The human variable 2.0

HUMAN RESOURCE
HUMAN VARIABLE
Vol. II Iss. 1 IMT Hyderabad

It gives me immense pleasure to present the second issue of ‘Human Variable’, the annual
magazine of the IMT Hyderabad HR Club, I’m HR. Featuring articles on contemporary HR
topics the magazine represents the voice of the young professionals who are all set to enter the
workplace.
India is seeing a major generational shift in the workplace, especially in the services sector. For
instance, in some of the large IT companies, almost 75% of employees are less than 25 years.
While this brings in the energy, expertise and ideas to the workplace, the HR managers also
have a tough time managing the aspirations of the dynamic workforce. Dealing with issues like
employee engagement, attrition, work life balance, inclusive growth, the HR team is on the
lookout forideasthat canhelpthemmanagethechanging workplace.
The articles from the budding corporate professionals justly touch on these very issues.
Building employee commitment among new entrants, employee engagement, inclusive
growth, chasing life, changing workplace culture are some of the topics dealt with in this issue
ofHumanVariable.Ihopeyouenjoy reading thearticles.
It is heartening to see the response from different schools. I would like to applaud all the authors
on your efforts in putting forward your ideas. Thanks for your contribution and support.
Finally, my congratulations to I’m HR team on having put together the second issue of your
Preface
Dr. Romina Mathew
Faculty Mentor (I’M HR)
Area Chairperson (Human Resource Management)
Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad
Best wishes

The classical methodology of recruiting has undergone changes through leaps and bounds
inducing transition in terms of defining the job, identifying the skills, job targeting and job
advertising. One reason being increase in the number of employees being hired. Nearly 73% of
state and local government HR Managers reported that hiring full time employees have gone up
by 66% than in 2013, as surveyed among 336 public-sector HR professionals. Moreover, the
growing economy and rising turnovers led HR Professionals to rank recruiting and retaining
qualified talent as most important workforce issue faced by their organization followed by the
all-important successionplanning andtalent development.
A growing trend in recruitment process has pierced through video interviewing. In the talent
acquisition process, it helps to fasten the process, reduces cost and enhances the candidate
experience. In the past year, 2700 video interviews have taken place with a cost avoidance
savings of $47500 and a reduction in manager interview travel by 220 trips. True it’s a tool for
recruiting, but also attracts the attention of job seekers and portray a technologically- advanced
cultureoftheorganization.
Any organization now attracts better talent by fine-tuning the way they market job openings,
particularly in online job portals and on social media sites such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest and LinkedIn. Companies also test their online job application websites to ensure they
are easy to navigate. Also organizations leverage benefits to recruit employees at all levels and
also highly skilled ones. Around 77% of highly skilled employees are being leveraged to being
recruitedwhile57%by recruiting savingsandplanning.
One more upcoming transition is through optimized applications in mobile phones i.e.
enterprising recruiters are deploying smartphones and tablets for tasks once spoken for only
desktops and laptops. They are using mobile to deliver candidate skill assessments and
personality quizzes to exhibit a variety of useful content through videos that promotes specific
jobs on corporate cultures and for arranging interview scheduling tasks. Convenient Interview
scheduling, getting better read on candidate’s skill levels, tying all aspects together, especially
whenrecruiting solutionsfromdifferent providersaresomeadditional icing onthecake.
But down the line, hiring rates have gone up and recruiters are finding it difficult to find the best
talent. Thus they now mainly rely on Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to help them find the
most qualified candidates. Today ATS innovations have improved resume passing,
streamlining the job applications and through new reporting metrics, HR leaders are
identifying thebest job applicationsandsaving money onrecruitment.
“The more that you invest in your potential employee’s interests and impressions, the broader
the pool of candidates you will make available to the job” – Daniel McDougal, Managing
Partnerat Kaye/BarmanInternationalCorporation.
Emerging Trends in Recruiting
Abhisek Sarangi
XIM-B

Over the last decade, an increasingly tight and globally competitive labour market has seen the
business community make genuine efforts to promote and retain women..There is a parallel ethical,
public good and humanitarian case for the participation of women at executive level. Women become
sensitive to their marginality at a senior level and to the lack of cultural accommodation.Their visibility
rendersthemhighly vulnerable.
They display the anxieties of the minority in infiltrating and surviving at the top. Some women resort to
the contrived stance of an 'honourary bloke'. They adopt hard and aggressive demeanors, talk sport and
suppress authentic female characteristics. A number of women display guilt and secrecy around their
responsibilities as mothers and carers. They fear association with women's programs and affirmative
actioninitiatives,asthese highlight their 'otherness'anddenotetheirneedfor specialtreatment.
In a culture of winners, women seek to adapt to the norms of the winning group. While women face tacit
cultural barriers to demonstrating their authentic value, their attempts to accommodate the masculine
model of authority encourage suspicion, derision, and cultural isolation..Men's early socialisation
provides them with the capacity to negotiate hierarchy. While they recognise the strategic potential of
informal networks and alliances, they are often not privy to the workings of informal career pathways.
The 'tapontheshoulder'that canopendoorsiselusivetomost women.
Women's entry into leadership career paths is more difficult in male domains where 'like attracts like'
and 'like begets like'.These subtle and often unconscious dynamics influence how talent is recognised
and rewarded. They can thwart interventions designed to support recruitment and promotion of
women, making it difficult for women to be recognised and rewarded. Meritocracy and transparency
remain statements of policy; idealised notions that are difficult to operationalise in the face of corridor
politics and informal communication systems. A relationship with a key senior player can provide a
woman with a level of visibility that she would struggle to attain on her own.While successful women
are often perceived as obvious role models for ambitious women, a paucity of positive female role
modelsexists.
Perceptions of women's experiences at the top can be negative and not all successful women are natural
mentors. Women's lifestyle patterns have also changed considerably since the mid twentieth century.
Greater numbers of adult women are remaining single and childless. Women are having fewer children
at a later age. The peak years for childbearing increasingly coincide with the peak years for women's
career development. Their exit from the workforce was characterised as 'taking an off-ramp from their
chosencareer path'.
These women have invested heavily in their education and training.They have spent years
accumulating the skills and credentials necessary for successful careers. Most are not eager to toss that
painstaking effort aside.
Effective policy to be implemented at the corporate level
to increase the number of women in top positions
Annie Sydney
Loyola institute of technology

Employee engagement is a step ahead of employee satisfaction. It is a vast topic, so I have narrowed
down the important points which are needed to know and understand. Firstly we need to know, what is
Employee Engagement? And secondly, How to apply this using statistical tools like Karl Pearson’s
standardDeviationandChiSquareAnalysis(NullHypothesis).
The often thought notion is, Employee Engagement is organizing Picnics, Family day, Games etc. But
this isn’t the fact, is it is far more than that. As priority lies in identifying the various causes of their
disengagement andaccordingly act onit.
“Engagement is the energy, passion, or fire in the belly employees have for their employer”. Employee
Engagement is the level of commitment an employee has towards the organization.A fully engaged
employee is intellectually and emotionally bound with the organization, gives his 100 percent, feels
passionately about its goals and is committed to live by its values. This employee goes beyond the basic
job responsibility to delight the customers and drive the business forward. Moreover, in times of
diminishing loyalty,employee engagement isa powerfulretentionstrategy.
There are three typesofemployees:
.
1.Actively disengagedemployees
2.Actively engagedemployees
3.Not engagedemployees
Employee Engagement is a very sensitive area. It is easy to apply it on your Staff & Executives but it is
very tedious to apply to your WORKMEN (sp. Having a union) .For applying it to your workmen, you
should first sense the Pulse of the situation. We need to try to get the workers comfortable by explaining
itsimportanceandhowit willbenefit boththeEmployerandtheWorkmen.
The aim of the organization is to see that all employees are ENGAGED. But more important is that we
havetoidentify the employeeswhoare DISENGAGED.
Todothis we have to usethefollowing methods:
1) Design a questionnaire covering all the aspects related to their work their relationship with their
sub ordinates their requirements related to tools for work , health and a safe environment. The primary
data can be collected through a well structured questionnaire with close-ended questions, measures at
5-point likert type scale and suggestion questions. Secondary data required for the project can be
collectedfromthe company recordsandInternet.
2) By using KarlPearsonsStandardDeviationmethod-tofindhowmany employeesare:
a)ENGAGEDb)NOTENGAGEDc)ACTIVELYDISENGAGED.
It doesn’t end here, We need to go one step ahead by using CHI SQUARE ANALYSIS using NULL
HYPOTHESIS to find the reason behind their Disengagement ( It depends from company to company
what nullhypothesisthey want tobeincluded).
Example: CHI- SQUARE
After finding the Overall Employee Engagement in the organization. Chi- square can be used to
determinewhetherrelationexistsbetween:
a) EmployeesGenderandEngagement
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT- IN A REAL SENSE

determinewhetherrelationexistsbetween:
a) EmployeesGenderandEngagement
b) Employee’sageandEngagement
c) Employee’swork experience andEngagement
This is called Hypothesis testing. Chi Square test is used to determine whether there is a significant
difference between the expectedfrequency &the observedfrequency inone ormorecategories.
The resultsacquiredwillhelptheorganizationtoidentify the actualneedsandthustodesignan
“ActionPlan” so astoattainbetterresults.
Some ofthecharacteristicsthat anEngagedemployeewillhave are:
Higherself-motivation.
Confidencetoexpressnewideas.
Higherproductivity andMorale.
Reliability.
Lowerabsenteeism
These few points will help to decide and organize any program. I am sure we all will first identify the
needsandlater designthe calendar toget most out ofit.
Kishan Pednekar
HR-MRF Ltd, Goa

The contemporary political and economic climate has a significant impact on the way organizations
operate. The continuous pressure to cut costs and minimize expenditure has led to a fall in research &
development and in turn innovation and has also made it harder to keep the employees motivated
andengage themonanon-goingbasis.
In such circumstances, how do employers and HR managers motivate and retain their workforce's
commitment?
It's a question that has been discussed internally as well as externally by various social scientists, HR
professionals, team leaders, employee engagement specialists for more than a decade. One common
theme that strikes through these discussions is that flexible benefit plans, employee engagement,
recognition, creative work-life balance solutions is the key to employee motivation. Although short
term incentives such as an employee of the month prize proves to be motivating but they have only
finite appealandfewfeelgenuinely motivatedandengaged with thesepractices.
HR managers face a myriad challenges with today’s changing workplace culture. There are issues
concerning the societal changes such as generational shifts, health care reform, diverse workforce
(diversity management), business partnering and technology matters (e-HR) that rise to the top of the
listofchallenges.Butisthere asinglesolutiontotheseissues?
The workplace setting is changing mainly because of rapid advance of technological developments.
Telecommuting and remote reporting relationships are becoming a norm. These ways to improve
productivity can be useful for some employees; however, these types of technological-based changes
can’t be forced and replicated for all employees. HR managers must ensure that there is a mutual
agreement between the employer and employee for various options that include the use of modern
technologybecauseit requiresmotivationanddiscipline.
For the first time, stress is becoming the cause of employee absence, highlighting the heightened
pressureat the workplaceasaresultofthe increasingcompetitionanddemandingcustomers.
Some of the responsibilities of a HR manager that are gaining ground are differentiating between low
and high performers, ensuring process compliance and securing true engagement from managers.
Aneffectiveperformancemanagementhelpsinaligning employeestostrategic objectives.
All the issues at a workplace can be dealt easily if employers and HR managers are successful in
creating a positive organizational culture. When HR managers employ initiatives that focus on all the
stakeholders and meet quintessential human needs, they build favorable workplace cultures that can
Changing Workplace Culture

thrive in demanding times. In such an environment, workers focus on their jobs thus improving
productivity rather than focusing on what is going wrong with the organization. Sharing of
knowledgeandexperienceoccursamongstworkerswhichimprovesefficiencyandproductivity.
Prachi Jain
IIT-K

Employee engagement has received lot of attention of late. Lack of Employee engagement is a major issue that
the industry is facing. This constrain, limits the implementation of any changes that is taken to motivate
employees. Successful engagement of employees might improve the top line by billions of dollars. The
oppositeisalsolikely very true.
Customer engagement has been redefined in this digital era. But, the same cannot be said with employee
engagement. Organisations are looking towards Gamification to improve employee engagement. It was
predominantly used by companies to engage customers to use their service by throwing up challenges and
providing leader boards. In a time where SMAC is transforming the way two entities interact, Gamification is
emerging as the software component that connects the employee with organisations goal and objective. It is
estimated by global researcher markets and markets that Gamification will be worth $5.5 Billion by 2018. In
another survey by Gallup in US, it was found that over 70% of Americans are either not engaged or actively
disengaged. This report concludes by estimating that this phenomenon costs US Economy $450 to $550 Billion
annually.
Organisations have started to realise that Gamification is an excellent way to influence user behaviour. For a
successful implementation, Gamification must be bundled with the existing processes to improve
productivity and to drive the required change. As with any program, getting started with Gamification is
easy, but sustaining over a period of time is very hard. Implementing Gamification by following a structured
approach will definitely bear fruit. A lot of companies are introducing social environment for workers in their
office.
Take for example Khan Academy. It has various levels and gives badges for each task. These can be applied to
real life scenario. Just as users move to next level on successful completion of a target, a typical job can also
have targets, incentives and promotions that will motivate employees. As more millennials enter the
workforce, it is imperative that outside experience that the employees face (Facebook, games, be extended in
work environment. As electronic devices like smartphones and tablets dominate working environment a
simple Gamification app which could assign points and provide rewards to players with right goodies for
their hardworkwoulddothe trick.
Gamification can be a part of an employee right from the day one. Mundane tasks like filling out forms,
learning company’s policies etc can be given points on successful completion. From thereon, Gamification can
be an integrated part of an employee’s lifecycle. Marriot uses Gamification for recruitment where prospective
employees are asked to play a game similar to farmville where users manage a hotel and based on the final
score, final offers are given. Nike+ uses Gamification on their platform to engage users to take workout to the
next level.
Gamification in Organizations
Senoj Selvin Jones
Great Lakes

IFNARENDRAMODICAN,WHYCAN'TYOU?
No wonder everyone finds the corporate job quite stressful, but think about the responsibility of leading a
nation.
Comparehundredsofemployeesto millionsofcitizens,
Comparethe diversityofworkto be handled,
Comparethe decisionstobe taken anditsimpact.
So, if Mr. Modi can ensure timely dinner, indulging in “Mann Ki Baat” talks with fellow countrymen,
exercisinghisYoga,maintaining asocialnetwork ona regular basis,why can’twe?
Work Life balance, is all about striking the right balance between “Making a living” and “Making a life”. The
key point here is not to treat these two roles as contradictory but complementary to each other. The satisfaction
at work, will keep one happy at home and the happiness at home, will keep one motivated to work harder.
Hence,the balanceshallautomatically prevail.
An ideal balance cannot be rigidly defined, for it shall differ individually, based on a person’s general lifestyle,
profile, work intensity and family dynamics. While there is contentment with work benefits, there is
satisfaction around socio-emotional-spiritual existence. It’s about how much weight an individual assigns to
eachofthem.
Asrightly saidby StephenCovey,
“Thekey isnottoprioritize what'sonyourschedule,but toscheduleyourpriorities”
While this balance may seem easy to achieve if seen in isolation, but does it work when your peers are burning
the midnight oil? Often we face dilemma of what to do when everyone around us is busy working crazily. In
suchcases,it’sworthrememberingyourpriorities,whether youare ‘livingto work’or‘workingforaliving’.
Planning and Scheduling: Follow a bottom-up approach to schedule and plan your tasks based on their
importance and impacts. Dilute the ‘fixed’ boundaries: While one sets up rigid boundaries between the
professionalandpersonaltime,onemustbe flexible todilutetheseboundariestoaccountforcontingencies.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle: As clichéd as it may sound, a healthy lifestyle equips one to handle those days of
fatigue and exhaustion.Delegation is the key: It is humanly impossible to do everything all alone. Whether at
professionalorpersonalfront,asupportsystemalwayshelps.
Work from Home: It may be called as the ‘Best of Both Worlds’. Exercising such an option will enable the
individualsthe requiredflexibility andbalance.
Chasing Life:Finding the Balance

IWhile achieving this balance may seem like a mirage, where the more one tries to run after it, the more distant
or unachievable it seems. However, the day you stop treating it like a race, it becomes achievable. It’s all in the
mind.
Let us accept that it’s not just about decorating the economic balance sheet, but also the socio-emotional one. If
thisarticle motivatesyoualittle, by showingthat it isnotallthat difficult,the aimofwriting it will be fulfilled.
Mybest wishesto all the readersfortheir lives.
ThankYou.
Swapnil Karia
SCMHRD

The key parameters that need to be considered while evaluating “Inclusive growth” are equal opportunity,
diversity, non-discrimination and sustainability in the long run. By Inclusive growth, we mean extension of
productive opportunities to the excluded group of people and including them as a part of the “growth story”
by making various structural changes in the organization. It means giving the less represented group of
people, a scope or opportunity to showcase their capabilities. Policies at the workplace must be so designed so
as to encourage inclusive growth that leads to an increase in the overall productivity of an organization and
whereby, there prevails a general sense of fairness and justice in the organization. This would lead to the
emergenceofa positiveworkplaceculture.
Also, in order to encourage the workers to perform in the most productive manner, the benefits accruing from
the organization’s growth must be distributed equitably among the workers. This would incentivize them to
perform beyond what is expected of them and take the organization to new heights. This acts as a source of
“sustainable growth” for an organization. Inclusive growth is a key factor in attracting and retaining talent in
the organization.A diverse workforce in an organization with an inclusive culture makes the organization
more innovative and agile. Diverse workforce also means diversity in talent and strategic thinking, which can
be leveraged for providing a competitive advantage to the organization. The focus of an organization is to
leverage differencesforthe best possiblebusinessoutcomes.
In the last few years, the focus of efforts in corporations across the world has shifted from diversity to
inclusion. Google provides an example of how an inclusive policy can help companies to grow and lead in
today’s competitive markets. The ability of a diverse group of people to build strength and unity despite
d i f f e r e n c e s p r o p e l s t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t o n e w d i m e n s i o n s o f p e r f o r m a n c e .
(Figure- aligning diversityfactorsinan organization;source-LinkedIn)
With inclusivity in workforce gaining ground in India, it is not uncommon to see people from diverse cultures
being an active part of an inclusive workplace. Leveraging the benefits of diversity, however, calls for
sensitive leadership. It is crucial for the leaders of the organization to possess the requisite skill-set to manage
such differences so that there is no clash of interests and the organization as a whole is aligned towards
achieving higher goalsandaspirations.
INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND WORKPLACE CULTURE

Diversity and inclusivity help workers learn from each other and respect each others’ differences. It helps
the organization as a whole to think from varied perspectives and come up with diverse ideas.
Thus, inclusive growth has changed the face of modern Indian workplace culture to that of a more diverse
and a more tolerant one and has made Indian organizations global, in the true sense, embodying elements
of different cultures across the country and the globe.

Swati Suravi
XIM-B

One of the enduring challenges for HR department of IT companies in the present times is dealing with
employee attrition. Rate of switching companies is increasing and HR department is facing the heat.
According to a news article in The Economic Times dated July 13, 2015, TCS clocked a 15.9% attrition rate in
the June quarter end. One of the reasons for this temporariness is the number of job options an employee has in
his platter nowadays, be it because of the rising number of start-ups or increasing number of IT hubs. A
number of IT companies are keeping their footsteps in cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc. apart from the
alreadyexisting IThubssuchasBangalore,Hyderabad,Gurgaon andNoida.
Organization commitment can be built more conveniently in a fresher if right treatment is imparted. They join
with high hopes and are enthusiastic about the company as everything that is first in our life holds
significance, be it first love or first job. This feeling should be nourished as it will lead to organization
citizenshipbehaviouramongthe fresheremployees.
Most IT companies allocate technical domains randomly when it comes to fresher employees. If their opinion
is taken and their interest considered, a company will benefit in two ways. Firstly they will pick up the work
quickly reducing the learning gestation time and secondly they will stick to the company as they will not feel
being wronged. Wipro follows this. Engineering graduates with a job offer from Wipro are given an option to
choose their preferred technical domain and they are trained accordingly. Small perks are not of much
importancetoaveteran inthe companybut a freshercherishesthem.
They like to show the world that they work for a particular company. A pen, backpack, t-shirt or hoodie with
the company logo if gifted from time to time, matters to them. There is no point trying to do cost cutting in
these small aspects. Everyone wants recognition in terms of getting responsibilities also and they focus more
on work if ownership is given to them. In lots of projects in IT companies, the fresher employees are given
petty works and the team leads do not show enough trust in them. That is detrimental. It is like not being able
tochannelizethe energy ofthat individualandlet himsulkwith inferiority complex.
What can rather be done is reviewing their work at every level to ensure quality. They should be never
shielded from dealing with clients right from the beginning as eventually they have to do it. Attending client
meetings and responding to their queries, may be with subtle help from senior employees will boost their
business communication skill. Some of these small practices if followed properly by a company, can bring
forth a strong organization commitment among fresher employees. After all big issues comes once a while but
smallgestures are part ofdaytodayemotions.
Building Organizational Commitment among Fresher’s
in IT Companies
Udita Banik
Christ university

Going back to the times of the Industrial Revolution, the employees of an organization were treated as the
tools of work or simply the means of earning the profits for an organization. But as the time went on and more
and more industries emerged the organizations realized the value an employee has to the company along
with what value he canaddtothe companyasan asset.
From employees being considered as machines or tools to being considered as assets, now is the time when a
fewcompaniesdoconsidertheir employeesasthe customersinthe HRterms.
Why toconsiderEmployeeasaCustomer?
HR today is taking efforts in making the employees feel good at the workplace by being a good service
provider of the values that company believes in and also keeping employees as their priority in the
organization. The employees need to be taken as the customers of the HR, that is because there are many
instances when a good employee leaves the organization due some inappropriate condition at the workplace;
fewofthe conditionscanbe listedasbelow:-
1) Poorworking conditions
These working conditions can be anything from an unhygienic washroom to a dissatisfaction of a given job
role.
2) InappropriatePerformanceAppraisal
An employee can be highly de-motivated to work if he is not appraised by any means i.e. monetary or non-
monetarywhichcanagain resultinemployeeleaving the organization.
3) ImproperGrievance Handling
In case of any grievance if an employee is not given proper attention to resolve the grievance that can also be
another factorofemployeeattrition.
4) Organization’s Culture
Theoverallorganizational culturecanalsoaffectthe employee’sdecisiontobe inthe organization.
5) Independencegiven to an employee
For an employee to be productive he needs to be given the space which he needs to work and bring in better
ideasto the workplaceforeffectivenessandefficiency.
Above mentioned points have explained that what can lead an employee to leave the organization which in
turn statesthe importanceofgiving the priority tothe employees.
ConceptofEmployeesasCustomers
This concept of treating employees as customers is taken as talent management process by many companies
now days. According to this concept, as for any seller the top priority is his customers, likewise, the company
with the helpofHRDepartment keepsitsemployeesastoppriority.
There are executives who underestimate the efforts put in by the workforce of the company, but what they fail
to understand is that it is the employees who serve as the battleground for customer services and also carry
Employees as Internal Customers

forwardthe brandimageofthe companyby being the unnoticedbrandambassadorstothe company.
Waystobe abetter ServiceProvider
1. BeProactive
For employees to have a better understanding with the organization, the HR department needs be proactive.
Proactive attitude should be reflected by the by of sensing the problems and approaching the employee before
he/sheapproachesyouwith the complaintofsomethinggoing wrong.
2. Better Returns
Employees have high expectations from the company when they are putting in their best efforts to get the
results or the work done, this signifies that they should be given better returns if not higher than, then at least
uptotheir expectations.
3. Work Culture
A friendly and a peaceful atmosphere should be maintained at the workplace, so that employees are
motivated to work and feel that they are an important part of the organization rather than just an earning
profit tool for them. A better work culture will enhance their effectiveness and bring in more innovative ideas
tothe organization whichinturn willhave a great outcome.
4. Proper GrievanceHandling
Every organization should have proper grievance handling system which in case of the grievance of the
employees will help them overcome it and comeback to the normal state. If an employee is facing some
problem regarding colleagues, or is not getting sufficient resources to do the work properly then it is
hamperinghisproductivity.
5. Appraisal
An employee should be given appraisal in front of everyone whenever it comes to rewarding him for
something extraordinary thing done by him. This will boost up his confidence and inspire him to do things in
a better manner, this will also help in motivating other employees in the organization to give the results and
havebetter recognitioninthe organization.
Conclusion
In the nutshell, organizations should and some of them are focusing on the employees’ needs and the
requirements to work in an effective and efficient manner which would help organization grow more as well
have good reputation in the market in terms of best “best organizations to work for”. This will help in
attracting more talent and fresh blood to the organization and it will also help in reducing the attrition rate of
any organization to the least possible number. Hence, to consider employees as internal customer more than
the assetsisprovingto be beneficialforthe companies
References
1)http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/7290-treating-employees-as-customers
2)TheEconomicTimes.
Tejaswini Sethi
IMT Hyderabad

Introduction
Today, there is a great need of a human resource department in any organization, any firm, and any medium
or large scale business, due to large number of the employees in any particular organization. Since having
large number of employees signifies the need of having the HR department, however, along with it this also
pertains to having a need for a good relocation policy for the employees of the organization. This will help the
organization as well as the employees in achieving great milestones in their career lifespan. As working in the
same location and having the same sort of roles and responsibilities makes the life of the employees
monotonous due to which their effectiveness and efficiency both are affected which at most of the times is
proventobe abadsituationforboth, employeesaswellasthe organization.
Relocatingthe Employees
Many companies including the MNC’s have a different outlook towards the relocation of the employees.
These differences occur due the difference in the location, culture, country’s ruling government, other
external factors like demographics, etc. Despite, these social variations there are few of the general guidelines
which are supposed to be followed by each and every organization or the company keeping aside the barriers
ofsocialvariations.Thoseguidelinesareasfollows:-
An employee will be eligible to have his/her relocation expenses reimbursed after relocating to a new
joblocationthat isat leastfifty (50)milesfarther than his/herformerresidencewastohisformerjoblocation.
Relocated employees shall submit, in reasonable detail, vouchers for all expenses incurred to the
HumanResourcesDepartment forapprovalandreimbursement.
All relocation related expenses should be filed separately from other types of reimbursable business
expensesandshouldbe clearlymarked"RelocationExpenses."
It is not the intent of the Company to provide an upgrade in housing (e.g., move from rental to
ownership of residence, purchase of home with substantial adjoining land, purchase of multiple unit
residence,etc.)forrelocatingemployees.
Employees to be relocated should be made fully aware of the contents of this policy. Any questionable
expenses should be resolved with the Director of Human Resources before the expense is incurred. Because
relocation involves many aspects, any exceptions to this policy require the prior approval of the Director of
HumanResources.
Therefore, above mentioned are few of the guidelines which act as a blue print for any company or the
organization to frame the relocation policy in their respective premises which would suit their working
atmosphere.
Relocation Packages might also include following services or the benefits for the convenience
ofthe employeesinordertoassisttheminadjustinginthe differentatmospherefrompreviousone:-
Autos: Transfer of vehicles to your new location. This can have certain restrictions to the amount of
vehicles,etc.
RELOCATION POLICY

Childcare assistance: A list consisting of day care providers and possible reimbursement for
special situations.
Cultural training: For those moving internationally, a class on what to expect in the new
culture will be offered.
Elder care assistance: A list of nursing homes or care centers will be provided.
Full Pack: A van line will be sent to pack all your household goods and transport them to
your new home. Any special moving needs should be discussed prior.
Full Unpack: When the van line arrives at your new home for delivery they will unload all
boxes and furniture where you wish.
Home finding trip: A visit to your future city (including airfare, hotel, rental car, and meals)
so that you can find a home, schools, etc. that are suitable for your family.
Home Buying Services: Help with the payment of closing costs, mortgage points buy down
or other fees on the purchase of a home.
Home Sale Services: Help with the payment of closing costs and commissions on the sale of
your home.
Lease Break Coverage: If you're a renter, the company will pay penalty charges for breaking
a contract.
Lodging: During your home finding trip and/or move, costs for hotel stays will be paid.
Miscellaneous expenses: Out of pocket expenses like carpet cleaning, drapery installation,
utility hook-ups, vehicle registration and other incidentals could be reimbursed.
Property Management: Homeowners on international or short term assignments will have a
property management company take care of rental and upkeep.
Spousal job support: Many companies offer employment assistance for an accompanying
spouse or partner.

Storage: If you will be overseas on a short assignment or living in temporary housing for a
few weeks, the company will pay to have your items put in a storage facility.
Temporary housing: In case your new home isn't ready right away, furnished housing will
be provided.
Transportation: Getting you to your new destination by plane, train or automobile will be
reimbursed.
Travel: If you're on a short unaccompanied assignment or your families move is scheduled a
few months out, airfare back home will be paid for every so often.
Conclusion
Thus, we observe that for having a good work culture in the office premises there is a need for the constant
change which can be done by relocation of the employees to various branches or other places where the
organization’s operational units are located. This makes an employee more involved in the work along
with a better change because of which he can generate new ideas and explore his talent with the changed
working environment.
Tejaswini Sethi
IMT Hyderabad

Vol. I Iss. 1 IMT Hyderabad
With the highly dynamic business environment, skill requirements are changing at a lightning speed. This
brings the Training & Development (T&D) function at the forefront to empower the employees with the
required tools. Training is becoming pivotal as organizations recognize it as mandatory, not optional, to the
growth and success of the business and its employees. An organization’s success depends on what its
employees achieve individually and hence they are doing everything in their power to develop the skills of
their employees.
The T&D function, now, has taken the role of “Business Partner to the Management”, playing the part of a
catalyst in the growth of the employees and in turn the organizations. This proximity between the
management and the T&D team has generated a demand for “Life Coaches” and “Training Professionals”
who can identify and develop the required competencies and bridge the skill gaps. The current trend clearly
portraysT&Dasoneofthe mostvaluable andrewardingprofessions.
This increasing demand for “Training Professionals” brings us to the most important question “Are we ready
to meet the demand?” Business organizations annually infuse fresh talent, who are brimming with
innovative/creative ideas. Additionally, the management institutions have embedded live industrial
projects, Internship programs, and Guest lectures by eminent faculties and Case studies in the curriculum, to
nurture the skillsrequiredinthe professionalworld.
Now, it is our responsibility to utilize the opportunities given to us by the management institutions and the
industries, and use it for our own benefit. Let’s face the fact, nobody can make us perfect! It is one’s own extra
effortwhichwillmakeusstandout fromthe crowd.Howdowe “make it happen”?
Well the options lie with us! Success, in true sense, is not just about building the competencies required, but
also about the willingness to learn and innovate in today’s digital era. Offline or online networking can play an
important role here. Aspiring training professionals should stay in constant touch with the industry experts.
Connecting with industry experts through blogging sites, LinkedIn etc. will make us aware of the current
methodologies,best practicesandtrendsofthe training industry.
Reading Blogs/Articles about the latest trends in the training space which have benefitted different
organizations, in making their employees more productive will give us an idea about how to bridge the gap. A
well-developed professional network can go a long way in helping us whenever we need guidance and
direction.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT - A NEW BUSINESS
PARTNER TO THE MANAGEMENT

The foremost expectation from a training professional is that they should be able to impart training, tailored to
the needs of the individual as well as the organization. Hence, keeping ourselves abreast with industry
requirements, thorough knowledge about the competitors and latest training techniques is of utmost
importance. Conducting a Market analysis will help us in understanding how the different companies work.
Also, enable us in understanding what are the training best practices/methodologies being used for an
enhancedperformanceoverthe competitors.
While we upgrade ourselves, we need to renew individual skillset and make ourselves competitive. Adding
relevant certifications is a great way to start on this “in demand training career track”. To name some ISTD
certifications, Instructional design courses & Train the trainer certification programs can give an extra push in
shapingyourcareer.
With the right combination of knowledge/certifications and our attitude & passion towards this profession,
we can make ourselves a very competitive, industry ready and a desirable prospect for the role in the T&D
team ofany organization.
Tanushree Kaushik
Deputy Manager- L&D [South]
En World Group

Work-life balance refers to a working individual aiming to strike a balance between his/her personal and
professional life. Career growth and work-life balance are usually the top priorities of working professionals
these days. But at the same time juggling personal life and professional life in this competitive environment
poses problems. That is why it is necessary to have a stable work-life routine; else it is considered as one of the
major challenges that are faced by maximum working professionals in the world. Thus, both men and women
prefer to work in an organization that offers them the luxury of having a steady relationship between their
personal and professional life. But in Indian context this scenario is created because of the social structure and
institutional beliefsofoursociety.
With the increase in globalization and standard of living, a dual career couple or employed parents find it
difficult to take out time for their families. It’s probably because of the fear of losing their job or promotion to a
fellow executive; which leads them to concentrate solely on their work at the cost of their personal life. This
issue is faced by both the genders in our society. Somewhere this imbalance is also created by the attitude of
some firms. While some organizations see their employees as a separate entity, others follow the mantra of
“Work is Work, Family is Family- the two do not mix”. But somehow they always do and either one or both
suffer due to this stance. Also, there is a huge difference between the legal working hours and the real working
hours in India, and somehow employees think giving an extra hour will put them in the managements’ good
books. In these cases, it is the duty of an organization to put forth a point that an extra hour wouldn’t help the
employees and that the organization believes in hard work and the fact that everyone is given a fair chance for
promotion and salary hikes. Thus, extra working hours should neither be encouraged nor awarded. Rather
they shouldbe discouragedtothe extent ofwarnings.
Work-life imbalance is realized by the Indian government and many organizations. Thus, the Indian
government introduced Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 which entitles a woman to 12 weeks of leave with full
pay associated with a child along with additional nursing breaks. As of 2nd September 2015, the Ministry of
Women and Child Development has proposed to increase it from 12 to 24 weeks. In addition to this, The
Factories Act, 1948 demands that factories having more than 30 female worker employees must have crèche
facilitiesforchildrenbelow the age of6.
Various organizations have designed policies and HR strategies to impart a balance in the work-life of their
employees. Strategies like flexible working hours, child and dependent care, maternity, and paternity leaves
are granted to the employees. Some organizations provide trainings for having a work-life balance which is a
WORK LIFE BALANCE IN INDIAN CONTEXT

which is a cost-effective way to keep their staff engaged. Each organization has its own set of varied
provisions for providing work-life balance. It is observed that the public sector organizations take more
family-friendly measures than private sector firms. Each and every organization must try to inculcate certain
practices like flexible timings, elder care, commuting, childcare, trainings and practicing gender equality to
maintainawork-life balance.
Shikhi Mehrotra
FORE School of Management

"When you're in a start-up, the first ten people will determine whether the company succeeds or not. Each is 10 percent of
the company. So why wouldn't you take as much time as necessary to find all the A players? If three were not so great, why
would you want a company where 30 percent of your people are not so great? A small company depends on great people
much morethanabigcompanydoes." –SteveJobs
Let’sconsiderthe followinghiring strategy:
A certain company looks at whoever the competitor is hiring at campuses, figures out the offer made by the
competitor, and then makes a better offer to those potential recruits. Essentially, the competitor does the hard
workandthe mentionedcompanyreapsthe benefits.
Thisisthe essenceofemployee poaching.
Poaching has become an inevitable truth in today’s start-up ecosystem and the current war for talent. There is
an increased need of talent with the tremendous rate at which start-ups are growing today. Targets have to be
met, market has to be captured and growth has to be ensured. This means more people – freshers and skilled
talent – needto be hired.
Investors might buy into the big business plans and fabulous growth projections of the start-ups, but without
the right peopleinthe organization, the executionofthe visionisnext toimpossible.
Thequestionthat arisesiswhere youfindthe “right people”.
Start-ups poach employees through various ways such as poaching campus recruits of competitors, existing
employees of competitors or though employee referral programmes. Due to the phenomenal growth of start-
ups, it is no surprise that they are adapting to poaching to get the best talent. A recent example would be when
Yahoo announced it was firing its employees. There was hiring frenzy on Twitter. Companies like Zomato,
Pricebaba andothercompaniesapproachedYahooemployeesthrough tweets.
Poaching has several crucial benefits. Somebody who has worked across industries is difficult to be taught or
replaced due to their invaluable experience. Also, when one hires from another firm, an understanding of the
competitor’s tools, approaches and processes can be achieved. Case in point is when Navneet Singh, the co-
founder of grocery app Pepper-Tap roped in Devadas Krishnan from Vodafone Business Services as the head
ofoperationsandTahseenQuadrifromAirtelasthe headofmarketing.
EMPLOYEE POACHING - THE NEW TREND ADOPTED BY START-UPS

However, offering just a hefty package is not enough to lure talent. Start-ups must address issues like whether
the talent being brought is fit for the company, identifies with the vision of the organization and has the right
kindofentrepreneurial spiritto makethe start-up reachnewheights.
Thus, whether one acknowledges it or not, poaching in today’s global hiring ecosystem is inevitable and is
becoming more aggressive by the day. In the current war for talent, one has to use vigorous tactics in order to
survive.Infact,onecansaythat it isbecomingastandardbusinesspracticeinthe worldofglobal recruiting.
Sneha Mohanty
SCMHRD, Pune
Sujay S Prabhu
SCMHRD, Pune

As Markets are becoming more and more sophisticated with the intense war for talent rising, the concept of
Employer brand is becoming even more contextual. It defines the desired brand image, which, if transmitted
effectively and consistently to employees, enables them to understand and experience the brand image that an
organisationwishesto convey.
Examplesofsuccessfulemployerbranding asasourceofcompetitiveadvantage:
South west Airlines, being a service oriented organization has reversed the traditional ‘customer first’
approach by positioning their employees first and in turn expecting those employees to mirror those
behaviours that they receive from the company. It communicates its brand messages to current and potential
employees and also the formal internal and external messages via the HR and PR systems including, for
example, advertisements, media releases and compensation. They have been able to reduce the employee
turnover rate to under 5%, when the average turnover rate for the American airline industry is around 30%. It
hasbeen recognizedasFortune Magazine’s‘100BestCompaniestoworkforinAmerica’.
McDonalds, in the early 2000s, had come to be associated with low-paying, low-status work with little or no
chance of progression to an extent that Oxford included the term ‘McJobs’ in its dictionary defined as ‘an
unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects’. But by using Employer branding, McDonalds revised the
image through various initiatives including advertising campaigns emphasising the positive aspects of
working at McDonalds. It tried to be an employer with the EVP (Employee Value Proposition) so much so that
their attempts helpedthem to becomethe “BestplacetoworkinHospitality’in2007.
VMware, a leading cloud solutions company has taken up diversity hiring –especially among women as its
major initiative. It is comparing correlations between Net Promoter Scores and reviews on Glassdoor to
measure the impact of employer brand holistically and from where they can perform root cause analysis to
identify areas of candidate experience that need improvement. This is improving performance of advertising
campaignstargeting key talent demographicsalongwith the impactonVMware’shiring quality.
EFFECT OF EMPLOYER BRANDING IN ATTRACTING TALENT

As there cannot be “One size fits all” solution for all the companies, each company has to explore the
opportunities within itself to improve the Employer brand and their EVP. At the macro level, the branding
and industry image attracts the human capital whereas at the micro level employer branding developed
through marketing, personal experience, word of mouth and their perceptions of brand are things that
potential recruitsrely upon.
Social media has also revolutionised the way businesses can seek to attract the best talent: the route to your
target audience has become more diversified; the opportunity to pinpoint your ideal candidate has become
morerealistic.
With 56% of employers who recruited new employees in the last year reporting that a candidate rejected their
job offer, organisations need to recognise the importance of a robust, engaging and inspiring employer brand
that ensure they achieve their business goals. The race is on for Sameera Pto make their brand standout to
reachthe toptalent.
Sameera P
SJMSOM, IIT Bombay

While some HR professionals use social media to find qualified candidates who have a scrupulous
professional integrity, others encourage their employees to expand their contacts via social networks;
diminishing the myth that using internet during working hours will affect their business; rather online
interactions will promote their business. Many HR professionals see tremendous potential in social media
toolsforsharing real-time ideasandsolutionswith co-workers.
Having perennial relationships with good quality people will result in stronger connections which will in turn
position their business in a way where large number of others will pay attention to what they have to offer. HR
professionals use tools like Twitter Tab to keep up with the industry changes and news and also to collect
information and articles for their job and related certifications. They also do blogging to inform about the
concepts, practices and methodologies of their business. The concept “thinking out of the box” applies when it
comesto HRandsocialmedia.Theynowrealize the needforrewardingthiskindofthinking.
Companies are trying to make a tool through which not only Facebook postings, LinkedIn profile and Twitter
feed of candidates can be analyzed but also their activities on specialty sites related to their profession can be
seen. By reviewing various posts of a candidate, any HR professional can easily come to know about his/her
strengths andweaknessesbecausethey posteverything without thinking about aspecificjob.
A website and a phone based application can be created to pull all the information related to company’s
recruiting efforts at one place which will be easy to access for all the concerned people. This mobile app will be
used by potential employees to search and apply for jobs, receive job alerts, join a talent community, and get
aninsider’sviewabout what it’slike toworkforthe particular organisation.
This recruitment approach is designing a different kind of world where job seekers are found and evaluated
by their meritsandcontributions,rather than their skillsto sellthemselvesinany interview.
ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN ATTRACTING TALENT

With the advent of social media, HR professionals are now reviewing the corporate values. The only thing for
certain is that social media can dramatically castrate expectations. So it is beneficial for all industries and
businessesortoanyone whohasnotyet embracedit; to growwith these new technologies.
Gamification is related to attributes like play, design, solving puzzles or competing, and application of these
things in real-world processes at workplace; for example: health & wellness, new hire on-boarding, learning &
development. Video game-players are popular for being singularly focused during any game. Therefore
companieshave begun to focusontheseinnovativeactivities.
Now companies are using data managers who are able to continuously collect information on employee
performance to have an on-going performance review not only once in a year. Many companies created the
Social Learning Camp profiling companies re-imaging learning. They have realized that social learning is not
new because from a very beginning we have always learned a lot from one another in the workplace. Thus
bringing social media into HR practices is a step towards more successful process which will be beneficial for
both the recruiter andjobseekers.
: -
Abhay Kumar Tiwari
XIM-B

The term Human resource itself speaks of the importance of humans in a business organization. They are
considered as a resource crucial for the growth and survival of the business. This makes imperative that the
policies made for such an indispensable resource should work as a driving force and not as a restraining factor.
Human minds are very dynamic and change frequently with time. So it becomes critical that the HR policies
should be innovative. In this volatile, modern, complex, and changing business environment, the new full
form of HR is Hiring and Retaining. Hiring is the foundation but retaining forms the climax of the movie. To
makethe movieworkwondersat the box office,HRpoliciesneedtobe groundbreaking.
Larsen and Toubro was recently presented an award in the Asia Pacific HR Conclave for the most innovative
HR practices. Larsen and Toubro has very successfully implemented mentor Buddy system which creates the
environmentofinnovationandmakesemployeesfeelsatisfiedwith the workaccomplishedby them.
There are a number of ways through which innovation in HR policies can be introduced. Employee
Satisfaction Quotient (ESQ) can be used to assess the overall satisfaction level of the employees and the HR
policies can be modified accordingly. A full-fledged feedback mechanism can help in removing the
bottlenecks restricting the employees use their potential optimally. A special reward and recognition system
wouldhelpinboostingthe moraleofthe employees.
When employees know that their work will be recognized and will bring them goodwill in the organization,
they will definitely put in their best efforts to achieve their targets. A specific recommendation forum can help
in channelizing the energy of the workforce. Nobody can forget the unfortunate incident happened at Taj
hotel in Mumbai on 26/11/2008. That incident showcased the values which all the Taj employees carry in their
souls. The employees put their life into danger to save the lives of the guests staying there in the hotel. The Taj
group itself could not answer the questions put forth by the Harvard business school which was doing a study
of the factors responsible for such an “Atithi Devo Bhava” attitude of its employees. Taj group proved to the
wholeworldthat the innovative HRpoliciescanworkwondersforthe organization.
In this emerging global economy, a number of startups take birth every day. These startups in particular are
coming up with numerous innovative practices. They have introduced a free-choice period where the new
employees work for a short span of time. After this period, they have the liberty to either stay or leave the firm.
Such innovative HR policies are pro-employees and bring better results. A business can’t take pride in having
no-reference policies for the employees who have worked hard for the organization. More use of modern
INNOVATION IN HR POLICIES

technology in HR practices brings transparency in the system and thus make the employees satisfied. When
the employeesaresatisfied,the businessisboundtoflourishexponentially
.
Ajay Singla
IIM-Raipur

Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad
Survey No 38, Cherlaguda Village, Shamshabad Mandal, RR District
Hyderabad—501218 (Telangana State)
Tel: +91-40-30461662 Fax: +91-40-30461655
E-mail: info@imthyderabad.edu.in | Website: www.imthyderabad.edu.in
Follow us at: I’M HR
Vol. II Iss. 1 | Human Variable| November 2015 | I’M HR | IMT Hyderabad
Faculty Mentor
Creative Credits
Shawnell Godinho
Core Team
Romina Mathew
Apurva Sinha, Sai Divya, Marilyn Mathew, Shubhangi Sharma,
Mohammed Ahmer, Sneha Bazar, Janane S, Gajanan Govekar
Editor
Apurva Sinha
Magazine Coordinator
Gajanan Govekar

The human variable 2.0

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