The one-third formula For Your Business – Subhakar Rao

Thoughts on Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid:

Over 5 billion poor at the Bottom of the Pyramid are below the radar screens of most companies. If these 5 billion microconsumers who are at the bottom of the pyramid are mobilized and targeted for your product/solution/service, they would be an engine of great corporate growth across the world for you.

Technology is becoming cheaper. Even the poor now have access to similar technology as the rich and are buying similar equipment like mobile phones, may be with lesser bells and whistles. More people at the bottom of the pyramid are moving up from living under a dollar a day. Democratizing Commerce is going to be the goal ahead for companies that want to reach these 5 billion at the bottom of the pyramid and get rich from the wealth these 5 billion consumers spend.

Thoughts on leadership

Leaders must lead. You can’t lead unless you are future oriented. In reality, leadership is about the future, It is about hope that we create for our team in the future. Leadership eventually is about embracing change. Leaders are like Sheep Dogs, they are always behind pushing the sheep ahead. Just like the sheep dog, leaders can bark but not bite, Don’t lose thegood sheep in your team. Direct them like a sheep dog does in the right direction.

Today, we could be offering a range of marketing outsourcing solutions, but we keep ourselves on the edge asking“Are we making more than a third of revenue via new ways that didn’t exist a couple of years ago?”. The answer keeps guiding us on the Innovation path ahead!!

Thoughts on competitive advantage and core competencies of a firm

Consumers and firms are changing their roles. The power of the consumer and the power of the company is getting re-balanced. Everybody in the company has to create value – 5 billion micro consumers are waiting to buy. In the age of the internet, the source of underlying advantage is technology. Cost of technology is not going to be a limiting factor but our capacity to understand how to use this technology is going to be.

Talent is one of the critical resource for running companies. Capacities to get people from different parts of the world willbe a competitive advantage. Today, talent matters more than we thought. Technology matters more than we thought.

Thoughts on innovation

Very few companies have proven themselves to be adept at inventing new markets and quickly entering emerging markets. Very few are passing this simple innovation test. Curious ofwhat this test is, just ask yourself, “Are we deriving one third of our revenue this year from Products/Solutions/Services that didn’t exist in our offerings couple of years ago?”. If yes, yours is an innovative firm. If not, you have to pace up your innovation and idea engine.

The Champions Group evolved primarily in the marketing outsourcing space in the last decade driving focus on our “marketing data quality” as our “core competency.” Ourgrowth from a small company to over a 1500 people firm has been driven by intense focus on innovation. Today, we could be offering a range of marketing outsourcing solutions, but we keep ourselves on the edge asking “Are we making more thana third of revenue via new ways that didn’t exist a couple of years ago?”. The answer keeps guiding us on the Innovation path ahead!!

An Interview with Subhakar Rao, CEO of Champions Group – Secret Behind Successful Corporate Rewards and Recognition

The Bangalore-based Champions Group’s innovative and robust rewards and recognition mechanism has contributed to negligible attrition, very high performance and rapid growth of the 1,500-employee group. In a chat with Management Next, chairman Subhakar Rao talks about what inspired him, how he manages to run the R&R process effectively with a dash of zest and how the diverse group has benefited immensely.

My mom used to say, “The real pride of a parent is not when their son or daughter is born, but when THEY get recognized in public for their kids’ accomplishments.” I was inspired by these words during my tenth class and went on to top the school, college and then got into business. It dawned on me when she died a couple of years ago that I couldn’t get her to be recognized in public but the least I can do is to carry her wishes forward by recognizing our employees’ parents.

Thus came to life our monthly Champion Parents Awards. The awards have not only brought pride among the parents but also intense commitment to the enterprise. I had a situation where one of our employees, whom we call ‘Champions’showed up at work the very next day after his father died and when I showed concern he said, “My father would expect me to be at work. My dad was ailing badly when we did the Champion Parents Award recognition and he died a very peaceful death a couple of months after that with happy memories.”

We have R&R functions every month at each of the three buildings of our companies. These events not only help us recognize a couple of parents a month, but also help us recognize our top performing employees often (monthly, not once a quarter or year).

You can see more information about Champion Parents awards here.

Success of any vibrant R&R system?

R&R success is about consistent motivation. Just as you take bath everyday, rewards and recognition has to be often to succeed. Today, you can personalize most of the stuff and the value goes through the roof when you do that. The secret behind any R&R success is recognition in public – the outcome is a positively energized workforce that produces far better results. It makes business sense too.

Winning is a good habit. Celebrating in style often is even better.

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Sandeep Dhar is currently CEO at Tesco HSC in Bangalore. He has over 20 years of experience working with leading global organisations and has worked across different verticals from retail banking and IT Consulting to Business Process Management across Asia, Europe and North America. Sandeep has worked with Sapient, as the Managing Director of their India operations, at Mphasis-EDS, ABN AMRO Bank and Citibank.   Most successful business leaders have at least one unusual interest. In Sandeep Dhar’s case, it’s a fascination with Asian religion and philosophy. He was drawn to it while working in many Asian capitals that have rich cultural heritage. To Read Full Article: Login or Register