2010
Liberating People Capabilities: Lessons from India
Next week I’ll be taking my first trip to India, on a whistle-stop, five-city seminar tour. In preparing for the trip, I had the good fortune to interview the SVP of HR, Mr. Mahalingam (“Mali” for short), at Symphony Services (a large India-based technology company). I wanted to understand how his views of the “people side” of the business compared with that of HR folks here in the United States.
Mali said a few things during the course of the interview that really stuck with me, including:
- HR is not a strategic player. HR IS the strategy.
- We are very focused on “liberating people capabilities.”
- We are investing extraordinary sums in employee training.
- We are acquiring technology companies in the U.S. and Europe.
Hmmm… I don’t think I’ve ever heard an HR VP in the U.S. say either #1 or #2. That, in combination with #3, probably goes a long way to explaining #4.
Unless you live your life under a rock, it’s not news that India is a rising super power. But when you sit and think about the implications of what Mali is saying, you have to conclude that India’s capabilities may develop even faster than most of us had imagined.
Stay tuned. More observations from India to come…
Tagged India, Symphony Services
KC BradleyMarch 10, 2010 at 11:59 am
Laurie – enjoy your trip…I cant wait to hear about it. Sounds like you will have some interesting insights we can apply.
KC