There is a lot of hype in many circles about "generation Y" and other workforce generational issues, but it's rare to see cases of companies addressing workforce change (whether it's generational or not). "Ram drive", the recent Face Value column in The Economist, covered the career of Subramanian Ramadorai of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - a career that started at Tata in 1972 and has seen him as the CEO since 1996. As the article puts it, his career "parallels the rise of India's software industry". Fascinating career, but equally interesting is the view of how Tata now needs to treat its workforce - not by focusing on the practices of the past.

some of the company's veterans believe that it is the old-timers who must learn to let go. Today it is minds, not megahertz, that are the scarce commodity. Over its long history, TCS has achieved great success by pinching pennies, imposing discipline on the unruly art of programming, and relying on long serving insiders. But now it must learn to give employees their head, so as to benefit from their ideas and retain their loyalty....Mr Ramadorai hopes his employees can scratch [their] entrepreneurial itch without leaving the fold."

A successful, growing organization who are looking at ways to change their employment models and attitudes in order to succeed in new times - an increasingly common phenomena, and one we find often uncovered through a good strategic workforce planning process. Sometimes executives discover this need themselves, but in other cases HR is leading the leaders to the realization that change is needed (sometimes using case studies like TCS). Does your HR organization have the framework to lead this change?