HR COVERAGE DOSSIER

2012

Publication The Economic Times Date February 07, 2012 Edition National

Publication Business Today Date February 21, 2012 Edition National

THE ACADEMIA CONNECT - UNDERSTANDING FUTURE LEADERS Organisations over the last one decade have been frequenting B-Schools, engineering universities not just for recruitment but also to colligate with the student fraternity through case study competitions, innovation workshops etc. The intent here, being to understand the mindset of our future leaders and at the same time learn from them on how they would perceive solutions for many real world conundrums faced by the organisation itself. While at the same time, this exercise also gives the students an opportunity to interact with stalwarts of the industry and ultimately helps in brand recall. With changing times and evolution of the job market in India and overseas, organisations today are constantly looking at bringing innovations in their approach towards attracting talent. An organisation's ‘Employer Brand' must be well-defined and communicated effectively to its audience. It's true that there's been a paradigm shift in the way organisations are tapping the right talent. "With more and more companies battling for the same pool of talent available, recruitments are definitely undergoing a major transformation. Companies are focusing on creating more touch points to assess and nurture their future employees. In line with this, firms are approaching their future prospects through case study or quiz competitions, tying up with colleges for providing tailor-made courses that ensure that students are industry ready. The trend is catching up and organisations are seen having positive and productive outcomes out of these initiatives," says Bhavin Turakhia, founder & CEO, Directi Internet Solutions Pvt Ltd. "We believe in a holistic approach to connect with our future employees. We reach out to people across academia through a number of ways that complement our brand. Students these days want to evaluate their future in reputed employers and one way to create awareness amongst such people is by strengthening the connect through a number of non-recruitment activities," says a KPMG spokesperson which recently held an international case study competition. Does colligating with fraternity through case study competitions, innovation workshops help understand the mindset of future leaders? "Yes it does. For B-schools, we conduct Mahindra War room in which students from select top Indian B-schools are invited to present ideas on business challenges which sectors in Mahindra are facing. For engaging auto-enthusiasts, in addition to Mahindra AQ, we have an active presence on social media for understanding preference and mindset of the auto-enthusiast community. Going ahead, we have several plans in the pipeline to collaborate with engineering campuses and students," states Rajeshwar Tripathi, executive vice president – HR, automotive & farm equipment sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. In an economy where one is striving to keep the business profitable, it is crucial for the workforce to be very competent. When you look within your organisation, you know that every employee is contributing towards your company's growth in different ways. It takes different individuals, with different levels of capabilities and expertise to make that dream team. So what are the special efforts taken by organisations to tap the potential of these future leaders? Manish Gupta, chief executive officer, Indegene Lifesystems opines "We tap our future leaders keeping the base of people who have a flair for writing, analytics, multimedia and technology skills with good communication and passion for their domain. Enough opportunities are given to employees on the ground to explore their abilities, skills and areas of interest to help them grow as future leaders in this space. This industry is about innovation and having entrepreneurial skills to meet the market demand of domain specialisation."

Publication itsmyascent.com Date February 27, 2012 Edition Online

When people can't find the quality workforce with specialized skills, it is then, that they collaborate with academics to bridge the demand-supply gap. Corporate-academia associations help ensure that the students stay up-to-date with the industry requirements and are job-ready. "A strong industry-academia relationship has the potential to drive innovation and growth. An organisation's support and contribution to the development of academic institutions can have tremendous impact on its reputation and image not only among the academia but at a holistic level in the society. This, in turn, will enable the organisation to transform it from a "me too" brand to an aspirational and ‘preferred employer' brand. Link: http://www.itsmyascent.com/web/itsmyascent/career-advice/-/asset_publisher/W3x7/content/the-academia-connect-understanding-future-leaders

Publication Times Ascent (The Times of India) Date May 09, 2012 Edition Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad

HERE'S HOW THE EXIT PROCESS CAN BE MADE EASY The handing over of the resignation, going through the notice period and transferring of responsibilities is quite an uncomfortable and hectic job for most employees. However, the manner in which one exits a company speaks a lot about the person's professionalism and the importance she/he attaches to the work. It is highly essential that an employee goes through the proper rituals of exit without making things messy or neglected. Let us delve into the established code of conduct in such situations. How important is the relieving letter of the previous company for the employee being considered for recruitment? Margaret Rodriques, associate manager-corporate HR, Directi answers, "It is very important for the employee to take his/her relieving letter while leaving. It doubles up as a proof of employment as well as an experience letter. The organisation in a way certifies that the individual has worked for a specific tenure and left on a positive note. It assures us that the candidate hired is stable and has a good track record with the previous company. There are times when employees resign without giving any notice or leave without any intimation due to various reasons, have loans/recoverable due to the company, etc. Any company would like to safeguard themselves from such candidates." Zarir Baltiwala, senior HR expert, TeamLease tells us the procedures/policies that employees are generally expected to follow, "All employees are encouraged to have a face to face discussion with their manager before formally putting in their resignation. This allows the manager to have a chance to speak to the employee and give the employee a chance to re-think his/her decision. Once an employee has finally decided to resign, then she/he is required to send a formal resignation letter and serve the full contractual notice period. In exceptional cases, the manager may waive the notice period in full or part. Employees are required to complete a web-based exit interview prior to leaving. In exceptional cases, the exit interview is done face to face by the HR representative." It is often noticed that employee productivity and efforts largely decrease in the notice period. Chaitali Mukherjee, country manager, India Right Management explains why, "Employee notice period is primarily aimed at ensuring seamless transition of the employee's responsibilities to other employees. Employee productivity does get impacted; however it also depends on the ownership of the employee and reflects a lot on the experience they have had with the current employer. There are employees who serve till the last working day to ensure that things are in order and the employee who takes up the responsibility doesn't face any challenges. At the same time, there are employees who zoom out from their responsibilities the moment they put in their papers. In case his/her experience has been good, they will do a good job, else they will just tick the box." Hence, the exit strategy of an employee does speak a lot about him/her. Thus, it is better to walk out gracefully and not carry any grudges along with us.

Publication itsmyascent.com Date May 10, 2012 Edition Online

Link: http://www.itsmyascent.com/web/itsmyascent/career-advice/-/asset_publisher/W3x7/content/exit-with-grace

Publication Inc. India Date June 01, 2012 Edition National

Publication The Economic Times Date September 13, 2012 Edition National

Publication The Hindu Business Line Date September 18, 2012 Edition National

Publication Times Ascent (The Times of India) Date September 12, 2012 Edition National

GLOBAL TECH COMPANIES LIKE AMAZON, GOOGLE, CISCO, IBM OTHERS GIVE A MISS TO IITS; OFFER FAT PAY CHEQUES TO NON IITIANS When Sukruth KS first walked into the National Institute of Technology in the small town of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh three years ago, he was just another engineering student. When he passes out in May next year, he will be the one who Microsoft hired for a $1,00,000 (approximately Rs 60 lakh) salary for a global posting. Anmol Kumar, Balmukund Trivedi and Dinesh Reddy, three of Sukruth's batchmates, have also snagged similar salaries from Epic Systems, a US-based company that makes software for healthcare companies. To put that in perspective, the highest pay cheques seen at top-notch IITs are in the $1,40,000 range. Global tech and Internet firms are on the prowl in small towns this placement season, looking to lure talent from NITs and good private engineering colleges. Both would rank a notch lower than IITs in the talent pecking order. Sample this: Amazon, Google, PepsiCo, Yahoo, Cisco, Oracle, Deloitte, Adobe, DE Shaw, Flipkart, Direct-i, Caterpillar, Future First and IBM are making offers this year at non-IIT campuses in Vellore, Madurai and Mesra, and also at private colleges in Delhi and Bangalore. Placement heads at these colleges say companies are hiring more than last year. The companies are offering higher salaries and dangling better perks, including international assignments, free holidays and joining bonuses of up to Rs 1 lakh. Amazon, Google, PepsiCo and more such marquee employers wooed students at NIT Warangal with salaries in the Rs 8-20 lakh range. Global IT services major IBM also hired 85 students from the institute this year. "Even gaming firms such as EA Sports have come in and selected four students for Rs 12 lakh," says M Chandrasekhar, NIT's placement head. "It's a question of supply and demand which cannot be met by going only to IITs," says Yugesh Goutam, executive director of KEC International, the infrastructure firm of the RPG Group. "When we have to hire 1000, it is not possible to take them only from the IITs, which only have a handful," says P Thiruvengadam, senior director, Deloitte India. "Also, tier-II and III colleges are important because they give us a good mix of students from different cultures," he adds. "We strike a healthy balance by hiring a mix of students from IITs and from tier-II and III colleges," says V Nagarajan, VP and head-HR, Times Internet. "Students from the latter come with high aptitude and a high emotional quotient." Times Internet hires 20-25% of its talent from tier-II and III colleges. Engineering and tech firms and core product companies form part of the first wave of recruiters at such campuses. IT service giants such as Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, TCS and HCL will start visiting campuses from September. Salaries offered by these mass recruiters are typically around Rs 3.75 lakh.

Publication economictimes.indiatimes.com Date September 13, 2012 Edition Online

In the past few years, students have preferred product and core companies rather than the IT services sector as whispers of a downturn, delays in joining dates, etc, affect the image of the industry, sources from these colleges say. At the Vellore Institute of Technology, Flipkart beat Amazon and Google with a Rs 12.5 lakh package, while Microsoft offered Rs 10.5 lakh. Another e-commerce firm, PayPal, hired for Rs 8.25 lakh. Others such as Schneider, Cisco and Thoughtworks are offering Rs 6-10 lakh. DE Shaw came armed with a package of Rs 14.5 lakh and Amazon has given students a retention bonus of Rs 1 lakh after a year. "We are here to compete with MNCs such as Google, Yahoo and Adobe since we need students with similar caliber," said Aparna Ballakur, HR head for Flipkart. The e-commerce company will pick up its fresh batch from IITs, BITS Pilani, NITs and VIT. Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/global-tech-companies-like-amazon-google-cisco-ibm-others-give-a-miss-to-iits-offer-fat-pay-cheques-to-non-iitians/articleshow/16373710.cms

DIRECTI TAKES ON GOOGLE IN PAMPERING EMPLOYEES

Bhavin Turakhia sits relaxed in his plush Andheri office, wearing parrot-green Adidas track pants and a grey T-shirt on a weekday. The 32-year-old head of Directi, the Web products development company he founded in 1998, is rarely seen in formals, not even when meeting marquee clients.

“Nobody comes to us for what we wear… . They come to us for what we are and for the quality of our products,” said Turakhia, who is also chairman and CEO.

The company’s office in the Mumbai suburbs is much like a college, swarming with teenagers in jeans and T-shirts, some even in Bermudas paired with matching sandals.

Directi pampers its employees with flexible working hours, free food, a gym and play areas (ping-pong tables and gaming consoles), bean bags, and salsa and music classes. Trekking, photography clubs and cricket tournaments are also organised.

Staffers don’t need to display ID cards, and the average age of an employee is 23 years. Directi employs more than 1,000 personnel across its offices in Bangalore, Delhi, the UAE, the US and China.

“We can swipe-in at any time, timings do not matter, only the output matters,” said Nikhil Mangal, a developer with the company since 2009.

Directi, which was started with a capital of just Rs 25,000, now has a net worth of $350 million, according to an internal audit. It owns BigRock.com (a Web hosting company), Logicboxes and ResellerClub (domain registrars), Skenzo (Internet traffic monetisation business) and Radix (registry business).

This draws a lot of parallels with Google (ranked as the world’s best company to work with), which has bocce courts, bowling alleys and food, all gratis. Faceboook and Yahoo similarly pamper staff.

Directi’s employee referral plan takes the cake. The staffer who refers a candidate has to conduct the first interview. And if the candidate gets the job, the employee is rewarded with a car (Honda Brio) or cash equivalent.

With salaries of Rs 20 lakh a year for an engineer just out of college, Directi is a good paymaster too. The firm recruits just 35 freshers every year, after interviewing at least 6,000 applicants.

Link: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article3907835.ece?ref=wl_agri-biz

Publication thehindubusinessline.com Date September 18, 2012 Edition Online

HR GETS SAVVY IN INDIA: REFER A FRIEND AND WALK AWAY WITH A CAR

Directi, the leading Indian internet products company, has launched a first-of-its-kind hiring program that gives its employees a chance to drive away with a HONDA BRIO or an equivalent amount in cash. ‘Refer a Friend’, an internal referral program, is an exciting initiative conceptualized by Directi to encourage employees to participate in the hiring process, select future colleagues and get handsomely rewarded in the process. The initiative is currently applicable and open to product developers within the organization.

Directi employees are encouraged to identify and recommend a ‘potential hire’ within their own networking circles. As next steps, employees conduct the first round of interviews over the phone or in person. Employees have the liberty to fly to any city to interview candidates or have their friends fly to Mumbai for their interview. Having selected the appropriate candidate, the contender is further referred for an interview with the CEO. On selection of a referred candidate, an employee is compensated handsomely with a ‘car’ or ‘equivalent incentives.’

Commenting on the initative, Bhavin Turakhia – Founder, Chairman and CEO, Directi said, “ At Directi, it is our constant endeavour to acquire and retain the best talent. Right from inception, exceptional talent and innovative product development have been the fundamental building blocks of our success story. A good product developer requires a combination of skills like aptitude, vision and sustained practice. In line with this vision, the ‘Refer a Friend’ program has been launched to attract the best talent and incentivise product developers to foster a culture of product development within the organization. I am personally available at any time to help our employees refer the best candidates.”

Directi is known for its exemplary HR policies and enriching work culture which are holistic in their approach to talent management. The various recruitment channels at Directi comprise campus recruitments, partnering with strategic talent acquisition service providers, career portals, internal recruitment teams and referrals. The average age group of employees at Directi is 20-25 years. Committed to quality, Directi follows the most stringent and rigorous recruitment procedures to evaluate employees.

Publication indiabusinessedition.com Date September 21, 2012 Edition Online

Bhavin adds, “Great products are built on the back of a strong workforce whilst understanding customer needs. Directi follows an evolved recruitment approach applying people, processes and technology to acquire critical talent. At Directi, we go to great lengths to find the right talent. We have designed a unique HR program that will not only empower employees but also incentivise, motivate and instil a sense of ownership. This is best achieved by fellow employees themselves, and Directi’s ‘Refer a Friend’ Program represents a step in that direction.”

With an ever growing headcount of over 1000 employees, delivering products that are cutting edge across the globe, Directi promotes innovation, entrepreneurship, encouraging people to realize their own vision and dreams.

Link: http://indiabusinessedition.com/hr-gets-savvy-in-india-refer-a-friend-and-walk-away-with-a-car/

Publication The Economic Times Date November 27, 2012 Edition National

Publication The Times of India Date November 22, 2012 Edition National

INTERNAL REFERRALS KEEPING BEST TALENT OUT OF COMPANIES? By using internal referrals as a key tool to hiring people, are organizations restricting their recruitment universe and limiting their chances of getting the best talent ? In India, bulk of recruitment , estimated at over 90%, happens directly or through referrals while the rest is through specialist agencies largely for top-level posts. In mature markets like the UK, an estimated 85% of recruitment happens through specialist agencies. Practices followed by Indian organizations, feel experts, could lead to 'mis-hires ' which can be a drain on costs. Most companies have internal referral programmes that offer incentives to employees . There are still others like Directi, a web product company, which offers handsome rewards under the 'refer afriend' programme to the extent that employees can even win cars on the selection of candidates referred by them. For the company, this is an innovative way of attracting talent but experts believe internal referrals alone would not be cost effective. "An organization always needs the best candidate for a job. So while internal referrals are alright for entry level, there is absolutely no substitute for a 360-degree holistic search for the best candidate for jobs above the entry levels. It would be suboptimal to use internal referrals , which restrict the search universe and could lead to mishiring as the best candidate for the job may not have been persuaded. An organization cannot afford to incur a cost on mis-hires ," said Ronesh Puri, MD, Executive Access. Companies agree that multiple sources of hiring is a better option. "In complex labour markets, no company relies on any single source of recruitment. Referrals is just one such source which companies rely on. One needs to have a good mix of hiring sources, which is based on the company's 'go to market' strategy. The idea is to throw your net far and wide to be able to attract the maximum number of people. This will then help you pick the best talent through proper selection process. That is indicative of the hiring philosophy we follow at Essar," said Adil Malia, group president, HR, Essar Group. Getting the best talent appears to be the all-pervading sentiment, for which, companies are reinvigorating their hiring mechanism. "Current hiring strategies are getting re-evaluated regularly. One can see organizations focusing on 360-degree hiring through: appointment of recruitment professionals, referrals, career portals, campus hiring and internal job posts. A hiring process undertaken by an efficient talent acquisition partner can act as a resource for the HR manager and deliver better returns on the total cost invested. All other processes have their benefits, but are ineffective in isolation," said Asim Handa, CEO, Elixir Consulting, a Gi Group company in end-to-end recruitment process optimization. Handa said referral helps in better retention but does not guarantee success. "This technique only propels the hiring process; all other checks: background, competency , culture mapping are still required," said Handa. The method is adopted primarily by companies in IT/BPO/retail sector where attrition is high. Prince Augustin, executive VP (Group Human Capital & Leadership Development ), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), disagrees that referrals restrict the universe and limit chances of getting right talent. "In full employment markets, specialized agencies do play a crucial role; but in India where

Publication timesofindia.indiatimes.com Date November 22, 2012 Edition Online

there is a need of talent that would engage with the organization, its culture and meets the job requirements , referrals have taken an upper hand and hiring through referrals ranges between 50% and 70%," he said. "Referral in my view could be a good source to get the right fit as the person referring knows the organization, its culture and the job requirements and, therefore, would ensure that the right candidates are referred. And, in our experience we have seen that the success rate of referrals is much higher than that through consultants in terms of job fit, retention, engagement and connect with the organization ," said Augustin. Given the potential, India could see a quantum jump in recruitment outsourcing. The trend to appoint an outsourcing company is said to be in its golden age as most companies would want to focus on their core skills and outsource transactional activities to experts in related field.

Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Internal-referrals-keeping-best-talent-out-of-companies/articleshow/17317080.cms

Publication The Hindu Date December 01, 2012 Edition Chennai

Publication Times Ascent Date December 19, 2012 Edition National

Publication economictimes.indiatimes.com Date December 03, 2012 Edition Online IIT PLACEMENTS SEE RECORD OFFERS FROM MULTINATIONALS LIKE CITIBANK, COCA COLA AND AMAZON Multinationals Citibank, Coca Cola and Amazon on Sunday entered the fray at the Indian Institutes of Technology, where both salaries and the number of offers have topped last year's figures in the first two days of the annual placements. Day 2 of the event saw offers of international postings and an average salary of 10 lakh at the Guwahati campus and 20 lakh at IIT Kharagpur. The line-up of companies wanting to tap Indian talent included eBay, PayPal, Accenture, Nomura, Flipkart and SISO (Samsung India Software Operations), American Express, Schlumberger, Qualcomm, Adobe, Walmart, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, Johnson Matthey, Epic and Directi. Among the Indian firms that came scouting on the second day were Axis BankBSE 0.09 % and Times Internet, according to Avijit Chatterjee, professor-in-charge, placements, at IIT Bombay. IIT Guwahati had received 121 offers till Sunday evening, with Amazon, Adobe and Paypal offering packages of 13 lakh, 15 lakh and 17 lakh, respectively. Qualcomm, Morgan Stanley and OracleBSE -0.18 % were among the other companies present. The premier institute's Kanpur campus was host to Coca Cola, Amazon, Johnson Matthey, Epic, Directi and Citibank, which came up with three different profiles. In terms of pay package, the top recruiters across the older IITs like Kharagpur, Kanpur, Guwahati, Bombayand Madras were Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Samsung, with salaries ranging from $120,000 to $150,000 for positions based primarily out of the US and Korea. Oilfield services BSE -0.21 % company Schlumberger has once again emerged the favorite in terms of highest number of offers: 25 at IIT Kharagpur alone with salary offers of 18 lakh. Microsoft has so far made 21 offers at IIT Kharagpur, 22 at IIT Madras and 16 at IIT Guwahati. Some of them were for foreign postings and the highest salary paid by the firm was around $130,000.On the first day, IIT Kharagpur received 133 offers, a third more than what it had recorded last year, according to SK Barai, professor-in-charge, training & placement. At IIT Kanpur, students accepted 133 of the more than 150 offers made, according to Vimal Kumar, the placement-in-charge at the institute. While Mitsubishi offered 13 jobs, GE picked 16 students, BCG offered three posts and EXL 13-14.Social networking platform Facebook has made four offers at IIT Kharagpur so far, the same as last year. At IIT Bombay, as many as 35 companies made 160 offers on the first day, with Microsoft, Schlumberger and Samsung leading the list in terms of number of offers.IIT Madras, which saw 75 students getting placed on Saturday, had American Express, Schlumberger, Amazon, Paypal, Qualcomm, Adobe and Walmart amongst the firms that came calling on Sunday.

Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/iit-placements-see-record-offers-from-multinationals-like-citibank-coca-cola-and-amazon/articleshow/17457307.cms

Publication The Hindu Date December 01 2012 Edition Online

IIT-M PLACEMENTS TO TAKE OFF TODAY

Starting today, the race at The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) begins for the best placement offers. The campus placement for the students passing out in 2013 will start, with nearly 200 companies visiting the campus in the next few days, and will go on till February. B. Nagarajan, deputy registrar, training, placement & public relations, IIT-Madras said, nearly 100 new companies have confirmed their visit for placement this year. Companies like Rolls-Royce Operations India Pvt. Ltd., Mercedes - Benz Research & Development India Pvt. Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, MyLikes Inc., Walmart Global Technology Services, iGATE, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd., Bajaj Auto, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., MRF Ltd., are some of the companies visiting the campus for the first time. The interview process will be conducted in two sessions for the first two days and from Tuesday it would be conducted in one session, he added. The companies that will conduct interviews for the students on the first day are Boston Consulting Group, Deutsche Bank Group; Goldman Sachs, ITC Ltd, McKinsey, Google India; Sony (Japan), Shell Technology Centre, Tower Research, Facebook Morgan Stanley, Microsoft Corp, IBM Research Ltd, Credit Suisse, Directi, Essex Lake Group, Samsung, Rocket Fuel, Procter & Gamble. The placement committee has spaced out the process to ensure there is no pressure on the students. Samsung, offering the highest salary this year, has postings in foreign as well as Indian locations. The other highest payers include Rocketfuel, Directi and Tower Research among others. “Most companies such as Paypal, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Facebook are offering foreign postings that might interest many students,” a student said. Among the most awaited are companies such as Walt Disney and Electronic Arts that will recruit students interested in gaming. “We have Walmart too, officially among the recruiters,” said another B. Tech student. From August till November the students were exposed to the profiles of their recruiters over many sessions. “Companies advertise their offers in innovative ways. The way Directi sold their Dubai offer to us was remarkably interesting,” said a student. After that, began the tests and other recruitment procedures of the companies, including coding tests and group discussions. The tests have been gruelling — 90 minutes of a written aptitude test and then 90 minutes of coding or designing, say students. For instance students from the computer science stream who had applied to all the companies had to take written tests continuously for ten hours. “You can’t call it pressure because there is so much to choose from and we want to avail that. Those who are shortlisted, choose to focus on their interviews,” said another B. Tech student.

“But the most interesting tests were of Facebook and Rocket Fuel because they had puzzles with simple solutions to be cracked in a matter of seconds. It is also interesting to see Indian companies such as Directi willing to pay so much,” he added. While most students feel computer science and electrical engineering will again attract the best placements, there is also a certain anxiety among them. “We have interacted with the companies and urged them to recruit postgraduate students in areas such as computer security and aerospace. It is a good thing that most companies have responded well. But if the season will be as good as it was last year, can be answered only after January after all the offers are made,” said another student. Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/iitm-placements-to-take-off-today/article4151428.ece