Archive for the ‘Yard Landscaping’ Category

Gcc Spend On Garden And Landscaping To Reach Dhs60.5Bn In Five Years

The exhibition will be held from May 25 to 27 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

‘The market for outdoor lifestyle goods is growing due to two key factors, the boom in property, leisure and municipal developments, both require considerable amounts of interior and exterior landscaping.’ said Eckhard Pruy, CEO of Epoc Messe Frankfurt. ‘Dubai authorities forecast that spend on landscaping projects this year would be worth Dhs165m ($45m). Construction of parks and new golf courses in the region for the next five years will fuel spending on gardens and landscaping, estimated at Dhs60.5bn ($16.5bn)

‘The second factor is the fact that home buyers themselves are keen about improving their surroundings with a view to increase the property’s value, Yard Landscaping and to differentiate their property from their neighbors,’ Mr. Pruy said.

Population growth combined with changes in property laws in some areas, allow foreigners to own property; good weather and high disposable incomes are also spurring the demand for outdoor living and garden products such as barbecues, garden furniture, garden tools, and swimming pools, by over 12.5 % per annum.

‘The UAE population is expected to grow at 3.3% per annum to reach around 4.15 million in 2010 and expatriates account for more than 75% of UAE population. Asians account for 80% of expatriate population and a big number are investing in property in the UAE,’ said Gavin A. Morlini, Senior Show Manager of Garden and Landscaping Middle East. ‘The UAE’s population is young - with more than 40% under 25. Latest census shows that 82% of Dubai’s population comprised of expatriates, who could be attracted to invest with the new liberalized rules on property. Dubai’s population was 862,000 in 1999, which constitutes 27.7% of UAE’s population

The country’s growing population and fast paced construction activity in Abu Dhabi and Dubai leading to infrastructure and real estate development in the GCC countries, has highlighted the importance of an exhibition such as, Garden and Landscaping Middle East, as a relevant forum for developers.

A massive beautification drive will see the stretch of land from Dubai World Trade Centre behind the skyscrapers of Shaikh Zayed Road turned into a massive garden with the Business Bay lagoon flowing into the area, after a massive demolition and reconstruction of old villas in Satwa. Many such upcoming projects would add a total of 113 hectares of greenery to the urban landscape.

‘A big factor in the success of last year’s exhibition was the support enjoyed by the Garden and Landscaping Middle East from local government authorities and departments such as Road Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Municipality, and UAE Society of Engineers’, said Mr. Morlini.

RTA has announced their support to the exhibition in 2008 as well. The recently launched landscaping department of the RTA, which has allotted Dhs170m to implement landscape projects in Dubai roads, will be taking this opportunity to exhibit their plans for making Dubai a ‘greener’ place to live in.

Internationally, the show is supported by GardenEx UK Yard Landscaping, the Garden & Leisure Federation which helps create export trade opportunities, and the Taiwan Importers and Exporters Association.

Garden and Landscaping Middle East has been growing 60 per cent year on year, and 80 per cent of those who exhibited in 2007 have booked their participation for this year’s edition of the trade show as well.

Mr. Morlini added, ‘The exhibitors are presented with an opportunity to capitalize on this rapidly increasing industry and raise their company profile in the Middle East. 89% of the exhibitors last year stated that Garden and Landscaping Middle East is crucial to their marketing activity in the region. From the 6000 unique visitors that attended the exhibition in 2007, 95% were directly involved in the onsite purchasing decision.’ This year 150 exhibitors are participating from 23 countries.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Realty co Eldeco eyes 250 mn PE investment

BANGALORE: Delhi-based tier II realty

player Eldeco Group is in discussions with AIG and Merrill Lynch for raising

$200-250 million from a clutch of private equity (PE) investors. As part of the

plan, Eldeco has already raised some funds from Xander PE.

Sources

said group company Eldeco Infrastructure %26amp; Properties (EIPL) was in the

market for raising funds at the entity and special purpose vehicle (SPV) level

for upcoming projects in Ludhiana and Jalandhar, in Punjab, and in two cities in

Maharashtra.

The company is also looking at raising funds through

four SPVs and may be at the holding entity level as well. “We look at

raising funds from time to time, but there is no need for us to comment on

it,” said Eldeco CFO NK Ahuja. The company denied it was holding talks

with the PE firms, and that it has raised funds from Xander.

The

move comes after the group’s earlier plans to merge the listed entity

Eldeco Housing %26amp; Industries (EHIL) with EIPL and raise funds from the

capital market was abandoned, sources said. Lucknow-based EHIL is a smaller

group company compared to the privately-held EIPL, which has notched up 80%

annualised growth since being incorporated in 2000.

EIPL claims that

it has developments worth over Rs 3,500 crore across segments. The development

comes even as some analysts predicted that PE cash flow into the realty sector

in some key markets could be tightening on account of oversupply concerns as

well as a slowdown in offtake.

This includes markets like NCR,

Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad where there is a growing concern, especially on

the commercial space offtake, industry observers said. However, there’s a

contrary view that more PE funds are being committed to Asian markets, with the

outlay for the first time bigger than what is in the pipeline for Europe in

2008.

This could see fund action remaining robust in markets like

India. Further, developers, which are seeking funds for developments in smaller

cities, could be relatively better placed as tier II markets are expected to

open up in a significant way for the realty boom.

Tags: ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Sensex may hit 29000 by June 2009

Like

Mumbaikars caught unawares by the recent spell of cold wave, investors have been

struggling to adapt to the recurring bouts of volatility on the bourses over the

last one month. But the weathermen of Dalal Street are expecting sunny skies by

the end of this calendar year. Five of the six participants at the ET Round

Table see the bellwether BSE Sensex between 20-22,000 then.

The panelists included Narayan

Ramachandran, MD %26amp; Country Head, Morgan Stanley; Pankaj Vaish, MD %26amp; Head

equities and fixed income, Lehman Brothers; Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, MD %26amp;

CEO, Tata Asset Management; Gaurang Shah, MD, Kotak Life; Rashesh Shah, CEO,

Edelweiss Capital; and Motilal Oswal, Chairman, Motilal Oswal Securities. The

session was moderated by Ramesh Damani, director, Ramesh S Damani Finance.

Also

Read

à

It’s a

learning curve, we’re getting there…

à

Einstein too

has a place here

Only

one participant, Ved Prakash Chaturvedi felt that the market was likely to be

around 18,000 levels on December 31, 2008. “But that does not mean that

mutual fund investors will not make money,” he

added.

Mr Ramachandran expects

a modest performance by the Sensex in the current calendar, but expects the

benchmark to touch 29,000 by June next year. Slowing corporate earnings is one

factor that most market watchers feel could hold back the market. However, the

ET panelists are not too worried about

it.

According to Mr

Ramachandran and Mr Vaish, interest rates are showing signs of slackening and

that could provide a support to corporate earnings over the next couple of

years. “These (recent outflow of FII money) are not big things…they are

just minor….India has attracted a lot of money and most of it came because of

the fact that India is an attractive destination for money,” said Mr

Ramachandran. “The real thing that will decide is where fundamentals are

going. I feel that they (fundamentals) are solid,” he

added.

Mr Shah felt that issue

was not about whether earnings will grow 18% or 12%, but about the rate at

which the Indian GDP would grow. ”If you expect corporate earnings growth

of 11-12%, it means we are looking at a GDP growth of 4.5 to 5 to 6%. But if you

expect GDP growth rate to be around 8%, give or take 200 basis points, then a

17-18% corporate earnings growth is not difficult. And I haven’t seen

anybody—Indian or global—question India’s 8% GDP growth

rate,” Mr Shah

said.

While foreign funds have

pulling out over the last few months, domestic liquidity has been a strong

pillar of support and this trend is expected to continue, feels Mr Chaturvedi.

“The kind of money we have seen that has flown in from the domestic

investors in the last one year is certainly heartening,” said Mr

Chaturvedi. “My guess is that if you combine insurance and mutual funds

and other (domestic) sources of inflows into the market, close to $2 billion of

fresh money is coming into the market every month,” he

added.

Mr Gaurang Shah sees

more investors tapping the stock market through Unit Linked Insurance Plans

(ULIPs), mainly because of the handsome returns these products have delivered in

the last four years of the Bull

Run.

He excepts inflows of

roughly $5 billion through various insurance schemes during the current quarter,

a significant portion of which will be accounted for by ULIPs.

“I think relative

disadvantage of insurance as a instrument vis-à-vis other fixed interest

products has come down, which is also because real interest rates have reduced

across the world over the last 10 years. So I see money continuing to come

in,” he said.

Tags: , , ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Four Indians among top 10 richest in the world

NEW

DELHI: Four Indians have made it to the global richie-rich top 10 club, the most

from any country. Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani and DLF’s KP Singh have

joined ArcelorMittal’s LN Mittal in this exclusive club, according to

Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires.

The list is based on closing

stock prices of February 11 and factors in the market crash in January this year

which shaved off billions from the net worth of India’s wealthiest. It

obviously does not factor the market meltdown in March. If the slump in major

emerging markets, including India, were to continue through the year, one might

see many tycoons slipping in their

rankings.

Bill Gates’

reign at the top in the annual listings came to an end this year, as he slipped

to the third position with a net worth of $58 billion. The No 1 slot was taken

by Gates’ friend and the world’s most famous investor Warren Buffet,

whose net worth touched a whopping $62 billion.

Mexican telecom billionaire

Carlos Slim, whose wealth had eclipsed that of Mr Gates earlier this year,

finished second in the annual listing with a net worth of $60

billion.

The Indians are not

far behind. LN Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani occupy the fourth, fifth,

and sixth positions with KP Singh taking the eighth slot. Mr Singh recorded one

of the biggest jump in rankings from 62 to number 8 this year. His net worth

tripled to $30 billion this

year.

Anil Ambani registered

the biggest increase in net worth during the year. He was marginally ahead of

his elder brother Mukesh Ambani, having added $23.8 billion to his kitty

compared with $22.9 billion by the chairman of Reliance Industries over the past

one year.

These top

four-richest Indians lost $20 billion between November 2 and February 11. As per

the Forbes 40 richest Indians list which came out in November last year, the

combined net worth of the top four was pegged at $180 billion against $160

billion as of February 11,

2008.

In all, there are 53

Indians in the latest annual ranking of Forbes, 50% more than the previous

year’s 36.

Significantly, the

combined net worth of Indians is now the third-largest, only behind that of

richest citizens of the US and

Russia.

In some cases, the

wealth estimates are based on holdings in companies which are not listed. This,

some market observers point out, is problematic. Forbes arrives at its numbers

for unlisted companies by benchmarking them with listed peers. Such an estimate

may peg the value of such companies at a unrealistically low level, which would

hurt the interests of the current shareholders.

The other possibility is that

it could exaggerate the valuation of the unlisted company. This might hurt

potential investors. The only true measure of wealth is obviously the valuation

that emerges in the market. Market capitalisation in any case is only an

expression of wealth which has already been created, analysts

say.

In this year’s list,

the number of Indian billionaires is marginally lower than the Germans who

number 59. But the combined net worth of Indians — at $334.6 billion

— is $50 billion more than that of the Germans. The combined net worth of

Indian billionaires rocketed by $143.6 billion, or 75%, from last year’s

$191 billion.

Globally, the

net worth of billionaires was up by a third to hit $4.4 trillion. This implies a

handful of Indians contributed nearly 15% of total increase in wealth of global

billionaires over the past one year.

Indian billionaires represent

4.7% of the total number of billionaires around the world, according to the

Forbes data.

The Indian entrants to

the billionaires list this year include: Gautam Adani, Anand Jain, Chandru

Raheja, Rakesh Wadhawan, Micky Jagtiani, Niranjan Hiranandani, Rajan Raheja,

Reji Abraham, GVK Reddy, Gracias Saldanha, Gautam Thapar, Girish Tanti, Nimesh

Kampani, Jitendra Tanti, Sameer Gehlaut, Vinod Tanti, Habil Khorakiwala, Anu

Aga, Jignesh Shah and Rakesh

Jhunjhunwala.

The names who do

not figure in this year’s billionaires list include Keshub Mahindra,

Pradeep Jain and Pallonji Mistry, who has taken an Irish

citizenship.

Indians remained

by far the richest of the Asian lot. While the number of Indian billionaires had

overtaken that of Japan last year itself, India only increased its lead over

Japan.

China took the second

spot in Asia with 42 billionaires compared with 24 from Japan, which remained at

the same level as last year. China added 22 new billionaires to its list of 20

last year to overtake Japan as the Asian nation with second-most number of

billionaires. Among the BRIC countries, the number of billionaires from Brazil

dropped from 20 to 18 this year. Russia, China and India added 34, 22 and 17 new

billionaires to their tally,

respectively.

Together, the

three emerging economies out of the BRIC pack constituted 40% of the increase in

the number of billionaires which totalled 179 over last year. Almost one-third

of the total increase in net worth of global billionaires has come from India

and Russia put

together.

Incidentally, the

average net worth of Indian billionaires was also among the highest. At $6.3

billion, it is more than that of US ($3.4 billion), Russia ($5.4 billion), China

($1.9 billion) as also the global average ($3.9 billion).

Tags: , ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Indra Nooyi among US top 10 female CEOs


NEW YORK: Beverage giant

PepsiCo’s NRI chief Indra Nooyi, who is not averse to a US government position,

has been named among America’s top 10 female CEOs in terms of the shareholder

returns from their companies.

Chennai-born Nooyi, who became

the CEO of PepsiCo on October 1, 2006, has been placed at the 10th position in a

Forbes list compiled on the basis of their company’s total return to investors

since each of them took the top job.

The list has been published on

the online edition of the US business magazine.

Even since Nooyi took over the

top job, the beverages major has given a total return of 9.4 per cent on an

annual basis and has an annual revenue of USD 39.47 billion.

On a cumulative basis, the

return has been 13.1 per cent, as against an S%26amp;P 500 annualised return of

2.6 per cent.

Also

Read

à

PepsiCo chief

Nooyi wants a role in US government

à

LN Mittal,

Ratan Tata, Narayana Murthy get Padma Vibhushan

à

Smart gadgets

influence top executives

à

Recession

fear dips confidence of CEOs

à

Infosys fines

its CEO for violating insider trading rules

“After PepsiCo, I do

want to go to Washington,” another business magazine Fortune quoted Nooyi as

saying in a report published in its latest issue, when asked whether she had

ever more than just thought about a role in the government.

“I want to give back - to work

for no money for four or five years,” said Nooyi, who has already been hailed as

the world’s most powerful businesswoman.

However, Nooyi, the PepsiCo

Chairperson and CEO, said that any such move could take time. “Not now, she says

firmly, but after the next presidential term sounds like a possibility. For now,

her job is to run PepsiCo,” the Fortune report noted.

Tags: ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Indians rate better on entrepreneurial skills than Chinese

HYDERABAD:

Indian leaders are more entrepreneurial than their Chinese counterparts thanks

in large measure to their strong language skills and association with a society

that encourages entrepreneurship. This is one of the many reasons that Indians

move up and occupy top positions in transnationals across the world.

However, Indians are less

social, more task-oriented and more hierarchical compared to the best leaders in

North America, according to a survey by Korn/Ferry International, an executive

search firm. But Chinese executives (read: corporate leaders) are not very

entrepreneurial and very hierarchical. They do not adapt easily to other

cultures and are wary of taking risks.

“This is because in most

cases, the Chinese approach tends to be more top-down while Indian CEOs are

generally more adaptable. So, it’s easier for them to succeed in foreign

land. For instance, some 30% of the business leaders in Singapore are from

India,’’ said the report. David Everhart, senior client partner and

MD (leadership development solutions Asia), Korn/Ferry International says that

the effective leadership style differs from country to country.

“What we need today is

leaders who can switch to these attitudes depending on business and cultural

demands. Indian executives were less concerned about appearing more open to

suggestions or building a consensus. This is effective in the Indian business

context and could be one of the reasons for even MNCs to adopt a different style

of leadership in India,’’ he told ET.

Also

Read

à

Demand for global managers set to surge

à

Indians largest expat community in UAE: Study

à

IIM-Ahmedabad lateral job offers touch new high

à

Indian salaries rose 15.1% in 2007: Survey

à

Dare to dream, reach for the skies

à

Career endeavours: Mentors for a cause

à

Recipe for success

Moreover,

as Indian firms become more global, leaders need to change their style as they

could be managing a multi-cultural workforce. This rapid pace of globalisation

followed by business growth has led to a talent crunch, especially at the top

level. Talent shortage is no longer just an HR issue: it is a strategic concern

for most organisations. However, increased remuneration is not the right

strategy to retain top executives as CEO salaries have already skyrocketed.

“To overcome this

problem, firms in India must start nurturing future leaders. Companies need to

try out new strategies like business ownership, growth opportunities and giving

a stake in the business to control attrition at the top level. It is not

sustainable to hike salaries because there is a limit to what a top executive

can achieve in terms of his business target,’’ said Mr Everhart.

According to him, Indian

companies will continue to face attrition-related challenges. “To

safeguard their growth objectives, companies should hire extra people so that

they can keep about 10% to 20% of them as buffer if there is a

crisis,’’ he said. In fact, some of the leading companies worldwide

pay their executives either at the market rate or less than that. To some

extent, executives will stay back due to the power of these

‘brands.’ Besides, they also offer interesting job challenges and

growth opportunities to top executives leading to higher job satisfaction, he

pointed out.

Korn/Ferry had

interacted with about 100 CEOs across Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and most

of them shared the same perspective. Indians are less social but more

task-oriented and hierarchical compared to the top leaders in North America. But

Chinese leaders are not very entrepreneurial and very hierarchical. They do not

adapt easily to other cultures and are wary of taking risks.

As Indian firms become more

global, leaders need to change their style since they will be managing a more

multi-cultural workforce. The rapid pace of globalisation followed by business

growth has led to a talent-pool crunch across industry segments.

Tags: , , , ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Reason to start drinking

WASHINGTON:

People who do not drink alcohol may finally have a reason to start — a

study published recently shows non-drinkers who begin taking the occasional

tipple live longer and are less likely to develop heart

disease.

People who started

drinking in middle age were 38% less likely to have a heart attack or other

serious heart event than abstainers — even if they were overweight, had

diabetes , high blood pressure or other heart risks, Dr Dana King of the Medical

University of South Carolina in Charleston and colleagues

found.

Many studies have shown

that light to moderate drinkers are healthier than teetotalers , but every time,

the researchers have cautioned that there is no reason for the abstinent to

start drinking.Now there may be, said King. “This study certainly shifts

the balance a little bit,” King

said.

King’s team studied

the medical records of 7,697 people between 45 and 64 who began as non-drinkers

as part of a larger study. Over 10 years, 6% of these volunteers began drinking,

King’s team reported in the American Journal of

Medicine.

King said he does not

know why some of the volunteers started drinking . “This was a natural

experiment,” he said.

“Over the next four

years, we tracked the new drinkers and when we compared them to the persistent

non-drinkers, there was a 38% drop in new cardiovascular disease,” he

added.

The findings held even

when the researchers factored in heart disease risks such as smoking, high blood

pressure, obesity, race, education levels, exercise and cholesterol.

Several of the volunteers had

more than one risk factor and still benefited from adding alcohol, King said.

Fewer than 1% of people in the study drank more than is recommended, King said.

Recommended amounts equal a

drink or two a day by most guidelines. “Half of them were wine drinkers

only. There was a much bigger benefit for wine-only drinkers,” he added.

Now King’s team has

started a new study in which his team will randomly assign non-drinkers to start

either having a glass of wine a day, a glass of grape juice, or grape juice

spiked with antioxidants, compounds believed to help fight heart disease. But

the findings do not mean people should drink freely, King said.

Another study published this

week supports that advice. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health

found that how much and how often people drink affects their risk of death from

several causes.

Tags:
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Women gearing up to train as bodyguards now

MUMBAI: One of the last glass

ceilings for women is about to shatter. Smart yet tough Indian women are all set

to become bodyguards for jet-setters and corporate honchos.

A

Mumbai-based private detective and security consultant, Raj Talele, is the

latest to fulfil the increasing demand for women bodyguards. He has announced

specially designed workshops for women, training them physically and mentally to

work as bodyguards.

“In Mumbai, there is a growing demand for

bodyguards for VIPs and celebrities in different fields. However, in the absence

of trained womanpower, all vacancies are filled up by men,” Talele told

media.

He has hired professionals to teach women martial arts like

karate and judo, yoga and swimming in the workshop that starts March

15.

Though Talele’s workshop has attracted nearly 60 women

applicants, he will select 25 females with the best all-round potential for the

first batch. The participants should be between 17 and 30 years of age, he

said.

The intensive physical and mental training sessions will be

held at Worli, south central Mumbai, for two hours daily for a period of two

months.

“Along with martial arts, the girls will also be taught on

how to improve their communication skills and their self-confidence,” Talele

said.

In many cases, men guard women celebrities too, even though the

latter are often uncomfortable with the arrangement, but there is little choice.

Talele hopes to fill this void with his workshop.

Mumbai’s Joint

Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad said, “The Mumbai police force

does not have any female bodyguards. Actually, even the number of women police

constables is very low.”

The official said that when a woman VIP

visits the city, a regular woman constable is provided to the dignitary. “These

lady constables are well-trained in the use of small weapons like pistols but

are not trained to carry out the functions of a bodyguard,” Prasad

said.

Though the training will be given free of cost, some amount of

money will be reduced from their first salary, Talele explained.

“I

have linked up with some companies that are on the look-out for women

bodyguards. After the training, the girls will be given placements in those

firms,” he said.

Since the response has been overwhelming, Talele

plans to start the second batch from April 1.

The city does have a

few security agencies that employ women guards. One of them is the Tops Group

security agency, which has nearly 200 women guards for various public events and

private clients.

“We are the pioneer in training women as bodyguards.

They are trained in martial arts and crisis management for three weeks before

they are deployed in the field,” said Deepak Monga, senior corporate manager of

the firm.

They are deployed at functions or events attended by women

celebrities and even child artistes who specifically ask for female security

personnel as they feel more at ease with them, Monga added.

Property

Guards, another security agency, also employs women to guard city malls and

family members of celebrity clients. Its chairman, Vikash Verma, said the firm

has nearly 100 women security guards who have undergone three months’ training.

Tags: , ,
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Emails ‘are the office timewaster’

LONDON: E-mails have joined the

cigarette and the humble coffee runs as the latest threat to workplace

productivity.

Researchers have carried out a study and found that

e-mails have gone from being a useful office tool to a curse that actually takes

up huge amounts of work time, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported on Monday.

According to the researchers, the average employee now spends an

estimated 90 minutes to two hours a day wading through hundreds of messages,

much of which is basically spam and junk mail.

The study by the

Radicati Group has found that worldwide email traffic has hit 196 billion

messages a day. It is predicted to reach 374 billion per day by 2011.

“Employees’re now so deluged with messages that emails have become a

broken business tool in urgent need of fixing. There’s been no innovation to

separate the junk letters from the real ones,” Jason Preston of the Parnassus

Group, a social media consultancy, was quoted as saying.

A related

study by another research firm Telewest Business recently found that emails and

telephone habits could reduce productivity rather than increase it and “men are

the biggest timewasters at work”.

According to the research, the

misuse of telephones and emails at work was hindering office workers from doing

their jobs, increasing bad habits at work and lengthening the working day.

Out Of 1,468 people questioned, the average time spent each day

waiting for or chasing responses to urgent emails and on unnecessary emails was

42 minutes.

An average of 27 minutes was wasted responding to

voicemails or managing phone calls and 12 minutes was lost trying to locate

colleagues, the study found.

No tag for this post.

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

‘We have no hiring problems’


Lisa Brummel, Senior Vice President, Human Resources

In 2005, when

Lisa

Brummel

, senior vice president, got the

top HR job at Microsoft things weren’t too great. The business was

sizzling a little less even as Google stole away the buzz, employee discontent

was high and their morale low. In the last three years, Brummel has shaken up

Microsoft’s HR playbook, junked its one-size-fits-all people approach,

fostered collaborative work environment and opened up to internal criticism and

feedback by starting her own blog. Most impressive was her ability to persuade

CEO Steve Ballmer to revisit Microsoft’s forced ranking system that pitted

co-workers against each other. Brummel, on a trip to Delhi recently, spoke about

her HR stint. Excerpts

:

How

has been your stint so far?

Staff morale is up. In 2005,

morale was good but not as strong as it was in the past. But there has been a

change now.

How has the rethink on

forced ranking worked?

Forced ranking has been very popular in

the hi-tech industry. But today there is a lot of collaborative work and joint

effort. And there is a perception that team efforts can’t be considered in

this well.

We are working in many ways to facilitate collaboration.

We have also revised a forced distribution system. Last August, we introduced a

peer feedback system where people working on the same projects, may not be from

the same unit, can give feedback on each other which then gets factored in

performance review.

How has been

your experience on blogging?

When I took over in 2005 my

communication was face to face through town hall meetings. But I realised I

wanted to get feedback from across the world but I cannot be in so many places.

Blog was a good option. In 2006 I made my first post. First year, we did it once

a week. But now I do it once a month and have opened it up to other top leaders

as well.

How have blogs helped you?

Any learning on what not to do on blogs?

It’s a good way

to tell employees that their voice and needs will be heard. Often employees get

so focused on where they are and their issues that a blogpost is a good way to

get diverse reactions in a global company and get them sensitised to others

needs. In fact, as I look back, it has turned out less as a way to get feedback

and more to allow employees to hear each other’s voices.

When

I started I wanted to keep my posts ad hoc and flexible but employees wanted

some certainty and regularity. I also realised that often when you are writing

you have certain things and contexts in your mind.

But when you write

you do not know how it will be interpreted. So I pay special attention to

choosing my words and making statements. I try and provide enough background. I

am not a writer and it is a painful exercise for me. I spend at least an hour

writing and another 3-4 hours reading responses and replying to it. Recently I

asked them “what’s your dream job” and the response was

fascinating to know. The diversity of response reflected the stage and age at

which people were in their careers.

Tags:
0

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yard Landscaping No Comments

Previous Entries

website counter