The second day of India Retail Forum 2010 began with a discussion on “The Positive Leadership Approach” for the retail industry in India.
The session was chaired by Dr Utho Creusen, non-executive director and chairman, M.video, Russia, and non-executive director, DSG International Plc, UK chaired the session.
Dr Bernd Hallier, MD, EHI Retail Institute, and president, European Retail Academy, Germany, anchored the session. The panelists included Sanjay Jog, head HR, Future Group; K A Narayan, president, HR, Raymond; B Venkataramana, chief people officer, Landmark Group India; Ahtesham Siddiqui, VP, HR, Mahindra Retail; Meera Harish, head – learning and development, Titan Industries; Bijay Sahoo, chief people officer, Reliance Retail; and Nihar Ranjan Ghosh, senior vice-president – HR, RPG Retail.
Dr Utho said, “Modern retailers should recognise the talents of their employees in order to analyse the outcome in terms of their chance to become future leaders. To achieve this, it is important to share the company’s vision and philosophy with the employees as it gives them a clear perspective and helps them to contribute to the company’s growth.”
He stressed that retailers should focus on the strengths of their employees, and not on weaknesses. “There is more room to work with strengths of a person as compared to the weaknesses,” he added.
Meera Harish said it is important to work with the attitude of your employees. “We don’t believe in conventional training for employees working in our stores. A good retailer must establish a positive emotional relationship with its employees,” she said.
Siddiqqui said, “We hire a good number of people and try to develop the employees’ inherent characteristics. It helps to convert them into entrepreneurs, instead of remaining just a store manager or floor manager.”
– IndiaRetailing Bureau
