hridayveda - february 2012
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Stay updated on all things HRTRANSCRIPT
Sneak-Peek
HR News: January/February 2012--------------------------------------------------------------------------2
Article: Is knowledge management a trend or is it a need?-------------------------------------6
HR Talk: An Interview with Regional HR Manager of Birla Sun Life------------------------7
HR Glossary---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
February 2012 P a g e | 2
Reliance ADAG to do campus-hiring as a group
Even as it manages its employer
brand with improvement in processes
from within, RCom will partner other
ADAG companies — Reliance
Entertainment, Capital and
Infrastructure — to visit B-schools as a
team in 2012. This is a first for ADAG
companies, and stems from the
formation of an HR council at the Group level this year.
An MBA Finance could end up in RCom or Reliance
Capital, if there are roles available in both — that's a
choice students will have. For companies, it allows each to
leverage the strength of the Group. In terms of hiring
process on campus, induction, orientation, compensation,
benefits structure, grade & titles, they would be made
uniform across ADAG companies from this year.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/newmanager/article2860602.ece
LinkedIn unveils new hiring solutions for India
Professional networking site LinkedIn unveiled a localised
hiring solution for the Indian market, a move aimed at
helping recruiters tap the vast talent pool in the country.
LinkedIn, which has more than 135mn members
worldwide, has over 13mn users in India. "Specifically for
India, LinkedIn India is rolling out localised versions with
pricing for offerings like LinkedIn Recruiter, which will
allow Indian recruiters to search & target profiles in India,"
LinkedIn said in a
statement. Various other
offerings like 'Jobs
Network' & 'Talent
Direct’ have
differentiated pricing in India.
LinkedIn India's Head of Hiring Solutions, Irfan Abdulla,
said its member-base consisting of educated & engaged
professionals are much sought after by recruiters.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/linkedin-launches-localised-hiring-solutions-for-indian-market/909031/0%20.
IT, consumer goods lead hiring across sectors
A Monster.com survey found that recruitments increased
substantially in IT & consumer goods sectors in January
‘12. The portal’s monthly employment index showed annual
growth of about 6% this month, rising to 120 from 113 a
year ago. Hiring also improved on a month-on-month basis,
with index at 115 in December. Employers have started the
year on a relatively positive note with continued
recruitment within large sectors like IT, consumer goods &
import/export, said Sanjay Modi, Monster.com managing
director for India, Middle East & South East Asia.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/hiring-activities-up-across-sectors-monster.com/911586/0
Indian pilots flying away to foreign carriers
Plagued by salary woes, Indian pilots have begun to look
for greener pastures as leading carriers like Jet Airways,
Kingfisher Airlines & Air India struggle under heavy losses.
February 2012 P a g e | 3
Leading carriers in India have been witnessing an exodus
of pilots. Sources indicate that in the recent past nearly 40
pilots of Air India have quit, while about 60 have quit from
Jet Airways. Kingfisher Airlines has seen about 50 pilots
leaving.
Most of the pilots leaving the Indian carriers are said to be
taking up employment with foreign airlines like Emirates &
Silk Air. Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is also
looking to hire pilots in India.
Pilots say they have no option but to leave, as salaries are
getting delayed for months on end. Air India had delayed
salaries of pilots for over a year and around 18,000
employees of Jet & Kingfisher Airlines did not receive
salaries for two months.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/article2897192.ece
Google, BCG best companies to work for
Internet giant Google has been named the best company
to work for by Fortune magazine, taking the top slot in a
list of 100 firms, with employees raving about everything
from its work culture to perks like free food at well-stocked
pantries. "Everything was up at Google last year – revenue,
profits, share price, paid search clicks, hiring -- and so, too,
was employee love," Fortune said.
In the second spot
was BCG. Fortune
said the global
consulting giant
invests 100+ hours and thousands of dollars to recruit each
consultant and once hired, they earn an average of
$139,000 a year.
Other companies in the list are Mercedes Benz US (12),
DreamWorks Animation (14), Goldman Sachs (33), software-
maker Adobe (65), Intel (46), Starbucks (73), Microsoft (76).
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/google-tops-fortunes-list-of-best-firms/902355/0
IIM Indore taps talent hunt firms to help in placements
IIM-Indore, a
relatively new
member of the
IIM fraternity
that was set up
in 1996, plans to partner with some placement firms to
make sure that all 450 students in the current batch
receive offers. The institute is in talks with around five
agencies. "We are trying to help our students get good
placements," said N Ravichandran, director of IIM-Indore.
"At this point, we have to keep the names of these
agencies confidential," he said.
Sunil Goel, director at Global Hunt India Pvt Ltd, said that
IIM-Indore had contacted the firm.
"We have not yet decided on how the institute will
compensate these firms or what will be the payment
structure. But we will choose only those that bring the best
job profiles from their clients. We will also give them a
threshold figure for salary packages depending on which
sector the job offer is coming from," a senior official from
the institute's placement committee, who did not wish to
be named, pointed out.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-25/news/30663093_1_iim-indore-placement-season-batch-size
February 2012 P a g e | 4
U.S. revamps visa norms to attract Indians
Amidst pending comprehensive immigration reform, the US
has proposed several steps, ‘‘including changes in F-1 & H-
1B visas’’, to attract foreign skilled workforce, a move likely
to benefit professionals from countries like India.
Prominent among these reforms
include providing work
authorisation for spouses of
certain H-1B visa holders,
17month extension of optional
practical training (OPT) for F-1
international students to include
students with a prior degree in
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, allow
for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students
and allow outstanding professors & researchers to present
a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement.
These moves are in support of President Obama's, efforts
to meet national security & economic needs.
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/jobs/us-tries-attract-skilled-workforce-india-805
Labour Laws need relook: PM
Inaugurating the 44th session of the Indian Labour
Conference, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, said,
‚We would need to make provision for part-time work (for
women) which would have the same characteristics as in
full-time employment (for women). If this requires
legislative changes, we should be prepared to do so and
begin working on a blueprint to make this a reality.‛
To bring more women into the workforce, he emphasised
on understanding the constraints that they face in
balancing their family & work responsibilities. He felt that
the provision of crèches built into regulations, including
those for MNREGA, were clearly not enough.
He said that the Factories Act, 1948, a Central legislation
to regulate the working conditions in factories, is currently
in the process of being amended. The need for amending
the Factories Act has been felt because of a number of
developments since 1987 when the Act was last amended.
These include concerns arising out of disasters such as the
Bhopal gas tragedy, especially those relating to industrial
disaster mitigation, rehabilitation & compensation for
industrial workers & other affected persons.
Panel recommends 24wk Maternity Leave
A committee on social security, set up at the 44th Indian
Labour Conference (ILC), has suggested that maternity
leave to women employees, now provided under the
Maternity Benefit Act, be raised to 24 weeks from the
present 12 weeks.
Ironically, there was exploitation of women workforce in
payment of wages in the quantum of payment when
compared to men. A woman employee of a leading foreign
bank in Chennai was recently asked to quit during her
advanced stage of pregnancy and re-join a few months
after child birth just to avoid payment of maternity benefit
and extension of leave to her.
Also, a committee on minimum wages had suggested an
increase of wage ceiling for application of Employees
Provident Fund Act from the present Rs.6,500 a month to
Rs.10,000 or Rs.15,000 a la getting medical benefits under
Employees State Insurance Corporation. Most committee
members wanted the ceiling for number of workers covered
under the EPF Act to be reduced from 20 to 10.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2897174.ece
February 2012 P a g e | 5
Businesses look for social media flair in marketers
Does P&G's move to lay off 1,600
non-manufacturing workers signal
the beginning of the end of
conventional marketing with its
ritualistic advertising & promotions
- and of dyed-in-the-wool marketers who are unable to ride
the digital tiger?
An IBM 'Global Chief Marketing Officer' study done in the
fourth quarter of 2011 suggests that most CMOs
worldwide, and in India, are "underprepared to manage the
impact of key changes in the marketing arena".
Back home, nobody is heralding the decline of the
traditional hotshot marketer, but the writing is loud & clear
on the Facebook wall: "Marketers who cannot see the kind
of influence & deep engagement that the digital space has
with consumers may as well get out of business," says
Santosh Desai, managing director & CEO, Future Brands.
Traditional marketing spends in India still dominate, but
slowly & surely a growing percentage of funds are being
sliced out of budgets and being moved towards the digital
space. Consumer-centric companies such as Hindustan
Unilever, P&G, Vodafone, Cadbury Kraft & UB Group are
looking closely at cost-effective & engaging ways to
connect digitally with consumers.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-17/news/31071495_1_digital-marketing-social-media-data-explosion
February 2012 P a g e | 6
In today’s organisations, contemporary management thinking is being profoundly reshaped by two new convictions
a) Effective Management of organisational knowledge is essential to achieving competitive success
b) Managing knowledge now is a central concern – and must become a basic skill of the modern business leader
If we look at the restructuring processes of large successful companies globally
like Toyota, Shell & GE, and relatively new stars like Apple & Google, they
are flatter than their competitors & have proportionately fewer managers as per
the turnover they generate. Work is increasingly being taken over by Domain
Experts brought together in teams across departments. This relatively new trend is driven by IT which
communicates faster than via several levels of management. IT-enabled organisations essentially demand
knowledgeable users to transform data into useful information and take decisions based on that. Knowledge by
definition is specialized. Hence an organisation of today or of the future has its task cut out – manage knowledge of its people,
leverage on their ideas and create core-competencies to create better products/ services than competitors.
Knowledge Management encompasses augmenting knowledge at the individual & the organisational level as well. While
working in groups three types of knowledge creation take place –
knowledge to perform routine/ current tasks more efficiently,
knowledge that provides new capabilities to the group
And finally knowledge to create new output using the first two.
All these are essential to the organisation to remain competitive. Leaders need to understand this and create practices that
encourage sharing & creation of usable knowledge – to allocate specific responsibilities to different groups, create an
atmosphere which imbibes courage to take risks, establish organisational structures enabling free flow of knowledge amongst
groups and creation of an IT infrastructure to store, to analyse & to access relevant learning for future projects/ environments.
Dynamic business environments demand quick decisions backed by learning & adaptability. Proper use of knowledge spurs
both these. Quick & correct decisions create competitive advantages in the marketplace which translates into superior bottom
lines i.e. knowledge creates Economic Value for the firm. Therefore the economy today thrives on creation and applying
February 2012 P a g e | 7
knowledge to business problems & opportunities - hence the term Knowledge Economy. Value
creating processes span across the organisation. Knowledge workers place growing value on the
‚horizontal learning‛ opportunities in related fields on offer in an organisation – hence the
increased use of cross-functional project teams, as discussed earlier, gains prominence in this
virtuous circle of value creation. As followed by 3M, providing these people a freedom to migrate
to projects they find interesting & intellectually stimulating can also be an effective way to offer Horizontal Learning.
As once famously said by the American philosopher William James (1907), ‚Truth lives on credit‛ – it is the
key concept of knowledge management. To explain, what we believe to be true – or in other words, what
we think we ‚know‛ must always be subject to on-going testing & validation. Organisations & business
leaders must be willing to replace old beliefs, old knowledge & old frameworks when new ideas seem more
capable of explaining, managing and predicting present and future events, and thus are more deserving of
our ‚credit‛.
Knowledge is experimental & procedural and hence knowledge management holds the key to
continuously test the validity of gained knowledge by applying it through organisational processes. This
continuous trend of enabling creation, application and augmenting knowledge in organisations /
individuals is not only the need of the hour, but also a positive trend that all should follow in their own
way.
By Deepankar Sadhukhan
Below is an interview with Ashish Datta, the Regional HR Manager for Birla Sun Life Insurance.
He had completed his PGDIM from XISS Ranchi (2005). He started his career with Reliance Capital, worked with them for 2 years, and has now been associated with the HR function at Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd for the past 4 years.
Looking back to the early stages of your career, what
was the impetus that helped you choose HR as a
profession?
People management always fascinated me and was the
driving force for choosing HR as a profession.
Do you recall any challenging situation you have faced
in your career as an HR Manager?
Every segment has its own challenges in financial domain. Superior subordinate relationship issues crop up very frequently which needs to be addressed immediately else results in legal suits. One such incident
February 2012 P a g e | 8
I can recall when entire branch submitted mass resignation due to superior issues needed lot of persuasion & convincing ability which I had never encountered in my professional tenure. For any such issues root cause analysis is important. The matter was investigated using different investigation methods. The culprit was identified who was responsible for creating trouble in the branch. We immediately isolated him by transferring him to a different location. And hence the issue was resolved.
Which is your favourite function within the umbrella
of functions that come under the HR domain? Why?
Employee engagement would have to be my favourite function due to the creativity & uniqueness involved for planning every initiative. And not to forget the smiles we bring after every initiate which is so important after hectic work schedule.
What is the most important learning you have gained
in your career?
For any upcoming HR professional a good mentor plays a very important role which adds to his learning curve. I was very lucky to have different supervisors who were experts in different domains. In my short stint as an HR professional I have learned it is very important to have a good connect with your employees and be always empathetic to their issues.
What measurable results could HR achieve?
For a line HR it would be people development & employee satisfaction which can be measured by looking at the attrition rate as happy employees will never leave you.
How is training carried out for the employees?
Training calendar is designed on the basis of job roles and span of control for Front line salespersons. Product Training is given immediately after joining for non-performers. Refresher courses are conducted after every quarter, for supervisory roles Managerial Excellence Program is conducted within 3 month of joining, support staff training is conducted on a half yearly basis.
Employee Engagement Surveys are conducted to find
employee satisfaction levels in a company. How does
Birla Sun Life ensure these surveys yield outcomes that
benefit employees, and promote internal branding?
Every 2 years we conduct OHS survey conducted by a third party organization called “Gallup”. After analysis of results all concern areas so far highlighted have been taken care of and new initiatives were launched. Employees are motivated when they see action taken on concern areas which we have managed to do so far. Satisfaction level could be evaluated by the looking at the results this year as none have raised the same issue highlighted in the previous survey.
How is academic HR curriculum different from actual
industry practices?
Basic knowledge is absolutely imperative but there is a huge disconnect between curriculum and real life situation more emphasis should be given to case studies & internship.
What has been the one most fulfilling professional
experience in your long vocational journey?
HR is the gate way to enter any organization when we look at our regions performance record & business figures compared to other regions. It gives you immense satisfaction to see the quality of team we have managed to build.
What are your dreams & aspirations for the HR
profession?
Every upcoming HR professional aspire to Head the department. HR domain has undergone a radical change since inception. Now we talk about HR business partnerships, new ideas and approach are needed apart from the regular operation job.
February 2012 P a g e | 9
Ability test - An assessment instrument used to measure an individual’s abilities, mental or physical skills level (i.e. problem solving, manual dexterity, etc.)
Absenteeism - Referred to as the habitual failure of employees to report for work when they are scheduled to work
Active learning- The process of acquiring knowledge, skills & behaviours by taking specific actions or performing specific tasks
Achievement test - A standardized testing instrument used to measure how much an individual has learned or what skills he or she has attained as a result of education, training or past experience
Adverse action - Any act by an employer that results in an individual or group of individuals being deprived of equal employment opportunities
Affirmative action (AA) - Any program, policy or procedure that an employer implements in order to correct past discrimination and prevent current & future discrimination within the workplace
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) - A voluntary procedure used to resolve disputes or conflicts between individuals, groups or labour-management. This procedure utilizes the services of a neutral third party to facilitate discussion and assist the parties in reaching an agreement which is binding
Assessment centre - A testing location where a candidate being considered for
assignment or promotion to managerial or executive-level position is rated by a team of experienced evaluators over a series of days using standardized activities, games & other simulations to predict the candidate’s future job performance
Attrition - A term used to describe voluntary & involuntary terminations, deaths & employee retirements that result in a reduction to the employer's physical workforce
Availability analysis - The process of determining the number of qualified minorities and women in the relevant available workforce who possess or have the ability to acquire the required skills or qualifications for any available position within the organization
February 2012 P a g e | 10
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HRiday @ G.I.M.
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