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Sriram Srinivasan

Companies have to balance the dynamics between brilliant newcomers and old, experienced hands.

"Being a management trainee puts you in a different league compared to your colleagues in the sales team_ they all knew that one day I could even become the MD and, more importantly, in the near future, would lord it over them as area sales manager or regional sales manager or all-India sales manager."

Advertising veteran Sandeep Goyal's initial corporate years, recorded in his book The Dum Dum Bullet, aren't vastly different from what many youngsters, armed with degrees from premier B-schools, experience at the start of their careers.

About 15 years ago, Radesh Rangarajan, an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, joined Royal Enfield, which had recently allied with the Eicher group. He took little time to head a team that had people double his age. A handful of companies, particularly in the FMCG sphere, had decades ago realised that experience alone (read `seniority') isn't good enough to rise up the corporate ladder. Yet, in India, it's in the culture to link seniority with age, says Alagar Ravindranath, COO of Envision. < P> So, situations such as the one angarajan found himself in are still a challenge for companies _ forming, what he terms, the most important issue in the relationship between relative newcomers and experienced staff. As Goyal says in his book: "Sometimes, they (the colleagues) resented your destiny. Sometimes, they envied you your fast-track college degree that ensured you a brighter future." But he managed to "break a few barriers by being accessible and friendly."

Rangarajan similarly got the support of his team when he treated them as friends and "not by bossing around." The immediate boss has a big role to play in avoiding frictions in such situations, which have the potential to de-motivate staff, says Rangarajan, who now runs Mindspace Consulting Services.

The other side of the story, he says, is that some newcomers from the big B-schools at times get an unfair advantage over more experienced people, who may lack the academic credentials. However, "HR managers play it safe by recruiting from big institutes." Newcomers, both companies and employees, were given extra premium during the dotcom boom; now there's more respect for experience that is meaningful, says Chandu Nair, President & Director, Scope e-Knowledge Center. Although Scope has employees with 10-12 years of experience reporting to relative newcomers, Nair says experience is invaluable in certain areas: resource management, handling large teams, money and conflict to name a few _ roles which require soft skills as well as years of relationship building.

In his organisation, the roles and career progression of employees are clear.

And regular assessments tell them where they stand, and what skills they need to add on. Scope offers on-thejob training. Nair reckons it is vital for companies to be transparent about how they handle employees. Also, "knowledge companies have a more open culture, and employees accept their roles."

Ultimately, he says, it all boils down to performance. Businesses in advanced countries have recognised this for years, says Envision's Ravindranath.

In India too, this is picking up, with the New Economy companies taking the lead. He says companies should train people regularly to ensure they don't lag behind well-qualified younger colleagues. This becomes an issue especially when one is 40-45 years old, is being paid well, and finds the job market considerably diminishing at that stage. Such people would either stagnate if not get fired, he says.

Kores, which for long has been known as the "carbon paper company," believes experienced staff and newcomers, with their respective career outlook and abilities, must man different jobs. Old-timers at the company, says Kores' Zonal Manager E.R. Raghunathan, are committed while the younger employees love challenges and competition though they may not stay for long.

Kores' experienced hands deal with the top wholesale dealers who have partnered the company for many years. "There have been instances where these dealers have even sacrificed a share of their margins to help us get orders", he says. Kores reckons only the experienced staff will understand the value of such a relationship.

Newcomers, on the other hand, will man its new businesses such as glue sticks, notebooks, writing instruments and penholders. The older staff, Raghunathan adds, seem less inclined to take up the task of building new business. Kores thus hopes the newcomers will deliver as the company shifts focus from the declining market for carbon papers and duplicating stencils, to newer office products.

Picture by Shaju John

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