IIM Shillong TogetHR Sep-Oct 2012

IIM Shillong HR Magazine Issue 7 | SEP - OCT 2012

Results of

Breaking DawnThe Rise of SHRM

EnsHRineCase Study Competition

Organized by usHR in association with Teach For India

Interviews: Ms. Shaheen Mistri | Mr. Praveen Sinha | Prof. Pawan Kumar Singh | Prof. Manish Singhal | Prof. Manoranjan DhalTeach For India | Escorts Ltd. | IIM Indore | XLRI Jamshedpur | IIM Kozhikode

Editorial

faculty Advisors

Prof. Rohit Dwivedi

Prof. Sonia Nongmaithem

team usHR

Ankita Shah

KNK Srividya

Noopur Borwankar

P Padmini

Sourojit Ghose

Dear Readers,

This edition of TogetHR truly stands special as we proudly present to you the First Anniversary issue of the only HR magazine across B-schools in India. With this issue, we hope that the vision with which our forerunners started this magazine has been fulfilled to some extent. Through the past six issues, we have tried to address the latest happenings in the field of Human Resource Management, give a platform where students across B-schools can share their views on different themes. Through the Conflux section, we have tried to bridge the gap between the classrooms where concepts are taught and the boardrooms where they are practised.

In this past one year, we have received constant support and contributions from our readers in terms of readership, articles and appreciation and we are really grateful to you for it. As a part of our Anniversary celebrations, usHR also conduct-ed EnsHRine, inter B-school case study competition, in association with Teach For India. The results of the competition have also been presented in the issue. To show our gratitude and to celebrate this momentous occasion we have tried to make this issue special for you. As you flip through the pages, you will notice that TogetHR now has a completely new look. Also, this issue has new sections which will engage you and bring in more insights.

On this issue’s platter, we present to you Corporate Talk Corner, Faculty Talk Cor-ner and the Alumni Talk Corner. In the Cover Story: Breaking Dawn – Rise of Strategic Human Resource Management, we deliberate on whether human re-source management has really become a strategic for organizations and how it contributes to the growth of organizations.

Owing to the huge response we have seen from you, we have included six articles from our beloved readers. This time we have an article on Reverse Mentoring, a new concept which challenges the conventional idea of mentorship. Poaching- a real brainstorm talks about the age old issue of poaching and the possible solu-tions towards it. Laying people off can never be an easy task. What is the best way to do it? The business of Layoffs explores this idea. Nurturing Creativity and In-novation with HRM discusses what HR managers can do to encourage creativity in their organizations. An interesting and relevant perspective about the hidden biases of a workplace has been put forth in Subtle Biases and Covert Prejudices at the Workplace. The spirit of the Olympics has been kept alive in the Article of the Issue - Managing People in a Citius, Altius and Fortius way.

The Contest with the Best section presents an interesting challenge. Get the cre-ative bug in you working to suggest a solution for the cartoon contest in this issue.

Team usHR has been continuously getting your support. Although we get a year older and wiser, we will still seek your encouragement in every endeavour of ours.Do write in to us with your feedback @ [email protected].

Happy Reading!!!

Team usHR

Connoisseur Speaks

Contest With The Best

Contents SEP-OCT 2012

Disclaimer: The views presented are the opinion/work of the individual author and The HR Club of IIM Shillong bears no responsibility whatsoever.

Coverstory

Conflux

Concoction

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Breaking Dawn: the Rise of sHRMTeam usHR | IIM S

In recent times, organizations are looking at human re-sources as a unique asset which can provide competi-tive advantage to the firm. The change in the overall business environment with increasing globalization, changing dynamics of competition and demographics of workforce have led to increased importance of hu-man resources - the advent of Strategic HRM.

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excerpts of InterviewMs. Shaheen Mistri, Teach For IndiaMr. Praveen Sinha, Escorts Ltd.Prof. Pawan Kumar Singh, IIM IndoreProf. Manish Singhal, XLRI JamshedpurProf. Manoranjan Dhal, IIM KozhikodeAlumni Talk CornerReaders Talk Corner

Reverse Mentoring Anshika Srivastava | IMI, Delhi

Poaching Achintya | XIM Bhubaneswar

Managing People in a Citius, Altius and fortius way Sankalp Singh Parihar | Great Lakes Institute of Mgmt, Chennai

the Business of layoffsDharmesh Patel | Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

Nurturing Creativity and Innovation with HRMNilotpal Ray | S.P. Jain Institute of Mgmt & Research, Mumbai

subtle Biases and Covert Prejudices in the Indian Workplace Akash Agarwal | IIM Ahmedabad

Ask the expert

Cartoon Corner

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4togetHR | HR Magazine of IIM Shillong

Conflux

Ms. Shaheen Mistri, CEO Teach For India

CORPORATEcornerHow has the experience of handling young people been?It has been a very different experience. I always try to inspire young people to do their best, try to challenge them to greater challenges and push them to higher limits. I try to show them examples to inspire them.

What do you look for in individuals applying for Teach for India?We tend to look at academic achievements, dem-onstration of leadership, respect and humility for others, organizational skills in individuals. Our recruitment process is an extremely scientific process consisting of a number steps to carefully select the right individuals.

What is the recruitment procedure at TFI?It’s a three step process. Initially, there is a writ-ten round, followed by a telephonic interview. Candidates who qualify that round are called to the assessment center where there is a practice

session followed by a GD, interaction with TFI people and concluding with an interview.

What are your expansion plans?We tend to expand into the eastern part of the country, for which we need young professionals who can carry forward the movement. However, we do not want to compromise on quality and hence would look at getting the right candidates only. We might never be able to grow at the req-uisite market rate, but we want to keep the qual-ity of program high.

What is your message to the readers of this magazine?My message would be to just go out, get to know people, respond to the needs of the people and help them. It would actually help in developing a number of people skills which would be a great help in the future.


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Mr. Praveen SinhaAssociate Vice President

Corporate HR Escorts Limited

Sir, you have experience in varied indus-tries like healthcare, chemical, financial services, textiles, retail and engineer-ing. Do you find any differences in the way HR function is handled in each of those industries? If yes, could you please elaborate? This answer might help us understand the positives and negatives before choosing an industry.The fundamental HR processes will remain the same. They won’t vary too much. Industry-wide processes more or less remain the same. How-ever, the difference comes at the company level. Main causes of differences are internal forces within the company, its stage of preparedness and its systems, strategy and culture. For exam-ple, during talent acquisition, to attract high-cal-ibre talent, HR would search for the best talent in domestic and global market. There are also com-panies which do not have the right level of pre-paredness to manage its processes and hence the approach would be different. Approaches will be different at company level but not at in-dustry level. HR functions among industries will be the same as the fundamental HR Processes remain the same. Apart from internal company characteristics, external environment also im-pacts a company. How external change is impact-ing your company matters as based on external changes HR systems are modelled to suit present needs of the company. For instance, if competi-tion in our industry is very tough and margins are under pressure, HR policies need to be extremely innovative and cost conscious. A good example will be the transformation process that started in Escorts around 3 years ago. To respond to ex-ternal stimuli and to lead in the market, great amount of innovation was put into redesigning of HR Policies of our organization. Some of the changes were in Recruitment & Selection, Com-pensation and Employee Engagement.

Sir, Can you please elaborate on some of the in-novative practices followed at Escorts Ltd and

let us know how change management takes place in an organization?During transformation of an organization, one of the fundamental things is being able to influ-ence the top management with your ideas. Com-panies don’t change fast. There are lots of inter linkages involved. HR department might not always lead transformation; it might get trans-formed along the way. Coming to the example of Escorts, firstly Apex Board had to be convinced about the changes. Secondly, we had to look for people who have worked in India for at least 10 to 15 years and not just who have worked over-seas so that they can relate to what happens in our country. Thirdly, we brought in performance linked pay into action. It was a risk for us to have more than industry average pay structure linked to performance. Many people may have turned it down as it was risk-prone but high calibre people will always accept it. Lastly, we started the process of employee communication in structure. Free communication regarding the company policy, structure and its plans was brought in place. It changed the employees perspective overall.

In today’s context, performance culture is be-ing embraced by every organization. What do you think should be the basic elements used to check if the individual and organizational cul-ture enables high performance culture?Performance culture must sustain and people must see it. Performance management system if entrenched well in the company, then that is the best way to turn around the culture of the compa-ny. We adopted balance scorecard few years ago. People now believe that the company really pays


Conflux

pays for the performance. This has been done by linking variable pay to the performance. You should be able to use the output of the perfor-mance appraisal to decide the pay, thus incentiv-ising the effort of the employees. We are focussed on using it for the training, talent management and career management.

Sir, don’t you think, too much focus on perfor-mance based pay increases stress on the em-ployees which might have adverse effect?Performance pay does not contribute to stress. It is based on certain goals which one decides and agrees to mutually with one’s supervisor. There will definitely be pressure but if your job does not have reasonable challenges you won’t enjoy it. If you do not demand performance, people will perish. Unreasonable goals are never set. At the end of the day, people might feel stressed but one has to manage the stress. And the new generation feels that they are not challenged with enough goals if easy targets are given. So the performance based pay only motivates them to perform better and does not create pressure on them.

We have read your article: “Freedom at the Workplace” article in People Matters. Do you think it is practically possible to govern HR pol-icies by the concept of ‘development as free-dom’? Can you cite some examples from your experiences? Freedom at workplace, primarily refers to remov-

ing the unfreedom. The main role of HR is that he/she should be able to remove impediments so that people feel free and are able to develop themselves personally and professionally. This can be done by giving economic entitlements or opportunities to the employees. It is the respon-sibility of the HR along with the line managers to ensure social & economic development and transparency at every level. Bring such policy in the system which gives the opportunities to the employees to enhance their economic entitle-ments, by giving them safety nets like PF or gra-tuity, or education of employees on labour laws. If development is seen as a process of expanding the real freedom that people enjoy, the approach of HR as an enabler of ‘human development’ will transform dramatically.

“no cost / low cost” plan for employee train-ing & development practiced in Escorts is a very innovative concept. When HR depart-ment designs such measures, is there perfor-mance measurement metrics designed as well to gauge the benefits? Can you please provide examples of some performance measurement metrics used in your company? How do they vary among levels of roles of employeesWhen I joined escorts in 2009, it had not had any training for the past ten years. No training bud-get was assigned and there were 10,500 people. The enticement for training was very less. There were no big conference rooms, or fancy lunches served after the training. But that did not deter


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us. If your objective is clear as it was for us, the path is easy. We had to connect to the people more frequently and constructively. In the entire process we needed positive behavioural change so that they get motivated. I used to share the training feedback with the management. Not every time does one have to look for metrics or the cost to return because if the objectives are clear then the output can be easily measured. Also metrics were really not needed because it had to change the behaviour of the people which is something that cannot be measured. On the other side if the training being provided is for developing leadership competencies in the employees, it can be linked with the number of people who have taken up leadership role after the training has ended. This kind of measure-ment would be a useful metric.

How important is proper HR planning to the growth of an organization? Does HR depart-

ment really influence the strategies of orga-nization or is it just part of theory we study in schools?To give you a theory – In my organisation today, our financial year is from October to September. We have already started the process of annual business plan and budget. The CEO and his direct reports sit together. Each functional heads would present their own plan of how they will contrib-ute towards achievement. Now, here the HR gets to know what the manufacturing plan is, how fi-nance is going to be impacted, about marketing, R&D etc. They are completely aware of each pro-cess in the organization. In the entire process, the HR becomes more knowledgeable and automati-cally becomes a part of the strategic discussions. It is important to differentiate that HR becomes part of the strategy rather than influencing the strategy because they are part of a team.

EnsHRr ine ResultsWe are very happy to announce the winners of ensHRine Case study conducted in september 2012, in association with teach for India:

first Prize: 221B, Baker street, XlRI, JamshedpurMembers: shreetam subhrankar & Divya Aggarwal

Congratulations to the team!! The team will be communicated soon and be awarded prizes and Certificate of Appreciation.

We would like to make a special mention of Team Classmates, SIBM Pune. The presentation was highly appreciated by TFI and we would like to acknowledge it by awarding Certificates of Appreciation to the team members: Anant Sagar & Surabhi Singhal.


Conflux

Mr. Pawan Kumar SinghProfessorIIM IndoreArea of Teaching: Organizational Behaviour & HRM

FACULTY

cornerSir, you have a long teaching experience and have interacted with professionals of various walks of life. Could you please cite some dif-ferences in role of HR in public and private en-terprises? Your response might help us under-stand various work atmospheres.There are misconceptions among managers in making about public sector vis-à-vis private sector operations especially related to manage-ment practices. Some public sector companies are highly professional and there are also some private sector companies where sound HR sys-tems are not in place. However top class private sector organizations provide more flexibility and score for development and experimenta-tion compared to even established public sector companies. Strength of public sector lies in the area of System, Structure and Processes whereas strengths of private sector lies in the domain of flexibility, benchmarking and faster carrier op-portunities. Perhaps this mix enables youngsters attracted towards private sector for those who want to work in the field of HR.

Team work is a very difficult task as people of different backgrounds come together to work. How can a manager effectively manage inter-personal conflicts in his/her team?I have found young students having prime a fa-cia in negative interpretation of conflict. Infact, conflict is natural and sometimes desirable. This conviction helps to resolve interpersonal conflict with a positive note. Some researchers have shown that the absence of conflict led to the decline of organizations. However, resolving conflict needs some tips and this art has to be

developed gradually by every manager. There is no cut and dried way to resolve every conflict. However, in the modern era, when the compe-tence and maturity of almost all levels of em-ployees have improved, collaboration seems to be the most preferred approach. It is desirable to excavate ideas from others rather than dumping upon which leads to reaction.

How do Behavioural and Communication Skills of Managers affect the team performance?Though history of management practitioners suggest that some of the star CEOs were tem-peramental, moody and harsh. The young learn-ers should not fall in the trap of conclusion that suppression, anger and harshness work. When, as a manager, you communicate to keep the re-ceiver’s self esteem intact, the receiver becomes self supporting. The manager’s job is to invite the best potential of co-worker to the arena of imple-mentation. This is possible through communica-tion which helps others to take the ownership of responsibility. Negative cues of communication hamper relationship at workplace.

In different cultures, we see different manage-ment and leadership styles being practiced. Due to increasing MNC working culture in In-dia, do you see any changes/differences in the working style of the managers?Indian Managers are adapting to the cultural demands of modern organizations and based on my experience, they are really aware of the strengths of Indian Culture. Indian culture is vast and deep. Nevertheless, in the context of orga-nizational culture, there are varieties of islands


Conflux

Mr. Manish SinghalProfessor

XLRI JamshedpurArea of Teaching: Organizational

Behaviour

existing in India which differ with respect to cul-tural heterogeneity. Nothing remains fixed. In the context of organization, American (USA) cul-ture is shifting towards Japanese and Japanese culture to American. Multinationals in India have brought their own cultures to the country. When an adopted culture in an organization intersects with the overall culture of the country, it is the latter which has got stronger say. That is the rea-son we need adaptability of new culture and si-multaneously have respect for local culture.

HRM in IIMs is still a less preferred specializa-tion. If you think so, can you please cite some reasons why you feel this to be the case? Also can you provide some ways to face this chal-lenge and change student’s thinking towards HR as a subject and profession.There are management schools with specializa-

tion in the field of HRM and recruiters perceive that recruitment is to be done from such schools. If we compare the academic rigor of reputed HR oriented academic institutions with IIMs in gen-eral, the difference is not significant. However general academic atmosphere in IIMs is not as much oriented towards HR as in those other insti-tutes. Hence recruiters perceive that the IIMs are more suitable for recruitment in Finance, Market-ing, and Strategy etc. Students also perceive that choice of HR field would give them benefits with deferred effect. This creates a non-virtuous cycle in favour of HR specialization in the IIMs in gen-eral. However, recently, good number of students is showing good interest towards HR profession. And if this field is your heart-call, it would surely fulfil your external ambitions and intrinsic joy of a fulfilled being.

Finance is usually said to be the only field in Business without much human element or human connection involved. What made you take up teaching Behav-ioral Sciences and Organizational Behav-ior after having done PGDM in Finance? We have seen even Mr. Mohandas Pai move to HRM from being a CFO of Infosys for over 12 years. This step took everyone by sur-prise. Sir, this answer of yours might help many of our readers take a wise decision in choosing their stream and understand the value of OB and HRM.Most of the time what happens is when we are studying, the choice is not very well thought of, we are guided more by the peer pressure and other views that we get from people all around us. When I was doing PGDM, I wanted to move into consultancy career and hence, I was advised to take up Finance and General Management so that I would be better able to deal with the vari-ous kinds of consultancy projects. By the time I ended with my course, I felt that somehow I was

not made for the corporate. Hence, I moved into something that interested me.

How do spirituality and yoga help in motivat-ing executives belonging to various levels in organizations? Does it really work? If yes, are the results shown in long term or can one see immediate changes?The thesis that I worked on was in this domain. Also, I have experience in it. The idea that I have is that such things go much beyond aiding you. What it does is that it changes your conception of life and what you want to do in your life. Ulti-mately it helps you in identifying the right path; it helps you in making the right choices and makes you go on that particular path. You become more


Conflux

On a personal level, Sir, how has the transition been from working in a corporate organization to teaching? This answer might help us and our readers understand the various avenues after graduating from B-School.Though I had a short stint in industry, it was a great learning experience. Management is a subject of application and having experience in implementation of HR tools and techniques gives me the conviction in teaching and explain-ing the same to the participants in post gradu-ate programme as well as in management devel-

Mr. Manoranjan DhalProfessorIIM KozhikodeArea of Teaching: Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources

opment programme. The transition is quite encouraging as I apply the same technique of personality tests in analyz-ing my own behavior and the career as-sessment test says teaching is a match-ing profession for me.

What is your take on the recent events in Mane-sar Plant of Maruti? What could have been done to avoid it? What in future should be the focus of IR in order to avoid such fiascos?I could not sleep for nights together after know-ing a HR professional meeting such a fate. But, when you go back to the past incidents of Mar-uti - Manesar plant since last three years and the top management’s approach towards labour, it will be unfair to held the labour and their union responsible either; though I strongly condemn the incident and the death of the General Man-ager Human Resources Mr. Awanish Kumar Dev.

effective in choosing the right path and walking on it. Whatever you choose, you pay your atten-tion on it. In Bhagwada Gita, there is a mention of ‘Kaushal in Karma’ i.e. you become more fo-cussed and hence there are better and efficient outcomes. I feel that this should not be taken as a medicine but a way to identify yourself.

Could you elaborate on steps you undertake to prepare modules for training programs in vari-ous organizations and for various purposes?Once we get the request from the organizations, we do a preliminary discussion with them regard-ing what their requirement is. It is more about the symptom than the disease because we might be told that the child is suffering from fever when the actual problem is of stomach ache. To over-come such problems we go for a 360 degree as-sessment to get the details from the people who would be involved, the supervisors, the employ-ees etc. Thereafter, we come up with a training needs analysis which we share with the organi-

zation and on their approval we formulate the modules.

How do you think Training and Holistic Devel-opment has developed in organizations till now and what kind of future do you see?The holistic development is of two kinds. One involves the physical, emotional, mental etc de-velopment of the employee and the other which involves the career development of the em-ployee. Organizations focus more on the second type. Training and development, compensation benefit and the performance assessment should be linked and there should be continuous fol-low up of the individuals. As for the future, I feel that their should be integration of the different HR system so that there is a greater focus on the ‘human’ element rather than on the ‘resource’ el-ement. In that case, the employee will feel more motivated and the incidents like Manesar could also be avoided.


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Maruti management is involved in unfair labour practices, and unfortunately the state govern-ment has allowed that without any monitor-ing and control. Maruti Management employs around 950 regular workers where as there are more than 1200 contract labour, 400 trainees and another 400 apprentice trainees working in the core production. It’s clear violation of Sec 10 (1) of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abo-lition) Act, 1970. Maruti didn’t learn the lesson from its neighbor Honda Motorcycles and Scoot-ers India Ltd. (HMSI)where the management forced the workers to sign ‘good conduct bond’ and adopted to the same pressure tactics to con-trol the workers resulting in loss of production. Mr. RC Bhargava, Chairman Maruti Suzuki, does not have any right to ban the formation of union as well as its affiliation. It’s unconstitutional to deny the formation of second union and also violated the Trade Union Act, 1926.

Management can achieve superior organization-al performance only with the cooperation of the labour not with a tussle of power. Unfortunately, Maruti management has adopted the path of later. Talk, talk, talk… is the cardinal principle of handling any conflict which is not prevailing because of the attitude of the management. Re-solving conflict through dialogue, valuing the la-bour as partner in business, following better em-ployee relations practices and lastly to pay salary at the market rate can improve the organization performance.

Trade Unions have both positive and negative implications. From your experience, can you please tell us how critical they are to the success of an organization? How can they be linked to fulfilling the goals of the organization?I personally feel that there is no need of existence of trade union in an organization if the manage-ment is ready to take care of the need of the employees. Forget about the taking care of the needs managements are least bothered about

the conditions of employees in many of the or-ganizations and never talk to each other. Trade union plays a vital role in taking care of the work-ers need and representing them in right forum. Management avoids and incapacitated by their own approach to reach out to each individual employee and take care of their economic and social need. There comes the role of union and which the union leaders are fulfilling to some ex-tent. While lack of mature internal leadership has hindered the growth of union, political affiliation and vested interest of the leaders have caused the decline of the unionism. Union leaders have never focused on the vast contract and casual workforce and the people working in the unor-ganized sector where there is a dearth of union support.

In today’s stressful and busy workplace, em-ployee engagement has become very neces-sary. There are various activities practiced in the industry. Can you please cite some innova-tive examples which might help us broaden our thinking?I am a strong advocate of competency based em-ployee engagement. Organizations have hardly gone beyond in analyzing the knowledge and skill of the employee where as self-image, trait, motive and values plays a vital role in an individ-ual employee’s life. Creating a facility of sports, club, gym, or employee assistance programme is not going to yield any result unless we are clear about the need of the individual employee. They need to be valued and engaged in decision mak-ing process and are always ready to contribute to the success of the business if their cooperation is sought for. Scientifically studying the compe-tency and designing the engagement practices linking to the business objective can serve the purpose without spending money on an aimless ‘fun Friday’.


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ALUMNI

corner

Ms. Neetisha AryaManagement Trainee - HRHDFC BankGraduation Year: 2012

Your thoughts and opinions of how important HR is in the corporate life and the experience in this field over the passed timeOne question that always haunted me before interviews was, simply put, ‘Why HR?’ And the answer that I had prepared for all my interview-ers was simply based on the importance of HR in today’s corporate world-how talent was the most critical ingredient for success of all organi-sations & without proper management of this valuable resource, organisations would be at risk of growth saturation. As clichéd as it sounds, my belief has only been re-enforced over the last 4 months. Human Resource Management is truly one of the most important functions that are performed in any organisation. Although it is usually termed as a support function, good HRM practices are integral for success.In whatever little experience I have had so far, I

It is always said that one tends to learn more in any field if he or she gets to work on it from scratch and build systems rather than to be in a place where you are made to learn pre-existing ways and processes. I was one of those lucky (or in some ways unlucky) few who joined a start-up and from the very first day was given the task of handling the entire gamut of HR activities for an employee strength of around 130-150 people. New into the corporate world, I have tried my hands in almost every field of HR starting from recruitment, induction, setting up performance appraisal process, finding out training needs to developing a HR policy for the organisation and most importantly day to day HR activities that filled up the entire schedule for the day. And out of this entire wholesome experience, one thing I learnt was that HR forms the major backbone of

have come to believe that HR managers are high-ly respected in the industry. They are regarded not only as ones who perform a support func-tion, handling basic processes like recruitment, staffing, transfers & exits, but instead are treated as respectable business partners. HR plays an integral role in identifying manpower budgets necessary to achieve business targets, proactive-ly participates in ensuring that all positions are appropriately filled even before a vacancy is cre-ated, ensures that all employees remain actively engaged with & contribute to the growth of the organisation. Although the role of HR has been evolving over the years, we still have a long way to go in terms of becoming true partners. And I can’t be any happier in saying that I have the chance to help fulfil this dream…

any organisation. And for those who would not agree to this, I request them to leave their big es-tablished companies and join a startup.Being a HR professional may sound very “un-cool” to all MBA grads passing out from top tier B-schools of the country but it is definitely not the easiest of all jobs. On the other hand, it can be the most challenging of all jobs and at times really important for the organisation as it deals with the employees directly. It is well known that people are the most important asset to any or-ganisation. It is the people who drive the organi-

Mr. Mayur Kumar Lakhmani VP Business Development

eSparShaGraduation Year: 2012


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Ms. Pooja BathejaPost Graduate Trainee- HRTata Motors LtdGraduation Year: 2012

HR long has been considered a necessary staff function with responsibility for maintaining com-pliance and administration. But there is a percep-tion that HR does not and cannot walk hand in hand with the ‘strategy formulators’ of an organi-zation. To counter this belief, it must make some fundamental changes in how it understands the business and how it sees its role in it.Having worked with India’s largest automobile company over the last few months, one thing which I have definitely realized is the importance of speaking the language of our organization’s business, valuing the organization’s strengths, understanding its weaknesses and opportuni-ties. Are there any new competitors, new customer

You don’t ask a mother if she thinks her child is the most beautiful in the world, similarly you don’t ask any professional how vital his/her pro-fession is, fortunately or unfortunately I have been asked to do just that. I believe HR in India has evolved to a level where we don’t need to discuss how important HR is in corporate world but rather is HR able to become a business part-ner in true sense? In a service economy like India, People have become even more vital for a firm’s success, hence enhanced focus on building high performing work systems at work place. HR in today’s world doesn’t only look at people as it’s clients; customers and shareholders are as vital as employees.But still there needs to be a considerable change in mindset of HR professionals. Sadly many a

sation and it is the HR department that drives those employees. Simple basic flaws in HR strat-egy can be detrimental to the growth of any or-ganisation and therein lays the importance of HR. TogetHR was launched a year back after putting

in a lot of hard work and it’s good to see that few HR enthusiasts are still running it with the same passion. I wish the team all the very best and hope that IIMS keeps getting people passionate for HR to keep this spirit alive.

Mr. Gagan AroraHR AdvisorIBM India

Graduation Year: 2011

segments, improved technology, demographic changes and economic trends that may affect future business??As HR Professionals, a decent amount of knowledge of all these aspects would help us in taking informed decisions about man-power numbers, working on training and de-velopment budget, development talent man-agement strategies and organizing employee engagement activities. Also, very often we see that HR ends up being the cost center for an or-ganization rather than the revenue generator. Hence, HR interventions need to be justified like any other business project, i.e., on the basis of the financial return on investment. Moreover, it has become all the more important that we hold ourselves accountable for this result.In nutshell, we being in this profession should take the onus and create an environment where we gain substantial confidence level of both the employee & employer.

times HR measures are activity oriented rather than impact-oriented. We need to be able to measure our contribution to the bottom line of any organization. Until we do not devise an ef-fective, simple & robust way of measuring ROI on HR for an organization sadly we will always be looked as a cost center. In my short career as an HR professional I have just lived by the below quote by a famous MI6 spy, John Le Caré: “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”As an HR professional I believe in leaving the


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READERS

corner

Your thoughts and opinions of how important HR is in the corporate life and the experience in this field over the passed timeThe Human Resource Department is not the im-portant, but the vital part of any company’s ex-istence. Without good and capable HRD person-nel, the company can neither grow nor exist. In simple words, I can say that the HRD is the root of business world.Firstly, the essential responsibility of HRD is to re-cruit proficient candidates, which not only work sufficiently according to company’s require-ments, but also make a healthy decorum. With the help of this, the other fellow employees also feel motivated despite having the work pres-sure.

Secondly, the work of HRD should only be limit-ed to hire such employees. The department must take certain measures to keep the employees in the company for a longer period. It can be done by giving economical benefits or praising the tal-ent of the employee or both. Apart from these, a binding work environment, celebration of festi-vals and occasions and giving some amount of liberty to employee’s working style are other ma-jor factors for existence of any employee at the company.As far as my corporate experience is concerned, although it is very less but gave me many views about the HRD. I have seen that my company allows me enough freedom to perform work in my own manner. Although, my seniors do keep a watch on my work, but they are more bothered about the completion of project at time. Thus, this gives me an enthusiasm to perform much better than before. Also, my company’s HRD has instructed me from time to time to maintain a dis-ciplined culture apart from the work. Also, they have given me enough opportunities to perform extra-curricular activities at the workplace.

Conflux

Mr. Tushar Khatri Subject Matter Expert Dragonfly Education Pvt LtdGraduation Year: 2010

Appreciation Emails and Messages

I am a regular reader of TogetHR. IIM Shillong has done a fabulous job in coming out quality maga-zines in all streams of management, congratula-tions to you. - A Reader

Great start. I look forward to see where this goes.- A Corporate

Heartiest Congratulations to you all! Wonderful production and contents! Keep it up please and the

IIM Shillong flag flying high. - A Professor

I just read this months issue of TogetHR and thought of slipping in a line to congratulate you on this wonderful initiative - A Reader

I really appreciate the swiftness on your side for delivering the amount and certificate. Look-ing forward to such associations in the future, wishing for lots of success for your initiative.

- A Reader

comfort of my desk, getting out and knowing the people, they could be employees, clients or busi-ness leaders. It helps me keep tab on mindset of the employees, in sync with the pulse of the business, to learn business & most importantly integrate with business. I am not sure where this approach will lead me to but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, then it was never about the destina-tion but the journey.

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Mentoring Reverse

For one project, we were doing employee en-gagement survey and we had to find out what are the motivating factors for employees and what makes them happy, so that the organization can design better attraction and retention program.After survey, we found that employee ranked ca-reer opportunity as first priority. Then the orga-nization asked us to extend the project and find out what kind of carrier opportunities employees want. In next questionnaire, we asked employ-ee’s opinion about different career management programs such as IDP (Individual Development Programs), career planning, coaching, mentor-ing, growth towards next level, reverse mentor-ing etc. And we found out that the Gen Y have very high aspiration, they want growth at very fast pace and want to learn more about manage-ment works and processes. We found that they were more interested in mentoring and reverse mentoring program.

When we think about mentoring, what comes to our mind, one old and experienced person giv-ing lecture to a young man and teaching him business acumen? Yes, that’s true, but now in this moving era, things are getting reverse. If you ask someone, “What is your dream position?” an HR person will say – VP-HR, for finance it can be – CFO of a company, for a marketing person, it can be – CEO. And CEO will be the dream position for many others too. This aim or dream requires more smart effort and now employees are more fo-cused on the organizations which provide career planning, so they can target their efforts towards their goal. Organizations like Nokia, Microsoft, GE, Bharti etc. are now focusing on Talent assess-ment process. In which they do career planning, succession planning, coaching, mentoring and talent development to lower down the attrition

rate, high retention rate, making leadership pipe-line and developing leaders for organizational growth.

“The grass always looks greener other side”, every management student and new employee dream of higher position, so why not try to give them the taste of it. It may work as your Talent acquisition and retention strategy. So, how can an employee get a feel of management work, yes mentoring but we are going to talk more than that, which is reverse mentoring. It is a two-way learning pro-cess, use it strategically and it will prove to be a win-win approach. It was popularized by Jack Welch when he was CEO of General Electric Co. He asked top-level executives to reach out to people below them to learn how to use the Internet. Mr. Welch himself got mapped to an employee in her 20s who taught him how to surf the Web.

Reverse mentoring was started approximately a decade ago, but it is picking up fast with the growing technology. It helps senior person in gaining a new perspective about the future gen-eration and access to junior staffers within the or-ganization, and the junior person gains career ad-vice and the opportunity to interact with senior administrators. IBM has a successful mentoring program and they claim that it helped employees in mutual learning. Proctor & Gamble also show-cased a success story about reverse mentoring program and they say it increases awareness and knowledge between varied group business and technology. P&G took a step ahead with a Mentor Up program where they paired mid-level female managers with upper level male managers to im-

Two <--> way learning

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prove cross gender communication. Now, orga-nizations are also focusing on female executives on top positions such as Marissa Mayer, Chanda Kochhar, Kiran Mazumdar and many more. To make a female leadership pipeline training about the management acumen can be done by reverse mentoring. There are many organizations who have implemented reverse mentoring program and they are many who are planning to.

There are many benefits of reverse mentoring programs which will help organization in devel-opment of employees, empowering leaders and making new and innovative strategies:— Encourage frank discussion on current issues and helps in keeping up with current trends — The younger generation is more likely to be comfortable with equality and diversity than any age group — Brings different employee generations closer together which will fill the communication as well as knowledge gap— Helps in overall development of the employees enable them in taking risk and decisions— Reduce turnover among younger employees — Enhance leadership, conflict management and coaching skills of mentees and mentors — Develop strategies to create a more inclusive work environment

But it is not an easy task to create a culture of reverse mentoring. There are many limitation and issues that will come in implementation as shown in figure2, ego of senior people can come into the picture. They may not like taking advice from junior employees. And if the clear goals are

Figure 1: Benefits of reverse mentoring and how it leads to growth

Figure 2: Limitation and issues in implementation

not defined then it can ruin the working culture and can destroy the purpose. To overcome this problem clear and transparent communication and buy-in of the employees is very essential.

Instead of calling it reverse mentoring which gives a negative connotation to the purpose, we can call it “Two-way learning process”. It will be more of a peer-to-peer relationship where both parties have a lot to teach and lot to learn. The senior person gains a new perspective about the generation and access to junior employees, and the junior person gains career advice and the op-portunity to interact with senior administrators. For a reverse mentoring relationship or two-way learning to be beneficial, management should take care of following factors:

The reverse or reciprocal mentoring can take place with existing company’s mentoring pro-grams. It does not need new process to establish, it does like engaging people for a discussion of topic in which they are interested. Establish that link, engage, empower, retain them and get ben-efited. Therefore “Communicate openly, forget age, gender, race, diversify, explore ideas, and spread knowledge”

Fills Knowl-edge Gap

Collaboraton

Holistic Growth

Empower Leaders

Reduce Turnover

Develop Strategy

Clearly Defined Expectations

Buying In

Trust

Willingness to Learn

Transparency

Both senior junior needs to be very clear on their expectations and it should be clearly communicated

There should be buying in from senior management side, they should be agreed on it

It requires the trust of each party. The goal is to push one another out-side of their comfort zones & try new ways of thinking, working & being

In two way learning program both parties act in the capacity of a men-tor & mentee; so, they must both genuinely want to learn & share

Both must be open with their feelings and with what they are thinking. They must be able to overcome differneces in communication style (since generational differences in communication) and be open to see-ing situations from different angles

Anshika Srivastava, IMI New Delhi

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What is poaching? If asked this question a decade or two decade ago, the answer would have been something like: It is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals, for example smuggling. But looking at today’s scenario the answer has changed and now one can see the poaching of the employee as well. Yes nowadays poaching is frequently used as the ‘talent acquisition strategy by many organisations’. In this competitive age, where every organisation is thriving for excellence, ‘poaching’ has come out as a solution to them.

Now let us know what exactly employee poach-ing is. Employee poaching is “hiring an employee from competing company”. The term poaching is nothing but a layman’s language. In management or recruitment terminology, it is known as ‘head-hunting’ or ‘employee raiding’. Poaching is basi-cally done at Senior Level and sometimes at mid-dle level too. To understand poaching let us see the

case of Coke vs Pep-siCo that happened somewhere in Uttar Pradesh in late 90s. In this Coke offered the blank cheque to the employee of Pep-

siCo. due to which some of the employee moved to Coke. This case further moved to the court. You all might be thinking about the consequence of it. Isn’t it? Do you know, the court gave the decision in favour of Coke saying , nothing was wrong in of-fering blank cheque if retention strategies of Pep-siCo were weak and not good enough to keep their employee, it’s their fault. Moreover they could also have offered the blank cheque to the employee of Coke; there was no objection in it. So what’s your opinion about this judgement?

Well in the world of cut throat competition, where companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Jindal Steels, Reliance Industries and many more are just en-gulfing the small players, how poaching can be unethical? We can’t call this an unethical activity; nothing is wrong in acquiring the talent if you are equally potential to acquire him or her. At the same time an organisation also can’t sit folding its hands and see its employees being poached by some other organisation. After all the employees are its “intellectual properties.”

So first of all, let’s see what attracts an employee. We should not forget any employee is first a hu-man being driven by some desire. Desire can be anything. It can be desire to achieve power or money or position or social attention. Many the times employees want both power and money. Now the problem is not just, how lucrative is your employee benefit package, but also how well you have packaged your employee benefits. It is quite impossible for any employer to satisfy them. One can’t give the same designation and money to its entire employees. So is it really impossible to prevent your employee being poached?

No, not exactly. We can have a check on them. Let us see how? Most of the times, the competitors are seen hiring them rampantly. So the restrictive practices such as Non-disclosure, Non-compete, Non-solicitation agreement may save the neces-sary information to be leaked in competitor or-

P aching A Real Brainstorm

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ganisation but they too can’t ensure losing your talent at the hand of your competitors. But still they can control the poaching of the key employ-ee of any organisation.

We have seen many employers either it is Google or Apple or Adobe who have agreed on not hiring each other’s employees. But again this is not the solution to prevent poaching. Certain arrange-ments should be designed which can work for a time period.

Let us explore some of the approaches used by any organisation to prevent poaching:

Modification In Hiring Strategies: —It’s important to make sure that the employee not only accept the nature of the job but also the employer —The talent who get selected in any organisa-tion should be allowed to visit the organisation for a week sometimes before his/her joining . By doing this he will interact with the employees of the organisation. This helps him to understand himself and to make up his mind for the job he will be doing after sometime. This can result in higher retention.—Not possible when you are planning for higher growth.Search for the talent rather than profile:—It is not necessary that only Computer Engi-neers can work properly in IT industries. BCA with a sound Technical certification from NIIT profes-sionals can also serve your purpose. —This restructuring will set a ceiling for salaries. —It would create flexibility in your organisation and cushion for a while against your competi-tors.

Bench Strength: —Maintain bench strength of the talented em-ployee to withstand the poaching threat. —A career path should be designed in order to promote a talent within the organization which Achintya, XIM Bhubaneswar

can be a motivational factor for the lesser skilled employees.—Optimise the productivity of the employee by motivation programmes, training programmes, etc.

Talent Pool Management:—A talent pool can’t be made overnight.—One thing should be clear in mind; organisa-tion success is not a one man show.—Expand the circle of key employees of the or-ganisation.—Help the employee in a transition from ‘follow-ers’ to ‘leaders’ in a short span of time.

Employee Life Cycle In Reality: —Important to realise that every employee joins with an expiry date for the job in mind, so identify to map them—Promotion plays an important part of the em-ployee turn-over. In this, the people not promot-ed to next level are caught by competitors. As we have seen Priya Puri who left ICICI and joined Axis bank.

It is a high time to realise the importance of em-ployee retention; as rightly said by Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping to-gether is progress. Working together is success.”

Conco c tion


Ah the Olympics! The sugar for the sweet tooth, a delectable and scrumptious delight for the eager palate, the crème de la crème for the ath-letes around the world, the cauldron where ev-ery sportsperson has only one dream: To stand on that coveted podium while their national an-them is played in the background! The Olympics is the pinnacle of sports competition, and once is four years new heroes are made, champions are proclaimed and stars etched into memories of people around the world. But can you imagine the work load or the pressure under which each sportsperson reels? I mean, imagine the constant scrutiny, nagging criticism, intense public inspec-tion where everyone is watching your every step, judging your stance and even debating that new colored towel that the athlete is using! Now won-der how do coaches or managers manage these superstars? What exactly is that magical silver bullet that helps them manage their personnel in such a pressure cooker situation? Well, here are some HR learning lessons from London Olym-pics 2012 for managing people and ensuring that they are at their peak and efficiency at the right time.

Lesson #1: Identify your core strength

and work on it

Usain Bolt or the fastest man on earth became the first ever sprinter to win consecutive golds in 100m and 200m races for two consecutive Olym-pics. But do you actually think it was a cake walk for him? Coming to the London Olympics 2012, he was under immense public pressure keeping in mind that last year he was sensationally dis-qualified from the 100m world titles because of a false start. To add to his woes he was beaten by Blake at the Jamaican trials. His problem was further compounded by a hamstring issue. But he did not let any of this deter him from his core strength. Bolt or the Electrifying sprinter is known for his work ethic and as a proof of his hard work and diligence he became the fastest man on earth and perhaps the greatest sprinter ever!

Lesson #2: There is more to work than

a paycheck.

How would you react if you were asked to work for 8 hour shift and sometimes 70 hours a week without pay or a semblance of money? Impossi-ble you say? Well London 2012 defied the norms.

Managing People in a

Citius, Altius and Fortius way

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For a non-paying job Team Great Britain (or Team GB) received 200,000 applications for 70,000 posi-tions! And the best part was there were no mone-tary benefits but the applications poured in. When asked why were so indulged in this unthankful task without even being offered a dime, the reac-tions were varied and surprising. Some replied “I did it because it brought purpose to my life’, oth-ers said “it’s not just about money, sometimes it’s about a connection’. So there was Team GB hop-ing to get some if not all applicants and imagine their surprise when they were inundated with application forms! So there were retired pension-ers, teachers, school and college students, work-ing wives, house husbands, grandmothers, and grandfathers all eager to help out Team GB and without even being offered a single cent. There is more to work than a paycheck. Create an as-sociation with the employee. The Games Makers were hailed as the heart of the London Olympics 2012. They were each offered an honorary medal for their contribution. They were proud to wear their uniform and help tourists and citizens with an unwavering smile on their face. There is more to work than a paycheck. There is the feeling of oneness with your employer. Cultivate that, nur-ture that; make your employees feel proud to work and be associated.

Lesson #3: Overcome your challenges.

There is no mountain too big enough to

scale.

Remember Oscar Pistorius, the Blade Runner or the ‘fastest man on no legs?’ The sprinter who par-ticipated in the Men’s 400m and 4x400m relay de-spite being at a severe disadvantage, or thought to be. Oscar was born with a congenital disorder called ‘fibular hemimelia’. He has both his legs amputated when he was 11months old. And yet he competed at the highest level of the sporting challenge wearing his prosthetic legs. Mind you, he participated in the Summer Olympics 2012, NOT Paralympics! When asked how he managed to overcome all his stumbling blocks he said “My

mother never made me feel I was at a disadvan-tage. As a child she used to ask my brother to wear his socks and me to wear my prosthetic legs. She was like ‘Carl put on your socks, Oscar put on your prosthetic legs’. I was never made to feel at a disadvantage”. Now if Oscar can surmount what possibly seems like an Everest to scale are you cribbing about the challenges you face? Or the problems you have on hand? Life is all about winning when you are down; because every-thing that’s worth having in life comes never comes easy. Challenge yourself and win over your hurdles.

Lesson #4: Always have a Plan-B and

reduce your dependencies

London 2012 games wouldn’t have been a suc-cess had Great Britain not prepared for a backup. G4S, the company responsible for handling secu-rity at the Games gave up at the last moment. It apologized for not having prepared and trained enough people for the games. Had London de-pended only on G4S the games would have been a disaster. The faux pas was avoided when the military was called to save face. The army then formed a whopping 50% of the security force.

Life’s good things only come after a struggle. Never stop motivating your employees. Even the best and the brightest sometimes falter but never stop backing them. Trust your employees and in-still in them a sense of pride so that they turn up to work each day with a renewed zeal. After all the culture and the core of any company are its people. It’s human resource for a reason.

Sankalp Singh Parihar, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

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Cover stor yCover stor y

Bala

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Bus

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s Stra

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Strategic HRM

Breaking Dawn: The Rise of SHRM


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In recent times, organizations are looking at human resources as a unique asset which can provide competitive advantage to the firm. The change in the overall business environment with increasing globalization, changing dynamics of competition and demographics of workforce have led to increased importance of human re-sources - the advent of Strategic HRM. Huselid and Becker (1997) found that there were noticeable financial returns for the organizations whose hu-man resource management (HRM) systems have achieved operational excellence and are aligned with business strategic goals. According to Ulrich (1998), one of the four roles of HR personnel is to become strategic business partner. Youndt and Snell (1996) found that firms employing HR prac-tices according to the stated strategy had bet-ter perceptual performance. Thus Strategic HRM has indeed achieved immense importance in the modern business scenario.

There are many ways of aligning HRM systems to the business strategy. One of them is a one-Way Vertical fit. This fit can be conceptualized in various ways - either it is strategically reactive HR (Brockbank) or is a partnering role in which HR is aligned with business processes (Kesler). Another way is to adopt two-Way Vertical fit wherein HRM systems not only align to the business strat-egy but also help in strategy formulation. How-ever, recently a new trend has emerged to deter-mine appropriate HR strategies based on the competitive strategies of the firm. The com-petitive strategies can be cost reduction strategy, innovation strategy or quality strategy. HR strate-gies in each of these strategies would be differ-ent. For example, in innovation strategy, impetus has to be given for free thinking and bringing in new ideas and HR systems like performance ap-praisal systems have to include this aspect.

Apart from aligning HR systems with the overall business strategy, one also needs to make it an ongoing process. According to Truss and Grat-ton, there are five key elements that should be

present in any model explaining strategic Hu-man Resource Management Processes. They are – the external environment, the business strategy that affects and is affected by the SHRM processes, the internal environment of the orga-nization, the SHRM comprising the HR strategy and the outcomes of the process.

These are well said than done as the biggest ob-stacle to the advent of strategic HR or determi-nation of HR as a strategic function is the tradi-tional determination of HR as an administrative overhead and traditional emphasis on adminis-trative efficiency and compliance activities. There is no mechanism to measure HR’s strategic perfor-mance. However, we know that intangibles in the aggregate are an increasingly important source of firm value, and that human capital ought to be a part of that asset value. The main reason for HR to be regarded as a strategic function is the fact that nowadays strategy has become everyone’s job.

Thus, not just the top management but the entire organization has to be focused and aligned with the strategy of the organization. According to a recent survey, organizations with more balanced performance measurement systems (i.e. balanced scorecards) were found to have higher alignment of strategic focus amongst their employees than organizations that relied simply on financials to measure strategic performance. Employee Strategic Focus was also driven by the strategic alignment of the firm’s HR system. When the or-ganization’s rewards, development and appraisal systems (the HR system) effectively encouraged

External Environment

HR Strategy

Business Strategy

SHRM Process

Internal Environment

Outcomes of the Process


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behaviors that implemented the firm’s strategy, Employee Strategic Focus also improved.

Most senior managers acknowledge the fact that human capital has the potential to be stra-tegically important to the growth and success of the company. However, there are no prevalent mechanisms in place to measure the financial im-portance of HR. There are no quantitative ways to measure, which is why it gets extremely hard to showcase HR’s true worth in boardrooms.

A solution to the missing link in the HR-firm per-formance relationship was developed by Kaplan and Norton. It is known as the concept of the strategy map wherein they have offered a more “balanced” set of performance measures (i.e. the Balanced Scorecard) that captures both the finan-cial results of managerial decisions and the “lead-ing” drivers of those results. This is an alternative to the traditional accounting measures used for such measure. The conceptual foundation of this “balance” is a set of cause and effect relationships that underpin the strategy implementation pro-cess in a particular firm. The formalized result of this analysis, what Kaplan and Norton called a strategy map, is essentially the story of what it takes for the firm to implement its strategy. In effect it describes how value is created through the strategy implementation process. Kaplan and Norton (1996) also acknowledge that orga-nizations have made little progress in developing measures of how people (or HR) make a strate-gic contribution. The main reason behind the ab-sence of such measures is the fact that HR has al-ways been associated with “doables” rather than “deliverables”. As a result HR performance mea-sures mirror only the doable aspect, while losing out on the more strategic aspect in the form of deliverables.

In the end, it must always be kept in mind that the strategic development of any organization will always rely on HR planning since success-ful corporate development and reform is largely

dependent on obtaining internal organizational support. An efficient HR department which is in sync with the company’s overall strategy plays a decisive role in the implementation of new cor-porate strategies. While defining future develop-ment strategies, companies often face a com-mon problem: lack of adequate internal human resource capabilities needed to implement those future strategies.

It could be that professionals in key areas like capital operation, research and development, market exploration, management innovation and IT cannot be found within the company. Al-ternatively, the poor morale and work habits of current employees may mean that the company’s human resource potential is not fully realized. The end result is that employee attitudes and inertia obstruct strategic change, and deficiencies in hu-man resource management leave the company unable to attract and retain the top-quality talent needed to ensure the realization of its strategic goals. thus, an effective HR which is in tune with the strategic development of the organi-zation would go a long way in actually helping the organization achieve its objectives.

sHRM

Business

finance

Marketing

operations

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I am sure most of us have seen how George Cloo-ney brought his artistic best to life in the movie “Up in the Air”, where he plays “Ryan Bingham”, a lay off specialist who leads an empty life out of a suitcase, traveling around the country firing people in the nicest possible way. He is a top hatchet man for a company that other companies call for when they want to downsize and hand over pink slips to mostly long term employees. Ryan is a master when it comes to “outplacement” counseling and loves his job. He visits his clients, calls in people one by one, gives them the bad news while coun-seling them smoothly and hypnotically about how this move can be an opportunity for them rather than the end of the world.

Laying people off is the most difficult task of an HR. The company might want to downsize people due to Harsh Economical Conditions, Change in Business Strategy or Leadership, Job redundancy, Cost Cutting, Termination of a Project or various other reasons. HR matters a lot in good times,

but it is the bad times when they are wanted the most. HR defines an organization in the bad times. So how exactly does a HR make sure that the toll on both the sides of the table is reduced and the employee is laid off with honor? Is it ac-tually the HR’s job to lay off people?

In my honest opinion, it should be in the Man-ager’s KRA to hand over the pink slip, face to face, eyeball to eyeball, as and when required. If he has the right to hire the best, he should also take the responsibility to fire the best. Being fired by strangers is inhuman in every context and every event. It just makes the matters worse. I think that the manager should be the one to let go his subordinate keeping an HR as a part of the conversation rather than the one passing on the deadly news.

Managers should be trained effectively to lay off people in a very professional and compassionate manner.

The Business of Layoffs

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Apart from this, here is a small ready reckoner which can help ease a HR’s job when it comes to laying people off:

Always plan in advance. The HR must al-ways know how many people will be affected, what for and when, before developing any policy or procedure.

Be as much generous as you can afford to be while keeping in mind that you may be setting precedent. Also, round up so that you and your company won’t be seen in a worse light than you already are.

As mentioned earlier, always remember to leave the person being laid off with dignity. Treat them as you would want to be treated if you were on the other side of the table.

If there is an alternative available, never ever do it on a Friday. And as Ryan Bingham prac-ticed, never do it over the phone or via email. The news should always be delivered face to face.

Keep the whole process brief, simple and to the point as they probably won’t remember what you have said. Be direct and succinct.

Never ever say that this is harder on you than it is on them. Please don’t feed lines you don’t mean or by which you cannot live (e.g., “we will surely want you back once we start hiring people again” or some such nonsense). Just say you are sorry.

Consider including a Career Transition or EAP Consultant during the conversation. Having an external specialist in the room at the time of layoff, along with the HR and the Supervisor can make it easier for all concerned. This can turn out to be very effective because once the news is de-livered you can hand over the individual/s to the consultant who is an expert in handling the emo-tions of the day (for all three of you), and taking the person forward in a positive manner.

Dharmesh PatelSymbiosis Institute of Management Studies

Always remember, a HR’s role is to absorb the pain. In the hours and days of need after being let go, people need to vent, and it is the time when the HR should be completely available to console. HR can never let “the departed” feel as if they’ve been out casted.

Someone should always be connected to each let-go employee either a colleague from the same team or the HR team. That person should check in regularly. Not only to ask, “Is everything OK?” but to listen to their answers with an open heart. Any method used to fire/layoff should be consciously “pre-tested” in some or other fashion to deter-mine the degree to which the human dignity is preserved in the process. If not considered, the consequences could be deadly, both literally and figuratively. A layoff is Not a child’s play.

HR

A sponge that can absorb the pain

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In today’s dynamic corpo-rate scenario, organizations should constantly strive to bring innovation & creation in their daily functionalities. For making a mark among the multifarious gamut of Corporate Institutions, nur-turing a proper atmosphere of creativity & innovation within the eclectic work-force of the company is of paramount importance. The crux for imbibing this culture within an organization is an efficient Hu-man Resource Management System.

Nurturing creativity brings flexibility within the organization. Dusting out the cob-webs of the brain, clearing one’s thought process and getting them to focus on problem solving & creating ideas is the new Mantra. Those days are gone when em-ployees used to clock-in and out of their jobs. Today the employees demand not only being employed but also to remain employable. Hence, the chal-lenge to retain is less of paying a right remunera-tion and more of engaging them adequately. For an employee today, it is given that they would get paid for their skill, but what is expected out of an organization is the opportunity for them to be part of the innovation process.

If there is a great level of focus on creativity and motivation within the or-ganization, any innovation becomes an expertise and the organization in turn becomes hungry for more innovation. To develop creativity in the Human Resource Planning of an organization, it should fo-cus upon the four broad segments as follows (Fig: 1):

Innovation in Human Resource Planning: Human Resource Planning comprises of analyzing and value chain mapping of organizational and personal needs and hiring right minded work-force to cater to those short term & long term goals. An organization can bring in creativity in this field through the following means:

Creating Venture teams: In venture teams, several individuals sharing the same interest of ideas can come together for a project (venture/start-up), potentially representing a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, thus fostering a synergy. Venture Projects require high degree of creativity and innovation, hence placing right minded people in right verticals can do won-ders. A company with a strong hold on venture teams can easily locate and tap a niche market area.

Innovation Workshops: Companies can arrange for regular ‘Innovation Workshops’ where a good amount of sharing of ideas and knowledge can happen. Reward Schemes can also be introduced for the ‘Most Innovative Idea’ or the ‘Most Sustain-able Idea’. This will motivate the employees to-wards the required brainstorming.

employee Retention: This is one of the most challenging conundrums of Human Resource

Fig 1: Creativity & Innovation in Human Resource Management

Nur

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g Creativity & Innovation with H

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Nilotpal RayS.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai

Management. Moreover, retaining a young tal-ent is far more difficult than retaining an expe-rienced one. Creativity & Innovation awareness within the culture of an organization can reduce the turnover rate. To make the employee value the organization, the organization must value the employee.

Innovation in Performance Appraisals: Effectively appraising and rewarding employee performance is of paramount importance for employee motivation. Often an organization’s appraisal process rewards ‘Behavior A’ where ‘Be-havior B’ requires recognition. E.g. The appraisal scheme for a management staff should be very different from an R&D staff. But, whatever may be the case, creativity in the ap-praisal process can be nurtured by giving more importance to appraising ‘smart work’ rather than ‘hard work’. New venture ideas, whether successful or unsuccessful should also be given value. Performance appraisals should not only be binding in the realm of remuneration and pay packages, but also should be extended towards proper Employee Recognition Programs. Robert Johnson, son of the founder of Johnson & Johnson, once congratulated a manager who had lost a hefty amount of money in a new ven-ture project by saying: “If you are making mis-takes, that means you are making decisions and taking risks”.Dick Liebhaer, executive vice-president of MCI Telecommunications once said: “we do not shoot people who make mistakes; we shoot people who do not take risks”.

Innovation in employee Reward schemes:To bring in creativity in the Employee Reward Schemes (ERS), awards & recognitions should have more of a psychological effect in the employee’s mind than creating an external flamboyance. The equation is simple; ERS should be a coherent part of employee retention. Not a secular thing. Boot-legging (allowing employees to devote a certain

amount of time to engage in their own research projects. E.g. Companies like 3M, Hewlett Packard encourages its employees to spend 10-15% of work-time on their individual research projects), Venture Project Reward (rewarding a new startup project within the organization), Milestone Re-ward (Mower & Wilemon Method of rewarding the entire team at times after completing spe-cific milestones of a project) and family reward schemes are some of the areas where creativity & innovation can be applied.

Innovation in Career Management:Career Management of an employee within an organization is a very sensitive area of Human Resource Management. If the requirement of the employee & the company in this field is not in sync, turnover is bound to happen.

Dual track ladder: Companies often face a di-lemma over promoting scientists & research-ers who often are not comfortable with holding a management level position with direct line responsibility. Here what companies can do is to follow a ‘Dual Track Ladder System’. In a Dual Track Ladder System, management & adminis-trative employees move up a managerial track, and technical and research employees move up a separate scientific track. Positions on both the tracks are matched in terms of pay, status and influence. Prospective employees having a niche in both the fields can switch tracks also. 3M & HP have successfully implemented this system.

Creative Mapping: For so long, companies have been using various psychometric tools like the Johari Window, Big 5 Locator, EQ Map, FIRO Scores etc. for training and recruitment purposes. Time has come now when these potential tools should be used not only in the mentioned func-tionalities, but also while making job rotations & business unit shifts within the organization. This will ensure that right people are mapped to the right divisions of the company.

Conco c tion


Subtle Biases and Covert Prejudices in the Indian Workplace

Managerial RelevanceGiven the wide variety of languages and cultures prevalent in India, it becomes even more important for an Indian man-ager to understand where his subtle biases and covert prejudices stem from. Also, with foreign players entering the market, inter-national cultural biases have taken up an even bigger role. While some of the subtle difference stem from cultural and educa-tional backgrounds, some other covert prejudices stem from religion, caste and gender.

Subtle biasesI would like to talk about certain biases which are more relevant for Indian society

educational background: India’s history where education was the right of a select few means that education is given a high pedestal in the Indian society. People from gov-ernment schools are deemed to be intellectually slower. Contrary to this, people from the most renowned educational institutions might feel biased against when they join an organization where they are in a minority. This was observed during my internship period where my colleagues were covertly supporting interns from their own colleges. Consequently, this gives rise to the phe-nomenon of ‘forced homogeneity’ in the organi-zation.

english language: India’s fascination with the Western culture means that knowledge of Eng-lish leads to several subtle biases in India. Not just the language, but the diction and the accent one uses might also be considered against him/her. A person who speaks English well is perceived to be smart and knowledgeable. Often, people from Bi-har, etc who have a particular English accent are thought to be uneducated and ‘gawaar’.

Mother tongue: People often differentiate against people not conversant with their mother

tongue. A group of people might actually start con-versing in their mother tongue even in the middle of an official meeting. Sometimes people who do not know Hindi are inadvertently biased against when they miss out on the chances for social inter-actions, etc in North India. On discussing this with my South Indian friends, I realized that I often start-ed conversing in Hindi during important conversa-tions and they could not understand. They also said that they feel that North Indians speak in hindi to try and make them feel secluded and hence they re-sort to their own language as a protection medium. This shows that how a subtle bias of any nature can trigger a ‘chain of biases’ which can result in a much more tense and hostile environment.

Covert prejudicesAgain, one finds several criteria which are more fre-quently observed in the Indian context.

Gender: India has traditionally been a male domi-nated society. In my previous workplace, there were few women who could harbor hopes of reaching the top positions in the company. In its history of

Conco c tion


Akash Agarwal, IIM Ahmedabad

35 years, not once has a women reached the top 10 positions in the company. This shows us the innate prejudices the Indian society has. Women are considered weak and fragile and are perceived to be incapable of handling pressure situations. Apart from the workplace, women also miss out on a lot of networking sessions outside of office it as often women are not invited for late-night par-ties especially when alcohol is being served.

Physical disability: India has the highest num-ber of people suffering with one or more dis-ability. Yet, the Indian society is very reluctant to accept people with physical/ mental disabilities. Most parents do not want their children studying with physically disabled people which in a way forces schools to shun these people. Very few of-fices in India have buildings and infrastructure to support them. These people are considered to be of low intellect. During final placements last year, I observed that a very able candidate could not get into any top company as he had some disabil-ity in his left hand.

Religion/caste: Prejudices based on caste and religion are deep rooted in the Indian culture from time immemorial. Several jobs have come to be associated with specific communities. Even inter-caste marriages are very few as people have a prejudiced rank system in mind. Thus, such practices further increase the perception in one’s mind and increase the level of prejudices which are carried over to the work-place.

Reservation as a solutionReservation for minority groups in public services and premier educational institutions like IIMs, IITs is done to protect their minority rights and pro-vide them with equal opportunities. However, this step often results in further stereotyping and prejudices as the ‘general’ category feel that this provides the minority an easy access to such po-sitions, consequently depleting the quality of the institution itself. This also leads to profiling when even exceptional achievements of the minor-ity group are discounted due to the prejudices. Consequently, situations may arise when the minority actually starts internalizing this and un-dermine their own strengths. My study group in my first year at IIMA had a member belonging to the reserved category. Initially, she was very shy and hesitant to contribute to the group discus-sions as she felt that she was intellectually weaker than the rest of us. On realizing this, we gave her more positions of responsibility and she excelled in each one of them. This made me realize that a prejudiced approach might have resulted in a loss of a very important team member.

The way forward for IndiaTill now, Indian society and companies have resorted to the quota system to tackle issues related to di-versity and prejudices. In most of the occasions, these have acted as further inciting the matter when these quota/reserved people are looked down upon as unworthy and unintelligent. A broad level education program is required where diversity trainings etc need to be provided right from school-level so that young minds do not get corrupted. Success stories of individuals who have reached the top in spite of their disabili-ties and discrimination need to be highlighted. TV programs like ‘Satyameva Jayate’ are further sensitizing the Indian society on some of these issues. At the organization level, it is imperative that ‘culture sensitization’ trainings are conducted.

30

Connoisseur speaks

togetHR | HR Magazine of IIM Shillong

I am a working woman of 30 years of age. I got married three years ago and I am currently 7 months pregnant. It is one of the top MNC where I am working but you will be surprised to know even after being in such condition my boss treats me in a very indifferent manner. He burdens me with work and shows a lot of inconsideration. I don’t want to be treated any special but I don’t get even little bit of leniency from my boss. In fact, many-a-times I am even made to work beyond office hours because of the tremendous amount of work given. I don’t want to quit my job as I fear I might not be able to get a job when I would like to re-join. I am unable to think of any other option. What should I do?

Q A It is quiet appalling to know that although it’s an MNC, such conditions prevail at your work-place. We would suggest you to have a one-on-one communication with your boss. If that doesn’t work out you should take a step forward and talk to the HR at your workplace. You can also take up the work-from-home facility if your project per-mits it. Or else you could take two months mater-nity leave if your company policy permits. Mostly, all this should help. Once you communicate to your supervisors you would be better able to tell them your genuine problems and expectations. However, if that doesn’t work we would sincerely suggest you to quit the job and do justice to your motherhood. You can join work after taking a break. There are many companies now which are looking for women who have quit their jobs and have been staying at home for quite some time.

For instance, Microsoft-IT India is turning to an unlikely talent pool to find more women employees - stay-at-home mothers. Many other companies are also on the lookout for such talent. However our first advice is talk to your supervisors and HR head to communicate your problem

Hi, I am a 30 year old woman work-ing in a small company. the company oper-ates at only two locations in India – Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I work at its Ahmedabad office. Due to some personal issues I want-ed to shift to Mumbai. I had a talk with the HR regarding this and he ensured me that I would be transferred soon. However, even after many days there was no development regarding my application. later I got to know that my boss was not too happy with the fact that I directly talked to HR with-out even consulting him. My colleagues are saying that he might have delayed the entire procedure just to vent out his anger. I am worried, how should I go about with this problem. Please help.

Q A At first thought, we feel you should have consulted your direct boss first, however what’s done can’t be undone. What you can do at this point of time is that you need to develop com-munication with your boss. The fact that you did not talk to him initially and that even now you are not making any effort of discussing your current situation with him, is might be leading to more problems. Try talking to your boss, apologize for your action and impress upon him the urgency to shift to Mumbai. Take him into confidence if you trust him. We believe he will definitely under-stand your problem. Once he understands, your problem shall be solved. All the best.

Connoisseur speaks


I am working as an HR professional in a company and I am located in Hydera-bad. After three years of my experience here, I have gained a very good reputation here. last year, one of my college friends joined this company as an Associate engi-neer. We were like best friends in college. Now, here in the company, he tries to ex-tract information from me which he thinks will be useful for him and also tries to influ-ence me regarding his colleagues. I do not like this at all but since he is such a good friend of mine I am unable to put a check on him. I can even not discuss it with any-one as I feel that people might think that due to my good position I am now trying to avoid my old friends. What should I do?

Q A Your problem is quite sensitive and needs to be dealt accordingly. You cannot let this go on as it will have negative impact on you in the long run. If you do not talk to your friend, it looks quite improbable that he will realize it on his own. So you need to talk to him. One approach can be to tell him how you dislike discussing work during the non-office hours. Other than that you can also tell him that it would be unethical on your part to disclose the information that he needs. All this needs to be handled very consciously so that your friend is not offended but at the same time he also gets the point. Make him feel that the real fun of friendship lies in discussing the good old times and cherishing the new moments rather than getting into the discussion of the regular professional life. At the same time impress upon him that all this does not undermine the friend-

ship you feel for him. And keeping the professional and personal life separate would be good for your friendship also. But do remember to do all this very subtly, for as we mentioned earlier it is a sensitive issue. If he is a real good friend of yours, we are pretty sure he will understand and act accordingly.

Call for Articles & ParticipationTeam usHR invites articles from B-Schools all across India. We are looking for original articles related to field of Human Resources. References should be cited wherever necessary. The best article will be featured as the “Article of the Issue” and would be awarded cash prize of INR 1000

From this issue onwards, some of the good unpublished articles will be put up in our blog: www.iims-ushr.in

Contest Winner of every issue gets a prize money worth INR 500 along with a certificate of appreciation

For other updates, check our Facebook page – “usHR-HR Club of IIM Shillong”. The issue details can be checked on our blog www.iims-ushr.in


Contest

Contest With the Best Use all your THINKING HATS and suggest one or many solutions to solve the problem faced by the company by being as creative and witty as you can. Please take relevant assumptions and mention the same along with your entries.

Did you see that?? OMG!! We have to tell Madam about it.

Yes, Even I have some-thing to tell

Madam, we have some-thing important to tell you

oh...yes Ma’m

We have to face the reality. These are extremely uncertain times prevailing in the market and our topline and bottomline are not doing good. Top management needs an HR strategy

Oh...we should possibly go for termination of employees

Yes..we need to quickly think of something and take action

Not Now..Not so immediately. I want to meet Mr. X (a professional OD consultant) this Saturday and take his opinion. He always has solutions. Fix an appointment on Saturday

Ma’m, he is out of town for 6 months

Oh!! If it is the case, what shall we do now? I have to give the report by

hmmm

Don’t worry Madam, we will come up with some plans by Monday Morning.

Monday Morning.

What kind of creative and witty solutions will be possible in this context.

last date for sending the answers for Contest: November 10th, 2012email ID: [email protected] subject of the email: TogetHRContest7_CollegeName


Contest

Announcement of Results

Instructions for Submission

The prize for “Article of the Issue” has been awarded to Sankalp Singh Parihar from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai for his Article “Manag-ing People in a Citius, Altius and Fortius way”. He is awarded a cash prize of INR 1000 and Certificate of Appreciation.

All other authors whose articles are published in this issue shall also receive Certificate of Appreciation.

The prize for “Contest with the Best” for JUL-AUG 2012 Issue has been award-ed to CHARU PURI from IMI,New Delhi. She is awarded with a cash prize of INR 500 and a Certificate of Appreciation.

Last Contest Answers: Balanced Scorecard | X-Elton Mayo Y-Hawthorne | Lagaan | Wildcat Strike | all cover stories of TogetHR issues

Article should not have been published anywhere earlier• The Article should have a single author• Kindly email your article with the file name and the subject as <Title of Article> _<Institute Name>_<Author’s name/Group’s name> by November 10th, 2012 to [email protected] must be sent in Microsoft Word Document (doc/docx), Font: Times New Roman, Font Size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5. The size of the article should be between 700-1000 wordsThe cover page of the article should only contain the Title of the Article, the Author’s Name and the Institute’s Name.

Results of this issue contest and selected artilces shall be announced in the next issue of TogetHR


This October usHR launches its first Anniversary issue of TogetHR, the bi-monthly magazine of IIM Shillong. As we reach this milestone, we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our seniors from PGP09 and PGP10, the pioneers of the club and the magazine respectively.

Seniors, it was all due to your effort and vision that we, the first HR club across all IIMs came up with the con-cept of HR club and then with the idea of TogetHR, the bi-monthly magazine. Without your support and vision reaching this level would not have been possible. The experience which we have shared with you is invaluable both in terms of learning and memories. Today we hope you are proud to see your brainchild, whom we have nurtured as ours over the past year complete its one full year.

We wish you all the best in all your future endeavours and hope to make usHR & TogetHR reach new heights and continue the tradition which you have started.

Team usHR ( PGP10 and PGP11 )

Published by usHR, HR Club of IIM Shillongwww.iims-ushr.in

Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management ShillongMayur Bhanj Complex, Nongthymai

Shillong - 793014email: [email protected]

Mobile: +91 89740 52909

c Team usHR, IIM Shillong

IIM Shillong TogetHR Sep-Oct 2012

Documents

anniversary issue

issue special

iim shillong hr magazine

age old issue of poaching

india escorts

human resource management

beloved readers

hr managers