The People Tree

MHRM IIT KHARAGPUR HR MAGAZINE

Autumn Edition| 2012

Expert Speak |

Kaleidoscope |

Ms. Barsha Chakraborty AVP – Human Resource G – Cube Solutions

Work Life balance What HR professionals can do?

Coffee with Corporate|Ms.Linda Johansson|Mr. S. Padmanabhan|Mr. Aloke Tagore H&M

Dr Reddy’s Lab

Deloitte

MHRM IIT KHARAGPUR

EDITORIAL

Supraja Rajagopalan MHRM 2011-13

Avijit Mitra MHRM 2012-14

Gaurav Kumar MHRM 2012-14

Sriram Mohan MHRM 2012-14

Ashish kumar MHRM 2011-13

Dilip Jha MHRM 2011-13

From the tree’s roots Dear Readers, As we step into the second successful year of our existence, it gives us immense pleasure in welcoming you to read our third exciting edition. In this issue, we have tried to focus on some key areas in HR such as Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Employee Engagement, HR Transformation and HR Challenges. We have also tried to reiterate the importance of the much talked about, but least worked upon aspect of “Work-Life Balance”.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Barsha Chakraborty , AVP, Human Resources, G-Cube Solutions,Mr. S.Padmanabhan, Director HR, Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories, Mr.Aloke Tagore, Regional HR Head - East ,Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd and Ms.Linda Johansson, Global Sustainability Coordinator, H&M, for their valuable time and insights.

We take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners of “The People Tree Article Writing” competition.

We would be delighted to have your valuable suggestions and feedback. Please feel free to write to us at thepeopletree.mhrm.iitkgp@gmail.com .

Happy Reading!!!

Editing Team

Autumn 2012

Contents

31| Coffee With Corporate “We

work in supply chain as far as the Indian scenario is concerned.

And we bring sustainability awareness in our suppliers, who are a part of our day to day work, by various activities like training, audits, meetings and sending out information to them “

-Linda Johansson Global Social Sustainability Coordinator, H&M Regulars 2 | Colour Canvas 33 | Expert Speak 40 | BlitzKrieg

Features 3 | HR practices to engage new generation employees Kriti Jain XLRI Jamshedpur 7 | Managing star Performers Mansi jain & kanika bansal LBSIM New Delhi 11 | The Changing Dynamics of Campus Recruitment Surabhi Singhal & Manisha Rana SIBM Pune 16 | The HR challenges in SMEs SubburamNN Amrita School of Business Bangalore 19 | Transforming HR practices through technology Sumar Loomba NITIE Mumbai 36 | Kaleidoscope Work Life Balance Divya Chaddha MHRM IIT Kharagpur 26 | Coffee with corporate Aloke Tagore, East regional HR Head Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Indian Pvt Ltd | Mr. Padmanabhan.

S, Director HR, Dr. Reddy's Labs

the people tree | 1

MHRM Exclusive

Colour Canvas

MHRM IIT KHARAGPUR

Where Leaders are Born‌

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

HR PRACTICES TO ENGAGE NEW GENERATION EMPLOYEES

By Kriti Jain XLRI Jamshedpur

“If communication is not your top priority, all of your other priorities are at risk.”

Bob Aronson Communications Consultant

Engaging Gen Y: Does it matter?

There is a continuous inflow and outflow of employees through the doors of any organization. The multiple generations of employees bring with them, a diverse set of needs and wants.

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

These individual needs correlate directly to the employee engagement practices undertaken by organizations; which in turn are linked to good talent retention and better financial performance.

According to the Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Asia Pacific Study, the “Best” employers have extremely high engagement scores compared to the “Rest”. This underlines the importance of identifying the differences between Gen Y and the older generations, and tailoring the organizational policies and practices according to the changing trends of the workforce.

being raised in culturally more diverse environments. They are very entrepreneurial in nature and have a short attention span. They often fail to see the need to work from an office or for a particular employer and hence may opt for transient kind of jobs. Retention is a key challenge for this generation. They seek challenging work, but work life balance is also important to them. They present a bundle of contradictions. They need constant support and guidance, but hate to be told what to do. They are assertive and buoyant, and present an urgency to succeed quickly. Hence, it is pertinent here that the needs of this generation are identified and engagement policies be designed to match their aspirations.

Figure 1: Results of Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Asia Pacific Study Source: Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Asia Pacific Study

The Millennials There are the Generation Y employees, born between 1980 and 2000. They are just beginning to enter the workforce and would form a large proportion of the workplace in times to come. Like the Gen X (1960s – 1980s), this generation has a high level of comfort with technology. But they also bring to the workplace a very tolerant outlook,

Figure 2: What Millennials Want Source – Harvard Business Review

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Engagement practices: What HR should do?

this could be that offering a flexi timing, or a flexible benefits program might be valuable to them

Recognition: One of the most essential elements

study shows that 66% Gen Y employees quote job advancement opportunities as a loyalty driver. The challenge this poses for HR is to design career progression plans in line with the achievement orientation of this generation. The employees should not be forced to move out of the organization in search of better career avenues.

of engaging the new generation is recognition. This generation is very much interested in feedback on its performance. The periodic annual/semi annual reviews are too infrequent for them. They need to be told that they have done a good job, and that should be done now. They strive for appreciation and praise. But it is important to remember that these employees not only want recognition but also the freedom to choose the way it is delivered. The three most effective means of recognition are: peerto-peer, result based and social recognition.

Flexibility: Work life balance is very important to them. Research suggests that flexibility makes them more loyal to their job. The implications from this

Recognition

Flexibility

Advancement opportunities: A MetLife

Managing

performance: This correlates

directly to their need for feedback. The HR implication emerging out of this need of the Gen Y is a timely, frequent and efficient performance appraisal system, which delivers expectations as well as the feedback on performance in a clear and transparent manner.

Advancement Opportunities

Managing performance

Figure 3: Engagement practices

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Managing engagement One of the key aspects which HR needs to keep in mind is that different generation employees need different engagement initiatives. The onus on HR is to identify the different employee segments and design multiple engagement strategies catering to their needs. A helpful initiative in this direction could be the appointment of an engagement manager or champion, who would liaise with all stakeholders and collect relevant information for engagement programs. Also, managers need to be given the discretion to oversee employees, so that they are able to reward and recognize them as and when needed. In order to have successful engagement programs, it is crucial that the drivers of engagement are identified regularly and the policies adapted to those.

Another essential element of engaging this generation is to establish a culture of connections in the organization. The Gen Y prefers working in a team based setting and a well connected network of social relationships would go a long way in ensuring a better performance of this workforce.

Conclusion Managing generational diversity is one of the key challenges faced by HR in the workplace today.

Different generations of employees bring with them a varied perspective and their own unique contribution in the organizational success. Hence, their peaceful coexistence becomes important, as does the necessity to keep them constantly motivated. This stresses the relevance of multiple engagement programs catering to the needs of all the employees.

Who wants to be the leader?

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TALENT MANAGEMENT

Managing Star Performers By Mansi Jain Kanika Bansal LBSIM New Delhi

Top performing employees are often the key to a business’ success. Top performers not only have the capabilities and talent to fulfill a particular business need or role, but also provide a proven performance record of success in achieving business goals.

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Dissatisfaction with pay

58%

Dissatisfaction with management

48%

Inadequate

promotional 48%

These “super keepers” are the top

opportunity

echelon of a company’s workforce.

Difficult to find and expensive to replace, their retention and continued success is critical for sustaining and growing the bottom line.

Inadequate opportunity for career- 44% related skill development Dissatisfaction with benefits

37%

Uncomfortable work environment

24%

Conflict with manager/co-workers

23%

Quotes I kept six honest serving men.

They taught me all I knew. Their names are What, Why, When, Where, How, Who. -- Rudyard Kipling

Certainly, no company would like to see them leave.HR managers should realize that they are not the only ones who know the value of their star performers, but instead many other competitors and head hunters are always prying upon the opportunity to pounce on them and lure them towards their own company.

According to a study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, various reasons for which star performers leave the organization are as mentioned in the diagram(Source: Strategic Rewards: Maximizing the Return on Your Reward Investment, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 2003.)

Besides knowing the reasons as to why people leave a company, HR managers should also focus on what makes employees stay with an organization. According to Sharon Jordan-Evans, co-author of Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay, there are five primary reasons why employees stay where they are: 1. Challenging and interesting work 2. A chance to learn and grow 3. Good rapport with co-workers 4. Fair pay 5. A great boss

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TALENT MANAGEMENT After knowing what top performers are looking

Once the broader talent calibration process is

for, managers need to learn how to give it to them. established and implemented, the company should Optimal mix of rewards geared towards top consider what types of rewards might be performers can play an important role in managing established for high-potential resources. This could star performers as reward programs are the most be a prime opportunity to leverage noncash universally accepted standard form of recognition. rewards or long-term incentives like equity.

Talented, top performing people expect to be Examples of noncash rewards could be advanced recognized and rewarded for their efforts with a education opportunities or other types of compensation package that reflects their development activities. Equity and other longercontribution to the success of the organization. term incentives are an attractive option due to the Performance-driven rewards are a key lever for typical vesting timeframes. Employees remain engaging and retaining top performers. Pay for engaged and are motivated to perform at a high performance is one approach to retain high- The closest to level to reap these longer-term potential employees. However, companies perfection a person rewards. These types of rewards—in need a strategy to recognize the future ever comes is when conjunction with the opportunities contributions that these employees will he fills out an for advancement—are significant bring to the organization. Pay for potential employment differentiators between the stars and ties to an overall talent management application. -- Stanley the employees assessed as average. strategy in a slightly different way.

Top talent rarely leaves a company for J. Randall Where pay for performance requires a tight compensation reasons alone. What linkage between performance assessment and people really want beyond being paid enough and compensation management, pay for potential also being paid fairly is meaningful work. To keep the adds succession planning and employee top performers engaged, they should be provided development. with the opportunity to work on a new project or assignment that builds their skills and gives them a Calibration is a key component of pay for chance to shine. This might be a team project that potential, but is used in a different way in pay for brings all the stars together from different departments or functions; or this might be a solo performance: project that demonstrates confidence in their • Performance calibration is used in the pay-forability. performance process to ensure that performance is assessed uniformly across a company.

Multiple studies cite that a lack of employee development activities is a key decision point for • Pay for potential requires a more broad top performers. Therefore, using development calibration process that weaves in competency activities—whether they are educational assessment as well as development activities opportunities, formal mentor relationships, or associated with high potential. stretch assignment as rewards for top performance is cost-effective and helps enhance retention.

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TALENT MANAGEMENT

To prevent the best people from feeling ignored or unappreciated, they should be checked in with frequently. By keeping the lines of communication open, they will feel that they are being cared, and in turn HR managers will be able to learn better about their needs and concerns.

Praise for good work can also go a long way in demonstrating to the top performers how much they are valued in the company. Providing regular praise/recognition for people who perform well, including celebration gettogethers when organizational successes occur helps in strengthening the loyalty bond.

Hence, it can be concluded that nurturing high performers can lead to maximization of corporate potential. Research has found that the top performer differential is up to 2.5 to 10 times that of an average employee (Sullivan, 2008) and that “Superstars” produce upto12 times more than the average employee (Corporate Executive Board). The more the number of top performers, the greater the organization’s productivity. Hence, the single most important priority for HR and talent executives should be to engage and employ star performers at their organizations because when top performers are fully engaged in their work and aligned with organizational goals, they are not only instrumental in powering a business, but also in helping to define their company’s long term growth trajectory.

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TALENT ACQUISITION

The Changing Dynamics of Campus recruitment By: Surabhi Singhal Manisha Rana SIBM Pune

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The dynamic landscape that organizations work in requires for a change in the way they work. In the current times, when the economic situation seems gloomy, most of the organizations are being forced to cut on their recruitment numbers the challenges associated are multi-fold. There is a need to adopt a strategy which would help organizations to be the employer of choice and at the same time build a long term psychological contract with recruits by selecting the right candidates in the very beginning.

A closer look at the Indian Diaspora shows that with IMF cutting the Indian 2012 growth forecast to 4.9% and with World Bank cutting India’s GDP projection to 6% for FY13, India Inc. becomes flatter, leaner as growth slows. In this slowing environment, recruitment takes a hit as is visible when recruiters pull back on the intake from campuses. According to The Hindu Business Line, this year for engineering graduates, a 40-50% drop in campus recruitment is expected. So let us explore the different strategies that organizations use to enable the right influencers in the recruitment process.

Ideological Shift in Recruitment Strategy

In this time of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), companies are shying away from committing anything in terms of the campus placements and are waiting for the picture to get clearer. Cultural fit has become the key factor in such times & so it becomes all the more imperative for companies to get the right people on board and right people in the right seat. We are also seeing companies embracing concept of “Lean Organization” and considering the concept of “Value Addition”. Also, the focus now is on two-way communication with the campuses to bridge the gap between organizations’ expectations and the students’ aspirations thereby attaining the sweet spot.

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TALENT ACQUISITION

Companies are increasing their involvement with campuses through different venues and it is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Case Studies, Guest Lecture, Competitions, Workshops, Live projects, Leader’s talk and Field Trips are some of the ways in which companies engage the prospective future employees. Such interactions create various touch points and help, both recruiters and recruits to gauge the matching of wavelength and decide accordingly. Decisions thus taken result in better expectation setting and retention. These new ways show that there has been an ideological shift in the way recruitment is now seen in organizations. It is preferred by companies to get the candidate who is the best fit for their organization rather than getting just the best candidate.

Step1: Why

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for your blood and sweat and tears” Simon Sinek How Great Leaders Inspire Action -

Feeling such as loyalty & it drives human behavior

Step2: How Step3: What

Rational & Analytical Thought

Fig 3: Golden Circle – Outside in Approach

The challenge, as Dr Simon explains in his work is to get the people on board who believe in the purpose of the company, its values and culture – The WHY & HOW part and not to get people who just believe in what products companies make – The WHAT part, as it is the WHY part which helps us in taking decisions and drives our behavior.

Company’s endeavor through campus interactions is to strike this right cord.

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TALENT ACQUISITION

New Ways for Changing Times Now we explore some of the key trends in Campus Recruitment.  Campus Branding beyond recruitment season – Unlike the dedicated campus recruitment season as was the norm earlier now campus recruitment is a yearlong continuous process where companies try to reach the candidate through various touch points. a. Campus Brand Ambassador: “Just marketing” is dead and it has been replaced by community-oriented marketing which includes word of mouth. People want to know from people of same community or background and not from marketers. Same is true for campus recruits. Campus Brand Ambassadors who are generally from the same college enjoy better credibility and the narration of their own story in the organization helps in creating the right image of the brand in the minds of the target audience. b. Campus Competitions: It’s a truly win-win situation for both the students and the companies. For companies, it is a branding exercise, an opportunity to gauge the talent and to some extent they get their customers involved in the solutions provided. For students, it’s a chance to get to know the company better, a learning opportunity and to bag PPIs/PPOs. Few Examples: Become Indira’s advisor, War Room, iCreate, Interrobang and many more. Companies segment the colleges as per their expected talent pool and put huge efforts and resources to make these events successful.

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TALENT ACQUISITION

% Annual Growth for different sectors 40 30 20 10 0

Annual Growth

Fig 3: Monster Employment Index, Mar’12 Through all these exercises a brand image is established which is in synch with the Customer Value Proposition of the Company (CVP), Employee Value Proposition (EVP) & expectation of the target talent pool.  Converts from summer interns: Most of the organizations seem to consider Summer Internships as a major channel for final recruitments as well. It gives them ample time evaluate the candidature of the person.  Increased interest in Social Service Sector: There has been a shift towards more meaningful work. As per Monster Employment Index NGO/Social Services sector has recorded highest annual growth (fig3) and other advancements such as IIM-B’s declaration to refund the full fees of those students who take up jobs in social sector will further bolster this trend.

up the recruitment and snagged big number from country’s top B-schools while big employer brands slashed their hiring by 19%.  Entrepreneurial ventures: IITs, IIMs, ISB and many other colleges have designated entrepreneurship cells which provide help to aspiring entrepreneurs in all possible dimensions – mentorship, initial financial health through alumni network and networking opportunities. All these factors put together make environment conducive for students to realize their desire for autonomy and adopt “unconventional path” and the success stories of many Start-ups by Indian entrepreneurs such as Flipkart, Makemytrip, Myntra and Redbus has fuelled it further.

However, the challenge remains to set the expectations right from the very start with the potential candidates. With so many campus branding activities in the cynosure, the essence of what organizations can offer and what candidates want from the organizations should not be lost.

 Start Ups – new buzz word: Till few years back, working with start-ups was looked as a step down but now the fresh graduates from esteemed colleges are considering this option with open mind. As per an Economic Times Report, this year hardly known start-ups such as online games developer Zynga, clean energy firm Flareum Tech and the likes scaled

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HR CHALLENGES

The HR Challenges in SMEs By N.N Subburam Amrita School of Business

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India have performed substantially well and enabled the country to achieve huge industrial growth and diversification. Today SMEs have become a dynamic, vibrant and vital sector for the growth of the Indian economy and it contributes around 45 % of industrial output, 40% of exports, 42 million in employment, create one million jobs every year and produces more than 8000 quality products for the Indian and international markets. The growth opportunities for the SMEs in India look impressive but there are numerous challenges they face every day and the most crucial challenge they face is in the Human Resource Department.

In this highly competitive and constantly changing business scenario the most valuable resources that need to be leveraged is the Human Resources. Traditional organizations distinguished them from the competitors by their products, services or even processes.

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HR CHALLENGES But today, these are no more considered as competitive advantage because they can be easily emulated. Building and retaining a passionate workforce which is committed to the organization, ready to take up numerous challenges, willing to run the extra-mile is very difficult. The role of HR does not end just at attracting and retaining the best of the best employees available in the industry. Motivating them, engaging them to the strategic goals of the organization and making them fit to the organizational culture are important issues which create nightmares to business leaders, top management and HR professionals.

This article would mainly focus on the challenges faced by SMEs in  Recruitment  Retention and  Employer Branding Challenges in Recruitment Employees in an organization are the most essential growth drivers. Finding out the right candidate is highly challenging for SMEs because they are not adept in modern methods of hiring and find it difficult to locate the best talent available in the industry. Most of the SMEs do not provide a clear job description as most of the large companies do. So candidates applying in SMEs do not have a clear picture of the job which they are applying for. Top talent comes always at premium price, and if the pay packages are not attractive then they would be lost to the competitors.

In India many SMEs in Tier B, Tier C cities are not aware of the modern techniques of recruitment such as online recruitment or E-Recruitment, boomerang recruitment, social media recruitment and mobile recruitment. They still follow traditional way of recruitment such as newspaper Ads, employment agency or search firms. The roles and responsibilities of the candidates are not clearly formed in most of SMEs and at the fresher level most candidates accept it and crib later, which leads to high attrition.

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HR CHALLENGE Solutions for Recruitment issues  SMEs should adopt new recruitment methods. They should implement effective hiring channels such as employee referrals, graduate recruitment and so on.  SMEs can maintain an active database of the candidates who have applied earlier and during vacancies, the companies can retrieve them according to the requirements and reduce the search cost and time.  Proper job analysis should be done and detailed job description should be provided to the candidates. It should be kept as a tool for measuring the traits of the candidates.

Retention Executives are extremely worried how to retain their key people in the organization and make their alliances continual. Companies should strive to know the reasons for attrition in SMEs and the factors leading to attrition should be identified, analyzed and measures should be taken to reduce attrition. There are several factors which lead to the departure of the people such as  Unfriendly manager-employee relationship  Bad working conditions  Nature of the job  No job security  Improper work/life balance  Less opportunity for growth and advancement If these factors are analyzed beforehand, the HR related issues can be reduced.

Employer Branding In the corporate ecosystem, employer branding is gaining tremendous momentum and because of this, SMEs are finding difficult to attract and retain the talent. Earlier, employer branding was not considered seriously by many organizations. But today it’s crucial because of the economic climate in India, where businesses experience heavy pressure to cut costs and increase productivity. Getting the right people with right skills, attitude, knowledge and experience to drive the business is strategically important. Developing an employer brand will help SMEs to attract the best talent and building an image in the minds of employees as a “great place to work” would reduce the time and money spent on quest for talent.

These are the few typical HR challenges that SMEs face and they should overcome these obstacles through a well-thought process and realistic plan. SMEs should collaborate and channelize the skill sets and strengths of their employees to achieve the overall business objectives.

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HR TRANSFORMATION

Transforming HR Practices Through Technology Sumar Loomba NITIE, Mumbai

The corporate personnel departments are overwhelmed with human resource management and the responsibility to foster professional synergy among discrete set of individuals.

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HR TRANSFORMATION As businesses are growing, we believe that they are in a proper position to harness the benefits of web and various technologies which could be aptly called as next generation practices. Indeed, reaching a new level of employee collaboration has become an important goal of many HR departments. Enterprises ranging from far-flung global corporations to small businesses are looking for better ways to manage, motivate and even recruit employees through the use of Internet-based technologies.

The various communication media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, Youtube, etc are enabling people with varied ideologies to share information as well as to get into a community membership which would provide them a mosaic on which they can share their ideas, make new connections, get acquainted with newer information faster and cheaper. Just to exemplify, Youtube has provided a platform to thousands of theatre artists to post their videos online which not only give them instant followings but could also get them life time opportunities as there are major companies who always remain in search of talent and what else could be a better and affordable medium than internet. As per the research done by MixOrg , a social media marketing and consulting firm, Facebook is currently the best tool for the screening of candidates in order to find the best fit professional for the job. With the help of the content being uploaded, the likes and dislikes being done, the communities being followed, the queries being posted, a candidate could very well be judged on various parameters required by the recruiter. There could be many other areas where the capacity of social media could be realized. Yet another problem being faced by HR managers lately is to estimate the probable number of employees who would resign in a year’s time

from an organization. Facebook and LinkedIn can be leveraged to assess the number of employees in such a situation. Not only the HR managers, but the employees also can utilize the power of these social platforms to their benefits ; they can leverage communities to identify goals, use colleague ratings and reviews when choosing professionaldevelopment course work, and share informal tips and techniques.

Current Trends

The

social media has been identified by a host of companies – both big and small – as a potential tool for recruitment. How this tool is being used, however, varies considerably. Broadly, the use of social media can be classified into 2 areas:  Attracting job seekers and building brand value  Screening potential candidates Let us look at the current trends in both these aspects.

Candidate Screening

A

survey conducted by Reppler (a social media monitoring service) among 300 hiring professionals revealed some interest facets of candidate screening:

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HR TRANSFORMATION

“At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past” -

Materlink

Highlights of the survey:  A whopping 91% of recruiters have used social media to screen candidates. It is another matter whether they have used this tool effectively or not.  Surprisingly, more recruiters (76%) have used Facebook for screening as opposed to LinkedIn (48%). The reasons for this could be two-fold:  Facebook has a much larger user base (over 400 million) than LinkedIn (around 65 million)







 LinkedIn is strictly professional. Facebook, on the other hand, can give insights into the personality of the candidate.

Most candidates screening has taken place immediately after receiving application for the job. In other words, an impression of the candidate has been formed prior to meeting him/her. Arguably, this might not be the most effective method of screening.

69% of recruiters say that they have rejected candidates on the basis of social media screening.

The top reasons cited for the same are ‘posting inappropriate photos’,’ posting inappropriate comments’ and ‘lying about qualifications’.

68% of recruiters say that they have hired candidates because of what they saw on the social networking sites. The top reasons for the same are ‘giving a positive impression of their personality and organization fit’, ‘profile supporting the qualifications’ and ‘profile showing creativity’.

Screening Phase Use of social media for screening by recruiters

4% 7% 15%

47%

Use social media for screening Don't use social media for screening 27%

9%

91%

After Receiving Application After initial conversation After detailed conversation Before making the offer No screening

Fig 1: Highlights Fig 2: Screening Phase

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HR TRANSFORMATION Social Recruiting  Availing services of companies like AdLogic to create custom job feeds and corresponding Social Recruiting refers to leveraging social media to specialized Twitter profiles. tap into potential recruits. Here are some of the avenues for the same: Let’s look at some of the statistics w.r.t. Facebook as  LinkedIn: reported by ‘The Undercover Recruiter’:  Posting jobs in return for a fee payment.  Using LinkedIn Talent Advantage – an •Internet users use Facebook exclusive suite of tools for recruiters.

74% daily  Joining relevant groups, engaging in discussions and monitoring active members.

Usage of different social networking sites for screening LinkedIn Twitter Facebook 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Fig 3 



Facebook:  Posting jobs for free in the Facebook Marketplace.  Posting a Facebook Ad to target a very specific group of people. There is a choice to pay per click or pay per impression.  Creating a Facebook page for the organization to share business and products. Jobs can be posted here as well.  Using new professional networks such as BranchOut and CareerAmp, which leverage Facebook platform to access connections.

BranchOut boasts a member base of more than 500,000.

Twitter:  Searching for potential candidates by searching for specific keywords.  Using hash tags to make tweets stand out. A unique tool called TweetMyJOBS has more than 10,000 channels, each of which is geared towards a specific geographic location and job category.

57%

•Internet users have more than 100 friends on Facebook

58%

•Facebook users have liked a brand on Facebook

57%

•Facebook users who have liked a brand have shared a link/video about the brand

Fig 4 As is evident, there is huge value locked in this area.

Once you look at the top 5 brands (with career pages) on Facebook, it drives home the point:  Starbucks - 27 million fans  Red Bull - 26 million fans  PlayStation - 19 million fans  McDonald's - 14 million fans  Levi's - 10 million fans A few other companies who have successfully used social media recruiting are General Mills, Deluxe Corporation and Sodexo. Dan Black, Ernst & Young’s Director of Recruiting, believes that Facebook is a great platform to connect with students and establish relationships – something that he does by having a direct conversation with them on E&Y’s wall.

What Lies Ahead

Social recruiting is a technique that most organisations are just getting acquainted to. Most companies do not have a dedicated strategy in place.

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HR TRANSFORMATION According to Jennifer Mclure, President of Unbridled Talent LLC, the most common pitfall when dealing with social recruiting is the absence of management accountability.

The future, however, is expected to be different. Just to give a taste of what the possibilities are, here are some of the tools/techniques that can harness the treasure trove of information on social media networks: This tool helps hiring managers keep real-time tabs on where their job listings are posted and who’s looking at them. When you upload a job description to the site, it automatically posts it to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. After that, The Resumator tracks candidate resumes, and applies its own algorithm to rank applicants on a five-star scale. It also takes care of sending automated email replies when resumes are received and when a candidate must be declined.

Jobvite: Jobvite is aSaaS platform that delivers a seamless and social recruiting process before, during and after the interview. It leverages the very best source for great hires — your own employees — by allowing them to see your company’s open jobs and send targeted invitations to their friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Once their friends or contacts get into the pipeline, the referring employee can track the interview process.

LinkedIn Talent Pro: A Talent Pro account provides access to virtually everyone on LinkedIn and includes helpful extras like premium talent filters and expanded profiles.

Subscribers can receive up to 15 notifications per day when Talent Pro finds a match among candidates that meet stated criteria for the role.

Fig 5: The Resumator

InternMatch: InternMatch is a recruiting service solely focused on part-time or unpaid internships. The service benefits from its tight focus, and also provides a lot of free advice and templates that can help any organization be more successful in recruiting and managing a college intern effectively.

TalentBin: TalentBin is a standalone application that can pull information from various social networks – tweets, updates, profile information – to identify qualified candidates for your open jobs.

Bullhorn Reach: Bullhorn Reach is a full function application designed specifically for automating social recruiting. It constantly scrapes relevant information from social networks and uses it to track and source potential candidates. For example, a list of qualified candidates in a recruiter’s network is automatically generated every time a new job is created.

“Words were given to man to enable him to conceal his true feelings “ - Voltaire

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UNPLUGGED

HR TRANSFORMATION

What’s in it for us?

Here are some important statistics from the job seeker’s perspective. This survey has been conducted by Reppler among 2049 adults in the US:



54% of social media users have used Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter in their hunt of work in the last year  1 in 6 job seekers found their last job through an online social network  28% of super socials (people with more than 150 contacts on a social network) found their last job through a social network  The job hunting activities include  Updating profile with professional information  Making new professional contacts  Searching for jobs  Asking for help with a job search  Having a contact share a job opportunity Two obvious implications emerge out of this data:  It pays to be social. The success rate of super socials is significantly higher than passive ones. In addition to having more contacts, it leaves a good impression in the mind of the recruiter.  Maintaining the profile and keeping it up to date is of utmost importance. That time isn’t far when professional guidance will be given on how to make one’s profile more attractive to recruiters.

Some of the facts related to job seekers:  The 90% passive members of a social network (those who aren’t actively looking for a job) stand an equal chance to be noticed by a recruiter as compared to the 10% active job seekers. In fact, competitors are getting better at recruiting people from rivals.









Making oneself more visible on professional networks such as LinkedIn has become as important as updating one’s paper CV. However, job seekers need to be careful not to overdo it – using paid up services such as LinkedIn’s Job Seeker Premium might not make the right impression.

Another good strategy for job seekers is to strike up conversations with potential employers by participating in professional communities and talent networks (such as Facebook pages).

It is useful to understand the pros and cons of different social networks. For example, Twitter might not be the favourite network when it comes to recruiting, but is extremely popular within certain industries such as media, technology, advertising and PR. A not so pleasant aspect of this game is the fact that companies can mine information of potential candidates – information that they are not even aware might be easily available.

For example, companies can actually track an individual’s comments on a blog or their eBay activity records. This is where privacy policies need to be addressed.

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UNPLUGGED

HR TRANSFORMATION A Word of Caution Having discussed current trends and what lies in store, it is important to take a step back and assess what might be the pitfalls of engaging in social recruiting and the like. Some of the issues that need to addressed:

When it comes to social recruiting, it is

Recruiters should respect the privacy of

very easy to go overboard. Spamming is an evil that has come to be associated with the internet. A company that does not keep a check on its exchanges with potential candidates might not be able to leverage the advantages discussed earlier.

an individual and not penalize them for denying access to their personal social profile. A disturbing example of such abuse of privacy has been seen in cases wherein candidates have been instructed to log into their Facebook account during an interview so the hiring manager could see it.

There is a very fine line between prying and researching a potential employee on a social media network. What some recruiters fail to realize is that the social media presence of any individual should be investigated in accordance with the requirements of the job.

As mentioned earlier, screening a candidate in the early stages of recruitment and rejecting him/her on the basis of ‘inappropriate posted content’ might be premature.

Temper is what gets most of us in trouble.

Pride is what keeps us there.

-Anonymous

Concluding Remarks All in all, while the benefits of social media tools are becoming increasingly clear to HR departments, many still associate the technology with more personal, social purposes. Therefore, translating the use of these powerful communication tools into the corporate setting will require some substantial internal change. Despite so many innovations, the company’s overall have not plunged in to these new technologies. However, some businesses have started moving in this direction. For this transition to be successful, it is important for companies to realize that incorporating web based tools into their fabric is as important as creating the right culture.

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Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

With Corporate

S. Padmanabhan Director HR DR Reddy’s Lab

By Avijit Mitra, Gaurav Kumar and Sriram Mohan

Q1.Could you please give us an insight into the environment at the pharmaceutical sector?

Pharmaceutical is a highly technology-oriented industry and any compromise with respect to the quality of the products can have an adverse effect on all the stakeholders. So, managing and developing the talent pool is very important. It is a very critical and a risky, but fast developing sector. So lots of talent is required. For most of the times, we work in niche areas and we need people who can understand and easily adapt to the systems and processes.

Mr. S.Padmanabhan is a dynamic and a vibrant professional, with a career spanning over 18 years in the field of HR and IR. Currently, he serves as Director HR at Dr.Reddy’s Laboratory, Hyderabad.

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Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

Q. Could you please tell us something about the IR practices at Dr. Reddy’s?

Industrial Relation is very important for any manufacturing industry. We should not forget the basics of IR such as personal contact and proper communication. Contract laborers should not be taken for granted and should be treated with respect. Their demands have to be addressed appropriately.

There should be proper communication channels to ensure that information reaches even the workers at the bottom of the pyramid. To enable this, we at Dr. Reddy’s, have multiple communication forums such as open house meetings; skip level meetings and town halls.

As an IR manager, safety of employees is also of tremendous importance. The overall duty of an IR manager is to ensure that all sections of workers should feel that they are a part of the organization and work towards achieving the organizational goals.

Q. Have there been any significant changes in the role of HR in the recent past?

The role of HR has changed significantly in the last couple of years in almost all the industries. Now, HR’s role has changed from that of an administrative one to a strategic business partner role. The expectations from HRs have changed as well. Organizations now want to maximize the value for the money which they invest in HR and demand more accountability from their HR departments.

Dr Reddy’s Lab was the first non-Japanese pharmaceutical company from the Asia-Pacific region to obtain a New York Stock Exchange listing, ground-breaking achievements for the Indian pharmaceutical industry

Q. What is the significance of CSR for organizations?

For sustainable development of any organization, CSR is a very important aspect. At Dr. Reddy’s, we believe in 3 P’s; people, planet and profit. People are important because business is run by people only, businesses are here because planet is here so basically no planet means no business and without profit no business can run. Dr. Reddy’s has started Dr. Reddy’s foundation to achieve CSR. Gradually, all firms with a long term vision are coming forward and indulging themselves in CSR activities.

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Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

Q. How do you think proper communication can help an organization?

Effective communication is very important for organizational development and avoiding conflicts within the organization. Only when the employees know about the company’s target for the year, would they be able to work towards achieving the set target. Any mistake or wrong doing at any stage should also be communicated to lower levels to avoid wastage of time and resources. At Dr. Reddy’s we also follow the idea of “Glad-Sad-Mad” to facilitate bottom-up communication. This is the way we are able to get employees’ feedback about their work and the organization.

If any employee is “Glad”, it means he is happy with his work and organization. If someone is “Sad”, it means he is not happy with something and wants to communicate it with his manager. In this case, the manager tries to solves the issue and make him “Glad”. The third situation is “Mad”, in which an employee wants to leave the organization. In this case, the manager sits down with the employee and tries to analyze the cause for dissatisfaction and chalk out a plan that will help the employee to stay in the organization.

Q. Your words of wisdom to budding HR professionals.

My advice to young HR professionals is to try and understand the pros and cons of everything whatever you do. First try to have complete view of any problem and then provide a solution. Being an HR manager, you need to have an understanding of all aspects of HR, but you must also become an expert in one or two domains.

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Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

With Corporate

Mr. Aloke Tagore Regional HR Head - East Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd

By Ashish Kumar, Gaurav Kumar and Sriram Mohan

Q: What is the role of HRs in consulting firms? How different is it from that of the HRs in other industries?

In consulting field, HRs should have a basic knowledge of everything that helps them to understand and solve the client’s problems effectively. HR Consultants need to regularly brush up their HR knowledge and stay abreast with all the recent advancements. One of the primary requirements for an HR in any consulting firm is to be extremely professional. Also HRs should thoroughly understand the company‘s brand, its way of doing business, internal functions and the end product or services.

Mr. Aloke Tagore has been a part of the HR fraternity for over 13 years. He has a wide experience in a number of areas such as Manpower Planning , Recruitment, Performance Management, Compensation and Benefits, Organizational Development and Policy matters, Employee Engagement , Training and Development, International Resource Deployment, Change Management and Transformation, ISO and CMMi Audits, ERP implementation, Process Engineering and Automation.

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Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

Q: What are the factors to be considered while implementing ERP in any organization Two important factors that we need to consider while implementing ERP are time and cost. The total time taken in implementing the ERP system and training the employees on using the new system in such a way that there is a smooth migration from the current system to the new system and the total costs, both direct and indirect cost incurred by the company are very crucial.

The prerequisites for the implementation of an ERP system are  An understanding of the current internal functions and their interdependencies  An understanding of the practical challenges from the end- users’ perspective.  A proper change management system and proper training facilities to train the end user One of the primary challenges associated with ERP implementation is resistance from employees who feel comfortable with the older system. Appropriate HR interventions and proper Change Management initiatives are imperative for the successful transition of the organization after implementing ERP.

Q. Currently there is a trend of expat recruitment in companies. Why is expat recruitment in so much demand?

Generally these trends are easily seen in global companies having diverse and multicultural teams at their floor especially in developing economies. Some of the reasons In case of niche domain, there might be a scarcity of the required resource in the domestic market.  It helps to tap clients around the globe and to get more business for the company  It facilitates a better understanding of cross market complexities.  In a time span of two to three years, a team of global consultants can be developed.

Q. What is your advice to MBA-HR students? How they can identify their area of expertise and work on it?

Study all the HR tools and practices in the organization very carefully and try understanding the logic underlying the different HR processes. Try to identify some HR domains where you are good at and where your interests lie and based on your suitability prioritize them. Gather information as much as you can on these areas. Be consistent and stay updated.

30| the people tree

Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

With Corporate

Ms. Linda Johansson Global Sustainability Coordinator H&M

By Avijit Mitra, Gaurav Kumar and Sriram Mohan

How dynamic is H&M with respect to changes in the business environment as it operates around the globe?

Depends on what you mean. For example, audit method is something that we don’t change very often. But if we talk about small decisions on a day to day basis, it changes very often. Our core working methods don’t vary but our day to day operations vary differently in different departments like Sustainability, Logistics or Retail. As far as Sustainability is concerned, the audit system may change in every 4 or 5 yrs, which is not very frequent.

From an Indian perspective, what kind of sustainability awareness, you as a company, would like to bring in Indian customers?

I don’t think we can do much in terms of customers. As we have no stores in India, we don’t have direct customers here. We work in supply chain as far as the Indian scenario is concerned. And we bring sustainability awareness in our suppliers, who are a part of our day to day work, by various activities like training, audits, meetings and sending out information to them. We basically make our suppliers understand the importance of sustainability practices in the production process and those suppliers who value our processes willingly work with us.

Ms. Linda Johansson holds a Masters Degree in Political Science from Lund University.

At present she works as the Global Sustainability Coordinator at H&M, a Swedish multinational retailclothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. H&M exists in 43 countries across the globe.

The design team in the company’s Sweden office controls the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 800 factories in Europe and Asia. In a casual conversation over coffee, Ms. Johansson shared her experiences.

31| the people tree

Industry Speak

COFFEE WITH CORPORATE

Innovation is the key to grow in any industry. How does H&M foster innovation in its employees and other stakeholders?

Though we don’t have a specific forum to foster innovation in employees, they are encouraged to respond with their own initiatives and that is one of our values. For example, in your team if you have an idea that stretches beyond your team, you are free to take it forward to your manager or with your team. There is no formality around it, but everyone is encouraged very much to take initiatives and bring out new ideas. And with stakeholders, we have a formalized process. For example, when it comes with environmental inputs, all key environmental stakeholders are invited and their ideas are discussed and incorporated accordingly.

Similar process is followed for social, financial or other stakeholders to bring out new ideas. We also meet trade unions, NGOs etc. In India, China and Bangladesh, the important stakeholders for the respective markets are consulted for new ideas.

What’s your suggestion to young MBA-HR students passing out from various prominent B-Schools?

I feel that well qualified people like you should come forward and work in factories and supply chain because a lot of problems come from weak HR functions. But unfortunately, a lot of people may not be interested to work in factories because that is not considered a high status job. That may be because people in India are more inclined towards service sectors. I can see a big difference between India and SriLanka. A lot of suppliers we work with in SriLanka have huge setups, they are certified and sophisticated. If such sophistication is adopted in India, young and qualified people would be more inclined towards working in supply chain and production units which are very much needed at this hour.

If students want to take up CSR as a career, what kind of activities should they take up before entering the industry?

I think MBA-HR and CSR is a very good combination. CSR is growing. I think for students what is important is to have some practical experience. For example, for our CSR team, I don’t really feel that we would hire someone who doesn’t have some related work experience. So, as far as CSR is concerned internships in factories, supply chains and production units can be utilized as the best opportunity to gain practical experience.

Students have to use internship opportunities during their course to build required capabilities, be prepared and be industry ready.

What are H&M’s plans for the Indian market?

What are the hindrances? Is the major hindrance customers because they are not so environmental friendly?

I don’t think it is the fault of customers that we are unable to open stores rather, it is the political framework. We believe that H&M will do very well in Indian market but we can’t open due to FDI rules. We would need 100% FDI in multi brand retail to enter the Indian market. Though 100% is allowed in certain states in India, there is an obligation that you have to produce 30% of sales from SMEs and our suppliers don’t qualify under SMEs, they are too big. It doesn’t make sense to us to find completely new SME suppliers in India to enter Indian market. But I know that India is on the list of countries that people who work in business development keep monitoring. The debate on 100% FDI in MBR is interesting, but India is not the first country doing this, India is actually very late.

India should see around and be aggressive to implement 100% FDI.

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Industry Speak

EXPERT TALK

HR’s role in building organizational culture

By Ms. Barsha Chakraborty AVP – Human Resource G-Cube Solutions

very

organization

has

a

unique culture which depends largely on the organization’s core values. Culture acts as a binding force that unites the entire workforce and can be used to support business goals. Mostly senior management struggles with culture, more so because it is extremely difficult to define it and it is certainly not tangible in a sense. How do you get hundreds or thousands of people to think and act is a certain way?

S culture?

o, how do we identify

L

eaders of an organization

can drive its culture. The beliefs, values and assumptions of any organization’s founders define its culture. The best way to shape culture is by connecting the organization’s vision & values to its culture. Make your company’s values so critical and inspirational that the employees know what they need to display to be successful at the workplace.

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EXPERT SPEAK

E

culture can be observed from the language used at the workplace, level of teamwork, group or department values, age group of workforce, corporate policies & programs, etc.

Industry Speak

EXPERT TALK Every organization has a unique culture which depends largely on the organization’s core values.

Culture acts as a binding force that unites the entire workforce and can be used to support business goals. Mostly senior management struggles with culture, more so because it is extremely difficult to define it and it is certainly not tangible in a sense. How do you get hundreds or thousands of people to think and act is a certain way?

So, how do we identify culture? Culture can be observed from the language used at the workplace, level of teamwork, group or department values, age group of workforce, corporate policies & programs, etc.

Leaders of an organization can drive its culture.

The beliefs, values and assumptions of any organization’s founders define its culture. The best way to shape culture is by connecting the organization’s vision & values to its culture. Make your company’s values so critical and inspirational that the employees know what they need to display to be successful at the workplace.

Ms. Barsha Chakraborty is a HR generalist with close to a decade of multiple domain experience in IT, ITES/BPO/KPO and media with hands on experience in all facets of human resource management including general HR practices and administration, new hire integration, talent review and succession planning, policy design and implementation, building HR practices and systems, employee relations, training strategy and corporate social responsibility. She is currently the AVP-Human Resource at G-Cube Solutions.

HR plays a very poignant role in preserving and, if required, changing the workplace culture. In short, HR can nurture culture. Basic HRM practices such as talent acquisition, learning & development, performance management etc. can help reaffirm values.

A holistic performance management system addresses desired behaviors along with business goals. So even though business objectives may be met, if behavioral expectations point out a discrepancy, then employees can be told that their behaviors should be aligned with the corporate culture. This means that employees who are more culturally aligned should be given higher ratings, pay hikes and promotions than those who are not. Remember, people tend to do that which is measured and rewarded. In G-Cube, displaying organization’s values is given 20% weightage in the KRA measurement sheet of every employee. Hence, to excel, employees need to align and display the required values in their behaviors throughout their tenure in the company.

Talent acquisition efforts impact the culture by determining the type of employees brought into the organization. Recruitment in G-Cube is not about getting the right candidate. It is about hiring the right ‘employee’. We follow value based hiring. Other than just evaluating if the candidate has the right skills and capabilities, we also determine if the candidate will be a good cultural fit for the organization. Shortlisted candidates are made to attempt a culture fitment questionnaire (comprising of case based questions) based on G-Cube’s core values. Only associates who are able to display alignment in their personal beliefs and G-Cube’s values and culture are taken forward for hiring. With the war for talent across the industry, ensuring an effective corporate culture to develop and retain talent has never been more significant. New hires who are aligned to our beliefs and values take lesser time to relate to their co workers.

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Industry Speak

EXPERT TALK

In G-Cube, as soon as an employee joins, he is shown the ‘Values Film’, which is a short, 15 minute video which showcases our existing employees and explains company’s values in detail. It is a very inspiring video and often employees feel overwhelmed after seeing it.

We show our culture to the new hire through it.

LEAD (Learn Evolve Advance), G-Cube’s L&D initiative also comprises of programs that are designed to help employees demonstrate the behaviours desired by the corporate culture.

With our mission of ‘Happiness for All’, HR organizes regular sessions around it called ‘HR Happy Hour’.

Our R&R program is also largely based on our values and living these values in itself comprises of a quarterly award that is given to the one who displays at least 6 out of the 8 GCube values. The award is called ‘Values Ambassador’ and the employees vote for their role models and the winner is chosen on the quality and validity of citations and the number of votes.

Overall, while HR cannot dictate the culture, we can surely create interventions that sustain and preserve the culture. Measurable interventions can ensure that culture is not perceived as just a soft concept — instead, as one that can have tangible outcomes and consequences.

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MHRM Exclusive

KALEIDOSCOPE

Role of HR professionals in maintaining work – life balance

By Divya Chaddha MHRM IIT Kharagpur

In this completive world, a crucial difference that an organization can bring is "Work - Life Balance". What do you think is the role of HR professionals in this area?

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MHRM Exclusive

KALEIDOSCOPE

T

his has become the daily routine of

almost all the working women. The scenario is not very different in case of their male counterparts, if they are supportive enough at the home front. But it cannot be denied either that they have the liberty of some relief when compared to their better-halves.

Trinnnnn Trinnn…

The alarm clock is very punctual, does not forget even once to wake me up at 6:30 A.M. Time to get up. Wake up honey; else you will be late for office. I am rushing to the kitchen, in the meantime, kindly do me a favor and wake our little one up; the school bus will come at 8. Need to get the breakfast ready, not to forget the lunch also and also not to forget the preliminary preparation for dinner. Is there any energy left to prepare dinner after coming back from work? Why has the maid not turned up till now? On top of all this I have a meeting at 9 with the boss. Wish I had the option of flexible timings! ” Let us get to the story of this lady sometime later as we move on.

T

hank God, I have reached. Forget the

breakfast, let me rush to the meeting, it is already five minutes to 9, this traffic got me really late. I need to get back early today, darling mother-in-law is coming. But one relief, she will take care of her grandson and the poor child would be spared from the maid’s care for at least a few days. The boss has to be intimated about the same. I have to be a perfect daughter-in-law and make all preparations before she reaches.

Today is Friday and there are so many status reports to be sent to the client location. Wish I could work from home! These small but important incidents definitely lead towards the burning issue of the “balance between work and life”. The term work-life balance is actually quite thoughtful-Is work not just a part of life?

And what constitutes the bigger chunk of life – work, self, family or community? Our lady in discussion lives in a nuclear family with her husband and a kid. Both the husband and wife work in multi-nationals and not to forget that they are striving for a proper work-life balance.

Why there is a dire need of work-life balance today compared to what it was a decade ago?

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KALEIDOSCOPE

“

MHRM Exclusive

KALEIDOSCOPE here are several factors which can be attributed

to the same. To name a few, changing face of competition among organizations , stepping out of women at workplace ,globalization, migration from joint families to nuclear families, all of which ultimately lead to less time available for the life aspect compared to work. Work-life balance can be actually viewed from two angles- the inputs put in by an individual and that put in by the employer or as we say by the organization. In the organization, the fingers point directly towards the HR professionals.

Why is it so? The answer is plain and simple. As the HRs deal with human beings, the most complex creatures on this earth, they should deal with the issue of work-life balance also. Somehow it is justified as the HR professionals are distinguished on this ground from the other professionals serving the same organization. The appraisal is not satisfactory rush to the HR, want to explore new opportunitiesrush to the HR, leaves are not sanctioned – rush to the HR. And the poor HR professionals also have their goal sheets to satisfy and deadlines which include reducing the attrition rate, policy formations and also keeping the employees abreast with those policies, motivating employees and not to forget the most important one which is actually a part of every employee’s goal, “reduce the cost and get a positive impact on the balance sheet of the organization”.

A

midst the challenge of maintaining work-

life balance for the employees, the HR professionals might also be striving for the same! The medical benefits, sports facilities, gym at the organization, fun sessions, and employee assistance programs are already in place. What else do you need from a HR professional for work-life balance? (That might be another case that you do not get time to avail many benefits mentioned above as you are busy with your work).

T

he HR professionals are begging the

managers to send the employees for such sessions. “I need the gift of time to avail at my discretion rather than building muscles in the gym or playing badminton in the office premises dressed up in formals. Probably, the HR professionals who understand my life more minutely than superficially can voice my opinion to the top management and bring about a positive change in the overall strategy of the organization.”

T

hat brings us to an important point in

discussion that before implementing any such initiative to balance work and life for the employees, it is important for the HR professional to understand whether the culture of the organization is ready for it, whether the employees are ready for it – what are their priorities and preferences, what do they exactly want because mere policies on paper are not enough. Effective communication should come from the top management which transcends through the HR professionals to each and every employee in the organization as only a fulfilled individual can be a worthy employee for the organization.

O

ur lady in discussion , yeah you

guessed it right , one who has not taken her breakfast till now is sitting in the cafeteria , trying to grab a quick meal with one of her team members who reports to her.

“Ma’am, you already know that I will be leaving for home today, as I have some urgent work related to my marriage, which is next month. So I would be unable to turn up on Monday.”

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KALEIDOSCOPE

T

MHRM Exclusive

KALEIDOSCOPE “

I

understand that but we have a client

demonstration fixed on Monday. In fact you also have to come tomorrow i.e. Saturday and day after tomorrow i.e. Sunday. I hope you will understand. “ The poor girl reaches up to the boss of our lady in discussion, who happens to be the delivery manager for the project ,begging for a day’s leave and the weekend off, which was anyways an off for her.

“You cannot go; client demo is at top priority, so much is at stake.”

“But Sir, I did not know about this demo in advance. I really have to go, my mother is a single parent and she needs my help.”

“Oh yes, this demo was decided in today’s meeting only, we were about to tell you folks” “But Sir the team working on the same should have been asked once before promising a demo on Monday” “Oh yes, as if you asked us before finalizing your marriage. If other team members can come on a weekend, so can you. Even I have my son’s annual function on Monday, am I not skipping that? Be a little sacrificing, I know you can do it, and do not forget that appraisal is just round the corner” “Cant I will try and ask my team to share my burden for this demo?”

J

ob sharing is another aspect which

can be encouraged at workplace. This small but interesting conversation brings us to another important point in discussion that the organization needs people who practice what they preach rather than giving an hour long lecture on how to balance work and life. Today, the major cause of the imbalance between work and life is the impractical deadlines put across to the employees, despite knowing that it is not humanly possible to complete the work in the assigned time frame, employees are pestered upon completing the work, leading to negligence on their part, absenteeism, work

output of low quality, and above all adding up to rework, which negates the entire meaning of cost minimization in one go.

T

he

expectation

out

of

a

HR

professional in order to avoid such scenarios is to get involved right from the first stage of the projects which an organization undertakes, giving their valuable suggestions related to practical deadlines, keeping enough time in buffer so that the necessary balance between work and life can be secured for the employees. The concept of flexible holidays has already been incorporated in many organizations. It is not just about gender balance, but gender work balance also. If a female can only give birth to the child, then she has to go for maternity leave and should be encouraged, rather paternal leave also becomes quite important in the case of nuclear families. When she joins back the HR professionals should encourage her for joining challenging and leadership roles.

I

t is important that human resource

professionals better understand the interface of work and family relationships and the resulting impact in the workplace as the quality of personal life directly impacts the professional life which in turn impacts the organization’s success. “One size fits all” strategy does not work as life has different dimensions for every individual and so does the balance between work and life. “

S

o finally I am done with today’s

work, let me leave now and attend my dear mother-inlaw, my kid would also be waiting for me. Wish we had a play area for kids in office premises! Some official telephonic calls I can always manage on weekend , after all I am a manager and I know how to manage my work and life , I just need a little support and help from my organization” 39| the people tree

MHRM Exclusive

BlitzKrieg Q.1) Which Indian company co trades on the NYSE as IBN? Ans ICICI Q.2) The logo of what company has recently been named after the NBA legend Larry Bird? The answer is less than 140 characters!

Ans Twitter Q.3) If you have to name one person associated with the Bangladeshi micro-financing institution 'Grameen Bank', who would it be?

Ans The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus Q.4) Which soft drink created in 1929 by Charles Grigg was originally named 'Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda' and was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash?

Ans 7 UP Q.5) What is the title of the landmark television commercial that launched the Apple Macintosh in the US in January 1984?

Ans 1984 Q.6) What is the all time bestselling car in the world?

Ans Toyota Corolla Q.7) In business hierarchy, what is the marzipan layer?

Ans the group of managers just below the highest level of directors Q.8) What principle states that 'in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence'?

Ans the Peter Principle Q.9) In economics, what is a 'monopsony' as opposed to monopoly?

Ans a market form in which only one buyer faces many sellers Q.10) How did Google's famous 'page-rank' algorithm get its name?

Ans from Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google Q,11) A word in Japanese meaning “ Great Prince” is applied to business magnets ?

Ans Tycoon Q.12) What are "Blind Ads" in HR parlance?

Ans: Recruitment advertisements that does not have the name or identity of the Employer Q.13) What is MBGO and who proposed it?

Ans Management By Group Objectives by Likert & Fisher

Q.14) In HR parlance what is known as an 'Agency Shop'?

Ans: The union where employees do not have to join but they must pay union dues to keep their jobs alive Q.15) What popular assessment that is based on the theories of Carl Jung was created during WWII to help women identify the type of wartime jobs where they would be most comfortable and effective?

Ans The Myers-Briggs type indicators(MBTI) Q.16) Which film actress has been selected as the brand ambassador of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan?

Ans Vidya balan Q.17) Who was the father of Operation Flood?

Ans Dr Verghese Kurien Q.18) what was former name of World Bank Ans International bank of Reconstruction and Development Q.19) which is the official advertising agency of the Indian government Ans Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity Q.20) Kingfisher Red is the former name of which airline?

Ans Air Deccan Q.21) Full form of ICICI? Ans Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Q.22) Harmony is the name of which companies’ Textile Ans Wipro Q.23) What does BSA (Bicycles) stand for? (Year 2003 or Before) Ans Birmingham Small Arms Q.24) Who invented jeans?

Ans: Levi Straus

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