hridayveda - january 2012

January 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 1

Sneak-Peek

HR News - December 2011----------------------------------2

Article: Modern HR practices------------------------------3

HR Quiz (first correct answer gets a surprise!)-----5

Article: “Culture change @ Wholesale prices”--------6


Recruitment pace in 2012 – a sneak preview

Hiring is expected to be slower in 2012, but sectors

such as education, healthcare, energy and retail may

witness a surge. HR experts predict hiring to grow

between 6% and 8% in 2012, compared to the 9% to

10% range in 2011. The first two quarters of 2012-13

would be slow. The momentum is expected to gain in

July, says Sangeeta Lala, vice president, Team Lease.

Retail and FMCG sectors would pick up pace, and

banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) would

also improve at an above average rate. On the

compensation front, there would be moderate growth at

a mean level of 8%. Key focus areas would be

manpower planning and optimisation, as per KPMG

Advisory.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-inc-to-go-slowhiring-in-2012/459978/

North and East way ahead in providing IT talent

A National Employability Study 2011 which analysed

the employability scores of more than 1.2 lakh final year

engineering graduates found that employability in

IT/ITES is highest in the North, followed by East, West

and then South.

Despite being heavily populated, Delhi and Kolkata

have fewer engineering colleges than southern cities

and yet they have emerged as hubs for quality talent.

Reasoning that the employability percentage decreases

with increase in the number of engineering colleges in

a particular state, opening more engineering colleges

can’t solve the problem of the quality of engineers, the

report added.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/best-it-talent-pool-in-delhi-&-bihar;-tn-lags-survey/893134/0

Transnational Union in Tata Steel

The conglomerate’s 81,000 factory workers across the

globe may join hands soon to form a transnational

workers’ union. International Metalworkers’ Federation

(IMF) is facilitating the meetings.

A rudimentary meeting under the Tata Steel Network

was held on Dec 7 in Jakarta with TS Union

representatives from Australia, India, UK, New Zealand

and North America.

The objective of such an initiative is to help

transparent sharing of information between the

management and the workers globally.

The idea was conceived in 2009 when UK trade unions

sought the intervention of their Indian counterparts for

better interface with Tata Steel management. The idea

was to "restore good relations" with the management

after workers and the company went on a warpath in

the UK, where Tata Steel sought to either close down

or keep production facilities idle in view of losses due

to slowing demand in Europe and rising cost of raw

materials.






India to take up Call Centre Bill with US

India’s ambassador to the U.S. Nirupama Rao said the

government will raise the issue of the U.S. Call Centre

Worker and Consumer Protection Bill at an appropriate

governmental forum to safeguard the interests of the

Indian IT industry. Citing a study by the Indian

industry association, she said IT companies from India

support approximately 98,000 jobs in the U.S. “All call

centre agents will be required to identify their locations

before beginning a conversation with a customer, who

will have the option of being transferred to an agent

based in the U.S.” If passed, the legislation may

negatively affect India’s BPO industry, especially small

firms. The association of Indian business with the US

economy through trade and two way investments has

been of enormous benefit to Indian companies. The

trade in goods is likely to touch $52-54 billion this year,

and another $42 billion in services.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article2738412.ece

Flexible salary structures in India

Companies such as Procter & Gamble India (P&G),

Marico and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are giving

employees the option of structuring their compensation

as per their individual requirements, Times of India

reports. The cost to company (CTC) is fixed by the

employer, but employees are given a choice in

determining their salary components. Under P&G’s My

Pay My Choice, for instance, employees can decide to

take home a certain amount of cash or keep it in a

company fund which will come with its own benefits.

Asian Paints’ Flexi Grade Allowance system gives

employees similar flexibility. For instance, the company

could be offering a manager a car allowance for a

particular high-end model, but the manager can go in

for a small car and, perhaps, opt for a higher

component which meets his housing requirements or

leave travel allowance.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Now-design-your-own-salary-package/articleshow/11198755.cms

HR outsourcing: In some companies HR is completely

outsourced where a task or activity is given to an

individual agent or contractor who determines how

best to do the task or activity. The firm and the

independent partner become partners and may

establish a long term relationship.







Advantages:

Better quality people and knowledge.

Reduction in administrative costs.

Outsourcing certain activities and employees

that do not fit with company culture may be

used to preserve a strong culture or employee

morale.

Disadvantages:

May lead to loss of control of certain activities

which may be a problem on time sensitive

projects.

May result in loss of the

opportunity to gain knowledge

and information

High level of training: In

the modern organizational

scenario companies are

focusing more on training and development. High level

of induction training and on-the-job training is provided

to employees to better understand the work

environment. Employees are given the opportunities to

work in several platforms in due period of time. This

enhances the skillset of the employees and also

motivates them to perform several jobs of different

kinds.

Better management-worker communication:

Nowadays the companies have understood the

importance of the sound communication between the

management and the employees in order to avoid the

conflicts. In many companies the management

interacts directly with the employees to hear their

problems and sort them out. In UNINOR, there is a

concept of open house meeting which occurs once a

month. In these meetings the top management

addresses the employees of the company and then

welcomes the employees to ask any kind of query they

have. This helps the companies to establish a sense of

trust in employees’ mind and avoiding rumours, if any.

Encouragement of employee suggestions and

innovation: Companies are focusing more on

innovation and encouraging

employees for suggestions.

Special rewards are given to

the employees who make

some extraordinary

contribution in the form of

innovation. Also few

employees are given the

chance to be a part of the management and give

suggestions.

Common status symbols: In order to establish a

common status symbol in the organizations common

canteens are made where employees as well as the

management interact and have their meals together.

This gives the employees a sense of equality and in

turn increases their motivation. Also in few companies

common dress code is implemented for the employees

as well as the management.


1) I-Disha is a program meant to help managers use

more of the coaching and mentoring dimensions while

leading and managing teams. It is a program by which

company?

2) Which company initiated the program Be Healthy for

the benefit of its associates?

3) Which theory

does this

diagram

represent?

4) Google took up the initiative to retain employees

over a certain age-group and not just run after young

blood. What term did they give to this initiative?

5) Identify the man in the

image

6) SAP made a mark in innovative HR practises by

building a state-of-the art on-site Child Care Centre at

its campus in Whitefield, Bangalore. What is it called?

7) _______ is a technique using quantitative or

qualitative data to make comparisons between different

organizations or different sections of the organizations.

8) The process of NOT HIRING replacements for

employees who leave is known as

a) Attrition

b) Hiring Shortfalls

c) Hiring curbs

d) Zero replacement

9) What is buyback when you talk in terms of

employees?

10) This spoof is made up on which theory of

Organization Behaviour?

Mail your answers to [email protected]. The first

correct answer awaits a surprise!

mailto:[email protected]


Successful company culture can make the difference

between a workplace people dislike and one they boast

about. There’s no need to have a Google or an Apple-

sized budget to create a great culture.

There are quite a few culture-changing initiatives

which have no direct costs to the company. In fact,

when properly executed, culture improving initiatives

can lower company costs in both the short and the

long run.

In the following write-up, we’ve made an endeavour to

share with you a few such initiatives.

Policies targeted to the 95%, and not the 5%

Most employees are hardworking, motivated and

professional. Workplace rules should be designed to

give maximum autonomy to this vast majority.

They shouldn’t be burdened with rules designed to

control the 5% of the employees who are

constitutionally unmotivated or undisciplined.

From dress code to work hours to meeting attendance,

fewer rules in the workplace are better.

For one, fewer rules can start saving you money right

away. One must get rid of expensive firewalls blocking

Facebook and YouTube. At the same time, access to

these tools can help employees research and network

faster.

Celebrate leaving office early

Imagine working for a company where your manager

pats you on the back for leaving at 5 pm every day!

It’s not true

that the

longer you

work, the

more work

you will get

done.

Flexible work

hours and Job sharing can lead to increased retention

and productivity.

Organisations can quickly improve culture by focusing

on work output instead of hours of input.

If one is going to leave the office early, s/he should be

encouraged to go ahead and announce to co-workers

that s/he just closed a deal, completed the project well

before deadline, etc. and is heading for a candle-light

dinner with his/her spouse.

These actually motivate others to use the legitimate

working hours effectively and get maximum out of it.


Results are lower overhead cost, work-life balance,

improved productivity.

Have a “No Swearing” Rule

A "no swearing" rule is an excellent proposition the

essence being not swearing about or at co-workers or

customers. By cutting out swearing, discourse to

expression of thoughtful ideas is elevated instead of

base emotions. An environment where people swear at

one another can quickly turn toxic. The no swearing

rule can save organisations lakhs by avoiding costly

lawsuits where disgruntled employees/ customers (with

good reason) strike back. Also it creates a friendly and

open work environment where everyone enjoys work.

Cultivate Specialist Expertise

Imagine if each employee was an expert in what they

did; if, no matter how mundane their subject, they

could teach it with passion. The benefits to HR, the

company, and all employees would be profound. People

should be constantly encouraged to become experts by

having them research best practices in their field and

share those with their colleagues on a regular basis.

When employees start spreading the word about their

incredible work environment to their co-workers,

friends, and again when employees learn to do their

jobs better through continuous learning, it’s the best

advertisement a company can have for “Employer

Branding”.

Concern for people’s future

Line Managers/ HRs should have one-to-one sessions

with individuals and try to understand their long term

goals, and things they would want to accomplish, both

personally and professionally.

Armed with this information, they should be helped to

achieve those goals, even if the goals aren’t directly

related to the organisation.

If an employee tells you s/he wants to be a paraglider,

support them in taking their passion forward. This way,

in the time that they are with you, they’ll be loyal,

committed, and thankful for the support.

The results will be lower attrition and faith in the

Management.

Recognize Efforts, and reward appropriately

People don’t work just for money, but also for

recognition, so employees must not be deprived of this

vital form of compensation. They work to build the


organisation every day. As such, they should be given

specific words of gratitude when the occasion calls for

it.

Publicise achievements (both team and individual) and

reward meaningfully to motivate the individual and

others too.

These are a few ways that can be employed at any level and in any organisation at a low cost to improve culture

radically without employing costly change management exercises.

We hope reading HRiday Veda has been a time well spent! We would like you to reply back with your valuable

feedback about this issue. We are also open to your contribution for the future issues by way of articles, cartoon strips,

topic suggestions, and any relevant HR material which will benefit us as future HR managers.

hridayveda - january 2012

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