'Prepare for change or perish in pain.'

HYDERABAD: "Prepare for change or perish in pain," was the statement made by K Subramainan, President and CEO of Covansys India in his inaugural address of the fifth Asia SEPG conference being held in Hyderabad. "Although people are referred to as assets in the IT industy, they are treated more as expenses in the current economic scenario. This should change and people should be treated as assets and that's when we would witness the change in the processes that are being implemented in the company. The processes that are being implemented in the organization should also revolve around people, after all they will be the ones driving it in the future and make it successful," he added.

He also noted that while both manufacturing and services are man-power intensive industries, the manufacturing sector has mastered the art of making people effectively use tools. However the services sector has failed to effectively use people. "We are yet to master the art of effectively using people. Drivers and rewards would take the employee forward, although monetary rewards will only take him that extra mile and not all the way," said the Chief of Covansys.

People management and selection process decides the future of the company, according to him. While people management becomes the driving factor the selection process becomes the foundation of the growth. Selection process doesn't end at only selecting the right skill but also ensure the mindset of the employee and ways of retaining the right skillset and guide them to excellence.

"A lot of companies are taking to people management more seriously, thanks to the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Melon introduction of People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM). Each of the five levels show the maturity level of the company in the people management process. It also identifies the room for improvement in managing the employees. This should elevate people management in organization to a great extent," added Subramanian.

Despite having best practices and processes in place, change management becomes very critical while trying to succeed in business. The key to success in business are the people. So organisations should be prepared for changes and manage the change well or else it would become a difficult task for the business to go forward. So comes the note from the speaker, `Prepare for change or perish in pain.'

(CNS)