CIOIN

When someone Walks into your office for an intervieW, What’s the first thing you do?
Most people are too worked up and expect a hostile environment. What puts them at ease is how you welcome them. Start talking about yourself before shooting out questions. And after a couple of minutes they will start relaxing. Then I ask them what their understanding of the role is and what they are looking for. The idea is to draw them out, loosen them up, and assure them I am empathetic to the conversation. Once they have put down their guard you can get frank responses, which is what I really want.

hoW do you quickly size up a candidate? What are the big no-nos?
People who haven’t done their homework. If they haven’t read up on the company, it makes me very hesitant to hire them. I’ve asked people to go do their homework and come back — and I’ve hired them.
Then there are people applying for VP positions with their MS DOS credentials still faithfully recorded on their résumés. It’s a complete put-off. This whole history angle really has no relevance. And cover letters and thank-you notes are formalities that have noplace in communications today.
I also watch out for people who dress too casually. In technology, most people are not well-groomed. People who are not wellgroomed will not show leadership traits. Men must be neatly dressed. Shaven, with a tie. They must be wearing full-sleeve shirts that are plain or with stripes and in pastel shades — no black shirts, no colorful shirts. Look at the belt and shoe combination. Most people don’t realize that their belts and the shoes are supposed to be of the same color. And if they are wearing a buttoned-down collar, it should be buttoned.

do you think employees need to be more realistic With their expectations?
I ask people not to be so focused on growth, just expect things to happen when the time is right. People have to realize that they need to align their growth to the organization’s growth and everything else just occurs. I am never able to guarantee anyone growth at the outset. You must share the organization’s view on their growth path while interviewing people. Expectations need to be set before the recruitment. Be clear on what you can offer. What they need to do is grow to the next level and start showing the maturity needed for the next level.
Also, they should not compare designations with developed markets. There, a manager IT is a senior position. I think they need to know these designations have happened as a result of companies trying to fool people, with fancy titles and fat pay packages. I know of some consulting companies, for instance, that have 40 managing directors.
define a successful hire.
Someone who blends in with your organization and your function. And given that the definition of a function is not static, a good hire is someone who fits with modifications. I have a couple of people who did not at all have what I was looking for, but they brought so much else that I took them in. If you are willing to look at people’s strengths, it helps.
In the early part of my career here, a guy came to sell me an EPABX system. At that point, I needed somebody who could handle our networks and I saw good attitude and, aptitude in this guy. And he knew about networks. I offered him a job in my team. I told him to think about it and come back. I didn’t buy the EPABX, but I got him and he’s been here for nine years.

What’s your hiring strategy?

What’s your hiring strategy?
My recruitment motto has always been: don’t be rigid about the role and the profile. Get people who do what they do well — not the kind that fit in an ‘ideal’ chart. And now new management advice asks hirers not to chase fixed ideas and to look at people’s strengths and see what they can bring.

What are you looking for in  a candidate?
Earlier, when IT was more in demand, skills were harder to get. Therefore, exactly knowing a person’s core competencies was important. Now, we want to know whether someone is  good at people management. Or if a recruit is okay working with shifts, because handling staff that works in shifts is a skill in itself.
People applying for jobs shouldn’t get bogged down with technology because the difference that they make is not at the technology level. What we’re really looking for is their USP and what they want to do. That’s what a CV should say.
Also, because we hire when we need someone to solve situations, it’s important that candidates are interested in problem solving.

Have you been trained to take interviews?
Never in my life have I received training on how to interview people. The only inputs I’ve received are how to give an interview!
Today, when I train people to hire I ask them to look at a lot of parameters. When they’re writing out a job description, they need to mention the soft skills a candidate will need. I tend to emphasize on soft skills, because it’s attitude that matters. For the rest, training can help.
At HDFC Standard Life, we run our department as a business so we take care of our own HR needs and our own mentoring. We have something we call ‘Coffee with Sunil’. It’s an informal session over coffee, where people are encouraged to talk about anything candidly. Eventually, they will  share their concerns.

What have you learnt from your biggest mistakes?
A bad interview is when your intuition proves wrong. It’s happened to me with very senior hires. One was so bad we had to let that person go. With the bad calls, I have to pick up the tab since I am responsible. After those incidents, I learnt to be a little less instinctive and look at the facts more.
What’s your advice to someone interviewing with a CIO?
They should remember that CIOs only interview mid- and senior-level people. At that level they are looking for leadership and collaboration traits, since technology skills are a given. A lot of candidates get tied up in technology and certificates and that kind of thing. It is a little difficult to hire someone offering only cloud computing and virtualization as their forte. 
What’s the best intervieW you’ve taken?
When I hired my assistant three years ago and I knew within two minutes that she was right for the job. I saw a happy person, and since I am reasonably demanding, I wanted my assistant to be a happy person no matter what.
CIO