Pursuit of excellence is the key

It is vital to know the emerging trends; be it business, talent, process or technology, to keep oneself updated and bring key stakeholders' alignment to enable the organisation for superior performance, says Rajesh Kumar Singh. Passionate, result oriented and a collaborative HR leader, Rajesh is currently working as Global Head HR, KPIT and has experience across sectors in setting up of HR processes, re engineering them and leading complex assignments in the entire gamut of HR. He has designed and executed interventions to develop organisation resilience and capability aligned with existing and emerging trends. In an exclusive interview with Corporate Citizen, Rajesh Kumar Singh talks on some of the astute lessons he has learnt through his career journey

"Adaptability, continuous learning and pursuit of excellence is the key. It is very much important to know the existing, emerging trends and bring key stakeholder alignment focused on organisational strength for superior performance"

Mapping education-career pathways

I am from a very small village in Bihar and my father was a school teacher. He emphasised on high-quality education right from my childhood and ensured that I went to one of the best boarding public schools in India, the Netarhat Residential School, which is now part of Jharkhand. After doing my graduation from Patna University in the year 1997, I joined State Bank of India as a probationary officer in Patna. After SBI, I joined Civil Services, Government of India, Ministry of Communication and IT. After two years of institutional training and other field assignments, I was posted in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. After working there for over two years, I went to Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore on a scholarship to pursue Master's in public administration. After returning from Singapore I was posted as Assistant Administrator in Sanchar Bhawan, Department of Telecom, New Delhi.

After working for more than seven years in Government, it was amply evident that the role of the government in the telecom sector was shrinking with key responsibility being limited to spectrum management and licencing. Regulation had gone to TRAI and service providing had been corporatised. I resigned and went to IIM-Calcutta for one-year full-time MBA. I joined Infosys, Bengaluru as HR Manager, where I was managing Business HR function in one of the units. After a stint, full of learning in Infosys, I joined Alcon, eye care division of Novartis as HR manager and became HR head of south region and enabling functions. Thereafter I joined Alkem Laboratories, a leading pharma company as Global Head HR. Though my career path was not designed that way on all occasions however, I have never hesitated in experimentation in my career.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

Since shifting to the private sector, I had a clear goal that I will try entrepreneurship. I along with a few of my friends started a health care venture "OLITO", based in Pune. It was both, on physical side as we had a clinic, diagnostic lab, pharmacy and also technology side. We had a tie-up with many hospitals including a hospital in Mumbai. We also had a clinical management software and app. After 1.6 years of struggle and learning, we made an exit and I joined KPIT as a Global Head-HR. I see a lot of optimism bias in people who venture for startups, however, most startups fail in the first few years as they are not able to generate sufficient demand. People should make an attempt to seek sufficient information, start with asset light model and be ready for failure too. If we have perseverance and grit, then even with failure we can make a good comeback.

After over seven years working in the government, what inspired you to move to a career in HR management in the private sector?

We cannot plan our career so much in advance. Many times it has so happened that things have come my way and I have tried to make the best use of whatever is available. When I went to IIM-Calcutta, I had no clear notion of where I was going to be but Infosys came to the campus for hiring. It was one of the leading organisations with world-class HR systems, processes and talent framework, so I thought it would be a great learning opportunity. Moving to HR was not planned as such, the opportunity came and I took it.

You have worked in the government and then moved to the private sector. Was switching over a big challenge and how did you manage?

There are distinct differences-the pace in the private sector is fast as compared to government. The government is more process-oriented and outcomes many times are not very well-defined, though things are changing there also. In private sector there are well-defined outcome in terms of financial, customer, people and operational parameters. The private sector is very demanding in general and in the government it depends upon the role one is playing. I found working in the government sector also very fulfilling, with excellent memories of working with some of the best people in my life. System, process and overall framework is very different in the private sector and I was lucky to join Infosys as it provided a rich learning experience. I relish challenges and like to set the bar quite high, which has helped me a lot in the private sector.

Pep Talk

"We try to internalise all success and externalise all failures. The better approach is to do it the reverse way whenever we are successful, we must think about favorable factors, so we realise what we could have done better"

hold yourself accountable to very high standards

We try to internalise all success and externalise all failures. The better approach is to do it the reverse way whenever we are successful, we must think about favorable factors, so we realise what we could have done better. If we fail then what were the things which were within our control, which could have been done better.

success is continuous learning

It doesn't matter where you come from or which institute you are studying, the power of continuous learning will take you where you want to go.

What we are really good at

We can make a successful career only on our strengths. Life continuously gives us signals through failures and success. The foundation is self-awareness-Do I truly know myself? What are my strengths, my limitations and behavioral patterns? What makes me happy and what makes me frustrated? How do we find what we are really good at? It requires deep reflection and ability to receive feedback from people who are trustworthy and competent.

Seek sufficient information before you take any plunge

Self interest reigns supreme and people portray the information which benefits them but may not be right. I suggest to all to build the behavior of seeking sufficient information. What is the value for which the organisation stands for? The manager to whom you are going to work, how is he as a professional and a human being? Make an effort to associate yourself with really good organisations and professionals.

Grittiness

When you take any goal for yourself which is not easy to achieve, don't leave it halfway, but push yourself till you achieve it. We don't have to make long-term plans, as life is not always an upward curve and many times we have to make the best use of the path available. Identify the key challenges the organisations have, design interventions by working with the key stakeholders and whenever you are not getting results, be a fast learner and make your corrections as you go along and not at the end. We have to focus on learning and build the best version of ourselves. It is our career and life and we are the architect of it.

"The average age of the workforce is coming down in India and this will continue in the distinct future also. The new generation is different from the earlier generation in many ways, be it the mobility, social media, appetite for experimentation and risks. They are more vocal about what they want"

You have been in the HR management field over a decade now, so have you seen any major changes in the HR practice?

Technology is bringing significant changes and will do so more in the future as the pace is going to increase. HR has to play a catalytic role as all organisations are going through a massive change, as the ecosystem keeps changing rapidly. Effective change management is becoming more important. How do we keep the organisation agile to make it competitive and outperform the market? HR has to facilitate self-awareness at leadership level so that the organisation is fully cognizant of its strengths and key talent across segments and align these with the emerging opportunities to deliver value. Organisations are looking to build a robust leadership pipeline and the role of HR is pivotal in facilitating the same.

Compared to the conventional HR practice earlier, has todays digitised HR practice become more insight-enabled and real-time?

Technology has enabled HR and leadership to find out actionable insights on what is working well and what we need to focus to get better. With the use of technology, organisational ability to attract, retain and develop talent will improve significantly. However, my experience is that we are at very early stage of automation and application of high technology in HR. It will take some time to mature, however, it goes without saying that in coming years technology will help us in becoming more productive.

On one side it is been said that AI is revolutionizing HR processes but then there is also a fear that this may shrink the HR role to being only a specialised role within organisations?

I see human element remaining in the foreseeable future, for building and sustaining an engaged and productive talent. As I said earlier, the technology is in very early stage and will take time to mature and there will be significant learning’s too. While routine and repetitive work will be automated, however, new and complex opportunities will emerge too. It is important for all of us to keep learning, so we are able to adapt ourselves with changes.

"HR has to facilitate self-awareness at leadership level so that the organisation is fully cognizant of its strengths and key talent across segments and align these with the emerging opportunities to deliver value"

A recent study shows that there is a huge digital HR skills gap. Are the institutions equiping students for that demand?

There is a clear gap between the competence of students coming from the institutions and the needs of the industry. This is not only in terms of digital skills but overall competence (functional and technical skills, solution orientation). Students must work on the projects in emerging fields including digital HR. Better industry-academia collaboration will also help to redesign the curriculum so the students are equipped with demands of industry. Institutions must work to establish robust mentorship programmes and provide on the job experience.

In your career journey till now you have worked across various sectors and faced culture differences, so how does one get acclimatised with new work culture and ethics as you move into a new organisation?

It is vital to associate with individuals and the organisations whose value system is strong. We must make an effort to seek information about the organisational values and leadership. At the same time, we have to work to the best of our capability in making respective organisations better also through effective change management, learn lessons from failures and strive to continuously raise the bar. The tone at the top determines the organisational culture, hence one must find an actual reputation of management before any career move.

To analyse issues in multiple angles, do today's youngsters have that critical thinking, learning mindset and curiosity?

Critical thinking and learning mindset is a sine qua non for success. We have to look at challenges through the lens of opportunity. The appetite for different perspectives for an optimal outcome is needed too. Technology and information enable youngsters, however, it is very much important to look at the issues holistically and then design interventions through key stakeholders alignment for execution.

The nature of work is changing and new work trends are coming in like flexi-time demand or work from home. What will be the nature of work in the near future?

The average age of the workforce is coming down in India and this will continue in the distinct future also. The new generation is different from the earlier generation in many ways, be it the mobility, social media, appetite for experimentation and risks. They are more vocal about what they want. However, flexi-time and work from home will be contextual, as job requires collaboration and connect with colleagues. At times there is specific requirement from customers on how the work is to be done.

There are some jobs, which can be delivered from home and the shift will happen there. Freelancing is already increasing across the globe. Moreover, the expectation is higher from younger generation for autonomy and flexibility so organisations have to adapt also to the changing demographic profile of talent.

Do HR have a big challenge of understanding the expectations of the Millennia’s and integrating that with the aspirations of the organisation?

Millennials are impatient and they are looking for challenges and flexibility. The organisations have to adapt their talent management practices to their expectations to attract and retain talent. In hi-tech companies the entire talent practices including compensation, long term incentive, stock options, and work itself is stimulating so they attract and retain the best talent. Organisations have to build their differentiator aligned with the aspirations of younger generation.

But when attrition is high, organisations also have to face skill shortage and talent crunch, so in such a scenario isn't attracting and retaining talent, a huge challenge for HRs?

It is more a challenge for niche skills as demand outstrips supply significantly. In general, supply is far more than the demand with a burgeoning workforce too. It's very much important for the organisations to tailor their talent practices for the niche skills, be it the compensation, career planning, learning and development. As the demand is more for these skills so the challenge of retention will continue.

Today's youngsters want to jump on the entrepreneurial bandwagon as soon as they finish their learning phase. What are your guidelines?

It is important to seek sufficient information what exactly is in store or to understand the rigor of the business model. The startups whether in India or the rest of the world fail mostly, hence people should go with information that the probability of not making it a success is high. If things don't work out then one has to learn the lessons and move forward. Mostly people don't seek sufficient information and go with preconceived notions, biases and projections. It is must to have very good mentors also, who have been through the journey.

Some of the astute lesson you have learnt through your twenty years of career journey till now.

Adaptability, continuous learning and pursuit of excellence is the key. It is very much important to know the existing, emerging trends and bring key stakeholder alignment focused on organisational strength for superior performance. An outward orientation in whatever we do and holding ourselves accountable to very high standards helps. There is so much randomness in life that whenever we achieve success, we must realise how lucky we are. We should always be willing to lend a helping hand to those who are less fortunate.