Employees Prefer Higher Take Home Salary Than Any Other Benefits: Survey Timesjobs

According to TimesJobs.com’s latest Compensation and Benefit survey, rising inflation and increasing cost of living has led employees to re-evaluate their priorities on how they are compensated for their work. Our survey indicates that most employees, across generations, prefer a higher ‘in-hand’ pay out compared to other components of the salary.

‘In-hand’ salary matters more to the junior level employees than the mid or senior level. Kishore Sambasivam, director-total rewards, SAP, attributes this trend to the fact that employees at junior levels are typically single and seek ownership. They do not want money locked up in a PF or superannuation benefit. Employees at this level want to plan their investment strategies which may have a higher risk and return profile.

Factor-in their goals

“Effective management starts by understanding who you are managing. This boils down to knowing the expectation the workers have from the organisation. As indicated by our survey, the future of compensation will be a customised compensation and benefit package to suit the needs of the employee.” explains Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com

 According to the survey, almost 90 per cent employees prefer a customised compensation package. Their priority of what is more important to them depends on the stage of their career and their age.

While salary remains core to all age groups, the Baby Boomer Generation prefer post retirement benefits (24%) such as PF and Gratutity, there is a marked distintion for other perks in the Generation X segment with 29% wanting club memberships, car, and company housing. The Youngest Gen Y Generation is eager to have it all with an equal balance of about 20% for each benefit – be it Medical, Post Retirement or other perks. But by and large salary remains the core consideration for all levels coming in lowest at a considerable 41% for Gen Y and a High of 57% for the boomer generation.

According to Sambasivam, employees prefer flexibility in their compensation structure. This is dependent on the changing demographic profile, priorities, preferences, risk orientation, individuality and ‘live-in-the-present’ mindset. Traditionally, companies focused on long-term orientation such as Provident Fund (PF), superannuation, company provided accommodation, Leave Travel Allowance (LTA), loans etc. Now, employees prefer more cash-in hand as it gives them the flexibility to spend as per their aspirations and lifestyle.

“Companies need to be cognizant of the same and modify their compensation structure and philosophies in line with the changing expectations of the workforce”, added Sambasivam.

Summing up, Raghavendra K, vice president and head human resource development, Infosys BPO, said that a healthy compensation and benefit structure should have a balance between financial and nonfinancial components and should be aligned with the strategic priorities of the organisation.

Mphasis & Basware Delivers Business As-A-Service

Mphasis, a global IT services leader, today announced a partnership with Basware Corporation to provide F&A Business Process Services spanning purchase-to-pay and e-invoicing. Mphasis will embed Basware’s platform and its Commerce Network within its own portfolio and provide transaction based e-procurement and invoice automation services to its clients around the world. Basware is the global leader in providing solutions for better buying, better selling and connected commerce. Mphasis is a leading IT solutions provider, offering Applications, Business Process and Infrastructure Services globally through a combination of technology knowhow, domain and process expertise.

Through the partnership, Mphasis will offer a true and comprehensive “Business Process –as-a-Service,” which organizations can adopt irrespective of the financial systems they are on. This integrated “platform plus services” has the potential to offer significant value through the summation across process optimization, platform consolidation, workforce optimization and business insights to its clients. Mphasis’ trained professionals will deliver the services out of its centers in the U.S., Canada, Poland and India, thereby providing clients the options needed to balance regulatory requirements and cost of operations.

The service features an easy-to-use plug-and-play model with transaction-based pricing, to maximize efficiencies in the F&A function in organizations.

“Mphasis is leading the pack in using end-to-end process automation to provide world-class F&A outsourcing services.  We are excited that Mphasis has chosen our Alusta Purchase-to-Pay automation solutions as the foundation for the Business Process as a Service offering.  In addition to optimizing working capital through automation, Mphasis’s customers will benefit from our analytics, social collaboration, and mobile solutions to identify improvement opportunities, resolve issues quickly, and allow end-users the freedom to connect from anywhere. Basware’s open commerce network with 1 million buyers and sellers will support Mphasis customers’ flawless exchange of purchase and invoice messages, said Ari Salonen, General Manager for Basware’s Global BPO services. 

“Our partnership with Basware enables Mphasis to rapidly introduce true BPaaS services in the field of Procure-to-Pay and invoice automation to the market,” said Anurag Bhatia, SVP & Head of BPO, Mphasis. “This is an ideal solution for business leaders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their finance operations. The solution delivers a platform-through-services that drives significant business improvement – while being extremely easy to adopt with near minimal upfront investments.”

From Present to Omnipresent, The Legend Lives On…

Tribute To Late Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair By Mithu Basu

Indian hospitality feels orphaned with your passing away, Honorable Chairman. You have impacted too many lives in overwhelming ways. Twelve years ago, same month was when I first met you. I remember the interview. Three hours at The Great Wall, an elaborate Chinese meal and you relating your life journey through fascinating stories.  Enraptured, I realized, besides a few sounds of exclamations I hadn’t uttered a word and the job was mine! You later once said “I saw in you what you didn’t see in yourself”.  That was one of your sharp acumen and today so many stalwarts of the hospitality industry owe their discovery to you.

Not a man guided by the letters, you could instinctively smell a good idea and back it. Or vice versa deem a person stupid to have thought of an idea that didn’t meet your mind. Bouquets and brickbats would fly in with same speed. Those who didn’t buckle absorbed your mantra “think big, think fast and get into action”.  If ever there was a rating of corporate roller coaster life, The Leela under your stewardship would top the list. One could be hero to zero and back to hero all in a day. This mercurial challenge kept us on our toes. What always inspired me to look beyond your words was the gnawing hunger within you to demand only perfection. 

The Leela brand of hospitality can never be found in books, but books can be written about it. I remember the cine veteran Dilip Saab and Saira Banu were at our restaurant, you called to say ‘go and meet them’ I was uncomfortable, wouldn’t I be intruding on their privacy? But went all the same and we are till date friends for life and there are so many such acquaintances that bloomed because you first pushed. Your joy to meet people and give them your undivided attention is legendary. Your hospitable generosity is history. I remember a guest in our Leela Bangalore once got his breakfast of hot steaming idlis submerged in Sambar, without his asking, surprised he asked how? You had seen his name in the corporate VIP list of guests staying with us and remembered that he loved his idli’s served in this style and had left this specific instruction. Your small but stunning touches taught us that god is in the small details.

Every hotelier plans great welcomes, but you would say see your guest to the door and wave him goodbye, there is warmth in it and leaves lingering memories of a great stay. You always believed that hospitality has got to come naturally, there is no formula. If it gives you unadulterated joy, and makes you forget the ticking clock you were cut out for it. The gems of insights I received can go on to fill books. But most precious to me was when you stood on your toes while introducing me to a gathering of Management students and said don’t be fooled by her petite size, she is truly tall within. Once and for all I threw my grievance of being short and experienced seeing the world from a height. You empowered me with earned height that day.

You always endorsed ‘think on your feet’ rather than know all the rules, because no two situations are the same. That learning came alive in the middle of the Kerala backwaters, I was with a boat full of seven German journalists and the motor suddenly stopped. Panic gripped all for a flash of a second. Emulating the ostrich that digs its head into the sand to think that calamity does not exist. I got them to shut their eyes, saying I have stopped the motor to let them experience yogic silence. Chanting the Gayatri mantra I asked them to stay in meditation until I would chant a countdown and bring them back to open their eyes once again. Meditation under control I signaled the motor boy ‘we are out of oil will take me 10 more minutes to replenish.’ He soon gave me the thumps up, and I got the group back to wakefulness. They felt rejuvenated, I too felt the same but for reasons not the same. A month later our German President walked in saying Honorable Chairman we are in the leading German business paper ‘Die Welt’ for the yogic silence experienced through Leela hospitality. Your wah! when you heard my story, was a 'aha' moment I cherish until this day.

The lingering memory I want to hold is the clap of your hands and joy you expressed when I visited you recently unannounced at the hospital. Amid failing memory you remembered my Santiniketan stint and surprised all. You held my hand and said come home, I will be going home soon. You have comeback home today but forgive me, I could not bring myself to go home and see you 'still'

As I write, you are being consumed by the last rites. The flames believe that now you are with them, but the truth is the trees, gardens, the hearts of the people whose lives you have touched, family, friends, The Leela hotels every nook and corner hold you, your persona, your values and all that you taught by walking the talk.

Footprints get washed by the sand, memories may blur but legends move on from being present to omnipresent and live on forever. Honorable Chairman, sleep well.

YouthSpark Live To Mentor First Time Entrepreneurs

Microsoft India organized the first annual YouthSpark Live event in Bengaluru. Hosted in partnership with QUEST Alliance, YouthSpark Live is a two-day program to mentor first time entrepreneurs and job seekers. This year’s event helped young people explore careers in technology, hone their skills for 21st century jobs, and armed them with tools to kickstart their own entrepreneurial ventures. Close to 100 youth from 10 Indian states attended the event where they underwent two days of intensive training. Another 100 participated via webcast across 13 locations.

Keynoting  at the event here today,  Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International said, “Youth in India can drive positive economic and social impact, but there is a need to empower them with the relevant employability and entrepreneurial skills. At Microsoft, we have many initiatives to help young people succeed. Over the course of the last decade or so, Microsoft India has invested more than $100 million (Rs 650 crores) in various initiatives to help young Indians realize their full potential. Microsoft is committed to taking Indian youth from the classroom to the boardroom.”

Talking about the global YouthSpark program to create opportunities for 300 million youth over three years, he further added: “Through more than 30 programs, and partnerships with 186 youth-serving non-profits, in its first year alone Microsoft YouthSpark has created new opportunities for more than 103 million young people in over 100 countries around the world.”

At the event today, Courtois congratulated the three winners from the YouthSpark Live Challenge and presented them an award of services worth Rs 1.5 lakh each as seed funding to get their business started. The three winners are Chandrashekhar Bhuyan from TERcoms whose project is focused on informing rural poor about their rights and entitlements, with the aim  of empowering them through regular interface with the Government to push for corrective measures; Gaurav Mittal of Eye-D, short for EYE-Device, a microcontroller and phone combination to help the visually challenged with tasks like guidance, bus routing, face identification and colour identification; and Rahul Jacob, for RideIT.in, an online carpool matching service exclusively for working professionals.

YouthSpark Live is one of the many Microsoft youth focused programs. Over the last decade and more, Microsoft has been committed to making Indian youth more employable by arming them with skills that are in demand today. Starting in 2003 with Project Shiksha, Microsoft has been consistently adding to its bouquet of programs aimed at providing relevant skill development, employability and entrepreneurship skills for youth in India.

Manisha Girotra To Head Moelis & Company India

Mindtree, a global technology services company, appointed Manisha Girotra, the India CEO of a leading global independent investment bank, to its board of directors effective May 20, 2014. The board also elected Rostow Ravanan as an Executive Director in addition to his role as the CFO.

“As we move into the next phase of Mindtree’s growth, Manisha’s vast global experience will be a great asset in guiding our strategy and providing us with enlightened oversight. She is a nationally respected business leader known for her ability to drive change,” said Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, Mindtree.

“It is a great privilege to join the Mindtree board. I look forward to helping its outstanding management team in the making of a memorable company,” said Manisha Girotra.

Manisha Girotra is the Chief Executive Officer of Moelis & Company in India. She ran the India operations for UBS and Barclays de Zoete Wedd's investment bank. Manisha is a specialist in investment banking, mergers & acquisitions and wealth management. She has been nominated in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business Club in 2011 and was honoured as a Young Global Leader 2010 by the World Economic Forum.

Rostow Ravanan, Chief Finance Officer, co-founded Mindtree in 1999. He was part of a team that has led Mindtree from an idea to IPO.  He is responsible for defining and implementing processes for good governance that has taken Mindtree to the list of Top 25 best-governed companies in India. CFO Magazine voted him in the list of Top 100 CFOs in India for four years.

  

i4C Announces Idea Challenge For Disruptive Ideas

i4C (Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovations Centre) is a non-profit organization, established to support high potential innovations and make them market ready. i4C is based on a unique Public-Private-People-Media Partnership Model and is a joint effort of multiple individuals, institutes and companies who share a common goal of promoting the culture of innovation in India. The primary objective of i4C is to scout, showcase and mentor technology innovators and help them take to market innovations that have the potential to positively impact the quality of life of our citizens. 

As part of these efforts, i4C announced the i4C Idea Challenge-2014, a pan-India Idea and Innovation competition with the objective to identify disruptive ideas for solving problems relevant to a large cross-section of our population. The i4C Idea Challenge-2014 is open for all and ideas can be submitted online at www.i4C.co.in.  The last date for submission of Ideas is October 31, 2014.

Anand Deshpande, Founding Director of i4C and Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems on the occasion of the launch said, “I am excited about the formation of i4C.  We have a large number of innovators in our country who have ideas that are simply outstanding.  It is our responsibility to build an eco-system to help these innovators take their ideas through various stages of development and to ensure that they can be mass-produced for the citizens of our country. I am delighted that i4C has made helping inventors its mission.” 

Second Founding Director, Arun Jamkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS said, “Through ‘i4C Idea challenge’, an attempt is being made to systematically harness the creativity and energy of our youth; the ‘real demographic dividend’ for solving problems of our nation”. He further added, “All the submitted ideas will be thoroughly screened through a multi-stage review mechanism and the truly innovative ideas will be felicitated, showcased and promoted aggressively. Possibility of funding the selected ideas would also be explored through the i4C network.”

Some prominent members supporting i4C include Dr. Arun Jamkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS, Nashik; Dr. Anand Deshpande, Chairman, CEO & MD, Persistent Systems; Mrs. Pratima Kirloskar, President, Innovations Society, Kirloskar Brothers; Mr. Ravi Pandit, Chairman & CEO, KPIT; Mr. Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte; Mr. Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman & CEO, Zensar; Mr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj Industries; Mr. Vivek Sawant, Managing Director, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL); Dr. Anil Sahasrabuddhe, Director, COEP; Mr. Sunil Karad, Executive Director, MIT;  Mrs. Swati Mujumdar, Director of Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning and Principal Director of Symbiosis Open Education Society, Symbiosis; Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, Director, Cummins India Ltd; Mr. Ajay Phatak, Vice President & Pune Center Head, Symphony Teleca; Mr. Abhay Gadgil, Partner, PN Gadgil and Sons; and Mr. Prataprao Pawar, Chairman, Sakal Media Group.

Mission of i4C:

* Productizing 100 innovations for positively impacting lives of 1.2 billion Indians in next 3 years.

*  Jump start an ‘Innovation Movement’ for transforming India.

* Celebrating the ability of Indians to innovate under constraints.

* Establishing the best and biggest platform in India for innovators to showcase their innovations to various funding agencies, industrial houses and masses.

* Encouraging Indian society to think ‘out of the box’ through ‘i4C Grand Challenge’ and ‘i4C Idea Challenge’.

* Harnessing the power of science, technology, and creativity to develop affordable and quality products.

Indian PE Investments at US$2.38b Across 99 Deals

Investments in the first quarter of CY 2014 have started on a positive note. PE firms have invested US$2.38 billion across 99 deals, a growth of 14 percent in value and 15 percent in volume over the preceding quarter. In Q4 of CY13, investments were worth US$2.08 billion from 86 deals. The findings are part of the PwC MoneyTree India report, a quarterly study of private equity investment activity based on data provided by Venture Intelligence.

Even when compared against the same period last year, i.e., Q1 ’13, the value of deals has doubled despite a 7 percent decrease in the volume. In Q1 ’13, the value of investments was $1.17 billionat  from 107 deals.

With 43 deals worth $908 million in Q1 of CY14, the information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector is yet again the leader in terms of value and volume. However, the sector has shown a 7 percent drop in deal value despite two additional deals in this quarter as compared to Q4 ’13. Within the IT and ITeS sector, the online services sub-segment received the highest level of investment worth $405 million from 19 deals. The ITeS-BPO services recorded a spurt in investments this quarter with one major deal, thereby ranking second in terms of value among the sub-segments. Investments stood at $265 million from a couple of deals in this reporting quarter.

Sandeep Ladda, leader, Technology, PwC India said, “We have seen yet another quarter of PE investments dominated by the IT and ITeS sector. It has been an interesting quarter, where most of the leading e-commerce companies have received investments for expansion. The infusion of funds in the online services segment will continue for the next couple of years for the following reasons:  (i) Most companies are in the growth stage and are scaling up (ii) Newer product lines such as baby products, food, niche apparel segments and pet products are now available online (iii) Global companies in the same line of business are investing in Indian companies indicating a probable acquisition in the medium to long-term. With growing competition in the online space, inorganic growth is likely to be the way forward for some of the global e-commerce players who are keen to establish their footprint in India.”

According to Sanjeev Krishan, leader, Private Equity, PwC, “The January to March 2014 quarter was a positive one with general buoyancy in the investment outlook. With the formation of a new government around the corner, future flows (for the rest of this year and the next few years) will hinge upon the stability of the new government and its stand on various policies and regulatory matters. The general perception is that the new government will undoubtedly adopt a friendly investment regime to provide a fillip to the overall economic growth of the country.”

The energy sector has shown a surge in investments with an increase of almost eight times in value, from $52 million in Q4 ’13 to $414 million in this quarter with an additional deal. Even when compared to Q1 ’13, the value of investments has more than doubled with two additional deals. 

The engineering and construction sector too has shown an investment spurt this quarter and ranks third in terms of value. The sector witnessed investments worth $348 million from four deals; a seven-fold increase in value as against the preceding quarter with three additional deals in this quarter.

Key sectors such as healthcare and life sciences and BFSI have shown a significant drop in the value of investments in this quarter as against the previous quarter. 

The healthcare and life sciences sector had the highest drop in value of investments; from $746 million in the previous quarter to $91 million in Q1 ’14. Volume too fell by about 44 percent, from 16 deals in Q4 ’13 to nine deals in this quarter. Even as compared to Q4 ’12, the sector witnessed a drop of 40 percent in both the value and volume of deals.

The BFSI sector showed a drop of 25 percent in value; from $84 million to $63 million despite two additional deals in this quarter.

In Q1 ’14, PE investments in the growth stage recorded the highest value, seeing $846 million from 30 deals, which is double the growth in value and a 30 percent increase in the volume of deals. In Q4 ’13, investments stood at $420 million from 23 deals. Buyout deals, with an investment of $660 million from five deals, ranked second in terms of value. The value of investments has gone up by 21 percent with three additional deals in this quarter as compared to Q4 ’13.

In terms of region, Mumbai emerged as the top region with a nearly three-fold growth in the value of deals despite a drop of 7 percent in volume. Investments in this region stood at $942 million from 26 deals as against $365 million from 28 deals. The investment value is about 40 percent of the total PE investments in this quarter. With 26 deals, Mumbai leads in terms of volume too. The National Capital Region (NCR) has slipped to second position, registering funding of $531 million. Bangalore, in this quarter, sees an increase of 74 and 53 percent in value and volume, respectively, with an investment of $463 million from 23 deals.

Private equity exits

The exit activity in the first quarter of 2014 has nosedived in terms of value and volume as compared to the prior quarter. In Q4 ’13, PE exits were worth $1.45 billion from 24 deals as compared to $277 million from 15 deals in this quarter. Even when compared to the same period last year, the story is similar.. The exits have shown a decline of 76 and 60 percent in value and volume, respectively. In Q1 ’13, there were 37 exits worth $1.13 billion.

The majority of the exits in this quarter came from the IT and ITeS and the agri-business sectors which together contributed over 55 percent of the total exit value and 40 percent of the total volume.

The preferred mode of exit in the first quarter of 2014 has been through public market sale (eight exits) and strategic sale (five exits). In terms of value, exits through strategic sale rank first in this quarter with exits worth $154 million from five deals. Public market sale ranks second in terms of value, with exits worth $110 million from eight deals.