Date:16/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/16/stories/2007021606750100.htm

Back CXOs prepare to wear new hats...

Anjali Prayag

SHORTAGE AT THE TOP

Some instances:
Mr Mohandas Pai, Infosys CFO once, moved to HR head role
Mr Milind Sarwate, Marico CFO is now chief of HR and Strategy
Mr Saumen Chakraborty, Dr Reddy's HR chief moved to CFO role

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Bangalore Feb. 15 "Which hat will I wear tomorrow?" CXOs in India Inc are now preparing to change their roles in a jiffy, and without much fuss or ado. Talent-starved at the top rung — shortage estimated at around 1,000 CXOs (a generic term for senior managers such as CFOs, COOs and CTOs) — corporate India is now battling the phenomenon with a two-pronged approach: Role fungibility and talent hoarding. The IT sector's famous `bench' at the junior levels is not news anymore. But competition has forced even banks, telecom majors, FMCGs and retail giants to add the `extra line' of top management and slot them wherever necessary.

"It's not unusual for companies to have a lot of senior managers whose roles are fungible," says Mr K. Sudarshan, Managing Partner of EMA Partners International, a global search firm. "Large companies are doing it in a subtle fashion and, of course, this cannot be overdone as it can result in turf issues," he says. But corporates are definitely reducing their dependence on `one person' and increasing their management bandwidth to cushion the attrition impact.

Mr Sunit Mehra, Country Manager of Hunt Partners that does CEO and board searches, says most companies today expect their senior management professionals to be able to multi task. He terms this a `healthy sign'. The reasons: It gives individual exposure to different facets of the organisation and enables him or her to grow as a professional and two, refreshes the thinking within the function as you get an `outsider' perspective. "Given the scarcity of management talent, companies acquire talent whenever they can, and this serves as an excellent retention tool, in case you cannot immediately promote the individual (you rotate him)," he explains.