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

Manager/Chief

Manager

Area

Manager/AVP/VP

Business

Heads

Managing

Director

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

 Brand equity of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

 Rigorous Pre-Hiring assessment tests to

understand aptitude and personality of

candidates.

 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.

 

               Weaknesses

 Pre assessment tests are costly.

 Conversion of footfalls is low.

 Lengthy pre-offer formalities.

 Huge employee turnover.

 

            Opportunities

 Campus recruitments have huge potential

for fulfilling manpower requirements cost

effectively.

 Tie up with recruitment agencies on

supplying fixed number of footfalls week

on week.

 Develop exclusive contract with channel

partners to meet the manpower

requirements.

 Make blue form brief and to the point.

                      Threats

 Increasing number of private players in

insurance sector creates ample choices,

frequent and easy mobility for employees.

   Same channel partners are handling all

insurance companies. This leads to same

pool of candidates being circulated to all

partners.

  Increasing spill over as a candidate has

more than one offer at the time of making a

job shift.

 Reduce turn around time of making an

offer.

  As the insurance industry is small, senior

level candidates hesitate to meet HR of

other companies for the fear of grapevine.

 

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.