“I must admit that I am an optimist and a big advocate about the value that HR brings to the organization. The HR profession is at the crossroads and HR is rapidly and definitely changing“
The strongest leaders are those who start at the bottom and work their way to the top through sheer grit and perseverance. Shahul Karim is one such leader, who has achieved tremendous success in his corporate life through talent and tenacity. As Vice President—Human Resources, First source, a leading BPO, he is a person who understands people, and knows what it takes to motivate them. Shahul Karim speaks to Corporate Citizen on his inspiring journey, his eye for talent and why having clarity of your life goals essential to success
I graduated in 1999 as a Bachelor of Commerce. I started working alongside my studies because I thought working was “cool”. I worked in the manufacturing industry for the first three years selling reciprocating pumps to coffee plantations across India. I subsequently joined First source Solutions Limited (FSL) BPO in 2001. This was my first corporate job and have thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of my journey with FSL. I joined the Operations Team and was a part of this team for seven years. I then had a stint in Project Management team looking at Solution Design and Transition. As part of this team I had the opportunity to set up Centers in India and the Philippines. I then moved into HR in 2009. I have been here ever since. I started by taking customer calls at the entry level and I then grew through the ranks. In my current role I look after HR for the Asia Pacific region for FSL.
I must admit that I am an optimist and a big advocate about the value that HR brings to the organization. The HR profession is at the crossroads and HR is rapidly and definitely changing. Here is a list of things on top of my mind -
Value Creation- Businesses do not create value, people do! CEOs have started focusing on the company’s human resources to achieve success. Human capital has become as important as financial capital. HR’s job has accordingly changed. HR is an architect and an anthropologist of human capital. HR is responsible to recruit develop, motivate, engage, facilitate, coach and manage a high performing vibrant workforce . HR is the custodian of the culture of the organization. HR’s job is also to deliver innovative solutions to business problems and act as a change agent. The HR strategy is now aligned completely to the vision and the strategic imperatives of the organization.
Digital HR- Over the last few years digital and internet technologies have radically changed the way we work, requiring a tremendous change in HR procedures and tools used therefore has had a paradigm shift -
The right to education is a fundamental right of every Indian citizen. It provides freedom and empowerment, and yields important benefits. Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens. Going to an educational institution is therefore a must and highly recommended.
Coming to the question on the gap between the output of the educational institutes and what the industry requires—my answer is simple. It does vary. Every institution does not train their students in the same way. Some get it right, most get it wrong. Let us look at what is wrong and fix it as this helps narrow that gap. Here is a list according to me on what is creating the gap -
Rote learning still plagues our system, students study only to score marks in exams, and sometimes to crack exams like IIT JEE, AIIMS or CLAT. This has to change.
Memorizing is no learning. The biggest flaw in our education system is perhaps that it incentivizes Memorizing above originality.
Our education system is geared towards teaching and testing knowledge at every level as opposed to teaching skills. “Give a man a fish and you feed him one day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I believe that if you teach a man a skill, you enable him for a lifetime.
For way too long teaching has the sanctuary of the incompetent. Teaching jobs are until today widely regarded as safe, well-paying, risk-free and low-pressure jobs. We need to get smarter people to teach.
Lack of technology infrastructure for education is another challenge. India needs to embrace internet and technology if it has to teach all of its huge population, the majority of which is located in remote villages.
Our education system rarely rewards what deserves highest academic accolades. Deviance is discouraged. Risk taking is mocked. Our testing and marking systems need to be built to recognize original contributions, in form of creativity, problem solving, valuable original research and innovation. If we could do this successfully Indian education system would have changed overnight.
In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher’s (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru’s place and help in all activities at home. This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the holy scriptures and from Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as she or he wished or until the guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach. All learning was closely linked to nature and to life, and not confined to Memorizing some information. The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to “modern” subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student.
Many people nurture an individual to help him achieve his goals, says Shahul Karim in a tete-a-tete with Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian, Editor-in-Chief, Corporate Citizen
I agree and it is good that they are asking those questions because it gives us an opportunity for us to talk about how important money is. Because at the end of the day, I keep asking people “would you be working if you had an unlimited bank balance?” Nine out of ten people answer that they would not be working. Everybody has a vision mine could be Rs.1 lakh, whereas somebody else’s could be Rs.4 lakh. The reason people ask about CTC is because they want to know whether this will help them meet their vision and their personal goal or not? Questions pertaining to compensation in my mind are therefore perfectly fine.
Yes, true. The more important point however is whether we believe that they should get it. Job profiles no longer decide the compensation. It really is the skill and competency that increases the value of an individual. If an individual has the X factor then they have every right to expect and we should be very willingly paying for it. We need to look at compensation differently because the workforce today are millennia’s and Gen Z. Inflation rates have an upward trend, high income tax deductions and newer taxes introduced is making take home salaries less. It therefore is OK for someone to assess and ask what the CTC looks like.
Education is important and that is the great first step. Students can constantly keep learning after they leave the institute but they have to now apply their mind when they are on job. Application of mind comes only when you are passionate about what you do. The most passionate goal is your personal one but it is professional goals that help you meet your personal goals. Hence the importance of having professional goals. I have observed that people who are expecting money are also willing to work hard. I appreciate somebody asking me CTC and money upfront rather than be disappointed about it later. What you earn between 22 and 40 years of your life will likely double between 41 to 50 years of age. At 40 you’ve reached a certain level where you are going to make a lot of money. The question is are you really willing to work for it?
Talent is God’s gift. Some people are born with it but that greatness will be short lived if you don’t sharpen your skills. If somebody is actually willing to learn, he or she will be successful and their expectations will be met.
We are looking at people who can exercise discretionary power and superior skills. Your job description is going to be extremely clear so you know what needs to be done. There is absolute clarity on the role but that’s not what differentiates the wheat from the chaff. Now if you want to be that outstanding person you need to deliver something more than what you are expected to deliver. This is not defined by the company. What you deliver gets defined by you so your ability to actually get results makes you a successful person.
I think my first salary, when I actually gave it back to my mom because she’s the one who nurtured me and brought me up well.
Yes. I lost my dad when I was a year old, so it’s been my mother who has raised me and given me all the education I need. I have always got the best education, best clothes, enough pocket money to spend in college and a bike when I was in Std X. Thereafter, I had a car too. She gave me everything that I could think of. It was a small gesture from my end giving back that first salary.
I think my salary at that time was around Rs.8000 per month. You have to be very clear on what you want in life and then you are able to assess whether that organization is the right place for you or not. My personal goal is very clear that I need to take care of my loved ones, which is pretty much my family. I need to provide for them. That’s my ultimate goal. Nothing is greater than that.
Why do people really leave me? We hire really talented and easily marketable workforce so the first reason I lose people is because competition can always take people from me. The challenge for me is to keep my great people constantly engaged and on a good career path so that they don’t want to leave. My entry level attrition is 5% per month and 60% per annum. And that’s a modest number considering that the industry’s norm is 120%. I think the oldest management trainee we have in our organization is a 2005 MBA graduate. She is now based in the US at vice president level. That’s a great example of success and hard work.
We have never had a problem and a lot of credit goes to the organization because hiring from management schools is just one aspect of it. It’s important how you engage them, train them and develop them. Folks coming out of management schools are not wizards with wands in their hands. They are not going to solve your company’s problem on day one. You are investing in future leaders. You build future leaders. It’s like a Chinese bamboo, which grows underground for five years you keep watering and you don’t even see if it’s growing but after the fifth year, in five weeks it grows 90 feet after surfacing. The point that I am trying to make is that you have to invest and nurture. When the person was a kid, the parents nurtured him. When the person was in school the teachers nurtured him. When the person was in management training courses the teachers did it so when it comes to organizations why should it change? If mentoring happens right then stability of an employee is never an issue. Everybody needs nurturing. As I grow older, somebody is going to nurture me again. So I am taking care of the organization now and later I will be taken care of from somebody outside the organization. That’s the circle of life.
Automation will displace many jobs over the next 10 to 15 years, but many others will be created and even more will change. Jobs of the future will use different skills and may have higher educational requirements. It is also forecasted that in spite of displacement and automation the demand for human labor will only go up. Here’s why, automation itself requires a large workforce. The need to deploy AI , robotics and Digitization requires humans. Rising income is resulting in the consumer class going up. The rate of automation will never exceed the rate of compensating job creation.
“The body really doesn’t need 9-10 hours of sleep; you can tune your body to sleep for 6-7 hours a day for four days and another 5-6 hours for three days and you’re still going to be fine. There is this theory that all successful leaders have woken up at 4 am and 5 am and pursued their personal goals and dreams”
Work-life balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying each of those choices. I chose to work and do lots of things outside work. I enjoy all my choices including work.
At First source, everyone, including the CEO, believes that health and wellness is important. HR advocates this as well within FSL. As HR, I must first practice what I preach. So yes, I absolutely advocate work-life balance. Everything is achievable as long as you have a plan. You can achieve your professional goals and personal goals. Its possible. The body really doesn’t need 9-10 hours of sleep; you can tune your body to sleep for 6-7 hours a day for four days and another 5-6 hours for three days and you’re still going to be fine. There is this theory that all successful leaders have woken up at 4 am and 5 am and pursued their personal goals and dreams, whether it is in athletics or sports or politics, etc. People wake up and forgo two hours of their sleep to achieve their personal goals.
Sometimes the most productive thing to do is to relax! One way to relax your body is to have a quiet mind. Give it a break! Doing things that make you happy in itself ensures that you are relaxed through the day. Choose how you want to spend your days and choose it wisely. I like travelling, I love the beaches, I enjoy good food and I like listening to music.
It’s possible! Live by your dreams and don’t settle for anything less. If you have a certain goal then make that your destiny and have a larger vision and make sure you go after that. Having a vision is one part of it and working hard to get to that is the other part. If you’re doing this then success is almost guaranteed. Most people operate out of their personal history, out of their memory, things they’ve done, things they’ve experienced, things they’ve seen, things that they have observed.
What I’m suggesting is that you operate out of a larger vision of yourself, I want you to see yourself doing what you want to do, experiencing what you want to experience, having what you want to have, doing what it is that gives your life some meaning and value, operate out of your imagination not your memory
By Neeraj Varty
