Its really a good time to be in HR Technology

There is a growing importance of talent & organizations have been asking really important questions.
Who are my critical employees? What have been their career moves? What are their critical strengths/weakness and how do I develop them etc.
Unfortunately traditional ERP vendors have never had strong talent management functionalities, they were strong on the Core HR areas, which dont answer the critical questions that companies are now asking.
The last few years have been very interesting in the field of HR technology. There is a growing interest of traditional vendors like SAP, Oracle & new vendors like Workday to enhance their offerings in the area of HR Technology to include stronger talent management functionalities.


These disruptive vendors, as I would call them, have done the following really smart things

1. SaaS based cloud offering - Having a SaaS model enables them to give seamless upgrades. This ensures that all customers are always on the latest software release. Imagine, a on-premise upgrade would take anywhere between 3-6 months.
2. Strong functionality - Bringing in industry best practices onto the software continuously
3. Pay per use model - this brings in transparency in pricing for the HR systems
4. Slick user interface - Most of the functionality is mobile enabled & the interface is intuitive to the end users. Imagine a facebook like interface for a HR system, sounds interesting right. Many modules are also mobile enabled so that employees can interact with their data on the move.
5. Social media - With the rise of social media tools like twitter etc it was only time that these also entered the HR space. Now vendors are bundling social tools along with the HR systems.
6. Strong customer relations - traditional vendors rarely if ever listened to their customers for feedback. These vendors spend lot of time and effort in understanding customer feedback & incorporating their needs into their software due to their SaaS based model.

Traditional vendors i.e. Oracle, SAP who used to offer standard HR products realized that more nimble vendors like SuccessFactors, Taleo, Workday have stolen a march over them in this space. Hence to augment their HR offerings they have chosen to acquire these companies. e.g. Taleo- Oracle, SAP-SuccessFactors etc.

The coming few years will be interesting as many of the functionalities would get expanded to include other areas of HR like Time/Attendance, Payroll etc.
Maybe then the important questions that companies are asking would be even easier to answer.

Moving out of "comfort zone"

This year I did something which I had not done earlier ever in my life. It was a year of moving "out of comfort zone".
What is meant by "comfort zone". Wikipedia defines a comfort zone as a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.
So as is evident from the definition, we usually create comfort zones, protective cocoons for ourselves, one in which we feel comfortable & can relax. For good reason, we also decide in our mind that we cannot go beyond these "zones" as well.
Sometimes in our lives it is a good practice to break these comfort zones & step out of it.
A very good example of this is depicted in the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, where each friend in the movie urges the other 2 friends to come out of his "comfort zone" by doing an activity which they are "scared" of. Scuba diving, sky diving & bull fight are the 3 examples of the activities which they decide to undertake to move out of "zones".
I fear heights & the pull in the stomach which comes from going against gravity e.g. the rush you get when  you go down a giant wheel.
So this year I did something which I felt was one step towards removing this fear & experiencing a never before feeling - moving out of comfort zone

I did a Valley Crossing & whats more, seeing this even my son was able to do it. The rush I got after seeing myself do it was unbelievable.

The other activity which I did was Para sailing

After performing both these activities, I can definitely say that I have overcome some fears associated with heights, but need to do more.
Next year sky diving..!..

Music Review of Jhootha hi Sahi

Ok, it has been a while since I did a music review - it has also been a long time since I went & bought some CDs. Last week I bought many & one among them was Jhootha hi Sahi.

AR Rahman's tunes almost always take a long time to register, they grow on you, infact this review of Jhootha hi Sahi is after listening to the music for the 7th time..!..

Jhootha hi Sahi is Abbas Tyrewala's second movie after Jaane Tu..as a director. We all know what he & Rahman did to Jaane Tu.. the songs were hip, youthful & also soul stirring (remember the title song sung by Runa). This time the same combination is back, infact Abbas is so much a fan of Rahman that the rumor is that the release of this movie is put off by a week to ensure that Rahman completes the background music.

There are 9 songs in total - so let me start with the analysis

Cry Cry - is a song which talks about the life & how it should be lived, some excellent singing by Rashid Ali & Shreya make this the song to be talked about in days to come

Maiyya yashoda - the contemporary take on Maakhan Chori, also has a Remix version with extra zing, is a sure shot chartbuster & should be the song played in all discos.

Hello Hello - is a song made for Karthik, this song is OK OK by Rahman standards

Do Nishaaniyan - the piece de resistance of this album, sung by none other than Sonu Nigam. Sonu hardly sings in Hindi cinema nowadays, hence to listen to him itself is special. This song also has a Reprise version & the overall composition is excellent

Pam Pa Ra - by Shreya Ghoshal is another example of why she is the best singer in the industry right now. She can comfortanly adapt herself to any song & this song shows her versatality

I've Been Waiting - by Vijay Yesudas is another soulful, wistful, romantic melody. Rahman uses Sax & piano to a great effect & Vijay's voice adds to the great effect this song has on you

Call me Dil - by Rashid Ali, who is fast turning out to be Rahman's favorite, is again an OK number with nice orchestra arrangements

Overall this album takes time to grow on you, this may not be Rahman's best work this year, that would be Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, but this album still shows why Rahman can still weave magic.

Steve Jobs & Rashmi Bansal

I recently bought Rashmi Bansal's two best selling books - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish & Connect the Dots.
Today i was browsing Rediff, when i stumbled across the famous Stanford speech by Steve Jobs. I was reading the speech, when I came across the words of Steve Jobs - the same words which Rashmi has used as the title for her books.

Some quotes from the same speech:

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Hmm Interesting, I had read this speech some years back, courtesy some forward from a friend, but never registered the same in my mind - remember those were the days of the famous forwards, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, APJ Abdul Kalam etc etc.

This speech was very inspiring, I guess the very inspiration from Rashmi to write about people who were able to Stay Hungry & Stay Foolish & who were also able to connect the dots in their lives.

On the Bhopal Tragedy

After the Bhopal verdict the Judiciary has, understandably, come under heavy scrutiny. As an ordinary citizen we should welcome this scrutiny in the hope that something good will come out of this.

At the same time we should not forget that Judiciary is only an interpreter of the Laws that the executive & legislature create. So blaming the judiciary is not going to solve the problem, the politicians should be blamed. I am of the opinion that judiciary inspite of all the rumblings of corruption offers us Indians the last hope of justice.

I also feel that the media is another important cog (Fourth Estate) in the wheel that drives our daily lives. 26 years back there was no vibrant media which could highlight these issues & reach such a large mass of people quickly. Today things are different. A highly alert media can actually create lot of pressure on executive & legislature. I am happy that the Nuclear Liability Bill has been shelved due to this.
So here is hoping that Bhopal victims get their due & our country learns from these mistakes, so that never will a Bhopal be ever repeated again.

Some random musings

Some random musings

1. Our apathy towards anything & everything is extraordinary. We Indians endure everything that is thrust on us without any murmur. Endless waits for flyovers to be completed, overflowing drains, corrupt governments & politicians.

2. Why cannot we do basics right? Look at the steel over bridge erected at KR puram crossing. Words cannot describe what an annoying amount of money has been spent without giving any thought how the pedestrians would cross the road. Did someone say penny wise, pound foolish?

Price Rise and Mr Sharad Pawar

I happened to watch the Parliament debate the price rise issue yesterday on TV & what I saw really angered me. Here was Sushma Swaraj presenting her case on why prices were rising, she was aggressive, she was convincing & at her best speaking in chaste hindi. And opposite to her sat Mr Sharad Pawar, the agriculture minister, who had this irritating smile all over him.
I cannot understand why this man would have a smile all throughout the session when a serious issue was being discussed. I mean there are people all over India who are suffering & here we have an agriculture minister who is smiling on cameras as if nothing has happened.
Well, we get the leaders we deserve.