With the spotlight on social purpose organisations (SPOs) to address enhanced vulnerabilities in the aftermath of the pandemic, talent becomes a paramount factor in its success. The Indian social impact sector attracts organisational talent with varied expertise and affiliations. An opportunity to make a difference and commitment to a cause that goes beyond individual needs and aspirations remains the common thread that unites social sector talent across organisations and roles.

Our recent conversations with Chief Operating Officers (CEOs) and Human Resource (HR) leads (also referred to as people function) of SPOs bring out four kinds of talent that are often attracted to the Indian social sector. They are as follows:

The Volunteers are individuals who associate themselves with SPOs because of their passion towards a cause. The trigger for engagement for such people comes from the apathy and vulnerability they have witnessed around them. As committed individuals, moved by the state of the society and the world, they often find it difficult to make peace with the status quo and are keen to make a difference. Volunteers often do not have a financial arrangement or relationship with the organisations where they contribute their time and energy. Such individuals may pursue parallel professional careers in other sectors of their expertise or interest.

The Fortitudinous are believers in the possibility of an equitable transformation and have found their personal and professional calling in making a difference to the world and society around them. They actively contribute towards making the world a better place for everyone. As individuals who have chosen to engage with the social sector since the beginning of their careers, their education and learning experiences are often influenced by such inclination. The fortitudinous have clarity from the early days of education that they want to work in the social sector and specifically build their expertise and experience through education and past employment. These personnel are accustomed to the possible challenges of the sector and the job, and remain equipped to handle them every day.

The Agnostics are employees who are job seekers and might not be passionate about the social sector specifically. They are agnostic to the cause of the SPO. Agnostics often work in departments that do not work with the beneficiaries directly, such as the administration or support functions.

The Switchers are employees who switch from corporate jobs to the social sector. These are people who want to switch to the social sector primarily for two reasons. Firstly, they may be seeking purpose and would be content to see the impact of their work on the change in the society. Secondly, they may be disillusioned and exhausted with the corporate sector and seek to engage with the social sector to find meaning in what they do professionally. Such talent brings diverse experience and skills that are extremely useful when contextualised to the needs and values of the sector.

To achieve effectiveness in social impact, SPOs need to nurture appropriate strategies to work with such a diverse workforce. Decoding the people management challenges and keeping all contributors motivated is crucial in the success journey of the SPOs.

¹Dr Aruna Pandey is the Director, ISDM Knowledge and Research Centre (ISDM-KRC)

²Dr Yogita Patra worked with ISDM between in the capacity of Research Manager, ISDM-KRC

The effectiveness of SPOs can be gauged based on the passionate collaboration, drive and accomplishment of the people working towards the cause. SPO leaders are impressed by the need to align organisational talent with three core ideas: purpose, ownership and grounded mastery. Let us understand these in detail.

Aligning purpose

Founder-led organisations embed their mission deeply in the core of talent management practices, especially when founders play an active role in designing and shaping people practices in the organisation. In early days of the organisation, it is fruitful for the founders to scaffold the guardrails of the people function to align with the mission and the vision of change it seeks to accomplish. For scale and sustainability, however, acquiring, nurturing and retaining appropriate talent becomes a challenge and a necessity. In July 2021, online regional consultations held by ISDM with 56 leaders from the sector, representing 48 organisations, underscore the importance of integrating the core philosophy of the organisation in the next generation of leaders. In this context, setting up a structured people function was highlighted as one of the core challenges that organisations face today. It emerged that 82% of the leaders identified nurturing capacities of their existing talent as one of the key strategic priorities of the organisation in the next one year (ISDM, upcoming). This alignment of purpose is often enabled by a transformational leadership practice that inspires commitment and performance rather than transactional leadership that focuses only on outputs for inputs. Mitigating challenges related to acquiring the right talent at the right time at the right cost can be fulfilled by designing organisational culture and internal brand strategies that focus on nurturing learning, commitment to the cause and a sense of purpose which goes beyond individual motivations and aspirations and has the power to impact better outcomes for self and others.

Additionally, more than 51% organisations in the regional consultations stated the need to attract or hire diverse talent. Leadership in the Indian social impact sector is increasingly recognising the need to enable opportunities for individuals with diverse talent in the fields of law, technology and medicine to be able to contribute to the shared vision and missions of an equitable society for all. Nurturing a vibrant sector with organisations that have the capability to attract, hire and retain such diverse talent calls for appropriate investments from donors, non-profit leaders and ecosystem enablers in building capacities and talent readiness in existing SPOs (ISDM, upcoming).

Nurturing ownership

Individuals who join the social sector often come with a strong intrinsic motivation that ranges from the inherent need to be able to contribute to society to a sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction that one draws from walking a path of universal human values (equity, compassion, justice) that bottom line the work of SPOs. Enabling a robust leadership culture of accountability and ownership in such committed actors empowers the organisation to nurture resilience in its systems, processes and practices. Often the maturity of talent management in organisational contexts is equated with levels of formalisation in policies and practices, yet talent transitions (promotions, shifts in roles, diversification of roles, etc.) and leadership succession planning in SPOs often does not receive the attention it deserves. Organisations, as a result, continue to remain individual-centric with strong implications for organisational growth potential, individual and collective motivations to continue contributing to the vision of the organisation as well as maturity of organisational structures and processes (ISDM, upcoming).

ISDM’s engagement with leaders from the social sector underlines the importance of designing structures and processes that enable effective talent and leadership transitions and a dynamic learning environment in organisations. Such practices nurture the capacity of organisations to respond to ambiguity and uncertainty effectively and are true measures of maturity of talent management. Enabling such effectiveness in management practices demands alignment between management values, structures and systems with the overall purpose and vision of the organisation. This alignment, when accomplished, creates a strong institutional foundation for the leadership to inspire ownership in talent, motivating them to commit to collective purpose over time and across functions.

Enabling a structural scaffolding that nurtures grounded mastery

SPOs take ‘forms’ that are driven by the ‘consciousness of the leadership’ and the ‘purpose of its existence.’ The people management function of an organisation should curate policies and processes to enable the alignment between the shared vision of change and talent strategies adopted to accomplish the set goals.

Structural scaffolding for intrapreneurs

Explicit outlining of the people policies related to hiring, learning and development, leave, expenses, grievance redressal, performance appraisals, compensation and acknowledgement enables the blueprint of a professional organisation. The people function of SPOs are constantly geared towards nurturing ‘intrapreneurs’ who are self-driven for the cause and are committed to a larger purpose of social transformation beyond the boundaries of individual or organisational performance. For such individuals, compensation is not the only component that motivates them and a vibrant, creative, learning and practice culture is critical.

Additionally, the organisation needs to invest in structural designs that eliminate drudgeries associated with daily responsibilities of the talent. Examples of such structural scaffolding could manifest in the form of a robust and agile knowledge management system that leverages technology and is integrated with programmatic design and review, automated systems for compliance reporting, technology-enabled real-time reporting with easy-to-use systems, etc. Young organisations like Make A Difference and Quest Alliance are increasingly investing in nurturing such structural shifts to enable creativity, agility and resilience in their organisation.

Embedding career trajectories in unique learning designs

People practices in organisations have the opportunity to embed career trajectories of its talent into unique lateral and core learning opportunities for individual and team growth. This calls for a robust internal-facing learning and development program in SPOs with opportunities to ground themselves in core mastery critical to performance of work as well as embodying values and purpose inspired by the exposure and commitment to the cause. Organisations like PRADAN recognised the need for such internal facing learning strategies for its personnel early on and are today known for their holistic and robust executive training and learning program that enables a solid foundation for all ‘PRADANites.’ Most leaders echo that exposure to the field with an opportunity to build and nurture relationships with the communities ‘where change actually happens’ is critical to inspiring commitment and alignment with the purpose and vision of the organisation. Organisations like ATECF and SeSta shared learning from the field as a key design element towards inspiring motivation, learning and value alignment in personnel. It is important to note that such strategies have emerged relevant across different archetypes of organisations, be it philanthropic initiatives and funding organisations like ATECF, Edelgive Foundation or non-governmental organisations that work directly with communities like PRADAN, SeSta and Sneha (ISDM, upcoming).

Investing in ‘what matters’

While traditionally organisations were encouraged to develop and nurture people management structures, processes and systems due to challenges of size, complexity, compliance or branding, SPOs today are increasingly recognising the need to invest in people early on. Interestingly, 72% of the organisations that were part of the regional consultations on talent management stated having clearly articulated talent management structures and plans, while 53% organisations reported the presence of a dedicated individual or team that manages talent-related matters in the organisation. Many SPOs such as Jai Vakeel Foundation and Ummeed had an operational people function early on with absolute clarity to create innovative methods towards hiring, nurturing and retaining talent. Only 14% of organisations stated that the people function was handled by the founder/CEO with support from external consultants. Leaders spoke of limited opportunity for consultants to embed themselves in the organisational context and culture as one of the key reasons for their lack of preference for a third party to design the people management function of their organisation (ISDM, upcoming).

Expanding the boundaries of talent

Organisations like CDC in Madhya Pradesh and Community Initiatives in Manipur speak of the importance of the context while designing and investing and people practices. In rural, far-flung contexts, finding professional talent with specialisation in community-related work is often a challenge. Investments in capacity enhancement of the organisation such that its people could perform better thus ensuring organisational effectiveness is critical. The nature of such investments, however, should be customised to the context of the place, programmatic need and the context of the organisation. Leaders of CDC and Community Initiative highlight the importance of understanding where the organisation pegs its boundaries of talent. Both organisations spoke of including community representatives and family members of the project participants in their formal boundaries of talent.

Initiatives like CDC, Community Initiative, Sneha, Ummeed, among others, underline the need for the Indian social sector to recognise and build deep appreciation for the fluidity in the way organisations define ‘talent.’ Hence, investments in people and organisational talent need to allow for this fluidity in definition of talent and adaptability in design of people practices that account for the context and culture of the place, consciousness of the organisational leadership and purpose and programmatic need of the organisation. In other words, in order to nurture resilient and effective organisations in the Indian social sector, it is imperative for the funders, leaders and ecosystem enablers to re-imagine and re-design their perspective and approach to talent management to the context and indigeneity of the Indian development ecosystem.

References

Pandey, A., Shushant, L., Rana, S. (upcoming). Regional Consultation Report on Talent Management in Indian Social Sector. Indian School of Development Management

Pandey, A., Kaur, J., Jain, I., Menon, S. (upcoming). Management Challenges in Social Purpose Organisations – Perspectives from India. Indian School of Development Management

ISDM. February 2022. Agenda 2030: What Matters – Panel discussion on Talent Matters. Indian School of Development Management. Accessed from: ISDM Target 2030 : What Matters - YouTube

Arpita Sur, PGP DM 2020-21 | Published: 16 March, 2024

The year 2021 had started on a high note for ISDM's students, as many students trickled into the campus for offline classes. Discussions were livelier, clubs were formed, and everyone made sure that COVID-19 appropriate behaviour was followed. However, the last leg of this cohort's journey had to be shifted entirely online since India started grappling with the pandemic's second wave. Given the grave nature of the situation, ISDM's faculty facilitated spaces for students to reflect on their experiences and create a network of support for one another.

Three students from the cohort initiated and actively supported resource mobilisation efforts for citizens affected by COVID-19. They have been pouring all their energy into relief work while also coping with challenges that come with grassroots work during these testing times.

Krishna Vamshi, Blood warriors

Krishna had started Blood warriors to support Thalassemia patients who need blood every twenty days. These patients' lives have become uncertain due to the lockdown and the scarcity of blood donors. He and his team are using platforms like social media to mobilise blood donors who can support at-risk Thalassemia patients.

Apart from working with Blood Warriors, Krishna supports multiple organisations and individuals who are working full-time in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad. He has been volunteering to fill gaps in information, resources and mobilisation. He has launched fundraisers with the community to raise more than 10 Lakhs to support patients who do not have the means to afford emergency treatment. Together with his team, he has raised funds to get oxygen concentrators, PPE kits and Pulse Oximeters for communities in need.

Investing time and effort into relief work has taken a toll on Krishna's mental health. Confronting news of people's death and suffering due to lack of resources have caused him multiple panic attacks for the first time. He feels that he is failing to remain strong despite trying to centre himself. However, his passion keeps him going:

"I always believe that I have a limited time on this planet, which technically means I can only do limited things in life. If I am lazy and don't do anything in this limited time, I am cutting down on my experience of doing things. This keeps me going."

Sandeep Kumar, DigiSwasthya

Sandeep, a cancer survivor, started DigiSwasthya, a section 8 registered telemedicine centre for people to access medical support remotely. The organisation is located in Sant Kabir Nagar, UP and is currently also operating as a COVID relief centre. Sandeep has been communicating with COVID patients since April 2021 to check their vital statistics and connecting them with doctors, hospitals, NGOs and resources for further care.

He finds the relief work a tremendously powerful experience wherein he juggles managing his organisation and attending to coursework, among other responsibilities. In collaboration with the team at DigiSwasthya, Sandeep has raised about 1.4 lakhs in funds for supporting patients with oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and other medical equipment. The organisation has also received support from donors. Their efforts have brought smiles to the faces of patients and their families. Moments like these are precious to him and keep him motivated.

Sandeep prioritises taking care of himself in these challenging times; sound sleep, proper diet and exercise have kept him going. He also finds solace in the support provided by his team and friends. They have been helping him with references, making phone calls, designing posters and other awareness-raising materials.

A highly committed and positive person, Sandeep says:

"It's a journey; keep going! Together we can!"

Shashwat Kotambkar, Kazwa

Shashwat's organisation, Kazwa, has been working on the ground for a year to mobilise resources for COVID patients. Initially, they struggled to mobilise contacts to create a network, and that caused multiple logistical challenges. However, over the course of a year, they connected with willing volunteers who were eager to pour in time and energy for Kazwa's initiative.

The second wave of the pandemic brought with it new challenges. His team of volunteers was losing motivation when available resources were exhausted at a rapid pace. To motivate his team of on-ground volunteers, Kazwa collaborated with other NGOs who helped them tide over challenges and raised the team's morale.

Focusing on the mechanical aspects of the operation kept Shashwat from dwelling on the dystopian condition of the ecosystem around him. Leading Kazwa was a cathartic process that allowed him to reflect on the power of a collective and gain new perspectives.

Someone once told Shashwat, "Least you can do is own your privileges", and it has stayed with him since.

Published: 25 January, 2024

As we get ready to welcome the Class of 2021-2022, here’s a sneak preview of the exciting curriculum that we have curated for our future cohorts of Development Management Professionals.

The new academic year begins on July 26 ,2021 with a special Term Zero devoted to building a core skill set that is crucial to the initiation of the PGP DM courses in August, 2021. It includes sessions on Excel, Data Analysis, Communication, Learning via the Case Study Method with an overarching understanding of India’s Development Story along with the Personal Mastery for Development Leadership session.

Simultaneously, the Academic team organises a special welcome with a Baithak, an opportunity for knowing the cohort's session and knowing the people and context sessions for the students.

With this, the students make the transition to Term One. The programme then runs through 47 weeks across eight terms with 22 courses and workshops ranging from Perspectives on Society and Development; Understanding the Development Ecosystem; Designing Interventions; Organisation Management functions; to bringing it all together for sustainable impact at scale in Term Eight.

Essentially, the edifice of the PGP DM program is built on nine signature components: 

⇒    ‘Personal Mastery for Development Leadership’ course, spread over 7 terms which is anchored in the need to build in the students the spirit of curiosity, courage and compassion. It believes in creating safe space for teams to flourish and thrive, encouraging generative conversations for collaboration, relating with diverse others, acting with positive emotions, emotional resilience and building attentional focus.

⇒      CBCL (Context-Based Collaborative Learning) course; a unique offering at ISDM has experienced Bricoleurs working with students on a one-to-one basis and in groups to discuss their individual learning journeys and also to discuss key development lenses to differentiate Management for the Social Sector like - Collaboration, Equity and Social Justice. 

⇒      RI (Realising India) experience which as a part of CBCL is a two week structured immersion program planned for the students between terms 2 and Term 3. It enables the students to develop a deep understanding of the people’s lives in the district which prepares them to design interventions.

⇒      The Development Management Writing Centre which in its inaugural year at ISDM focuses on equipping students with the skills to communicate effectively (write, tell and present) with a clear demonstration of the characteristics of the development sector. This includes using a language that is specific and appropriate to the development sector, including the right choice of words and a tone that recognizes the complex nature of social change and the emergent nature of this work. This will be reinforced with ‘Writing in the Discipline’ sessions throughout the year.

⇒      Sessions with Eminent speakers and established leaders who from different walks of life are invited for live sessions at ISDM, all through the year to help the students debate, discuss, pause, reflect and learn through these live interactions.

⇒      Compulsory Harvard manage mentor course where students complete Harvard Business Publishing Courses covering management topics such as performance measurement, business plan development, strategy planning and execution, and more adding to their learning repository.

⇒      Special curated workshops which cover a range of topics from Group Dynamics, Radical Transformation Leadership (RTL) to future forward workshops on Networks, Partnerships and Alliances for Scale, Fund Raising, Project Management, Volunteer Management and Instructional Design.

⇒      Unique course offerings with a mix of Development Management and Business Management fundamentals that help to create the firm foundation for the students to lead and manage Social Purpose Organisations (SPOs). These include courses on Financial Perspectives, Strategic Innovation for Social Change, Operations Management for Quality and Impact, Behaviour Change Communication, Marketing Management, Human Development in an Unequal World to Technology and Management, Corporate Social responsibility. ‘New age’ electives like Behavioural Sciences in Social Change, Introduction to Digital Marketing and Social Entrepreneurship are also offered to students.

⇒      The Special Capstone Project in the final term with its focus on scale and sustainability, provides the students with a frame of reference to work on live projects with client organisations thereby integrating their learnings of the previous terms with a real, viable scaling strategy for the SPO.

Eventually our students will  emerge from the PGP DM program as authentic development professionals with the knowledge, attitude, skills and tools to build a career in Development Management.

| Published: 04 December, 2023

The study on Benchmarking Talent Management in Indian Social Sector, seeks to understand how the Social Impact Sector approaches 'talent' and 'compensation' to help key stakeholder groups address the challenges around organisational talent. The research aims to examine 'what is' in terms of the current talent management practices in the sector and attempts to lay the foundations of 'what it ought to be' in terms of the principles or norms that need to be developed for the emerging sectoral ecosystem.

• The study will enable leaders in the Indian Social Sector to build strategies conducive to the talent management needs of their organisations.

• Findings will include compensation benchmarking with reliable data on compensation trends for different roles across organisational archetypes, geographies, and thematic areas of engagement.

• The study report will facilitate the emergence of a professional, data-informed, and transparent ecosystem of knowledge commons on talent management for the Indian Social Sector.

• The study will enable social purpose organisations, philanthropists, foundations to create a conducive environment to attract, nurture and grow appropriate talent in the Indian Social Sector.

Mr. Ravi Sreedharan, Co-Founder and President - ISDM, shares "ISDM is thrilled at the initiation of the first-ever attempt to build a shared knowledge infrastructure on Talent Management in the sector. This study is vital for the social impact sector to establish and have access to knowledge commons that guide and inform management practices in SPOs. There is an urgent and underlined need for greater synergies in the way that a sector as wide and disparate as the social impact space understands and works on managing its most vital capital. We are sure that the compensation database and knowledge resources that the study makes available will be of immediate and long-term use to thousands of SPOs all of whom are grappling with managing and retaining talent in the present crises where funds run low, but our work needs greater impact."

The scope of the study extends to the entire landscape of Indian Social sector including Civil Society Organisations/NGOs and Philanthropic Foundations and a range of other types of organisations such as Social Enterprises, Impact Investment Firms, CSR arms of Corporates, Consultancy Organisations, think tanks, support service providers and the likes.

Speaking of the study, Ajit Sivaram, Co-founder (U&I) said, "How does one create an equitable format in compensation? Even if I try, it means going and researching another 20 pay scales and again, where do I find them? So really, your study is the answer to our prayers. We are glad someone is doing the hard work and we can sit back and enjoy the ride!"

In the past decade the sector has witnessed a surge in demand for a variety of skill-sets, an influx of cross-over talent from other sectors, heightened competition for talent as well as new expectations and benchmarks around compensation in particular. The benchmarking exercise shall provide a set of actionable recommendations along with a searchable database for job roles and compensation for key sector stakeholders. 

"Somewhere this(social) sector is considered as a bunch of do-gooders and not necessarily a vast pool of highly qualified professionals. Various entities in the sector were individually spending double digit lakhs in compensation benchmarking studies when really, we should be able to count on a sector resource. That was the impulse that guided ISDM and us (CSIP) to create what is in effect a public good for the sector.  The study also helps showcase the width and the range of talents that the sector today houses and is increasingly looking for in terms of skill sets." - Ingrid Srinath, Director - Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP), Ashoka University.

This study is a joint initiative of Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) and Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP). KornFerry and Sattva Consulting are execution partners of the study.

Each participating organisation shall also receive:

• An 'internal equity and external competitiveness' report specific to their organisation.

• An opportunity to contribute their organisation's experience to the series of case studies on 'drivers of talent' in the Indian Social sector

If your organisation would like to participate in the study, please register here: https://bit.ly/2UfPxpY

To know more about the study, see:Talent Management in Indian Social Sector | ISDM

Scan to participate:

The Indian School of Development Management celebrated the third edition of Development Management Week between January 28 and February 1, 2021.

The annual flagship event, that begins after celebrations of ISDM’s birth on February 27 and culminates in Development Management Day on February 1 every year, was instituted by ISDM as part of its endeavour to create a vibrant ecosystem for Development Management. The event is meant to provide creative spaces for various stakeholders to come together to discuss, debate and ideate on this idea and develop a common vocabulary on development management and creating social impact at scale.

The theme for this year’s Development Management Week was Re-imagining the new normal with Development Management. There couldn’t have been a time better than this year to consolidate ISDM’s efforts to build the domain of Development Management to enable the development ecosystem to deal with and respond to the post-pandemic scenario.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted life and various elements of the world we live in. The world, during and post-pandemic, will see and experience a plethora of things that will change and redefine ‘normal’ for almost all of us.

Re-imagining the new normal will require focussed attention on a multitude of issues. It requires thought towards understanding how the collective forces of Samaj, Sarkar and Bazaar (Market, Society and Governance) can create a new imagination and include the underlying principles of sustainable development goals. Social-economic-political structures that build on principles of equity rather than accumulation; co-creation rather than competition or at best partnerships; compassion rather than indifference. The clarion call from this present episteme is to shift the narrative of human centeredness to regenerative ecological integrity that allows for humans and the planet to thrive.

The Development Management week 2021 allowed us space to explore the contours of these shared visions and pathways as we embark on the journey to define how the practice of Development Management will unfold in the post-COVID world.

The week commenced with the virtual version of the flagship speakers’ event titled, Dialogues on Development Management, envisioned as a series of conversations with eminent practitioners, academicians, innovators, Corporate Social Responsibility executives, on topics relevant to Development Management.

This year, our galaxy of guest speakers included Ms Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, actor, filmmaker and social advocate Ms Nandita Das, Professor Pradeep Chintagunta, Academic, Faculty Member, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago and Mr Shridhar Venkat, CEO Akshaya Patra Foundation. The event culminated in celebrating Development Management Day on February 1, 2021.

On Development Management Day, the Keynote Address (Link) was delivered by Shri Amarjeet Sinha, (IAS retd) and Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office. Shri Sinha emphasised on the need for developing social capital and highlighted the role played by women’s self-help groups in tackling the impact of COVID 19 in remote and rural pockets of the country. Watch the video here.

The institution also released a report Emerging Challenges in the post-COVID Contextin collaboration with IIMPACT that works for the education of girls in socially marginalised and disempowered communities.

by JahnviAndharia | Published: 10 March, 2021

The COVID 19 outbreak last year became a major disruption for colleges and universities across the country. From the sudden closure of classes during the early months of the year on account of the lockdown imposed by the central government in its initial response to the pandemic, to the gradual movement to Zoom and online classes, the past academic year has posed many challenges. These include overcoming hurdles of remote learning and pioneering pedagogic practices to ensure continued learning for its students as well as ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing[1] of its students, faculty and staff off-campus as well as on-campus.

ISDM’s former Programme Director, Post Graduate Programme-Development Management, JahnviAndharia’s blog recounts the institution’s journey in overcoming challenges of remote learning and pioneering pedagogic practices to ensure continued learning for its students.

In September 2020, nearly six months after the complete closure of schools and colleges in response to the COVID 19 outbreak, the central government relaxed several restrictions in the fourth phase of opening the economy and other services during the COVID 19 lockdown. Higher education institutions and office workspaces were expected to set up their own norms, in line with the central government’s guidelines if they wanted to restart their operations.

The present batch of the Post Graduate Programme (Development Management) at ISDM consists of an enthusiastic bunch of youngsters who chose to continue with the programme knowing that it would run online until the time government regulations allowed campuses to become operational for students. By the end of September, some of the students were keen to come to campus and attend classes while others wanted to have clarity on the risks involved before they travelled thousands of kilometres to the campus in NOIDA.

This came as good news for ISDM. It was an opportunity for some of us to have our first in-person interactions with students. However, for a curriculum that thrives on relationship-based education, ISDM educators needed to enable spaces that permitted students to engage with the rigour and commitment that the pedagogy demands.

Reimagining a pedagogic model for Hybrid classes

Hybrid classes are a combination of in-person as well as online classes. While the senior leadership and operations team at ISDM decided to have the campus “COVID- ready” by the end of October and began working towards establishing safety protocols in keeping with the rules and norms laid out by government authorities, the most critical area was to cater to the reality that some students would choose to come to campus while some would remain ‘online.’ This meant that we had to plan for a HYBRID teaching arrangement. For educators at ISDM, this not only meant a shift in the logistics of how teaching and learning processes will take place but also re-imagine pedagogical practices for learning through hybrid models.

• Creating a simulated-learning environment

The first step in this direction was to employ technological tools to enable group-related activities.

The PGP DM programme at ISDM is the only one that involves Bricoleurs who bring together the learning experience of students, ensuring a process that encourages synthesis and making meaning from all that is imparted and absorbed. ‘Bricoleur’ comes from the French word ‘Bricolage’ which means to create something from a diverse range of things and at ISDM, Bricoleurs help interpret, integrate and co-learn the intertextuality of the theories and their applications to development.

In addition, faculty members were encouraged to experiment with these new tools as well as methods of learning through technology. These included enabling discussions with faculty members and guest leacturers on-line as well as on-campus, carrying out group assignments using online discussion rooms and breakout sessions and the extensive use of case studies.

• Enabling a vibrant student community

Students were encouraged to develop peer groups and participate in extracurricular activities organised by the Students’ Affairs Community. These involved organising online creative forums known asBaithaksinvolving students, faculty and staff members to enable active engagement on current issues such as the ongoing farmer protests and linking them to the curriculum in Development Management.

• Conducting HOT (Honest Open Two-way) conversations

HOT conversation is a democratic forum at ISDM which has long set the culture of ISDM and the learning environment wherein the whole ISDM community comes together to discuss issues of governance, pedagogy, learning environment and culture. The HOT conversations were made online wherein the student body or any member of the ISDM team could call for an organisational meeting to discuss burning issues. Proactive involvement of ISDM leadership in discussing some of the core issues related to pandemic in these hot conversations like student engagement, campus affairs, learning experience, and overall format of the hybrid learning model.

• Enabling Feedback Loops

Anonymous feedback loops were established by ISDM to record feedback on the curriculum, pedagogy and learning methods for students, faculty as well as the staff to continue improving the new system.

The simulated learning environment through online platforms for theIntervention Designterm, a critical segment that serves as a unique and enriching opportunity to test and hone their knowledge and skills in a real context over a few weeks. Student groups are allotted a specific district in the country and the exercise involves them understanding the district, identifying a critical problem, and applying systems thinking to simulate intervention design. Interactions with organisational leaders and practitioners from the districts of study of the students were carried out through a combination of phone and online tools offered by Google and Zoom.

While the pedagogic shifts set the tone for the HYBRID model of education at ISDM, ISDM leadership actively engaged in enabling a smooth transition to a COVID safe campus for all students and ISDM team members who preferred being on campus during this time.

How to design a COVID-19 Free Campus

This began with putting a lot of thought into arranging the seating, managing common spaces and utilities to ensure the maintenance of adequate physical distancing. All necessary measures such as regular sanitisation of workspaces, placement of hand sanitizers at several points in the campus, and temperature checks at entry points and random checks during the day, were planned in keeping with the rules and norms laid out by the state government. In keeping with the norms, students were given the option to come to campus or continue the online classes. Those who came in signed a declaration in keeping with guidelines laid down by the state health authorities.

Majlis, the ISDM classroom on the 6th floor which held 78 students in the previous year, could easily hold benches and chairs for 37 students. The modular furniture was just perfect to ensure that each student's seating could be arranged at a safe distance. Two high- quality ceiling cameras helped to ensure that the entire classroom could be covered both from the front end as well as the rear end. The teams worked towards synchronising three critical elements - the sound system, the cameras, and the projector and went through two rounds of test runs to ensure that everything worked well.

While only eight out of the 37 students decided to come to campus at the beginning of term 3, the academic team set up a roster to come to campus on different days, while two of the Programme Associates came daily.

Notwithstanding the technical challenges that came up initially, the direct connection with students physically present in class was energising for both the academic team as well as for the students themselves. The chatter during breaks, small group conversations in the ‘physical classroom’ that continued after the zoom class ended were fun. A coffee tea vending machine was installed so that students wouldn't have to go out and expose themselves during break time and the library was set up with a special chamber to sanitise all the returned books or books used by students for reference reading.

The academic team also set up a COVID response committee with students as its members to work out what would be required to help all those who came on campus to practice all the regulations and protocols. Posters with the right messages for the lifts, common spaces were designed and put up.

ISDM also drafted a set ofguidelinesandprotocolsto be followed by staff, faculty and students present on campus.

This was followed by extensive engagement and development of standardised protocols on virtual learning and teaching, for students and faculty respectively.

Way forward:

We all know that we have to brace ourselves for a long haul as we navigate through the pandemic. The past year has laid the groundwork for what seems to be the norm for some part of 2021 and is likely to continue in some form in the post-COVID future. However, as an organisation ISDM seeks to build possibilities for a better world through development management and leadership. Reopening the campus is a step in that direction where students and staff together support one another to create a safe, health space that creates a supportive resilient community of practitioners.

[1]ISDM is a member of the Higher Education Initiative (HEI) of the 'The Wellbeing Project'and is involved in contributing towards building institutional and pedagogical prototypes of how higher education initiatives can cultivate a culture that is more human-centered and grounded in foundational values of equity and compassion. The learning pedagogy at ISDM seeks to unlock the extraordinary potential of collaborative learning and innovation to address the complex challenges that the Indian social sector is engaging with. Read more here:https://www.isdm.org.in/wellbeing-heis.

This piece talks about the need of the development sector institutions in today’s world and how my journey till now,as a student in this sector,has made me realise that there are many people like me but are unaware of such opportunities.

I am an engineer by accident who always used to observe the inequalities happening around, be it in college life or two years of corporate experience. There always used to be a sense of helplessness within me of not being able to work with the people for overall empowerment. The limited education options after HSC examinations and economic burden of education loan from the engineering led to a life which made no sense to me. My hands were in shackles owing to it. This was one of the reasons which made me complete my engineering and work for two years with hardly in purpose in life.

After two years of corporate life, it was a discerning moment for me where I wanted to live a life which aligns with my values and purpose. It was very clear for me, I have observed tonnes of problems happening around me. If I am able to gain educational expertise in the social sector and channelise my inner potential in addressing at least one of such challengesin a professional way then I’ll be taking one step towards my purpose.

And that’s when an institution like the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) happened to me. That leap of faith of quitting the job and joining this one-year programme has transformed my life so far. I was fortunate enough tocome to know about such a course from one of my friends. ISDM made this decision simpler by enabling the scholarship and also the employment opportunities college provides after the programme. To be fair, I couldn’t have taken this step if there were no placement opportunities after the programme, as I have to be responsible for my family and self.

My family and friends back home are totally clueless aboutthe existence of such development institutions. I am assertive that there are so many active youth citizenswith concerns about various social issues that are happening in the country and wish to be a part of social change. But our traditional education system has never allowed them to come out of the monotonous purposeless monetary lifecycle. Provided a platform like ISDM where I am able to take a step towards my purpose with a sense of security of my future, our country would see many social change makers in the coming years.

Let me just highlight the safe-space created by the ISDM. The co-founders and the whole team of ISDM consider students as an integral part of the institute. ISDM has created a space where there is no fear of judgement, everyone respects the lived experiences from where the students have come from, and most importantly it constantly reminds me to what values I stand for, helping me to reflect it in daily life. ISDM follows the principle of zero-hierarchy. One example that I can give is of the staff spaces. There are no permanent rooms allocated for staff. If any student wishes to sit in any room and do her/ his own work, has the total liberty to do so and the faculty or the staff may have to sit in any other room. Most of the activities carried out are in groups comprising of diverse backgrounds with respect to age, work experience, gender, education. This has helped me to understand from the dissonance arising out of the multiple perspectives and act from the cognitive coherence by respecting and taking inputs from each perspective.

Adding on, addressing the current scenario, government - the largest social purpose organisation is doing its part to tackle the various challenges the country is facing but that’s not enough. Students graduating out of development institutions can become big change-maker and a catalyst in the development sector, working at a parallel level or with the government. Today, there is a dearth of such development leaders. CSR and social purpose organisations tend to hire people who do not have formal education from the development sector. These organisations need meta-skills which involves advocacy-enquiry, engaging with the community, reasoning and other characteristics along with the technical expertise. Development sector institutions help us in building the necessary meta-skills. Without the meta-skills, one can be a development manager but not the leader.

To conclude, becoming a civil servant is not the only criteria to serve the country. There are several social issues which need to be addressed and the government can’t alone solve these situations. Youth who cares and dream of a just and equitable society can be a part of this change. There are opportunities available and need to be brought in the mainstream at the earliest.

About the Author

Sujith Ail, currently pursuing PGP in Development Leadership at Indian School of Development Management

Sujith worked in a media publishing house for two years and joined ISDM to channelize his intention of working with the communities for overall inclusiveness and equal rights. He was involved in various social activities in school and college where he was an active member of NSS.

Apply for ISDM`s One Year PG Programme in development Leadership.

Understanding the most prevalent CSR models today

The rapid growth of the nonprofit sector that we’re seeing is a new phenomenon. In the 1980s, or even the early 1990s, if you wanted to work with disadvantaged communities, finding suitable grassroots-based nonprofit organisations was a challenge.

And so Indian companies that were so inclined had to set up their own implementing foundations or trusts. This was the route that the Tatas, Godrejs and many others took. Only in the past 25-30 years has this picture started changing.

I used to work with ActionAid, which was set up in the 1970s. It was only after a decade of operating as an implementing organisation that we could evolve into a grant-making institution. Before then, there just weren’t enough nonprofits to support.

For companies setting up CSR units today to comply with The Companies Act, 2013, giving grants is the preferred and often most feasible choice. Especially given their small team size, limited expertise in implementing their own programmes and the large number of potential nonprofit partners.

The CSR models we see today are, therefore, either wholly self-implementing (especially true for companies that have been doing this for decades) or focused entirely on giving grants (more true for companies new to CSR), and in some cases a mix of both.

What nonprofits need to know about the CSR approach of companies

Companies are trying to get it right

The Companies Act 2013 was a watershed moment in that it created urgency within companies to contribute to CSR. In the beginning, a few companies that hadn’t been giving but were mandated to do so under the Act sought creative ways to “game” the system. But that did not last.

Corporates have realised that since they must do this, it makes most sense to do it well. This thinking has been growing; it may still take some years for CSR to fully adapt, but companies are approaching it in the right spirit.

The question of geography

Different kinds of companies approach CSR differently.

Manufacturing companies want to serve the communities around their factories. They recognise that manufacturing is inherently disruptive and so they must limit its negative impact as much as possible while improving conditions in neighbouring villages. Hence, most seek nonprofit partners working with communities around their plants.

Service-oriented companies, by contrast, can be more geographically flexible. That said, they might prefer to support nonprofits running programmes near their offices so that their employees can get involved.

Manufacturing companies want to serve the communities around their factories; service-oriented companies can be more geographically flexible.

Nonprofits that understand this well can strategise how they develop partnerships with different kinds of companies for greater success.

Most companies are interested in specific and quantifiable outputs, because that is the world they understand

Corporates tend to bring their skills such as project management, technical or specialist skills, and output orientation to their CSR work.

They are most interested in tracking the measurable change that an intervention creates because that’s the world they occupy every day. They derive comfort from seeing thought-through business plans, budgets and audit trails.

At the Tata group, our companies are expectedly output-oriented and we are trying to get many to emphasise long-term outcomes. Some already do this; others are learning how to–it takes time.

The insight for nonprofits, therefore, is to develop proposals that are clear on outputs and processes, demonstrate a well thought-through strategy and are jargon-free.

How non-profits define core development issues can be very different from how companies do it

What nonprofits define as core development issues, such as social justice and rights-based approaches, will not be embraced easily by companies, not because they lack importance but because measuring outputs, efficiency and the metrics that companies understand is difficult.

Even as CSR evolves, this discomfort with topics that are nebulous, political, and perhaps even controversial, will persist.

Also worth noting is that companies increasingly view CSR as a strategic rather than purely philanthropic activity. This means that companies will want to align their CSR activities with their business because that brings in their expertise and also enables volunteering.

Nonprofits must not judge this as long as the benefits to communities are clear and unambiguous, which is the real purpose of CSR!

Companies’ CSR policies are now publicly available

One of the many positives of the CSR clause of the Companies Act is the requirement that companies post their CSR policies–defining, amongst other things, the sectors and geographies that they cover–in the public domain. This makes it easy for nonprofits to know what a company’s CSR priorities are and ensure that their proposals are suitably aligned.
How corporate giving will change over the next five years

Post-2013, India is already seeing a growing migration of professionals from traditional development to CSR. As this increases, companies will become more knowledgeable about social issues, what it takes to tackle them and the challenges that nonprofits face. Over time this changing profile of CSR professionals will facilitate greater congruence between the corporate and nonprofit worlds.

Decision-making around whom to fund will gradually improve. Because companies tend to be hierarchical, the people making decisions around whom and what to support under their CSR aren’t always the ones most knowledgeable on the subject.

Because the law demands a CSR Committee of the board, decision-making is now a board agenda, spread across a number of people. While this may slow decision-making, it is worthwhile because now the leadership is more closely involved and decisions tend to be more deliberate and thought-through.
Companies will move away from traditional hands-off cheque-writing.

As knowledge and decisions improve, so will the grant-making model. Companies will move away from traditional, hands-off cheque-writing. Instead they will work together with the nonprofit to identify the problem they want to solve.

While they will increasingly defer to the nonprofit’s expertise, they will bring to bear their own and will seek partnerships that create opportunities for their employees’ participation.

At the Tata group, we understood this a while back and put in place a volunteering programme called Tata Engage that enables employees, their families and even retired staff to volunteer their time and expertise.

The CSR checklist for companies

• Define your outcomes and stick with them over time. Change takes much longer than the 1-2 year timeline companies expect because, often, development interventions are about changing traditional practices and mindsets and making them future-proof. Determine these outcomes the same way as you approach business: Understand customer needs and find solutions that meet those needs.

• Be adaptable. Community interventions involve people and cannot be deterministic. There needs to be room for flexibility for the nonprofit too.

• Invest in the nonprofit-corporate partnership as it is inherently complementary. Nonprofits know what companies don’t and vice-versa because, at the end of the day, CSR is simply social and human development undertaken by companies!

As told to Rachita Vora and Devanshi Vaid of IDR.

Disclaimer: One of our co-founders is a consultant with the Tata group.