Now imagine keeping them sharp, skilled, and hungry for success in a dynamic, ever-changing market. That’s the challenge Alkem faces, and it’s a challenge they’re winning through a training strategy as dynamic as the market itself.

“Equipping our salespeople isn’t a one-time thing,” explains Dr. Rajorshi Ganguli, Alkem’s president and global  HR head. “It’s an ongoing journey.”  That journey starts with a bootcamp. A thorough induction programme followed by the in-depth Basic Training Programme (BTP) equips new recruits with the essentials: product knowledge, core selling skills, and the medical insights crucial for navigating the complexities of the pharmaceutical world.  These immersive programmes, conducted face-to-face, ensure salespeople hit the ground running, prepared to tackle anything the market throws their way.

But the market is a fickle beast. What works today might not work tomorrow. That’s why Alkem prioritises continuous improvement, constantly seeking feedback and refining its programmes. Remember that time doctors had less time for lengthy pitches? Alkem saw the shift and equipped their salespeople to deliver their message effectively in those shortened windows.  Evaluation methods such as video recordings of simulated interactions allow trainers to provide targeted feedback, ensuring every interaction is a masterclass in salesmanship.

“Long-term behaviour change is our ultimate goal. We track engagement and key metrics annually, and every programme undergoes rigorous assessment to ensure it delivers the results we need.”

Dr. Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Alkem understands that classroom sessions can only go so far. Enter ‘Alkepedia,’ a mobile app offering a universe of learning resources at your fingertips. From bite-sized updates to quizzes and even gamified modules, Alkepedia keeps the salesforce engaged and sharpens the skills honed during initial training.

The focus on continuous improvement isn’t just for the new guys. Alkem recognises the importance of strong sales leadership.  That’s why they’ve partnered with SP Jain Institute of Management to offer the Sales Leadership Programme, a rigorous programme designed to transform high-potential sales managers into sales superstars.  This programme caters to specific needs, with first-line and second-line managers getting tailored programmes developed in collaboration with business managers to address real-world challenges faced by their teams.

But Alkem isn’t just about sales. The 20-25 per cent of their workforce dedicated to manufacturing and R&D benefit from a robust training infrastructure as well. New hires undergo Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) training, ensuring they’re compliant with pharmaceutical regulations before they even touch a machine. Refresher programmes further solidify these protocols, guaranteeing consistent and high-quality production.

Alkem’s Technical Training Academy in Daman acts as a central hub for all technical training programmes across their manufacturing sites. This academy offers both on-site and remote training options, catering to diverse skill levels with programmes such as ‘Shop Floor Ki Pathshala’ which provides engineering and production-related training, keeping everyone up-to-speed on the latest digital machinery.

And because the world of work is constantly evolving, Alkem acknowledges the need for continuous skilling and reskilling across all levels.  For senior management, they offer premium executive development initiatives in collaboration with prestigious institutions such as IIMs. These programmes leverage a hybrid model, allowing busy professionals to learn and grow at their own pace. Additionally, Alkem curates personalised online learning opportunities through partnerships with various online platforms.

But Alkem isn’t content with just throwing information at their employees. They’re embracing cutting-edge technology to make learning more engaging and effective.  Imagine interacting with holograms of machinery and simulated shop-floor environments!  That’s the power of augmented reality (AR), and Alkem is incorporating it into its training programmes, fostering self-guided learning and a deeper understanding of complex concepts.

Alkem’s commitment to training doesn’t stop at the end of a programme. They employ a multi-pronged approach to evaluate effectiveness.  Immediate feedback is collected after each session, while some programmes utilise pre-tests and post-tests to assess knowledge acquisition.  Department heads also provide feedback after a set period, allowing the company to gauge the impact of training on identified performance gaps.

“Long-term behaviour change is our ultimate goal,” concludes Ganguli. “We track engagement and key metrics annually, and every programme undergoes rigorous assessment to ensure it delivers the results we need.”  Alkem Laboratories isn’t just building a sales powerhouse; they’re building a future-proof workforce, one skilled, motivated, and ready to take on any challenge the market throws their way.

The post How Alkem Laboratories is building a sales powerhouse appeared first on HR Katha.

Vulnerability, in the context of leadership, is about authenticity and transparency. It’s about shedding the mask of invincibility and fostering an environment where open communication and shared experiences pave the way for trust and collaboration.

Take Satya Nadella’s transformation of Microsoft. Through his memoir ‘Hit Refresh,’ Nadella openly acknowledged the company’s shortcomings, fostering a culture of empathy and inclusivity. This shift mirrored Nadella’s emphasis on vulnerability, leading to a more collaborative and diverse workplace.

“When leaders create an environment where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for growth rather than shortcomings to be punished, employees feel more empowered to take initiative and develop their skills.”

P Dwarakanath, senior HR leader

“Failure and setbacks are not merely stumbling blocks but invaluable sources of learning and growth,” says Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global head-HR at Alkem Laboratories. “This candid acknowledgment of imperfection challenges the traditional notion of leadership as an unyielding facade of competence and infallibility.”

Leaders who embrace vulnerability create a safe space for diverse perspectives and constructive criticism. This openness fosters a culture of learning and innovation. As Ramesh Shankar, senior HR leader, explains, “far from being a liability, vulnerability can actually be a catalyst for growth within the organisation.”

“Failure and setbacks are not merely stumbling blocks but invaluable sources of learning and growth. This candid acknowledgment of imperfection challenges the traditional notion of leadership as an unyielding facade of competence and infallibility.”

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories

When leaders admit their own fallibility and encourage others to do the same, it empowers employees to take risks and explore new ideas. This is evident in Netflix’s renowned corporate culture, outlined in the ‘Netflix Culture Deck.’ By emphasising vulnerability and transparency, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and former chief talent officer Patty McCord fostered a culture of ownership and innovation, where employees are empowered to make independent decisions and drive growth.

Vulnerability fosters empathy and authenticity. When leaders share their struggles and uncertainties, it humanizes them and builds trust within their teams. “When leaders demonstrate vulnerability, they invite authenticity and encourage open dialogue,” says Ganguli. “This strengthens the bonds of trust within their teams.”

“Far from being a liability, vulnerability can actually be a catalyst for growth within the organisation.”

 Ramesh Shankar, senior HR leader

A common misconception is that vulnerability undermines authority. However, in environments characterised by trust, vulnerability strengthens connections. Leaders who embrace their imperfections create a space where team members feel empowered to share theirs, fostering collaboration and collective problem-solving.

Another significant benefit of embracing vulnerability in leadership is the promotion of innovation. “When leaders demonstrate vulnerability by admitting their own fallibility and encouraging others to do the same, it creates a safe space for creativity and experimentation. In such an environment, employees are more likely to take risks, explore new ideas and challenge the status quo,” hails P Dwarakanath, senior HR leader.

Despite its benefits, embracing vulnerability isn’t without challenges. Leaders may fear being taken for granted or losing respect. Additionally, power dynamics can create an environment where vulnerability feels like a risk.

So how can leaders overcome these barriers?

The first step is recognising that vulnerability is a sign of strength, not weakness. “By acknowledging their limitations and embracing vulnerability, leaders set a powerful example for their teams and inspire others to do the same,” advises Ganguli.

Leaders must create a psychologically safe environment where open communication and risk-taking are encouraged. Clear communication and established boundaries are crucial. “These fears can be mitigated through clear communication and boundary setting,” explains Shankar. When boundaries are clear and respected, vulnerability becomes a tool for trust and collaboration.

Confident leaders who are secure in their abilities are more likely to embrace vulnerability. They understand that leadership is about creating an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute, not about having all the answers.

“When leaders create an environment where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for growth rather than shortcomings to be punished, employees feel more empowered to take initiative and develop their skills,” concludes Dwarakanath.

In conclusion, embracing vulnerability is not a sign of weakness; it’s the hallmark of a strong and authentic leader. By leading by example, fostering a safe space, and prioritising growth over perfection, leaders can unlock the full potential of their teams and organisations.

The post Why authentic leaders embrace imperfection appeared first on HR Katha.

Talent, skill and technology each hold significant importance. A comprehensive HR strategy inherently integrates these elements, recognising their interconnected nature and the collective impact they can exert on organisational success. In HR, especially within industries such as pharma, talent acquisition remains a critical focus due to the high demand for specialised skills. Even in routine roles, acquiring quality talent is paramount.

Employer branding and the creation of a workplace culture will appeal to potential candidates. Continuous learning and development are imperative in rapidly-evolving industries such as pharma, given technological advancements, regulatory changes and scientific progress.

Prioritising skill development, particularly human skills, in the face of a dynamic environment, becomes essential. Technology plays a crucial role in streamlining HR processes, from recruitment and onboarding to performance management, thereby enhancing the overall employee experience. In the core areas of the pharma sector, embracing new technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and digital platforms can improve research and development processes, enhance manufacturing efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance and provide valuable insights for managing customers and driving productivity.

Degrees or doers? Will skills reign supreme in 2024’s hiring arena?

Both skill-based hiring and formal education will remain pertinent. The trend of skill-based hiring is anticipated to expand, with employers placing greater emphasis on evaluating candidates’ abilities to apply relevant skills to real-world challenges, rather than overly emphasising formal education levels. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the extent of this shift can vary across industries and roles.

Certain professions may still heavily value formal education, particularly in fields where a degree is a legal or regulatory requirement. However, possessing formal education does not guarantee success. Employers will consistently prioritise individuals who can solve problems, accomplish tasks and inspire their peers, regardless of whether these qualities result from formal education or competency. In sectors where gig work prevails,
employers frequently prioritise specific skills and experiences over formal degrees when hiring freelancers or contractors.

Career cartography chaos: Can HR map the modern maze in 2024?

In 2024 and beyond, organisations are poised to assume a pivotal role in reshaping employee journeys and adjusting careerdevelopment strategies to harmonise with the evolving needs of the contemporary workforce. Traditional, predominantly vertical career movements, often termed promotions, will encounter limitations. In the present era, employees are inclined towards a more flexible and diverse approach to career growth, rendering the conventional career-ladder approach restrictive.

A career lattice — presenting a framework that enables horizontal, vertical and even diagonal movements within an organisation— across roles and functions, offers a multitude of options and intriguing opportunities for pursuit. The lattice affords employees the chance to acquire new skills, explore diverse departments and assume novel roles, all while progressing in their careers. This approach to career growth aligns with the changing needs of the workforce, reflecting a preference for a more flexible, personalised and dynamic career trajectory.

Moving forward, career journeys will be characterised by less predictability and certainty, prompting individuals to take charge of their paths rather than relying solely on organisations. Companies will need to prioritise personalised learning paths for employees based on their skills, interests and career aspirations.

This article is sponsored by Thomas Assessments

43 leaders predict the upcoming trends for 2024. To download the e-copy click here

The post “Formal education does not guarantee success,” Rajorshi Ganguli appeared first on HR Katha.

Referral hiring, also known as employee-referral hiring or network hiring, is a recruitment method where employers or organisations rely on recommendations from their current employees, colleagues, or professional network to identify and hire new talent. In this approach, existing employees or contacts within the organisation’s network refer to individuals they believe would be a good fit for open job positions.

“When we talk about the concept of advocacy and how employees recommend someone to join their company or refer someone for a job, there seems to be a mutual trust at play”

Mangesh Bhide, senior vice president and HR head, Reliance Jio Infocomm

Why is referral hiring the best way?

Referral hiring for freelancers offers several benefits, including quality recommendations from trusted sources, quicker recruitment processes due to familiarity with contacts, cost savings, improved cultural fit and a sense of trust and accountability among referred freelancers.

People tend to be cautious about vouching for someone they have doubts about, which often leads them to prefer working with well-established professionals. Such situations can be avoided with referrals, as they act as a sieve that sifts out the gems from the gravel. Moreover, the referral process is an efficient way to uncover freelancers, bypassing the tedious chore of sorting through endless applications and often resulting in smoother negotiations.

It also promotes cultural harmony by ensuring that recommended freelancers align with the organisation’s values and work style. Additionally, referrals serve as an informal quality-assurance mechanism, vouching for the freelancer’s skills, professionalism and reliability, offering peace of mind throughout the hiring process.

Receipt of a referral can provide a sense of assurance when assigning work, especially in the context of freelancing, feels Mangesh Bhide, senior vice president and HR head, Reliance Jio Infocomm, “When we talk about the concept of advocacy and how employees recommend someone to join their company or refer someone for a job, there seems to be a mutual trust at play,” enunciates Bhide.

“When considering freelancers and gig workers, relying solely on a referral should be supplemented with thorough due diligence. Blindly accepting a reference check without further investigation isn’t advisable”

Rajorshi Ganguly, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Drawbacks of relying on referrals

While referrals offer numerous advantages, they also come with their share of challenges. Relying solely on referrals can confine employers to a shallow talent pool, potentially causing them to miss out on the unique skills and fresh perspectives available in the vast world of freelancers. Additionally, the spectre of bias can creep in as referrals may unintentionally favour candidates with backgrounds or networks similar to their own, limiting diversity and novel ideas.

In addition to this, Bhide points out, “One potential concern is that some individuals may take advantage of the referral system. This can lead to issues such as data rights and imbalances.”

Rajorshi Ganguly, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, warns, “When considering freelancers and gig workers, relying solely on a referral should be supplemented with thorough due diligence. Blindly accepting a reference check without further investigation isn’t advisable.’

It’s essential to evaluate whether the referred individual possesses the necessary skills and qualifications for the specific role. While there can be advantages to hiring someone who is known to the referrer, we must be cautious not to overlook any shortcomings in the candidate’s abilities.

When it comes to evaluating these referred candidates, Samir Bhiwapurkar, head of HR and general administration, Japfa Comfeed, believes that the process involves multiple key considerations. First, it’s crucial to assess the credibility of those making the recommendation to ensure their credentials are reliable. Second, avoiding conflicts of interest within the organisation is vital, such as refraining from referring friends or acquaintances for roles even if their services may not meet standards, to maintain the integrity of the hiring process.

“To evaluate candidate quality, collaborate with the hiring manager to define role-specific competencies, perform background checks, tap into social networks for insights from previous employers, and check for past complaints or performance issues with candidates referred by the same source”

Samir Bhiwapurkar, head of HR and general administration, Japfa Comfeed

Overdependence on referrals can lead to a restricted hiring ecosystem, especially if the network lacks the precise skills needed for certain projects. Furthermore, conflicts of interest may arise when referrers have personal or financial stakes in freelancers’ success, potentially blurring objectivity in the selection process. Lastly, when facing large-scale or ongoing hiring needs, referrals may not scale efficiently, making the task of maintaining a consistent flow of referrals challenging. Balancing the benefits and limitations of referrals is key to making an informed choice in your freelance hiring strategy.

Nonetheless, by implementing proper policies and procedures, organisations can reduce the chances of misplacement or misuse of referrals, according to Bhide.

“To evaluate candidate quality, collaborate with the hiring manager to define role-specific competencies, perform background checks, tap into social networks for insights from previous employers, and check for past complaints or performance issues with candidates referred by the same source. These strategies collectively help in making informed and unbiased hiring decisions,” suggests Bhiwapurkur.

He underscores the importance of ensuring the productivity of referral hiring by making sure to investigate any prior complaints or performance problems associated with candidates recommended by the same referrer.

On whether referral-based hiring is the best approach for recruiting freelancers or gig workers, Ganguli feels it’s challenging to definitively say that it is the absolute best method, but it is undoubtedly effective.

A hybrid approach, blending referrals with other methods such as job boards, freelancing platforms and agencies, can offer a broader talent horizon while still capitalising on the reliability and quality of referrals.

The post Is referral hiring the best way to hire freelancers? appeared first on HR Katha.

This is because, earlier, only the knowledge-based industries considered their people to be their assets. Now, even other sectors are moving towards a knowledge-based economy. This has brought about a change in mindset, and of course, spends on people and HR.

In addition to salaries and wages, a typical HR budget now allocates funds for hiring, benefits, talent management, learning and development, training, succession planning, workforce engagement and employee-wellness planning.

It’s true that a lion’s share — almost 70-80 per cent — of the HR budget still goes into salaries and wages. However, there is a growing focus on other pockets — such as employee engagement, learning and development (L&D), as well as management of HR operations, which includes subscription to HR Management Systems (HRMS)— needless to say that spends are growing in these areas.

“Earlier business leaders such as the CFOs or the CEOs were less generous while allocating HR budget”

Suresh Bose, CHRO, Jindal Stainless

In fact, most of the HR heads that HRKatha spoke with for this story agreed that their budgets for L&D and employee engagement have gone up post the pandemic.

Even a Gartner study had predicted the same. As per the study, around two thirds of HR leaders planned to increase their budgets in 2022, which is almost twice the number in 2021.

So how is India Inc. planning its HR budget for this financial year? We are already in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

Usually, the HR Budget is derived on the basis of total revenue, operational cost or just cost per employee.

At a macro level, it can be stated that organisations, with a higher average HR cost, see HR as a strategic enabler that can improve workforce productivity levels, and thereby,
business performance.

“In a capital intensive industry, the cost is more on the side of the business than the people. In a people centric industry, such as IT and technology, the people cost is almost 60 per cent of the total cost of the company. In consultancy, the people cost is even higher and touches 75 per cent,” shares Jayant Kumar, joint president – HR, Adani Ports and SEZ.

“The budget for rewards & recognition and employee engagement has increased at Lendingkart”

Asit Kumar, CHRO, Lendingkart

At the micro level, however, HR budgets are dependent on several other factors such as the stage the company is in, its requirements, its business growth strategy for the year, and so on.

Ramesh Mitragotri, CHRO, Ultratech Cements, shares with HRKatha that for his company, the HR budget is the culmination of the blended approach of the business strategy and the HR agenda.

“We look at the activities of the previous year, and decide on the flow for the current year,” he reveals.

For instance, when the HRMS technology was introduced in the market, the spends increased in that area. Similarly, during and even post the pandemic, travel cost has come down whether for business or hiring. Psychometric tools have been introduced for interviewing. All these external factors influence the HR budgets for the year.

The FMCG company, Emami has a slightly different approach. “We look at the financial, people and functional scorecard before deciding on the amount. However, before finalising the budget, we go to the far end of the cost in terms of manpower planning, be it new hires or attrition. In the process, we indulge in detailed chats with all functional heads to understand their requirements.”

SG Analytics, a company, which offers global insights and market research services, has stopped following a straight- jacketed approach while budgeting for its HR. Earlier, the Company used to allocate individual budgets, per person. Now, it is as per requirements. The objective is to provide a better experience to all the employees, whether working from the office or remotely.

Poonawalla Fincorp follows a totally different model. It calculates the HR budget on the basis of the ratio of the operational cost. The Company follows a zero-based approach to allocate budgets rather than an incremental approach.

“We look at the activities of the previous year, and decide on the flow for the current year”

Ramesh Mitragotri, CHRO, Ultratech Cements

“Some companies refer to the previous year’s budget and increase one to two per cent in each area.

At Poonawalla Fincorp, every bucket area starts from zero. We allocate the budget for each area as per the business strategy and needs of the company,” explains Manish Chaudhari.

However it’s not always about the strategy. It’s also about power struggle. HR folk also need to fight it out to get their budgets increased.

“In companies where the HR head is not strong enough vis-à-vis others in the leadership team, the team may not get a sufficient budget for HR, as others will try to dictate terms,” shares a senior HR leader.

“Earlier, business leaders such as the CFOs or the CEOs were less generous while allocating HR budget,” concurs Suresh Bose, CHRO, Jindal Stainless.

“A general formula was followed. As a thumb rule, two to three per cent of the sales revenue was the HR budget,” he recalls. Not much thought was given to the HR strategy.

“In a capital intensive industry, the cost is more on the side of the business than the people. In a people centric industry, the people cost is almost 60 per cent of the total cost of the company. In consultancy, the people cost is even higher and touches 75 per cent”

Jayant Kumar, joint president – HR, Adani Ports and SEZ

However, now things have changed for the better. Companies are willing to do everything for their top performers that form about 20 per cent of the total workforce. They give them hefty increments and even double promotions.

“The importance of people in an organisation has increased the impetus to the HR budget,” shares Chaudhari.

Kumar of Adani Ports & SEZ, however, differs. “I don’t think the HR budget has gained more prominence now. Every function in an organisation is important and has a specific role. If one is building plans as part of the HR strategy wherein the intern gives returns, then the business will be happy to allocate more budget for the same,” he enunciates.

SO WHAT’S IN STORE FOR FY 2023?

MAHINDRA AUTO

The company has been focussing on EV technology, and that’s where the HR budget is being spent.

“The real increase in HR cost is because we have to acquire talent in niche areas, such as EV technology and embedded software in EV vehicles. In this segment, there is a limited talent pool and the number of players in the market is increasing day by day,” says Manish Sinha, CHRO, Mahindra & Mahindra, Automotive Business.

Not just Mahindra Auto, but the entire Mahindra Group is now scouting for a new learning management system. While the learning system and the budget are integrated within the Group, there has been an increase in L&D budget at the Group level.

“The real increase in HR cost at Mahindra Auto is because we need to acquire talent in niche areas”

Manish Sinha, CHRO, Mahindra & Mahindra, Automotive Business

At Mahindra Auto, the budget for employee engagement has also increased by 25 per cent. The Company has introduced new initiatives. “Since people have started coming back to the office after remote working, engagement is a necessity,” asserts Sinha.

ULTRATECH CEMENT

The HR budget has been increasing at the rate of five to six per cent year-on-year. The Company is now spending on the safety and wellness of employees.

In L&D, the budget has not increased, but the Company has altered its learning strategy, and newer learning tools and practices are being adopted.

Budget on employee engagement has gone up from what it was during the lockdown. The spend on engagement is at par with prepandemic levels, if not more. Budgeting for HR is based on activities – the largest section of the pie, post salary wages and insurance, goes to learning followed by employee engagement. Cost of hiring or recruitment processes comes in third.

ADANI PORTS & SEZ

The focus of this year’s budget is to get more out of less. Besides, there is increased emphasis on building team capabilities and developing talent in niche areas, such as cybersecurity and data protection.

“There has been an increase in the budget for insurance and medical benefits by 200 to 300 per cent in the last three years”

Kavita Singh, CHRO, United Breweries

The annual budget is calculated as the direct derivative of the business plans and as per ratios allocated for each stream. This year, the nonsalary part of the HR budget has increased manifold, as activities have increased.

Adani Ports’ annual HR budget is over Rs 400 crore.

Around 80 per cent of it goes into salaries, and 10 per cent in nonsalary expenses. Around 4 per cent is spent on employee wellness, 3 per cent on HR technology and the remaining 3 per cent on HR operations.

EMAMI

At Emami, the HR Budget is allocated based on the brands. Depending on the numbers the company wants to achieve for each brand, financial, people and functional scorecards are analysed. Opinion is sought from functional heads and manpower requirements are mapped for each function and brand.

The manpower budget, which includes salaries, wages, recruitment process cost and onboarding cost, is generally 10 per cent of the total net sales.

The other HR budget, which includes people engagement cost, learning and development and HR operations including all subscriptions to HRMS, is just 1 per cent of the net sales. The largest share of this budget goes into learning and development, followed by engagement.

The L&D budget has been doubled this fiscal. Upskilling of the workforce is high on the agenda.

“Even though salary continues to be the biggest component, attention is increasingly being given to skilling, communication, rewards and technology”

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head HR, Alkem Laboratories

UNITED BREWERIES

The HR Budget is based on job activities, projects, external orientation and training.

The larger part of the budget, in the range of 70-80 per cent, goes into employee cost, including fixed salaries, wages and other variables.

“There has been an increase in the budget for insurance and medical benefits by 200 to 300 per cent in the last three years,” says Kavita Singh ,CHRO, United Breweries.

JINDAL STAINLESS

The budget for the last three years and the current scenario are evaluated before formulating the HR Budget. Department wise KPIs and KRAs are aligned to decide on the manpower requirement, and an organisation chart is created for succession planning.

Only then the total cost is calculated and the budget is allocated for each stream, be it learning, engagement, hiring or any other.

The data collection from each function starts in December, and the HR budget is presented first in January. There is a second presentation in February, and the final presentation is done in March. In addition, there is a review done month on month to monitor whether everything is moving as per the plan. Based on these reviews, an incremental budget is also approved.

“Earlier, salary was a major part of the overall HR budget. Now, however, we are looking at giving a better employee experience across the employee life cycle and that can be done with new-age tools and technology in HR”

Kiran Bala, chief people officer, SG Analytics

In terms of priority, talent management comes first, followed by talent acquisition and employee engagement.

“Our HR budget was about 2.9 per cent to the ratio of our sales turnover three year back. Last year it was 2.6 per cent and now it is 1.8 per cent of the sales turnover. It has decreased since the sales volume has increased, which indicates increased productivity,” says Suresh Bose, CHRO, Jindal Stainless.

SG ANALYTICS

The focus of the HR budget is primarily on talent acquisition, skill development and building capabilities. The Company is working on digitisation of HR and learning processes. Simple HRMS and LMS platforms have become inadequate as more people are working remotely.

The Company plans to invest heavily on HR technology and tools, and integration of HR analytics with it.

“Earlier, salary was a major part of the overall HR budget. Now, however, we are looking at giving a better employee experience across the employee life cycle and that can be done with new-age tools and technology in HR,” says Kiran Bala, chief people officer, SG Analytics.

Employee engagement and L&D costs have also increased as compared to last year.

“Some companies refer to the previous year’s budget and increase one to two percent in each area. At Poonawala Fincorp, every bucket area starts from zero”

Manish Chaudhari, president & chief of staff, Poonawalla Fincorp

ALKEM LABORATORIES

There is no major change in HR budget. Salary cost takes away the lion’s share, as 70 per cent of its workforce comprises sales professionals. Even though salary continues to be the biggest component, attention is increasingly being given to skilling, communication, rewards and HR technology.

LENDINGKART

Adopting a holistic approach to budgeting for HR, the Company considers all the components such as recruitment, retention, learning, engagement and operations.

The rewards and recognition budget is kept separate from the employee engagement budget, and is calculated per employee. There has been an increase in spends in these two categories.

The firm has subscribed to a learning-management system and other HRMS tools and services such as legal compliance, background verification agencies as well as PF processing agencies.

Annual HR budget is around Rs 10-12 Cr.

“Before finalising the budget, we go to the last end of the cost in terms of manpower planning, be it new hires or attrition. In the process, we indulge in detailed chats with all functional heads to understand their requirements”

Tuhin Biswas,, CHRO, Emami

POONAWALLA FINCORP

The Company aims to invest around 12 per cent of its entire HR budget on learning and development, since it is going through a digital transformation process.

As per Chaudhari, this is the first full year for the Company, since the last two years have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why, the L&D budget has been increased by 18 20 per cent, and the budget for employee engagement has been increased 1.5 times.

Employee engagement takes away 10-12 per cent of the total HR budget, as new employees have joined. There is a separate budget for employee wellness and for sustaining the culture of the organisation, which take away 9 per cent each.

Salary and manpower accounts for the biggest share, that is, 60 per cent of the pie.

(This story was first published in HRKatha magazine)

The post How India Inc. Plans its HR Budget appeared first on HR Katha.

Organisations think it is right to discourage unnecessary debates and discussions that are not related to their line of work of the company and may create disharmony amongst the people.

However, that doesn’t mean such debates do not take place at all. They do. As per the India Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022, by PwC, 75 per cent of employees in India either frequently or sometimes, do have discussions on political and social issues.

Of those who said they do not have such conversations at the workplace, 32 per cent admitted to their company discouraging such conversations.

Interestingly, the report also mentions that a higher proportion of employees believe that debates and discussion amongst employees regarding political or social issues can enhance inclusion at the workplace!

“Healthy conversations and discussions on social issues do help enhance inclusion”

Sushil Baveja, senior HR leader

So how can an organisation have such discussions at the workplace even while ensuring that it does not blow out of hand?

When it comes to social issues, there are certain topics or discussions that can get quite controversial and result in heartburn for some people. Topics related to LGBTQ inclusion at the workplace, period leaves, mental health and even paternity or maternity leaves and more. In such discussions, people tend to have certain polarised views and opinions. For some, these issues are very close to their heart and they are quite passionate about them.

“Companies that do take a stand on such social issues, which impact the workplace are very clear about what they want. However, employees may have different opinions with regard to that issue,” admits Rajorshi Ganguli, group HR head, Alkem Laboratories.

People may be polarised when it comes to hiring people from diverse backgrounds. Some may believe that the organisation is giving more preference to women in certain roles simply to achieve their diversity goals. “I think this is what sensitisation sessions are meant for — to ensure that people are more educated about such issues in the organisation,” says the senior HR leader.

In fact, when it comes to social issues, lack of knowledge about a particular subject can lead to conflicts or disharmony amongst employees. Therefore, through sensitisation sessions, companies try to educate employees on the subject to ensure there is no such heartburn amongst employees.

“Sensitisation sessions are meant to ensure that people are more educated about social issues in the organisation”

A senior HR leader from real estate sector

While companies may have formal platforms to discuss social issues, even on such platforms, differentiated opinions do arise. To control such discussions, such conversations need to be highly moderated. “The leaders who participate in such conversations are advised to respect each other’s opinions and differences,” the senior HR leader says.

However, as the PwC report says, debating and discussing such social issues enhances inclusion. In some ways, it can certainly help because people will get an opportunity to be exposed to differentiated opinions and different perspectives.

“Such healthy conversations and discussions do help enhance inclusion,’ agrees Sushil Baveja, senior HR leader.

Some HR leaders believe that just having conversations and discussions around such topics is not enough. The change should reflect in actions and concrete steps. Such social biases come from the very roots of our society, and this cannot be eradicated easily. It is rather a long journey.

As per HR leaders, discussing political issues is very different from having conversations around social issues. In fact, Baveja believes that such discussions should be discouraged if they are not related to one’s line of business. “People do have such discussions, but they generally restrict it to the cafeteria conversations and do not bring it to their workstations,’ states Baveja.

A complete ban on political debates altogether cannot be possible, believe HR leaders, since they take place at an informal level. “We cannot stop people from having such discussions nor do we have any control over them,” says Ganguli.

“Companies that do take a stand on such social issues, which impact the workplace are very clear about what they want. However, employees may have different opinions with regard to that issue”

Rajorshi Ganguli, group HR head, Alkem Laboratories

“I believe, informal political debates do tend to get heated at times and people may even end up getting hurt. However, these are temporary effects that are resolved with time,” says the senior HR leader.

Sensitisation efforts along with leadership support can make it possible for controversial social topics to be amicably discussed at the workplace. Some new-age companies have even come forward to introduce policies around pink leaves or period leaves, which is a healthy sign and speaks volumes of the way India Inc’s work culture is shaping up.

The post How to ensure political or social debates do not blow out of hand appeared first on HR Katha.

In 2022 and beyond, the workforce would like to experience greater flexibility and exercise their choice when it comes to picking jobs, organisations and the pace at which they would like to steer their career. Organisations will need to align more with this reality rather than expect the workforce to accept what they have to offer. Simple as it may sound, organisations will take time to adapt to this. The implication of this would be to create the right ecosystem in the organisation, to not only attract talent but retain them. In addition, there is a lot of discussion around hybrid and gig work, which will gain prominence and enable new types of roles, careers and workspace settings. However, this will only be limited to certain industries and kinds of work.

HR splitting into three in 2022: operations, strategy and career pathing

I don’t see HR splitting into three or four, but it will need to juggle multiple expectations to create effectiveness. The HR function always had a strategic and operational role to play in the success of any organisation. Further, the HR had to also drive change management and play an administrative role, which can broadly be clubbed into the strategic and operational dimensions, respectively. Within these two, I would say the following areas will be more pronounced in times to come and not just 2022:

a) Managing human-centred technology to enable an engaging workplace

b) Creating a bouquet of employee experiences to make the multigenerational cohort adjust well and focus on the needs of Gen Z

c) Making health and wellness a prominent focus area for HR.

“Tall organisational hierarchy will be outdated soon”

The implication of the above will be to create a huge mind shift amongst the management, senior leadership and even the HR team, so as to balance these additional expectations and not just relegate themselves to the classical role of yesteryears.

Change in leadership development programmes in 2022

Not just leaders, but all sections of employees need to stay relevant in today’s context. The future looks equally volatile and complex. Maximum development happens on the job itself, when people take the plunge and continue to handle roles with increasing uncertainty and complexity. It is also important to look for an opportunity to attend leadership programmes that can round them up further. A bespoke leadership development programme that addresses the specific goals of learners will be effective. Broad brush programmes may not be fully relevant anymore.

Effective leadership programmes will be those that offer a mix of exposure and interaction tailored as per the learning needs, in the current context, leadershipdevelopment programmes should equip a person to build a portfolio of skills to handle a variety of uncharted roles as opposed to the very rigid ladder-type career path.

“I don’t see HR splitting into three or four, but it will need to juggle multiple expectations to create effectiveness”

Organisational hierarchy threatened in a hybrid workplace

The pandemic has demonstrated that work can be done in various work settings. It is important to be focussed on the outcome and not the physical setting of the job. While an organisational hierarchy will be necessary to ensure work flow, a regimented and tall organisational hierarchy will soon become outdated. A tall hierarchy that slows down decision making or doesn’t facilitate upward communication in the right spirit will be detrimental to the success of the organisation. Fewer layers and a large manageable span will be normal as we embrace more technology and empower people to self-drive their work.

Broader strategy to boost DE&I in 2022

Focus on diversity equity and inclusion will continue in 2022 and even beyond. Diversity and inclusion can’t be just confined to gender related issues. Rather, they have to embrace various forms to make the workplace productive and creative. The DE&I agenda can’t be just a tick-in-the-box nor a percentagefulfilling drive to meet mandated agenda, which unfortunately it has become in several instances. Merit has to drive the DE&I strategy, else it will just be seen as a cosmetic agenda. Diversity of thoughts, culture, languages, educational background and many other aspects will truly make a workplace vibrant.
We will also see a mix of conservative and gig workers working side by side in the same organisation for a similar role. However, all this will need different thinking and acceptability in the minds of people, who are driving the organisation.

The post “Merit will drive DE&I strategy else it will be just cosmetic,” Rajorshi Ganguli appeared first on HR Katha.

Can leaders be empathetic and kind to their employees always? After all, leaders are human beings too. They are bound to face situations at the workplace that may test their patience and even drive them to the edge, forcing them to show their not-so-polite self. If leaders are rude and overly strict with their employees, tension can result at work, leading to larger conflicts as well.

On the other hand, if leaders go overboard with their show of empathy and kindness, they may end up making the employees too comfortable, leading to carelessness and a casual attitude. This can have an adverse effect on work and most importantly, weaken their ability to judge situations without bias.

Is there a way for leaders to be empathetic and kind in their roles while still maintaining their professional roles?

“CXOs may have broader problems to deal with, but they still have to work with other human beings —quirks, idiosyncrasies, strengths, and weaknesses et al. This is just as apparent and relevant to their success in the C Suite as it was they landed their very first managerial role.”

Amit Das, director-HR and CHRO, Bennett Coleman and Co

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories, says, “At the end of the day, a person should be respectful to others. Situations may arise, where leaders will be required to act tough and assertive, but this shouldn’t happen at the cost of disrespecting anybody.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the leader shouldn’t be demanding. It is just that their behavior should never slide into discourtesy, explains Ganguli.

“Being assertive doesn’t necessarily mean one has to be abusive. Empathetic leaders who speak softly are also capable of being assertive. They just have to be cautious not to be too stern in their roles while interacting with the employees,” advises Ganguli.

“While leaders can show empathy and kindness during the employees’ time of need, they should otherwise interact with them in a professional manner.”

Pankaj Lochan, CHRO, Jindal Steel and Power

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance, says, “Being humble is a pre-requisite for a leader. For a leader, being humble is essential and not a choice. It is the bare minimum expected of a leader.”

“Leaders are often required to have uncomfortable conversations with their employees, which the latter may not like. Yet, leaders can retain their humility and continue to be respectful to them,” says Nayyar.

Even the toughest and most difficult discussions or confrontations can be handled with a smile on one’s face and a humble demeanour. This actually makes the conversation that much easier,” points out Nayyar.

“Leaders are often required to have uncomfortable conversations with their employees, which the latter may not like. Yet, leaders can retain their humility and continue to be respectful to them.”

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance

“Leaders are the ones who set the right stage for the culture of their organisation. If they lose humility, then it percolates down to all the employees in the organisation. It is critical for leaders to demonstrate behaviour which promotes the right culture in the organisation. Therefore, being humble at all times is critical,” asserts Nayyar.

Too much empathy can work against leaders as well, because it may raise the expectations of employees in terms of how they want to be treated. This, in turn, will interfere with their own behaviour and performance at work.

“Leaders spoil their employees by overempathising with them. Employees need stimulus for work, and they get it in the form of salary,”opines Pankaj Lochan, CHRO, Jindal Steel and Power.

“Being assertive doesn’t necessarily mean one has to be abusive. Empathetic leaders who speak softly are also capable of being assertive. They just have to be cautious not to be too stern in their roles while interacting with the employees.”

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories

Lochan believes that while leaders can show empathy and kindness during the employees’ time of need, they should otherwise interact with them in a professional manner. Empathy should depend on the situation, and shouldn’t be an end approach to every conversation between leaders and their employees.

Amit Das, director-HR and CHRO, Bennett Coleman and Co, emphasises, “Leaders guide their teams to achieve results. Their responsibilities can be summarised in three keywords —‘guidance’, ‘team’ and ‘results’.”

According to Das, “CXOs may have broader problems to deal with, but they still have to work with other human beings —quirks, idiosyncrasies, strengths, and weaknesses et al. This is just as apparent and relevant to their success in the C Suite as it was they landed their very first managerial role.”

Recalling what he learnt from Kim Scott’s book, Radical Candour, Das talks about two dimensions that can help leaders navigate the demands of guidance, teams and results.

The first dimension is ‘care personally’. It is not enough to care only about people’s ability to perform a job. It is essential to recognise that each one of us brings our whole selves to work. This includes our stresses, pleasures, frustrations, challenges, highs and lows.

The second dimension is to ‘challenge directly’, which involves telling people when their work isn’t good enough as well as when it is. It is important to tell people when they are not going to get the promotion they want, or the new role they coveted, or when the results don’t justify further investment in what they’re working on. On the other hand, when bosses belittle employees and embarrass them publicly, or create conditions where employees dread the leader, their behaviour can be termed as ‘obnoxious aggression’. This kind of aggression sometimes gets great results in the short term but leaves a trail of carnage in its wake in the long run.

When leaders don’t care enough about a person to challenge directly, they use ‘manipulative insincerity’. This happens when they are too focused on being liked or think they can gain some sort of political advantage by faking friendliness—or when they are just too tired to care or argue anymore.

When leaders not only care about people, but equally care about organisational priorities, and therefore, challenge people when they are off track, they practice radical candour.

Therefore, leaders must be respectful towards all, be patient in their conversations, but should not be afraid to point out the issue in performance or behaviour with candour, when it impacts organisational results. Then they should guide the team to improve performance. Radical candour builds people performance, without pulling them down.

In the end, what matters is that leaders’ approach should be balanced, and never tip toward extremes on either sides. Everyone expects to be treated fairly and respectfully at the workplace, and leaders should help create a work environment that is democratic and allows freedom of expression.

At the same time, it is important to not get carried away with one’s feelings and be overly sentimental while interacting with the employees. True, leaders should never be discourteous and rude to their employees, but they should also maintain a healthy distance from them so that it gives them perspective during difficult situations and doesn’t interfere with their decision making.

The post How leaders can be empathetic & emotional without compromising professionalism appeared first on HR Katha.

Will things remain this way forever? Can we ever hope to live, or run businesses or even travel with family normally? These are questions to which people are seeking answers. While the optimists amongst us will tell themselves that normalcy is within reach and even attempt to infect others with that optimism, the not-so-optimistic ones will simply do their best to cope and tell others to not forget reality and be prepared for the worst.

At a time when leaders in the corporate world and even employees — tired of switching from a work-from-home model to a hybrid one and then back again — are yearning for a normal life, devoid of restrictions of any kind, does it help to be overly optimistic?

“In such tough situations our formula is to take all physical processes online and believe that they could be performed virtually”

Sandiep Batra, CHRO, Landmark Group

Just when things were picking up for businesses around the world, the rising cases and the new Omicron variant have pushed everything back to square one. Doesn’t that prove that those who had never raised their hopes too high in the first place were right in doing so?

This is where we should recall the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral James Stockdale, who was one of the highest-ranking naval officers in the US, was captured as a prisoner of war by the Nazis. He was kept in a concentration camp. James Collin, the renowned writer, had mentioned Stockdale in his book, Good to Great.

Stockdale had survived the horrors of the concentration camp for years, where many had succumbed. When Collin interviewed Stockdale and asked him about those at the camp who could not survive, Stockdale revealed that it was the optimistic lot that failed to make it.

As per Stockdale, the optimists kept thinking that they would be free by next Christmas. However, contrary to their beliefs, many Christmases came and went, but their situation remained unchanged. Therefore, they died of shock and disappointment. In other words, the optimistic people succumbed to their inability to face the reality.

On the other hand, Stockdale personally was very much confident that one day he would survive and meet his family and everything would be fine, but he did not let the harsh truths and brutal reality of the world out of his mind. Therefore, while he was always hoping for the best, at the same time, he was also prepared for the future.

“Leaders at Max are well aware that they will all have to work in this new normal” 

Shailesh Singh, chief people officer, Max Life Insurance

The book quotes Stockdale thus, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Named after Stockdale, the Paradox suggests that one should never confuse one’s belief in survival with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of the current reality.

Leaders and the Stockdale Paradox

For leaders, following the Stockdale Paradox is a must in these times, when one day seems to give hope of a brighter future and the very next day shatters those hopes.

Leaders should refrain from telling their employees that they should live in the hope that one day some vaccine will be discovered to protect them from the virus, or that herd immunity will save the world. Instead, they should make them understand that the virus is probably here to stay, that we may need to live with the reality of COVID-19 forever, and therefore, learn to cope with it in the best possible way.

Many companies that had reopened their offices are realising that normalcy is still not within reach. Some have reverted to the work-from-home model. Not all leaders are liking this. After all, it does impact their team-management skills.

At Max Life Insurance, all employees have been asked to work from home. “It was a mixed bag of emotions. Some leaders are not happy with the decision, but we had to do it,” reveals Shailesh Singh, chief people officer, Max Life Insurance. However, he points out that at Max, the employees and leaders nurture a ‘growth mindset,’ and therefore, they know how to survive. Singh says that the leaders at Max are well aware that they will all have to live with this reality.

Learning and adapting

While some sectors actually benefited from the pandemic, others took a hit. The retail sector witnessed very low footfall, with people choosing to stay away from crowded places. Many stores remained shut for a good part of the year during the pandemic. For leaders in the retail sector, therefore, the Stockdale Paradox becomes even more relevant.

“The field workforce, including leaders, are all very well aware now, that the challenges posed by the pandemic are part of their job”

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories

Admitting that the current situation is not new for them, Sandiep Batra, CHRO, Landmark Group says, “We have seen the first wave and have learned many lessons from it.” He further shares that in the first wave itself the leadership at the Group had realised that the pandemic was here to stay for a while and they would simply have to adapt to it. Therefore, for them, the focus was on taking the business online and making it stronger. The Company had to bring about changes and adopt new ways of working in the new normal. “Our formula was to take all physical processes online and believe that they could be performed virtually,” mentions Batra.

Awareness of reality

While employees working in corporate offices face a certain set of problems, those working in the field face a different set of problems.

While all pharma companies have been thriving amidst the pandemic, in terms of business growth, their field workforce has had to overcome many challenges.

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories, shares with HRKatha that people working in the field have been dealing with challenges every day in the last two years. For them, the situation was always grim and full of risks. “The field workforce, including leaders, are all very well aware now, that the challenges posed by the pandemic are part of their job,” asserts Ganguli.

That is why, the Company keeps organising webinars where doctors and psychologists share information with the field workers about the dangers involved and the precautions to be taken. “Such initiatives give the field workforce the message that we are all in this together,” enunciates Ganguli.

While it is good for leaders to be full of hope and positivity, they should ensure that they do not let the hard reality out of sight. Normalcy cannot be magically restored overnight, but we can all certainly learn to cope and survive, whatever the situation may be.

The post How Stockdale Paradox will help leaders survive this pandemic appeared first on HR Katha.

The general feeling among the envious team members would be that the handful of ‘so called’ high performers not only get recognised frequently but also manage to get away with a lot of things.

It is not only the monetary rewards, but also many small things that matter. For instance, when high performers give suggestions or ideas in a meeting, the managers tend to always pay them more attention, leaving the others feeling unheard. The managers often overlook the work of high performers, compromising quality of work in the process, whereas other average employees are always scrutinised closely. Managers tend to be lenient with high performers when they leave early from office or report late for work.

“It’s okay to accommodate high performers to a certain extent and give them some leverage. If we start terming such gestures as favouritism the whole concept of meritocracy will be termed the same”

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance

These small actions may appear to be acts of favouritism from the point of view of the employees, while the managers may not even realise it.

Is this what favouritism really looks like?

High performers are the blue-eyed boys for managers, and why shouldn’t they be? After all, they are the ones who work hard and give more time to their work and are certainly performing better than the others. Therefore, excusing them for certain shortcomings should not be a problem, right?

Anil Misra, CHRO, JioMart-B2B Grocery, believes that being inclined towards high performers is quite natural for managers, as they work towards fulfilling the dreams and goals of the organisation.

“Being accommodating towards star performers is pretty much fine in a business environment,” says Misra.

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance, admits that it is not possible to give the same employee experience to every employee. It will all depend on the kind of performance they deliver, otherwise high performers will not be motivated to perform further in the company. “It’s okay to accommodate high performers to a certain extent and give them some leverage. If we start terming such gestures as favouritism the whole concept of meritocracy will be termed the same,” states Nayyar.

How does being a high performer give one the liberty to get away with everything? “Managers have to make sure that the star performers do not cross certain boundaries and take undue advantage just because they are high performers,” says Rajorshi Ganguli, global head- HR, Alkem Laboratories.

“Being accommodating towards star performers is pretty much fine in a business environment”

Anil Misra, CHRO, JioMart-B2B Grocery

In a team, there will always be different categories of employees. The first category of A-grade employees comprises the star performers, then come the B-grade employees who are average performers followed by the C-grade employees who are non-performers and need some coaching and skill building to go into higher roles.

Though it is very much important to recognise the A-grade employees, we should not ignore the B and C categories or else they are likely to quit or remain demotivated and never really perform to the expected level ever.

How do we create this balance?

Nayyar feels that equal opportunities to grow should be given to one and all. He shares that in one of his previous firms, star performers were not just given high-intensity projects whenever such projects came along simply on the basis of their past performance. Each employee had to bid for the project and present a pitch. The project was given to the most deserving employee after proper evaluation and consideration.

Ganguli also emphasises on the importance of managers building relations with everyone. More often, managers may just interact with the high performers in the company because of which others may end up feeling ignored. “Equal opportunity to interact and deliberate has to be given to all,” advises Ganguli. He also points out that not everyone can be a high performer. In a team, each member has a role, and everyone does perform in their own capacity.

“Managers have to make sure that the star performers do not cross certain boundaries and take undue advantage just because they are high performers”

Rajorshi Ganguli, global head- HR, Alkem Laboratories

Misra explains that everybody starts from zero, and therefore, in the beginning, all should be given a fair chance. However, moving forward, rewarding meritocracy in the organisation can send across a great message to the employees, and as a result, even average performers will start developing themselves to perform better. “When a clear message is sent out that mediocracy has no place in the organisation, even average performers are motivated to improve, and it is only fair that they be given a chance to do so,” asserts Misra.

Clearly, it is considered just fine to be accommodating towards star performers in a business environment. However, managers should be careful not to overdo it. Moreover, such accommodation should be made on merit, only then does it become fair to all. At the same time, however, B and C grade employees should be encouraged instead of being left ignored in a corner. The key is for managers to strike a balance.

The post Is supporting star performers an act of favouritism? appeared first on HR Katha.

So how does HR decide whether talent acquisition is more important or retention? For some businesses, acquiring big teams is not a priority. For instance, according to a white paper, companies such as Raytheon, a defence contractor firm in the US, are able to create value with a relatively small team of engineers. On the other hand, companies working in the retail or pharmaceutical sectors, need a huge sales force, and therefore, it is common for them to maintain large sales teams, depending upon the scale of work.

“Aligning the company culture with the purpose of the individual can take care of the retention factor”

Jayant Kumar, president – HR, Adani Ports & SEZ

We are aware that the attrition rate is relatively high in the IT sector in India, where people are the most valuable assets. In such sectors, employee retention becomes critical. Recently, it was reported that Infosys faced an increase in attrition rate from 10 per cent to 15.2 per cent in the January -March quarter. In the last quarter of FY 21, TCS and HCL were the only companies that managed to keep their attrition rate below 10 per cent. So, what should be the focus — talent acquisition or talent retention? Does it vary from company to company or industry to industry?

Either way – part of the same coin

According to Rajorshi Ganguli, president & global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, both talent acquisition and talent retention are part of the talent-management strategy in a company. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude which is more important or more relevant.

In fact, Ganguli believes that both are quite related at times. If the talent-acquisition strategy is good — which also includes getting people on board properly, giving them a good onboarding experience — it has a positive impact on the tenure of the talent in the company. Although there are other tools and techniques for better retention, this also makes a difference.

“One cannot really separate talent acquisition from talent retention, because both these functions form an integral part of the whole talent-management strategy”

Rajorshi Ganguli, president & global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

“One cannot really separate talent acquisition from talent retention, because both these functions form an integral part of the whole talent-management strategy,” says Ganguli.

Retention is always a challenge

On the other hand, Chandrasekhar Mukherjee, CHRO, Bhilosa Group, believes that talent retention is relatively more important than talent acquisition. He feels it is comparatively easier to acquire or recruit talent by giving attractive benefits and compensation, than retaining them, which is a much more difficult job.

Another factor is that the cost of replacing talent is very high as compared to acquiring new talent across levels. Also, if the attrition rate of the company is high, it tends to raise questions on the employer brand of the company. “For me, retention is more important because it directly impacts the employer brand of the company, and building a brand takes a fairly long time,” explains Mukherjee.

For acquiring talent, the HR team does not require too many skills, but the retention of talent depends on several factors. “Developing a good culture, transparency, equity, creating opportunities to grow within the organisation and ensuring engagement, requires a lot of skill and is a part of a number sub-functions within HR,” adds Mukherjee.

“For me, retention is more important because it directly impacts the employer brand of the company, and building a brand takes a fairly long time”

Chandrasekhar Mukherjee, CHRO, Bhilosa Group

Reetu Raina, CHRO, Quick Heal also feels talent retention is more important for multiple reasons. First, people who stay on for long do not only add value to the company, but also the employer brand, which further helps attract good talent. Second, if a company focuses on retaining talent it reduces the pressure on the talent-acquisition team. Third, the internally- groomed talent, which stays for longer periods of time, also emerge as future leaders for the company. That means, the company will not have buy talent for leadership roles in the future.

Quick Heal works in a segment where it is difficult to find ready-made talent. Still, the company acquires people who are quite ready for the role they are taking on. “I get 80 per cent ready talent from the talent market. We focus on retaining our talent and investing in upskilling them,” shares Raina.

Does the focus on talent acquisition or retention depend on the nature of the companies, or the industry they operate in? Mukherjee is sure that retention will anyway be more important for any company, even if it requires to hire in huge numbers in certain functions. “Even in the pharma sector, where the sales force is quite big, no company would want people to leave as it can result in loosing intellectual business knowledge to other companies,” points out Mukherjee.

Ganguli thinks that acquisition and retention are both equally important, but at the same time, he does agree that retention becomes more important in companies or industries where the attrition level is very high. “I believe a low attrition rate is healthy as it can help weed out non-performers, but yes, if the attrition rate is high, such as in the IT sector, retention will gain importance in the affected companies,” says Ganguli.

“I get 80 per cent ready talent from the talent market. We focus on retaining our talent and investing in upskilling them”

Reetu Raina, CHRO, Quick Heal

Talent acquisition is complex; needs focussed approach

For some HR leaders, talent retention is more important and for some both are vital to the talent- management strategy. However, Jayant Kumar, president – HR, Adani Ports & SEZ, is of the opinion that talent acquisition is more important than talent retention. Kumar believes that talent acquisition involves a lot of complex processes. First, one needs to see the fitment factor of the candidate.

Simply sourcing talent is not enough, but sourcing it from the right platform and making it available to the hiring managers is important. Also, at times, it is essential to train the hiring managers too.

Additionally, as recruiters, it is very important to understand the organisational culture and what type of people can thrive in that culture. Giving an example, Kumar shares that there are two kinds of people — ones who oppose innovation and ones who are all for it. The former like to work in a more structured and organised environment, where rules are strictly followed with less scope for changes and innovation, while the latter want to be empowered and bring innovation to the table. Understanding the internal culture is necessary to attract the right people who can survive and thrive in the company’s culture. This, in turn, ensures retention.

“Aligning the company culture with the purpose of the individual can take care of the retention factor,” opines Kumar.

The post Talent acquisition vs talent retention – What’s more important? appeared first on HR Katha.

This is where the asynchronous collaboration approach offers relief. Let us see how it makes a difference.

Just imagine a team working on an assignment or a project. During pre-COVID times, it was very convenient for any team member to share ideas, give feedback, and provide a status report verbally, as everyone was working in the same building. It was easy to call short meetings and have conversations. This is synchronous collaboration, where communication was in real time.

Asynchronous collaboration, on the other hand, is a type of collaboration in which the exchange of ideas/knowledge and interaction among users occurs as and when schedules permit, instead of the sender and receiver of messages and ideas connecting in real time.

“Generally when cross-functional teams work on projects collaboratively they do practice this form of asynchronous collaboration.”

Sharad Sharma, CHRO & chief ethics officer, Pramerica Life Insurance

Let us understand this with an example. Suppose a team of professionals is working on a project and there is a project-management system or a platform where the leader can mention all the essential details such as opportunity, status, new ideas, sales pipeline, and so on. The other team members can pour over it whenever they want to, and can add comments or make edits either simultaneously or at a later time. To support this, there are multiple tools, such as Google Docs. Here, the key activity is the preparation of self-explanatory presentations and documents, which audiences can understand. In the end, it leads to a synchronous way of collaboration in the form of a meeting, which is quite precise as everyone comes prepared and the purpose of the meeting is to take the final decision.

This saves a lot of precious time, which would have otherwise gone into taking status updates on calls or video conferences. Especially during these times, when some people are working from home and others are operating from the office, these disruptions can be quite annoying.

“In any pharmaceutical company, the sales personnel are spread across all geographical areas. Not just in the pandemic era, we have been practising asynchronous collaboration for a very long time via a digital platform in which every sales person has to feed in their update at the end of the day as a sales report. This platform is used to submit and access status reports.”

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Today, however, many teams try to replicate or follow synchronous communication which can end up to be a big challenge for every team member as most of the time is spent on calls or video chats.

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, shares that in their industry, this kind of a collaboration is not something very new. The sales force makes up almost 65 per cent of their workforce. As in any pharmaceutical company, these sales personnel are spread across all geographical areas. Not just in the pandemic era, the firm has been practising asynchronous collaboration for a very long time via a digital platform in which every sales person has to feed in their update at the end of the day as a sales report. This platform is used to submit and access status reports.

“We did not do anything extra during the pandemic to put asynchronous collaboration into practice during the pandemic. It already exists in our industry as the nature of job demands it,” says Ganguli.

At Pramerica Life Insurance, the cross-functional teams practise asynchronous collaboration to work on and complete projects. “We may not call it asynchronous collaboration but we have applications like MS Teams, where we have tools to maintain status reports and chat with people. Generally when cross-functional teams work on projects collaboratively they do practice this form of collaboration,” mentions Sharad Sharma, CHRO & chief ethics officer, Pramerica Life Insurance.

“Asynchronous collaboration can be very beneficial for organisations that have embraced the hybrid model as it can lead to effective time management, better productivity and also enhanced work- life balance.”

Rajeev Singh, CHRO, Yokohama Off-Highway Tyres

When a team follows the approach of asynchronous collaboration, there may be times when an immediate need to communicate certain information becomes a priority during emergency and crisis situations. The key here is to identify such moments. “This would depend on the topic and the situation. Of course, the monthly and weekly meet-ups will be scheduled as per time, but there may be some instances where decisions may need to be taken instantaneously. Also, you will have to collaborate on video calls for brainstorming sessions,” tells Ganguli.

According to Rajeev Singh, CHRO, Yokohama Off-Highway Tyres, asynchronous collaboration is a very important concept which can be followed by organisations during these times when it is hard to collaborate in person. “It can be very beneficial for organisations that have embraced the hybrid model as it can lead to effective time management, better productivity and also enhanced work- life balance,” opines Singh.

Sharma adds, “While no form of collaboration can ever replace face to face interactions, during these times, this is the only way to stay productive. Asynchronous collaboration becomes a must in a hybrid working model as all employees are not working from the same location. They need to collaborate and use their time effectively. With this approach, meetings become more of a precise activity aimed at final decision-making. This fastens the decision-making process.”

If you think most of your time is wasted on follow-up calls and status update meetings, then asynchronous collaboration is the solution. After all, it is better to spend most of your time into productive activities rather than in front of a chat window!

The post Why asynchronous collaboration is a must in hybrid work appeared first on HR Katha.

Despite the havoc it created, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise in several ways. Almost everyone quickly adopted some form of digital technology to facilitate working and business processes. Most sectors are now looking forward to building smart and efficient systems for sustainability and cost-competitiveness. Corporates realised that working from office is not equal to being productive; that one can deliver desired outcomes operating from anywhere. There is a realisation that unnecessary travel and in-person meetings can be avoided without compromising on results. There is a genuine focus on health, hygiene and a disciplined life. One thing I would like to erase is the pain arising out of loss of life and loss of income, which affected many families.

HR has shown great agility and business acumen

Yes, the HR fraternity was more active and visible during the pandemic. They worked in tandem with business managers and teams to ensure safety of people and availability of workforce, despite sustained lockdown. They helped manage stress and anxiety, providing support to those affected by COVID and ensuring that people stayed connected and engaged, overall. In short, they played a crucial role in guaranteeing business continuity. Pandemic or no pandemic, the HR function is a strategic one. Organisations that do not consider HR a part of business are certainly oblivious to contemporary reality. It is not always fair to blame the management for their inability to recognise the importance of HR. A lot depends on HR professionals themselves and the way they create an impact on the job. The HR professionals who only focus on their routine and administrative roles will be relegated to the back office.

The ones who understand the business, know the pulse of the people, and work towards improving the competitiveness of the business by providing innovative people solutions will be the true partners. Naturally, they will be seen as a business function. Given the new normal and related complexities in the future, HR is expected to not only take care of pandemic-induced issues, but also ensure sustainability. This requires focus on hybrid work methods, adoption of technology, learning requirements of the workforce, upskilling and re-skilling, engagement, employer branding and other issues.

“Technologies, processes and systems are changing so fast that one cannot afford to ‘rest on past laurels’”

Identifying right skill gaps or reskilling

The dual issue of identifying the right skill gaps and reskilling will remain a perpetual challenge for organisations. The related complexities will only increase with time. A recent report of ILO-IOE stated that for 53 per cent of Indian businesses it has become harder to recruit people with the required skills. The ‘Future of Jobs 2018’ report mentioned that more than half of India’s workforce will need to be reskilled by 2022.

The NASSCOM Sector Skill Council pointed out that 55 new job roles and 155 new-age skills will be relevant in the future — Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning and AI feature prominently among them. Many such surveys highlight the stark reality of rapid change in skill requirements and the need to stay relevant in all sectors.

Upskilling and reskilling are the current buzzwords. Technologies, processes and systems are changing so fast that one cannot afford to ‘rest on past laurels’. What worked six months back, may not work now. Traditional jobs and roles are under threat. Accelerated automation will replace most cognitive and routine manual tasks. Only investing in continuous learning can better equip organisations and individuals for future jobs. While organisations will have to provide the right environment, resources and support in upskilling and reskilling, individuals themselves will have to take the initiative to keep themselves updated and relevant. After all, ‘one can lead a horse to the water but cannot make it drink’.

Getting the employees out of the pandemic fatigue

Lockdown, work from home, incessant video calls, webinars, fear of infection, loss of near and dear ones in some cases, job losses, salary cuts, no increments to muted increments, no means to relax — caused fatigue across most sectors. In the essential goods or essential services sectors, continuous work, extended work hours and no leaves, only added to the fatigue. Innumerable initiatives — ranging from wellness programmes, online stress busters and happy hours, to virtual employee-support programmes — were undertaken by organisations in right earnest.

However, they have often been received by employees as yet another task and have failed to address the real source of energy drain. They say, in the Navy, that after a particularly stormy sail, captains navigate ships to calm waters for sailors to rest. In a corporate environment, the calmer waters may be equated to leaders and team members actually taking time off to unwind. With the situation improving, it would be wise to let people go for vacations as per individual circumstances.

The lockdown phase also saw many de-stress by brushing up their lost interests and hobbies. It is important to continue pursuing such interests and hobbies to stay energised. However, depending on how 2021 unfolds, and given the release of vaccines, people will figure out their own ways to rejuvenate and restore their smiles and energy.

The post “Individuals will need to take the plunge to be updated and stay relevant,” Rajorshi Ganguli appeared first on HR Katha.

Today’s version of the social contract between organisations and employees is one that has evolved over the last few years – partly due to the influx of new generations – Gen Y, Gen Z – at the workplace, and partly due to technology. The pandemic has brought another set of changes to this social contract, and several non-tangible elements have become part of it.

The newer generation doesn’t only work for wages or money, they need to believe in the company’s vision, mission, goal and also social responsibility. They will only choose to be associated with a company that trusts them, and has the ability to contribute to their individual career through growth and ongoing learning. Overall well-being of employees is another element added to the social contract – the rush to pay for vaccination for employees and their families among the Indian corporates is a testimony to that.

Even from an organisation’s perspective, a lot has changed. Companies are aware that their respective HR teams now need to treat their employees as internal clients, and service them round the clock.

“I will not say that the social contracts have changed but the way the companies and the employees look at each other has. With workforces being shifted to the remote structure, the expectations of employees and employers from each other have evolved.”

Rajorshi Ganguly, president and global HR Head, Alkem Laboratories

Thanks to the pandemic, again, there is lot of autonomy at work. The work is more important than the workplace. The outcome is more important than output.

Emmanuel David, director, Tata Management Training Centre, says, “Since the pandemic hit the world, employers are not concerned about where the work is being done from or at what time. All they are looking at is delivery and outcome.”

The pandemic has also led to the blending of peoples’ professional and personal lives, so the workhours have either extended, remain flexible and even stretchable. There is less of commute time, and that has translated to increase in actual work hours.

In the social contract, employees also feel the need to be rewarded and appreciated more often.

David says, “At Tata, we aim to recognise the talents that have shown extraordinarily good performance during the remote-working phase and reward them. However, this is just at a planning level and has not yet been executed.”

“There are certain companies which have drawn a line between the professional and personal life now in different ways, which has helped streamline the remote work culture. It is undeniable that some people, especially those handling the overseas are working beyond the scheduled time. But, how to recognise and reward such people completely depends on the reporting managers and the company policies imposed on them.”

Udbhav Ganjoo, head HR, Viatris

The social contract also needs to constantly evolve. On an average, surveys have found that people in the 25-35 age bracket do not prefer staying in a company for more than two to three years, if they are not compensated with the right perks. Such employees demand highly agile employers, who can make desired changes in the social contracts to retain them for a longer period.

Rajorshi Ganguly, president and global HR Head, Alkem Laboratories, says, “I will not say that the social contracts have changed but the way the companies and the employees look at each other has. With workforces being shifted to the remote structure, the expectations of employees and employers from each other have evolved. Employers do not force the employees to work for extended hours. Employees do it as per their convenience. Employers understand the mixed work-life structure of people irrespective of the position of an employee. So, employers expect only the outcome and interfere less about the time, venue, and numbers of breaks taken, and so on.”

He further says, “For instance, we all are mindful of the fact that this work structure has taken a toll on the married women with children. Therefore, we do not expect that people will be available all the time even while working from home.”

“Since the pandemic hit the world, employers are not concerned about where the work is being done from or at what time. All they are looking at is delivery and outcome.”

Emmanuel David, director, Tata Management Training Centre

Since the pandemic struck, well-being has come to mean much more than the health benefits offered by the companies. The definition of ‘well-being’ today covers both mental and physical well-being.

Udbhav Ganjoo, head of HR, Viatris, says, “During the initial days of the remote-working phase, people had difficulties in managing time. However, there are certain companies which have drawn a line between the professional and personal life now in different ways, which has helped streamline the remote work culture. It is undeniable that some people, especially those handling the overseas are working beyond the scheduled time. Such people are definitely getting noticed, and now more so because of the mixed work-life schedule. But, how to recognise and reward such people completely depends on the reporting managers and the company policies imposed on them.”

Unlike the yesteryears, work-life has entered the living room with the injection of technology. While remote working is not new, the pandemic has certainly made its perks prominent demanding a change in the social approach to the employee-employer association. There continue to be certain functions, which cannot be run remotely, but the companies are bringing about changes in whichever area possible. Technology and emotional quotient have a huge role to play in the social contract between the two sides in the post-pandemic world. Nobody ever imagined that these two will make their way into the social contract, either in written or unwritten form.

The post What’s the new social contract between employees and employers appeared first on HR Katha.

One of the biggest challenges of the work-from-home model was that it wasn’t just professional life that needed tending to, but personal as well. Many moved back to their hometowns to be with their families and take care of them in these turbulent times. However, that also gave rise to a pressured environment. The rapid exit of women from the workforce during the pandemic has been found to be directly linked to caregiving responsibilities.

Our death benefit for employees is actually 2.5 times the fixed pay. People for whom the total comes to less than Rs 10 lakh, the earlier benefit was a minimum assured sum of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the deceased. Now, we have doubled that to Rs 20 lakh.

Prashant Khullar, senior vice president – HR, Max Life Insurance Company

A McKinsey Global Institute Report from last year suggests that women’s presence in the workforce has gone down further by 17-23 per cent after the pandemic struck. That’s because, while work-from-home piled responsibilities on everyone, women took the maximum burden of caregiving, be it their children or the elderly at home. This is quite alarming, as experts predict that this has put the gender on a backward spiral instead of bridging the gap between the genders. Fortunately, there are a lot of instances of how organisations have stepped up to ensure that the caregivers are compensated adequately and properly looked after during these times.

Alkem’s ‘Talk to Me’ and Gratitude Pay

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, list outs the ways in which the organisation has taken care of the caregivers during the pandemic. “We set up a 24/7 COVID helpdesk. Basically, if anybody experienced any symptoms or their family members showed any, they could get in touch with us. Ambulance, admission procedure, home quarantine, everything was addressed. We also launched an employee-assistance programme called ‘Talk to Me’. If there was any psychological issue, personal or within the family, they can call up a number to receive guidance from trained psychologists and counsellors. Webinars were conducted wherein medical professionals discussed ways to deal with stress arising out of the COVID situation.”

Alkem’s ‘Talk to Me’ initiative was fully paid for by the Company. Each individual was fully reimbursed by the Company for the services availed. When the COVID-19 outbreak happened, Alkem announced an additional Rs 7 lakh insurance for the family, over and above the regular medical benefits they were getting. “Even in cases where the insurance companies have not reimbursed them for various reasons, the Company stepped in to cover the same,” Ganguli adds.

In the first few months, Alkem had introduced Gratitude Pay – to thank the employees who came to work despite the strained circumstances. “For people who were coming for research, or at the manufacturing or distribution centres, we offered additional pay for each day they attended. That varied from 100 to 25 per cent of a person’s one-day salary depending on the seniority level,” he explains.

Max Life’s unlimited sick leaves and increased death benefit

Max Life Insurance Company, on the other hand, came up with several compensation policies for the family of deceased employees. This includes increasing the sum of death benefit from Rs 10 lakh to 20 Lakh for a few of them. Prashant Khullar, senior vice president – human resources, Max Life Insurance Company, informs, “Our death benefit for employees is actually 2.5 times the fixed pay. People for whom the total comes to less than Rs 10 lakh, the earlier benefit was a minimum assured sum of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the deceased. Now, we have doubled that to Rs 20 lakh. On top of that, whatever bonus was paid last year was also paid to the employee’s family. We also used a formula to calculate the number of years remaining in service to know the future service liability, which was also paid to the family. This is a big change that we made in the last couple of months.”

Mansij Majumdar, head – human resources, UNext Learning

That’s not all. A few days before the pandemic struck, the organisation had announced unlimited paid sick leaves for people who have been around for five years or more. Even if an employee is bed-ridden for two years, he/she will be able to avail the benefits of the scheme. Apart from that, the organisation offers bereavement leave that allows employees to take time off even while they continue to get their salary.

“If an employee passes away, medical benefits generally lapse. However, we have ensured that the medical benefits for the family continue until the end of the policy term. We have also partnered with a digital company called Doctor Insta, to provide free benefits to all our 15,000 employees. They have access to several doctors on call. This is a complimentary benefit for self and dependents who are declared. Through this app, many discounted health checks are also available,” Khullar reveals.

UNext Learning’s hospital benefits and MHE app

Many organisations tried to include a lot of other important benefits in their compensation programme to help their employees. Mansij Majumdar, head – human resources, UNext Learning, a Manipal Education and Medical Group, reveals, “Manipal Hospital is part of our group. So, we extended some benefits from the Hospital’s side. We also have an MHE app, which prioritises employees’ appointments and bookings.”

Extending such benefits to the caregivers in an organisation sets them on the right track. Thanks to the pandemic, companies have woken up to the fact that in the post COVID world, candidates may favour companies that take care of their employees. Majumdar feels it is a crucial criterion now, but a few years down the line, it may not be so. “From an employer brand perspective, that is an attraction because in a day and age when medical costs are going up, anything that’s over and above the regular benefits will be appreciated. I don’t see a direct impact, but it will give retention benefit. The demography of 35 years old or more, that’s where benefits go up because of the existence of elderly parents or a family. It’s an employer-value proposition. How one is supporting one’s employees as an organisation, that is the value prop one will put up. The top priority, however, will be quality of work, work-life balance and compensation. Once these stabilise, it may not be as important as it is today. It is a selling point now for sure when one talks to candidates.”

Majumdar reveals that last January, they had seven offices in Bangalore, and today, they are running on just two. “Only 30 per cent people are coming to work but I have 100 per cent workforce. My talent pool has increased. Therefore, I need to have a value proposition for the candidates,” Majumdar asserts.

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Like Majumdar mentions, caregiving benefits will definitely help grow an employer’s brand in a big way. It can also become one of the factors for a candidate to take into consideration, while deciding on a job offer. However, HR experts believe it may not be a crucial one. Ganguli doesn’t think it will be an entitlement. “But some kind of employee-assistance programme will be expected. The word ‘caregiver’ can be used in various ways, but one can’t possibly extend assistance to all of them. If it is related to work stress, an employee-assistance programme will be quite good.”

Work culture, nature of work and compensation will still remain the first things on a candidate’s mind. “After that, when one starts comparing benefits, that’s when it may play a part in decision making,” Khullar adds. He also admits that right now it ranks higher on the wish list than other criteria.

Caregiver benefits not only favour and assist the employees in many ways, they also project an employee-friendly image of the organisation. Hence, the many initiatives launched by them in the last couple of months will definitely be rewarding for organisations.

The post How has the pandemic changed caregiver benefits? appeared first on HR Katha.

The internet and social media have actually revolutionised employee advocacy. A lot has changed since social media became mainstream, and leaders across various sectors started dominating the same. Now, the in-demand skills are constantly changing and shifting, and people are increasingly taking to these platforms to vouch for themselves.

Naresh Kumar Puritipati, human resources director, Lactalis Group

Micro influencer

People value genuine, unbiased views, which are not orchestrated by the company. In a way, existing employees serve as micro influencers for the organisation, driving traffic or new recruits towards the company.

Tanvi Choksi, HR head-India and JLL Business Services Global, added how it is not the bigshots who are massively popular on social media today. “Many employees in an organisation, who are not very senior from a hierarchy standpoint, have a great social-media presence because of their own interests and passion.”

Amit Das, CHRO, Bennett Coleman & Company

Not all micro influencers are present on social media. Some are present in the company, at social events, with great inter-personal skills. The old-fashioned way of socialising and advocating the company is a good way for any person to understand the values and the atmosphere of an organisation.

“What is there on the social media is not always a true representation of the core of an organisation,” remarks Naresh Kumar Puritipati, human resources director, Lactalis Group. He suggests that prospective employees should go a step further and rely on ‘passive advocacy’ to get a genuine feel of the company by socialising with existing employees.

It needs to be mentioned here, that such employees, to some extent, have preconceived notions about the company regarding what they see on social media.

Amit Das, CHRO, Bennett Coleman & Company says, “The tonality of messages and visual images posted by the engaged employee communities on professional and social-media platforms, create the right kind of imagery for top-of-the-mind recall of the employer brand. Any organisation is retained in the memories of its employees in the future, through its behaviour and action of today.”

Companies have been adopting employee advocacy lately, harnessing the use of social media in building their brand. Not only is it cost effective, but secures the loyalty of employees and aligns them with the values of the organisation.

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

This can, however, only be done by building an inclusive culture where employee-employer connect is needed and a sense of belongingness is cultivated. This will automatically make employees stand with the company through thick or thin. Das also mentioned how leadership also needs to be empathetic and receptive to drive home the sense of belongingness.

Benefits

There are two sides to employee advocacy in the current world. While it helps companies build their brand through employee posts on social media, it can have a positive or a negative connotation.

Pro bono advocacy, untouched by propaganda, will always be sought after by prospective employees. Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, agrees, “As long as employees forward the unbiased and spontaneous views of the organisation, and do so in the true spirit, it’s good.”

He also explains how far it benefits both the existing employees and the ones deliberating joining the organisation, “Advocacy creates a good impact on the existing employees and those who are looking forward to joining the organisation, or are considering the organisation for employment.”

Drawbacks

Social media allows a degree of anonymity to all individuals, and there is always a risk of disgruntled employees misusing it to tarnish the organisation’s name. Reviews left by employees on platforms, such as Glassdoor, will always be sought out by potential employees. However, word-of-mouth to scavenging for dirt on social media sites is also common today.

Companies should build an inclusive culture to combat negativity and brief employees on social-media etiquette. This will ensure that what they put online does not stray from the truth or malign the organisation. However, this should not be overdone or end up in a situation where the company turns into a dystopian George Orwell novel.

Tanvi Choksi, HR head-India and JLL Business Services Global

Puritipati agrees, “The problem arises when this comes as a mandate, with people being pushed to write something. It should not go as a target, where five people write good about the organisation daily. Through word of mouth, this can boomerang and make people question the trustworthiness of what they see.”

Companies need to step up to change so that they are ready to tackle any storm that may be brewing on social media no less. Building transparency, a positive work culture and keeping employees in mind is a good way to start.

“As a company, we have to provide a genuinely good experience for employees to talk good about us. The focus now is not about controlling the narrative but genuinely providing a good employee or people experience. It’s also a big pro for prospective employees because they get a very honest view of the organisation,” Choksi adds.

This pans out quite well in the current HR market scenario, as employee experience tops the list of priorities for most companies right now. Personalisation is the heart of employee experience, as no second employee is the same with the same set of needs or wants.

The post How employee advocacy has changed in the age of social media appeared first on HR Katha.

Balachandar N, Business & HR Advisory

Personal space

A Career Builder Report of 2018 suggests that 34 per cent companies found something on the internet, which prompted them to give certain employees the boot. The same report also reveals that about 43 per cent employers use social media to keep a check on their current employees. In a politically-charged country, such as India, instances of people expressing their opinions on social media are very common. These have led to many extreme decisions as well. The argument that many employees give here is that it’s their personal space and they have the right to express their opinion.

Formal guidelines

Many companies have elaborate social-media guidelines that employees have to adhere to. They are discouraged from writing anything unworthy about the organisation in a public forum. But what about political thoughts and reasoning? Should they be regulated as well? If yes, is it fair to curb someone’s personal opinion?

Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, believes it all depends on the code of ethics of the company. “Many dissuade employees from putting any politically-motivated posts on social media. Nowadays, the internet serves as a hard disc — once one puts out something on it, it stays for good. One can, of course, have a debate on soft topics, but anti-national posts will not be tolerated. One can have a neutral or mild opinion. If they are not offensive, it is okay. Freedom of expression cannot be mistaken as a means to write whatever one wants. It may hurt the reputation of the company.” Ganguli doesn’t believe such a thing always warrants a sacking. One can give a warning to the employee as well and ask them to remove those posts.

Raj Raghavan, senior vice president & head – HR, Indigo

Social media is not going anywhere now that it is serving its purpose in more ways than one. For most people, this is the only gateway to share what they want to express. Many nameless and faceless entities are voicing their views and concerns on a regular basis now, and there are many experts who believe one of the post-COVID consequences will certainly be social-media activism. Raj Raghavan, senior vice president & head – human resources, Indigo, reasons, “Most people are at home and if one is working in a large organisations, one hardly gets the opportunity to speak to one’s manager. For the young people, the way to get their views registered is through social media. It’s a big influencer. They find a lot of comfort in being faceless, nameless activists.”

Indigo has a very clear social-media policy. “It doesn’t take away anybody’s right to express what they want to on social media, as long as that doesn’t come in the way of Indigo as a business enterprise,” Raghavan points out. But he does advise that one has to be responsible to not badmouth any key individual of the country just because they have a device in their hands. With the ability to be nameless and faceless also comes social responsibility.

Personal view vs organisation’s view

Raghavan doesn’t feel it’s fair to severe ties with an employee just because her/his tweet is politically motivated. “An allegation of any sort needs to be investigated and a fair chance has to be given to the person to explain. These days, social media is its own judge. For instance, let’s assume there is a junior in a multinational IT company who posts something about Kashmir or Muslims. Immediately, someone picks it up and insinuates that it is an American company’s view of India. This is the problem with social media. I have seen people coming and saying it is ‘my personal right’. The problem is one can’t wear one’s company’s identity and put a video that denounces a gender, government, leader or community. The employer, doesn’t care if the employee has a personal view, because that is not reflective of the company’s view. The problem arises when these two start merging.” According to him, the best thing to do will be to just follow the company’s social-media policy. No company stops anyone from sharing their views on social media as an individual. “But when one’s individual rights merge with the company’s identity, I have a problem there,” adds Raghavan.

Rajorshi Ganguli, president & global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Diversity & inclusion

However, if a company is claiming to be inclusive in its talent population, shouldn’t it also include different and diverse opinions of the same demography? That is one question Balachandar N, business & human resource’s advisory would like to ask here. “I think if one is talking about diversity and inclusion, it includes sexual and political orientation as well. If one claims to be an inclusive culture, one should encourage people to have different orientation and political leanings. Who one votes for is as personal as what religion one practices.” Talking about the worker union culture from the 1960s and 1970s, Balachandar argues that most of them were politically affiliated. “There are many worker unions affiliated with political parties, such as the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sang with RSS and AITUC with the Communist party. For decades we have accepted unions with political leanings. So, why can’t we accept a software engineer expressing his opinion on some political party?” As long as the employees do not share any confidential information about the company, nobody should curb their right to express opinions.

Although HR experts have mixed reviews on the do’s and don’ts of politically-motivated social-media posts of employees, it is fairly clear that with great power comes great responsibility. Employees should be responsible enough to know and understand what they can and cannot share. As for the employer, a politically-charged post, ideally, should not be a means to decide whether to fire someone or hire someone.

The post ‘Apolitical employees’ on social media: By choice or by force? appeared first on HR Katha.

Prasad Kulkarni, senior vice president – HR Business Excellence, The Citco Group, believes it motivates employees. “It motivates not only the employees who are getting promotions, but the others as well. It obviously depends on the competence and requirement of the role. Sometimes, the promotion is a part of the individual development plan (IDP). In my past organisations, we created IDPs for a few employees and told them that they were being put on fast track. We worked on 9-box and their competencies.” It has to be created for a specific role, experience and performance.

If the work is visible, it will set a good example for others who can see these people as role models. However, if it is done out of favouritism or with a vicious intent, it may spoil the work culture.

Earlier, some promotion policies followed a typical format of tenure-based upgrades. Many organisations have distanced themselves from this archaic model of hiking a person’s salary, irrespective of their contribution to the company. It was useful then, as per the mind-set of those times, wherein if one worked for a certain number of years, one just got promoted. Ideally, such promotions should mean increase in roles and responsibilities, but very often, these promotions are bestowed without any change in the roles, duties and accountabilities. Now, it has become more performance-oriented.

“Human resource practices should be agile and flexible enough to allow room for such exceptions, to retain high-potential talent.”

Ganesh Chandan V, chief human resources officer, Tata Projects, states that even in the most rigid organisation, there must take place a few out-of-turn promotions and explains why it is essential. “More than the timing, it’s important to recognise some of the high performers because in the present scenario, time-bound and rigid promotions will make it difficult to retain high-potential and ambitious talent. Human resource practices should be agile and flexible enough to allow room for such exceptions. Therefore, it is becoming highly common in many organisations today, largely because it serves as a great reward and recognition tool, and aids retention. Organisations should be more flexible to respond to talent needs.”

Everyone unanimously agrees that the individual who gets the benefit should be selected judiciously. In other words, such out-of-turn promotions have to be just and fair. Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, cautions, “It shouldn’t be seen as unfair. If the work is visible, it will set a good example for others who can see these people as role models. However, if it is done out of favouritism or with a vicious intent, it may spoil the work culture. The message it should get across is that, if one really does a good job, one will be considered for a promotion. It should set a good example, and therefore, should be done judiciously and not whimsically.” Ganguli is quick to add that if such an exercise creates a bit of disharmony, it’s okay.

“Sometimes, a promotion is part of the individual development plan (IDP). In my past organisations, we created IDPs for a few employees and told them that they were being put on fast track.”

Chandan V shares the same belief, that a bit of unrest or disharmony is a standard response to performance differentiation. “If one person gets promoted out of turn, purely based on merit, others will have to deal with it,” he says.

However, that is not the only issue here. “After having invested time in grooming a person, if that person leaves the organisation for some reason, all the hard work comes to naught. This may demotivate other team members who probably were expecting the role. Some may even quit the organisation. Therefore, we have to keep in mind ways to retain such talent. I feel if proper information and rationale are shared with the employees, this can be avoided,” explains Kulkarni.

Clearly, all are in favour of out-of-turn promotions, provided they are granted in an effective and honest manner, such that others are motivated to achieve more. Transparency and correct communication remain key in such situations.

The post Out-of-turn promotion: Morale booster or demotivator? appeared first on HR Katha.

Any appraisal system is fraught with issues. At the time of giving feedback and ratings, there are some psychological factors that influence the objectiveness of the managers consciously or unconsciously. To deal with these problems, managers need to be trained to run a smooth and fair appraisal process in the organisation.

HRKatha had a chat with some senior HR leaders who run various training programmes within their organisations to train and tackle these issues. This helps them run and conduct a smooth appraisal system.

Change flows from the top, or so the saying goes, and that is exactly what happens at Alkem Laboratories. According to Rajorshi Ganguli, president & global HR head, Alkem Laboratories, this year, the Company conducted interviews with senior HR leaders on how to handle appraisals. Also, every year, the Company holds sessions for its managers to guide them on the do’s and don’ts associated with appraisals.

Alkem also runs micro video sessions where managers are shown short clips on how to provide meaningful feedback to subordinates during appraisals. It was noticed that some of the managers were not providing a detailed feedback to their juniors. So, the Company selected some sample feedbacks given by its senior leaders to show to the managers and teach them to give detailed, fair and serious feedback.

“A good appraisal begins with a good dialogue or feedback. This should be taken seriously by managers,” shares Ganguli.

Likewise, Optum, the healthcare services company, runs modules to provide training in coaching conversations, setting goals and evaluating people.

The Company also focuses on mitigating the psychological factors, which hinder a smooth and an objective appraisal.

Optum runs cultural training programmes for its managers, which focus on human operating systems. Through these it makes its managers understand selective perceptions, separate realities, energy levels and filters that create issues in giving an objective feedback. It tries to explain the complexities of a human brain to its managers.

“The human brain is a fairly complex organ. Everything that we humans say is perceived differently by everyone. It is very important that we understand those differences, and at the same time, appreciate them,” mentions Kshitij Kashyap, VP & head, human capital, Optum Global Solutions.

The appraisal period is a very crucial time in an organisation’s journey, and therefore, it is critical for it to be totally fair. “It is important for the senior leaders to create seriousness around the appraisal system. It is not an HR need, but a need of the business,” comments Ganguli.

On the other hand, HR also needs to play a big role in mitigating the difficulties or issues around the appraisal system and help managers in the process. “I do not believe in modules. It is very important to track the managers’ journey and examine the kind of problems they face during performance management, evaluation or employee engagement. The HR personnel should hand hold the managers and assist them in overcoming such difficulties,” explains Kashyap.

Many talk about AI being the future of appraisals and at the centre of a great revolution in the performance management system, but as of now, it is at the initial stage. Till then, humans are the ones who will make all the related decisions. Though giving feedback and evaluating employees is not only HR’s need, they should prepare their managers so that they can give proper feedback and evaluate employees. This can further help to bring down the attrition level and enhance employee engagement and motivation.

The post How to train managers to handle issues around appraisals appeared first on HR Katha.

Rajorshi Ganguli, vice-president & head commercial HR, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, has just moved to Alkem Laboratories as the president and global head-HR. Ganguli will be based out of Mumbai.

With over two decades of overall experience and a little over thirteen years at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ganguli is a seasoned HR professional with exposure across geographies and domains. In his new role at Alkem Laboratories, he will be responsible for integrating and managing the entire international HR operations for the firm.

Speaking on his appointment and role, Ganguli says, “Alkem Laboratories is a billion dollar organisation and is growing rapidly. Being a part of its growth aspirations, I will be leading global HR for the company, supporting it in its journey towards the next orbit of growth.”

In his role at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Ganguli had led the HR function of the Commercial Organisation of India, Emerging Markets (Russia, CIS countries, Romania, SA, Venezuela, ASEAN countries etc), Europe, API and CPS; since 2015. Prior to this, he worked in various other capacities, climbing up the ladder after having entered the company in 2004 as an HR manager.

Ganguli had spent over eight years at Bharat Petroleum Corporation as a senior officer, before joining Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. He started his professional journey in 1994 as an officer-HR with Usha Martin Industries, before moving on to Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

Ganguli is an honors graduate in geology, physics and maths from Ranchi University, and a postgraduate in human resources from the Xavier Institute of Social Service.

The post Rajorshi Ganguli joins Alkem Laboratories as president and global HR head appeared first on HR Katha.