the age of...complexity and difficulty to intrapreneurial employees on their projects. companies can...

Abhijit A Hardika

Acompany goes from good togreat when ordinaryemployees start doing

extraordinary things. What isextraordinary? Most organisationsfail to recognise the power ofintrapreneurship and intrapreneur-ial employees within. Organisa-tions should look at intrapreneur-ship as the discipline of creatingnew enterprise within the organi-sation by deliberately formingconstraints and conditions whileempowering the individual orselect group of individuals to revi-talise the organisation and con-nect/re-engage with the market.

FOLLOWING ARE A FEWNUANCES TO PROMOTE ANINTRAPRENEURIAL CULTURE:

1.Create a platform for inno-vation and creativity: Cre-

ate, promote and market avenuesfor employees to participate.Encourage employees to takeleads, initiatives and acknowledgetheir ideas;

2.Executive buy-in: Changerequires sponsors, champions

that can come from senior man-agement / leadership buy-in. Icons,success stories internal to theorganisation with whom employ-

ees can relate with have a largerimpact than external examples;

3.Empowerment: Once identi-fied, intrapreneurs need to be

empowered to take decisions andrisks. Have intrapreneurs managetheir business and make decisionswithin the context of the system asa whole;

4.Channelise for businessneeds: Identify key corporate

projects and align projects, whichare of importance across theorganisation that can bring in tangi-ble business and are also widelyvisible across boundaries;

5.Mentoring and coaching:While such projects or pro-

grammes are run, it is important toassign a mentor and coach to thebudding intrapreneurial employeesor managers;

6.Learning from lessons: Fail-ures should be treated as

stepping stones. Most importantly,failures should be tolerated andencouraged to start with; however,within the boundaries laid by theorganisation. Failures bring intremendous maturity, learningsand a sense of responsibility to dobetter. Intrapreneurs should beguided and coached during suchtimes and a positive side of failure,i.e. an opportunity to improveshould be demonstrated;

7.Shorten the “yes” chain: Thebiggest challenge today in the

corporate world, is to navigate suc-cessfully through the maze of hier-archy and decision-making to getto the ultimate power of approval.With growth comes a large organi-sational hierarchy bringing in morecomplexity and difficulty tointrapreneurial employees on theirprojects. Companies can do betterby circumventing “yes” chains;

8.Acknowledge, celebrate andreward: Recognition and

reward will act as significant affir-mations for the intrapreneurs andprovide them with reasons to stay,continue to add value and growtheir contributions in the future.

While companies foster intrapre-neurship, it is equally important foran intrapreneurial employee to

understand what does not consti-tute intrapreneurship: >> Intrapreneurs do not sign up forunlimited risks. They do take risksmore than an average employeebut lesser than the CEOhimself/herself;>> Intrapreneurs are not the soledecision-makers like entrepre-neurs. They do have autonomy, butto a limit, beyond which they seekpermission from the sponsors andthe stakeholders;>> Unlimited resource availability:Empowerment comes withresponsibility and accountability.Intrapreneurs do have funds andresources but those are availableonly with projecting and asking;>> Cultural drive: Intrapreneurscan facilitate cultural change butthey are not decision-makers. Theywork in alignment with the compa-ny’s culture and fight bureaucracy ifexists;>> Intrapreneurs have a boss:Unlike entrepreneurs who are theirown bosses, intrapreneurs are nottheir own bosses. They areaccountable to the organisation,and are governed by amanager/sponsor.

- The author is head, program management

function,Quest Global

Ankita.Shreeram@timesgroup.com

WHAT ARE THE KEYLEARNINGS FORINDIA INC FROM2014?The launch of severalinitiatives by the new

Government, changing sentimentsaround corruption and an intenseregulatory push made 2014 awatershed year for India. CorporateIndia seemingly followed suit, prop-agating good governance but at thesame time, struggling to stay com-pliant. The general disposition ofindustry leaders points toward

increased awareness around risksrelated fraud, bribery and corrup-tion; but there is still immenseground to cover.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BETHE MAJOR SUBJECT FOR COR-PORATE DISCOURSE IN 2015?For this first time in 18 years, India

fared better as compared to Chinain the ‘Corruption Perception Index’by Transparency International. Mov-ing up by 10 places, it stands at 85in the 2014 rankings, which is amarked improvement in percep-tion. In the coming year, the gov-ernment’s propaganda toward driv-ing transparency within corporate

India throughpending anti-corruption billswill see prece-dence.

ISN’T THERE AN ADDED EMPHA-SIS THIS YEAR ON CORPORATEINDIA TO OVERPOWER ETHICALDILEMMAS?The introduction of several regula-tory changes such as the Compa-nies Act 2013, revised SEBI guide-lines; Lokpal Bill have demonstrat-ed the government’s commitmentto weave a more ethical businessfabric. These changes, which canbe attributed to a more globalisedenvironment, have been strategi-cally outlined for enhancing thestate of corporate governance.Throughout the last year, organisa-tions have been inducted into thenew norms and made efforts toimbibe sound governance prac-tices in their corporate DNA.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES, BANGALORE, TUESDAY 13 JANUARY 2015 Advertorial and Promotional Feature

>>

pg 8

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Proposed amendments inPF and their possible impact

K VARADAN

Keeping in mind thechanged economic sce-

nario, employment patternsand the social security needsof the employees in theorganised sector, the Ministryof Labour and Employment,Government of India is con-templating certain amend-ments to the existing provi-sions of the Employee’s Prov-ident Fund and Miscella-neous Provisions Act, 1952.

It is proposed to make theAct applicable to every estab-lishment in which ten ormore persons are employed.The term ‘establishment’ isalso exclusively defined toinclude factories and otherestablishments. If these pro-posals are through, thedetermination of the applica-bility of the Act would becomparatively easy for theemployers. This move wouldbring a substantial number ofmembers and establish-ments additionally under thepurview of the Act.

The nomenclature of theterm ‘basic wages’ is pro-posed to be changed to‘wages’ and the new term isexpected to carry almost thesame definition as given inthe ESI Act. On one side, thismove would add to thefinancial burden, despite hav-ing a ceiling of Rs 15000 pm.On the other side, this couldclear the air as this wouldinclude allowances.

The definition for theterm ‘employee’ is also pro-posed to be amended tomean any person who isemployed by the establish-ment interms of con-tract ofemployment,whether writ-ten or oraland whetherexpressed orimplied, towork for anestablish-ment andincludes

employees employedthrough any other establish-ment or contractor in or inconnection with the work ofthe establishment. The newdefinition, besides the directemployees and the contractworkers, includes ‘employeesemployed through any otherestablishment’. The scope ofthis phrase appears to bevery wide and this could addto the complication particu-larly when the employers arevoicing to exclude even theworkers of the contractorswho themselves are legalentities.

The proposal that no orderunder Sec 7A shall be passedby an officer in respect of aperiod beyond five yearsfrom the date the contribu-tion becomes payable indi-rectly suggests the employersto preserve the records onlyfor five years. Definitions for afew terms like contractor,establishment, wage ceilingand voluntary contribution inaddition to the existing termsand increase in the quantumof penalty are also in the off-ing.

The Central Governmenthas recently taken some ini-tiatives to introduce unifiedportal and rationalise inspec-tion. At the same time, it ishoped, these steps, amongother objectives, would bringdown the burden of theemployers in terms of com-pliance.

- The author is COO, facto-ry compliance,

consultation and audit,Aparajitha Corporate Ser-

vices Limited

IMAG

ESB

AZA

AR

IMAG

ESB

AZA

AR

THE AGE OFINTRAPRENEURSHIP

Want to create an entrepreneurial culture within theorganisation in 2015? You can do so by promoting an intrapreneurial culture

“For the first time in 18 years, India fared better as com-pared to China in the ‘Corruption Perception Index’”ARPINDER SINGH, partner and national leader, fraud investigation and dispute services, EY India on the year gone by and the year ahead