CSR Show 2015: Gurgaon to become the CSR Hub of India

Hundreds of corporate firms, PSUs, social organizations and NGOs congregated at the CSR Show 2015, the biggest event of its kind being organized in Epicenter, Gurgaon. The two-day event aimed to showcase 'the best of sustainable and social practices adopted' by the industry and the welfare organizations alike, with Reliance Foundation, Max Foundation, Jindal Steel & Power limited, DLF Foundation, ONGC, MMTC, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, FICCI, GMR, Tata, JSW Foundation and Indian Oil among the participants.Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development was the chief guest present on the occasion. Mrs. Shallu Jindal, Director, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Mr. Jitendra Kalra, COO, Reliance Foundation,Lt. General Rajender Singh, CEO, DLF Foundation , Mr. Deepak Arora, CEO, Essar Foundation, Ms Neelima Khetan, Director, CSR & Sustainability, Coca-Cola, Mr. Sumantra Sen, JSW Foundation and Mrs. Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO, Max Foundation  were amongst the other dignitaries present at the show.

The exhibition-cum-seminar opened on Tuesday, and was thematically built around the idea of 'building sustainable business through CSR. The event was organized by the Live Week in association with DLF Foundation as their event partner. The show hosted a number of speakers from the corporate world. The seminar started with an exhibition on some of the prominent and effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives conducted by those participating, along with a series of panel discussions on the side about CSR, sustainability and Swachh Bharat.

The first round of plenary discussion was on “PSU, Corporations, Governments and Development Sector’s role in Inclusive Growth with focus on Swachh Bharat.” Speaking on the occasion Lt General Rajender Singh, CEO, DLF Foundation said “We need to introspect that are we going the right way which will benefit our country, our society and humanity at large.

The latest company act and mandatory 2% expenditure on CSR has been a landmark as far as the social initiatives are concerned. Unemployment is the biggest problem that our country is facing today, our country is the youngest in the world with an average age of 28. Government has rightly laid down the priorities and our first priority as of now is to skill our youth and get them jobs, second is health, then education and after that comes our community development initiatives and Swachh Bharat. I believe that our responsibility as a Corporates is to act as a catalyst and boost the efforts of Government. Corporates have a great role in creating employment, lets create a kind of environment where people are skilled have jobs, let us educate them and make them the future leaders of the country. DLF Foundation has been extensively working on Skill Development, we aim to create a network of large no of skill developmental centres and train under-privileged youth and help them get jobs. Our target is to skill a million youths in the next decade. ”

The second day of the show witnessed discussion on the Swachh Bharat Mission and sanitation practices. The Corporates and NGO’s shared views and lessons on companies and PSU’s ambitious National Sanitation Mission, state of affairs in CSR post the companies Act, and Integrating Human Rights into Business Practice.

Ms Mugdha, one of the organizers, Live Week said “CSR show is an assembly of the strongest and most socially responsible organizations and NGOs. We aim to bring the best CSR practices together in a common platform for the welfare of the society. 

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DailyObjects launches Corporate cases

DailyObjects, India’s largest seller of designer smartphone cases, launches a special service for Corporate buyers to offer custom designed branded smartphone cases of the highest quality. With this new feature added to their offerings, DailyObjects is set to expand its portfolio by catering to corporate brands with special promotional rates and dedicated customer service.

dailyobjects custom cases offer companies a creative method to showcase and promote their brand or offerings, since they are personal items, they offer excellent brand visibility. Commenting on the new offering, Pankaj Garg, Co-Founder & CEO of DailyObjects, said, “We strongly believe that your phone is your identity. DailyObjects has succeeded in attracting users to premium quality customisable cases that they use as a means of personal expression, something that they have never had before. dailyobjects custom cases are ideally suited for corporates and we have already sold a lot of cases to corporate buyers” He further added, “Whether you give DailyObjects’ cases to your employees, customers, clients or suppliers; they make an excellent corporate gift that you will be proud to have your company’s logo and branding on”

DailyObjects offers a user friendly tool for designing one-of-its-kind custom cases which allows corporates to either choose a template from the wide range of exclusive designs and personalise them or start with a blank canvas and add any photos, images and text that perfectly define the brand. The high quality polycarbonate cases are manufactured using the most advanced image technology; MT³ which combines several leading edge processes to embed designs permanently into the surface of the case. This gives peerless quality and a brilliant, lasting finish that doesn’t peel or fade. With superior quality protection for more than 100 models across all major global smartphone brands, DailyObjects strives to raise the bar for product design & originality in the country. It has transformed smartphone covers from a boring necessity and a mere form of protection into a high quality accessory for self-expression.

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Google, Sun Life Asia Service Centre India battle it out on the Cricket Field

Google, Sun Life Asia Service Centre India battle it out on the Cricket Field

ASCI XI beat Google XI in a friendly T 20 cricket tie played at St. Stephen’s Ground

Gurgaon: It was yet another battle of the corporates, albeit with a difference! The game of one-upmanship, this time, was held at a cricket field as employees of Sun Life Asia Service Centre India played their heart out against their counterparts at Google.

In a friendly corporate tie played at the St. Stephen’s Ground, New Delhi, the two teams played a 20 over match, with ASCI emerging victorious in the battle. However, it was the spirit of friendship that won the day.

Google won the toss and chose to bat on the bright sunny Saturday, and got off to a good start. The batting, however, slowed down after the team lost its swash buckling opener. Scoring steadily at 5 runs an over, the Google India team clogged on 106 runs in 20 overs, setting the field for ASCI’s run chase.

SunLife ASCI’s run chase started on a negative note, with the team losing its first wicket early on in the innings. The top and middle order of the team struggled a bit, but steadied the innings effectively, laying ground for an easy chase.

Varun Mittal (50 not out) was the top scorer of the match, while Kishore Singh (37), gave him good support at the crease. In the end, the Asia Service Centre India team won the match easily in just 13 overs, with 4 wickets still in hand.

“Sport is a wonderful teacher. It teaches the players the need for hard work, planning, strategy and execution. It teaches us that to win or lose is a part of life but delivering to your potential and giving your best is what really matters. Above all, such sporting events give our employees the much-needed opportunity to recharge and face the daily work life pressures with fortitude. Developing the sporting spirit helps develop winners,” says Mr. Rajeev Bhardwaj, Vice President-Human Resource at Sun Life Financial’s Asia Service Centre in Gurgaon.

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Importance of Work Place Etiquette

Though many skilled Indian workers have degrees from top universities, analysts said they often lack the basics of international workplace etiquette. Such as dressing properly, hosting a meeting, making inoffensive, small talk and using cutlery. These deficiencies are lessening India’s leadership potential.

Infosys built a Global Education Center in Mysore, to teach more than 50,000 graduates leadership and corporate manners. The company has also partnered with 400 engineering schools to train 4,400 faculty members. These faculty members will train more than 80,000 students in soft skills and how to be "industry-ready" when they graduate.

The country's largest information technology company, Tata Consultancy Services, has an in-house training center along with an affirmative action program. It has joined hands with the government to help economically disadvantaged students improve their office and leadership skills.

If graduates and skilled people want to survive in this competitive world, it is very much necessary to train themselves in soft skills. Just degrees and skill sets will not help to secure a job; you should develop and sharpen your soft skills as well.

A lot of importance has been laid on these points when people are selected to work in corporate offices. You should be well equipped and well mannered to carry yourself in such a way that you earn respect. There are institutes that are meant to train people only in this aspect, corporate etiquette, manners and soft skills that are necessary to survive in the corporate world.

So, whether you are student looking for a career in corporate or an employee looking for a career shift into the corporate. You need to have good soft skills, along with technical skills and good educational qualification. So, equip yourself with the soft skill, and corporate etiquette and manners before you dream of a corporate career.

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Are Women Alone in Corporate Race?

With the increase in, prices everywhere, cost of living going up, now a days it has become quiet common, that we are finding increasing number of working women everywhere. The change in the mind set of the modern men, and especially younger generation is one of the other causes for increase in the number of working women. Gone are the days when we used to find few working women in comparison to men, now we find equal number of women working in the corporate sector, when compared to previous days.

Modern women are driven by dreams and are passionate about creating their own identity and want to have their own recognition and value. It is a fact, that we find few women, holding key positions in the corporate sectors, reasons may be many, but lack of qualification, competence, experience, or guts is definitely not the question, because, when and wherever they are given a chance to do so, they have proved it over and again that they are equally and even more competent than men in discharging their duties, and have always proven to be best.

There is need for more refined, matured and transparent thinking, in this aspect, in the corporate world. And it would be welcome change, when a day will show up, when this will not be a topic for discussion any more. Let’s hope that day will come soon.

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