500 leave TCS

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Indian IT industry, TCS

We were chatting about what’s happening in the Indian IT industry when some one showed us a recent headline. It said that one of India’s leading IT organizations, TCS, has asked 500 people to leave.

Many issues came up. The recent plunge in the Sensex. Talk of an imminent recession in the US. The news that recently IBM had sacked 700 fresh employees in India. Falling profit levels. Tighter budgets. More difficulty in attracting ( and paying for) best talent etc etc.

Listen, the IBM and the TCS cases are different. Firstly, TCS has fired 500 people for poor performance. They were relatively at the bottom of the pile following the performance review process. Secondly, they aren’t a relatively small company which has fired 500 out of 1000 people. These 500 constitute 0.5 % of their huge ( and growing) employee strength of 1,08,000 people worldwide.

Things have got compounded because recently TCS announced a 1.5 % reduction in employees pay since as an organization, they fell short of their Economic Value Add target.

In the mean time, and there probably is no connection whatsoever because I think he did a great job in TCS, “Paddy” Padmanabhan, Global Head for HR moves to Tata Power as the Executive Director, Operations. His replacement in TCS as Global Head of HR : Ajoyendra Mukherjee, VP and Head of Operations for the Eastern Region.

BlackBerry “Blackouts”

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BlackBerry, Work Life Balance

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which manages immigration and resettlement services for the Canadian government, has asked employees to observe a BlackBerry Blackout.
The department’s deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry “blackout” between 7 p.m. and 7  a.m. and on weekends and holidays.

Interesting idea. I mean just see how addictive the BlackBerry is. Leave alone at work, it has virtually become to many an extension of themselves. Apart from at meetings and the workplace, the BlackBerry has us in its hold at the park, at the gym and on the beach. I won’t be surprised to hear that a mountain climber announces his success by dashing off a message on his BB!

Years ago, when I first saw someone speaking on his cell while driving I thought this wired up guy was talking to himself.  I thought he was pretty animated for one one thinking out aloud! Later it was evident that he was driving, speaking to his team mate, listening to music, pulling down his email and sending a message at the same time. Ok, he was breathing and humming with the music, too !

The BlackBerry is a fascinating convenience. But it has no magic. If you don’t control your use of it, you allow it to soon take control of your life.

Training Facilitation- Kinds of Participants

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A Step A Day, training facilitation

As a trainer/facilitator you come across many different types of participants. Most are keen to improve themselves but from time to time, you do come across a few who, if not nipped in the bud, can upset the rhythm of your session.

Here are 3 examples I share which you may find useful: