A Possible Remedy for Poor Health Care in India

By M H Ahssan

India wants to be a preferred destination for medical tourism, but its health care offering for its own citizens is lacking. The doctor-to-population ratio for the country is 6:10000, compared to a global ratio of 14:10000. It is estimated that over the next two decades, India will need twice as many doctors, three times as many nurses and four times as many paramedics it has at present.

With 60% of the hospitals and 80% of the doctors belonging to the private sector, and 70% of the health care resources in India concentrated in the top 20 cities, rural India is hit the hardest.
To address this problem, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has proposed a truncated medical course for practitioners in rural areas. Called the Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery (BRMS), it is a three-and-a-half-year course aimed specifically for students from rural India to take care of the basic health care needs of the target population.

The proposal for the BRMS, initiated by the MCI a couple of years ago, has recently received the backing of the country’s Planning Commission. A report released by an expert group within the Commission notes that the course should focus on “high quality of competence in preventive, promotive and rehabilitative services required for the rural population with a focus on primary health care.” It also recommends that by 2020, India should have BRMS colleges in all districts with a population of over 500,000. The report clarifies that this is not a shortened version of a traditional medical degree (MBBS) course, but a unique initiative to address the country’s rural health care issues.

Not everyone is convinced of the efficacy of the BRMS course. In an address on the website of the Indian Medical Association, its president, Vinay Aggarwal, points out that the course is akin to “promoting and legalizing quackery.” He adds: “While modern medicine is experiencing a knowledge explosion, and a five-and-a-half-year MBBS course is insufficient to provide basic information to would-be doctors … how can reducing the duration of training be the remedy to the maladies plaguing rural health? Compromised education, and training in institutions where infrastructure and faculties have been compromised, will compromise the health of villagers …. An army of half-baked doctors for villagers with a three-and-a-half-year curriculum is a gross injustice.”

Rana Mehta, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, India, disagrees. “I see it as a positive step,” he says. “In one way it is a compromise, because you don’t do the [traditional-length] course, but given the huge shortage of doctors in India, this is a very good and innovative move.” The only caution that Mehta adds is that BRMS practitioners “need to keep within the paradigm of the knowledge that they have.”

There have been other innovations in India’s health care sector. At Devi Shetty’s cardiac care hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya, for instance, patients are treated for heart ailments at a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere across the globe. Shetty attributes this to “process innovation.” And at the Indian arm of GE Healthcare, the goal is to innovate and make affordable and accessible health care products to meet the specific needs of the Indian population.
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It now remains to be seen whether the BRMS ranks among these and other innovations from India — or whether it will prove the skeptics right.

Apple Without Steve Jobs: How the New CEO Can ‘Think Different’

By M H Ahssan

When people think of Apple, in addition to thinking of now-iconic products like the iPhone, iMac and iPad, they think of Steve Jobs, standing on a stage in his ubiquitous black turtleneck and jeans unveiling the latest in a string of innovative products from the company he co-founded in 1976.

On Wednesday, Jobs announced his resignation as CEO, ending a 14-year run that brought the company back from the brink of bankruptcy and reshaped the personal technology industry. Although Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, will remain as chairman of the board, Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook will take over the day-to-day running of the company — and the daunting task of becoming the new face of Apple.

But Apple’s success is due to more than Jobs alone, says Wharton operations and information management professor Eric Clemons. “Apple leadership has been brilliant,” he notes. “The team, clearly led by Jobs, but clearly more than Jobs alone, has become the best technology style house in the world. We pay a premium for Apple products because of how they look and how they feel foremost, and then how easy they are to use and to integrate into the rest of our technology and into our lives.”

Among Jobs’s biggest strengths were the ability to determine what the customer wanted and the will to force through “bold decisions that ultimately proved to be correct,” Clemons says. “In some ways he was indispensible. But he was never the whole story.”

Cook, who joined Apple in 1998 after stints at Compaq and IBM, also ran Apple during Jobs’s previous medical leaves. As COO, he oversaw the launch of Apple’s online store, fine-tuned its manufacturing process and revamped its customer support arm. Although Cook has appeared at least once in Jobs’s trademark black turtleneck and jeans, Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli says it would be a mistake for him to adopt a leadership style that copies Jobs. “A copy of anyone is going to come off looking bad. It will never be as good as the original, and people will spend their time focusing on the differences,” Cappelli notes. “I think [Cook] should be himself.”

But when it comes to Apple’s business strategy, Cappelli says it would be unwise to depart in any significant way from the path set under Jobs. “I think a ‘steady as she goes’ approach is a good idea, and also about the only option at this point.”

Apple shares fell 7% when news of Jobs’s departure broke Wednesday night, but the drop had narrowed to 2% by this morning. Most analysts expected the company to remain strong in the post-Jobs era, although Deutsche Bank cautioned that “risk is more likely to be centered around Apple’s three-to five-plus year product plans if/when Jobs permanently departs,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

And JMP analysts put a rare “hold” rating on the stock, noting that “it is not immediately evident to us how Apple replaces the irreplaceable and we are maintaining our neutral stance on the stock until it becomes clear — either that innovation and operational efficiencies will continue unabated under new management or that they are breaking down.”

According to Clemons, Cook must emphasize that, although Jobs is no longer at the helm, the design and strategic teams behind Apple’s success will remain intact. He says Cook could also buy back stock if the price drops temporarily. “The fundamentals of Apple as the premier high-tech design house and the premier integrated consumer technology company have not altered.”

Life after Steve Jobs: What to Expect from the Next Generation at Apple

It has been a wrenching six weeks for Apple. First, in a not entirely unexpected move, CEO Steve Jobs announced on August 24 that he would step down for health reasons and pass the torch to chief operating officer Tim Cook, who had temporarily taken the helm during Jobs's past medical leaves.

But Jobs was expected to remain a force behind the scenes at the company he co-founded in 1976 and built into a perennial game changer for the entire technology sector. Then, last Wednesday Apple announced that Jobs had passed away from cancer at the age of 56. Rather than a gradual transition, Cook and the leadership team Jobs leaves behind now face a baptism by fire.

"Steve Jobs wasn't just Apple's CEO," Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach says. "He was its animating force for most of the company's 35-year existence, and especially after his return 15 years ago. Today's Apple is, in many large and small ways, a reflection of Steve Jobs's vision. That makes it much easier to continue that culture even without Jobs himself."

The Apple that Jobs leaves behind is in an "enviable position, financially and in terms of its influence in the global technology sector," Werbach notes. But can the company sustain its track record of success without the man who was the company's guiding influence? Should Apple continue to mold its culture in the image of Jobs -- or is it time for a change?

"The challenge for Apple is that the Steve Jobs culture is a high-risk endeavor," Werbach says. "Apple is more controlling than its competitors, which puts a great deal of pressure on it to produce things that are truly superior. Apple has to hit it out of the park with virtually every major product release. It has done that for years, as has Pixar. However, the risk is higher than for companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Google, which have more ability to refine and improve their offerings over time, or to leverage the work of partners."

In a letter to employees after Jobs's death, Cook said the company has lost a "visionary and creative genius," but "his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." Yet what may be Jobs's more enduring legacy, at least in the short term, is the management team he built since returning to the company in 1996 after an 11-year ouster.

"Apple has done a good job of demonstrating that the leadership team in place is capable of managing the company just fine. A few years back, Apple and Steve Jobs were largely synonymous," notes Kartik Hosanagar, an operations and information management professor at Wharton. "With the decline in Jobs's health in recent years, other executives have been taking on more responsibility in a public way. All this has largely helped convince the community that the management is in control and knows what it is doing."

At Apple's iPhone 4S press event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters last week, Cook started with an introduction and then handed off the presentation to Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Apple's Internet software and services products; Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS, which powers the iPad and iPhone; and Phil Schiller, the company's head of marketing. Jonathan Ive, senior vice president of industrial design, is another key executive tasked with developing hit products. Cook is considered to be a supply chain expert and CFO Peter Oppenheimer controls the financials.

"All the executives have been with Apple for quite some time," Wharton management professor David Hsu points out. "Many of those executives came with Jobs from NeXT," the computer company he started after being pushed out of Apple in 1985. Apple bought NeXT in 1996 to acquire the operating system that became Mac OS X.

Little is expected to change at Apple in the short run -- for example, product roadmaps are typically set three to five years in advance. "We believe Tim Cook will carry out a long-term (five-year) roadmap that he and Jobs jointly established, including several iterations of Apple's existing products as well as new categories, like an Apple Television as soon as late 2012," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note.

In addition, "the industrial design excellence embodied in Apple products is likely to persist. The genius behind Apple's industrial design is really Jonathan Ive. He's alive and well," notes Karl Ulrich, an operations and information management professor at Wharton. "While Steve Jobs was clearly a champion for excellent industrial design, the Apple industrial design team is the best in the industry."

But there is no getting around the fact that, as it moves from a company built around one man's vision to more of a team approach, Apple will have to start doing things differently. And beyond any leadership challenges, the company is also operating in a highly competitive and quickly evolving sector where a number of companies are grappling to take the lead on smartphones, tablets, digital music and cloud storage initiatives. "At this point, Apple has a firm, loyal customer base," says Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Andrea Matwyshyn. "What happens in two to three years may be different story."

Indeed, the future is not just about what Cook and his team can accomplish. "I suspect the CEO who will have the difficult job at Apple is Tim Cook's successor," Werbach notes.

Teaching Companies to 'Think Different'
To capture Jobs's keen eye for the intersection of art, technology and product design, Apple in recent years began a top-secret internal training program called Apple University. The aim was to establish a system that could pick up the slack when Jobs was no longer with the company. In 2008, Apple hired Joel Podolny, former dean at the Yale School of Management, to design Apple University. Podolny specialized in organizational behavior as well as management. The Los Angeles Times reported that Jobs was actively involved with developing Apple University and imparting his DNA into the program.

The effort highlights how important it is to maintain Jobs's ethos at Apple. But Wharton management professor Jennifer Mueller questions whether a training system can truly capture what made Jobs unique. To Mueller, Jobs's biggest feat was coming up with creative ideas and, more importantly, convincing partners, employees and consumers to buy in. "Apple University is a great idea, but in addition to thinking like Jobs, there's the separate skill in gaining acceptance for creative ideas," says Mueller. "Jobs's skill was to promote himself as charismatic and not crazy."

Wharton management professor Saikat Chaudhuri agrees that it is difficult to capture Jobs's knowledge and intangibles and embed them into Apple's business processes. "The question is whether Jobs's approach was actually captured in a process," says Chaudhuri. "Jobs had a vision and was able to charismatically convey to people what was needed."

For Hsu, Apple University's challenge will be to replicate Jobs's ability to innovate. Case studies only go so far, Hsu notes. "Apple University is an attempt to codify how management worked through challenges. It's quite different for a corporation to try to do that. Ultimately, the question is: Where does the creative spark come from at Apple?"

From Vertical to Horizontal
Under Jobs, Apple was often secretive about its products and processes, and most information flowed directly through the CEO. Now that the focus has turned more to a group of top leadership, "there will have to be the ability for new ideas to flow horizontally," says Matwyshyn. "A hierarchical organization worked under Jobs, but won't with a team approach."

Matwyshyn notes that Microsoft's leadership handoff from Bill Gates to Steve Ballmer suffered from a change in the way communication was handled at the company. Gates "was hands on with engineering and served as an information clearinghouse," says Matwyshyn. It was he who often connected different product teams and put leaders of certain areas in touch with each other.

But this type of approach is not always the healthiest for companies over the long term, according to Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader. "Apple was so fortunate that it was able to have all their eggs in one basket [with Jobs] and survive," says Fader. "No company wants a situation like that. It's important to let others get the limelight. Cook will yield the spotlight because it's the right thing to do as a leader." Cook seems to understand this: In addition to the way the entire team was showcased during the iPhone 4S announcement, Apple's announcement that it received one million preorders in a day for the 4S included a quote from Schiller rather than the CEO.

In many respects, Apple was able to "take a remarkable set of idiosyncrasies, technology and Jobs's personality" and use them to succeed, Fader adds. "This formula works at this point in history, but it's not clear whether it will work 10 years from now."

Mueller's research illustrates the challenges Apple may face as it transitions from moving product decisions primarily through Jobs to a team of executives and managers. In a study that looked at 212 knowledge workers in 25 teams ranging from three to 19 members in size, she found that larger groups at the top often "experience more coordination loss or difficulty and inefficiency." "It is so hard to get ideas through the pipeline at large companies," Mueller says. "Creativity is viewed as risky and the corporate culture is designed to squash creative ideas. Will the average person rising through the ranks be rewarded for being creative?"

Regression to the Mean
But Fader predicts that Apple's biggest challenge will be a regression to the mean, the statistical axiom that says high-flyers and breakneck growth rates eventually slow to the industry average. "There's one direction things can go at Apple, and that's down."

According to Fader, some kinks are starting to show in Apple's armor. Although the iPhone 4S scored record-breaking preorders, reaction to the device itself was mixed, with many left disappointed that the company did not introduce a 4G-enabled iPhone 5. Meanwhile, music streaming services such as Spotify could overtake iTunes; Android-powered mobile devices continue to gain ground on the iPhone, and new entrants to the tablet market, such as Amazon, could provide significant competition in that area. "Nothing I've said so far indicates that Apple is stumbling, but there are limits to boundless growth," Fader says. "There are so many things going on in the market that are independent of who is running Apple."

Google and Amazon are fierce rivals to Apple, and it is unclear whether the company Jobs left behind can maintain profit margins in the years ahead. In addition, Jobs landed sweetheart deals from wireless carriers such as AT&T and Sprint and also schmoozed media executives to procure rights to music, TV shows and movies for Apple's various platforms. The new executive team may face more challenges dictating favorable terms for Apple. "Steve Jobs was a persuasive personality, and his larger-than-life image was instrumental in getting partners to agree to new business models," notes Ulrich. "My main concern would be whether the current leadership can close similar deals going forward."

Wharton management professor Lawrence Hrebiniak says the biggest wild card facing Apple is how quickly a regression to the mean might occur. "It's hard to stay on top in a competitive environment. Ford, IBM and Microsoft all had good teams and fell from the top. A competitive environment levels the playing field." But Werbach notes that slowed growth for Apple doesn't necessarily lead to shaky ground financially. "Look at Microsoft: In many ways, it has floundered for a decade since Bill Gates stepped down, but it's still making money hand over fist."

Market shifts aside, Ulrich suggests that it would be a mistake for Apple to attempt to maintain the company as it was under Jobs. "It would be foolish to bring in Tim Cook in a black mock turtleneck sitting on a stool to introduce Apple's next big thing. That approach worked only for Steve Jobs. However, alternative approaches that rely less on a single personality and that focus more on the product and its benefits may be equally effective."

If Apple has institutionalized the Jobs approach with processes, technology and people, the company should continue to thrive, according to Hrebiniak. "Was it Jobs, or was he creating a culture where brilliance is transferable? That's the big question. Are the culture, structure, incentives and processes there so that the company can continue?"

Boss, can I be your ‘yes-man’?

Nearly every work of fiction involving a workplace depicts a boss with his or her favourite ‘yes-man', the one who seconds the boss' opinion with unquestioning faith. But does this stereotype hold true?

While no one can dispute the existence of "yes-men", industry experts are unanimous in their opinion that these individuals have no place in a professional organisation. "It is not true that every boss needs a yes-man in his/her life. The boss should be able to inspire enough confidence among team-members for them to be able to speak their mind, even if their thoughts are not in line with what the boss is saying. Further, they should be given the opportunity to reason with the boss and share their point of view," says Sudhanshu Pandit, director HR Symantec. Jay Singh, co-founder and executive director, JSM Corporations Pvt Ltd agrees, "In yesteryear's, the idea of having a yes-man used to work, whereas today, almost all employees have the ability to voice their own opinions."

The primary concern seems to be that the presence of a yes-man might inhibit other employees from expressing opposing viewpoints. However, what when an employee's thoughts are genuinely in consonance with his or her superior's way of working? Could an employee with a cooperative and an agreeable attitude be mistaken for a yes-man? "Yes, I do agree that such an employee can at times be mistaken for a yes-man by the other team members in the organisation. This is basically human nature to view things from one's own perspective and draw personal conclusions," opines Narinder Anand, MD, Valueline.

While constructive conflict can be highly productive, every team needs members who can calm the situation and see everyone's viewpoint. "Any employee who has an attitude, which is both cooperative and agreeable, cannot be mistaken for a yes-man. Employees are free to be cooperative and present their opinions on a particular subject. It's not necessary if they will agree to each and every thing as they are working towards the best interest of their company. I personally admire people who have a different outlook and think differently with valid reasons justifying their thinking," says Singh.

Debasis Chatterji, CEO, Netxcell Limited presents a different perspective altogether. Chatterji believes that every boss has his/her "right hand", who is often dismissed as a yes-man by one's co-workers. He elaborates, "With growing work pressure and cut-throat competition, it is becoming continuously difficult for the boss to look into minute details of each function. Therefore, he/she has no other choice but to depend on a few members to avoid going through each process or document in detail, thus getting more time and resources to concentrate on the core activities. On the whole, every leader worth its salt has a core few persons with absolute faith to make their work-life more effective. However, for other team members, such people who have the boss' confidence are perceived as yes-men."

Sometimes bosses don't realise that they have a yes-man under them and simply revel in the confidence that this employee seems to consistently place on them. "A boss who is very pleased with his/her yes-man will create an environment that does not breed competition/change. Team members shall grow to realise that they need to ‘fall in line' with the boss so as to earn recognition," affirms TN Shekar, CEO, LIVIA Legal.

In a nutshell, irksome but constructive criticism is any day more beneficial than meaningless agreement, right?
 

The power of creative thinking

How many of us quit our high-paying jobs for an opportunity that is more exciting, more creative and stimulating?

A common complaint that many individuals hold against corporate workplaces is that they are ‘routine' and ‘mundane'. How many of us quit our high-paying jobs for an opportunity that is more exciting, more creative and stimulating? For those of you who can't take that bold step towards quitting, the good news is that creative thinking and corporate workspaces are not mutually exclusive at all. In fact, if you are creative, chances are that not only will you be satisfied with your work, but also enjoy a competitive edge.

"Over a period of time, all tasks tend to get monotonous for individuals. An effective way to break the monotony and increase productivity is to encourage creative thinking at the workplace. This always engages the individuals and develops the ability to think beyond the defined boundaries of the process," says Vipul Singh, VP and HR head, ADP India. To foster an environment that encourages independent thinking and innovation, some companies are now launching a platform called iBank – an idea bank, where each associate can share their thoughts about any aspect of the organisation. These ideas are then implemented and the best ones are rewarded.

Being creative does not necessarily involve going out of your way to do things differently. Even the simplest daily tasks can be made creative, as it is more of a mindset shift and the way you approach things uniquely. Ultimately, it leads to both personal and professional growth for an individual. Ramesh Loganathan, VP, products and center head, Progress Software Hyderabad says, "The more creative an individual is, the more valuable he/she is. This will result in career development and growth. Creative talent enables an individual to work smartly therefore, resulting in the best possible outcome."

While many believe that creative talent is inborn, there are several ways of nurturing and developing it amongst oneself. The reason why some people are more creative than the others is that they make an effort to consciously polish this art. Environmental factors also play a critical role in this. "At a basic level, creativity is a fundamental ability one is born with. Experience and training, however, can hone the skill. Also, the right environment and an inspiring management can induce and amplify creative inputs," feels Loganathan.

"It is the outlook and approach encouraged within organisations and social circles that determine the ability of individuals to be creative. Creativity does not always mean going beyond the expectation and radically changing the situation; it is the ability to look at the situation as a whole, use your instincts to act upon the situation and work out solutions. A right mix of analytical thinking, structured approach and looking beyond just the problem at hand can make people think creatively," agrees Singh. "An individual who has the ability to envisage the complete situation, but does not have an analytical and logical approach to the problem, will not be able to succeed in converting the vision into a reality. Individuals who can have the right mix of both worlds will be the ones to have the maximum stretch with this kind of approach," he adds.

What are some of the ways to encourage creativity? "To nurture creative talent, two aspects are very important. You need to have the ability and independence to look beyond just the problem at hand. Every individuals creative outlook should have a positive impact on the desired results. The best way to cultivate creativity is to imagine a world with endless possibilities and not boundaries. In today's world, creative talent is not a rare find. Creativity is created within organisations with the right vision and environments that encourage individuality and abstract thinking," says Singh.

So, if you think you are lacking in terms of the creative quotient, there is no reason to worry. With an open mind and a firm belief, the power of creative thinking will not remain far from your reach.

Work-life balance - only for women?

Every employee, be it a male or a female, deserves to have sufficient time to spend with his/her family and participate in extra-curricular activities that help him/her de-stress.
The moment we hear the term ‘work-life balance,' instantly the image of a hard-working woman juggling her office along with her household flashes through our mind.

Though this scene indeed deserves a lot of thought and action, is this the only picture that needs to be taken care of? Women have stepped onto this see-saw quite recently as compared to men. Since generations, we have been seeing men toiling their day off at work, coming late at night and having little to no life outside the imprisoning walls of their respective offices. Then why do we unwittingly end up being chauvinistic about the issue?

It is indeed time that we give up the orthodox notions of work being the only priority of men and reward them with a little space to breathe. Every employee, be it a male or a female, deserves to have sufficient time to spend with his/her family and participate in extra-curricular activities that help him/her de-stress.

Rosita Rabindra, Executive Vice-President and Head HR, NIIT Technologies elaborates how the company ensures the comfort of all of their employees, "We have standard policies for work-life balance and have few additional ones for women like Little NIITian Care Leave to help new mothers slowly transition back to work. We also offer paternity leave in our efforts to ensure that all our policies are aligned to the needs of both sexes."

Furthermore, it is highly essential that facilities be provided on an everyday basis to help employees relax and take a break from their hectic schedule. Manoj Matai, Vice President – Solution & Transition at Jindal Intellicom tells us the recipe to create such an atmosphere, "BPO is a high stress environment, more so the international services side due to the time difference. To reduce stress levels, we have the following unique initiatives:

• Smaller cabs to reduce travel time.
• Gym in the office with high end equipment and full time coach.
• Wellness programs including eye check-up, yoga camps etc.
• Team outings for adventure sports etc. rather than "drink-dance-dine" parties.
• Tasty & nutritious food, cooked in our own cafeteria, under our supervision with the key ingredients supplied by us, rather than food cooked in distant "centralised" kitchens.
• Ergonomic seating, comfortable headsets and noise reduction systems.
• Powerful air-conditioning – cooling and heating.
• I-Care – independent grievance & counselling desk.
• Last but not the least – frequent creative, cultural and sports events, participated at individual and team levels."

There are many companies today which encourage working from home by evaluating the performance of an employee by the results rather than the time spent inside the office. Rahul Kulkarni, Head - HR, Kale Consultants, explains, "We believe that it is not about the ‘x' number of hours you spend inside the office but the work you deliver at the end of the day. We give our employees the freedom to work out of any premises and deliver the performance that is expected out of them. We believe in giving them the option of choosing how and where they want to work rather than creating a structure about it. The performance evaluation programme that we have is such that their working from home doesn't hinder their performance criteria." If such opportunities are provided by a greater number of companies in the market, it would certainly be much easier for employees to handle their work, family and hobbies simultaneously.

It is time for ‘work-life balance' to rise out of its conceptual stage and become a reality in all industries, both for male as well as female employees on a uniform level. But such a phenomenon is only possible if every company rises to the occasion of understanding the needs of all its workers and coining effective and efficient policies for their immediate benefit. This will lead to more satisfied employees and in turn better productivity.

Does your boss invade your private social space?

Are you considering "unfriending" your boss on a certain social networking site? How comfortable are you allowing your boss into your private space? This Boss' Day (October 16th), we probe experts.

Is a bosses pry, an employee's cry? With socialising becoming the need of the hour; it isn't new for corporate chiefs to take down the proverbial ‘glass door', thereby making themselves available and approachable to their workforce. While this enhances employer-employee ties, does it authorise our employers to stick their oar in their employees' personal matters? One instance of employer intrusion happens when employees today find themselves dealing with their boss' calls even after they're off the clock. "One of the key elements in project and team management is communication, briefings and debriefing meetings.

To allow employees to be effective and get a full-working day effort, the briefings and debrief meetings with the team should be done amongst the first few things of the day, with the latter part being kept for one's own tasks," voices Brian Almeida, MD, Direxions Global Solutions Pvt Ltd. While, Zuber Baig, COO, Chrisp Solutions is of the opinion that, since employers today are open to us indulging in our personal tasks (answering personal calls, engaging in chats, etc) during work hours, we should respect their authority if they call us post our office hours. "A boss will never call unnecessarily or for no legitimate reason. As he/she allows people to be social during working hours, likewise, it is the responsibility of employees also, to answer their boss' calls, even if it is post their work hours," he adds.

Our generation is under a ‘social media spell'. Virtual networking has deluged our channels of communication, thereby making us more accessible than ever before. The hitch lies in the fact that employers today, by the usage of telephonic messengers and social networking, have more access to their employees' personal information than they would bargain for. "Senior professionals in the industry believe that co-worker friendships on various platforms help build job satisfaction, teamwork and productivity, as long as it is within the limits of professional boundaries. However, being overfriendly on such forums might be taken in the negative sense. While social networking sites help in connecting people and breaking the ice; however, caution should be exercised against sharing too much too soon," feels Sanjay Ghanghaw, head talent management, Watson Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd.

Certain bosses' inquisitive nature causes them to get involved in their employee matters pertaining to their marital status, family disputes, financial impediments, or physical condition. "In this question, there seems to be an implication that if a boss were involved in their employees' personal life, it will mar his/her ability for effective and unbiased decision-making," explains G. Ravindran, CEO and MD, SHRM India. Ghanghaw further adds, "Bosses must be careful while inquiring on matters concerning their employees' personal life and should know their boundaries, thereby limiting their discussions to the individual preference, choices, hobbies, etc in order to break the ice and build relationship, but discussions around employees' personal life should be avoided."

It all boils down to one question, ‘where does a boss draw the line? "Employers should appreciate the fact that their employees come to the workplace to get a job done and that is the primary objective," explains Almeida. Hence, where bosses should be cautious about overstepping certain boundaries and becoming too ‘involved', employees should be flexible enough to accommodate some time for their work-related matters even when they're off the business clock. "Life is a two-way street; if the team has the freedom to call the boss, then the boss should have the freedom to call his/her team, post working hours. A boss and employee relationship should be that of self-determination and mutual respect. Thus, when it comes to people-relationship management – nothing is too much. In tomorrow's enterprise, people want to bring more of themselves to the enterprise. The question is - can the enterprise or bosses channelise and leverage that desire," concludes Ravindran.

Are you an obstinate workaholic?

If your work defines all your priorities, actions and thoughts, you belong to a growing breed of employees, commonly referred to as "workaholics". Read on to know more of this bunch of office species.

Modern-day offices are increasingly witnessing employees turning obsessive about their work. With huge workloads already granting little leisure time, these individuals manage to cram their hectic schedules further with even more office tasks. This is becoming a very apprehensive issue as workaholism is damaging both personal and professional lives of employees. It deprives them of mental and physical rest and in the long run, may even lead to depression.

Jayan Narayanan, associate VP and head, corporate marketing and communications, CSS Corp, tells us the various symptoms of workaholism and their general causes, "There is a thin line between working hard and workaholism. The typical symptoms of a workaholic would be a person working really late hours (whether required or not), proactively carrying work home on weekends and when on vacation, finding reasons to take on more work, micro-managing and getting upset when he/she does not see a similar attitude amongst team members and peers. There are many more symptoms to this, but clinically nothing has been proven yet. As HR managers, we believe that workaholics are usually the ones who are trying to divert their attention from some personal situations that they choose not to confront."

Workaholism often leads to an unhealthy home atmosphere as well. This is highly undesirable. Shitanshu Jhunjhunwalla, director, Turtle Limited, elaborates, "Taking work home is not advisable as personal life is as important as one's career and work. Strained relations at home often lead to depression and dissatisfaction in the employee. Giving space and time to one's family and going on vacations are extremely important for keeping the mind fresh and having better concentration at the workplace. Workaholism often creates a chain reaction and disturbance caused by the same in personal life often leads to an employee spending even more hours at the workplace. Since workaholism generally begins to affect the productivity level of the employee, it may have an adverse effect on one's career prospects."

Many argue that workaholism is a direct result of job insecurity and the limited number of opportunities available in the market today. Namit Bajoria, director, Kutchina, counters, "To a certain extent, owing to fierce competition in the workspace and global price rise, the youth today tend to suffer from insecurity of losing their work positions due to failure. But generally, workaholism is a result of the over-ambitious nature of today's restless youth, who are often hell-bent towards achieving professional success in a short span of time. Initially, a hardworking person may win the recognition of his/her office management, but a workaholic is not well-accepted in the office; as, in a modern-day work set-up, a performing individual minus discipline and integrity is a strict no. Work opportunities are still there, but one needs to be consistent and patient in order to usher in a career of substance."

Hence, workaholism can prove fatal for the employee's career growth as well as personal life. It is essential that such a person receive the required counselling, guidance and support from his/her workplace and family so as to get out of this obsession. For a healthy career, work-life balance is of utmost importance.