Point to Ponder

The subject today tries to address one of the sensitive area of an employee growth. Career growth regardless of the nature of organization you work for is the prime objective of every employee.

It is true that working for an organization with lesser head count makes your work more visible to everyone (peers, juniors, seniors) and one has deliver in the best possible manner. The same is also true for organizations such as MNCs or any other global Org.

Many a line managers in order to increase the visibility of their team mates, engage them in multiple assignments or go for the traditional job rotation philosophy. However they tend to forget the aspirations of the employee. Yes increased visibility across different organization divisions increases the chances of employee growth. But there is a high probability that the employee looses the career direction he / she has set for themselves.

Professionals in their mid-careers need to analyze this aspect very carefully. This strictly does not mean that you decline the tasks being assigned to you, however a review your career path is always helpful in such situations.

Appreciate if Telco / non-telco gurus can provide further input / comments on this subject.

Recently one of my linkedin contact [wont dare to put his name here ] posted a question in Q&A section and i quote:

“How do we integrate Six Sigma tools and methods into the work we do daily to serve our customers?”

Further elaborating his question he goes -

” – Question arises as to how do we successfully integrate 6-Sigma into our management systems and as a foundation for an organizational improvement process that is an integral part of how we do business? Can anyone please share his/her personal and professional experiences and challenges that any organization comes across in terms of a paradigm shift and change management, while implementing business/quality initiatives like 6-Sigma. And how to ensure that it doesn’t die down with the passage of time …”

There have been quite a few replies from different domain experts. I too responded to it (paste later below). However the point i want to stress here is the fact that nearly all the replies and the question itself indicates a very important aspect; that Process improvement, Quality management implementation and Process efficiency tools and methodologies like 6-sigma, CAPA etc require continuous focus from senior management. Indeed it is a big paradigm shift.

Indeed I still remember the time when our organization was introducing the Telecom QMS standard via roadshows across the country, we too were posed with questions that at times disappointed the Project team. Esp the ones like “Is it something like SOA?”, “No” was my response. “Oh.. then this might fizzle out like the other standards we worked on” This time round only a was the response.

There is a single slider (6-Sigma-PM-QMS) that we worked upon while we tried to blend the process improvement (6-sigma), Project Management Methodology and QMS implementation.

This might be able to provide some insight to the quality professionals as to how the three areas can best utilized to achieve organizational goals.

The very first thought that might come to the readers mind (part of my professional network :p ) would probably be..”Ahh what a crap.. He is trying to project his own role in”. No dears that, is not the case (am not working in QA anymore).

Coming back to the post subject, in my humble opinion the value of quality professionals (quality as in the process development / improvement and not the network performance guys tweaking element level parameters) in service industry is always down-played. Unless and until the organization has a greater objective to serve its purpose, the professionals are not much in demand. Talking strictly of the local market, QA / QC always takes the backseat.

The quantity over quality stigma remains there. QA /QC and audits go hand in hand. One cannot expect a line function to do its task and do the quality function at the same time. The results are ought to be biased however honest or loyal an employee. This is basic human nature.

The value of such a function remains always there. Discussing the subject of how the division had rightly qualified for a QMS standard, One of the top exec of the organization goes “Ok, but does it save me any money”.  You are bound to be awestruck by such statements. Initiatives like these are driven from the top management and once they are not into the groove, all effort and time seems to be go down the drain.

The bottom is Quality standards do not provide you financial efficiency. There are other ways of handling it and beyond the scope of a QMS office.

Quality is a very relative term. For a customer sitting in the remote areas of Pakistan, it could mean a steady signal and crystal clear voice while talking to the loved ones; it could be steady internet browsing and emailing experience, for an executive in an urban city.

..To be contd…

There has been much talk (read hype) on whether to go for 3G deployment or not; Go for 4G deployment instead or move over to the more data intensive Wimax technologies.

Yes this a big question for the operators of developing countries, especially with the likes of Pakistan; where the market penetration now stands around 90m + users, it still remains a difficult one to answer.  I believe the market is still hungry for data / internet and internet based applications. A recent study by Alca-Lu indicates that people are least willing to cut down their expenses on Broadband internet usage.

Quote :

“But in fact, broadband Internet services in particular are considered almost recession proof, with 84% of current broadband Internet subscribers saying it is the last item they want to eliminate when reducing their spending”

UnQuote

Although having said this, if the next gen mobile telephony is to jump into the market, there is one aspect that the telco marketeers need to consider. Keeping aside the corporate market, how do you sell the technology to the end users of lets say Northern areas of Balakot, users of interior Sindh etc. Many will disagree with me on the notion of selling it to such areas and will only target the major cities.

However the counter agrument is “How to do you achieve your ROI?”; selling it only to the corp world or major cities

The reason for building up the entire conversation is for the matter that you cannot sell technologies to the end user. You need to convert the technology into end user need. This is no more a time when the end user wanted to get seemless call connectivtity at countless destinations.

I believe the end user has come out of this stage. They are more desirous of services based on such technologies. Infact they are least bothered what is the base technology that a particular service is using. How many of us evn think of a paying the home delivery agent via Credit Card lets say 4-5 years back?

We need to package the upcoming technologies into services. Dont call them “Get a 3-G connection for x-amount”.. Title it something differnet like “See Youtube video without buffering.. “.. ” Use voip appl with jitters on… ” These are just some of least possible tag lines you can think so.

Think of services you can offer and the world is there at the user doorstep.

We all know the industry is going through a recession phase.  What are the organizations doing to counter this effect, apart from re-sizing / downsizing?

One of the obvious ones being cost cutting. Reduce the amount of overheads that the org has to bear, reduce perks of top management (this will definitely raise alot of eyebrows), reduce travel, reduce advertising spends (Millions of Rs per month) and possibly put a halt to the career path.

Most readers here will agree that the perks and emoluments of employees are related to the cadre they belong to.  So put a stop to their growth is one way of saving the future cost incurred. This might seem to be a far-fetched relation between career growth and the current recession, but I see a definite link to it.

As an organization, one of the ways to handle this situation is job rotation. You move the employee in different roles. Delegate the resource to another part of the organization and see how he / she performs there.

There are also notions that “Not everyone gets a vertical move”, “Vertical moves are only created by chance” etc. This on one end supports the argument of career growth within same organization but at the same time dispels the argument of vertical moves.

I believe there has to be a limit to this rotation. The management needs to take care of some valid concerns such as:

• What effects does it have on the profile of the person?
• Does the new role assigned to employee, complements or clashes with the existing profile?

(The post today somehow relates to my last post on same subject)

I wonder how the subject would be treated by professionals coming to Zumbeel considering the current market situation. Whether its telecom or otherwise, nearly all the industries linked to global markets have been affected by the recent financial crunch.

Yes we have heard news and rumors at the same time, of professionals loosing their livelihood. But one way or another we as individuals do give a thought to it maybe a couple of times these days.

“What will happen in the next couple of months?”

“Will my organization consider me valuable enough to retain my services?”

“What options do I have in case my organization thinks otherwise?”

I believe at this point in time, the best way is to discuss out the situation with your line managers. Senior leaders or people from management can should explain the situation in clear simple words in town-hall meetings or other informal arrangements.

This will atleast give the best possible picture to everyone concerned and let them decide on their own the best way forward.

********* The intent of the post is to share management actions in times of crunch with no intention of creating a furor amongst the industry professionals **************

Seeing a blog post with a such a subject might scare away people like me from even clicking on it. But to think of such an activity being carried out in an organization is painful job indeed. The parties on either side of the table have a notion to justify and support. Nonetheless it is the employer who has the final say whatever be the argument or counter argument.

Considering the global financial crunch, down sizing, lay-offs, cost cutting are some of the jargon we tend to listen around us. With clouds of down-sizing looming above in local market here is what Kawasaki thinks about it:

Kawasaki (Venture capitalist and democratizer of information How to Change the World) has the following viewpoint on laying off people. Some aspects are interesting others not so amusing.

a) Take Responsibility — CEO has the final say in such matters, so needless to blame it on the board of directors, market conditions and competition. CEO being the leader shall accept the responsibility with courage.

I tend to differ slightly here. If the market conditions are stable then why go for a down sizing activity. The org can live with a non-increase in head count if the market / competition allows it. Again what ever the decision the CEO as a leader has to take the lead and put it as softly as possible.

b) Cut Deep and cut once

If it is inevitable then Yes, one big blow to do away with the excess chunk. Multiple cuts tend to effect the employee morale more with reducing motivation levels.

c) Move Fast

When ever the decision is made act on it quickly and swiftly rather than making it a gossip point.

d) Share the pain– When people around you are losing their jobs, you can share the pain, too. Cut your pay. In fact, the higher the employee, the bigger the percentage of pay reduction. Take a smaller office. Turn in the company car.

Probably this one relates more to the top management rather than the co-worker. Share the pain just as you share comforts in good times.

e) Dont ask for pity — The person who suffers is the one being terminated, not the manager.

No comments

f) Provide Support

Yes the post lay off support, like counseling, resume writing and job search help.

Time: 0200 hrs, Location: Somewhere in the Capital City

While some part of the city is long asleep, ((Beep)) ((Beep)) - The cellphone of an operations manager beeps. Within 5 minutes it beeps again. The manager checks the first message with blurred vision - “20 sites down- in Northern Areas, Initial reason - Power failure for 5 hours/ Genset out of fuel”

((Ring)) ((Ring))- This time its the NOC guy calling up. “Sir, another HUB site is out. The total outage site count is now 50″. The manager now wide awake listens to the engineer and confirms escalation of outage to field team. …..

The above lines are just a snapshot from the life of an operations team. They work and burn the mid-night oil like any other team providing round the clock services to the end users. It is the very nature of such jobs that make it complex, yet demanding and challenging at the same time.

I believe no other area of work within a telecom organization is more stressful than that of a Operations team responsible for 24×7 availability of the network. This is why that at the time of hiring fresh graduates at Network Operations Centers, they are clearly communicated the challenges and hectic life schedule of people working in shifts. They literally live and sleep on “Alarms“.

Yet more of a challenge is managing such a team of people- taking care of their career growth, motivation levels, workload and lots more. You loose track of one of these and the impact it has on the morale of these guys, its simply devastating for the network monitoring KPIs.

With increasing competition in the local market and falling revenues, the problems are compounded by economic downs.

For the equity holders, Networks need to be up and runnning, Costs controlled and threats to revenue growth minimized.

And in the words of the new US President Elect, these are changing times.

With the ever increasing price-wars between operators in Pakistan, mobile companies come up with new services for its end users. Usually a new service by one becomes a rat race for another. The profit or revenue margins remain positive until the followers or late entrants manage to come up with something similar and that too with a more attractive name.

Services like TeleDoctor (Telenor), CallSecure (Mobilink), CallBlock(Ufone), have set a precedent in local market.

But the key to success remains innovation. How close can you get to the customer needs and expectations? No matter how many CSIs (Customer Satisfaction Indicies) you carry out, there is always a segment in customer base that remain below the satisfaction level.

Lack of R&D centers and test beds within operators restrict potential of new services. Engineers within these telcos are mostly assisting managed services teams of vendors rather than taking up the work themselves.

It will take some serious thinking by telco top management to look into this aspect and try to seek some alignment.

One of the most challenging aspect in a work enviroment is Change Management. Whether is relates to some procedural change at grass root level or some product introduction, change is resisted.

This is better digested if it is coming top-down (from higher ups). But the air of discontentment is felt. Taking the last customer satisfaction post one step further, one way of improving it is to go for a Quality management system.

Going through one such phase in my work place, the readiness or should i say willingness to adapt to this upcoming change is on the lower side of the measurement scale. Some term it as another form of bringing in bureaucracy in work flows, others simply resisting it because it will highlight and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of their procedures.

Not owning this change is the biggest challenge. One of the ways adopted to tackle it, is to bring the change or get it enforced top-down. Then again the buy-in is not high. Another method is to have one-to-one meetings with line managers and explain them “Whats in it for me?” Try to ward off the fear of additional work and explain the positive aspects of change.

Once there is acceptability, then constant training can lead to a successul change across the board.