Attitudes that Stink!!

Its quite funny, the way human nature is. When somebody expresses interest, and that too eagerly, most people love to dangle that person like a prawn stuck on a fishing rod. Take for example a girl interested in a boy or vice versa. There will be a meaningless chase involved till the one interested is reduced to his/her knees. Likewise if a candidate is really keen on a company, the HR leads the person on a nice merry chase, trying to literally starve the candidate for attention. 


Interestingly, I have always noticed in professional scenarios, the relevant department is usually prompt, however the HR ponders over matters for days on end and delays the process citing numerous excuses which many a times seem fake.


And people think keeping the opposite party on tenterhooks is what keeps the excitement on and elevates their importance. Quite the contrary, if you ask me.


Honestly, it's disgusting and unprofessional to unnecessarily needle the interested one either professionally or personally. Actually shows lack of competence and promptness in decision making.

Gadha Mazdoor or Over-priced Professional?

What's more important - The absolute right person at a high price or the seemingly-right person at a low price?


Until a few weeks back, I kept meeting people who thought my resume was great, met and liked me, but as soon as I quoted a figure, they inferred I was an over-priced mess, who was looking at myself with rose-tinted glasses. Although various consultants kept assuring me I wasn't. Me was not convinced. It had now become a matter of self-confidence to test whether I truly was over-priced/ messed/ had a rose-tinted view of myself. So I changed tactics, I stopped answering the rhetorical question -What's your expected CTC? Did this help? You bet!


People actually looked at the brain and personality behind the resume and liked it. I was considered a good fit with organisations. I started progressing to the second, third, final rounds and then the offers started pouring in. 


This turn of events actually led me to speculate over my performance in these various meetings. The one and only thing that I had done differently in these vis-a-vis the earlier set was come without a price tag. So is that the only thing which matters to companies today? Is your expectation in terms of cost to the company the only qualifying factor for getting a job? Does the age-old HR theory of 'getting the right person for the job' no longer apply? Or is the theory now being changed to 'gearing the person right for the job'? 


The answer is yes and no. I spoke to one of my friends who has been working in the HR sphere since quite a while and she said that the one reason why India survived the recession was because companies all over the country followed one principle -'Do more with less'. So now, post recession, companies argue that if we can operate comfortably with less, why invest more? That would be bad business decision making. Basically hold your fist tight until and look at optimum utilisation of resources. The dictionary defines cannibalization as the use of a machine as a source of spare parts for another similar machine. According to me, the 'doing more with less' strategy of companies is actually an extension of this term, only the machine in question is human. So we can in effect redefine it as the use of one person on a job as a source of talent for other similar jobs. 

Problem is in a country like ours, with a constantly growing population -one which is young, educated and ready to pitch in - no matter what, there will always be takers for this scenario. In short, there are a lot of 'right people' for the job, and among those, it is only the ones who can be 'geared right' (read work more for less) who are given preference. Talent, you see, is in abundance after all in India.


This brings up another query - If doing more for less is the new mantra - then how is it that people in a city like Mumbai - where there is no dearth of talent - are getting paid outrageous salaries? I know at least ten people in my personal circle of friends who are my age and drawing a package which runs in 7 digits!! Despite this I am considered outrageous when I come with a price tag?


My speculation did result in a conclusion. Getting a job is like marketing a gourmet meal. You have to have a tasting round along with an appealing presentation of the food- minus the price label. Get the taste buds of the audience titillated to an extent, where they realise that quality matters, the food is actually speaking for itself and even if it turns out to be expensive it will be worth it. And believe me, even if there are numerous dhabas and roadside stalls serving amazing food, there is always an audience who appreciates the luxury of gourmet, as long as you present it right.


So bottom line, get the companies to give you a chance to prove that you are worth it. Chances are when they realise that fact, they will respect your talent and not ask you to come cheap. In other words you don't really have to practice 'Gadha Mazdoori' or in the Queen's language - Donkey Labour!

Victory in a Loss

Is there such a thing as 'premium luxury'? Can a brand fall into two categories? Yes. According to me, a luxury brand is by default attached to a premium, however a premium brand is not attached to luxury if it was it would be termed 'luxury' not 'premium'. 


This was the argument I entered into with a senior HR executive, who was interviewing me for handling an international label. 


According to her, the brand, for which her company was the exclusive licensee, was a 'premium luxury' brand which was known thus and hence the same image was being carried forward in India, so what could I bring to the table which could enhance their efforts. At the risk of getting rejected, I nodded my head the wrong way. 


Here is my part of the dialogue verbatim - "First and foremost there is no such thing as a 'premium luxury' brand. There is either premium or luxury. Get your basics right. You could define your brand as new luxury - but not luxury. Secondly and most importantly, your brand is not a luxury brand. It is a premium brand. World over it is known as a premium brand and this is how you should be taking it forward in India as well. By building an image which is not in sync with how you are known worldwide, you are breaking the deal and actually leading to a decline in your sales. You sound too loud to those who generally buy you and too snobbish to those who could potentially buy you. So its a lost case either way."  


She was aghast, and with an effort to regain her composure asked me to define what luxury is and what is premium. My answer to that was - Luxury is something which is incredibly high-priced, scarce and gives the buyer a feeling of being unique not common. In the Indian context a luxury brand would start its absolute basic at say Rs.10,000. Premium on the other hand is something priced at a premium over average goods and one which capitalises on the rising levels of disposable income among the middle class. Again in the Indian context this would ideally start at something like Rs. 1000-1500. Your brand falls in the second category because your starting range is Rs. 1295, something very easily afforded by a person earning Rs. 25,000/month and if you...she cut me very abruptly here and asked, "Ok forget the pricing and range, what else can you tell me about us and our competitors".


When I walked out post interview, I knew one thing, she had not taken very kindly to my outburst. But I was not really bothered about that. Having lived abroad and in India, there was one question which had me thinking hard. Why do some marketers in India think that they can position an international brand as 'Wow' and the masses and classes in India would lap it up? Why don't they cater to their audience right? Why do they try to portray themselves as something they are not and try to live up a facade? Don't they realize when the curtain falls, its always  -The End? But then, what if I was wrong? What if there is such a thing as Premium Luxury? So I sat and contemplated.


Luxury or Premium? 

To get that right, one needs to understand which one is which. Luxury is defined by some as a sensation that can only be bought not sold. For a few others luxury is about sheer indulgence and extravagance. Also it is important to note  that one person’s luxury is another person’s commodity. In the current world, luxury is more of a necessity and seen more as an opportunity to widen, deepen, and redefine the experience of life. However one may choose to define it though, one thing is certain today; luxury is now commonplace and affordable. 


How? Its because we now have something called as 'New Luxury' or in other words 'Premium'. For those who are not aware - 'New Luxury' has been defined by the Boston Consulting Group as better goods priced at 20 – 200% price premiums to average goods, consumed by middle class consumers with incomes of US$50 to 150,000. This development could be due to the fact that disposable income has risen dramatically over past 30 years.


So what's the problem? The problem is the confusion. As Seth Godin says in his blog, "Plenty of brands are in trouble right now because they're not sure which one they represent ". As the notion of luxury is itself changing, marketers are fighting hard to find answers to this changing scenario. Turns out, I was right - the brand was confused and was fighting hard for answers. But in the wrong war!


According to me, the answers would lie in a very long, hard look inward as well as outward. It is important to understand where the brand is going wrong. You could either look first at whom do you want to cater to, then look at the needs of your target, look at fulfilling those needs and communicate the whole thing right. Or you could look at what you have right now, research which genre of the market would it be best for, what kind of people cater to that genre, and then only release those products which would please that genre and then communicate that right as well. Point to note - Not just communicate, but communicate right.


Whether a brand is luxury, premium or new luxury, it first needs to get its positioning right. See where it fits in and with whom. It has to look at satisfying the needs of expression and individuality among its target audience while weaving innovation into its brand image whether via the product range or through the services provided or through the experience. And only if this is achieved, the brand will be on its way to the perfect balance of Volume versus Elite.


In case you are wondering, no, I did not get called again by that HR lady, nor did I expect to. But somehow, I felt proud for speaking out and not letting the situation overrule me. Absolutely gratifying. I may have lost the job, but I still feel like I won. 

The Big Warm-Up

Looks like interviews are excellent platforms - for teaching. For Learning. Ever since I set out on my job hunt, each interview has contributed to my learning curve albeit not always in a pleasant way. Not-so-surprisingly the lessons learnt on these stops are actually those etched in my brain strongest. Now look here, am not really applying for jobs as a fresher. I am not one. These are managerial positions yet if candidates for such levels are treated like cattle waiting to get a vaccine in a farmland and that too by a recognised name in the market, its sure to leave you zapped.


Yes. This happened just yesterday and I simply have to rant about it because its not something one can take lightly. There were about 35 candidates (yes there was a crowd) who arrived at the premises of a very well known organisation - which for the benefit of all I shall refer to as the 'National Centre for Atrocities in Practice' or the 'NCAP'. All the candidates, including myself, were present courtesy an email from an 'Omni' zealous recruitment consultancy. There was no job description attached, nor was any info provided on the eligibility criteria for the job. It was a walk-in organised with a time slot from 10.30 to 1.30 before lunch. Needless to say, going by the organisation's credentials (after all it was the NCAP), people bunked office, feigned illness, cancelled or rescheduled appointments and were there for the interview. Some like me decided to be there early with a view of being First In-First Out. However, this was not to be.


10.30 a.m.: I was the fourth person to arrive at the prestigious address. There was no system of registering on arrival nor any person in sight who would provide guidance on what's going to happen next. There was just a circle of sofas, on which were seated those three people who had arrived before me, two side diwans, a couple of chairs and NO FAN, NO AIR CONDITIONER, NO BREEZE. The temperature was 30 degrees.


10.45 a.m.: More people arrived. Each one entered and occupied a seat on the circle of sofas. One entered and occupied a chair. Everybody simply stared into space and kept looking at non-operative AC vents. The temperature was 30 degrees.


11.00 a.m. : The place started filling up. By now, the early arrivers had started making small talk between themselves with the famous ice breakers being, "Have they taken your CV yet?" "Do you have any idea about the job description?" "Did you also receive the email?". Some smart ones, walked up to the door of The Famous Interviewer (lets call him 'TFI") and asked what was going to happen and were calmly told, "You will be called". There was still no fan. No breeze. No Air conditioner. The temperature was now 32 degrees.


11.15 a.m.: TFI walks out of his comfortable, chilled cabin and asks everyone for their resumes. Everyone jumped and in the end the famous guy had no clue, who had arrived at what time and who was there for which position (we got to know later that there were about 3 positions for which candidates were called). Nor did he have the courtesy to ask people the same. Among those who were seated, the ice had broken, the conversation now veered towards how hot the ambience was, how inconvenient the entire arrangement seemed, how unprofessionally the NCAP was handling the interview process. Someone mentioned that at least five years of sales experience was needed, which created unrest as the majority had about 4 years and not necessarily in sales (I belonged to the latter). The circle of sofas was completely occupied and so were the diwans and the chairs. The temperature was 32 degrees outside.


11.30 a.m.: The first name is called and this name belonged to someone who conveniently had arrived at 11.15. Just fifteen minutes back! and why -her resume was on top of the pile that TFI had collected, she was the last one to submit it to him, thats why. The first wave of murmurs, silent curses and subtle glares passed the hot, by-now sweaty, impatient crowd waiting outside TFI's cabin. Oh yes, there still was no fan, no ac and a passing by peon refused to open the doors which led to the garden, so no breeze as well. The temperature am sure was more than 34 degrees inside.


12.00 a.m.: Second name called. More people arrived. There was now a mini crowd standing. However TFI was not bothered. A few got really agitated as they had to get back to office. People were wondering if it was worth the wait especially if they did not have the rumoured five years experience (not me, I was determined to sit out till the end :P). When TFI came out, some surrounded him and asked him to announce the eligibility criteria. The response: "Please wait, there are a few positions, you will be called". Aaaarrrrgggh. The temperature? Yes the same.


12.30 a.m.: Just two names called yet. The atmosphere was heavy with a mixture of salt and H2O, and every new person who walked in was subjected to a perfect combination of a hostile stare combined with an analysis of 'Can he/she be qualified as competition' and preceded by one comment, 'Damn! Another one', which some voiced silently, some vociferously, some as a joke and some as a part of their mobile conversations. None though were really bothered about the interview. By this time, all they wanted to do was get it done and over with. As I said to the girl sitting next to me, "The NCAP were doing a good job of 'warming' us up for the interview". Pun intended. The temperature? You guessed it wrong. It was rising inside. I can bet £50 that by now it had reached 36 degrees.


1.30 p.m.: Same situation, 5 people called. One lady who was present thanks to an employee recommendation was given preference and was called as soon as she arrived accompanied of course by the recommender. Seeing the lack of professionalism, some of the crowd left as they could wait no longer due to prior appointments. Some like me went in to TFI, and let him know we are leaving and then left. Some took the day off from work and decided to wait it out till the end. The only constant - the sweltering ambience.


To think this is how a highly recognised organisation treats candidates who could be future employees translated as internal stakeholders. If this is how one's first experience is going to be with a company, the immediate conclusion drawn is that its not a fit place to work in. Making people wait unnecessarily, just because they are on the needy end of the spectrum is highly unprofessional and unethical. Why do companies think that its only the candidates who need them? Does a company not require the human resource? Why don't companies respect the fact that they are not the only ones giving time, the candidates are also taking the time out to meet them, so doesn't that hold any importance?


If people are not treated right, they pass the wrong message, which in turn harms your company image and may actually evade you from attracting the right talent. The first impression may not always be the last impression but it sure is a 'lasting' impression and definitely hard to erase. Companies need to realise that the torch-bearers of their image are not just those handling corporate communications/ PR, but the other departments as well, especially the HR. 


The interactions of an HR manager or HR person with a potential employee may actually make or mar the deal. Forget compensations, benefits, allowances. Just basic human affinity is even more important - liking the people whom one will be working with in the future is crucial because no amount of monetary aspects can replace it. Also you never know, a refuted job seeker could actually turn into a potential contact tomorrow or maybe an important external stakeholder!


As a famous Persian proverb goes - "He who wants a rose, must respect the thorn"  

Lessons from an Interview

Last week I was interviewed by a very high-profile managing director, who is known to have exhibited miracles in the corporate world. Although she was great as an interviewer and very patient with me, a question she put forth rattled me no end. A question on my attire for the interview. The entire office in the team was dressed in western business formals - suits, sharp skirts, ties, shirts - the works. I was dressed in formal trousers, formal shoes and a Kurti - mind you this was not the flimsy with flowing sleeves fashionable kind rather a collared, and a very smart one. Yet her question was - When you look around, you see us all dressed in our best business formals, so why did you not take the effort to dress accordingly, despite knowing that you were going to be interviewed by the MD? 

I was flabbergasted! Excuse me, but a kurti and trousers is considered formal and is accepted in the corporate world as business formals. Western business formals are the norm in the Western countries, but in India even a sari or a salwar kameez is considered formal, as long as its elegant, pinnned in the right places and is not fiddle-some (if there is a word like that). How can you say that my attire was not appropriate? 

In that one second post her question, a number of answers shot through my head including a retort - Have you seen the temperature outside? My attire is not just corporate but also comfortable. Secondly in a client facing job, although clothes do maketh a deal in a big way at least in creating a first impression, they also help in creating the right atmosphere. The way her team was dressed would surely intimidate someone, whereas the way I was dressed would ensure somebody would be at ease talking to me! and I am not wearing jeans, I am dressed formally! and the funny thing was, although her team was European and British, she was Indian! 

However, like the typical me, I did not open my mouth for the retort, instead simply mumbled some crap excuse at her. The interview went on post that, and in the end she said that I am not ideally suitable because I don't have the gumption or to put it in a crude way -I don't have the 'balls' for this job. I agreed. And then kicked myself after coming out.

Why? because of all the above, when I did not have the guts to defend my attire which am sure was a test from her end to gauge my reaction, how on earth would I have the guts to negotiate or defend my case in with a client? and why the kick? because it was in my mind, I just had to speak out and she gave me an opportunity as well which I truly missed!

And then I wondered, how many times in life do we face situations like these? Someone on the train who is rude to you, the pervert on the road, the bully in school, the irritating neighbourhood aunty - all of them people who have possibly taken a dig at you, provoked your ire and yet haven't faced your wrath! Why? because you were scared to give them a piece of your mind or to tell them what you really think of their actions for fear of provoking them further. However, then you spend hours mulling over the entire scene and imagining yourself retorting sharply or giving the guilty one a dose of his/her own medicine or something similar maybe and then feeling like superman with the guilty chap cowering at your feet. Alas! this scenario is just a figment of your thoughts and will be forever, unless you take up the cudgel and develop the guts to deliver a blow. It need not be a big one, even a slight scratch will work wonders - not just for setting things right but for your own confidence.

Reflecting on that day made me realise that the reason I went numb and dumb, was possibly a combination of nerves, my eagerness to impress and a desperation for the job. All of which rubbed the wrong way. What's important is to understand that interviewers are not looking for a right or a wrong answer. They are trying to understand the real you and your reactions to real life. And the best way to succeed in these scenarios - Be yourself. It will show and when it does, things will turn out just fine.