New Kids on the Blog: CEOs
SETTING A ROADMAP
CEOs take to blogging to
share ideas, shape organisational culture and encourage two-way communication
: Vivek Gambhir, managing director,
Godrej Consumer Products, tries to take time out every Monday to write his
blog, a platform that enables him to engage with employees.
Gambhir's blog, `monday8am', started
out as a series of Monday morning emails to the team at Godrej Consumer
Products, on what could be done differently to become better leaders, better
team players, better family members, better friends and better citizens.
“Through this blog, I now hope to
include many more of our colleagues, partners and friends, in t h e s e c o nve
r s at i o n s, “ s ay s Gambhir, who has been writing regularly since October.
Why the name? “Monday , since it is
the start of the working week and 8 am, so that we can think about these things
before the day catches up with us,“ he says.
Like Gambhir, Vishal Sikka, CEO of
Infosys, Pramit Jhaveri, chief executive officer of Citi India, are among a
growing league of India Inc CEOs for whom social media has changed the way they
communicate. Blogs help them translate leadership vision and a strategic
roadmap for employees or customers.
Gambhir typically writes about
leadership and personal effectiveness. Some of his blogs are practical tips
that employees can use to become more effective as leaders, f while some are
thought pieces.
Some of his recent blogs that were
popular among employees were on leadership as a brand, an analysis of the bell
curve, LGBT and inclusiveness, among others. Sometimes he calls upon someone
from the senior leadership to collaborate with him on his blog. Once Gambhir
collaborated with his wife to write a piece on parenting.
“The idea is to create a forum that
engages people in a conversation about what we need to do differently as a
company... it allows more discussions to happen so people think more about
these issues,“ says Gambhir.
At Infosys, the Leaders Blog
platform hosted on the company's intranet is a popular forum for leadership
connect, where blogs by leaders across the organisation f are published. The
topics covered are varied from recounting experiences at leadership
eventssummits and communicating important changes, to charting the strategy for
business units and leaders use this platform to gain real-time feedback, as
well as build two-way dialogue with readers through comments on the post.
“This platform is utilised by the
CEO (Vishal Sikka) as well, to share his thoughts on organisational strategy,
his experiences at global summits and his learnings,“ said Richard Lobo, head
of employee relations at Infosys.
The blogs form a mode of
communication and engagement in the organisation. They help build feedback
loops, create an environment of trust through open communication, and give wide
publicity to changes that resulted from feedback. In this way, the culture is
built from the top. In certain cases where the feedback or comments from
employees contains space for deeper engagement, it is also picked up by
relevant teams for action.
To encourage deeper engagement,
Gambhir sometimes invites people to co-author posts with him. Karan Sood,
deputy general manager, business development, A f r i c a , G C P L , s ay s i
t w a s Gambhir's backing which prompted him to opt out of a linear FMCG sales
career and move to a business development role in the Africa business.
So, when Gambhir started his
Monday-8am blog and invited people to write with him, Sood lapped up the
opportunity to share his learning and a number of other em ployees reached out
to him to share their ca reer decisions.
“I enjoy read ing Vivek's blog
because he uses it as a forum to discuss issues pertinent to both work and
life, rather than as a platform from where a senior leader doles out advice,“
says Apurva Joshi, manager, innovation, GCPL.
Joshi recalls an instance when she
was invited to coauthor a post with him called `Thriving as a woman in sales'.
The aim was to spark a debate within the company about women entering fields
considered to be a male domain and how Godrej can support and groom them.
“Having my voice backed by Vivek reaffirmed my faith in the Godrej philosophy
of `Bedhadak Bolo',“ says Joshi.
Jhaveri of Citi India, who enjoys
writing, started writing a blog to reach out to the various stakeholders who
are active on social media in large numbers. The blog is posted bi-monthly on
Citibank's website.
“I believe this is a powerful way
for us to not only reach a large and diverse group of people, but also to get
thoughts and feedback from them on each of these topics,“ says Jhaveri.
The blog not only serves as a
channel to engage with employees, but it also enables the leadership to reach
out to customers and business partners.
“We have used these blogs not only
to communicate specific messages about our business and our industry, but also
to build awareness of our brand, our culture and contribution to society,“ he
says, adding “We now think we can use this communication channel to test ideas
and practices.“ Jhaveri looks forward to writing more on various subjects that
showcase the strength and diversity of their franchise and their focus on
talent and innovation.
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Rica Bhattacharyya
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Mumbai:
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ET17JUL15
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