HRCONNECT

NASSCOM
TM

Issue 3, October 2006

Published by:

Recruitment Practices
The Who, What
and How of
Sourcing the Best ?
In conversation with
Deepak Dhawan,
EXL and
Bhaskar Das,
Cognizant

Hewitt’s Point of View

on Recruitment
Framework

Best Employers recruitment

practices

Case studies on innovative

recruitment methods in
Indian organizations

International trends in recruitment

HR Connect -
An interactive platform
for the IT and ITES
industry
Editor’s Note

Inside
Let’s start with an exercise. Think of the top 3 business challenges
that your organization is facing today or is likely to face in the near
future. Lack of the right talent is sure to figure in your list. Logically,
the process of recruitment emerges as one of the most critical and
strategic processes in your organization.

The NASSCOM-McKinsey Report 2005 states that India's

Information Technology industry faces a shortfall of 500,000
professionals by 2010. Not only are organizations facing an acute
focus
View From The Top 3
shortage of talent, but also struggling to find the ‘right’ talent to
Deepak Dhawan, VP HR, EXL Services and Bhaskar
ensure organizational and individual success. Das, VP HR, Cognizant share changes and future
trends in recruitment practices
This issue of HR Connect gives readers an insight into the end-to-
end process of recruitment from workforce planning to actual Hewitt’s Recruitment Framework 4
selection. Through our feature on Best Employers, we give you an
opportunity to upgrade your practices to Best Employers Best Employers’ Recruitment Practices 5
benchmarks to be able to hire and keep the best people.
The Next Big Thing - Recruitment Process 6
Outsourcing
The emergence of a global talent pool makes it important for
Indian organizations to be up to speed with global recruitment Case Studies 7&8
practices. We equip you with the latest global practices through Innovative recruitment practices at Indian IT–ITes
our section on International recruitment trends. organizations featuring Symantec India, Nipuna, Infosys
BPO and GCI
We also caught up with HR leaders in the industry and profiled
some innovative recruitment practices at various organizations, International Trends - Talent Market Research 9
And Trends From Around The World
to give you food for thought about the tools used at your company.

We hope you find this issue of HR Connect, an interesting and

insightful read.

For a soft copy and/or to send feedback please email at

hrconnect@nasscom.in Readers Desk
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Published by Accor Services, Camera House, Majiwade Village Road, Thane (West), Mumbai 400 601 www.accorindia.com.
Supported by NASSCOM, www.nasscom.org.
Knowledge Partner : Hewitt Associates, www.hewitt.com. For private circulation only.
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HR CONNECT
View From The Top
We caught up with two HR heavyweights, from one of the fastest growing IT services company in the industry and one of the largestV
BPO service providers in India, to discuss current and future trends of recruitment practices in India. Here is our tete-a-tete with Mr.
Deepak Dhawan, Vice President Human Resources, EXL Services and Mr. Bhaskar Das, Vice President Human Resources,
Cognizant.
Progress in recruitment practices from
2000 to 2006….
The recruitment function itself has emerged as
a very significant function. Till 2000,
recruitment was hidden behind the HR
function. Today, it is no longer a department
attached to HR. Hiring has become highly
customized and processes, hiring screens,
testing methods have evolved differently for
Mr Deepak Dhawan,
VP HR, EXL Services different sub-functions. Hence, it is highly
responsive to business needs. In 2000, we did not understand the
fact that the quality of people we hire has the most significant
impact on our business. Today, we have understood that much
better.
Evolution of testing mechanisms…
The testing method in our sphere is basically 3 tiered
§ Blanket skills across the entire BPO domain like basic
computer navigation skills
§ Functional and domain specific skills
§ Psychometric testing in some cases because of the
requirement, of differences in profiles for collections (which
would require good negotiation skills) versus accounts (where
one might need a high boredom tolerance index)
Recruitment in India v/s global practices…
This has arisen from the sheer quantum of people that IT firms in
India hire and hence the amount of investment to develop and
build capability in this area has been huge. Rest of the world is
A perfect prototype employee or diversity
in your workforce…
In terms of values and cultural constructs,
there is a Cognizant prototype. However,
what would vary are the areas of skill, years of
experience, and so on. We don’t want 32,000
clones, instead people with a certain kind of
Mr Bhaskar Das,
VP HR, Cognizant anchoring and of a certain mould.
Screening mechanisms…
We have a fairly good system for screening. We rely on three
things:
§ A seasoned interviewer, by virtue of his/her experience and
knowledge, can tell a fake CV easily.
§ Strong networks with companies and educational institutes
which we deploy to conduct checks.
§ A 3rd party background check.
Industry measures towards building better talent…
One of the prime interventions that the industry can bring about is
to strengthen its academic interface.
§ Co-development of curriculum
§ Ensuring that the faculty teaching that curriculum has adequate
exposure to the industry.
§ Devise ways to increase exposure of students to the industry, so
V
ahead of us in the scale of online testing and certification systems
that are available
Innovative recruitment at EXL
EXL has been a path breaker in this area.
§ We have dedicated recruitment offices across the country
manned by our own people.
§ We have run many new campaigns like the Voice of Pune
campaign, tie ups with FM channels for BPOs across many
cities.
§ We have tie ups with service providers to use their offices for
hiring across the country. Our aim is to make recruitment retail
by reaching out to people rather than sitting in our office and
waiting for people to walk- in to hire them.
§ We ensure that not more than 50% are hired from outside, in
order not to deny opportunities to people within the company.
Key future trends in recruitment
§ Investment in e–recruitment and technology application
support for recruitment.
§ Vendor support for hiring will also increase with Recruitment
Process Outsourcing and Training Process Outsourcing
being the next big things.
“
“
Recruitment has become a sales function. Today you need skills
like strong vendor management, high target orientation, the ability
to manage networks across the country and a very sharp
business focus in people who handle recruitment.
that they can make a more knowledgeable choice when they
decide to join an organization.
§ Evolution from the single summer pass-out system to a system
of two pass-out seasons in a calendar year. Between April and
July, the entire academia churns out thousands of graduates,
but the industry cannot absorb them in just these three months
time-frame; they need talent all year round. The ratio of students
Passing out in two different seasons should change to at least
60:40 if not 50:50. This change in the campus pass-out and
there-fore placement system would have a huge impact on the
dynamics of the talent market. This is something that the
industry can at least encourage the academic world to move
towards.
“
“
Campuses need to evolve their placement system
from a summer pass out system to a system of two
pass out seasons in a calendar year
Psychometric tools for recruitment….
We use psychometric profiling for developmental purposes but
not for recruitment. As a recruitment tool, the factors measured by
psychometric tools are not useful. It’s almost like saying if a person
likes the colour orange, then he/she is comfortable with power,
and would be good for a CEO position. Good story, not a very
robust method to make a recruitment decision.
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HR CONNECT

Point of View
Hewitt’s Recruitment Framework
Planning for the talent Attracting the right talent
§ Forecasting talent § Identifying candidate sources
§ Identifying gaps between § Focusing on internal channels
desired and current demand of recruitment (internal job
§ Determining priority to fill the posting/ employee referral/
talent demand website)
§ Establishing and
communicating a strong
employer brand
Selecting the right talent
§ Establishing clear selection
criteria
§ Establishing robust selection
processes to ensure selection
of quality talent
§ Improving lead time and
reducing recruitment cost
Induction and orientation
§ Building a smooth induction
process
§ Ensuring business, role and
culture orientation
§ Improving business
leadership and senior
management involvement
§ Ensuring regular follow up

Process and cost efficency

Are You Planning Your Talent Force? Are You Selecting The Right Talent?
[ Forecast talent needs based on current and future business [ Develop competency models for hiring - focus on behaviors in
needs addition to skills and credentials
[ Develop partnerships between Human Resources and [ Use selection tests and role play exercises
business units to improve accuracy of projections [ Use “realistic job previews” before hire
[ Consider forecasting of talent demand and identification of [ Develop coaching tools to assist managers to understand their
talent supply separately role in the hiring process
[ Use technology as a key to successful workforce planning [ Improve reference checking to include performance testimony
[ Describe positions and requirements precisely
[ Of the positions needed to be filled, prioritize and identify the What are others doing right?
critical ones requiring immediate focus
Allstate Insurance Company
What are others doing right? § Candidates complete an on-line application form and watch
3M a video-based realistic job preview for Claims Department
§ Uses demand forecasting techniques such as the use of project jobs.
estimates to plan for future requirements. § Candidates take various selection tests including a
§ During business planning, each unit forecasts the number of “computerized in-basket” exercise which has employees
make decisions as they would on the job and also helps
recruits needed.
evaluate computer familiarity.
Are You Attracting The Right Talent?
Texas Instruments
Effectiveness Of Sourcing Methods
§ Uses an electronic self-selection tool for candidate
Source of recruitment Volume Quality ROI
assessment. Candidates perform a “fit check” by answering
Online 37% 25% 36% a series of questions to find out the degree of compatibility
between the company and themselves.
Newspaper 46% 16% 24%
Referrals 8% 28% 23%

Search firms 2% 15% 5% Are You Inducting Candidates Effectively?

On - campus recruiting 3% 4%
Temp agencies 2% 2%
Source: SHRM’s Recruiter Budget/Cost Survey 2005
[ Organizations strategically use different sources to attract
and recruit talent at different levels
[ The use of technology to attract talent is increasing. This
reduces costs and increases efficiency
What are others doing right?
CISCO
§ Comprehensive, web-enabled recruiting system allows
candidates to learn about Cisco culture and benefits, search
for jobs by keywords, apply for positions, submit résumé or
complete a profile for pre-screening, and ask questions.
5% [ Align the orientation to business strategy, emphasizing on
the key strategies
2%
[ Channels like website/pre-joining modules could be
explored to reduce the duration of one on one induction
program
[ View orientation as a process, not an event. Involve the line
managers with appropriate coaching and tools to follow up
on the candidate’s expectation and aspirations
[ Account an individual/group responsible for the
design/development up gradation of the induction process

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HR CONNECT

Perspective
How Do Best Employers Recruit?
The Hewitt Best Employers in India study is the largest employee Employer Brand:
research project and market practice audit in India. The study A majority of organizations have a formal and clearly articulated
identifies those organizations whose people practices distinguish Employer Brand that is used to attract the best talent. While most
them as outstanding places to work and enable them to deliver organizations had an employer brand, following were the most
value through people. and least descriptive characteristics used by organizations to
describe themselves.
We present to you, highlights of the recruitment practices of
Least Descriptive Characteristics
premier organizations within the IT and ITes industry in India that
constitutes approximately 28% of the 272 organizations that § Diversity in workforce
participated in the last Best Employers in India 2004 study. § Flexible work hours
§ Great place for first job experience
Planning for the Talent Force § Alignment of employee skill set with the work
Staffing Strategy:
§ 87% of organizations have reported having a staffing strategy in
place that helps them recruit the best talent and appropriately Most Descriptive Characteristics
staff them on work. § Advancement opportunities
§ There is a clear trend in the staffing strategy of Best Employers – § Provide a career
75% of IT organizations emphasize on developing employees § Interesting & challenging work
from within the organization, while only 25% emphasize on hiring
experienced employees from outside the organization.This Selecting the Right Talent
trend in the recruitment philosophy is depicted in the graph Other 34%
below. Informal lunch/dinner 50%
Internship program/formal 77%
probationary period
35%
32% 32% Assesment centers/skills assesment 43%
30%
Behavioral environment interviewing 40%
25%
Psychological assesment test/interview 40%
20% Group interviews (with several candidates) 7%
15% 14% Interview with potential subordinates 23%
11%
10% Interview with potential peers 60%
7%

5% 4% Interview with senior supervisor 87%

Interview with potential supervisor 97%

0%
Much more Somewhat Slightly more Slightly more Somewhat Much more Interview with HR 97%
Emphasied more Emphasied Emphasied more Emphasied
Emphasied Emphasied 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Hire experienced employees Hire experienced employees Interviews with HR and potential supervisors are the most
from outside the organisation. from within the organisation. commonly used practices in these organizations, while group
interviews are the least used.
§ Another increasingly common channel is through internships
Attracting the Right Talent
§ New practices like informal meals, BEI and psychological
Identifying Candidate Sources:
assessments are also seen to be increasing.
While there is still heavy reliance on external consultants for senior
positions, employee referrals and internet are also being
Induction and Orientation
extensively used across all positions. 80% of the organizations in
§ 100% of organizations had meetings with the CEO/senior
the IT segment alter the referral amounts based on the position
executives and presentation of the organization’s values and
being hired.
business objectives as a part of the orientation program.
§ Computer based orientation through CDs and internet was
No.1 channel No.2 channel No.3 channel seen as a commonly used method with 80% of organizations
having using this.
Senior External Employee Internal
§ Team activities were the least common orientation method.
Management Consultant Referral Recruitment
Team
Middle Employee Internet External BEST EMPLOYERS IN INDIA 2007
Management Referral Consultant

Junior Employee Internet Internal Job Hewitt has launched the Best Employers in India
2007 study in partnership with The Economic Times.
Management Referral Posting
For more information on the study and to register your
participation log onto www.bestemployersasia.com

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HR CONNECT
The Next Big Thing
Recruitment Process Outsourcing
In recent times, corporate India has been crying hoarse about the
“Talent Crunch” and the “War For Talent” and not without good
reasons.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing is in direct response to this
rising need in the industry. According to Vipul Prakash, Partner,
Elixir Web Solutions, an end-to-end RPO company in India, “RPO
is a strategic business initiative, which improves a company’s
ability in many aspects. It helps to attract, acquire, and deploy
talent by bringing specialized expertise, improved focus and
proven best practices to the company.” Raghuveer Sakuru,
Managing Director of Kenexa Technologies, one of the earliest
players in the RPO space, says, “The RPO segment, although still
in its infancy in India, is growing rapidly. The Indian economy is
seeing shortages of R&D personnel in the automotive industry,
middle and senior management personnel, engineers, MBAs in
niche industries such as Biotech and IT product development, and
English-speaking employees for retail and call center jobs. A well-
planned RPO process can go a long way towards filling this void.”
Current Scenario in India
Vipul Prakash of Elixir quotes the Gartner estimates of the growth
of the global HRO market to $80 billion by 2008. Given the break up
of the HRO pie along the different offerings (Figure 1), he
estimates that the RPO industry in India today could well be a
mammoth INR 2000 crores.
(Figure 1)
HRO Functions Percentage
Contribution
Payroll 40%
Recruitment 35%
Compensation & Benefits 5%
Performance Management 5%
Training 15%
Enabling the RPO process
RPO firms have responded to the increased demands placed on
them with great élan in terms of striving to provide a holistic
solution to their clients. According to Asim Handa, Country
Leader, Futurestep India, a global RPO firm, “RPO involves
conducting a complete due diligence exercise on the client
company covering their current processes, hiring practices,
vendors they work with etc. This due diligence exercise takes 3-4
w e e k s . S u b s e q u e n t l y, w e l o o k a t t h e e n t i r e
restructuring/remodelling of the company’s processes to make
them far more efficient using proprietary software/technology.
This process takes another 3-4 weeks. So, the entire process to
develop an effective and efficient setup takes around 6-8 weeks,
post which the actual business of hiring the right talent starts.”
Spectrum of Offerings
This has presented unique challenges to the companies that offer
RPO solutions. Firstly, they have to battle the popular notion that
RPO is synonymous with an executive search process. The
realization that RPO is all that and a whole lot more is slowly but
surely dawning upon the HR departments of various companies. A
look at the typical functions that a RPO firm would provide to its
clients (Figure 2) is a testimonial to the maturity that the offering is
fast achieving.
(Figure 2)
Spectrum of services provided by RPO firms
§ Staffing department management services
§ On-site staffing professional support
§ Multi-channel sourcing strategy development and
execution
§ Employee referral program administration
§ Process consulting & design
§ Direct recruiting services
§ Vendor management for advertising, employment and
facilitation
§ Talent management/applicant tracking system
§ Behavioural & trait based pre-employment assesment
§ Skills based pre-employment assesment
§ Employee engagment measurement and retention
consulting
§ Full report package & ROI measurement
Key Benefits from an RPO Engagement
Besides the obvious advantage of freeing up time in the HR
department and the engagement of a specialist for the job, some
of the key benefits that clients of RPO firms have come to see are:
Streamlined Recruitment Process
§ Reduced operational costs of talent acquisition
§ Increased talent levels and consistency
§ Expedited time to market of project teams ensuring timely
deployable resources
§ Established process to achieve repeatable results
§ Measurement and tracking of effectiveness of assessment
process and quality of hires towards greater accuracy in
forecasting
§ Accountable partners who can accommodate growth and
future needs
§ Create a variable cost structure for the recruitment function
Most vendors claim that they can help their clients achieve 15%-
20% returns on their investment in RPO. This would of course be
over and above the other significant benefits mentioned above.
The Indian RPO story is just beginning to emerge if global trends
are anything to go by. This is the reason that almost all the global
majors in this arena like, Futurestep, the RPO subsidiary of
Korn/Ferry International, Manpower Inc, Adecco, Kenexa, Talent
Fusion, Spherion, Os2i have made a beeline for India.
“Gar tner estimates the growth of the global
HRO market to $80 billion by 2008”
“Most vendors claim that they can help their
clients achieve 15%-20% returns on their
investment in RPO”
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HR CONNECT
Case Studies
Building Talent The Infosys BPO Way
With a fast growing employee base from 610 employees in 02-03, to 7021 employees in 05-06, Infosys BPO believes that the focus
of Talent Sourcing should be on talent acquisition as well as increasing the overall supply of talent in the Labor market. Hence, their
following innovative initiatives are geared towards this.
Campus Ambassador Program: The Campus Ambassador
Program (CAP) aims at building relationships with top colleges
and creating an understanding of the BPO industry, available job
prospects and growth opportunities in the student and academi c
community. The program is a 4 month Internship (Sept ember –
Jan uary) and starts with the chosen Campus Ambassadors from
colleges across the country participating in a week long
orientation program at the Bangalore office, during which they
meet with top management and get a perspective about the
industry. In its 3rd year, this program has grown to include 125
colleges under its reach and has attained an aspiration status for
students to be selected as the Infosys BPO Campus Ambassador
of the year.
The Infosys BPO Elective : Through a 2nd year elective i n BPO in
the B-school curriculum of selected Management institutes,
Infosys senior management members teach students about the
industry and various aspects like Operations, Sales, Human
Resources etc. This enables Infosys help students make an
informed decision about this industry.
Going Beyond The Obvious : Recruitment At Nipuna
Nipuna was recently named ‘Best Indian ITES Company’ by HYSEA and become the ‘World’s First eSCM Capability Level 4 Service
Provider’. Currently with over 2000 associates, Nipuna plans to hire an additional 1500 resources by year end. In the face of the
same problems that the entire industry is seeing in the search for talent, Nipuna devises unique ways to recruit with élan.
Recruitment @ Nipuna: From plans to practices
Focusing on quality recruitment: Nipuna’s throughput rate of
3% reflects focus on quality. At Nipuna, all recruitment processes,
such as FAST (Forecast Analyze Staff and Train) methodology,
have been audited for adherence to eSCM* (eSourcing Capability
Model) level 4 standards.
Manager-level recruitment: For the all-important managerial
openings, a rigorous 5-step process involving HR interviews,
psychometric tests, background checks, reference checks and
leadership interaction is used. It is one of the very few
organizations to use peer-level interviewing to get a second
opinion on a prospective candidate.
Internal Job Postings: Internal Job postings are used to best
leverage talents within the organization and add to the knowledge
pool of associates
Exploring innovative recruitment methods
Nipuna aggressively looks out for opportunities to tap the best
talent available. Some examples in recent times:
§ 100-hours non-stop recruitment marathon: A unique
recruitment drive aimed at attracting the best talent in a short
Professor Internships Program : This program aims to bridge
the divide between management theory and the dynamics of real-
world business. The program invites faculty members from B-
schools and premier graduate schools for various functional
projects at Infosys BPO. Each project experience becomes an
enriching corporate medium to study live subject matter and gain
real-world insights for advanced academic research.
Project Genesis: This program creates awareness amongst the
teaching fraternity in B and C towns, to equip teachers to create a
positive reflection of the BPO industry among students, help them
acquire the necessary skill sets through training programs and
handle any queries about BPO careers. Over 6000 students have
been trained under “Project Genesis” since its kick off in April
2004. Based on the success of the initiative in Karnataka, Infosys
was invited by the Rajasthan government to launch a similar
initiative.
duration. The activity was conducted at Hyderabad from 27th-
31st July 2006. The philosophy behind this innovative
approach was to facilitate the prospective candidate to walk
into our office any time during the 100 hour window as per
his/her convenience.
§ Job Fair Sponsorship & Participation: Nipuna participates
in job fairs across cities, increasing hiring while reaching out to
a larger target audience through word-of-mouth publicity and
peer recommendation.
Recruitment process at Nipuna leverages
Industry Best Practices
§ Technical test and Voice & Accent test for accent
neutralization
§ Case studies (scenario-based)
§ Role plays, psychometrics, cross-functional interviews
(Managers & above)
§ Mandatory leadership interaction (Leaders & above)
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HR CONNECT

Case Studies
Branding Recruitment: Symantec India
Symantec was founded in 1982 and now employs more than 15,500 people. Forbes magazine has called it “The Best Managed
Companies in America”. We spoke with Mr. Abhay Valsangkar, Director HR Symantec India about recruitment practices at
Symantec.

Recruitment at Symantec… Coping mechanisms…

We follow a simple & yet a very powerful strategy when it comes to
managing human resources. It’s called W2C2. To ensure the right
candidate for every job, we provide a complete understanding of
the role that she/he is going to play after joining.
Symantec’s HRM Mantra: W2C2
Work Environment Compensation
Work Content Career Development
Key recruitment challenges over the years…
§ Hiring for the business needs that in itself have been undergoing
fundamental changes has been a journey fraught with variety of
challenges.
§ We cope with significant requirements of people with fairly
scarce skills in the specialized domains of Security & Availability
domains.
§ We imbibe the product development culture into young talent
through focused Internship Programmes & new Learning
Initiatives.
§ Additionally, we also seek talent from across the globe to work in
our Innovation Centre in Pune.
Future of recruitment…
We can cope with the war for talent only if we make a paradigm shift
from our one-dimensional approach, where no matter with what
energy we pursue our targets, we are always left in a situation of
perennially falling just short of the goalpost. We must, therefore,
embrace an approach of proactively encouraging the flexible
organisation that we have created, to provide us the required
ability to scale up or scale down the hiring effort, in the face of
dynamic business needs. This will actually help us deliver
numbers ahead of time.
“ The recruitment function needs built-in flexibility
“
through strategic alliances with experts in the
a r ea s o f S o u r c i n g , P r e- A s s es s m en t s &
sometimes even Event Management.

Recruitment At Global Consultants Inc.

GCI is a new generation global services company providing end to
end IT solutions.

Pshychometric tools for recruitment

GCI believes that psychometric tests are tools to map a potential
candidate with the organization’s culture, environment and job
responsibilities. For middle/senior management, they conduct the
Thomas Profiling test which helps in mapping the potential
candidates profile to GCI’s work culture.

Job Fairs for recruitment

GCI takes part in Job Fairs that have varied audiences-freshers,
laterals and in all their various channels both physical and online.
The investment is in terms of banners, posters, stalls, inbuilt online
tests that work out to a fraction of the cost when compared to
advertising.

Employee Referrals
At GCI, around 30% of our recruitments are through the referral
route. The incentive amount varies with position and they
recognize and encourage employees to refer more than one
candidate. The internal referral program has a tremendous return
on investment and it is also an indicator of the employees pride in
GCI.

Innovative practices at GCI

§ Social Networking § E-groups
§ Professional Networking § Mapping Organizations
§ HR Forums

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HR CONNECT
International Trends
Talent Market Research And Trends From
Around The World
Most worldwide research on talent attraction and retention sets a
foreboding warning for all organizations - highly skilled, talented,
dedicated people, the kind that drive successful organizations are
scarce and will continue to become scarcer over the next few
years. Amidst this, what can organizations do to ensure they hire
top performers who already have jobs and many an offer lined up.
And if getting them on board was not enough, retaining them and
ensuring they grow along with the organization poses another
tough challenge
Where to find them
A Booz Allen survey of leading U.S. companies, done in 2005 for
the Direct Employers Association, found that 51 percent of new
hires in 2005 were sourced on the Internet and only 5 percent were
found through classified ads in newspapers.
51 % of new hires were sourced on the Internet:
§ 21 % were produced by the companies’ own websites
§ 15 % came through general job boards such as Monster and
CareerBuilder.
§ 6 % through “niche” sites meant for specific occupations or
industries.
§ 5 % through social-network websites
§ 4 % through commercial résumé databases
HR departments need to design their own websites to appeal to
the best performers. Most corporate sites are not “talent-centric,”
or centered around what top performers want. They are designed
for someone looking for work, not people who might be looking for
a change. The company web site should instead answer the
questions about what its targeted talent pool looks for in a career
and hence offer the right value proposition that might draw in a
visitor’s interest.
Giving them what they want
A 2006 Conference Board study highlights that the key to hiring top
performers and retaining them is to comprehend what the best
want from their work and tailor the company’s value proposition
accordingly. A growing number of companies have been
successful in marrying employee expectations and experience to
the company’s evolving strategic needs. But before organizations
can put a unique value proposition out in the market, they need to
know what the best really want. The best and the brightest also
eagerly look for ‘job stretch’ - the degree to which a job being
offered to a candidate will exceed the challenges, influence and
status in his or her current job.
A Conference Board study asked employees what they
expected from their employers.
The top three responses were:
1. Interesting, challenging work
2. Open, two-way communication
3. Opportunities for growth and development
Compensation finished a distant eighth. Decades of research
suggest that money becomes most important when it is
inadequate.
Getting it right
According to a recent Deloitte research study titled “Its 2008: Do
you know where your talent is?”, organizations need to evolve from
the conventional metric focused ‘acquisition’ and ‘retention’
strategies, to methods that concentrate on the things that
employees care about most: developing in ways that stretch their
capabilities, deploying work that engages their heads and hearts,
and connecting to the people who will help them achieve their
objectives. By focusing on these three things, attraction, and
retention largely take care of themselves.
Develop: providing the real-life learning employees need to
master a job – the “trial by fire” experiences that stretch their
capabilities and the lessons they learn from peers, mentors,
and others.
Deploy: working with key individuals to (a) identify their deep-
rooted skills, interests, and knowledge, (b) find their best fit in
the organization, and (c) craft the job design and conditions
that help them to perform.
Connect: providing critical employees with the tools and
guidance they need to (a) build networks that enhance
individual and organizational performance, and (b) improve
the quality of their interactions with others.
The study also says that few organizations like Microsoft, SAS and
Southwest Airlines, have been able to devise and use methods
that have been able to attract and retain the right people.
The SAS way
SAS is the world’s largest privately held software company,
boasts 3.5 million users, 90 % market penetration of the
Fortune 500, and 26 years of consistent revenue growth. SAS
attributes its success to finding the right people at the right
time and taking care of them. Finding the right people is driven
by a key tool for project managers - a highly detailed skills
database. The software helps SAS’s managers analyze the
gap between the skills they currently have in their departments
for a business unit or project and the skills they will need in
future. Dynamic models allow them to test different scenarios.
By predicting their needs, they can set out to find and develop
the best people to help them shift strategies. How do they find
the best people? Not through software, but through
connections. SAS employs dedicated “networkers” whose
full-time job is to connect people and ideas. They are key
players in the process, matching managers to the people and
skills that they need, no matter where they reside in the firm.
9
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