesses in certain key sectors / functions.

A typical career plan for consultants in a focused firm would be :

- Experience in problem situation :developing expertise in key areas at junior level,
- Experience in problem solving : reinforcing expertise at middle level,
- Experience in problem avoidance : strategy planning and man-management
at senior level.
Training and development
As a starting point for the training needs, an analysis of career profiles of the consultants is essential. It is  also important to keep in mind the firm’s long term objectives.

Keeping these objectives in view, broadly the following strategies can bead opted:

- Develop expertise in those strategic areas, where the consultants have not developed expertise when firm is focused and the consultant is a generalist.
- Reinforce and update knowledge and skills in the areas of focus of the firm when the firm is focused and the consultant is an expert.
- Provide the consultants exposure to areas where they do not have expertise in a non focused firm with expert consultant. Here, the long-term objectives of the consulting firm is to operate in a wide range of sections/functions.
- Expose the consultants to all upcoming sectors/functions in a non-focused firm with generalist consultant .

Three key areas which every consultant should be well conversant with are knowledge and skills related to Man-management, Business development, and Quality assurance. At the post-training stage, designing an evaluation technique that gives the true indication of the effectiveness of the training and development programme is vital. At this stage Kitpatrick’s model [ Reaction (Trainees satisfaction), Learning (techniques / skills / attitudes), Behaviour (change in trainees behaviour which improves performance), Results (achievement of desired goals of the training programme) ] may be useful. Change in behaviour as well as change in on-the-job performance are difficult to find in a consultancy firm. These can be measured with some success if the consultant takes up an assignment for which the knowledge / skills acquired in the training programme are of use. The consultant should be able to use the knowledge / skills acquired, as soon as possible, in an assignment. However, assignments in consulting firms are decided by market forces and the focus areas of the firm.

Instead of measuring behavioral change and extent of goal achievement, evaluation should be done to find out how far the trainee is capable of customizing the knowledge and skills he / she acquires. The logic is that the training rogramme should give enough confidence and capability to the trainee to experiment with the skills and to innovate. Therefore,a slight variation of Kitpatrick’s model : [ Reaction (Trainees satisfaction), Learning (KSA understood and absorbed), Cusomization (Capability to experiment and innovate) ] will be more effective in evaluating the effectiveness of training programmes in a consulting firm.Performance assessment and development

It is important to foster a healthy relationship in the project teams to increase on-the-job learning. A healthy relationship is also required because effectiveness and efficiency of a team-member depends to a large extent on the members.

Therefore, the thrust of the performance assessment and development system should be on assessing teams and not individuals. At the same time, it should also clearly bring out the dynamics in the team and developmental needs of the team-members. The latter is required because in project based organizations, consultants may have to handle multi-functional assignments. The appraisal system should aim at changing group dynamics in a positive way, assessing team’s performance based on some quantitative criteria, and bringing out the training and developmental needs of individual members. In a consulting firm peformance appraisal system should not be used as a controlling mechanism. This becomes very important considering the fact that judging individual performances in the absence of clear-cut objectives may lead to a lot of subjectivity. This in turn will lead to frustration and may bring down the performance of the team as a whole.

Managing Motivation
Innovation and Quality Assurance are two key elements in the success of any consulting firm. Therefore, schemes for rewarding innovations be designed and implemented, and organizational recognition be given for high quality performances. Designing innovative compensation packages is another way of keeping the motivation of the consultants high, which shall include profit sharing, incentives for business development etc. The objective of development should be improvement of job performance and improvement of the quality of life in a broad sense. Hence, development with a focus is essential. The challenge to HRD in consulting firms lies in improving efficiency, developing its consultants to match with the dynamic external environment, and retaining them.

Debasish Das Copyright 2003

Posted under Management Resources/ HR