Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Going global: Indian firms create jobs in US

Indian firms are not just taking up outsourcing any more, but have in fact invested a whopping $6 billion in the United States and created 40,000 jobs with quite a few of them going to the Americans. If a Janaki posing as Janet at call centres in India has been servicing customers in the US, many a Jane and John employed by India Inc. in the US is now helping travellers worldwide book a flight or send flowers and gifts to loved ones in America.

A group of 34 Indian companies represented in the India Business Forum (IBF), launched in June 2006, structured at the initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has made investments in such diverse sectors as technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and gems and jewellery. The Indian companies with 40,000 employees have invested about $6 billion in the US this year alone through acquisitions and mergers. While there are more Indian nationals in the service sector, the number of local employees goes as high as 95 percent in the manufacturing sector. The Tata Group alone has invested over $2 billion in the last couple of years through acquisitions and mergers in the US with 16 of its companies from hotels to manufacturing employing 16,000 people, about 5,000 of them local.

The local American employees work in all Tata companies, but heavy concentrations are in the hotels, manufacturing, telecommunications, engineering and software and in beverages besides two call centres in Ohio and Florida. The group provides engineering and software services through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and INCAT/Tata Technologies with TCS earning 53 percent of its $4.3 billion revenue from the US. And in telecommunications, VSNL, a 74 percent Tata owned company, emerging as the largest voice provider in the US offering competition to the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Tatas' call centre business, SerWiz Solutions Limited, has 250 full-time employees at its Milton, Florida, centre and 260 such employees at Reno, Ohio. "Both centres are currently in a hiring mode," says Ricardo Layun, vice president, Customer Care Operations.

At the moment, the two call centres support one of the world's leading online travel companies, a large US airline carrier, and the American region of a large Asian airline carrier, large domestic and international airlines. They also seasonally support a leading telephone and online retailer of flowers and gift sales. The Tatas have been expanding these call centres since acquiring them in April 2006 as "we have found that the US communities in which we operate provide a strong workforce, competitive economic conditions, and positive growth potential," said Layun. Both call centres operate 24/7, but "We have not experienced an issue with staffing after hours. We have found that offering these night shifts provides employees opportunities to attend day-time college courses or avoid day-care costs," he said.

Crazy 'huh'

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Top 7 Strategies To Achieve Your Goals

1) Find out what is it that you want to achieve. Write a one-sentence definition of your goal. Work on this sentence until it is clear and to the point.
2) Read this sentence several times before falling asleep at night, and upon waking up in the morning.
3) Several times a day, visualize your goal for some minutes. In your mind's eye see your goal as achieved.
4) Stay alert and with an open mind. This will help you to become more attentive and aware of any ideas and opportunities that come your way, and which you may help you to achieve your goal.
5) Exercise your will power and self-discipline to keep your focus on the goal, and to stick to your resolve to succeed. Do not let anything distract you or make you deviate from your goal.
6) Go on, even if there are obstacles on the way or you see no progress. Those who persevere succeed.
7) Silence is power. Do not talk too much on what you want to achieve. Concentrate on doing, not on talking. Too much talking with others about your desires and goals dissipate your inner powers. Learn to concentrate and channel your energy toward achieving your goal.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Wipro & Cap Gemini

The rumour is back again. This time, as i read in www, it’s Wipro that is planning a bid for France-headquartered IT giant Capgemini. In June this year, there were rumours of Infosys making a bid for Capgemini.

Wipro is now reportedly looking at a 60 euro-per-share bid for CapGemini, which will value the IT consulting giant at 8 billion euros.However, Reuters reports that Wipro has denied any comment on the acquisition buzz. “We don’t react to market speculation,” Wipro’s spokeswoman told Reuters. The Economic Times quotes Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, as saying that “it is market speculation.”Reports, however, suggest that Wipro was indeed in discussions with Capgemini for a cash-plus-stock swap deal. The buzz had its effect on CapGemini share prices which rose 3.7 per cent on Friday.

Wipro’s largest acquisition so far was that of Infocrossing for $600 million.In the case of Capgemini, Wipro will have a huge challenge of managing the integration.

The Bangalore-based company has around 77,000 people while CapGemini has over 80,000 of which 17,000 people are in India. The French company plans to employ over 40,000 people by the end of 2010.

Hmm, anything can happen, it's all just matter of money and market value

Friday, November 09, 2007

Diwali-All NO's

No crackers, No wishes, No ripping the channels, No actress bluffs, No rush to see the Movie(even it is a crap one), no new dress, no reducing the purse's weight.... Thats how this year Diwali was.. it really Su**s being out of india..

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Story by Pics

If USA asks me to leave the country...

Then I say ...
Visited Statue of liberty this week end.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

How to keep your employees happy

Work is, well, work. But a few companies understand that in order to get the most out of their staffers--and keep them -- they need to have fun. At least sometimes.

Take Nugget Markets, a 10-store northern California grocer. Turnover is 12 per cent among its 900 full-time employees. That's relatively unheard of in the grocery industry, where average turnover is 8 per cent higher. CEO Eric Stille attributes it to Nugget's culture. Management shows employees they are valued with dance parties, field trips, unexpected financial giveaways and lots of free food. "We want our team to know how much they're appreciated," says Chris Carpenter, Nugget's COO. "That's the number one thing we want them to understand."

That's not a priority for many employers. But it should be. Many say they're fretting about how expensive it is to advertise, recruit and train new employees, not to mention the toll it takes on morale. They're racking their collective brains over how to attract and keep the best talent. It's become such a key issue because unemployment is low (4 per cent), and the supply of jobs is high. That adds up to lots of options for employees.

Interestingly, throwing money at staffers isn't always the answer. Neither is throwing a party every few months. Having fun at work and creating a cohesive team is just one element. The most successful companies also realize flexibility, values, career development and providing meaningful experiences are also important elements to minimizing turnover. The interesting thing is that many of the companies that value having a good time usually incorporate those other elements too.

Nugget Markets, for example, pays its employees for sick days they didn't use. They provide incentives to come into work every day. Combine something like that with the newest addition to Nugget's roster of events--a rave held on a Saturday at an auditorium in the University of California, Davis.

The idea was to recreate a Las Vegas nightclub complete with a DJ flown in from Sin City, a band and an elaborate light system. The grand total was $150,000 --money well spent, Stille says. "It's not about the money," says Stille. "It's an investment, and you can't figure out a return on investment on that event, but as long as we're creating a great working environment, it's worth every dime."

Other events held for Nugget Market employees: a trip to Six Flags and white water rafting. (Employees who don't want to go rafting are given a paid day off and the $75 it would cost the company to send them on the trip.)

Aside from the field trips, there's a certain spirit brought out in just about everything they do. For a recent sales presentation, management replicated the Octagon used for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and had salespeople deliver presentations in the ring. "They were in a fighting mentality," says Stille.

The Octagon isn't for everyone. Neither is the Rave or white water rafting. And that's what companies need to keep in mind when hiring new employees: Do their personalities mesh with that of the company? If they don't, they still won't remain in the job. "You have to touch the heart of what is considered fun for the people that work for you," says Tamara Erickson, author of Workforce Crisis. "Companies that are good at retention are engaging people. They hire people who fit in there. The ones that are good at it tend to be a bit odd. They do things that are different."

Many will say the Octagon is evidence of that.
Rackspace, a San Antonio, Texas-based managed hosting company, is a bit kooky too. Their annual version of Oktoberfest, Racktoberfest, features a David Hasselhoff look-a-like contest, German beer (there's a two-drink maximum) and dancing to live German oompa-pa music. Family and friends are invited to join employees. This year nearly 1,000 people attended. It cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

"Throwing money at people will only work for a little while," says Rackspace's CEO Lanham Napier. The nine-year-old firm added 80 new employees per month last year and expects that number to grow to 90 next year. Napier says there's an 11% attrition rate annually.
His system for keeping talented employees is clear. Pick people who fit into the organization both professionally and personality-wise; form small work teams that have their own authority and if you get a good result you get a bonus. He also allocates a "fun budget" for each team. They've used it for all sorts of activities including tubing, laser tag and videogames.
The next step is to advertise the culture of the company. Use those events as a way to recruit talent. "The best thing to do if you're a company is make it clear what you have to offer," says Erickson. That way, when a candidate receives two job offers, and everything else is equal, they might go to the company that has a culture similar to theirs.

After all, bosses want employees to look forward to coming to work every day.
Source: Rediff

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