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Employee engagement at Equitas

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Page 1: Employee engagement report1

CHAPTER –I

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

Employee engagement is a level of commitment and interest the

employees have towards the organization. Human resource executives still are

finding ways to retain the employees. Engagement is all about encouraging and

appreciating employees for the effort they put forward to improve the organization.

It is always said that employee engagement forms an intrinsic liaison with customer

loyalty and profitability. Organizations of today ‘s realize that a satisfied employee is

not necessarily the most better employee in terms of loyalty and productivity .It is

only an engaged employee who is intellectually and emotionally bound with the

organization.

Employee engagement has become the main focus of Human resources

department in recent times and we could trace the origin of training and

development,growth opportunities and CSR activities to be a part of the employee

engagement activities.Recent reports also mentioned that a good boss or manager

also have an impact on the employee engagement activities.Employee might not like

to be committed or interested to work in an environment where there is no good

relationship with the manager.

Thus,employee engagement plays a vital role in all the organizations.In

this project,the main variables that are contributed to the level of employee

engagement are proved to have a greater impact on it and to find the ways to

improve the employee engagement at equitas . If employees feel attached to an

organization, then there would be less chance for them to leave the company.

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1.2 NEED FOR THE STUDY

An organization’s ability to manage employee engagement is closely related

to high performance levels and superior business.The following reasons led to the

study of the employee engagement at the company.

Engaged employees will stay with the company even during the

difficult times and contribute to bottom line business success.

They will perform better and be motivated always.

There is a significant link between the employee engagement and

profitability.

The engaged employees form an emotional connection with the

company which forms their attitudes towards the client or customers

and overall improve the customer satisfaction at service levels.

Employee engagement creates an energetic environment and boosts

the employees to work in an arduous situations.

It evolves trust worthiness among all

It will refrain employees from moving to another company(ie will

reduce the turnover rate)

Therefore, engagement is directly linked to the employee retention .It would be very

appropriate for a company to concentrate more on engagement activities rather than

thinking of other ways to retain the employees.

Engagement activities are not only meant to cherish or encourage employees to

work but also to improve the image of the company by increasing the profits.

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Employees are the greatest assets for the organizations and their contribution is the

main reason behind the company‘s success.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary Objective: To find the impact of good boss, training and development

and growth opportunities on employee engagement and prove that these

three factors are very much greatly contributed to the levels of the employee

engagement.

Secondary Objective:

To find out the ways to improve the employee engagement activities at

Equitas.

1.4 RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY:

Sampling Mode: Random sampling

Population Size: 200

Sample Size: 67

1.5 DATA COLLECTION:

Primary data collection:

The data was collected by interacting with the ex employee through phone.

Questions were framed based on the independent variable and those

questions were asked to the employees in various regions.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT:

Physical Scope:

It is done in Equitas Holdings Private Limited , Nandhanam and considering employees those who worked in the organization.

Conceptual Scope:

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Study is based on the employee engagement practices at Equitas Holdings

Private Limited. The information is collected from the ex-employees (Sales

officer and branch Manager) based on

Growth Opportunities

Training and development at the company

Rewards and incentives

Relationship with the manager

Salaries

1.7 Challenges in Engagement:

Controlling Attrition: Despite providing with extra benefits and soaps Attrition

rate is high in Corporate and IT sector.People are restless and changes job very

suddenly.Sensing attrition in starting is very crucial and organisation are

working toward that.

Driving High Performance: Aligning mindset toward high performance is not

easy and organizations are still finding it difficult to drive high performance

from employees.

Creating future leadership: Finding leaders and grooming them for future is

another aspect where organisations are working so as to create new leaders

that would drive them in future.

Attracting Womens toward high Powered Job: corporate and board rooms are

still marked by absence of female in them.It is high time management satrt

worrking toward having ambitious and high enery women in corporate nad

boardrooms.

1.8 Factors for Employee Engagement:

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Motivation: Managers are needed to motivate their employees for work and

make them feel proud about the organisation, a motivated employee always

works harder than other has and is highly engaged. If a person is motivated

about the work s/he do/does, they are certainly engaged in will put their

maximum effort.

Job Satisfaction: An employee will work for the maximum only when there is

right matching between their job and skill they posses. If a person is put on a

job, which s/he does not know how to do /he will certainly get bore of that

work very easily and it will harm organisation. Managers should keep a tab on

the employees regarding this and keep taking feedback whether their

employees are satisfied with the kind of job they are doing or not.

Commitment: Creating a workforce of committed employee is one thing,

which is always on the mind of employee, and it is not easy. However, a

committed employee would always work for the betterment of organisation.

They would always stand with organisation and will always put on a good

image of the organisation.

Loyalty: Every organisation needs loyal employees who would stand with the

organisation in time of crisis.

Trust: Trust is very important between employer and employees. Employers

should have trust on their employee to take them as party in important

decisions and employees should trust their employer in matters regarding

administrative and functional decisions of organisation.

Good Boss: A good and fair boss is always r equired to take organisation to

pinnacle of success. If there is a democratic and hard working boss, he/she

would easily motivate and lead employees by his/her work standards. However

if there is undemocratic and Impassionate manager he/she would not be able

to take employees as a unit toward the common goal.

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Values: Right and just values of the organisation motivate employees to give

their best. If employees would feel cheated and organisation did not have right

values, employees would also not respect their organization and their work.

Training & development: Training and development became the important

factor of employee engagement.If organizations provide intensive training to

employees according to their job profile,it will provide an opportunity for

employees to learn new things and aspects of the work.It will also improve

their skill and knowledge regarding the work.It would help the employees to

upgrade their knowledge with latest technology and help them to switch over

to other job profiles confidently.

Growth Opportunities: Growth opportunities are directly linked to the

employee retention. When employees view very good growth opportunities at

the company, they will never change their mind to leave the company.

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CHAPTER -II

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2.1 Industry Profile:

Microfinance:

Microfinance refers to a variety of financial services that target low-income clients,

particularly women. Since the clients of microfinance institutions (MFIs) have lower

incomes and often have limited access to other financial services, microfinance

products tend to be for smaller monetary amounts than traditional financial services.

These services include loans, savings, insurance, and remittances. These institutions

commonly deliver these loans for various purposes such as income generation,

repayment of old dues, microenterprise development etc. without any collateral.

More broadly, microfinance refers to a movement that envisions a world in which

low-income households have permanent access to a range of high quality and

affordable financial services offered by a range of retail providers to finance income-

producing activities, build assets, stabilize consumption, and protect against

risks.Microfinance definitions can be somewhat misleading. Microfinance is not

defined by the form but the intent of the lender. A loan provided by a market

intermediary to a small borrower is not viewed as microfinance. However an NGO

providing a similar loan to a low income borrower is considered as microfinance. It is

assumed that microfinance is given with a laudable intention and non-exploitative

connotation.

Classification of the sector:

Microfinance providers can be classified into three broad sectors:

i. Formal

ii. Semi-formal

iii. Informal

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Formal Sector: The formal sector comprises of banks such as Small Industries

Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Bank for Agricultural and Rural

Development (NABARD) and other regional rural banks (RRBs). These banks are

primarily built to provide credit to poor and assisting them in agricultural and micro

enterprise development process. They charge an interest of about 12-13.5% but

including transaction costs(such as number of visits to banks, compulsory savings and

costs incurred for payments to animators/staff/local leaders etc.) they come out to

be as high as 21-24%.

Semi-formal Sector: These constitute the majority of institutional microfinance

providers in India and are referred to as Microfinance Institutions (MFI). They are

registered under various legal acts and differ greatly in philosophy, size and capacity.

They are primarily offshoots of NGOs spread all over India. They could be NBFCs,

societies, trusts etc.

Informal Sector: The informal sector, apart from friends and family, consists of

moneylenders, landlords and traders. While estimates of their importance vary their

significance is undeniable.

Microfinance in India

History

Microfinance in India can be traced back to its origins in the 1970s when the Self

Employed Women’s Association (―SEWA‖) of the state of Gujarat formed an urban

cooperative bank, called the Shri Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank, with the objective of

providing banking services to poor women employed in the unorganised sector in

Ahmedabad City, Gujarat. The government also realized the need for credit services

to the ―unbanked people‖ who have no access to formal financial services but must

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rely on either family, or informal providers of finance, such as the village

moneylender. Relying on the limited resources of village moneylenders exposes the

poor to coercive lending practices, personal risks and high interest rates, which can

be a much as 150%. Hence the government and the RBI came up developmental

Banks like NABARD which could provide undivided attention towards this cause. In

1980s the microfinance sector developed around a concept of self-help groups

(SHGs). SHGs were village based financial intermediaries usually composed of 10-20

women. The development of these groups provided for an innovative approach by

NABARD to extend the outreach of financial institutions to these SHG. This gave birth

to the SHG-Bank Linkage program (SBLP) in 1992 on pilot basis. Initially the pilot

project started with a target of linking 500 SHGs with banks wherein the banks will

provide access to the group members for their savings on regular basis while also

providing credit to the group to meet its emerging credit needs of its members, in

proportion to the savings of its members. The program caught the imagination of not

only financial institutions but also governmental and nongovernmental agencies that

joined hands with NABARD in this effort. Today this unique initiative in India has

about 4000 partners and has blossomed into a decentralized yet most cost effective

microfinance initiative in the world enabling about 97 million poor households’

access to sustainable financial services from the banking system.Under another form

of group formed by the NBFCs called the Joint Liability Group (JLG) the individual

loans are jointly and severally guaranteed by the group. The NBFCs providing this

model started as a not for profit organization but later were unable to raise adequate

resources for rapid growth of the activity, they converted themselves into for profit

NBFCs. NABARD has been popularizing the scheme and detailed guidelines for

financing of JLGs has been issued to all banks during 2009. During the year ended

31March 2011, 85766 JLGs were formed and an amount of USD 134.63million was

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disbursed as loan. Cumulatively, 141045 JLGs have been formed and USD 233.73

million has been disbursed as on 31 March 2011.

From humble beginnings, the microfinance sector has grown significantly over the

years to become a multi-billion dollar industry, with bodies such as the Small

Industries Development Bank of India and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development devoting significant financial resources to microfinance. Today, the top

five private sector MFIs reach more than 20 million clients in nearly every state in

India and many Indian MFIs have been recognized as global leaders in the industry.

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COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Equitas (formerly, UPDB Micro Finance Pvt Ltd) was set up on 22-June-2007 by Mr P

N Vasudevan, Mr M Anandan, and Mr V P Nandakumar. Mr Vasudevan was

previously Vice President in Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Co Ltd, Chennai

handling their retail business division comprising of vehicle finance with operations.

Equitas is a non-deposit-taking NBFC, registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Equitas is a microfinance institution (MFI), lending to women organised as joint-

liability groups. The company had cumulative disbursements of USD 458 million as on

December 31, 2011. It had 265 branches, with about 1.2 million borrowers and a

portfolio outstanding (based on assets under management) of USD 142.3 million as

on March 31, 2012.

Equitas has diversified into two new asset classes of used commercial vehicles and

housing finance. Under the structure, there is a holding company and three operating

subsidiaries – one each for microfinance, vehicle finance and housing finance. Equitas

acquired two NBFCs (SIFPL and V A P Finance Ltd) to run the micro and vehicle

finance businesses and has obtained licence from National Housing Bank in January

2011 for housing finance business.Equitas’s assets and liabilities in its microfinance

business stands transferred, under an SoA, to Singhvi Investment & Finance Pvt Ltd

(SIFPL). The current microfinance entity will then become the nonoperating holding

company. V A P Finance Ltd has been reconstituted as a private limited company and

renamed Equitas Finance Pvt Ltd (EFPL). The housing finance business will be

undertaken by Equitas Housing Finance Pvt Ltd (EHFPL). The holding company will

hold the common capital and infuse capital into the subsidiaries on need basis. The

current allocation of capital for the three segments is as follows: microfinance -

Rs.1.8 billion (USD 36,740); used vehicle finance - Rs.0.60 billion (USD 12,244); and

housing finance – Rs.0.3 billion (USD 6,122).SIFPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of

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Equitas. The holding company transferred the microfinance business to SIFPL, a

newly acquired NBFC, with effect from April 1, 2011. The Madras High Court has

recently approved of a scheme of arrangement (SoA) between Equitas and SIFPL for

the transfer of the microfinance business. Equitas will be renamed Equitas Holdings

Pvt Ltd and SIFPL will be renamed as Equitas Micro Finance India Pvt Ltd shortly.

Mission:

To improve quality of life by increasing total asset value of those who are not

effectively served by the formal financial sector by providing transparent and

trustworthy access to financial and other relevant products and services by deploying

cutting edge technology and forming partnerships and alliances.

Vision:

To be the leader in microfinance in the country

Unique features of EQUITAS:

The most fair & transparent company in the world. Equitas has always

communicated the reducing balance interest and the interest rate was set

based on a moderate margin assumption. The Equitas model has been

validated by RBI’s adoption of its practices as the norm for microfinance

institutions and NBFCs in general.

Customer-friendly repayment practices adopted in all lending businesses.

Borrowers under financial stress due to unexpected circumstances (such as

death in the family etc) are provided suitable comfort. Over Rs 50 Lakhs has

been waived as per this policy.

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Highest levels of corporate governance. Clause 49 complied with since Day

One. Board of Directors conduct a peer evaluation of each other.

Equitas has been rated as a Great Place to Work for the past few years now. The

company has adopted unique HR practices such as

ESOP for all employees at every level, enabling them to participate in the value

creation

Health insurance for all staff including those covered under ESI

Health insurance for dependent parents of all staff in the company, which is

unique amongst corporates in India

Rs. 500 plus a day off given to employees on their Wedding Anniversaries,

enabling them to spend time with their families

Sponsoring of video charges (upto an amount) for employees getting married

while in service.

Supporting continual education programme: 50% of tuition fees paid by

company and if employee passes in I Class, reimbursing the remaining 50% also

Celebrating birthdays of all staff by cutting cake in respective branch office.

Fair and transparent staff appraisal system with staff having direct access to

M.D to air grievances

Largest scale of social initiatives by any company. 5 Lakh health camp

beneficiaries and 2.5 lakh skill development program beneficiaries.

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Equitas was founded in 2007 on three basic principles:

1.Clarity of Purpose

2. Honesty of Intention

3.Integrity of Execution

An organization that adopts these three principles tends to be supported by every

resource across the world in its endeavours. And Equitas has been fortunate to have

gained the trust & support of stakeholders across the world!. Equitas has adopted a

unique model of responsible lending, which was borne out of extensive field visits

which revealed the following”

From the Client Side

Micro Credit services were a needed service from the perspective of the low income

groups, be it in rural or urban. This was regarded by its recipients as a good alternate

between low cost but inefficient bank loans and highly efficient but high cost money

lender loans.

From the Supply Side

The focus by most Microfinance institutions (MFI) were only on 3 factors: Growth in

number of clients, loan outstanding and no. of staff. There was hardly any mention

amongst MFIs of efficiency improvements, technology adoption, cost parameters and

ultimate cost to clients. The common refrain was ‘clients don’t mind the interest

rate, they just need the money quickly’.

Clearly what was lacking from the supply side was any form of fairness or

transparency in their dealing with the clients and other stakeholders. Against this

backdrop, Equitas was formed in 2007 with an intent to create an organization which

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the most fair and transparent MFI in the World!

And the crowning glory for Equitas was when, in the aftermath of the 2010 crisis in

the MFI sector, the RBI appointed Malegam Committee recommended tight

regulation for the sector. All the 12 major recommendations of this Committee were

a reflection of the exact model that Equitas had created right from inception,

including our lending rate of 25.5% of our first loan.

We are indeed proud that Regulation has chosen to follow the Equitas model

including setting an interest rate cap at 26%.

In 2011, Equitas expanded the scope of providing financial services for the financially

excluded segments of the society. Equitas has setup separate businesses for

providing finance for purchase of used commercial vehicles and housing loans for

self-employed through wholly owned subsidiaries. In the next few years, Equitas

expects to balance its portfolio equally across these 3 businesses

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There are seven parts to the mission statement.

(1) The main purpose: to improve the quality of life of our customers

(2) Indicator: While there are many indicators of quality of life, we have chosen the

yardstick of measuring the asset value as the indicator of quality of life.

(3) Who are our customers: Those not served by the formal financial sector

(4) How do we serve: Transparent and trustworthy access. Equitas, in Latin means

‘Equitable’ meaning fair and transparent. Everything done here would be tested

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against this measure and only those which pass would be allowed to be rolled out.

Every action that the company does should be transparent and should create trust in

the minds of customers and other stakeholders. Our pricing is very fair and not

opportunistic. We have priced our products such that at an optimum efficiency of

operation we would be able to get reasonable return on equity, even though there

exists a temporary opportunity to price higher. We are also totally transparent in our

communication of interest rate to clients. As per a communication ( in 2008 ) Mr

Chuck Waterfield of mftransparency.org, Equitas may be the first MFI in the world to

print the true IRR in the customer pass books.

(5) What do we offer: Both financial and non financial products and services. While

we are currently offering only finance, the plan is to roll in non-financial products and

services shortly

(6) How do we do this: By leveraging technology to ensure lower cost and hence

lower price to customer. Equitas has put in place significant innovations both in

processes and IT to improve efficiency and reduce cost. Our ‘Sticker’ process for

collections is protected now through a Copyright. Our SMS meeting tracker system,

Form Tracker system and Optical Mark recognition are recognised as unique

initiatives with the OMR being the first in the BFSI sector in India. We are already

better than all leading competitors in terms of various productivity parameters and

expect to be the lowest cost organisation during the coming year.

(7) Do we go alone in this: Not necessarily. Wherever we can form alliance or

partnership with others we would be happy to look at the same. We have

successfully outsourced many non-core activities to various vendors, thus improving

productivity and controls.

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INVISIBLE MISSION STATEMENT!

The core of our mission is that:

1) All our actions with respect to all stakeholders will be totally fair and completely

transparent

2) This philosophy would be reflected in the everyday action of all staff right across

all the branches

To achieve this, we did the following:

1) Ensure our mission statement is not displayed in any walls at HO or at any

branch, but instead resides in the hearts of our employees

2) Institutionalize a process where every evening at 5PM across all our branches,

the staff gather to discuss their activities for the day and check whether any of it was

either unfair or non-transparent; and take action not to repeat it.

We proudly invite any visitor to test us out on this and would be happy to take

feedback for improving ourselves further.”

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CHAPTER –III

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3.1 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES AT EQUITAS:

Given the mission of the organization and its focus on consumers, the company also

has a separate mission for the HR team that would enable it to serve its internal

consumers – the employee’s better. The Human Resource mission is, “To Acquire,

Align, Assess and Retain Trustworthy employees”.

Acquiring the right resource: The Company follows an elaborate recruitment

process, which includes behavioural assessment of candidates.Sixty percent of staff

is recruited through employee referral. Only employees who have completed one

month of employment are eligible to refer, as it is important for new employees to

understand the work culture in order to provide quality references. There is a second

level line manager screening and a HR round to clear possible employees. Candidates

are then sent on field visits to understand and experience what their role and the

work of the organisation is like. Frequently, candidates do not join after the field

visits. This helps the organization filter out those who would not fit into the culture

even before they enter the system.

Another mechanism to assess fitment is “Know your candidate’s family well,” where

the supervisor visits the selected candidate’s residence to understand the cultural

aspects of and bond with the family. This also serves as a background check. Given

that employees deal with customers’ money, this assessment is very important.

Equitas also ensures that all candidates hired are posted close to their residence to

ensure a balanced work life and also enable closer supervision.

Alignment of the workforce to create “unity and uniformity” in employees’

understanding of the organisation’s objectives is critical, as most employees come

from diverse backgrounds and work in different regions. This is accomplished

through a vernacular two week induction program for all field staff at Regional

Training Centres. After this training, staff can only go into the field once they have

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cleared the company’s certification program. When a new region is being set-up, the

team leading the effort undergoes a two week intensive and additional training on

recruitment, infrastructure creation and statutory compliance.

Assess: Performance Management at Equitas follows a”Win-Win Agreement,” where

goals are measurable and agreed to through due process. Employees are accountable

for their goals and the company for rewarding performers. Process guidelines and

cultural guidelines are put in place. The role of the employee is clearly defined and

communicated. Performance reviews are undertaken twice a year. Area-wise and

role-wise normalization prevents favouritism. For example in most regions the sales

roles are income generating and viewed more critical to support roles, in the process

of normalisation across a region, the general practice is to place the sales roles at the

high end of the curve and the support roles at the lower end. By having normalisation

done across both sales roles and support roles separately, this bias is minimised. The

company uses a transparent method of computing performance and promotion

increments.

Retain: The guiding principle of Equitas is to”Treat your employees the way you want

them to treat your best customers”. Just as the focus of Equitas is to improve the

quality of life of its customers, it also strives to improve the “Quality of life” of its

employees by addressing the four key aspects of the whole person:

Physical - by enabling employees a certain minimum standard of living through

provision of various health and insurance benefits. One of the best practices is a,

“Snack Allowance”. Since most field staff begin the day early they miss

breakfast and get time to have lunch only late in the afternoon. Equitas

introduced a snack allowance of Rs.30 apart from their other allowances with

which they could buy some biscuits and water. Given the tendency of most

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people to save up on that money, Equitas also arranged for surprise audits of

its field staff to ensure they are making use of this allowance.

Mental - by providing opportunities to learn and grow in the form of educational

allowances for higher education which is almost 100% depending on the

performance of the employee in the course that has been taken up.

Even in the time of the crisis, Equitas had a no retrenchment policy which was

communicated openly to all the employees. Two additional lines of business in the

form of vehicle loans and home loans were started to improve the situation without

affecting the livelihood of the employees.

Emotional- by making them feel cared for through provision of employee stock

options for every employee; a branch award scheme where the entire winning

team gets to go for an outing with their families (in case of an annual award

winner, the entire Branch team gets to go abroad with his/her family);

communication channels such as A Monthly Hotline with the National Business

Head which is an email facility where employees can send their concerns and

issues at work to the National Business Head, who is committed to resolving

them within 48 hours. If the resolution is likely to take longer, the employee is

kept informed. It is mandatory for all employees to respond to an email from

the National Business Head even if they do not have any concerns to raise. This

provides a channel to communicate any issues or concerns and have them

addressed.

Spiritual - by emphasizing on the quality of work through its alignment with the

mission statement; career enhancement policy where employees can move to

different roles through their internal job postings and open house sessions where

they provide suggestions for people practices.

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ACHIEVEMENTS AND WHAT’S NEXT

Equitas tracks the progress it has made with respect to its mission by measuring the

improvement of the total household assets of its customers. Since it has a no credit

policy for consumer durables, this mechanism helps in making a rudimentary

estimation of any improvement in the quality of life of its customers. Equitas needs

to improve its measures and metrics in this respect. The significantly low attrition

rate, as compared to its competitors, indicates Equitas is the employer of choice for

its employees.

Industry recognition awarded to Equitas includes:

CRISIL rating of 3 for corporate governance on a scale of one to eight, with one

being the highest.

"Unitus Accelerator" Award for 2008 - More than 80,000 clients with life

changing microfinance services in less in 8 months.

Winner of the TiE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge (2008)-a national level

business plan competition for Early Stage Entrepreneurs in India.

Optical Mark Reader (OMR) Implementation at Equitas as the “Best

Implementation of the year 2009 – PC-Quest” an I.T magazine 

The Equitas focus on being “trustworthy”, “fair” and “transparent” in all its

dealings has been a key differentiator for the company in the microfinance

industry. Incidents of employees taking bribes from customers to process loans

have led to stringent risk management practices in the company. Despite its

policy of, “treating employees the way they would have them treat their best

customers,” the environment that most of its employees come from makes it

difficult to practice. Although practices like having the employees stay within a

radius of 15 kms from the office helps work life balance, it also enables

monitoring of the employees whereabouts. Hence, Equitas’ risk management

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practices have led to its employees feeling watched which could impact

engagement. However, this is more than offset by the faith of the investors

that their investment with the company is safe.

Taking Microfinance to the next level by focusing on providing an ecosystem of

services to the customers is not just a sustainability initiative but also helps the

organization achieve its mission. Equitas’ HR practices along similar lines can

be viewed as catering to the employees as per Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs. It begins with small aspects like the snack allowance that pays attention

to their physiological needs; the openly communicated “no retrenchment

policy” even in times of financial crisis addresses their safety needs; Various

communication mechanisms and engagement practices satisfies social needs

and educational assistance and alignment of the work to the mission

statement enables them to fulfil their esteem needs.

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CHAPTER IV

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The survey was conducted through telephonic interview with sample size around

67.The questionnaire consists of 19 questions(i.e first 10 questions descriptive,next 9

questions are five scale questions).

The five scale used for this project is as follows

5-Outstanding

4-Excellent

3-Average

2-Bad

1-Very Bad

The following questions were asked through telephone and the answers were

recorded in the excel sheet.The target group belonged to different regions.

NO OF EMPLOYESS VEHICLE FINANCE 38 MICRO FINANCE 29

67

REGION NO OF EMPLOYEE VEHICLE FINANCE MICRO FINANCETN 22 12 10AP 9 9 0MH 17 9 8MP 2 0 2RAJ 7 1 6PONDY 2 2 0GUJARAT 8 5 3

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The analysis and interpretation on the responses for each of the questions are as

follows:

1)How are the growth opportunities at Equitas?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Very good 37

Good 11

Ok 9

Not good 10

Total 67

GRAPH:

Very good Good Ok Not good05

10152025303540

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the analysis,it is found that 71% are very happy about the growth

opportunities at equitas.But 39% didn’t get good opportunities during their tenure in

the company.It indicates that the growth opportunities are really good at the

company.

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2)What is your view about the recognition/rewards given by the management?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes,Very good 61

No,Rewards are not given 07

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

10203040506070

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

More than 75 % ex employees feel very good about the reward system at Equitas.The

remaining percentage felt that the reward system is not followed and quit the

company due to this reason.

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3)Was your position /Role equivalent to the Pay/Salary?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 59

No 8

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

10203040506070

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It was found that 88% ex employees felt that they were paid according to their

position.Only 12% percent were not happy with the salary package.

So,There is no necessary to change the salary structure.

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4)Do you agree that frequent chance was given to you for improving your skill and job knowledge?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 50

No 17

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

102030405060

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the analysis , it was found out that 74% of ex-employees felt that their

knowledge about finance and communication skill had been improved tremendously.

The remaining 26% had not felt any improvement in either their knowledge or skill

So, there is no need for the company to deal in improving the employee’s skill and

knowledge.

5)Did Manager give you the opportunity to discuss your grievances?

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OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 54

No 13

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

102030405060

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the survey ,it is found out that 80% of ex-employees got the support of their

managers during the rainy days in the company.But remaining 20% didn’t the

support. Thus ,the company must conduct get together programmes to ease the way

of approach between the management and the employee.

6)Were you appreciated for your work?

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OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 48

No 19

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

102030405060

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGD AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 71% of ex-employees were appreciated by the managers when the

performance was very good .But ,remaining 29% didn’t get any appreciation.

Managers should try to appreciate the employees for the good performance in order

to increase their commitment towards the work

7)Were you supported by the supervisors during your difficult times?

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OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 54

No 13

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

102030405060

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the survey ,it is found out that 80% of ex-employees have got the support of

their managers during the rainy days in the company.But remaining 20% didn’t the

support. Thus ,the company must conduct get together programmes to ease the way

of approach between the management and the employee

8) Were your ideas considered in the work environment?

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OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Yes 38

No 29

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No05

10152025303540

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINDS AND INFERENCES:

From the analysis, it is found that 56% of ex-employee’s ideas were considered

during the team meeting. But, remaining 44% employee’s ideas have not been

considered.

So, Managers should give the employees an opportunity to reveal their creativity.

The ideas should not only be considered but also implemented. Awards have to be

given for creative ideas.

9) Did you have the materials and equipment to do your work efficiently?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

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Yes 67

No

Total 67

GRAPH:

Yes No0

20

40

60

80

No Of Ex Employees

No Of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 100% ex-employees were very happy with the materials and equipments given for the work to be done successfully.

So,there is no need for the company to change this structure.

10)How do you rate the relationship with the manager?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 33

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4 16

3 8

2 7

1 3

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad05

101520253035

No of ex employees

No of ex employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCE:

From the analysis,it is found that 73% of sample size gave the score equal to or more than four for the question relationship with manager.But,remaining 27 % were not that happy with the relationship with the manager.

So,The company should conduct frequent audits to have a track of the behaviour of the manager and their relationship with the employees.

11)How are the Communications between you and the senior manager?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

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5 31

4 24

3 5

2 5

1 2

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad05

101520253035

No of ex employees

No of ex employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 82% ex employees had good communication with their managers but

the remaining 18% didn’t have good communication with the managers.

Communication is very important between the manager and the employees,Thus

the management team has to see that the communication is good enough between

the employees and the management.

12)How do you rate the performance appraisal at Equitas in terms of fairness and transparency?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 19

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4 35

3 6

2 5

1 2

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad05

10152025303540

Series1

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the survey,it is very evident that the 80% employees performance appraisal

was fair and transparent but remaining felt a kind of politics being followed in the

company.

Thus,company should see that managers rate the employees based on performance

in the fair and transparent way.

13)How do you rate the training and development in the company?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 27

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4 18

3 8

2 11

1 3

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Series1

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 67%of ex-employees rated the training and development practice at

company more than or equal to four. But ,remaining ex-employees scored less than

four .So ,Company should improve the practices of training and development to see

that employees will be made aware of the information necessary for the work.

14)How would you rate the reward system in the company?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 26

4 29

3 4

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2 5

1 3

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No of Ex Employees

No of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found 82% of ex-employees have rated the compensation package at equitas

more the or equal to four.But,remaining 18% rated it less than four.

Overall,the compensation package is better in the company.

15)How would you rate the support provided by the supervisors during your tenure in the company?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 31

4 20

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3 5

2 4

1 7

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No of Ex Employees

No of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 76% of ex-employees have rated the manager’s support

more than or equal to 4.Remaining percentage of ex-employees didn’t get

the expected support from the managers.So, managers at the company,

especially branch managers need to support and encourage the sales

officer in their work.

16)How was the relationship with peers during your tenure ?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 48

4 17

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3 2

2

1

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

102030405060

No of Ex Employees

No of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 97% of ex-employees were very happy with the colleagues during their tenure in the company.

18)How would you rate the growth opportunities at Equitas ?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 28

4 19

3 7

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2 9

1 4

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

5

10

15

20

25

30

No of Ex Employees

No of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

From the sample it is found that 70% of ex-employees were very happy with the

growth opportunities in the company. But, the remaining percentage didn’t find any

good growth opportunities in the company.Thus, the company should give

promotions and ratings based on the performance but not based on impressions.

19)What is the overall view about the company towards employee engagement?

OPINION NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

5 48

4 15

3 2

2 2

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1

Total 67

GRAPH:

Outstanding Excellent Average Bad VeryBad0

10

20

30

40

50

60

No of Ex Employees

No of Ex Employees

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES:

It is found that 94% of ex-employees are very happy with the employee engagement

practices being followed in the company.

Thus, company has to concentrate on few more things to make all its employee very

much committed to the company.

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CHAPTER-V

5.1 FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS:

FINDINGS:

o The growth opportunities in the company are quite adorable. Many employees

are promoted based on the performance.

o The rewards system and the salary packages are up to the mark in the

company.

o Employees are able to accumulate knowledge by Working in this field of work .

o The employee’s communication skill improved because of interaction with

customers.

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o The work pressure is considered to be more when compared to other jobs.

o The relationship between the manager and the employee seems to be little

acrid.

o The employees are somewhat happy with the employee engagement practices

being followed in the company.

o Boss,training and development and growth opportunities have a great impact

on the employee engagement.

SUGGESTIONS:

From the survey,the following suggestions are provided so that employees would be

very commited to the company.

- Management style at the Branch Manager level has to be changed.

- Company Policy should be followed 100%.

- Target system of the sales officer should be flexible.

- Monthly Performance Rewards(ie cash) have to be introduced at every

department

- Relaxation measures like team outings,Two days trips should be introduced.

- Interest rate of the loan has to be reduced.

- Loan development process has to be very fast .

- Frequent auditing should be carried at very branch.

- Create a strong team environment.

- Sense of belonging.

- Provide constant feedback on the positives.

- Give immediate feedback.

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- Celebrate both financial and non-financial achievements.

- Delegation

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ANNEXURES

(A)Employee Engagement Model

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(B)Employee Engagement Model

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PROJECT SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE:

1) Did you have the growth opportunities at your work place?

2) What is your view about the recognition/rewards given by the management?

3)Was your position /Role equivalent to the Pay/Salary?

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

GOOD BOSS

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Page 53: Employee engagement report1

4)Do you agree that frequent chance was given to you for improving your skill and job knowledge?

5)Did Manager give you the opportunity to discuss your grievances?

6)Were you appreciated for your work?

7)Were you supported by the supervisors during your difficult times?

8) Were your ideas considered in the work environment?

9) Did you have the materials and equipment to do your work efficiently?

10) In overall what is your opinion about this company?

11)How do you rate respect and fair treatment given to all employees in the organization ?

5 4 3 2 1

12)How are the Communications between you and the senior manager?

5 4 3 2 1

13)How do you rate the performance appraisal at Equitas in terms of fairness and transparency?

5 4 3 2 1

14)How do you rate the training and development in the company?

5 4 3 2 1

15)How would you rate the reward system in the company?

5 4 3 2 1

16)How would you rate the support provided by the supervisors during your tenure in the company?

5 4 3 2 1

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17)How was the relationship with peers during your tenure ?

5 4 3 2 1

18)How would you rate the growth opportunities at Equitas ?

5 4 3 2 1

19)What is the overall view about the company towards employee engagement?

5 4 3 2 1

http://www.equitas.in/

http://hr-practices.com/

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REFERENCES

Page 55: Employee engagement report1

http://www.aon.com/human-capital-consulting/thought-leadership/

talent_mgmt/

2012_Making_Employee_Engagement_Happen_Best_Practices_Best_Employe

rs_White_Paper.jsp

http://www.slideshare.net/bestworkplacesconference/equitas-microfinance

http://www.shrmindia.org/knowledge-center/strategic-hrm/organization-

values-and-culture/equitas-microfinance

http://www.peoplematters.in/tej_articles/employee-engagement/equitas-

micro-finance-a-mico-initiative-for-a-macro-vision/1093

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