Success Story

Infosys Technologies has been adjudged the best employer of the year by a number of leading human resource (HR) surveys for its outstanding HR practices. It is one of the few companies that succeeded in greatly influencing the attitude and behaviour of the employees and the performance of the organization through creative HR practices. The HR policies of Infosys include: (i) focusing on the learnability of candidates in recruitment; (ii) emphasizing continuous learning through employee training. For this reason, it has developed a world-class training centre called the Global Education Center at Mysore to train fresh recruits and an Infosys Leadership Institute to develop future leaders of the companies; (iii) evaluating the performance of employees in a scientific manner through a competency-mapping system and (iv) using a variable compensation structure, which considers the collective performance of the individual, the team and the organization as a whole for fixing the employee-compensation packages. To sum up, its HR philosophy, policy, practices and management have played a pivotal role in making Infosys a $2billion company today. The success story of Infosys is a proof that HR management (HRM) can be a definite competitive advantage for a firm and can make a real difference not only to the fortune of the organizations but also to the individuals as well.

Table 1.1 Mission Statements of a Few Organizations

To develop ICICI Bank into an organization that is empowered by bright and talented individuals, working in teams and riding on the backbone of world-class technology. ICICI BANK To be a globally respected corporation that provides the best-of-breed business solutions leveraging technology delivered by the best-in-class people. INFOSYS To deliver superior value to our customers, shareholders, employees, and society at large. ADITYA BIRLA GROUP To ensure anywhere and anytime banking for the customer with the latest stateof-the-art technology and by developing effective customer-centric relationships and to emerge as a world-class service provider through efficient utilization of human resources and product innovation. ALLAHABAD BANK

Box 1.3 HR Objectives of the Tata Group

A Tata company shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees and all qualified applicants for employment without regard to their race, caste, religion, colour, ancestry, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, ethnic origin or disability. HR policies shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace as well as compliance with all local labour laws, while encouraging the adoption of the best international practices. Employees of a Tata company shall be treated with dignity and in accordance with the Tata policy of maintaining a work environment free of all forms of harassment, whether physical, verbal or psychological. Employee policies and practices shall be administered in a manner consistent with the applicable laws and the other provisions of this code, respect for the right to privacy and the right to be heard, and that in all matters equal opportunity is provided to those eligible and that decisions are based on merit.

Mobile Working at IBM

One of the ways companies retain their employees is by offering them flexible work schedules and the option of working from home. A company that has consistently been appreciated for this benefit is IBM. Some of IBM's workplace flexibility programmes include individualized daily work schedules, flexible (or compressed) work-weeks, regular part-time, remote/mobile work options and mobility allowances. Employees are offered support services so that even if they work from home, they stay connected. Be it downloading files, checking and replying to mail, or linking to the electronic library, IBM workers can dial into the IBM network and get connected. People can opt to work at home in case of personal emergencies as well. In India, IBM has offered mobile work options since 2003.

HR and the Well-Being of Employees

One of the HR policies really appreciated by employees is that pertaining to their families health and safety. Increasingly, companies are providing life insurance and accident coverage that will help reassure their employees and give them a sense of security. Infosys is a good example. Starting from 2002, it has a tie-up with the Life Insurance Corporation of India that provides adequate coverage for all its employees. The coverage levels have substantially risen over the years, in tune with the overall Infosys social security and employee benefit initiatives. In 2008, the coverage amount was a record-breaking Rs. 240,000 million. As Mohandas Pai, the HR head of Infosys, said, Infosys believes in providing adequate life, accident and medical insurance cover to its employees in a holistic measure.

We shall now discuss the operative functions of HRM. Procurement Procurement refers to a series of activities undertaken by the HR managers for

filling the present and future vacancies of the organization. The activities include job analysis and designing, HR planning, recruitment and, finally, the selection of suitable employees. Here, job analysis refers to both the determination of specific tasks and responsibilities connected to a job and identifying the skills, knowledge and abilities required for the job holder. HR planning involves choosing and placing the right person at the right job and at the right time. Recruitment involves gathering a pool of applicants from which suitable employees may be selected. Lastly, selection involves screening, testing, interviewing and hiring the most suitable employees for the organization. Development Development here refers to both employees training and management development. HR managers are responsible for conducting and supervising training and development programmes for employees. The purpose of a training and development programme is to increase the employees competencies in their job by improving their knowledge, skills and abilities. Training and development is widely accepted as a method for enhancing the employee skills, increasing the individual and organizational performance, improving the employee morale, and achieving the business growth and success. Compensation Compensation refers to the determination of the pay scale and other benefits for

the employees. Establishing and maintaining the pay system of an organization is one of the principal jobs of the HR managers. They must devise ways to ensure fair and equitable pay rates. In addition, HR managers should regularly manage the performance evaluation system of the organization, and continuously design reward systems such as performance-linked incentive plans and bonus and flexible work schedules Maintenance The maintenance function aims at retaining efficient and experienced employees in

the organization. This calls for creative HR practices. In this regard, HR managers are responsible for offering a wide range of HR programmes covering occupational safety, health promotion and physical fitness, canteen facilities, recreation activities, transportation programmes, employee suggestion schemes, career counselling and growth for creating a positive work environment. Integration It consists mainly of industrial relations and aims at ensuring good relations

between the management and the employees. HR managers have to implement industrial relations programmes that would ensure ethical and fair treatment in disciplinary action, grievance redressal, and career management processes. They should also counsel the employees and the management to prevent and, when necessary, resolve disputes over labour agreements or other labour relation issues. It is to be understood here that the functions of HRM can vary widely from one organization to another, depending upon its nature, size, and objectives. For instance, a smaller organization may follow a shorter HRM process with a greater emphasis on functions like procurement and compensation and little or no priority for activities like training and development and industrial relations maintenance. On the contrary, large organizations may pursue a longer and more comprehensive HRM process to meet the requirements of both the management and the workforce.

Examples of Retention Strategies for young Professionals in Indias BPO and Services Sectors..
Tata Consulting Services(TCS)

A choice of working in over 170 offices across 40 countries in a variety of areas. Paternity leave for adoption of a girl child Discounts on group parties

 Significant impact on job hopping achieved

ICICI Bank

Identification of potential talented staff Alternative stock options Quicker promotion

Have been able to achieve higher retention rate

WIPRO

Wings Within programme where existing employees get a chance to quit their current job role and join a different firm within WIPRO

Has led to a higher retention rate

INFOSYS

Fostering a sense of belongingness, creative artistic and social activities for the employees and their families. Initiating one of the best corporate universities in the world

Moderate Retentions rate increase achieved

Microsoft-India

Excellent sporting and wellness facilities Employees allowed to choose flexible working schedule Moving people across functions and sections in assisting employees find their area of interest

Struggling to minimise job hopping

Mahindra & Co

Culture change valuing innovation and talent over age and experience Institutionalising a practice called reverse mentoring where young people are given opportunities of mentoring their seniors

Stabilised job hopping significantly

Manoj Biswas, India HR head of IT and consulting major Accenture, talks about the company's HR priorities and policies that matter.

What are your company's priorities from a people standpoint, especially in a slowdown year? Overall, the entire sector is focused on the talent landscape - recruiting the best talent, developing new capabilities, becoming more focused. Retention is important to us. We have always been a learning organization. We have an integrated talent management initiative that focuses on career building for our employees, on both domain skills related learning and leadership skills. We collaborate with learning organizations - for example, we partner with XLRI to build HR talent; we partner with ISB to build middle management and senior management; we also partner with IGNOU to build talent in the BPO space. Besides, we have culture practices. One of the things that have worked very nicely is the 'Buddy Program'. Any new employee is allocated a buddy and we do it for team leads and above. Before you join the organization, your buddy will reach out to you, talk to you, take you through the entire settling down process. We are also a listening organization and we take pride in that. We listen to the unique needs of employees. This helps us reinvent ourselves. The other priority is the career counselor framework. Every employee is allocated a career counselor. He would take an interest in your career. He would help you become an effective leader in the organization. The last piece is "reverse mentoring". The young generation mentors the older employees. What policies, introduced last year, have worked for the firm? Those that worked well were policies linked to the lifecycle of an employee. You could be going through some serious crisis or problem in your life. It could be a critical illness in your family. The unique policy we have worked on is that if you require an extended time off because of an illness, other employees could donate "hours of work" to you. It is not a cash donation. It is not leave without pay. So other employees can pitch in. This has worked well and has been appreciated. We also introduced an adoption leave policy, just like a maternity leave. A large segment of our workforce goes for adoption. It has been well received.

Since the job market has cooled down, what role will salaries play this year in talent retention? When I discuss with my HR counterparts in other firms, the mood is that the same constituents of HR will still continue. People would still continue to hire - hiring the best talent is going to be critical. It is a good time to look at some of the processes we can consolidate. It is also a good time to look at some of the challenges around leadership development. Retention and engagement are intertwined. We have to be focused on retention from a learning perspective, keep listening to employees. From Accenture's perspective, I don't think we have changed anything in terms of people plans. We still continue our hiring and retention journey. Other IT companies say that there is a dearth of middle management talent. How does Accenture view this? Is it something we keep our eye on? The answer is yes. However, we have not only focused on the middle manager but the entry level manager. We keep on enhancing your skills as you go on. We say that if you want to join Accenture, join because you don't need a job - but because you need a career. That is the driving force. Once the industry starts maturing, we will start to look at niche skills, niche lines of businesses. We have to figure out how to develop some of these paradigms. What has helped you become a better HR head? I was a major in the Indian Army. I completed an MBA before becoming a business guy I was developing product lines. Then I moved on to become a recruitment person. I have a 'breadth' career experience rather than a 'vertical' or 'horizontal' career. That was unique; it gave me a wider perspective to look at things.