All my life, I've wanted a girl baby.

Last Friday, I was driving back home after visiting my friend and her baby girl. She, unlike me, wanted a boy - and I've never understood why. Baby girls are adorable! The cost of educating them and clothing them would be almost similar- with the cost of men's grooming having exponentially risen over the past few years. So why not a girl? Why a boy.

However, as I was driving down that road, and yet another guy leered at me - almost looking down at me with a contemptuous sneer on his face, even though he was the one on a motorcycle - I realized that if I had a boy, I wouldn't have to protect him from such looks.
If I had a boy, I wouldn't have to call him to check why he hadn't returned home at 8:30 pm, like I had to answer to my grandmother.

All my life I had wanted a baby girl.
Also for the most part of this life - or for a lot of it, I've wished I were a boy.

I've been a fierce feminist for a long time. I like to challenge why women can't do what men can. I argue that women are equal - if not better than men - they can create life after all.
When my dad said driving isn't safe, I learnt to anyway. I bought my own car earning every paise that went into it. I travel to many countries alone. I pay my keep and I'm self-sufficient.

However, it's the same me who hesitates to walk back alone at midnight. Or even take the public transport at times, for fear of getting groped.

Last month I was part of a gender equality discussion with experienced engineers. The men in the room - a group of at least ten of them - didn't understand why educated women staying at home needed help in getting back to the workforce. "If they don't feel the need to, why should we disturb them?"

Last week, I read an article about a mother who had to have a discussion with her eleven-year-old daughter about being catcalled and how to deal with it. She wasn't India nor was she in India.

Last week, in my own house, my father was disappointed with me and thought me ridiculous for refusing to wear a Thaali (a chain that is put on an Indian Woman, at the wedding) - and wanting to exchange rings instead. The logic that rings are more balanced because the man and woman wear it didn't appeal to him. "There are somethings expected of a girl if you want to belong to a society" was what I was told.

Yesterday, I was refused registration at a Cancer Camp - Breast and Ovarian Cancer because I was still unmarried. I tried to explain to them that my mother had cancer, and I wanted to be tested for cancer before I got married. But no. Vaginal Pap smears are not to be done on unmarried girls, that lady declared, looking at me like I was stupid. How could an Indian girl possibly mar the symbol of her virginity! Of course, that is more important than being screened for some deadly disease.

I get it now. Unfortunately, I now understand why it is more preferable to have baby boys or be boys in this world.

And I don't like it one bit.

I won't give up though.
I will keep fighting for equality.
I will keep hoping for a better world
A gender-neutral one.

The Internet, The Things and The People

The world is not what it used to be. We're more connected for starters. It's now possible to stay in touch with someone at the other end of the world in real time and at a fraction of the cost of yesteryears.

In the last 2.5 ...3 decades, the Internet has come up from an idea to a concept, and now to the established, unshakeable reality that it is today. Withdrawals and addiction to the internet have become common. That said, we the users cannot deny that it does make the world an easier place for us to live in.

A little too easy at times. We don't have to get lost, lesser things get lost in translation, the limelight covers a far wider region than it used to, we stay in touch with many more friends! (The quality of those relationships is another debate) Yes, the internet is a double-edged sword - but more and more of a necessary evil. One that is now spreading its wings wider.

I heard about the Internet of Things in a serious context less than a year ago. Conceptually, it's not very different from things AI movies have shown us. It involves getting the internet incorporated in many of the basic things we use, making them smarter. Helping them customize every experience we have.


The internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.In 2013 the Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things (IoT-GSI) defined the IoT as "the infrastructure of the information society."The IoT allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure,  creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy, and economic benefit.
-
Source Wikipedia

Imagine a world where you can check your gas or if you've turned off the iron box, or if you've locked your house from anywhere you are. A world where the chair knows who is sitting on it, and adjusts itself to fit the sitter. A car that can offer you the best possible route for your trip, possibly even drive itself. Cars that communicate with each other and the roads - the ecosystem in general - such that accidents are greatly reduced.

A world where your kitchen communicates with your grocer - automatically generating orders of necessities to be restocked.

Such a world is not very far in our future.
However, there are quite a few parts of that that bother me.

The Things that become smarter first will not be decided on the priority of our needs, but the investment capability of the conglomerates who will be researching it. Yes, they will do some customer research ... but come on, we know how that works.

The Nations that progress will be the already developed ones. And with the speed of technology development, it leaves a wider gap between the developed and the developing. Already quite noticeable.

A similar situation for the People who have access to this technology. So much more since private schools have quickly started adopting Smart Classrooms. E-Assignment submissions are the norm in most of the elite schools. Paperless offices are picking up.

That is one side of the coin, whereas the other side has kids with no access to basic school supplies and workers are drowning in paper work and doing manual labour which has been mechanized elsewhere.

The Internet Service Providers are looking for ways to put the internet in many more places - connecting everything into one, solving many problems and giving rise to new ones - The service providers look for ways to increase the reach of the internet.

India is the second most populous nation in the world. By sheer numbers, it might easily be on the top 5 list of Nations with the most number of smartphone users. But by ratio we've only covered a quarter of the nation.
There are countries which have reached the higher 80s or early 90s in coverage and have the bandwidth to cover the rest.

That means that 75% of the nation still has no access to the internet. They don't know what Google is. They don't know if it's a noun or a verb. They don't know what email is. Even if they do, they don't have a way to use it.

I recently went to a discussion that Aircel lead regarding the propagation of use of smartphones - because, let's face it, that's the easiest and cheapest way to get the internet reach the masses. The government has definitely been helping in making cheaper smartphones available for all. Service providers are doing their bit and for phone signals to reach even the hamlets. Aircel, for instance, has been providing free internet for the first six months of starting their service. Nice way to get people hooked, don't you think?

I look forward to the day that internet reaches almost everyone. Not because I'm a strong supporter, but because I do believe the Internet provides substantial power in terms of connectivity to the world, and it should be a balanced power.
(However, the affordability and the buying power does play a strong part, I know)
I also hope that this happens a little faster before too many things get woven in the web - making the catch-up run more difficult !

But let's face it, my wishes are idealistic.
There are bigger powers at play here. Much like during the times when we had monarchies and kingdoms ruling the world.

We watch, speculate, comment and wonder what next and when!

Turning Organizational Culture Around - Life at Ramco : A Case Study

Organizational Culture is something that's in the DNA of every organization. We all experience it, and read about it, and some of us study it. It's there, it's essential, and it's not a deniable variable of an organization's overall experience.

Over the last couple of decades, organizational culture has been gaining tremendous importance. The concept of "Best Places to Work For" have become a popular and established method of assessing an organization's quality and worth even. 

'How to make the workplace suitable for the Millenials' is a discussion that most HR professionals have witnessed / attended / if not directly been a part of.

And a question that many companies are having to face.

How does one keep the- easily distracted, not exactly loyal, adventurous and comfortable with quitting to find a better fit or even just to find oneself - workforce as their workforce?

The recruitment teams are stronger than ever. 

[Almost 30 years ago (Just 30 years ago) when my dad was recruited to his first company, he said there was an operations manager and one guy from HR. There was no recruitment guy, and most definitely not a recruitment team! But the law of the land / rules of the game - whatever you call it, it has all changed now.]

And yet,

Attrition is at an all-time high - some companies embrace it, some accept it, some resent it, some are trying to do something about it, and very few are actually succeeding in doing something about it.

Theoretically, it’s simple. The workforce has changed, so all one has to do is change the work culture to fit the workforce. Right? Easier said than done.

The big giants like Google and Facebook were clever and forward enough to be the change, and in a way start the trend. They let the world know that work needn’t be done from cubicles, or even from desks while wearing formals.

(Open space workplaces were first started around 1950 – when after the world wars, resources in general were scarce, and it was easy to set up tables with dividers in a large open room, rather than build separate cubicles for each employee!)

Luckily for the world, what started as a resource saving technique turned out to become an organizational culture shift strategy.

Open spaces have since become a part and parcel of the common organizational structure – the norm. The initially shocked baby boomers accepted it. They keep the Gen X happy.

Gen Y and Z came along, and open spaces were not enough anymore. They wanted perks. Extra amenities. So organizations started introducing small things like “Team Outings”, Small attached gyms, Food Courts, Sports Day and so on to keep them happy. Which worked well enough.

Then the Millennials. Like I said – companies like Google and Facebook; which are the ones that actually accelerated the rapid changes in the generation gaps, empowering smarter technology – have been able to keep up with the pace they set. Many start-ups with their small teams and big ideas manage to keep up with the pace. What about the more established traditionally run companies?

How do they adapt to the swift changes of the current world?

The Ramco Story

[ #LifeAtRamco – A Case Study of Ramco Systems ]

As someone who has been avidly following the changing trends in management (As keenly as some of this generation follow Game of Thrones!) I was very interested when I was invited for an evening at Ramco – to specifically experience “Life At Ramco”.

No further details were given. But it got my curiosity aroused.

[A brief background – Ramco Systems, a very tradititional Indian company, is one of the top players in the ERP space. ]

You see, I’ve been to Ramco for a meeting about four years back (in 2012). It was as boring as any corporate setup.

Start naked white walls. Contrasting blue felt, and the occasional green on the neat workstation layout. A plant in one corner. Some random motivational quote made into a poster. (I know many of us are either thinking: “Tell me about it!” or “Hey! Don’t make my workplace sound so dull!)

Why do I remember something so unremarkable? Because I was made to wait for an hour on a boring couch, and the girl who I met after the hour (who made no apologies for making me wait) said she’d called me back, and never did.

I went out of curiosity, and I accept, some spite. I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised!

Every organization derives its culture from a variety of aspects, including, but not limited to:

1. Top management vision
2. Top Management's management style
3. Core Values - The written and accepted ones
4. Core Values - Unwritten and understood
5. How well the management style percolates through to the lower levels
6. The work environment
7. The flexibility offered
8. The dress code 

Ramco has taken the trouble to change each and every one of those items on the list above. They’ve been able to transform from a boring old company of the last century to a happening work place of the future!

Let’s go through them in the logical order – Why, When, How, Where and finally What the change is

Why:

Any such major changes start with a vision. Here it was the vision of the new CEO. He realized that they need change from a traditional company – in their policies, work style, work space and general outlook if they wanted to gain market share and make substantial profits again.

His vision brought out the theme that employees shouldn’t wait for Fridays. They shouldn’t have to balance Work and Life on separate scales. Work Life on its own must be amazing.

Just vision is not enough for a company to get ready to invest a huge chunk of money into things like infrastructure. Though we know that the people make the company, it is not an easy decision for the company to invest so majorly on the top line.

Here is where the belief that the management team had in the vision came into play. They backed his decision, and have been fully supportive.

Many of us repeatedly asked the various employees (who had turned temporary tour guides from the evening) “have these changes actually affected your bottom line?” “Have you been able to prove substantial increase in productivity?” And their answer: A laugh and “Of course!!! When work is so much fun, productively will obviously increase!”

When:

The transformation process was started three years ago (from 2013)

It’s still an ongoing process, they tell me. Like continuous improvement. Ramco has realized that there is always something more that can be done to make employee’s work life better. So they keep at it!

How:

Ramco realized that if they’re changing, they might as well do a damn good job of it.

Changes in the company are right from the HR policies – Flexible work times, Work from anywhere, no formal dress code.

Flatter reporting structure to the extent that – an organization that not so long ago used ‘Sir’s and ‘Ma’am’s to refer to one another is now completely on a first name basis. THAT is the most radical change if you ask me. It’s easy to go from wearing formals to casuals, even for the senior members of any company. But to suddenly have junior members be allowed to call them by first name – that takes conscious acceptance of the change by each and every individual.

They have redesigned the entire work space into a colourful, fluid and fun concept.

Where:

In all their work places – in all the branches across the globe, except those situated inside government offices / or customer sites.

What:

In two words: Almost Everything!

Yes, it hasn’t been overnight. But they have managed to turn the place around – completely!

It’s a workplace that’ll keep any millennial happy and content. If it’s distractions that keeps a normal millennial away from work – it’s distractions optimized that’ll keep him in Ramco.

They’ve got Fooseball tables to keep the adrenalin pumping, Zumba to keep fit, Zen corners – for those who want to work in peace, Plush soft couches to sink into, in house masseuse, A café with pumping music, Games screened, A full restaurant scale canteen that offers a wide variety of cuisines, Healthy snack dispensing vending machines, Swings in lieu of seats,  themed sitting areas … You get the drift (I’m stopping as I’m feeling a jealousy surge all over again!)

I’d like to highlight however, that each of those aspects seem to have been well thought out and carefully picked out. None of them are things one would get bored of in a hurry! And almost everything can be replaced or upgraded as necessary. Good strategy I’d say!

I’ve got some pictures here which will tell you more than I can describe J

After seeing all that, the question screaming in my head was: “How do you get any work done here?” And I managed to ask it to a few managers as well as team members.

And the responses?

 “Sometimes, when I’m bugged, I look at my manager – and he looks at me. And we both pack our laptops and go over to the café, and continue to work there in peace. I think the corner table there is more mine than my actual seat!! Haha”

“Here at Ramco – this Ramco, not what he had 3 years ago, even staying overtime for a deliverable does not feel like work at all!”

“I’m really good at Fooseball now, as I have so much practice at it. But I’m very good at my job too!”

“Our productivity has increased so much, and we’re just getting started!”

“We all love to work here. And we want to do our best for the company that does so much for us!”

All that can be said for Ramco and Ramcans now is: