Riding the wave into a digital world

One of the most important measures of success of an innovation is in its adoption. This transition happens, when the consumer need not understand how the technology behind the innovation functions but can still use it effortlessly.  Take for instance the internet and how it has seamlessly integrated with our lives. This is probably the single most influential technological innovation that has re shaped the world in the last 30 years or so. But how many of us really know what happens behind the screen, after we click the send button.

Internet Protocol (IP) is the method by which data is transferred from one computer to another on the internet. So every computer and device needs to have an IP address to be able to function in the internet. Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) which is widely used today allows for 4.3 billion IP addresses. That’s a lot of addresses. Or is it?

Smart phones, tablets, social media combined with a growing population of younger generation started turning the world digital. Once again, it is not just these innovations but the ease of adoption that is doing the trick.  There is nothing that can stop this juggernaut. Or so we thought.

Today there are close to 7 billion humans in this planet and over 5.5 billion devices that can potentially be connected to each other. But then there is a small problem of demand and supply. We didn’t have enough IP addresses to make this happen. (Only 4.3 billion addresses). The projected rate of growth in the devices meant we had to do something quick. Real quick.

In came the upgraded version IPv6. This was the elixir to solve the conundrum that the digital world was facing. Without getting too technical, IPv6 can support 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses. Yes you heard it right. To give you a perspective of the scale, if all the addresses of IPV4 could be fitted in a 1.6 inch square box then all the addresses of IPv6 requires a space equivalent to our entire solar system. In other words, even if we assign a billion IP address per second for 4.5 billion years (the age of earth) we would have consumed only a trillion addresses.

This mind boggling advent happened 2 years back. Thanks to IPV6, we can now connect an astronomical number of devices to each other and to the internet. Brace yourself to the ‘Third Wave’ of technology innovation called the ‘Internet of Things’. The use case of IoT is limitless. The world as we know it, is expected to change from here on.

Newer technologies will emerge tomorrow.  Internet of Things will enable the world to go beyond Nokia’s tag line of ‘Connecting People’. Along with people we would be able to connect to anything, anywhere and anytime. All these connected devices will churn out data so huge that we might come up with something bigger than big data analytics.  Data security compromise would be a real threat and of course answers to those fears will also be found.

Consumers will not fear the technology that they don’t understand. But will embrace the one that can seamlessly become a part of their life and help them too.

Technology service providers are naturally excited at the prospects and opportunities but their success will depend on how well they play their new role as digital transformation partners.

 We rode the first 2 waves successfully and have reached where we are. There is no reason why we won’t enjoy riding this third wave that would take us in to a near complete digital world.   

Finding the Perfect Candidate

I have read many articles giving valuable tips on how to hire the right candidate and not let them ‘drop out’. In spite of all these useful guidelines this has been one of the biggest pain points in the IT industry, in India. Candidates change their mind before, during or after the interviews. If this is not frustrating enough some quit few days after joining. Every time a candidate changes his mind and deviates from the script, all hell break loose but in a stereo typical set pattern. First, the candidate is painted as a villain and usually relegated to the bottom of the food chain with everyone blaming him / her. As a next step, a poor recruiter and the company he / she represents is then taken to cleaners by the client coordinators who themselves would have been taken to task by their delivery team or worse still, their client.  If you are part of the great Indian rat race, chances are, you would have witnessed this drama almost every day. With some luck, is a part of this drama too. Welcome to the Indian IT Staffing business.

A sales person (account manager), hates this drama because he/she is invariably sucked into it, to play the most confused of all characters. A villain in the client’s eye, a Savior in the recruiter’s eye but in reality a hapless comedian who gets beat up by everyone. The finger of God (client) along with all His wrath and fury is pointed at this clueless character, who will not understand for a while as to why is he being mauled. After he has endured enough suffering he tries to vent his own fury on his colleagues, the recruiters. Poor guy does not realize, that they are not as clueless as he was but more than prepared with their side of the story. Add the seething anger that they already are in for having lost their incentive, our account manager realizes it is futile to stay angry.

Having been the reluctant protagonist in many of these dramas, I have decided to write my own script. A neutral perspective, if I can call it. Is this mayhem caused because we try to solve the symptom without understanding the cause? Can the cause be limited, if not removed completely? Will the Gods accept part of the blame too, as they might be the cause and not the victim that we are made to believe every day? Let us look at some of the factors that influence the outcome of hiring

Pumpkins for Apples

A Job ‘Spec’ is a fundamental guide for searching the perfect candidate. How often have we seen it change during the course of a hiring process? If only this was reviewed before publishing, every stake holder could have saved so much time during this process. If nothing, the recruiter might not be presenting pumpkins when the requirement is for an apple. If you want apples, just say so. Also be ready to pay for it and not for a pumpkin.

Humans are not Products

The interviewer should realize that we are not dealing with ‘products’ that would match the specification almost perfectly. How often do we see candidates from tier 1 companies rejected by clients with a note, “He could not even answer the basics”? In their quest to get the ultimate super hero, they tend to look for a fully finished product with un realistic limits of tolerance be it in technology skills, attitude, communication and everything else. (A bill Gates who could speak like Shakespeare. Let me not bring in the cost dynamics and time to deployment, to add to this complexity). We are dealing with humans who could scale up to the job role, even if they don’t match 100% today. Most clients screen a candidate over 3 rounds of interview giving more reasons and time for a candidate to judge the client or change his mind. Are we not confident about the ability of our own interviewers that we have to re validate several times? Again, we will be better served to think of a candidate as a human with changing emotions, options, dynamics etc as opposed to a product matching the ‘Spec’

Who is judging who

While we believe that the interviewer is judging the interviewee for various aspects of fitment, we conveniently fail to understand a simple truth – An Interview is a two way street. While the client is busy judging the candidate, the candidate is busy judging the client, the role, the quality of interview conducted, the quality of interaction etc. Not to mention the other known and spoken about aspects like salary and designations. They are just the right reasons, but then certainly not the real reasons influencing a candidate’s decision. How often has a vendor partner called a client for reviewing the number of drop outs and analyzing their mistakes? Un thinkable, as it may sound, maybe some part of the answer to this bane might surface through such discussions. Will the God’s let them be judged?

The New God’s

The changing IT landscape in India, the changing business dynamics and various other factors that influence the employability of a candidate have created a deadly twin effect - Clients who have limited budget and time to hire a special talent – A landscape of limited availability of such special talent. When you combine this with the changing dynamics of human personality amongst today’s younger lot, we are left with a select few who are high on confidence, attitude, backed by the awareness of demand for their skill. This has probably led them to believe that they are the new God’s. Judge them as you like, but be prepared to be judged by them as well.

The Recruiters

It is undoubtedly one of the most thankless jobs. They are noticed only when they fail. They probably deal with more uncertainties and elements that are far beyond their control than most others do. However, being the first ambassador of a company talking to a potential candidate, they play a vital role in creating a right first impression. More often than not, we don’t get a second chance to make the first impression. A miscommunication at this point can have a lasting impact on a candidate which can lead to the potential ‘drop out’. 

There is no elixir to overcome the challenges of finding the right candidate or eliminating the bane of ‘drop out’. All stake holders need to put their hand up and take that step forward to reduce, if not eliminate this bane. Are you ready to take the first step?