iim shillong togethr

IIM Shillong HR Magazine Issue 9 | JAN - FEB 2013

Inte

rview

Mr. Ra

njan Ku

mar Mi

shra,

Head - H

R and A

dmin,

SBI Life

Editorial

Faculty Advisors

Prof. Rohit Dwivedi

Prof. Sonia Nongmaithem

Senior Team usHR

Ankita Shah

KNK Srividya

Noopur Borwankar

P Padmini

Sourojit Ghose

Junior Team usHR

Apoorvaa P

Lokesh Malviya

Romita Choudhury

Savitha B

Tanya Beniwal

Dear Readers,We are really happy to bring to you this issue of TogetHR with all the exciting features.

The intriguing labor laws have been extensively discussed and the issues relating to it are elaborated in the Cover story of this issue, Labour Law Reform- Need of the hour. The recent Maruti Manesar issue is highlighted and the developments are handled, to bring to light the laws which supposedly act as impediments. The Indian politics factor is brought to the fore along with the reasons for non-implementation of laws.

In the Concoction section, we bring to you articles covering a variety of spheres in HR. The Article of the issue, Employer Branding- its relevance in todays times talks about the importance of the view of an employee about his employer and the factors that are affecting it. After all, an organization is only as good as its people! Diversity in an organization is very critical, for it brings in a new environment replete with variety and enthusiasm. Diversity Policy for a country of diversities provides an insight into this. A look at Career Mapping- an HR tool to retain Gen-Y workforce gives an insight into having a place for clarity in the career prospects of this generation to harness their true potential. The significance of change in an organization is dealt with in The Inevitable Disruption, where The only thing that doesnt change is change itself is continuously reiterated. The article, Strategic Shift grants a sneak peek into the evolution of human capital, its inception and pertinence.

The Conflux presents to HR aficionados the interview with Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mishra, the Head HR and Admin of SBI Life Mumbai, wherein interesting questions find a place with thought provoking answers.

Team building games giving an entirely new perspective to the minds of people, driving the thought of HR deep into their thoughts was conceived and implemented with vigor this time. The event was named as, The Winner Takes It All- Version 2.0. Find out everything about it in- Campus Buzz section.

To trigger your grey cells, we bring to you a contest that is all about connecting the pictures to come up with something - Contest with the best. Earn Rs.500 by getting it right!

Team usHR has been continuously garnering your support and we warmly extend our gratitude for the same. Do write in to us with your feedback @ [email protected].

Happy Reading!!!

Team usHR

Connoisseur Speaks

Contest With The Best

Contents JAN - FEB 2013

Disclaimer: The views presented are the opinion/work of the individual author and The HR Club of IIM Shillong bears no responsibility whatsoever.

Coverstory

Conflux

Concoction

Campus Buzz

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Labour Law Reform- Need of the hourSourojit Ghose | IIM S

Just what are the concerns or the demands of todays labor industry? Archaic and antediluvian laws obstruct the labor welfare and their improvement and develop-ment. What do they mean in the Indian context? This article aims to find out!

Excerpts of InterviewMr. Ranjan Kumar Mishra,Head-HR and Admin, SBI Life, Mumbai

Diversity Policy for a Country of DiversitiesBhavi Patel | IRM, Anand

Career Mapping Sreerekha S | SCMS, Cochin

The Inevitable DisruptionAdvaita Das | XIM, Bhubaneswar

Employer BrandingDr. Arnav Singh Tanwar | XLRI, Jamshedpur

Strategic ShiftArashdeep Singh Taneja| MDI Gurgaon

The Winner Takes It All- Version 2.0

Ask the Expert

Puzzle in the Pics

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4TogetHR | HR Magazine of IIM Shillong

Conflux

CORPO

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Mr. Ranjan Kumar MishraHead - HR and AdminSBI Life

Please tell us about your experiences before joining SBI Life.

I joined the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer in 1985. I mainly handled operations and never really thought of changing my domain. But SBI offers a lot of opportunities and I got a chance to switch to SBI Life in 2011.

How was the transition from Operations to Human Resources?

They may sound similar but these two organizations are drastically different in every aspect. On one hand where SBI is a Government Body, SBI Life operates as a private sector player. The workforce at SBI averages 40-45 years in terms of age whereas on the other hand SBI Life has a much younger and vibrant workforce. The cultural practices too are very different in both the organizations. I have always believed that Human Resource management is the responsibility of not only the HR managers and I practised the same as a line manager at SBI, where I had worked with a no. of people reporting directly to me. But as the HR head at SBI Life my responsibilities were now not only motivating and connecting people but also helping them in achieving their goals. At SBI all

the HR practices are well established and codified, all you need to do is execute them properly and take it forward. But SBI Life was a new player in the insurance market and everything had to be done from beginning to end. The challenges here were altogether new.

Entrepreneurial spirit is primarily one of the factors that your organization is looking in

p r o s p e c t i v e c a n d i d a t e s . What is the reason for placing this as a very important criterion?

In every business enterprise every person acts as a small business unit. If a person has an entrepreneurial outlook he is spirited, motivated and has new ideas and thoughts. They need very little pushing from the administration and therefore we look for entrepreneurial attributes in our

prospective employees. These people know how to build an organization and how to structure their workplace practices which is very crucial for a young organization like ours. The problem of

attrition is always there but for whatever time these people stay with an organization they are an asset and they keep the organizational culture

In every business enterprise every person acts as a small business unit. If a person has an entrepreneurial outlook he is spirited, motivated and has new ideas and thoughts


Conflux

the best of both public and private sector benefits. Till date we have never closed down any branches or laid off any employee which has motivated our employees and built trust in them.

Being a HR in a financial institution is a different scenario. Human Resources department is assumed to be the only cost incurring department and especially in finance based company such as yours, how is HR department treated?

HR is no longer a support function; it is in fact becoming an important strategic partner. At SBI Life at every stage of the decision making, HR is involved. We always try to find out what the best business strategy is for the company and how it should be implemented. HR heads these days are going forward to become successful CEOs and it is no different in the case of a financial organization like ours.

very healthy. Over-all it is a win-win situation for both the employee and the organization.

One of the core values of SBI Life Insurance is Innovation. Can you talk us through how SBI Life Insurance has differentiated itself from its competitors by innovating?

Like I mentioned SBI Life has a very young work-force and this drives us towards innovation. We provide our employees a lot of freedom and they are free to suggest any new idea. We have an initiative called AIM that stands for All Ideas Matter and a panel is made to evaluate and reward good suggestions. Every quarter

we reward the best three ideas which again promotes more innovation in the employees and keeps us ahead of our competitors.

SBI Life Insurance has been awarded with NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award in 2011 and 2010. This communicates the effectiveness of your top leadership and the equally motivated employees. What has the top management been doing to motivate its employees?

We build trust. Trust is the key word at our organization. We aspire to be the most trusted life insurance company for both customers and the employees. We believe in maintaining a high degree of transparency. The policies are made very clear and are all uploaded on a portal. The Top management gives full freedom to everyone to ask questions. The self-service portal swayam helps in comforting the employees and also helps them get along with colleagues from different cultures. We provide

HR is no longer a support function; it is in fact becoming an important strategic partner

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India is a country of diversities, and we Indians proudly claim the fundas of Unity in Diversity. The inconceivably diverse population of India makes it often difficult for individuals to perceive the differences in its entirety. Despite this, we see no significant diversity initiatives and lag way behind the developed nations in this regard. Some people attribute this gap to the long period of subjugation by the colonials. No matter what the cause, organizations today need to focus on the diversity initiatives they need to be taking. Fortunately, many organizations in India today, are realizing the need for diversity initiatives for philanthropic and business reasons. However, India still has a long way to go and requires a lot more aggressive diversity policies to reduce the inequalities that currently exist in the society and also to weed out the prejudices people have in their minds. Such initiatives make the other countries see India in a lot brighter and more progressive light, and give them an initiative and encouragement to partner with

us. The organizations today need to wake up and realize the significance of spreading the recruitment net wider and further to attract and capture the best candidates who have the required skills and knowledge and are very best suited for the job in hand, irrespective of their personal background. A heterogeneous workforce encourages and supports divergent thinking leading to better innovations, something which is highly essential in todays times to create and maintain a competitive advantage and survive.

In order to ensure the maintenance and build-up of such diversity in the workforce, the organizations need to have a Diversity Policy. This policy spells out the behavioural expectations from the employees and also enforces a discipline in practicing the listed values. The sounder and stronger the policy, the better it is. In the absence of such a policy, it becomes difficult to control individual behaviour and thinking, and with time, it could derail the entire diversity strategy and initiative of the organization.

It should be a part of the mission of an organization to recruit and nurture talent across as diverse a group of candidates as possible in order to achieve business success. The organizations in this regard should build a people management strategy to ensure that there is a fair and equal treatment meted out to all the people in the organization irrespective of their social parameters like ethnicity, education, social status, socio-economic class, caste, language, nationality, gender, age, religion or even physical and mental disabilities. The organizations and the employees both need to understand and accept that each employee is unique

Di ver sity policy for a countryof diversities

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and brings with him a unique set of skills and capabilities. The organization should endeavour to build on this skill set for the mutual benefit of the organization as well as the employees. The main purpose of the Diversity policy is to design and implement practices that would provide an inclusive and fair working environment for the nurturing and development of all employees such that it gives a competitive advantage to the organization and promote the development of all the employees. Such a policy should ensure that there is an impartial decision making and adequate monitoring on the front. the policy should also emphasize on

the implementation of a behaviour and practice code that would provide for treatment of all employees with respect and dignity. With such a policy, the organization should also take up activities that foster introduction of diversity into the key human resource functions and processes. Above all, the policy should list a clear penalization and reprisal process for wrong-doers. With the growing regional sentiments, and associated problems like the one faced by Biharis in Mumbai due to the whole Marathi manoos movement, and like the ones faced by the people from North-East in Bengaluru, makes such a policy a growing need of the time. The organization needs to be clear in stating its belief in creating and sustaining an environment that is supportive, inclusive and fair to all its employees because they are employees of that organization, leaving aside all their other personal details. The organization should strongly emphasize and practice the inclusion

and promotion of all employees at all levels in the organization impartially. Above all, such efforts would help the organization obtain and retain the best talent in the market and also be able to better serve its customers and clients. The responsibility to create such a system and policy rests principally with the HR of the organization. It also needs to introduce a special grievance addressal mechanism to address concerns of employees over biases and partialities. The HR and the supervisor representatives ideally form the task force to monitor the practices in the organization, provided they themselves are unbiased and clear.

As part of the diversity management, the organization should take up special education and training programs for underrepresented communities that are reviewed and improved constantly. That creates a more levelled ground for employees to compete. A diversity training should be devised, mandatory for all employees, which could be a part of the employees orientation and training period, in order to facilitate the understanding of the organization philosophy and develop a much required tolerance. Being a part of a diverse country like India, organizations and employees need to respect and accept the diversity of the employees. Stereotyping of people and not recognising that the other person is also a respectable and dignified human being having his or her own importance in the organization is harmful and hazardous for the organization. For the overall good of the organization, the Diversity Policy is the need of the hour.

Bhavi Patel, IRMA

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Whatever be the career objective, the ultimate aspiration is for a smooth career ladder!

Can your organisation clearly point out a candidates role five years down the line? If yes, the company is all set to be a dream destination for the talent worker. In fact talent is readily available in the labour market, but if you want to harness it- provide them with clarity in their career prospects.

CAREER MAPPING: QUANTIFYING THE CAREER PROSPECTSWhen organisations design career roles for individuals, focus should be on the individual aspirations. This exactly is tried out in career mapping. Career mapping is the process of

planning career paths of available employees, where individual aspiration is intelligently aligned with organisational growth plan. Basically you are preparing the employee for future prospective roles where they fit in.

The career road map thus created can help the organisation in various HR verticals like career

management, performance management and long range manpower planning. At the same time, the employee gets the guidance as to what level of competencies should be acquired for getting qualified for particular roles in the hierarchy. Why to spend on career of the worker- Is retention such an inevitable term?The growing demand for knowledgeable and skilled workforce poses the threat for the employers worldwide, increasing the need to retain the worker at every stage of their career. If we want to harness the skill available in the market, the focus should be on the career promises because the psychological contract between workforce and organisation has changed overtime. The focus now is on continuous learning and career enhancement, as highlighted in table 1.1.

From ToEmphasis on job security and loyalty to company

Emphasis on employ-ability and loyalty to own career and skills

Focus on promotions Focus on lateral career development

Finite job roles Multiple dutiesMeet job require-ments

Add value

Training provided Opportunity for self- management learning

Table 1.1: the ways in which the psychological contract is changing (lamb, 2007)

CAREER MAPPINGAn HR Tool to Retain Gen- Y

Workforce

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CAREER MAPPING PROCESSLets begin the process making sure that proper communication channels are available to communicate the process & its benefits to the employee. Anticipate for certain level of resistance which will be there towards any new initiative.

Step 1: The process begins with collecting the personal strengths & weakness of employees and the data regarding their desired roles. This may include the listing out of the following factor of individual employees:

Strengths & weakness: The employees can be asked to list out their strengths & weaknesses. This section can also include

a rating scale where in the employer can ask the employee to rate themselves across certain specific strengths upon which they want to rate the employee. Let them substantiate the list of strengths with the examples of performance in the current & previous role in the organisation.

Employee working style: It is also relevant to find out their suitability in performing a role.

The employee can be asked about: the level of challenge they desire in the role the kind of projects they want to undergo the working hours & the kind of reporting they prefer

The learning style can be collected to list out the learning programs which the employee should undergo to be qualified for a particular role. Record it, as it is added information to your skill inventory too!

Step 2: After this, the employer should do a job mapping where in the existing roles in the organisation is placed into different points in the career ladder. List out the characteristics & the specification of each role

Step 3: The employee aspirations and strengths should be matched with relevant roles in the organisation. Also make sure that you have the data regarding how much percentage of employees are employed in particular jobs. This is to know the requirement of labour (degree of opportunity from employee point of view) in particular roles. Specific guidelines should be provided for the employees regarding the competencies that are to be acquired to qualify themselves for the post.

Step 4: After preparing the career map for the employees, frequent follow ups should be done to enhance the credibility of the system and to improve the employee loyalty. Feedbacks can be given to employees regarding their improvement toward the goal. Steps should be taken to take the employee through the career ladder once the employee has successfully attained the required skill sets.

This process will create a loyal work force and will improve employee morale.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A PRODUCTIVE CAREER MAPPING SYSTEM

Clarity in the learning guidelines provided: the learning objectives given to the

employees should be specific. For example: guidelines for an employee working as a technical assistant for getting qualified to be considered for senior technician role can be as follows- should attain certificate on SAP proficiency, firsthand experience in conducting technical training sessions and gain 6 exceeds expectation in the performance appraisal.

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Providing deadlines for attaining the objectives: along with providing learning

objectives, time deadline should be specified for attaining them. For example: undergo technical course in C++ within 1 year time span.

Proper follow ups & learning sessions: once the career map is created, it is the

responsibility of the HR and the management to do proper follow ups to the objectives given to the employees. This can be done by :

Designing certain training sessions in order to supplement the objectives Providing feedbacks to employees on frequent basis Giving mentoring sessions & allowing employees to work with experienced employee in the prospective role The employee role enhancement should be carried out without failure as and when the employee attains the specified objectives within the time span given.

Adding lattices other than career ladders in the process

It was the financial advisory firm- Deloitte which coined the term career lattices with career mapping- wherein the advancement of employee role is not only curtailed to vertical dimensions. The employee is guided through

multiple disciplines and career directions. Earlier it had been always termed with career ladder. This change helps organisations to balance between fluctuating demands in various overheads & is an exposure to the employee towards learning.

That is why the organisations around are nurturing cross- fertilisers the workforce which has got repository knowledge in different functional areas. Career mapping, being given the dimension of career lattices, is a lot of credit being added to your organisation when it comes to employee preference for organisations!

ORGANISATIONAL BENEFITS: Attract, Develop & RetainMore is the focus company gives in to design the career path of the employee; you can anticipate an increased work force loyalty & decreased attrition rates. It can also improve the employee productivity by reducing the skill gaps and helps the organisation in workforce planning. The outcome of the reports can be used for formulating training sessions & in designing learning programmes.

In a way, here organisation attracts talents, develop them as per their career aspirations, reward them with enhancement & thus retain them!

Sreerekha S, SCMS Cochin

Cover Stor y

LABOUR L

AW REF

ORM -

NEED OF T

HE HOUR


Cover Stor y

It is said that archaic labour laws often stand in the way of providing optimum labour welfare and enabling their upliftment and development. Recently, even PM Manmohan Singh had suggested that there was need to periodically assess the labour regulations to ensure that they did not impact employment and industrial expansion and also help in labour welfare.

Internationally, there has been a consensus amongst most stakeholders-government, trade unions, employers and the general public that there is a greater need now more than ever to have labour regulations in place which address the current needs as well as to deal with the problems facing the economies of the world. Early this month, the French unions and employers formally reached an agreement to start with the reformation of the labour regulations, an act which was approved by the French President as well.

In India, however, even though labour law reforms was in the policy agenda of most Central governments, not much headway was made in this regard due to lack of consensus between all interested stakeholders and also out of fear of protests from trade unions. Most of the labour legislations of this country are several decades old, such as the Industrial Disputes Act, which was formulated in 1947, the Factories Act which came into existence in 1948, the Trade Union Act which came into being in 1926. Policy makers need to realize that the labour legislations dating back to pre-independence or just after independence period do not reflect the concerns of todays labour or the demands of todays industry.

It is suggested that one of the main reasons for the violence and the ghastly incident in the Maruti plant in Manesar is the archaic labour laws which do not allow flexible hiring. The completely inflexible nature of labour laws in India where companies cannot adjust employment to

seasonal demand since it is almost impossible to lay off workers legally at short notice forces companies to use contract labour. This means they have no control over the workers they are hiring which is an essential condition for shop floor harmony. Maruti was forced to hire contract or temporary workers not because it was cheaper but to maintain flexibility and to make sure they could maintain only optimum workforce levels. A key feature of the post-1991 liberalized era is that companies have to adjust labour usage to demand. Consider how fast car demand is falling due to the economic downturn. This calls for quickly adjusting production and labour usage for lower levels of demand. But current labour law does not allow this freedom to manufacturing companies.

Ante-diluvian labour laws have played a huge role in making contract employment the norm in sectors like construction and security services. In most important places such as factories and huge complexes, building security is given out to contractors who then supply security staff at a huge discount. Most security personnel are thus paid a pittance, and end up working 12 hours a day which is against labour laws in order to earn enough to make ends meet. Thus, even in the core area of security where companies and commercial buildings cannot afford to have people with doubtful loyalties contract labour is being used. This is a potential time-bomb, for it is only a matter of time before a section of contract staff could get influenced by radical ideologies. At some point, instead of securing an installation, they could end up jeopardizing its security.

A potential flash point for conflict is also brewing in the fight for quality jobs. Between 1991 and 2012, Indias real GDP grew 445 percent, nearly four and a half times its original size. But organized sector grew by just 7.4 percent. Thus there is an increasing and alarming demand for quality jobs now more than ever. A recent World Bank report on India said labour laws were hindering business


Cover Stor y

growth in the country. Eminent economists like Kaushik Basu have time and again re-iterated the point that the Indian government needs to amend labour laws to provide flexibility to companies in dealing with changes in demand pattern, a move that will also boost employment, especially in the organized sector. One of the most important sources of problem is a special chapter (Chapter V-B), which was introduced in the Industrial Disputes Act in 1976, which made compulsory prior approval of the appropriate government necessary in the case of layoffs, retrenchment and closure in industrial establishments employing more than 300 workers, a figure which was again lowered in 1984 to 100 and increased the number of days of notice to 90 days. A report of the Task Force of the Planning Commission in 2001 stated that the above mentioned clause was actually deterring foreign investors keen on

investing in labour intensive countries, from investing in India. Such stringent provisions are present in most labour legislations, which have to be met by companies compulsorily.

There have been some encouraging signs in the past few weeks. Media reported labour ministry is in the process of preparing a cabinet note for a Bill to amend the Minimum Wages Act, which proposes to link wages of factory workers to inflation and enhance penalties for erring companies, a move which will be welcomed by all. There are also reports of government intention to amend the Mines Act and Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act to do away with the cumbersome procedures of maintaining numerous registers and submitting multiple returns, which not just increases cost but also increases legal hassles for small firms. Thus, steps are being taken in regard to reforms.

However the process has to be faster and more pro-active steps are required.

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Life is like an experiment, the more experiments we perform-the more better it is. Life is like a long road that meanders its way and the destination is unknown and shrouded with uncertainty-it is up to how we tackle the situation we face over and over again and reciprocate. Life may be cruel or we may be forced to surrender against the inexorable march of destiny but nevertheless it is an experience which renders courage to face the similar situation in future and to keeps us immune to retaliate-such is the essence of life. But we must keep ourselves open and available to all the lessons the life teaches us. Same goes with industries-they must be sensitive and open to innovations and believe in change. Change is like a wind which doesnt believe in any sympathy-it simply blows and imparts ruthless

pillage without caring for anyone. So industries must adjust their sails accordingly-they must adapt themselves to stand tall and strong in the merciless wind of change.

Let us understand what this inevitable disruption is. The maximum life expectancy of eagle is roughly 70 years, but to reach this age they must, by instinct, make a very painful decision. With age the claws of eagle becomes tender and makes it very hard to catch preys. Also its beak becomes bent with time and so it is left with only two options-either succumb to destiny and relinquish life or endure a gruesome journey of 150 days within which it eventually knocks its beak and claws against the rock until it breaks and plucks its old feathers. After this the eagle awaits silently

The Inevitable Disruption

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for its beak and claws to grow and new feathers to emerge and thus waiting for five months. It is like a rebirth-a new life it gets for itself fighting against the fate and nature just like in mythology phoenix rises from its own ashes. The pain it experiences throughout the process is colossal and ghastly but this process keeps it alive for another 30 years. In this process many eagles die, but some have to survive, this is nothing but an inevitable disruption where they know this is going to happen but still many eagles could not survive.

In todays dynamic economy, changes are very obvious in organisation. It happens steadily and at a good pace. Since change has become an integral part of the organisation, so any type of resistance can cripple an organization. This resistance is nothing, but an inevitable response to any such change. Individuals, most of the times resist the changes just to defend their status, or one can say when they feel their security or status are threatened. According to Folger & Skarlicki, they said that organizational change can generate skepticism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes difficult or impossible to implement organizational improvements. Just like eagle dont resist and try to change with the situation and thus improve its life, our organisation can also see many improvements if we start to take initiatives rather than resisting them.

If management does not understand, accept and make an effort to work with resistance, it can undermine even the most well-intentioned and

well-conceived change efforts. Coetsee states any managements ability to achieve maximum benefits from change depends in part of how effectively they create and maintain a climate that minimizes resistant behaviour and encourages acceptance and support.

Employee resistance to the change is always an issue of great concern for the management of the organisation thriving for the competitive advantage. The organisation very well know that the process of change is ubiquitous and the employee intend to resist, has contributed to the failure of many efforts and plan of top level management, to bring about any change, which could be very critical to get a competitive advantage. Most of the times, the organisations expend in plenty to adjust their employees to a new way of achieving their desired goals. Being a youthful employee, now its the responsibility of the young generation to be open up for all ideas and changes. Its not like, one should accept every change but at least one should check its applicability and come with their ideas. This will take the competition at a higher level and there will be no doubt that the effectiveness of the companys performance will increase.

The things are never right or wrong. It is our perception that makes the conditions sometimes better and sometimes worse.

Advaita Das, XIMB

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Respect at work, a good working environment, health and other benefits, retirement benefits etc. There are numerous studies and surveys to show that pure monetary benefits are now just one of the many criterion employees use to evaluate organizations as future employers. Something as simple as offering free Red Bulls and unlimited snacks goes a long way to portray Facebook as a favorable place to work a place where you are taken care off.

We all know the success stories of Tata as an employer in India. Talk to some of their senior employees who have been there for decades and you would know that

their reputation of a concerned employer has stood them in good stead in retaining the best of their talent. The fact that Tata is perceived as an organization that is concerned about the welfare of its employees helps them draw some of the best talent in the country without doling out fat pay checks like other conglomerates. Thus we may see that the list of examples demonstrating the benefits of proper branding in getting the right talent to the organization is endless.

It is for this very reason that we see so many reputed firms taking so many pains when they visit college campuses for recruitment. They organize competitions, sponsor events, offer scholarships,

As I sat on my desk browsing on my laptop, I came across the Best places to work (2013) survey by Glassdoor and it made me wonder about the all the hullabaloo about employee perceptions for a company. Although we may sit and debate the inflated investments by the companies into the various branding activities, we simply cannot deny that Employer branding is a phenomenon that is here to stay.

Wikipedia defines Employer Branding as sum of a companys efforts to communicate to existing and prospective staff what makes it a desirable place to work

Even with the economic crises enveloping the global economies and massive job cuts happening round the globe, companies continue to take employer branding seriously. This only underscores the fact that acquiring good talent remains one of the primary needs of a company, even if its struggling to survive, and good employer branding is one of the most effective ways to do that.

If we were to look at the numerous surveys about what prospective employees look for in their employers, the list of expectations would be endless. To name a few Job Satisfaction,

Its relevance in todays times

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even provide meals and gift hampers to create a good buzz about them. We may argue about the economic benefits of these activities but for that we need to take into consideration the amount of money the companies save by retaining good workforce.

One good employee recruited or retained can usually make up for most of these branding expenses by the considerable savings on training expenses, severance benefits etc. The emerging tools of HR measurement can help us quantify the tremendous benefits offered by these activities. We should not forget here that this also works to help create a long lasting image as an employer - the benefits of which, like any good marketing campaign, go beyond the immediate effects.

The various top employer surveys and their loyal readership are a testimony to the fact that organizations ranging from startups to big conglomerates need to increasingly focus on this aspect of their HR practices. It is no longer a matter of choice for these organizations but a necessity in todays times where they are competing to get the best talent to get a valuable edge over their competitors.

The question that arises now is that how should the companies go about the process of branding?Well, branding an employer works on almost the same lines as branding any product except that

here we are trying to sell something which is not totally tangible or quantifiable. We are trying to sell an experience something which will make a prospective employee look up and take notice.

The first step here is to identify the target talent pool and identify their work preferences. It is vital for the organizations to study the needs of the Gen Y and then work on matching the same to what they have to offer. The inability to identify the same will only lead to an inflated expense budget with little contribution to the organization In short an exercise in futility.

The next step is to identify the core values and work practices of the company and match them with the expectations of the prospective employees. The organization has to decide on the economically viable benefits and other

integral components of the job that match the expectations of the employees. The firms cant afford to make unrealistic promises to employers as they may backfire in the future and do more harm than good.

Once these aspects of the job have been identified, then they have to work on finding creative and effective ways to communicate the same to the prospective workforce. This forms one of the most vital components of the entire

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process the brilliance of ideas, after all, lies in their execution. Here the organizations may find numerous channels to reach out to their target audience. The important thing is to identify the channel that will help them communicate most effectively to their target audience.

Thus by following the simple strategies of marketing with a dedicated effort in this domain, the employers can look forward to being perceived as a recruiter of choice. The benefits of these branding exercises dont stop at getting the best talent rather they also help in getting the right talent. The proper communication of the work culture of organizations through these activities helps them draw the right talent and helps lower long term attrition rates.

A word of caution here for the organizations is that they have to ensure that they communicate the best possible image of what actually exists so as to ensure that the workforce comes in looking

for exactly the same thing that the company is offering. Any miscommunication in this regard may lead to unfulfilled expectations and create problems in the long run.

It is with this note that I would like to conclude while reiterating the fact that employer branding is a vital component of modern day HR practices. It is a strategic tool for successful firms that are looking to sustain themselves as worthy competitors, with

the best talent. After all an organization is only as good as its people!

Dr. Arnav Singh Tanwar, XLRI

Call for Articles & ParticipationTeam usHR invites articles from B-Schools all across India. We are looking for original articles related to field of Human Resources. References should be cited wherever necessary. The best article will be featured as the Article of the Issue and would be awarded cash prize of INR 1000

From this issue onwards, some of the good unpublished articles will be put up in our blog: www.iims-ushr.in

Contest Winner of every issue gets a prize money worth INR 500 along with a certificate of appreciation

For other updates, check our Facebook page usHR-HR Club of IIM Shil-long. The issue details can be checked on our blog www.iims-ushr.in

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HR has taken a new shape today. The Hiring and Firing people are no more just doing that, they are now the part of board room where all important decisions are taken and where HR today has a say. Out of all the strategic contributors, it has become the one which will enable the future plan of action to be smoothly implemented and realized. HR over a period of time has earned for itself this important position.

Jack Welch in his famous book Winning said: To manage people well, companies should Elevate HR to a position of power and primacy in the organization, and make sure HR people have the special qualities to help managers build leaders and careers. This importance to HR is given because it manages the most important asset of any organization i.e. the people working in it. The more you invest in your employees be it hiring the best talent or honing the skills of already exiting talent by training or the retention of this talent pool, the more returns you can expect from them in the future. From a long term perspective this investment is in fact a cost cutting measure. Talent management and retention is a critical function. Almost every organization is facing the attrition problem especially in the IT industry. A lot of time and money is spent because of this.

According to a PWC report, retail industry face 25-30% attrition rate. Not only talent retention but all other HR functions like training and development, performance measurement, etc becomes more and more important as the organisation grows and the impact of each smaller component is enhanced which directly or indirectly becomes linked with the strategy the organization follows or wants to implement. Thus HR comes into the bigger picture.

Organizations today need to maintain a Fit between all their activities and functions so that the company as a whole runs smoothly and gleefully. This Fit cannot be generalized for all companies in an industry as it varies depending on the culture, the size, the vision and all other factors which are important for any organization.

Human capital is an important component which strengthens that Fit. Strategically, the human capital focuses on Manpower Planning which emphasis on putting right number of people, right kind of people at the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the achievement of goals of the

STRATEGIC SHIFT

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organization. By this managers get efficiency and effectiveness out of the work done by the employees. For this Human capital is trying to make a broader understanding of the companys goals and then align their own functions into it side by side doing the traditional corporate HR job. For achieving this they consistently engage with the line leaders and top management to have an understanding of the business and where the company as a whole is heading to. In a Mckinsey research, key HR practises were found that reliably improve results. These emphasized on setting a clear, inspiring vision of the goals

needed, then developing a culture of positive trust and openness and finally helping each person see clearly what their own role is in achieving these goals. Keeping these factors in balance as you move forward is indispensable. Thats captured in their insistence that these only work if they work together. When one or two are allowed to dominate and arent balanced with the others, things break down because the Fit needs every component to be there and in the balanced proportions.

The future of Human Capital thus looks very bright and its importance is only going to increase, but it should also keep itself agile and continuously keep checking the organizations movement and keep itself aligned accordingly. Few key points which helped HR in making this shift and which will in future also do so are:

Novel ideasThe innovation should never stop. Moving with the trend makes sense but doing something better then that gives competitive edge e.g. companies today are taking advantage of social media like facebook for hiring and engagement purposes. This is not only a cost-cutting measure but also enhances and fastens the reach to masses. Being technology oriented is the need of the hour. However the innovation should not be limited to one such function but should be inculcated in the culture itself.

Understanding the LineTo be a strategic partner, Human Capital needs to understand the line function first. It should engage and interact with line managers and leaders. In B-schools the future managers are nurtured not only with HR related subjects but with diversified subjects like marketing, finance, strategy, etc. This involvement with other areas should not be limited to B-schools only. Getting out of your Human Resource cocoon and spreading wings across the whole organization will give a broader understanding and will make the shift happen without any objection.

Clear visionDoing the work expected with integrity and giving reliable results is the prime objective for Human Capital but planning for future and having a clear vision for itself in the companys vision is what the focus should be. This would help in the development of a strategic mind-set.

So the process of evolution of human capital has started and it surely has a bright future. Organizations today should hold on to the fact that machines, procedures, structures, tools, etc can be made or copied but its the human capital which brings the difference.

Arashdeep Singh Taneja, MDI

Campus Buzz


A competition is a true test to a persons caliber. Every fighter hidden within oneself springs to action when the time to prove their mettle arrives. But if the same competition can be fun filled as well then its double bonanza for the participant. These were the same thoughts that were resonating within our minds when we sat down to plan for an intra-college event for the month.

Taking forward the legacy of our seniors, on 5th February 2013 IIM Shillong witnessed one of the most fun filled yet a HR based event The Winner takes it all Version 2.0!

The concept behind the event is to highlight the fact that the concepts of Human Resources namely Team Effort, Collaboration, Collective, Efficient Resource Management etc. which each and every person has learnt in classes, can also be experienced in real time through simple games.

There were eight teams who kicked off the first round. The first round required the teams to stand in a single newspaper sheet. As time progressed, the rules were made tough and the participants were made to stand with just one leg and as a team. The teams which stood for the maximum time won the round. Following it, we had the second round Caterpillar game. The legs of each team member was tied with their adjacent team mates legs and the whole team had to walk a good distance in the least time without falling down. After this we

eliminated three teams and the final round had five teams battling to find out the winner. The last round tested the communication skills of the teams. Each team was sub divided and participants enacted the roles of people with no physical challenges, blind persons and also as deaf and dumb. The objective of the game was to test the message conveying skills and the guiding skills of the team members.

The team Laoshan Ninjas completed the final round in less than a minute shocking the other teams and were declared the winners. They won themselves a cash prize of Rs 1000 for having played all the rounds in fair and sportive manner. On the whole, it was an evening when every team put to application all the HR concepts that they had learnt and that was the true success for our usHR team.

TAKES IT ALL V 2.0

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Connoisseur Speaks

I am a 40 year old female employee in an advertising firm and have been working with the company since 2000. Recently a young lady in her 20s joined our firm. The HR manager of our firm is a 40 year old man who recently went through a divorce due to an extra-marital affair. He is known for his flirty talks with the female employees within the company. The problem is that the manager has an eye for her and seems to be luring her with promotions. She doesnt understand the motive behind the managers offer. I have tried to convey to her indirectly about him but in vain. I cant talk to her directly as I am afraid it may prove fatal to my job. Help me on how I should alert her as she is genuinely a nice person.

Q A We think that you should basically waste no more time in conveying to her indirectly about the HR manager. As you have already mentioned, you have tried in every means possible to convey to her in implicit means and her ignorance ought not to be a reason for her to suffer in any respect. Thus, attempt to take her aside and let her know clearly that the circumstances are not very congenial. Since she is unable to comprehend the intention behind the managers actions, it is better to be totally transparent with her in this situation. But, do not risk your job because of this and take care of this as delicately as possible. It may be better to settle the talk over lunch or coffee, as this may be the best way to handle this sensitive issue at this point in time. We firmly believe that this problem can be resolved without placing your job in jeopardy.

I am working in a Consulting Company since last year. Since the start of my work in this organization, I have faced issues like incompatibility and hostility, due to which I am unable to focus on my work at hand. There is the problem of group formation, that is people belonging to a specific region or language seem to stick together ignoring the rest of us. So, some people are hesitant to contact their peers in this regard. I have attempted to go with the tide and not say anything for the past few months. But, I think that this issue will hamper everybody in our firm, if it continues. So, what would be the best approach in this problem?

Q A We understand that it is very difficult to work in such a scenario where group formation is prevalent. These group formations will only hamper the growth of the company in the long run. It is understandable that anyone will feel uncomfortable to work in an office environment where there is no scope for transparency and openness. We would advise you to take the brave foot and talk it out with your peers regarding the issue and also explain to them clearly how much interested you are in working with them as a team. Also ensure to take part in all conversations and lunch meetings even without invitation. This will automatically make others realize their mistake and will definitely change their attitude towards you. If the

problem persists, as a last resort a group of you who feel the same can approach the HR or head with the issue and make a suggestion that projects to be handled should be of diverse people in a team to reduce group politics. Hope this solves your issue.

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Connoisseur Speaks

I am working in a multi-national company for the past one year. The company demands working hours which are inflexible to most of my co-workers. Of course this is what the job requires and we are only doing what is asked of us, that is for the development of the company and which obviously results in our growth as well. But, of late I have been experiencing constant stress and pressure from all quarters possible both in my work place and in my family. I have been facing failure in maintaining my work-life balance, which is having repercussions on every job that I undertake. In addition to that, my team leader is proving to be a difficult person to work under, considering the fact that he is allocating more and more work than I can handle and sometimes I am pushed to doubt that he has turned sadistic towards me in particular. This has resulted in duress, resentment and I am unable to focus on anything at all these days. I would be coerced to consider quitting my job and moving into a new one if this situation continues in a similar manner, draining my energy and enthusiasm completely.

Q A We believe the stigma of having been hurt in a very negative manner has kept you secluded from interaction happening with your manager. And any issue that is nagging your mind must be absolved of uncertainty and fear, so we recommend that you talk about the incident to your manager as soon as possible. Find a suitable time to sit with him and discuss the same. Make the person understand that you felt uneasy when he spoke to you at that time and insist that this is not the way you want to be talked to. Be calm, but be firm in telling him that such behavior from him (mention that you felt sexually harassed or at least harassed) would never be tolerated in future.


Contest

Contest With the BestUse all your THINKING HATS and connect the pictures... It does not end there...Read along for more details...

Last date for sending the answers for Contest: March 10th, 2013Email ID: [email protected] Subject of the email: TogetHRContest9_CollegeName_Name of Person

Identify the person by connecting the three pics

How is the person related to the first pic?


Contest

Announcement of Results

Instructions for Submission

The prize for Article of the Issue has been awarded to Dr. Arnav Singh Tanwar from Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur for his Article Employer Branding Its relevance in todays times. He is awarded a cash prize of INR 1000 and Certificate of Appreciation

All other authors whose articles are published in this issue shall also receive Certificate of Appreciation

The prize for Contest with the Best of NOV-DEC 2012 Issue has been award-ed to Swati Jain from Fore School of Management New Delhi. She is awarded with a cash prize of INR 500 and a Certificate of Appreciation

Last Contest Answers: 06/1999, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Re-vival Plan (NRP), Blue Citizenship/ Green Programme

Article should not have been published anywhere earlier The Article should have a single author Kindly email your article with the file name and the subject as __ by March 10th, 2013 to [email protected] must be sent in Microsoft Word Document (doc/docx), Font: Times New Roman, Font Size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5. The size of the article should be between 700-1000 wordsThe cover page of the article should only contain the Title of the Article, the Authors Name and the Institutes Name

Results of this issue contest and selected artilces shall be announced in the next issue of TogetHR

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