Processes in Human Resource Management

Each organization works towards the realization of one vision. The same is achieved by formulation of
certain strategies and execution of the same, which is done by the HR department. At the base of this
strategy formulation lie various processes and the effectiveness of the former lies in the meticulous
design of these processes. But what exactly are and entails these processes? Let’s read further and
explore.

The following are the various HR processes:

1. Human resource planning (Recruitment, Selecting, Hiring, Training, Induction, Orientation,

Evaluation, Promotion and Layoff).
2. Employee remuneration and Benefits Administration
3. Performance Management.
4. Employee Relations.

The efficient designing of these processes apart from other things depends upon the degree of
correspondence of each of these. This means that each process is subservient to other. You start from
Human resource Planning and there is a continual value addition at each step. To exemplify, the PMS
(performance Management System) of an organization like Infosys would different from an organization
like Walmart. Lets study each process separately.

Human Resource Planning: Generally, we consider Human Resource Planning as the process of
people forecasting. Right but incomplete! It also involves the processes of Evaluation, Promotion and
Layoff.

 Recruitment: It aims at attracting applicants that match a certain Job criteria.

 Selection: The next level of filtration. Aims at short listing candidates who are the nearest match
in terms qualifications, expertise and potential for a certain job.
 Hiring: Deciding upon the final candidate who gets the job.
 Training and Development: Those processes that work on an employee onboard for his skills
and abilities upgradation.

Employee Remuneration and Benefits Administration: The process involves deciding upon salaries
and wages, Incentives, Fringe Benefits and Perquisites etc. Money is the prime motivator in any job and
therefore the importance of this process. Performing employees seek raises, better salaries and bonuses.

Performance Management: It is meant to help the organization train, motivate and reward workers. It is
also meant to ensure that the organizational goals are met with efficiency. The process not only includes
the employees but can also be for a department, product, service or customer process; all towards
enhancing or adding value to them.

Nowadays there is an automated performance management system (PMS) that carries all the information
to help managers evaluate the performance of the employees and assess them accordingly on their
training and development needs.

Employee Relations: Employee retention is a nuisance with organizations especially in industries that
are hugely competitive in nature. Though there are myriad factors that motivate an individual to stick to or
leave an organization, but certainly few are under our control. Employee relations include Labor Law and
Relations, Working Environment, Employee heath and safety, Employee- Employee conflict
management, Employee- Employee Conflict Management, Quality of Work Life, Workers Compensation,
Employee Wellness and assistance programs, Counseling for occupational stress. All these are critical to
employee retention apart from the money which is only a hygiene factor.

All processes are integral to the survival and success of HR strategies and no single process can work in
isolation; there has to be a high level of conformity and cohesiveness between the same.

What is Human Resource Planning ?

Human Resource Planning (HRP) is the process of forecasting the future human resource
requirements of the organization and determining as to how the existing human resource capacity
of the organization can be utilized to fulfill these requirements. It, thus, focuses on the basic
economic concept of demand and supply in context to the human resource capacity of the organization.

It is the HRP process which helps the management of the organization in meeting the future demand of
human resource in the organization with the supply of the appropriate people in appropriate numbers at
the appropriate time and place. Further, it is only after proper analysis of the HR requirements can the
process of recruitment and selection be initiated by the management. Also, HRP is essential in
successfully achieving the strategies and objectives of organization. In fact, with the element of strategies
and long term objectives of the organization being widely associated with human resource planning these
days, HR Planning has now became Strategic HR Planning.

Though, HR Planning may sound quite simple a process of managing the numbers in terms of human
resource requirement of the organization, yet, the actual activity may involve the HR manager to face
many roadblocks owing to the effect of the current workforce in the organization, pressure to meet the
business objectives and prevailing workforce market condition. HR Planning, thus, help the organization
in many ways as follows:

 HR managers are in a stage of anticipating the workforce requirements rather than getting
surprised by the change of events
 Prevent the business from falling into the trap of shifting workforce market, a common concern
among all industries and sectors
 Work proactively as the expansion in the workforce market is not always in conjunction with the
workforce requirement of the organization in terms of professional experience, talent needs,
skills, etc.
 Organizations in growth phase may face the challenge of meeting the need for critical set of skills,
competencies and talent to meet their strategic objectives so they can stand well-prepared to
meet the HR needs
 Considering the organizational goals, HR Planning allows the identification, selection and
development of required talent or competency within the organization.

It is, therefore, suitable on the part of the organization to opt for HR Planning to prevent any unnecessary
hurdles in its workforce needs. An HR Consulting Firm can provide the organization with a
comprehensive HR assessment and planning to meet its future requirements in the most cost-effective
and timely manner.

An HR Planning process simply involves the following four broad steps:

 Current HR Supply: Assessment of the current human resource availability in the organization is
the foremost step in HR Planning. It includes a comprehensive study of the human resource
strength of the organization in terms of numbers, skills, talents, competencies, qualifications,
experience, age, tenures, performance ratings, designations, grades, compensations, benefits,
etc. At this stage, the consultants may conduct extensive interviews with the managers to
understand the critical HR issues they face and workforce capabilities they consider basic or
crucial for various business processes.
  Future HR Demand: Analysis of the future workforce requirements of the business is the second
step in HR Planning. All the known HR variables like attrition, lay-offs, foreseeable vacancies,
retirements, promotions, pre-set transfers, etc. are taken into consideration while determining
future HR demand. Further, certain unknown workforce variables like competitive factors,
resignations, abrupt transfers or dismissals are also included in the scope of analysis.
 Demand Forecast: Next step is to match the current supply with the future demand of HR, and
create a demand forecast. Here, it is also essential to understand the business strategy and
objectives in the long run so that the workforce demand forecast is such that it is aligned to the
organizational goals.
 HR Sourcing Strategy and Implementation:After reviewing the gaps in the HR supply and
demand, the HR Consulting Firm develops plans to meet these gaps as per the demand forecast
created by them. This may include conducting communication programs with employees,
relocation, talent acquisition, recruitment and outsourcing, talent management, training and
coaching, and revision of policies. The plans are, then, implemented taking into confidence the
mangers so as to make the process of execution smooth and efficient. Here, it is important to
note that all the regulatory and legal compliances are being followed by the consultants to prevent
any untoward situation coming from the employees.

Hence, a properly conducted process of HR Planning by an HR Consulting Firm helps the organization in
meeting its goals and objectives in timely manner with the right HR strength in action.

Typical Functions of a Human Resource

Manager
Introduction: The Typical Functions of a HR Manager
Until now, we have discussed how the HRM function in organizations works and the role of the function in
organizational processes. We have also discussed the changing nature of the HRM function in recent
years and how with the introduction of enterprise software, an entirely new dimension has been added to
these functions.

This article discusses the typical functions of a HR manager and analyzes how he or she can
make a positive contribution to the organization and add value to the process. First, the HR
manager has to juggle between hiring, training, appraisals, and payroll among other things. This means
that a typical function of the HR manager would encompass the end to end management of the employee
people lifecycle which means that the HR manager would have to take care of everything that is
concerned with the people aspect right from the time the employee enters the organization till the time the
employee quits or retires from the organization. Hence, the lifecycle of an employee’s time in an
organization has to be managed and this means that the HR manager is responsible for the hiring,
training, appraisals, payroll, and exit interviews.

Entry to Exit: Managing the Employee Lifecycle

If we take each of these activities in turn, we find that hiring is done in conjunction with the line managers
who put out their requirements periodically on the kind of recruits they want and the number of recruits
they want. Once the request reaches the HR manager, he or she has to scour the market for potential
recruits. Usually, the HR manager does not personally do this and outsources this function to a placement
consultancy. The next step is the interview stage after the shortlists are done and this is an activity where
the HR manager either delegates the task of assessing the potential recruits to the staffing team or does
the job personally.
In large organizations like Fidelity and Microsoft, there are dedicated teams for each of these activities
and this is something we would be discussing in detail in subsequent articles. After the interview stage is
over, the important task of fixing the salary and benefits of the successful candidates has to be done. This
is usually the time when the HR manager plays a critical role as he or she has to determine the fit
between the role and the candidate and decide on the quantum of salary and benefits that is appropriate
to the role and after examining the budgets for the same.

The Appraisal Process and the Exit Interviews

After these activities, the HR manager is also involved in conducting the last stage of appraisals or
evaluating the appraisals. In recent years, the trend is more towards the latter where the HR manager in
charge of the business unit evaluates the appraisals instead of participating in the process directly. This is
done in a manner to determine the quantum of pay hike or bonuses keeping in mind the same principles
that were discussed in the hiring activity. What this means is that the HR manager has to work closely
with the line managers to get this done.

In many organizations, employees can take their grievances to the HR managers in case they are not
satisfied with their pay hikes or the quantum of benefits. They can also complain against their managers
in a confidential and private manner.

The last activity that the HR manager is involved in is conducting the exit interviews when employees
leave the organizations. This is usually done on the last day of the employee’s stay in the organization
and this process consist of a free and frank discussion on what the employee feels about the organization
and why he or she is leaving the organization. The exit interviews offer valuable sources of insights into
organizational behavior as the employees can vent their feelings on what works and what does not work
in organizations

Staffing Role of the HR Manager: Strategic

Workforce Planning
Staffing and Recruiting during the Boom Years
One of the key areas that the HRM unit works with is the staffing function. Hiring and on boarding of
employees’ remains a critical activity that many HR managers are yet to master. This is mainly because
of the unevenness of the demand and supply in the market for talent. For instance, during the heady
years of the IT boom in the early years of the last decade, it was common for many division heads and
line managers to walk into the HR manager’s office and give him or her target of employees to be
recruited over the next three months in the quarter.

In the US, the situation was that many HR managers were asked to take in as many H1B or temporary
workers to the country on board to meet the critical shortage in staff. In Asia, because of this very reason
where many techies had headed to the US and Europe, hiring became a challenge for even the most
seasoned HR professionals. The implications for the HR manager are many as his or her appraisal
depends on a number of targets including how many they have recruited over the last quarter or the year.

Strategies to Deal with Shortage of Talent during the Boom Years

The way to deal with such a situation was to ensure that the number of people being taken in was based
on current and future demand scenarios and identify gaps and surpluses in key skill sets. For instance, in
the US, the shortage of those with Java skills was so huge that anyone with an elementary knowledge of
the skill was immediately taken in the companies. This meant that the HR unit was simply filling up
positions without any strategic planning. Hence, many organizations realized that hiring people without
the requisite skills just to fill up positions would do more harm than good to the companies and hence, a
conscious decision was taken by the HR managers in conjunction with the line managers to have
forecasts of how many employees they would need over a quarter. The point here is that the constant
bickering between the HR managers and the line managers took a toll on organizational efficiency and
hence, this compromise was arrived at wherein the demand for specific skill sets had to be forecasted by
the line managers and the HR managers would then deal with hiring accordingly.

The third aspect of the staffing and hiring activity is that many HR managers during the boom years
advised the line managers to find employees from other divisions who wanted a change in their job
profiles and roles. This internal filling up of positions by inter-division and intra company movement was
effective in many companies like Fidelity. Further, overtime by key resources and hiring temporary
workers were the norm in many companies. Of course, the overtime work was adequately compensated
and employees who were doing so were given additional benefits.

Staffing Strategies during the Ongoing Recession

With the boom years over, the HR managers in recent years are breathing easy as they no longer have to
run around trying to meet recruitment targets. Of course, the current challenge before the HR managers
to manage the downturn and smoothen the downsizing underway in many organizations. To ensure these
objectives in these economically harsh times, HR managers are resorting to passive measures as the first
line of action wherein they indicate to the employees that they are on PIP or Performance Improvement
Plans and this usually results in natural attrition. Next, instead of downsizing, the HR managers are
reducing recruitment so that they do not have to fire employees and instead, these employees can be
accommodated elsewhere in the organization. These are some of the aspects of the strategic workplace
planning within the hiring and staffing activity that some respected companies follow.

Role of Human Resource Management

(HRM) in Leadership Development
Leadership Development in Successful Companies
The previous articles have discussed how the HRM function is now seen as a critical and crucial
component of the organizational support functions. In particular, we have analyzed how effective people
management goes a long way in ensuring better economic performance. Among the components of
people, management that the HRM function does is the aspect related to leadership development.

Research into the HRM practices of successful companies has shown that these companies significantly
outperform their peers in terms of economic profitability by following the leadership development practices
discussed in this article. By successful companies, we mean those companies in the Fortune 100 list that
have managed to retain their position in the firms over a decade. To put this in perspective, it needs to be
remembered that many companies that were in the Fortune 100 list for a few years failed to retain their
positions in subsequent years and hence, the fact that these companies have managed to stay in the
hunt means that they have outperformed their peers and competitors.

The Components of Leadership Development

The leadership development programs in these companies follow the philosophy of grounding them in
value, the expected contributions from the leaders are defined, and the organizational culture geared
towards inspiring leaders. Next, the performance management system in these companies is tied to the
company’s business strategy and it includes talent development activities and leadership objectives that
are articulated clearly and succinctly. In other words, promotions are based on individual performance as
well as people development activities and these in turn are linked to the business strategy and objectives.
These companies also have a leadership pipeline, which means that the leadership development is
embedded in their strategic workforce planning which is comprehensive, and longer term oriented. These
companies also ensure that they divide their workforce into job families and the potential leaders are
identified and groomed for higher roles and responsibilities. In many of these companies, it is common to
find lists of potential leaders known as high potentials who are earmarked for fast track career
progression based on the organizational assessment of the skills and capabilities of these leaders.
Further, the recruitment and training of new employees is based on longer-term analysis of demand and
supply patterns, which ensure that newer generation of leaders, are hired into the company to replace
those who have made it to the higher levels.

Collaboration between the HRM Function and Senior Management

The HRM functions in these companies work on a collaborative model with their potential leaders which
means that the job of people development is not left to the HRM function or the leaders alone. Instead,
the potential leaders are identified and then their performance is linked to the enabling and empowerment
of others to move up the chain. In other words, the ability to spot talent and identify leaders for the future
is done by both the HRM function and the senior management who work in tandem in this effort.

Research into these successful companies has shown that the people management in these companies
is world class and the contributing factor that differentiates these companies from others is that the HRM
function plays a critical role throughout the employee lifecycle and not at the recruitment and training
phase alone. The other factor is that the leaders in these companies are expected to have skill sets that
match the need for adapting to the challenges of the 21st century business landscape. In other words,
these companies groom the leaders of the future right from the middle management level.

Closing Thoughts
Finally, leadership is a combination of natural abilities and the organizational nurturing of the employees
with those skills. Hence, this interplay between nature and nurture is what determines the success or
otherwise of the HRM function and the senior management efforts to develop leadership in these
companies.

Role of HR Manager in People Enabling and

People Empowerment
People Enabling and People Empowerment
Until now, we have discussed the role of an HR manager in various processes related to the HR function.
The emphasis was on a general overview and a description of the various activities instead of specific
details.

This article discusses a couple of the crucial functions that an HR manager has to perform and
those are related to enabling employees to perform to their potential and empowering the
employees to lead fulfilling careers. In the earlier decades, organizational theory and practice limited
itself to ensuring that employees are well paid and their benefits and other perks taken care of. There was
little by way of ensuring personal fulfillment and job satisfaction. This was because of the predominance
of manufacturing in the economies of the 1970s and the 1980s which meant that the workforce was to be
treated as cogs in the machine instead of assets that the modern day HRM theory and practice follows.

With the advent of the services sector, a branch of HRM known as SHRM or Strategic Human Resource
Management grew in response to the changing profiles of employees and this approach when combined
with the systems approach of management thought meant that the enabling of employees and the
empowerment of employees were the buzzwords for HR managers.

Specific Aspects of the Twin Objectives

Concomitant with this trend, the HR managers in most firms these days focus on these aspects by
constantly seeking feedback, suggesting improvements, and providing people support to the employees.
in multinational companies, it is usually the case that the employees above the team leader level have
one-on-ones with the HR staff where all the issues concerning them are discussed threadbare. These
meetings also provide the employees with an opportunity to articulate concerns and point to any
grievances that they might have with regards to their jobs, work, or the organization in general.

The team members are usually assigned a people manager who performs these tasks and ensures that
the employees are performing to their potential. Moreover, the HR function in conjunction with the line
managers conduct periodic trainings in soft skills like communication, personal relations, and leadership.
Indeed, many organizations like Fidelity have established a set protocol for employees to attend
leadership development trainings that bring out the leaders in them and groom them as future managers
and future CEO’s. Hence, the twin objectives of people empowerment and people enabling are thus met
in this paradigm.

How this works in the Real World

Of course, this does not mean that the whole situation resembles utopia where employees and the
managers along with the HR staff are one big happy family. On the contrary, in most real world settings,
the HR managers have a tough time convincing the employees that the organization means well for them
and that they ought to look on the bright side of things instead of complaining and being bitter about
issues and grievances all the time. This is where the HR managers skills and personality come into the
picture as the ability to persuade, enlighten, and if necessary wield the stick play a crucial role in people
management. In other words, the HR manager has to tread a fine line between giving in to the employees
and following the organizational mandate. This means that a variety of strategies are usually employed by
the HR managers that include some of the skills listed above in addition to the personal equations that the
HR manager has with the employees.

Closing Thoughts
Finally, people enabling is all about gaining insights into the personalities of the employees and matching
them with the organizational requirements. As mentioned earlier, by way of understanding the employees
and their motivations and how well these stack up against organizational goals, the HR managers would
be able to perform the critical function of people enabling that is very much required in contemporary
management practice.

Talent Management by Successful

Companies: Insights from Recent Research
Talent Management by Successful Companies
The previous articles discussed how successful companies develop and nurture leaders and groom them
for higher roles as their career progresses. The role of the HRM function is critical, as there needs to be
excellence all around and not just in one area. In other words, it is not enough if a company has a brand
image in the market that attracts top quality talent but is not doing well once this talent starts working in
the company.
Take for instance, the Indian IT behemoth, Infosys. Though working there is a dream come true for many
graduates, in recent months, the company has been hit with astounding attrition, as the company is not
doing well in terms of retaining and nurturing talent. On the other hand, companies like Microsoft, Google,
and Apple not only attract the best talent in the market but also manage them well leading to their
practices becoming a model for other companies to follow.

This article analyzes the best talent management practices of successful companies and the role
of the HRM function in nurturing and grooming talent.

Some Aspects in Talent Management

The first aspect for global companies is to not be parochial in their hiring practices and instead, welcome
diversity by recruiting international talent, employees from different backgrounds, and in general diversify
the employee base. Next, is the identification and grooming of high potentials that would give the
organization a pool of leaders from which they can draw upon when faced with a situation where leaders
are needed. Though this is a practice that is followed in many companies, the successful companies also
identify emerging leaders and not only those who have established themselves. The point here is
that successful talent management needs the HRM staff and the senior management to draw up a
list of potential leaders at both ends of the talent development chain.

In other words, these companies start from the lower levels and go on till the middle and senior
management levels. The third aspect of successful talent management is the provision of both vertical
and horizontal job opportunities for the existing employees. This means that the employees are provided
with a menu of career options that would enable them to shift role and find fulfillment in the role of their
choice. The reason why this aspect is very important is that often many companies stifle their employees
by not providing change of job functions or roles leading to widespread dissatisfaction among the
employees.

Creating a Fulfilling Work Culture

The fourth aspect of successful talent management is that these companies provide their employees with
a change of work location where the reason for such a move is not to simply move talent to locations
where there are shortfalls but also the need for the employee’s personal development is taken into
consideration. The point here is that successful talent management requires that employees feel
privileged working for the company and their needs for self-actualization and fulfillment be taken care of
by the company.

Indeed, successful companies often have people first policies where the focus is on creating a stimulated
and fast-paced environment that encourages and fosters individual growth and the work environment is
much more engaging than a workplace that is solely concerned with profits.

Closing Thoughts
Finally, successful companies often have lower attrition rates even if their compensation practices match
the industry standard but are not higher than other companies. In other words, as mentioned in the
introductory paragraph, successful talent management requires all around excellence in the realms of
leadership development, talent management, and performance management. While the first two topics
have been covered, the performance management in successful companies would be covered in the next
article.

Hiring Strategies followed by Organizations

People are the lifeblood of any organization. Whether the organization is in the traditional sectors like
manufacturing or it is a “new economy” based one like IT and ITES, it needs to be staffed with people of
caliber and mettle. Hence, the kind of people that an organization hires is critical to the success of the
organization. In this respect, the hiring strategies followed by organizations take on prominence in
the competitive business environment of the 21st century.

Hiring can take place in many ways and at many levels. It can be for entry level positions or “lateral”
hiring where people with experience are taken on board. Further, hiring people can be based on
competitive exams (entry level) and the personal approach favored by HR managers for senior level
positions. In recent times, hiring for the entry level has taken on an entirely new dimension with the
campus recruitment procedures that rely on getting the best talent available from the campuses for
companies wishing to hire for entry level positions. The other way of hiring is through selective approach
where the Staffing department entrusts the placement consultants with the task of identifying potential
employees by picking “profiles” from employee databases and the consultants own database as well.

As outlined above, the different hiring strategies are for different levels in the organization. The most
niche hiring takes place at senior levels where the essence is discreetness and hence dedicated
consultants or HR professionals approach people at higher levels on a one-one basis.

Whatever be the hiring strategy deployed, the essential components of the process remain more or less
the same. These include choosing from the available candidates, taking a decision as to the pay and
perks, making an offer and finally, getting them “on board”. The hiring process ranges from as less a
month or so to drawn out affairs for niche placement. The strategic imperatives that underpin hiring
depend on the ability of the organization to effectively leverage its reputation, flexibility in the roles that
are available, availability of skilled resources and finally, the package that the organization is willing to
offer.

Most debates in organizations on the hiring process hinge on the length of time it takes to hire a person
for a particular role and the package that the organization is willing to offer. The term “fitment” is often
used as HR jargon which is all about whether a particular person is suitable for the role that is being filled
and how well he or she “fits” the job profile. One of the reasons for attrition in organizations is the fact that
many employees join them with a set of assumptions about their role only to have their hopes dashed in
reality. Hence, in recent times, industry experts have focused on this aspect of ensuring that people are
hired only if they are of the right fit.

In conclusion, hiring people is a key component of a company’s internal strategy and hence
something that needs detailed attention and focus. We have touched upon the hiring strategies and the
overview of the process. In subsequent articles, we would explore the topic further.

Using Social Media Profiles of Job

Applicants for Hiring Decisions
The Advantages of using Information about Job Applicants from Facebook
Profiles
In recent years, there has been a noticeable trend among HR professionals to check the
information supplied by a job applicant by comparing it with the information available on his or
her Social Networking Websites or SNWs profile. While this trend first become apparent in the West
and in the United States in particular, it is catching on in the rest of the world as well where recruiters turn
to the SNWs profiles of job applicants to verify and seek information about the candidates. Indeed, this
trend is both welcome and worrisome as there are potential legal and ethical implications not to mention
privacy and security issues. The trend is welcome because the recruiters have a need to know all the
information about job applicants’ background and suitability especially for sensitive jobs where the job
applicant needs to be totally “clean”. Further, the trend is welcome because employers can escape the
negligent hiring charges that of late have become common in the US. This means that the recruiters can
glean information from the SNWs profiles of the job applicants and if there are any serious character or
integrity issues, they can spot them right away.

The Disadvantages of using Information about Job Applicants from Facebook

profiles
However, the trend of using the Social Networking Websites (SNWs) profiles of job applicants is
worrisome, as the recruiters do not have the legal basis of using such profiles without the consent of the
job applicants. Further, the recruiters run the risk of being unethical in their approach as well as “lazy” in
their recruiting process if they take the information from the SNWs profiles of the job applicants. Apart
from this, the job applicants can be discriminated on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, and
other characteristics.

Moreover, the privacy and the sanctity of information that job applicants post on their Facebook and
SNWs profiles is compromised. There is also the risk of security as once the recruiters get access to the
profiles, information can be hacked by third parties and leaked which means that there are many
implications to this practice. Therefore, it is in the interest of all parties if there are proper safeguards that
are drawn up to protect both the parties and this process is followed diligently. This means that the
recruiters cannot access the SNWs profiles of the candidates without their consent and the job applicants
are aware of their rights and disadvantages of posting personal details on their profiles.

What Recruiters can do and how Job Applicants need to Wary

We have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of recruiters accessing the SNWs profiles of the
job applicants. Taking the discussion further, it is advisable for job applicants to be aware of the fact
that in the present information age, any details about themselves and their friends can be
accessed by anyone and hence, they must be careful about the kind of information that they put
out on the big bad World Wide Web.

Further, for many positions in the US, job applicants are required to undergo a narcotics test, which
means that they would be medically tested for traces of any narcotic substances in their bodies.
Therefore, a strong world of caution to the job applicants is that they better not reveal what they did last
summer especially when they are applying for highly competitive jobs. For recruiters, the word of advice is
that they rely on the traditional route of background checks by independent agencies and not only on the
SNWs profiles of the job applicants to base their hiring decisions. Finally, whether the information is
private or whether it has been obtained illegally and unethically, the fact that such information exists in the
internet domain is cause enough for concern.

The Importance of Background Checks while

Hiring New Employees
What are Background Checks?
In recent years, corporates have been conducting background checks on potential recruits. Before we
launch into a discussion about the importance of these background checks, we will first explain what is
meant by background check. To put it simply, the process of verifying the credentials of new and
potential recruits before they are hired constitutes the process of background checks. Further,
background checks are also used to not only to verify whether a particular employee has indeed
graduated from a particular college or worked in a particular company, but also to refer to the references
that the employee has provided to get an idea about his or her trustworthiness and personality.
In other words, background checks are used to determine the integrity and employability of a particular
employee by verifying the credentials supplied by him or her and checking them against the actual
records. This practice has become common all over the world as many candidates are found to have
been fudging their credentials leading to their detection later on during the career and resulting in
embarrassment and inconvenience to the companies. It can also lead to scandals when employees have
been found to faked their education and experience details.

Background Checks around the World

Apart from this, background checks were also the norm in the United States and in Europe where
centralized databases exist that store the records of all registered employees of the workforce. For
instance, the social security number is used to identify an employee in the database that has all details of
his or her education, experience, credit history, details of any brush with law enforcement, and any other
pertinent or relevant details. This has helped the companies in the US and in Europe to detect fake
profiles of employees and to understand whether potential recruits have been truthful in their declarations
before the companies. On the other hand, in Asia (especially in China and India), these background
checks were hitherto restricted only in special cases where the companies on suspicion of a particular
employee wanted to find out about him or her. However, in recent years, many multinationals have found
it prudent to run background checks on all potential recruits as the incidence of employees faking their
credentials has become common. Apart from this, the fact that many employees in these countries often
change jobs means that there is a need to know the reason for these shifts as the possibility of dubious
exits is very real.

The process of Background Checks

The next aspect about running background checks is that corporates usually outsource this process to
dedicated service providers that have access to the databases and work force to handle requests for
background checks. Of course, many multinationals like Fidelity do this process in house, as the number
of employees on their rolls is manageable as far as running background checks is concerned. Many
domestic companies still perform cursory checks because they do not have the resources or the time to
conduct extensive background checks. This is the reason why large Chinese and Indian companies often
have many employees on their rolls that are not what they claim they are. Without getting into the ethical
debate, our suggestion is that all companies should conduct background checks as otherwise they would
be having a problem on their hands when the past of the employees becomes public in cases of
employees with dubious histories.

Concluding Thoughts
For all those students and potential corporate employees, here is a piece of advice. Be careful when you
are posting all kinds of stuff on social media as the process of the background checks often involve
parsing through the web and online information provided by the potential recruits. Therefore, the next time
you want to rave about that rave party where you had a gala time, be careful about what you post online
as that can be found during the background check. Finally, remember to be ethical and straightforward
about what you declare on your resumes and application forms as otherwise you might get into trouble
with your dream companies.
Retention Strategies - Definition and its
Components
Any employee retention strategy would necessarily include a plan for redressing employee
grievances and ways and means to address employee issues. This would mean that the employees
would be enabled to take their issues regarding pay, their work, their role etc. to the HR manager for each
division and expect to get a fair hearing in the process. There should be a plan where the HR manager in
conjunction with the manager of the employee who has raised the issue works towards resolving the
issue.

Components of a Retention Strategy

Taking each of these strategies in turn, job rotation is the practice of moving the employees around
divisions and within divisions with a clear emphasis on making sure that they operate in domains other
than the ones assigned to them initially. This would mean that the employees get trained on
competencies beyond that of their assigned plant and this would lead to greater motivation to pick up
additional skills and motivate them to perform better. The importance of grievance redressal and
mitigation cannot be emphasised more. This is the most critical and crucial component of the HRM plan
as research has shown that an employee with pending issues awaiting resolution is twice more likely to
quit the company than the other employees. Hence, all efforts must be made to redress the grievances of
the employees.

Grievance Redressal
An effective retention strategy would focus on preventing as well as addressing grievances. Though it is
not the contention that all grievances can be prevented, they can be “pre-empted” by actively listening to
the employees from time to time. This strategy of “listening” to the employees would revolve around a
concept of “one-one” meetings between the employees and the manager and employees and the HR
representative for the unit or division. The idea of the regular “one-one” meetings would be to identify
potential causes of friction among the employees and any issues they may have vis-à-vis their job and
benefits. These issues need to be brought out into the open before they become contentious resulting in
the employee feeling frustrated and quitting the job. Hence, all efforts must be made to identify sources of
employee dissatisfaction and “hygiene factors” that must be taken care of for proper functioning of the
employees.

Ways to Mitigate Job Dissatisfaction

Management theorists often emphasise the fact that one of the reasons for low employee morale in
organizations is the fact that the employees and often feel alienated and cut off from the larger
purpose. The contention is that the employees feel themselves to be part of an impersonal setup and
perceive themselves to be unable to make a difference to the whole unit. Hence, there is a need to
involve the employees in the larger picture and provide them with perspective on the bigger picture. In
engineering units with assembly line manufacturing, the engineer is often responsible for his or her part of
the chain and is not in a position to relate to the bigger picture. Hence, there should be effective
strategies like job rotation, interaction with other units, timely promotions and cross functional teams
wherein the engineers would feel themselves to be contributing to the larger goal of the company.
Strategic Human Resource Management - A
Tool to Achieve Organizational Goals
Strategic Human Resource Management is the practice of aligning business strategy with that of HR
practices to achieve the strategic goals of the organization. The aim of SHRM (Strategic Human
Resource Management) is to ensure that HR strategy is not a means but an end in itself as far as
business objectives are concerned. The idea behind SHRM is that companies must “fit” their HR strategy
within the framework of overall Business objectives and hence ensure that there is alignment between the
HR practices and the strategic objectives of the organization.

Evolution of SHRM
With the advent of new economy industries like IT and the mushrooming of the service sector,
organizations all over the world realized that human resources must be viewed as a source of competitive
advantage as opposed to treating it much the same way in access to technology or capital is concerned.
What this means is that the practice of HRM is being viewed as something that promotes the business
objectives of the firms and not merely another factor in the way the firm is managed.

How does SHRM fit in with Strategy?

With the advent of today’s economy where services account for a major share of the GDP and the fact
that the service sector is essentially people centric, it is imperative that the people first approach be
embraced by the organizations for sustainable business strategy.

The practice of SHRM demands a proactive and hands on approach by the management as well as the
HR department with regards to the entire gamut of activities ranging from staffing and training and
development to mentoring and pay and performance management.

The Way SHRM works

If we take real world examples, many organizations in recent times have dedicated “people managers”
whose sole function is to look after the enabling and fulfilling needs of the resources. This is a marked
change from treating people as just resources to treating people as assets. For instance, Infosys states
that people are its assets and the famous statement by Mr. Narayana Murthy, one of the founders of the
company that the capital of Infosys walks in every morning and walks out every evening has to be taken
in this context.

Elaborating on this point, one finds that organizations tend to leverage upon the capabilities of the people
employed there and ensuring that the “human capital” is nourished and nurtured as a source of
competitive advantage. This translates into a dedicated HR department and people managers in every
group dealing exclusively with employee issues as opposed to treating this as a line management
function.

Conclusion
The times when management could arbitrarily dictate terms to the employees and tread upon their rights
is something that is not relevant anymore. With the ballooning of the white collar workforce, it becomes
necessary for organizations to pay more attention to the needs of the employees more than ever. Finally,
the fact that organizations derive their strategy from employees instead of imposing strategy upon them is
the essence of SHRM.
Global Human Resource Management -
Meaning and Objectives
With the advent of globalization, organizations - big or small have ceased to be local, they have become
global! This has increased the workforce diversity and cultural sensitivities have emerged like never
before. All this led to the development of Global Human Resource Management.

Even those organizations who consider themselves immune to transactions across geographical
boundaries are connected to the wider network globally. They are in one way or the other dependent
upon organizations that may even not have heard about. There is interdependence between
organizations in various areas and functions.

The preliminary function of global Human Resource Management is that the organization carries a
local appeal in the host country despite maintaining an international feel. To exemplify, any
multinational / international company would not like to be called as local, however the same wants a
domestic touch in the host country and there lies the challenge.

We may therefore, enumerate the objectives of global HRM as follows:

1. Create a local appeal without compromising upon the global identity.

2. Generating awareness of cross cultural sensitivities among managers globally and hiring of staff
across geographic boundaries.
3. Training upon cultures and sensitivities of the host country.

The strategic role of Human resources Management in such a scenario is to ensure that HRM policies
are in tandem with and in support of the firm’s strategy, structure and controls. Specifically, when we talk
of structures and controls the following become worth mentioning in the context of Global HRM.

 Decision Making: There is a certain degree of centralization of operating decision making.

Compare this to the International strategy, the core competencies are centralized and the rest are
decentralized.
 Co-ordination: A high degree of coordination is required in wake of the cross cultural
sensitivities. There is in addition also a high need for cultural control.
 Integrating Mechanisms: Many integrating mechanisms operate simultaneously.

Global HRM and the Staffing Policy

Here also the role is no different i.e. hiring individuals with requisite skills to do a particular job. The
challenge here is developing tools to promote a corporate culture that is almost the same everywhere
except that the local sensitivities are taken care of.

Also, the deciding upon the top management or key positions gets very tricky. Whether to choose a local
from the host country for a key position or deploy one from the headquarters assumes importance; and
finally whether or not to have a uniform hiring policy globally remains a big challenge.

Nevertheless an organization can choose to hire according to any of the staffing policies mentioned
below:

 Ethnocentric: Here the Key management positions are filled by the parent country individuals.
 Polycentric: In polycentric staffing policy the host country nationals manage subsidiaries
whereas the headquarter positions are held by the parent company nationals.
  Geocentric: In this staffing policy the best and the most competent individuals hold key positions
irrespective of the nationalities.

Geocentric staffing policy it seems is the best when it comes to Global HRM. The human
resources are deployed productively and it also helps build a strong cultural and informal
management network. The flip side is that human resources become a bit expensive when hired
on a geocentric basis. Besides the national immigration policies may limit implementation.

Global HRM therefore is a very challenging front in HRM. If one is able to strike the right chord in
designing structures and controls, the job is half done. Subsidiaries are held together by global HRM,
different subsidiaries can function operate coherently only when it is enabled by efficient structures and
controls.

Difference between Personnel Management

& HRM
Many students of management and laypeople often hear the term HRM or Human Resource
Management and wonder about the difference between HRM and the traditional term Personnel
Management.

In earlier times, the Personnel Manager of a factory or firm was the person in charge of ensuring
employee welfare and interceding between the management and the employees. In recent times, the
term has been replaced with HR manager.

This article looks at the differences in usage and scope of functions as well as the underlying theory
behind these nomenclatures. In the section on introducing HRM, we briefly looked at the main
differences. We shall look into them in more detail here.

Personnel Management
Traditionally the term personnel management was used to refer to the set of activities concerning the
workforce which included staffing, payroll, contractual obligations and other administrative tasks. In this
respect, personnel management encompasses the range of activities that are to do with managing the
workforce rather than resources.

Personnel Management is more administrative in nature and the Personnel Manager’s main job is to
ensure that the needs of the workforce as they pertain to their immediate concerns are taken care of.
Further, personnel managers typically played the role of mediators between the management and the
employees and hence there was always the feeling that personnel management was not in tune with the
objectives of the management.

Human Resource Management

With the advent of resource centric organizations in recent decades, it has become imperative to put
“people first” as well as secure management objectives of maximizing the ROI (Return on Investment) on
the resources. This has led to the development of the modern HRM function which is primarily concerned
with ensuring the fulfillment of management objectives and at the same time ensuring that the needs of
the resources are taken care of. In this way, HRM differs from personnel management not only in its
broader scope but also in the way in which its mission is defined.

HRM goes beyond the administrative tasks of personnel management and encompasses a broad
vision of how management would like the resources to contribute to the success of the organization.
Personnel Management and HRM: A Paradigm Shift ?
Cynics might point to the fact that whatever term we use, it is finally “about managing people”. The
answer to this would be that the way in which people are managed says a lot about the approach that the
firm is taking. For instance, traditional manufacturing units had personnel managers whereas the services
firms have HR managers.

While it is tempting to view Personnel Management as archaic and HRM as modern, we have to
recognize the fact that each serves or served the purpose for which they were instituted. Personnel
Management was effective in the “smokestack” era and HRM is effective in the 21st century and this
definitely reflects a paradigm shift in the practice of managing people.

Conclusion
It is clear from the above paragraphs that HRM denotes a shift in focus and strategy and is in tune with
the needs of the modern organization. HRM concentrates on the planning, monitoring and control aspects
of resources whereas Personnel Management was largely about mediating between the management
and employees.

Many experts view Personnel Management as being workforce centered whereas HRM is resource
centered. In conclusion, the differences between these two terms have to be viewed through the prism of
people management through the times and in context of the industry that is being studied.

Managing Employee Performance

Introduction
Managing employee performance is one of the key drivers for organizational success in the present
context of firms trying to adopt a resource centered view of the organizational. We have seen elsewhere
that integrating HRM practices with those of organizational goals and strategy increases the competitive
advantages for the firm. Similarly, managing employee performance within the larger framework of
organizational goals is critical for organizations that count people among their key assets. As we have
been mentioning throughout, firms in the service sector that lay a lot of emphasis on people need to
ensure that employee performance is managed in a holistic manner.

A Two Way Street

When we talk about employee performance, we need to remember that it is a two way process that tie in
the manager and the employee with the HR manager playing the role of a mediator. For instance, any
discussion about employee performance has to include the manager and the employee or the manager
and the managed. Hence, it is imperative that both parties to this transaction realize their responsibilities
and work together to ensure that the process is smoothened. In the succeeding sections, we discuss the
role of the manager and the employee and how organizational focus on managing employee performance
can play a role as well.

The Role of the Manager

The manager has a duty to ensure that his or her management of the employees is free of biases and
prejudices. It’s been the case across industries and verticals where the employees feel discriminated
against leading to attrition, lower employee morale and in the extreme cases, lawsuits against the
company. Hence, the manager has to “walk the talk” and not simply pay lip service to the company’s
policies on employee performance. During the course of working together as a team, there are bound to
be instances where friction between the manager and the team and within the team manifests itself. It is
incumbent upon the manager to ensure that this does not morph into a corrosive effect that threatens the
very existence of the team.

The Role of the Employee

The above section looked at the role of the manager. The manager has a duty to manage the team
effectively and so does the employee have corresponding responsibilities as well. Absenteeism, Shirking
Work, A negative attitude and a blasé approach to work are some things that the employee must avoid. It
is helpful to the employee to know that once he or she is categorized as having an attitude problem, then
it would be difficult for the employee to break the perception and perform effectively. This does not mean
that the employee has to take whatever comes his or her way. The point here is that the employee must
use the channels available for redressal instead of sulking at work if he or she has grievances about the
manager.

Organizational Focus
Though the role of the HR manager and the organization seems to be relatively small, it is a fact that
organizational goals and culture play a very important part in ensuring that employee performance is
managed to the benefit of the organization. Most of us have read about or heard the benefits of working
for MNC’s (Multinational Companies) in India. The reason why they are highly talked about is the
perception among potential and aspiring employees that these companies treat their people well. Though
the point here is not to belittle Indian companies, the objective of this section is to highlight the ways in
which organizations can shape the treatment of people in theory and practice.

Conclusion
We have seen the centrality of managing employee performance to the success of the organization. If
organizations want to cut down on attrition and boost sagging employee morale, the first thing they can
do is to ensure that the employee performance management system is streamlined. Only by a focused
approach towards this key driver of organizational effectiveness can the firms ensure that they do not lose
out on the “war for talent” as well as “retention” of achievers.

Performance Appraisal Process

For many employees working in the organized sector, the term appraisal process conjures images of
hope and fear simultaneously. Hope for a better grade and fear about potential downgrading or a bad
rating. The weeks leading up to the appraisal are filled with hectic activity when the employees get down
to evaluating themselves and prepare to market their achievements during the time for which the
appraisal is being conducted. Before launching into the details of the appraisal process and the theory
and practice of the same, it is pertinent to understand what the term appraisal process refers to and why it
is important for the firm as well as the employees.

What constitutes the Performance Appraisal process ?

The performance appraisal process, simply put, is the time of the year when the employees are evaluated
on their performance during the last six months or one year depending upon the timeframe that is set for
the same. The performance appraisal process is conducted between the employee and his or her
manager for the first round and subsequently between the manager and the manager’s manager before
going into the third round which involves the above people excluding the employee but involving the HR
manager as well. The various rounds that comprise the appraisal cycle correspond to the different stages
of the process culminating in the final grading of the employee.
Appraise and Appraiser
The most important round is the appraisal interview itself (we will discuss more about this in a separate
article) between the employee and his or her manager. The employee who is being evaluated is called
the appraise and the person (usually the manager) who is doing the evaluation is called the appraiser.
The appraiser and appraise prepare themselves for this round by doing a self evaluation (by the appraise)
and an objective evaluation (by the appraiser). This is the round in which the most important
achievements as well as glaring failures on the part of the appraise are discussed threadbare and usually
the employee’s role in the process is limited to this round.

What is the outcome of the Appraisal Process ?

As outlined above, the outcome of the appraisal process is the grade that is decided for the employee as
well as the salary hike or the bonus potential that is awarded to the employee. Typically, organizations
divide the year in which the employee’s performance is evaluated into two cycles, one for deciding the
salary hike and the other for deciding how much bonus he or she gets for the cycle. In this way,
organizations ensure that there is no overlap in grading the employee and a fair and balanced evaluation
is the desired outcome though this does not always happen in reality.

Shortcomings of the Appraisal Process

The successful completion of the appraisal process hinges on all the participants approaching the same
with an intention to contribute positively instead of bringing personal biases and prejudices to the table.
Management experts usually prescribe a set of do’s and don’ts to the participants in order to have an
harmonious process. However, as has been pointed out above, the process itself is not without its
shortcomings and the expecting the participants to be rational and objective at all times is indeed difficult.
Further, since most organizations decide the grades in a way similar to the b-school equivalent of
Relative Grading instead of absolute ratings, an element of competitive rivalry creeps into the process
making some employees unhappy.

Performance Appraisal Interview

Introduction
We have discussed the performance appraisal process in earlier articles. In this article, we discuss the
performance appraisal interview and its importance in the performance appraisal cycle. The performance
appraisal interview is the first round in the performance appraisal process and this is the round in which
the manager communicates his evaluation of the employee’s performance during the appraisal period or
the time that the employee’s performance is being evaluated.

What is a Performance Appraisal Interview ?

A performance appraisal interview is the first stage of the performance appraisal process and involves the
employee and his or her manager sitting face to face to discuss threadbare all aspects of the employee’s
performance and thrash out any differences in perception or evaluation. The performance appraisal
interview provides the employee with a chance to defend himself or herself against poor evaluation by the
manager and also gives the manager a chance to explain what he or she thinks about the employee’s
performance.

In a nutshell, the performance appraisal interview precedes the normalization process and is subsequent
to the employee filling up the evaluation form and the manager likewise doing so. The interview is the
stage where both sides debate and argue the employees’ side of the story as well as the manager’s
perception.
Objective Evaluation versus Personal Biases
Though management theorists like to propound the benefits of objective evaluation, it is a fact in
contemporary organizations that an element of personal bias enters the evaluation. This is evident from
the studies and surveys done by HR consultants like Hewitt that point to the employee’s dissatisfaction
with the performance appraisal process as one of the main reasons for leaving the company. To curb the
incidence of biases and heuristics playing a role in the appraisal, HR managers typically conduct
orientations and trainings to both the Managers and the Employees to sensitize them to these dangers
that are sometimes inherent in the process.

On the other hand, the employees’ should approach the process without unrealistic expectations and
expect the Manager to agree to whatever they write on the performance evaluation form. Hence, there is
a need for both sides in the interview process to approach the same with an open mind and be as
objective as possible. However, this is easier said than done and hence organizations expend resources
on making the process as transparent and objective as possible.

The Right and Wrong Way to Approach a Performance Appraisal Interview

The performance appraisal interview must be taken seriously and both the employee and the manager
must set aside time to go through the process. The manager cannot arbitrarily change the time or the
venue and must not approach the interview in a haphazard manner. Despite all these injunctions, it is
often the case that the manager has to be reminded about the interview and then he or she hurriedly
arranges the meeting. This is definitely the wrong way to approach the interview. Further, the manager
must make the time to go through the employees’ self evaluation and rate the same objectively.

Though there is no right way to conduct the performance appraisal interview, it is incumbent upon the
manager to avoid the pitfalls described above. A rule of thumb would be set aside a few days to conduct
all the interviews with members of his or her team and ensure follow-ups to the process. The follow-up is
needed when the employee is not satisfied with the interview discussion and hence requests for
additional time to debate the rating. In some cases, the HR manager may need to step in to ensure that
the process is concluded to the satisfaction of the employee and the manager.

Conclusion
Surveys have shown that nearly 70% of the employees who leave organizations cite the bad rating that
they have got as the reason for quitting and often voice their disappointment at the process in the exit
interview. Hence, there is a need for organizations to smoothen the performance appraisal process and
since the performance appraisal interview is the first step; the beginning must be made well. Since the
career progression of employees depends on the ratings that they get, the whole process must be taken
seriously by all the stakeholders.

Managing Employee Relations

Literally speaking employee relations consists of all those areas in Human resource
Management that involves general relationship with the workforce. This may be in the form of
collective or mutual agreements that leads to the formation of trade unions or through policies and
procedures for employee engagement and communication.

The increased growth of workforce diversity has led to a need for continuous changes in HR practices
and policies. Managing human relations has become the most difficult challenge that the managers are
facing today. Conflicts within the organization, small or large have become inevitable. This can be
overcome by developing sound interpersonal and conflict management skills within you.
Furthermore employee relations strategies are made in order to overcome these problems. These
strategies define the objectives of the organization to manage its relationships with employee and all
other organizations. These strategies are aimed at enhancing the overall quality of employee
management and ensuring their participation and continuous improvement.

Establishing and maintaining harmonious relationships with employees, managers need to

develop skills that focus on interpersonal communication and conflict management. In addition to
this, they need to define and establish such policies and procedures that go well with the diversity of
workforce. It is evident that maintaining diverse workforce and understand their psychology has been
emerged as one of the biggest challenges for managers. The impact of globalization can be seen on
every organization and in every part of the world.

In today’s times, it is really the toughest business for managers to deal efficiently with employees. Failing
to do so can result in high attrition rate. To retain and get the maximum output from them, managers need
to improve their skills such as active listening, effective communication, acceptability, adaptability,
decision-making and conflict management. These are the core skills that supervisors and managers can
use tactfully to resolve conflicts among employees or between employees and organization.

However developing or improving above mentioned skills does not guarantee a smooth and conflict-free
working environment because conflict is the hard core truth that can not avoided fully. It is but natural to
have conflicts and clashes where different people from different backgrounds and cultures come together
and work. Still, we can focus on developing these skills in order to manage employee relations to the
extent possible:

 Interpersonal Skills: Effective communication is an art as well science to mend spoiled

relationships among employees as well as between employee and employer. This is the
foundation for all the actions taken by a manager to establish and manage human relations in an
organization. Working with diverse workforce, understanding their psychologies, needs and
requirements requires tremendous amount of effort as well as interaction. It is the first step to
break the ice and move ahead in a positive direction. It helps managers create a peaceful
working environment in the organization.
 Conflict Management: Learning to manage conflicts can help managers resolve employee
relations issues quickly and effectively. Listening patiently both the sides and arriving upon a
decision that can satisfy both parties can help greatly. A manager should avoid jumping straight
to the conclusion, making hasty decisions and boosting the ego of one party. This can lead to
bigger or never ending conflict. Effective communication, efforts to reach to the truth and making
right decisions are some of the qualities that a manager needs to possess to resolve the conflicts
among employees forever.

Employees are the most important assets of any organization-big or small. Managing employee relations
effectively can help organizations achieve their goals faster.

Employee Rewards and Recognition

Ask yourself the importance of a chocolate or a muffin to motivate your child to finish his homework or
clean his room. Same way, the rewards and recognition can prove to be extremely beneficial to keep your
employees motivated to perform extraordinary, achieve the targets and stick to the organization.

The power of employee recognition can not be underestimated especially when they have thousands of
lucrative opportunities in front of them.

Who doesn’t want to attract, hire and retain the best talents of the industry? Why not explore the new
ways to foster employee motivation and drive them to achieve their targets then? After all an
organization’s performance is directly related to the performance of its human resources. This is a simple
logic; if you make their day, they make your organization.
Employee rewards and recognition system is not just a positive thing to do with people but
communicating it effectively is an efficient tool in encouraging them to create and bring business
for you. Treating your employees like your assets and maintaining harmonious relationships with them
doesn’t only yield business in present but also an effective strategy for future. Employers and
management need to be pro-active to develop a talented and dedicated workforce that can take you to
your goals.

Fulfilling employees’ needs, recognizing their efforts and presenting them with monetary and non-
monetary rewards help you create a right workforce for your organization that can be your partner in
success. Recognition of their efforts and boosting their morale results in increased productivity and
decreased attrition rate. It is a proven fact that the motivated and dedicated workforce can change the
fate of a company. After all, human effort is the biggest contributing factor in success of any organization.
It is just next to impossible to achieve organizational goals only by the efforts of top management. It’s the
workforce who executes their plans and helps them achieve their financial as well as non-financial aims.

Establishing and implementing a reward system needs careful analysis of the company policies and
procedures. Deciding how to recognize employees’ efforts and what to provide them requires thorough
analysis of responsibilities and risks involved in a particular job. Reward system of an organization should
also be in alignment with its goals, mission and vision. Depending upon the job profile, both monetary and
non-monetary rewards can encourage employees to contribute more to the organization.

 Monetary Rewards: A raise in salary, incentives, movie tickets, vacation trips, monetary
allowances on special occasions, redeemable coupons, cash bonuses, gift certificates, stock
awards, free or discounted health check-ups for the entire family and school/tuition fees for
employees’ children fall in this category. While designing company policies for monetary rewards,
management should make sure that benefits should be as broad-based as possible. It requires
sound planning and effective implementation.
 Non-monetary Rewards: Non-monetary rewards may include trophies, certificates, letters of
appreciation, dinner with boss, redecoration of employee cabin, membership of recreation clubs,
perks, use of company facilities, suggestion awards, tie-pins, brooches, diaries, promotion, say in
management, etc.

A combination of monetary and non-monetary rewards can work wonders and drive employees to
perform well continuously. A proper and efficient employee reward and recognition program can establish
harmonious relationships between employees and employer.

Variable Pay and Performance Linked

Incentives
Variable Pay - Then and Now
The practice of linking pay to performance has been around for a while. However, what’s new is that the
percentage of pay that is linked to performance and the way in which the same is structured around
different components of performance is new. We all know about the system of increments and bonuses in
the Government and Public Sector. These were designed in such a way that the employee’s performance
is rewarded proportionally. However, the quantum of bonus and increments was so small that it hardly
had an effect on the pure play linking pay to performance. The resulting inefficiencies in the government
and public sector have been extensively reported.

In recent times, the concept of linking pay to performance has taken on an entirely new dimension with
the introduction of variable pay. This article discusses some aspects of the variable pay and performance
linked incentives in place in the contemporary organizations.
How it Works
One of the key components of this variable pay plan is the strategy of linking pay to performance. This is
a strategy that has been followed by many Multinational companies across the world and consists of the
overall pay structure being broken down into components. These components would include the basic
pay, benefits and the variable pay. The variable pay would be paid out as a percentage of the whole
subject to the performance of the employee. For instance, if the employee gets a grade of 2 on a scale of
1 to 4, the variable pay would be 70-80% of the eligible amount and if the employee gets a grade of 1, the
variable pay would be 120-100% of the eligible amount. Accordingly, the performance of the employee
determines the variable component of the salary. The international practice is to increase the component
of the variable pay higher according to the hierarchy. This would mean that at senior levels of the
employee hierarchy, the variable component can be as high as 50-60% of the overall pay.

Categories of Variable Pay

Further, there can be different categories of variable pay. The first component of the variable pay can be
linked to individual performance, the second component can be linked to division performance and the
third component can be linked to company performance. The idea behind variable pay is that it provides
an incentive for employees to feel a sense of ownership and take responsibility for their jobs as well and
relate to the overall division and company. By introducing variable pay, the management would ensure
that employees are motivated to contribute individually and as a unit and a division and finally as part of
the whole company. As outlined in the section on retention strategy, the sense of alienation of the
employees can be reduced by making them feel part of a whole and not treat them as individual “cogs in
the machine”.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this article has discussed variable pay and performance linked incentives as a necessary
evolution to a system where merit is recognized more than it is being done now. Given the fact that many
organizations in India follow this approach, it is time for the employees and prospective employees to
attune themselves to this concept and work accordingly.

Diversity in Organizations
Introduction
In recent years, organizations in all sectors have been aggressively working towards a concept called
diversity of workforce. When you see a job posting that talks about equal opportunity, you might be
wondering what it is all about. To put it simply, diversity in employment means that the employer is
actively pursuing what can be called non-discrimination of potential recruits on the basis of gender,
ethnicity, physical constraints and the like. What this means is that the employer or the organization
adopts a policy wherein they do not differentiate between applicants on the grounds listed above and
merit is the sole criterion when deciding the suitability of a potential recruit.

Why Diversity ?
With the advent of globalization, it has become imperative for organizations to have a workforce that is
composed of different ethnicities and with the maturing of the business paradigm; gender is no longer a
constraint. This has prompted large scale changes in the way organizations recruit people. Further, in
many countries the laws governing corporates have been legislated in such a way that makes the firms
actively encourage diversity. For instance, the US is the leading proponent of diversity with the adoption
of the “Equal Opportunity Act”. This act mandates employers not to discriminate on any basis be it
gender, color, lifestyle preferences or any other traits as mentioned in the act. This has given a fillip to the
employment of women and people of color and has removed the barriers that were threatening to make
these groups of people at a minority in the corporate world as well.

Still a long way to go

Though the laws mandate equal opportunity, in practice, the hiring of disadvantaged and minority groups
is still lagging behind in relative terms when compared with the majority groups. For instance, it is not
uncommon for employers to weed out resumes of women and people of color. In India, there are still
barriers to the hiring of people from certain states as was evidenced in news reports that emanated in the
recent past. These practices are certainly undesirable and cast a cloud about the intentions of employers
in embracing diversity at the workplace. Further, given the spate of lawsuits about sexual discrimination
and harassment on the basis of ethnicity, it becomes clear that more than laws that deal with these
issues, we need a mindset change among the firms and the practice of diversity is something that has to
be encouraged from the top.

Some suggestions
Among the ways in which employers can encourage diversity is by promoting the concept of “blind
resumes” that do not have the name, gender or ethnicity of the applicant mentioned. This would ensure
that recruiters screen the resumes on the basis of the applicants’ qualifications alone and other factors
are secondary. Another way to ensure diversity is by sensitizing the workforce to gender and ethnic
issues, and ensure that they are more tolerant of people who are unlike them.

Conclusion
In conclusion, one needs to understand the difference between having a policy of diversity and actually
practicing it by comparing it to the adage about the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit
of the law. Only by ensuring that the law is followed in spirit as well can employers truly embrace diversity.

Managing Workforce Diversity

Introduction
We live in times when global corporations and their reach across the world bring benefits in terms of
innovative HR policies as well as challenges in terms of managing the workforce are concerned. The rise
of such corporations means that the workforce is composed of diverse races and ethnicities. Further, the
issue of gender diversity in terms of more women participating in the workforce has been a trend that has
accelerated in the last two decades in India and much earlier in the developed countries. This article
looks at the reasons for managing workforce diversity and the issues that such management brings to the
fore.

Why is Management of Diversity Important ?

When an organization has people of different ethnicities and a greater proportion of women than the
industry average, naturally the question arises as to how to reconcile the differences between these
employees without causing too much friction in everyday interactions. Managing diversity is important as
otherwise the performance of the organization takes a hit and worse, there can be possible lawsuits and
legal tangles from disaffected employees who feel aggrieved because of instances of discrimination and
harassment based on their ethnicity or gender.
Issues in Managing Diversity
One of the central issues in managing diversity is to do with the majority and the minority perspective.
Usually, it is the case in organizations that there is a predominant majority of a particular race or ethnicity
and various others in minority groups. And considering that the most pressing issue in managing diversity
arises out of the treatment of women, we get a sense of the issues of race and gender as the primary
drivers in managing diversity. In recent times, these issues have come to the forefront of the debate
because of greater awareness among the minority groups about their rights as well as stricter
enforcement of laws and regulations that govern workplace behavior.

Hence, it is in the interest of the management of any firm to sensitize their workforce towards race and
gender issues and ensure that the workplace is free of discrimination against minority groups as well as
women.

Gender Sensitization
We have devoted a separate section on gender sensitization because when compared to other issues in
managing diversity, this is the most pressing issue because of the preponderance of women in the
workforce as well as recent trends that point to the emergence of this single issue as the dominant issue
that is taking the mind space of managers. The worrying aspect about this issue is that despite policies
and rules governing gender specific issues in most organizations, there is little evidence to show that they
are being followed. Hence, what is needed is a mindset change rather than more policies and this can
only be done if the workforce is sensitized to the needs of women.

Conclusion
Though the situation in Corporate India or India Inc. has not yet reached the stage where lawsuits are
routinely brought against management for discriminatory practices, nonetheless, the trend in recent years
is towards a more vocal disapproval of such practices from industry leaders and management consultants
who repeatedly emphasize the importance of a non-discriminatory workplace. Hence, the onus is on the
management, senior and middle, to ensure that they follow the norms that is required of them. In our
opinion, the middle management and the managers who directly interact with the teams of people have a
greater role as they are the “Sandwich” between the upper management and the workforce and hence
are in a position to follow the policies as well as enforce them.

Workplace Health and Safety

Statistics show that every twenty seconds of every working minute throughout the world,
someone dies as a result of industrial accident or poor safety conditions at workplace. Thousands
of employees throughout the world lose their limbs, suffer from temporary or permanent disability or lose
their lives due to insufficient arrangements for their health and safety at workplace. Not only workers but
their families also suffer the loss all through their lives.

December 1984 witnesses the world’s worst chemical disaster in Bhopal, India, when a methylisocyanate
gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant in the city. It killed over 4,000 people and not hundreds but
thousands suffered from permanent health damage. The haunting memories of this disaster are still fresh
in our minds.

Not only insufficient arrangements of workers’ health and safety at workplace have taken away their lives
but these days stress at workplace is also emerging as a major culprit of spoiling employees and their
families’ lives. Every now and then we hear of suicide cases of individuals from the corporate world. Does
mental stress not a factor that should be considered with physical health and safety provisions? Have
workers’ lives become so cheap that small issues can take away their lives leaving their families wracked,
children orphaned and parents shocked with disbelief ?
Does safety at workplace only mean to protect the workers from the danger of accidents or any other
mishaps? Should workplace safety not consider mental stress or emotional trauma or personal issues of
employees? Is the physical presence of an employee enough for an employer to run the business?

There is no end to these questions. In today’s fast-paced life and cut-throat competition, employers need
to rethink about safety provisions at workplace. It not only refers to the absence of accidents. Rather, the
concept expands to both physical and mental safety of the employees. It is possible to show the external
injury but what about something that is suffocating the employees from inside?

Providing safety to the employees at workplace has a moral dimension as well. Though it is a legal
requirement and fetches monetary compensation in case of failure but it can’t bring back an individual’s
life. Eliminating the causes of accidents and counseling employees at workplace play a substantial role in
saving the operating costs, increasing productivity and ensuring reliability and dependability from the
employees.

Employees are the biggest assets of any organization and few well managed and co-coordinated
safety programs can minimize the loss and damage to them as well as to the organization. With
basic safety policies and remedies for accidents, the companies should also provide systematic training
to industrial employees so that they are able to do their jobs efficiently and safely.

Over a few years, even the mental health of employees, particularly at executive level, has grabbed the
attention of the employers. Mental breakdowns because of stress, tension and work pressure, depression
resulting from failure to meet targets and mental illness taking toll from alcoholism and poor human
relations have consumed many brilliant young executives. The need is to provide psychiatric counseling,
co-operation and consultation. Development and maintenance of effective human relations can work
wonders. Therefore, while making arrangements for physical health and safety at workplace, employers
should also take actions to improve mental health of their indispensable resource.

Workplace Safety Programs

Effective designing and implementation of workplace safety programs can minimize the loss and damage
caused to persons and property by eliminating the risk of industrial accidents. In addition to it, the
employee safety programs can result in substantial cost savings, increased productivity and establishing
harmonious relations with workers.

For designing effective safety plans and implementing them requires thorough analysis of workplace
conditions and determining the level of protection required. The degree of protection depends upon the
degree of risk involved in any job. For example, people working in mines require more safety that those
working in a BPO. It also depends on the kind of job the person is engaged in. Sales personnel may
require higher level of protection than the one in any administrative job.

Workplace safety programs are not only effective in eliminating the risk of damage caused to
person but is also an effective tool in retaining the existing and attracting new talent from the
industry. Who doesn’t want a safe and healthy work environment? Around 90 percent of working
professionals seek safety at workplace rather than a fat package.

Organizations can reduce the risk of accidents at workplace by identifying the level of risk, modifying the
already existing policy and implementing it effectively. For this, it needs to design proper and efficient
management programs to improve physical environment employee assistance programs to help them
diagnose and treat their stress-related problems.

Here is a mention of few workplace safety programs that are implemented by top-notch organizations to
ensure workers’ physical and mental safety:
  Safety Policy: It contains a declaration of the employer’s intent towards the safety of employees
and means to realize it. It includes causes, extent and remedies for accidents at workplace. The
policy specifies the company’s goals and responsibilities and caveats and sanctions for failing to
fulfill them.
 Provision of Physical Health Services: Many organizations render periodical physical health
check-up services to their employees. Regular medical check-ups of employees help detect the
signs and symptoms of tension, stress, ulcers, depression and other diseases resulting from the
exposure to harmful gases or other irritants.

It is considered as one of the major steps to control occupational health hazards and treat them
before they become worse. In addition to this, it helps managers in rehabilitating the employees
by redesigning their jobs in order to eliminate the further damage to their health.

 Mental Health Services: In order to reduce the risk of mental breakdowns because of tension,
pressure and depression and mental illness, a mental health service is provided to the employees
in different ways such as psychiatric counseling, co-operation and consultation with specialists,
educating employees about the importance of mental health and establishment, development and
maintenance of harmonious human relations at workplace.
 Employee Assistance Programs: These are specially designed to deal with stress-related
problems of the employees and help in diagnosis, treatment, screening and prevention of both
work and non-work related problems. These programs provide real help to professionals and do
not carry any negative implications.
 Fitness Programs: These programs focus on overall health of employees and include both
disease identification as well as lifestyle modification. The most common programs carried out by
the organizations are hypertension identification, physical fitness, exercise, nutrition, smoking and
drinking cessation, diet control and personal and work-related stress management.
 Awareness Programs: Conducting the workshops about sexually transmitted diseases such as
HIV AIDS help a lot in raising the awareness of employees towards such dreadful diseases. Such
programs clear out the confusion and disruption in the workforce.

We all must have heard of a simple phrase, “Health is Wealth.” This is true for individuals as well as
organizations. Understanding, developing, implementing and evaluating workplace safety programs not
only helps individuals in maintaining their health but also helps organizations in retaining their resources.

An Online Guide to OSHA Safety

Regulations, Standards and Checklist
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Labor, was
created on December 30, 1970. Formed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, its mission is to
ensure safe and healthy conditions at workplace in order to prevent work-related illness, injuries,
diseases and wrongful deaths by setting and implementing safety standards and by educating people by
providing training and assistance.

Who Is Covered Under OSHA Regulations ?

OSH Act covers both employers and employees in most private and public sector workplaces either
directly through federal OSHA or through an OSHA approved State Program. These regulations are
industry-specific and task-specific to prevent or reduce workplace hazards or accidents resulting in
illness, injuries or deaths in severe cases. The guidelines help employers recognize risk factors at
workplace and take steps to control them. On the other hand, OSHA guidelines also take care of
employees’ rights.
The self-employed persons, employees of State and local governments except those who work in one of
the states with OSHA-approved safety and health programs, people employed in mining, nuclear energy
production and nuclear weapons manufacturing and other segments where working conditions are
regulated by Federal Agencies and farms where only family members are employed are not covered by
OSH Act.

What Does OSHA Safety Manual Include ?

OSHA publishes a Safety Manual that is developed by an experienced team of doctors, attorneys and
safety consultants. The manual includes detailed information about OSHA, its policies and procedures,
OSHA standards, regulations as well as legislation. In addition to this, it also contains guidelines about
Health & Safety Procedures, Industries Covered under OSHA, Basic Provisions and Requirements,
Federal OSHA standards, Risk Assessment Forms and Instructions, Health and Safety Policies,
Employee and Employer Rights and Responsibilities, Codes of Practice, Workplace Inspection, Penalties,
Hazard Tables, Appeals Process and Relation to State, local and other Federal laws.

What Is OSHA Checklist ?

OSHA Safety Inspection Checklist is designed specially for the employers to help them meet OSHA
safety requirements at workplace. It covers various regulations that apply to almost all businesses such
as sanitation requirements, aisle way requirements, exit route signs, information about nearby toxic
substances and radiations, fire alarm systems with fire sprinkler systems and their maintenance,
maintenance of workplace injuries and work-related illness records, pasting safety posters with
emergency contact numbers and regular inspection of power tools, equipments, air compressors and
lighting system.

The employers covered under OSHA directly or indirectly need to look over their workplaces and meet
OSHA safety requirements to avoid any legal action against them. They should carefully go through the
OSHA Safety Inspection Checklist, arrange for required provisions and get a safety inspection done.

OSHA Training And Education

Every year OSHA identifies the areas where OSHA standards for safety and health in workplace are not
met. The organization sends them notice to conduct training and educational programs for workers. It
also invites grant applications form non-profit groups and other organizations to address these needs. It
provides funds to them so that they can reach out to their employees and conduct workplace training and
educational programs. OSHA also offers consultation assistance to employers for establishing and
maintaining a safe workplace.

HR Challenges - How to cope with them

efficiently ?
Human Resource Management used to be considered as other conventional administrative jobs. But over
a period of time, it has evolved as a strategic function to improve working environment, plan out human
resources needs and strike a balance between the organization and employers in order to increase
organizational productivity and meet organizational goals. Not to exaggerate but in today’s highly
competitive world it has gradually become one of the most important functions of an organization.

It is really a huge challenge to understand the psychology of workforce, retain the best talents of the
industry, motivate them to perform better and handle diversity while maintaining unity simultaneously,
especially in countries like India, where it is still evolving. Globalization has resulted in many positive
developments but it has left many concerns for HR managers.
In today’s tough world and tight job market, coordinating a multicultural or diverse workforce is a real
challenge for HR department. Human resource managers are on their toes to strike a balance between
employer and employees keeping in mind the recent trends in the market. They may find themselves in
dire consequences if they are not able to handle the human resource challenges efficiently.

To remain in business, human resource managers need to efficiently address following human
resource challenges:

 Handling Multicultural / Diverse Workforce:Dealing with people from different age, gender,
race, ethnicity, educational background, location, income, parental status, religious beliefs,
marital status and ancestry and work experience can be a challenging task for HR managers.
With this, managing people with different set of ideologies, views, lifestyles and psychology can
be very risky. Effective communication, adaptability, agility and positive attitude of HR managers
can bind the diverse workforce and retain talents in the organization.
 Managing Change: Who wants to change their ideology or way of working? Neither you nor I.
How can we expect others to change then? Bringing change in organizational processes and
procedures, implementing it and then managing it is one of the biggest concerns of HR
managers. Business environment is so volatile. Technology keeps changing every now and then.
All thanks to globalization. Upgrading the existing technology and training people for them is a
real headache for HR department. The success rate of technology change depends how well
HRD can handle the change and manage people issues in the process.
 Retaining the Talents: Globalization has given freedom to working professionals to work
anywhere in the world. Now that they have endless lucrative opportunities to work, hiring and
retaining the best industry talent is no joke. Maintaining harmonious relations with them, providing
excellent work environment and offering more remuneration and perks than your competitors can
retain and motivate them.
 Conflict Management: HR managers should know how to handle employee-employer and
employee-employee conflicts without hurting their feelings. Although it is almost impossible to
avoid conflicts among people still handling them tactfully can help HR managers to resolve the
issues. They should be able to listen to each party, decide and communicate to them in a
convincing manner in order to avoid future conflicts.

HR professional must be proactive with all strategies and action plans in order to meet the changing
needs of the organization. They must be thorough with the basic functions of HR including planning,
organizing, leading and controlling human resources.

Human Resource Audit - Meaning, Phases

and its Advantages
Human Resource Audit is a comprehensive method of objective and systematic verification of
current practices, documentation, policies and procedures prevalent in the HR system of the
organization. An effective HR audit helps in identifying the need for improvement and enhancement of
the HR function. It also guides the organization in maintaining compliance with ever-changing rules and
regulations. HR audit, thus, helps in analyzing the gap between ‘what is the current HR function’ and
‘what should be/could be the best possible HR function’ in the organization.

Though HR auditing is not mandatory like financial auditing, yet, organizations these days are opting for
regular HR audits in order to examine the existing HR system in line with the organizations policies,
strategies and objectives, and legal requirements. HR auditor can be internal or external to the
organization. Generally, HR consulting firms render the service of external HR auditors.

It is necessary for the top management to establish the terms and scope of the audit clearly before the
external firm to make the audit successful. This includes defining the exact purpose of audit, viz.
examining compliance with legal requirements and organization’s policies, identifying problem areas to
avoid crisis situation with appropriate planning, analyzing ways to better serve the needs of relevant
parties – employees, partners or society, measuring the work processes, seeking HR related
opportunities available within the organization, dealing with situation of merger and acquisitions, etc.

Primary components of the HR system which are generally audited include – documentation, job
descriptions, personnel policies, legal policies, recruitment and selection, training and development,
compensation and employee benefit system, career management, employee relations, performance
measurement and evaluation process, termination, key performance indicators, and HR Information
Systems (HRIS).

The entire process of HR auditing is broadly segmented in following phases ֫ pre-audit

information, on-site review, records review, and audit report.

The first three phases involve extensive collection of quantitative as well as qualitative information. The
method for collection of information depends upon the size of the target audience, availability of time and
type of data to be collected. The pre-audit information phase includes a review of the organization’s
policies, HR manuals, employee handbooks, reports, etc. which form the basis of working in the
organization. The next phase of on-site review, involves questionnaires, interviews, observation, informal
discussions, surveys, or a combination of such methods to get the necessary inputs from the members of
the organization. The records review phase requires detailed scanning of current HR records, employees’
files, employee absenteeism and turnover statistics, notices, compensation claims, performance
assessments, etc.

Utilizing the data so collected, the HR checklist is completed which is the widely used method for carrying
out HR audit. In the checklist method, a list of all the system particulars under audit, viz. the policies,
procedures, or practices, is created in a sequential manner. Against each particular item, the actual
practice as followed by the organization is mentioned. The defined practice and the actual practice are
then compared to determine compliance between the two as well as analyzing the deviation from
compliance. On the basis of this analysis, the final audit report is complied with appropriate conclusions
and recommendations highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the HR function along with the
necessary improvements as required.

HR audit, thus, contributes towards the best possible use of internal resources and maximizing the
effectiveness of human capital in the organization. At the same time, it is useful in streamlining the HR
processes and practices with the industry best practices and standards.

HRM: Hiring in the Shadow of Stagnating

Growth
How the times have changed for potential recruits
There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the software companies were hiring anyone
with some basic computer skills. A popular joke that did the rounds was about a leading software
company having the message of “Trespassers would be recruited”. Such was the demand for software
professionals that graduate from all fields were eager to join the bandwagon. The situation now is
completely different with stringent entry norms, raising the skills bar, and paying the minimum salaries
instead of large pay packets and associated benefits.

Indeed, there is a sea change from the time when candidates used to take calls from other
companies when the interview for a particular company was going on. This is an indication of the
change from the exuberant times in the 1990s and the early 2000s to the present where the overall mood
is of stagnation and low growth.
Hiring Strategies in a Low Growth Economy
The hiring strategies have similarly changed with the change in the economic scenario. Earlier, the HR
function used to be given a target of the number of employees to be recruited in a specified period and
their performance and the bonuses were measured in terms of how well they met these targets. The
present scenario is one where the HR function is given qualitative limits instead of quantitative limits.
What this means is that quality matters more than numbers and companies are no longer tolerating low
skilled or low quality candidates. This has increased the pressure on both the recruiters as well as the HR
functions. Whereas in earlier years, the pressure was on finding the high number of people required, now
the pressure is on finding the right candidate.

Some Strategies for fresh graduates

These trends have implications for those who are graduating now and those who have graduated in the
last couple of years. The best bet even now remains campus interviews and targeted placements as
these avenues of recruitment are still numbers driven. The other aspect is that the fresh graduates have
to invest their time and effort in upgrading their skills and learning more skills as that would make them
stand out from the competition. The key aspect here is that one must be distinctive in order to score over
the competition and as the hiring now is tougher and based on finding the fit between the employee and
the role, it is advisable to study the requirements of the role thoroughly and then prepare for the test and
the interview accordingly.

Closing Thoughts
Finally, when times are tough, the tough get going and so, the hiring of those with mental toughness and
the ability to work under pressure is the norm. Apart from this, the fact that the hiring is more location
based because of various factors means that proximity to the major cities would be an added advantage.
The recent encouragement of the development of Tier Two cities means that candidates who are not near
to the cities can still benefit if they are located in these up and coming cities.

Employee Separation Process

Employee Separation is the process of ensuring that an employee who quits the company is exited in a
structured and orderly manner. The process of employee separation is taken quite seriously by many
firms and there is a dedicated department to handle employee exits from the company. In this article we
discuss the process of employee separation and the differences between voluntary and involuntary exits.

Voluntary and Involuntary Separation

Employee separation can be voluntary as well as involuntary. The former is when the employee quits the
company on his or her own accord. This is the most common form of employee separation though in
these recessionary times, involuntary separation or the act of asking the employee to leave by
management is quite common. This form of employee separation where an employee is asked to quit is
called involuntary separation. The difference in these two forms of separation is that for voluntary exits,
the employee stands to get most of the benefits and perks due to him or her whereas when an employee
is asked to leave, he or she might get a separation package or in instances where disciplinary or
performance related exits take place, the employee might not get anything at all.

Components of the Employee Separation Process

The employee separation process starts from the time the employee gives notice to his or her employer
about the intention to quit. This is usually called “putting in one’s papers” because in earlier times, an
employee was required to submit a formal resignation letter, though in recent times, this is being done by
email. Once the employee gives notice, all the financial transactions and records of the employee are
“frozen” by the HR department and the employee’s manager is tasked with the process of ensuring
proper handover and closure of work tasks allotted to the employee. Usually, the notice period ranges
from a month to two to three months depending on the level at which the employee is working. Further,
there has to be a well defined handover plan drawn up by the employee’s manager that covers all
aspects of closing out on the work that the employee is performing.

Participants in the Employee Separation Process

Typically, the employee separation process proceeds along two parallel tracks. One involves the
employee and the manager and is concerned with the handover of work and other tasks. The other track
is by the separations team and deals with the employee benefits accruing as a result of separation as well
as other benefits like PF (Provident Fund), Gratuity (If applicable) etc. The HR manager is needed at all
steps of this process and in the final exit interview that is conducted to assess the reasons for the
employee leaving the company and taking the employee’s views on work and the company in general as
well as any “de-motivating” factors that might have caused the employee to resign.

Conclusion
In recent years, with the high levels of attrition in the service sector, it has become imperative for firms to
have a structured separation plan for orderly exits of employees. Of course, the concept of “pink slips” or
involuntary exits are another matter altogether and involve some bitterness that results because of the
employee losing his or her job. In conclusion, it is our view that employee separations must be handled in
a professional and mature manner and though attrition is a fact that concerns everyone in the industry,
once an employee decides to leave, the separation must be as smooth as possible.

Tips for Pursuing a Career in Human

Resource Management
Choose the B-School Wisely
For those of you wanting to pursue a career in human resource management or HRM, this article
is intended to give some guidance and tips on how to succeed in the field. First, if you want to
become an HR professional, choose your institute wisely. This means that when you want to be a HR
professional, your choice of the MBA Institute matters a lot. For instance, in the US, there are many top
notch B-Schools that offer dedicated courses in HRM. To be accepted in one of them, you need to first
narrow down the B-Schools that offer the HR program and then apply accordingly. Some of the B-
Schools that are good for pursuing HR programs are also in the top fifty for general MBA courses.
Further, when you are applying to these programs, make sure that you buttress your application and the
SOP or Statement of Purpose with enough details about your people management skills. Ideally, your
SOP should not be too flowery or idealistic in the sense that you should not make sweeping statements
about your skills and abilities. On the contrary, stick to the facts and include relevant details about your
experience in managing people.

Summer Internships and Placement Strategies

In other parts of the world, B-Schools like INSEAD, Asian Institute of Management in Manila, XLRI in
India, the Business School attached to the London School of Economics; Universities in Singapore are
good bets for pursuing a dedicated program in HR. Next, once you have entered the MBA program with
specialization in HR, try and get a summer internship in a premium organization that has cutting edge HR
policies. Often, many MBA students opt for summer internships in well established and well known
multinationals so that they can get PPOs or Pre-Placement Offers that obviate the need for fighting it out
in the final placement sessions. Of course, if you feel that you are going to get a PPO, then you can opt
for summer internship in the established companies. However, if you feel otherwise, then it is best to try
out middle tier and startups where the HR staff is in the process of designing HR policies. Getting into
these companies would give you the benefit of working directly with HR policy formulation and
understanding the nuts and bolts of how HR professionals work.

Stepping into the Real World

The next phase is when you are actually recruited as an HR professional in a company. Once you are in
any company that hires you, you need to remember that you are not straightaway given responsibilities
but are instead asked to apprentice with the senior staff. Hence, do not be disappointed if you are a
bystander in meetings and other sessions where sometimes you have to be a water carrier (both literally
and metaphorically). This is because most companies work on the assumption that while the MBA course
would have given you theoretical insights, real world experience is best gained by observation and
practice. You must use this time to gain, as much exposure as possible and without being a smart Alec
must contribute to the organization in whatever way they deem and whichever way you can. What this
means is that you must utilize all opportunities to make your presence felt without overstepping your
boundaries.

Closing Thoughts
Talking about boundaries, one of the most important skills that HR professionals can have is to respect
the boundaries (physical and mental) between people. Indeed, we can say that the differentiating factor
that determines success or otherwise of HR professionals is to know the difference between what is
personal and what is professional. This would be covered in detail in subsequent articles. It would suffice
to state here that this aspect is representative of the skills and abilities that you must learn while playing
second fiddle to your boss. Finally, once you are given responsibilities of your own, it is time to put your
theoretical knowledge and practical exposure to work. A parting word of advice is that do not be too eager
to show off your theoretical knowledge in your interactions as most companies value insights over theory
and experience and expertise over textbook knowledge.

The HRM Function and Its Role in

Recessionary Times
The Case for the Importance of the HRM Function even in Recessionary Times
In these recessionary times, it is tempting for the companies to cut the budgets of the HRM function and
focus on cost control and trimming as a means of profitability. Further, with the squeeze on hiring by
many companies, one of the key activities of the HRM function, which is the hiring, and on boarding
activity remains frozen. Therefore, there is more the case for pruning the HR budgets. However,
companies need to realize that there is a strong correlation between people management and economic
performance that has been conclusively proved in recent research by the consulting firm, Boston
Consulting Group or BCG. The research that focused on how companies that do well on talent
management, leadership development, and performance management have been shown to have
significantly higher economic performance. What adds to this research is the anecdotal evidence from
many multinationals that seems to prove the hypothesis that excellent HR policies makes for a well-
motivated workforce that can ramp up their performance to match the increased expectations of
companies during recessions. The implications are that in case organizations want to do more at the
same cost, they must focus on Processual cost cutting instead of on HR budgets alone.
Handling Laid off Employee Separations
The second aspect of the HRM function during recessionary times is that it is often the case that the HRM
staff are asked to handle the involuntary separations. These exits that are otherwise known colloquially as
“pink slips” have to be handled with grace and respect for the employee instead of condescension and
arrogance. The point here is that when employees are asked to leave, the HR managers and the HR staff
have the unenviable task of making sure that the message is communicated to those employees who are
being asked to leave and to handle their exits in a structured manner. With the pressure on the HR staff
growing with the increased incidence of layoffs, it is not easy for the HR managers not to get affected and
take things personally. However, the key aspect here is that the HR managers have to perform well under
pressure and ensure that the outgoing employees are offered assistance with their job hunts for
alternative jobs by giving them the use of the office space and the facilities for a week or so after their last
day at work. The point here is that gestures like these go a long way in convincing the other employees
that the company is not an opportunistic employer who is a fair-weather friend to them.

Managing the Motivation Levels of Employees

Talking about the impact of layoffs on the employees who have remained in the organization, the HR staff
also has the challenging task of keeping these employees motivated and not making them look over their
shoulders periodically to check whether they are next in line to be laid off. Indeed, this is a delicate and
often-diplomatic exercises that must be carried out with finesse in the same manner exits are handled.
The other aspect of the recessionary times is that more often than not, companies do not hand out pay
hikes and bonuses and hence, there tends to be a slack in morale among the employees. This is another
of those tasks that the HRM function has to manage in recessionary times. Given the fact that many
companies are struggling to stay afloat and which leads to resignations from key employees who do not
see a future for themselves in the companies, it is important to remember that the HRM function must be
bolstered rather than cut down to handle these unpleasant tasks.

Closing Thoughts
Finally, the HRM function also has to cooperate with the organizational imperatives on the need to reduce
costs and hence, must play its role and part in ensuring that the organization practices what it preaches
and does not merely indulge in cost cutting, layoffs, and freezing of pay hikes and bonuses.

The Roles of the People Manager and the

Project Manager in Contemporary
Organizations
The Difference between a People Manager and a Project Manager
In recent times, there has been a trend in multinational companies to have a people manager apart from
the project manager for employees in teams and units. This division of responsibilities between the
people manager and the project manager has been necessitated because of the importance being given
to employee enabling and employee empowering strategies. The key aspect here is that the people
manager is responsible for the personal and professional development of the employee and the
project manager is responsible for work and project related activities. Further, the appointment of a
people manager distinct from the project manager is being done because of the need felt by the
organizations to develop the employees in a more rounded manner and to let them actualize their
potential. For instance, while the project manager looks after the project deliverables and associated work
related aspects, the people manager concentrates on the personal development of skills, soft attributes,
and how far the employee is fulfilled in his or her current role. The post of people manager is akin to the
HR manager who is responsible for the unit but differs in the respects of having a functional individual be
the people manager who can understand the functional and operational aspects as well as contribute to
the personality development of the employee.

How the Different Roles work in Practice

In many multinational organizations like Fidelity and IBM, the people manager is designated from the pool
of project managers and is usually responsible for two or three project teams. The additional
responsibilities vested in the people manager run concurrent to their core responsibilities of looking after
their own teams’ project deliverables. The idea here is to have an independent individual separate and
distinct from the project manager to introduce objectivity and to provide an unbiased perspective to the
employee and his or her needs for personal development and actualization. Further, some multinationals
have also experimented with having a people manager who does not have any project related
responsibilities so that the person can fully focus and concentrate on the people side of project
management. The key aspect here is that the people manager would conduct one-one meetings with the
employees to find out if they have any issues with the project teams and their role in it and to elicit
feedback from them about how the organization and the project managers are letting them fulfill their
potential. At appraisal time, it is usually the case that the review would be conducted by both the project
manager and the people manager. Of course, the inputs of the project manager are more important as
they pertain to the core reason for the organization’s existence namely that of project deliverables but the
people manager has a significant role to play in determining the personal development and the progress
made by the employee towards his or her personal development goals as set forth at the start of the
review period.

The Emergence of SHRM and the Need for People Enabling and People
Empowerment
The reason why many organizations are keen to have the post of a people manager is mainly because of
the need felt by the organizations to treat people as key assets and sources of competitive advantage as
opposed to treating them as yet another factor of production. This shift in emphasis or paradigm shift is
known as the strategic human resource management perspective wherein employees are considered the
chief asset and sources of sustainable advantage to the organizations. When compared to the earlier
paradigms where employees were treated as yet another factor of production and the intervening
paradigm where employees were considered important but not to the level that is being witnessed in the
SHRM view. The reason for this is the rise in the services sector wherein technology and financial
services firms have taken center stage in the economy and where people make the difference between
success and failure. This is the key aspect of multinationals having a people manager distinct from a
project manager.

The Increasing use of Contract Staff and

Temp Workers in the Corporate World
Hiring Temps and Contract Staff
Of late, a trend that has been noticeable in the corporate world pertains to the increasing use of
contract staff and temporary workers or temps as part of the organization’s operations. The trend
that started a couple of decades earlier has now accelerated into a phenomenon where nearly 25 to 30
percent of the workforce in major companies is made up of contract staff and temporary workers. What
was hitherto reserved for the peripheral functions like HR, Admin, Finance, and services has now spread
to the core functions like project management, testing, and even whole teams being contracted out to
outsourcing providers. There are many implications of having contract staff and the key reason why many
companies go in for contract workers and temps is the cost factor which is primary and the secondary
factors like hiring at short notice, reducing overheads, and finding the right skills which the outsourcing
providers can supply to the companies. We shall examine each of these factors in subsequent sections. It
would suffice to state here that the ongoing recession has also contributed to hiring more temporary
workers as the convergence of cost and other factors combined with the fact that once the project is over,
the temporary workers can be made redundant all are reasons for the upswing in hiring contract workers.

Advantages of Hiring Temps

Given the fact that cost is a key consideration for hiring temporary workers, it is natural that companies
are tempted to hire them. The companies need to worry about paying for their healthcare or social
security nor do they have to worry about contributing to pension funds and other benefits. Added to this is
the fact that hiring at short notice is often difficult for many companies because there is a lead-time to
onboard new employees and by hiring temporary workers, the lead-time can be done away with. Further,
sometimes companies might not find employees with desired skills who can be hired at short notice. With
outsourcing providers ready to step in such situations, it becomes easier for companies to rely on
temporary workers who can ramp up quickly. Apart from this, they can be made redundant once the
project is over which cannot be done in the case of permanent employees. Moreover, some functions like
testing and quality control require niche expertise that might not be available in-house and therefore,
temporary workers can fill in this scenario.

Disadvantages of Hiring Temps

Of course, this does not mean to say that contract workers represent a magic bullet for the factors listed
above. On the contrary, there are many downsides with hiring temps and these include accountability,
adherence to policies, vague contracts leading to disputes, and overall responsibility and control over the
resources. For instance, in many companies, managers find that though the temporary workers work
better than permanent employees because of the need to please the employer to get more work for their
companies, the issue of overall control and accountability apart from responsibility needs to be
addressed. The point here is that temporary workers are after all part of another company and hence,
critical functions and jobs cannot be assigned to them because of these aspects. Apart from this, disputes
arise in case the temporary workers do not perform according to expectations and when they leave
midway between projects. There are many examples in the corporate world where the temporary workers
have failed to fulfill their contractual obligations leading to protracted disputes between the companies
and the outsourcing providers. Next, many temporary workers do not have a sense of ownership with the
project because they know that they are just in-between employees and this can lead to dicey situations
as well.

Concluding Thoughts
Finally, after the positives and the negatives have been tallied, it is found that the practice of hiring
temporary workers does add value to the companies and provided they are managed well and contracts
drawn up in clear and unambiguous terms, the practice or hiring temporary workers can result in cost
savings and increased productivity and profitability.

The The Necessity of Drafting Proper and

Foolproof Employment Contracts
What Are Employment Contracts ?
Employment contracts are covenants between the employer and the employee which provide the basis
and the terms and conditions for the employment relationship.
Employment Contracts usually state how much salary would be paid, what the perks are, the nature of
the employment relation, the basis for firing when the employee is found to have violated organizational
policies, and the specifications for legal arbitration and dispute resolution.

Indeed, the employment contracts are drafted in such a way that there is no ambiguity and confusion in
the type of the employer and employee relationship.

Necessity of Drafting Precise and Proper Employment Contracts

Having said that, it is also not the case that employment contracts are always precise and proper as well
as foolproof.

For instance, there are several cases in which the wording and the clauses in the employment contracts
have resulted in legal matters and other disputes wherein each party has tried to sue the other for
noncompliance.

To take an example, the cases involving Sexual Harassment in the United States in recent months have
highlighted the need for explicit provisions that protect the employer as well as the employee.

Indeed, the point to be noted here is that unless everything in the employment contract is spelled out
in black and white and all the terms and conditions stated and specified, there is always a
likelihood of legal disputes arising from misinterpretation and misunderstanding between the
parties concerned.

Ambiguity and Confusion Must be Avoided

Thus, there is a need to draft proper and foolproof employment contracts that do not leave scope for
ambiguity and confusion.

In our experience, this can have serious as well as somewhat hilarious consequences if the terms and
conditions in the employment contracts are not specified clearly.

For instance, in our experience, there have been cases where the Non-Disclosure Clause, as well as the
Non-Compete Clause, have not been defined properly leading to theft of intellectual property as well as
disclosure of propriety information to third parties and competitors by disgruntled employees.

It can also have hilarious consequences as some employees we know have refused to work beyond 6
PM every day since the contract did not specify so.

Given the fact that work in contemporary corporates is not time-bound, there is a case to be made for
clearly specifying the terms and conditions in the contract.

What Employment Contracts Must Address

Typically, employment contracts often state the nature of employment wherein the employee is told in
clear terms if he or she is taken on a temporary basis, on a contractual basis wherein each party reviews
the contract after a specified period, or on a permanent basis wherein the employee is informed of the
long-term nature of employment.

However, the emergence of the Freelance and the Gig Economy has opened up new forms of
employment that do not fall into any of the usual categories.

As can be seen in the way there are several class action lawsuits in the United States between firms such
as Uber and its drivers; there is a need to change with the times and draft proper and foolproof
employment contracts.
Moreover, whenever organizational policies are violated, it is often the case that the lawyers on either
side tend to point to noncompliance by the other side when arguing their case.

As can be seen in the way some women have sued the Silicon Valley firms in recent months, there needs
to be a clear specification of what constitutes harassment and what constitutes a ground for dismissal.

In other words, while the employees can claim that they were harassed, the employers too can claim that
such alleged victims have violated organizational policies by going public with their allegations.

Some Sticking Points in Employment Contracts

A key sticking point in most disputes is the definition and meaning of what constitutes non-disclosure and
non-compete.

For instance, the employment contracts of executives and other senior positions often state how long they
have wait after resignation to join rivals and competitors and how much they can reveal the information
that they have gained from their employment as it relates to intellectual property.

Indeed, as can be seen in the recent dustup in the Indian IT Bellwether, Infosys, there needs to clear exit
and separation clauses specifying non-disclosure and non-compete so that there is no ambiguity on
account of this.

Thus, it is clear that there are several aspects to the need to draft proper and foolproof employment
contracts and hence, it is our contention that the Human Resources Managers apply adequate thought
and do their due diligence by consulting lawyers and other company law experts so that the employment
contracts do not leave room for doubt and misinterpretation.

On the other hand, there is a need to protect the employee as well, and hence we suggest prospective as
well as working professionals to study their employment contracts and see if their rights are protected.

Conclusion
Lastly, while we are not saying that there is an ideal scenario where both employer and employee win
with clearly worded and clearly stated employment contracts since legal disputes often arise in situations
that cannot be completely predicted, nonetheless, a well drafted and proper employment contract can be
made foolproof against major disputes.

To conclude, with the changing nature of the employer-employee relationship, more than ever there is a
need to draft proper and precise employment contracts where the employer and the employee are “on the
same page” most, if not all the time.

Some Reasons Why Managers Must Practice

Astute Vacation Planning for Their Teams
Planned Vacations
Contemporary organizational theories talk about the need to reduce person dependence and ensure that
the show goes on even in the absence of key resources. In this context, it is important for managers to
actualize effective vacation planning as they deal with planned and unplanned vacations and time outs
taken by their team members. What this means is that when employees go on vacation, the managers
have to ensure that the work does not suffer and their teams do not delay the deliverables. In other
words, managers have to plan for vacations that their employees take effectively and in
accordance with organizational policies. For instance, many multinationals like Fidelity ask their
employees to declare their planned vacations well in advance and the time of a quarter is usually the
case where employees need to announce their planned vacations. This means that the team members
must enter their planned vacations into the people management system or software at the beginning of
each quarter so that managers can budget for the vacations keeping in mind the delivery dates and the
project schedule. Indeed, this practice of asking the employees to declare their planned vacations well in
advance leads to minimization of conflict between the team members’ vacations and results in a smooth
functioning of the teams.

Unplanned Vacations
The previous section dealt with planned vacations. However, managers have to be ready for
unplanned vacations as well that result from personal emergencies and sudden and unexpected
events like the employee falling sick or meeting with an accident. The key aspect here is that
planned vacations are easier to manage than unplanned vacations because the sudden absence of the
employee leads to disruption in work schedules and affects the delivery of key deliverables. This is where
the manager’s skills at people management, project management, and risk management are tested. This
is because the manager has to convince other team members to finish the tasks that the absent
employee was performing, budget fort disruptions in the project management plan, and actualize the risk
management plan, which details the steps to be taken in such a scenario. Indeed, unplanned absences
are potentially damaging to the prospects of organizations and especially so, when the absent employee
was performing a critical or a crucial task. Therefore, person dependence must be kept a minimum and
this is the requirement of all capability maturity models that certify process and organizational maturity.

Ways to Manage Absences

Having said that, it needs to be mentioned that both planned and unplanned vacations pose challenges to
the managers as budgeting for conflicts in planned vacations and having to deal with emergency
situations in case of unplanned leave of absence need astute project management skills. Therefore, it is
better if the managers approve the planned vacations well in advance and convince the employees who
want to go on vacation at the same time that another employee wants to do to alter the vacation plans so
that there is minimal impact on project delivery. The best way to deal with unplanned vacations is to
identify backup employees for each employee and once the employee is absent, a smooth transition to
the backup employee(s) must be actualized. This process is followed in organizations like IBM where
each employee has a backup employee to take care of the work in case of disruptions.

Concluding Thoughts
Further, the need for person independence is felt when such instances occur and this is the reason why
organizations must not put all their eggs in one basket and promote key resources all the time. In other
words, playing favorites by depending overtly on some employee and making them the stars with halos is
okay as long as this employee(s) is present and is doing his or her work. When this key resource is
absent, the team must not suffer and therefore, it is better if other team members are groomed as well.

Differing Perspectives on Hiring and Firing of

Workers
Unemployment in the West
In recent times, there have been mass layoffs in the Western world because of the ongoing global
economic crisis. This has led to widespread unemployment with levels of 25% in Europe (among the
youth aged between 20-25) and 12% in the rest of the continent. This kind of firing workers in times of
economic crises is common in the western world where during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the
unemployment rate was close to 50%. However, once the economy recovered after the Second World
War, hiring resumed and led to a sustained economic boom that lasted decades. The point here is
that the approach towards hiring and firing workers in the west is dictated purely by economic
considerations. Of course, the fact that there is a social security net in the form of unemployment
benefits means that being out of a job does not necessarily lead to immediate poverty though in the
longer run, being unemployed for a few years can certainly lead to that. The fact that most western
economic recessions last a few years with even depressions lasting no more than five to seven years
means that the practice of hiring and firing workers according to capitalistic principles is accepted as a
fact of life by both the employers and the employees.

Eastern Attitudes Towards Unemployment

However, the situation in the East (especially in China and India) is different as the unemployed do not
get any benefits from the government and even if some countries offer what is known as the “dole”, they
are not substantial. This is the reason why these countries have strict labor laws that prohibit the
companies from firing workers at will. However, this is seen as an impediment to liberalization and
opening up of the economies to the market forces of capitalism, the governments in most Asian countries
are wary of letting the corporates hire and fire workers at will. This is one of the main demands made by
corporates who ask for a flexible labor policy that would allow them to hire and fire workers according to
economic circumstances and market forces. The counter argument made by the activists and the
policymakers is that these economies are not mature enough to handle and absorb the unemployed into
society by giving them welfare benefits. Hence, the contention here is that mass unemployment would
lead to social tensions and unrest from the disaffected. As such, most Asian economies suffer from
periodic bouts of social unrest and hence, they cannot afford to have more workers joining the ranks of
the unemployed.

Some Suggestions to frame Labor Policies in the East

Without taking sides in this debate, it needs to be mentioned that the best course of action would be to
have specific labor laws according to the sectors and the states or regions in these countries. This would
enable seasonal variations in demand and supply for workers to reflect economic conditions rather than
the socialist manner in which the current practice works. Further, by setting labor laws for each sector and
region as opposed to a uniform labor law for the entire country, the companies and the firms in each
sector would be able to determine the optimal level of employment according to the economic forces.
When one considers the fact that different states and regions in these countries have differing rates of
economic growth and economic development, it makes sense to protect the weak states and let the
strong states or regions follow market forces. In our opinion, this would be the optimal solution to the
crisis of over- employment and underemployment that plague the Asian economies.

Concluding Thoughts
Finally, it must also be mentioned that there are cultural factors at play here. For instance, being laid off in
the West is seen as normal wherein in India, it is seen otherwise where social stigma to being laid off is
more. Therefore, this aspect has to be considered as well when deciding on the appropriate labor policy
in these countries.
Role of HR Consulting Firm During
Termination and Outplacement
Termination of employment simply means the ending of employment in a particular organization.
Termination of employment is inevitable in any employment relationship and it may happen either
voluntarily or involuntarily.

1. Voluntary termination may come through resignation, retirement or death of the employee.
2. Involuntary termination of employment can take place by employee dismissal or lay-off.
Dismissals and lay-offs often result in hampering the terminated employee’s chances of finding a
new job. Moreover, such employees do avoid mentioning such jobs in their resume which create
unexplainable gaps in their career profile. On the part of employer, it is mandatory to follow
proper termination rules and policies while applying dismissals or lay-offs as the terminated
employees may opt for legal recourse. Also, such terminating activities are taken in negative
sense among the workforce market, which adversely impacts the reputation of the organization
as an employer.

It is during such situations that an organization decides for outplacement and career transition services. A
carefully handled termination along with proper severance package and outplacement service helps the
organization in avoiding legal action from employee’s side.

Actually, outplacement is the service offered by the former employer to help the terminated employee in
locating a new job. The former employer, in this case, covers all the costs to facilitate the employee with
the new job. This minimizes the impact of termination on employee and prevents him from the pressure of
being jobless/finding a new job. Such services also alleviate the standing of the organization as an
employee-centered organization. Moreover, by taking up outplacement services, an organization
diminishes the risk of lawsuit.

The organization generally calls for the services of an HR Consulting Firm in cases of termination
and outplacement to deal with the whole process in a professional and dignified manner. The HR
Consulting Firm works along with both, the employee and the employer, so as to make the event of
separation strategically fitting to the needs of both the parties.

The service of HR Consulting Firm runs in three phases as follows:

 Pre-termination phase which involves a detailed planning of employee termination and

outplacement with the organization.
 Termination phase which includes the actual declaration of termination to the employee. This
phase covers the support and guidance provided to the employee in dealing with termination and
locating for a new job.
 Post-termination phase includes focus on two groups - one group is the organization and it’s the
retained employees, and the other group is that of the terminated employees. It is essential for an
organization to retain the trust of the retained employees in such cases. Hence, the HR
Consulting Firm needs to deal with the anxiety created among the existing employees by properly
coaching them. The terminated employee, at this stage, requires career guidance and support to
manage change as the new job is being provided with.

Throughout these three broad phases of termination and outplacement, an HR Consulting Firm generally
provides following individual services to the organization and retained/ terminated employees:

 Career evaluation
 Planning the career continuation and development process
  Career guidance
 Resume writing
 Interview preparation
 Network development
 Job search, and research on the same
 Job market analysis
 Administrative assistance - preparation of concerned documents and letters, etc.
 Handling exit meeting
 Skill development programs
 Workshops to deal with the period of transition
 Checking legal compliances
 Preparing severance packages

Besides, an HR Consulting Firm also guides the concerned managers handling the termination
meetings in carefully communicating the news to the terminated employees as well as to the staff,
so as to maintain the dignity of the terminated employee and negate the concern among the
retained employees. A detailed plan about the sequence and content of the meeting is chalked out to
make it more definitive and justified.

Hence, the HR Consulting Firm aims at making the process of termination and outplacement manageable
and respectful for the organization and the terminated employee.

Emotional Intelligence for Managers and

Working Professionals
What is Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Quotient
We often hear the term Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Quotient or EQ being necessary for
managers and working professionals to succeed in their careers. If we investigate what this term means,
we find that it broadly refers to the emotional capacities of managers and working professionals when
they discharge their work. This means that for professionals to succeed, they would not only need
insights, intelligence, and hard work but also must possess emotional abilities related to empathy,
understanding, and a sense of being guided by an inner voice.

In other words, there are three components of EQ as defined by the famous psychologist, Daniel
Goldman and they are the capacity to relate to colleagues, superiors, and subordinates at an emotional
level; the ability to defer gratification in the pursuit of professional and personal objectives; and having an
anchor within oneself or having an inner rudder through which the decision making can be made. We
shall discuss each of these traits in detail subsequently. It would suffice to state here that being an
emotionally aware person is one of the key traits that are needed for professional success in the 21st
century workplace.

Deferring Gratification and Empathizing with Co-workers

The first trait or the ability to empathize with fellow employees means that instead of just being cold and
aloof at the workplace, it would help managers and professionals to relate to their co-workers and ensure
that instead of just giving or taking orders, they are able to bond with them and understand and
empathize with their situation. The second trait of deferring gratification relates to the need for putting
professional and personal objectives ahead of indulging in pleasurable activities. In other words, if a
person can delay gratification and instead, focus on his or her work without distractions, then there is a lot
that the person can achieve at work. The ability to delay gratification also means that the individual is able
to ensure that work is done before everything else though this does not mean that work is everything to
the detriment of other objectives. The point here is that working professionals must prioritize their career
objectives and personal goals and ration the time available to get work done and indulge in leisure
activities. For instance, if an individual can get the task done without wasting time on pleasurable
activities and at the same time, ensure that his or her personal life does not suffer, then the person is
known to have a high EQ.

Having an Inner Rudder

The third trait is perhaps the most important one for managers and working professionals. This refers to
the aspect of being guided by an inner rudder, which means that one must have an anchor within through
which one makes decisions regarding ethics, work, and personal lives. Considering the fact that in recent
years, the corporate world has been shaken to the core by a series of scandals related to unethical
behaviour, this trait is very important for moral based decision-making. As most of the unethical behaviour
was mainly because the individuals did not heed their inner conscience and followed the herd as far as
being unethical was concerned means that having an inner rudder or a moral compass is of critical and
crucial importance. Having an inner rudder would also help in actualizing visionary decision making and
take decision related to work and personal lives that are based on deep insights and a careful thinking
through of the consequences and the merits of such decisions. In our opinion, all the three traits are
important but this trait in particular is a key aspect of decision making in the 21st century.

Concluding Thoughts
Finally, Daniel Goleman’s books about Emotional Intelligence have been bestsellers for many years
mainly because of the rigorous research and data that underpins the conclusions reached in his books.
Therefore, if you want further insights into how EQ can help you become a successful professional, you
must pay heed to the traits that have been discussed here and actualize them in your professional and
personal lives.

Assigning Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs)

to Employees
It is essential for management to know how to extract the maximum out of employees. Making employees
deliver their level best is the biggest challenge faced by organizations in current scenario. Individuals in
most of the cases attend office just for the sake of it and are concerned only with their monthly salaries.

Let me ask you a question ?

How many of us really enjoy going to work? I would expect honest answers. Why do we feel lazy on a
Monday? Such feelings arise only when people do not enjoy their work and find office the most boring
place in the world.

Why do individuals treat their work as a mere source of burden? Management needs to understand that
employees put their heart and soul in work only when work is assigned as per their skills and
expertise. Key responsibility areas (KRAs) refer to a detailed summary of what all an individual is
expected to do at the workplace. Remember, if an organization is paying you a decent salary, it also
expects you to perform certain tasks and activities which would eventually earn revenues for the
organization. Such tasks and activities are nothing but their key responsibility areas or in short their
KRAs.

It is crucial for the employees to understand their role in the organization if you expect them to
perform as per your expectations. Assigning work to employees is one of the major responsibilities of
the management.
Let us go through few parameters which play an essential role in assigning Key responsibility areas.

Key responsibility areas need to be assigned only after discussing with the employees. Employees
need to be very clear as to what ought to be their contribution towards the overall profitability of the
organization. Let employees decide their own KRAs.Trust me, this way, not only they take active interest
in work but also develop a strong bond with their organization. When they themselves decide their work,
they never create problems later on and also strive hard to deliver more than hundred percent.

Management needs to assign job responsibilities as per the educational qualification,

background, skill set, interest areas and expertise of employees. Such things are mentioned in the
employee’s resume also. You need to go through the same very carefully. Never assign KRas over the
phone. Doing the same leads to confusion and dissatisfaction among employees. It is always better to sit
with the employee concerned and understand what they are good at and also what they have been doing
prior to joining your organization. Remember, face to face interaction is extremely crucial in assigning
KRAs.Key responsibility areas need to be assigned as per the interest areas of individuals. A recruiter or
human resource professional needs to understand the strong points of an employee before designing
his/her KRAs.Individuals tend to lose interest in work when responsibilities are imposed on them. Let
them willingly accept the same.

Assign job responsibilities only when you feel the employee concerned is really capable of doing the
same. Do not expect an accounts professional to do miracles in marketing department. Work needs to be
distributed equally among the employees. Why should only one person do everything while others enjoy?

Make sure employees accept their key responsibility areas with a smile. Management’s job is not
only assigning KRAs but also finding out whether employees are satisfied or not with their work
responsibilities. Acceptance of key responsibility areas by the employees is important.

Remember, Verbal communication is irrelevant in today’s professional world. Everything needs to be

documented. One copy of key responsibility areas needs to be with the employee and the other with the
organization duly signed by the individual for future reference.

Role of HR in Performance Appraisals

Human resource department plays an important role in designing and implementing performance
appraisals. Infact, the HR team acts as mediator between the functional heads or reviewing authorities
and the employee. It is the human resource team’s responsibility to ensure a smooth
implementation of the appraisal process.

Let us go through the role of HR in performance appraisals in detail:

The first and the foremost responsibility of HR team is to design the entire appraisal process.
Make sure the process is simple and does not take too much time. The HR team needs to know the
responsibilities assigned to each and every employee for them to create and design a system where their
overall achievements can be rated with respect to their key responsibility areas. An individual
representing the MIS team cannot rate himself/herself on the KRAs of a marketing professional. As a HR
professional, you need to sit with the functional heads of all departments so that you exactly know what
all tasks have been assigned to which all team members.

The employees need to be fully aware of the performance appraisal process. The criterion of
performance appraisal needs to be very clear and transparent. Provide proper training to employees
so that they take the entire process of performance appraisal gracefully and sportingly. You need to make
them understand that appraisals are done not to downgrade or insult anyone but help individuals set
realistic goals and expectations for themselves and work towards it. There are employees who do not
appreciate the idea of performance appraisal and feel it is just a waste of time and energy filling elaborate
forms. It is the HR’s responsibility to change this perception. Performance appraisal is just not a method
to increase one’s salary but provide feedbacks to employees and guide them accordingly. Call employees
on a common platform and make them understand the importance of appraisal process and how would it
help them in their respective careers.

The HR team also needs to sit with the reviewing authorities to ensure appraisals are done on
time and only the deserving employees get the benefits. Appraisals should not be for everyone but
only for those who have worked really hard all through the year. You need to help and sometimes also
guide the managers and supervisors so that a fair appraisal is done and no deserving employee is at
loss. You can also give your valuable feedback to the functional heads based on your day to day
interaction with the employee concerned. Apart from his /her routine work, how one behaves at the
workplace, what is his relation with superiors/ fellow workers, punctuality, and discipline also play an
important role in performance appraisal.

Once the appraisal is done, it is your responsibility to hand over the increment letters or review reports.
Make sure the letter is handed only to the employee concerned and not to anyone else. Appraisals and
increments ought not to be discussed in public. Your role does not end here. As a HR professional, you
need to ensure employees are satisfied with the appraisal process. You need to explain an individual as
to why he/she has got or not got a salary hike .Immediately arrange a meeting with his superior if you are
not able to handle the situation or find a solution. Many people start looking for a change or quit
immediately after the appraisal process.

This happens because either the doubts are not addressed properly or individuals who have got a decent
hike look for better opportunities outside. Take feedbacks from employees as to what they feel about their
appraisal and whether they are satisfied or not?

HR Policies and Procedures Manual and

Employee Handbook
The HR policies and procedures manual and employee handbook form the backbone of an organization.
These documents consist of all the details regarding the treatment to be given to the employees in the
organization and help the employees in recognizing the culture of the organization. The HR policies and
procedures manual is complied first and thereafter the employee handbook is prepared in conjunction
with the prevailing policies and procedures as laid down in the earlier document.

Such documents clearly define the benefits to be provided to the employee, various procedures as
followed in the organization and the standard of work maintained in the work place. In case there is any
issue from either the side of the employer or the employee, the HR policies and procedures manual and
employee handbook prove the necessary source of information to be adhered to in order to resolve the
issue.

Administration, managers and supervisors can consult these documents from time to time while
formulating various procedures and orders. These documents provide them the details regarding the
company policies and implementation procedures to be followed. The employees can also consult these
documents to acquaint themselves with the organizational policies and procedures regarding various
aspects like leaves’ sanction, different allowances, insurance plans, anti-harassment rules, anti-drugs
rules, etc. The employees’ handbook should contain all such data, pertaining to the employment of the
employees, in complete detail so as to ensure that employees can obtain all the required information in
time.

The HR policies and procedures manual and employee handbook should be prepared with utmost
objectivity and comprehensibly so as to make the documents standard and consistent in
approach, as well as free from any complexity or overlap. This is essential to negate any sort of
differential treatment with the company, and ensure a smooth and conflict-free working within the
organization.
Organizations can hire an HR Consulting Firms for the preparation both or either of the HR policies and
procedures manual and the employee handbook. An HR Consultant can assist the organization in:

 Preparing a new HR policies and procedures manual/ employee handbook for the organization
 Revise certain aspects of the documents or completely revise the HR policies and procedures
manual/employee handbook
 Check the documents for the ever changing legal rules and regulations, and make the necessary
changes
 Audit the existing HR policies and procedures manual and/ or employee handbook to make sure
that the given details provided are relevant to the current industry/market scenario.

The work of the HR Consultant can include covering just one of the document or both, the HR policies
and procedures manual and the employee handbook. Also, as per the requirement of the administration,
the Consultant may be asked to either work upon the entire document or cover just a few policies.

While compiling an HR policies and procedures manual, an HR Consultant should keep in mind the
following important factors:

 Organizational culture
 Legal rules and regulations
 Market trends

While preparing an employee handbook, the Consultant should consider the following:

 HR policies and procedures manual of the organization

 Existing rules and regulations related to the employees in the organization
 Legal compliances
 Industry norms

An HR Consultant, on the call from the organization, may also guide and train the administration and
managers in implementing the policies and procedures properly. Further, the Consultant can also train
the employees in complying with the details as laid down in these two major documents of the
organization.

Thus, by helping the organization with the preparation and updation of the HR policies and procedures
manual and employee handbook of the organization, an HR Consulting Firm facilitates in creating an
environment in the company which is equitable, balanced and free from conflicts.

Managing Downsizing in Organizations

What is Downsizing ?
Downsizing or layoffs is the term used to refer to the practice of firing employees for various reasons in
organizations. These reasons can range from poor performance by the employees, the poor performance
of the organizations in economic downturns that necessitates laying off employees to save costs, and for
disciplinary reasons. There are other reasons as well which include the shuttering or the closing of the
organization.

Whatever be the reason, downsizing is a painful process for both the employees and the
organization and more for the former. Therefore, the Human Resources Function must handle
downsizing with utmost care and caution and with sensitivity.
Payment of Compensation
For instance, when laying off employees, it is usually the case that the organization pays severance
packages and some additional pay to compensate the employee for the sudden event or occurrence of
losing his or her job. Of course, when employees are laid off for disciplinary reasons, there is usually no
severance pay since the employee has violated the code of conduct and hence, is not liable for any
compensation. Having said that, it must also be noted that the law mandates payment of compensation in
the other forms of downsizing. However, the reality is that very few companies follow the law because in
gloomy economic conditions, even the government which is eager to please the businesses does not
really enforce the laws.

Policies and Procedures to Handle Downsizing

In addition, when the employee is informed that he or she is going to be laid off, most organizations have
set policies and procedures to handle such occurrences. It is usually the case that the employee is called
to a meeting with his or her immediate manager and the HR manager along with additional people
depending on the rank and the role of the employee. This meeting is usually tricky for both the employee
and the other attendees since breaking bad news is painful as well as traumatic for the employee.

Downsizings must be Handled with Care

Therefore, it is indeed the case that downsizings have to be handled with utmost sensitivity wherein the
reasons for the layoffs are explained clearly and the employee is given a sympathetic hearing. Moreover,
the organization must also take into account the fact that the employee can sue the company if the
reasons are not convincing enough.

The history of Corporate America is littered with examples of how the HR botched up the downsizing
process which led to the employee(s) taking the organizations to court and in some cases, if the evidence
is strong, winning Multi-Million Dollar lawsuits against the organizations for wrongful termination.

Lack of Communication might Lead to Good Employees Leaving as Well

Now, let us see how downsizing can also lead to exceptional employees leaving the company in case the
organization does not handle the process well. It is the fact that if layoffs are being announced or there
are rumours circulating about them, many employees start to feel jittery and begin looking out for other
jobs.

If the organization does not handle layoffs properly, it is at the risk of losing even those who are not likely
to be downsized. This is because these employees who are good performers would decide that they
would anyway get jobs elsewhere and instead of sticking around in an organization that is on the verge of
economic debilitation, they might as well move jobs. Therefore, any organization that is planning to
downsize must approach the same in a calculated and careful manner.

Downsizing due to Poor Performance of the Employee(s)

Turning to the downsizing related to poor performance of the employees, it must be mentioned that
unless they are given sufficient notice that they have to pull up their socks and ramp up their
performance, the organization might not have sufficient grounds for laying them off.

All organizations have something called a performance improvement plan wherein the employees whose
performance is suspect are told about the same and their performance put on watch. During this period,
they are monitored by their immediate managers along with the HR manager and if they do not improve
even after the mandatory watch period is over, they are then let go with the reasons for the same being
stated clearly and in writing.
Organizations have to be Humane but Firm
As mentioned in the introduction, downsizing is very painful to the employees since their source of
livelihood is being taken away from them. Especially in these gloomy economic times when everyone
wants job security and assured income, downsizing can be extremely traumatic to the employees.
Therefore, it is indeed the case that a humane approach must be adopted so that the employees do not
feel that they have been treated unfairly. Having said that, no organization exists for charity and hence,
they too need to be firm on when to downsize and whom to downsize. These are complex challenges that
need creative and humane approaches and this is where the personality of the HR manager comes into
question since he or she must be responsible and balance the competing needs of the employee and the
organization.

Managing Attrition in Organizations

Reasons for Attrition
Attrition is a fact of life for contemporary organizations. Employees leave organizations for a variety of
reasons including:

 dissatisfaction with pay and benefits,

 lack of job satisfaction,
 problems with their immediate managers,
 relocation to other cities and countries,
 unhappy at being overlooked for promotions, and most importantly,
 for better pay and prospects elsewhere

Indeed, among all the reasons for attrition, the two most important ones are that employees do not
leave the organizations but their managers and those they leave because they are getting a better
pay and better role in other organizations.

Attrition can be Debilitating to the Organizations

Attrition is debilitating for the organizations since they are losing resources that have been trained and are
adept at their jobs. To find replacements for the employees who have left and to train them and bring
them up to speed entails costs for the organizations.

Moreover, attrition is harmful for the morale in the organization since it is infectious meaning that when
people start leaving, it can soon turn into a torrent wherein other employees also leave. In addition, loss
of managers and senior management personnel is extremely painful for the organizations since these
employees who were handling sensitive and critical roles are often responsible for formulating and
executing strategy.

Involuntary Attrition is Good for the Organizations

Having said that, not all types of attrition are harmful for the organizations. For instance, attrition of poor
performers whether voluntary or involuntary makes many managers and HR managers happy as they can
now focus on finding replacements who are more capable and better motivated.

In addition, involuntary attrition which is when organizations ask employees to leave is a type of
attrition that many organizations resort to weed out the poor performers every year. Indeed, some
consultancies and investment banks have policies that mandate firing the bottom 10% of the performers
every year so that the culture of excellence is maintained as well as to send a message to the existing
staff that they need to perform or perish.
Moreover, involuntary attrition is also beneficial to the organizations since they were incurring costs on
the poor performers which can now be utilized for the other employees.

Industry Averages and Comfortable and Problematic Rates of Attrition

In recent years, some organizations have seen unusually high rates of attrition. Some examples would be
Infosys in India and Microsoft in the United States. The rule of thumb for HR managers is that attrition
which is near or below the industry standard is manageable and the problem starts when attrition is above
the industry average.

Typically, most industries have average attrition rates at or between 10-15%. Any figure above this is
considered problematic and the examples cited above had attrition rates that were beyond this figure.
Indeed, when attrition is manageable, the HR managers usually do not mind it since it leads for fresh
energy coming into the organization and deadwood being replaced with green shoots.

Senior Level Attrition

Of course, one must take into account the fact that most technology companies have young professionals
who leave to pursue higher studies and to take sabbaticals for educational and personal reasons. This is
a form of attrition that is again factored into the calculations by the HR professionals.

However, the worst form of attrition and the one which is the most worrying is when senior and middle
level managers leave. The reasons for this can be that they have been overlooked for promotions or they
do not see themselves progressing into the executive and leadership positions. In these cases, the CEO
and the Board often step in to persuade and convince these management figures from leaving.

The At Risk Watch List

In most multinational companies, there is something called the “At Risk” list which the managers prepare
in consultation with the HR managers about employees who are likely to leave in the next quarter. This
list is maintained because the organization has to have a grip on who is likely to leave and hence, backup
plans have to be put in place.

This list is usually prepared periodically and updated regularly to ensure that the managers and the HR
managers have mitigation measures in place to deal with the exits of these employees. Moreover, such
lists also help the organization in preparing for any eventuality when high profile figures in the
organization leave.

Employees Leave Because of their Managers

Finally, as mentioned in the introduction, most employees leave because of differences with their
managers. This means that managers at all levels of the organizational hierarchy are responsible to
handle their team members and direct reports in a professional manner. Indeed, most attrition at the
junior levels happens because these employees and their managers cannot get along well with each
other.

Despite extensive studies that indicate these aspects, sadly not many organizations take steps to correct
this since they feel that the managers are more valuable than the employees who are leaving. While we
do not say that this should stop, we would like to conclude this article with the hope that junior level exits
are taken as seriously as the senior level exits in all organizations.
Rise of the Temp Jobs and the
Freelance/Sharing Economy
The Emerging Uber Economy
Most if not all of us would have heard of the ride sharing cab aggregator Uber. Anyone who has taken a
ride with the associated drivers belonging to Uber would be aware that the cabs and the drivers who work
for the company are not regular full time employees but just about anybody who has a car and has
“signed up” with the company on a part time basis.

This is the business model where unlike in the traditional rent a cab model, Uber works by allowing
anyone to register with them and work for them on a freelance basis. Similarly, this “sharing model” is
now being adopted by other companies such as AirBnB which lets house owners let their spare rooms to
be used as “Bed and Breakfast” motel rooms without necessarily turning their homes into full fledged
hotels.

Further, there are many freelance work sites such as Upwork-Elance, Craigslist, and People per Hour that
“connect” freelancers with potential clients and thereby “facilitate” the exchange of work between buyers
and sellers on a part time basis. Indeed, some estimates suggest that nearly one third of the total
workforce in the United States is now engaged in some form or the other of freelance work.

The Rise of the Temp Economy and its Implications for Workers
This has implications for the upcoming generation of workers who would find that “lifelong employment”
and a stable and secure job are things of the past. Instead the motto for the future is sharing one’s skills
and expertise through online and mobile portals with potential buyers for a fee and where the mode of
working is temporary and devoid of any longer term contractual and stable work arrangements.

Employers Benefit More than the Workers

This trend of increasing instances of employers hiring workers for the shorter term without any longer
term commitments and without having to pay for their healthcare, social security, pensions, and other
benefits that characterize longer term employment means that employers save huge amounts of money.

Further, they can hire according to seasonal demand and whenever a project comes up instead of hiring
employees and keeping them on the “bench” until the projects are finalized. Already employers are saving
on the benefits by hiring temps and added to this is the purely temporary nature of work which results in
savings in areas ranging from idle capacity to easier hiring and firing.

Therefore, this temp economy or the gig economy does indeed benefit the employers and one of the
reasons for employers worldwide pushing for temp work is the very tangible benefits that they get from
this business model.

Goodbye to Stable and Secure Longer Term Employment

On the other hand, things are becoming harder for the workers as they no longer have what is
called as a stable and secure job. Instead, they flit from assignment to assignment and from gig to gig
all the time remaining on the margins. Though employers claim that temp work is priced higher and that
the workers benefit, it is undeniable that competition from lower wage workers from other countries such
as the emerging and the developing countries in Asia and Africa not to leave out Latin America means
that workers in the developed world are being hit by a “double whammy” of lower wages and no secure
and stable work.
Workers Worldwide Better Be Prepared
Indeed, globalization and technological advances means that any employer anywhere can hire workers
for temp work anytime and every time from everywhere. Unless one is talking about purely geography
dependant work such as Uber, most of the work available in the gig economy can be done from
anywhere. While this presents opportunities for workers in the Third World since all they need is a stable
power and internet connection and the ability to work hard as well as be innovative and inventive, the
same cannot be said about workers in the developed world who have to contend with the problems of
lack of permanent employment and to rub it in, the very real prospect of declining wages both in absolute
terms and relative terms.

The emerging temp economy has been variously called the Uber economy and the gig economy and the
reality for workers around the world is that in future job and work are not things that one can take for
granted but instead, one has to work harder and be agile and nimble all the time thereby remaining
competitive. Indeed even workers in the developing world have to be on the lookout for competition from
even lower wage workers from the bottom of the heap. This “race to the bottom” means that unless one is
constantly reinventing oneself, there is no guarantee that one can find work all the time.

How Workers Can Remain Competitive

While it is beyond the scope of this article to analyze the ideological aspects of this emerging economy,
nonetheless the fact remains that what we are witnessing is a transformation of work itself and the way
the “social contract” between workers and employers is being redefined. Therefore, our advice here for
prospective graduates and those entering the workforce is to ensure that they update their skills on a
continuous basis and develops that “X Factor” which would distinguish them from the competition so that
they remain in the reckoning.

On a concluding note, we would also like to point out that all workers everywhere better realize that the
good old days of stable and secure employment are being converted to a ruthless marketplace for
workers where the ability to bid lower, the ability to go beyond customer satisfaction and instead, aim for
customer delight and customer wow are the things that would serve them well in the future.

What is Blind Hiring and Its Implications for

the HR Profession
Recent surveys of Human Resource Managers (HR Professionals) has revealed that there are some
companies that have embraced what is known as Blind Hiring wherein the HR managers specify the
prospective and potential applicants to leave their personal details blank in their applications.

The details such as Name, Gender, Colleges, and Universities Attended, as well as details regarding
personal beliefs and preferences are supposed to be left blank in the applications. Further, the hiring is
supposed to be based on the applicants solving case studies as well as presenting solutions to given
tasks instead of the traditional screening and hiring process wherein the applicants are called for
interviews based on their educational and professional qualifications.

Moreover, the hiring in this case is supposed to be “blind” to the personal details of the
applicants so as to remove any bias or conflict of interest between the hiring team and the applicant
since it is believed that some hiring managers shortlist applicants based on which school or college they
attended as well as based on their location, religion, ethnicity, and other personal details.

Indeed the fact that many hiring managers tend to display the all too human trait and habit of short-listing
applicants based on personal details is the reason and the prime driver behind some companies hiring
applicants based on “blind hiring” practices.
The need for such practices also arises from the fact that almost all organizations have what are known
as “old boys clubs” wherein employees belonging to certain colleges and universities as well as those
belonging to some past employers tend to “get” their classmates, peers, and coworkers from the past
employers into the present workplaces.

Moreover, with the extremely polarized social atmosphere, some companies have found that more often
than not, employees tend to hire those belonging to their religion or ethnicity in addition to hiring
those from their cities and other personal characteristics.

Therefore, it can be said that blind hiring removes all these sources of bias as well as conflicts of interest
and instead, provides the organizations with a hiring method that is transparent and purely based on
merit.

In addition, blind hiring would also obviate the expensive lawsuits and other legal actions against
companies that arise from hiring based on personal details. Apart from this, blind hiring also ensures that
prospective applicants cannot use “back door entry” strategies wherein they “manage” the hiring process
in collusion with insiders and hence, gain unfair advantages over their other applicants.

Having said that, it must be noted that despite the obvious advantages of blind hiring, there are some
disadvantages as well. For one, blind hiring means longer processing times for applications since the
hiring team must devise the appropriate method of assessing and evaluating the candidacy of applicants
either through task based hiring or lengthier interview processes since the hiring team has no knowledge
of the applicants personal and other details and hence, once they are shortlisted based on “objective”
criteria, they must be screened by performing due diligence that can take more time than the traditional
hiring methods.

Moreover, designing case studies and tasks that are to be solved by the applicants means that enough
time must be devoted to each hire as well as coordinating with several managers and teams since the
hiring process is essentially one where the applicant is judged not on past achievements but on how well
he or she solves the task or provides solutions to the case studies.

In addition, given the short staffed HR departments in most organizations, blind hiring increases the
workload as well as introduces additional layers of complexity into the process. of course, the fact
that most hiring is done based on employee referrals is another factor that counts against blind hiring
since such referrals are effectively eliminated or reduced in blind hiring practices.

However, blind hiring might represent the future since many organizations are struggling to hire the right
candidates in the traditional methods since research has shown that candidates who are hired based on
which college they attended or which company they worked are as good or as worse as hiring based on
impersonal methods wherein the applicant is judged not according to their past but based on present
capabilities as well as future potential and contribution to the organization.

Moreover, with research suggesting that employees who are “good interview candidates” might not
always be good employees or be aligned with the roles for which they have been hired. For these
reasons, it would not be surprising if more organizations jump on the blind hiring bandwagon in the
coming years.

Finally, given the various points discussed so far, it is our view that it would be better for
organizations to try blind hiring especially for the junior to middle level positions where the
maximum amount of hiring is done and where the chances of blind hiring succeeding are more.

Moreover, it is absolutely imperative that organizations hire applicants based not on “whom they know” or
“where they studied or worked previously” and more importantly, not based on “which religion or ethnicity”
they belong to but purely based on the capabilities and competencies as well as the expertise and fit
between the applicants and the roles for which they are being hired.
In conclusion, while these are early days for blind hiring to emerge as a mainstream hiring method, there
is no harm in organizations trying this out to ensure greater transparency and accountability into the hiring
process.

How Human Resource Managers should

Manage Ethical Issues and Ensure
Compliance ?
Organizations function according to some norms and values as well as have characteristic organizational
culture that is the product of the above elements. Compliance with ethical norms is an integral aspect of
every employee’s work and organizations strive to ensure that policies are being followed, no norms are
being violated, and above all, employees stick to the rules and regulations governing their employment.

Indeed, given the proliferation of business scandals arising from unethical conduct and unacceptable
behaviour, organizations are even more keen to ensure that such instances of bad behaviour that have
the potential to destroy their reputations, as well as cause monetary losses, and also lead to punitive
actions by the authorities do not happen.

In this context, organizations typically entrust the Human Resource Function with educating the
employees about the ethical norms and rules and regulations. They also task the HR Managers with
ensuring compliance, punishing violations, enforcing the codes of conduct, as well as keeping an eye on
potential break of rules and regulations. Thus, the HR Managers have a pivotal role to play in the overall
organizational ecosystem as far as ethics and values are concerned.

Let us now turn to the specific ways in which the HR Managers function to fulfil their responsibilities and
mandates. Ethics starts from the time the potential employees apply to the organizations as there can be
cases where aspirants “fudge” their resumes as well as hide instances of past violations in other
companies.

Indeed, in some countries, there are laws and rules and regulations which empower organizations
to report such violations not only to the management of their companies but record them in a
centralized database accessed by all firms that have signed up for the service so that potential cheats
can be marked and tagged which would help the entire industry.

Indeed, the pre-selection phase is very important as given the fact that Millions of graduates aspire to be
absorbed into the industry; it is indeed the case that the “Weeding Out” of “ Bad Apples” is done as early
and as soon as possible.

Even during the selection phase, the HR Managers must be on the lookout for possible
misrepresentations of data, wrong information pertaining to the aspirants’ education or previous
employment history in addition to the “gaming the system” aspect which in layman’s words means
aspirants collude with each other and with “insiders” in the organizations so that they are selected through
dubious means.

Next, the primary task of the HR Manager begins when the employees are on-boarded, or the phase
where the selection is made and the employees join the organization and are in the training phase.
Indeed, this is the most critical phase as far as the education of the fresh and the new employees
regarding the organizational policies are concerned.

To take examples, the new recruits must be given the Codes of Conduct and clearly told that any
violations, would result in termination of employment or other punitive actions.
Indeed, some organizations have policies and rules that specify that even minor transgressions such as
claiming inflated expenses and accepting gifts and other favours from external parties to provide benefits
to them are not tolerated. This is the case with many MNCs or Multinational Corporations which take
these violations very seriously.

Turning to the meat of the policies, the most frequent violation is often linked to the practice of violating
the organizational policies.

Some instances of this can be recording attendance for others by swiping their identity and authentication
cards in order to “mask and hide” the time that the other employee clocks in practice; the practice of
using company resources for personal use when such use is explicitly prohibited, impersonating other
employees; and most importantly, using the internet and external network access to transmit confidential
and restricted information and data.

In recent years because of the boom in some sectors, there has been another form of violation wherein
employees approach their colleagues with offers of jobs in other companies, and this is a violation that is
taken very seriously in almost all firms.

Indeed, there are several firms that routinely dismiss the employees when such violations are brought to
their notice. In all these cases, the HR Manager plays a vital role as it is his or her job to not only
monitor such violations but also to enforce the rules and regulations as well as punish
infringements of the rules.

Apart from this, another trend that has been noticed of late is the practice of cyber hacking wherein
employees misuse the confidential information that is given to them as part of normal work by sending it
to external parties, stealing passwords and other personal information and passing them on to dubious
characters, and above all, a tendency to overuse the internet and visit prohibited sites.

Indeed, the problem is so acute that the HR Managers regularly monitor the browsing habits of
employees and keep a check on whether the employees are misusing the facilities.

As can be seen from the discussion so far, there are any number of ethical violations. and we have
covered some of them in this article in addition to detailing how the HR Managers can deal with such
violations. As mentioned in the introductory sections, with the increase in the instances of business
scandals and unethical behaviour, it has become very important for organizations to track violations and
perhaps, ensure that such violations do not happen in the first place by laying down the rules and
enforcing them with an Iron hand.

Issues Related to Human Resource

Management in the Hospitality Sector
Introduction
Human Resource Management is a critical and crucial component or function in any organization and
more so, for organizations in the hospitality sector which thrive on the customer service and other people
related services as part of its USP or Unique Selling Proposition.

Indeed, it can be said that HRM is the key function in the hospitality sector considering that firms
such as Hotels, Tour and Travel Operators, Restaurants, and Holiday Resorts all depend on their
employees as sources of distinctive competitive advantage. Thus, HRM in the Hospitality Sector has
to be practiced well in order to ensure the commercial viability of the firms in the sector.
Issues Related to HRM in the Hospitality Sector
Some of the issues that HR Managers in the Hospitality Sector deal with are related to intercultural
management, people empowerment, and people enabling all of which are very important to ensure that
the employees of firms in the hospitality sector actualize their duties and provide stellar and superlative
customer service.

While in earlier decades, the HRM in the Hospitality Sector focused on personnel management, it is now
the case that SHRM or Strategic Human Resource Management or the treatment of employees as
strategic sources of competitive advantage is the norm in the sector.

Turning to the specific cultural challenges related to intercultural management and cross cultural
communication that HR Managers have to contend with in the hospitality sector, it is a fact that hotels,
airlines, restaurants, tour and travel operators, and the like depend on foreign tourists and travellers from
around the world for their existence as profit making entities.

Thus, there is a need for their employees to bridge the cultural gaps and cross the chasm between
different cultures. Some people mistake cross-cultural management and intercultural communication as
being concerned solely with foreign language proficiency or the ability to converse with the international
guests in their own language.

However, while being multilingual can indeed help employees in the hospitality sector, it goes beyond this
and what is needed is an ethnocentric approach to intercultural management wherein the staff in the firms
in the hospitality sector have to place themselves in the position of their guests and talk to them and
communicate to them from the perspective of the guests’ culture. This means that there is a need for HR
Managers to emphasize the importance of bridging the cultural gap by reaching out to the guests’ that
goes beyond multilingual capabilities.

Some Challenges that HR Managers Face and Possible Approaches

In addition, HR Managers in the hospitality sector often face challenges related to motivation of their
employees. Most jobs in the sector are highly stressful needing constant vigilance and attention from the
employees and hence, there is a high burnout rate in the sector. To avoid high attrition due to stress and
demoralized employees due to fatigue, HR Managers in the sector must come up with innovative and
inventive policies to ensure that employees remain motivated.

Since the job is also a 24/7 one where there is constant rotation of shifts in order to ensure round the
clock service, HR Managers have to rotate duties of the employees in as humane manner as possible so
that the same employees do not end up doing the night shift all the time in addition to being stressed out
because they have been in the shift where the maximum workload takes place.

Some Policy Suggestions for HR Managers in the Hospitality Sector

Thus, there is a need to keep the spirits of the employees high and towards this end; HR Managers
can ensure that they align the rewards with the performance in a manner that brings out the best in their
employees. For instance, paying performance linked bonus and variable pay linked to performance can
help the employees better their performance as is the pay and benefits such as transport to drop the
employees home (especially women and those working in the night shift), weekly offs so that employees
get a chance to relax and unwind in addition to job rotation and role rotation so that employees learn new
skills and become adept at managing the entire hospitality value chain.

Indeed, some of these policies are already being tried out in many international hotels and tour and travel
operators where such policies are being implemented based on extensive research into the high-
performance attributes of employees in the hospitality sector. Moreover, such policies also ensure that
employees do not jump ship frequently or in other words, high attrition which is the hallmark of the sector
can be avoided.

Conclusion: It is Important to Walk the Talk and Practice What One Preaches
In addition, the current trends in the hospitality sector indicate the need for global thinking and local
execution for the HR Managers wherein they do not dilute the global brand image of their firms and yet,
do not neglect the local ways of doing things. Indeed, this is a very important requirement for employees
in the hospitality sector as the industry is highly globalized and at the same time, depends on highly
specialized localized forms of execution.

Lastly, it is one thing to preach and theorize and it is another thing to actually practice what one preaches
and walk the talk. Thus, HR Managers in the hospitality sector would well remember the fact that unless
their actions match their words and unless the policies are actually implemented, the employees are more
likely to see through the disconnect between talk and reality. To conclude, HR Managers in the hospitality
sector face umpteen challenges, and it is the way in which they deal with such challenges that determine
the end results.

Human Resource Management in the Times

of Emerging Digital Economy
Introduction: HRM in the Industrial and the Post-Industrial Eras
The field of HRM or Human Resource Management has evolved from the time HR managers were
primarily responsible to settling labour disputes and taking care of payroll during the Industrial Era to the
time where they were primarily tasked with enabling performance, empowering employees, and providing
overall “soft skills support” to employees in the Post-Industrial Era where services firms predominated the
global economy.

Indeed, HRM which started out as an ancillary and auxiliary function in the manufacturing era evolved to
a core function and a source of competitive advantage in the services era. This evolution has
necessitated several changes in the way the field of HRM operated and continues to operate to this day.

HRM in the Emerging Digital Economy

Having said that, HRM is again at a crossroads and an inflection point with the emergence of the digital
economy where sharing economy paradigms and the so-called “gig economy” wherein workers and
employees are part time and the model of work is fluid and flexible means that there is yet another
evolutionary leap to be taken for the field of HRM.

Indeed, with the emergence of firms such as Uber, AirBnB, Task Rabbit, Amazon, and Upwork that
provide freelance jobs and contractual employment and where the pay is based on per task basis rather
than a monthly consolidated amount, HR managers have to keep pace with the changes in the broader
economy and evolve accordingly.

This calls for some adjustment and even a radical overhaul in the way the field of HRM operates. For
instance, HR managers in any of the Digital Economy firms typically are involved in the initial
screening and pre-employment interviews and formulation and finalization of the contractual
obligations and terms and conditions for the workers. Further, HR managers in the sharing economy
are more concerned with the Digital Interface model of engagement rather than face to face model of
engagement.
Some Examples of HRM in Digital Economy Firms
Take the example of a sharing economy firm such as Uber. Once the contractual Drivers are on-boarded,
the HR managers interact with them through the App based and Virtual Interfaces rather than meeting
them in person.

Though some firms in the Digital Economy do make it a point to invite their employees for in-person
interactions from time to time, most firms such as UpWork and Task Rabbit rely on “armies of globally
dispersed” employees where the possibility of even interaction through Skype or Video is remote let alone
face to face and in person interaction.

This means that HR managers in these firms should be conversant with the way the Digital Economy
works and understand what it takes for businesses in this paradigm to succeed. Therefore, HRM as a
field has to evolve from being physical bound to a new model where Digital and Virtual modes of people
management are the norms.

Thus, as mentioned earlier, HRM now faces the prospect of a “paradigm shift” in the way it has to be
practiced and in the way HR mangers operate.

Returning to the example of Uber and AirBnB, HR managers in these firms have to typically manage the
contractual workforce and address their grievances related to low pay, lack of orders, shift timings and
managing workload, and deal with regulatory concerns.

Indeed, if events over the past year are any indication, most sharing economy firms are spending much of
their time dealing with these concerns and in particular, the “grey areas” between their business models
and the prevailing regulatory frameworks rather than on people management or what were earlier the
main concerns of firms in the Industrial and even the Post-Industrial Era.

Fundamental Shift in the Nature of Work and Employment

The point to be noted here is that the Digital Economy and the Sharing Economy represent a significant
break with the past wherein the very nature of work has changed and indeed, the concept of what work is
and how it is performed has also changed.

Moreover, taken together with globalization, the emergence of the Digital Economy means that the firms
are located in one jurisdiction, the freelancers (one should be careful when using the term employees
since the sharing economy firms work on the concept of digital labour and not physical labour) are
dispersed globally, and the firms themselves operate 24/7 across time zones.

Thus, HR managers now have to learn to deal with challenges such as complying with regulatory
requirements across the world and where laws and rules differ from location to location. Meanwhile, the
primary concern of HR managers has to be that they have to manage a dispersed workforce wherein the
interface and the intersection between globalization and localization mean that Glocal or the merging of
Global and Local modes of engagement are the norms rather than the exception.

For instance, HR managers in any of the Digital Economy firms have to contend with freelancers in one
location being affected by purely local events and at the same time, the common rules of global
engagement have to be tweaked to suit the local conditions.

Conclusion: A New Social Contract

Finally, workers in the Digital Economy who are hired on a freelance basis neither have benefits such as
healthcare or pension and social security and hence, HR managers have to deal with this aspect as well
wherein the fundamental nature of engagement between the employer and employee has been radically
altered to the point where one can no longer rely on past definitions to guide the present terms of
engagement. Indeed, it can be said that there is a new “social contract” between the employers and the
employees and this is something that the field of HRM and the HR managers in the Digital Economy firms
have to contend with.

Human Resource Management in the Age of

Acceleration
Welcome to the Age of Acceleration
We live in times when speed is of the essence, and the ability to be ultra fast (in any sphere of life and
business as well as work and society) is the defining characteristic of success.

Indeed, the times have speeded up so much that responses to events are no longer timed on the basis of
days and weeks, but, on the basis of hours and minutes and even seconds.

For instance, the ever present and ever powerful chatter of Twitter Feeds and Facebook Posts means
that professionals and laypersons alike are expected to respond to evolving and changing events and
trends almost instantaneously without pausing to check the consequences or the repercussions from both
the events as they happen in real time and their responses which are equally fast.

Impact of Quickness on the HR Function

This means that no business function or organization is exempt from the constant pinging and constant
chatter that distracts as well as necessitates responses.

Thus, the HRM or the Human Resource Management Function is equally caught up in the
acceleration of business and life. This means that HR professionals are under stress to deliver results
the outcomes of which are instantaneous as opposed to being spread out over months and years.

Take, for instance, hiring, and recruitment. While the advent of the IT or the Information Technology
Sector and the Financial Services sector compressed the hiring cycles to quarters and months, the
present age of acceleration has further compressed it to days and weeks.

Indeed, even during the IT boom, HR managers were expected to fill positions within a quarter or a month
and even this was considered too hectic by many old timers among the HR professionals hitherto used to
hiring cycles that were more elaborate.

This resulted in the dilution of the quality of the talent that was being hired by many IT and Services
sector firms as there was simply not enough time to perform due diligence on all aspects of the
candidates being hired including and not limited to their technical and communication abilities but also
their backgrounds and other vital checks.

Acceleration Then and Now

While many organizations learned to live with such shortcomings during the 1990s and the 2000s, the
situation now has changed both qualitatively and quantitatively wherein talent is expected to be hired and
on-boarded in weeks.

Indeed, the other aspect here is that due to the constrained economic situation, many organizations are
paring down their bench strengths so that they do not incur overheads and at the same time, make
optimal use of the existing resources.
 This has led to a double whammy where positions and vacancies arise quickly, and the HR professionals
are expected to fill them even more quickly while being unable to tap the bench leading to a situation
where everyone is under pressure to act and deliver results.

Further, with the rise of temping and short duration positions, HR professionals are expected to give their
assent to recruits and talent as soon as possible since the talent being hired is either on a temporary
basis or on contractual and vendor based positions that do not require extensive vetting.

When Everything Happens Now and As Of Yesterday

Having said that, this is also a situation where the HR managers cannot simply take anyone who comes
along as that might jeopardize the interests of the organizations.

Thus, the contemporary HR professional is caught in a bind wherein the pressure to fill positions quickly
is doubled by the need to do a thorough if not basic vetting.

In addition, the performance appraisal and evaluation cycles have also shortened leading to more stress
on the HR professionals as they have to cope with the increased workload and the stress and strain.

Indeed, when everything happens “Now” and when the HR professionals are expected to deliver
results “As of Yesterday”, no wonder the burnout rate among this class of professionals’ ranks
with that of the Investment Bankers and Doctors.

Moreover, with feedback related to job performance and other attributes being sought as soon as the task
or the quarterly review is completed, the entire organizational ecosystem has to be geared towards
operating on a continuous and round the clock basis.

The Promise and the Perils of the Current Age for the HR Profession
Having said that, this does not mean that one should not take up HR as a profession anymore. On the
contrary, HR professionals now have more autonomy and options before them when compares to the
earlier decades.

For instance, the Age of Acceleration has meant that HR professionals now have more control over their
functions and jobs as organizational resources are divided in such a way that line managers and rank and
file employees focus on their core competencies leading to the HR function being left to the pure play HR
professionals instead of excessive interference.

Moreover, the HR professionals have more options related to hiring and firing as the former are aided by
a Phalanx of tools that give them more choices and channels for hiring and the latter are made easier by
the liberalization of labor laws and regulations that give organizations greater power over downsizing and
layoffs.

On the other hand, this has also led to some situations wherein excessive too quick firing has been
challenged in the courts and at the same time, hiring with more autonomy has not necessarily led to
better quality of talent.

To conclude, there are opportunities and challenges for the contemporary HR professionals, and hence,
the success or failure of these professionals depends to a large degree on how they have mastered the
art of quickness and have developed the ability to maintain a Zen like calmness in the face of constant
distraction.

1. How to Manage Star Performers and High Achievers

How to Manage Star Performers and High
Achievers
What do the Terms Star Performers and Fast Trackers Mean?
In every organization, some employees are designated as Star Performers and Fast Trackers by the
Managerial and the Human Resources Professionals. The term Fast Trackers refers to the internal
classification of some employees who are expected to move faster up the hierarchy than other employees
based on their performance and abilities as well as the specialized leadership traits they exhibit.

In addition, some employees might be designated as Star Performers based on their appraisals and technical
acumen and the categorization of employees as either Star Performers or Fast Trackers or both is based on a
Matrix of factors such as the ones listed above.

Managing the Star Performers and the Fast Trackers

Thus, the Human Resource Managers often advise the managers of such brilliant employees on ways and
means to ensure that such performers are nurtured and encouraged to scale new heights and are also kept in
good humor by way of bonuses and other perks so that they do not leave the organization.

Indeed, in some Multinationals, it is common for the high performers to be given paid vacations as well
as access to premium clubs and other benefits such as funding their children’s education and otherwise,
ensuring that such performers feel wanted and hence, continue to perform better and sustain their
performance.

HR Managers must be Cautious in their Approach to Star Performers and Fast

Trackers
Having said that, it is also the case that HR professionals must tread carefully when advising the managers on
how to manage the star performers since too much adulation can get to their heads and thus, they can
become complacent or worse, arrogant and take the organization for granted.

Indeed, the history of modern corporates is littered with examples of Prima Donnas and Star Performers who
have gone on to flout ethical and normative rules resulting in such corporates being hauled up by the
regulators and consequently, leading to loss of brand image and monetary loss as well.

Apart from this, too much focus on Start Performers can lead to other employees being disgruntled or de-
motivated, and this can lead to attrition as well as a general dip in the morale of the workforce.

Moreover, Mollycoddling the Star Performers can lead to dissatisfaction among the other Star Performers due
to competition for limited places at the top.

In other words, not only can those performers who are doing well though not superlative being demoralized, it
can also lead to unhealthy competition among the Fast Trackers for promotions and a shot at the top job and
this can result in boardroom battles as well as jostling for senior management and executive positions.

Manage High Performers by Targeting their Specific Technical and Personal

Competencies
Thus, it is clear that the HR managers must take all these aspects into account when dealing with the Star
Performers. To ensure optimal utilization of all resources and to ensure that Star Performers continue to
sustain their performance, it becomes necessary for HR Managers to first identify the specific leadership traits
and for the managers to identify the specific technical and personal competence.

Once, the evaluation is done, it becomes easier for the organizations to decide on appropriate roles and assign
key responsibilities accordingly.

For instance, HR Theory states that we have a composite need matrix comprising a Need for Achievement,
Need to be a People’s Person, and a Need for Power and hence, the HR managers must first identify which of
these needs as well as the combination of needs do the Star Performers have and then manage them
accordingly.

If a particular Fast Tracker has a Need for Achievement, then he or she must be placed in roles that provide
them with an opportunity to showcase their technical brilliance and shine in such roles.

Likewise, if such employees have a Need for being a People’s Person, then he or she is better suited for
People Management and Leadership roles that require such skills. On the other hand, a great need for Power
can mean that such employees must be handled with care lest they become power hungry and destabilize the
organization.

Reward and Incentive Structure Based on Personality Traits

Apart from this, the HR Managers must also focus on the Reward and Incentive Structure that would
encourage the Star Performers and Nurture the Fast Trackers. Some of such Uber Achievers are motivated
intrinsically meaning that they derive motivation from their internal need for technical and managerial
excellence.

On the other hand, some of such high performers derive their motivation and drive from the external
environment where money and the need for approval from others are paramount and key to their success.

It follows from this that the former group of employees must be given challenging tasks that test their mettle
and reward them accordingly whereas the latter group of employees must be given roles where they manage
other people and are driven by the overall sense of satisfaction they get from seeing their fellow employees or
those who report to them succeed.

Both categories of employees must be rewarded monetarily, and the key difference or distinction here is to do
with the kinds of roles and the type of work they are assigned.

Conclusion
Lastly, it goes without saying that any Star Performer or Fast Tracker has to contend with the Bell Curve
method of performance evaluation as well as the very real limit on how high they can go up the hierarchy since
the Pyramidal nature of organizations means that only a few can get to the top, and only one can make to the
CEO or Chief Executive Officer position. To conclude, the way in which the Management and the HR
Professionals manage the Star Performers and Fast Trackers would determine the overall levels of
organizational success.

Actualizing a High Trust Organization

Entities of People cannot Survive without Trust
Trust is the lubricant that drives organizations, nations, and the global community. Without trust, it is
impossible for any entity to perform even at the base level.
Considering the fact that all entities are primarily made up of people, it is important for the
individuals in any organization, nation, or the global community to trust each other and
themselves to get the work done.

Indeed, not only is trust between people is necessary for the success of any endeavor, it is also essential
for any entity to even exist.

The recent events in some Indian corporates such as Infosys and the TATA group illustrate how even
venerable and reputed organizations known for their Corporate Governance standards can run into rough
weather when trust within the organization and with the external stakeholders breaks down.

What is a High Trust Organization?

Thus, building, maintaining, and sustaining trust are essential, and it is one of the central tenets of Human
Resource Management (HRM) theory to actualize such organizations that have a High Trust Quotient
within them.

This means that HR professionals have the task of building trust, and more importantly, maintaining and
sustaining it so that organizations continue to thrive in the Uber competitive marketplace.

While many factors determine whether a particular organization is a High Trust or Low Trust one, the key
aspect is the organizational culture which needs to encourage trust between the employees and
the organizational stakeholders and within the employees as well.

Organizational Culture Defines Implicit and Explicit Trust

Organizational Culture is the codified and implicit set of rules or codes of conduct by which organizations
operate and hence, the way in which organizational culture is defined, maintained, and upheld is indeed
important for organizations to function.

As can be seen from the definition given above, every organization and HR Function with clear
instructions from the Senior Management and Executive leadership codifies some rules or codes of
conduct that determine how employees must behave and act in their interactions with each other and with
the larger organizational ecosystem.

Thus, it is contingent upon the HR function to first assist the stakeholders in defining the rules, and then
ensuring that such rules are consistently maintained and enforced, and perhaps, the most important
aspect here is that such codes of conduct must be upheld meaning that during times of crisis, the HR
function must indeed “Walk the Talk” or must back up words with action.

Written and Unwritten Rules of Conduct

Also, every organization has an informal set of rules and codes of conduct that are implied and implicit,
which means that employees who work in organizations “know what it takes to act according to the
unwritten rules”.

Indeed, in the same manner in which social interactions between individuals are governed by spoken and
unspoken rules of conduct, so do organizations have codes of conduct that are both formal and informal
or written and codified and unwritten and implicit.

The task before the HR function is to ensure that both explicit and implicit codes of conduct are aligned to
the central aim of the key imperative of maintaining trust between the employees and the organizational
ecosystem and between and within the employees.
The Impact of Culture on Trust
A key challenge for any HR professional is to ensure that Cultural Factors and Socio-Cultural Influences
do not come in the way of actualizing a High Trust organization.

To explain, trust is as much a function of personality as it is about the societal culture in which the
people come from.

Thus, as many sociologists have pointed out, most Western nations are implicitly High Trust ones, and
while developing countries do have High Trust cultures, it is often the case that due to the diversity of
such cultures, there are challenges arising from cultural norms as far as building and maintaining trust is
concerned.

This means that HR professionals in Low Trust cultures have the additional task of ensuring that cultural
attributes do not affect the organizational norms related to maintaining and upholding trust between the
employees and the larger ecosystem.

Response to Organizational Crises Determines whether they are High Trust or

Low Trust
In this context, it is worthwhile to refer to the examples of the TATA group and Infosys which were
mentioned in the beginning of this article.

Both these organizations have faced problems in recent times mainly due to the clash of cultures
between the old and the new or the founders and the outsiders wherein trust between these sets of
individuals broke down since each group had different notions of how trust operates in specific contexts.

Indeed, both these organizations are reputed for their High Trust organizational culture, and it is was
indeed consternating to witness the unseemly spectacle of the very public spat between each group and
the boardroom battles that arose from breaking down of trust between those groups.

Lastly, as has repeatedly been mentioned throughout this article, High Trust organizations also ensure
that trust is upheld in times of crisis and hence, this is where the senior leadership and the HR
professionals come into play when organizational crises happen.

Conclusion
Indeed, the necessity of maintaining trust is complemented by the behavior of the leadership during crises
when it becomes necessary to return to “First Principles” or the Raison D’être of Existence which when
translated into plain English means the core of what it means to work for such organizations.

To conclude, in the same manner in which personal crises threaten the character of individuals and how
they respond is indicative of their personality, organizational crises impact the core trust or the glue that
binds the organization, and hence, how the leadership responds determines whether the Trust Quotient
has broken down or is very much in existence.
HRM Strategies for an Increasingly Complex,
Uncertain, and Volatile World
Need for HRM Strategies to Change with the Times
Given the volatility and uncertainty that characterize the present day world which is also increasingly
becoming more complex, the HRM or the Human Resource Management strategies need to change with
the times.

For instance, conventional recruitment and training strategies are heavily oriented towards hiring science
and finance professionals and then training them on soft skills as well as other life skills.

However, given the fact that the basic education in finance or management does not include courses in
humanities such as political science and sociology as well as some amount of literature and other art
courses, contemporary firms must ensure that they recruit people with such skills.

Why Including Humanities in the Skill Matrix Helps

This is because the grounding in humanities often provides graduates with the ability to deal with
ambiguity and complexity as political science teaches us how to handle situations involving multiple
actors with competing agendas as well as overlapping priorities.

In addition, grounding in humanities also teaches graduates the ability to think laterally instead of linear
thinking alone which the domain of management studies is.

Indeed, in times when exponential change is the order of the day, it makes sense for firms to hire
graduates in humanities apart from their usual hiring of management and commerce majors.

We do not recommend hiring arts and humanities majors and then expect them to perform according to
the requirements of the roles that they are assigned.

Rather, what we are saying is that there should be some shift towards either recruiting humanities majors
with some exposure to management or ensuring that management majors have some grounding in
finance and management.

While this might sound nonsensical to most HR Managers and leaders of leading firms, it is also the case
that many Wall Street firms in recent years have begun to make this shift.

Moreover, the fact that exposure to geopolitics is essential in a globalized world where business decisions
now include geopolitical calculations; this is another area where contemporary HR Managers can indeed
fine tune their recruitment strategies.

Also, it would be better for contemporary firms to train fresh as well as existing employees on a gamut of
skills instead of focusing narrowly on specific skills that are deemed critical to the job.

In other words, the volatile and unpredictable world needs people with the ability to sense the
pulse of undercurrents and the trends that shape the world. What better than train employees on
how to detect fast changing situations and be on top of the emerging trends that require a combination of
data driven skills as well as an intimate understanding of human nature which the humanities provide.
Need for Business Schools and Universities to Step up to the Occasion
Having said that, it is also not the case that firms alone should change their recruitment and training
strategies.

On the contrary, there is a role to play for business schools, and indeed, all universities wherein they offer
courses on a broad range of disciplines rather than offer courses on data based decision making or pure
humanities alone.

This means that the education sector too needs to change its attitudes towards broadening the skills of
their graduates.

In this context, it is worthwhile to note a few of the leading business schools in the United States and Asia
have woken up to this fact and are ensuring broad based education rather than narrow specializations.

However, some of the premier business schools in India were much ahead of the curve and offered a
wide variety of courses only to face resistance from several quarters who questioned whether they were
management schools or humanities colleges.

All Stakeholders Must Come Together

This means that old habits die hard and hence, it would be better for all stakeholders to come together to
partner with each other and ensure that the managers of the future have the necessary skills.

This calls for greater academia industry linkages wherein each is in tune with the requirements of the
other as well as cognizant of the limitations of each.

In addition, business schools must rework their executive management programs that run for a few weeks
or months instead of more elaborate programs that have the time for the executives to refresh themselves
and acquire new skills in the process.

There is also a role for the governments in this aspect, and this relates to allocating funds and
encouraging such broad based skill education to the extent that they can subsidize some of the costs
along with corporates and other stakeholders such as philanthropists.

Quants Nearly Crashed the Global Economy which was Rescued by the Quals
The point that we are making in this article is that the modern day business landscape is radically
different from what it was even a few decades ago and hence, there needs to be a Renaissance in the
way HRM is practiced regarding broad skill development rather than narrow specialization.

While we are not arguing against the latter, it needs to be kept in mind that the so-called Quants or the
Math wizards in Wall Street nearly crashed the entire global economy in 2008 and the rescue of which
happened because of the politicians who were grounded in the humanities who sensed the pulse better
than the bankers.

To conclude, while pure managerial skills are paramount, there is also a need for broad basing the
curriculum, HRM strategies, as well as the attitudes towards those who are perceived as merely being
artsy or intellectual with no quantitative abilities.
How Human Resource Managers can deal
with Difficult Employees
Introduction
One of the key challenges that HR (Human Resource) Managers face in any organization is how they
respond to employees violating organizational policies and plain disgruntled employees who are angry
with their appraisals and consequent pay hikes and bonuses.

Indeed, how astutely and adroitly the HR Managers deal with such employees determines their
competency and the maturity of not only them but also the organization.

It is also the case that every organization has its share of “difficult” employees and hence, how
well the HR professionals rise to the challenge of dealing with them is of paramount importance.

Violations of Organizational Policies

To start with, most organizations do not take kindly to employees who violate their organizational policies.

These violations can range from as simple as using the official internet access for personal work, as
medium as filing incorrect expense claims, and as severe as sexual harassment and outright violation of
the organizational rules governing ethics.

Also, there are the everyday cases of employees who are not happy with their managers and hence,
complain to the HR Managers about issues ranging from dissatisfaction with their present role to that of
protesting the low bonuses or inadequate pay hikes.

Response of the HR Manager

Thus, each of these challenges requires a different response and involvement of other stakeholders that
can range from the immediate manager to the topmost executive. For instance, if an employee is found to
be using the official internet access for personal work, then he or she can be warned by the HR Manager,
and at the same time, the employee’s immediate manager informed about the transgression.

In these cases, the employee typically is kept on watch, and his or her browsing activities monitored for
compliance or otherwise. In most cases, such employees cease their activities and fall in line with the
organizational rules.

In cases where it does not happen, the HR Manager has to take a call about more serious action against
the employee, and this is where the GPM or the Group Project Manager comes into the picture. In our
experience in the corporate world, we have found that some employees are also fired for these
transgressions since the need to maintain organizational discipline overrides other concerns such as the
performance of the employee and his or her value to the organization.

The Central Theme of this Article

Indeed, the key theme that this article is examining is how far the organization would go in maintaining
compliance with organizational rules, and there are cases of employees who are fired for even apparently
simple things as filing wrong expense claims since most organizations place a premium on ethical
conduct and integrity of their employees.
In addition, there are instances where even if the immediate manager was tolerant, the HR Manager drew
the line and insisted that the employee has to go. Indeed, it is a fact that most HR Managers are often
hired and expected to uphold organizational norms and rules and also ensure that violations are
punished.

Real World Examples

Turning to the more serious cases of sexual harassment and gross ethical violations such as misuse of
company facilities for personal pleasure and other transgressions such as cooking up the resume, most
organizations fire the concerned employees on the spot and at the same time, after building up a strong
case against them lest the fired employee takes legal action alleging unfair dismissal.

Indeed, in our experience, we have come across an employee of a leading firm using the company
guesthouse for his partner and himself by wrongly stating that they are married. In this case, after the
preliminary inquiry and the subsequent investigation found that the employee had indeed committed the
transgression and violated the organizational norms, the employee was fired immediately.

In all these cases, it is usually the HR Manager who is in charge of the investigation along with the Chief
Compliance Officer and the dedicated committee that is set up to determine offense and punishment.
Indeed, most organizations do not leave any scope for the line managers to take decisions regarding
dismissal and it is usually these stakeholders who decide in such cases.

In these times when sexual harassment has become a serious issue, no organization is willing to brook
such acts of harassment and discrimination, and this is the reason all leading organizations have
dedicated committees set up for the purpose of investigating such claims.

Indeed, the laws now demand that all organizations have a committee that is comprised of both external
and internal representatives wherein along with in-house staff and the HR Managers, there are external
individuals representing NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) working in the field of women’s rights
and other experts drawn from individuals working in the same fields.

Conclusion: HR Managers are expected to be Law Enforcers

Lastly, the way in which the HR Manager deals with these cases of violations and transgressions speaks
volumes about his or her capability and skill. As mentioned in the introduction, how adroitly and how
astutely the HR Manager responds and reacts to the situation makes a difference to the organization. In
most cases, the HR Manager is expected to behave as a law enforcer wherein his or her job is to ensure
that the organizational policies are enforced and norms upheld at all costs and this attitude reflects in the
way most organizations expect their HR Managers to override the line managers.

To conclude, all organizations need to enforce discipline and compliance with their rules, and the HR
Manager plays a critical and crucial role in this respect.

Why Human Resource Management Must

Change for the Coming Robotics Revolution
The Coming Automation and Robotics Revolution
Many experts have predicted that the robotics revolution and automation trends are coming sooner than
you think and why it is time for organizations to prepare for the invasion of the robots and artificial
intelligence.
In a scenario where nearly 60% of the jobs would be lost to automation and robots, it is indeed the case
that the field of HRM or Human Resource Management must prepare for the massive job losses as
well as the necessity to re-skill and retrain the workforce.

Thus, it is no longer an if, but, when robots start taking away jobs and hence, it is contingent on the HR
Managers to change accordingly.

Managing Downsizing and Firing of Workers

To start with, losing one’s job is always painful and traumatic and with the added aspect of automation, it
is very much possible for the employees who have been downsized to feel depressed and unwanted.

Indeed, the fact that automation is like a “slap in the face” for older workers who are unable or even
unwilling to learn new skills means that HR Managers would have a tough time in handling involuntary
exits.

The term involuntary exit refers to the downsizing and hiring of workers wherein they are made to leave or
exit the company against their will.

The least that the HR Managers can do in these circumstances is to offer office facilities for the laid-off
workers to find other jobs as well as negotiate a generous severance package for them.

In addition, the HR Managers must also prepare themselves for some tough bargaining by the workers
who might even sue the organization for firing workers on flimsy pretexts. Indeed, this is what is
happening in India right now where IT (Information Technology) industry employees are being fired in the
hundreds and thousands, and some of whom have gone to court to protest the layoffs.

Retraining the Workforce

Apart from that, firing workers is not the only problem that the HR Managers have to contend with.

They also have to envisage a scenario wherein top performers and the best employees in the
organization are re-skilled and retrained instead of being let go.

In other words, if the employees are valuable to the organization and hence, firing them is the last option,
the key challenge, in this case, is to upgrade their skills and enhance their performance through value
addition.

Thus, it becomes incumbent upon the HR Managers to devise retraining and re-skilling programs so that
employees move up the value chain.

In this context, it is worthwhile to note that retraining and re-skilling of employees can be done through
customized training programs where the HR Managers have to take a call in conjunction with the
Immediate Managers to identify the employees as well as design training programs based on the need
analysis and the identification of gaps between current skills and required skills.

It is this aspect that calls for adroit and adept personal and professional skills for the HR Managers to
respond to automation and robotics revolutions.

The Field of HRM would Change in Fundamental Ways

Another aspect of the coming robotics revolution is the fact that the HR Profession would change in
fundamental ways wherein the HR Managers would have to prepare to manage robots instead of human
beings.
While this might sound like science fiction, if robots replace workers on the factory floor, how do the HR
Managers respond or react when they have to manage machines? This is a question that does not have
satisfactory answers at this point, and all we can hope is that some management expert or thought leader
would come up with a solution to this.

Moreover, automation and robotics also lead to changes in the way the HR Function works, and with the
downsizing of rank and file employees, there is also a chance that the HR Staff would be made redundant
since routine processes can be automated, and robots replace the personnel.

Indeed, given that technology has already made many HR Staff redundant means that the next wave of
automation wherein robots takes the place of nonessential personnel means that there is a need to
rethink the very concept of an HR Professional.

The key point to note in all this is that just like computerization made the workers migrate to higher value
adding activities, robotics, and automation would also ensure that lower value-adding activities are
automated.

Thus, the central challenge for any professional or organization is how to move up the value chain, and
this is where the field of HRM can answer these questions by formulating new theories and revisiting
existing theories. After all, capitalism is built around value addition, and we contend that sooner or later,
the teething problems associated with automation and robotics would be resolved.

Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Lastly, the field of HRM has been on an evolutionary path since the manufacturing era and then, the
services era.

Thus, it is clear that there needs to be another evolutionary leap to deal with the challenges of automation
and robotics so that there is a win-win situation for all stakeholders and not only employers.

The fact that the search for profits means that employers would always find the most cost-effective ways
to get work done should serve as a signpost to the future for HR Professionals.

To conclude, HR Managers must prepare for not only job losses and retraining but also a fundamental
change in the way their profession operates to compete in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution.

How Silicon Valley Firms are Implementing

Innovative Human Resources Policies
In recent years, many Information Technology and Software firms in the Silicon Valley area have been
implementing innovative Human Resources (HR) policies that are aimed at creating an engaging
workplace culture and actualizing a work environment that is fulfilling and rewarding. Starting with flexible
work and employment arrangements and including, among other measures such as allowing employees
to work on their pet projects for a few days every month, to the recent policies wherein they can bring
their children and even pets to work as a means of de-stressing and unwinding.

While Silicon Valley firms were always known for their employee-friendly policies, what is different in
recent years has been the business need to be competitive and productive in a market landscape that is
cutthroat and extremely difficult without their employees contributing the fullest. Indeed, the IT and
Software Industry is based on a business model where employees are sources of sustainable competitive
advantage and are viewed as assets and the key intellectual capital that the firms possess. Thus, it
makes sense for the Silicon Valley firms to implement HRM policies that are known to be people-centric
as defined in the theoretical model of SHRM or Strategic Human Resource Management.
Apart from that, with intensifying competition between the Big Five of Tech, or the five firms such as
Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft that dominate the tech industry, these firms have to
have human resources that are optimally used. Indeed, given the fact that technology is accelerating
exponentially, it is indeed a dire necessity for these firms to stay ahead of the technology and
innovation curve. Thus, this calls for extremely innovative and inventive practices in the
workplace which is what the Silicon Valley firms are doing.

For instance, Google allows its employees to work on projects of their choice every month for a few days
which means that the creative and innovative pursuits that employees have are nurtured and encouraged.
Moreover, it is sometimes mentioned that important breakthroughs such as Chrome Browser and other
plug-ins have been the result of these initiatives which place Google in a strong position to compete with
other tech firms. In addition, Google also has a policy wherein employees are encouraged to bring their
children and even pets to work wherein the offices have crèches and pet holding areas which create an
atmosphere of familiarity and congeniality for the employees.

Indeed, Silicon Valley firms have been the pioneers in creating a workplace culture that is
collegiate in nature wherein the atmosphere and the workplace are akin to that of campuses and
colleges from which the youthful workforce is drawn from. It can be said that given the composition
of the workforce which is predominantly under thirty, there is a business need as well to ensure that free-
flowing ideas and innovation thrive among the employees. Thus, this has resulted in a situation where
most Silicon Valley firms pride themselves on their ability to attract and retain top-tier talent from
campuses and universities.

Further, the dress down policy that allows employees to come to work in casual attire has been another
feature of Silicon Valley firms in their quest to create a workplace culture that is informal. Also, employees
are encouraged to participate in a creative dialogue about the workplace culture and the organizational
policies as well through Electronic Bulletin Boards and Town Halls where the founders often interact
directly with the employees to understand their grievances and needs as well as to seek feedback on how
the workplace can be made better.

In recent months, Silicon Valley has been shaken by controversies about gender discrimination and
harassment based on minority categorization which means that maybe it is time for them to rethink some
of the assumptions that underlie their belief that all is well as far as workplace culture is concerned. What
has ignited the debate about these issues is that after the election of President Trump, most
organizations and not only the Silicon Valley firms are finding it difficult to create a workplace that is not
ideologically polarized and which is free from partisan debates.

Thus, it is imperative that the Top Management of firms such as Google and Facebook along with Apple
address the issues raised by some employees and ensure that they regain the tag of being organizations
where creativity and innovativeness thrive. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, organizations across the United
States and elsewhere as well are finding it hard to control the partisan debates and politically loaded
comments from employees and this means that maybe it is time for HR Managers across Corporate
America and especially the Silicon Valley firms to engage with others in the industry on ways and means
to detoxify the workplace.

Lastly, Silicon Valley firms also operate in a “bubble” meaning that it is easy for employees
working in those companies to be divorced from the realities of the majority of Americans who are
not as well paid or as well looked after like them. Thus, it is our view that Silicon Valley firms should
take the lead in anticipating future societal challenges in the same way it is known and famous for being
ahead of the future. To conclude, with the Smartphone and Computing revolution, the Big Five have a
golden opportunity to reshape the workplace of the future and ensure that they remain innovative through
their HR policies.
Effective HRM Strategies to Smoothen and
Sweeten the Downsizing and the Layoff
Process
Exits, Whether Voluntary Or Involuntary, are Inevitable
Organizations let go of employees for a variety of reasons. While voluntary exits or those employees who
leave organizations to seek greener pastures elsewhere are at one of the spectrum in terms of process
and the HR (Human Resource) strategies used, involuntary exits where employees are made to resign for
indiscipline and violation of company policies as well as are downsized and laid off represent the other
end of the spectrum in terms of the manner and the ways in which such exits are handled.

Indeed, given the fact that organizations routinely downsize employees on economic and
business grounds means that HR Managers must devise innovative and inventive strategies when
handling such exits.

Handling Mass Layoffs and Downsizing

For instance, when organizations downsize for business reasons such as the economic conditions not
being amenable to the firm and hence, they need to cut costs and let go of employees, such layoffs must
be handled with care and caution lest improper and insensitive handling of such exits creates perception
and legal problems for the organizations.

Indeed, the fact that downsizing and layoffs without sufficient grounds and reasons can lead to such
employees suing the organizations as well as the media reporting on such events thereby leading to legal
problems means that organizations have to have effective strategies to deal with such layoffs.

Botched up Exits can lead to Legal and Reputational Problems

As the recent cases of layoffs and firing of thousands of employees in the Indian IT (Information
Technology) sector shows, layoffs must be handled properly since such employees have approached the
labor commissioners and the courts alleging that they were laid off in a very rude and improper manner in
addition to them asserting that there were not enough grounds to fire them.

The examples of Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Cognizant Technologies shows, the legal route is much
preferred whenever there are mass layoffs in addition to negative media coverage that can lead to the
reputation and image of the organization taking a hit.

Some Strategies for Avoiding Such Problems

Thus, HR managers must establish sufficient grounds for layoffs and downsizing in conjunction with the
business units before they embark on downsizing. This can take the form of intimating the employees
who are identified for downsizing in advance and place them on notice so that the allegations of sudden
and abrupt layoffs are not leveled against the organizations.

Apart from this, the employees who are to be laid off must be provided with sufficient monetary
“handshakes” wherein a few months salary or a onetime severance allowance is given to them. Indeed,
many countries have such explicit rule where it is legally mandated that employees being laid off for
business and economic reasons ought to be provided with some benefit.
Also, the exit process must be handled with care and caution so that charges of insensitivity and
indifference are not leveled against the organizations.

For instance, in the same examples of the Indian IT sector, there were many stories in the so-called “pink
papers” or the business and economic newspapers about the HR managers terminating the services of
employees in a rude and unprofessional manner.

The fact that some of these organizations did not even bother to talk to the employees in a polite manner
was highlighted thereby tarnishing the reputations of the organizations.

Hiring and Firing are Part of the Game

Having said that, we are not making a case for an emotional sendoff or a lengthy and tear-jerking
separation and exits. Organizations and businesses exist for making profits, and hence, there is nothing
particularly different about periodic downsizing and then recruiting in large numbers. Indeed, as Corporate
America shows us, hiring and firing are accepted as a fact of life by both organizations and professionals,
and hence, there should not be any confusion about such processes.

What we are suggesting and recommending, however, is the professional handling of exits whether
voluntary or involuntary.

After all, the employees have given their best to the organizations, and it is but natural that they expect
some consideration for their services.

Thus, the approach should be one where neither the organizations nor the employees who are being laid
off get the “short end of the stick” and hence, there must be an acceptance of the inevitability of
downsizing from all stakeholders.

Professional Firms that Handle the Downsizing Process

This is the reason why some organizations in the United States hire professional and third-party agencies
whose sole job is to handle the downsizing process.

These agencies are staffed with experts who are adept at handling the downsizing process, and their
services include smoothening and sweetening the exit process through professional handling.

For instance, some of these agencies provide the downsized employees access to office spaces where
they can utilize the facilities for searching for other jobs without having to find such facilities on their own.

Moreover, such agencies also address the employees who are to be laid off in Town Halls and other
gatherings where the business case for the exits is made and where the terms and benefits of severance
are explained.

Thus, we recommend firms in India and elsewhere as well to hire such agencies for handling exits in case
their in-house HR staff finds itself inadequate to the task.

To conclude, letting go of any person whether in a professional or a personal relationship is always

difficult and hence, such severance must be handled smoothly and sweetly lest they do not create
additional problems for all parties.
How HR (Human Resources) Function Can
Save Time by Automating Routine Tasks
Automating the Recruitment Activities and Tasks
Much of the work that the HR Function does is routine and repetitive in nature. Starting with the
recruitment process, including training and development, as well as performance management, the work
that the HR does consists of manual and routine tasks that can be automated and hence, save time in the
process.

For instance, the recruitment value chain consists of placing ads in various media to attract potential
employees, receiving the resumes from them, matching the resumes with the job descriptions through
keyword parsing and other aspects, sending the resumes to the appropriate managers for further
processing, shortlisting candidates for interviews, and lastly, arranging for written tests and face to face
interviews.

Most of these tasks can be automated and by using advanced Artificial Intelligence enabled tools
and software; the HR function can indeed save time and actualize efficiencies from the economies of
scale and synergies from the integration of the end to end value chain of the recruitment process.

For instance, apart from placing ads and other such details about the vacancies in the various media, the
recruitment process also consists of receiving the resumes and matching them with the job descriptions.

This is a routine and repetitive activity which when done manually takes a lot of time in addition to
devoting dedicated staff and other resources.

There are many tools and software in the market that automate this task wherein they use AI and Big
Data as well as Data Analytics to pars the resumes and find matching keywords with the job descriptions.
Indeed, this key task that is often time-consuming can be automated thereby saving time.

Also, the HR function can reach out to the potentially unlimited number of applicants through the use of
such tools and software as once this task is automated; then it becomes easier to “blast the resumes” and
process them on a mass scale.

What is Resume Blasting and How Automation Makes it Possible

The term Resume Blasting is often used by recruiters and applicants alike as well as by websites and job
portals to signify the mass sending and receiving of the resumes.

Indeed, Resume Blasting means that candidates can send their resumes to unlimited number of
recruiters in addition to the recruiters receiving such resumes on a mass scale. This activity is mostly
automated in most companies, and when the task of matching the resumes with the job descriptions and
then sending them to the appropriate managers is automated, it leads to further time savings as well as
efficiencies from the economies of scale. Tools that use AI often parse through the resumes for matching
the skills with the job descriptions.

Automating Resume Matching and Short Listing as well as Interview Calls

In addition, these tools also use Big Data Analytics to “predict” which applicants have the right skills for
the jobs.
Apart from this, such software also “routes” and “queues” resumes that match the descriptions to be sent
to the appropriate managers for further processing.

Indeed, even the managers can save time by using these tools to “winnow” the resumes and then
“narrow” them down to a few so that they need not spend too much time on this task.

Further, once the resumes are shortlisted, the next task of contacting the candidates can also be
automated whereby mass mailers can be used to inform the candidates about the next round in the
selection process, whether it is a written test or a face to face interview.

Apart from this, the other tasks that lead right up to the actual interview and fitment rounds can also be
automated thereby ensuring that the HR Function focuses on value building and concentrates on higher
value-adding activities.

Indeed, such tools and software save the HR Function a lot of time with some industry experts reporting
that nearly 50-60% of the time that the HR function spends can be saved in the process. This means that
automating routine and repetitive tasks can indeed result in efficiencies and synergies for the HR
Function.

Automating Payroll and Performance Management

Though the recruitment process is usually the task in the HR function that is often automated, it is also
the case that the other aspects of the HR work such as routine performance management and payroll can
even be automated.

Indeed, the fact that Payroll is automated in most organizations means that even the other tasks that are
driven and performed on a mass scale can be automated as well. As technology often creates value
through providing economies of scale due to its ability to scale up, it also actualizes synergies from
integration.

For instance, when disparate and separate tasks that the HR does are automated, then the integration
often creates value that was hitherto hidden and hence, can lead to significant benefits for contemporary
organizations.

Automation of Noncore Activities and Processes Leads to Value Creation

Lastly, there is a global trend towards automating all the noncore activities and support functions in
contemporary organizations, and this is what is driving the adoption of AI and Analytics powered tools
and software.

Thus, it is clear that while the HR function can be trimmed and some staff let go due to automation, the
benefits are that the remaining staff can focus on higher value-adding activities not to mention leaps in
productivity and efficiency.

To conclude, most organizations typically have lean HR functions that are staffed with minimal people
mainly because the tasks that this function does are largely routine and hence, they focus on automating
such tasks and ensuring that the key personnel focuses on value addition to the organizations.
How HR Managers Can Help Employees
Avoid Burnout and Manage Stress
In the increasingly fast-paced and uber-competitive business landscape, stress and burnout are inevitable
consequences for employees in organizations that have to adapt and respond to the external pressures
through internal excellence.

This means that the pursuit of profit-driven excellence creates a high-pressure working environment
where burnout and stress often take a toll on the employees.

Indeed, most Western firms report that nearly half of their employees mention stress and burnout
to a lesser extent as the reason for low productivity as well as lack of focus and an inability to
prioritize work.

Apart from this, stress and burnout are reported at all levels of the organizational hierarchy and it only
“gets worse as one move up the ladder”.

This can create problems for the organizations regarding lost hours of work from stressed-out employees
taking frequent leave of absence on medical grounds as well as poor decision making and an impaired
ability to exercise proper judgment.

Indeed, this was borne out in the recent case of the ride-hailing app based firm, Uber, where nearly the
entire board was replaced including its founder who cited burnout and stress as the reasons for their
allegedly unethical conduct during cases of sexual and other forms of harassment.

While it is not the intention of the authors to justify such poor decision making and impaired sense of what
is right and wrong on the basis of burnout, it is also the case that unless organizations evolve strategies
to counter stress and avoid burnout, such instances of bad behavior will continue to the point of
exhaustion and slow-motion collapse of the employees thereby jeopardizing the future of the
organizations.

Indeed, the fact that everyone experiences stress to some extent and which if left unchecked and
untreated can lead to complete burnout harming the careers and threatening the very existence of the
organizations should serve as a wakeup call to all stakeholders to take this malaise seriously.

Perhaps this was the reasoning behind the recent decision of the British Government to pass legislation
termed Thriving at Work that seeks to remedy the instances of mental health issues and other
manifestations of stress and burnout in organizations.

This legislation addresses such problems by mandating organizations and Human Resource (HR)
Managers to proactively work with the employees reporting such disorders and provide them with the
necessary support and resources to address their disorders.

This can include asking them to take time off with pay, providing help to them by creating support
systems that include other managers with the task of people management to work with them to spot
symptoms of extreme stress and act on them to prevent complete burnout.

While this legislation is indeed a welcome piece of the action by the government, it is also the case that
HR Managers must put in place measures to help employees cope with stress and burnout.

Indeed, despite legislative and regulatory mandates, surveys have found that most organizations leave it
to the employees to devise coping mechanisms to deal with stress and burnout without overt support.
This cannot be the case since stress and burnout cost the organizations as much as they cost the
employees in both monetary and non-monetary terms and hence, it is equally beneficial to both
organizations and employees if they start taking these problems seriously.

Moreover, the fact that despite slogans of Work-Life Balance and Fun at Work programs, there is a
need for fundamental change in the attitudes of the HR managers and other stakeholders where
they begin to empathize with the employees rather than treating stress and burnout in a matter of
fact manner.

Indeed, the point to note here is that stressed out and burned out employees’ need the “human touch”
and the “humane treatment” since surveys have also found that most employees report feeling lonely at
work and report indifference to their problems.

Having said that, it is also the case that despite the best efforts of some organizations to help employees
“take it easy”, the fact remains that in our “over-connected world”, stress, and burnout due to working in a
24/7 environment that is technologically mediated and driven by constant disturbance also contribute to
stress and burnout.

Thus, there is a need to address such problems as well by measures such as requiring no after office
hours calls and emails.

Indeed, this is precisely what the French Government has done by passing a law that requires employers
not to contact employees after working hours and not penalizing employees for not returning calls or
responding to emails after they leave work.

More such laws and legislation, as well as voluntary measures from the employers and the HR Managers,
are needed if we are to navigate the terrain of stress and burnout successfully.

Lastly, we have reached a point where the race to be productive becomes a race to keep up and avoid
falling by the wayside.

Thus, unless there is a paradigm shift in the way employers and employees with the HR Managers
mediating between address the problems of stress and burnout, the future world of work already
threatened by automation and robots taking our jobs would become that much more attractive since
robots do not burnout (except in case of electrical short circuits) and hence, it is in our collective interest
to deal with stress and burnout.

Human Resource Management Strategies to

Diversify the Workforce
HRM Strategies to Promote Diversity can Enhance Organizational
Effectiveness

A diverse enhances organizational effectiveness by creating a culture of plurality and tolerance that
promotes collective decision making through multiple viewpoints that can be used for better decision
making.

Thus, the HRM or the Human Resources Management strategies must include end-to-end
capabilities that promote diversity. This can take the form of color-blind recruitment and gender neutral
as well as location independent recruitment that ensures that the employees who are recruited are not
according to the biases of the recruiters or the managers and instead, reflect true diversity in action.
Further, HR professionals can also actualize a diverse workforce through retention strategies and
promotion strategies that enhance the diversity of the workforce. Above all, the HRM strategies must also
be towards actualizing a workplace culture free from harassment and discrimination on account of
gender, race, sexual orientation, or geographies.

These imperatives call for end-to-end policies and strategies that span the entire HRM value chain
starting with recruitment, including retention, and covering workplace culture policies. Also, it is not
enough to have such policies in place, and there must be effective enforcement of such policies as well.

Color Blind Recruitment as the First Step towards a Diverse Workforce

To start with, recruitment should be made totally color blind and gender neutral apart from making it
geography independent. This can ensure that the employees who are recruited are not according to the
biases and prejudices of the recruiters and the managers who decide on the ultimate selection.

For instance, bias-free recruitment can help in preventing recruitment of specific region or geographical-
based candidates wherein recruiters from the same region or place does not have a say in selecting only
such candidates.

Apart from this, color-blind recruitment can also help in loading the new employees with specific races or
ethnicities such as barring African Americans or Hispanics and instead, recruiting White Americans alone.

Further, these strategies can be implemented by requiring the resumes of potential applicants to not
include their gender, race, or ethnicity as well as sexual orientation. Also, the resumes need not have the
names of the candidates as well to ensure that bias-free recruitment happens.

In these times, when trans-genders and those who are gays or lesbians are being sought to be recruited
by multinationals with a view to promote diversity, these types of recruitment strategies would go a long
way in meeting such goals.

Specific Employee Retention Strategies to Enhance Organizational Effectiveness

Next, the employee retention strategies must be specified and more importantly, enforced with a
view to enhancing the diversity of the workforce.

Indeed, recruiting employees of different races and genders as well as ethnicities alone would not help if
such employees are demoralized due to workplace discrimination and hence, either quit their jobs or
perform below par which can again lead to a workplace culture that is not fully discrimination free.

Thus, the key aspect to note here is that employee retention strategies must not only be put in place but
also enforced. Indeed, the key to a diverse workforce is through “walking the talk” which means that
enforcement is as important or perhaps more than having policies in place.

For instance, having anonymous helplines and mentors to guide the employees to report cases of
harassment and discrimination can help in retaining such employees. In addition, efforts must be made to
listen to such employees and act on their concerns which mean that there should not be double
standards when it comes to such employees. In short, all employees must be made to feel welcome and
not only those belonging to specific categorizations.

This calls for effective monitoring of the workplace behavior of all the employees so that the workplace
culture is free from discrimination.
Glass Ceilings and How to Eliminate Barriers
Having a workplace culture free from harassment and promoting diversity also means that the glass
ceiling for women and those from minority races and ethnicities must be discouraged. The term glass
ceiling refers to the aspect of women employees not being allowed to move up the hierarchy by covert
means that are expressed in both verbal and nonverbal terms.

For instance, women employees must not be discouraged from pursuing their ambitions through
innuendo and other forms of indirect harassment where the discrimination is insidious and morale-
sapping. Also, employees belonging to specific races or ethnicities should not be made to feel that they
are unwelcome.

Indeed, the fact that a “ghetto culture” that segregates the employees according to race, gender, ethnicity,
or sexual orientation is a clear sign that such employees are being made unwelcome and hence, are
either forced to quit or suffer from poor performance.

Apart from this, promotion policies must be color blind and gender neutral as well. While we are not
advocating affirmative action where employees belonging to specific categories are explicitly favored over
others, what we are recommending is a level playing field for all employees irrespective of their
categorization.

Technology can Enhance Diversity

Lastly, it has been proven that use of technology to enhance organizational diversity can indeed be a key
driver of such objectives. Indeed end to end use of technology across the HRM value chain can eliminate
or at least reduce the scope for human bias and prejudice.

By automating selection and recruitment and by using technology to gather data about promotion and
workplace behavior, the effectiveness of the diversity policies can be enhanced.

To conclude, organizational diversity can turn into a key asset if the end-to-end value chains of the
HRM activities are done through a view to actualizing a workplace that is diverse and more importantly,
free from harassment.

What is an HR Scorecard and How it Helps

Contemporary Organizations?
The Evolution of the HR Function through the Decades
Traditionally, Human Resources or HR was viewed as a support function whose primary role was to take
care of payroll, time tracking, and disputes between the unions and the organizations.

Indeed, in the manufacturing era, the term used for HR functions was personnel management and
industrial relations wherein the job of the personnel manager was to ensure that salaries are paid on time,
mediating between the unions and the organizations, and otherwise being peripheral to the other
functions such as production, operations, sales and marketing, and strategy formulation.

It was only with the advent of the services sector that the role of the erstwhile personnel manager
transformed into “human resources” management and later on, to people management and people
enabling and people empowerment.
Note the emphasis on resources and people as the services sector relies on human capital as the key
asset and hence, the HR managers were expected to contribute to strategic goals and objectives.

In other words, the HR function evolved and transformed into one where it was no longer peripheral or a
support function, and instead of times when human resources are viewed as sources of sustainable
strategic advantage, the role of the HR manager was to aid and enable such resources to contribute
effectively and meaningfully to the organizational strategies.

What is an HR Scorecard?

Concomitant to these developments was the evolution of the initiatives such as HR Scorecard which are
tools to measure how well the HR function is aligned to the overall strategic goals of the
organization.

In other words, HR now was expected to align its recruitment, compensation, and employee retention
strategies to the organizational strategies.

What this means is that in contemporary organizations, the HR managers have a “seat at the leadership
table” or to put it simply, they have to be aligned with the larger organizational strategies.

Towards this end, the HR Scorecard works by providing decision-makers with data and inputs about how
much the employee recruitment and retention processes cost and what are the benefits of the same.

For much of the 20th century, it was commonly understood that these costs are part of the overall
organizational costs and there was no way to measure the benefits of such expenses in “tangible” ways.

In other words, what this means is that an HR Scorecard provides the organizational leaders with metrics
and data in tangible terms about the payoffs and the benefits from HR processes and activities.

How the HR Scorecard Works

How the HR Scorecard works is that by drawing up the budget for the HR function, key cost items and
overheads are identified and once done so, then such costs are translated into how much benefit that
they are bringing to the overall organization.

For instance, if high potential and highly talented employees are hired, the costs of hiring and retention
are then measured and stacked against the likely benefits that such activities bring to the organization.

Apart from this, the real usefulness of HR Scorecards is that it gathers metrics about activities and
processes such as training and then identifies the likely benefits in terms of result oriented and metric-
based training outcomes.

In other words, “by keeping score” of which training cost how much and how useful or relevant it was in
addition to how much benefit that such training meant to the attendees, the HR Scorecard provides the
leadership and the HR managers with measures and metrics on the “value” that is being created to the
organization.

Thus, HR scorecards are indeed useful and relevant in contemporary organizations that take human
resources seriously.
What are the Benefits of HR Scorecards?
The key benefit or the relevance of tools such as HR Scorecards is that it aligns the broader
organizational strategies with the HR strategies and the convergence of organizational goals with the HR
goals brings the HR function in line and tune with the overall organizational ecosystem.

For instance, how this works in the real world is that if an organization identifies superlative customer
service as a strategic goal, the HR scorecard helps in measuring the benefits of initiatives such as
training the customer service representatives and the associated staff costs involved in hiring and
retaining such key personnel.

At the end of the year, the benefits of the initiatives as measured by customer feedback surveys are
tallied to the costs of the initiatives so that organizational decision makers and more importantly, the HR
Managers have an idea about the effectiveness and efficacy of their hiring and retention strategies and
their usefulness and relevance to the broader organizational goals and objectives.

In other words, the HR function is no longer a “silo” that stands apart in “splendid isolation” and is instead,
aligned with the overall organizational ecosystem of goals and objectives.

Aligning HR and Organizational Strategies

Thus, the convergence of HR and the organizational strategies creates synergies for all the organizational
stakeholders.

Indeed, while it can be argued that the HR Function was always expected to be aligned to the overall
organizational imperatives, the key benefit that the HR Scorecard brings is that it provides data and
metrics to support its qualitative narrative.

In other words, the HR Scorecard operates through data-driven and metric-based measurement and
tracking of the progress and the benefits of the various initiatives.

This data based approach combined with an objective CBA or Cost-Benefit Analysis means that decision-
makers can identify where costs can be cut or where optimization and rationalization of benefits accrued
from such costs can be done.

To conclude, an HR Scorecard represents an entirely new way of aligning the HR and the wider
organizational goals and objectives.

How Technology Can Help in Collection of

Metrics for the HR Scorecard
The HR Scorecard Relies on Data
The HR Scorecard is a data and metrics-driven tool that relies heavily on the collection of such data and
metrics. Thus, it can be said that the HR Scorecard thrives on data and metrics. While data can be
collected manually which is a time-consuming procedure, it can also be collected with the astute use of
technology.

For instance, if metrics related to hiring and retention of resources needs to be collected, technology can
certainly help in this aspect by both speeding up the process as well as through more targeted and
accurate collection of such metrics.
Indeed, using technology such as Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence powered tools, the metrics
can be made more granular meaning that there can be more targeted and relevant as well as accurate
collection.

Technology can Make Data Collection More Efficient and Granular

The key point to note is that technology helps in targeted collection of metrics such as fine-grained data
related to how many candidates were interviewed and which profiles were shortlisted as well as how
much there was a match between such aspects and the eventual candidates selected.

For instance, using Big Data and AI, metrics can be made more fine or accurate wherein data
related to recruitment and retention of the resources can be made more granular. Indeed, both Big
Data and AI help the collection of data related to how well the profiles of the candidates interviewed and
eventually hired match with each other.

This can help subsequent iterations of the recruitment process by ensuring that the gap between “needs”
and “fulfillment” is narrowed.

Real World Examples

For instance, there can be a requirement for Project Managers who are also People Managers and for
this, the HR Function might release better ads and more targeted ones wherein the information that has
been collected earlier can be used to enhance the quality of the subsequent rounds of recruitment.

Indeed, technology helps the HR Function to “continuously evolve” and optimize wherein each
round of the process helps in learning for the future and subsequent rounds. Further, Big Data and AI can
also help in reducing the time it takes to collect data and metrics.

For instance, using technology, the data collection process can be speeded up and indeed, made real the
process need not have “lags” between the recruitment step and the data collection step.

Apart from this, data and metrics related to employee retention strategies can be collected wherein each
part of the retention value chain such as hiring, on the job performance, the value derived from training
and people empowerment, and the longevity of the employees in the organization can all be made more
efficient.

To take an example, if ten employees were recruited for a particular position and then trained on value
adding skills apart from being monitored for their performance, depending on how many of them were still
with the organization, the data about each of these steps can be collected and measured in a more
efficient manner.

Data is the New Oil and Technology Helps the Data Transformation into
Information
In addition, technology can help in the HR Scorecard objectives of aligning the HR function with
the organizational goals and strategies. For instance, data related to the “bottom line” imperatives of
the organization can be matched with the data related to the HR Scorecard parameters and then, can be
matched with each other thereby revealing how well these are aligned to each other.

Indeed, using Big Data and AI, such matching can be made more efficient by accurately reporting on the
exact misses and hits between the organizational goals and the HR process outcomes. In other words,
using technology, not only can data be collected better but the use of such data can be made more
efficient and productive.
Because the HR Scorecard is aimed at data-driven measures, it is indeed the case that technology that
thrives on data can help the objectives and goals behind the same. Further, in an age where “Data is the
New Oil” or in other words, data is precious and valuable, technology can definitely help in ensuring that
datasets that are rich on information are collected.

Apart from this, the transformation of data into usable information that is not only relevant but also more
accurate can be made better using technology since any technology typically is about raw data collection
as well as making it more usable and relevant.

Indeed, Big Data and AI can help in this transformation of data into information and knowledge by
algorithmic driven matching of the datasets with the needed information by the organizational
stakeholders.

Example of Siri
To take an example, iPhone and other Smartphone users are aware of the AI Driven Voice
Assistants such as Siri that take commands from the users and retrieve and display relevant
information.

In the same manner, technology can help the HR Executives and the Senior Leadership in organizations
to have a “Bird’s Eye View” of the HR Scorecard by feeding in the requirements and then using the
information retrieved to make better decisions about which aspects of the HR Scorecard have met the
objectives and which aspects need improvement.

Conclusion
Lastly, Knowledge is Power, and as mentioned earlier, Data is the New Oil. As the HR Scorecard is all
about how well the data and the metrics square up with the goals and objectives, technology can help
decision-makers in making informed decisions about the organizational and the HR strategies.

HR Scorecard: Aligning People, Strategy,

and Performance
HR Scorecard Aligns People, Strategy, and Performance

Organizations consist of people who perform the needed work for them. Also, such work is determined by
the strategies that the organizations plan for the year or quarter ahead. Thus, it can be said that while the
organization strategizes, the people implement the strategy.

In this context, there has to be a mechanism to measure the outcomes of the strategy such as the
performance of the organization across the parameters and the individual components of the strategies.

This is where the Human Resources (HR) Scorecard comes into the picture wherein it provides the
decision makers with an easy method to evaluate the success or otherwise of the strategies by
quantifying the outcomes associated with such strategies.

While one can legitimately ask about how organizations overall measure their outcomes of the strategies,
the answer to this would be that tools such as Balanced Scorecard and other methods are typically
employed by the organizations as far as the overall strategies are concerned.
On the other hand, the HR Scorecard provides the decision makers with an easy tool to measure
the Human Resources component of the strategies in addition to aligning the HR Outcomes with
the overall strategic outcomes of the organization.

Specific Ways in Which the HR Scorecard Helps Organizations

Thus, the HR Scorecard ties in the organizational strategic outcomes with the HR outcomes thereby
bringing in the people aspect into the equation. For instance, if the Head of HR wants to know how well
the people his or her function or group recruited preformed against the overall organizational imperatives,
he or she can then use the HR Scorecard to evaluate the success or otherwise of the specific people
component of the performance matrix.

In other words, the real usefulness of the HR Scorecard is that it integrates the HR Function into the
overall organizational grid of strategic outcomes. To take an example, say a software firm wants to find
out how much a particular employee who was recruited in the last fiscal contributed to the success of the
organization.

Using the HR Scorecard, such measures can be quantified by tying in the costs spent on recruitment,
training, and compensation with the benefits that the organization actualized from that particular
employee. In this manner, the HR Scorecard provides decision makers with an easy to use tool to
align the people, strategy, and performance aspects of the integrated organizational strategic
matrices and the grids.

Limitations of the HR Scorecard and How Technology can help

Having said that, it is also not the case that the HR Scorecard does an excellent job in this respect as
often it is difficult to quantify the individual components of the tool and compare them against the overall
outcomes.

For instance, one can argue that performance in numerical terms is an intangible aspect as it is not
always easy to put a number on the specific performance of the employees in monetary terms. Indeed,
the fact that the monetary calculations are often the hardest part of the HR Scorecard means that cost-
benefit analysis and other aspects have to be taken up only after due diligence is done on the measures
as well as the methods to arrive at such measures.

This is where Algorithmic methods come in handy as it becomes easy using Big Data and Algorithmic
driven tools to at least arrive at approximations of how the performance of specific employees measures
against the overall strategic objectives.

Further, the best part in this respect is that the HR Scorecard provides the Algorithms with the needed
parameters through which the measurement of such parameters can be arrived at. Thus, the HR
Scorecard used in conjunction with such computing tools can help decision-makers make considered
decisions.

Where the HR Scorecard “Scores”

On the other hand, where the HR Scorecard “scores” (literally as well as figuratively) is by measuring the
success or otherwise of the HR function against the overall organizational objectives. In other words, the
HR Scorecard is an excellent macro tool that enables the organizational decision makers to assess the
competence and the performance of the HR Function as well as the people in the organization.

As can be seen from the discussion so far, the HR Scorecard provides us with a method to align the
broader organizational strategies with the specific people aspects by bringing in the performance
measures into the calculation.
While quantification of the measures would indeed help the organization, it needs to be remembered that
even qualitative tallying of the measures and reporting them would help all stakeholders.

To take an example, end of year assessments can be done using the HR Scorecard both by quantitative
as well as qualitative means. Whereas the former can be done using any of the methods as discussed
earlier, the latter can be done in a tabular or grid manner wherein the objectives and the outcomes can be
arrived at using the HR Scorecard.

Conclusion
Lastly, the real usefulness of the HR Scorecard is that it “keeps the score” on the performance of the HR
Function. To take a Cricket Analogy, it does not matter how many runs a Batsman scores or how many
wickets a Bowler takes if such outcomes do not help the team or are not measured accurately.

In the same manner, the HR Scorecard aligns the various HR and the Organizational parameters into a
cohesive and coherent whole that can be used to assess how well the HR Function ties into the overall
organizational strategy and performance imperatives.

How Using the HR Scorecard Can Address

Organizational Dysfunction
The Causes and Reasons for Organizational Dysfunction and the People Factor
Organizational Dysfunction can manifest due to a variety of reasons. It can be the result of poor strategic
planning and more importantly, strategic execution and implementation failing because of lack of
cohesion and coordination between the team members entrusted with the task of execution.

It can be the result of a sense of atrophy due to the organizational arteries being clogged as a result of
inertia and apathy. It can also be due to the lack of the senior leadership and the rank and file employees
“not being on the same page” as far as coordination and communication are concerned.

A common thread that runs all these factors and causes of organizational dysfunction is the people
equation wherein the human resources in the organization are failing in their duty to discharge their
responsibilities.

Indeed, when the organizational parameters start failing the test of success and when different functions
of the organization pull it in different directions, there is something seriously wrong about the way in which
the people in the organization are interacting with each other.

The obvious solution here would be to then recruit the right people and train them according to the
organizational needs and more importantly, put in place measures that would capture how much value
the people are creating for the organization.

How the HR Function Needs to Address People Dysfunction

Thus, this calls for an HR (Human Resources) strategy that is in tune with the overall organizational
objectives. To actualize such a strategy, it is important to note that the HR function and the other
functions in the organization must “talk to each other” instead of operating in silos.

In addition, it is also important for the HR Strategies to be “tied into” the overall organizational goals and
objectives.
How this works in practice would be first to recruit the people that are needed for such objectives and
goals and then train them according to the needs of the various functions for which they have been
recruited.

Also, it is important to measure how much value is being created by such resources and whether they are
contributing to the organizational value creation. All these measures and steps must be data-driven, and
this is where the HR Scorecard has an important role to play in tying the HR Function to the overall
organizational imperatives.

Using the HR Scorecard

This means that the HR Scorecard can indeed help organizations to “hone in” on the specific instances of
dysfunction wherein measures such as how much the HR Function is helping the other functions and
enabling the drivers of organizational excellence are used to arrive at strategies to reduce or even
eliminate organizational dysfunction.

For instance, there can be measures of how each employee in different functions are performing
and whether the costs of recruitment and training are paying off.

In addition, there can be financial indicators of the usefulness or otherwise of the efficacy of the HR
Function wherein the costs incurred by it are compared to the benefits that accrue to the organization.

To take an example, if the HR Function spends a Hundred Thousand Dollars on Recruitment and
Training as well as Retention strategies, the benefits in terms of how much sales each employee has
generated or the number of billable hours that they have worked on can be used in the HR Scorecard to
tabulate and arrive at measures to reduce any dysfunction in the way the organization as a whole is
performing.

Indeed, the fact that if you can measure it, it works means that the HR Scorecard provides organizations
a key data-driven tool with which they can evaluate the usefulness of the HR Function to the organization.

Measuring Data Isn’t Easy, but it can be done

A common practice in this regard is the treatment of the HR Function as a Separate Cost Center
wherein it operates on the basis of a Profit and Loss Principle. Thus, once the costs of the various
HR activities are computed, the next step would be to measure the benefits in terms of the various
parameters that have been described earlier.

It needs to be mentioned that the P&L Accounting, in this case, is not as easy or straightforward as it
seems since computing the benefits and apportioning them to the costs calls for advanced data gathering
and analytics based calculations.

In this context, it would be worthwhile to note that the HR Scorecard can help in this regard since it uses
such measures as required under the P&L Accounting and with using software and technical tools that
are part of the HR Scorecard Toolkit, organizations can have a better grip on how well the HR Function is
contributing to the organization.

In short, the HR Scorecard “brings together” the organizational goals and the HR strategies so that the
decision makers know what to target in case of dysfunction due to people issues.

Conclusion
Lastly, organizational dysfunction can be addressed by first analyzing the causes and then finding the
solutions. The specific aspect of people contributing to such dysfunction can be addressed using
the HR Scorecard as discussed so far and this is where the Integration of the HR Function with the other
P&L Centers can be quite useful. In times when human resources are the main asset in most
organizations, the HR Scorecard is indeed valuable and useful to understand how successful the HR
Function has been as far as meeting the organizational goals are concerned. To conclude, using data-
driven measures, the HR Scorecard can be invaluable to decision makers to address people dysfunction
that is causing organizational dysfunction.

Human Resource Management Best

Practices in Contemporary Organizations
HRM Best Practices in Contemporary Organizations
Contemporary Organizations embrace a variety of HRM or Human Resource Management Practices.
These include mandatory leaves, weekends off, variable pay, company provided transport, fun and
entertainment activities, handsome bonuses as well as subsidized food and other aspects.

Western Transnational corporations first introduced these practices in response to the emerging needs of
people enabling and people management.

While Manufacturing firms did follow some of these employee and labor-friendly policies, it was only after
the advent of the services sector that firms in the Software and Financial Services sectors began to take
people enabling seriously.

SHRM and HRM Best Practices

This was necessitated because people are the main assets in these firms when compared to
manufacturing firms where plants and lands were the main assets. Also, the emerging SHRM or Strategic
Human Resource Management paradigm which placed human resources at the center of the
organizational universe and viewed them as sources of sustainable competitive advantage meant that
employee-friendly HR practices were introduced.

Soon, what began in the West was adopted by Eastern firms as well wherein many Chinese and Indian
firms started to follow some of the people friendly HRM policies of the Western firms.

Uniquely Asian HRM Best Practices

There were some policies that were uniquely Asian in their nature such as firms in India providing
company rented accommodation as well as free transport to their employees.

This was because some Indian firms located in the Big Metros often felt that due to the scarcity of
affordable accommodation as well as constraints to do with accommodation in the central parts of such
cities, it would be better if they saved their employees the trouble of finding accommodation on their own.

Moreover, the fact that commute times were longer, as well as lead to lower productivity, meant that many
Asian firms started providing free pickup and drop to their employees.

Uniquely Western HRM Best Practices

However, there are some best practices that are uniquely Western in nature. For instance, Google and
Apple, as well as Facebook, let their employees bring their pets to work including providing for Dog
Spaces and other aspects.
This is done to ensure that employees de-stress at work by engaging with their pets during breaks.
Indeed, most of the HRM Best Practices are introduced with the aim and objective of actualizing a
fulfilling and engaging workplace culture.

This is also recommended by HRM experts who often point to the highly charged and stressful modern
workplaces and hence, suggest that unless employees are allowed to de-stress and rejuvenate and take
time off during work, they might not contribute to their best.

Further, some of these Best Practices have also been introduced due to the highly creative nature of the
work that firms in the Software sector do. For instance, Google and Facebook, as well as Amazon, have
workplaces that are highly creative as well as demanding, these firms go the extra mile as far as ensuring
that their employees are engaged and relaxed at work.

In addition, they also provide for their employees to work on their personal projects and initiatives during
some part of the month to ensure that they are motivated by their inner need for fulfillment of their
personal desires.

HRM Best Practices Worldwide

On the other hand, there are some HRM Best Practices that are common to many Western and Asian
firms, though they were first embraced by the former. These include mandatory leaves wherein firms such
as Citigroup introduced this concept as a way to both ensure that employees take time off as well as
reduce the organizational dependence on them.

Apart from this, the concept of variable pay as well as performance-linked pay is now followed uniformly
across the world. Further, fun and entertainment budgets are now common to most firms worldwide which
see such activities not only as a way to enhance employee relaxation but also for team building through
offsite camps and experiential training in resorts.

Thus, it can be said that modern and contemporary organizations have realized the need for
embracing best practices as far as human resource management is concerned.

What the HRM Theory States About These Best Practices

The key point to note about all these best practices is that they are embraced with a view to motivate
employees to give their best to their work. As HR theory states, all of us are motivated and driven by both
internal needs as well as external rewards and hence, most contemporary organizations embrace best
practices to ensure that employees are sufficiently motivated.

The main aspect here is that there needs to be a balance between internal and external motivators
and this is where contemporary organizations often stimulate the inner drives and needs for self-
actualization as well as by providing external rewards that act as other motivators.

For instance, many organizations provide their employees with stimulating and challenging work so that
they are internally motivated and on the other hand, they also reward them appropriately so that their
need for money and other material benefits is fulfilled.

Conclusion
Lastly, contemporary organizations often take a toll on their employees’ physical and mental aspects and
hence, it is our view that to avoid burnout and stress among their employees, they must adopt as many
people-friendly policies as possible.

Indeed, it is better to let the employees relax and de-stress instead of losing them to ill health as well as
extended medical leaves that can cause monetary and non-monetary losses.
To conclude, the HRM Best Practices create a win-win situation for both the organizations and their
employees.

Using HR Scorecard with Analytics to

Actualize Next Generation Performance
How the Combination of the HR Scorecard and Analytics can be a Game
Changer
Analytics of all types is the wave of the future. Right from Data Analytics that uses advanced forms of
data analysis using large datasets and other pools of data to find patterns in the same to the Business
Analytics tools that use trends and other indicators to arrive at forecasts for the future, Analytics is indeed
something that represents Next Generation business practices.

Also, the HR (Human Resources) scorecard represents how the performance of employees and the HR
Function, as well as the larger organization, can be optimized and be made more efficient through data-
driven measures of performance and analysis using advanced forms of forecasting and analysis.

Thus, the combination of Analytics and HR Scorecard can indeed be a game changer for organizations
seeking to leverage their human resources and make them more efficient in addition to tying them to the
broader organizational performance.

Specific Examples of How Such Tools can be Used

For instance, the HR Scorecard typically is used to generate ROI or Return on Investment of Human
Resources wherein financial and operational measures are gathered and reported related to specific
employee performance and how well such measures fit in with the broader organizational imperatives.

Analytics, on the other hand, can be used in any organizational function to derive the CBA or the Cost
Benefit Analysis of various organizational initiatives. Further, Data and Business Analytic tools can be
used to arrive at prognostications about the future using large datasets and trends.

Taken together, Analytics tools can be used with the HR Scorecard to actualize truly Next Generation
Measures of organizational performance as well as to actualize advanced forms of forecasting and
measuring performance.

Indeed, both the HR Scorecard and Analytics represent the marriage of advanced forms of data and trend
analysis with the scorekeeping and reporting of measures and indicators in a format based manner.

To see how this works in practice, we can take the example of the HR Scorecard measures of employee
performance and how specific employees have justified the costs incurred on them with the derived
benefits from their performance.

Thus, it is indeed the case that specific employees and their performance can be quantified and reported
on the HR Scorecard using financial and operational measures.

In this context, Analytics using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence can be used to arrive at granular
methods of data and business analytics. In other words, while the HR Scorecard can be used to
generate and report the financial and operational measures, the Data and Business Analytics can
be used in such reporting of measures by preparing the necessary measures of performance in a
highly granular and sophisticated manner.
Indeed, the coming together of Analytics and the HR Scorecard represents a truly next-generation
method of gathering, analyzing, and reporting performance measures that can be financial and
operational in nature.

Business at the Speed of Thought

Contemporary organizations need advanced measures of measurement and reporting of measures as
well as need to have the ability to discern larger patterns in the datasets available to them.

In times when business trends and events change in real time and where speed and accuracy are of the
essence to enable Next Generation Business Strategies, the combination of Business Analytics and the
HR Scorecard represent truly revolutionary and game-changing approaches to the way in which
organizations perform.

Indeed, when the current “Business at the Speed of Thought” paradigm demands accuracy and speed at
the same time in any measures of organizational performance.

Thus, in this context, the HR Scorecard represents a novel and innovative approach to making human
resources count in the overall organizational universe.

On the other hand, Data and Business Analytics represent methods that can aid organizations in arriving
at macro and micro measures of performance from complex trends and events that can made as granular
as possible for the micro part and as Big Picture Analysis as possible for the macro part.

Next Generation Reporting and Forecasting

Apart from this, the fact that contemporary organizations, especially in the Services Sector, count their
employees as the main asset means that they need to get the best out of their employees as well as
understand how well such employees are contributing to the organization. The HR Scorecard is
especially useful in such imperatives whereas Analytics is useful in measuring such indicators.

Thus, while the HR Scorecard is a reporting tool, the Analytics tool is a data gathering and analysis tool
that can be used to discern trends and the Big Picture. This means that when used in conjunction, the HR
Scorecard and the Data and Business Analytics tools can be used to both report and forecast measures
of employee performance and broader organizational performance.

Indeed, the fact that the former reports measures and the latter finds patterns in such reports means that
taken together, they represent a powerful combination.

Conclusion
Lastly, when used together, the HR Scorecard and the Analytics tools can be used to actualize synergies
and actualize efficiencies from the economies of scale.

Indeed, the fact that synergies accrue from the combination of reporting and analysis and which can drive
efficiencies from scale since all employees can be covered means that Next Generation reporting and
forecasting capabilities are within reach of organizations that use these tools.

In times when forecasts often fail the moment they are released, the power to measure and report with
speed and accuracy is indeed an asset for organizations that seek to optimize their returns from their
employees.

To conclude, using the HR Scorecard with Analytics represents a truly game-changing approach to
business.
How the HR Scorecard Helps Actualize
Cross Functional Excellence in
Organizations
How the HR Scorecard Helps Organizations
What is the HR Scorecard? It is a tool that measures the performance of the Human Resources (HR)
Function using data and aligns the same with the other functions in terms of costs and benefits.

In other words, the HR Scorecard is a useful tool to record the costs incurred by the HR Function for the
various activities and processes that are part of the function and then tallies the benefits that accrue from
these various costs.

Further, the HR Function is also useful to check and measure how well the HR Function is aligned with
the overall organizational objectives and the cross-functional benefits and linkages with the other
functions.

For instance, using the HR Scorecard, the HR Managers can present senior leadership and management
with data about how well the HR Function is faring and contributing to the success or otherwise of the
other functions as well as the larger organizations.

To take examples, the HR Scorecard provides data on the costs incurred by it for recruitment and training
of employees and then measures the outcomes or the benefits accrued on account of such costs. Indeed,
using the HR Scorecard, organizations can become truly integrated and systemic in nature since there is
a clear basis of accounting for the usefulness or otherwise of the various activities and processes of the
HR Function.

How the HR Scorecard Helps Actualize Cross-Functional Excellence

Thus, in this manner, the HR Scorecard can be used to actualize cross-functional excellence by
integrating the HR Function with the other functions and then measuring its relevance and usefulness
apart from the efficiencies and synergies that accrue from such integration.

Indeed, using the HR Scorecard, the HR Function can no longer be standalone or separate from the
overall systemic nature of the organization.

For instance, the HR Scorecard can be used to track the success of specific recruitment and training
efforts for each of the functions such as Marketing, Operations, Finance, and other such functions.

Further, since the HR Scorecard essentially keeps score of the efficiency of the HR Function with regards
to the other functions and the larger organizational objectives, the HR Head or the HR Manager can have
a “seat at the management table” since there is a clear basis due to the HR Scorecard to keep track of
how well the HR Function is aligned with the broader organizational objectives and the cross-functional
efficiencies.

For instance, using data-driven measures, organizations have an opportunity to measure how well the HR
Function helps the other functions and in addition, by tallying how well the HR Function serves the
broader organizational needs, there is clarity on how aligned the HR Function is to the rest of the
organization and in this manner, actualize cross-functional linkages and excellence.
How the HR Scorecard Helps Organizations to Treat Their Employees as Assets
Moreover, using advanced technological tools such as Big Data Analytics and AI or Artificial Intelligence;
organizations can track the risks and anticipate the future challenges that can arise.

For instance, if the senior leadership feels that the ROI or the Return on Investment from specific
employees is not in the broader objectives and needs of the organization, they can simply change the
way the recruitment and training of such employees are being done.

In addition, given the advent of the services sector where the focus of the organization is on treating
employees as sources of sustainable competitive advantage and as key assets or the only assets, the HR
Scorecard can indeed help organizations in the services sector to measure the ROI as well as the
efficiencies that accrue from them.

Further, given the fact that the HR Scorecard allows the other functions to “tie in” their objectives with the
objectives of the HR Function as far as employees and human resources are concerned, there is scope
for genuine and true cooperation and coordination as well as integration and cross-functional linkage
between such functions and the HR Function.

As management theory states, how well the various parts of the system work together determines the
synergies from the whole that are greater than the sum of the parts, organizations can indeed reap such
synergies as well as derive efficiencies from the integration.

How the HR Scorecard Helps in Designing Appropriate Risk and Reward

Systems
It is also the case that the HR Scorecard can also help organizations in aligning risk and reward
measures.

For instance, if the data reveals that organizations are rewarding employees lesser than what they
deserve as well as rewarding some employees more than the others or those who deserve or otherwise,
the incentive and the pay and perk system, as well as specific employee bonuses, can all be aligned to
the true needs of the organization.

Apart from that, in times when cross-functional expertise is much sought after and where
generalists and “Jacks of All Trades” are needed, the HR Scorecard can indeed help
organizations to identify such individuals and reward them appropriately so that they are
motivated to perform better.

Thus, the HR Scorecard is indeed an extremely useful tool to foster cross-functional excellence as well as
actualize synergies from such cross-functional linkages in addition to reaping the efficiencies from rolling
out data-driven measures on a mass scale.

Lastly, the HR Scorecard also helps senior leadership to get a Bird’s Eye View of the HR Function as well
as track the nuts and bolts or the micro measures of success of the HR activities and processes.
How the HR Scorecard can Help Gig
Economy Firms to Manage Freelancers
Better
How the HR Scorecard Helps Gig Economy Firms

It is usually thought and understood that the HR Scorecard is useful to only those firms in the
manufacturing and services sectors. However, there are uses for the HR Scorecard in the Gig Economy
or the Freelancing Economy firms as well.

These relate to how such firms can use the HR Scorecard to optimize their operations and to manage
freelancers better. For instance, Gig Economy firms can maximize the ROI or the Return on Investment
from Freelancers by measuring their productivity and tallying them against the costs that are incurred on
them.

To take an example, suppose firms such as Uber and Upwork spend 1000 Dollars on recruitment and
training costs of their freelancers. Now, if the costs incurred this way have to be recovered along with
profits, then the HR Scorecard can help by aligning the returns from such costs against the
objectives of the firms.

Aligning Organizational Objectives with HR Objectives

Talking about objectives, it is also the case that Gig Economy firms can measure the benefits of hiring
freelancers and then aligning them with the strategic objectives that their leadership desires. Indeed, the
fact that the existential question as to whether the Gig Economy firms ought to be in business in the first
place can be answered by using the HR Scorecard.

In other words, because such firms typically report only their freelancers as the primary asset or the only
asset, the HR Scorecard can indeed help such firms determine whether they ought to remain in business
or not.

The fact that the HR Scorecard is all about aligning the Strategic Objectives of firms with their HR
Objectives is reason enough for Gig Economy firms to use the HR Scorecard effectively and efficiently to
determine whether they are fulfilling such objectives.

Optimization of Processes and Efficiencies

Apart from this, the HR Scorecard can also help Gig Economy firms to optimize their processes
better wherein they measure the efficiency of their operations and tally them against the strategic
objectives.

Indeed, considering the fact that the HR Scorecard is used to determine whether the “fit” between the
organizational strategies and the HR Strategies means that Gig Economy firms can benefit from using the
HR Scorecard due to the primacy of Human Resources in the operations of such firms.

While this is also true of the Services sector firms such as Software and Financial Services, it is also the
case that Gig Economy firms can use the HR Scorecard to their advantage. For instance, since
freelancers make up the business model of Gig Economy firms, the HR Scorecard helps such firms to
actualize more efficient management of their human resources in a manner that is consistent with their
larger organizational objectives.
Anticipating Future Risks and Challenges
Having said that, it is also the case that Gig Economy firms can benefit from using the HR Scorecard
to anticipate future risks and challenges. Indeed, this can be done in a manner in which such firms can
understand how future risks arise and how to combat them accordingly.

For instance, if the organizational objective is to know how the future unfolds for such Gig Economy firms,
then the HR Scorecard can be of help in stacking up how the present scenario is and how such scenarios
can be extrapolated into the future to determine the strategic direction of such firms and whether they are
proceeding in ways that would ensure sustained success even in the future.

Using the HR Scorecard with Big Data and AI

Further, using the HR Scorecard in conjunction with technology can be of immense benefit to Gig
Economy firms. For instance, using Big Data and AI or Artificial Intelligence tools, the Gig Economy firms
can anticipate future risks and determine whether they are doing enough to be prepared for the future.

Apart from this, the HR Scorecard can also help Gig Economy firms in understanding the present as well
as looking backward to the past to determine whether they give clues and insights into the future
challenges. Indeed, both Big Data and AI used in conjunction with the HR Scorecard can benefit the Gig
Economy firms to map their strategic direction accordingly.

The HR Scorecard is first and foremost a tool that aligns the HR Function with the larger organizational
strategic objectives. Thus, the HR Scorecard helps in understanding whether the human resources in
firms are optimized and whether they are being used efficiently. Gig Economy firms that thrive on using
human resources can then align both their organizational objectives as well as measure the efficiency of
the human resources against their bottom line imperatives.

Moreover, Gig Economy firms thrive on efficiencies from the economies of scale and the synergies from
the integration of disparate and discrete organizational processes. Using the HR Scorecard would thus
help such firms by spreading the costs against the scale and by integrating their various functions and
processes.

Conclusion
Lastly, the HR Scorecard is extremely useful to any firm and in particular, the Gig Economy firms since
they can now use the same implement those changes that are beneficial to such firms and to discard
obsolete and outdated processes. Indeed, the fact that redundancies can be eliminated or reduced is
one reason why the HR Scorecard does help the Gig Economy firms to optimize their processes
and to make them efficient. To conclude, the future of work is freelancing and this means that we are
going to see more Gig Economy firms and hence, business leaders would be well advised to use the HR
Scorecard to their and their organization’s benefit.