shrm india hr awards 2014

SHRM INDIAHR AWARDS 2014CASE STUDIES OF AWARD WINNERS

CONNECTINSPIRE

GROW

Dear Readers,

THE SHRM India HR Awards were instituted in 2012 for the �rst time, as an exemplary platform

to recognize organizations that put people �rst, deliver future focused excellence in the �eld of

People Management and understand the importance of human capital as a key contributor to

business outcomes.

The awards have been planned to create a platform for organizations to bring in the NEXT

practices and empower HR to become a strategic business partner. With tremendous increase

in the number of nominations in 2014, and for the �rst time launching an international category

award for Excellence in HR – South Asia (excluding India) & Middle East along with 8 other

categories, we believe this recognition energized and transformed the identity of Human

Resources Management positively.

SHRM India has been a pioneer in enhancing HR capabilities in SAARC countries like Sri Lanka

and Bangladesh and we have been invited by the Association in Sri Lanka as their knowledge

partner and advisor to manage HRM Awards 2014.

We appreciate each one of the participating organizations for all the support that has been

extended towards this awards process and we take this opportunity to congratulate all the

winners!

All in all, we believe it was an enriching experience for participating organizations. We look

forward to your participation at the SHRM HR Awards 2015 along with SHRM India Annual

Conference on Sep 24-25, 2015 at New Delhi.

Warm Regards

45

71

Achal Khanna

ACHAL KHANNA

CEO, SHRM India

Acknowledgements

About SHRM India Annual Conference & Exposition – 2014

a. SHRM India HR Awards 2014

b. Awards Jury Members

Executive Summary

Award Winners Summary

Diversity at Aegis – ‘Together We Make a Difference’

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion

Building Corporate Culture of Collaboration through Social Media Campaign at

OSS Cube Solutions

Excellence in Social Media People Campaign

We Make Leaders: Unveiling the Model of Leadership Development at Citigroup

Excellence in Developing Leaders of Tomorrow

P&G ‘VIBRANT LIVING’: Making Every Day a Healthy Day

Excellence in Employee Health and Wellness Initiatives

i 1

ii 3

iii 7

1iv 13

v 15

vi 23

vii 31

viii 39

INDEX

Genpact HR Analytics – Breathing More Power: Utilizing Process. Analytics. Technology.

Excellence in HR Analytics

CMC Ltd. HR Analytics – The Number Game

Excellence in HR Analytics

School of Business Management, NMIMS, Mumbai: A Case Study Showcasing the

Entrepreneurial Stance Taken by the Institute for Excellence in HR

Academic Institute of the Year (for contribution in the field of HR)

Employer Brand & Building Capability Initiatives at Unilever, Sri Lanka

Excellence in Human Resource – South Asia (excluding India) & Middle East

Employee Engagement in a Millennial Centric Social Enterprise at Virtusa, Sri Lanka

Excellence in Human Resource – South Asia (excluding India) & Middle East

About SHRM India

SHRM India Knowledge Center

Upcoming SHRM Events

Picture Gallery

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xi 63

xii 71

xiii 81

xiv 89

xv 91

xvi 94

xvii 95

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

02

We would like to thank thefollowing organizations for their participation in the Case Studies:

The SHRM India Annual Conference 2014, held at Gurgaon titled “Connect. Inspire. Grow.” witnessed

around 650+ delegates from 300+ organizations and 39 organizations associating with us as Partners.

The conference also saw a large number of exhibitors offering an unmatched networking and

engagement platform for CEOs and HR Executives. Among the participants we had 65%+ Senior HR

Managers, 35%+ HR Directors, 20%+ CEOs/Business Heads. Several internationally renowned experts

such as Ron Kaufman (Founder, UP Your Service and NY Time Bestselling Author), Sudhakar Kesavan

(Chairman and CEO, ICF International) and Ashok Alexander (Director at Antara, Lead at Bill & Melinda

Gates Foundation in India) spoke at the conference. The conference also included a number of panel

discussions and concurrent sessions all targeted towards helping the participants to connect, inspire

and grow within the HR fraternity along with the SHRM India HR Awards 2014, for organisations doing

exemplary work in HR.

SHRM INDIA HR AWARDS 2014

The SHRM India HR Awards were instituted as an exemplary platform to recognize organizations that put

people �rst, deliver future focused excellence in the �eld of People Management and understand the

importance of human capital as a key contributor to business outcomes.

For 66 years, the Society for Human Resource Management has followed its core ideology of supporting the

professional to advance their profession. It recognizes the pioneering and innovative people management

practices that impact not just organizations but also business, society and the profession as a whole.

SHRM India HR Awards focused primarily on HR practices that would impact the enterprise of tomorrow.

The aim was to recognize organizations that have excelled in bringing NEXT into their people practices and

empowered the HR fraternity to become a strategic business partner. In essence, these Awards celebrated

and acknowledged organizations that work passionately towards raising the bar for the profession through

constant innovation. For the �rst time, along with India speci�c awards, an international category award for

Excellence in HR – South Asia (excluding India) & Middle East, has been instituted in this year’s awards.

A brief description of the various Award categories is as follows:

EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

To recognize organizations that focus on internal, external and organizational dimensions of diversity to

create a “culture of inclusion”, by adopting policies and practices, such as non-discrimination on the

grounds of gender, religion and so on.

EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL MEDIA PEOPLE CAMPAIGN

To recognize organizations that have effectively used social media channels, tools and applications for –

1) driving key people processes such as: talent sourcing, employee engagement & learning, employer

ABOUT SHRM INDIAANNUAL CONFERENCE

& EXPOSITION, 2014

branding and 2) fostering a high degree of collaboration between cross-functional teams, knowledge

sharing and so on.

EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY IMPACT

To recognize organizations that have leveraged their �nancial as well as human resources to undertake

sustainable social initiatives, re�ecting the spirit of being responsible as a corporate entity.

EXCELLENCE IN DEVELOPING LEADERS OF TOMORROW

To recognize organizations that conduct programs and/or follow best practices to develop the leaders of

tomorrow, who can take on the new and challenging organizational roles that they will play in the future.

EXCELLENCE IN EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND WELLNESS INITIATIVES

To recognize organizations that understand the linkage of employee health to business productivity and

have, therefore, proactively identi�ed or designed speci�c health and wellness programs, which can

support the needs of their employee segments.

ACADEMIC INSTITUTE OF THE YEAR (FOR CONTRIBUTION IN THE FIELD OF HR)

To recognize academic institutions that have played a prominent role in contributing to the �eld of HR ,

through a market focused HR curriculum, path-breaking research, committed HR faculty and initiatives

that enable the students to become more employable for ready absorption into the corporate

environment.

EXCELLENCE IN HR ANALYTICS

To recognize organizations that have effectively measured the value of its people, by using HR analytics,

such as technology tools, HR metrics and so on, to measure and improve the overall performance of

their organization

EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCE – SOUTH ASIA (EXCLUDING INDIA) & MIDDLE EAST

To recognize organizations, which have successfully designed and implemented excellent people

management practice(s) or system(s). This could be a single/multiple innovative practice(s) or system(s)

that the organization has implemented across any area in Human Resource and has been running

successfully in the organization for some time.

EXCELLENCE IN WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY

To recognize organizations that have created a more effective and productive workplace by providing

employees the option of �exible work arrangements, such as work from home, �exible timings and so

on, thereby, encouraging them to achieve their potential.

Out of the total nine award categories described above, no awards were given for the category –

Excellence in Workplace Flexibility due to inadequate participation.

































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SPECIALACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

06

Arunav Banerjee, Program Chair, HR Leadership Program, SOIL

Milind Kelkar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Green Thumb Consulting

Sarab Preet Singh, Head Recruitment, Learning, Talent and Organisational Development, Citi India

Soumitra Das, Owner and Principal Consultant, People Performance Practitioners

Aman Lal, Director Human Resources, Yum! Brands, India Division

Puneet Rathi, Head Advisory and Knowledge, SHRM India

Premarajan R K, Professor- OB & HR, XLRI Jamshedpur

Anil Tandon, Managing Director, Tex Zippers

Smita Anand, MD, Leadership and Talent Consulting, India, Head, Board / CEO Succession, Asia

Anuranjita Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Of�cer, Citi South Asia

Ruvina Singh, Managing Principal, Korn Ferry

Sarthak Raychaudhuri, Vice-President - Human Resources - Asia South , Whirlpool Corporation

Sunita Cherian, Vice President - Human Resources and Global Head - Diversity and Inclusion, Wipro Ltd.

Puneet Rathi, Head of Advisory and Knowledge

Perzine Dadyburjor, Knowledge Consultant

Sreemayee Chand, Senior Knowledge Advisor

Dedeepya Ajith John, Knowledge and Research Consultant

As a part of this rigorous awards selection process, the following eminent industry experts, academicians

and consultants constituted our Jury:

SHRM AWARDS TEAM

PROJECT LEAD FOR CASE STUDY PUBLICATION

SCREENING JURY

FINAL JURY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

08

The SHRM India Knowledge Center is committed to develop in-depth case studies to share the best and next HR practices

of organizations, and promote learning amongst Human Resource professionals.

Towards this effort, SHRM India has compiled the case studies on the best practices of the six winners, one runners up and

two merit-holders of the SHRM India HR Annual Awards 2014.

The case studies of the winning organizations showcase best practices that have had a demonstrated impact on the strategic

outcomes of the organization. The HR practices and unique initiatives highlighted through the case studies on the runners up

and merit-holders, demonstrate their progress on the journey towards excellence.

These case studies, in the order of the award category, are summarized below:

DIVERSITY AT AEGIS – ‘TOGETHER WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE’

Going beyond the traditional diversity, tag names of age & gender diversity and robust tracking mechanism with speci�c

targets in place, surely makes Aegis stand out from other Indian organizations. The investment made in these initiatives

and deployment of a dedicated team to make this entire six-dimensional framework work to its fullest capacity has

helped them achieve their mission of “Happy People, Happy Customers and Happy Shareholders”.

EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONAward Winner:

BUILDING CORPORATE CULTURE OF COLLABORATION THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN AT

OSS CUBE SOLUTIONS

As concluded by GPTW survey, the push for a social platform that entertains and engages the OSSCube community

has led to increased member satisfaction. A perfect CEO approval rating of 100% re�ected on Glassdoor, a top-tier

employer & leadership trustworthiness feedback score, a talent acquisition pipeline based heavily on community

participation, and thought leadership efforts with more than 10 roles �lled in 2014. The internal efforts, in partnership

with a skilled and invested management team have churned out successes that has shaped and grown OSSCube into

a global force to be reckoned with. With a unique outlook on doing business in an open source world and a

member-base that is equally dedicated as the upper management, OSSCube has solidi�ed itself as a thought leader

and top provider of solutions for businesses around the globe.

EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL MEDIA PEOPLE CAMPAIGNAward Winner:

P&G ‘VIBRANT LIVING’: MAKING EVERY DAY A HEALTHY DAY

P&G is living its credo of touching and improving lives by focusing on its employees and helping them

live ‘a healthy life, every day’. Signi�cant investment (monetary & leadership involvement) has been done

around these interventions. Other organizations, large and small, can learn and re-vamp their health and

wellness programs by internalizing the right data - conducting health assessment of employees and

being persistent with their health and wellness strategy.

EXCELLENCE IN EMPLOYEE HEALTH ANDWELLNESS INITIATIVES

Award Winner:

WE MAKE LEADERS: UNVEILING THE MODEL OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AT CITIGROUP

A robust development platform by a culture of early empowerment through the 3 ‘E’s- Education,

Experience & Exposure and a strong focus on ‘leaders teaching leaders’ have helped Citi create an

enviable slate of leaders over the last 200 years. Talent in Citigroup is a business imperative and not just

a HR goal. This leadership model has helped the brand stay true to its other three principles of common

purpose, responsible �nance and ingenuity and deliver on our mission overall. A rich heritage of home

grown leaders at the helm demonstrates the success of this model. After all, �lling 92% of leadership

positions internally with negligible attrition at the top is no small feat. It’s rigorous and meticulous effort

has helped Citi identify promising talent at the very beginning and groom them through the model’s

segmented development approach.

EXCELLENCE IN DEVELOPING LEADERS OF TOMORROWAward Winner:

10

CMC LTD. HR ANALYTICS – THE NUMBER GAME

HR Analytics has helped CMC multifold starting from hiring till exit. CMC is now able to recognize the

strengths and vulnerabilities of the workforce and take manpower decisions accordingly. Instead of

using descriptive analysis, CMC is focusing on predictive modeling for understanding how risk is

distributed throughout the organization. Measuring and monitoring has taken a new direction which is

in line with CMC’s business objectives and is helping its business leaders in making effective strategic

decisions.

EXCELLENCE IN HR ANALYTICSRunner Up Award:

GENPACT HR ANALYTICS – BREATHING MORE POWER: UTILIZING PROCESS. ANALYTICS.

TECHNOLOGY.

Genpact believes that the real value comes when you ask the right question and then apply the right

business judgment to it. The effectiveness of data goes up several times when one marries intuition with

logical process. This is being followed by Genpact though the building of new mechanisms to capture

data and then adding human intelligence and experience to make them more intuitive.

EXCELLENCE IN HR ANALYTICSAward Winner:

EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCESouth Asia (excluding India) & Middle East

Special Recognition:

EMPLOYER BRAND & BUILDING CAPABILITY INITIATIVES AT UNILEVER SRI LANKA

Unilever, Sri Lanka is a pioneer in the pillars of employer branding and capability building. The awards

won by the organization are a testimony to this statement. The various initiatives that Unilever has

launched under the pillars of employer branding and capability building are unique and have resulted

in great publicity to the company. The robust capability building plans that are being driven across the

organization have resulted in producing ef�cient leaders. The novel employer branding initiatives have

attracted the Sri Lankan youth to Unilever. Therefore, Unilever is geared with a strong talent pipeline

to face the future business challenges.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, NMIMS, MUMBAI: A CASE STUDY SHOWCASING

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL STANCE TAKEN BY THE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE IN HR

In an effort to respond to industry requirements for HR professionals, NMIMS has been able to

leverage existing faculty and system based strengths. A small but sure beginning has been made to

grow the size and scope of the MBA HR program. Review mechanisms continue to provide feedback

for improvement. Stakeholders of the program within and outside the system have become partners

to enable the program to grow.

ACADEMIC INSTITUTE OF THE YEAR(for contribution in the field of HR)

Runner Up Award:

12

EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCESouth Asia (excluding India) & Middle East

Special Recognition:

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN A MILLENNIAL CENTRIC SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AT VIRTUSA,

SRI LANKA

As a Company whose workforce is 86% Millennial, Virtusa has made it a top priority to create an

environment that not only retains Millennial employees, but also engages and empowers them to do

their best work. Over the past few years, Virtusa has been recognized all over the world with numerous

HR-related awards particularly for its innovative use of technology for Millennial Employee engagement

and employee relations. Some of these recognitions include the Stevie International Business Award,

Britain’s Top Employer, the Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award, Asia’s Best Employer Brand, Best

Places to Work by The Albany Business Review, and Achiever’s Top 50 Most Engaged Work Places

Award.

Aegis Limited

A W A R D W I N N E R


OSS Cube Solutions Ltd.



PeopleLead

A W A R D P A R T N E R

Monster


Spire


Cornerstone On Demand


BI Worldwide


Chestnut Global Partners


Citigroup



Proctor & Gamble.


EXCELLENCE IN EMPLOYEE HEALTHAND WELLNESS INITIATIVES

EXCELLENCE INHR ANALYTICS


Genpact CMC Ltd.

R U N N E R ’ S U P A W A R D A W A R D W I N N E R

ACADEMIC INSTITUTEOF THE YEAR (For Contribution in the field of HR)

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies


Unilever, Sri Lanka

S P E C I A LR E C O G N I T I O N

Virtusa, Sri Lanka

S P E C I A LR E C O G N I T I O N

SHRM IndiaHR AWARDS 2014

14

By SM Gupta

Diversity at Aegis –‘Together We Make aDifference’

Excel lence inDivers i ty and Inc lus ion

AWARD P

ARTNER

OVERVIEW

Company Profile

Aegis is a global outsourcing and technology services company committed to impacting clients’

business outcomes by focusing on enhancing customer experience across all touch points and

channels. Aegis was founded 30 years ago in the US and now has operations in 37 locations across 9

countries with more than 40000 employees. Aegis services over 150 clients from verticals such as

Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Technology, Telecom, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality,

Consumer Goods, Retail, and Energy & Utilities. The company is wholly owned by Essar, a USD 39

billion conglomerate.

CHALLENGE / NEED

From nice-to-have to must-have!

Shrinking world, demographic transformation, constant renovation of the global markets, increased

compassion than ever before, need for channelizing the differences, government mandates, and laws

are the prime attributes leading to a global outsourcing and technology service player like Aegis to

broaden and diversify its global workforce, without compromising its talent skills, business

performance and quality measures.

The idea was to engage with diverse societal sections to establish partnership and involve in its

eco-system for impact sourcing and catering to their developmental requirements.

Furthermore, due to its nature of business built on both organic and inorganic strategies, Aegis had

grown in a multi-fold way with footprints in 9 geographies. This brought along people with diverse set

of nationalities, culture, languages, customs and traditions in the system. Building a holistic framework

to drive Diversity & Inclusion initiatives was necessary to transform this combination of people into a

systematic work environment. It was imperative to further the accomplishment of Aegis’ mission of

‘Happy People, Happy Customers, Happy Shareholders’.

16

SOLUTION

A Holistic Approach: Six-dimensional Diversity Framework

In 2010, Aegis recognised that there existed a large population of disadvantage sections of the

society, which if well trained could be transformed into a high-potential, possibly cost-effective

workforce. The objective was also to include and leverage on different streams of society into the

organization which would lead to increased levels of engagement, innovation, loyalty and support

from clients, a responsive business culture and corporate resilience in a global economy.

Four years into the institutionalizing of Diversity and Inclusion framework, Aegis has experienced

great success in the form of brand building, lower attrition, higher motivation and overall increase

in business topline and bottom line. The company came up with a six-dimensional diversity

framework as shown in the �gure below, which identi�es six different facets of diversity (Persons

with disabilities; Gender inclusivity; Socially and economically disadvantaged; Culturally and

linguistically diverse people; Mature age people and Inclusion of indigenous people) and has

speci�c objectives for each one of them.

Philosophy and Commitments

The idea for Aegis was to go-beyond adhering to traditional corporate social responsibility norms and

ensuring a thorough focus on driving a value proposition journey towards achieving an engaged

diverse workforce against each of the facets of diversity. This also required collaborating with

specialised agencies, government institutions, trade bodies and aligning a quantitative methodology

keeping in view the feasibility, affordability and alignment to business needs.

18

Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Aegis is committed to provide equal opportunity in all areas of employment, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training and promotion of individuals with disabilities.

To employ PwDs equal to 1.5% of global workforce

Gender Inclusivity

At Aegis, gender inclusivity is a long-term commitment so as to develop initiatives that lay a strong foundation for employment & career success of less dominant gender at all levels.

Gender mix to be in accordance with the available employable population

Socially & Economi-cally Disadvantaged People

Aegis is committed to provide gainful employment to socially & economically disadvantaged people in all geographies and businesses

Mix of socially & economically disadvantaged people to be in accordance with the available employable population

Culturally & Linguisti-cally Diverse People

To understand, embrace and operate in a multi-cultural world both in the market place and in the workplace.

Mix of culturally & linguistically diverse people to be inaccordance with the available employable population

Mature Age People

To develop a workplace that provides the tools and support to develop people of mature age and to transition them successfully leaving a legacy of tribal knowledge within the organization.

To employ mature age people equal to 1.5% of global workforce

Indigenous People

Aegis advocates employing ‘People of the Soil’ across all geographies of its operations, while keeping in mind the Equal Employment Opportunity.

More than 95% of Aegis workforce in each geography should be indigenous

DIVERSITY FACET

PHILOSOPHY COMMITMENT

Enablers of diversity

While this business model offers unique proposition to traditional BPO hiring and framework

anchored on attractive cost, comparable performance, access to enhanced section of workforce

and the social impact, there are numerous challenges towards an ideal diversity mix. The most

primitive one, which Aegis managed to address at its formative stage was the concept

development and clarity for the term “diversity”. Failure to address inclusion as “change”, failure to

address systematic issues; wherein organization policies and practices are not addressed by the

diversity initiatives are hindrances for effective implementation of D&I practices. The most

important hindrance is the failure to address the cultural incompetence and workplace

discrimination, which can come in many forms, ranging from subtle preferential treatment to an

overtly hostile workplace environment.

Aegis designed and implemented speci�c programs which acted as enablers and catalysts towards

building a diverse and inclusive workplace.

This primarily included making Diversity & Inclusion a ‘Strategic Agenda’, facilitating creation of an

organization structure wherein the Chief People Of�cer (CPO) plays the role of organization change

leader while Global CEO & MD is the executive sponsor. Diversity champions are identi�ed both at

corporate level as well as at business/ country level, who play the leading role of a change-agent

mobilising people and co-ordinating interventions on this front.

Aegis introduced policies on Equal Employment Opportunity and Human Rights which provided a

framework for unbiased and impartial treatment to people irrespective of gender, religion, ethnicity,

physical ability, caste, nationality, color and sexual orientation.

Policy Framework

ENABLERSEngagement

Initiatives

Sensitization

Programs

• Board Agenda

• Organization Structure enabling Diversity

In line with its commitment to inclusion of PwDs, there was a greater need to provide them a workplace

facility that enhances their capability to work. Building ramps, wide hallways, disabled-friendly

restrooms, grab handles in elevators and accessible training modules aided 500+ PwDs in effectively

performing the assigned tasks.

Tracking system

Effective evaluation and tracking of diversity performance provides opportunities for ongoing

improvement, ability to measure and report on successes as well as provide appropriate direction.

Following are some ways of measuring the success of diversity initiative that Aegis implemented:

• Diversity DNA scan – This scan helps Aegis view all its initiatives as part of one global picture,

identify its current position and gauge people perception on D&I initiatives

• Diversity tracker – Each of the six diversity facets are measured against the commitments and

monthly progress is reported by respective groups to Corporate HR, which is further presented to

Executive Management team. Average diversity score 2013 -14 was recorded at 72%

• Employee and client feedback - Regular and constant formal and informal feedback is sought

from employees and clients and the initiatives are improvised based on their suggestions

20

This primarily included making Diversity & Inclusion a ‘Strategic Agenda’, facilitating creation of an

organization structure wherein the Chief People Of�cer (CPO) plays the role of organization change

leader while Global CEO & MD is the executive sponsor. Diversity champions are identi�ed both at

corporate level as well as at business/ country level, who play the leading role of a change-agent

mobilising people and co-ordinating interventions on this front.

Aegis introduced policies on Equal Employment Opportunity and Human Rights which provided a

framework for unbiased and impartial treatment to people irrespective of gender, religion, ethnicity,

physical ability, caste, nationality, color and sexual orientation.

Diversity initiatives

Aegis believes that policies and processes alone won't bring in the desired change. Driving numerous

initiatives impacting daily work life are the way to make progress in the �eld of diversity.

Celebration of World Disability Day, Screening of Motivational movies for PwDs, Facilitation of

Women’s Week covering health and wellness topics, Cultural programs and many such initiatives are

driven with an intent to enhance engagement, motivation and retention of diverse groups.

Facilitation of 300+ Af�rmative Action workshops helped the management team understand the law

and organizational commitment to undertake appropriate outreach and recruitment efforts to include

diverse workforce.

Project ‘2nd Innings’ is a new series designed to reintegrate women employees when they

come back from maternity leave or the ones who join Aegis after a career break. In the last

�scal, Aegis had 400+ women reintegrated after their career break.

In line with its commitment to inclusion of PwDs, there was a greater need to provide them a workplace

facility that enhances their capability to work. Building ramps, wide hallways, disabled-friendly

restrooms, grab handles in elevators and accessible training modules aided 500+ PwDs in effectively

performing the assigned tasks.

RESULT

The following indicators showcase the impact of diversity initiatives at Aegis:

COMPANY

• Significant increase in Revenue and Profit growth across the last 3 years encompassing global

presence and diverse customer engagement models

• Average tenure of top 15 customers at 7 years with 50% increase in share of wallet from top

customers

• Positioned Aegis as an ‘Equal Employment Opportunity Provider’ and an ‘Employer of Choice’

• 37 HR Awards from reputed industry bodies, NGOs and Government which includes 17 awards

on Diversity & Inclusion practices

EMPLOYEES

• The overall Global Employee Engagement score for Aegis has significantly improved from 65%

in 2011 to 78% in 2014

• New and diverse ideas brought forth increased creativity and innovation

• Zero man-days lost on account of Industrial Relation (IR) issues in countries having highly

unionized workforce, such as Australia and Argentina

• Mature workforce brought along great mentoring skills and immense knowledge base

CUSTOMERS

• Increase in Customer Satisfaction (CS) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

• Enhanced capability of serving a wide range of clientele

• Indigenous workforce helped serve local customers better

Way Forward

Living and Sustaining the Momentum

Aegis has done remarkably well in bringing together people with different skills & ideologies and

seamlessly incorporating them as part of the family. While it has substantively succeeded in this

endeavour, it believes there is much more to do. The way forward for Aegis is to continue design and

implementation of innovative practices to attract, hire, train, promote and retain the diverse workforce.

CONCLUSION

Aegis believes, any effort in this direction will be like a small drop in the ocean, but will make a huge

difference to the people who would be a part of the workplace inclusivity.

After all, the joy of giving back is signi�cantly more delightful than the joy of receiving.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SM Gupta steers the Human Resource function at Aegis as the Global Chief People Of�cer. A true

believer in inclusion and diversity, Mr. Gupta has enabled and inspired innovative people strategies,

policies and programs for 40,000 Aegisites across 9 countries.

22

RESULT

The following indicators showcase the impact of diversity initiatives at Aegis:

COMPANY

• Significant increase in Revenue and Profit growth across the last 3 years encompassing global

presence and diverse customer engagement models

• Average tenure of top 15 customers at 7 years with 50% increase in share of wallet from top

customers

• Positioned Aegis as an ‘Equal Employment Opportunity Provider’ and an ‘Employer of Choice’

• 37 HR Awards from reputed industry bodies, NGOs and Government which includes 17 awards

on Diversity & Inclusion practices

EMPLOYEES

• The overall Global Employee Engagement score for Aegis has significantly improved from 65%

in 2011 to 78% in 2014

• New and diverse ideas brought forth increased creativity and innovation

• Zero man-days lost on account of Industrial Relation (IR) issues in countries having highly

unionized workforce, such as Australia and Argentina

• Mature workforce brought along great mentoring skills and immense knowledge base

CUSTOMERS

• Increase in Customer Satisfaction (CS) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

• Enhanced capability of serving a wide range of clientele

• Indigenous workforce helped serve local customers better

Way Forward

Living and Sustaining the Momentum

Aegis has done remarkably well in bringing together people with different skills & ideologies and

seamlessly incorporating them as part of the family. While it has substantively succeeded in this

endeavour, it believes there is much more to do. The way forward for Aegis is to continue design and

implementation of innovative practices to attract, hire, train, promote and retain the diverse workforce.

CONCLUSION

Aegis believes, any effort in this direction will be like a small drop in the ocean, but will make a huge

difference to the people who would be a part of the workplace inclusivity.

After all, the joy of giving back is signi�cantly more delightful than the joy of receiving.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SM Gupta steers the Human Resource function at Aegis as the Global Chief People Of�cer. A true

believer in inclusion and diversity, Mr. Gupta has enabled and inspired innovative people strategies,

policies and programs for 40,000 Aegisites across 9 countries.

Hi, I am Prakash Chandra Dubey working as an Executive–Operations. It’s been 7 months since I joined

Aegis. I have learnt a lot about dealing with people and solving their problems. It gives me happiness

when customers thank me for solving their concerns. My Team Leader and other supervisors are very

supportive of me, so I wish to continue working at Aegis.

PRAKASH CHANDRA DUBEY

Executive Operations

AWARD P

ARTNER

By Sachin Khurana

Building Corporate Cultureof Collaboration throughSocial Media Campaignat OSS Cube Solutions

Excel lence inSocia l Media People Campaign

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OSSCube is a global solution provider. The company, established in 2006, has a global headquarters

in Austin, Texas (USA) and several offices across the UK and India; the largest in Noida, IN. Since its

inception, OSSCube has worked hard to bring open source into the light as a viable solution for

businesses.

In 2014 alone, OSSCube was named an honoree on the 2014 Top 100 Great Place to Work® (India) list,

within the top 18% of the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S., and was appraised at CMMI

Level III.

With great success as a business came the challenge of adapting internally to rapid growth.

OSSCube’s Noida location grew quickly from 50, to more than 300 team members, and it was decided

that “excellence” would be positioned as a way of life, rather than a measurement tool. From the

adoption of this mindset, a collaborative space was born. This open culture keeps of�ces buzzing,

while fueling transparency and thought leadership.

This study will touch upon the issues that undoubtedly arise when creating a corporate culture, and

how OSSCube tackled these obstacles, eventually leading to their 2014 SHRM Social Media People

Campaign Awards.

BUSINESS CONTEXT

A rapidly changing business environment, OSSCube team strength has seen growth rates of 10.75%,

16.3%, and 18.2% in 2012, 2013, and 2014 (as of March, 2014) respectively with revenues tripled

during the same period. Additionally, OSSCube carried attrition rates of 8% (2012), 12% (2013), and

15% (2014). With this high rate of growth, internal priorities became:

1. Establishing structures that promote corporate culture of openness and transparency.

2. Attracting like-minded open source experts to join the organization.

3. Facilitating assimilation of new hires into corporate culture.

4. Maintaining thought leadership in the open source space.

CHALLENGES AND RESOLUTION

With a fresh perspective comes the challenge of helping everyone share the vision. OSSCube had a

very speci�c approach laid out to help bring everyone up to speed.

The �rst priority was creating a dialogue between teams and management. Transparency across all

levels is a key factor of the collaborative environment, and communication is the fuel for that.

However, this was no small task. It was immediately clear that this would be one of the largest

issues to tackle, as many team members would have to be “re-oriented” for openness. For this

OSSCube Connect was born.

OSSCube Connect is a platform created entirely by the OSSCube community, for the OSSCube

community. The platform gives each and every team member—at all levels, on any continent—the

ability to express their opinions and ideas on any issue (internal or external). The scope of Connect

posts includes, but is not limited to: team member challenges, surveys, quizzes, competitions,

polls, updates, and celebrations. Often, member success stories and acknowledgements are

shared by management as well. All senior managers are active on Connect in a multitude of ways,

and team members are encouraged to engage with all of these posts, as well as creating their own

conversations.

What came second, was forward action to reach out to passive job seekers, the open source

experts and business leaders. OSSCube HCM management began the practice of talent

acquisition through social media outreach. Encompassed in this was the creation of an individual

campaign across all corporate channels for each job opening. After this �rst touch-point, applicants

are encouraged to follow and engage with OSSCube corporate accounts to keep up with open

source news and gain a wider knowledge of the company’s activities and values. In addition to

traditional accounts, an alumni group on LinkedIn is facilitated by the OSSCube social media team, and

allows HCM members to reach out to an existing network for recommendations and potential rehires.

Members of this group know the company well, and have a �rm grasp of its needs; resulting in a higher

overall quality of the applicant pool.

The third challenge faced by the OSSCube team revolved around the launch of a thought leadership

platform. Stiff competition and a shrinking talent pool combine to make acquiring the best IT

professionals a dif�cult task. This was combated by positioning OSSCube as a brand that prospective

job seekers want to work for.

An overall content-based strategy applies to the thought leadership campaign through contributions in

forums, LinkedIn groups, external blogs, hosting technology-driven camps (open source, Talend,

Drupal, Big Data, CRM), organizing and participating in open source-themed meet-ups and webinars,

and reaching out to the best professionals through coding events, contests, and more. OSSCube also

records and posts video tutorials from webinars, meetups, and tutorials to a YouTube page.

Additionally, OSSCube will post discussions and seminars presented by CEO Lavanya Rastogi both

alone, and with appearances by partner company executives.

SPECIFIC PEOPLE PRACTICES

To solidify a sense of community, OSSCube gives their members the chance to be seen as heroes.

Through the promotion of thought leadership, and the ingrained sense of open source evangelism,

those who work at OSSCube are given a unique opportunity at every level; to be a hero. The members

are encouraged to represent themselves at various knowledge sharing platforms and social media

through leading webinars and meet-up, speaking and contributing in community events etc. Whether

they bring a fresh idea to a project, code an original product update, or present a client with a new

concept; every Cubian has the opportunity to do something important, and this is made clear to them

from the beginning.

24

OSS Connect

CommunicationCo-Creation

KnowledgeSharing

Transparency Ideation

Celebration

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY




businesses.



Level III.








Campaign Awards.

BUSINESS CONTEXT
























conversations.






























from the beginning.

26

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY




businesses.



Level III.








Campaign Awards.

BUSINESS CONTEXT
























conversations.






























from the beginning.

Member Hero Personal Brand Employer Brand

“Picture this: a little boy from a small town of Bihar (present day Jharkhand) studying in vernacular and

knitting dreams of flying. Next, he is cracking multi-million dollar deals with global CEOs. While this

may sound like a leaf drawn out of an inspirational �ction book, whose protagonist can inspire anyone,

this motivational story is really the true tale of Rahul Shukla, Head of Corporate Bank, Citi India. Now,

meet one of his colleagues, a young Turkish lady who once worked as a brand manager for a giant cola

company in the small market of Turkey, who then rede�nes her space by moving on to the mature US

market for a �nancial services �rm, and then moves ahead as Head of Personal Loans and Cards

business in India – Muge Yuzuak.

This is a mere peek into the world of Citi, which stands out for its ability to spot talent wherever it

comes from, groom it, and then give these individuals the wings to �y. One factor that never fails to

evade one’s eye is – it is a bedrock of talent, even as many identify this world as a mini UN, a little

universe or a round-the-clock �nancial service provider with one of the largest global networks.

With a mission statement of “Citi works tirelessly to

serve individuals, communities, institutions and

nations. With 200 years of experience, meeting the

world's toughest challenges and seizing its greatest

opportunities, we strive to create the best outcomes

for our clients and customers with �nancial solutions

that are simple, creative and responsible. An

institution connecting over 1,000 cities, 160

countries and millions of people, we are your global

bank; we are Citi,” focus on leadership is of utmost

importance along with the three other core

principles: Common Purpose, Ingenuity and

Responsible Finance.

This unmatched lineage that has gone through

some historic crests and troughs is anchored to the

creation of leaders both in India and worldwide. Citi

is in fact referred to as the ‘University of Banking’.

This case study aims at elucidating the model Citi

continues to successfully use to churn ‘Leaders’

who serve Citi and the global banking industry. A leading global bank, Citi has approximately 200

million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries with an annual turnover of

USD 72 bn.

SUCCESS MEASURES/ACHIEVEMENTS

When it comes to measuring the success of workplace initiatives, OSSCube has it easy. In 2014

alone, the company was recognized for a list of awards, including:

1. Recognized as an Inc. 5000 fastest growing privately held companies in America, getting

ranked at #875 in the 2014 listing done by the Inc. Magazine.

2. “Great Places to Work®” by Top 100 Companies to Work for in India & Top 10 Companies from

IT- Software Services Industry.

3. Best Employee Orientation Award – DMA & Thomas International.

4. Best Workplace Practices Award – Asia Paci�c HRM Congress.

5. Open Source Company of the Year – SiliconIndia Magazine.

To take measurement one step further, OSSCube conducted an internal survey—and took into

consideration reviews posted on glassdoor.com as well as the Great Place to Work® survey

results—and formed a numerical recollection of their member feelings toward company culture.

Most important to the SHRM award consideration was the improvement of transparency and

communications scores of 77 out of 100.

More exciting for management was the 100% Glassdoor approval rating of CEO Lavanya Rastogi

in addition to the overall Glassdoor rating of 3.7 out of 5, with a recognition as OpenCompany

Badge by Glassdoor.

OSSCube’s third measure of success is engagement analysis. With OSSCube Connect, knowledge

sharing by members increased to an average of 30 posts per month, many of these written by

senior management. Participation has increased noticeably through comments, shares, and

contribution to community events (recreational sports, open source contribution, �ood relief drive,

blood donation, feedback participation, new suggestions, other charitable work, etc.). In fact,

Collaboration and co-creating has led to more than 15 new HCM initiatives this year including: an

E-learning platform that promotes self-paced learning and �exi work plan, new recognition plan,

leave policy review and others.

Outside of the internal network, the member audience has shown its capability for spreading the

message about OSSCube. At the time of submission, website click-through had seen a 139%

Year-over-year (YoY) increase, signi�cant growth in Twitter followers on YOY basis, and by the end of

2014 the LinkedIn followers saw more than 150% YoY increase.

Additionally, OSSCube promoted social outreach through camps, webinars, and Meetups, increasing

activity to seven webinars/meet ups and three coding camps/events in the last year. This social

evangelism and activity directly in�uenced the acquisition of four major new accounts.

Enthusiastic community engagement has led to a signi�cant increase in unsolicited job applications

across all roles, but has been particularly successful in �lling leadership and senior management

positions. This in�ux of participation has led to the discovery of previously untapped talent pipelines

which continue to grow, and expand into a larger piece of the overall corporate hiring process. In fact,

OSSCube experienced a 700% increase in job applications though LinkedIn, and received 1500 virtual

job applications through the OSSCube.com career page (osscube.com/careers). In total, more than

35% of senior-middle level positions have been �lled as a result of social media promotion.

WHAT’S NEXT

For OSSCube, there’s a lot in store for the future. Still growing and expanding rapidly, HCM must �nd

ways to connect the internal community. As of now, there are four main points to their plan:

1. Launching a Gamification and new ideation platform on OSSCube Connect, complete with

participating member leaderboard, In addition to this, the organization is collaborating with Duke

University, Duke will develop and maintain the eddicacy of the IVY – Harvard Case Study on

OSSCube’s social media approach to HCM practices.

2. Increasing new member-driven content generation on Connect with the launch of the

“Bring Your Idea” program, and the “Life@OSSCube” program, which promote community

sharing through Prezi, YouTube, and Vimeo, amongst others.

3. Encouraging open source advocacy. OSSCube will increase the availability of social

trainings for all community members through the use of: Meet ups, webinars, video tutorials,

and various other mediums.

4. Harnessing a member-driven employer brand through social media. Data-driven social

media campaigns with scalable KPIs will lead the way for the social media department.

CONCLUSION

While many companies struggle to keep up with internal HCM practices, OSSCube has made their

internal systems a top priority. With the implementation of a full-time creative lead/ internal reporter,

Cubians are kept up-to-date and engaged with corporate happenings.

This push for a social platform that entertains and engages the OSSCube community has led to

increased member satisfaction as concluded by GPTW survey, a perfect CEO approval rating with

100% re�ected on Glassdoor, a top-tier employer & leadership trustworthiness feedback score,

and a talent acquisition pipeline based heavily on community participation and thought leadership

efforts; with more than 10 roles �lled in 2014. In addition, OSSCube has used its strong internal

network to collaborate and form successful outward-facing educational and thought-leadership

promotional efforts. These activities range from event participation and sponsorship across the

world, to in-house webinars, videos, trainings, and meet ups. With more than ten internal events as

of March 2014, and a growing audience, thought leadership community promotions are moving

towards becoming one of the company’s largest talent and client acquisition tools.

These internal efforts, in partnership with a skilled and invested management team, have churned

out successes that have shaped and grown OSSCube into a global force to be reckoned with. With

a unique outlook on doing business in an open source world, and member-base that is equally

dedicated as the upper management, OSSCube has solidi�ed itself as a thought leader, and top

provider of solutions for businesses around the globe.

The well-de�ned strategy, and support of the internal community has been the most instrumental

factor to the success of OSSCube as a whole, and will continue to push the company forward

towards more accomplishments.

Committed to India for more than 110 years, Citi's presence spans over 44 Citibank branches

across 28 cities and an employee base of around 11,300 employees to offer consumers and

institutions a range of �nancial products and services.

THE CULTURAL GLUE!

“Leadership Development is built on the foundation of talent and is not just a one-time activity, but

‘the way we do business,’ ensuring it is in the very DNA of Citi”

Since leadership is one of the four core principles at Citi, it is not just an HR agenda but a business

imperative. Every Leader is responsible for nurturing leadership and ensuring its posterity. There is

a strong focus on ‘Leaders teaching Leaders’ and ‘Leaders building Leaders’. At Citi, the �rst goal

of every people manager is common across the globe. This is further strengthened by the culture at

Citi. Citi believes in providing early exposure and responsibility, to allow employees to experiment

and learn. Simply put, every employee, no matter how new, is given a real job he or she can draw

direct linkages to the organizational goals. This allows an employee to charter his or her own path

as he travels through the challenges. This, however, does not mean Citi lets them go unharnessed.

Leaders are the culture carriers who help these young minds get the required guidance. Various

development initiatives also, as described in the ‘Leadership Model’ (further below), support them.

THE LEADERSHIP STANDARDS

The Leadership Standards create a common language for what great leadership looks like across

Citi’s global network that aligns with Citi’s business strategy.

While the Core Principles guide them and are the foundation of the bank, the Leadership Standards

are the pillars, outlining the leadership behaviors that illustrate success. Together – the Core

Principles and the Leadership Standards - enable them to deliver on their execution priorities.

These six leadership standards are shown below:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sachin Khurana, AVP – HCM, OSSCube Solutions

He is leading the people function at OSSCube and is responsible for the complete employee life cycle,

Talent Acquisition, Alumni Engagement and Employer Brand initiatives. He has done his MBA (HRD)

from Faculty of Commerce & Business, DSE, and has around 8 yrs. of experience in HR. Prior to joining

OSSCube, he was associated with Lodha Group & Citigroup Global Services.


































USD 72 bn.

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Badge by Glassdoor.























WHAT’S NEXT







linkedin.com/company/osscube Twitter @OSSCube

facebook.com/OSSCubeIndia facebook.com/OSSCube

youtube.com/OSSCubeLLC OSSCube.com/blog

plus.google.com/+OSSCubeIndia

OSSCube Social Media Accounts2. Increasing new member-driven content generation on Connect with the launch of the








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ABOUT THE AUTHOR







































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Badge by Glassdoor.























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ABOUT THE AUTHOR







































USD 72 bn.

30


















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ABOUT THE AUTHOR






AWARD P

ARTNER


































USD 72 bn.

We Make Leaders:Unveiling the Model ofLeadership Developmentat Citigroup

Excel lence inDeveloping Leaders of Tomorrow




THE CULTURAL GLUE!




















By Bhanu Singhal


































USD 72 bn.

32




THE CULTURAL GLUE!




















“They say culture is everything. Imagine

what the complexity that present in 160

countries can offer. But Citi lets you make

this unequalled reach, your advantage.

Here, the richness in diversity of thought

and talent is celebrated each day. An open

door culture that believes in throwing you at

the deep end and encouraging you to

question the status-quo, polishes you

beyond imagination. In addition, set-ups

like the Innovation Council, which promotes

ingenuity along with a variety of leadership

programs such the Business Leadership

Program, puts you in touch with people

across the world and receive the expanse

of perspectives to you. You then have no

choice but to excel.”

Muge Yuzuak

Head of Cards and Personal Loans,

Citibank India”


































USD 72 bn.




THE CULTURAL GLUE!




















CITI LEADERSHIP STANDARDS: DEFINITIONS

DRIVES CLIENT VALUE DELIVERS RESULTS

LEADS CHANGE ACTS AS AN OWNER

WORKS AS A PARTNER BUILDS GREAT TEAMS

Leaders create unique value for internal and external clients based on expertise and in-depth knowledge of the stakeholder environment

Leaders raise the bar and create a clear path toward sustainable results

Leaders pioneer and accelerate productive and innovative changes that support Citi’s vision and global strategy

Leaders take responsibility for addressing problems, �nding solutions and making prudent decisions

Leaders collaborate and partner to break down silos and create One Citi

Leaders create a competitive advantage by emphasizing talent, learning and apprenticeship


































USD 72 bn.

34




THE CULTURAL GLUE!




















THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MODEL

There is no ‘one-size-�ts-all’ philosophy towards the development of leaders to best suit and prepare

them for the right job. Instead, it is viewed as a pipeline with learning and development interventions.

The Leadership Pipeline is represented in the form of a pyramid, which is a developmental framework

designed to illustrate the signi�cant roles and paths available to employees as leaders at Citi and

broadly identi�es four leadership/management levels with corresponding pro�les.

These are namely, Managers of Self (individual contributors), Manager of Others, Manager of Managers

and Executive Leaders. The pro�les also highlight skills, behaviors and values that someone at that

level would need to be highly successful and even the common pitfalls that need to be avoided. The

model de�nes the important passages or turns that occur from one level to another and presents a

unique window of opportunity for development to the next level.

All the talent and leadership interventions that are anchored to this pipeline ensures a ‘Segmented

Approach to Development,’ which goes beyond the complexities of business and geography, and

focus on the stage of leadership, the type of intervention and the approach to intervention (i.e.

customized to individual/customized to group). Talent at all levels of Citi need to have minimum

leadership skills de�ned by the Citi Leadership Standards, targeting all levels of leaders throughout the

leadership pipeline.

Broadly speaking, guided by this segmented approach, Citi’s leadership development model has two

key steps:

The Leadership Pipeline with anchored learning and development interventions

1. Talent Identi�cation

2. Learning/ Development Interventions

These steps are deeply entrenched in both business and HR strategies and aim at ful�lling the

vision of Citi’s Talent Management process i.e.:

• Have the right people in the right roles

• Have top talent in the most critical jobs

• Build a strong pipeline of future leaders

Although attracting talent and development might be aspects that all organizations face and focus

on, what differentiates Citi is the equal ownership and partnership by business on talent needs of

the growing leaders.

Step 1: Talent Identification:

1. The Management Associate (MA) program: At entry level, talent identi�cation is hugely

supported by a robust talent hiring process at Campuses, which is the foundational pipeline to

Leadership at Citi. For e.g., many of Citi’s Chief Country Of�cers (CCO) have been hired as

Management Associates directly from campus including the present CCO of India, Pramit

Jhaveri and even Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat. To cater to the requirements at various levels and

in line with different business complexities, the MA program has different variations such as the

Graduate MA program, which hires talented students from graduate campuses. On the other

hand, the experienced MA program looks at post graduates with prior relevant experience for

mid-level talent requirements. Similarly, while the development framework is the same, some

MAs are also hired for speci�c businesses and undergo respective technical training. Besides,

engagement at early stages is key to the huge success of the Management Associate program

at Citi.

2. Talent book and Succession Planning: Citi’s

talent cycle begins with setting business

strategy, identifying key roles and then

identifying talent. This is then followed by a

development and training agenda. The annual

talent review process called the ‘Talent Book’

exercise is well established and rigorously run. It

involves identi�cation of talent, identi�cation of

critical roles and positions that are imperative

for the ful�llment of business strategy, mapping

of right talent to the right role and the identi�cation of successors for all key roles.

Talent is identi�ed across three categories called Talent Designations, each with a different purpose.

These are assessed on the parameters of Potential, Performance and Aspiration. These are known as

the Hi-Potentials (the broad and versatile, high performing leaders with potential and aspiration to

move into considerable complex leadership positions - HiPOs), the Promotables (high performer who

can move in current or related �eld but may not have the same career projection as a high potential )

and the Expert Resources (a high performing specialist with expertise that is hard to replace and not

likely to move to more senior leadership position outside of their business or function).

As these identi�ed individuals act as key drivers of organizational success, following Citi’s principle of

segmented approach, individual development plans are worked out, which further feed into the

development actions/ learning actions.

Step 2: Learning Interventions:

Citi follows three ‘E’s as a strategy to develop people i.e. a proper mix of Education, Exposure and

Experience. Each of these are further developed keeping the segmented approach for development

into consideration.

So, while Education involves technical, behavioral and all skills enhancement training in line with the

individual development plans, the Citi Leadership series ensures the building of minimum leadership

standards de�ned by the leadership pipeline, and the core curriculum of all training which is common

across the region and globe. So, all Management Associates go through the AMAX induction program

and the other identi�ed talent from the ‘Manager of Self’ level to the ‘executive’ level, go through a

de�ned curriculum (see the Leadership Development Model).

Exposure involves networking and leaders guiding leaders. So, at entry level, MAs get group

opportunities to meet and learn from leaders across levels and as one moves up the pyramid, the

elements of mentoring and coaching take precedence.

Experience involves on-the-job learning and is catered to by rotations, stretch assignments and

regional/global exposure.

While all the above is provided to employees at various stages of their career to accelerate growth and

provide targeted development, Citi offers several Cross Functional Leadership Programs that aim at

creating future leaders with the breadth of franchise experience. Participants undergo rigorous

selection processes, including panel and one-on-one interviews, psychometric tests and assessments

to get selected for these programs. Models of these programs may vary from 12-month

rotational/global stints across businesses or action learning projects. Each model along with elements

of all three completes the development purpose.

Executive Development (ED): At the Executive level, the development curriculum is globally

aligned in keeping with the philosophy of senior talent being globally owned. The model is one of

Leaders teaching Leaders. It also aims at development of the executive through his/her

contributions as Citi leadership culture carriers and business strategy de�ner. So, the ED programs

focus on creating alignment and ownership around Citi’s top priorities, strategy and management

philosophy while building culture, sharpening leadership skills and strengthening the participant’s

internal network. The intent of programs such as Business Leadership Program and Chief

Executive Forum are to accelerate development of senior executives, provide an opportunity to

offer input on emerging strategy and to generate ideas and proposals to advance key organization

challenges. 360 degree feedback and one-on-one coaching are used extensively. The Citi

Coaching model is internally driven with several of the senior leaders worldwide being certi�ed

coaches. Learnings here happen more through executives leading the programs as a mentor, coach

and through participation in external boards as thought leaders and professional experts. This

time-tested model has evolved over the decades and plays an important role in aligning leaders to

the common language of leadership at Citi. At the same time, the model caters to their personalized

development agenda. Given that this involves an individualized approach, seniors, leaders and HR

are keenly involved and provide support to incumbents throughout the process.

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY – Monitoring and Measuring Effectiveness

A variety of sophisticated systems, ‘talent management’ and ‘learning management’, amongst

others, are used to track and monitor the processes and ensure effectiveness. For training

interventions, the Kirk Patrick model is generally used. Some metrics used to measure the

effectiveness of leadership development process are: diversity in the leadership pipeline, number of

positions with ‘ready now’ candidates, job openings �lled from the succession pool, completion of

individual development plans (IDPs), retention of HIPOs or critical talent, promotion rate of HIPOs,

percentage of HIPOs placed in senior management positions, employee satisfaction levels for

development opportunities/managerial effectiveness, etc.

Where Citigroup stands:

Besides the unmatched history of Leaders associated with Citi, the following measures highlight

the recent impact of the leadership development initiatives at Citi India:

• Negligible voluntary turnover at top management level

• In the last year, over 92 percent of leadership positions have been filled internally

• Last year, over 2,500 employees experienced career growth opportunities by moving across

different businesses/geographies, thereby leveraging the inherent diversity of the organization

• Approximately 500 potential leaders identified across mid-to-senior management level

For Posterity:

The success of this model for last 2 centuries gives Citigroup immense con�dence in its robustness.

What will continue to hold them leading in the race is:

1. Organizational agility to keep up with the changing landscape and adapt suitably. This has kept

them future ready so far and mitigate various risks.

2. Alignment of HR agenda across the globe and its linkages to their business strategy i.e.

institutionalization of the Leadership Culture to continue to pass on the legacy of seriousness

around talent and the role of leadership in it.

3. Leadership at all levels to cover all employees for the minimum leadership requirements achieved

through empowerment of managers across all levels.

CONCLUSION

A robust development platform through the 3 E’s’ – Education, Experience and Exposure – supported

by a culture of early empowerment and strong focus on ‘leaders teaching leaders’ has helped create

an enviable slate of leaders over Citi’s 200-year history. Talent at Citi is a business imperative, not just

an HR goal. This leadership model has helped the brand stay true to its other three principles of

common purpose, responsible �nance and ingenuity, and deliver on our mission overall. A rich heritage

of home grown leaders at the helm demonstrates the success of this model. After all, 92 percent of

leadership positions �lled internally with negligible attrition at the top is no small feat. The organization’s

rigorous and meticulous efforts has helped Citi identify promising talent at the very beginning and

groom them through the model’s segmented development approach.

Having churned out a number of brilliant sparks not just for itself but for the industry too, it is only

obvious why Citibank is referred to as ‘The University of Banking’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bhanu Singhal is Vice President with Citi India HR team and manages the Talent and Organization

Development function. She lives in Mumbai.

PROG

RAM

DRIV

ENIN

DIVI

DUAL

DEV

ELOP

EMEN

TDR

IVEN

CCOParticipants Leadership Curriculum Development Actions

for Identified Talent• CCO DR’s

• One down Critical

Roles at CCC level

• CCO Two Downs

• One down Critical

roles at business level

• Mid-Level

identi�ed Talent

• Leading at Citi 3


• MO/Dir Forums

• Coaching for Success


• Managing at Citi

• Career Connect

• IDP Focus

• Regional/Country Hi-potential programs including stretch (13 offerings)

• Function specific exposure

• Mentoring

• Individual Leadership

• 3 Wk Orientation programfor MAs – AMAX

• CWLA

• Structured Rotations/Early Responsibility

• Senior Management Exposure

• Regional Connect

• Defined Engagement Plans

• MA’s

• IDP Focus

• Mobility/Global and Regional Exposure

• Coaching

• Executive Education

• Chief Executive Forum

• Business Leadership Program

• Women Leading Citi

• IDP Focus

• Global Exposure

• Executive Coaching

Talent Identification processSegmented Approach to

Development

Core principles and leadership standards

Learning interventions

EXECUTIVE LEADER

MANAGER OF OTHERS

MANAGER OF MANAGERS

MANAGER OF SELF


































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THE CULTURAL GLUE!






































key steps:























at Citi.

























into consideration.





















































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ABOUT THE AUTHOR



“The bank offers a wide spectrum of

opportunities for one’s age, which may seem

very ambitious to the outsiders. Given Citi’s

unmatched legacy and globality, if you have

the dedication, drive and that spark, the

breadth of learning opportunities at Citi is

unrivalled. Citi tests your limits every day,”

Anand Selvakesari

Head Consumer Banking, ASEAN and India


































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key steps:

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into consideration.





















































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THE CULTURAL GLUE!






































key steps:























at Citi.

























into consideration.





















































For Posterity:










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ABOUT THE AUTHOR




































USD 72 bn.




THE CULTURAL GLUE!






































key steps:























at Citi.

























into consideration.



















38



































For Posterity:










CONCLUSION












ABOUT THE AUTHOR



AWARD P

ARTNER

By Nida Shahid

P&G ‘VIBRANT LIVING’:Making Every Day aHealthy Day

Excel lence in Employee Heal thand Wel lness In i t iat ives

40

OVERVIEW OF P&G INDIA

P&G serves nearly �ve billion people around the world with operations in approximately 70 countries

worldwide. P&G is one of the largest and amongst the fastest growing consumer products companies

in India. Its presence spans across the Beauty & Grooming segment, the Household Care segment as

well as the Health & Well Being segment, with trusted brands that are household names across India.

These include Vicks ®, Ariel®, Tide®, Whisper®, Olay®, Gillette®, AmbiPur®, Pampers®, Pantene®,

Oral-B®, Head&Shoulders®, Old Spice®, Wella® and Duracell®. P&G India’s �agship corporate

sustainability program ‘P&G Shiksha’ commenced in 2005 and has till date built and supported over

330 schools across the country that will impact the lives of over 600,000 underprivileged children by

providing them access to education.

To bring P&G’s purpose to life, the HR team leads and partners with each P&G employee to make every

day, an extraordinary day. Thus, the VIBRANT LIVING intervention – an integrated employee health and

wellness program, focuses on making P&G employees “The Healthiest, Most Engaged People in the

World”.

P&G INDIA WELLNESS STRATEGY

The Vibrant Living intervention for P&G (globally and in India) falls under the aegis of the P&G HR team

& Global Medical Organization. Along with the HR team, the Global Medical team work to create a

culture of health across all sites.

P&G India, over 2011-2014 focused on capability building of its medical organization and sustaining it.

The detailing of the Wellness Strategy for P&G India emerged after collaborative discussion with

leaders, employees, external benchmarking, etc.

Today, the wellness strategy for P&G India is designed in consultation with all partners and

stakeholders. A major factor that ensures sustainability of the intervention is also the effort and

commitment by the India Leadership Team. P&G has a ‘Build from within’ strategy with a strong focus

on hiring young leaders and grooming them for long term careers with P&G. The health and well-being

of the employees is a key enabler for them to build the business and have a productive and ful�lling

career with P&G. Hence, all the Vibrant Living initiatives are in line with P&G’s ‘Build from within’

strategy and have a positive impact on the business.

“VIBRANT LIVING” STRUCTURE

The Vibrant Living Program operates with the goal to create an environment that encourages and

enables P&G employees to make healthy choices with its strategy focused around three areas –

Culture of Health, Health Education & Training and Consumer Engaged Healthcare.

• Fitness• Nutrition• Environment

• Health Care Plan• Focus on Stress & Cardiovascular Health

• Corporate Athlete• Comprehensive Health Services

Culture of

Health

Consumer

Engaged

Healthcare

Health

Education

& Training

Key Differentiators:

• Each employee in the organization is offered relevant health & wellness program basis his/her

health risk/need

• Beyond leadership alignment & commitment, there is 100% engagement and involvement from

leadership in driving wellness programs. For example: Corporate Athlete is a unique P&G

program demonstrating leadership engagement. The program is one full day training focusing

on energy management in Physical, Mental, Social & Spiritual dimensions. P&G leaders – at

least 2 functional heads are lead trainers for this program. They conduct this training at least 3

to 4 times in a year

• The program is not just activity driven but is also strategically linked to overall health

• It is a data driven program that tracks and monitors participation, satisfaction and impact very

closely

• Vibrant Living Health Centers have been established at various sites with infrastructure strong

enough to have focus on disease prevention & health promotion programs, medical staff

quali�ed as Vibrant Living Health Coaches [internal quali�cation process] and availability of

health education materials. These centers are also encouraged to conduct once a year (on-site)

wellness assessment for all employees.

“VIBRANT LIVING”: INITIATIVES AND SUCCESSES

P&G’s Vibrant Living Program has a rich portfolio of initiatives that include:

1. On-Site Physical Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Loss and Tobacco Free Initiatives:

Today, P&G India runs 7 Health Centers across various locations, with some sites running more than

one Wellness Program per month. All sites/locations run on-site �tness events like yoga, zoomba,

dancing etc. Events like Annual Sports, Cricket Tournaments and TT matches have been organized

and have received great response. There is increased presence and emphasis of healthy snacks/meals

at the cafeteria and vending machines. Sites have programs encouraging employees for weight

management. Each site has year on year programs on quit tobacco/quit smoking campaigns. This is

organized under a holistic approach of creating a supportive environment, providing health education,

motivation and guidance.

2. Work Life Coaching Program:

This is a unique Employee Assistance Program which supports employee wellness by helping them

balance daily demands and challenges of life/work and supports the management by helping resolve

performance or behavioral issues at work. This counseling support is available 24x7 to all employees

and their family members. The program is 100% con�dential and provides unlimited email support to

employees along with face-to-face consultations. All family members are also covered under this

program. The organization is provided with a quarterly analytical report indicating different issues &

help in prioritizing focus areas. Awareness rates of this initiative are high, with 95% of the employee

base having been touched through this intervention.

3. Corporate Athlete Programs:

P&G offers Corporate Athlete program to all its employees, focusing & helping individuals for managing

their energy better. It focuses on Physical; Mental; Social & Spiritual energy thus focusing on “Health”

holistically. Each site is encouraged to organize this 1-day training. P&G India also provides Web Based

Training on Corporate Athletes. Over and above these programs, site-speci�c health & wellness

programs are designed based on need. The site medical team along with HR, does Health Need

Analysis. Health Need Analysis is done on the basis of the analytics generated on wellness programs;

work life coaching; hospitalization; sick leave pattern etc. Basis this, the planning for whole year’s

health & wellness programs are done.

Success of Vibrant Living Program:

P&G India’s Vibrant Living Program enables employees with the right tools and information on

health and well-being in order to have a sustained long-term impact on their lives.

• Employee participation has improved considerably as now wellness data of around 80% of the

employees is available versus only 10-15% previously when the program started

• There has been a significant improvement in Personal Wellbeing Score and Work Life

Effectiveness Score for the employees

• The Vibrant Living Program has resulted in 20% reduction of Tobacco consumption risk, 50%

reduction of Physical Activity Risk, 5% reduction of Nutrition related risk among P&G India

employees

WHAT’S NEXT FOR VIBRANT LIVING: Ensuring Sustainability

To ensure Vibrant Living is a sustainable program that continues to bring value to P&G, the Vibrant

Living Site Certi�cation has been launched globally by P&G. Requirements of the certi�cation

include having a calendar of events with planned activities, providing health promotion services

locally and grooming champions to drive the initiatives of the program.

P&G will undertake the following steps to further strengthen and ensure sustainability of the Vibrant

Living Program:

• Revision of the wellness strategy on a continuous basis

• Right partnership with all key stakeholders

• Continuous support and role-modeling by leaders

• Continuous effective communication – ensuring employees are consistently educated of the

program and its bene�ts.

• Leveraging technology appropriately to create cost effective and interactive wellness programs

CONCLUSION


live ‘a healthy life, every day’. Signi�cant investment (monetary, leadership involvement) has been done

around these interventions. Other organizations (both large and small) can learn and re-vamp their

health and wellness programs by internalizing the right data, conducting health assessment of

employees and being persistent with their health and wellness strategy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nida Shahid works as the Project Delivery partner for SHRM India

42



health risk/need









closely












































employees







Living Program:







CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR




health risk/need









closely












































employees







Living Program:







CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR


44



health risk/need









closely












































employees







Living Program:







CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR


AWARD P

ARTNER

By Gayatri Babbar

Genpact HR Analytics –Breathing More Power:Utilizing Process.Analytics. Technology.

Excel lence in HR Analyt ics

AT THE CUSP OF TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

Big Data is ubiquitous. Genpact believes that the real value comes when you ask the right question and

then apply the right business judgment to it. The effectiveness of data goes up several times when one

marries intuition with logical process. This is being followed by Genpact though the building of new

mechanisms to capture data and then adding human intelligence and experience to make them more

intuitive, therefore bringing science and art together.

In delivering Big Data analytics, organizations are establishing the cause-and-effect relationship

between what HR does and business outcomes. It then creates strategies based on that information.

Genpact has considered how it will provide better data to enable higher levels of utilization and faster

synthesis of key insights.

Consequently, ensuring the analytics is Relevant, Valid, Compelling and Transformative.

• Relevant – Avoids using unnecessary number of resources for bottom-up data mining, it applies

data to the business issue.

• Valid – The quality of data is important, along with the way leaders are educated about the cred-

ibility of talent metrics.

• Compelling – The goal of analytics is to tell a better story with data. HR teams can’t just present

raw numbers and expect the recipient to identify the correct message. Analysts need to

understand their audience, create a plot of related storylines, and deliver conclusions that tie

together the principal facts.

• Transformative – Ultimately, actionable analytics need to drive change, make better, faster

decisions as a result of talent data.

Genpact is at the cusp of a technological revolution, the investment in best-of-breed technology

will empower users with strong business metric inter linkages, metadata driven ad-hoc analysis

capability and the availability of drill down capabilities. This will further enable data backed

predictive models to strengthen employee engagement programs.

Armed with actionable analytics, leaders and managers, Genpact has immense opportunities to

use talent data in reducing workforce costs, identifying revenue streams, mitigating retention risks

and executing business strategy.

With the availability of cutting edge technological systems, not only will the insights from data be

increasingly more incisive, but they will empower managers to run the analytics… raising the bar…

and breathing more power… utilizing process, analytics and technology.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gayatri Babbar, AVP – People Function, leads the Retention team at Genpact where her

responsibilities include tracking and analyzing retention trends and activating relevant engagement

levers. She also spearheaded the institutionalization of the retention landscape at Genpact and played

a pivotal role in developing Genpact’s Employee Value Proposition.

46

“In God we trust, all others bring data” – said W. Edwards Deming, a renowned American

statistician, professor and author. Such is the power of data that businesses can’t afford to overlook

the bene�ts it brings on board. The intent of this case study is to give an overview of the HR analytics

practice in Genpact, its evolution, and future.

People are at the center of Genpact’s core delivery model, which is why they drive their people

practices with maniacal rigor. In fact, –the effectiveness of the people practices has a direct

impact on their Net Promoter Score.

To keep pace with the scale and the pace at which the organization is growing, it is imperative that

Genpact have a strong data-backed decision making system in place so that intuition gives way to

actionable insights. Thus, setting the stage to leverage internal expertise in HR, Six Sigma and

Analytical tools and techniques to create a robust framework where data backed decision system is a

reality.

AT THE HELM OF DRIVING SMARTER DECISIONS

A comprehensive HR framework comprising of a multitude of work streams like workforce planning,

recruitment, on-boarding, learning & development, performance management and separation are

center stage to support all people initiatives. The HR Analytics framework cuts across all these streams

to give each HR & Business manager a holistic view of the inter-linkages within the People Function (as

the combination of HR, Hiring and Training is known in Genpact.

What sets Genpact apart?

• An institutionalized unified measurement system – Genpact’ People Scorecard links strategic

business priorities to People Function goals with one version of the “truth” globally

• An assimilation of knowledge, the Retention Study to continually empower front-end HR and

business teams with key drivers and actionable insights through people analytics

• A unique collaborative ‘Retention playbook’ defines a structured approach and enables data

backed decisions to retain talent

Genpact leverages HR Expertise in all the above forms to constitute a Comprehensive Retention

Landscape, as shown in the next page:
































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





1. People Scorecard

The internal People Scorecard provides a holistic view of strategic imperatives linked to business

goals. It is the single performance measurement system used to benchmark businesses with

respect to performance on functional goals on a monthly basis – identifying pockets of excellence

and areas of opportunity. The Scorecard was institutionalized to measure effectiveness and

engagement for the People Function and it was developed through a series of brainstorming

sessions with stakeholders.

An amalgamation of 24 metrics, the scorecard is divided into lead and lag indicators. The Lead

indicators determine performance at a business and overall Genpact level against targets while the

lag indicators are used to deep dive and action plan.

The metrics mirror the broader goals that the organization has set and hence the outcome of the

scorecard is an indication of how the People function is performing against them. To steer the

change, it was deployed over a three month period globally, with rigorous training imparted to every

HR Manager.

The scorecard assumes great signi�cance for business and HR stakeholders by identifying pockets

of excellence and areas of opportunity at the grass root level. It acts as a guide to deep-dive and

focuses to improve performance, since it carries the capability to drill down performance at a

granular level.

The Retention Landscape
































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





48

2. Retention Study

The Retention study provides a pro-active view on the effectiveness of people practices across

businesses. It is used as a mechanism to identify differentiating factors utilized by trailblazing accounts

(those with low attrition).

The study applies Six Sigma expertise along with advanced analytics techniques and varied statistical

tests to identify the signi�cant parameters that differentiate best performing accounts on retention. The

information is then compiled into a single master database from disparate data sources - across all

active and inactive employees for over 2 years, spanning across 18+ parameters including age, tenure,

vintage, performance, trainings, etc.

The analysis strengthened the delivery on Genpact’s Employee Value Proposition.

A sample of the retention study report out is shown in next page:

A representative view of the People Scorecard is below:
































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





Genpact xx% Median, x Metrics Meeting Target

Hig

hM

ediu

mLo

w

Hea

dco

unt

Business Health Check GreenRed

Above Median Below Median At Median

Bench Mark Performance

L 1: Overall Retention XX

L 2: Education @ Work

L 2: Rewards & Recognition

L 1: Net Promoter Score: XX

L 2: First Time Right VOC

1 Overall Retention

2 Compensation & Bene�ts

3 Net Promoter Score

4 Controllership

B 113.1

B 360.1

B 478.3 B 5

132.4

B 2-14.1 B 6

124.4

B 1610.4

B 1441.2

B 1262.1

B 7120.4

B 1341.2

B 1541.2

B 1067.1

B 995.3

B 8105.3

B 1166.2

Business: (B 8, B 4)

Metric : Controllership

Critical Metrics

Overall Score derivedfrom Performance on L1

3. Retention Playbook

Genpact prides itself in “learning from the best and teaching the rest”. With that premise, it became

imperative to build the Best Practices Compendium, which enlists how the best accounts continue

to retain talent.

A self-help tool kit with a structured - scienti�c approach to diagnose root-cause, apply best

practices to sustain higher or turn around low retention has been developed with the aim to equip

HR managers with tools and techniques to diagnose problems, implement solutions to eventually

improve or sustain retention.

The diagnostic involves using process door and data door approaches to identify the real root

cause of factors impacting retention. The various techniques used – Daily Trackers, Account level

summary, cause and effective analysis on the ef�cacy of Top 10 HR practices, etc. A detailed

implementation plan utilizing the prioritization matrix for issues created and tracked at regular

intervals ensures employee retention to achieve business outcomes.

70% of the HR Team has been trained, over multiple training sessions globally. To qualify the

training, an online knowledge assessment for the Retention Playbook is a must. Certi�cation is

awarded to those managers who apply concepts of the playbook on the �oor and thus, turn the

metric around and sustain it. This training is an integral part of the HR Manager’s toolkit.
































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





50














A sample of Retention Playbook tools is illustrated below:



















ABOUT THE AUTHOR




































Verbatim

“The core differentiator in running a people program is about delivering the Employee Value Proposition at

its very core. What sets this ecosystem apart is the fact that we constantly analyze changing people

dynamics and use that to build specialized engagement programs. We ensure complete partnership with

business with strong DNA in Lean Six Sigma and analytics to execute and sustain the change”

Rajnish Sinha

Senior Vice President – Human Resources

ABOUT THE AUTHOR





HR ANALYTICS- THE CMC WAY

The inevitable shift to HR and Talent Analytics

CMC HR core functions have been enhanced by applying processes in analytics. These are acquisition,

optimization, paying and developing the workforce of the organization. HR analytics has helped CMC

to dig problems and issues surrounding these requirements and using analytical work�ow will guide the

managers to answer questions and gain insights from information at hand, then make relevant

decisions and take appropriate actions. With data becoming widely available and more easily

accessible, CMC has been quick to realize the value of insights that analytics can uncover. In HR, with

the automation of many HR transactions, from recruitment to exit along with the need to perform

strategically, analytics of the workforce has become important more than ever. HR analytics for CMC is

a lot more than head counting–it's about the total amount and the quality of talent, knowledge, and

expertise to move your organization forward and stay ahead of competition. It's about measuring

the return on human capital investment, measuring the impact and how HR is driving performance,

productivity, and pro�tability.

MAXIMIZING THE IMPACT & EFFECTIVENESS –A COMPREHENSIVE ROAD MAP

Identifying Key HR Metrics and Alignment with Business

All the HR process areas, practices and sub-practices are aimed at improving organizational HR

practices, capabilities, process centricity and results; thereby leading to overall improvement in HR

effectiveness; and towards organizational sustainability. CMC began its journey of workforce

analytics by aligning the key HR metrics with business strategy. Corporate HR monitors several key

indicators that directly/indirectly impact business results and operations. Corporate HR and L&D

use process performance models to determine correlation of HR results with business results. The

Goal decomposition matrix for HR and L&D are established along with some early predictive

models that support action planning (HR initiatives towards identi�ed opportunities for

improvement). HR scorecard of operational activities is maintained and SLAs of transactional HR

work is reviewed to assess overall performance of HR function in support of business goals. HR

BSC is derived from the corporate BSC and therefore correlates directly with business goals.














52



















ABOUT THE AUTHOR































































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





AWARD P

ARTNER

By Mansi Pandey

CMC Ltd. HR Analytics –The Number Game

Excel lence inHR Analyt ics



























































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





54

BUSINESS CONTEXT

CMC is a leading Systems Engineering and Integration Company recognized for its ability to engineer

complex solutions, integrate these with external systems / solutions, and value-added services to

provide end-to-end services across the information technology space. CMC was formed as a 100%

Government owned company in 1975. In 1993 government divested part of its stake to the public and

CMC was listed on Stock Exchange. In 2001, Government divested its 51% stake to Tata Sons and

CMC became a Tata Enterprise and a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services in 2004. The journey

began with a commitment to make CMC a PCMM level 5 organization and is now continued towards

sustaining the process areas in order to make the best of HR analytics.

CHALLENGE – SHORT TERM VIEW

HR fraternity today very well understands the importance of HR Analytics yet we all continue to make

use of generic and transactional measurements metrics. We continue to fall prey to these operational

metrics which provides only a hint of insight in to the future of “People Number Game”. As per the PWC

Annual Global CEO Survey – 2012, CEO’s listed Talent Management as one of the key area and on the

same hand they revealed that they are not well equipped to have high level of insight into key HR

statistics viz reasons for high turnover, effectiveness of grievance redressal mechanism etc.

Where does CMC stand today – Status Quo? - Owing to the above mentioned short sightedness,

traditionally CMC’s approach towards HR Analytics revolved around conducting postmortem of the

processes, initiatives and business results in order to analyze what had happened and what is

happening. CMC paid less attention to immediate priorities rather than concentrating on the future

business context and provided high level of business intelligence to the leadership team. Like any

other organization, CMC too treated attrition/turnover data as a key HR Metric. As a result, the action

planning revolved around addressing the reasons of attrition only when the turnover rate was up.

The consequence was that business was not being supported with relevant and adequate data

points. Hence the need was to set the target and conduct predictive analysis regularly of the

turnover rate in order to battle the employee churn out well in advance.

HR is asking the wrong questions: While CMC was looking forward for the bene�ts of HR

departments, investing in stronger analytics; it was high time they paid adequate attention to some

misconceptions about HR analytics.

• Connecting the Efficiency Metrics: Earlier HR professionals here were tracking a host of

ef�ciency metrics but were not able to show the connection between them. For Example CMC

was tracking ESS but it could not give meaningful inputs as the ESS levels were not related with

the advocacy scores.

• Correlations: Correlating HR data with business results did take CMC a level up in connecting

the results but HR needed to be careful that these correlations were not mere coincidences in

the relationships.

• Benchmarking: CMC was particular with benchmarking its HR Metrics with other

organizations however didn’t focus on trends, level and importance of the comparisons.

Time for Change – Long Term View: Given to the business needs and growing importance of HR

Analytics it was the right time for CMC to start linking HR activity with the bottom line.

• Start with the problem and not the data: Owing to these shortcomings there was growing

realization that starting an analytics project by collecting all the data would be a never ending

process for CMC. Hence the focus would be the PROBLEM and not the data pool available.

At CMC bigger questions were: “What big decisions are to be taken? What future prospects are

to be taken care off?” One common problem for all the business units at CMC was attrition hence

the obvious question was “What factors were contributing to a predictable high-Attrition level?”

Once this question is addressed the next step would be to know how can CMC retain and rehire

adequately. CMC’s answer to this question was a predictive analytical model for proactively

assessing and addressing turnover issues.

• Right questions, right insight: With the right information available at hand, it then became

necessary for CMC to start asking the right questions rather than just connecting the data

points. e.g. “Which roles are the most critical ones and what are we sure of having staffed as

per the requirement or not.




























% CEOs who believe the relevant information is important or very important100

80

60

40

20

0Cost of

employeeTurnover

ROI onHumanCapital

Assessmentsof Inernal

Advancements

Labour Costs EmployeeViews and

Needs

Employeeproductivity

Base- All respondents (1,258)Source - PWC 15th Annual Global CEO Survey 2012

Per

cent

age

of

CE

Os

Do not receive informationNot adequateAdequate but would like moreInformation received is comprehensive

Information Gap: CEOs believe information is important but don’t receive relevant reports
































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





BUSINESS CONTEXT

CMC is a leading Systems Engineering and Integration Company recognized for its ability to engineer

complex solutions, integrate these with external systems / solutions, and value-added services to

provide end-to-end services across the information technology space. CMC was formed as a 100%

Government owned company in 1975. In 1993 government divested part of its stake to the public and

CMC was listed on Stock Exchange. In 2001, Government divested its 51% stake to Tata Sons and

CMC became a Tata Enterprise and a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services in 2004. The journey

began with a commitment to make CMC a PCMM level 5 organization and is now continued towards

sustaining the process areas in order to make the best of HR analytics.

CHALLENGE – SHORT TERM VIEW

HR fraternity today very well understands the importance of HR Analytics yet we all continue to make

use of generic and transactional measurements metrics. We continue to fall prey to these operational

metrics which provides only a hint of insight in to the future of “People Number Game”. As per the PWC

Annual Global CEO Survey – 2012, CEO’s listed Talent Management as one of the key area and on the

same hand they revealed that they are not well equipped to have high level of insight into key HR

statistics viz reasons for high turnover, effectiveness of grievance redressal mechanism etc.

Where does CMC stand today – Status Quo? - Owing to the above mentioned short sightedness,

traditionally CMC’s approach towards HR Analytics revolved around conducting postmortem of the

processes, initiatives and business results in order to analyze what had happened and what is

happening. CMC paid less attention to immediate priorities rather than concentrating on the future

business context and provided high level of business intelligence to the leadership team. Like any

other organization, CMC too treated attrition/turnover data as a key HR Metric. As a result, the action

planning revolved around addressing the reasons of attrition only when the turnover rate was up.

The consequence was that business was not being supported with relevant and adequate data

points. Hence the need was to set the target and conduct predictive analysis regularly of the

turnover rate in order to battle the employee churn out well in advance.

HR is asking the wrong questions: While CMC was looking forward for the bene�ts of HR

departments, investing in stronger analytics; it was high time they paid adequate attention to some

misconceptions about HR analytics.

• Connecting the Efficiency Metrics: Earlier HR professionals here were tracking a host of

ef�ciency metrics but were not able to show the connection between them. For Example CMC

was tracking ESS but it could not give meaningful inputs as the ESS levels were not related with

the advocacy scores.

• Correlations: Correlating HR data with business results did take CMC a level up in connecting

the results but HR needed to be careful that these correlations were not mere coincidences in

the relationships.

• Benchmarking: CMC was particular with benchmarking its HR Metrics with other

organizations however didn’t focus on trends, level and importance of the comparisons.

Time for Change – Long Term View: Given to the business needs and growing importance of HR

Analytics it was the right time for CMC to start linking HR activity with the bottom line.

• Start with the problem and not the data: Owing to these shortcomings there was growing

realization that starting an analytics project by collecting all the data would be a never ending

process for CMC. Hence the focus would be the PROBLEM and not the data pool available.

At CMC bigger questions were: “What big decisions are to be taken? What future prospects are

to be taken care off?” One common problem for all the business units at CMC was attrition hence

the obvious question was “What factors were contributing to a predictable high-Attrition level?”

Once this question is addressed the next step would be to know how can CMC retain and rehire

adequately. CMC’s answer to this question was a predictive analytical model for proactively

assessing and addressing turnover issues.

• Right questions, right insight: With the right information available at hand, it then became

necessary for CMC to start asking the right questions rather than just connecting the data

points. e.g. “Which roles are the most critical ones and what are we sure of having staffed as

per the requirement or not.



























































ABOUT THE AUTHOR





56












• Objective hiring model based on role competency framework

• Reduce dependency on consultant/exter-nal modes of hire

• Launched Competency Dictionary, Capability & Capacity based HR plan & online skill assessment

• Launched Resume Management System in line with CMC’s role & competency model; Video Resume for key profiles

• Improvement in Quality of hire - 96% good hire

• Reduction in TAT from requisition approval to o�er release by 13 days

• Offer to joining ratio up by 9%

• Identifying the threshold & Di�erentiating competencies

• Developing Internal assessor capabilities & Creating individual competency map

• Institutionalizing the process across units

• Open platform for interacting with Sr. Mgmt. –thus improving ASI

• Improving Associate Engagement Index

• Reduce TAT of grievance redressal process

• Launched ASK CEO & ASK HR call, CMC Ki Adalat for reinforcing open culture, improving overall ASI.

• Launched engagement initiatives under Mait- ree, improving participation & advocacy levels

• Launched eConnect for addressing employee queries

• Improvement in Leadership ASI Score

• Improvement in % participation in ESS by 5%

• Increase in overall AEI & Advocacy Score

• Controlled Attrition levels

• Reaching diverse audiences• Getting the message

through, and past line managers

• Leaders engagement with employees

• Ensure alignment of individual goals with organizational goals.

• Improve BSC approach

• Introduce Instant Recognition programs

• Launched Standard Goal Sheets for goal alignment across the organisation; 360 degree feedback for key positions

• Launched Pat on Back (PoB), WAVE Cards, Star of Month (SoM) & Appreciation Awards

• Goal Setting Compliance index for aligned goals improved from 79% -88%

• Improvement in overall PMS compliance by 20%

• Improvement in PMS

• Mapping roles and competencies

• Ensure on-time training feedback to conduct quantitative analysis

• Systematically closing the capability gap

• Promote innovation & knowledge sharing

• Launched LEARN to manage end-to-end learning process.

• Launched on line skill assessment–SHL, SVAR• Launched IdeaX, Request reply, Knowledge

Hub, Toast Masters Club

• L&D compliance index improved from 83%-92%

• Increase in number of employees certified / year

• Increase in Instructor Led trainings and MDP’s

• Competency assessments

• Align HR performance goals to organisation performance objectives

• Integrate performance results across workgroups.

• Developed HR PPM’s using statistical tools• Developed QOPM (Quantitative Organizational

Performance Management) Model.

• Better alignment of HR processes with BO

• Institutionalizing the process across units

KEY AREASCAT

TA

OD

PMS

L&D

OPA

INITIATIVES TAKEN MEASURES/IMPACT CHALLENGES












































HR RESULTS BUSINESS RESULTS

% SLA Compliance for Allocation Cycle-time reduction

Job Rotation %

% SLA Compliance for TAG SBU-wise profitability

Basic / Advanced certifications Capacity & competency development towards CM 3.0

% Roles defined in ASPIRE

% Competencies in ASPIRE

Offer to Joining Ratio Productivity

Training Days coverage

Int vs. Ext Instructor Led Training Customer productivity losses

Tech vs. Non-technical training

Course Reaction Feedback vs. Delayed Feedback Customer satisfaction

Delivery excellence

Workforce utilization












58

















THE PCMM FRAMEWORK, 4CS DATA ANALYTICS MATURITY MODEL

People CMM helped CMC successfully address the critical people issues, characterize the maturity of

the workforce practices, establish a program of continuous workforce development, set priorities for

improvement actions, integrate workforce development with process improvement, and establish a

culture of excellence. PCMM’s 5 maturity levels enabled CMC in monitoring the key HR metrics in a

systematic fashion keeping in mind the important role these metrics would play in achieving business

results.

COLLECTING CONNECTING CONTROLLINGCORRECTING

• TAT between requisition approval & offer rollout

• % candidates joined out of total offered

• ASI on Leadership and Employee Advocacy

• Overall % participation in ESS and overall AEI

• % employees completing goal setting on target date

• % employees with annual review done within SLA

• ASI on Performance Management System

• % participants submitting training feedback

• Annual number of employees certified every year

• % staff with defined roles & competencies

• Improvement in process performance baselines

PPM, PPB, GDM

Measures & Metrics, Practice

Implementation Indicator Description,

PCCM Checkpoint Review, Internal quality

audits

Improvement & Innovation,

Empowered work groups, Workgroup

development, Organizational

Capability Management,

Competency-based processes & assets




























BEST PRACTICES

Regression/multivariate predictive techniques – PPM/PPB: CMC adopted this process of

collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of processes,

organization, system or component. It involved studying processes/strategies within organizations,

or studying processes/parameters to see whether output are in line with what was intended or

should have been achieved.

CMC - Linkage of Business Objectives with PPMs and PPBs

• Overall Attrition: Another factor that impacts on-time delivery is Attrition; hence it had been

selected for prediction, usage and control

• Retention of 4 and 5 raters: CMC is targeted for 30-40% YOY operating revenue growth. This

demanded retention of high performers so that they can be groomed to take higher positions

while the business was expanding. Hence, Retention of 4 & 5 raters have been selected as one

of the PPMs

• Cost of Hire: Improving EBITDA also demanded reduction in non-operating expenses. One of

the major expenses in HR that could be controlled without compromising on L&D and employee

engagement initiatives was Cost of Hire

• TAT for hiring: CMC has a business objective of improving pro�tability. CMC is targeting to

increase its pro�tability (EBITDA) from 15.2% in FY12 to 20% by FY15. This would require

on-time realization of revenue through on-time delivery which would demand on-time

availability of required workforce. Hence TAT for hiring team is an important HR objective

• Customer Satisfaction Index: One of the key business objectives of CMC is to build long term

relationships with customers such that 50-55% revenue comes from the strategic customers by

cross-SBU selling. Thus, it is important to understand the voice of customers, hence CMC is

targeting for >90% Customer Satisfaction Index by FY15 from current 80-85%

Maintaining PPM Monitoring Sheet

1. Variable factors (X) and Constant Factors (Y) are de�ned as per the requirement of the PPM.

2. Target Values, Performance Range (LSL, USL) and Measurement Frequency is established.

3. Actual value-X is collected on the 1st of every month. Average is taken of the previous month’s

predicted value & month end actual value to come up with the prediction value for the next

month.

4. This data has to be sent to the quality team to calculate Prediction interval (Mini Tab) and Fit value.

5. Month end actual values are entered in PPM sheets and are then compared with Actual and Fit

value.

PPM Analysis

1. Mid-Course Action Plan: If Prediction Interval falls outside the limits of (USL, LSL); a Mid-Course

Action Plan is chalked with the help of the process owners. Depending on the steps taken the value

of variable (controllable) factor(X) is changed to check if the �t value falls within (USL, LSL).

2. Stability and Capability Tracker: If the difference between target and actual value is substantial or

if actual value of X or Y falls outside (USL, LSL) explanation is given for the same.

3. 5 Why Analysis: Root Cause Analysis and removal of outliers.

4. Detecting Outliers: All outliers for both X & Y are analyzed month wise and appropriate

explanation is given for the same.

PPB: CMC used PPB as a documented characterization of the actual results achieved by following a

process, which were then used as a benchmark for comparing actual process performance against

expected process performance. The performance results were collected and determined for any

particular combinations or grouping that may or may not need to occur. The appropriate process

performance baselines were then used as inputs to the process performance model for a new project,

and this information was used for planning purposes. If the process performance model required data

that is not available as a process performance baseline, then statistical method were used to

interpolate those values, with an idea of the con�dence level or level of risk associated with that

interpolation.




























60

BEST PRACTICES

Regression/multivariate predictive techniques – PPM/PPB: CMC adopted this process of

collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of processes,

organization, system or component. It involved studying processes/strategies within organizations,

or studying processes/parameters to see whether output are in line with what was intended or

should have been achieved.

CMC - Linkage of Business Objectives with PPMs and PPBs

• Overall Attrition: Another factor that impacts on-time delivery is Attrition; hence it had been

selected for prediction, usage and control

• Retention of 4 and 5 raters: CMC is targeted for 30-40% YOY operating revenue growth. This

demanded retention of high performers so that they can be groomed to take higher positions

while the business was expanding. Hence, Retention of 4 & 5 raters have been selected as one

of the PPMs

• Cost of Hire: Improving EBITDA also demanded reduction in non-operating expenses. One of

the major expenses in HR that could be controlled without compromising on L&D and employee

engagement initiatives was Cost of Hire

• TAT for hiring: CMC has a business objective of improving pro�tability. CMC is targeting to

increase its pro�tability (EBITDA) from 15.2% in FY12 to 20% by FY15. This would require

on-time realization of revenue through on-time delivery which would demand on-time

availability of required workforce. Hence TAT for hiring team is an important HR objective

• Customer Satisfaction Index: One of the key business objectives of CMC is to build long term

relationships with customers such that 50-55% revenue comes from the strategic customers by

cross-SBU selling. Thus, it is important to understand the voice of customers, hence CMC is

targeting for >90% Customer Satisfaction Index by FY15 from current 80-85%

Maintaining PPM Monitoring Sheet

1. Variable factors (X) and Constant Factors (Y) are de�ned as per the requirement of the PPM.

2. Target Values, Performance Range (LSL, USL) and Measurement Frequency is established.

3. Actual value-X is collected on the 1st of every month. Average is taken of the previous month’s

predicted value & month end actual value to come up with the prediction value for the next

month.

4. This data has to be sent to the quality team to calculate Prediction interval (Mini Tab) and Fit value.

5. Month end actual values are entered in PPM sheets and are then compared with Actual and Fit

value.

PPM Analysis

1. Mid-Course Action Plan: If Prediction Interval falls outside the limits of (USL, LSL); a Mid-Course

Action Plan is chalked with the help of the process owners. Depending on the steps taken the value

of variable (controllable) factor(X) is changed to check if the �t value falls within (USL, LSL).

2. Stability and Capability Tracker: If the difference between target and actual value is substantial or

if actual value of X or Y falls outside (USL, LSL) explanation is given for the same.

3. 5 Why Analysis: Root Cause Analysis and removal of outliers.

4. Detecting Outliers: All outliers for both X & Y are analyzed month wise and appropriate

explanation is given for the same.

PPB: CMC used PPB as a documented characterization of the actual results achieved by following a

process, which were then used as a benchmark for comparing actual process performance against

expected process performance. The performance results were collected and determined for any

particular combinations or grouping that may or may not need to occur. The appropriate process

performance baselines were then used as inputs to the process performance model for a new project,

and this information was used for planning purposes. If the process performance model required data

that is not available as a process performance baseline, then statistical method were used to

interpolate those values, with an idea of the con�dence level or level of risk associated with that

interpolation.




























ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ALIGNMENT–GOAL DECOMPOSITION MATRIX (GDM)

Decision of adopting PCMM framework for CMC and driving high maturity practices came with a

pre-requisite of having a robust mechanism of setting Business Goals (BG) and Function Objectives

(FO) supporting PCMM High Maturity. To accomplish this task it was critical for CMC to �rst identify

the barriers to its Vision Statement and then formulating the BGs. These BGs were then linked with

the FOs. For establishing this linkage CMC came up with a Goal Decomposition Matrix at

organization as well as at functional level.

Steps for setting up a GDM

Step 1: What are the key business and organizational goals?

Step 2: What are the key processes and sub processes in the organization?

Step 3: What are the key processes that most contribute to each goal?

Step 4: Which of these processes & sub processes should have S M A R T project objective

statement?

Step 5: Which of these also should be statistically managed?



using descriptive analysis CMC is focusing on predictive modeling for understanding how risk is


in line with the business objectives and helping CMC business leaders in making effective strategic

decisions. Below table elaborate that HR Analytics was not just a one-time project for CMC rather it

is here to stay & sustain.

Vision Statement

Barriers to Vision

Function Objectives

GOAL DECOMPOSITIONMATRIX

Drive Baselines & Models

Business Goals

Processes/Subprocesses Measures

Y

x1 =x2 =x3 =

x5 =x6 =x7 =

x11 =x12 =x13 =x14 =x15 =

x16 =x17 =

x18 =x19 =

x20 =x21 =

x8 =x9 =x10 =

x4 =

x1, x2 x2

x4

x7

x13

x18, x19

x10

x16x17

x20, x21

x5

x18

x9, x10

x14,x15,x13

x5, x6

x8, x9, x10

x11, x12, x14, x15

x4

X

x18

ESS (Pulse ASI)Score Attrition %

RecruitmentTAT

Manpower CostROI

PerformanceManagement

Project Planning& Tracking

Training andDevelopment

Compensation &Benefits

Career Development

Staffing

Workforce Planning

Role and CompetencyManagment

Business Planning &Tracking Procedure

Step 1

Step 2Step 4

Step 5

Step 3

Sample HR GDM




























62

ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ALIGNMENT–GOAL DECOMPOSITION MATRIX (GDM)

Decision of adopting PCMM framework for CMC and driving high maturity practices came with a

pre-requisite of having a robust mechanism of setting Business Goals (BG) and Function Objectives

(FO) supporting PCMM High Maturity. To accomplish this task it was critical for CMC to �rst identify

the barriers to its Vision Statement and then formulating the BGs. These BGs were then linked with

the FOs. For establishing this linkage CMC came up with a Goal Decomposition Matrix at

organization as well as at functional level.

Steps for setting up a GDM

Step 1: What are the key business and organizational goals?

Step 2: What are the key processes and sub processes in the organization?

Step 3: What are the key processes that most contribute to each goal?

Step 4: Which of these processes & sub processes should have S M A R T project objective

statement?

Step 5: Which of these also should be statistically managed?



using descriptive analysis CMC is focusing on predictive modeling for understanding how risk is


in line with the business objectives and helping CMC business leaders in making effective strategic

decisions. Below table elaborate that HR Analytics was not just a one-time project for CMC rather it

is here to stay & sustain.

INITIATIVE SUSTAINABILITY & SCALABILITY FACTOR

• Competency Dictionary, C&C based HR plan

• RMS, Video Resume

• ASK CEO & ASK HR call, CMC Ki Adalat

• Maitree & eConnect

• Role based standard goal sheets

• Instant Recognition

• LMS-LEARN, Skill Assessment

• PPM

• Integration with work systems – role management, career progression

• Detailed reposting and comprehensive analysis

• Ease of access from networking sites

• Continuous & transparent communication – sharing of Transcripts & videos.

Prompt closure of action items

Keeping the templates current, in alignment with changes in goals & changes in strategies and tactics and linking Interim achievements with annual review

• Integration of LMS with PMS & Career Management

• Skill based promotions and progression

• Taking Corrective & preventive actions based on predictions and continuous improvement in PPB’s

• Continuous alignment with Corporate BSC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mansi Pandey is heading Performance Management and International HR for CMC and is also involved

with driving PCMM initiatives across business units and functions. Mansi is certi�ed in Balance Score

Card and is presently working as Lead PMS & International HR at CMC Ltd.

AWARD P

ARTNER

School of BusinessManagement, NMIMS,Mumbai: A Case StudyShowcasing theEntrepreneurial StanceTaken by the Institutefor Excellence in HR

Academic Institute of the Year(for contribution in the field of HR)

By Dr. Veena Vohra

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

The above challenges were met by making a deliberate approach towards the development of

innovations in the curriculum as well as innovative pedagogical tools and inputs into the design of

the program.

The NMIMS MBA (HR) program has as its primary objective the development of critical skills,

knowledge and a holistic sensitive HR Professional who is at ease with both core business and

people related challenges. The program stresses on the development of the future HR specialists’

personal and social competencies to provide them with a competitive edge. These objectives lent

themselves to the design of innovative program features, curriculum and pedagogy. The initiative

was executed using a 4 Step approach:

• Research: This stage included researching various HR focused programs across the world to

map core and elective courses. Industry HR professionals were asked for the challenges they

faced and how the program design could help meet such challenges.

• Brainstorm: Several meetings were conducted at the Area level to brainstorm around

curriculum and pedagogy to drive the program in an engaging and relevant way within the

overall academic structure for a full time two year program.

• Design: The various ideas and course plans converged into a trimester based program design.

Each element of the program was held against the program objectives and philosophy. Finally

the program design embedded with the curriculum and pedagogical innovations was presented

to the Board of Studies for rati�cation. This was followed by the presentation to the Academic

Council and �nal clearance by the Board of Management.

Execution: An assessment centre approach was employed for the selection of the students into the

program. Intensive and focused feedback was collected at regular intervals for subsequent

modi�cation. NMIMS relied on their MBA HR Board of Studies comprised of HR stalwarts from

industry and academia to advise on signi�cant shifts and trends in the HR profession to ensure the

relevance of the program contents.

The Programme curriculum was subjected to the review of the world’s largest professional HR

association - SHRM and in the very �rst year of the HR program launch was accredited by SHRM

USA to be of globally acceptable standards.

Faculty led research contributed to the Programme design and innovations by focusing on areas

such as Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Appreciative Inquiry, Workplace Psychology,

Motivation, Pedagogical innovations, Quarter Life Crisis, Diversity, Strategic HRM, The publications

of the faculty of NMIMS in the form of case studies published in Ivey Case Publishing / HBPS and

in Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies; Research articles published in International and

National Journals; Text books on HRM; reference books on Organization Development Chapters;

Conference Papers presented and published at National and International Conferences enabled the

development of a research based curriculum.

The NMIMS MBA (HR) program provides rigorous inputs on a selection of specially designed

contemporary courses to develop the required HR specialist competencies and the right attitude

for today’s business environment through the following features:

• Full time course for two years comprising of 39 contemporary and innovative courses across

six trimesters. Every trimester includes Sector speci�c inputs in the form of theme based guest

sessions, consulting assignments and projects, thus providing an insight into sector speci�c

people management challenges and practices

• 2 Compulsory Workshops in each trimester focusing on HR skills and trends such as Coaching

skills, Mentoring Skills, Counselling Skills, Stress Management Skills, Rational Emotive

Behavior Therapy, Leadership Skills amongst others

• A summer internship for 8-10 weeks in which students undergo full time intensive training with

industry under the guidance of a project guide and a faculty guide. Consulting assignments for

students from different companies in the area of HR

• Students benefit from institutional tie ups with renowned professional HR-focused bodies such

as SHRM and NHRDN. Participants are also exposed to guest sessions from industry,

additional skill building workshops as well as group and individual projects to enhance learning

and development

• Delivered by experienced faculty and HR practitioners, this program aims to provide a holistic

learning opportunity to budding HR specialists. Having access to the large canvas of business

houses of Mumbai, the program offers numerous advantages by virtue of the industry interface

and also the opportunity to learn from renowned HR gurus. The program design receives inputs

on a regular basis from the Board of Studies comprising of renowned senior industry

professionals and academicians

Innovative research based Courses and Workshops were added to the curriculum and

Pedagogical Innovations were embedded throughout such courses:

1. A full credit course on Emotional Intelligence designed and offered by internal faculty specially

trained in this area to respond to the programme objective of creating emotionally mature and

holistic HR professionals. The course deploys unusual pedagogical tools such as Music and Art

to enable self-expression capabilities of students. The Learning Conference technique

described by Kemper/Klein 1998 on the basis of four cornerstones: Individual reflection; Report

round/flashlight; Interaction and group reflection; Feedback to the moderator/s of the Learning

Conference is also heavily relied on

2. A half credit course on Appreciative Inquiry that uses Anton Chekov’s work to highlight the

Social Constructivist approach where groups of students present their interpretation of the

concluding segments of the play followed by the interpretations of other groups and an

extraction of the underlying philosophy at work. The Appreciative Inquiry course familiarizes

students with the positive organizational scholarship approach in managing change. Students

carry out Appreciative Inquiry based interventions in organizations of their choice to understand

how to implement the 4 D model approach as well as learn �rsthand how af�rmations of the

positive core of an organization impact employees.

3. A full credit course on HR metrics of specifically designed class room activities to enable

students to understand the concept and application areas of HR Metrics. Half credit course on

Learning Organizations and Knowledge Management Systems was designed and offered by

very senior industry professionals working in the learning and development space with the

objective of equipping students with an understanding of creating learning organizations and

the management of knowledge systems in today’s knowledge based economies.

4. Workshop on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy based on the work of Dr. Albert Ellis. It is a

tool for self-development that challenges thinking patterns and provides strategies for

converting unhelpful/ distorted thoughts into helpful ones. The fundamental assumption of the

REBT Workshop is to help students to appreciate that distorted thought processes are primarily

responsible for problems and by changing distorted thinking one can change perception and

attitude towards “problems”.

5. Workshop on Outbound Training Facilitation Skills requires the students to venture on an

outbound training session under the guidance of an experienced trainer. The focus during the

workshop is on building the facilitation skills of the students so as to provide �rst-hand

knowledge and skills about the design, conduction and challenges of the outbound training

methodology.

6. Workshop on Counselling and Mentoring Skills/ Consulting Skills/ Stress Management.

7. Pedagogy innovations in traditional HR courses.

• Live in-class demonstration of Human Resource Information System Software

• High potential employees and leadership pipeline exercise; succession planning exercise

was designed for the course Talent Management

• Design of ‘Analysis of Business news through newspaper articles’ (through small groups) in

session on ‘Business Environment as a determinant of Structure’ (for the course on OTSD).

• Designing In basket exercises and using Psychometric tests in addition to Role Plays and

Group Discussions in class for the experiential learning in Competency Mapping and

Assessment Centres.

EVALUATING/MEASURING OUTCOMES

1. NMIMS MBA HR Programme has partnered with Society for Human Resource Management for

curriculum alignment as well as student development. The Programme curriculum is thus

accredited by SHRM USA. A number of initiatives every year for the MBA HR students are

supported by SHRM, leading to a strong differential component. The widely recognized SHRM

knowledge portal and resources are available to the MBA HR students, thus guiding them

through their projects, assignments and internships.

For the �rst time in India, SHRM has instituted student awards for the NMIMS MBA HR students,

thus recognizing the strength of NMIMS students as HR professionals. These awards are in the

categories of Leadership, Outstanding achievement and All round development

2. The Annual HR Conclave is conducted every year as a platform to enhance institute – industry

collaboration. This is a student driven event and sees participation from the industry, alumni,

SHRM, the MBA HR student and faculty body as well as social enterprises thus contributing to

the building of a better HR ecosystem. Key HR thought leaders from the industry support the

event with their presence and this serves to extend into student opportunities as well as

stronger relationships.

3. The MBA HR program has won several laurels recently. Most notable are the Gold Winner for

the category of Curriculum and Pedagogical Innovations at the Indian Management Conclave

2014 held in New Delhi in August 2014, as well as the Best Academic Institute of the Year for

contribution in the field of HR at the SHRM Annual Conference 2014.

Metrics used to track progress of initiatives through regular measurement

and reporting of outcomes.

The MBA HR Students have picked up several laurels and awards at case study and research paper

competitions across India’s premier management institutes.

Over 50 companies have been a part of the recruitment so far. Coveted firms like ABC Consultants,

ABG Shipyard, Alcatel Lucent, AppsDaily, Boehringer Ingelheim, British Petroleum, Cnergyis,

Cummins, DSCL, Eaton Technologies, HCL Technologies, IBM Ltd, ICICI, ITC, Google, Kotak Life,

LG Electronics, Mahindra Comviva, Michael Page, Orient Cement, People Strong, Pidilite Industries

Limited, Piramal Enterprises Limited, Reliance Communications, Schneider Electric, Siemens,

Starcom Media Vest, Sterling Infosystems, Sutherland Global, Tata Communications, Tata Motors,

Torrent Power have recruited from the diverse pool, thereby reposing their immense faith and

support. Various roles in Learning & Development, Organization Development and HR Consulting

were offered. With the recruiters being extremely delighted with the quality of students, brand

NMIMS MBA HR has become a preferred destination for reputed organizations across all sectors

Several new recruiters are keen to associate with the MBA HR program. Several Pre Placement

offers are made to these students. Corporate feedback regarding the performance of the placed HR

students has been increasingly encouraging.

Student feedback remains consistently positive and heartening for a majority of the program

initiatives. Students receive endorsements for various skills they display from a variety of sources

such as peers, faculty, industry and alumni leading to the creation of a strong ecosystem for the

MBA HR program at SBM, NMIMS.

WAY AHEAD

Keeping the MBA HR current in its curriculum contents that is relevant for the industry will be a

focusing area for going ahead. Set in a dynamic and turbulent environment, Indian industry requires

professionals that are agile and solution focused while being inclusive and high on integrity. The

program will thus continue to map the gaps that exist in its participants to enable development of

required skills and competencies.

The alumni base of the program is slowly becoming its strength and enabling the creation of a

sustainable ecosystem that thrives on learning, respect and ownership. The MBA HR program will

focus on providing platforms for the alumni and incumbent students to engage meaningfully.

CONCLUSION

In an effort to respond to industry requirements for HR professionals, NMIMS has been able to leverage

existing faculty and system based strengths. A small but sure beginning has been made to grow the

size and scope of the MBA HR program. Review mechanisms continue to provide feedback for

improvement. Stakeholders of the program within and outside the system have become partners to

enable the program to grow from strength to strength.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Prof. Veena Vohra is the Program Chairperson – MBA HR and Associate Professor – HR & Behavioral

Sciences at NMIMS, Mumbai.

64




the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









LAUNCH OF MBA (HR) AT NMIMS

The School of Business Management, NMIMS, has always adopted an entrepreneurial stance and

proactively endeavored to meet student and industry needs. Initiatives in the past have led to

specialized courses in various domains. Such initiatives have been possible due to active

sense-making mechanisms in house and quick implementation cycles.

NMIMS found that while industry in India was alert to the need to manage human capital in a proactive

way, this strategic initiative very often struggled due to a lack of effective and business pro�cient

Human Resource Managers, thus impacting business outcomes. The Area of Human Resources and

Behavioral Sciences at NMIMS analyzed the availability of Human Resource Specialists for the

corporate world in India and concluded that a gap existed between the industry requirement of skilled

and effective HR professionals and the supply of the same. Feedback sessions with the industry

revealed that there was a great need for Human Resource professionals who were able to understand

the business and offer people sensitive solutions. Though several MBA Programs focused on HR, very

few of these responded to the industry requirement for business savvy HR professionals with the right

set of attitudes and values. This context set the tone for the School’s decision to design and launch a

full time two year MBA programme specializing in Human Resources.

In 2010, the Area of Human Resources and Behavioral Sciences began work on the MBA HR

programme philosophy, objectives, design and delivery mechanisms, content mix, pedagogical tools

and evaluation mechanisms. The Area also developed a rigorous and comprehensive assessment

(selection) process for the selection of candidates aspiring to join the programme after clearing the

NMAT entrance exam. This assessment process focused on selecting for competencies and values for

the HR domain. It was in 2011 finally, that after several months of efforts the MBA HR programme was

launched and the first batch of 30 bright and aspiring HR professionals were accepted into the School.

CHALLENGES FACED

An inherent programme design challenge was to develop from scratch programme features that would

add to student knowledge, develop their skills and hone their attitudes to become successful as HR

managers. This required using innovative pedagogical tools and inputs into the curriculum. Another

signi�cant challenge that had to be addressed through the programme contents was the very different

perspectives in Human Resource Management held by Indian �rms with a global outlook; secondly,

global �rms seeking to adapt to the Indian context; and thirdly, the HRM practice in Public Sectors

Undertakings. Added to this is the fact that India itself is a heterogeneous entity with regional variations

in terms of industry size, business culture, and other factors. Even within a business sector,

inter-organizational differences challenge HR Professionals to evolve and maintain customized Human

Resource Management systems for effective organizational performance and success.

CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR






the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



66




the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR






the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



68




the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



The survey based on several criteria showed that over 70% of the participants chose USL as their most

preferred company in the FMCG sector. The reasons for their choice can be narrowed down to three

key areas which is reward and recognition, organization culture and on the job training opportunities.

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP)

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme has a mission of developing tomorrow’s leaders, today. This

specially designed programme recruits graduates and transforms them in to global leaders.

Commencing with a two week induction, the programme then moves in to a one month training

followed by 18 months of rotational training of the core functions of the organization. The management

trainees also have a challenging rural stint they are expected to complete. This is based on the Unilever

Sustainable Living Plan where the employees work on a one month stint to promote a “Perfect Villiage”

concept. A six weeks international assignment follows thereafter, with the programme ending with a

further 3 months training on non-core function areas. Many who have climbed the ladder of success

within the Unilever network in-fact began their journey as Management Trainees. This is perhaps one

reason why USL is perceived as an organization that cultivates leadership at every level.

Unilever Leaders Internship Programme (ULIP)

The three-month Unilever Leaders Internship Programme is aimed at top university graduates. USL

targets this talent through strong activations carried out at universities. Interns are chosen through a

stringent hiring technique. They then go through a three-day orientation which is followed by live action

oriented projects for a duration of 3 months. The projects are then evaluated by a Line Manager who

grades projects thereby creating resources in terms of knowledge and well trained individuals for the

company. Last year the programme’s immense success was evident in 100% of the interns graduating

to the UFLP level. USL has also extended its reach from 6 to 10 universities including private

institutions to ensure that the best and brightest minds are picked up.

Unilever Challenge: Lipton Talent Hunt

The Unilever Challenge is a one of a kind competition that aims to develop local talent by providing

students with business oriented experiential learning via a real business case linked to a brand. This

gives students a chance to ‘experience’ brand management as a career option, exposes students to

real-life projects with varying market realities, and acts as a head-start in their potential careers at

Unilever. The competition will span over a period of 12 weeks and is open to graduates who are

currently in 2nd or 3rd year of their degree programme. Unilever links each team up with a specific

Brand. This year’s problem statement was to design a 360 degree campaign to drive green tea bag

conversion. The competition was well received with the Lipton Facebook fan base growing from 8,800

to 20,000. Lipton over achieved the target of driving awareness and creating engagement with the

target group within a span of 7 weeks.

The No1 team identified as top talent in the market not only wins the title of the “Winning Team” but

also gets the opportunity of representing their Nation, USL and their University at the Unilever

Global Challenge “Future Leaders League” along with a direct ticket to the assessment center of

the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (Management Trainee). The opportunity to be a part of the

Future Leaders competition is considered a challenge. Last year, the team was sent to Singapore

and this year the winners are off to London.

International Summer Program (ISP)

Unilever also tied up with Virtusa, Citibank and AMCHAM to launch a Summer Programme targeted

at Sri Lankan students studying in universities abroad. The International Summer Programme (ISP)

recruits 15 bright young boys and girls studying in top American and British Universities to go

through a 6-week exercise comprising of personality and professional skill building sessions and

interactions with top leaders in industry and government such as the Ambassador of United States.

They also undertake four-week projects in one of the companies culminating in a presentation to a

joint panel from the three companies. The objectives of this exercise is to provide opportunities for

the country’s talent studying abroad, a hands on exposure of the Sri Lankan corporate sector.

Unilever also aims to prevent brain-drain from Sri Lanka by highlighting the available potential here

at home, providing selected corporate entities with insight into the available potential within the

emerging workforce, and attracting the chosen pool to return and take up positions within the

corporate sector in Sri Lanka.

SPARKS: Unilever Student Ambassador Programme

Unilever Student ambassador programme was launched in Oct 2014. This programme supports the

local talent who are provided an opportunity not only to represent their University but also gain

corporate exposure while they are still studying. They received over 500 applications and they have

13 student ambassadors on board who underwent a detailed orientation and have taken up a

journey to inspire other young talent.

Apart from the above, Unilever also takes part in career fairs at universities, has an extremely active

facebook careers page and sponsored the EDEX job fair.




the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



70

































































the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



































































the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









Employer Brand & BuildingCapability Initiatives atUnilever, Sri Lanka

Excellence in Human Resource –South Asia (excluding India)& Middle East

By Thilanka Jayathilake and Natasha Choksy

CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



72

































































the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









INTRODUCTION

About Unilever Sri Lanka

USL is a Multi-national organization which was founded in Sri Lanka in 1938. USL is a fast moving

consumer goods company with local manufacturing facilities, reporting to the regional business

groups for innovation and business results. Company products are classi�ed into 4 Categories - Home

Care, Personal Care, Refreshments and Foods. It is home to 29 strong brands that are market leaders

in these categories. USL strong roots in local culture and markets have resulted in the local consumer

being at the heart of their business. Unilever Sri Lanka provides employment to approximately 1500

people directly and many thousands indirectly through its dedicated suppliers, distributors and service

providers. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that their brands are part of everyday life and are consumed

throughout the day.

Awards and recognition for these initiatives

Recognised as No 1 Employer 2013 - 2015

USL was adjudged as the No. 1 Employer Brand in Sri Lanka by a survey conducted by Nielsen for

both 2013/14 and 2014/15. Interestingly the FMCG sector has emerged as the industry of choice for

majority of graduates followed by the apparel industry. This reflects the core strength of the sector in

terms of consumer relevance and the strong talent attraction and retention initiatives practiced by

leaders in the �eld.

Recognition in ‘People Development’ category at National HR Excellence Awards 2014

USL is the proud winner of the “National HR Excellence Award 2014”, in the People Development

category, awarded by The Institute of Personnel Management. USL was amongst three winners –

Virtusa and Sampath Bank, being the other two Companies winning for Employee Engagement and

Talent Management respectively.

Recognition from the Association of Human Resources Professionals (AHRP) 2012

USL was recognized by the Association of HR Professionals and the winner of a gold award for being

one of the top 10 HR practitioners in Sri Lanka.

The panel of judges also recognized six different companies for having the best practice on a speci�c

people agenda - USL received the award for having the best practices in the ‘Reward and Recognition’

category.

CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



































































the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









HR BUSINESS CONTEXT

In line with the Global business USL’s business ambition is to double its business while halving the

carbon footprint and increasing the positive contribution which they make to society. "Winning with

People" is a non-negotiable for the HR organization in its quest to support the business in achieving

its growth ambitions. The HR strategy drives people, performance, processes and infrastructure in

order to achieve company goals.

The HR strategy for Unilever is to become “Number 1 in people, place and performance” while

working as one team. This vision keeps the entire organization driving the growth agenda. In terms

of ‘People’, there are various initiatives to drive employee engagement levels which motivate

employees to give their best. There are structured leadership programs which are being conducted

to strengthen leadership potential and the succession pipeline. Under ‘Place’ there are diverse

projects being launched to improve the “mood of the workplace” and to make the organization a

great place to work which resulted in a high engagement scores. Unilever focuses on establishing

a performance culture through performance development plans and stretched goals linked to the

overall business objectives. Employees’ performance is measured against this and rewards are

purely driven on performance. Their pay for performance concept ensures that year-end salary

increase and bonus is decided on the actual performance of each individual. Employees are

supported in achieving their targets through coaching, mentoring, training and both formal and

informal feedback.

People development has always been a key priority for USL, because Unilever believes that growth

of people results in the growth of the business. Therefore capability building, talent management &

performance management will always play a vital role in Human Resources management.

BEST PRACTICES: EMPLOYER BRANDING AT UNILEVER SRI LANKA

It has been said, time and again that people are an organization’s greatest asset, and many great

organizations have proven this over the decades. Backed by a global giant that is a household

name worldwide, USL was recently adjudged the No.1 Employer Brand in Sri Lanka clearly

cementing its position as a great place to work. Based on a survey conducted by Nielsen in

2013/14 and 2014/15, the results show Unilever as a clear leader surpassing other well-known local

conglomerates.

CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



74

































































the program.


















































and development








































methodology.










Assessment Centres.










































WAY AHEAD









CONCLUSION






ABOUT THE AUTHOR



































76






























The importance of these initiatives and recognition

The various initiatives that Unilever has launched under the pillars of employer branding and

capability building are unique and have resulted in great publicity to the company. The robust

capability building plans that are being driven across the organization have resulted in producing

ef�cient leaders. The novel employer branding initiatives have attracted talented Sri Lankan youth;

therefore Unilever is geared with a strong talent pipeline to face the future business challenges.

Benefits/changes for employees and the organization

These initiatives have de�nitely brought bene�ts to the employees of USL. The capability building

programs creates capable and ef�cient workforce that is ready to face market challenges. These

programs help the employees grow in their career and aspire to higher positions in the organization.

When an organization poses a strong employer brand, it not just gives con�dence to the current

employees but also is a good retention mechanism.

Building greater Momentum

Next planned steps for these initiatives

Strengthening the employer branding wheel and making sure the Corporate Brand is much more

effective outside the organization. Making sure each employee has a quality development plan and

100% achievement of the plan is essential.

Areas of improvement

Unilever will continue to focus on building high performing teams while continuing to focus on skill

areas around team building and effective team management. Unilever will make sure 100%

successions cover of key talent while continuously improving their capabilities in both current and

future roles.

New related initiatives

• SPARKS – Unilever Student Ambassador Programme

The ‘Sparks’ programme is an ambassadorship that will serve as an opportunity for students to

act as a liaison between USL and their respective university. The programme is designed to

allow students to exhibit their strength as leaders in their institution, by being ambassadors of

Unilever. The ‘Sparks’ programme looks to enhance the pioneering spirit and skills of talented

Sri Lankan youth, inspiring them to be forces of positive influence amongst their peers.

Programs and initiatives covered under 70:20:10 model

70%- On the job

On the job learning is very robust at Unilever where focus is on the width and the depth of the job

experience;

1. International assignments: This is an opportunity where the employee would get a chance to

go to a different Unilever country and work for 18 or more months and come back to the home

country.

2. Short term assignments: The employee would go to another country for less than 18 months

and work on various assignments.

3. SWAP: it is an exchange of employees between two countries, during this process the

employee gets an opportunity to work in the same role but in another country.

20%- Relationship

20% of an individual’s learning is through relationships.

1. Structured mentoring programs.

2. Structured coaching programs.

3. Structured feedback from the Line Managers.

10%- Formal Development

Formal development or commonly known as structured training contributes to 10% of an

individual’s learning. Unilever offers many different training programs under the professional and

general skills umbrella. All the professional skills are through the functional academies and the

General skills are offered by Accenture, Instructor led and virtual led trainings are the main methods

used. Apart from that e-learning is also a famous learning method used extensively at Unilever.

Under leadership development, there are many structured programs available for employees.

Challenges faced around capability building pillar

Main challenge in this pillar is working around the complexity that is posed by a FMCG business.

Since, the organization is vast the technical skills required are also quite speci�c and unique. Due

to daily work pressures line managers and subordinates are pressurized for time and this poses a

real challenge when it comes to facilitating the capability agenda. However HR supports line

managers and their teams.

THE BIG PICTURE

CONCLUSIONS

Short summary of what Unilever Sri Lanka has accomplished in the areas of

Employer Branding and Building Capability

USL is a pioneer in the pillars of employer branding and capability building, and the awards won by

the organization is a testimony to this statement. USL became the number 1 Employer Brand which

gives immense con�dence in terms of the employer branding initiatives that are being carryied out.

USL, HR team has managed to have a great rapport with most of the local and private renowned

universities of Sri Lanka. The innovative programs that USL carries out have always brought a great

deal of positive attention from the youth.

Challenges around employer branding initiatives

USL faces several challenges around employer branding, mainly due to time schedules of local

universities. Most local campuses don’t have set exam schedules, and therefore, from an

administrative point of view, it is extremely dif�cult to execute employer branding initiatives with the

universities. However USL has rolled out the above set of programmes by creating a timeline that

includes 80% of the University involvement. Since there are many employer branding initiatives that

run across the year, USL ensures each University gets to be a part of it, so that no one misses out.

BEST PRACTICES: BUILDING CAPABILITY IN UNILEVER SRI LANKA

While striving to achieve its vision for business growth with reduced environmental impact, Unilever

believes that building capabilities of own employees’ is the greatest investment that one can make.

Principles of development and how Unilver addresses the development

needs

Unilever’s approach to learning is the ‘70:20:10’ learning principle which drives the total capability

requirements of the organization. This approach highlights the ultimate importance of ‘on the job’

learning.

The illustration on the next page shows the different learning methods under each model. It is

understood that most of the learning has been done on the job, therefore Unilever places a greater

focus on this aspect. The roles that individuals carry out are not just challenging but they also help

the employees grow and move to the next level. At the same time it is equally important to focus on

the other two aspects which are more external. 20% learning is based on relationships where the

employee would learn from their peers, bosses and other stake holders. Constructive feedback

plays a huge role in this area. 10% is the structured learning method where human resources teams

will facilitate learning; the processes include a skill gap analysis which is used to understand the

professional and general skill gaps and arrangements made for relevant training programs. The end

result is for each individual to have an IDP (Individual Development Plan) which covers all the 3

dimensions.

• Institutionalizing skills in the organization

A priority area for Unilever in the coming years is institutionalizing various skills.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Thilanka Jayathilake presently serves as the Human Resources Business Partner for Marketing, Tea

Division & SC Capability at Unilever, Sri Lanka.

Natasha Choksy serves as the Assistant Manager – Workforce Administration at Unilever, Sri Lanka.



















































































future roles.









70%- On the job


experience;



country.





20%- Relationship


















THE BIG PICTURE

CONCLUSIONS




















needs



learning.











dimensions.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS




Most Impact Least

70%Experience

20%Relationship

10%Formal

Development

• Challenging Assignments

• Unique Job Experiences

• Unique Locales, Culture

• Full Job Change

• Bosses

• Mentors

• Role Models

• Feedback

• Training

• Exec. Education

• Adv. Degrees

• Books

Full Job

Change

On the Job

Experience

Learning

from

Hardship

Mentors

and Role

Models

Feedback Education

and

Training






























































78






















future roles.









70%- On the job


experience;



country.





20%- Relationship


















THE BIG PICTURE

CONCLUSIONS




















needs



learning.











dimensions.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS






















































































future roles.









70%- On the job


experience;



country.





20%- Relationship


















THE BIG PICTURE

CONCLUSIONS




















needs



learning.











dimensions.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS

































































80






















future roles.









70%- On the job


experience;



country.





20%- Relationship


















THE BIG PICTURE

CONCLUSIONS




















needs



learning.











dimensions.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS




PROGRESSIVE OUTCOMES

Virtusa’s data reveal the exponential adoption of V+. The numbers speak out loud of how collaboration

and content have both grown since its inception.

Employee Engagementin a Millennial CentricSocial Enterprise atVirtusa, Sri Lanka

Excellence in Human Resource –South Asia (excluding India)& Middle East

By Andrew De Mel and Inoka Dias

knowledge sharing, coaching, mentoring and leading employees have transformed beyond the

norm. The organization’s leadership has emerged as a positive driver in reshaping behavior and

yielding the best from the employees. Positive demonstration of leadership in business adoption,

from the highest levels of the organizations (CEO included), is a testimony to influencing and driving

change in a favorable direction.

Customers: Customers are now able to interact closely with employees over multiple platforms.

These opportunities not only offer the customer with great insights on the Company, but also

provide opportunities for the employees to gain better perspectives on customer requirement whilst

interacting more freely with them. Once again, leadership plays a key role in facilitating and

strengthening the relationship between the Company, employees and customers.

V+ NEXT STEPS

Virtusa envisions V+ to be the single platform that would engage both employees and customers in

the future. In addition to the robust foundation already laid, the Company is constantly striving to

add value to the facilities it provides. The immediate next step is to strengthen the employee

on-boarding process to the level that information sought by every individual is addressed

immediately and new recruits are guided through the end-to-end on-boarding process. Virtusa has

recently commenced leveraging Yammer to engage at pre-employment stage where all the

individuals who have accepted offers are enrolled to the “Virtusa Next” Yammer group, providing

them with the opportunity to interact with the HR teams and also receive a flavour of what’s going

in the Company.

The next best thing on V+ which is around the corner is “Virtusa Anywhere”. This initiative will allow

employees to access the essential services and applications at Virtusa such as time entry, expense

management and internal applications as well as mobile collaboration tools securely from mobile

devices.

Currently the Company is reviewing the feasibility of extending V+ to other people processes in the

HR lifecycle. This will steer engagement drivers in a positive, fast, productive and more transparent

direction.

CONCLUSION


environment that not only retains Millennial employees, but also engages and empowers them to

do their best work. Over the past few years, Virtusa has been recognized all over the globe with

numerous HR-related awards particularly for its innovative use of technology for Millennial

Change Management and Stakeholder Impacts

The biggest challenge in this program is facilitating change adoption. V+ brings about a new way of life:

a new culture. Accordingly, the Company has identi�ed the impact of V+ on its employees, leadership

and customers.

Employees: The Millennial employees have and will �nd the V+ platform and its features second nature

to them. It will continue to change the way they work, think, learn, connect, recognize and perform.

Employees are increasingly leveraging V+ in their daily lives, which have generated con�dence in the

transparency of communication, constant and frequent feedback and closer customer interactions.

Virtusa supports employees to adopt V+ by opening up beta testing opportunities of all new additions

to the platform, internal campaigns and by linking it to the career lifecycle (e.g. Performance

Management).

Leadership: V+ demands the ‘next level’ of leadership behavior as it encourages employees across

the Company, to influence direct and indirect impact to organization-wide decision making. The

Employee engagement and employee relations. Some of these recognitions include the Stevie

International Business Award, Britain’s Top Employer, the Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award,

Asia’s Best Employer Brand, Best Places to Work by The Albany Business Review, and Achiever’s Top

50 Most Engaged Work Places Award.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Andrew and Inoka are Business Unit HR Partners at Virtusa’s operation in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

82

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Virtusa is a global IT services company that combines innovation, technology leadership, and industry

solutions to transform the customer experience. Virtusa serves Global 2000 companies and leading

software vendors in the Banking & Financial Services, Insurance, Telecommunications, Technology &

Media, Information & Education industries. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, it

has of�ces and technology centers throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Today, Virtusa

employs over 9000 people, supports over 100 clients and reported revenue of US Dollars 396.9 million

at the close of fiscal year 2014 (ended March 31, 2014).

Virtusa has strategically positioned itself as a Millennial Enterprise, with the foresight that the majority

of the world’s consumers are soon to be, if not already, Millennials (95 million strong across the world

today and will comprise 75% of the global workforce by 2025). In addition, with over 86% Millennials

in its workforce, the Company wanted to transform the way its employees worked, learned, shared and

connected, with the objective of creating a work environment that enables and accelerates innovation

as well as productivity.

THE BUSINESS REASON

Virtusa has registered a CAGR of approximately 25% over the last ten years. The Company’s increased

head count has now become challenging to enable employees to engage with peers, share and �nd

information and have access to experts. To overcome this, Virtusa looked for a platform that could

empower and motivate employees with collective wisdom, drawn from experts, past experiences and

best practices.

A predominant trait of Millennials is that they are social media savvy. Therefore, Virtusa realized that

creating an environment, which closely resembled the social networking experience its employees

were attuned to, would be key to enhancing their learning, sharing and connecting experiences, i.e., to

engage them in the workplace. In doing so, the Company also envisaged the symbiotic relationship

between the customer and the employee, interconnected with the objective of being the partner of

choice in its clients’ millennial transformation needs. Envisioning this opportunity to enrich the

customer – employee collaboration and experience, the Company undertook to build a ‘Millennial’

collaboration and social enterprise platform to enhance the way employees work in order to support

its strategic journey and deliver the desired business outcomes.

VIRTUSA’S PEOPLE STRATEGY

Virtusa’s people strategy rests on a �rm foundation of organizational values and is geared to enable

innovation, create world class knowledge workers and nurture global leaders whilst leveraging

dynamic technological platforms. Virtusa believes that this approach enables a meaningful work














V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION








and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS


environment for employees, thereby, nurturing their growth, providing them with room for their

voices, a forum for their views and an environment to harness their own potential.

Virtusa has a three pronged digital strategy in place cutting across Delivery, Revenue (Sales) and

People. The People Strategy, with the aspiration of becoming a Millennial-ready enterprise, relies

on a robust Social and Web 2.0 platform. This is the most innovative and avant-garde use of

technology to change the way employees work, learn and connect: the very essence of employee

engagement.

THE AVANT-GARDE ENGAGEMENT APPROACH

Geared to deliver a truly ‘Millennial’ experience, Virtusa leveraged Microsoft SharePoint to build an

enterprise collaboration platform called V+.

The V+ platform was developed to bring together the Company’s systems of records (ERP, CRM,

IPM, etc.) and its systems of engagement (Messaging, Search and Portals, etc.) to transform and

enable core processes to be ‘social’. Virtusa’s approach to employee engagement through V+ is

three pronged;

1. Social engagement through Web 2.0

The key theme in driving employee engagement was to embrace the Web 2.0 environment. The

uber-connected Millennials depend heavily on the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Wiki and

Twitter to work, learn, share and connect. They instinctively turn to these platforms whenever the

need arises, whether at home, work or play (with this generation, all three could happen at once).

Virtusa’s V+ caters exactly to this need. It is not just a website but a way of working and co-creation.

Here’s what it does – in the Millennial way:














V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION





*Image 1: Virtusa V+ compared to popular public social media platforms




and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS


Public Social Platforms Virtusa V+

Crowd Sourcing – Leverage wisdom of the crowd

VRTU Sourcing – Leverage wisdom of the team and clients for domain and ideas

On demand training, announcements, knowledge, clients, etc.

Connecting Vitusans across geos with uni�ed social business pro�les

Search across all internal systems + desktops, Intelligent Sparks based on your pro�le

Video – Most human way to get a message across

Social Media – Connecting people

Unstructured/structured information via a single window. AdSense - Information delivered based on your pro�le

84

The Company’s strategy to provide employees with an environment which taps into their creative

potential, delivers business results, whilst enabling them to �nd meaning at work, is proving to be

fruitful: for the Millennial Virtusan, work is increasingly becoming more of what they do and much

less of a place they go to.

2. Integrating Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement

Virtusa’s second focus has been the social enablement of core processes. Virtusa laid out an overall

business architecture that works well across all IT systems. To facilitate this, the Company linked its

system of records (ERP, CRM and Project Management Solutions) with V+ which is the core system

of engagement, as mentioned earlier, together with IT infrastructure. The entire platform therefore,

connects the organization with employees and the customers through the employees’ social web

(their networks, events, updates, etc.) and client/partner systems.

This method of engagement is powerful. It gives room to collaborate and engage around real work

transactions. Whilst this is at a nascent stage, Virtusa continues to build on it so that similar to

Facebook or Google, V+ will be able to leverage the work-related information about employees in

the systems, to deliver work insights. For example, when an employee starts coding using a

particular technology for the �rst time, the system will push best practices or artifacts around that

technology, so that the employee has the knowledge, insights and tools required to do the work.

3. Gamification to engage and drive Millennials

Gami�cation is the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications in order to

make them more fun and engaging. According to world renowned game designer Jane McGonigal,

a 21-year old spends 10,000 hours gaming. This means that Millennials are hard-wired into game

prone behaviors, driven by their need for instant grati�cation, rapid feedback and their ability to

thrive in collaborative environments.




Having understood that gami�cation of work, recognition and feedback is an integral part of a

Millennial’s DNA, one of the key outcomes of V+ is RAVE (Recognize and Value Everyone). RAVE

provides a 360 degree feedback mechanism enabling instantaneous recognition of an employee’s

achievements, knowledge sharing, team work, collaboration and simple appreciation. It more

importantly, helps to unpack high performance and set benchmarks for role modeling. An employee

can earn badges based on the various categories of RAVEs received thus creating a system of

gami�ed connecting, learning, sharing and working.

Leader boards are another means by which Virtusa has gami�ed the work environment with the

intention of driving positive behaviours to achieve core business outcomes. Leader boards drive

healthy competition, give real-time feedback and create room for engagement. Currently, leader

boards serve the following purposes;

1. Drive Revenue: Leader board/contests on revenue, new deals, quota achievement, etc.

2. Drive Delivery Excellence: Personal dashboards, leaderboard/contest on quality, productivity,

client delight, innovation, etc.

3. Drive People Excellence (through RAVE): Leader board/contests on coaching, teaching, living

values, referrals, etc.

Gami�ed leader boards for sales, delivery leaders and shared services teams are now up and

functional on the lobby screens of the Company’s technology centers and of�ces across the globe.

They are increasingly generating interests, creating transparency, changing behavior and increasing

productivity.

COLLABORATIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

One of the most interesting aspects of V+ is that the Company leveraged the strengths of its own

employees to co-create this platform. When it was initially rolled out in the latter part of 2012, the

beta testing was crowdsourced with over 300 employees across all locations. This helped improve

the platform and also facilitated change adoption.

The Company has realized that the key component of an engaging experience is about being

involved in crafting it. The objective of making the experience simple, fast, fun and obviously very

engaging has been met. The Company realizes this approach to be a better form of branding and

marketing internally and plans to leverage this knowledge when creating and launch-readying

similar initiatives.











V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION





*Image 2: Integration of Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement Change Management and Stakeholder Impacts



and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS


“Social Graph”connects the two friends,

activity streams, likes,

profiles, gamification

The Company’s strategy to provide employees with an environment which taps into their creative

potential, delivers business results, whilst enabling them to �nd meaning at work, is proving to be

fruitful: for the Millennial Virtusan, work is increasingly becoming more of what they do and much

less of a place they go to.

2. Integrating Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement

Virtusa’s second focus has been the social enablement of core processes. Virtusa laid out an overall

business architecture that works well across all IT systems. To facilitate this, the Company linked its

system of records (ERP, CRM and Project Management Solutions) with V+ which is the core system

of engagement, as mentioned earlier, together with IT infrastructure. The entire platform therefore,

connects the organization with employees and the customers through the employees’ social web

(their networks, events, updates, etc.) and client/partner systems.

This method of engagement is powerful. It gives room to collaborate and engage around real work

transactions. Whilst this is at a nascent stage, Virtusa continues to build on it so that similar to

Facebook or Google, V+ will be able to leverage the work-related information about employees in

the systems, to deliver work insights. For example, when an employee starts coding using a

particular technology for the �rst time, the system will push best practices or artifacts around that

technology, so that the employee has the knowledge, insights and tools required to do the work.

3. Gamification to engage and drive Millennials

Gami�cation is the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications in order to

make them more fun and engaging. According to world renowned game designer Jane McGonigal,

a 21-year old spends 10,000 hours gaming. This means that Millennials are hard-wired into game

prone behaviors, driven by their need for instant grati�cation, rapid feedback and their ability to

thrive in collaborative environments.




Having understood that gami�cation of work, recognition and feedback is an integral part of a

Millennial’s DNA, one of the key outcomes of V+ is RAVE (Recognize and Value Everyone). RAVE

provides a 360 degree feedback mechanism enabling instantaneous recognition of an employee’s

achievements, knowledge sharing, team work, collaboration and simple appreciation. It more

importantly, helps to unpack high performance and set benchmarks for role modeling. An employee

can earn badges based on the various categories of RAVEs received thus creating a system of

gami�ed connecting, learning, sharing and working.

Leader boards are another means by which Virtusa has gami�ed the work environment with the

intention of driving positive behaviours to achieve core business outcomes. Leader boards drive

healthy competition, give real-time feedback and create room for engagement. Currently, leader

boards serve the following purposes;

1. Drive Revenue: Leader board/contests on revenue, new deals, quota achievement, etc.

2. Drive Delivery Excellence: Personal dashboards, leaderboard/contest on quality, productivity,

client delight, innovation, etc.

3. Drive People Excellence (through RAVE): Leader board/contests on coaching, teaching, living

values, referrals, etc.

Gami�ed leader boards for sales, delivery leaders and shared services teams are now up and

functional on the lobby screens of the Company’s technology centers and of�ces across the globe.

They are increasingly generating interests, creating transparency, changing behavior and increasing

productivity.

COLLABORATIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

One of the most interesting aspects of V+ is that the Company leveraged the strengths of its own

employees to co-create this platform. When it was initially rolled out in the latter part of 2012, the

beta testing was crowdsourced with over 300 employees across all locations. This helped improve

the platform and also facilitated change adoption.

The Company has realized that the key component of an engaging experience is about being

involved in crafting it. The objective of making the experience simple, fast, fun and obviously very

engaging has been met. The Company realizes this approach to be a better form of branding and

marketing internally and plans to leverage this knowledge when creating and launch-readying

similar initiatives.











V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION








and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS


86














V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION








and customers.







Management).



COLLECTING CONNECTING

• V+ Collaboration Growth

• Over 6500 messages and Likes per month

on Yammer

• Over 1700 team wikis and Yammer groups

• Over 2000 conversations per month

• Over 4000 RAVEs per month

• V+ Content Growth

• Over 605 video uploads a month with more than

10,000 views

• Over 90,000 documents uploaded and shared

• Over 50,000 search queries per month

• Over 500 blogs

• Over 100 ideas on VInnovate





ABOUT THE AUTHORS















V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION








and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS





88











V+ NEXT STEPS









in the Company.




devices.



direction.

CONCLUSION








and customers.







Management).







ABOUT THE AUTHORS


AboutSHRM India

90

Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest HR

membership organization devoted to human resource management with more than 275,000 members

in over 160 countries. The Society is the leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR

professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has

more than 575 af�liated chapters within the United States and subsidiary of�ces in China, India and

United Arab Emirates.

SHRM’s comprehensive HR Products & Service Portfolio includes:

Membership

SHRM Certification

Professional Development Programs

Advisory Services

Conferences – International and India

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For more information about SHRM products and Services,

please visit www.shrm.org/india or

reach out to us at [email protected].

The SHRM India Knowledge Center brings together knowledge and expertise in every aspect of HR in

one place, for the convenience of the practitioner. Together, the SHRM India Knowledge Center

resources enable and equip the HR professional of today, to deliver in the current work context as well

as meet future challenges. The purpose of the SHRM India Knowledge Center is two-fold – to support

and advance the Human Resource profession. In line with its philosophy 'Knowledge is not enough,

application counts,' it offers HR professionals a unique platform to sharpen and build their HR

competencies while on the job. Our cutting-edge resources, across all the key and emerging HR

disciplines include:

HR DISCIPLINE

Our repository of global and India based articles and research on our knowledge portal provide a go-to

resource for HR professionals to update themselves on current and emerging workplace issues and

their implications for HR.

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS

The SHRM India Knowledge Center has a bank of over 50 Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). These

leading lights in the �eld of HR have extensive and diverse experience in the industry, consulting and

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time advice and knowledge on all aspects of HR. SMEs also contribute towards SHRM's mission of

supporting and advancing the profession by participating in Virtual Events, providing expertise to the

'Ask an HR Advisor' Service, partnering Capability Building, Thought Leadership and Advocacy.

ASK AN HR ADVISOR

HR professionals can receive assistance from our full-time HR Advisors, on any HR issues or questions

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of over 50 Subject Matter Experts and their own professional expertise.

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Express Request (ER) is a self-service, online bene�t that allows SHRM members to request and

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The SHRM India Knowledge Center regularly develops reference content on its website for

members. This encompasses a collection of step-by-step instructional ‘How-To-Guides’ designed

to walk an HR Professional through the practical process of how to complete a particular HR

process, Toolkits, Sample HR Forms and Policies and other resources across all the disciplines to

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VIRTUAL EVENTS

Our Virtual Events, such as online Chats and Webinars, leverage technology to provide expertise to

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RESEARCH

The SHRM India knowledge portal provides a repository of in-depth and ground-breaking global

and India speci�c research conducted either in-house or in collaboration with external Subject

Matter Experts. Our research papers provide HR practitioners with valuable insights on current

challenges as well as help identify and anticipate emerging areas, future challenges and NEXT

practices – keeping them ahead of the curve at all times.

SHRM INDIAKNOWLEDGE CENTER

92









HR DISCIPLINE











ASK AN HR ADVISOR




EXPRESS REQUESTS




TOOLS AND TEMPLATES







VIRTUAL EVENTS




RESEARCH














HR DISCIPLINE











ASK AN HR ADVISOR




EXPRESS REQUESTS




TOOLS AND TEMPLATES







VIRTUAL EVENTS




RESEARCH






SHRM IndiaHR Tech Conference 2015,Mumbai

April 24, 2015Mumbai, India

SHRM INDIA Annual Conference 2015,New Delhi

Sept 24 - Sept 25, 2015New Delhi, India

SHRM Annual Conference& Exposition 2015, Las Vegas

June 28 - July 1, 2015Las Vegas Convention Center, USA

Visit: www.annual.shrm.orgto register

Visit: www.shrm.org/indiato register

Visit: www.shrmtech.orgto register









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EXPRESS REQUESTS




UPCOMING EVENTSTOOLS AND TEMPLATES







VIRTUAL EVENTS




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