BackCatch them young: India Inc’s succession mantra for 2012
Catch them young: India Inc’s succession mantra for 2012
Premium
New Delhi: From Cyrus Mistry to Rishad Premji, young blood will be oozing through the leadership corridors of India Inc this year and experts believe their enthusiasm and high-octane energy could be the right recipe to take on the challenging economic times.
With a larger number of youngsters in the workforce, the young leaders would be able to establish a better connect and set long-term goals for their businesses, the experts feel.
In one of the much-awaited succession plans in corporate India, salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has named 43-year-old Cyrus Mistry as successor to chairman Ratan Tata, who will hang up his boots in December, 2012.
Youngsters are being groomed at various other companies as well. For instance, Rishad Premji, the son of software czar Azim Premji, has become chief strategy officer at Wipro.
Similar instances of young blood taking on a leadership role are reflected in the cases of Alok Kirloskar at Kirloskar group and Shravin Mittal (son of Sunil Mittal) at Bharti Airtel, who is serving as senior executive at a group company.
Aditya Mittal, the son of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, has been serving as CFO at steel giant ArcelorMittal for quite some time.
At hospitality major Oberoi Group, Vikramjit Singh Oberoi is reportedly being groomed as a successor to his father P R S Oberoi, once the octogenarian hangs up his boot as chairman.
Currently, Vikram is serving as chief operating officer and joint managing director of the group’s flagship firm EIH Ltd, while his younger cousin Arjun Oberoi is chief planning officer and joint MD.
Soon after Vedanta group completed its acquisition of Cairn India, group chief Anil Agarwal’s daughter Priya Agarwal, 22, was named to the board of the acquired company.
Realty giant DLF has also seen a number of young members from the founder’s family joining the group in various positions.
“Giving opportunities to young people (in corporate India) is indeed a great sign. Youngsters bring in energy and ambition," HR consultancy Manpower India’s head of marketing, Namr Kishore, said.
Since most of the country’s working population is young, the young leaders would have the added advantage of connecting with them in a better way, he added.
The trend of having young people at top levels is seen more in Asian countries, including India. This is mainly on account of the younger population, as well as good economic conditions, experts feel.
“In most Asian nations, their economies are doing good, which in turn is providing better prospects for businesses to grow. Also, opportunities are getting created faster," Sinha pointed out.
Kishore noted that a youngster at the leadership level would have conviction and would also be ready to put in more hard work, since he/she would generally be there for at least next 10-15 years.
Looking at the Indian context, many young corporate leaders, including the likes of Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Anand Mahindra, have build up businesses really well, in turn making good contributions to the economy, experts said.
“A combination of experience, energy and youth will be one of the driving factors for business growth," Kishore noted.
In many of the family-run businesses, young well-educated people are roped in and most of them have relevant experience also.
Unlike the West, there seems to be a lack of planning in terms of succession planning in India. The trend is slowly changing and a larger number of businesses is recognising the need to have a good succession plan in place.
However, Sinha said it is not easy to play the leadership role and many people might find it difficult to perform at the higher levels.
As Manpower’s Kishore put it, “Nevertheless, being young cannot be a substitute for experience. A lot of maturity is needed to be at the leadership level."
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
