Rama Bijapurkar: In demand

Independent Directors
It's an enviable slot at the top, as marketing consultant Rama Bijapurkar and CII's Chief Economist Omkar Goswami, both independent directors on the Infosys board, will testify. Corporate governance regulations dictate that companies bring in outsiders for an independent and impartial judgment on the board's deliberations, involving issues of strategy, performance, and conduct. On an average, expect this tribe to make around eight visits to the company a year and charge anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh a visit. Now, whether you like it or not, there aren't too many people who command the status and respect that Goswami and Bijapurkar bring along. SEBI's committee on corporate governance stresses on the calibre of independent directors, and clearly hiring any Tom, Harry, and particularly Dick doesn't count. Other than calibre of such directors, what also matters is the number. Independent directors can constitute up to half of the board members, and if the company has a non-executive chairman, the 50 per cent limit is mandatory. Clearly the demand exists, but you have to wonder whether the supply does too.

HR Honchos At BPOs
The Nasscom-McKinsey study on the ITEs industry, 2002, predicts that by 2004 there will be room for 100,000 hr professionals in BPOs. Here, the churn is high, and the biorhythm, dry. Retention experts hold the key. Given the spate of new captive centres as well as third-party players opening shop, most good hr pros receive several offers a month these days from reputed organisations like Fidelity, BankAm, Accenture, and IBM, amongst others.

EVP, Sales
As corporates now shift gears into growth mode, the focus is moving from bottomline related issues like cost-cutting to gaining marketshare and growing the top line. Wanted: people to participate in that growth thrust.

Linguists
As Indian BPOs flank out to non-English speaking turf, people with knowledge of multiple languages will be in demand. And if the spurt in tourism continues through 2004, linguists are the people to watch.

Raghu Pillai, MD, FoodWorld: He needs skilled personnel to stay ahead of competition

Chief Ethics/Compliance Officer
In the developed world, most public companies are just starting to implement programmes to meet and exceed the requirement of Sarbanes-Oxley (an act dealing with board accountability and such issues post-Enrongate) and corporate reform. The Chief Compliance Officer oversees the corporate compliance programme, functioning as an independent and objective body that reviews and evaluates compliance issues/concerns within the organisation. The position ensures that the board of directors, management, and employees are in compliance with regulatory agencies and corporate policies. Though we may not see an overnight transition, the seeds are likely to be sown in 2004.

Chief Knowledge Officer
A key post wherein the executive is responsible for handling and leveraging all information for business and liaising with all the functional heads to synergise information.

VP, Datamining
Remote accessing through it is becoming really big, whether it is Customer Relationship Management or database management. When a company grows, its bottomline staff more or less remains at the same level, but the topline number-crunchers and strategists grow by leaps and bounds. This gap will be filled by communicators, customer relations managers and connectivity experts-they are the dataminers, and they will make a difference this year.

Chief Anti-Piracy Officer
Media, entertainment, software-they all need a specialist to combat piracy and the burgeoning grey market. As quality starts dictating the rules of the game, the corporate cop will be called on to patrol the flea market.

CEO, Retail Business
As consumers get brand conscious, retail gets bigger. And retailers are getting more and more clued in to sourcing and channel management. As they target the middle-income families, pricing becomes critical. Ergo, they are increasingly scouting for people with strong supply chain management and sourcing skills. Four years back, India had zero malls, today there are over 150, and in four years there should be over 500.

VP, SME Business
Small and Medium Enterprises are a growing business opportunity for banks, telcos, and it companies. A specialisation in this field will look good as this is the segment that is expected to grow at the fastest pace in the coming years. This would include business with revenues typically in the range of Rs 350 crore.

CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, Biotech
There is a huge amount of work that is being outsourced to India in the pharma sector. Biotech, although still in the research stage, is one of the hottest sectors to look at and finding a head to lead such a company from R&D to the marketplace is worth millions.

-Moinak Mitra