Corporate concerns....

Effecting change in every corporate function is a constant endeavor in modern times, managerially speaking.... (I'd like to say that in the manner of Jim Carrey's famous take on 'metaphorically speaking' in the blockbuster movie "The Mask"). After all, change is the only thing that is constant, we are told!

However, it hits you to see some of these true-blue managers becoming smart-alecs that try to stonewall the very change their department seeks to effect. More, perhaps, to keep secure their comfy cushy jobs, which might run a risk of getting redundant once the changes are effectively practised!

Image is something that every corporate entity - big or small - tries to carefully nourish and project as one different from the crowd. In pursuit of this, corporates try out different permutations and combinations of variable changes that appear customer/employee 'friendly'. They even have specialized functional managers/departments to deal with innovative ideas. Therefore, you have an 'employee relations' as distinct from the HR, or a 'customer service' as distinct from sales. As long as these are actually vibrant, they serve their purpose. However, there are times when one feels that one would not miss these departments even if they ceased to exist.

Employee Relations (as a fictional example - could be the story of any corporate) is a great department provided they really live up to their name. There are occasions where this department is a glamorous face to impress new inductees; a great way to create ornamental functionaries of an otherwise dispensable band of employees, but who have the clout (and cheek!) to hang around! So you have an assistant manager, a manager, and an assistant vice-president independently (wo)manning this department. While you do see the lower rung working their skins off to ensure that every employee query or concern that comes their way receives a positive response, it is usually the self-important top notch guys that are actually living off the skim of their subordinates' labor. And these top guys also get to jet around the various facilities to 'drop by' and 'see' if the employees are indeed getting all the requisite response from the ER department. But try putting forward a concern or two to these guys, and they suddenly remember that 'actually your point of contact is Ms.....' and I am so important that I can be contacted only if need be. In other words, I know nothing, and it is actually Ms..... that will go through all the grind and sweat to see that your concern is positively addressed. I am here to well..ahem..'know' if you still had any concerns in spite of Ms....!

We shall look at some more of other such departments in the future....

Build your Career in Infrastructure

India is on a roll.... so are the real estate prices!

Every sleepy suburb and village skirting India's cities and major towns, is today the hub of frenzied activity in construction. Landscape that was once just green, rugged patches of earth looking emptily at the sky above, is now giving way to ventures of all sizes and shapes. Commercial office spaces, residential apartment complexes, gated communities, cineplexes, malls, are springing to life all around. Giant ventures include software parks, SEZ's, international airports, airport upgradations, railway projects, refineries, power projects, national highways / speedways, ports, and shipyards. Visit any area after about a week or two, and you are sure to be confounded at the sudden appearance of a huge structure that you are sure was not there the last time you drove by.

The opportunities being many and in huge numbers in terms of floor space and project value, anyone and everyone has jumped into the bandwagon to take their own slice/s of this mega-offering. The boom being exponential over the past decade, aided by a very co-operative bureaucracy, there is an unlimited scope for careers within this industry. The one-man-show realtor now has competition from multinational conglomerates that are moving in fast into India. Architects and interior designers have more work than they can catch up with. Engineers are in equal demand as are marketing experts. With office spaces and housing headed towards the designer niche, the infrastructure industry is looking for players with a high degree of dedication towards customer delight. After all, it is not everyday that one finds a customer looking for their second or third 'dream' home or office! The customer has to make a calculated choice from the market, trying to find the optimum mix of price, quality, and budget. And if this purchase is being supported by a bank loan, there would be some more thinking to do.

Great careers await those that would like to move in and grab their share of space in the infrastructure industry. Partnerships between the private and the public sectors, formation of consortiums, and conglomerates diversifying into this industry, have multiplied the available career options. Apart from direct employment with the infrastructure industry, there is also a sharp rise in human resource requirements with secondary industries such as cement manufacturers, earth moving equiment manufacturers and contractors, water resource management specialists, and so on.

Listed below are just some of the roles that one can hope to fill in this industry, and pursue a concrete career... One of these good openings might well be yours......

• Technical: Project Manager, Manager Planning - Site, Planning Engineer, Manager Contruction, Engineer Construction, Engineer QS, Engineer QS (Client Billing), Engineer QS (PRW), Manager QA/QC, Senior Engineer QA/QC, Manager Plant, Site Plant Engineer, Regional Safety Coordinator, Safety Engineer, and so on.
• Stores / Materials Management: Materials Manager, Officer Materials, Stores Manager, Store Keeper, and so on.
• Business development: Manager Business Development, Executive Business Development, and so on.
• Finance / HR / Administration / Legal
• Land Acquisition : Some organizations consider this function as part of Business Development.