Indian employees switch jobs to advance career

Lakshmangarh, Rajasthan: An overwhelming number of Indian employees feel that they must leave their existing organisations for advancing in their careers,

a study said.

"India, as a matter of fact, is ranked the highest at 56 percent where a majority of the employees feel they have to leave their organisation to advance to a higher job," a Towers Watson's Global Workforce Study, said.

India at 56 percent is ahead of the U.S. at 43 percent, UK at 41 percent, Brazil at 39 percent, China at 38 percent and Germany at 37 percent, the study said.

"The top management in India Inc needs to review the career advancement programmes for their employees if they have to retain talent in what promises to be a prolonged growth phase of the business cycle," Towers Watson India's Managing Director, Dhritiman Chakrabarti, said.

Towers Watson conducted the global workforce study in India between November 2009 to January 2010.

It surveyed employees in the 25-35 years age-group, predominantly male, having less than five years work experience, in mid-management levels of medium-sized organisations with employees between 1,000 and 4,999, a statement issued here said.

The survey observed seven principal elements that defined career advancement.

These were making more money, acquiring skills to perform better, achieving higher status/recognition, advancing to senior leadership role, acquiring skills to be eligible for other jobs, moving up a well-defined career path and making lateral career moves, it said.

"Making more money was globally the number one element that defined career advancement except in the UK where acquiring skills to perform better topped the list," the study said.

Another interesting aspect, the study noted, was that increasingly more employees in India are taking an opportunistic attitude and are open to job shifts to advance their careers. While 32 percent of employees surveyed globally said they would work for one organisation, this number was much lower in India and China.

"Only 25 percent Indians and 23 percent of Chinese employees listed working for one organisation as their preferred career model," the study said. On the other hand, 44 percent of Indians and 39 percent of Chinese listed following opportunities as they arose as their preferred career model as opposed to a global average of 33 percent, it said.

"This trend in China and India is symptomatic of growing economies and the optimism it generates. Employees here are more bullish about the future and are willing to follow opportunities as they arise," it said.

To retain talent, India Inc will have to increasingly engage its employees in every aspect-be it competitive pay, learning opportunities, challenging work, career advancement opportunities or being an employer of choice," Chakrabarti said.

Network your way to the first job

Lakshmangarh, Rajasthan: As a fresh graduate looking for your first job, you would not want to leave any avenue unexplored that could help you land a job. Campus placement cells, job sites, newspapers are all good means that help you look for fresher jobs. However, there is one more way, which may not be as popular but it is as effective as any other means. It is networking. Networking is sometimes the best way to land your first job. In fact, at all stages of your career, especially as you move higher up the corporate ladder, you would realize that there is nothing better than networking to make a job switch. Now, the question is what is networking and how does it help one get the first job.

Networking primarily means to develop a wide ranging list of contacts. These could be your friends, your seniors, people you met at parties, or people you meet on social networking sites online. You can use this list of contacts to your advantage while looking for your first job effectively. Your college seniors and industry experts would be quite instrumental in informing you about job leads, pitching in a word for you with the employer, giving you career you advice and giving you information about a particular company or industry. It is through your network that you can meet more people and expand the list of contacts.

However, a good and effective network is not built overnight. It has to be worked at. You will not get in touch with all hot shots in one day and you have to start from your immediate circle. So, start building your network with family, neighbors and friends. Then move on to their acquaintances, their friends and their networks. You can't be quiet and introvert if you want to build a good network. Socialize, talk to people, and get to know more, be helpful towards others, attend events and show eagerness to know others. Talk to your seniors and teachers. Seek introductions and don't hesitate to get yourself introduced. With these practices, you can look forward to making a good network that will help you get your first job.

Networking is not about bombarding people with job enquiries. It has to be gradual, regular and developed with effort. If you try and contact everybody you know only when you start your job search and start asking about job openings, people might get peeved. The ideal way is to keep in touch regularly. Once you make a good rapport, job offers will come to you even without your asking. You have to build alliances that would come in handy when you are on a look out for your first job. And it could be anybody.

Networking is also beneficial because many jobs are not advertised. They are filled by word-of-mouth references and through acquaintances. Thus, you can come to know about these jobs for freshers only through insiders. And a recruiter will always prefer to hire somebody who comes through a reference as it is the first level check for the recruiter. Thus, if you have networked well and go through an internal reference, your chances of getting your first job multiply manifold. But remember one thing that networking is not about making cold calls and nagging people with job requests. This will only end up irking them and spoil your prospects. Rather, be subtle and judicious in your approach.

These days, networking online is also a very good option. However, on the net, you have to be careful about who you are networking with. There are many social and professional networking sites. You can start with your college seniors and request them to introduce you to their acquaintances. You must showcase your accomplishments in your online profile to establish your credibility. After all, nobody would want to network with you and inform you about job openings if your profile is not worth it. Once you have a decent network, be sure to communicate with them regularly. Be as much ready to help as you are eager to seek their help. Also, prepare a strong resume and circulate it within your network. Talk to your alliances on issues other than job hunting. These are the lateral means of establishing a good relationship that will eventually help you get your first job.

Careers Killed Because of English

Laxmangarh, Sikar: A recent newspaper report said that out of every hundred candidates called for job interviews, only five were found qualified for the jobs. It is not that they were technically not sound, but that they lacked in communicative skills in English. Is English killing their careers?

A business barometer study(June 2009) done by Assccham on ‘Importance of Soft Skills: Students Perspective’ shows that 89 per cent of students feel that soft skills such as oral communication, written communication and team work needs to be enhanced to become professionally successful. Assocham Research Bureau (ARB) study says that out of 15 most effective skills necessary for professionals, oral communication was rated as the most preferred soft skill and voted by 76 per cent of the students, whereas written communication (72 per cent) and team work (67 per cent) were the second and third most preferred options among the students. Then where is the loop hole? Why the students are not able to compete in professional world in spite of realizing how necessary it is to have a good command on oral communication skills? The degree to which students develop these skills, determines how well we can communicate ourselves to their prospective employers.

Corporate India has two major concerns, first to hire good employees and secondly to train them. Many a CEO would agree that it is indeed a sorry state of affairs that young men and women who walk out of colleges and universities speak little English. For us, it has been a subject to pass, not a language to master, and moreover, the focus has always revolved around technical subjects.
If things continue this way, India may lose out on the BPO and software industries.

What's Wrong?
The pressure today on youth is to complete a B.E., M.B.B.S. or an M.B.A. and become a professional. The subjects that we have to study to obtain these degrees are many and vast. We hardly find time to complete the recommended books of their subjects - forget reading general books. Reading for pleasure is becoming a rare thing. And the text-books are not a good source material for acquiring skills in spoken English.

Demographic patterns too are changing. A lot of youth from small towns and villages are moving to cities to study or work. Only when they come to a professional environment do they feel that their communicative skills in English need a total dressing up.

TV and movies offer no help. The language they dish out is Indianised English, and sometimes downright hybrid English that you find in popular music channels and typical Indian films.
With exposure to such kind of language, what kind of English can you expect from the youth?

The Ghost of 'Raj English'
English, as it is spoken and written today in India, is not free from the British who left us six decades ago. We still find phrases and usage such as 'residence', 'government servant', 'for your kind perusal' and 'my superior' in every Indian English. Surely, these are not good examples of English as it is today.

The Mother Tongue Influence
Not just in pronunciation, the mother tongue also influences the idiom of English we use. "Why do you get angry for small small things?", "I told you that day itself", and "What are you?" are examples of how we think in our mother tongue and use English to express the thoughts. As many mother tongues, so many kinds of English - no wonder that we are divided by the very English we speak.

Careers do not even take off just because of this variety of English or non-English that we youth are exposed to in colleges, universities, and the media. This is compounded by reluctance to make reading a habit.

Schools & Colleges
Teachers and lecturers are bound by the pressures of completing the syllabus, conducting revisions and preparing the students for scoring better marks. After all, it is the top marks that define a school or college as successful. Constrained by time, pressure, and rules of the management, teachers and lecturers neither have the mind nor the occasion to work on the communicative skills of the students. In some institutions, the teachers themselves need to work on their communicative skills in English.

Fluency
Many a youth who rushes to a spoken English institute at the eleventh hour wants fluency in English overnight. It must be remembered that whatever comes easily, goes away easily too. Fluency is a matter of thinking than speaking. How many of these people are fluent in their mother tongue, let alone English? For the very first question at a job interview - Tell me about yourself - you hear replies carrying erm, hmm, matlab, I mean, and so on. It is clarity of thought that brings fluency of speech, no matter which language you speak. And which school or college teaches us to think clearly and cogently?

An Aptitude for Language
In order to master a language, we must have an aptitude for the language in the first place. Many people want the benefits of speaking fluent English, but we don't want to go through the slow and tedious path of learning it. Whether it is English or any other language, we must have a love for the language. And such an aptitude does not come to order.

If we all youth today want to catch up with a fast-moving world and catch-up with what we call global English, we have to transform from inside. As we take to changing fashions in garment and style, so should we take to speaking a language the world speaks. And this means keeping abreast with the world of information and technology. An inquisitive mind, a willingness to put in extra effort, and a constant awareness of the changing world will go a long way in making we the citizen of the world. Career then will be made as if by default.

Academies and institutes that teach communicative skills in English are good as long as we youth seek their help early in their college years. Joining an institute just before the day of the interview is not going to help. And merely enrolling for a course is not enough to get us the communicative skills. Active participation, an inquisitive mind, and persistent effort are the real ingredients of success at any course, not just the one for fluency in English.

Skills That Employers Look For

After completing MBA you must be thinking that you are completely ready for great challenges ahead. But are you really ready for it? Are you equipped with all the skills recruiters are looking for? Skills, that patronage you achieve all your goals without any major obstacles but, if missing, can prove to be big hurdles in making your dreams come true. Recruiters corroborate that you are the best choice for their organization on the basis of these skills only.

There are the skills that employers would look for when they are screening for new recruits: -

Technical Knowledge
No doubts, that, employers will expect you to be technically sound for the job you are approaching. Among all the managerial skills, technical skill stands out. If you are not equipped with technical knowledge for the job, all other skills will seem to be worthless to recruiters and even if they are impressed with your overall performance at interview, they will not be in a position to hire you because of your lack of technical knowledge.

Make sure that you are technically competent for the industry before you volunteer to join it. Technical knowledge enables you to climb the first step of organization’s ladder. It will not only help you to conquer the interview but will also help you later to perform your job competently.

Communication Skills
The power of effective communication impacts recruiter’s perception about you drastically. If you are equipped with the ability to communicate nicely, you have better chances to grab the opportunity than the person competing with you.

Good verbal communication skill helps to connect with recruiter in a better manner and good non-verbal communication skill gives a positive feedback about your habits and body language. Writing is also an effective way to communicate your thoughts efficiently. Writing skill provides you the first opportunity to impress the prospective employer in the form of resume.
Working and interacting with people across functions and departments is a key part of any management job. Employers ensure that you are capable enough to communicate well verbally, non-verbally and through writing, as generally you need to deal with people from a range of diverse countries and backgrounds at any work place.

Team Building
The skill convinces the employer that you are as good a leader as a team-worker. So, basically team building is comprised of two key skills, team work and leadership. The way your individual perfection is valuable to your employer, so is the collective performance. Recruiters look for both of the skills in candidates acutely, as a good leader may not necessarily be a good team player, and vice versa.

Business environment needs the candidates to work in team. Interacting with various people and getting the jobs done are the key elements of management, which are not possible without having genuine team player attitude. That is the reason why so many group projects are assigned to you while your management course. You learn about the assigned topic as well as how to work in a team. The best team players come up with the best projects.

On the same note, employers always like leaders. This is because every company needs "drivers", but not "passengers". They require drivers to lead changes, but not passengers who only know how to follow procedures. This is what your MBA education teaches you, to take lead, be in-charge and create transformation changes.

Languages
Language is a vital tool, which is not only a means to express your views and ideas, but it helps forming business relationships and cultural ties also. Your knowledge of language and culture of your foreign clients shows your respect towards them and their ideas. You always get a preference to execute global operations, if your employer is aware of your foreign language skills. The more languages you know, the better your prospects are.

As organizations are dealing with more cross-border clients and projects, it is in your favour to learn few languages which you think can be used as local business languages, when required. Besides English, which has become global communication tool now and is must to be fluent in, knowledge of other languages can bring added benefits for you.

Commercial Awareness
Even though candidates are able to impress recruiters with their other skills, their lack of commercial awareness works against them and they miss the opportunity. Commercial awareness refers to candidates’ updated general knowledge of business and understanding of the industry and market.

Commercial awareness is the basis of any successful professional experience. Employers generally have a very reasonable expectation from you- to make commercially viable decisions. Generally candidates are not able to meet this expectation because their education is focused mainly on technical aspects and they are not equipped enough or confident enough to take perfect decisions in a real business scenario.

You need to attain the ability to make decisions based on an understanding of how the business works financially and how economy impacts the business you are volunteering to join. A more commercial and work focused mindset is required to convince the employer of your commercial awareness.

Multitasking & Time Management
Multitasking is the ability to perform more than one task simultaneously. Employers generally expect from you to complete more tasks in a shorter time span. This is a quality which can really lead you to stand class apart. With rising competition and expenses companies are forced to limit their resources and get the best out of available sources. Here comes the quality of multitasking which leads you to deliver more in a shorter time.

Multitasking is not about performing the jobs only; it’s about doing the right job at right time and within assigned time-frame with full efficiency. It is a combination of accuracy and time management. You can be a multi-tasker only if you know the feasible short-cuts to get the job done. Before hiring you employers make sure that you are one of those multi-taskers who can think analytically and take the organization to new heights.

Realistic Expectations
As per high profile recruiters, the barriers, which hinder them to recruit very eligible and qualified candidates, are unrealistic expectations of the candidates. Such expectations prove to be big bottle necks during hiring process which end up with either delaying the process or canceling the deal altogether.

Inaccurate assumptions of candidates lead them to demand for arbitrary pay packages, unrealistic job expectations and force them to have an impractical view of advancement opportunities. Research thoroughly about the field and the organization you are interested in to avoid such pitfalls. Remember, all of your efforts can go in vain because of your ignorance about reality.

It is absolutely in your hands to increase your chances of selection during interview. You can expect yourself to be professionally successful if you really acquire these managerial skills that employers are looking for.

First job? Take what you get and run with it

While much of the media in recent months has focused on job losses and downsizing in Indian industry as a result of the global slowdown, the real crisis is in India's engineering colleges and business schools, and on college and university campuses.

Most of corporate India's workforce is still hanging on to their jobs. Sure, increments are low and some may have been downsized but, by and large, most people who were in employment are still getting a monthly pay cheque. It is those who are seeking employment for the first time who are struggling the most.

If you leave the Top 50 B-schools and the Top 100 engineering colleges out of the discussion, the majority of the graduating class in most campuses is still looking for jobs and many who have managed to get a job have had to lower their expectations and go for what they can get.

Bangalore: In engineering colleges, the information technology, or IT, services sector is most responsible for the low off take of graduates. Many IT companies simply did not go to colleges to hire this year. And those that did go ended up either withdrawing offers or deferring joining dates by several months or longer.

At some of the best B-schools, many students are still without jobs, and at others, those who have got placed have had to accept offers from companies they would not have dreamt of joining till just a few months back. The situation in the lower-ranked B-schools is a lot worse.

The B-school situation is compounded by the fact that in the last five years, course fees have risen to a level that graduates need to get jobs which pay a certain minimum amount to be able to repay education loans taken for the course in the first place.

While this may be bad enough, there is worse news to come. While it is hoped that the Indian economy and the hiring will pick up in the second half of this financial year, the fact is that hiring at the entry level will pick up a lot later. It has been seen in the past that entry-level hiring gets hit first in a slowdown and picks up last in a recovery. Do not expect any great joy in the next placement season.

So, what should a fresh engineer or MBA do in the current market?

First, accept the new reality. The market has changed and till it changes back for the better, you are going to have to scale back your expectations. Sure, it's not your fault and this is not what you studied hard for, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Be flexible about the industry you wish to join: If IT is not hiring, it is not hiring, period. Either join a smaller company in IT or a start-up, or look at other areas. There are many other industries that need engineers and some companies there may be hiring telecom, manufacturing, chemicals and electronics, among others. Be willing to look at something different.

Lower the bar on salary. The average salary for the graduating class at the business school has gone up by close to 40 times in the 20 years . And my 4-5 years seniors must had considered themselves fortunate and privileged at that time.

While 20 years is a long time, a 40-time hike in salary during this period is great going by any standard.

I am pretty sure the wage inflation in the graduating class of other B-schools and engineering colleges has been as much in the past two decades. So be happy you've done well. Count your blessings.

Consider other functions and roles. Yes, you always dreamed of being an investment banker. But those jobs are simply not available any more. Take what you are getting and run with it. More opportunities will emerge as the economy recovers. Till then get some experience under your belt.

Think about a further course of higher study. If the job market depresses you or you are just not able to get what you want, evaluate a further qualification and come back into the job market a couple of years later when things are better.

In short, roll with the flow. Over a 30-year career span, what you are experiencing today is only a minor setback... :)) Cheers

Paid PhDs: UGC, varsities toothless, helpless

To upgrade the standards of research being done in Indian universities, University Grants Commission (UGC) asked all the universities to follow the minimum standards and procedure for awarding MPhil and PhD degrees, but till date majority of the universities across the country has not adopted it, reports Chitleen K Sethi and Smriti Sharma Vasudeva of Tribune News Service.

One of the conditions laid down by the UGC in June 2009 for universities was that soft copies of all MPhil and PhD thesis submitted to the varsities would be send to the UGC to be hosted on the Information and Library Network (Inflibnet) Centre, Ahmedabad, designed as the repository of all research work.

"We are yet to receive thesis from any university following this notification. However, we have had some voluntary submissions by researchers," said Jagdish Arora, Director of Inflibnet, and chairman of UGC committee on research regulations.

Arora added that the committee had recommended universities across the country to use anti-plagirisation software. "This software has some limitations but it can at least point out works where large parts have been copied verbatim. We have further suggested that the software be used to check authenticity of the thesis before the degree is given and not after. At Inflibnet we can do only a postmortem of the thesis. It is for the university authorities to be alert," stated he.

The universities, at their end, seem to be fighting a losing battle against plagirised research. Vice-chancellor of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, Satya P Gautam, said he had headed the research committee of the university to keep a check on the researchers. The Internet has further complicated the issue. "Universities in Europe and North America take a very serious view of plagiarism and fake thesis writing. They withdraw the degree. Indian universities should do the same," said he. Himachal Pradesh University V-C Sunil Kumar Gupta said project reports submitted by the students too were being copied. "For PhD we are putting our research on line through Inflibnet," added he.

Kurukshetra University Vice-chancellor DDS Sandhu said the university followed UGC norms in research. "Every researcher has to get two papers published in reputed Indian journals. This ensures that a part of his research comes in public domain and if there is something fishy, it gets noticed. Also, we are planning to put all PhD thesis on our website along with salient features of the research," said he.

Jaspal Singh, V-C, Panjabi University, Patiala, said, "Every PhD topic is first discussed by the research board and the candidate and guide is supposed to answer queries of the panel. Also, we have adopted UGC guidelines to ensure such things do not happen. We would be tying up with Inflibnet also."

Indian firms prefer CAs over MBAs as decision-makers

With a post-slowdown environment, Indian firms are paving the way for recruitment of more Chartered accountants (CAs), perceived to have core competence in financial matters. While MBAs are being hired for purely sales, marketing or international trade functions, CAs are increasingly being looked upon as decision-makers, reports Bhargav Trivedi from the Economic Times.

Apart from the stability factor, competence in financial matters, changing taxation regime and risk-aversion are playing in favour of CAs. "These days, we are recruiting more CAs and fewer MBAs. For higher positions like senior managers, we prefer a CA," says Abhishek Tiwari, Senior Manager (HR) at KPMG. The global consulting firm is looking at recruiting 100-150 CAs during the current year in India. Tiwari, however, adds, "We cannot say MBAs are losing their charm, but increasingly, they aren't preferred for a financial job."

Further, with Corporate India getting cautious with salaries, CAs are gaining a natural edge. "If a company is unable to afford an MBA from a top B-School, it would rather hire a top CA than look for a management graduate from lower-rung B-schools," says a global headhunter. A chartered accountant's average salary is at Rs. 6 lakh a month, while for MBAs, the figure is the minimum, says Nagesh Pinge, Chief Internal Auditor at Tata Motors, who sees a growing preference for CAs when companies need better financial control. Loyalty also tilts the balance in their favour. MBAs, due to peer pressure, appear to constantly pursue higher salaries. CAs, on the other hand, are seen as less aspirational and stick to the job longer.

Thus, CAs are currently being accepted as business leaders who could take up roles beyond auditing and financial management. "They are superior (to MBAs). CAs are already groomed for three years during articleship (training with auditors) and can start working from day one," a finance official at a top Indian company who requested for anonymity told the Economic Times.

Compared to a two-year MBA curriculum, CAs go through a rigorous three-year curriculum. Since they understand balance-sheets the best, CAs are being hired for work other than the traditional audit, he points out. Vardhan Dharker, CFO of KEC International, a Rs. 3,000-crore capital goods company, said, "I think CAs are as good as anybody else in taking decisions. There has been a change in the thinking over the past five years."

Brokerages, who bore the brunt of the 2008 stock-market collapse, too have stepped up CA hiring. As important intermediaries in financial transactions, CAs are seen as being more cost-effective. Angel Broking, a leading stock-broking house, has increased CA hiring from 5 percent to 15 percent. "Good MBAs are expensive compared to CAs. For tier-II cities, the average MBA salary ranges between Rs. 4 lakh and Rs. 6 lakh, while CAs are available in the Rs. 2.5-3 lakh range. Both do similar kind of work," says Dhruv Desai, Senior VP (HR) at Angel Broking.

The company recruits CAs for back-office work which is more financial in nature, while MBAs are hired for front-office jobs where they have to interact with customers and use their communication skills. "Though our recruitment is predominately MBAs as we are customer-centric, the ratio is tilting in favour of CAs." he says. MBAs constitute 75 percent of the company's total recruitments, but the share of CAs has doubled to 10 percent over the past two years, he says. The company employs more then 7,000 people. Changing accounting methods and introduction of new tax regime in the globalisation era have pushed up the demand for accountancy professionals.

"Due to complexities of accountings and prospective taxation regime like GST and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), you need CAs as MBAs don't study these subjects," says Sanjiv Shah, who runs an accounting firm in Vadodara. He says CAs are now assuming advisory roles as well. Shah, who operates in the mergers and acquisition (M&A) space, adds, "If CAs have to take a decision about an M&A deal, their skills are useful during the due diligence process."

Please give your views regarding the above article... Do you agree or disagree with above mindset of Indian Firms.

Managing the Time Effectively

Time Management is essential to success at work. God gives to each of us a limited, finite number of hours in a year in which to achieve our goals. He gives us these hours in sequence, they are neither repeatable nor refundable, and He is not partial to either the rich or to the poor, to the young or to the old.
All of us 24 hours a day and we should plan these 24 hours. Planning our time allows us to spread our work, avoid a "Traffic jam" of work and cope with the work stress.

Many deadlines for work occur at the same time and unless we plan ahead, we will find it impossible to manage. To meet the demands of work we need to spread our workload over the allotted time. Work out what needs to be done and when. Work out how to use available time as efficiently as possible.

Time Wasters

• Attempting too much
• Not saying 'NO'
• Incomplete information
• Management by crisis, fire fighting
• Interruption

Ways To Manage Your Time

• Knowing when 'NOT' to work is as important as knowing when to work.
• Save the easiest tasks for the end of the day.
• Do important jobs now before they become urgent.
• Learn to it now.
• The habit of putting of important tasks can rob you hours of achievement and success.
• When you are feeling down, don't stay there. Do something.
• You have to be very clever to do simple things! Including prioritizing to manage your time effectively.
• Arrange things in your office/work place in such a manner that when you want a thing you can get it fast. Write a keyword on the item when you read it. File according to how you will use it, not where it came from.
• Use your checklist yourself and insist that everyone who reports to you also uses it.
• Inform people why you can't do what you promised well in time, like making payments. Time is like money.
• Don't waste your time on reading newspapers cover to cover and watching television non stop. Learn to sift information, to read/watch those things that will be of benefit to you.
• Don't waste your time on TV serials or cricket, when you are not going to enter into those professions.
• Discourage frequent interruptions. Don't interrupt others and do not allow others to interrupt you. Often once the boss called in his secretary 26 times during the day and you can imagine the output will be poor.
• Develop an attitude of 5 to 9, and overcome the attitude of 9 to 5. 9 to 5 attitude is a clerical attitude. Try to develop an attitude of 9 to 5. 5 to 9 attitude does not mean that you should wake up at 5 a.m. and work till 9 p.m. This 5 to 9 attitude means that whenever you wake up in the morning, start thinking about your work how you can improve your work to get more success.
• Get another telephone for your family.
• Understanding comes time.
• Have patience…………………………………..before you become a impatient.
• 20% of what we do will yield 80% of the results and vice versa. Doing the right work at right time is more important than doing work rightly.
• Prioritize between routine, important and urgent jobs. Categorize the jobs into three categories A, B and C. Don't argue with anyone on 'B' and 'C' (the lesser important) variety of jobs.
• Take and make decisions quickly. Again, for 'B' and 'C' variety of jobs, take and make decisions quickly. If they are wrong you can correct them inexpensively. Take your time in making decisions for the 'A' type.
• 'ROTI' stands for 'Return On Time Invested' when watching serials or cricket as against spending time with your boss or your family, apply the principle of 'ROTI' (As given by Mr. Promod Batra). As you calculate 'ROI' i.e. 'Return On Investment' for the amount of money which you have invested. In the same way, the 'ROTI' should be calculated for the time you have invested in doing a task. That mean, you should know how much you will get in return by investing your time.
• Just because you can do something does not mean you should.
• You do not have to do everything everybody tells you to do.
• You have to please other people. But you also have to please yourself because people take advantage of you only with your permission.
• You do not have to do everything yourself.
• While prioritizing the jobs, one should ask some questions like:

1. What is the objective?
2. How will I know if I am successful?
3. How will I be rewarded?
4. Is this task something I want to do?
5. Do I have the time to do it?
6. Is there a better way to do it?
7. Should it even be done at all?
8. Will the world come to an end if?


• Establish daily, short term, mid term, and long term priorities.
• Establish Personal deadlines and ones for the organization.
• Ensure all meeting have a purpose, time limit and include only essential people.
• Knowing when to stop a task, policy or procedure.
• Use checklists and To-Do lists.
• Adjust priorities as a result of new tasks.
• Divide large tasks into a series of small tasks. By creating small manageable tasks, the entire task will eventually be accomplished. Also, by using a piecemeal approach, you will be able to fit into your hectic schedule.
• Do not put unneeded efforts into a project. There is a place for perfectionism, but for most activities, there comes a stage when there is not much to gain from putting extra effort into it. Save perfectionism for the tasks that need it.

In short the 'MISER' concept' (as mentioned by Mr. Promod Batra in his book 'Be a Winner Everytime')can be used to manage the time effectively. It is a way to reduce the time taken to complete any task.

M => Stands for 'Merge'. Can I merge it with some other activity? Meaning there by doing more than one task at a time reduces the time taken to complete the tasks separately.

I => Stands for 'Improving'. Can I improve it? And most of the time we can, if we have a working attitude of 5 to 9 instead of 9 to 5.

S => Stands for 'Simplify'! Any action or activity can be simplified.

E => Stands for 'Eliminating'. Many things we do. We do not need to do them in the first place.

R => Stands for 'Reducing' the activity. This is where your experience, exposure and wisdom will help you.

When you prioritize your work, you manage your time effectively, you achieve the success. For managing your time effectively, you have to be creative and innovative. Innovated ideas should be developed along with the existing ones to the time or the more appropriate word to steal the time. Since time is crucial factor for individual as well as for the society, for the businessman as well as for the serviceman, it is important to manage the time effectively to step up the stairs of the success and touch the new heights.