Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent

1. Big Company Bureaucracy. This is probably the #1 reason we hear after the fact from disenchanted employees. However, it’s usually a reason that masks the real reason. No one likes rules that make no sense. But, when top talent is complaining along these lines, it’s usually a sign that they didn’t feel as if they had a say in these rules. They were simply told to follow along and get with the program. No voice in the process and really talented people say “check please.”
2. Failing to Find a Project for the Talent that Ignites Their Passion. Big companies have many moving parts — by definition. Therefore, they usually don’t have people going around to their best and brightest asking them if they’re enjoying their current projects or if they want to work on something new that they’re really interested in which would help the company. HR people are usually too busy keeping up with other things to get into this. The bosses are also usually tapped out on time and this becomes a “nice to have” rather than “must have” conversation. However, unless you see it as a “must have,” say adios to some of your best people. Top talent isn’t driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world, and for which they are really passionate. Big companies usually never spend the time to figure this out with those people.
3. Poor Annual Performance Reviews. You would be amazed at how many companies do not do a very effective job at annual performance reviews. Or, if they have them, they are rushed through, with a form quickly filled out and sent off to HR, and back to real work. The impression this leaves with the employee is that my boss — and, therefore, the company — isn’t really interested in my long-term future here. If you’re talented enough, why stay? This one leads into #4….
4. No Discussion around Career Development. Here’s a secret for most bosses: most employees don’t know what they’ll be doing in 5 years. In our experience, about less than 5% of people could tell you if you asked. However, everyone wants to have a discussion with you about their future. Most bosses never engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers — even the top talent. This represents a huge opportunity for you and your organization if you do bring it up. Our best clients have separate annual discussions with their employees — apart from their annual or bi-annual performance review meetings — to discuss succession planning or career development. If your best people know that you think there’s a path for them going forward, they’ll be more likely to hang around.
5. Shifting Whims/Strategic Priorities. I applaud companies trying to build an incubator or “brickhouse” around their talent, by giving them new exciting projects to work on. The challenge for most organizations is not setting up a strategic priority, like establishing an incubator, but sticking with it a year or two from now. Top talent hates to be “jerked around.” If you commit to a project that they will be heading up, you’ve got to give them enough opportunity to deliver what they’ve promised.
6. Lack of Accountability and/or telling them how to do their Jobs.Although you can’t “jerk around” top talent, it’s a mistake to treat top talent leading a project as “untouchable.” We’re not saying that you need to get into anyone’s business or telling them what to do. However, top talent demands accountability from others and doesn’t mind being held accountable for their projects. Therefore, have regular touch points with your best people as they work through their projects. They’ll appreciate your insights/observations/suggestions — as long as they don’t spillover into preaching.
7. Top Talent likes other Top Talent. What are the rest of the people around your top talent like? Many organizations keep some people on the payroll that rationally shouldn’t be there. You’ll get a litany of rationales explaining why when you ask. “It’s too hard to find a replacement for him/her….” “Now’s not the time….” However, doing exit interviews with the best people leaving big companies you often hear how they were turned off by some of their former “team mates.” If you want to keep your best people, make sure they’re surrounded by other great people.
8. The Missing Vision Thing. This might sound obvious, but is the future of your organization exciting? What strategy are you executing? What is the vision you want this talented person to fulfill? Did they have a say/input into this vision? If the answer is no, there’s work to do — and fast.
9. Lack of Open-Mindedness. The best people want to share their ideas and have them listened to. However, a lot of companies have a vision/strategy which they are trying to execute against — and, often find opposing voices to this strategy as an annoyance and a sign that someone’s not a “team player.” If all the best people are leaving and disagreeing with the strategy, you’re left with a bunch of “yes” people saying the same things to each other. You’ve got to be able to listen to others’ points of view — always incorporating the best parts of these new suggestions.
10. Who’s the Boss? If a few people have recently quit at your company who report to the same boss, it’s likely not a coincidence. We’ll often get asked to come in and “fix” someone who’s a great sales person, engineer, or is a founder, but who is driving everyone around them “nuts.” We can try, but unfortunately, executive coaching usually only works 33% of the time in these cases. You’re better off trying to find another spot for them in the organization — or, at the very least, not overseeing your high-potential talent that you want to keep.

Leader may resign

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has traveled to Dubai for medical reasons, fueling speculation in Pakistan that the embattled leader may resign.

Zardari's trip occurred amid growing controversy in Pakistan over a scandal -- dubbed "Memogate" -- in which Pakistan's civilian leaders were supposedly coming up with a plan to unseat the country's military leadership. It also comes as Zardari was to soon address Parliament, where he was expected to discuss Memogate.

Foreign Policy, the American journal, noted that Zardari left "suddenly" and asked if he is "on the way out." Twitter has been abuzz with similar speculation, with one message saying, "Zardari's nice move to resign. A clear way for martial law."

The Memogate scandal has emboldened Zardari's opponents, who think he favors closer ties with the U.S. military.Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, is accused of writing a memo setting out the scheme. The plot reportedly called for taking power away from the country's senior military and intelligence leaders, requesting U.S. assistance in stopping a military coup, asking for American backing of the Zardari government, and vowing to make Pakistan's foreign policy favorable to the United States.

Haqqani says he didn't write the memo, which allegedly was passed along to U.S. officials by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz days after a U.S. military raid killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May. Even so, Haqqani resigned last month as Paksitan's ambassador to the U.S.

Saeed Ajmal tops ICC ODI bowlers list

Pakistan cricketer Saeed Ajmal has moved to the number one slot in the new One Day International (ODI) bowler rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).


Bowlers Shahid Afiridi and Muhammad Hafeez bagged the seventh and eight positions of the top 10 ODI bowlers, respectively


In team rankings, Pakistan moved up from the sixth position to fifth after defeating Sri Lanka in the ODI series

Reema to tie the knot

The acclaimed actor and director, whose latest venture Love Mein Ghum was released on Eidul Fitr this year, will tie the knot in Washington, America. It has been reported that 300 people have been invited to the wedding ceremony. Reema is currently in Washington with family and friends for pre-wedding celebrations and dholkis.

Both the nikkah and rukhsati of the Golden Girl of Lollywood will take place on November 18. The plan is that, following the wedding, Reema will remain in Washington for a couple of weeks before returning to Pakistan.

Shahab graduated from Dow Medical College University of Karachi before heading for the US for further training in cardiovascular diseases. He completed his Internal Medicine residency training at the University Of Michigan Medical Centre where he was awarded the Outstanding Resident of the Year Award.

Animal sacrifice declines

A DECLINING trend in sacrificing animals continued for the third consecutive year as around 4.5 to 5 million sheep, goats, cows and camels have been sacrificed by Pakistanis on three days of this Eid-ul-Azha as compared to 6 million animals last year. 
Increasing prices of animals due to multiple factors including inflation and poor government policies about exporting live animals and smuggling to bordering countries declined the slaughtering of animals this Eid again. 
Tend of slaughtering big animal, cows and calves was on rise due to high prices of goats and sheep and this year 50-50 ratio has been observed. Four decade back, only 10 per cent big animals were slaughtered on Eid-ul-Azha while 90 per cent share was of goats and sheep. Rapid decline in animal count was the major reason of increasing prices along with smuggling of live animals from the country. 
This year number of animals, which reached the markets for sale, was less due to floods in Sindh and continues smuggling and export. “Arrived animals were also immature as mature and healthy animals are being exported and smuggled to bordering countries of Pakistan. 

Pakistan cricketers guilty of corruption

Two top international cricket players from Pakistan were found guilty Tuesday of plotting to cheat and to take bribes in a major match against England last summer.

Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif could potentially go to prison for up to seven years for the criminal offenses, part of a scandal that rocked the international sport.

A third player, Mohammad Amir, pleaded guilty to the same charges. The court barred the press from reporting his plea until the jury reached their verdict on Butt and Asif, for fear of affecting the deliberations.

They are due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

"This is a case of cheating, pure and simple," Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne said in a statement after the verdict. "The defendants, who are world-class cricketers, sought to cheat to enhance their substantial legitimate earnings."

He said they had "let down the cricketing world, their fans and the hardworking people that buy tickets to watch."

"They were role models to countless children around the world and have betrayed their trust," the officer said.

The Pakistanis were accused of spot fixing, which involves deliberately throwing parts of a game rather than the whole match.

Prosecutors accused Butt and Asif of taking part in a betting scam, allegedly arranged by Mazhar Majeed, during a match between Pakistan and England played at the Lord's cricket ground in London.

The News of the World, the British tabloid that first reported the allegations, said players deliberately bowled "no balls," or fouls, at specific points in the game and that the alleged ringleader made 150,000 pounds (about $230,000) in the scam.

The News of the World has since folded in an unrelated scandal.

But Horne praised the newspaper's work, saying it was "unlikely" the corruption would have been exposed without "the good work of investigative journalism; and as an investigator I acknowledge the skill involved in such work."

Prosecutors used audio and video recordings the newspaper made secretly last year involving Majeed, a 36-year-old businessman from London.

In one, Majeed is heard telling an unknown contact it is "not a problem" to fix the result of a match, adding: "Boss, you know how many [players] I have got, you know that they do it."

The jury also heard a series of audio and video recordings of conversations and meetings between Majeed and a reporter from the newspaper, who was posing as a rich Indian businessman. One of the recordings showed the reporter handing over $140,000 in a London hotel room that had been fitted with secret cameras.

Majeed is heard to give the reporter precise details of events in the match, due to start the following day, that would be rigged by the Pakistani players. Specifically, he describes three no-balls -- illegal deliveries -- that the Pakistani bowlers would concede at particular points in the match.

The price of fixing a no-ball, Majeed was heard to say, is $10,000; he went on to tell the undercover reporter that his contact in India made four to five times that amount by betting on no-balls.

The jury was then shown extended clips from the Lord's match, during which the Pakistani bowlers did exactly as Majeed had promised. Before one of the no-balls, the cameras even showed Butt, who was captaining the Pakistani team, consult with Amir, the bowler.

Earlier in the trial, the jury was told the betting market in the Asian subcontinent is "breathtaking in size." Conservative estimates, the prosecution said, puts the value of the market at between $40 billion to $50 billion dollars per year.

Alan Peacock, an anti-corruption official at the International Cricket Council, told the court that the betting market had developed over the years from a focus on fixing match results, to spot fixing: contriving small events within the game, like no balls, or particular patterns of scoring.

Asif and Butt denied the charges.

Majeed was not on trial; the jury was told there is "nothing sinister" about this apparent inconsistency.

News International, the parent company of the now-defunct News of the World, said Tuesday's guilty verdicts were to the credit of its reporter, Mazher Mahmood, who now works for the Sunday Times.

"The convictions secured today are a clear example of where his professional investigative journalism has served the public interest," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

The International Cricket Council was happy with the outcome, having earlier suspended the trio for periods between five to seven years.

"We hope that this verdict is seen as a further warning to any individual who might, for whatever reason, be tempted to engage in corrupt activity within our sport," the ruling body's chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

"I am satisfied that we have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police throughout this entire process, and I believe that this case has shown that it is possible for criminal authorities and sports bodies to cooperate with each other, in difficult circumstances, in the best interests of the sport and the public at large."

The Pakistani innovator

If you thought innovation was a word not associated with Pakistan, you would be very wrong. This year, the MIT Technology Review, one of the world’s most prestigious technology publications, included Pakistani Dr Umar Saif, in their global list of the top 35 innovators under 35 .

Thirty-two year old Saif, currently an associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), now shares this honour with an elite club including, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jonathan Ive of Apple, and the co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Saif was propped into the limelight for creating BitMate , which he calls the “poor man’s broadband system” and SMSall.pk , which enables mass SMSes to be sent out.

In Pakistan, the bandwidth of an average landline is about 32 kilobits per second. Assuming the connection doesn’t drop that means it can take more than 20 minutes to download a five-megabyte file. In the US, an average connection can download the same five-megabyte file in less than a second. To overcome this connectivity divide, Saif developed BitMate. The software allows different users in the same area, to pool the bandwidth of their connections to reduce download times, typically by half. Released in February, the software has already been downloaded more than 30,000 times by people in 173 countries.

BitMate and SMSall.pk, were both developed by Dr Saif and a team of his students at LUMS.

“The one thing that every Pakistani, poor or rich, does have is a mobile phone,” said Saif behind his desk at LUMS. “It is the easiest way to communicate and spread a certain message. SMSall can be used on an individual level as well as for marketing or other like purposes.”

More than 4 billion SMSes have been sent using SMSall.pk , by around 2.7 million users. It is now Pakistan’s largest SMS social network. Major political parties, NGOs, schools, and corporations use this platform.

After completing his undergraduate at LUMS in 1998, Saif went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Saif then worked and taught at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

He gives much of the credit for his success to the competitive environment at these two institutes. “The quality of students one gets at MIT and Cambridge is very good. It’s a real pleasure working with them,” he said.
This, he thinks is the major difference between people studying at these world-class institutes and here. “They are a different breed altogether,” he admitted. “If I were to ask people to do work at MIT, I wouldn’t have to remind them to work. They don’t need to be told to work hard, they already are hard working.”

“There, one might even take offence if one were reminded more than once,” he added jokingly.

Currently, Saif is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at LUMS where he leads a team of students in the Dritte initiative , which aims to create technology that will foster development.

Dr Saif, is now working with this team of students on taking SMSall to the next level. They are working on speech systems that will allow for mass voice messaging. Saif believes it is an essential step in a country where many cannot read or write. Other platforms that Dr Saif has initiated include Geodost.tv and iSamaa.tv, which are powered by SeeNreport, a platform developed in an attempt to give a boost to citizen journalism in Pakistan.

Saif has also founded one of Pakistan’s first start-up incubators in Lahore, Pakistan, called the Saif Center of Innovation .“Not everyone can be a superstar here,” conceded Saif. “A system needs to be in place where every member of the team can be productive.” MIT, he insists works like a well-oiled machine. The researchers have proper funding in place, the strong student body and the availability of your peers means, one knows where to go with one’s ideas.

LUMS has filled in this vacuum to a large extent. Many of his students have helped him with the projects that have won him many awards and distinctions. They are young bright minds and all they need is direction and “they can change our world.”Entrepreneurship is burgeoning in Pakistan like elsewhere and to give it a boost, government support is essential.

But Saif or his Dritte initiative has not received any financial support from the Pakistani government. “Whether or not I am supported by anyone else,” Saif said, “LUMS has always been there for me.” In a press statement following the announcement by the MIT Technology Review, the vice chancellor of LUMS Adil Najam said,

“We are immensely proud of this recognition … Saif’s work demonstrates not only the potential for innovation in technology for development but also the level of enterprise and expertise that already exists within Pakistan and the larger developing world.”