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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human resource management (HRM, or simply HR) is the management of an organizations workforce, or human resources.

It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, and ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives. CHALLENGES IN MODERN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: 1.CHANGING WORKFORCE DYNAMICS Frequently, physical relocation is required. The increasing number of dual-career professionals limits individual flexibility in accepting such assignments may hinder organizational flexibility in acquiring and developing talent. Some demographic changes in the workforce having their own implications to the HR managers. 2.CHANGING EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS Employees demand empowerment and expect equality with the management. Previous notion on managerial authority are giving way to employee influence and involvement along with mechanisms for upward communication and due process. If we look at the workers unions of Otis, Hindustan Lever, ICI TOMCO, Blue Star, Webel Electro and Central Bank. They rewrite their agenda to include quality and better customer service and even accusing the management of malpractices. 3.GLOBALIZATION Many Indian firms are compelled to think globally, something which is difficult for mangers who were accustomed to operate in vast sheltered markets with minimal or no competition either from domestic or foreign firms. Indian firms need to move one end of each continuum to the other end. 4.MANAGING DIVERSITY Its value is getting more important issue because of increase in the number of young workers in the workforce, increase in the number of women joining the workforce increase in the proportion of ethnic minorities in the total workforce increase in mobility of workforce international career and expatriates are becoming common, international experience as a pre-requisite for career progression to many top level managerial positions.

5.OUTSOURCING HUMAN RESOURCE The trend towards outsourcing has been caused by several strategic and operational motives. HR departments are diverting themselves from mundane activities to focus more on strategic role. Outsourcing has also been used to help reduce bureaucracy and to encourage a more responsive culture by introducing external market forces into the firm through the biding process. It is a big challenge before the HR manager to prove that his/her department is as important as any other functions in the organization. 6.MAKING HR ACTIVITIES ETHICAL Hiring ethical strong employees is only the beginning. The need to institute mechanisms to ensure ethical conduct of employees is increased a lot with the passage of time. The HR manager needs to carefully screen applications for jobs, weed out those who are prone to indulge in misdemeanors and hire those who can build a value driven organization. 7.ORGANIZATIONAL RESTRUCTURING Peter Drucker prophesies in his book (The New Realities) is showing its colour and many big companies has reduced their number of management grades, elimination of layers, and redrawing reporting lines within their organization. ITC, HLL, Godrej & Boyce, RPG Enterprise, Raymond Woollen Mills, Shaw Wallace, Ballapur Industries, Compton & Greaves are some of the companies that are doing so. 8.WORK LIFE BALANCING Balancing work and life assumes relevance when both husband and wife are employed. Travails of a working housewife are more than a working husband, thus balancing it is becoming a major challenge for HR manager. So a programme aiming balancing work life is required and are supposed to include; childcare, Job sharing, Care for sick children and employees, On site summer camp, Training supervisor to respond to work and family needs of employees, Flexible work scheduling, Sick leave policies, Variety of errands from dry cleaning, dropping children at school, making dinner reservations etc and many more like the same or other. CHALLENGES OF HRM IN INDIAN IT INDUSTRY: The indian IT industry poses a baffling challenge to HR professionals-from recruitment to retaintment, compensation to career planning and from technological obsolescence to Challenges in Modern Human Resource Management labour turnover. This problem can be tackled with the use of HR planning which in itself is a challenging task in IT industry. Determining the strength required for the near future is a very complex problem in an IT company. The deciding factor is the companys perceived ability to bag projects both locally and internationally. The problem here is that until the company have sufficient right-mix of

people, it cannot clinch a project. But unless there is a project, it cannot attract and retain people. With the advent of MNCs it may be noted that job prospects are gearing up. The multinationals are offering fantastic pay packets and working environments to their employees. CHALLENGES IN TCS 1.THE MAINTAIN WORKFORCE DIVERSITY The future success of any organizations relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organizational asset if an organization is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse talents. With the mixture of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and lifestyles, an organization can respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively, especially in the global arena (Cox, 1993), which must be one of the important organizational goals to be attained. More importantly, if the organizational environment does not support diversity broadly, one risks losing talent to competitors. Since TCS has offices in more than 40 countries, the challenge for hrm is to maintain the proper ratio between foreign and indian origin employees. 2.THE MANAGEMENT OF WORKPLACE DIVERSITY In order to effectively manage workplace diversity, Cox (1993) suggests that a HR M an-ager needs to change from an ethnocentric view ("our way is the best way") to a culturally relative perspective ("let's take the best of a variety of ways"). This shift in philosophy has to be ingrained in the managerial framework of the HR Manager in his/her planning, organizing, leading and controlling of organizational resources.TCS deals with this challenge by conducting mentoring programs. 3.LARGE WORKFORCE There is a big challenge of maintaining large work force consisting of 1.3 Lac employees for TCS. 4.MANAGING EIS As information is the basis of decision-making in an organization, there lies a great need for effective managerial control. A good control system would ensure the communication of the right information at the right time and relayed to the right people to take prompt actions. When managing an Executive Information System, a HR manager must first find out exactly what information decision-makers would like to have available in the field of human resource management, and then to include it in the EIS. This is because having people simply use an EIS that lacks critical information is of no value-add to the

organization. In addition, the manager must ensure that the use of information technology has to be brought into alignment with strategic business goals. 5.CONTROL AND MEASURE RESULTS A HR Manager must conduct regular organizational assessments on issues like pay, bene-fits, work environment, management and promotional opportunities to assess the progress over the long term. There is also a need to develop appropriate measuring tools to measure the impact of diversity initiatives at the organization through organization wide feedback surveys and other methods. Without proper control and evaluation, some of these diversity initiatives may just fizzle. 6.LEADING THE TALK A HR Manager needs to advocate a diverse workforce by making diversity evident at all organizational levels. Otherwise, some employees will quickly conclude that there is no future for them in the company. As the HR Manager, it is pertinent to show respect for diversity issues and promote clear and positive responses to them. He/She must also show a high level of commitment and be able to resolve issues of workplace diversity in an ethical and responsible manner. 7.HOW TO KEEP THE SAME LEVEL OF RECRUITEMENT EVEN INRECESSION The biggest challenge for HR is to maintain the company reputation, which it gained over the period by recruiting a large number of new employees every year. 8.HOW TO ABSORB ALL RECRUITEES Though there are recruitments in large scale, they do not have enough projects to absorb all the new recruited employees. In order to tackle this situation, they are calling the new recruited employees in small batches rather than 2-3 large groups. 9.EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE FOR PROMOTIONS TCS has just suspended the promotion cycle till further notice. As told by Mr. Susheel, he is eligible for promotion since Nov -2007.

10.HOW TO MAKE MORE PROFIT WITH SAME REVENUE As per Economic times, TCS is planning to decrease the variable pay of executives by 10-15% and keeping the gross same for middle management and developers.11.HOW TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEEThe development of an appropriate organizational reward system is probably one of the strongest motivational factors. This can influence both job satisfaction

and employee motivation. The reward system affects job satisfaction by making the employee more comfortable and contented Motivational factors in an organizational context include working environment, job as a result of the rewards received. The reward system influences motivation primarily through the perceived value of the rewards and their contingency on performance. The challenge which HR is facing is that how to motivate employee without any significant salary hike or promotion. CHALLENGES IN BIRLASOFT 1.COMMUNICATION Focusing on establishing effective communication throughout the organization and to ensure that Birlasoftians have the skills and avenues to share information and coordinate activities effectively. 2.PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT Driving the organizations and its members progress by establishing objectives related to committed work against which performance can be measured, ascertain capability development assistance required to continuously enhance performance. 3.COMPETENCYDEVELOPMENT This starts with identification of requisite competencies at the organization level which are ultimately dependent on competencies that are needed to be identified, built or enhanced in the individual Birlasoftian. Enhancing constantly the capability of Birlasoftians to perform assigned tasks and responsibility in turn uplinks to the organization capability building. 4.TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT To ensure that the identified competency requirements are built through a systematic and focused approach. 5.COMPENSATION To provide all individuals with remuneration and benefits based on their contribution and value to the organization in a fair and transparent manner. Competitiveness of the compensation offered in comparison with the prevailing markets' reality is the driving force.

6.CAREER DEVELOPMENT To ensure that individuals are provided opportunities to develop their competencies that enable them to achieve professional and personal career objectives within the organizations goals. 7.PARTICIPATORY CULTURE A myopic outlook of utilizing talents of people only in the delivery of assigned duties has two broad undesirable effects: It prevents people from developing as well rounded professionals; and it denies the organization the readily available multi-talented internal resource pool that could potentially contribute to most of the challenges and opportunities facing the organization. Building a participatory culture enables availability of avenues to harness/give exposure to employees full capability by involvement in making decisions and solving problems that affect the performance of business activities. CHALLENGES FACED BY THE HR MANAGER OF ITC 1.ATTRITION Attrition is the gradual reduction of a workforce by employees' leaving and not being replaced rather than by their being laid. Reducing attrition rate has been a challenge for HR Managers since many years. Tobacco industry was not much affected by the problem of attrition, but due to stringency in government policies, this problem became a prominent challenge for HR Managers of this industry. The same is the case with HR Manager of ITC, due to stringency in government policies, the sales went down and the profits declined. In order to maintain the profit levels employees were pressurized and thereby adding to the attrition rate. Now, HR Managers are working hard to reduce this increasing attrition rate. 2.RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING As the employees are leaving the organization due to increased work pressures, it has become mandatory for the HR Manager to recruit new employees. And in this liquidity crunch they are spending on the recruitment and training of the new recruits.

3.RETENTION Retention is a process of continued possession. Retaining an employee without giving any fringe benefits is although more difficult. In the current scenario when each and every organization is suffering from liquidity crunch it is very difficult for an organization to give tangible or intangible benefits.HR Manager of ITC also is moving in the same boat. He is also facing difficulties in retaining the old employees, as he is not able to motivate them and with the increased pressure the attrition is increasing.

CHALLENGES FACED BY HR IN INDIAN BPO The major challenges being faced by the ITES or BPO industry in India can be classified into internal and external challenges. The internal challenges include shortage of competent managers for the middle and senior management and the high attrition rates. The external challenge is in the form of opposition from the US politicians and the UK labor unions against shifting of the BPO operations by local companies to India. The threat of real competition from other players like Philippines also exists, but doesn't seem to need our immediate attention. A speaker at the ITES-BPO Track at Nasscom 2003 commented that it is not ITES, but HRES. That succinctly explains the importance and value attached to the 'people' aspect in this service industry. The fact that this industry is still in its nascent stage in India has led to the dearth of experienced middle management level team leaders and senior managers. Nasscom President Kiran Karnik agrees that shortage of middle and senior level managers is in fact a critical issue. Entry-level recruitment and employment has not been a problem with so many fresh graduates with good language skills, available readily in the job market. The problem is more intense for the third-party outsourcing companies which have just ventured into this business. They cannot even invest in training, given their financial and other constraints. Captive BPOs like GE and American Express, which are established players in the business, have no such problems. They in fact invest substantially in training their managers. However, they have been facing a problem of a different kind. Their middle and senior level managers are being poached by the new entrants to the industry. Reports say that large and established players face an attrition rate of 45% against the industry average of 35%. Everyone agrees that hiring from competition is a cyclical process and will not help the industry grow, but with very few options available, they resort to the easiest solution poaching. That brings us to the next issue - high attrition rates. Attrition means not only loss of talent, but also includes the cost of training the new recruits. The attrition rate in the industry has been hovering around 35%, which is quite high for any industry. An average Indian call center employee works with a company for 11 months, where as an average UK call center employee stays in a company for 3 years. It is expected that the attrition rates would come down once the growth stabilizes. Steep growth is one of the reasons for the high attrition rates. According to a survey by People-One Consulting, an employee's leaving the organization happens typically in the first couple of weeks of joining. The reasons are many - high stress levels, monotonous nature of the job, demand-supply disparity and lack of career growth potential on the professional front; loss of identity, mismatch with normal cycle, complete change of life style and lack of comfort on the personal front. Add to this, the 'poaching' strategy being adopted by the players in the industry. What else can we expect, but an attrition rate of 35%?

Tackling the attrition problem... The industry players are trying out all the tricks in the book to tie down their employees and keep them locked in a safe. They have been offering excellent infrastructure facilities in the form of ergonomically designed work stations and spacious, air-conditioned offices. They have been offering industry specific benefits like 24/7 cafeterias and home pick-up and drop facilities apart from regular benefits like retirals and loans at low interest rates. They have been arranging special weekend parties and offering incentives like tickets to exclusive music shows and dance parties. Some players are also sponsoring the higher education of their employees. This is one of the best ways of retaining a skilled employee for 2-3 years with a company. All this really goes well with a typical employee, who is in his early twenties, fresh out of college and unmarried. The industry has been quite benevolent on the compensation front as well. According to a Hewitt Associates survey conducted last year, the highest salary increase in the Asia Pacific region was in India. Within the country, it was the ITES industry which recorded the highest growth of 14%. The variable pay component varied in the range of 15-70%, which is exhorbitant, to say the least. All these measures are at the organizational level. At the industry level, companies have tried to get into informal agreements with competitors to avoid poaching. Though these agreements have no legal sanctity, they are based on mutual faith of the companies. For example, GE, HSBC, Nipuna, Microsoft, etc. informally agreed that they would not recruit someone who has worked for less than a year with his employer or someone who has switched 3 jobs in 2 years. Similarly, Tracmail, Infowavz, Transworks, Epicenter and Global Telesystems have all entered into an informal understanding to arrest poaching. In spite of all these measures, the attrition rates have remained high. All these attempts by the employers have resulted in only partial success. What should companies do to curb this unhealthy trend? Experts feel that appropriate staffing strategies and managing employee morale are the key areas. Recruiting the right kind of people not only at the entry level but also for the middle management level can be a big contributing factor. Any fresh graduate in need of a job would say that working during odd hours and adapting to a new life style is not a problem, but when it actually comes to adapting to a completely different way of life, they find it difficult to reorient themselves. Adequate care should be taken in choosing and employing candidates in the entry level positions. Companies should also be willing to invest in training employees to take up higher responsibilities as team leads and managers. A strong middle and senior management helps in arresting attrition at the lower levels and consolidates the organizational culture and character. Another important area of concern is the limited growth potential for an employee in this industry. Organizations should concentrate on individual career growth of employees and

succession planning in the organization. Planning for growth both vertically and horizontally can bring a little reprieve to the employees. Horizontal growth can be in the form of promoting the employee from simple to more complex processes within the organization. This will enhance the learning of the employee and make him "feel-good". HR INTERVENTIONS FOR EMPLOYEE WORK-LIFE BALANCE (WLBPS) Achieving work-life balance may be a priority and desire of an individual employee; however, its not his or her sole responsibility. Work-life balance issue has become important for organisations to consider. Employers being the advocates of setting norms and conditions at the workplace are considered to be the facilitators of combining work and family of employees. It is believed that when a management strategy relieves the interference from one domain, the demands of the second domain may be better met and prove to be less disruptive to the first domain. It is with this philosophy and against the changing demographic trends as seen in the changing participation rates for working women and working mothers, the rise in dual-career couples, the increase in single-parent families, organisations have crafted many policies and practices to address the changing needs and demands of employees and help them achieve better work-life balance. Such interventions are typically defined as familyfriendly policies (FFPs) or work-life benefits and programmes (WLBPs). WLBPs are those institutionalized structural and procedural arrangements, as well as formal and informal practices that make it easier for individuals to manage the often-conflicting worlds of work and family lives. WLBPs can be organised into three major categories, policies, benefits and services. Policies cover the formal and informal ways by which employees work and leave schedules are handled, including art-time work, flexitime, and parental/family leave. Benefits cover different forms of compensation that protect against loss of earnings, payment of medical expenses and sponsored vacation. Services include on-site or near-site childcare centers, medical facilities and counseling. WLBPs also include government mandated statutory policies such as maternity leaves and benefits as well as discretionary policies and benefits offered by various organisations such as flexitime, telecommuting and employee assistance programmes such as stress management programmes. Although employers often define work-family integration as a parenting or dependent care issue, over time, many firms are broadening the policies and practices to support employees participation in many life roles and even personal developments. There is a growing recognition of the need to support not only those with visible family needs and responsibilities (e.g., working mothers having child care responsibilities), but all employees at many life stages who may experience work-life stresses regardless of their family status. Earlier, adoption of WLBPs has largely been viewed as practical response to the increasing proportion of women employees in the workforce, employees with caring responsibilities and the problems such as absenteeism, turnover associated with that (Lambert, 2000). However, in recent years, adoption of such programs and policies are being considered as a part of high commitment work systems required for ensuring high levels of employee commitment and innovation. WLBPs are increasingly being considered as strategic, innovative, crucial and progressive.

Benefits of WLBPs for Employees: WLBPs have been found to increase employee control over time and place of work and reduced work-family conflict and stress. Despite the strong support for WLBPs, cautionary examples suggest these benefits are not universal and some policies that appear to be family-friendly may in fact be detrimental to the working conditions of employees. For example, telecommuting and flexible work schedules are arrangements that may allow or encourage employees to work more. Benefits of WLBPs for Organisations: Organisations do see a lot of benefits in providing WLBPs. Research findings suggest a strong positive relationship between WLBPs and reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, improved recruitment and retention rates.

However, despite the empirical evidences showing the benefits, WLBPs are not so well established organisational practices. Systematic evaluations of the impact of WLBPs are far from reaching a common conclusion, which makes it imperative to understand the challenges to effectiveness of WLBPs. Effectiveness of WLBPs can be evaluated by considering the extent of adoption and implementation by employers and use by employees.

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