hriday veda - july/august 2012. theme: performance management
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The monthly HR newsletter from HRiday, HR Club at the Goa Institute of Management, India.TRANSCRIPT
Sneak-Peek
Newsletter theme :Performance Management System
Who we are pg 2
HR News: July / August 2012 by Rohan Bedi pg 3
Articles : Winning articles of HR Veda of Samriddhi 2012
Creativity in HR by CharuPuri, IMI Delhi pg 9
Creativity in HR by VikramTuli, Great Lakes pg 12
Performance Management System by MansiVartak and VyomaVegad pg 14
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 2
HR Talk: An Interview with Mr. Manish Jha pg 18
HR Glossary (Performance Management System) by VivekSaha pg 20
HRiday in Action pg 24
Who we are
People.Passion.Performance.
One of the foremost clubs established in
Goa Institute of Management, HRiday
caters to the professional, social and
aspirational needs of the students. We
aim at an all round development by
adding value to career aspirations and
giving back to the society through our
activities.
Our activities include:
Career value additions:
Gyaanodaya : With an endeavor to increase industry exposure,
professionals from the industry and
academicians are invited to address
students, and conduct workshops on
business and career related aspects.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 3
I Know What You Did Last Summer: An experience sharing initiatives wherein
2nd year students share their Summer
Internship Project experiences with
the PGP1s. This facilitates the latter
in the judicious selection of
companies and projects.
Fahrenheit: Another interactive session between 2
nd year and firs year
students wherein the former provide
insights on the selection of electives
in the 2nd year to the first year’s.
HRidayVeda – The monthly newsletter
from HRiday. It is based on a specific
HR theme and articles from GIM
students as well as those from other
colleges are published. Besides this,
HR news, and glossary of words of the
chosen topic is also published in the
Veda.
HeartBeat –In order to help students brush up on their fundamental concepts
before their summer and final
placements, HR supplements are
circulated amongst the students.
Facebook page: Our Facebook page
actively uploads links to articles and
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 4
studies in the HR domain as well as
conduct discussions which enable
synergistic sharing of ideas on a
single platform.
Social initiatives:
Blood Donation Camp: Conducted every
year, the camp is organised in
association with Goa Medical College
and National Aids Control Organization
(NACO). Students and faculty are
encouraged to participate in the same.
Felicitation of Support staff: Non
teaching staff comprising the
security, housekeeping, and facilities
staff of the college are felicitated
by the Director on 26th January every
year.
Fun activities and initiatives:
Stress busting activities that
incorporate team building and fun are
organised at regular intervals.
Birthday cards : Each student, member of the teaching and non teaching staff
is presented with a birthday card from
team HRiday
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 5
T-shirts: We come out with a T-shirt design every year and our loyalist and
fans make sure they don them on a
regular basis.
Follow us on
https://www.facebook.com/HRiday.GIM.HRCl
ub?ref=hl
LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/profile
/view?id=183636613&locale=en_US&trk=tyah
HR NEWS
Maruti Suzuki to resume
production at Manesar
Maruti Suzuki,
India's largest
carmaker, will lift
the lockout at its
Manesar facility on
August 21 and restart production
on a small scale.
Initially, the Manesar plant will
operate under heavy security at
one-tenth its capacity, with 300
workers earmarked to roll out 150
Swift hatchback and DZire sedan
on a daily basis from its two
plants. Maruti had declared the
lockout at the Manesar plant on
July 21 after workers went on a
rampage killing one official and
injuring a hundred others.
The company will dismiss at least
500 permanent workers, including
the 154 workers who are currently
in police custody.
The company said that based on
the police investigation and its
internal enquiries, it has identified
at least 500 permanent workers
who are believed to be involved in
the violence and they 'will not be
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 6
taken back'. Going forward during
the course of investigation of the
July 18 violence, the company said
more workers could face the axe.
HSBC not to opt for job
cuts in India
A day after announcing trimming
its global workforce by 30,000,
banking major HSBC ruled out any
significant job cuts in India, a
strategic market where it is
fighting high attrition rate.
Responding to a question on
whether job cuts announced by
the global management on July
30 would apply to India, HSBC
India Chief Executive Mr Stuart A
Davis told reporters, “I think India
already has a very high attrition
rate. We are hard-pressed to even
catch up on the replacements.”
Mr Davis further said that
reallocation of resources means
that if there are too much of
bureaucracies at the back-end,
what is needed is streamlining the
back-end and use the resources in
the front-end.
HSBC has 50 branches across the
country employing about 6,000
people. “As far as India is
concerned, I won’t be overly
concerned. The important thing is
that both India
and China are
classified as
strategic
markets. So we
will continue to
feel for India
and China,” he said.
He also hinted at more hiring if
the economy continues to grow
the way it is. “If GDP is going to
grow at 7.5 per cent, I think
India is probably to be at that
range also, and then I have to say
the head-count will probably go
up.
Infosys set to hire
25,000 employees for
new Hyderabad Centre
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 7
Infosys will recruit 25,000 for its
second centre in Hyderabad. They
would recruit 14,000 in the first
phase and 11,000 more in the
second phase of the 448-acre
special economic zone campus at
Pocharam on the Warangal
highway.
An
Infosy
s
delega
tion
led by
its Chief Executive Officer and
Managing Director, Mr Kris
Gopalakrishnan, met Mr N Kiran
Kumar Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister, and explained to
him about the expansion plan in
Pocharam.
“The facility already houses 4,000
employees. We will add the
remaining in phases,” a statement
from the Chief Minister's Office
quoting Mr Gopalakrishnan said.
The company's Pocharam facility
was in the news recently after
APIIC (Andhra Pradesh Industrial
Infrastructure Corporation) served
a notice on the company, asking it
to explain the reasons for the
delay in meeting the deadlines
agreed upon.
IT sector failed in
skill development, says
panel
An industry whose very
foundations are built on 'skill' has
been accused of being tardy in
identifying and nurturing it with
ruinous implication for the future.
A recent Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Human Resources
(HR) has made critical
observations on talent and skill
development initiatives taken by
IT companies and industry bodies.
However, these comments elicited
strong reaction from the software
industry which said enough and
more is being done to enhance the
skill sets of its labour force
though the primary responsibility
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 8
lies with the government in this
area.
The committee said that the
existing skill development activities
carried out by enterprises and
industry bodies are slow,
directionless and it might have
serious consequences for the overall
growth of the IT sector, said the
committee.
The response from the industry
was the opposite. Responding to
the committee observations,
Nasscom president Som Mittal
said, "We were not part of the
committee report. IT is a highly
peoplecentric industry. We are
working independently and we also
have strong partnerships with the
industry, academia and universities
to ensure capacity development
and skill development."
Mittal said training/skilling is
happening at
multiple-levels. There
are several
independent training
outfits; companies have their own
training and skill development
facilities, plus Nasscom has a
Sector Skill Council and Nasscom
Foundation runs an Animation &
Gaming Academy.
Employees face burnout
due to performance
pressure
After hours is party time. Not
exactly.Bosses text employees even
after they leave office. Status
update is not about Facebook, but
about office assignments. Holidays
and vacations are a luxury.
Performance pressures stalk young
employees - the work engine of a
company - the most, resulting in
burnouts.
"It is certainly a growing
phenomenon. Nobody is untouched
by it, not even CEOs ," says
RoneshPuri, managing director of
Executive Access, an executive
search firm. Puri recalls an
incident: "A CEO of a top
company was weeping because he
couldn't take enough time off
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 9
from work and be with his ailing
mother. This was not the case
earlier. Performance pressures are
very high now."
During the
slowdown, many
companies
stopped outdoor
and recreational
activities -
initiatives which
considerably ease pressure at work
and help build team bonding. Many
of them have still not restarted
those programmes . "Only 30-40
% of the companies have restarted
these programmes," says Puri .
"With increasing inflation and
interest rates, the decision is
considered cost prudent by the
companies."
Though there's an increase in the
incidence of burnout cases overall,
some sectors like IT and telecom
are affected more. "With
company-provided laptops and
BlackBerrys, employees don't know
where work stops and their own
social lives start. New economy
businesses like IT and telecom are
the most affected," says E Balaji ,
CEO of Ma FoiRandstad, an HR
consultancy firm.
IIM Rohtak to organise
human resources summit
on managing new
generation employees
Indian Institute of Management-
Rohtak is organising a human
resourc
es
(HR)
summit
titled
'HR challenges of managing new
generation employees' at its
campus in the MaharshiDayanand
University on August 18.
Underscoring the industry relevance
of the summit, the IIM
spokesperson said that HR
professionals today are venturing
into an uncharted territory
replete with unique challenges such
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 10
as managing the generation Y
employees.
The summit is being organised to
discuss the emerging needs of the
profession. Executives from diverse
sectors ranging from consulting to
consumer electronics are attending
the summit.
Abhishek Tiwary, HR director -
KPMG, Aparna Sharma, HR
director - Deutsche Bank and YV
Verma, COO - LG Electronics are
among the dignitaries expected to
turn up for the event .
CEOs are the latest
Indian export
Indians are
increasingly rising
to the top of
global corporate
ladders and just 10 of them are
together managing business worth
over $ 400 billion -- an amount
nearly double the total exports
from India in a year.
So, it does not come as a surprise
when CEOs are being billed as the
latest and leading export from
India, given the multi-national
giants like Citigroup, Deutsche
Bank, PepsiCo, Unilever, Adobe,
Mastercard and Motorola having
Indian-origin persons in their top
leadership positions.
International magazine Time also
recently termed CEOs as India's
leading export and said that the
subcontinent could be "the ideal
training ground for global bosses".
Experts believe that Indians'
inherent focus on good education
and their ability to work in
difficult situations is aiding to the
trend and more and more Indians
could rise to top positions at
global companies in near future.
There are about a dozen large
global companies outside India with
Indians or persons of Indian origin
in their top management
positions, while there are many
more dozens at the helm of
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 11
affairs at mid-level and smaller
companies.
Future group to use
alternative management
methods
Mr Kishore Biyani, Chairman of
the Future
expects to
create new
rules in business
management
based on Indian
beliefs and mythology.
His philosophy of staying away
from the tried and tested
management techniques is getting
implemented slowly with the
appointment of a Chief Belief
officer for the Group. Today the
Future group is looking at
alternate management techniques
by giving its employees a chance
to delve into new options to run
the business.
Speaking to Business Line, Dr
DevduttPattnaik, Chief Belief
Officer, The Future Group, said:
“We are trying to tell employees
of the Future group that there is
an alternative way to do business
and not just follow-the-standard-
concepts taught at management
schools. We are not about KRA
(key result area) and KPA (key
performance indicator). Today all
management learnings are based on
a linear mindset which is influenced
by the western world.''
People management
trends in 2011
Lynn Lobo discusses significant
people management trends of the
first half of 2011 that will pave
the way forward for the rest of
the year and a productive 2012
One cannot refute the fact
that the “people” of an
organisation are its most
indispensable assets. Top HR
managers today have come to
comprehend the significance of
effective people management
practices, thus enabling proficiency
in the functioning of the
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 12
organisation. The onset of 2011
saw HR managers pledging to
imbibe tactful people management
practices that they hoped would
induce adeptness in the
organisational structure.
While some companies, in the
past half year have resorted to
implementing “selection
interviews” where employees are
cross-examined at the time of
appraisals, other companies have
opted for exit interviews where
employees are interviewed upon
their exit. People management has
many facets and HR managers in
the six months gone by have tried
to tap into every aspect of it by
infusing novel practices in the
firms hoping to fuel employee
performances for the best.
Aleem Merchant, director, Synapse
Marketing Consultancy Pvt. Ltd
deemed the use of social media as
a widely implemented practice in
the past six months, “Having an
official social networking site
encourages employees and clients
to bond and garners feedback,
enhances interpersonal relationships
and also gives the employees a
sense of fulfilment as their work is
displayed for everyone in the
virtual world to regard. The team
gets excited to have their
‘moment of fame’ in the fast-
growing online arena and an overall
sense of pride and ownership flows
through the organisation in a
transparent format. An alumnus
of exemployees is formed, which
might urge people to join the
organisation again after seeing this
youthful approach.”
Top managers need to
improve
communic
ation:
E&Y
Effective
communicati
on is critical. Especially when it
comes from people who helm
organizations, teams or even a
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 13
country, for they articulate the
values, principles and standpoints
of the organizations they
represent. When leaders make
careless remarks, the damage done
ricochets on the organization and
its image. There are those in the
public eye who will harp on others’
mistakes even as they play down
their own or those of their
associates. Gaffes and defensive
talk go on ad nauseum.
There have been frequent studies
on how effective communication is
within and outside organizations in
India. “Employee engagement
surveys” conducted by Ernst and
Young for different organizations
over the years, for example, have
shown consistently that senior
management needs to communicate
more effectively.
Explains Anurag Malik, partner,
advisory services, Ernst and Young,
Mumbai: “We measure the
effectiveness of communication
within the organization and its
impact on employee engagement.
The communication scores,
especially those pertaining to
senior management, are on the
lower side in India. Our surveys
have shown that CEO and senior
management need to play a strong
role in driving effective
communication and percolate across
to all levels in the organization.”
Hiring drops after
reaching peak in March-
April
The subdued economic sentiment
has its echo in the job market.
From its peak in March-April
2011, the job market has hit a
rough patch - new jobs are being
added at a slower rate. "Jobs are
being added, but at a slower rate
than the last three-four months,"
says Shiv Agrawal, CEO, ABC
Consultants, a placement firm.
This is due to a hint of caution
triggered by overall economic
sentiment being dull.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 14
A recruitment index also reflects
this concern. After three months
of increased hiring, the demand for
talent dropped in June 2011,
reveals RecruiteX, an index that
decodes the hiring trends across
sectors after evaluating the
demand and supply of talent
across industries.
"It is a minor blip due to
downcast economic sentiment and
negative sentiment overseas," he
adds.
In
terms
of
sectors
,
financial services and telecom
sectors are sluggish, IT is doing all
right and consumer durables is
witnessing a good growth in jobs,
according to Agrawal. There is
caution, but no one is talking
slowdown yet. Says Sanjay Bali,
vice-president, HR, at Samsung:
There is no negative segment in
the job market. We finished a
large chunk of our lateral hiring in
the first half of the year."
Replacement hiring at Samsung is
on to take care of the 10-15%
attrition levels and for new
growth areas such as the rollout
of new tablet.
Female employees plan
taxes better: Study
Female salaried employees are
paying less tax than their male
counterparts due to lower tax
slabs and better investments, with
the percentage of women with a
low tax ratio of 0-5 per cent
higher than their male
counterparts, according to the
latest study.
As per
the
findings
of the
'India
Tax Ratio 2011' report by
TaxSpanner, an online income tax
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 15
return filing portal, the average
tax ratio of females salaried
employees in major Indian cities is
4 per cent, as against 6 per cent
for males.
Besides, around 76 per cent of
the females have a tax ratio of
less than 5 per cent, compared to
59 per cent in the case of male
salaried employees.
The tax ratio is the percentage of
the salary that one pays as tax.
The study covered employees from
over 500 corporates in major
cities, including the Delhi NCR,
Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 16
Creativity In
HR
Samriddhi, the business fest of
GIM, had organised an essay
writing competition. We received
22 entries from B-schools all over
India. The award winning articles
have been published in this
month’s HRiday Veda.
At Applied Language Solutions, an office wall is in the form of a snakes
and ladders game. Whenever a sales person gets a contract worth £4,000
he or she throws a die and the first person to rise till the end gets a
trip to Barcelona or Amsterdam. This helps spur high achievers and
promote healthy competition.1
Applied Language Solutions is one amongst the many organizations that
are catching up with the trend of using creative, off beat solutions to
drive human resources. Human resources has evolved from a purely
administrative and peripheral function to contributing to the success of a
business as a strategic partner. In highlighting the role of HR, with the
help of Dave Ulrich’s Model the various roles and the creative approaches
associated with them have been 7exemplified.
The human edge: Creativity in different HR Roles
Dave Ulrich gave the following model to classify the many roles that HR
managers play. Each role encompasses
different facets of human resources, and each role is exemplified by many
creative initiatives.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 17
Strategic Partner
HR is beginning to be accepted as an equal business partner due to
growing problems of attrition and employee discontent. At Mudra LLP,
India the top HR Managers sits with the board of directors to help create
a strategy that attracts, retains and motivates the creative talent that
this organization needs to create value. One of the earliest examples of
organizations that embraced the concept of creativity in HR is Google.
The Other Story:
In 12 years of its being this organization has become the dream place to
work for many people. As part of its strategy they hire the best. They
do this by spreading a culture that helps in maximum productivity and
encourages innovation. When you enter Google’s Toronto office, the
legend reads “proud to be geeks”, Google celebrates their quirkiness and
their desire to come up with new things.
Employees are provided with 20% of work time to utilize for making
something new. Creativity demands absence from distractions and a
supportive culture that promotes risks. Google goes above and beyond this
to provide relaxing pods where employees can reflect, a diverse work
force, collaboration opportunities
to fuel innovation.
Change Agent
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 18
In a dynamic environment, if you snooze .you lose .HR is
the facilitator for change. Without policies and a culture
that drives change, organizations become stagnant and
eventually die out. Recruiting the right people,
acclimatizing employees to change through the right
training initiatives, having a rewards and recognition
system that promotes new ideas are some of the responsibilities of the
HR Manager as a change agent.
Pirates: Upsetting the Cart
In his book What Would Steve Jobs Do? Peter Sanders talks about how
Steve Jobs wanted Pirates in his organization. Why? Pirates are
continuously looking for new avenues for change. The talent acquisition at
Apple was such that candidates with a mindset that supports the culture
of apple were chosen. Apple’s culture supports employees who are not
only brilliant but also excellent team players and collaborative thinkers.
They have the passion and democratic values of a pirate. Steve Jobs also
recognized the importance of Diversity .Today HR has helped in facilitation
of radical ideas by promoting diversity within the organization.4
Dministrative Expert
For this function HR has to look at day to day solutions to help run an
operationally smooth organization and keep its employees happy. Creativity
in this function stems from having cost effective processes such as
awarding environmentally friendly employees or giving the facility for
carpooling in a way so that it becomes easier and cheaper for employees
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 19
.Some organizations in Gurgaon where BPO employees do not have cars
give the facility of using an auto rickshaw for groups .Another great
example of employee welfare is the UTRCA.
Another great example of employee welfare is the UTRCA.
Walking Tours ,yoga and Bike rides were organized in the lunch hour
Motivational guest speakers to disseminate information about wellness and healthy lifestyle.
1 year interest free loan to buy fitness equipment to motivate exercise and help increase employee
productivity.
Employee Advocate
HR function is a fine balance between having both the organization and
the employee’s interests at heart. In order to manage the most valuable
resource of an organization-intellectual capital, HR helps in acquiring,
training and succession planning for these employees. Hr also helps develop
employee engagement to curb the menace of high turnover by designing
policies and procedures that help to increase employee productivity.
Human Resource function is complex as it manages a resource which is
characterized by unpredictability, fickleness and inability to measure
accurately its nuances. The sociological phenomena and the interconnected
web of relationships further complicate it. Creativity is needed to gauge,
manage, and encourage intellectual capital. The ever changing generational
differences, diversity due to the advent of globalization further call for
innovation on the part of the internal marketers- The Human Resource
Managers
References
1. (2007),"Head massage? That will do nicely at Applied Language
Solutions: Innovative HR policies keep
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 20
energy, enthusiasm and commitment high during rapid expansion", Human
Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 15 Iss: 2
pp. 10 - 13
2.http://hrmadvice.com/hrmadvice/hr-role/ulrichs-hr-roles-model.html
http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/innovative-hr-
practices-1135577.html
3. http://www.eco.ca/pdf/ECO_HR_BestPractices_Report.pdf
4.http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665840/an-hr-lesson-from-steve-jobs-if-
you-want-change-agents-hire-pirates
- By CharuPuri, IMI Delhi
CREATIVITY IN HR
Nothing, absolutely nothing is more creative than trying to figure out
individuals idiosyncrasies and what strategies they can pursue to get what
employees want or aim for while ensuring that everyone else has a shot at
their goals, too. Rules and policies truly are made, if not to be broken, or at
least bent, stretched, modified, turned to everyone’s advantage. And HR is the
primary place that it should occur. How else can we keep some sort of logic
and balance in the midst of constant growth and competition all around?
HR itself is bound and restrained by many other
disciplines of an organization like union
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 21
rules, CEOs orders, financial requirements, etc. So the freedom has its own
boundaries and limitations. Moreover in a well-established Organization you do
not have the luxury to test something or experiment. You need solutions
today or tomorrow. You need a true sense of what makes people tick and the
variations that exist in your particular culture, organization, unit, and team
make it so more difficult. Figuring out how to align all that for everyone’s
benefit is, to say the least, the most complex sort of challenge we ever face.
So much so that many people just ignore it because they can’t face the
creative struggle it often requires.
There are many areas in which HR can be creative and innovative:-
Be farmers, not manufacturers of talent
Most of our organisations are modelled on the principles of manufacturing -
linearity, specialisation and the division of labour. I think that the exact
opposite is the case. Great farmers know that you can't make a plant grow by
force; the plant will grow itself if the conditions are right. Your job is to get
the conditions right, and I think that human flourishing, human creativity, is
always a function of the right cultural circumstances. HR isn't incidental to
that but strategically at the centre of it. If you create the right mix of
conditions people will flourish in particular ways. If you create the wrong
conditions they will inhibit themselves, pull themselves back and keep themselves
from the business at hand.
HR must design the table, not just get a seat at
it
HR must make the shift from transactional to transformational ideology -
driving change within a business instead of just aligning with it - if it wants "a
seat at the table”.
Ride the dragon
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 22
HR must understand the changes that Gen Y is bringing into the workforce.
They are bringing into the workplace a significant shift. They're not focused on
being with your company for ever, and not necessarily interested in climbing the
corporate ladder. These folks are very focused on what they consider to be an
engaging workplace. Their demands are not about becoming CEO’s overnight.
They are focused on their life and the challenge we've got here is to provide
them with work/life balance. They do not like nine-to-five culture anymore.
They want flexibility and at the same time freedom to do things their own
way. HR must move away from traditional measures of success - such as cost
per hire, billing and focus on "world class quality".
Take care of employees, including the ones who
are leaving
Although employers might currently be releasing employees they must remember
that the economy will turn up and we would need to keep that forefront of
our minds. We will need our employees - we will need them badly. HR’s to
remember "who your former employee may be", because they might be a
vendor to the company; a customer; a competitor; a blogger; an ambassador; or
a critic. The person you're trying to hire tomorrow might ask them what they
thought about working for you. "What is the answer going to be when your
former employee gets that phone call?"
Creative Performance Management System
Creative PMS can be based on the principle of “Surprise Reviews”, wherein the
format of appraisal forms could be very simple (around a page) and any person,
with whom the individual/team has worked, could be asked any feedback.
Besides the above mentioned points, there can be a lot of activities and
processes in HR which would act as “Human Intelligence Boosters”. There is a
definite need to utilize the human potential to the maximum, with less of
stress and more of enjoyment and entertainment. An employee needs to be
entertained at workplace, not by means of any jam sessions or parties, but by
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 23
the way he/she would be treated at the workplace. A good work culture, where
human intelligence is respected, results in excellent performance and sound HR
practices.
On a concluding note -The HR profession has a long way to go to fully arrive
at the desired impact. But, by being clear about how we can make a difference
to key stakeholders we can start by recognizing not only where we are going,
but what it will take to get us there.
- By VIKRAM TULI, Great Lakes
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 24
Performance Management System – An Overview
The role of HR in the present scenario has undergone a sea change and its
focus is on evolving such functional strategies which enable successful
implementation of the major corporate strategies. In a way, HR and corporate
strategies function in alignment. Today, HR works towards facilitating and
improving the performance of the employees by building a conducive work
environment and providing maximum opportunities to the employees for
participating in organizational planning and decision-making process. Today, all
the major activities of HR are driven towards development of high performance
leaders and fostering employee motivation. So, it can be interpreted that the
role of HR has evolved from merely an appraiser to a facilitator and an enabler.
Performance management is the current buzzword and is the need in the
current times of cut throat competition and the organizational battle for
leadership. Performance management is a much broader and a complicated
function of HR, as it encompasses activities such as joint goal setting,
continuous progress review and frequent communication, feedback and coaching
for improved performance, implementation of employee development programs
and rewarding achievements. The process of performance management starts
with the joining of a new incumbent in a system and ends when an employee
quits the organization. Performance management can be regarded as a
systematic process by which the overall performance of an organization can be
improved by improving the performance of individuals within a team framework.
It is a means for promoting superior performance by communicating
expectations, defining roles within a required competence framework and
establishing achievable benchmarks.
According to Armstrong and Baron (1998), Performance Management is both a
strategic and an integrated approach to delivering successful results in
organizations by improving the performance and developing the capabilities of
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 25
teams and individuals. The term performance management gained its popularity
in early 1980’s when total quality management programs received utmost
importance for achievement of superior standards and quality performance.
Tools such as job design, leadership development, training and reward system
received an equal impetus along with the traditional performance appraisal
process in the new comprehensive and a much wider framework. Performance
management is an ongoing communication process, which is carried on between
the supervisors and the employees throughout the year. The process is cyclical
and continuous in nature. A performance management system includes the
following activities:
Developing clear job descriptions and employee performance plans which
includes the key result areas (KRA') and performance indicators.
Selection of right set of people by implementing an appropriate selection
process linked with competencies identified for each position
Negotiating requirements and performance standards for measuring the
outcome and overall productivity against the predefined benchmarks.
Providing continuous coaching and feedback during the period of delivery of
performance.
Identifying the training and development needs by measuring the outcomes
achieved against the set standards and implementing effective development
programs for improvement.
Designing effective compensation and reward systems for recognizing those
employees who excel in their jobs by achieving the set standards in
accordance with the performance plans or rather exceed the performance
benchmarks.
Providing promotional/career development support and guidance to the
employees.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 26
Performing exit interviews for understanding the cause of employee
discontent and thereafter exit from an organization.
A performance management process sets the platform for rewarding excellence
by aligning individual employee accomplishments with the organization’s mission
and objectives and making the employee and the organization understand the
importance of a specific job in realizing outcomes. By establishing clear
performance expectations which includes results, actions and behaviors, it helps
the employees in understanding what exactly is expected out of their jobs and
setting of standards help in eliminating those jobs which are of no use any
longer. Through regular feedback and coaching, it provides an advantage of
diagnosing the problems at an early stage and taking corrective actions. It
enables an organization to manage two critical elements of performance:
behavior and results. (Dr. Aubrey Daniels). A good performance management
system benefits the organizations by helping them find the right talent, place
them in the right position, align performance with the organization’s vision and
strategic objectives, develop abilities and reward performance commensurate
with contributions to the organization’s success. (SHRM India)
A good performance management system provides an organization a competitive
edge by linking strategies to employees keeps employees happy and loyal to the
organization and provides HR with a clear picture of the developmental needs
of employees.
Below are some of the best practices followed in Performance Management
System by a few companies.
Siemens: It has standardized the process for managing performance and
development of all employees. The PMS creates a direct link between the
strategy of the whole organization and plans for an individual. Targets are set
based on individual roles and responsibilities and by meeting these personal goals,
an employee contributes to the organizations’ targets.
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Larsen & Toubro: The engineering major has developed a competency
matrix of 73 elements each with associated knowledge skills and attributes,
across various managerial levels. This matrix is linked to business strategy and
training needs. Employees are evaluated against these competencies and
functional, managerial and behavioral gaps are recognized. These gaps are then
addressed via focused re-skilling and re-learning.
National Panasonic: The Company’s PMS is driven by Key Result
Areas (KRAs). These define the business, functional and behavioral goals set
jointly by an employee and his manager at the beginning of the year. KRA’s
serve as yardsticks of measurements. Any shortfall in accomplishments of
targets is met by relevant training inputs. Reskilling is emphasizes over
expensive mid-career hires.
Hughes Escorts: This Company follows a competency based performance
enhancement model. Each position is defined in terms of 23 competencies.
These are sub grouped under attitude based, knowledge driven, skill centered
and value based.
EFL, India: The employees are divided on the basis of hierarchy of jobs
for eg: frontline salesmen, leaders of the salesmen, leader of the leaders and
the top management. For each level a different tool is used to measure
performance. The frontline salesmen are evaluated via a performance review and
development program (PRDP), and performance improvement plan (PIP). A
Leader’s Dashboard is used to measure the performance of the managers and
their seniors based on different parameters. Management by Objectives is used
to evaluate performance of the management level. The pillars of MBO, PRDP
and MBO are trust, agreed confidentiality, positive approach, sensitivity to
feelings, acceptance of each other’s strengths and limits, empathy and goodwill.
The Nielsen Company:Meritocracy forms the basis of PMS here. It is
the principle of differentiating rewards based on performance. Performance is
assessed on several factors such as delivered results, impact, team contribution,
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 28
leadership effectiveness, initiative and demonstration of company values. High
performers receive higher rewards and low performers receive lower rewards.
Thus the performance bar is raised each year to stay at par with competition.
To conclude, performance management can be regarded as a proactive system of
managing employee performance for driving the individuals and the organizations
towards desired performance and results. It’s about striking a harmonious
alignment between individual and organizational objectives for accomplishment of
excellence in performance.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories: The performance management at Dr.
Reddy’s is a three-stage process:
1. KRA & Goal setting for the year – Goals under each KRA (Key Result
Area) are defined at the beginning of the year and are reviewed in each
quarter to monitor progress.
2. Mid- Term Review
3. End-Term Appraisal
The employee has to provide inputs to the set of self-assessment questions and
the form is sent to the appraiser. The appraiser communicates the rating
against each goal, behavior assessment and gives feedback. After the feedback is
given, a discussion with the employee takes place to communicate the feedback.
The different ratings given to employees are:
Exceptional Contributor : Surpassed the targets
Significant Contributor: Achieved all the targets
Reasonable Contributor: Achieved just the critical targets
Partial Contributor: Met only few of the assigned targets
No Contribution: Not achieved any of the targets.
NOCIL Limited: National Organic Chemical industries Ltd. (NOCIL) is a
part of the AMG (Arvind Mafatlal Group) of Industries and is the Largest
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 29
Rubber Chemicals Manufacturer in India. The performance system followed is
known as Performance Planning Development Review and Management System
(PPDRM). The employees have to decide their Key Performing Areas (KPAs)
at the beginning of the year. The training and development plan is developed
for 3 areas: – Job related, general management, attitude and behavioral
training in the beginning of the year. The employees are rated on a 5 point
scale. The people who are involved in the process are Employee, Immediate
Supervisor, Department Head or Divisional manager, Reviewer, HR Professional
and Internal Consultant.
Tata Steel: There are three different components for performance
management that are administered at three different times during the year.
First is the conventional appraisal component, second is managerial style
component and third is the internal customer assessment. The goals are set in
April and are the reference point when the appraisal happens one year later.
The employee set the goals and inputs the work done, highlights and
achievements in the year. It goes to the supervisor for assessment. The
Managerial style feedback is used for division managers and above. Seven
feedbacks from seven subordinates are collected for a single manager and average
is taken to evaluate. This data is used for increments, promotion and new
assignments. Under internal customer assessment, TISCO includes colleagues and
peers from other departments to give feedback about the individual. Out of
the list of 15-20 people provided by the employee with whom he works on
regular basis, a random sample of 10-12 people is selected. These employees are
presented with a Questionnaire of 10 questions to write open ended responses
and their feedback is given to the individual employee.
- By MANSI VARTAK and VYOMA VEGAD
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 30
HR Talk :
Interview of Mr. Manish Jha, HR
Manager in Magma Fin
Corporation
1. Please tell us a few critical
points an HR professional should
consider before designing a
Performance Management System
(PMS) for an organisation
Ans:- Before Designing a PMS, one has to ensure
following critical points
1. (a) Feasibility: - In terms of head count, number of functions and economic
feasibility.
(b) PMS should be linked to the Balance Score Card: - One has to ensure
that Line Employees & Support / Partnering employee has clear cut deliverables
(Key Result Area) which should be directly linked to PMS.
(c) Robustness: - PMS tool should be robust in nature. Such a PMS can
only be made once the person designing PMS has good knowledge of the
business or service delivery model, also he should have a strong business acumen
so as to keep PMS viable in real time changing business environment.
(d) A good PMS tool should be one rewards productive and potential employees
and should not be done on perception basis.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 31
2. Please share an overview of the PMS
followed in your organisation
Ans :- We at Magma Fincorp Ltd. use a relative bell curve as our PMS tool
which is one of widely used tools across the globe, bell curve specially works well
wherein you have large head counts (ours is 6300). We at Magma has
designed and developed a unique Balance score Card System which is largely
divided in two parts (i) Key Result Area : these are generally tangible figures
which varies across role folders (ii) Key Success Factors : these are intangibles
like, behaviour & leadership skills. We rate our employees on the above
mentioned parameters which ensures the best performing talents get rewarded
relatively.
3. Do you use it for career planning of
your employees ? If so, how does it help them
Ans :- Yes, we at Magma give great importance to career planning and have an
elaborate process and mechanism through which we draw and administer career
paths for our employees, one such examples is Udaan& Pinnacle (Both are
automated Career Progression Planning tools, which are applicable till Asst.
Mgr. Level) They are tools used for the sales force and receivable management
team. These tool helps us in accessing and promoting our front line people, it
also helps us in creating a talent pool within the organisation. These Career
Progression Planning tools are directly linked with our PMS. Hence at Magma
we have a robust PMS tool which is not only used for appraisals also for
developing a talent pool, career planning & succession planning.
4. Please share some of the key challenges
you faced during implementation/ sustenance of
the current system in your organisation
Ans :- Most of the challenges that we today face or have faced are external
and is because of real time changing scenario in financial domain.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 32
5. Finally, your advice to budding HR
Professionals
Ans: - In today’s changing scenario, a HR professional should not lose the real
meaning of Human Resources in the fascinating and complex systems and
process oriented environment. As an HR professional, we should keep humanness
intact in all our dealings.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 33
HR Glossary (Performance
Management System)
Balanced scorecard :A
popular strategic management
concept developed in the early 1990s
by Drs. Robert Kaplan and David
Norton. The balanced scorecard is a
management and measurement
system that enables organizations to
clarify their vision and strategy and
translate them into action. The goal
of the balanced scorecard is to tie
business performance to
organizational strategy by measuring
results in four areas: financial
performance, customer knowledge,
internal business processes, and
learning and growth.
Bell-shaped curve : The
curve representing the normal
distribution of a rating or test
score.
Career development :The
process by which individuals establish
their current and future career
objectives and assess their existing
skills, knowledge or experience levels
and implement an appropriate course
of action to attain their desired
career objectives.
Career Ladder : The
progression of jobs in an
organization’s specific occupational
fields ranked from highest to lowest
based on level of responsibility and
pay.
Career planning : The
process of establishing career
objectives and determining
appropriate educational and
developmental programs to further
develop the skills required to achieve
short- or long-term career objectives.
Comparatio : The ratio of an
actual pay rate to the midpoint for
the respective pay grade used for
comparing actual rates of pay with
the midpoint for a particular pay
grade within the salary structure.
Comparative rating :A
rating method that determines
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 34
ratings by making comparisons
between the individuals being rated.
Competencies : The knowledge,
skills and abilities required to
perform a specific task or function.
Core competencies: The
skills, knowledge and abilities which
employees must possess in order to
successfully perform job functions
that are essential to business
operations.
Direct compensation: All
compensation (base salary and/or
incentive pay) that is paid directly
to an employee.
Exit Interview: An interview
conducted at the time of an
employee’s resignation, used to
identify the underlying factors behind
an employee’s decision to leave.
Extrinsic Motivator:
Organizationally controlled incentives,
such as pay, benefits, incentives,
achievement awards, etc., used to
reinforce motivation and increase
performance.
Feedback : Positive or negative
information provided to an individual
in the form of coaching or counseling
regarding his or her performance or
behavior.
Goal Setting : The process of
setting and assigning a set of specific
and attainable goals to be met by an
individual, group or organization.
Grievance : A formal complaint
or allegation by an employee or
group of employees made to unfair
treatment or violation of a union
contract.
Incentive pay : Additional
compensation used to motivate and
reward employees for exceeding
performance or productivity goals.
Intangible rewards
:Nonmonetary reinforcing, such as
praise, given to an employee in
recognition of a job well done or a
particular achievement.
Intrinsic reward:A reward
given to an employee for
achievement of a particular goal,
objective or project.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 35
Key performance
indicators : Key Performance
Indicators are quantifiable, specific
measures of an organization’s
performance in a certain (KPI)
area(s) of its business. . The
purpose of KPI’s is to provide the
company with quantifiable
measurements of things it has
determined are important to the
organizational or business long-term
goals and critical success factors .
Once uncovered and properly
analyzed, KPI’s can be used to
understand and improve
organizational performance and overall
success. Also referred to as Key
success indicators.
Key result areas: Used to
establish standards and objectives,
key result areas are the chief tasks
of a job identified during the job
evaluation process.
Knowledge, skills and
abilities (KSA’s) : The
attributes required to perform a job;
generally demonstrated through
qualifying experience, education or
training.
Management by Objective
(MBO) : A performance appraisal
strategy in which subordinates
determine and set goals for
themselves based on the overall goals
and objectives for the organization.
Merit pay : A compensation
system whereby base pay increases
are determined by individual
performance.
Peer appraisal : A
performance appraisal strategy
whereby an employee is reviewed by
his or her peers who have sufficient
opportunity to examine the
individual’s job performance.
Performance appraisal: A
periodic review and evaluation of an
individual's job performance.
Performance-based pay: A
variable pay strategy that pays
employees based on their individual
performance and contributions,
rather than the value of the job
they are performing.
Performance counseling :
The process of improving employee
performance and productivity by
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 36
providing the employee with feedback
regarding areas where he or she is
doing well and areas that may
require improvement.
Performance improvement
plan: A plan implemented by a
manager or supervisor that is
designed to provide employees with
constructive feedback, facilitate
discussions between an employee and
his or her supervisor regarding
performance-related issues, and
outline specific areas of performance
requiring improvement.
Performance management :
The process of maintaining or
improving employee job performance
through the use of performance
assessment tools, coaching and
counseling as well as providing
continuous feedback.
Performance monitoring :
The practice of monitoring employees
while they perform their jobs
through the use of surveillance
cameras, telephone or computer
monitoring.
Performance standards :
The tasks, functions or behavioral
requirements established by the
employer as goals to be accomplished
by an employee.
Promotion : Career advancement
within an organization, which includes
increased authority, level of
responsibility, status and pay.
Reward system : A formal or
informal program used to recognize
individual employee achievements,
such as accomplishment of goals or
projects or submission of creative
ideas.
Subordinate appraisal :
An appraisal system whereby
managerial employees are evaluated
by their subordinates.
Succession planning : The
process of identifying long-range
needs and cultivating a supply of
internal talent to meet those future
needs. Used to anticipate the future
needs of the organization and assist
in finding, assessing and developing
the human capital necessary to the
strategy of the organization.
360- degree feedback : An
appraisal process whereby an
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 37
individual is rated on his or her
performance by people who know
something about the individual’s
work. This can include direct reports,
peers, managers, customers or clients;
in fact, anybody who is credible to
the individual and is familiar with his
or her work can be included in the
feedback process. The individual
usually completes a self-assessment
exercise on his or her performance,
which is also used in the process.
Tangible rewards : Rewards
that can be physically touched or
held (i.e., a gift certificate, gifts in
the form of merchandise or a savings
bond.)
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 38
HRiday in Action:
Gyaanoday with Mr. Darryl Cabral
HELD ON: 3rd August,2012
In the first session of the year HRiday organized an
interactive workshop with Mr. Darryl I. Cabral
(Director - Human Resources in Total Solutions)
onLeadership and Decision Making. Teaches in Jamnalal
Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and IIMs. He
is also the HR OB area head at Sydenham. He
conducts workshops in Organisation Development and HR with corporates in
India and abroad.
Gyaanodaya with Mr. Noel
Noronha
HELD ON: 31st August, 2012
Continuing the trend of value addition through its
workshops, an interactive session was arranged for the
GIM student community on “How to face interviews”.
July - August 2012 HRiday Veda P a g e | 39
Mr. Noel Noronha, Head-HR for Asia Pacific at Syngenta India Limited, delivered the
lecture.
I know what you did last summer!!
HELD ON: 24th August 2012
The session was a one-on-one interactive session with the PGP2s who had done
their internship in projects of the HR, Marketing and Operations domains.
Hope you enjoyed reading!!
We hope reading HRiday Veda has been a time well spent! We would like you to reply back with your valuable feedback about
this issue. We are also open to your contribution for the future issues by way of articles, cartoon strips, topic suggestions, and
any relevant HR material which will benefit us as future HR managers. Also include at the end : Please share your suggestions
and feedback with us at [email protected]
People. Passion. Performance
HRiday @ G.I.M.
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