INTRODUCTION

An Overview: Alstom
ALSTOM is a trance-based multinational corporation. Alstom is a global leader in
equipment and services -for power generation. and rail transport. It sets the benchmark.
for innovative and environmentally. Friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest
train and the highest capacity automated metro in. the world. and provides turnkey
integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy
sources. Including hydro, gas and coal.
Alstom was born with its 1" factory in Belfort with the merger
or Societe.Alsaci.enne de Constructions Mecaniques (SACM) and
'l"lionisom-l-loustorn in 1928.
To state in a single line, Alstom is a world leader in transport and
energy infrastructure. Some quick points which give a glimpse of
the company:
Present in 70 countries
Sales: 16.9 billion
76,000 employees
Chaired by Patrick Kron
It is said that one in four of the worlds light bulbs is powered by alstom technologies.

Vision
We want to be the reference group in high-tech solution for Energy & Transport, shaping a
sustainable future for the planet.

Values and ethics of the Organization

The Groups Executive Committee has defined three essential values: trust, team spirit and
sense of action.

Trust: Alstom, with its two activities, three Sectors, numerous management structures,
units, production sites and countries is, by definition, a complex company. Mutual trust
between colleagues and their management is essential for the proper conduct of the business
and effective management of projects.(accountability, delegation and transparency)

Team: Alstoms business is based on delivering projects which require collective discipline
and efforts to execute them successfully as well as networking to ensure that the Group takes
full advantage of all available competencies. This team spirit, supported by the desire to
develop each employee, extends to collaboration with partners and customers.(alignment,
networking and team work spirit)

Action: Alstom commits to deliver products and services to its customers which meet their
expectations in terms of price, quality and delivery schedules. To meet these commitments to
customers, a sense of action is a priority for all employees throughout the Group.(movement,
speed and customer orientation)

Organizational Structure

There has been a slight change in the organizational structure. Earlier the product divisions
were power systems, power service and transport. But now, the former 2 have been clubbed
into Power division and the other is the Transport Division.
Alstom has 70 Service Centers, 54 Manufacturing
Centers and 14 .abs across the world. It has local
organizations in 63 countries.
Major equipments in 25% of the worldwide installed power generation capacity
is supplied by ALSTOM. Annual Sales of ALSTOM has been recorded as
around 16.9bn. Order taken by ALSTOM has been around 19.O2bn and its
order backlog has been estimated as around E32.35bn. Today, ALSTOM has
about 76000 employees across the world.
Alstom has been listed on the Paris stock exchange since 1998 and therefore
applies corporate governance rules.

Three Sectors In Which Alstom Works;

Alstom's Power Sectors offer the broadest scope of power
generation systems, equipment and services in the industry.
Alstom's Transport Sector offers leading-edge technologies,
products and services.
It has basic presence in two large sectors wherein it holds a prominent place:

Power

N 1... in hydro
N 1... in conventional islands for nuclear power plants
N 1... in environmental control systems

Transport
N 1... in very high speed trains and high speed trains
N 2... in urban transport market, regional trains, signaling, infrastructure equipment and all
associated services It is said that one in four of the worlds light bulbs is powered by alstom
technologies.

POWER SYSTEM
The company designs, manufactures and supplies state-of-the-art products and
systems to the power generation - for gas, coal, and hydro power plants - and
industrial markets. In addition. Alstom provides conventional islands for nuclear
power plants. Our objective is to build the most efficient and cleanest integrated
power solutions for our customers.
Alstom supplies major equipment in 25% of the worldwide installed base.
N01 in Turkey power plants
N01 in air quality control systems.
N01 in hydro turbines and generators.
N01 in the number of installed boilers worldwide.
N01 in installed turbine and generator for nuclear plants.
N01 in steam turbine retrofit and integrated retrofit projects.

POWER SERVICES

Alstom power Service provides a complete range of power

generation services, Support and equipment, worldwide. ALSTOM Power
Service has the technologies and experience to determine the timing and scope of
improvement programs including their professional realization. Services range
from traditional spare part handling and field service support for individual power
plant components upto and including full power plant management.
ALSTOM Power Service promotes service to customers in all geographic markets
with about 13,000 specialists which are permanent employees and about

5,000

employees with fix term contracts in more than 200 local service centers around the
world. It is committed to meeting its customer's requirements and needs by:
Fast response and innovative solutions.
Highest quality and competitive offers.
Highly qualified and motivated personnel.

TRANSPORT

A promoter of sustainable mobility. Alstom Transport develops and markets the most
complete range of systems, equipment and service in the railway market. With a market
share of 18% and sales 5.3 billion Euros, the company is no. I in the high and very
high speed train sector and ranks second worldwide in the urban transport market,
regional trains, signaling, infrastructure equipment and all associated services.
The growing complexity of technical solutions and infrastructure projects is leading
increasing numbers of customers to demand complete solutions. Present in over 60
countries, with 26,000 employees, Alstom Transport's strength lies in its ability to
manage entire transport systems.
Their wide range of equipment includes:

Utility

boilers

including

drum-type,

advanced

once-through

(sub

or

supercritical) and fluid bed, with a complete range of firing systems.

Heat recovery steam generator for large gas turbines (>50MW) in combined
cycle or cogeneration applications.
Boiler products, including air preheaters, mills and pulverizers.

Alstom has been awarded with many international AWARDS. Some of them are

listed below :
Alstom was awarded with UK industry prize for Pendolino in West Coast Main Line
Upgrade project.
"Best Emissions Reduction Project in Asia" for Tanjung Bin
Power Station, and "Best Asian Service Project of the Year" for
Perlis Power Plant, both projects in Malaysia.
Alstom wins first GT26 - based combined cycle power plant in India.
Alstom in India

Presence for more than 80 yrs

In around 12 locations

With its corporate office at Delhi

Focused on EPC

4 manufacturing centers

More than 3500 people

More than 25000 MW provided to India

Alstom is having its long and eventful presence in India since more
than 80 years. It is present in over 12 locations and having 4
manufacturing centers in India. In India, it works in two major
sectors: Power and Transport. More than 3000 people are employed

by Alstom in India.
ALSTOM INDIA PROJECT LIMITED, Gurgaon especially deals in
Boilers, one of the important power system of ALSTOM.
Sites in India can be enlisted as follows:
Bangalore - Transport- Development Center
Gurgaon- Country Head-Office, Sales and Marketing
Head quarters
Shahabad- Manufacturing- boiler and Foundry Products
Coimbatore- Transport- Manufacturing facility
Kolkata- Power Services, Environment Control System
Vadodara- Hydro Manufacturing Facility, Power
Services
Durgapur- Manufacturing- Utility Boilers
Mumbai- Registered Office

Environment health and safety policy

ALSTOM is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all its employees, contractors,
visitors and other persons at ALSTOM's workplace and protecting the environment.
This policy reinforces, from an Indian perspective, ALSTOM's worldwide commitment to
environmental health and safety as reflected in the corporate ALSTOM EHS policy
All locations of ALSTOM Projects India Limited will provide a safe working environment,
and ensure that the operations of the company are regularly assessed and planned to minimize
the impact on the environment. The company will fully comply with applicable
Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Legislation and Regulations wherever the
company is working.
We recognize managements responsibility to provide safe conditions for our employees,
subcontractors and visitors and we aim at eliminating work related injury and illness. We also
recognize our responsibility to the environment and the need for actions to reduce the impact
that our operations may have upon it.
EHS objectives and targets are set within the organization to measure our progress. Our aim
is to have an injury free workplace with no incidents and no harm to the environment.
Management has responsibility to ensure that EHS systems are in place, that persons receive
information, instructions, training and that adequate resources are allocated to comply with
local EHS regulations and requirements of ALSTOM.

HUMAN RESOURCE IN ALSTOM

In a diverse and international Group such as ALSTOM, a consistent approach to people
management ultimately makes it more efficient and allows the best development of
their human resources.
The people management practices are based upon the behaviors that are expected
across the Group in the leadership and management of its people.
To this end the ALSTOM HR team has undertaken to support the ALSTOM Leadership
Behaviors below:
Care for People
Continuously Manage and Develop their People
Favor Teamwork and Accountability
Communicate and be Transparent

MYTHOLOGY
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
1. To have the knowledge about the Recruitment and Selection process and the HR
practices being practiced at ALSTOM.
2. To undertake study involving a detailed observation of the whole process right
from receiving the manpower requisition to recruitment, selection, appointment
and induction of a new employee.
3. To provide suggestions for capitalizing on the advantages and minimizing the
shortcomings, which will help in the process improvement.
4. To understand the trend of recruitment and analyze it based upon the data of past few
years.
5. To be able to prepare Job Description & Job Specification.
6. To understand the importance of good induction kit in employees orientation
program.

Scope of study
The various stages under the project are :

Setting of research objectives

Design research methodology

Data Collection

Sampling Plan

Data Interpretation

Data Analysis

Suggestion & Recommendations

PRIMARY DATA:
Face to face discussion with the Senior HR Manager, training and development personnel,
HR Department Personnel and the employees of company.
SECONDARY DATA:
1. Annual reports of company,
2. Past recruitment data of the company,
3. Company websites:www.alstom.com

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the process of coordinating an organization's
human resources, or employees, to meet organizational goals.
The Human Resources Management function includes a variety of activities involving
a lot of duties, roles and responsibilities, and key among them is deciding what
staffing needs you have (manpower needs and requisition) and whether to use
independent contractors or hire employees (sources) to fill these needs, recruiting and
training the best employees (induction and training), ensuring they are high
performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and
management practices conform to various regulations (norms ,work standards and
ethics).
HR manager must become a leader in identifying new business opportunities, defining
business

strategy

and

corporate

priorities,

and

preparing

the

organization

for

continuous and often disruptive change. The HR manager must align its recruitment
policies in line with the companys needs and strategies. Also, it should be
implemented accordingly.
It is about developing skilled and committed employees who are real assets of the
organization.

STAFFING PROCESS

Personnel Human Recruiting

Resour
Needed Personnel
Selecting Qualified Placing
Personnel
New Employees on Job
ce Planning

Developing Sources of Potential Employees

Search for Potential Employees
Evaluating Recruiting Effectiveness

Personnel Search
Internal Sources

Upgrading in same position

Transferring to a new job

Job Positioning
Promoting to higher responsibilities

Employee Referrals
External Sources
Evaluating for selection
Advertising

Scouting

Manpower or Human Resource may be thought of as the total knowledge, skills,

creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organizations work force, as well as the
values, attitudes and benefits of an individual involved It is the sum total of
inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills represented by the talents and
aptitudes of the employed persons.
Of all the Ms in management (i.e., the management of Materials, Machines,
Methods, Money, Motive power), the most important is M for Men or human
resources. It is the most valuable asset of an organization. An organizations
performance and resulting productivity are directly proportional to the quantity and
quality of its human resources. Hence, the importance of human resource.

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

It is the process of determining scientifically the number and type of employees that
an enterprise will need in a specified period of time in future.
Human resource or manpower planning is the process by which a management
determines how an organization should move from its current manpower position to
its desired manpower position.
Through planning, a management strives to have the right number and the right kind
of people at the right places, at the right time, to do things, which result in both the
organization and the individual receiving the maximum long-range benefit.
According to Wickstrom, human resource planning consists of a series of activities,

(a) Forecasting future manpower requirements, either in terms of mathematical

projections of trends in the economic environment and development in industry,
or in terms of judgmental estimates based upon the specific future plans of a
company;
(b) Making an inventory of present manpower resources and assessing the extent
to which these resources are employed optimally;
(c) Anticipating manpower problems by projecting present resources into the future
and comparing them with the forecast of requirements to determine their
adequacy, both quantitatively and qualitatively; and
(d) Planning

the

necessary

programs

of

recruitment,

selection,

training,

development, utilization, transfer, promotion, motivation and compensation to

ensure that future manpower requirements are properly met.

Human Resource Planning is a double-edged weapon. If used properly, it leads to the

maximum utilization of human resources, reduces labor turnover and high absenteeism;
it improves productivity and aids in achieving the objectives of an organization.
Faultily used, it leads to disruption in the flow of work, lower production, less job
satisfaction, high cost of production and constant headaches for the management
personnel. Therefore, for the success of an enterprise, human resources planning is a
very important function, which can be neglected only at its own peril. It is as
necessary as planning for production, marketing, or capital investment.

Process of Human Resource Planning

The process of human resource planning is one of the most crucial, complex and
continuing managerial functions, which embraces organization development, career
planning and succession planning.
(A) Objectives of Human Resource Planning: Human resource planning fulfills
individual, organizational and national goals; the main purpose is one of
matching or fitting employee abilities to enterprise requirements, with an
emphasis on future instead of present arrangements.
(B) Estimating

the

Future

Organizational

Structure

Or

Forecasting

the

Manpower Requirements: The management must estimate the structure of the

organization at a given point in time. For this estimate, the number and type
of employees needed have to be determined. Many environmental factors affect
this determination. They include business forecasts, expansion and growth,
design and structural changes, management philosophy, government policy,
product and human skills mix, and competition.
After estimating what the future organization structure should be, the next step is to
draw up the requirements of human resources, both for the existing departments and
for the new vacancies. Forecast has to be made in returns of functional category; the
member needed; and the levels at which they are required. Vacancies, occurring in
any department, should be notified in writing by different department heads to the
personnel department, stating clearly the number of vacancies to be filled, job or
category-wise types of personnel needed, their technical qualifications and experience,
and the reasons for acquisition (i.e., whether for replacement or addition); a statement

of duties, types of jobs, pay scales, age, and previous experience should also be
made.
Underestimation of the quality and number of the employees required would lead to
shortfalls in performance, while overestimation would result in avoidable costs to the
organization.
(C) Auditing Human Resources: Once the future human resource needs are
estimated, the next step is to determine the present supply of manpower
resources. This is done through what is called Skills Inventory. A skills
inventory contains data about each employees skills, abilities, work preference
and other items of information, which indicate his overall value to the
company.
(D) Job Analysis: After having decided, how many persons would be needed, it is
necessary to prepare a job analysis, which records details of training, skills,
qualification, abilities, experience and responsibilities, etc., which are needed
for a job. Job analysis includes the preparation of job description and job
specifications.
(E) Developing a Human resource Plan: This step refers to the development and
implementation of the human resource plan, which consists in finding out the
sources of labour supply with a view to making an effective use of these
sources.

Responsibility for Human Resource Planning

Human Resource Planning is the responsibility of the personnel department. In this
task, it is aided by the top management and the team of directors of different
departments. It is mostly a staffing or personnel function. The overall responsibility
lies with the Board of Directors.

JOB ANALYSIS
Job: A job may be defined as a collection or aggregation of tasks, duties and
responsibilities which as a whole, are regarded as a regular assignment to individual
employees and which is different from other assignments.
In other words, when the total work to be done is divided and grouped into
packages, we call it a job. Each job has a title and grades; work assignments may
be graded according to skill, the difficulty of doing them, or the quality of
workmanship.
Job Analysis: It is a procedure by which pertinent information is obtained about a
job, i.e., it is a detailed and systematic study of information relating to the operations
and responsibilities of a specific job. It is the determination of tasks that comprise
the job and nature of a specific job and of the skills, knowledge abilities and
responsibilities required of the employee for a successful performance and which
differentiates one job from all other.
By indicating the specific requirements of each job (i.e. the skills and knowledge), it
provides a realistic basis for the hiring, training, placement, transfer and promotion of
personnel.

Job Description: It is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements

of a particular job. It is concerned with the job itself and not with the work. It is
a statement describing the job in such terms as its title, location, duties, working
conditions and hazards. In other words, it tells us what is to be done and how it
is to be done and why. It provides both organizational information (location in
structure, authority, etc.) and functional information (what the work is). It defines the
scope of job activities, major responsibilities, and positioning of the job in the
organization. It provides the worker, analyst, and supervisor with a clear idea of what
the worker must do to meet the demands of the job. Job Description describes jobs,
not job holders.
Job Specification: It is a standard of personnel and designates the qualities required
for an acceptable performance. It is a written record of the requirements sought in an
individual worker for a given job. In other words, it refers to a summary of the
personal characteristics required for a job. It is a statement of the minimum
acceptable human qualities necessary for the proper performance of a job.
The job specification takes the job description and answers the question What human
traits and experience are needed to do the job well? It tells what kind of person to
recruit and for what qualities that person should be tested. It serves as a guide in
hiring.

RECRUITMENT
Recruitment forms the first stage in the process that continues with selection and
ceases with the appointment of the candidate. It is the next step in the procurement
function, the first being Manpower Planning.
Recruitment is the discovering of potential applications for actual or anticipated
organizational vacancies.
It is a linking activity bringing together those with jobs and those seeking jobs.
According to Yoder,
It is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the
requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for
attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective
selection of an efficient working force.
Dale S. Beach observed, "Recruitment is the development & maintenance of adequate
manpower resources. It involves the creation of pool of available labour upon whom
the organization can draw when it needs additional employees." Recruitment refers to
the attempt of getting interested applications & providing a pool of prospective
employees so that the management can select the right person for the right job from
this pool.
It is regarded as the most important function of personnel administration, because
unless the right types of people are hired, even the best plans, organisation charts and
control systems would not do much good.

Flippo says,

It is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and

encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organisation. It is often termed
positive in that it stimulates people to apply for jobs to increase the hiring
ratio, i.e., the number of applicants for a job. Selection, on the other hand,
tends to be negative because it rejects a good number of those who apply,
leaving only the best to be hired.
All employment activity should be centralized if the policies of the top management
are to be implemented consistently and efficiently. Only when personnel requisitions
go through one central source and all employment records are kept up-to-date is there
a possibility of maximum efficiency and success in hiring. The advantages of
centralizing recruitment and selection activities are: 1. It reduces the administrative cost associated with selection by consolidating all
activity in a single office.
2. It relieves line officers of the details involved in hiring workers, which is
common under a decentralized plan.
3. It tends to make the selection of workers scientific.
4. It makes possible the development of a centralised manpower pool in a
company.
5. It provides a wider opportunity for placing an applicant in several departments
of the company.
6. It tends to reduce favoritism as a basis for selection.
The centralized department is generally known as the Employee Office, or the
Recruitment Section of an organisation. The staff personnel are attached to it. This

enables specialists to concentrate upon the recruitment function, and soon they become
very efficient in the use of various recruitment techniques.

Prerequisites of a good recruitment policy

The recruitment policy of an organisation must satisfy the following conditions:
1. It should be in conformity with its general personnel policies.
2. It should be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of an organisation
and should evolve with time.
3. It should be so designed as to ensure employment opportunities for its
employees on a long-term basis so that goals of the organisation should be
achievable, and it should develop the potentialities of employees.
4. It should match the qualities of employees with the requirements of the work
for which they are employed.
5. It should highlight the necessity of establishing job analysis.

RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PROCESS

Process of recruitment:
1. Identify the sources of supply of adequate number and right type of persons.
2. Assessing the suitability of different sources and choosing the most appropriate
source.
3. Contacting and stimulating the prospective candidates to offer themselves for
employment in the organization.

Manpower Requisition
A requisition or an indent for recruitment has to be submitted by the line official.
Such indents usually specify:
The jobs or operations or positions for which the persons should be available, the
duration of their employment, salary to be offered and any other conditions and terms
of employment which the indenting officer feels necessary.
The indents are then checked against the posts allotted to the department/branch and
also authorization for expansion, if already granted. Financial implications are worked
out. If the indents are found correct, the proposed recruitments are authorized and the
initial pay, the scale and other admissible allowances are determined.
Finally, job specifications are determined, in consultation with the line managers.

Sources of Recruitment: -

Internal sources
(Recruitment from within the enterprise)

External sources
(Recruitment from outside)

Internal Sources
These include personnel already on the pay roll of an organisation, i.e., its present
working force. The employees already working in the organization may be more
suitable for higher jobs than those recruited from outside. The present employees may
help in the recruitment of new persons also. Whenever any vacancy occurs, somebody
from within the organisation is upgraded, transferred, promoted or sometimes demoted.
This source also includes personnel who were once on the pay-roll of the company
but who plan to return or whom the company would like to rehire, or those on
production lay-offs as those on leave of absence, those who quit voluntarily, or those
on production lay-offs. Transfers and promotions are important internal sources of
recruitment.

Promotions
Promotion, transfer and separation are activities through which an adjustment in the
size of workforce of an enterprise can be made to cope with the changing situations.
Promotion is a term which covers a change and calls for greater responsibilities,
and usually involves higher pay and better terms and conditions of service and,
therefore, a higher status or rank. A promotion is a vertical move in rank and
responsibility.

Transfers
Yoder and associates have defined transfer as a lateral shift causing movement of
individuals from one position to another usually without involving any marked change
in duties, responsibilities, skills needed or compensation. A transfer is a horizontal or
lateral movement of an employee from one job, section, department, shift, plant or
position to another at the same or another place where his salary, status and
responsibility are the same. It generally does not involve a promotion, demotion or a
change in job status other than movement from one job or place to another.

Merits:
1. It improves the morale of employees, for they are assured of the fact that they
would be preferred over outsiders when vacancies occur.
2. Employees are motivated to improve their performance.
3. A promotion at higher level may lead to a chain of promotions at lower levels
in the organization. This motivates the employees to improve their performance
through learning & practice.
4. The employer is in a better position to evaluate those presently employed than
outside candidates. This is because the company maintains a record of the
progress, experience and service of its employees.
5. It promotes loyalty among the employees, for it gives them a sense of job
security and opportunities for advancement.
6. As the persons in the employment of the company are fully aware of, and
well acquainted with its policies and know its opening procedures, they require
little training, and the chances are that they would stay longer in the
employment of the organisation than a new outsider would.

7. They are tried people and can, therefore, be relied upon.

8. It is less costly than going outside to recruit.
Demerits:
1. It often leads to inbreeding, and discourages new blood from entering an
organisation.
2. The employees may become lethargic if they are sure of time bound
promotions.
3. There are possibilities that internal sources may dry up, and it may be
difficult to find the requisite personnel from within the organisation.
4. Jobs which require original thinking (like advertising, style, designing and basic
research), this practice is not followed because new and innovative ideas are
required.
5. As promotion is based on seniority, the danger is that really capable hands
may not be chosen. The likes and dislikes of the management may also play
an important role in the selection of the personnel.
This source is used by many organisations, but a surprisingly large number ignore
this source, especially for middle management jobs. It is not only reasonable but also
wise to use this source, if the vacancies to be filled are within the capacity of the
present employees, if adequate employee records have been maintained, and if
opportunities are provided in advance for them to prepare themselves for promotion
from blue-collar to white-collar jobs.

I. External sources

These sources lie outside the organisation. They usually include:

1. New entrants to the labour force, i.e., young, mostly inexperienced potential
employees- the college students.
2. The unemployed- with a wide range of skills and abilities.
3. Retired experienced persons such as mechanics, machinists, welders, and
accountants.
4. Others not in the labour force, such as married women and persons from
minority groups.

Educational Institutions or Campus Recruitments:

The jobs in trade &

industry are becoming technical & complex. These jobs require certain amount of
technical & educational qualifications. The employees maintain close liaisons with
universities & technical & other educational institutions. The students are spotted
during the course of their studies. Junior level executives or managerial trainees may
be recruited in this way.

Recommendations: Applicants introduced by friends & relatives may prove to be

a good source of recruitment. In fact many employers prefer to take such persons
because something about their background is known. Some organizations have
agreements with the trade unions to give preference to blood relations of existing or
retired employees if their qualifications & experience are suited to fill the vacant
jobs.

MERITS:
1. External sources provide the requisite type of personnel for an organisation,
having skill, training and education up to the required standard.
2. Since persons are recruited from a large market, the best selection can be
made without any distinctions of caste, sex or colour.
3. In the long run, this source proves economical because potential employees do
not need extra training for their jobs.
4. Fresh Talent: The insiders may have limited talents. External sources facilitate
infusion of fresh blood with new ideas into the enterprise. This will improve
the overall working of the enterprise.
DEMERITS:
1. However, this system suffers from what is called brain drain, especially
when experienced persons are raided or hunted by sister concerns.
2. Lengthy Process: Recruitment from outside takes a long time. The business has
to notify the vacancies & wait for applications to initiate the selection process.
3. Dissatisfaction

among

Existing

Staff:

External

recruitment

may

lead

to

dissatisfaction & frustration among existing employees. They may feel that
their chances of promotion are reduced.

SELECTION
The selection procedure is concerned with securing relevant information about an
applicant. This information is secured in a number of steps or stages. The objective
of the selection process is to determine whether an applicant meets the qualifications
for a specific job and to choose the applicant who is most likely to perform well in
that job.
Selection is a long process, commencing from the preliminary interview of the
applicants and ending with the contract of employment. It involves weeding out or
eliminating unsuitable candidates.
The hiring procedure is not a single act but it is essentially a series of methods or
steps or stages by which additional information is secured about the applicant. At
each stage, facts may come to light, which may lead to the rejection of the applicant.
It is a successive hurdle technique. A series of successive barriers are designed to
eliminate an unqualified applicant at any point in the process. Candidates are
screened. Qualified applicants go on to the next hurdle, while the unqualified are
eliminated.
Selection processes typically follow a standard pattern, beginning with an initial
screening interview and concluding with the final employment decision. The traditional
selection process includes: preliminary screening interview, completion of application
form, employment tests, comprehensive interview, background investigations, physical
examination and final employment decision to hire.

Selection Policy
While

formulating

selection

policy, due

consideration

should

be

given

to

organizational requirements as well as technical and professional dimensions of

selection procedures like suggested goals, technological issues, cost factors, extent of
formality, etc. An effective policy must assert the why and what aspects of the
organizational objectives. It must be compatible with the organizational policies.

Essentials of Selection Procedure

The selection procedure adopted by an organisation is mostly tailor-made to meet its
particular needs. The thoroughness of the procedure depends upon three factors:
1. The nature of selection, whether faulty or safe, because faulty selection
affects not only the training period that may be needed, but also results in
heavy expenditure on the new employee and the loss that may be incurred by
the organisation in case the job-occupant fails on his job.
2. The policy of the company and the attitude of the management: As a
practice, some companies usually hire more than the actual number needed
with a view to removing the unfit persons from the jobs.
3. The length of the probationary or the trial period : The longer the period,
the greater the uncertainty in the minds of the selected candidate about his
future.

The hiring process can be successful, if the following preliminary requirements are
satisfied:
1. Someone should have the authority to hire.
2. There must be some standard or personnel, with which a prospective employee
may be compared, i.e., there should be available beforehand, a comprehensive
job description and job specifications as developed by a Job Analysis.
3. There must be a sufficient number of applicants from whom the required
number of employees may be selected.
General Steps in Selection Procedure
A typical selection programme tries to fit applicants to particular jobs, i.e., to match
jobs and people.
1. Reception or Preliminary Interview or Screening
2. Application Blank- a fact-finder that helps one in learning about an applicants
background and life history.
3. A well conducted interview to explore the facts and get at the attitudes of the
applicant and his family to the job.
4. A Physical Examination-health and stamina are vital factors in success.
5. Psychological Testing to explore the surface area and get an objective look at
a candidates suitability for a job.
6. A Reference Check.
7. Final selection approval by manager and communication of the decision to the
candidate.

SELECTION PROCESS FLOW CHART

Reception of Applications

Preliminary Interview

Physically unfit personally Unfavourable

objectionablesecond
or unfavourable
general impression
impression

Application Blank

Psychological Tests

Interview

Final Selection By interview

Negative Decision

Unfavourable Previous History

Unfavourable Test Score

Unfavourable personnel data

Background Investigation
Waiting L
(Reference Check)

Physical exam

Physically Unfit

Reception, Initial or Preliminary Interview or Screening

A special interviewer or a high caliber receptionist in the employment office usually
conducts the initial screening. When a large number of applicants are available, the
preliminary interview is desirable both from the companys point of view and that of
the applicant seeking employment.
This interview is essentially a sorting process in which prospective applicants are
given the necessary information about the nature of the jobs in the organisation. The
necessary information, then, is elicited from the candidates relating to their education,
experience, skill, salary demanded, the reasons for leaving their present jobs, their job
interests, and whether they are available for the job, their physical appearance, age,
drive and facility in speech. If a candidate meets with the requirements of the
organisation, he may be selected for further process. If he does not fit into the
organizational structure, he is eliminated at the preliminary stage.
Such interviews are usually short and may be conducted at a desk, across a counter
or railing and they are known as stand-up interviews. The main objective of such
interviews is to screen out undesirable/ unqualified candidates at the very outset.
Someone who inspires confidence, who is genuinely interested in people, and whose
judgement in the sizing up of applicants is fairly reliable, should conduct such
interviews. Care is taken to ensure that the Weeding out process does not lead to
the elimination of desirable workers.

I. Application Blank or Application Form

An application blank is a traditional, widely accepted device for getting information
from a prospective applicant that will enable a management to make a proper
selection.
The blank provides preliminary information as well as aid in the interview by
indicating areas of interest and discussion. It is a good means of collecting verifiable
(and therefore fairly accurate) basic historical data from the candidate. It also serves
as a convenient device for circulating information about the applicant to appropriate
members of management and as a useful device for storing information for later
reference.
Information is generally called on the following items:
1. Biographical Data: Name, Fathers name, date and place of birth, age, sex,
nationality, height , weight, identification marks, physical disability, if any,
marital status, and number of dependents.
2. Educational Attainment: Education (subjects offered and grades secured)
training

acquired

in

special

fields

and

knowledge

gained

from

professional/technical institutes or evening classes or through correspondence

courses.
3. Work Experience: Previous experience, the number of jobs held with the
same or other employers, including the nature of duties, responsibilities and the
duration of various assignments, salary received, grades, and reasons for
leaving the present employer.
4. Salary and Benefits: Present and expected.

5. Personal Items: Association memberships, of NCC or NSS, extra-curricular

activities, sports, hobbies, and any other pertinent information supporting a
candidates suitability for a post.
6. Other Items: names and addresses of previous employers, references, etc.
An application blank is a brief history sheet of an employees background and can be
used for future reference, in case of need.
II. Psychological testing
A test is a systematic procedure for comparing the behaviour of two or more
persons. It is a sample of an aspect of an individuals behaviour, performance or
attitude. Tests are used for the purpose of making a differential placement or
assignment of a person to the job for which he is most suitable; for selecting
candidates for promotion and transfer within an organization; for selecting candidates
for assignment to a company training programme. It can be used for selection and
placement of new employees or for appraising employees for promotional potentials.
Candidates are judged on the basis of their physical characteristics, their abilities and
skills, their interest and personality traits.

Advantages of testing:
1. It is easier to determine the value of a test as a selection device, than it is
possible to evaluate interview or application blanks.
2. Tests are subject to minimum subjective bias or are much more objective than
any other selection device presently available.
3. Tests

provide

uniform

basis

for

comparing

candidates

from

diverse

background.
4. Tests minimize the time of selection and can also be judiciously used in
training the employees for appropriate positions by determining their training
ability on the basis of the test scores.
5. They may increase production because better employees are employed; and
may result in increased satisfaction of employees because they are placed on
the job for which they are most competent and interested./ this may reduce
absenteeism, reduce rate of accidents and increase morale of the workers.

III.

Interview

Interview is the most widely used selection tool. It is most complex selection
technique because its scope includes measuring and classifying all other information
about the applicant. It is a selection technique which enables the employer to view
the total individual and directly appraise him and his behaviour. It is a method by
which an idea about an applicants personality (including his intelligence, breadth of
interests, and general attitudes towards life) can be obtained by a face-to-face contact.
By interviewing is meant, deliberate, active listening with a purpose to draw the
other person out, to discover what he really wants to say, and to give a chance to
express himself freely.

It is a conversation with a purpose

In other words, an interview is an attempt to secure maximum amount of information
from the candidate concerning his suitability for the job under consideration. It
enables the interviewer to judge certain qualities (manners, neatness and appearance,
ability to speak, meet other people pleasantly and make a good impression on others)
of the prospective candidate before he is selected.

Objectives of interview:
1. To get an opportunity to judge an applicants qualifications and characteristics
as a basis for sound selection and placement.
2. To give an applicant essential facts about the job and the company (nature and
hours of work, opportunities for advancement, employee benefits and services,
company policies, etc.) in order to enable him to decide intelligently, whether
he should or should not accept the employment.
3. To establish a rapport, or a feeling of mutual understanding and confidence,
between the personnel department and the applicant who is to be employed.
4. To promote goodwill towards the company whether the interview culminates in
employment or not.
5. To get a real feel of the candidate, observe his appearance, mannerisms,
confidence, and typical ways of reacting to questions of various sorts.
Despite the fact the interviews are often regarded as costly, inefficient and non-valid
procedure for selection purposes, they are widely used because the psychological tests
and application blanks do not give correct information about the candidate as a real
flesh and blood human being.

IV.Reference Checks
The use of reference is common in most selection procedures, for it involves only a
little time and money, and minimum of effort.
The procedure places reliance on the evaluation of former employers, friends and
professional personnel. Checks on references are made by mail or by telephone, and
occasionally in person, or by using a reference form, which require specific answers.
The opinions of previous employers and others, who have known the applicant, are
generally useful in getting a picture of his potential performance in a particular job
when background checks are used. It is important to get more than two viewpoints. It
is vitally important that references should indicate how long and in what capacity the
referees had the contact with the applicant.
However, some employers are of the opinion that references are useless because a
referee rarely gives an unfavourable opinion about the application. But other
employers consider reference checking to be an integral part of the total over-all
selection and assessment programme.
V. Physical Examination
Certain jobs require unusual stamina, strength or tolerance of hard working conditions.
A physical examination reveals whether or not a candidate possesses these qualities. It
brings out deficiencies, not as a basis of rejection but as a positive aid to selective
placement and as indicating restrictions on his transfer to other positions.

Purposes:

It gives us an indication whether a candidate is physically able to perform the

job. Those who are physically unfit are rejected.

It discovers existing disabilities and obtains a record of the employees health

at the time of hiring so that the question of the companys responsibilities
(both legal and ethical) may be settled in the event a workmans compensation
claim for an injury is preferred.

It prevents the employment of those who suffer from some type of contagious
diseases.

It places properly those people who are otherwise employable but whose
physical handicaps may necessitate assignment only to specific jobs.

The basic purpose of a physical examination is to place persons in jobs, which they
can handle without injury or damage to their health. Candidates are medically
examined either by the companys physician or by a medical officer approved by the
company for the purpose.
VI. Placement
Once an offer of employment has been extended and accepted, the final stage in
procurement function is to be concluded, namely, that of placement of the individual
on the new job and orienting him to the organization. Placement may be defined as
the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned and
his assignment to that job. After selection, the employee is generally put on a
probation period ranging from six months to one year, after which his employment
may be confirmed, provided, that during this period, his work has been found to be

satisfactory. Only in very rare cases is the employee, once placed, asked to quit, and
even then it is only when there is something very serious against him or he is found
guilty of continued negligence in the performance of his duties.
VII.

Orientation, Induction or Indoctrination

Induction is a technique by which a new employee is rehabilitated into his

surroundings

and

introduced

to

the

practices,

policies

and

purposes

of

the

organization. In other words, it is a welcoming process- the idea is to welcome a

newcomer, make him feel at home and generate in him a feeling that his own job,
however small, is meaningful and has significance as a part of the total organization.
Induction leads to reduction of anxieties, dispels the irrational fears of present
employees and hold colleagues responsible for assisting the newcomer so that he may
feel confident.
It also helps minimize reality shock some new employees undergo; this reality shock
is caused by the incompatibility between what the employees expect in their new jobs
and the realities they are confronted with. Orientation can help overcome this problem
by providing for more realistic expectations on the part of new employees and more
understanding on the part of the supervisors.
Finally, the purpose of induction is to introduce the new employee and the
organization to each other, to help them become acquainted, and to help them
accommodate each other. The newcomer is explained what is expected of him/her and
for this, he/she is explained the rules, regulations, policies and procedures that directly
affect him. He/She is made aware of how his job fits into the overall operation of
the organization, his/her own duties and responsibilities, and to whom he/she should
look for when he/she has any problem.

Basis of

Recruitment

Selection

distinction
Meaning

Searching prospective candidates

Choosing the candidates having

and stimulating them to apply for

necessary qualifications

Nature

jobs
Positive Process

Negative Process

Aim

To create a large pool of

To eliminate all unsuitable

Process

candidates
Simple as candidates are not

candidates
Complex as the candidates are

required to cross many hurdles

required to cross several

Number

No restriction upon the number of

hurdles
Only a limited number of

Order

candidates
It is done prior to selection

candidates are selected

It is made only after
recruitment

Recruitment in Alstom
Being a big growing multinational into power project, Alstom recruitment need is
vast. Hiring happens on monthly basis in a big number.
Recruitment Process starts with man-power planning.
The important recruitment related questions are :

How many to recruitment?

What to recruitment?

When to recruitment?

Recruitment

Once the recruiter finds te answer to these three questions, he finds answer to another crucial
question as how to recruit.
So,the answer to the question how many to recruit and when to recruit is found through
manpower planning. This is how recruitment process begins in Alstom.
Manpower Planning is done on the basis of existing and expected projects. Studying the no.
of existing and expected projects plus the work study tells the no. of personnel required to do
the upcoming projects in the organization.
It can be understood by the following illustration:

Positions

No. of personnel required in

Structures

Piping

HR

Finance Executive

Drafter

Engineer

In Alstom, recruitment forecasting period is 3 years.

Once the no. of personnel to be recruited is decided, the recruitment makes efforts to find out
what kind of personnel to be recruited for a particular job. For this, what is required is JOB

JOB ANALYSIS

In Alstom Job Analysis is done to find out what kind of personnel is required for a particular
position. It is an important part of human resource planning. The two important outcomes of
job analysis are Job Description and Job Specification.

Job Description and Job Specification is prepared after interacting with the employees
through the following methods :

Interview
Questionnaire

JOB

Observation
Diary Method
Technical conference

Based on information achieved from job analysis, the analyst prepares the Job Description
and Job Specification for each job. This helps the recruiter in deciding what to recruit.

Selection

INTERVIEW ROUND:
The short-listed candidates are invited for the interview. In Alstom, generally Open
interview is conducted.
In order to select the right talent, a series of interviews is conducted. The process of
interview consists of the following rounds:

Telecom

Technical

HR

Interview

Personal

Personal

Interview

Interview

INTERVIEW PROCESS
Technical Personal Interview: here some technical experts interview the candidate
to judge how good the candidate is from the technical point of view.
If the candidate qualifies this round of interview also, he\she is invited for the final
round of interview with the HR persons.
HR Personal Interview: Though the technical interview evaluates the person's
ability, the HR interview is essential because it is the HR who can judge how well, can the
candidate adjust him\herself in the particular work culture. It is the interview based on
competency and behavior.
If the HR of the company finds the candidate good in all aspects, the candidate is
finally selected. After selection, salary negotiation is done and offer letter is given to the
candidate.

INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

I have been given a past data of some years back by the recruitment team and asked to do the
recruitment analysis of the same.
I did my study on recruitment and analyzed the data in the following way :
1. Hiring trend
2. Category wise recruitment
3. Experience wise recruitment
4. Age wise recruitment
5. Recruitment source analysis
6. Exit trend
7. Hiring vs. Exit analysis

HIRING TREND

Hiring Trend

Month

Hiring

Jan

10

Feb

15

Mar

15

Apr

12

May

18

June

15

July

13

Aug

10

Sep

15

Oct

17

Nov

20

Dec

20

Hiring

Hiring

Category wise recruitment

Category wise recruitment

Posts

Vacancies

Senior Category

15

Team Leader

10

Finance Executive

20

Lead Engg. (Structure)

25

Engineer (Structure)

30

Drafter (Structure)

32

Lead Engg. (Piping)

20

Engineer (Piping)

16

Drafter (Piping)

12

Total

180

Experience wise recruitment

Experience wise recruitment

No. of
Experience

recruitments

Freshers

25

0-2 years

30

2-5 years

35

5-8 years

32

8-10 years

38

10-15 years

12

15+

8
Total

180

Age Wise Recruitment

Age Wise Recruitment

Age

No. of hiring

18-20
years

25

20-23
years

45

23-25
years

35

25-28
years

40

28-33
years

15

33-38
years

12

38-45
years

45-50
years

45-50 years
38-45 years
33-38 years
28-33 years
25-28 years
23-25 years
20-23 years
18-20 years

Recruitment Source Analysis

Recruitment Source Analysis

Sources of

No. of hirings

recruitment

Employee refferals

65

Consultants

35

Campus

30

Job Portals

25

Direct/Cold Calls

10

Rehires

Others

7
Total

180

Exit Trend
Exit Trend

Mont

No. of

exit

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

10

June

July

Aug

12

Sep

13

Oct

Nov

11

Dec

Hiring vs. Exit analysis

Hiring vs. Exit analysis
Month

Hiring

Exits

Jan

10

Feb

15

Mar

15

Apr

12

May

18

10

June

15

July

13

Aug

10

12

Sep

15

13

Oct

17

Nov

20

11

Dec

20

Total

180

84

Month Exits
Month Hiring

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Limitations are a part of research. There are various limitations faced while conducting the
study:1. Time constraint i.e. respondents are available at specific timings i.e. at break timings
between 1-2pm.
2. Respondents are reluctant in filling the questionnaire.
3. The data may contain some personal bias.
4. Genuinety of respondents is not sure.
5. Some employees were not ready to fill the questionnaire while some were hard to
convince and some gave rough ideas for the sake of answering.
6. The employee had no proper suggestions. Some of their answers were vague and not
clear. As a result the evaluation becomes difficult.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

As per the recruitment analysis, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. The interview step is the most effective one in gauging the skills of the
candidate for the job.
2. Internal Sources are rated higher than the external ones as a source of
recruitment. Though the campus interviews are also well advocated by
respondents for freshers.

3. Employee Referral Scheme was also highly rated . It is being used effectively
to hire new employees who come on reference of existing employees.
4. The Employee Referral Scheme cannot be misused to gain incentives and hire
wrong people for the job.
5. The respondents are satisfied with the current workforce in their team. The
skills match the job profile defined for their designation. There is no mismatch
and usually the right people are hired for the right jobs.
6. Documentation required in the whole process needs to be reduced. The number
of forms required to be filled may be reduced.
7. Most respondents seemed satisfied with the overall step-by-step recruitment
process.
8. The probationary period of any new employee is found to be sufficient.

SUGGESTIONS
Some suggestions for improving the recruitment and selection process being followed.
The recruitment process being followed can be made more effective through:The initial training and induction procedures need improvement.

The initial salary package offered needs to be made more competitive to attract good
number of candidates.
Also, the terms of employment should be made more friendly.
Reference checks should be made more effective and stringent.
Increasing the written test standards.
The number of forms required to be filled in the whole recruitment & selection
process may be reduced.
Induction and training process can be made more friendlier.
The induction programme should not be undertaken on Mondays or Fridays.
A pre-job training may be provided for new employees to adjust to the new work
environment and new skills required for the new job.
The interview process should be made more stress-free with minimum number of
rounds of interview.
The interview panel should be decided effectively for the process of selection.
The direct team leader/project manager who is to head the new recruit should be
included in the interview panel.
The skills of each candidate should be matched properly with the profile mentioned
in the Manpower Requisition Form.

Appropriate induction and training be given to the new employee to adjust to the
demands of the new job. Initial training will help reduce the training costs later on.
The initial salary package offered should be sufficient. It should not be too less or
too much. It should be attractive and competitive.
The probation period of any new employee should be appropriately decided looking at
his skills and job retention. It should not be extended too long, for it reduces the
morale of the employee and increases job insecurity.
The best source should be used to hire new employees (e.g. Existing Employees
referral, job portals, placement agencies, campus interviews, etc.).
Additional new sources should also be explored to hire new employees.
Exit interviews may be conducted to gain information on enhancing the recruitment
procedures in future.
The probationary period should be reduced because longer the probation period,
greater is the uncertainty in the minds of employees about their future.