Sneak-Peek

HR News: January/February 2012--------------------------------------------------------------------------2

Article: Is knowledge management a trend or is it a need?-------------------------------------6

HR Talk: An Interview with Regional HR Manager of Birla Sun Life------------------------7

HR Glossary---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

February 2012 P a g e | 2

Reliance ADAG to do campus-hiring as a group

Even as it manages its employer

brand with improvement in processes

from within, RCom will partner other

ADAG companies — Reliance

Entertainment, Capital and

Infrastructure — to visit B-schools as a

team in 2012. This is a first for ADAG

companies, and stems from the

formation of an HR council at the Group level this year.

An MBA Finance could end up in RCom or Reliance

Capital, if there are roles available in both — that's a

choice students will have. For companies, it allows each to

leverage the strength of the Group. In terms of hiring

process on campus, induction, orientation, compensation,

benefits structure, grade & titles, they would be made

uniform across ADAG companies from this year.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/newmanager/article2860602.ece

LinkedIn unveils new hiring solutions for India

Professional networking site LinkedIn unveiled a localised

hiring solution for the Indian market, a move aimed at

helping recruiters tap the vast talent pool in the country.

LinkedIn, which has more than 135mn members

worldwide, has over 13mn users in India. "Specifically for

India, LinkedIn India is rolling out localised versions with

pricing for offerings like LinkedIn Recruiter, which will

allow Indian recruiters to search & target profiles in India,"

LinkedIn said in a

statement. Various other

offerings like 'Jobs

Network' & 'Talent

Direct’ have

differentiated pricing in India.

LinkedIn India's Head of Hiring Solutions, Irfan Abdulla,

said its member-base consisting of educated & engaged

professionals are much sought after by recruiters.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/linkedin-launches-localised-hiring-solutions-for-indian-market/909031/0%20.

IT, consumer goods lead hiring across sectors

A Monster.com survey found that recruitments increased

substantially in IT & consumer goods sectors in January

‘12. The portal’s monthly employment index showed annual

growth of about 6% this month, rising to 120 from 113 a

year ago. Hiring also improved on a month-on-month basis,

with index at 115 in December. Employers have started the

year on a relatively positive note with continued

recruitment within large sectors like IT, consumer goods &

import/export, said Sanjay Modi, Monster.com managing

director for India, Middle East & South East Asia.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/hiring-activities-up-across-sectors-monster.com/911586/0

Indian pilots flying away to foreign carriers

Plagued by salary woes, Indian pilots have begun to look

for greener pastures as leading carriers like Jet Airways,

Kingfisher Airlines & Air India struggle under heavy losses.

February 2012 P a g e | 3

Leading carriers in India have been witnessing an exodus

of pilots. Sources indicate that in the recent past nearly 40

pilots of Air India have quit, while about 60 have quit from

Jet Airways. Kingfisher Airlines has seen about 50 pilots

leaving.

Most of the pilots leaving the Indian carriers are said to be

taking up employment with foreign airlines like Emirates &

Silk Air. Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is also

looking to hire pilots in India.

Pilots say they have no option but to leave, as salaries are

getting delayed for months on end. Air India had delayed

salaries of pilots for over a year and around 18,000

employees of Jet & Kingfisher Airlines did not receive

salaries for two months.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/article2897192.ece

Google, BCG best companies to work for

Internet giant Google has been named the best company

to work for by Fortune magazine, taking the top slot in a

list of 100 firms, with employees raving about everything

from its work culture to perks like free food at well-stocked

pantries. "Everything was up at Google last year – revenue,

profits, share price, paid search clicks, hiring -- and so, too,

was employee love," Fortune said.

In the second spot

was BCG. Fortune

said the global

consulting giant

invests 100+ hours and thousands of dollars to recruit each

consultant and once hired, they earn an average of

$139,000 a year.

Other companies in the list are Mercedes Benz US (12),

DreamWorks Animation (14), Goldman Sachs (33), software-

maker Adobe (65), Intel (46), Starbucks (73), Microsoft (76).

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/google-tops-fortunes-list-of-best-firms/902355/0

IIM Indore taps talent hunt firms to help in placements

IIM-Indore, a

relatively new

member of the

IIM fraternity

that was set up

in 1996, plans to partner with some placement firms to

make sure that all 450 students in the current batch

receive offers. The institute is in talks with around five

agencies. "We are trying to help our students get good

placements," said N Ravichandran, director of IIM-Indore.

"At this point, we have to keep the names of these

agencies confidential," he said.

Sunil Goel, director at Global Hunt India Pvt Ltd, said that

IIM-Indore had contacted the firm.

"We have not yet decided on how the institute will

compensate these firms or what will be the payment

structure. But we will choose only those that bring the best

job profiles from their clients. We will also give them a

threshold figure for salary packages depending on which

sector the job offer is coming from," a senior official from

the institute's placement committee, who did not wish to

be named, pointed out.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-25/news/30663093_1_iim-indore-placement-season-batch-size

February 2012 P a g e | 4

U.S. revamps visa norms to attract Indians

Amidst pending comprehensive immigration reform, the US

has proposed several steps, ‘‘including changes in F-1 & H-

1B visas’’, to attract foreign skilled workforce, a move likely

to benefit professionals from countries like India.

Prominent among these reforms

include providing work

authorisation for spouses of

certain H-1B visa holders,

17month extension of optional

practical training (OPT) for F-1

international students to include

students with a prior degree in

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, allow

for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students

and allow outstanding professors & researchers to present

a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement.

These moves are in support of President Obama's, efforts

to meet national security & economic needs.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/jobs/us-tries-attract-skilled-workforce-india-805

Labour Laws need relook: PM

Inaugurating the 44th session of the Indian Labour

Conference, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, said,

‚We would need to make provision for part-time work (for

women) which would have the same characteristics as in

full-time employment (for women). If this requires

legislative changes, we should be prepared to do so and

begin working on a blueprint to make this a reality.‛

To bring more women into the workforce, he emphasised

on understanding the constraints that they face in

balancing their family & work responsibilities. He felt that

the provision of crèches built into regulations, including

those for MNREGA, were clearly not enough.

He said that the Factories Act, 1948, a Central legislation

to regulate the working conditions in factories, is currently

in the process of being amended. The need for amending

the Factories Act has been felt because of a number of

developments since 1987 when the Act was last amended.

These include concerns arising out of disasters such as the

Bhopal gas tragedy, especially those relating to industrial

disaster mitigation, rehabilitation & compensation for

industrial workers & other affected persons.

Panel recommends 24wk Maternity Leave

A committee on social security, set up at the 44th Indian

Labour Conference (ILC), has suggested that maternity

leave to women employees, now provided under the

Maternity Benefit Act, be raised to 24 weeks from the

present 12 weeks.

Ironically, there was exploitation of women workforce in

payment of wages in the quantum of payment when

compared to men. A woman employee of a leading foreign

bank in Chennai was recently asked to quit during her

advanced stage of pregnancy and re-join a few months

after child birth just to avoid payment of maternity benefit

and extension of leave to her.

Also, a committee on minimum wages had suggested an

increase of wage ceiling for application of Employees

Provident Fund Act from the present Rs.6,500 a month to

Rs.10,000 or Rs.15,000 a la getting medical benefits under

Employees State Insurance Corporation. Most committee

members wanted the ceiling for number of workers covered

under the EPF Act to be reduced from 20 to 10.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2897174.ece

February 2012 P a g e | 5

Businesses look for social media flair in marketers

Does P&G's move to lay off 1,600

non-manufacturing workers signal

the beginning of the end of

conventional marketing with its

ritualistic advertising & promotions

- and of dyed-in-the-wool marketers who are unable to ride

the digital tiger?

An IBM 'Global Chief Marketing Officer' study done in the

fourth quarter of 2011 suggests that most CMOs

worldwide, and in India, are "underprepared to manage the

impact of key changes in the marketing arena".

Back home, nobody is heralding the decline of the

traditional hotshot marketer, but the writing is loud & clear

on the Facebook wall: "Marketers who cannot see the kind

of influence & deep engagement that the digital space has

with consumers may as well get out of business," says

Santosh Desai, managing director & CEO, Future Brands.

Traditional marketing spends in India still dominate, but

slowly & surely a growing percentage of funds are being

sliced out of budgets and being moved towards the digital

space. Consumer-centric companies such as Hindustan

Unilever, P&G, Vodafone, Cadbury Kraft & UB Group are

looking closely at cost-effective & engaging ways to

connect digitally with consumers.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-17/news/31071495_1_digital-marketing-social-media-data-explosion

February 2012 P a g e | 6

In today’s organisations, contemporary management thinking is being profoundly reshaped by two new convictions

a) Effective Management of organisational knowledge is essential to achieving competitive success

b) Managing knowledge now is a central concern – and must become a basic skill of the modern business leader

If we look at the restructuring processes of large successful companies globally

like Toyota, Shell & GE, and relatively new stars like Apple & Google, they

are flatter than their competitors & have proportionately fewer managers as per

the turnover they generate. Work is increasingly being taken over by Domain

Experts brought together in teams across departments. This relatively new trend is driven by IT which

communicates faster than via several levels of management. IT-enabled organisations essentially demand

knowledgeable users to transform data into useful information and take decisions based on that. Knowledge by

definition is specialized. Hence an organisation of today or of the future has its task cut out – manage knowledge of its people,

leverage on their ideas and create core-competencies to create better products/ services than competitors.

Knowledge Management encompasses augmenting knowledge at the individual & the organisational level as well. While

working in groups three types of knowledge creation take place –

knowledge to perform routine/ current tasks more efficiently,

knowledge that provides new capabilities to the group

And finally knowledge to create new output using the first two.

All these are essential to the organisation to remain competitive. Leaders need to understand this and create practices that

encourage sharing & creation of usable knowledge – to allocate specific responsibilities to different groups, create an

atmosphere which imbibes courage to take risks, establish organisational structures enabling free flow of knowledge amongst

groups and creation of an IT infrastructure to store, to analyse & to access relevant learning for future projects/ environments.

Dynamic business environments demand quick decisions backed by learning & adaptability. Proper use of knowledge spurs

both these. Quick & correct decisions create competitive advantages in the marketplace which translates into superior bottom

lines i.e. knowledge creates Economic Value for the firm. Therefore the economy today thrives on creation and applying

February 2012 P a g e | 7

knowledge to business problems & opportunities - hence the term Knowledge Economy. Value

creating processes span across the organisation. Knowledge workers place growing value on the

‚horizontal learning‛ opportunities in related fields on offer in an organisation – hence the

increased use of cross-functional project teams, as discussed earlier, gains prominence in this

virtuous circle of value creation. As followed by 3M, providing these people a freedom to migrate

to projects they find interesting & intellectually stimulating can also be an effective way to offer Horizontal Learning.

As once famously said by the American philosopher William James (1907), ‚Truth lives on credit‛ – it is the

key concept of knowledge management. To explain, what we believe to be true – or in other words, what

we think we ‚know‛ must always be subject to on-going testing & validation. Organisations & business

leaders must be willing to replace old beliefs, old knowledge & old frameworks when new ideas seem more

capable of explaining, managing and predicting present and future events, and thus are more deserving of

our ‚credit‛.

Knowledge is experimental & procedural and hence knowledge management holds the key to

continuously test the validity of gained knowledge by applying it through organisational processes. This

continuous trend of enabling creation, application and augmenting knowledge in organisations /

individuals is not only the need of the hour, but also a positive trend that all should follow in their own

way.

By Deepankar Sadhukhan

Below is an interview with Ashish Datta, the Regional HR Manager for Birla Sun Life Insurance.

He had completed his PGDIM from XISS Ranchi (2005). He started his career with Reliance Capital, worked with them for 2 years, and has now been associated with the HR function at Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd for the past 4 years.

Looking back to the early stages of your career, what

was the impetus that helped you choose HR as a

profession?

People management always fascinated me and was the

driving force for choosing HR as a profession.

Do you recall any challenging situation you have faced

in your career as an HR Manager?

Every segment has its own challenges in financial domain. Superior subordinate relationship issues crop up very frequently which needs to be addressed immediately else results in legal suits. One such incident

February 2012 P a g e | 8

I can recall when entire branch submitted mass resignation due to superior issues needed lot of persuasion & convincing ability which I had never encountered in my professional tenure. For any such issues root cause analysis is important. The matter was investigated using different investigation methods. The culprit was identified who was responsible for creating trouble in the branch. We immediately isolated him by transferring him to a different location. And hence the issue was resolved.

Which is your favourite function within the umbrella

of functions that come under the HR domain? Why?

Employee engagement would have to be my favourite function due to the creativity & uniqueness involved for planning every initiative. And not to forget the smiles we bring after every initiate which is so important after hectic work schedule.

What is the most important learning you have gained

in your career?

For any upcoming HR professional a good mentor plays a very important role which adds to his learning curve. I was very lucky to have different supervisors who were experts in different domains. In my short stint as an HR professional I have learned it is very important to have a good connect with your employees and be always empathetic to their issues.

What measurable results could HR achieve?

For a line HR it would be people development & employee satisfaction which can be measured by looking at the attrition rate as happy employees will never leave you.

How is training carried out for the employees?

Training calendar is designed on the basis of job roles and span of control for Front line salespersons. Product Training is given immediately after joining for non-performers. Refresher courses are conducted after every quarter, for supervisory roles Managerial Excellence Program is conducted within 3 month of joining, support staff training is conducted on a half yearly basis.

Employee Engagement Surveys are conducted to find

employee satisfaction levels in a company. How does

Birla Sun Life ensure these surveys yield outcomes that

benefit employees, and promote internal branding?

Every 2 years we conduct OHS survey conducted by a third party organization called “Gallup”. After analysis of results all concern areas so far highlighted have been taken care of and new initiatives were launched. Employees are motivated when they see action taken on concern areas which we have managed to do so far. Satisfaction level could be evaluated by the looking at the results this year as none have raised the same issue highlighted in the previous survey.

How is academic HR curriculum different from actual

industry practices?

Basic knowledge is absolutely imperative but there is a huge disconnect between curriculum and real life situation more emphasis should be given to case studies & internship.

What has been the one most fulfilling professional

experience in your long vocational journey?

HR is the gate way to enter any organization when we look at our regions performance record & business figures compared to other regions. It gives you immense satisfaction to see the quality of team we have managed to build.

What are your dreams & aspirations for the HR

profession?

Every upcoming HR professional aspire to Head the department. HR domain has undergone a radical change since inception. Now we talk about HR business partnerships, new ideas and approach are needed apart from the regular operation job.

February 2012 P a g e | 9

Ability test - An assessment instrument used to measure an individual’s abilities, mental or physical skills level (i.e. problem solving, manual dexterity, etc.)

Absenteeism - Referred to as the habitual failure of employees to report for work when they are scheduled to work

Active learning- The process of acquiring knowledge, skills & behaviours by taking specific actions or performing specific tasks

Achievement test - A standardized testing instrument used to measure how much an individual has learned or what skills he or she has attained as a result of education, training or past experience

Adverse action - Any act by an employer that results in an individual or group of individuals being deprived of equal employment opportunities

Affirmative action (AA) - Any program, policy or procedure that an employer implements in order to correct past discrimination and prevent current & future discrimination within the workplace

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) - A voluntary procedure used to resolve disputes or conflicts between individuals, groups or labour-management. This procedure utilizes the services of a neutral third party to facilitate discussion and assist the parties in reaching an agreement which is binding

Assessment centre - A testing location where a candidate being considered for

assignment or promotion to managerial or executive-level position is rated by a team of experienced evaluators over a series of days using standardized activities, games & other simulations to predict the candidate’s future job performance

Attrition - A term used to describe voluntary & involuntary terminations, deaths & employee retirements that result in a reduction to the employer's physical workforce

Availability analysis - The process of determining the number of qualified minorities and women in the relevant available workforce who possess or have the ability to acquire the required skills or qualifications for any available position within the organization

February 2012 P a g e | 10

We hope reading HRiday Veda has been a time well spent! We would like you to reply back with your valuable feedback about

this issue. We are also open to your contribution for the future issues by way of articles, cartoon strips, topic suggestions, and

any relevant HR material which will benefit us as future HR managers.

HRiday @ G.I.M.

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