Reflections on CEO Tips on Getting and Retaining Leaders, a Blog in the Wall Street Journal by Shefali Anand

Currently MNCs in India are struggling to meet customer satisfaction goals due to major issues with employee retention. In his recent WSJ blog post, Shefali Anand reports that a personal touch during the first 3 to 6 months of a new hire’s employment may be more important to retention than salary.

During Shanti’s cultural workshops, we have often asked Indian participants to describe what it means to be Indian. They often describe themselves as sentimental, meaning sensitive in their relationships. I wonder if this may have more of an impact on employee loyalty than we realize. One IT company in north India with very low levels of turnover found that employees are loyal because of a strongly relational corporate culture. Creating an atmosphere where relationships are affirmed may very well be the key to retention.

Read Anand’s post…

According to a survey conducted by Accenture, corporate executives believe that cross-cultural communication training has increased productivity in their organizations by 27 to 30 percent. The findings of the survey suggest that cross-cultural communication competency is a key factor in making global business partnerships successful.

The report explains, “Different ways of communicating, of completing work tasks and raising issues for discussion and resolving them, can derail a global project team…

A strong commitment to effective training with regard to cultural differences can help.”

View the full report here…

Reflections on We Are to Blame for Corruption, a Blog in The Wall Street Journal by Kedar Soman

Headlines and editorial pages in Indian newspapers these days are full of articles implicating high profile corporate and government leaders in a recent round of corruption. In his WSJ blog post, Kedar Soman acknowledges that corruption is universal, but suggests that the benevolent nature of Indian collective society may be an initial spark which ignites corruption. Once ignited, it takes on a life of its own.

It’s an interesting idea to ponder. Can the community values which are usually viewed as positive have a negative and even destructive side? Do cultural values in general have both positive and negative aspects to them? Perhaps this is an example that would support that premise.

Read Soman’s post…

Indian customer service companies – and multinational corporations outsourcing to India – know that recruiting and retaining top talent in the Indian BPO industry is a serious challenge.

Two recent articles shine light on two different sides of the issue. The first, Bridging the Talent Gap in India’s ‘Demographic Dividend’ from Wharton’s India Knowledge Center, explores the challenge of building sufficient educational infrastructure to provide university education to its burgeoning population.

In the second article, India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire, Geeta Anand of the Wall Street Journal explains that many of India’s current college and university graduates are ill-prepared for the global marketplace. Using the Bangalore based call center 24/7 Customer Pvt. Ltd as an example, Anand reports that “So few of the high school and college graduates who come through the door can communicate effectively in English, and so many lack a grasp of educational basics such as reading comprehension, that the company can hire just three out of every 100 applicants.”

These articles present a challenge that will remain for the foreseeable future, a challenge that both India and her global business partners should take seriously.