MTCHRO Event – A New Beginning !

Nowadays there are several conferences happening around and with exigencies of work, it becomes extremely difficult to attend. Also some of the conferences are quite boring especially when the topics are not contemporary, thought-provoking, research based and futuristic. However when it comes to conferences organised by the talented team of More Than HR (MTHR Global), there is always something unique and different. Therefore when the invitation for the maiden MTCHRO Event came to me, I was determined to attend it. The theme of the event was Lessons in Leadership and saw attendance from several imminent personalities just to name a few; Vivek Paranjpe, Ulhas Page, Dr. Sanjay Muthal, Vijay Kanbur, Anubha Parekh Kini, Anand Pillai, Radhakrishnan Pillai, Deepak Deshpande, Ophelia D, Shamik V, Tanaya Mishra, etc and therefore despite heavy rains and traffic, I was glad I didn’t miss it. Surprisingly there aren’t many CHRO forums and therefore I was delighted to see MTHR organising its maiden MTCHRO Event. With HR professionals playing a key strategic role on the executive leadership team and even on board, it was imperative to establish an exclusive, coveted forum to bring senior HR leaders and other CXO’s together. The MTCHRO Event is an invitation-only forum that provides networking and education opportunities for C-level Executives not just within HR but even for other CXO’s. More importantly it promises to disseminate knowledge, share experiences and promote collaboration to seek solution on various contemporary HR and management issues. The value of MTHRO Event is the information, interaction, insights and inspiration one gains by hearing other people’s perspectives on a host of topics. Since it was the first event, the organisers were also interested to solicit ideas from all attendees which could help further shape the forum and even plan future events to elicit maximum participation. With the inimitable Rajesh Kamath compeering the event with his characteristic humour and wit, there wasn’t any dearth of ideas, suggestions and they came in abundance with lot of enthusiasm, just like the incessant rains outside the conference hall. Many of these ideas aimed to impart knowledge management strategies and discuss the megatrends shaping the HR and various business strategies. The event started with Amber Wigmore from IE Business School, Spain speaking about international trends in B school Talent scouting. Her speech was indeed insightful. Amber emphasised that we must,” Devote most resources to those who show maximum interest in their careers!". She further hit the nail on the head by stating "A Business School is an educational tool, not a placement service!" The next session had the amazingly talented young leader Jithin Krishnan, Founder Director, Make a Difference. Make A Difference is a voluntary organization with over 12000 GenY volunteers, with less than 10% attrition! Incredible! Today CSR has become extremely important and it is here where HR professionals can play a critical role in promoting community service. Jithin’s speech would definitely motivate everyone to practise volunteerism. In his speech he brought to light the plight of orphans and orphanages. He further added,” What orphanages really need is family support - Family our first conduit to the world!” Jithin narrated a touching story and expressed how youth are tired of being told that they are selfish. As a matter of fact, he stated that younger generation is striving to make an impact and the fact that 12000 volunteers in 23 cities devote their weekends to volunteerism attests this. Jithin also spoke about the 3 M’s: Being M.A.D., Mallus and Mass volunteerism. The final session saw the unassuming, humble and experienced Sunil Gupta, COO, Net Magic speaking passionately about his experience and emphasizing the importance of Balance. Working in large process, system based organisation for many years and then moving to a mid size organisation was a challenge. However Sunil perspicaciously shared his personal experience and educated us as to how leaders must adapt and find the perfect balance and harmony. He shared some interesting examples of office life at Net Magic which ‘possibly’ (the pun un-intended) made the audience realized the importance of finding and maintaining balance between who we are and what we want to be! Sunil also spoke about the importance of process and managing by exceptions provided there is a customer need and then regularizing it immediately is so that it doesn’t become a norm. In the same breath, he also mentioned that all Processes can be quantified but having a human touch is very important. It was an exciting event, organised at plush Courtyard Marriott hotel in Andheri Mumbai and had about 40-50 leaders and senior professionals attending it. The organization was spot-on, the dinner was delectably delicious and the speeches were very incisive. After the short speeches, everyone was busy with individual networking over fantastic cocktails. It was wonderful to come across different leaders and the evening provided them with a splendid opportunity to relax, make new acquaintances and enjoy a few in-depth conversations. Well what really started as an idea has truly transformed into a massive movement. It makes me immensely proud to see MTHR Global blossom into a sought after forum not just by HR fraternity but even by professionals from various walks of life. The fact that MTHR has been in existence for more than a decade and relentlessly continues its mission to disseminate knowledge freely is indeed remarkable. While the co-founders and core members deserve umpteen compliments, the success of MTHR Global largely rests on the prolific speakers who speak on various contemporary issues and subjects. At the same time its success is also dependant on the various sponsors and the audience who ardently attends in large numbers and participates in various deliberations and discussions. Let me profoundly thank the organisers and sponsors for their efforts in making the MTCHRO Event a great experience for all. So when you get the invitation for the next MTCHRO or even MTHR Global event, don’t hesitate; just sign up – it's definitely worth attending! Until then…Cheers !

Leveraging Social Networks for Recruiting !

“The secrets of twenty-first century economics lie in the servers of the companies that are all around us…”
– From ‘The Long Tail’ –Chris Anderson

From the development of telecommunications to emails, chat rooms, instant messaging, discussion boards, group calendars, blogs and social media, internet has come a long way revolutionizing our lives and shrinking a boundaryless world into our cosy rooms. Come to think of, social media isn’t new but rather, an intelligent combination of various applications using latest technology that appeals to human desires and foster interactions in real time. It works better, faster and is accessible from mobile phones making Social Networking truly pervasive.

We have witnessed Social Media spark revolutions, establish connections, renew old relations and even topple governments. Social networks have facilitated easy content creation and publication which aids organisations in establishing deeper levels of engagement amongst users. The rapid mobile revolution in Asia will yield significant increase in mobile internet and social commerce thereby making social networks to become major shopping centres. The manifestation of social media will have tremendous implication on economy, business, organisations, consumers and individuals. Social networks seamlessly integrate the virtual and real world thereby making it a catalyst for change and defining the future of internet technology. Little wonder, organisations, business and individuals are relentlessly striving to capture space on various social networks.

Today social network generate strikingly different set of challenges for individuals and organisations. The laws for social networks are not properly defined. There are grave concerns about data privacy and inappropriate usage of personal and professional information. But this hasn’t deterred people from subscribing to various social networks.

Interestingly Social network propels ‘disintermediation’ wherein companies approach customers directly with their products and services instead of any intermediaries or partners or resellers.

Disintermediation appears advantageous because companies can directly learn more from customers by engaging them and such interactions help to serve customers better. While traditional branding focused on logos, social media branding essentially is focused on users. This aspect of engaging with users can be extended and creates an opportunity to develop a strong employer brand.

With millions of people subscribing to various social networks, leveraging these networks to tap potential recruits is popularly known as ‘Social Recruiting’. To harness these networks, it is extremely important for HR to understand the various social networks and develop an effective social recruiting strategy. At the moment, these “Big Five” social networking sites viz; ‘Linked In’, ‘Facebook’, ‘YouTube’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘Google +’ are very popular.

LinkedIn is the leader in connecting experienced professionals from around the world, while Facebook at the moment is the largest of the social utility sites with over 700 million users that connects people with friends, family and professional colleagues. Facebook has also included connections to organizations, businesses, and interests. YouTube provides individuals and organisations with amazing opportunity to stream videos. Many organisations have started showcasing real life videos that displays their work culture, work ethos, business practices, domain expertise, case studies etc. These videos are created to provide compelling reasons for customers to do business and for candidates to apply. Twitter is more of information networking service and acts as microblogs that shares user experience using 140 characters ‘tweets’ or messages. Google + appears similar to Facebook and promises to be much more in future.

Biz Stone, CEO of Twitter once said that “Openness is important for the future of a company”. This means social network is no longer a trend but a necessity, a tool not just for recruiters but predominantly a resource for candidates to research information about companies. It provides recruiters with a wide pool of readily available talent, allows them to target passive candidates and develop talent pipeline. Social networking is also cost effective tool that enhances communications by developing good content, providing online updates using blogs, podcasts, and videos. The number of “likes” helps organisations to monitor perception about their brand

HR professionals have gradually started realizing the impact of social network for employer branding. But before they subscribe to social media, it is extremely important to delve on the following aspects:

 Create an effective global social media policy: A social media policy outlines for employees the corporate guidelines or principles of communicating in the online world. HR must play an active role along with communication department to design and roll out an effective social medial policy.

 Train Employees: Invest in training employees on different social media platforms. Educate employees to respect privacy, protect information and follow the law. A great example is ‘Zappos’ where employees are encouraged to have Twitter accounts so they can interact with current and potential customers. Interestingly they also train their employees on the proper use of Twitter during new-hire orientation. ‘Dell’ has a social media university that renders certifications across different platforms to employees once they complete their training.

 Create Content: With content becoming the king, it is critical that organisations invest in creating high-quality content which can benefit the organization. This can be done by using leadership and employee blogs, podcasts or uploading videos that help in improving employer branding. Remember videos encourage more sharing than text.

 Advertise Jobs: The simple way to use social media for hiring is by posting job vacancies and search for candidates. Linked In also has separate hiring solutions and exclusive suite of tools for recruiters. You can even post a job for free in the Facebook Marketplace.

 Transparent Information to candidates: HR must ensure that candidates are notified, in writing, about the companies use of social media to gather information, e.g., on job applications. Ensure employment decisions are made based on lawful, verified information. Follow hiring policy or incorporate best practices in identifying a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the hiring decision with the documentation supporting the decision.

 Provide company information: Regular information and updates must be provided on social networks. This can be done by creating a Twitter account for the organisation. The objective of tweets is to communicate about the organisation and what topics are important to organisation. This will help in reaching out to customers and potential hires. This will also help to engage with potential candidates and see what topics they tweet about.

 Focus on building communities of talent: This is done by encouraging job seekers, subject matter experts and hiring companies both to participate in a dialogue using discussion boards. The quality of discussions and community membership is important for HR. HR and line managers must join various interest groups to connect with potential candidates.

 Reputation Management and Monitoring: The emergence of social media and arrival of tech savvy millennial generation at workplace has made it important to monitor perception of company brands. This can be done by subscribing to agencies that provide reputation management service and by even conducting online polls and feedback surveys.

 Facilitate collaboration: Web 2.0 technologies promises to spread social media amongst employees and interest groups. HR must facilitate such collaboration and become a change agent in promoting this technology.

Demography, attitude of the potential candidate, Generation Y and Employer branding are compelling companies to change recruitment methodology. Social networks can improve communication, bring greater efficiency to the workplace and provide great insight about people’s interests and motivations. It offers immense opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing. It is therefore imperative that HR has to adopt and integrate social media quickly. At the same time, HR has to subtly integrate both social recruiting and traditional recruiting including job boards, company sites and search firms to evaluate talent. Social media is here to stay. Both marketing and HR will have to play a crucial role in becoming leaders in harnessing various social networks to build brand and recruit talent.

Destructive Organisational Deviance: Workplace Bullying !

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” – Dr. Martin Luther King

Workplace bullying might have been in existence even before the advent of industrial relations, when work was conducted in guilds and homes. The master – disciple relationship that existed would have used bullying tactics to induce fear and increase productivity. However people who may have suffered the ignominy of such ill-treatment preferred to have remained silent.

It was Heinz Leymann, a Swedish Professor who pioneered research on psychological abuse, and coined the term ‘mobbing’ to describe hostile behaviour targeted at workers. This was based on his studies of nurses who tried to commit suicide due to events at the workplace. Later in 1992, Andrea Adams, a British journalist, brought to notice, the harassment meted at work and coined the term “Workplace Bullying”.

Today bullying is not just an individual or psychological problem but more importantly an organizational problem since it stems from organisational culture. Often employees who become victim are likely to quit. But in reality and based on research it’s not only the victim who is likely to quit but even the co-workers are also likely to leave their jobs.

Bullying and harassment often arises when managers try to hide their incompetence with intimidation. There is some distinction between bullying and harassment but essentially both are forms of personal abuse. Harassment, whether it is racial, sexual or otherwise, is usually incident specific, while bullying is persistent and unwelcome behaviour which impacts the emotional, psychological and mental health of the victim besides ruining their careers.

Bullying also increases due to gloomy market conditions, recession, insecurity, cultural clashes and collisions of generations at workplace. Counter cultures, deviant behaviours, impatience and intolerance fuel workplace conflicts. Bullying can cause damage to individual employees and even greater damages to organisations. It disrupts peace at workplace which causes antagonism, distractions, poor teamwork, lowered productivity, increased trust deficit amongst employees, and makes the environment toxic. Victims often become diffident, and suffer from low self- esteem. Workplace bullying has indeed become a serious destructive force that vitiates the professional lives of employees and makes organisations toxic.

It is not necessary that only a manager or immediate superior bullies their subordinates. Bullying can occur wherever people work together. There have been instances of even subordinates ganging up against managers and bullying them.

Often performance is intertwined with our emotions. Employees do not perform at their best in an environment riddled with fear and oppression. Organisations that fail to monitor and create an environment which is conducive, healthy, congenial and free of bullying suffer from increased absenteeism, turnover, recruiting problems, poor reputation and lawsuits.

There are several definitions for Workplace Bullying but with the changing nature of work, it becomes little daunting to acutely define the term. However to put it simply, workplace bullying is the repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards an employee or group of employees that creates a risk to health and safety.

A broad range of direct or indirect behaviours can be classified as bullying.

Examples of direct forms of bullying include:

• Verbal abuse

• Berating or putting someone down

• Spreading rumours or innuendo about someone

• Interfering with someone’s personal property or resource or work equipment.

Examples of indirect bullying include:

• Unjustified criticism or complaints

• Hiding or withholding information that is vital for effective work performance

• Deliberately denying access to information or other resources

• Deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities

• Causing inconvenience to a particular worker or workers

• Setting timelines that are very difficult to achieve

• Excessive scrutiny at work.

Preventing Workplace Bullying:

In recent times, few countries have introduced numerous legislations to prevent workplace bullying and have rightfully enforced severe punishments. In addition it is necessary for every organisation to come up with a comprehensive workplace bullying prevention policy and guidelines. There are various agencies and forums that strive to highlight these issues and find solutions to prevent bullying at workplaces. Organisations like Workplace Bullying Institute and International Association on Workplace Bullying & Harassment (IAWBH) are doing phenomenal work in preventing workplace bullying. There are few steps that organisations must take to prevent workplace bullying.

Workplace Policy: It is important to implement an emphatic policy on preventing bullying at workplace. The policy should define standards of acceptable and non acceptable behaviour and make a clear statement that inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and warrant disciplinary action.

Workplace Procedures: Workplace procedures should outline how reports of bullying will be dealt with, and should set out broad principles to ensure the process is objective, fair and transparent. The procedures for registering complaints must be shared with all employees along with the names, designations and contact details of individuals who are authorized to receive complaints. The process should also encourage and provide support to both the parties – the victim and the perpetrator.

Evaluate Deviant Behaviour and not just Results: It starts with leadership and managerial behaviour. Behaviour determines action and therefore it is important that along with business results greater emphasis is also given to interpersonal skills and evaluating deviant behaviour.

Avoid Hiring Tyrants: Using behavioural interview techniques, psychometric tests, assessments, reference checks and gathering feedback will help in hiring the right people in organisation.

Single Incident: Bullying thrives in environments where input from employees is limited. Even a single incident of unreasonable behaviour may have the potential to escalate into bullying and therefore shouldn’t be ignored as it can probably create a risk to employee morale, health and safety. When employees realise that no one will bother to investigate, correct, or curtail the problem they soon recognize that by speaking up they may actually increase the risk of repercussions from the perpetrator. Therefore a single incident has to be investigated.

Acknowledge: It essentially starts by calling bul¬lying by its proper name and not concealing under the guise of “tough managerial style”, “task master” or explain it away on supposed cultural grounds or gender proclivity. It is possible that the harasser may not be aware that his or her conduct is offensive. A simple request to cease the offensive conduct may be all that is required to correct the situation before it becomes severe.

Training: Bullying has been linked to situations of role conflict, role ambiguity, parochial and ethnocentric attitude. Employers should make sure that employees understand their role, role expectations, levels of authority and empowerment and have the appropriate skills and resources to do their job. Organisations must therefore encourage and promote diversity. Regular training on conflict management, counselling, managing difficult employees, social skills and interpersonal skills to employees will go a long way in preventing deviant behaviour. All employees including managers and leaders must undergo training so as to acquaint themselves about behaviours that constitutes bullying and harassment.

Skip Level Meetings: Organisations should introduce skip level meetings to encourage employees to share their grievances with higher ups.

Coaching & External Counselling: Sometimes bringing an external counsellor, behavioural trainer, and leadership coaches can help in counselling employees who are victims of bullying and also those who are the perpetrators of bullying.

Encourage reporting & Non-victimisation: It is important to protect and ensure that anyone who raises an issue of bullying including the witnesses are not victimised or punished for doing so. Former employees must also be protected. Documentation is important to any formal investigation. Even if the matter is not formally investigated, a record should be made of all meetings and interviews detailing who was present and the agreed outcomes.

Confidentiality: The process should ensure complainant confidentiality and also ensure confidentiality for other parties involved. Details of the matter should only be known by those directly concerned.

Natural justice: The principles of natural justice should be followed in all formal investigations.

Monitoring and Review: To best prevent bullying at work, risk control measures must be regularly monitored, evaluated and reviewed.

Robert Sutton, professor of management science and engineering from Stanford in his famous Mckinsey article, “Building a civilised workplace" highlights that there is more financial damages in having jerks and bullies at work. The article also brings to light that company with jerks and bullies may suffer from reduced level of creativity and innovation, as well as impaired or dysfunctional cooperation within and outside the organisation.

Workplace bullying can be curtailed by creating an egalitarian structure. Organisations must relentlessly strive to foster a workplace culture, where everyone treats colleagues with dignity, trust, respect, and where all process and systems are established to minimise the occurrence of bullying and harassment.

Ruminations- 2012 !!!

Each year that passes seems to have its own character, and as I look back over these past twelve months, I know that it has been about as eventful and difficult year as it can be. Last year had been quite daunting and if the first month of this New Year offers any indication, there seems to be no respite either!

Nonetheless New Year is the perfect time for reflection and rejuvenation of hope for the future.
Whilst I struggle to spare time to blog, thankfully I did manage to rummage through several interesting books. Let me start the New Year 2013 by ruminating upon books that I enjoyed reading last year.

Well 2012 started with ‘The Ascent of Money’. Like 2011, I have again listed the books under various categories.

Books on Politics/ Society / Economy etc:
India: From Midnight to the Millennium– Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor continues to remain one of the prominent newsmaker with his witty and sardonic tweets and clearly testifies that the pen (key pad) will continue to remain mightier than the sword! Undoubtedly Shashi Tharoor is intelligent, charming and a learned politician but more than that he will always remain a prolific author. His books are evocative and extremely objective. Although there are innumerable books on Incredible India, Shashi Tharoor has presented a wonderfully researched book, ‘India: From Midnight to the Millennium’ where he shares his views on diverse topics like caste, Indian democracy, the legacy of Indira Gandhi, the partition of India and India’s transition from a socialist economy to a free market economy.

Radheya – Ranjit Desai
Ranjit Desai’s incredible book in Marathi language “Radheya” on Karna, one of the principal characters in Mahabharata is a must read for all. This book has been translated in many Indian languages. Karna is the most fascinating and tragic of all Mahabharata's heroes. Raised without the love of parents; target of great envy and hatred; falsely ridiculed for being of low birth; constantly humiliated at the hands of his inferiors; Karna is at once the most riveting character in the Mahabharata! Karna was generous beyond generosity, made immense sacrifices, and was brave to the point of foolhardiness and therefore the author feels that every man can resemble himself with Karna’s life.

Mahabharata – A modern rendering - Ramesh Menon
The Mahabharata is The Book of Life: in its variety, majesty and, also, in its violence and tragedy. Two years ago, Ramesh Menon’s two thick volumes caught my attention at Crosswords. The volumes were neatly bundled in a box and ever since I bought them, I never had the time to read. Finally last year, I managed to read both the volumes and realised that I should have read it earlier. The book is written in a lucid language and each chapter is a revelation of sorts. Menon has indeed done an extraordinary job rendering this 5000-odd year old epic that describes a Great War and the events that led to it into powerful, simple, resonant prose. The book is intriguing, incisive and informative and it’s difficult to put down.

Books on Cricket:
Standing my ground – Mathew Hayden – Hayden’s book is similar to his captain Steve Waugh’s beautiful autobiography “Out of My Comfort Zone”. The book narrates his struggles to get inside the champion Aussie side, compete with Mark Taylor for his place in the team and finally retire as one of the Greats that brought aggression as test opener.

While Hayden came across as an arrogant, hefty and belligerent player often loathsome of other international opponents however in his autobiography you get to see the other side of his personality- a likeable, adventurous, hard working, resilient and sensitive human being. Unlike other south paw there wasn’t much of elegance and style but Hayden went on to become a prolific batsman who disdainfully clobbered fast bowlers and cleverly used his feet and pads against quality spinners. In his autobiography, he also shares his passion to cook and surf in deep waters around the world.

A Year in the Sun - Michael Vaughan
This book is an interesting read. Described as the most exciting batsman to emerge since David Gower retired, Michael Vaughan provides a view of his own achievements during 2002. He also contemplates the controversy that surrounded England's ill-fated World Cup mission, and discusses the real story behind the decision not to go to Zimbabwe. Vaughan's thoughts about Nasser Hussain, the captain he has served most, and his other international and county colleagues are also shared. Every aspect of an intense and exciting year gets Vaughan's complete consideration - from being given out handled ball in India to clean bowling Sachin Tendulkar, from being targeted by Glenn McGrath to winning the Player of the Series award in the Ashes battle, and on to the World Cup fiasco.

The Devils Pack – Balwinder Sandhu & Austin Coutinho
This is an exciting short book and I am glad someone has finally published a book on India’s maiden World cup win. The book will bring fond memories to all those who had witnessed Kapil’s Devils making history. I can still distinctly remember as a child, how many crackers I burst with my friends on Sunday on the night of 25th June 1983. Balwinder Singh Sandhu provides some interesting insider account and describes the events, the match plans and everything that happened as India won its maiden World Cup victory. In the book Balwinder has devoted one chapter for every member of the winning team and the book therefore seems similar to another book Idols by Sunil Gavaskar which is indeed fascinating.

Bishan - Portrait of a Cricketer by Suresh Menon
“Jim Laker once remarked that his idea of heaven was Lord’s in the sunshine, Ray Lindwall bowling at one end and Bishan Bedi at the other.” With a foreword by Anil Kumble and a flow that makes it as easy to read as, Bedi was to watch, this is a cricket book worthy of a place on the shelf. The author is a prolific writer but somewhere I felt Menon has restricted himself to about 190 odd pages. May be he could have been more descriptive. Nonetheless Menon’s incisive insights make the book especially readable. He makes no attempt to gloss over Bedi’s flaws and idiosyncrasies.

Sach by Gautam Bhattacharya
The book beautifully describes the journey of Sachin Tendulkar, “The demi- God of cricket" from his early childhood till date. Hopefully there will be many books deservedly written about Sachin. Till then this book is a collector’s item for some rare photos. The book features about 83 interviews by eminent personality on what Sachin means to them. There are many interesting anecdotes. You feel sad to learn that Sachin’s brother who was instrumental in making Sachin a cricketer had to struggle and stand outside the stadium while someone tries to organise a pass.

Bradman and the Summer That Changed Cricket: The 1930 Australian Tour of England - Christopher Hilton
In 1930 Bradman arrived in England, a callow youth whose lack of technique, or so the English thought, would be mercilessly exposed. By summer's end he had redefined the possibilities of the game and changed it forever. This fascinating book reconstructs that Australian tour from the first day to the last, in the liveliest detail, including every run in Bradman's legendary 300 scored in one day during the Leeds Test. Using a host of contemporary sources - from regional Australian newspapers and original score sheets, to English provincial and national newspapers and players' memories - Christopher Hilton brings all aspects of the 1930 summer tour vividly to life and also revisits every controversy surrounding one of the sport's most momentous occasions.

Inside Out: Writings on Cricket - Gideon Haigh
Inside out is a remarkably written by one of the best living writers on cricket- Gideon Haigh.
The book features some interesting pieces on cricketing greats from Don Bradman to Sunil Gavaskar, inferences about the enduring significance of the Bodyline series, informative history of Baggy Green Cap and much more.

Classic Cricket Clangers - David Mortimer
This volume is an amusing collection of accounts of cricket players who have thrown away victory for all kinds of embarrassing and highly regrettable reasons. It covers two centuries of cricket.

Book of Cricket - Barry Norman
Barry Norman's Book of Cricket delivers a wealth of information about every aspect of cricket and how its rules developed from its 18th-century beginnings till date.

Management Books:
I sometimes find it a drudgery to read management books especially when there is nothing new. However the books that captured my attention last year:

Managing Organizational Deviance - Roland E. Kidwell
This is an exceptional book and brings to light the various deviance and dysfunctional behaviour in organisations. The book features incisive short cases and draws together contributions written by recognized experts and thereby offering practical guidance to those faced with ambiguous situations of deviant behaviour in the workplace.

The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson
If the author concludes by saying “Markets are like the mirror of mankind, revealing every hour of every working day the way we value ourselves and the resources of the world around us. It is not the fault of the mirror if it reflects our blemishes as clearly as our beauty" then definitely this book is worth reading isn’t it. The book provides fascinating history of money, markets, banking and is indeed riveting.

Six Disciplines of Execution - Gary Harpst
This book is short, enriching and worth reading. The author provides an excellent guide on managing business growth through strategy and execution. While the book is designed for entrepreneurs and smaller firms to become better at execution, the lessons in the book are equally relevant and applicable for even larger organisations to anyone who wants to think and become an entrepreneur or work like an intrapreneur.

Firms of Endearment (FOE)- Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe, Jagdish Sheth
The book authored by three imminent management thinkers identifies 30 companies which are called Firms of Endearment. The basic premise of the book is that with consumers and employees seeking more in life than simply money, companies need to adopt more meaningful goals than the simple pursuit of profit. These firms treat their employees well and inspire them to be innovative, respond readily to consumer needs and complaints, show interest in their community and maintain high moral standards. The authors have done fabulous research and the book reveals some startling insights into the workings of organisations that are great employers, great corporate citizens and highly successful.

Classics
The Waves - Virginia Woolf
'I am writing to a rhythm and not to a plot', Virginia Woolf stated of her eighth novel, "The Waves". Widely regarded as one of her greatest and most original works, it conveys the rhythms of life in synchrony with the cycle of nature and the passage of time. Six children - Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny and Louis - meet in a garden close to the sea, their voices sounding over the constant echo of the waves that roll back and forth from the shore. The subsequent continuity of these six main characters, as they develop from childhood to maturity and follow different passions and ambitions, is interspersed with interludes from the timeless and unifying chorus of nature. In pure stream-of-consciousness style, Woolf presents a cross-section of multiple yet parallel lives, each marked by the disintegrating force of a mutual tragedy. "The Waves" is her searching exploration of individual and collective identity, and the observations and emotions of life, from the simplicity and surging optimism of youth to the vacancy and despair of middle-age.

Fiction:
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri
I enjoy reading Jhumpa Lahiri and find her book evocative and sensitive. In Unaccustomer Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri presents heart rendering stories of immigrant families that reveals how even the most ordinary lives have their dramas and tragedies.
Very Good Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse

“To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.” - Ben Schott

It's been ages since I picked up a P G Wodehouse and to come across the adventures of the British dilettante Bertram Wilberforce Wooster a.k.a. Bertie Wooster and his wry valet Reginald Jeeves, who is often the cause of his salvation from increasingly entangled social situations is simply ecstatic. I guess everyone’s during their college years must have rummaged Wodehouse books and no matter how many times you read, his writing remains immortal, and keeps you in splits. Very Good Jeeves is a superb book and just like all his 92 books including 11 novels, another literary treasure.

Books on Travel & Adventures:

The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica - Stephen J. Pyne
Stephen Pyne's book on the stark and largely unknown continent combines a geophysical examination of the ice with an inspirational survey of how one of the most alien landscapes of our planet has shaped and affected man's life on earth throughout the centuries. The sheer immensity of the ice sheet is staggering. Its weight is sufficient to deform the globe. This book is an all-encompassing guide to the continent which remains the ultimate symbol of the natural world.

The Middle Passage - V.S. Naipaul

I have enjoyed reading Sir Naipaul’s book and find his writing sharp and thought-provoking.

Naipaul's first work of travel writing is an account of his journey in 1950 from London to his birthplace, the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is both a journey to the familiar and to the strange and Naipaul records it all with immense sensitivity, honesty and clear analysis. He journeys to British Guyana, Surinam, Martinique and Jamaica and forms a provocative and at times piercingly funny study of societies whose common heritage of colonialism and slavery is examined with unique insight.

A Turn in the South - V.S. Naipaul
"A Turn in the South" is a reflective journey by V. S. Naipaul in the late 1980s through the American South. Naipaul writes of his encounters with politicians, rednecks, farmers, writers, ordinary men and women, both black and white, with the insight and originality we expect from one of our best travel writers. Fascinating and poetic, this is a remarkable book on race, culture and country.

India: A Million Mutinies - V.S. Naipaul
V.S. Naipaul's fascinating account of his journey around India approaches this shifting, changing land from a variety of perspectives. Through interviews with people from many different walks of life, he builds an oral history of a country constantly on the move.

Man-eaters of Kumaon - Jim Corbett
This is the best known of Corbett's books, and contains ten fascinating stories of tracking and shooting man-eaters in the Indian Himalaya during the early years of 20th century.

Autobiographies/ Biography / Memoirs:
Along with Biography and Memoirs of cricketers, there were others books, which were far enriching and exciting.

Margaret Thatcher: v.1: The Grocer's Daughter - John Campbell
When Margaret Thatcher unexpectedly emerged to challenge Edward Heath for the Conservative leadership in 1975, the public knew her only as the archetypal Home Counties Tory Lady, more famous for her hats than for any outstanding talent. Yes almost overnight she reinvented herself. Journalists who set out to discover where she came from were amazed to find that she had grown up above a grocer's shop in Grantham. Within weeks of her becoming Tory leader an entirely new image was in place, based around the now famous corner shop beside the Great North Road; the strict Methodist upbringing; and her father, who taught her the 'Victorian values' which were the foundations of her subsequent career.

Being a Scot – Sean Connery
Being a Scot has many beautiful pictures, is well-presented, and is an informative. The book focuses less on Sir Sean, and more on his interests and causes. In its own grindingly literal fashion, Being a Scot will tell you a lot about Scotland. However, there is one enduring mystery the book sheds no light on: if Connery likes the place so much, why doesn't he live there?

Books on Science:

The Sun: A Biography - David Whitehouse
This is a comprehensive biography of the sun, written by David Whitehouse. Since man first became conscious he has sought to understand the nature of the sun; he has worshipped it, been inspired to produce great art about it, researched it and even died for it. Understanding the nature of the sun is key to understanding our universe and to life on earth. The author skilfully weaves his extraordinary scientific knowledge with history, philosophy, archaeology and religion to produce this fascinating account of the life and future of the sun.

Books on Gourmet Delights

The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food and Ritual in Bengal - Chitrita Banerji.
Eversince I read ‘Eating in India’ by Chitrita Banerji, I have started enjoying the delectable Bangla food. Chitrita is a splendid food historian and In ‘The Hour of the Goddess’, she describes her memories of food, its associations with Hindu rituals and the roles of women, contextualized within the broad culinary traditions of Bengal. The book is composed of a collection of short essays, coupled with mouth watering recipes and personal anecdotes.

Music (Biography)
A Secret History - Alastair Taylor
Alastair Taylor was with the Beatles right from the beginning. With this book, he offers his inside view on the band's highs and lows, and reveals exactly what split the band apart.

Read Again:
Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy by Partha Bose. This book is ain interesting and must read for all.
Books by Sunil Gavaskar - Sunny Days, One Day Wonders & Idols

And again this year, I hope to spare some time to read books that are pleadingly looking at me from the shelves. Until then, Have a Great Year Ahead!!