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PROJECT ON RECENT TRENDS IN HUMAN RESOUCE

MANAGEMENT

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QUOTES 2010

Following are some quotes by leaders of INDIA INC., which shows the

importance and need of HRM that they felt during the period of recession.

We linked hikes to performance - Vikram Bakshi, MD, MacDonalds India

For the first time, we have an HR professional on the Board of Directors.

Today, every organization recognizes the role of a CFO in managing

money, but there is another important function which is HR, for managing

people- Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank Ltd.

I met all, 100% of our employees Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL

Technologies.

Invest in Leaders, even at premium Akhil Gupta, MD, Blackstone

Advisors

Cement relationships with your employees-Kiran Karnik, Ex-President,

NASSCOM

You have to be visible as a leader- L. Brooks, CEO, Goldman Sachs India

Keep Employees abreast of all happenings- Onkar S. Kanwar, CEO,

Apollo Tyres

Tough times dont last, tough people doK. M. Birla, Chairman, ABG

The first deliberate call we took is not to lay off anybody. We decided to

reskill all surplus workers- Arun Bharat, CEO, SRF Ltd.

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INDEX

INTRODUCTION

SR NO TOPIC PAGE NO

1 QUOTES 2

2 INDEX 3

3 INTRODUCTION 4

4 WHAT IS OUTSOURCING? 6

5 WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING (BPO)? 8

6 DOWNSIZING 10

7 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA 12

8 NEW TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL HRM 14

9 HRM SHOULD DO THE FOLLOWING THINGS TO ENSURE

SUCCESS

15

10 TRENDS IN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES-POST RECESSION 16

11 TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT 19

12 WORKFORCE TRENDS IN HRM 24

13 TRNDS IN DEMOGRAPHIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF WORK 25

14 TRENDS IN FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 27

15 NEW TREND OF UPGRADING TALENT 30

16 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY 33

17 CONCLUSION 36

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Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations

together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of HR manager is

shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a planner and change

agent. Personnel directors are the new corporate heroes. The name of the game

today in business is personnel. Nowadays it is not possible to show a good

financial or operating report unless your personnel relations are in order.

Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while

low skilled jobs are decreasing. This calls for future skill mapping through

proper HRM initiatives.

Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, management

cultures and philosophy due to the global alignment of Indian organizations.

There is a need for multi skill development. Role of HRM is becoming all the

more important.

Some of the recent trends that are being observed are as follows:

The recent quality management standards ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 of

2000 focus more on people centric organizations. Organizations now need to

prepare themselves in order to address people centered issues with commitment

from the top management, with renewed thrust on HR issues, more particularly

on training.

Charles Handy also advocated future organizational models likeShamrock, Federal and Triple I. Such organizational models also refocus on

people centric issues and call for redefining the future role of HR professionals.

To leapfrog ahead of competition in this world of uncertainty,

organizations have introduced six- sigma practices. Six- sigma uses rigorous

analytical tools with leadership from the top and develops a method for

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sustainable improvement. These practices improve organizational values and

helps in creating defect free product or services at minimum cost.

Human resource outsourcing is a new accession that makes a traditional

HR department redundant in an organization. Exult, the international pioneer in

HR BPO already roped in Bank of America, international players BP Amoco &

over the years plan to spread their business to most of the Fortune 500

companies.

With the increase of global job mobility, recruiting competent people is

also increasingly becoming difficult, especially in India. Therefore by creatingan enabling culture, organizations are also required to work out a retention

strategy for the existing skilled manpower.

What is Outsourcing?

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What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is contracting with another company or

person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in

some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to

the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial

and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since

they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms

that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they

are more commonly called, service providers.

Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has

existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to

carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those

processes could be done more efficiently and therefore more cost-effectively, by

other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained

personnel.

Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service

providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits management.

But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most common forms

are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing

(BPO).

Some nimble companies that are short on time and money, such as start-up

software publishers, apply multisourcing -- using both internal and service

provider staff -- in order to speed up the time to launch. They hire a multitude of

outsourcing service providers to handle almost all aspects of a new project,

from product design, to software coding, to testing, to localization, and even to

marketing and sales.

The process of outsourcing generally encompasses four stages:

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1) Strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of

outsourcing in its activities;

2) Evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projectsand potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it;

3) Contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level

agreement (SLA) terms; and

4) Outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working

relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers.

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WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING (BPO)?

BPO is the process of hiring another company to handle business activities for

you. BPO is distinct from information technology (IT) outsourcing, which

focuses on hiring a third-party company or service provider to do IT-related

activities, such as application management and application development, data

centred operations, or testing and quality assurance.

In the early days, BPO usually consisted of outsourcing processes such as

payroll. Then it grew to include employee benefits management. Now it

encompasses a number of functions that are considered "non-core" to the

primary business strategy.

Now it is common for organizations to outsource financial and administration

(F&A) processes, human resources (HR) functions, call centred and customer

service activities and accounting and payroll.

These outsourcing deals frequently involve multi-year contracts that can run

into hundreds of millions of dollars. Often, the people performing the work

internally for the client firm are transferred and become employees for the

service provider. Dominant outsourcing service providers in the BPO fields

(some of which also dominate the IT outsourcing business) include US

companies IBM, Accenture, and Hewitt Associates, as well as European andAsian companies Capgemini, Genpact, TCS, Wipro and Infosys.

Many of these BPO efforts involve offshoring -- hiring a company based in

another country -- to do the work. India is a popular location for BPO activities.

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Frequently, BPO is also referred to as ITES -- information technology-enabled

services. Since most business processes include some form of automation, IT

"enables" these services to be performed.

KNOWLEDGE PROCESS OUTSOURCING (KPO)

An offshoot of BPO is KPO -- knowledge process outsourcing . Considered by

some to be a subset of BPO, KPO includes those activities that require greater

skill, knowledge, education and expertise to handle. For example, whereas an

insurance company might outsource data entry of its claims forms as part of a

BPO initiative, it may also choose to use a KPO service provider to evaluatenew insurance applications based on a set of criteria or business rules; this work

would require the efforts of a more knowledgeable set of workers than the data

entry would. The current definition of KPO encompasses R&D, product

development and legal e-discovery, as well as a number of other business

functions.

Also coming into use is the term BTO -- business transformation outsourcing.

This refers to the idea of having service providers contribute to the effort of

transforming a business into a leaner, more dynamic, agile and flexible

operation.

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DOWNSIZING

Downsizing rarely achieves its intended level of cost savings. In fact, the

National Human Resources Association reports that reducing employees by 7.7

per cent reduces labour costs by just 1.1 per cent because of compensatory

measures the company must take to get the word one. For example, downsizing

often leads to more overtime pay for remaining employees. Secondary

consequences that leave their marks on employees and the organization's culture

can further offset cost savings. Downsizing reduces costs most effectively when

it serves as one of an arsenal of tactics in an overall cost-reducing strategy.

Downsizing Impact on the Role of Human Resource Management

Human resource management, or HRM, has evolved from a largely

administrative and operational role to one that plays an important part in

strategic planning. Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the trend toward

downsizing that began in the 1980s according to the "Ivey Business Journal."

This expanded role, in which workforce strategies align with the short-,

medium- and long-term objectives of the organization, contributes to the

organization's ability to respond to changing conditions.

DOWNSIZE DECISIONHuman resource managers should weigh in on several factors that influence

downsizing decisions. First, identify the specific problems downsizing is

expected to solve, and then assess the resources that can be devoted to it right

now. Also consider how downsizing will affect the company in the longer term.

For example, the manager must determine if and how strong performers with

unique skills be replaced when things improve, and what risks are involved in

losing those individuals.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVESHR departments are not immune to the effects of downsizing. HR managers

who implement their own workforce reductions also reduce their ability to

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maintain high levels of productivity in traditional HR roles, such as hiring and

compensation, and any role in guiding corporate strategy. Thinning department

resources may prompt HR management to outsource traditional administrative

functions is it shifts to making strategy its core competency.

PLANNING TO DOWNSIZEHR is heavily involved in the strategic planning process of a downsizing. First,

it must analyse units and functions to determine which are critical and which

employees are critical to their implementation. HR also works with managers to

establish and document the criteria they'll use to decide whom to terminate,

preferably according to a funnel approach that considers critical skills before

job performance. Wayne F. Cascio writes in "If You Must Downsize, Do It

Right," that no class of employee can be disproportionately affected. He

recommends subjecting all documents and recommendations to attorney review.

The process must be a just one at every level.

MANAGING THE PROCESSAlthough initial downsizing announcements should come from the top, and HR

may need to insist that it does, it's up to HR to keep employees in the loop. HR

must explain the reasons and the anticipated effects of the restructuring, and

keep them up to date on progress. When the time comes to terminate, HR

should insist the employees' immediate supervisors deliver the news in person.

Terminated employees should have time to tie up loose ends, say goodbye to

co-workers, and participate in company-sponsored career coaching or jobtraining.

AFTER THE DOWNSIZINGDownsizing often causes poor morale, high levels of stress and even guilt

among employees who retained their jobs. HR should implement measures to in

still confidence the company and its employees will ultimately benefit from the

changes. HR should also maintain contact with terminated employees it would

like to rehire at a later date as employees or as consultants.

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

India is being widely recognized as one of the most exciting emerging

economics in the world. Besides becoming a global hub of outsourcing, Indian

firms are spreading their wings globally through mergers and acquisitions.

During the first four months of 1997, Indian companies have bought 34 foreign

companies for about U.S. $11 billion dollars. This impressive development has

been due to a growth in inputs (capital and labour) as well as factor

productivity. By the year 2020, India is expected to add about 250 million to its

labour pool at the rate of about 18 million a year, which is more than the entire

labour force of Germany. This so called demographic dividend has drawn a

new interest in the Human Resource concepts and practices in India.

Indian HRM in Transition

One of the noteworthy features of the Indian workplace is demographic

uniqueness. It is estimated that both China and India will have a

population of 1.45 billion people by 2030; however, India will have a

larger workforce than China. Indeed, it is likely India will have 986

million people of working age in 2030, which will probably be about 300

million more than in 2007. And by 2050, it is expected India will have 230

million more workers than China and about 500 million more than the

United States of America (U.S.). It may be noted that half of Indias

current population of 1.1 billion people are under of 25 years of age.

While this fact is a demographic dividend for the economy, it is also a

danger sign for the countrys ability to create new jobs at an

unprecedented rate.

The divergent view, that each society has a unique set of national nuances,

which guide particular managerial beliefs and actions, is being challenged in

Indian society. An emerging dominant perspective is the influence of

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globalization on technological advancements, business management, and

education and communication infrastructures are leading to a converging effect

on managerial mind-sets and business behaviours. And when India embraced

liberalization and economic reform in the early 1990s, dramatic changes were

set in motion in terms of corporate mind-sets and HRM practices as a result of

global imperatives and accompanying changes in societal priorities. Indeed, the

onset of a burgeoning competitive service sector compelled a demographic shift

in worker educational status and heightened the demand for job relevant skills

as well as regional diversity. Expectedly, there has been a marked shift towards

valuing human resources (HR) in Indian organizations as they become

increasingly strategy driven as opposed to the culture of the status quo.

Accordingly, competitive advantage in industries like software services,

pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology (where India is seeking to assert global

dominance), the significance of HRs is being emphasized. These relativities

were demonstrated in a recent study of three global Indian companies with (235

managers) when evidence was presented that positively linked the HRMpractices with organizational performance. In spite of this trend of convergence,

a deep sense of locality exists creating more robust cross vengeance in the

conceptual as well as practical domain.

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NEW TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL HRM

International HRM places greater emphasis on a number of responsibilities and

functions such as relocation, orientation and translation services to help

employees adapt to a new and different environment outside their own country.

Selection of employees requires careful evaluation of the personal

characteristics of the candidate and his/her spouse. Training and development

extends beyond information and orientation training to include sensitivity

training and field experiences that will enable the manager to understandcultural differences better. Managers need to be protected from career

development risks, re-entry problems and culture shock. To balance the pros

and cons of home country and host country evaluations, performance

evaluations should combine the two sources of appraisal information.

Compensation systems should support the overall strategic intent of the

organization but should be customized for local conditions.

In many European countries - Germany for one, law establishes representation.

Organizations typically negotiate the agreement with the unions at a national

level. In Europe it is more likely for salaried employees and managers to be

unionized.

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HR Managers should do the following things to ensure success

Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmentalopportunities and neutralize threats.

Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributionsand grant enhancements.

Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HRcontributions like training, development, counseling, etc

Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassedcompetence in an area, e.g. Xerox in photocopiers, 3M in adhesives,

Telco in trucks etc.

Lay off workers in a smooth way explaining facts to unions, workers andother affected groups e.g. IBM, Kodak, Xerox, etc.

HR Managers today are focusing attention on the following-

Policies- HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and consensus. Motivation- Create conditions in which people are willing to work with

zeal, initiative and enthusiasm; make people feel like winners.

Relations- Fair treatment of people and prompt redress of grievanceswould pave the way for healthy work-place relations.

Change agent- Prepare workers to accept technological changes byclarifying doubts.

Quality Consciousness- Commitment to quality in all aspects ofpersonnel administration will ensure success.

Due to the new trends in HR, in a nutshell the HR manager should treatpeople as resources, reward them equitably, and integrate their aspirations

with corporate goals through suitable HR policies.

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TRENDS IN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES-POST RECESSION

HR Practices that can help you achieve organizational goals every year:

1. Safe, Healthy and Happy Workplace: Creating a safe, healthy and happy

workplace will ensure that your employees feel homely and stay with your

organization for a very long time. Capture their pulse through employee

surveys.

2. Open Book Management Style: Sharing information about contracts, sales,

new clients, management objectives, company policies, employee personal data

etc. ensures that the employees are as enthusiastic about the business as the

management. Through this open book process you can gradually create a culture

of participative management and ignite the creative endeavour of your work

force.. It involves making people an interested party to your strategic decisions,

thus aligning them to your business objectives. Be as open as you can. It helps

in building trust & motivates employees. Employee self-service portal, Manager

on-line etc. are the tools available today to the management to practice this

style.

3. Performance linked Bonuses: Paying out bonuses or having any kind of

variable compensation plan can be both an incentive and disillusionment, based

on how it is administered and communicated. Bonus must be designed in such a

way that people understand that there is no pay-out unless the company hits a

certain level of profitability. Additional criteria could be the team's success and

the individual's performance. Never pay out bonus without measuring

performance, unless it is a statutory obligation.

4. 360 Degree Performance Management Feedback System: This system,

which solicits feedback from seniors (including the boss), peers and

subordinates, has been increasingly embraced as the best of all available

methods for collecting performance feedback. Gone are the days of working

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hard to impress only one person, now the opinions of all matter, especially if

you are in a leadership role (at any level). Every person in the team is

responsible for giving relevant, positive and constructive feedback. Such

systems also help in identifying leaders for higher level positions in the

organization. Senior managers could use this feedback for self-development.

5. Fair Evaluation System for Employees: Develop an evaluation system that

clearly links individual performance to corporate business goals and priorities.

Each employee should have well defined reporting relationships. Self-rating as

a part of evaluation process empowers employees. Evaluation becomes fairer if

it is based on the records of periodic counselling & achievements of the

employee, tracked over the year. For higher objectivity, besides the immediate

boss, each employee should be screened by the next higher level (often called a

Reviewer). Crossfunctional feedback, if obtained by the immediate boss from

another manager (for whom this employee's work is also important), will add to

the fairness of the system. Relative ratings of all subordinates reporting to the

same manager are another tool for fairness of evaluation. Normalization of

evaluation is yet another dimension of improving fairness.

6. Knowledge Sharing: Adopt a systematic approach to ensure that knowledge

management supports strategy. Store knowledge in databases to provide greater

access to information posted either by the company or the employees on the

knowledge portals of the company. When an employee returns after attending

any competencies or skills development program, sharing essential knowledge

with others could be made mandatory. Innovative ideas (implemented at the

work place) are good to be posted on these knowledge sharing platforms.

However, what to store & how to maintain a Knowledge base requires deep

thinking to avoid clutter.

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7. Highlight performers: Create profiles of top performers and make these

visible through company intranet, display boards etc. It will encourage others to

put in their best, thereby creating a competitive environment within the

company. If a systems approach is followed to shortlist high performers, you

can surely avoid disgruntlements.

8. Open house discussions and feedback mechanism: Ideas rule the world.

Great organizations recognize, nurture and execute great ideas. Employees are

the biggest source of ideas. The only thing that can stop great ideas flooding

your organization is the lack of an appropriate mechanism to capture ideas.

Open house discussions, employee-management meets, suggestion boxes and

ideas capture tools such as Critical Incidents diaries are the building blocks that

can help the Managers to identify & develop talent.

9. Reward Ceremonies: Merely recognizing talent does not work, you need to

couple it with ceremonies where recognition is broadcast. Looking at the Dollar

Check is often less significant than listening to the thunderous applause by

colleagues in a public forum.

10. Delight Employees with the Unexpected: The last but not least way is to

occasionally delight your employees with unexpected things that may come in

the form of a reward, a gift or a well-done certificate. Reward not only the top

performers but also a few others who are in need of motivation to exhibit their

potential.

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TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

The Indian workplace has undergone a sea change, and human resource

priorities have now taken centre stage. In a knowledge economy, it is people

not capital or marketwho make all the difference. As talent occupies centre

stage in the Indian workplace, managing and retaining manpower is becoming

crucial to an organization's success. To achieve this, companies across sectors

are focusing on some of the more critical HR practices. Ten such trends are:

1. Leadership Development: Creating a pipeline of leadership talent is key to a

business' future growth. Peter Cappelli, the professor of management anddirector of the Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, University of

Pennsylvania, says it is imperative for the top level of an organization to make

leadership talent management a priority, and put its money into long-term plans,

as opposed to short-term ones. If companies are worried about their talent

pipeline, they have to develop their people, says Cappelli. Also, good bench

strength helps companies deal with volatility in labour supply. "Companies

including Hindustan Unilever, Procter and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline have

been able to withstand attrition in key executives because they have always

invested in developing leaders," says P. Dwarakanath, president, National

Human Resource Development Network. Experts say succession planning

should not be seen in isolation, but as part of overall organizational

development.

2. Work-life Balance: No company or employee has found the Holy Grail of

balancing work and life, but that is a work in progress. However, multinationals,

information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) companies have

been able to promote the balance between career, family and leisure-time better.

Other sectors have also been increasingly promoting a work-life balance.

Interestingly, most companies in India use benefits such as flexible timings,

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telecommuting, crche facilities and concierge services as an attraction and

retention strategy. "We are yet to fully buy into the fact that employees become

more productive and remain motivated when companies allow them to have a

life beyond work," says Prabir Jha, global head, human resources, Dr Reddy's

Laboratories Ltd.

3. Inclusion and Diversity: With higher numbers of people joining the

workforce in India at a time when companies across the world have an ageing

workforce on their rolls, conflicts are to be expected. "One of the challenges

companies face today is resolving conflicts among different generations," says

Pavan Bhatia, executive director, human resources, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt.

Ltd. "An inclusive and diverse workforce is the future of the workplace," he

adds. Therefore, companies are investing both time and resources in ensuring

that all age groups are comfortable working together. Organizations in India

have also been focusing on making workplaces more representative. For

companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Vedanta

Resources, PepsiCo India, Shell Companies in India and Bharti Airtel Ltd,

gender diversity has become a critical area of focus.

4. Health and wellness: The work culture at globalized workplaces involves

long working hours, frequent travel, multitasking and tight deadlinesand all

this often leaves employees mentally and physically stressed. "Employees are

increasingly grappling with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension,

diabetes and cholesterol, which can be checked by regular monitoring and a

healthy lifestyle," says A. Sudhakar, executive vice-president, Human

Resources, Dabur India. Companies have begun to realize that healthy

employees contribute to higher efficiency and productivity. Apart from medical

benefits, companies are also offering yoga classes and health camps and have

doctors on campus. HCL Technologies Ltd, for instance, like many other IT

companies, has 24/7 medical facilities in all its centres. DuPont has an Intranet-

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based tool, which assesses an employee's health through a questionnaire and

makes recommendations based on the scores.

5. Right Skilling: Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of

training rather than hiring over skilled workers, is gaining currency. Companies

use this strategy to tide over a manpower supply crunch and to broaden their

talent base. "You don't need an IITian to supervise a car maker's shop floor or a

management graduate from a premier business school to sell soaps, which

largely has been the case," says T.V. Mohandas Pai, head, human resources,

Infosys Technologies Ltd.

6. Managing Solid Citizens: "Solid citizens" are the second-rung performers

who make up 50-60% of employees in any organization. They are the backbone

of any company. Although they contribute significantly to the company's

overall performance, they don't have the potential to become leaders.

"Unfortunately, most organizations focus on the 15-20% key talent at the

expense of solid citizens," says Dwarakanath.Organizations which neglect their

solid citizens are doing this at their own peril, say experts. Unlike star

performers who are potential leaders, and therefore more likely to move out of

an organization faster, this group provides stability and bench strength to an

organization.

7. Instant Rewards: Recognizing and rewarding performers is one of the most

effective tools to attract and retain the right talent. Companies in India are

looking at rewards systems more seriously, and are adopting total rewards

practices that include compensation in both cash and kind. Apart from lifestyle

perquisites such as a house, a car or a club membership, profit-linked

incentives, deferred gratuity, and wealth-building programs in the form of stock

options and soft loans, companies are also including work-life balance

programs; competency pay packages where niche skills are compensated; and

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career opportunities, such as overseas assignments, new projects, etc., to reward

staff. These rewards can be tailored to suit the top performers' aspirations to

achieve maximum effect.

8. Measuring human capital: Evaluation of performance plays a key role, not

just in rewarding an individual employee, but also in setting performance

benchmarks. And hence, there is the need for a fair and transparent performance

management system. A strong performance analysis helps make human

resources both efficient and effective."In today's business environment, where

the focus is on increasing performance, companies must have robust systems to

identify performers so that the best performers get identified, recognized and

duly rewarded," says Ganesh Shermon, partner and head, human capital

advisory service, KPMG India. Shermon cites the example of oil and gas

company Bharat Petroleum Ltd, which has instituted a balanced scorecard based

on key result areas to measure performance.

9. Managing Aspirations: As aspirations of organizations grow, so do those of

employees. And, with the changing lifestyles and profiles of the workforce,

personal and professional aspirations of employees are not just varied, but are

increasingly on the rise. "Since competitive advantage depends on competent

people, knowing what employees aspire for could just be the way to have an

edge over competitors," says Kishore Poduri, head, human resources, eClerx

Services Ltd.

10. 360 Degrees Feedback: Finally, recognizing the need to make performance

appraisal systems more effective, an increasing number of companies are using

the 360 degrees or multi-rater feedback process. Unlike the traditional appraisal

system, which gives one-dimensional feedback, this one allows an employee to

give feedback to her reporting manager, peers, direct reports and others. "Multi-

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rater feedback not only reduces the risk of biased perceptions, but also gives

you a holistic view from all the stakeholders within the company," says Sanjay

Bali, vice-president, HR, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. While most

companies started using this system as a means for performance appraisal, most

of them now use the 360 degrees feedback system to identify the learning and

development needs of employees.

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WORKFORCE TRENDS HRM

1. A global war for Smart Talent will be the top driver of competitiveadvantage, as educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in

demand.

2. The aging of the population in America and Europe will have dramaticeffect on society and the economy impacting productivity, knowledge and

growth.

3. An increase in women in the U.S. workforce will change the policies,power and positioning of organizations.

4. A diversity savvy workforce will be required to understand and align withthe diversity in the global marketplace.

5. Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a globaltalent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization.

6. Incorporating innovation into the organizational DNA will be a key driverof future competitive advantage.

7. Building a sustainable, healthy and green workplace will be an essentialcapability for retaining talent and attracting the future workforce

8. Preparing employees to meet the challenges of a complex and stressfulfuture, where accelerated change and risks can be managed effectively

with high performance agility, will be vitally important.

9. An organization that is committed to employee development, continualeducation and training, will return to the organization new skills and

new competencies.

10.Attracting the next workforce, or preparing the current one, will require anew workforce culture to better understand transnational teams, online

collaboration, globalization and business process transformation.

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TRNDS IN DEMOGRAPHIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF WORK

One of the most powerful forces affecting the changing nature of work and the

work force is demographicsthe changing distribution of the work force along

a number of important dimensions. Here we can only briefly highlight the most

important demographically- related changes that will be occurring during the

next decade. The work force of 2010 will be significantly different than it is in

2004, but the characteristics of workers today are already very different from

what most of us think they are. And basic changes in the characteristics, beliefs,

values, and expectations of millions of workers in all functional areas will

require equally fundamental changes in the way those individuals and teams are

managed. The Changing Nature of Workand the Demand for Workers One

of the most important changes that affects both organizations and management

is what we like to call the demand sidethe kinds of workers who are required

to do the kind of work that needs to be done Changing Work Force

Demographics but equally dramatic changes are occurring on the supply side of

work. The behavioural and emotional attributes of the workers who constitute

todays work force are changing so rapidly that it is an open question whether

organizations will be able to adapt at all.

First, just consider the fundamental impact of recently changing birth rates

along with the aging of the so-called Baby Boomers. Birth rates have an

enormous impact on the labour pool, and thus on job opportunities, wage and

salary expectations, and related attitudes about work and life.

Implications for Real Estate Executives The general business implication of

these demographic shifts is that there is going to be a major talent shortage,

especially for knowledge workers, in the developed world within five years.

Although the human resource management challenges are fairly obvious, the

implications for the real estate professional are perhaps less clear. We believe

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that changes in demographics and an increased demand for creative talent

means that more work will have to be taken to the worker, not that workers

will migrate and relocate to wherever companies want to be. The basic location

strategy for sustainable companies within five years will be the development of

a workplace portfolio that has as its primary focus, Where are the workers we

need and how do we move our business there? In addition, this new work

force will demandand expectvery different workplace configurations

more collaborative space in corporate facilities, a wider variety of locations and

facilities in which work can be accomplished, more personal control over when

and where they will work, and more support for remote and mobile work styles.

The task of real estate and facilities managers is clearly shifting from providing

a place to enabling the organizations work to get done wherever and

whenever it must be done. Organizations will need comprehensive real estate

strategies of place that appeal to all the major demographic segments. No one

group will supply the talent needed in the future. And the various groups will

continue to have varying needs and expectations. Providing work force supportis not going to get any easier in the future; in fact, it will be far more complex

than it is today.

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TRENDS IN FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

THE CHANGING CHARACTER, PLACES AND PATTERNS OF WORK

have been the subject of intense policy debate and speculation. Will there be

sufficient paid jobs to support the wealth and health of the nation? Will the

employment opportunities of the future assume a radically different character

from the present, and are we, as some commentators contend, poised to

experience a radical re-drawing of the boundaries between paid and unpaid

work? As a consequence of policymakers, think tanks and other visionaries

vying to impose their particular interpretations of the future, there is no shortage

of responses to these complex questions. Commentators typically assert that the

forces of globalization, new technologies and business restructuring are

challenging current patterns of working, but find little else on which to agree.

The more pessimistic accounts suggest that the new millennium will be blighted

by diminishing job opportunities in the economys traditional industries and

occupations, rising levels of unemployment and widening social divisions.

Others, however, point to developing shortages of suitably trained and skilled

workers to support the growth of new production and service industries and

signal new possibilities for more liberating forms of work and a better blend of

leisure and working time.

IN CONTEMPORARY DEBATE OVER THE FUTURE of employment

relations not enough attention is focused any longer in research on the nature of

the power relationship in the workplace. This is a strategic mistake. The role of

trade unions as voluntary and autonomous institutions committed to social

justice in the workplace is being underplayed. By contrast their function as

partners of companies in assisting to bring about improvements in productivity,

competitiveness and profitability are perhaps being over-stressed. In the

nineteenth century many craft trade unions sought to justify their existence in a

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hostile political economy that questioned their right to exist by emphasizing

their role as stabilizing and respectable forces in the maintenance of order and

authority in the workplace. In the search for legitimacy they argued there was a

harmonious common interest uniting capital with labour that transcended any

underlying division of purpose. The strike weapon and the threat of its use was

kept well out of sight most of the time and yet even the most peacefully-minded

unions argued the case for their independence and autonomy from employers

and the state. They did so because they recognized the needs and demands of

workers and companies were not only not always identical but often based on

an unequal relationship in the distribution of power.

There is no reason to doubt todays workplaces are also based on a realistic

perception by employers, employees and unions about the nature of that power.

The implicit assumption that lies behind the onward march of individual

employee rights is a tacit acknowledgement of the urgent need for workers to

enjoy a much stronger representative voice. But a number of difficulties arise as

a result of this that few trade unions have yet to grapple with. The most seriousproblem remains the often neglected but entrenched nature of trade union

structures. Historically our trade unions have found it difficult to establish

rational forms of organisation that were able to limit competition between them

in the endless struggle to gain new members. By international standards as

varied as collectivist Sweden and the free market United States, Britains

employees have always tended to have trade unionism on the cheap withrelatively low subscription rates and limited services on offer. There are few

signs of any improvement. But the demands made by todays workers now

facing the trade unions make them vulnerable to accusations of under-

achievement. Employees are much more concerned to have an effective and

professional servicing of their individual concerns than in the past. They expect

a greater degree of competence from trade union officials and shop stewards.

But the numbers of qualified people holding positions of authority in the trade

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unions to service those demands are far less than they were thirty years ago.

There are now only an estimated 5,000 full-time trade union officers. In the past

trade unions were able to make them more effective by the mobilization of their

collective strength. Now this is no longer possible and we are unlikely to see

any improvement in the degree of leverage trade unions may expect to wield in

the years ahead.

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NEW TREND OF UPGRADING TALENT

A downturn can give smart companies a chance to upgrade their talent.

Downturns place companies' talent strategies at risk. As deteriorating

performance forces increasingly aggressive headcount reductions, it's easy to

lose valuable contributors inadvertently, damage morale or the company's

external reputation among potential employees, or drop the ball on important

training and staff-development programs. But there is a better way. By

emphasizing talent in cost-cutting efforts, employers can intelligently strengthen

the value proposition they offer current and potential employees and position

themselves strongly for growth when economic conditions improve.

Companies can maintain their attractiveness to internal and external talent by

using cost-cutting efforts as an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become

more engaging for the people undertaking them. A job's level of responsibility,

degree of autonomy, and span of control all contribute to employee satisfaction.

Headcount reductions provide a powerful incentive to use existing resources

better by breaking down silos and increasing the span of control for challenging

managerial roles-thus improving the odds of engaging key talent in the

redesigned jobs.

Consider Cisco Systems' approach to downsizing during the last recession. In2001, as deteriorating financial performance forced the elimination of 8,500

jobs, Cisco redesigned roles and responsibilities to improve cross-functional

alignment and reduce duplication. The more collaborative environment fostered

by such moves increased workplace satisfaction and productivity for many

employees. Initiatives like Cisco's succeed when companies focus on

redesigning jobs and retaining talent at the outset of downsizing efforts.

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In addition to redesigning roles, companies cutting jobs should carefully protect

training and development programs. These are not only essential to maintaining

workplace morale and increasing long-term productivity, but they also give

people the skills necessary to carry out redesigned jobs that have greater spans

of control. During the last recession, International Paper continued offering

classes at its leadership institute by replacing external facilitators with the

company's senior leaders. This approach not only reduced the cost of delivery

but also, thanks to the involvement of senior leaders, redirected the content of

the leadership program by tying it more closely to decisions and skills affecting

the company's current performance. Similarly, IBM retained its employee-

development programs during its major performance challenges in the mid- to

late 1980s. It took the arrival of Lou Gerstner as CEO and a new strategy to turn

the company around, but the historical investments IBM had made in

developing its people helped achieve a successful turnaround.

Before undertaking widespread layoffs, companies should use their

performance-management processes to help identify strong employees.

Companies that conduct disciplined, meritocratic assessments of performance

and potential are well placed to make good personnel decisions. These

companies should also bring additional strategic considerations to the decisions.

They should assess which types of talent drive business value today and which

will drive it three years from now, as well as which talent segments are

currently available and which will be in the future-keeping in mind, for

example, that new MBAs will be equally available in two years. They should

also look at which types of talent would take years to replace or develop-for

instance, skilled electric utility engineers in an environment where retirements

are dramatically reducing supply. Performance management well informed by

key strategic questions can minimize the negative cultural impact of

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downsizing, improve the bottom line, and help identify talented people the

company should try to retain.

Counteracting these tendencies requires creativity. In 2001, Cisco gave

generous severance packages and assistance with job searches to the workers it

laid off and launched a program that paid one-third of salary, plus benefits and

stock options, to ex-employees who agreed to work for a local charity or

community organization. Steps like these protected Cisco's employer brand by

attempting to make departing employees feel better about Cisco and

underscored the company's commitment to its people for those who remained.

The results were measurable: employee satisfaction remained high, and Cisco

retained a prominent spot on Fortune magazine's "Best Companies to Work

For" list.

A strong employer brand is also important for companies undertaking selective

recruitment even as they cut personnel costs elsewhere. Using slowdowns to

uncover and hire displaced talent is often fruitful. Studies have shown that

although overall levels of recruitment may level off or even fall, the quality of

workers hired rises in recessions. And opportunities to find and hire displaced

talent may be particularly valuable during this downturn, as massive downsizing

in the financial-services sector makes available to nonfinancial companies a

large pool of highly educated and motivated professionals who previously might

not have considered jobs outside their previous employers or industries.

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TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY

Technology may have made things easier for recruiting managers, but its

beginning to show its evil side as managers go overboard with it...

Technology is a toolthat can be used to aid the recruiting process.

Technology cannot replace human touch and therefore cannot be used to build

relationships

TECHNOLOGY HAS INDEED BEEN A BLESSING. The reaction time to

any problem has been slashed over a hundred times and leaders, managers and

the worker fraternity in general is more connected now than ever before.

However, like all good things, the positive streak of technology too can fade if

it's taken too far. Critics who play down the role of technology, have always

condemned the way technology has eroded the personal touch among people. In

addition, they blame it for the way managers use it for the sake of speed and not

quality. Amidst the brickbats, technology has emerged as a force to reckon with

and has undoubtedly redefined the way business is done.

TECHNOLOGY IS SECULAR. It has touched every aspect of business

however little it may be. And the human resources function is no exception. In

fact the role of technology in the arena of staff management has been incredible

and today the function has become completely technology-driven. The function

right from the recruiting stage to the exit interview and everything that comes in

between is largely driven by technology. While this may be seen as a revolution

of sorts by some, for many such aggressive takeover is beginning to take its toll

on the efficiency with which the function is meant to be executed. And

according to analysts the first casualty is the recruiting function.

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IMPERSONAL RECRUITING: A recent forum on "Technology and Its

Application in the Human Resources Function", conducted at the Town's hall, at

Vancouver, presented a rather scary picture of what awaits us in the near future.

A few speakers at the forum unintentionally spelt horror for the recruiting

function. They were rather candid about the way they recruit and the role of

technology in their recruiting process. One of the speakers went to the extent of

saying that thanks to technology there is no real need of meeting the candidate

or even speaking to him. Recruiting managers can make their decision by

simply exchanging mails!

THE TREND IS INDEED HORRIFYING. How can one replace personal

relationships that we by virtue of being humans share with everything that we

come in contact with? Reducing the potency of a relationship to a mere click of

a button can be damaging to the very basis on which an organization is built. If

every recruiting manager were to select recruits on the basis of the mails

exchanged then the concept of a "competitive edge" or a "differentiating factor"

will not be there at all since everybody would be doing exactly the same thing.

Moreover in such a technologically-intensive scenario , the need for any other

staff management initiative too would seem redundant as people would barely

interact personally and even if they did it would only happen in case of a system

crash.

Thescenario can be nerve- wreckingand therefore it's time recruiting managers

wake up and understand that technology is only a tool and it can be no standards

be used to replace relationships.

Focus does not stray. When recruiting managers lose perspective of the core

issue, the entire exercise fails. In this case, recruiting managers must understand

that recruitment is like sales, and they are the salesmen. Their main job

therefore is to sell the job And sales is a process that needs human interaction.

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Hence handing over this process to technology can sabotage the defining

purpose of the activity and therefore may not give the desired outcome.

Understanding that technology is a mere tool to accomplish the objectives of the

sales activity, which is recruiting in this case would help recruiting managers

keep technology in its right place.

Each of these factors is relevant even as we see recruiting as a sales strategy.

Hence recruiting managers must use technology in the third stage where

difficulties hampering the activity need to be overcome by use of means that are

both time and cost-effective.

Understanding how technology can aid the process of recruiting will help

recruiting managers maximize their efficiencies. However, if they let

technology drive the process then the intended benefit may fizzle out and the

process efficiency would be affected adversely. The best solution therefore

would be to integrate the benefits of technology with the recruiting process in a

way that helps maximise its efficiency.

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CONCLUSION

The World Competitiveness Report rated Indias human resource capabilities as

being comparatively weaker than most Asian nations. A dramatic shift in

recruitment practices has been taking place as globally pretend Indian

companies as well as global technical services rivals have made India a

battlefield of recruitment for the best workers. The recognition of world class

human resource capability as being pivotal to global success has changed Indian

HRM cultures in recent years. While the historical and traditional roots remaindeeply embedded in the subjective world of managers, emphasis on objective

global concepts and practices are becoming more common. Three very different

perspectives in HRM are evident. Firstly, Indian firms with a global outlook;

secondly, global firms seeking to adapt to the Indian context; and thirdly, the

HRM practice in public sectors undertakings (PSVS). As the Indian economy

becomes more globally linked, all three perspectives will move increasingly

towards a cross verging strengthening. Interestingly, within the national context,

India itself is not a homogenous entity. Regional variations in terms of industry

size, provincial business culture, and political issues play very relevant roles.

The nature of hierarchy, status, authority, responsibility and similar other

concepts vary widely across the nations synerging system maintenance. Indeed,

organisational performance and personal success are critical in the new era.