I am an IT professional working and have been working in the banking sector for the past 15 years. A couple of months ago, I was laid off. Surprisingly, my former employer has now offered me a similar position, but in a different department. Although the new job involves at least 40 per cent more travel, my compensation will remain unchanged. Should I accept the offer?

You need to look at the bank's decision to lay you off as a purely impersonal move. It must have had its compulsions to downsize your department. The fact that it has offered to hire you again, at the same compensation as before, means that the lay-off decision was driven purely by organisational needs and was no reflection on your work. The offer also shows that the bank values the work you put in over the years. The offer you've got now is a good one. A lateral move is definitely not bad when you don't have another job-unless you do.

I'm a 43-year-old Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army with a degree in Economics and a diploma in Human Resources (I acquired the last through a distance-learning programme). I am keen to join the corporate world as I feel that my career with the armed forces has reached a dead-end. Although the diploma I have is not from a premier institution, I feel I have what it takes to make a very good corporate HR manager given my stint in the army. What do you think?

You will be able to find an administrative position easily. With some luck, you could even land an hr position. It wouldn't hurt you to add to your qualifications by doing a course in that discipline from a reputed institute. Your background does give you a good grounding in managing people, but the management techniques used by corporates are different from those that work in the army. Management of people is fundamentally different when it comes to companies. This is what you need to qualify for.

I am a management graduate from a second-rung business school with a specialisation in marketing. I am interested in a career in advertising or market research. I have tried for openings with a number of ad agencies and market research firms for a job but with little luck. Most top-of-the-line advertising agencies want experienced professionals. I need to make a beginning first to be able to gain experience. What should I do?

This is a situation most freshers face. Advertising and market research agencies do hire trainees. However, the bigger and more reputed ones are a little particular about the institutes they hire people from. But that becomes less important once you gain experience and have proved yourself. The employment situation in the sector is also gloomy, given the economic slowdown. Try getting a job in a smaller agency initially. Once things look up and the agencies start hiring people, you can always move to a more reputed agency. It is advisable not to wait for openings only in advertising or market research. You should also consider openings in sales and marketing.

The public sector unit I work for has come out with a voluntary retirement scheme. I have been preparing for this eventuality and am in the process of completing a part-time management course from a premier institute in Delhi. However, I now feel that a full-time course would help enhance my career prospects. Will opting for voluntary retirement at this stage have an adverse impact on my career? How should I tackle the issue in interviews, in case it comes up?

You have neither mentioned your age nor given details about your work profile and job responsibilities. Assuming that you can afford to take two years off to pursue a full-time management course, it makes sense to opt for a voluntary retirement scheme. This will also enhance your career prospects, but only if you have not already spent too much time in your present job. However, if you have had a long stint with the public sector unit, the situation is different. What you should keep in mind is that your prospects will depend largely on the institute from which you do your full-time course. You would also do well to remember that the admission criteria for part- and full-time courses are quite different.

Tarun Sheth, a senior consultant at the Mumbai-based recruitment and training consultancy firm Shilputsi, addresses your career concerns every fortnight. Write to Help,Tarun!!! c/o Business Today, F-26, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001.

Time To Cash In

Hewitt's Nishchae Suri: benchmarking productivity

A global recession, 9-11, and sagging profits have seen a growing preference in India Inc. for cash-based variable pay plans as a way of rewarding performance. Nishchae Suri, Head (Measurement Business), South Asia & Middle-East, Hewitt Associates, spoke to BT's Bhaswati Chakravorty on the trends in variable pay across industries and the pluses of using variable pay to retain and reward performers.

On the new trends in variable pay: India Inc. is re-examining many of its existing variable pay scheme designs. While goals are being modified in accordance with changing business conditions, performance measures are being redefined to include a combination of financial and non-financial benefits. A large number of organisations are extending the ambit of these schemes to include the lower management levels. Another trend is the use of multiple plans with distinct objectives, directed at different employee segments within the organisation.

On what is India Inc's most preferred variable pay scheme and why: The most popular variable pay schemes are the cash-based ones, which include profit sharing, sales incentives, productivity and performance bonuses. Cash-based variable pay schemes are short-term incentives. They provide greater immediacy in gratification for employees, and serve to orient employees towards achieving short-term goals.

On industries where variable pay is a higher percentage of total compensation: The proportion of variable pay is higher in high-growth industries where the risk-reward relationship is strong. Industries in the services sector such as banking and financial services, it solution providers, cellular operators, and telecom have a higher variable component in what they pay their employees.

On the growing importance of variable pay: The current economic situation has created great pressure on organisations to have tougher performance measures. Variable pay programmes help companies attract and retain key employees by rewarding their performance appropriately. Used effectively, they reduce and control fixed costs by shifting the burden to the variable component.

The Stock Option
A guide to some of Corporate India's most preferred employee-ownership schemes.

Stock Options: Provides employees with the option to purchase company stock over a specified period of time.

Stock Purchase Schemes: Allows employees to purchase stock, usually at a discount to the prevailing market price.

Phantom Stock: A form of long-term deferred compensation, which uses the company's stock as a measuring device for calculating the value of compensation. It does not represent true ownership. The phantom shares are simply credited on the books and their value is directly proportional to the value of the company's stock.

Stock Appreciation Rights: They allow an employee to realise the appreciation in value of a specified number of common shares without requiring the employee to make cash investment in the stock or cause dilution of the company's shareholder equity.