Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ABSTRACT
Organizations are facing cut throat competition in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) World. This is
projected to get even tougher. It is now crucial for the businesses to attract and retain the right employees. HR professionals
have to develop intellectual business acumen to understand about such market dynamics and create their practices accordingly.
They continuously need to reinvent such practices in order to meet the demands of the new generation. They cannot adopt one
size fits all approach and thus, needs to understand the generational differences. The proper planned and strong effective
talent management is important in this kind of changing business. The established companies also, have to remain concerned
about the sustainability of their employer brand. This is because of the emergence of startups, which are adopting innovative
steps to make sure their employees remain engaged and happy. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the innovative HR
practices implemented in the organizations to retain the employees. This report also discusses the ways and steps to be taken for
effective talent retention in the current scenario of changing business.
1.INTRODUCTION
The dynamics of the business world is being influenced by the rapid innovation, advanced technology, liberalization
and globalization. Many organizations and managers are struggling to stay afloat and aligned in the VUCA nature of
todays global business environment (Kinsinger) [1].
The VUCA Environment includes:
VolatilityThe nature, speed, volume, magnitude, and dynamics of change
UncertaintyThe lack of predictability of issues and events
ComplexityThe confounding of issues and the chaos that surrounds any organization
AmbiguityThe haziness of reality and the mixed meanings of conditions
These competitive conditions make it more difficult for the employers to acquire and retain the experienced and
productive talent. The growing awareness of finding, motivating, developing and keeping employees is a key
component of business success, has raised expectations for the human resource departments (Gross and Nalbantian,
2002) [2]. They have to manage the talent in such a way that retention level gets maintained in the organization.
3.Methodology
The study is descriptive in nature and only secondary data has been used in it. The secondary data consist of the books,
internet articles, surveys and research journals.
4.Discussion
What is Talent Management?
Talent Management is an integrated set of processes, programs and cultural norms in an organization designed and
implemented to attract, develop, deploy and retain talent to achieve strategic objectives and meet future business needs
(Silzer and Dowell, 2009) [3]. This includes recruitment, retention, leadership and high potential development,
performance management, workforce planning and culture and other HR initiatives to manage and nurture talent.
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initiatives to make their employees engaged. Many organizations have taken efforts to make their employees engaged
and connected with them. These initiatives include town halls, stay interviews, regular chat sessions, call center system
for employees, timely workshops to help employees develop life skills, etc. These efforts also would help to know about
the expectations and wants of employees.
According to Employee Engagement landscape study (global) conducted by PWC in 2015, high performing
organizations and those conduct regular engagement surveys (and take action on them) reveal significantly higher
performance on a number of measures than do other organizations [18].
3.1Gamified and Innovative HR functions: Gamification is the process of applying game design theories to everyday
situations, including business (Simpson and Jenkins, 2015) [19]. Many established national as well as international
brands are adopting techniques to create interesting games as a part of their HR processes to engage their talent. These
games are part of their recruitment, selection, induction, orientation, training and other HR related functions. This
helps in retention of employees through the encouragement of engagement in activity that the employee considers to be
meaningful (at least at that particular time) business. Some companies are having their own games to understand about
the companys culture and their industry. They are making employees aware about the processes with the help of games
and E learning modules. Example: Infosys, Deloitte, Pepsi co, Godrej, Mahindra and Mahindra, Loreal, Godrej, Make
My Trip, Marriot, etc.
4.Continuous feedback on performance: An imperative need
Performance Management is a process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in
order to achieve high levels of organizational performance. As such, it establishes shared understanding about what is
to be achieved and an approach to leading and developing people which will ensure that it is achieved (Armstrong and
Baron, 1998) [20]. Performance appraisal is a developmental tool which is used for all round development of an
individual. It is the assessment of performance on an individual in a systematic way. It helps identify ways to improve
ones job performance thus benefiting organization and society as a whole. These appraisals are a yearly affair for most
HR managers and employees in India Inc. However, the trend is changing with appraisals or performance reviews
becoming continuous with feedback at frequent intervals [21]. Usually, companies see a spate of resignations after the
annual performance reviews. They might lose good performers if the employees do not come to know about their
performance on a continuous basis. This is the era of instant results and instant gratification.
Companies like KPMG, Adobe, Microsoft, GE, Cisco, Accenture, Whirlpool Corporation, HCL Technologies and
Mphasis have made changes to their appraisal mechanisms to make it in line with the demands and expectations of the
modern-day workforce. Many other companies are going to adopt more continuous feedback driven performance
management system in order to meet the changing needs of the VUCA environment. Regular feedback sessions is the
need of the hour wherein assessing the creative mind on the basis of numbers is not possible.
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period, where the employee is given the right to purchase the companys shares at a predetermined price or the exercise
price [26]. If the employee does not exercise the option within a time prescribed by the company, the option
automatically expires. This plan typically includes a vesting schedule that encourages employee retention (Ripperger,
2013) [27]. Employees see the link between their efforts and their personal financial well-being. E commerce firms like
Flipkart, Snapdeal, ibibo Group, Pepper fry, Urban Ladder, etc have been using it as a retention tool as well as a bait to
attract talent [28].
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culture by rewarding innovation, agile behavior, and calculated risk-taking. Rewards and recognitions for desired
behaviors could include different incentives including job perks, additional compensation, promotions, and preferred
work assignments. This would provide motivation to the employees to perform better. The organizational culture that
promotes and rewards agile leaders will begin to perpetuate itself and attract and retain the type of innovative and agile
talent that businesses today are seeking. It will also provide businesses a competitive advantage in our ever-changing
global marketplacewhich is the ultimate VUCA environment (Lawrence, pg 11, 2013) [32].
HR also needs to build a culture where mistakes are allowed and employees are encouraged to invent with liberty. The
companies have even adopted initiatives to create that kind of culture in which the employees would feel comfortable.
For example: Recently, in India, after Infosys shed its formal dress code to let Infoscions embrace smart casuals, FMCG
major Hindustan Unilever (HUL), known to have had a strict dress regime at one time, has followed suit with a policy
change that allows its employees to go casual at work. For Infosys, however, the policy change on dressing was
important to create a culture that would attract and retain talent, especially after it witnessed attrition among its people.
For companies like HUL, experts say, the culture change would be aimed at attracting the next generation of people
who are keen on beginning their career journeys with startups [36].
8.1Diversity and inclusion: HR should help the organization to create culture by respecting and valuing differences in
race, gender, ethnicity, age, physical and language abilities, culture, religion, and sexual orientation. Shell, IBM,
Accenture, Coca Cola, Tata consultancy services, etc are some of the companies who have initiated towards creating
such culture. In 2003, INFOSYS launched a global council of six internal, senior women who were tasked with
conceptualizing and implementing an initiative that would create a gender-sensitive environment to attract, hire, and
retain top talent, including women. Between 2003 and 2006, the retention rate for women increased, which Infosys
attributes to its programs and policies [37].
5.Conclusion
In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting
themselves best to their environment - Charles Darwin. There is an immediate need for the businesses to adapt to
the changes and transform themselves radically. The companies to prove their competency in the highly competitive
market have to come up with innovative ways of human resource management. All the above mentioned retention
strategies are beneficial in todays VUCA environment. HR and talent management professionals can help their
organizations to succeed in todays tough and aggressive environment by developing and retaining employees with
proper understanding, clarity, and agility.
References
[1] Paul Kinsinger, Adaptive Leadership for the VUCA World: A tale of two managers. Available:
http://www.thunderbird.edu/article//
[2] Steven E. Gross and Haig R. Nalbantian, Paying for Performance: A Guide to Compensation Management
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Author
Jasleen Kaur did her Bachelors in Commerce (Delhi University) and then MBA in Human Resources (New
Delhi Institute of Management). She is UGC-NET (HR) qualified who has an experience of working with
private firms and as a visiting faculty in college.
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