Wednesday 8 August 2018

Barter Trade - A Future Of Developing Economies


Barter trade is one of the oldest forms of economic exchange and in practice from thousands of years. Barter is an act of exchanging goods and services without using money. It was introduced by Mesopotamia tribes in 6000BC and adopted by tribes after them. Bartering evolved with the time and it made spices, weapons, human skulls and salt as major items of exchange. In 1930s, during the times of great depression, bartering became popular again.

Barter trade has a healthy impact on the economy and life of a common man. The most beautiful part of barter is flexibility. You can exchange anything you have with anything you need. It could be an exchange of product with product, product with service and service with service. Barter allows exploring possibilities and a great room for negotiations among the swappers. Another great plus is the elimination of under or over production. All goods and services are produced against needs of an individual or groups. This also minimizes the possibility of goods or commodities storage. It means that no one can exploit the market or gain unfair advantages. For the inhabitants of developing economies, the real benefit of barter trade is the fulfillment of needs without spending money. Thus they will earn the advantage of saving money.

Barter trade is a viable solution for the developing economies like Pakistan where inflation is high, industrialization has declined and employment rate is low. There are many segments of the society who are skillful but cannot fulfill their basic needs. Barter can enable them to have whatever they want by exchanging goods or services without involving cash. On the other hand, internet usage is increasing in Pakistan. Digitalization has become a game changer for communities and businesses.

Combination of barter trade and digitalization is online bartering, which is a recent phenomenon and gaining popularity in different regions. In US alone, barter transactions have grown to $16 billion annually. An informal study conducted in India, developing economy, suggests that around Rs. 78,300 crore unused goods are stocked in homes. This shows that online barter trade has a huge potential and will have a positive impact on the economy of Pakistan.

Maarchaa.com is Pakistan’s first ever online bartering platform launched by the young business professionals. This is a free service with a provision of swapping of product with product, product with service and service with service.

Numan Aly is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) who has conducted multiple talks on Barter Trade& exchange of goods and services. You can check out his LinkedIn profile. Numan Aly has also uploaded multiple useful motivational and informational videos at his YouTube Channel.  He is the HR pro who translates organizational vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, productivity, growth by enabling, engaging and empowering people and organizations. You can also follow Numan Aly at Twitter & Facebook

- NUMAN ALY -

Sharing Economy - The Difference Between Ownership And Access

Technological Uprising And Internet Spread Out Over The Years Has Deeply Changed The Concept Of MARKET. It Has Not Only Broken Down The Market Barriers But At The Very Same Time Established The Connection In Society Where Everything Is Accessible.


The concept of “sharing” exists since the existence of mankind. Humans love to share be it stories, experiences, pictures, videos, work or files you name it. Social media platforms fulfils our need of social connection and to present ourselves or our work.

The connected society leads way to creation of economic model and we know this model with names like “the sharing economy” & “collaborative consumption”. The economy sharing models have changed the behaviour of consumers and consumption trends widely.

The consumption patterns based on the demand of product has been challenged by the idea of accessing the service of product rather than owning or purchasing it. This perspective has totally changed the game. Consumer realized the fact that product itself is nothing but the experience it contains or provide to us. Consumers do not want to own a paper based newspaper rather s/he wants to read story or article e.g. online newspapers or libraries. Similarly, consumer may not want to own a luxury car but to enjoy comfortable and easily accessible ride e.g. Uber and Careem.

Numan Aly is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) who has conducted multiple talks on economy sharing specially in context of Pakistan. You can check out his LinkedIn profile. Numan Aly has also uploaded multiple useful motivational and informational videos at his YouTube Channel.  He is the HR pro who translates organizational vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, productivity, growth by enabling, engaging and empowering people and organizations. You can also follow Numan Aly at Twitter & Facebook

The sharing economy is nothing new and it creates a real income too. We believe it is not clearly established the ownership is not as imperative as access and it is clearly evident from the services like Spotify, Netflix, Airbnb etc.

The important aspect now is to fully accept the rise of the sharing economy & identify changing consumer behaviour & its impact on traditional models and how this opportunity be an advantageous to one to generate real income and profits.

- NUMAN ALY -

Monday 6 August 2018

Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®)

Looking back in recent past, all I can recall and relate to is the long hours of studying, hard work & practical experience one requires to have to get a professional certification. A four hours long and nerve breaking test with timer’s TICK TICK in front  takes the juice out of you but let me tell you its totally worth it. Its challenging but I can not express the feeling of excitement, energy &  satisfaction when you the see the lovely colorful word “PASS” on that computer’s screen. You really feel proud to become a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®)

This certification really helps you to open and broaden your mind, learn new concepts or unlearn the existing concepts with clarity, push you to think strategically and see the BIG PICTURE. If you want to feel good and amazing, I urge all HR professionals to go for it, you are going to thank me later.

Numan Aly is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) who has conducted multiple training and talks on this topic. You can check out his LinkedIn profile. Numan Aly has also uploaded multiple useful motivational and informational videos at his YouTube Channel.  He is the HR pro who translates organizational vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, productivity, growth by enabling, engaging and empowering people and organizations. You can also follow Numan Aly at Twitter & Facebook

Nouman Ali, Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®)

Social Media & Employee Vetting

Gone are the days when it was possible to keep the line intact that separates our personal and professional life specially after the big bang of online global connectivity. In this heightened environment where hiring an individual is a big deal when overstated, inaccurate information are provided by the applicants. The solution is to make pre-employment screening a fundamental part of hiring process.

To get critical opinion regarding hiring a potential candidate, 2 in 5 employers are using social media.The recent trends showed that Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are few of the most used social networks to vet a potential candidate. Of more than 1,000 employers and job seekers polled, 95 per cent of employees used social-networking sites to look for jobs, and almost half of managers use social media during the recruitment process. (2015 survey by REACH Employment Services)

Why employers are more inclined to use social media for applicants’ screening is quite evident from the following statistics:

65% to assess professionalism and morality of the candidate
51% to judge Candidate’s fitness in adopting company’s culture
45% to seek more candidate qualification & degrees
48% – Candidate using drugs and inappropriate stuff
33% – Candidate bad mouthed previous employerThough Social media screening seems to be more logical with the latest technological advancements and social connectivity trends, but the question one should ask him or herself if we are respecting the personal boundaries of the candidates or not? Are employers overstepping laws regarding individuals privacy and an individual’s “off-duty” practices?

Numan Aly is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) who has conducted multiple training and talks on this topic. You can check out his LinkedIn profile. Numan Aly has also uploaded multiple useful motivational and informational videos at his YouTube Channel.  He is the HR pro who translates organizational vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, productivity, growth by enabling, engaging and empowering people and organizations. You can also follow Numan Aly at Twitter & Facebook

Are employers respecting the personal boundaries of the candidates & are they overstepping laws regarding individuals privacy and an individual’s “off-duty” practices ?
Are employers respecting the personal boundaries of the candidates & are they overstepping laws regarding individuals privacy and an individual’s “off-duty” practices ?
In order to overcome such legalities and moral and ethical decisions, employers may take an authorization letter signed by potential applicant if the pre-employment social media screening has been selected as a medium of conducting background check.

It is important to maintain an objective lens when conducting a social-media search
In the current age of internet, always changing technology and social media we are living in a fish bowl constantly being monitored and observed by the rest of world. I wonder if employers and companies do not use social media to vet the potential employee and why not but at same time it is important to maintain an objective lens when conducting a social-media search in order to avoid any discrimination or false impressions.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

What actually is the “Emotional Intelligence (EI)” and is it worth developing it? Do we really need EI? What does a leadership have to do with it all?

These and many other questions like these always knock on doors of our minds from time to time. The hype that EI got in recent years really pushed me to dig deep.

Emotional Intelligence if defined in very basic manner will be the quality of being sensitive to & understanding of one’s own and others’ emotions. EI is the ability to manage our own emotions and impulses. For me EI is somehow more connected to the concept of Diversity & Inclusion. Same as diversity without inclusion is of no use, people with very different backgrounds, understandings & perspectives will not make positive difference until they are enabled to work productively with one another. And that is exactly what EI does.

EI can turn differences into an organizational asset rather than a potential liability

EI is an established fact and very fundamental requirement and trait for a Leader in any organization. Leaders must not only develop their own emotional intelligence but also help develop EI through the organization. In my opinion, in absence of EI it will be impossible to have behaviors e.g. accepting differences, cooperation, empathy, trust, mutual respect etc. needed to support global mindset or diversity in workplace.

The concept of Emotional intelligence Quotient (EIQ) in workplace is a measure of leadership ability. EIQ describes the qualities that an organization’s Senior Management and HR will need to be able to promote EI throughout the organization. Few of critical components of EIQ are:

​Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social Skills
A very relevant and related concept along with the Emotional Intelligence is the Social Intelligence (SI). SI is the ability to create connections or rapport with others. It entails seeing and interpreting the impact of one’s behavior on others and altering behavior to increase others people’s level of comport an trust.

SI helps us understand the rules of particular social contexts i.e. workplace. Leaders & HR should be enabled with the skill of switching roles in different contexts and with different people but most important thing while doing so is that the role switching must be truthful and without any biasness, evil intention or falseness. Numan Aly is a Senior Certified Professional who has conducted multiple training and talks on Emotional Intelligence. You can check out his LinkedIn profile. Numan Aly has also uploaded multiple useful motivational and informational videos at his YouTube Channel.  He is the HR pro who translates organizational vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, productivity, growth by enabling, engaging and empowering people and organizations. You can also follow Numan Aly at Twitter & Facebook.

(Numan Aly)