People who made news in November 2014

Business Today brings you snippets from people who made news this past fortnight.

GIVING BACK

He is worth $4 billion and probably the wealthiest Indian in the US. Manoj Bhargava, who founded 5-hour ENERGY, the flavoured 'energy shot' brand, now wants to give back to his native country. He has, in fact, committed over 90 per cent of his wealth to what he claims is his most expensive hobby, philanthropy.

"Since I'm too old to play with toys and I live a simple life, I decided to help my country since it is an ocean of need," said Bhargava, who set up his own charity, The Hans Foundation, in 2009 and has donated money to more than 150 charities in India.

In the country recently, he pledged Rs 500 crore, spread over six years, for the development of Uttarakhand. The money would be used to fund school lunches for children and provide clean drinking water as well as smokeless stoves in villages. "Simple things are what make a difference to people's lives, not high-tech announcements," he says.
Vivan Mehra

HARNESSING PEOPLE POWER

Employees today expect a lot more from their employers and it is imperative for the latter to live up to those expectations, says Mark Spears, of the Netherlandsbased leading auditing firm KPMG.

"There is a demand to learn. (Employees) want to learn quickly. They want to progress quickly. They want to be challenged and at the same time they want to learn from the organisation they are working for," says Spears, who first came to India in 2006 to watch an India-England cricket match, which England won.

According to him, employees are keen on having a holistic learning programme while working for an organisation. "It is not about a straight line anymore… (It is about) what are you offering in terms of horizontal experience." Employees must be allowed to move around within an organisation "so (that) they get more opportunity, get more challenged and they won't mind staying with (the company)".
Arpita Mukherjee

FITNESS AT A SNAP

Peter Taunton, who heads the global fitness chain Snap Fitness, is looking to expand in India, where it has been present since 2008 and has 46 centres, mainly in the south.

Snap Fitness wants to open 300 new centres across the country in the next three years, with an investment of Rs 350 crore.

"Only a small portion of the centres will be run by us and the rest will be through franchisees, who will also bring majority of the investment. What we provide is global best practices, branding and marketing expertise and training... [We] offer an international experience at affordable price," says Taunton.
Venkatesha Babu