Ashoka K. Bhat

Ashoka K Bhat was educated in personnel management and industrial relations and obtained his post graduation from Delhi University. He has in addition received training in faculty development at IIM Ahemdabad and has attended long duration advanced courses in human resource and general management at Templeton College, Oxford, UK and London Business School, UK.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Ashoka began his career in the corporate sector in the year 1976, and during more than 2 decades of petroleum industry experience, has anchored a number of initiatives in change management, HR systems and processes, training and management education, organizational diagnosis and redesign, etc. His key contributions in the petroleum industry include the following:

• HRD action research during the late 80’s which led to redesign of the key HRD systems including role analysis, performance appraisal, career planning, etc.
• Evaluation of the goal setting and performance appraisal system in 1992
• Study on the mission and structure of IOC’s apex center of learning namely Indian oil Institute of Petroleum Management
• Long term programme for integration of women executives into IOC’s structure and strategies beginning 1993
• Company- wide climate survey (on a large sample of executives and workmen) to asses the efficacy of HR systems and processes in 1994
• Project based process re-engineering as part of the TQM initiative beginning 1995
• As member of the nucleus group conceptualized and implemented the plan for in house international MBA programme launched by Indian oil Institute of Petroleum Management in 1996
• Company wide survey on assessing the impact of training in 1997
• ISO-9001 accreditation for Indian Oil Institute of Petroleum Management

Ashoka has also been an internal resource person in two major studies undertaken on behalf of the total oil industry in India, namely:

• Study on innovation in Oil Industry during 1997
• Study on compensation for board level executives in Oil Industry during 1997-1998.

In recognition of the pioneering and innovative work in developing and implementing HRD systems, IOC received the following national awards during his stint in the corporate HRD:

• National award for innovation in HRD for the year 1990 conferred by National HRD Network
• National award for the best HRD practices for the year 1991 conferred by Indian Society for Training and Development

CONSULTING AND TRAINING EXPERIENCE

Ashoka quit his corporate job in 1998 and joined the country’s leading infrastructure consulting firm namely Feedback Ventures to head its HR and training consultancy arm viz. Feedback Reach. As Executive Director, Feedback Reach, Ashoka consulted with a wide range of clients across the entire domain of human resource management. His key assignments include:

• Review and development of HRD strategies and policies for four Urban Local Bodies in the state of Maharashtra.
• Development of long term training strategy for Employees Provident Fund Organization, Govt. of India and facilitation of strategic interventions towards evolving social security measures for the poor and vulnerable sections of the society.
• National evaluation and impact assessment of the scheme for Counseling, retraining and redeployment of employees, who lost their jobs as a result of manpower restructuring in public sector organizations, on behalf of the Department of Public Enterprises, Govt. of India and the National Labour Institute
• Organizational diagnosis and review of promotion policy, appraisal system and career planning in a large diversified project engineering & consultancy organization in the Public Sector
• Organizational restructuring and job analysis for a large engineering company in the private sector
• Competency mapping of senior executives in the largest oil company in India.
• Comprehensive HRD review in a large IT company in the private sector
• Role profiling and competency mapping of senior scientists in the R&D center of a fortune listed company
• 360 degree appraisal, design and facilitation of development centers for senior executives of the largest oil company in India
• Organizational review, compensation restructuring and redesign of performance management system for the leading industry confederation in India
• Feasibility study for establishing a business school for a leading corporate
• Organizational diagnosis, compensation restructuring and role profiling for a large NGO in India
• Compensation survey for a large pharmaceutical company in the private sector
• Implementation of a multi-rater feedback (360° appraisal) for senior executives in a petroleum company
• Job Evaluation and design of the compensation structure for an international NGO.
• Organization wide training needs analysis and training strategy for a multi-unit public sector organization in the health care sector
• Design and development of the performance management and career planning system and human resource management policies and structures for a large NGO.
• Organization wide intervention towards empowering senior line managers in facilitating disengagement of employees targeted for downsizing through counseling for a large public sector organization.
• Competency mapping of executive roles in a large non-profit organization in India.

Ashoka has in addition designed and delivered a large number of training programs for a range of clients that include:

• Escorts Ltd.
• MICO
• Mattle Toys
• SRF Ltd.
• Grasim Industries Ltd.
• Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
• Bharat Heavy Electronics Ltd.
• Hindustan Latex Ltd.
• Jubiliant Orgonosys
• Metzeler Automotive Profiles India Pvt. Ltd.
• Minda Huf
• RICO Auto Industries Ltd.
• Indian Society for Training and Development
• All India Management Association
• Management Development Institute
• Computer Maintenance Corporation of India
• SAVE-UK

Ashoka joined MindShare in April, 2002 as Director to guide and anchor its HR consulting and training businesses.

PAPERS PRESENTED

Ashoka has presented several papers at national and international conferences covering a wide range of subjects such as Employee Relations, Managing Labour Dynamics, Process Driven HRM Strategies, Employee Retention Strategies, Internal Consulting, Business-led HRD strategies, Retention strategies, etc.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Ashoka is a visiting faculty in the area of human resource management at International Management Institute and Infinity Business School where he teaches post-graduate level courses on HR systems, competency mapping, performance assessment processes and training and development. He has also taught a course on organization development at IMT, Ghaziabad.

Ashoka has pioneered an innovative course on “Competency Management and Assessment Centre Processes” which he teaches at International Management Institute.

Ashoka is also a visiting faculty in the area of performance management, competency mapping, training systems and processes, assessment procedures, etc at Management Development Institute(MDI),Gurgaon.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Ashoka is actively associated with Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD). He has been its past Vice-President (North), Chairman (Delhi chapter), Vice-Chairman (Diploma Program Committee) and Member, Research and consultancy Committee. He is also on the panel of judges constituted to evaluate organizations in India for the best HRD practices award.

INTERNATIONAL FUNDED STUDY

Ashoka was commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to research and compile the country report on Industrial Relations in the Petroleum Oil Refining industry in India in 1998.

TRAVEL

Ashoka has widely traveled through Europe including UK, France Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, etc and South-East Asia in connection with educational and professional pursuits.