BUSINESS TODAY

Rajesh Singh of an MBA class of 1991, wanted the opportunity to work abroad. So he joined a multinational. Rajat Mukherjee, of an MBA class of 2000, also wanted to work abroad. So he joined an Indian company with global plans. Guess who's had a more fulfilling international experience?

Mukherjee. The multinational needed Singh to observe and absorb the company's 'world class' operating systems, well-engineered and already neatly in place, so that he could return and help implement the same in India. The Indian company, however, needed Mukherjee to observe the dynamics of the market overseas, understand the success of international rivals and help craft a far-reaching strategy to conquer new sophisticated territory.

Software exporters are already famous for posting Indians abroad. But others also have jobs they want done overseas, and are recruiting people in India to do them.

Take the Aditya Vikram Birla (AVB) group, for instance. With 72,000 employees recruited from as many as 20 different countries, it is already something of a transnational company. Given the group's acquisition policy, overseas opportunities are growing. It's just that the lure of foreign postings is not the same as it once was, says Santrupt Misra, Director (HR), Aditya Birla Group. "In the last ten years," he explains, "the quality of life in India has definitely improved and compensation levels have shot up." The upshot: executives are actually turning down foreign postings, for a change. "Many have family issues, and children's education is a major factor in people not going abroad."

Yet, those who do take these jobs rarely ever regret it. K.K. Maheshwari, Executive Director, AVB Group, spent years and years abroad before returning to head the group's chemicals business in India. "I spent twelve years in Thailand," he recounts, "I went there just as the economy started to boom, I lived through the currency crisis and the economic meltdown, even saw the recovery." While there, he oversaw the group's chemicals businesses, running two companies-Thai Polyphosphates Ltd. and Thai Organic Chemicals Ltd. "The learning was tremendous," he avows. And the kids? His son was seven, his daughter three, when he went. "In fact, the quality of education they received was tremendous. They went to a very cosmopolitan International School and they were exposed to several cultures, though yes, they did become very 'Thai' by the end of it, as they'd spent so much of their formative time in Bangkok."

Another company famed for overseas postings is Asian Paints, which sends people abroad even before they join up. It actually packs summer interns from B-schools off to countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and Oman-where it has projects awaiting them. Even after signing up, young recruits are typically granted several stints on foreign shores. "In companies that we acquire," says an Asian Paints executive, "the top four positions are held by people from the mother company. But if we see the need to send more people for junior positions, we do send them."

A.S. Sunderesan, CEO, Scib Chemicals, is one such person from Asian Paints, sent off to Egypt to run this newly acquired unit there. Speaking from Cairo, he told BT that he's barely been there, but is all set to crack the local market already, having got a quick hang of the place. "There have been no misgivings at all," he says, "My wife and two sons have settled down here very well. In terms of the basic infrastructure, Egypt has great similarities to India."

What about issues of cultural adaptation? Whenever a company with established practices is taken over by an Indian company, or any company for that matter, the first few months are never easy. And that's to be taken in one's stride. "All the people over here put you under 'watch'," says Sunderesan, of his experience, "The first fear that runs through their mind is that 'Now we'll all lose our jobs', so you have to assuage those fears."

For his part, Sunderesan went around the company meeting each and every person above the level of assistant manager in the company. "In a new environment," he says, offering generalised advice to anyone in a similar situation, "one has to be slightly more outgoing, but at the same time, you have to be conscious of maintaining a level of authority, and you have to be far more careful of what you talk about."

AVB Group's Misra is also a big believer in having senior staff spend time overseas. It helps them develop a 'global outlook', he reasons, and the value of that is understood best by those who've done it. "They develop contacts which are useful," he adds, "and they start looking at things a lot differently, much more from a more global perspective." According to Asian Paints' Sunderesan, Indian managers are already ahead in the globalisation game in many ways, even before stepping ashore, compared to their counterparts from most other countries. "Indian managers have some inherent advantages when they work abroad," he says, and people ought to capitalise on them.

Of course, multinational recruiters are still doing a swell job of shuffling Indian citizens around the world, and such exposure has its own value. And the it industry will perhaps remain the best chance for young managers to travel. Yet, Indians need a much wider cross-section of global experience before they can boast of a rather special edge: of understanding the world better than the world understands them. It's not an edge to sniff at.

Tis not always elementary, dear Watson. Not if you're a clinical trial investigator. India is becoming a centre for therapeutic trials, and global and globalising pharma majors need professionals trained to detect any falsification of findings. Says Shiv Raman Dugal, Director, ICRI, a prominent clinical research body, ''Biostatisticians, doctors dedicated to research and science grads with a management degree (hired as clinical research assistants) are the right people for the job. But these three breeds are tough to find-the combos are rather rare.'' Even an assistant can take home up to Rs 20,000 a month, while cancer or retroviral specialists get much more. Best of all, it's a new field with expanding opportunities. What counts most, though, is integrity. Dedication to the Hippocratic oath.

I am a chartered accountant and have been working in an FMCG company on probation. I was hoping to get a confirmation as I have already completed a year in the organisation, but recently came to know that the management does not intend to make any permanent recruitments as of now. I do not wish to continue as a trainee and would like to switch to another job. Although I have been trying to shift for a while now, I have not received any offer. Please advise.

If you are not getting a job offer now, how do you expect the situation to be any different when you quit your current job? If you quit without an offer in hand, you run the risk of remaining jobless for a while. You would also lose out on any further learning experience. The economy is turning around, but the job market is still to recover, and this could be a reason why you have not yet received an offer. Wait to find a job before you quit. In the meantime, you should speak to your boss and the hr department about the current situation. This will give you an idea about how the management feels about your performance and if it plans to absorb you.

I am a showroom manager with a franchisee of an auto major. After putting in two years of service, I find the job getting increasingly monotonous. Although I am in charge of most functions in the showroom, my role as the manager is not challenging enough. As the market in the locality is quite evolved, the shop gets predecided customers mostly. My selling and marketing skills are fading fast. What should I do?

Life is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. Every job has its share of routine elements and this is true even for the managing director of a company. Excitement in any job comes from motivation. At the managerial level, one can either stick to one's routine tasks or reinvent oneself from time to time. You should be more proactive. When the showroom is able to draw customers naturally, you should look at areas like better service. You should find newer ways to motivate your subordinates. Begin by making a list of things that you would like to see different in the showroom and work towards bringing about the changes. Chances are you would find your role more meaningful.

I am a middle-level marketing manager with a cement major. My job requires me to travel extensively on a regular basis to remote areas. I have been covering the same circle for three years now and have started finding the work extremely boring-the same suppliers and agents and the same distribution network. The cement sector does not respond to my ideas to spur growth and in the process provides little or no challenge. However, I want to stay in the same sector and do something different. I have had a word with the management, but it does not seem keen on doing anything about my problem.

The cement sector may not be as unchallenging as you think. Your current work profile could the reason why you are finding it difficult to motivate yourself. Keep going back to your management with your transfer request. A request made only once may not be adequate for them to be convinced you are really serious about a transfer. If you fail to convince the management, you should apply to other companies in the same sector. However, a new job may not necessarily solve your problem as your new employer may like you to work in the same region because of your past experience and familiarity with the same.

I am the HR head of an alcoholic beverages company. Of late, I am confronted with a peculiar problem. In one of our plants, a supervisor on the assembly line has been reportedly playing 'Bacchus' for over a year now. When I paid a visit to the plant last month, I ensured he got a warning. But that has not helped, and he's still on the binge. He is even rumoured to have got his colleagues into his favourite pastime. Before the entire plant starts sufering and productivity crashes, I must act. What should I do?

The obvious question that comes up from the situation that you have described is what the factory management been doing for over a year now. The hr representative at the factory should have tackled the issue immediately. I presume you have witnesses and can prove that this supervisor has been drinking pilfered liquor. All you need to do is follow the normal process of firing the concerned employee and issue a stern warning to all his colleagues partaking of the spoils.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner, US practice) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055.

Automation For The People
Has the ATM killed the bank teller? Not quite.

Of endangered species, the grumpy bank teller was sprung to the top of the list by the advent of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Now that even stodgy public sector banks are adopting these things, are tellers getting, er, ATMised?

No, says D.P. Singh, General Manager (HR), Punjab National Bank. "The tellers are moving away from a sedentary job," he says, "and are being retrained and redeployed for taking up marketing of insurance and other products. A lot of them are also undertaking technical courses so they can be reskilled to oversee it maintenance jobs instead of outsourcing them."

Moreover, says a senior bank official in charge of personnel , "ATMs cannot replace tellers; the cash counters inside a bank will continue to be there." Just that the tellers are now trained to act as a human interface-with need-mapping skills-for assorted banking solutions. Their focus has shifted from cash to the consumer. As it turns out, human touch is still valued.

-Payal Sethi

Points Of Authority
Will 'local' banking hurt global careers?

Going Glocal: For globally-savvy Indians, it's no sweat

Never mind who started it. 'Local knowledge' in banking has had its impact, and left wannabe global bankers wondering if that spells doom for Hong Kong-London-New York career dreams. Like those poor marketing souls, will they too have to work in the markets they 'understand' the nuances of?

The old answer, from a numerical standpoint, is that a banker is a banker is a banker-anywhere. It's a weak answer nowadays. "The recent trend," says Parul Satyawakta, an hr team member at ABN-Amro, "is to recruit guys with a fair amount of local knowledge. Hence, foreign placements aren't as common as they used to be. With foreign banks getting increasingly local-centric, that Amsterdam position would more likely be filled by an Amsterdam guy."

Tough luck, then? Not quite. "Banks are still sending guys abroad," observes Harminder Soni, a consultant with headhunter Unitel, "And MBAs are as much attracted to the banker's job-because foreign banks recruit people who are internationally savvy and can adjust to any market." And on this, diversity-hardwired Indians score.

-Ananya Roy