Travel to India with caution

India is a beautiful country and it is relatively inexpensive to travel here. But there are challenges and you have to be careful about quite a few things. Most people will tell you to be careful with water and food, about being cheated and misguided, but very few will tell you to be careful about the air you breathe. Many other authors have written about a lot of stuff so let me tell you about the quality of air. The Indian government has legislated many laws which cover virtually everything under the sun. Regarding air quality in the capital New Delhi, even smoking in public places is not allowed. If you travel to the Delhi, and are staying in one of the more expensive hotels where you keep the windows closed, there is less of a problem. However in inexpensive hotels and when outdoors, you are at great risk of catching something from the bad quality of air.

There is no risk from vehicular pollution or at least the vehicles meet the most stringent emission norms. It is not the citizens but government departments who are responsible for a lot of pollution that can give you a breathing problem, especially of you already have a slightly weakened respiratory system. Delhi is very beautiful with many parks, forests and gardens. However, these also pose a threat. The weather in Delhi is such that we have a fall like condition virtually thru the year. During winter months (November, December, January, February), trees shed leaves because it is too cold. Even when temperatures start to rise in March, April and May trees keep shedding leaves in very large quantity and new fresh leaves start to grow. By the time it is June the temperatures become very high and the shedding of leaves starts once again and. I the months of July, August and September we have the monsoon when the trees do not shed leaves as much but the growth of grass becomes rapid. We have vast areas covered with grass which is under municipal control, including some other agencies. However, all these agencies are under the control of bureaucrats or politicians, who are not accountable for anything that happens, nor are they interested in doing the right thing even if matters are brought to their notice. As a result, large quantities of grass are cut all over the capital. All the fallen leaves and large quantities of grass that is cut and collected is, mostly disposed of by burning, creating large scale pollution and health problems for the residents and anyone travelling to the city, thru the year.

So when you travel to New Delhi, India, you need to be very careful not just about getting duped or catching a stomach flu or diarrhea, but also about getting a lung infection or breathing problems.

I am myself a resident of New Delhi and have been suffering; I believe I suffer from Chronic Fatigue (CFS) induced by this pollution. Bringing it to the notice of virtually all persons in authority including the Chief Minister, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, has fallen on deaf ears. If you are concerned about this type of pollution that can easily be controlled by government action please write to the Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs Sheila Dikshit at the following address:

 

 

 

How to write a great resume

There is a big debate whether resume should be spelt resume or résumé. Resume would mean to restart whereas résumé means a CV or Bio data. For the purpose I will use the spelling “resume” and not “résumé”.

A resume is the first impression you makes on the employer. The hiring process has, of late, become highly analytical and complex. A resume is the first point of contact of any organization with the prospective employee. The “personality” of your resume will determine whether you are even put in the first short list.  Therefore, one must consider getting help and having a resume professionally written and designed. The best resume is no longer a luxury, but is a necessity and a good investment.

In today’s fast paced environment no employer has the time to read through long essays detailing in extensive prose. The need today is to be to the point, crisp and precise. A resume should be designed to make the reader want to read more. Furthermore, a resume should be customized for each job that you apply for; highlighting the skills and achievements you have for that particular job. Thus, getting professional help for making good every opportunity cannot be less emphasized.

Most people write a resume as if its purpose was to land a job. The objective of your resume is to land an interview and the interview will land you the job. Backup your qualities and strengths with real life experiences. Don’t just make lists of “hard worker”, “problem solver”, “disciplined”, but back them up with real examples. Use the right keywords. Most companies are accessing online databases, even smaller ones. The HR departments will be running queries based on specific keywords. So even if you are the best person for the job and you don’t have the keywords in your resume, you will be overlooked. Try to guess the keywords and incorporate them in your resume.

Use effective titles. Employers will take less than 5 seconds to decide on your resume, so choose grabbing titles. Proofread your finalized résumé a couple of times. It would be difficult to stress enough, the importance of proofreading. Read it every time, before sending it out. No employer has the time to read long descriptive paragraphs, so be precise and use bullet points. It is a good idea to let your employer know; where you are going and how you want to get there. The overall theme of the résumé should revolve around this. Put the information in the order of importance, like starting with your recent job first. If you’ve had a long career it is best to restrict yourself to the past 10 years. Always talk about your achievements rather than your responsibilities. Try different versions of your resume, be creative and see which approach works best, for you.

Organizational strategy and human resource development

Businesses are investing heavily in development of Human Capital. It has become imperative for businesses small and big, to keep abreast with technological advances and have an effective Human Resource Development strategy. The challenge is to identify, design and implement effective Human capital development strategies and then to retain trained personnel. As a Human capital development expert it requires a great understanding of processes involved in effective development of the workforce at every level. The HRD strategies need to be worked out such that they are win-win situations for the workforce and the organization. As a Human Resource Development strategist great care needs to be taken to sync the changing personal and professional goals of the workforce with that of the organization. Businesses need to pay special attention to the development of the workforce to attain sustainability and a competitive advantage.

The four stage framework for Human Resource Development is; Need Assessment, Program design, Program implementation and Evaluation. This should address training and development needs of the employee, career development needs and lasting organizational development needs. Any organization would require an ongoing process of reevaluation and reinventing itself to sustain in a globalized and competitive environment.  Here is how the four stages would work in a generic sense. Need assessment would include the process of assessing needs and then prioritizing them. The design stage would include, defining objectives, develop lesson plans, develop and /or acquire training material, select leaders or trainers, select methods of implementation and finally schedule and implement the program. Stage three is implementation of the intervention. At this stage you may want to loop back to reassessing the success and needs redesigning the program and implementing the improvements. Finally the program would go through an evaluation process. The evaluation process would ideally include a selection of the evaluation criteria, the conduction of the process of evaluation and finally to interpret the results. The evaluation of the results would become an important input to the reassessment of following programs. 

Let us look at the case of the airline industry in the country, which has changed significantly in the recent past. With the advent of newer, larger, safer and more sophisticated aircraft like the Airbus A380 there is need to realign the operations and training of the pilots, crew and the ground staff with the way operations have changed due to larger capacity of the aircraft. The airlines need to take all necessary steps to prepare themselves in alignment with the newer more sophisticated technology at reduced costs and providing a better experience to every guest. We could apply the four stage framework in this context.

The airlines can very well assess the needs of training the pilots, crew and the ground staff in line with the changed needs of the operations at every level. The pilots need to be trained in line with the more sophisticated instrumentation and handling of the larger technologically different aircraft. The crew and ground staff need to be trained to handle more number of fliers and more baggage in every flight. The needs in this case will have to be assessed for each subgroup of the workforce. The needs and training of the pilots will be different from that of the crew where the needs and requirements will be different from that of the ground staff.

Once the needs of each group and sub-group are assessed, they need to be prioritized. At the design stage the objectives of each training category would have to be set, training material created and trainers identifies and a suitable mode of delivery would need to be identified. The training of pilots may require for instance the use of simulators, classroom training and web based training. The training needs for the flight crew would require mockups of the aircraft, along with classroom training and would be different and unique from the training of the ground staff. Finally detailed schedule of implementation would be drawn to carry out the programs.

Once the schedule of implementation is in place the programs would be implemented. It would be imperative at this stage to assess that the objectives of the training are being met and if required the programs should be reworked to keep them in line with the objectives of the airline’s needs and strategy. For instance if the training has been designed on an older version of the aircraft and the design from the pilots’ or crew has now changed suitable changes to say the simulator design or the aircraft mockups would need to be carried out to keep the training in line with the changed environment.

While the training programs have been implemented the evaluation stage needs to begin. We can never ignore the evaluation process with proper systems of feedback in place from the trainers and trainees, to make sure that the objectives are being met. The evaluation stage is important for assessing that the training is progressing in line with the objectives of the management. Until the process has stabilized there is need for evaluation, reassessment and redesigning or “tweaking” the program to better meet the needs of the organization. Therefore it becomes an ongoing loop from evaluation going back to assessment, design, implementation and evaluation. This becomes even more important where there is fierce competition and success depends on perceptions of professionalism among other things.

Such processes prepare the organization and the workforce to better face the challenges of the fast changing business environment; there are a few challenges however, both internal and external. In the airline industry as in many other, attrition is a big challenge. This causes leakages of skilled resources. On the other hand the need for training is very high due to the rapidly changing technological environment, to maintain a competitive edge. Thus it is imperative to keep in mind the Rate of Return, when devising any training budget. In the airline industry the Rate of Return is greatly reduced due to the high employee turnover. Thus it is equally important to implement an employee retention program to reduce employee turnover. Remuneration and fringe benefits play an important role in employee retention, in the airline industry. The strategy of employee retention and controlling attrition would largely depend on the industry.

Android Gear

Android Wear the operating system designed by Google was announced in the middle of March 2014 and the developer preview was releases the same day. Android wear has been designed for smart watches and wearables for pairing with Android version 4.3 and higher and to be used standalone. It allows integration with Google Now functionality and mobile notifications in a wearable format. The Operating system is Google play store ready and allows app download and enables a host of other functionality to be integrated into a small wearable.

During the summer of 2014, Motorola Moto 360, Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch based on the Android Wear have already been launched in the watch / wearable space.  More products from HTC and Asus are expected soon. All wearables come with state of the art functionality, integrating seamlessly with Android based smartphones running versions 4.3 or higher.

Android wear is the next big thing after the pebble. The wearable is synced to a phone via Bluetooth. It has a host of customizable watch faces. It has a number of standalone features which are mostly voice activated since it is a small device. You can voice in notes, reminders, send emails and text. You can maintain a “to do” list and it has the Google calendar, and a navigator, you can set a timer and alarm, and you can also install third party apps. There are a few third party apps available on Google play which can be installed and used on this device.

Google has released the new Software Development Kit (SDK) for wear which allows third party apps to be developed to run directly on the wearable. Android apps may not be full-blown apps but experiences beyond simple notifications have opened up with apps running directly on the wearable.

Current Trends in Universal Design

The popularity of the universal design concept is rising constantly among interior designers, re-modellers, builders, and homeowners. The concept is all about making products, spaces, and aesthetics that support the lifestyle, activities, and circumstances of people they are being designed for. It is also about being both functional and visually appealing for people of all ages. An increasing number of homeowners now appreciate the aging-in-place concept. 

Here are the top trends in universal design:

·         Homeowners are interested in ways to create a level entry, with a focus on more open plans with clear floor space that makes maneuvering easier. Today, more and more people seem to be appreciative of intelligent design that improves accessibility and ease of use. 

·          Now, many universal design products are designed as smart for everyone alike, including seniors, kids, and those with limited mobility. More importance is being laid on products that benefits are designed to make tasks simpler for people of all ages. This eliminates the need for changes later. People are losing interest in wall cabinets, while preferring storage alternatives within easy reach.

·         Homeowners seem more interested in plans that include a master suite on the main floor, unlike the traditional two-story concept.

·         Home appliance manufacturers seem to have shifted to designing products that are safe, convenient, and comfortable to use, without sacrificing beauty.

·         One of the most popular trends in universal design is making the bathroom, from shower to lighting, a safe place for all. In keeping with the trend, manufacturers are coming up with both functional and appealing bathroom furnishing and fixtures, countertops, and designs that provide homeowners more options and flexibility to enhance their experience. There are bathroom designs that permit easy accessibility for both foot and wheelchair traffic. Grab bars have become quite a hit with homeowners today, as they coordinate well with faucets and fixtures while also doubling as functional and decorative pieces.

·         Night lighting concept in the bathroom seems to have wooed homeowners of all ages, helping anyone getting up in the middle of the night to easily navigate without assistance. Homeowners are requesting bathroom designs that include a seating option to perform some of the tasks at hand.

·         Another universal design trend is the use of smart design in the kitchen to open space, make it safe and easily accessible for users of all ages. Today, the advent of technology and innovation in the home design industry has resulted in appliances, lighting, equipment, and accessories that are easy to use and more intuitive for users. Larger appliances seem to have shifted to drawer spaces in the kitchen, seamlessly blending into the cabinetry. As a result, appliances, such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, and dishwashers, are easier to access for users.

·         Another trend in universal design is to leave some space under countertops around the cooking area or sink for easy seated access and flexibility. Some manufacturers are coming up with adjustable height countertops for use by people of all ages and heights. Roll-out drawers and shelves are increasingly becoming a popular choice in kitchens, making it easier to reach items stored in lower cabinets.

There are plenty more universal design options available. As a designer, you must take into account the critical parameters of the client space, preferences, and budget to stay in line with the universal design trend and provide them with beautiful, efficient spaces that are not only beautiful and convenient, but also functional and safe to use.