PROJECT REPORT

ON

ANALYSIS OF RECRUITMENT & SELECTION STRATEGIES

OF
ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE LTD.
 PREFACE

Recruitment and selection is a multifaceted concept. The relevance of recruitment and

selection is to determine the number of personnel required. The HR proceeds with the
identification of sources of recruitment and finding suitable candidates for employment.
Both internal and external sources of manpower are used depending upon the types of
personnel needed.

In the present business environment, organizations are faced with the pressure to produce
maximum with less recruitment. An employee, on whom an organization’s profitability
depends, comprises the largest fixed cost that an organization incurs. In the past,
individual used to work with one or two organization during their entire working life
(average between 20-30 years). Organization too used to believe in lifetime employment
concept. However, such concepts are being eroded as a result of the unpredictable
business environment. Hence, organizations have to evolve methods not only to only
improve productivity but to also keep the cost down.

On the HR front, productivity can be improved by ensuring that the organization attracts
the best talent at the lowest possible cost. This objective translates in to the adoption of
the best recruitment and selection methods and instituting measures to retain and develop
them. Further, a quantitative measurement or recruitment and selection effectiveness has
to be conducted to prove one’s point with respect to qualitative measure to improve HR
effectiveness, the field in still in its nascent stage.

The objective of this study is to measure the Recruitment and Selection practices and
strategies in ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE LTD. The primary objective is to
analyze how the overall recruitment and selection is done in the company during the year.
The primary objective is well supported by a secondary objective which aims at the in-
depth study of those procedures which affects the Recruitment and Selection practices.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive summary
2. Overview of industry
• Introduction
• Overview of insurance sector
3. Company profile
• Vision
• Promoters
• Products offered
4. Research methodology
5. Objectives
6. Significance of the study
7. Scope and limitations of the study
8. Theoretical framework
• Factors affecting recruitment
• Recruitment policy
• Perquisites of a good recruitment policy
• Methods of recruitment
• Selection procedure
9. Existing procedure
• Recruiting an advisor
• Benefits for advisors
• Career progression for advisors
10. Data analysis and interpretations
11. Recommendations
12. Conclusion
13. Annexure
14. Bibliography
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today’s tight labor market is making it more difficult to find, recruit and select talented
people for an organization. The competition for talent is intensifying as there are fewer
qualified applicants available. This shortage of applicants makes it all the more important
for organizations to be able to effectively attract, select, and retain quality candidates.

With many organizations offering a number of job opportunities, candidates can afford to
be choosy when searching for their ideal job. Thus, the best searching procedure should
be adopted by an organization. Once the organization has successfully recruited
candidates, it must select the best one for the position under consideration. Organization
uses various tools to help them select an individual. The selection tool is designed to
obtain behavioral and motivational information about the candidates for effective
selection system. For example, behavioral interviewing is a popular selection activity in
highly effective selection system. In the future even more organizations plan to use this
and other similar tools more intensively to select employees. Organizations realize that
having an effective legally sound system in place is crucial to helping them select the
right people for the right job. Finally better recruitment and selection strategies result in
improved organizational outcomes. The more effectively organization recruit and select
candidates, the more likely they are to hire and retain satisfied employees.

In this project the different techniques adopted by the company towards this effect have
been identified. ICICI PRUDENTIAL, which is multinational company, has been chosen
for studying their methods of recruitment and selection function because it has the
probability of achieving more than 50% of the people to be placed for the right job,
which reflects some of the unique ways for recruiting the candidates to fill up various
vacancies.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

Every task is undertaken with an objective. Without any objective a task is rendered
meaningless. The main objectives for undertaking this project are:
v To understand the internal Recruitment process at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
v To identify areas where there can be scope for improvement
v To give suitable recommendation to streamline the hiring process

METHODOLOGY

The insurance sector is marked with a high level of attrition and therefore recruitment
process becomes a crucial function of the organization. At ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance, recruitment is all time high during May-June and Oct-Nov. The attrition is
high among the sales managers, unit mangers mostly in the sales profile. The recruitment
is high during these months due to the fact that March and September are half year
closing and business is high during Jan-Mar. Thus it is only after March that people move
out of the companies.
Since my summer training was in the months of May-June, it gave me the opportunity of
involving myself directly with the recruitment process and analyzing the process so that
suitable recommendations can be given. This project is centered on identifying best
hiring practices in the insurance industries. It therefore requires great amount of research
work. The methodology adopted was planned in advance so as to collect data in the most
organized way.
My area of focus was the recruitment and selection particularly at ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance. I was directly involved with the recruitment for candidates for the sales
profile. I was particularly involved with the sourcing of candidates for the regions outside
Delhi such as M.P, U.P and Rajasthan.
Before any task was undertaken, we were asked to go through the HR policies of ICICI
Prudential Life Insurance so that we get a better understanding of the process followed by
them.
v The first task was to understand the various job profiles for which recruitment was to
be done.
v The next step was to explore the various job portals to search for suitable candidates
for the job profile.
v Once the search criteria were put, candidates went through a telephonic interview to
validate the information mentioned in their resume.
v A candidate matching the desired profile was then lined for the first round of Face to
Face interview in their respective cities.
v Firstly the candidate had filled up the personal data form(pdf).
v Then the candidates INTERVIEW EVALUATION SHEET which is provided by
interviewer was crosschecked by the HR team. If they think that the candidate was good
to hire or not.
v When a candidate cleared his first round, he is then made to take an online aptitude
test. We created the online aptitude test. It the HR department, which has the exclusive
rights to assign test, codes to the candidates. Each code was unique and could be used
only once by a candidate.
v I was involved in assigning codes and administering the test
v Once the candidate completed his first assessment, his scores were checked. If he
cleared his cut-off he was given another test.
v I had the responsibility to make sure that candidates complete all formalities and had
to regularly follow up with them.
v Since we received many resumes, it was essential that a database be maintained to
keep a track. It was convenient method than to stock up piles of papers. ICICI has their
own database named as “PACE”, I update all the records of the new joinees in that
tracker. PACE containes all the information of a candidate such as name, contact number,
location etc.
v The external guide maintained a regular updating of the database.
v Understanding what kinds of database are maintained and how they help in keeping a
record.
v I was also involved in maintaining a track of test codes given, the database for
employee referrals, Database for the resumes received through mails and response of
advertisement.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Date Source
Primary :- Through Questionnaires
Secondary :- Through Internet, Journals, News papers and Misc.
Data Collection Procedure :- Survey
Research Instrument :- Structured Questionnaire.
Sample Size : - 80
Sample Area : - work done in Delhi regional Office.
Sample procedure :- Random sampling.
PROJECT SCHEDULE :-
First 1 week :-Training program from the company.
Second week :-Collecting the primary and secondary data.
Third Fourth week :- Study Recruitment & Selection Process
Fifth week :-Designing the questionnaire .
Sixth week :-Conducting the survey in RO.
Seventh week :-Analysis of Data Collection.
Eighth week :-Final Report preparation and presentation.

Limitations of the study

Every task is undertaken with an objective and accomplishment of this objective
determines our success.
Task:
The recruitment at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance involved a lot search from the
database and calling up candidates to check whether they fit the job specification.
Difficulties:
v Candidates were reluctant to talk at times;
v Candidates who were contacted were not interested in Insurance on many occasions;
v Candidates who were scheduled for interview would not turn up;
v Run out of database many times since most of them would have already been
contacted;
Task:
Candidates were to be searched from the job portals and called up to be scheduled for an
interview.
Difficulties:
v A summer trainees we could not separate systems to work on;
v At times many people had for couple of hours to work on the computer;
v Since STD calls had to be made, the availability of phone was limited, so there was
greater coordination required with respect to its usage and maintains a time slot so that
other person has a chance to use.
Task:
Inter company analysis through survey and questionnaire filling.
Difficulties:
v Did not secure cooperation easily;
v People asked lot of counter question so convincing them was a major task;
v People did not disclose much about their employee details.

Topic Information
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

“The art of choosing men is not nearly so difficult as the art of enabling those one has
chosen to attain their full worth”.
Recruitment is the process by which organizations locate and attract individuals to fill job
vacancies. Most organizations have a continuing need to recruit new employees to
replace those who leave or are promoted in order to acquire new skills and promote
organizational growth.
Recruitment follows HR planning and goes hand in hand with selection process by which
organizations evaluate the suitability of candidates. With successful recruiting to create a
sizeable pool of candidates, even the most accurate selection system is of little use
Recruiting begins when a vacancy occurs and the recruiter receives authorization to fill it.
The next step is careful examination of the job and enumeration of skills, abilities and
experience needed to perform the job successfully. Other steps follow:
v Creating an applicant pool using internal or external methods
v Evaluate candidates via selection
v Convince the candidate
v And finally make an offer
Scope: To define the process and flow of activities while recruiting, selecting and
appointing personnel on the permanent rolls of an organization.
Authorization:

S.No. Authorized Signatory

1 Head- Human resource
2 Managing director
Amendments and deviations:
Any amendments to and deviations from this policy can only be authorized by the Head-
human Resources and the Managing Director.
Exclusions:
The policy does not cover the detailed formalities involved after the candidate joins the
organization.
ACTIVITY FLOW
The organization philosophy should be kept in mind while formulating the recruitment
procedure.
The HR department would set the recruitment norms for the organization. However, the
onus of effective implementation and compliance with the process rests with the heads of
the respective functions and departments who are involved in the recruitment and
selection process.
The process is aimed at defining the series of activities that needs to be performed by
different persons involved in the process of recruitment, the checks and control measures
to be adopted and information that has to be captured.
Recruitment and Selection is conducted by:
v HR & Branch Manager
v Functional Head

RECRUITMENT PLANNING

Recruitment planning on the basis of budget

The manpower planning process for the year would commence with the company’s
budgeting activity. The respective Functional heads would submit the manpower
requirements of their respective functions/ departments to the board of Directors as part
of the annual business plan after detailed discussion with the head of human Resource
Function along with detailed notes in support of the projected numbers assumptions
regarding the direct and indirect salary costs for each position.
A copy of the duly approved manpower plan would be forwarded by the HR department
for their further actions during the course of the year. The annual budget would specify
the manpower requirement of the entire organization, at different levels, in various
functions/departments, at different geographical locations and the timing of the individual
requirements. It would also specify the requirement budget, which is the cost allotted
towards the recruitment of the budgeted staff and the replacement of the existing
employees. The manpower plan would also clearly indicate the exact time at which the
incumbent should be on board in such a way that the Regional HR has adequate notice
for the time lapses involved in sourcing any other activities.
The Regional HR’s would undertake the planning activity and necessary preparations in
advance of the anticipated requirements, as monthly and quarterly activities on the basis
of the approved budget, estimated separations and replacements therefore.
The vacancies sought to be filled or being filled shall always be within the approved
annual manpower budget and no recruitment process shall be initiated without the formal
concurrence of the Head of the Regional HR under any circumstance. Head of the
Regional HR shall also have the responsibility to monitor the appointments being
considered at any point of time with specific respect to the duly approved manpower
budgets.
Review of Manpower Plans and Additional Manpower
A. Review of manpower budgets shall take place on a quarterly basis. In the event of
any new position or any deviations to the original plans, details of the positions maybe
forwarded to the VP-HR along with the adequate supporting information. The
recommendations would normally require a formal approval of the Managing Director.
Alternately, VP-HR may record the summary of his discussion with the Managing
Director and the MD’s approval on the recommendations, to signify the final decision
taken regarding the recommendations.
SOURCING OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES
Selection of Sources
Regional HR would tap various sources/channels for getting the right candidate.
Depending on the nature of the position/grade, volumes of recruitment and any other
relevant factors, the Regional HR would use any one multiple sources such as:
v Existing database (active application data bank);
v Employee referral as per any company scheme that may be approved from time to
time;
v Advertisement in the internet/newspapers/magazines/company’s sites/job sites or any
other media;
v Placement Agencies (particularly for positions of Managers and above);
v Headhunting firms particularly for senior positions, specialist positions and critical
positions;
v Direct recruitment from campuses/academic institutes;
v Job websites and
v Any other appropriate sources.
The norms for using any of the sources are not water tight. Number of positions,
criticality of positions and the urgency of the positions, confidentiality requirements,
relative efficacy and cost considerations would play a role in the choice of the appropriate
sourcing mechanism.
ADVERTISEMENTS
v All recruitment advertisements (in any form and any medium) shall always conform
to the KLI compliance norms and would not be released by any department or branch
without the approval of the VP-HR. depending on the specifics of each position for which
recruitment advertisements are to be released, Regional HR may obtain assistance from
the company’s marketing department and/or any external advertising agencies for the
preparation of the contents. Key features of the positions as notified by the Functional
Heads would normally form a part of the advertisement text.
v The media for releasing advertisement would depend on the level of the position
being considered and the urgency of the requirements.
v The advertisement mode that could be broadly specified as newspapers (local or
mainline depending on requirements), internet sites and business magazines.
Placement Agencies/Headhunting Agencies
v Depending upon the vacancies, fresher fitting different description listed above may
be recruited from time to time, from academic institutes of appropriate
standards/reputation/grade, in the requisite numbers and at the compensation/stipend
amounts to be formally approved of the VP-HR. Plans for such recruitment need specific
special approval of VP-HR. norms regarding the identification of the appropriate
institutes, constitution of the selection panels, timings of the recruitment, number of
candidates to be recruited into different positions, choice of the appropriate selection
process and the tools thereof shall be decided by the Head of the Regional HR in
consultation with the VP-HR, depending on the specific features of the position.
Screening the candidates
First level screening
The Candidates would be screened by the HR Manager/Branch Manager for the
respective locations. Screening would be on the basis of the profile of the candidate and
the departmental requirements.
This assessment will be with respect to:
The general profile of the candidate,
Personality fit of the candidate into the profile,
Aptitude/attitude of the candidate,
Motives of the person to join the company and whether focus is in the short term or is a
long term player,
Basic skill level on our set of requirements, say numerically ability, networking ability,
etc
Establish the annual guaranteed cash compensation of the individual and check whether
the person would fit into the system.
Explain the role of Sales manager to the applicant and check the acceptance of the
candidate for the same.
In case of need, the Regional HR may take a Tele interview of the candidate for further
assessment process.
Second Level Screening
Aptitude Test
If the first assessment is positive, the candidates will give the aptitude test, once such test
is selected approved by the company. The scoring, interpretation and the generation of
interview probes from that test will also be done at this time. People who qualify the
minimum criteria on this test will be put up on to the Functional Head (VP’s in case of
HO) for functional assessment and suitability into the role.
Tied Agency Sales Manager candidates short listed by the BM have will then take sales
Aptitude test, once such a test is finalized. For the final selection, the regional Manager
(Business Heads for HO) will meet the candidates short listed by the branch manager/VP.
The chart specifying the Minimum approval level for each level of recruitment is
specified below:

Category Branch Area Business Managing

Manager/Chief Manager/AVP/VP Heads Director
Manager
CSE/ADVISORS Yes No No No

BIC Yes Yes No No

BM/CM Yes Yes Yes No
SM Yes Yes Yes Yes
General Norms regarding interview Process:
Interviews should consider the entire data provided by the candidate either through the
formal CV or otherwise before coming to a conclusion about the candidate. They may
insist on seeing the proof of the claims made by the candidate regarding qualifications,
experience and other achievements. They may, at their discretion, decide to meet the
candidate on more than one occasion or to refer the candidate to another panel.
Ratings on various attributes of the candidates shall be recorded in the interview
evaluation sheet, soon after the interview is over. Along with these numerical ratings,
qualitative observations about the candidate and overall decision regarding selection or
otherwise (including a decision to defer the induction, referral to another panel,
considering for another position) shall be forwarded to the associated Recruitment
Manager/ Head of Regional HR. Individual panel members have the option of appending
their additional remarks/observations. No selection will be treated as final unless the IES
form is filled comprehensively. Suitably appropriate IES formats may be created for
specific positions.
Any discrepancies noticed by the panel members regarding the authenticity of the data
provided by the candidate should be specifically and formally recorded on the IES form
and suitably high lightened.
Specific points to be probed during the reference check process, if any, must also be
clearly recorded and high lightened on the IES forms.
Administrative Actions Regarding Interviews
Scheduling and the venue of the interviews would be handled by the recruitment team in
consultation with the short listed candidate and the selection panel members, after taking
mutual convenience into account. For field positions, respective branch/regional heads
would undertake this co-ordination.
After the final round, if the candidate is selected, the complete set of papers Personal
Data Form, CV, job requisition no., Interview evaluation sheet ,reference check details,
educational details, along with the interviewer’s recommendations and Reference check
form should be forwarded by the recruitment managers to recruitment head. Fitment of
the candidate into a grade and compensation fitment shall be on the assumption of
authenticity of the information provided in the CV/application form.
An appropriate formal communication shall be sent to the candidate whose candidature is
not being taken forward, or details of the verbal/telephonic communications provided to
the candidate shall be recorded on the candidates papers, by the recruitment
team/associated line managers. In the case of interviews taking place at the
branch/regional levels, similar noting should be recorded on the individual candidate’s
papers.
Negotiations of the terms and conditions and other pre-appointment formalities
In the case of sales-Tied Agency functions, the branch managers will be allowed to fix
the salary and grade of the incoming sales manager, provided the compensation does not
exceed 20% of the candidates current cash salary. Any fitment beyond this norms will
need the approval of Head-HR. HR will forward a worksheet to support the BM’s to
evaluate the appropriate cash CTC of the incumbent. For all other functions, the
compensation and grade would be fixed post a discussion between the Head of the
Regional HR and the associated AVP/VP. Any candidate being offered a CTC of more
than 4lacs will need the sign off from HEAD-HR. In appropriate cases, at the discretion
of the VP-HR, a deviation may be referred to the Managing Director, for the MD’s
formal approval.
Responsibility for negotiations and finalization of the terms shall rest with the best
Branch Manager/Associated Manager. They may seek the assistance of the recruitment
managers, whenever required. Reference checks process should not normally be initiated
unless the candidate has indicated his firm acceptance of the offer being made by us.
Reference checks
A. Normal, reference checks should be undertaken with at least one reference. A
second reference check will be done if considered necessary. Responsible officials from
the former employers, academic institutes and/or any other eminent personalities can be
considered as appropriate references. Close relatives and friends cannot be considered as
references. Wherever feasible and considered appropriate, a reference should be made
with a senior official of the candidate’s current employer. In case the candidate is
currently un-employed, reference should be made with the latest employer. The format of
reference check is to be used as a framework for conducting the process.
B. Where the minimum two reference checks are not possible (particularly with the
current employer) or where there is a mixed response from different sources, the matter
may be to the VP-HR for a final decision. Depending on the seniority and any other
considerations about the positions, VP-HR would normally consult the functional head
concerned, before coming to conclusions. Any candidate whose credentials are doubtful
shall not be recruited.
C. In case of recruitment of Management trainees, fresher and life advisors as sales
Managers no reference checks will be required.
Employment offer letter
When a recruitment Manager is fully satisfied about the selection of the right candidate
and about completion of all the formalities connected with the appointment of candidate
including requisite documentation, satisfactory reference check reports and medical
fitness, he/she would forward the relevant papers listed below to the head of recruitment.
Ø Personal Data form
Ø Employee requisition form duly filled by the regional Head/Branch Manager
Ø Interview evaluation sheet filled by the regional head/Branch manager/interviewer
with his/her comments.
Ø Latest and updated resume of the candidate
Ø Photocopy of the appointment letter of the last employer or latest salary slip.
Ø Employment details.
Ø Two Professional references.
Ø Language Proficiency.

Document check list for every grade is as follows:

Ø Authorization Release Form.
Ø Background check Form.
Ø Highest Education certificate.
Ø Highest Education marksheet.
Ø 1 Month Salary Slip of Current Employer.
Ø 1 Month Salary Slip of Last Employer.
Ø Relieving Letter of last Employment.
Ø Proof of Residence.
Ø 2 Passport Size Photograph.

Regional HR manager will take the signature of Head-HR on the employee requisition
form and forward the papers to the employee service team for issuance of the offer letter.
Employee services team will issue offer letter, to be signed by the National Recruitment
Manager or Chief Manager-HR, and send the same to the concerned Branch Manager/
HR Manager.
It would be the responsibility of the Branch Manager/HR Manager to ensure that the
accepted copy of the offer letter is forwarded to the employee service team within a week
of receipt of the offer letter. Till this letter is issued, the ‘offer’ has not taken place in
formal sense. A copy of the offer letter shall be duly signed and returned to the candidate.
Candidate would be expected to fulfill various joining formalities, which are also
formally communicated to him/her in the form of a checklist that is attached to the letter
of offer. The Regional HR head shall have the overall responsibility and accountability to
maintain the templates of the offer letters and also for drafting of suitable non-standard
terms to any specific candidate.
The employee service team will follow up Branch Manager/Regional HR Manager for
the joining of the candidate and will collect all relevant documents from the candidate
including the joining report, before issuing the appointment letter. The employee service
team may enlist the help of the Branch Manager to ensure that all necessary documents
within ten days o the person joining. After the of all necessary documents, the employee
service team will send the appointment letter to the new joinee.
Once the documentation is complete for the new joinee (including the accepted
appointment letter), people who may have joined before 20th of the month but have not
been included in the payroll for the month because of delay in receipt of papers will be
given ad-hoc salary advance (up to maximum of 65% of the pro rated salary). This
advance will be adjusted once the person gets included in the subsequent month’s payroll.
If the person does not submit the relieving letter from the previous organization, where
required to be submitted as per the table given above, within three months of joining, the
employee service manager can put their salary on hold till such time as the said
documents are received.
Key tasks of Regional HR Head
Regional HR Head will have the authority and responsibility to administer/implement the
recruitment and selection process as outlined. An illustrative list of the key deliverables
of these incumbents is listed below.
v Ensuring inductions as per quality, numbers, time and cost consideration of the
company in accordance with the approved manpower budget.
v Creation of appropriate sourcing mechanism along with tracking the performance of
these mechanisms.
v Creation of quarterly and monthly recruitment plans
v Effective coordination with external parties such as candidates, placement agencies,
consultants, academic/professional institutes and any other including the custody of the
formal agreements , tracking timely payments and adjusted thereto
v Creation of comprehensive and appropriate tools, linkages, documents, templates and
any other mechanisms to ensure smooth execution of the process requirement, along with
timely improvements thereto
v Assistance to user department and line managers including in interviewing/selection
support, scheduling etc.
v Effective internal communication with user departments and line managers including
making the standard recruitment formats and other templates easily available to such
users and notifying the modifications to such formats and templates.
v Creation and maintenance of qualitative information base regarding candidates,
placement agencies, campuses, institutes, and any other employment-market information.
v Creation and maintenance of appropriate and high-quality MIS for current and future
needs of the organization, including publication/circulation of appropriate reports there
from to the relevant users within the company.
v Monitoring recruitment costs
v Complete documentation for the entire recruitment and selection process for easy and
quick retrieval in a readily auditable format
v Timely and effective communication with all internal and external parties including
the candidates
v Tracking the progress of the selected candidates including resignation, extensions of
probation periods/training period, etc for the purpose of improvement to recruitment and
selection process.
v Effective coordination with the post recruitment arm of the Human Resource
function
v Documentation and creating MIS regarding waiver, deviation, etc and identifying the
key areas for improvement in the formal recruitment and selection process document.
SWOT Analysis of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s Recruitment Process

Strengths Weaknesses
Brand equity of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Pre assessment tests are costly.
Rigorous Pre-Hiring assessment tests to Conversion of footfalls is low.
understand aptitude and personality of Lengthy pre-offer formalities.
candidates. Huge employee turnover.
Proper reference checks to ensure that only
bonafide candidates are appointed.
Adequate number of channel partners to
generate footfalls for each location.
Footfall MIS being maintained at each
branch locally by Admin.

Opportunities Threats

Campus recruitments have huge potential Increasing number of private players in

for fulfilling manpower requirements cost insurance sector creates ample choices,
effectively. frequent and easy mobility for employees.

Tie up with recruitment agencies on Same channel partners are handling all

supplying fixed number of footfalls week insurance companies. This leads to same pool
on week. of candidates being circulated to all partners.

Develop exclusive contract with channel Increasing spill over as a candidate has more
partners to meet the manpower than one offer at the time of making a job
requirements. shift.

Make blue form brief and to the point. As the insurance industry is small, senior
level candidates hesitate to meet HR of other
Reduce turn around time of making an
companies for the fear of grapevine.
offer.

RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Compress the "white space" in your hiring process.
White Spaces are delays in hiring process that are unproductive, waste time, and
virtually assure you'll lose talented candidates. Often the longest delays occur between
critical selection events. For example, a recruiter may need several weeks to screen a few
hundred resumes from the Web job boards, or candidates who make it through screening
may wait weeks to interview with a hiring manager.
Here at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, the delays occur when the outstation candidates
are called for interviews at Regional branches like Delhi and Mumbai. Sometimes,
because of busy schedule of senior managers and sometimes because of tight schedule of
candidate, the interview has to be postponed. This delay could be minimized by
scheduling interviews in the regional locations. It is recommended to reduce the
turnaround time for the recruitment and selection process. It must be made mandatory for
the candidates to take the test, filling up forms etc within the stipulated time, this will
make sure that the candidates do not hold casual attitude and take the recruitment process
more seriously. Additionally it can send across a positive image about the company.
White space in recruitment can be compressed by the use of IT also. Technology (such
as automated or Web-based tracking) is ideal for eliminating unnecessary steps and
reducing delays.
Tie up with more & more consultants from multiple segments
Since the limited placement agencies are sourcing candidates to all insurance companies,
there often comes the problem of duplication of data. Therefore it is recommended that
more and more consultants should be tied up from multiple segments to attract large pool
of new and fresh talent.
Know what you're looking for in candidates.
It is observed that the candidates sourced by placement agencies and send for further
rounds of interviews are rarely found suitable by the hiring managers. Therefore, in case
there is need to utilize the service of a placement agency, then it is recommended that
these placement agencies be given a well drafted job description and job specification.
This can also be circulated to internal employees under the employee referral scheme.
This will help people to get a clearer picture and provide for most suitable candidates.
Thus making efficient utilization of the existing resources.
Reduce the pre offer formalities:
Pre-offer documentation includes filling of a lengthy Blue form which includes all
personal, educational and professional details of candidate. This is very time consuming
and even after taking these details from candidate its not sure that offer will be made or
not. This also becomes frustrating for the candidate sometimes. So, it is recommended
that unnecessary details should not be asked before we make the final offer to the
candidate. Blue form should be made consise.
One size doesn’t fits all
An effort must be made to study local condition, education levels. Since applying
common test for all candidates across entire country can overshadow a candidates
capabilities. This factor must be given importance since Indian society is divided on
various parameters such as education, language, infrastructure etc. A test with high level
of English and complicated sentence structure can be a hurdle in areas where language
itself is barrier. An option is to have different tests for different regions.
Blend technology into every aspect of your recruiting and hiring process.

Web-based technology lets you increase hiring speed and quality while reducing costs.
Currently, job boards constitute the biggest use of the Web, offering access to thousands
of resumes within hours. But the Web can also be a powerful tool for screening and
qualifying that flood of resumes. Companies have begun to use the Web to collect and
instantly match data on candidate skills, motivations, and experiences against job criteria.
Other uses of Web-based technology include online interviewing, candidate assessment
and testing, applicant self-scheduling, and tracking. Work the Web wisely and you save
time for recruiters and hiring managers and nab top candidates before your competitors
can.
v It is recommended that apart from the person-job fit, method must be devised to
check for person-organization fit. A person-organization helps to assess how well a
candidate is suited the organization. Whether the attitude he/she carries will promote both
organizational as well personal goals. This takes a great importance especially when
attrition is high. It will help the organization to retain its employees for a longer period of
time and less burden on recruitment staff.
Build and manage your candidate pool as a precious resource.

A "candidate pool" is a group of individuals who have shown interest in working for your
company and are qualified for and ready to fill certain positions. Rather than undertaking
the time-consuming process of filling one job at a time, you draw on the candidate pool
and fill jobs as they become available. How do you keep a pool active? Some companies
send their newsletters to pool candidates, give them product coupons, and keep in touch
through e-mail. Pool management is not easy in a tight labor market --good candidates
often go elsewhere. But many organizations, especially those with a reputation as a great
place to work, are able to fill positions quickly using the pool concept.
Create winning impression even on those who are not selected
Its very important to create a favorable impression of your organization on all those who
come for interview. Those who are not selected in the first round of personal interview
should also carry this impression that they have missed the opportunity to work in a great
company. For this, there must a proper coordination of the interview of the candidate and
greater degree of professionalism. A candidate when invited for a interview must be
attended as soon as possible and should be made to wait for hours together. Interviews
conducted on a scheduled time leave a good impression on the candidate. Even if he is
not selected, a good impression about the will make him recommend the name to his
people.
CONCLUSION
Insurance is confronted with high attrition rate. Therefore it makes recruitment a critical
function in the organization. In order to grow and sustain in the competitive environment
it is important for an organization to continuously develop and bring out innovations in
all it activities. It is only when organization is recognized for its quality that it can build a
stability with its customers. Thus an organization must be able to stand out in the crowd.
The first step in this direction is to ensure competitive people come in the organization.
Therefore recruitment in this regard becomes an important function. The organization
must constantly improvise in its recruitment process so that it is able to attract best in the
industry in order to serve the best. Thus the organization must look out for methods that
can enable it to adopt best recruitment practices.
LEARNINGS
Every endeavor undertaken to accomplish challenging goals, can only be successful
under the experienced and encouraging guidance. I am privileged to have undergone
training at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. As learning never stops, my learning at Kotak
has come from a lot of exposure, on the job training and close interaction with the
corporate. In brief my learning and achievements can be summarized as under:
Understanding of person and profile fit.
Convince people about the job profile and to sell the job to the prospective candidate;
Following up with the candidates during the entire selection process;
Learned to convince candidates about the offer rolled out and making them accept the
offer through effective communication;
Learning about salary fitments.
Communicating with the corporate;
Performance appraisals, its various types, implications and significance;
Handling queries received from various quarters;
Managing HR department in the absence of HR manager;
Reply to official mails;
Prioritize issues according to their importance;
Field work exposure to tap candidates that further strengthened the learning.