Foreward by Professor Bindu Gupta,

IMT Ghaziabad

Reinventing the “LeadeRship”

Wheel by Ganesh

Program Manager – The Central

Gear of an Academic

Organisation by B.C Bahuguna,IMT

Ghaziabad

Intrinsic v/s Extrinsic Factors of

Motivation by Lohit Ahuja,IIM

Ahmedabad

Employee Resistance towards

Organisational Change by Ravish

Kumar,IIM Ahmedabad

Talent Acqusition Strategies for the 21st Century by Ankita P Shah, N.L Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research

Reducing Survival Syndrome in the face of Downsizing by

Khushboo Bansal, SIBM Bangalore

Workforce Learning And Development Is Essential For Retaining And Engaging Your Employees by Mohmmed Thanveer, IIM Ranchi

CORPORATE INTERVIEw by Dr.V

Narayana Reddy, VP-HR, Dr.Reddy’s

Laboratories Ltd

I would like to congratulate my students for bringing the new issue of

‘HORIZON’ the HR magazine of IMT Ghaziabad, and appreciate

their dedication and skills to bring this issue. The purpose of

HORIZON is to create a platform to share the knowledge and

perspectives of key HR issues and challenges. It includes the

contributions of young minds from various top B-Schools, seasoned

practitioners and academicians with the readership of over 20,000.

HRuday is an official HR club of IMT Ghaziabad. HRuday acts as

an interface between the HR students and corporate world and adds the

practical learning dimension to the curriculum of students through industry

interactions and exposure to HR related knowledge across the globe. It

interest in the human side of management education and practices. It is

so humane in character that we HR faculty consider it as “the heart and

the blood” of student related events and activities at IMT Ghaziabad

campus.

BIndu Gupta

Associate professor

IMT, Ghaziabad

FOREWORD

so humane in character that we HR faculty consider it as “the heart and

the blood” of student related events and activities at IMT Ghaziabad

campus.

HRuday has many meaningful events/activities in its kitty which

HRuday team religiously organizes every year and over the years these

activities attract the participation form the top rated B-Schools of the

country. To name a few, Colloquium, the National HR Summit,

Conquest, the Short-Term Project Competition etc. have established for

itself distinct image in the corporate cosmos in India. With its continuous

efforts and enthusiasm the team brings number of short term projects from

various prominent organizations for the students.

Some of intra IMT activities of the club are also commendable. These

include events like Frenzia, a fun event, and GD Forum, an event in

which students get the platform to sharpen their skills for their summer

placement processes. These events of HRuday are so well conceived and

designed that these have a lasting impact on the participants.

Best wishes to Team HRuday for the academic year 2012-13 and

ahead!

About the Author

Ganesh co-founded Sage Solutions (www.sagesolutions.in), a

firm committed to helping Emerging Businesses in building

their people systems/ processes in their scale up journey. Sage

Solutions partners with aspiring small businesses to, bring in

strategic perspectives in their people aspects of the business,

and hand-hold in implementing these people programs.

Ganesh is also a founding member of ChittaSangha

(Consciousness Collaborative), a group of catalysts/ facilitators

who have come together with a Vision to “transform

organizations and communities by developing consciousness-

centred leadership and whole systems”. Ganesh practices and

teaches Yoga in the Sivananda Yoga Centres in Gurgaon

(www.yagashowstheway.com

Reinventing the “Leadership” Wheel

This is an age and time where Yoga is getting patented, anything

herbal is the in-thing, Siddha and Ayurveda are getting

acknowledgement as

medical disciplines and we

are seeing law suits being

filed for the patents

relating to the medicinal

properties of ginger and

haldi. Modern science

seems to be coming a full

circle – so is the case with

contemporary thinking on

Leadership and

Development.

Age old theories like Great

Man Theories, Trait

theories paved way for

behavioural theories in

Leadership made popular

by the 9X9 Leadership Grid

by Blake and Mouton.

Even as behavioural

theories led way to

situational theories on

leadership, the concept of

Competencies developed

by

“The past

two decades

produced

some of the

theories in

Leadership

which

deviated

significantly

from the

traditional

theories, the

most

publicized

one being

Jim Collins’

“Level 5

Leadership”

in ‘Good to

Great’.”

CORPORATE ARTICLE

McClelland based on behavioural framework is one of the widely used

frameworks in most organizations today for their Leadership Development agenda.

The past two decades produced some of the theories in Leadership which deviated

significantly from the traditional theories, the most publicized one being Jim Collins’

“Level 5 Leadership” in ‘Good to Great’. Jim Collins describes Level 5 Leadership as a

combination of “Personal Humility and Professional Will”. Interestingly, this concept was

not a result of research in to leadership but was a result of an inquiry to what makes

great organizations. Level 5 Leadership was one of the seven factors identified.

Now let us come to the reinvention in this domain. How does “Level 5 Leadership” differ

from the stages of personal evolution indicated in our ancient scriptures? A close look at

these would reveal that these are in essence the same. One of the early stages of

personal growth mentioned in the scriptures is liberation from the sense of personal

doership (karthabhav), which is essential for personal humility and professional will. The

intent here is not to rob the credit from the works of Jim Collins. The biggest

contribution of Good to Great lies in empirically establishing the linkage between the

leadership qualities of Level 5 to sustained success, more than the delineation of the

characteristics themselves. As a consequence, Good to Great has created a common

language across the corporate community to communicate the qualities of such a leader

in a simple to understand term (Level 5 depicting “Personal Humility AND Professional

Will”), and also an aspiration for various professionals across the globe to acquire such

qualities.

Perhaps, the output from Good to Great deviated from the traditional theories because

Jim Collins’ research was not aimed at understanding Leadership. Traditional inquiries

into Leadership have either explicitly (e.g. Vertical Dyad Linkage Model) or implicitly

(Trait theories studying leaders who have a large following), were perhaps bound by the

constraints the language; thus, invariably the study of leadership always got anchored

around the concept of followership, which led to efforts in understanding “What is

Leadership” and “How to develop Leadership”, more externally focused on the

manifestations of one’s actions. Even the competency frameworks are an expression of

such manifestations.

While people involved in leadership development have always acknowledged the need

to ‘dig deeper within one’s self’ to generate truly transformative behaviours, the

question on “How to develop Leadership” seems to have not been answered sufficiently

by the practitioners and researchers, perhaps contributed by the lack of any framework

on Leadership that was anchored ‘within’ as opposed to ones that were anchored on

“Invariably

the study of

leadership

always got

anchored

around the

concept of

followership,

which led to

efforts in

understanding

“What is

Leadership”

and “How to

develop

Leadership”,

more externally

focused on the

manifestations

of one’s

actions.”

external manifestations. It is only recently that researchers such as

Zigarmi et al, in their book ‘Leaders—from within’, have expounded on how one’s real

leadership potential resides within the individual. They have acknowledged that

developing Leadership is a process of clearing the filters (prejudices, beliefs etc) that one

may have accumulated over one’s life than about gaining new knowledge. Interestingly,

this in a sense is what Vivekananda said, “what a man ‘learns’ is really what he

‘discovers’ by taking the cover off his own soul”.

Even as the modern mind reinvents the “What” of leadership, they are still far from

unearthing “how to develop this”. Jim Collins addressed this question to a limited extent

in G2G. He has hypothesized that certain people get the “Level 5 seed within under

certain right circumstances – Self-Reflection, Loving Parents, Significant Life Experience,

a Level 5 Boss etc”. He has also reported that some of the leaders in their study had

some “significant life experiences” (World War II Experiences, Recovery from Cancer etc)

that might have sparked or furthered their maturation to Level 5.

Other than depending on “right circumstances”, do we have a method of consciously

developing “Level 5” characteristics? Boyatzis and McKee in their recent book titled

“Resonant Leadership” have suggested developing “Mindfulness” and “Humility”; yet,

how to develop these still seems to be a mystery to modern management science.

Renowned management researchers are working with HH Dalai Lama to understand this

from the Buddhist traditions.

Even as the modern science rediscovers

the “how of leadership” as it seems to

be doing with the question on “what of

leadership”, should we wait for this

empirical evidence? Alternatively, we

can take a cue from the past trend of

‘reinventions’, and explore methods

prescribed in our scriptures to

consciously develop “Mindfulness”.

Fortunately we have this gold mine

within our reaches; all that we need to

do is to reach out, understand their

true import and apply them to the

challenges in today’s context.

“Even as the

modern mind

reinvents the

“What” of

leadership,

they are still

far from

unearthing

“how to

develop

this”.”

Program Manager – the central gear of an

academic assembly

B.C BAHUGUNA Academic Program Officer IMT GHAZIABAD

In the current fast changing business environment, being smart and acting smart

guarantees business success. It is important to note that the competitive success of

today’s organisations is in large part dependant on the ability to learn, to innovate and

to change on an on-going, sometimes radical basis.

Here, we are talking about the Academic Program Department in a leading B-School in

NCR Region. This department coordinates and organises different academic activities

.The ability to learn and organise is quintessential in this department for systematic and

organised academic setting.There is a difference between coordinating the academics in

a school environment and that in a management school environment. One gets to learn

management paradigms and has to practise managing stress conditions and follow many

a jugaad techniques in making the Academic setting flow smoothly and effectively.

Although there is a job description but there is much more to what the coordinator does

here. Employees often work by exposing themselves to different range of abilities and

derive satisfaction as talked under job enrichment activities. This office has not yet

become so professional but there is plenty of scope and the roles and responsibilities of

the coordinator can be appropriately defined through the generations of leaders to

come. The work which is a part of this role occupies 24*7 of the week and there are lots

of areas to improve further.

Academic Program coordinator is much

like a manager/organiser/leader who acts

like a bridge between two different

stakeholders - students and the top

management. He/She is like a middle

manager in a corporate setting and he is

more susceptible to the criticisms from

both the mentioned stakeholders with his

“Academic

Program

coordinator is

much like a

manager/orga

niser/leader

who acts like

a bridge

between two

different

stakeholders -

students and

the top

management.”

ADMINISTRATION

ARTICLE

“Although

there is a

job

description

but there is

much more

to what the

coordinator

does here.”

increased visibility. In order to survive in this challenging role, he needs to have good

sense of humour to handle the stress and keen interest in serving the institution. Amidst

of this entire ambiguous environment, he has to exercise effective leadership in a fair,

responsive and transparent manner. One thing which sets him in charge is his emotional

quotient in understanding the students and management and thus making appropriate

decisions to the benefit of one and all.

There is a huge responsibility of this department in catering to the needs and requests of

1000+ students with regards to all their academic activities, attendance, class scheduling,

choosing of electives, procurement of study materials etc.

The roles and activities start right from Registration and orientation of the new batch

and goes on till the student completes his/her MBA Education. It deals with preparation

of staffing and resource planning for various in-house professors, visiting faculty and

guest lectures. It consults with area heads of different specialisations (Marketing,

Finance, HR etc.) to invite guest lectures and also receives feedback of all the faculties. It

ensures greater quality of academic activity being carried out by receiving feedback and

acting on them.

“One thing

which sets him

in charge is his

emotional

quotient in

understanding

the students

and

management

and thus

making

appropriate

decisions to the

benefit of one

and all.”

It also caters to numerous grievances of students with regards to the matter of

academics. It creates and maintains Attendance Registers for each class and elective,

which has become a crucial activity as a part of academic discipline. It also coordinates

with inbound exchange students and faculties. It provides class room scheduling which

different clubs/committees required for their planning and decision making. It also

approves budget and all the finances of these clubs/committees flow through it.

All the above works requires great amount of effort and coordination between various

departments and area heads such as

Placement Committee, Student Affairs and

Welfare Council, Specialised Area Faculties of

Marketing, Finance, Human Resources,

Information Technology, Strategy, Operations

and Environment.

As per one definition of coordinator –

“someone whose task is to see that work goes

harmoniously”, the objective becomes clearer

and dearer day in and day out and the

Academic Program department works hard to

achieve this objective of harmonious work culture.

“All the

above works

requires great

amount of

effort and

coordination

between

various

departments

and area

heads.”

Intrinsic v/s Extrinsic Factors of Motivation Are they really competitors or complements?

LOHIT AHUJA

IIM AHMEDABAD

Employee motivation has become paramount for organizations of all sizes

that want to achieve their organizational goals and objectives in a

competitive market place. Highly motivated employees of an organization

consistently maintain high level of productivity, help in overcoming

obstacles and deliver high-quality work. Hence it is need of the hour to

have an appropriate employee motivation strategy in place. But

organizations and managers are baffled by that fact that which among

intrinsic or extrinsic would provide better results. It is through this article

we try to put an end to this dilemma and even provide logical basis for the

same.

According to Kendra Cherry, a renowned psychology educator and

author of the book ‘Everything Psychology Book’, motivation is a

process that commences, captains and conserves goal oriented behavior.

This behavior is in turn governed by emotional, biological, social and

cognitive forces. Various kinds of motivation are often clubbed under two

heads – intrinsic or extrinsic.

Motivations that commence from within an individual are referred to

“In

today’s

work

culture

there seems

to be a buzz

and bias

about

intrinsic

motivation

over

extrinsic

motivation”

STUDENT ARTICLE

as intrinsic. Often in literature this kind of motivation is also referred to as

push kind of motivation where an individual’s own interest, enjoyment,

satisfaction or need pushes herself to do a task. For example an

employee engaged (without any mandate) in social work apart from her daily

office work is driven to do this activity by the need of her own personal

gratification and satisfaction.

On the other hand motivations that are driven from outside an individual

mostly in the form of rewards, bonuses, and threat of punishment are

referred to as extrinsic. This kind of motivation is also referred as pull kind of

motivation. For example an employee engaged in outperforming her peers at

work due to the motivation induced within her from the threat of competition.

This fact can be corroborated by a small search on Google scholar where

majority of authors, from practitioners to theorists, have touted intrinsic

motivation as being the only sustainable alternative for future. In fact in one

of the editorials of the magazine ‘Discover the Diamond within You’ the

editor and writer Steven Philip Warner coined a new term Motivation

3.0 in favor of intrinsic motivation. According to this term, in modern day

capitalism only way an institution can outperform its rivals and create ever

higher benchmarks is through a group of ‘intrinsically motivated”

employees. This buzz and bias is even backed by technological trends like

success of Wikipedia over Microsoft’s encyclopedia Encarta, open source OS

Android’s success over Nokia’s Symbian OS and success of Firefox web

browser over Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

But despite this trend backed bias there seems to be much more that is to

be unearthed than deciding a clear winner among the two types of

motivators.

“Discover

the diamond

in you -

editor

Steven

Philip

Warner

coined a

new term

Motivation

3.0”

This can be done by analyzing the Maslow’s need based hierarchy and

mapping the two types of motivations to various kinds of needs. As given

in the adjacent diagram we will be concentrating on the top 2 portions of the

pyramid which are relevant for an organization in context of keeping

employees motivated and deriving maximum benefit from employee-

employer engagement.

According to Maslow’s need based hierarchy inability to accomplish a lower

rung need or a difficulty in the same can result in a person’s locking in on

immature actions or may result in a tendency to retort to immature actions

under stress. In a nutshell unless and until lower level needs are not

satisfactorily met individual can’t propagate up the Maslow’s hierarchy. And

as these needs are precursors to either of the motivations hence an unmet

need result in an undeveloped motivation.

Let us try to demonstrate this concept by means of

an example of an employee working in an

organization. Now an individual’s need for ego-

status in a group will probably try to seek a

special status for an individual in the group

which it belong to at his workplace. This

special status is in turn depends upon

individual’s social and professional rewards. Hence this need of ego

status will motivate an individual to seek out opportunities and to

display competence in an expectation of possible rewards associated with

them. Thus an external impetus was required to motivate an individual.

Therefore this need maps on to extrinsic motivation. Likewise there

exists similar link between lower level needs and extrinsic motivation.

“Thus it is

necessary to see

both kinds of

motivators as

complements

than

contenders.”

Now if we

move on to

need for self-

actualization, it is at this level an individual is concerned about personal

growth and a desire for seeing a change within herself. Thus in an

attempt to fulfill this need an individual pushes herself to be more creative,

more demanding, and in general try to measure up against her own

parameters of success. In exhibition of such a behavior an individual

becomes risk-taker, seeks autonomy and develops a freedom to act. Thus

an internal impetus was there to motivate an individual in this case.

Therefore this need maps on to the intrinsic motivation. Now if Maslow’s

principle is applied to this case then unless and until the need for ego-status

is satisfied for an individual, through rewards and benefits she cannot be

intrinsically motivated to give her best. Thus it is necessary to see both

kinds of motivators as complements than contenders.

Now the challenge for any organization or manager is how to make both

intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation work in tandem. First step in this

process is to identify the various factors that can affect on job motivation. In

second step all these factors needs to be categorized under extrinsic and

intrinsic motivator category. Lastly it is necessary to identify that how

these factors will be weaved together and presented to employees. For any

generic organization following table enlists the steps 1 and2.

“It is

necessary to

see both

kinds of

motivators

as

complements

than

contenders”

S.No. Factors affecting job motivation Factor

Categorization

1. Company Policy and Administration Extrinsic

2. Achievement Intrinsic

3. Responsibility Intrinsic

4. Growth Intrinsic

5. Security Extrinsic

6. Status Extrinsic

7. Relationship with subordinates Extrinsic

8. Recognition Intrinsic

9. Personal Life Extrinsic

10. Relationship with peers Extrinsic

11. Salary Extrinsic

12. Supervision Extrinsic

13. Work conditions Extrinsic

14. Advancement Intrinsic

15. Relationship with supervisor Extrinsic

16. Work Itself (Autonomy) Intrinsic

Now it can be easily observed that extrinsic factors are more and less standardized

processes. Hence once top driven and monitored by lower management they are

not tough to be implemented. Next comes in the incorporation of intrinsic

factors. For that we can follow a process called ‘job enrichment’. Following set of

steps can be followed for job enrichment:

1. Identify the jobs where attitudes are poor, motivation has high and direct

bearing on performance and changes are not too costly.

2. Management need to convince themselves of the fact that changes are

possible in these jobs.

3. Controlled experiments need to be setup for initial attempts. In these

controls experiments two groups can be formed which differ only in terms

of intrinsic factors keeping all extrinsic factors same for both.

4. Changeover might result in temporary reduction in efficiency of

experimental group hence management must be prepared for that.

5. Anxiety and hostility is expected by supervisors during the process

hence proper redressal mechanism should be made for the same.

Post successful conduct of the experiments supervisors usually discover the

managerial and supervisory functions that have been missed. The controlled

experiment can then be scaled appropriately for the entire organization or

team.

The argument between intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation can be

summed up in a way that they should not be seen as competitors but as

complementary to each other. A perfect strategy for an organization to create

a highly motivational workforce is possible only and only through deploying

both motivational factors in tandem. It is this strategy that can be said

sustainable in true sense.

“A perfect

strategy for

an

organization

to create a

highly

motivated

workforce is

possible

only

through

deploying

both

motivational

factors in

tandem”

Employee Resistance towards Organisational Change RAVISH KUMAR

IIM AHMEDABAD

The contemporary times are marked by emergence of entrepreneurial

start-ups, enhanced risk appetites of the changing demographics of third

world nations. The shift in the investment focus has gradually, and

thankfully, shifted from the Developed West to the Developing East. This

era of on-going transformation has witnessed, and continues to witness, a

change in the organisational cultures and the way employees ‘tend’ to

prefer a firm over another for work and collaboration.

The first crude question that pops up my mind is this - Do employees, at

all, resist an organisational change? Do they find themselves insufficiently

adept at accepting changes and the associated challenges? How

progressive is the mentality and approach of emerging third world nations

is in this respect? And finally, what differentiates the Silicon Valley from

any other realm in the same segment? What shall facilitate a

comprehension of the employees’ behaviour and response to

organisational changes – A theoretical approach, perhaps?

Organisational Change and Individual Resistances

As reported in Folger & Skarlicki (1999), "organizational change can

generate scepticism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes

difficult or impossible to implement organizational improvements".

“Over years,

the

organisations

tend to

evolve, age

and

change.”

STUDENT ARTICLE

This leads us to

back-presume that

employees tend to

resist changes in

the organizations;

they tend to find

incongruence with

the organization. if

we try to

understand ‘resistance’ per se, it is defined in published literature largely

as behavior that an individual ‘uses’ to protect him/herself from the

projected/anticipated ill-effects of future changes in his locality/

immediate surroundings. Over years, this has been largely taken as one

key reason of attrition in the organizations that struggle with talent

retention. As per Piderit (2000), resistance can be conceptualized using

three indicators, namely cognitive state, emotional state, and as a

behavior. Additionally, as per Scott and Jaffe (1988), the reactionary

response to organisational change comprises of initial denial, resistance,

gradual exploration, and eventual commitment. In a seminal work by

Bovey and Hede (2001), “maladaptive defence mechanisms are positively

correlated with behavioural intention to resist change, namely, projection,

acting out, isolation of affect, dissociation and denial.” The study enables

us to understand the role of (mal) adaptive defence mechanisms in

individual resistance to organisational changes.

Organizational Change Management: Essential Elements

One essential element of organisational management is the management

and retention of talent for the collective benefit of the organization as an

entity surviving in symbiotic relationship with the employees. Over

years, the organizations tend to evolve, age and change. However the

"Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and

underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.”

— James Belasco and Ralph Stayer

“Resistance

- behavior

that an

individual

‘uses’ to

protect

him/herself

from the

projected/anti

cipated ill-

effects of

future

changes in

his locality/

immediate

surroundings.

”

symbiosis has proven to be fruitful only in rare cases when there has

been congruence witnessed with the organisational goals, mission and

values with those of the employees’. Managers are challenged when

they realise that organisational change and culture are closely integrated

with each other. Employees, who over time tend to psychologically

associate themselves with immediate cultures, attain a sense of group

identity and association when the changes in organisational policies and

culture are infrequent and non-rapid.

Organisational change (in process, culture, and policies) is intended for

realisation of positive potential in the human capital. While policy

changes largely due to managerial discretion, changes in cultures and

processes are greatly motivation driven. Process changes may include new

technology adoption, changes in assembly lines, product designs, and the

like. Employees continue to be integrally associated, both professionally

and personally, as inextricable entities contributing to the profitable and

positive realisation of the change. However, the recent challenge in the

realm of personnel management is to ensure that the changes don’t

directly take an aim at employees. Any of those changes tends to

germinate resentment, discontent and dissatisfaction of the human capital.

It is in this way that the changes in policies, culture and processes are

inextricably associated with the employee engagement at all hierarchical

levels.

Change Adaptability: Organisational Evolution

Fundamentally, the resistance management across various

“An adaptive

culture in an

organisation

ensures that the

employee is able

to voice his/her

concerns and

that the talent

at all levels is

acknowledged.”

organisations has largely been inclined towards change adaptability on

both fronts – the organisation’s and the employee’s side. Instances of

resistances towards policies’ changes (such changes are generally

frequent and rapid) abound in number. One way to combat such

resistances is to ensure that the policy changes are planned in lots and are

communicated in advance to the employees. Folger & Skarlicki (1999)

report that the “management fulfills a moral obligation by providing

adequate explanations and articulating clearly the reasons for its actions”.

It ensures that effective human capital at essentially all levels senses the

permeability of the hierarchical levels and comprehends that the

organization favors adaptability and a symbiotic trust. If the changes are

planned across specified time periods, employees tend to be more

receptive to the change. It is largely the slow and adaptive change policy

that favors mutual trust and talent retention.

An adaptive culture in an organization ensures that the employee is able

to voice his/her concerns and that the talent at all levels is acknowledged.

Talent acknowledgement is rarely taken in conjunction with the

resentment to the organizational change. Change in the organizational

culture, policies and processes is largely perceived due to the decline in

the trust levels in the employee community that leads to their disbelieving

in their creativity, expertise and talent. Organizational change should be

in positive inclination to adaptively engage employees at all levels

helping them transparently voice their concerns and needs. This shall

enable the productive human capital to believe as active organizational

entities and be contributing members to the organizational goals.

Organizational Change: Perspectives of Personnel Management

Personnel Management calls for ensuring that the human capital is

participative rather than resistive in the organizational proceedings. As

quoted from Folger & Skarlicki (1999), “successful change depends on

“It is largely

the slow and

adaptive change

policy that

favors mutual

trust and talent

retention.”

perceptions of fairness. Managerial behaviors (i.e. how they treat

employees) become the key to effective managerial change because they

predict employees’ perceptions of fairness, and often can be changed

because they are under the discretionary control of the manager”. During

the course of adaptive approach to employees’ suggestions for

organisational change, the organisations become more receptive ensuring

enhanced mutual trust and higher receptivity to changes at both fronts.

The recent years have been marked by employee resistance to rampant

mechanisation and automation that was perceived to be a threat to job

security at the workplace. Today the automated workstations are more

acceptable than any time ever. It’s been largely reported that employees

are more receptive to slower changes than rapid ones. Hence, rapid

changes, in policies for instance, should be conjugated with adaptive

culture of employee engagement and ensuring an ecosystem that eases

voicing their professional concerns and needs.

Conclusion

As reported in Morgan (1997), “change will occur spontaneously only

when people are prepared to relinquish what they hold dear for the

purpose of acquiring something new or can find ways of carrying what

they value in the old into the new". Organisational change in the 21st

century needs to be perceived in a positive essence ensuring that the

employees are assured of their role in the ‘change’. Productive human

capital is that which itself is the change agent rather than a resister. Each

point of value addition in the process of organisational productivity needs

to be receptive to communicative transfer of information about positive

changes in culture, processes and policies.

". Organisational

change in the 21st

century needs to

be perceived in a

positive essence

ensuring that the

employees are

assured of their

role in the

‘change’.”

Talent Acquisition Strategies For the 21st Century

Ms. Ankita P. Shah

N.L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research

As we have progressed in our HR department, we prefer calling

talent acquisition over recruitment. The former would mean that we

are not just hiring a person, but we are acquiring the talent they

possess as our asset. We are trying to focus on the human and the

talent asset without which any organization would collapse.

talent acquisition is one of the most important tasks that

every organization performs. It is imperative not because we need

so many people to perform our task, but because we need the right

talent to achieve our goals; rightly quoted by Mr Jim Collins –

“People are not your valuable asset; Right people are!”

The name given is Talent Acquisition

and not Knowledge Acquisition,

which most of us do. Every

Knowledgeable person is not

Talented; and it is not necessary that

every Talented person is

Knowledgeable. So why do we confuse and mix both and

strategize our

recruitment policies and talent acquisition strategies that focus

more on knowledge than on talent? We focus more on education

and merits of the person than on the talent that he or she

possesses. While education is being imparted to all and most of us

“People

are not your

valuable

asset,

Right

people are

”

“People are not

your valuable

asset; Right

people are”

STUDENT ARTICLE

are educated with double

and triple degrees; talent is getting scarce. The

demand for talented people is much high than

what the supply is. And hence, every

organization needs a strategy to acquire this

limited source of talent pool from the huge pool

of educated candidates in the huge market.

Strategic Talent Acquisition, as against

recruitment, is a long term perspective by

which we also plan their succession in

advance. However, as we stated earlier that

talent is scarce to find, so where to search for

them? How do we ensure that we hire the best talent available? Is it the

master’s degree or the best school’s certification that matters? Is it the

knowledge that they possess or the art of utilizing that knowledge in the

practical life that matters? Is it the heap of certification or years of

experience that matters? How to ensure that we are hiring the right talent?

How to strategize the talent acquisition process for our organization ?

The right talent is there in the market and since it is scarce, it will be

hidden from the direct eye sight. We would need microscopic (not

telescopic) sight to have a view to this talent and acquire them. We can

use the following ideas to source talent:

Employee’s referrals: Rather than meeting random

people and judging them, why not meet the people who

are recommended by your own people? This will also

save time in sourcing

candidates afresh.

Campus Visit: These are the people who are naive, but

who have talent and skills and are enthusiastic. All you

need to do is push them in the right direction, hone their

“HOW TO

strategize

the talent

acquisition

process for

our

organization

”

skills and reap the benefits. Don’t view them as

greenhorns, view them as fresh talent; as they say – It’s all in

our mind.

Search Engine Optimization: It is the process of developing and

structuring Web content to be easily discovered by search engines and

hence people. SEO is used

mostly by marketing department so that the brand is

clear and easily searched on the search engine when

we type the name. However, this can be used by HR

department as well, to ensure that their job postings

are announced in every direction, especially to the

right group. In order to improve SEO in our

perspective, we need to use detailed job descriptions

with key words and phrases that we would like to see

in the candidate while acquiring them.

Social Media: Today, every individual is listed in some or other social

media websites, especially Facebook for personal and LinkedIn for

professional networking. With the help of the profiles available on these

social media site, we can view their interest, their achievements, their

friends and networks and other details. We have so many companies

that have

their recruitment page on Facebook. TCS has a page

that keeps all the college graduates who have been

extended offer on a single page where they can

share their knowledge, doubts and experience.

Hyatt group have dedicated profiles on Facebook,

twitter as well as linked in and one person manages

each account by dedicating 30 minutes of his daily

time to it. They said that the cost is not much

compared to the talent that you acquire and the

branding that you get.

“ Hyatt

group has

dedicated

profiles on

Facebook,

Twitter and

LinkedIn ”

Networking: Meeting new people, engaging in

interaction with them, knowing them more will help us

know much about them and we can have a mental track of

whether or not they can suit the talent requirement

we have. And never forget, we cannot know all the

people on this Earth. So we need to know people

who know others so that we can have a

chain and link to them. But “networking” do

not just mean to add them on your LinkedIn and

Facebook profiles, it means going and actually

meeting them and knowing them better.

Corporate Responsibility and Going Green: Automating

the hiring and talent acquiring process and making it all

computerized will not only make your process environment friendly,

but also make it easier and track-able. Rather than finding a

person’s information into the files (which is a tiring job) one just needs

to use the search option on his/her system and Voila! the file is found.

This helps in giving a good image to the organization where you care

to give back to the nature; and simplify your task of managing and

acquiring the right talent. Thus incorporate Green practices into your

talent management/acquisition strategy to improve your employment

brand and attract higher caliber candidates.

Maintain a Robust Pipeline: As we discussed

above, talent acquisition not only involves filling up

position, but planning how to use the talent, how to

grow, its succession planning and finally who

would be groomed under this

“

Incorporate

Green

practices

into your

talent

management

/acquisition

strategy to

improve

your

employment

brand and

attract

higher

caliber

candidates”

candidate. The baton and the responsibilities has to be handed

over to someone and so there should be

enough successors planned and in pipeline.

Training: They say, “Genius is not born

but made.” There is nothing like giving a

training to an enthusiastic candidate who is

open to learning and acquiring new skills and knowledge; and crafting

him as per the organizational needs. It is like from Zero to Hero, but

that is one of the best as we would have the talent in him customized

to our own needs and wants.

Poaching and Head-Hunting: Acceptable or not, ethical or

unethical, we can’t deny the fact that most of the organizations do

talent-poaching. When you know that XYZ is supremely talented and

is working for some organization, you would use the traditional

“Saam-Daam-Dand-Bhed” to lure them to work for you. There is a

thin line between Head hunting and poaching as follows:

Head hunting is done for senior level positions, is planned and the

objective is to get the best for your organization. Poaching, on the other

hand, is to acquire the best talent of your competitor and is targeted with

objective of killing the competition.

In order to screen in or screen out the candidates, we can use aptitude test,

which will possess questions in the areas which would be required by the

candidate in his day-to- day job performance. Meaning to say that this

aptitude test should be designed and customized as per the department or

projects as per the requirement. Sure, it involves a lot of pain in the

beginning, but has its own advantage.

“A genius

is not born

but made.”

Also, in the technical rounds of interviews, rather than testing the

knowledge that they have obtained from their college and books, we can

give them situations so that they could act on them. We can’t just ask

them about the theories of the books but how would they practically

implement it given a certain situation. We can also check them on their

creativity as the famous quote says, “The key to success is not doing

extra-ordinary things, but in doing ordinary things in extra-ordinary

ways” Many times the solution to a problem is easier when creative

approach is made towards to it.

Conclusion: The following gives a jest of the whole article and summarizes

the steps to be followed in order to acquire the talent from the market

using different sources.

List & Utilize Sources

Conduct Aptitude Test

Situational based interview

Creativity test

Onboarding,Training & Talent Utliization

“The key to

success is

not doing

extra

ordinary

things, but

doing things

in extra

ordinary

way”

“The key to

success is not

doing extra-

ordinary

things, but in

doing ordinray

things in

extra-ordinary

ways”

Reducing survival syndrome in the face of downsizing

Khushboo Bansal SIBM – Bangalore

Fear is an interesting phenomenon. It can lead the path to survival from the

chasms of destruction but it can also lead to an abyss of darkness from the

brightest of the spots. Where one goes is where one wants to go. But one thing is

definite about this emotion and that is its inevitability in various forms. And the

corporate world has not been alien to this deadly web.

It will not be a hyperbole to state that the element of insecurity about the job

finds its place the moment the offer letter gets inked. Strange, but true!!And this

element waxes or wanes as the time progresses and the performance graph goes

through the crests and troughs. But let us not undermine the significance of this

emotion. It is important for the motivation of each employee to aim for the next

level and escalate to newer heights with consistent performance. The theory of

survival of the fittest finds its relevance here and this is necessary at the

individual as well as organizational level. One weak link can decrease the total

strength of the chain and similarly the mathematical theorem counts the time

taken by the slowest to measure the speed of the entire group. The ‘carrot and

stick’ model is based on the premise that a combination of reward and

punishment is necessary to achieve the desired performance from the employees.

So, attrition is as unavoidable as the cheese in your favorite pizza. Both

increases the taste and hence the value. But this also is the genesis of the

survival syndrome. A syndrome that has its roots in every employee and plagues

the mind to an extent thatsymbolizelow efficiency and low productivity and

“FEAR is an

interesting

phenomenon”

STUDENT ARTICLE

hence becomes detrimental for any organization. Imagine

Barcelona losing to a local city club in a soccer match just because Messi does not

find his name in the final eleven or how about India losing to a low rank team in a

cricket match due to the absence of some key players. So, what exactly happens

and why it happens in such a scenario. Similar to the dominos effect, there is a

continuous psychological pattern which prevails in these kinds of situations. So,

the survival syndrome grips you when there is a long queue in the firing range. It

is not just those in the firing range which feel the heat but the scathing is also felt

by others who are at a distance from that firing range. Can we prevent such a

situation from its occurrence? Perhaps not, as the cause is more of psychological

nature and the organization still employs humans and not robots. But if the

occurrence cannot be avoided at least measures can be taken to reduce its severity.

My suggestion is to have a four step measure to counter this issue. The first step is

at the organizational level which involves the role of senior leadership of the

organization and is important from a strategic point of view. In general, there

should be a clear communication regarding the cause of termination for an

employee. More often than not, the survival syndrome spreads when downsizing

is primarily based on performance grounds. The termination due to disciplinary

grounds or any other is a less likely reason to trigger the survival syndrome. The

attrition and the survival syndrome arising out of attrition are mostly attributed to

the ambiguity in the performance assessment. All good companies claim to follow

a robust program of assessment and appraisal for its employees based on the key

responsibility areas or the critical objectives which are to be accounted by a

particular individual. This is accompanied by a clear set of expectations arising

out of these key result areas in a given time period and hence the particular

individual is well aware of his role and responsibilities. At this juncture, the

organization should have a crystal clear policy related to the downsizing of an

employee. It is often said that business value is devoid of emotions and I will not

counter this phrase but my contention will be to look at a comprehensive view

rather than follow a linear route. Some organizations follow the 5% rule which

states that the employees which form the bottom five percent of the universe

based on performance will face the exit. This might look harsh but on a closer

note one will admit that it gives a sense of relief to the rest 95% about their job

“Imagine

Barcelona

losing to a

local city

club in a

soccer

match just

because

Messi does

not find his

name in the

playing 11”

safety. Such guidelines from the top most level are of

paramount importance to curb the menace of survival syndrome.

Next comes’ the role of the HR function in the organization. The HR needs to

play the pivotal role to ensure that employees do not lose focus from their

priorities in tough situations. Initiatives such as job chats on a one to one basis

and small team meetings can prove to be fruitful in understanding the after-

effects on the employees post downsizing. The HR needs to understand the real

causes of dissatisfaction amongst the employees and try to allay the fears in an

astute manner. In this case, the exit interview of the person who is leaving the

organization gains import. It is an illusion that the person who leaves the

organization does not leave his trace behind. In fact, this person impacts the

maximum as he is able to influence his peers to the maximum and also gain

grounds based on sympathy and other human emotions. The HR will be able to

minimize this effect only when there is a clear understanding of such issues. The

anxiety that gets created due to the formation of a void has to be suppressed with

proper caution and admirable poise for which HR should be able to guard the

responsibility.

The survival syndrome spreads more from peers and due to peers as the level of

communication is more at ease in absence of any hierarchical barriers. It will be

prudent to say that this set is most prone to the survival syndrome attack and also

then act as carrier agents to spread to the next group. The canteen gossip, the

offline chats, the long walks and the hot subtle conversations near the coffee

vending machine comprise of the peer group. It can be easily concluded as

deadly infectious and supremely effective. How does one minimize this effect?

The solution to this lies in identifying your target audience. Who is the queen

bee in the bee hive? Every group has certain influencers and the whole set of

individuals swarm around these particular individuals. Identifying and then

working with them is the key to success. These people have the power to convert

the gloom into bloom.

Finally, we talk about the most important and the most key member in this chain

which is the immediate superior of an individual. Factors such as higher

“The HR needs to

understand the real

causes of

dissatisfaction

amongst the

employees and try

to allay the fears

in an astute

manner ”

package, better profile and more facilities are considered

primary factors for leaving a job. However, studies reveal an astonishing fact

that most employees leave the organization due to their conflict with their

immediate superior. The boss is often the villain in the love story between the

employee and the organization and he is the one which carries the magical wand

which can spell ecstasy or trauma for the employee. So, how does the so called

villain transform into hero? Simple, there is no gainsaying that if survival

syndrome has to be downsized then the immediate superior needs to play an

instrumental role. He is expected to know his team well and the strengths and

weaknesses of each team member. He needs to devise a framework which can

allay the fears of downsizing amongst his team members and focus on

constructive output and advanced productivity. He also needs to ensure that the

rumor mills which get catalyzed during such situations are stopped with the help

of his team members. He can also initiate a periodic feedback session with his

team members and understand the challenges faced by them. The career growth

and development plan needs to be clearly communicated to each team member

and their suggestions should be given a patient and sincere hearing. Also, casual

get together with team members can play an important role in building the team

dynamics and retaining the confidence of the employee. The boss needs to be

leader impersonate for his team. After all, downsizing is not an inevitable

certainty if the job is well done.

The survival syndrome can lose its sheen provided all the above stakeholders

play their part to the optimum level. The survival syndrome should be present to

instill an urgency to perform better every time over the last time and not the

cause of low output and low productivity.

“The

survival

syndrome

can lose its

sheen

provided all

the

stakeholders

play their

part to the

optimum

level”

Workforce Learning And Development Is Essential For Retaining And Engaging Your Employees Mohmmed Thanveer

IIM Ranchi

An idle mind is a devil’s workshop. Its true even for employees ( pun

intended). The problem of most of the organization (especially service

sectors) is that they keep their employees idle.

Keep in mind that Idle time and free time are 2 different things. Free

time is a mandatory requirement for any employees to function with

maximum efficiency. But as the wise man often says ‘anything in excess

is not good’. When ‘free time’ is in excess, it makes an employee lazy

and idle. He becomes lethargic. That’s basic human nature. Even sports

person when they go out of practice they rust and lose their fitness.

Workforce learning and development is very essential for the betterment

of the organization. It’s in the organizations interest that they impart

knowledge and necessary skill set that ‘the organization needs’. As we

know, no human beings can be taught be it a small kid or an adult. They

can only be inspired to learn. This is an important distinction. So often

we use the word teach. The word ‘teach’ has to be removed from the

lexicon. Likewise no employee can be taught. He should be aware of the

incentives that he will be getting if he is willing to take the opportunity

that the organization is providing and add value to himself.

“When free

time is in

excess, it

makes an

employee

lazy and

idle”

STUDENT ARTICLE

Learning is an important aspect for an employee as he

knows that significant value addition increases his chance for much better

and greener pastures. We go under the basic assumption put forward by

‘Adam smith’ that all individuals are selfish (as Gordon gecko says ‘for

the lack of a better word’) , his self-interest is of prime interest to him. Be

it an organization, employer or employee all are out there to server

his\her own interest. The basic challenge of an HR is to find

a common intersection of all these stake holders selfishness.

That is a challenging task for HR. How can selfishness intersect? Well

sometimes it do and sometimes it don’t. But in the case of learning and

development the probability of intersection is pretty high. That is the

reason why this area should be given its due importance.

The learning process should be incentivized. The incentives needn’t be

monetary. It can be like a better role playing opportunity or a promotion

or a client site visiting opportunity etc.

Learning attached with incentives is the Holy Grail for all employees.

He will be such a big fool or too much lazy if he misses out such an

opportunity.

In Fact most of the employees are eagerly waiting for such opportunities.

As we know human beings are so much attracted to the word free

(except if it is free trouble or pain).An employee is also very much

drawn to free training. He\She might be eagerly waiting for an

opportunity to enhance his skill and knowledge level, which not only

increases his market value but also helps him to grow in the current

organization. Many a times, I have seen employees leaving the

organization because they are not getting the value addition to their

expectation.

As we have been discussing the selfishness of the employee has to be

exploited here. I personally believe the era of employee loyalty is over

now, except may be in some top notch companies. And we should not

blame him for that. It’s a basic human nature. Always searching for

something better, not satisfied with the one you have.(The Grass is always

greener on the other side), Always in the hunt for a better deal. Even the

present day organization practices that (always in the lookout for better

profit margins at any cost-they may be preaching something else).So we

can’t blame the employees for having that philosophy. His constant

eagerness to search for greener pastures has to be implicitly

acknowledged and accepted.

So eagerness to improve one’s own market value by learning more and

more according to me is good for the organization. The willingness to

“The grass

is always

greener on

the other

side”

learn is there. Now the organization can give them the right

platform for learning and give them the right space to put into practice

what they are learning. This is one of the best ways to retain quality

talent( Employees, who believe in the principle of ‘continuous learning’).

These employees will be an asset to the organization, if rightly trained

they can bring significant value addition and will be potential leaders of

tomorrow. The success of an organization, at least in the human resource

department can be measured by looking at the organizational statistics of

how many middle level managers are hired from outside? If an

organization hires more, then they have failed to retain their talents. One

way of retaining the best talent is by satisfying their thirst for knowledge.

Some managers might argue or they are skeptical about this aspect. They

say that companies

invest a lot on these

programs and employee

after acquiring the

required skill set they

jump companies. And

eventually the

organization is at a loss.

So hence it’s better not

to train them. Well this

argument is bit deadly

and shallow. The

reason why most of

your bright talent leaves

because they are getting

better offers outside.

You can’t do anything about it even if you train or not train they will

leave. But there is a significant chunk of employees who leaves out of

frustration because they feel that they wasting their time over here. Those

employees are very bright and most of them can be retained if you make

them feel that the time that they spent in the organization is worth (by

adding value to them as well as giving them opportunity for putting to

use whatever they have learnt). One example is, Most of the IT

companies train their employees and majority of them give them some

projects not based on what they have learned. These trainees learn most

of the required skill on the job, in live projects. As a result both the

companies and employees are at a loss. The company is losing in terms

of money and time. Employee is losing in terms of valuable time. If the

company doesn’t have a policy to put the trainee based on their skill set

then what is the point in training them and wasting millions of rupees.

Let them learn on the job.

There are some other cases also which is very interesting. Sometimes the

“Future of

retention

lies not in

building

loyalty,

except a

very few

top notch

companies

loyalty is

going to be

an urban

legend.”

organizations interest and the employee’s interest might

not be in sync, for example (again) in the case of IT industry the

organization might be wanting the employee to learn a particular

technology\tool but the employee might not be interested since he feels

that learning that tool might not add much value to him as the tool is

outdated. During these situations there is a conflict between employee

and employer.

This can be resolved by bundling the things that the organization feels

is very important in their perspective (eg, the outdated tool or

technology) and the things that the employee feels will add more value

to him. This way both of their objectives can be met. The so called

things that the employee desire to learn will come in use for the

organization in future or if the organization feels it’s the opposite then

the future of the organization is very bleak as it doesn’t update itself

with latest technology and trends in market and refuses to adapt and

learn new things (I would like to remind my readers about Kodak and

Nokia).

In a nutshell the future of retention lies not in building loyalty, except a

very few top notch companies loyalty is going to be an urban legend.

It’s all about satisfying the needs of employees and this satisfaction is

not only monetary or work life balance but helping him in dreaming a

better career by adding more value to him. That better career that he is

dreaming can be in this same organization provided the organization

sees that. But not helping in his selfish motive will not help in retaining

him. He will definitely switch company. Every human beings hates

monotony be it food, cars, dresses or even spouses. So every one of

them would like to experiment and learn new things ,so that not only it

improves their value addition which indirectly satisfy their selfish

craving for more but also helps

them in beating the monotony.

Chaining him with strong rules

won’t serve the organization

purpose.

“Every

human beings

hates

monotony be

it food, cars,

dresses or

even spouses”

WHY IS PEOPLE MANAGEMENT SO DIFFICULT? GARIMA KONDA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY GHAZIABAD.

Everyone of us need to manage people in our day-to-day life starting from

family, colleagues and other people who interact with us for specific

purposes. However, I’d like to focus on people management in an

organization. The level of difficulty depends on the employee, managers

and the organization. The level of difficulty varies and depends mainly on

the factors affecting the human behaviour. Human Behaviour can be

defined as the result of the interaction between individual characteristics

and the environmental characteristics in which the behaviour occurs.

“It’s always my weakest people who want the most flexibility from the

company” – Jack Welch, former CEO of GE.

The factors affecting human behaviour in an organization can be broadly

classified into: External and Internal factors.

External factors are due to the personality, character and personal factors

of the individual, while the internal factors are due to the organization and

the work environment. The external factors are attached to the individual’s

genetics, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control, core faith

and survival instinct. The internal factors include the organizational

policies, the culture, nature of work, work environment and reward

system.

External factors: As a HR manager it is not so difficult to manage the

internal factors as they are within the control, but it is very difficult to

manage the external factors of each individual. Managing people gets

tougher as these external factors change with time and new behavioural

patterns emerge, called as learned characteristics. Each individual is

unique and one cannot apply the same managerial methods to every

person.

Internal factors: The HR managers should see the employee as a whole

person and not just as an individual who works for the organization, to

achieve best results. However, since the HR managers can control only the

internal factors, they need to focus more on these factors for managing

people. Thus, good people management methods are necessary to satisfy

STUDENT ARTICLE

“It’s

always my

weakest

people who

want the

most

flexibility

from the

company”

both the employees and the organization. Getting these

methods wrong is only going to make people management tougher than

what it already is.

Most of the larger businesses are rigid by nature. Good people

management requires the flexibility and freedom to deal with variety of

human behaviours which are changing with changing environment.

Profit driven corporate culture does not inspire people for a long time.

Organizations must include innovation, employee involvement and risk

taking as few of its shared values. Employee participation should be

increased in decision making processes. The more employees take

ownership of the organization the less is the need to manage them. More

self managed teams are to be encouraged.

The people who are in the frontline but who make the bottom-line are

ignored sometimes. This makes it hard to manage them as they no

longer feel as a part of the organization. The status quo has to be

challenged and a new perspective on people management methods needs

to be adopted.

The fact that, unlike machines, a bad employee can affect the other

employees, makes it even harder to manage people. Managing ‘My

goals are not your goals, neither are your objectives my objectives’ kind

of employees is very difficult. It is not that they don’t see their

importance but they tend to associate less with the organization with a

notion that the work they need to do would be less that way. Engaging

these kinds of employees by various employee involvement methods is

essential. Most of the employees get motivated by two things:

Opportunity and success.

Virtual teams make the whole process of managing people all the more

difficult as there is no direct interaction among team members and also

with managers. Things like bad hires, complicating things, over

thinking, assuming the worst, and fearing make it more difficult to

manage employees. Having low emotional intelligence makes it harder

to understand the non verbal information people give and thus manage

them. Maybe the greatest obstacle to managing people better is that

much attention is not paid to what constitutes the human experience.

No one is completely consistent and predictable all the time. Much of

the inaccuracy present in predicting human behaviour is undoubtedly

due to the inability to completely identify all the relevant variables in

any given situation. So by having a holistic view of the situation and the

individual will make people management easier.

CORPORATE INTERVIEW

“Virtual

teams make

the whole

process of

managing

people all

the more

difficult as

there is no

direct

interaction

among team

members

and also

with

managers.”

Dr. V Narayana Reddy

Organization's name: Dr.

Reddy's Laboratories Ltd

Designation: Vice President,

HR

Years of association with

the organization: 25

1) How did your journey as a HR professional began?

From childhood I liked to interact and mingle with people of all

ages, even with older people. Over the period this interest grew. I

took up a course in graduation "Industrial Relations and Personnel

Management" along with Psychology and Economics. I did my post

graduation in HR and developed my HR knowledge and capabilities

gradually. After working for about 15 years I took up research in

"Human Resource Management Practices" for which ultimately I

was awarded my Ph.D in 2010.

2) What are the current areas of improvements and trends in

HR ?

One of the concerns in HR is that there are a lot of post graduates

available in the country but those people are not really matching to

the requirements of the industry. Another challenge today is to lead

the global competition , each organization requires GLOBAL

managers and leaders. So every organization is focusing on

leadership pipeline building. This is a trend I have noticed. Third

trend I see is nowadays in Pharmaceutical and IT industries there is

a lot of attrition. Young generation is quickly moving from one

company to other company, which is a concern to all these

industries. One more trend is that, the young HR graduates and

professionals are specializing in particular areas of HR, but one

“One of the

concerns in

HR is that

there are a

lot of post

graduates

available in

the country

but those

people are

not really

matching to

the

requirements

of the

industry.”

CORPORATE INTERVIEW

should have knowledge about all the aspects of HR

including Industrial Relations.

3) What are the main factors that make an organization a

great workplace?

Basically in every organization it is necessary to create a good environment and culture. The culture should encourage innovation, learning opportunity and freedom to operate within the system. So these are the key things and nowadays employee engagement is a very important aspect. We should also know what are the aspirations of your associates and collectively work towards their achieving their aspirations.

4) What are some of the unique people's practices that are

followed in your organization?

Particularly in manufacturing locations, one very important unique

practice we follow is self management expertise. We introduced it

2 years ago and we already have achieved success. Another

important initiative we have taken is up is building a strong

leadership pipeline within the organization. The third one is we

are building a talent pipeline in both technical and management

side.

5) What has been the biggest professional challenge for you?

In today's world, it is very important to align HR with business

strategy. A major role of HR is supporting an organization to

achieve its goals. So, a great challenge faced by HR professionals

today is to make the business succeed by supporting the business

leader. Another challenge is to help in the continuous rising of the

performance bar of the organization. We have to set higher targets

relative to competitors and achieve them every year.

6) An advice for the new entrants in HR.

They should have sound knowledge of all areas in HR whether it is

“The culture

should

encourage

innovation,

learning

opportunity

and freedom

to operate

within the

system.”

Human Resource planning, competency mapping,

development, role clarification,compensation benefits, learning and

development, talent management area, industrial relation etc. Most

people try to settle in HR but very few of them opt for Industrial

Relations. In the Indian scenario, particularly in the manufacturing

sector, IR is also an important aspect for any business professional

to lead the HR function of the company. So one should have overall

good knowledge, instead of growing in a particular area of HR and

not knowing about other areas. Secondly, young generation should

first understand the business and the nature of work and try to

align the HR practices for the development and success of the

company. Otherwise, there will be a disconnect if the young

generation wants to do something of their interest, but which is not

required by the organization. When faced with challenges in HR in

their organization, the young generation move on to another

organization. But I strongly suggest that, they stay in the same

challenging role, achieve the objectives and not run away from the

challenges. Unless they face challenges at a younger age, it will be

very difficult for them to manage later on and to take the

organization to the top position in the HR function.

“In the Indian

scenario,

particularly in

the

manufacturing

sector, IR is

also an

important

aspect for any

business

professional to

lead the HR

function of the

company.”

Chrysalis

Frenzia Colloquium

Conquest

Flavorz

HRuday Calendar of Events 2012-13

GD Forum

The HRUday Team:

Amrita Agarwal

Debaleena Biswas

Divya Agarwal

Garima Konda

Kunal Hazari

Mitali Jain

Ramya Krishnan

Utsav Chatterjee