Struggling to Manage Our Chennai Branch: Should We Appoint a Local Leader or Relocate Someone?

Respected Seniors,

Our organization operates in all metros. However, it is quite difficult to operate all branches by traveling to different places. I am especially facing a problem in Chennai. I am not able to form a proper system. Kindly advise if we need a head there?? We need to decide this because we are investing a good amount of money in him. Secondly, it's quite difficult to find a leader there. Shall we appoint someone from Delhi to handle Chennai?? Kindly advise.

Dear Monica,

What role and which vertical are you referring to? In case the role demands interaction locally, remote leadership will not serve the purpose. You may depute someone from Delhi, but that would be short-term. Please do consider hiring someone from Chennai in your domain with the expertise and contacts that you require.

Please do share more on your requirement so that our members can contribute further.

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

Respected Seniors,

Our organization operates in all metros. However, it is quite difficult to operate all branches by traveling to different places. I am especially facing a problem in Chennai. I am not able to form a proper system. Kindly advise if we need a head there. We need to decide this because we are investing a good amount of money in him. Secondly, it's quite difficult to find a leader there. Shall we appoint someone from Delhi to handle Chennai? Kindly advise.

Dear Monica,

It appears that you have not created a process manual for the branch. Wherever the branch may be, the work process should be standardized. About 10% variation could be allowed depending on local requirements, but not more than that.

First, standardize the processes. Otherwise, issues like this will persist whenever a new branch is established. When I mention a process manual, it is essential to codify what to do, when to do it, how to do it, where to do it, who will do it, who will be involved, etc.

I state this confidently because I had the opportunity to work for an MNC that operates in 220 countries. Could they have achieved such growth without uniform systems and processes? No way!

Ok...

Dinesh V Divekar

Dear Ms. Monika,

It is not clear what kind of person you are looking for to work in your Chennai branch. I am sure you will have a lot of choices to choose a suitable person from Chennai. Chennai is not a village; it offers good education, culture, environment, and professional experience, and there is no dearth of talented, knowledgeable, and experienced people in each domain. Maybe your method of attracting and choosing the right people is not proper.

It is not at all easy for someone to relocate from Delhi to Chennai. Moreover, you will end up paying a very high salary for such a candidate, and he may not stay for long in Chennai. It's better to recruit a local candidate as they may come at a much lesser cost. Hiring a local recruitment agency may lead to success.

I am sure you will find many employees belonging to Chennai and Tamil Nadu working in Delhi. Perhaps you can try them if they are willing to relocate to their hometown or home state.

Thank you, Ms. (Cite Contribution), for your quick response. Actually, I find gaps in accounts majorly. We find very laborious people there, but they lack team-controlling skills.

Best regards,
Monica Pankaj