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Head-hunting: India Inc seeks grey matter: Times of India
Mumbai, June 19: Grey is back in vogue- this time not on the ramp, but in the boardroom. After flirting with 30-something CEOs during the boom years of the late 1990s, India Inc is now looking for mature chief executives who exude stability instead of the flash spin-doctors who were all the rage just two years ago.
Mumbai, June 19: Grey is back in vogue— this time not on the ramp, but in the boardroom. After flirting with 30-something CEOs during the boom years of the late 1990s, India Inc is now looking for mature chief executives who exude stability instead of the flash spin-doctors who were all the rage just two years ago.
"Companies are now looking for older CEOs who have been exposed to the ups and downs of business cycles and are often better at managing people," says leading executive search firm Accord Group (India) Pvt Ltd director Sonal Agrawal.
"This new trend," she adds, "is the result of the economic downturn, which has forced firms to go back to the basics. Companies are now taking a re-look at driving margins, managing processes and retaining people—hence the need for managers with a degree of maturity."
The bulk of these top management ‘boys' are in their forties and even fifties. For instance, Satyam Computers recently hired Electrolux Kelvinator's 50ish CEO Ram Ramasundar to head its business process outsourcing outfit, Nipuna Services.
The new 2003-model CEO, typically aged between 37 and 45 years, is a sharp U-turn for industry, which was leaning towards young turks just a couple of years ago. Recruitment experts point out that markets were then seeing unprecedented growth and corporates thought that younger (and more energetic) managers with a fresh outlook would provide greater value.
Besides, the increasing impact of technology on companies across-the-board had created a demand for CEOs who were more tech-savvy and in sync with developing technologies.
So, if tech skills are no longer the passport to the top slot, what works? Global outsourcing and human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates' managing director, South Asia, Ravi Virmani says, "A CEO has to have an ability to work across borders and across industries. He has to be a generalist but also a financial whiz. These days, you just have to know your numbers."
Former Citibanker Deepak Chandnani, for instance, has been hired to head NCR, a firm that makes ATMs and billing machines in India. Jaspal Bajwa, who is selling drugs for Dr Reddy's as its president in charge of branded formulations instead of coconut oil at Marico.
Accord's Ms Agarwal said that potential CEOs must have five managerial skills apart from strategic intellect. She listed these as the ability to manage complexity and ambiguity, decreasing business cycles and downturns, governance, as well as financial and accounting issues and shareholder relationships.
A much simpler version would be "someone with a strong hand on the rudder rather than an adventurer". All this makes business sense, especially when companies don't have much of an appetite for risk. And, say the HRD gurus, in case you're wondering, grey beards are still optional.
"Companies are now looking for older CEOs who have been exposed to the ups and downs of business cycles and are often better at managing people," says leading executive search firm Accord Group (India) Pvt Ltd director Sonal Agrawal.
"This new trend," she adds, "is the result of the economic downturn, which has forced firms to go back to the basics. Companies are now taking a re-look at driving margins, managing processes and retaining people—hence the need for managers with a degree of maturity."
The bulk of these top management ‘boys' are in their forties and even fifties. For instance, Satyam Computers recently hired Electrolux Kelvinator's 50ish CEO Ram Ramasundar to head its business process outsourcing outfit, Nipuna Services.
The new 2003-model CEO, typically aged between 37 and 45 years, is a sharp U-turn for industry, which was leaning towards young turks just a couple of years ago. Recruitment experts point out that markets were then seeing unprecedented growth and corporates thought that younger (and more energetic) managers with a fresh outlook would provide greater value.
Besides, the increasing impact of technology on companies across-the-board had created a demand for CEOs who were more tech-savvy and in sync with developing technologies.
So, if tech skills are no longer the passport to the top slot, what works? Global outsourcing and human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates' managing director, South Asia, Ravi Virmani says, "A CEO has to have an ability to work across borders and across industries. He has to be a generalist but also a financial whiz. These days, you just have to know your numbers."
Former Citibanker Deepak Chandnani, for instance, has been hired to head NCR, a firm that makes ATMs and billing machines in India. Jaspal Bajwa, who is selling drugs for Dr Reddy's as its president in charge of branded formulations instead of coconut oil at Marico.
Accord's Ms Agarwal said that potential CEOs must have five managerial skills apart from strategic intellect. She listed these as the ability to manage complexity and ambiguity, decreasing business cycles and downturns, governance, as well as financial and accounting issues and shareholder relationships.
A much simpler version would be "someone with a strong hand on the rudder rather than an adventurer". All this makes business sense, especially when companies don't have much of an appetite for risk. And, say the HRD gurus, in case you're wondering, grey beards are still optional.