The lifespan of companies is shrinking – to 18 years now from 90 years in 1935, says Shiv Shivakumar, group executive president, corporate strategy, at the Aditya Birla Group. In an interview with Moneycontrol, he said in the future, some legacy companies and those that have been around for 10-15 years will likely be bought over or close down.
Shivakumar, who recently wrote a book on career and management titled The Art of Management, said employee loyalty no longer exists and the contract between a company and an employee is now very short. The only thing that’s permanent is learning and the ability to look ahead.
Managers must communicate at all times, advises Shivakumar, who was formerly chairperson of PepsiCo Holdings in India and CEO of emerging markets at Nokia.
The young workforce will not respect age – they will respect relevance and impact, he said in the emailed interview. Edited excerpts:
You’ve said in your new book that careers have changed significantly and will change even more. What changes do you see in the near future?
The longevity of companies has dropped from 90 years in 1935 to 18 years now. In the future, I expect legacy companies and many companies who will be around for 10 or 15 years to be bought over or die a natural death.
Employee loyalty doesn’t exist – the contract between a company and employee is now very short. The only thing that’s permanent is learning and the ability to look ahead. So, one needs to learn and not keep leaning on past knowledge.
Managing life and career has assumed far more weight now. Will work-life balance become a permanent need that companies cannot ignore?
There is no permanence in anything today and hence employees want to maximise their time and assets when they work in a company. I would call it work-life integration – that’s solely an individual choice, no boss or company can give you that and it’s fashionable to blame the company, but it’s wrong.
Do you believe short-term work is the new normal, and how will it impact productivity and trust at the workplace?
Yes, it is the new normal at work. In the past, it was only at junior levels, now it’s the same even at senior levels. I think we will see permanent employees, contract employees, outsourced employees, gig workers, etc. Having one unified approach with such a diverse workforce will be a challenge.
With hybrid work, how should a manager make the team feel at home and not judge them on perceptions but on competencies?
Managers need to be fair and judge people on output and impact and not on whether they are working from office or from home. Managers need to communicate at all times. Managers need to be more responsive to work-from-home employees.
What are the challenges for a leader/manager as workspaces become digital? Will hybrid work become a permanent feature for many, if not all?
Many industries will see hybrid working. We have had hybrid working in sectors like the airlines industry, where the pilot and crew never go to an office – they have a roster and they land up. Hybrid work will reduce the need for office space in every company, reduce the need for parking slots, reduce traffic, hopefully.
Work from home will be tough on women because they traditionally do many roles but from different locations. With work from home, they will do their multiple roles from home and that can be a challenge without help.
What skills and job trends do you foresee over the next three-four years?
Learning, communication, collaboration, complex problem-solving skills, creativity and critical thinking skills will be important.
How do you see the young workforce changing in terms of professional conduct, career plan and contribution?
The younger workforce will not respect age – they will respect relevance and impact. The younger workforce will be impatient and non-hierarchical. They will expect a lot more from companies in terms of learning, development, etc. They will build their own personal brands on social media.
As the economy and customer needs change, companies are adapting. Do you believe Indian management schools are in sync with the changes?
No, I think B-schools need to change. Professors in any discipline are the slowest to change. B-schools must start doing a lot more research. B-schools should teach what’s important tomorrow and not what’s been in the textbook from 10 years ago.
What should Indian B-schools teach to prepare contemporary managers who understand the changing world?
I think understanding that the markets are different and behave differently, that consumers are different and behave differently, a real connect with what’s happening, the application of concepts and not the memorisation of concepts.
ESG (environmental, social, and governance matters) and sustainability are the new buzzwords. How do you see their adoption progressing?
The new SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) guidelines for companies to score what they have done – what’s labelled as BRSR (business responsibility and sustainability reporting) – is a great step. The top 1,000 companies on the Indian stock market have to report this from next year.
I think each of these 1,000 companies will need at least five to six people in this department. Where will we find these people? We need to invest in these skills quickly. I think this will be led by exporting sectors like apparel and jewellery, where traceability is crucial.
