HIRING & BEYOND VOLUME-III | ISSUE 2 JANUARY 2013 www.content.timesjobs.com A peep into 2013 The year of good times The year 2013 would be a good year in terms of hiring across most industries, especially Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, IT, Retail and FMCG. The in-demand professions are expected to be HR, Finance, Audit, IT and Sales & Marketing. Organisations would be aiming for enhanced resource optimization with increased focus on “Quality of hire”. With the advent of digital communication technology, organisations would come across various innovative modes of communication to efficiently deliver and process information and also enhance interaction among each other. Companies would strive to move their operations to non- urban areas to promote cost-advantage. The sought-after hiring channels would be job-sites/ online professional and social networking sites. Metros like Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore are expected to witness enhanced hiring as compared to the rest of the country. Due to increased competition in international market, Indian companies would witness more mergers, acquisitions and consolidation in 2013.
Transcript
H I R I N G & B E Y O N D
VOLUME-III | ISSUE 2JANUARY 2013
www.content.timesjobs.com
A peep into
2013The year of good times
The year 2013 would be agood year in terms of hiring across mostindustries, especiallyHealthcare &Pharmaceuticals,Manufacturing, IT, Retail andFMCG. The in-demandprofessions are expected to beHR, Finance, Audit, IT and Sales & Marketing.Organisations would beaiming for enhanced resourceoptimization with increasedfocus on “Quality of hire”.
With the advent of digitalcommunication technology,organisations would comeacross various innovative modes of communication toefficiently deliver and processinformation and also enhanceinteraction among each other.Companies would strive tomove their operations to non-urban areas to promotecost-advantage.
The sought-after hiringchannels would be job-sites/online professional and socialnetworking sites. Metros likeMumbai, Pune and Bangaloreare expected to witnessenhanced hiring as compared to the rest of the country. Dueto increased competition ininternational market, Indian companies wouldwitness more mergers, acquisitions and consolidation in 2013.
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Industry experts predict that 2013 wouldwitness positive hiring sentimentsacross all domains. Jacob Jacob, Chief
People Officer, Apollo Hospitals, opines,“Overall the recruitment trend for India in2013 looks positive and sectors likeHealthcare, Pharma, Manufacturing, Retail& FMCG are predicted to be at the forefrontin hiring talent next year.” VellaRamasawmy, General Manager, KempinskiAmbience Delhi, also predicted that 2013would be the year of good times. “Barringsignificantly huge natural calamity, Indianeconomy is on an upward trajectory at leastin the immediate future i.e.2013 regardlessof the politically charged atmosphere.”
According to Jacob the most in-demandprofessions in 2013 would be HR, Finance,Audit, IT and Sales & Marketing. Dr.Siddhartha Pandey, Chief People Officer,Bhusan Power & Steel Limited, says, “Mythinking is that the technical people wouldstill be in demand in comparison to thesupport function. But at the same timepositions like HR, CFO will also be indemand.”
Among locations, metros like Mumbai, Puneand Bangalore would witness enhancedhiring momentum with respect to the rest ofthe country, according to Sharad Pathane,Senior Manager- HR, Intex Technologies (I)Ltd. He also predicts that job sites and socialnetworking sites would turn out to be themost sought after hiring channels in 2013.
IT and FMCG industries are also expected toperform well in 2013. “In present scenario IT& FMCG companies would be hiring inextra pace in comparison to year 2012.Reason being market is getting stabilized,would expect rate of dollar would be atfavorable end which would increase thescope of business opportunities. Mostly thehiring would be at middle level to empowercompany’s skill set to increase businessinflow and will be helpful for brandbuilding,” says, Pathane
The year of consolidation andoptimization
Organisations would be aiming forenhanced resource optimization andconsolidation. Anil Warrier, Global Head -Early Talent (University Hiring) in SAP,believes that 2013 would probably witnessmore noise on the “Quality Of Hire”. “Withincreased focus on resource optimization,the focus on the QUALITY of resources andpotential of grooming effective managersand leaders from that pool, will take a frontseat,” he adds.
Arpana Mehra, Vice President – HumanResources Asia, ACS of India Pvt. Ltd, AXerox Company also believes that 2013would be the year of stability andconsolidation in talent management andmovement from high cost to low cost citiesfor large corporates, especially in the IT anITES sector. “Although, it does seem rRuralengagements in BPM sector will also picksteam,” she adds. According to AnilRaikundlia, Director – Talent Acquisition(India Region), SITEL INDIA, “The cut-throat competition in international marketcompelled the Indian firms to opt formergers and acquisitions strategies,making it a vital premeditated option andthus I believe the year 2013 is of Mergers,Acquisitions & Consolidation of businessunits.”
G. J. Jagan Kumar, HR Director – TCI,Delphi Automotive Systems PrivateLimited, opines, “2013 will be a year ofconsolidation / optimization of theavailable resources in the Organization.Overall we will see a dip in talentacquisition.” Talking about talentmanagement, Warrier says, “Year 2013 willalso see enhanced attention to groomingand growing internal talent for senior andleadership roles over external hiring oftalent. However, external hiring willcontinue albeit the preference by companieswill be more for promoting from within.”Dr. Pandey, adds, “The chances of
manpower budgeting would be easier as wewill find people who will be willing to joineven at the same CTC or lesser CTC. Butdefinitely expertise will be a key point andour objective would be to get the best out ofthe lot.”
“3 C’s – Convergence of Communicationand Commerce”
With the advent of digital communicationtechnology, organisations would comeacross various innovative modes ofcommunication to efficiently deliver andprocess information and also enhanceinteraction among each other. PrashantBhatnagar, Director- Hiring, Sapient Nitro,believes, “The rise of digitalcommunication has made it possible forcompanies and individuals to deliver theirmessages via various multimedia channels.Today, we are surrounded by a multi-levelconvergent world where all modes ofcommunication and information arecontinually reforming to adapt to theenduring demands of technologies,changing the way we create, consume, learnand interact with each other.” Tablettechnology would also have great impact in2013. According to Ravi Shankar, EVP &Chief People Officer, Mindtree Ltd, “2013would be the year of tipping point and tablettechnology.”
The biggest challenge
According to Neeraj Mohbe, VP,International Operations ACS, “In 2013 thebigger challenge is to convince our self tomove operations to non- urban locations andcontinue to provide cost advantage. He alsobelieves that utilizing technology toenhance efficiency and devise a reliable andsustainable operating model would alsoprove to be a big challenge in 2013. Dr.Pandey believes that for companies that arenot performing well or losing stability,talent retention would be a big challenge.Policy issues – clearances would also be anarea of concern, according to Dr. Pandey.
2013 would be the year of good times in terms of hiring
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JobBuzz announces its second Company Rankings – the most Recommended Companies to Work. These companies have been selected by thebest people to pass judgment on this matter – the present and past employees of these organizations. The list contains the top 30 companies.
This ranking measures how many of a company’s employees would recommend their company to others for employment opportunities. Fora company to qualify for this survey, they needed to have atleast 50 respondents. These rankings are as of 31st December, 2012.
The ranking measures the percentage of company employees who would recommend their company for employment opportunities.
Top recommended companies
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To read more about the overviews, salaries, reviews and interviews on each of these companies, log on to http://jobbuzz.timesjobs.com/
Company Name Industry Size Turnover Employees Recommend
1. Essar Oil Limited Oil, Gas & Power Manufacturing 1001-5000 Employees 10000+ Crores 89%
The investment is hugeand employers need tomake sure that the
candidate fits the position aswell as into the organisation’sculture. For many, recruitingsenior managers is a
troublesome task. However,clear objective, focus andplanning well, in advance helpsmake the process relativelysmooth.
According to a TJinsite study,over 80% of the organisationsuse appointment panels torecruit senior managementpersonnel. The importancegiven to the panel is quite high,as in half of the surveyedorganisations, the CEO chairsthe panel. In about 45% of the
cases the CEO takes the finaldecision on candidate selection.In a third of the organisations,the case is referred to the Boardof Directors. Hiring of CEOscan again be a tricky affair.Chaitali Mukherjee, Country
Manager (India), RightManagement, says, “Whilechoosing a CEO perhaps themost important requirementthat organisations usually lookfor is the belief and passion inthe mandate; be ittransformation, growth orentrepreneurial drive dependingupon the organisation’s lifecycle and the business need.”
She adds, “Again the otherimportant attribute that mostleaders need to inculcate is –
Understanding of theorganisation/familiarity withthe issues and concerns. So,perhaps it’s best to be an insider;so that you know what may workwell and what may not workwell; have better acceptance inthe organisation and you areable to build bettercommitment.”
A TJinsite study revealed thatleadership and managementexperience are the most desiredcompetencies in seniormanagement. About threequarters of the surveyedorganisations emphasised thecriticality of these. Nearly 20%believe senior managementcandidates should have properindustrial experience.
In most organisations, CXOhiring does not seem to be aplanned activity. Over 80% ofthe organisations stated thatthey find their CXOs within 6months of the launch of theirsearch. This relatively longgestation period point to CXOrecruitment being more of areplacement led activity ratherthan a sustained talentmanagement strategy.
One of the stated challengesinvolved with the hiring ofCXOs is the problem of culturalfit. A lack of integration in thecorporate culture, willinevitably lead to departures.This would happen if notenough time and effort is spenton reference checks and thecultural fit of the prospectivecandidate prior to hiring.
It is imperative in the face ofthese kind of challenges and forthe stability and growth of anorganisation that seniorexecutive recruitment is seen asa priority corporate strategy.
The advantages of doing thisand not putting executiverecruitment on a back burnerwill be of value to a companynot just in the good times butalso during down times .
Hiring the leaders of an organisationFilling senior management positions is crucial for the success of an organisation.Hiring senior management personnel requires a complete job description in placewith careful background screening, say experts
Organisations usingtalent assessment toolsfor recruitment: StudyNearly 68% of theorganisations are currentlyusing talent assessmenttools for recruitment,revealed a recent studyconducted by TJinsite,research and knowledge arm of TimesJobs.com. Inaddition, 79% of surveyedemployers alleged thatassessment centres arereasonably effective meansof recruiting workforce. Bydefinition, an assessmentcentre is a place whereprospective employees areassessed to determine theirsuitability for a particularrole. Multiple trainedobservers and techniquesare used for this such asinterviews, examinationsand psychometric testing. n The Economic Times, Aug 2012
Entertainment/Mediaprofiles led rise in jobopportunities in August2012: RecruiteXEntertainment/Mediaprofiles recorded maximumrise in job opportunities inAugust'12, reveals RecruiteX, TimesJobs.comrecruitment index. Whereemployers in across mostindustries remainedconservative in freshrecruitments, theEntertainment/Mediaindustry managed to pull 6%growth in demand in month-over-month analysis.Demand forArchitects/InteriorDesigners was alsoencouraging during theperiod. The overall hiringsentiment in August'12remained flat to negativeacross industries, locationsand experience segments. n The Economic Times, Sep 2012
TJ RESEARCHIN NEWS
Leadership
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Dr. PV. Bhide, President – Corporate HR, JK Organisation
Top 3 d esired characteristics and competencies 73%
Leadership/Management experence
19% Industry Experience
3%Soft Skills
“The CEO/CXOs need to have capability offormulating and implementing a soundBusiness Strategy for growth. We henceassess the candidates for their LeadershipCompetency of Strategic BusinessPerspective.
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Like a living organism, abrand also experiencestriumphs, failures and
succumbs to timely varyingtrends. A company, whilebuilding its brand essentiallyfocuses on three key aspects: themarketplace, the consumers andits employees. Internalemployer branding is an
important strategy employed byan organisation to create animage in the minds ofemployees that the organisation,above all others is a ‘great placeto work’ (Ewing et al. 2002).
Creating an Employer ValueProposition (EVP) is one of thekey motivations behindemploying internal brandingstrategies. Conveying thecompany’s unique appeal to itsemployees enhances talentretention. In recent times, whenorganisations employ theiremployees as brandambassadors, striking the rightchord with their existingemployees would help attracttop talent.
According to human resourceconsultants Hewitt Associates,there are five steps to develop astrong employer brand
lUnderstand your organisation
l Create a ‘compelling brandpromise’ for employees thatmirrors the brand promise forcustomers
l Develop standards to measurethe fulfillment of the brandpromise
l ‘Ruthlessly align’ all peoplepractices to support andreinforce the brand promise
Development Corporation,agrees that internal employerbranding is an importantretention tool. He also addedthat as an employer brandingstrategy, they took all theiremployees on a fully sponsoredtrip to Sri Lanka to watch theT20 World Cup. According tohim, this gesture was greatlyappreciated by all theemployees, as for some of themthis was their first trip abroad.
According to a studyconducted by TJinsite onemployer branding, nearly 43%surveyed organisations claimthat they have an employerbranding strategy but it couldfurther be developed. Thissurvey also revealed that mostorganisations believe thatproviding good workenvironment and growthopportunities is critical forthem to become the employer ofchoice.
The case for taking EmployerBranding seriously iscompelling. In an economic
climate where business is toughthere is pressure to cut costsand increase productivity. Thismakes the need to get the rightpeople in the right job evenmore crucial. Retaining topperformers and attracting theright talent therefore becomesthe priority.
In such situations, having astrong employer brand would goa long way in better positioningof an organisation in thecorporate ecosystem. Anattractive employer can createfor employees an illusion thattheir choices are limited outsideof the organisation, constantlymaintaining an image of beingthe most desirable employer,giving the right reasons orincentives for their topperformers to stay.
“Employer BrandManagement istherefore theapplication ofmarketingdisciplines likebranding and brandmanagement. Thisis done by humanresourcepractitioners toattract, engage andretain talentedcandidates andemployees, in thesame way thatmarketing appliessuch tools toattracting andretaining clients,customers andconsumers.”
Prashant Bhatnagar , Director Hiring
SapientNitro
The brand value Employer branding is an intelligent strategy to convey the company’s unique appeal to the employees, therebyengaging them and attracting top talent
Brand Value
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FACTS
TimesJobs provides you a
talent pool of morethan 2 crore
resumes to choosefrom
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According to a TJinsitesurvey, nearly 68% oforganisations stated that
gaining post appraisal feedbackis very important. In fact, nearly85% of the organisationsclaimed to conduct postappraisal feedback.
The post appraisal feedbackprocess is indeed useful inunderstanding employeeconcerns and managingemployees efficiently. Thefeedback also ensures that theymeet their future performancegoals. A systematic approach tothe post appraisal feedbackprocess assists HR managers inidentifying some commonproblem areas and the suitablesolutions to these.
An effective appraisal strategyis a cyclic process of - planning,ongoing feedback and reviewing.Hence, a post appraisal feedbackprocess should be meticulousand result-oriented to helprefine the future appraisalpolicies of the organisation.
Subrat Chakravarty, VP &Head HR - Business ServicesDivision, HCL Technologies Ltdtold TJinsite, "Performancemanagement cannot be a yearend process. It can be a rollup ofsuch measurement, dialogues,feedback and improvementsover defined periodicity atvarious levels. That is the onlyway to realise the true potentialof an appraisal process."
Gathering feedback is a
different thing but acting uponit is another, and herein lies thereal essence of feedbackprocess. Appropriate actionstaken within the specified timeframe helps endorse the entirepost appraisal feedback process.Further, it helps preventpossible attrition, which tends toincrease by 10-20% afterappraisals, feels 40% of thesurveyed organisations. Thefeedback process providesemployees a platform to voicetheir opinion about theappraisal process.
The feedback process providesemployees a platform to voiceopinion about appraisal process.Most of the surveyedorganisations prefer using one-on-one discussions to garnerpost appraisal feedback. About32% of the organisationsbelieve that the biggestadvantage of the process lies inthe strengthening of employeeconfidence in the appraisalprocess and in the organisationitself. The very process oftaking feedback and attemptingto deal with significant issueshelps to boost employeeconfidence in the entireappraisal system.
Effective communication isneeded across hierarchy anddepartments to share concernsand find suitable solutions."There will always be a chanceof expectation mismatch andsurge of emotions. Therefore, adirect dialogue with thesupervisor and a culture ofopen dialogue with HR and nextline supervisor is key. At thesame time one key learning hasbeen to keep the communicationchannels open all through thePMS process and follow a nosurprise policy," addsChakravarty.
Providing a platform to raisethe concerns and voice theopinion of employees can proveto be an efficient performancemanagement strategy.
"At HCL, we promote the culture of opendialogue at various levels. Employeesthrough structured channels ofcommunication can raise their concerns, ifany and these are tracked and facilitated byvarious stakeholders across levels."
Subrat Chakravarty, VP & Head HR - Business Services Division
HCL Technologies Ltd.
IT major’s loss is ITSMEs gainIT SMEs are cashing in onthe exodus of dissatisfiedemployees quitting ITmajors, resulting in aninteresting role reversal.And it has so far provedsymbiotic. Thoughecommerce and softwareproducts companies are thehighest recruiters; SMEservice providers too havecontributed their bit to thismass departure. “Those whoare quitting the large ITcompany, are doing sobecause they feel theyhaven’t been rewarded orvalidated in spite of asterling appraisal,’’ said theCEO of a Bangalore-basedIT firm, who did not wish tobe named. http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=243
n The Times of India, Oct 2012
Investors double up as HR consultants forIT SMEsWith the growth in IT SMEsoffering specialised servicesthe need for hiringexperienced personnel, withspecialised skills, within ashort time has gainedimportance. Hiring relevanttalent who can startdelivering as soon as hejoins can often make thedifference between winninga project and finishing it asper schedule against losingout to competition. Giventhis scenario, investorstoday are doubling up ashands on HR consultants.Take the case of AccelPartners, one of the wellknown venture fundsoperating in India. Thecompany recently launcheda jobsite exclusively for itsportfolio companies.http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=245
n The Times of India, Oct 2012
TJ RESEARCHIN NEWS
Power of Feedback
Post appraisal feedback While performance management has been much talked and written about, the postappraisal part of it remains unexplored. A TJinsite survey delved into this area to gainan insight into the process
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Although employers arecautious of thegeneration gap, they do
believe each has their uniquepotential. Mukund Menon,director – HR India & Singapore,Steria, says, “Talkingparticularly about the Indian ITindustry, Gen X employees arethe ones who have put India onthe global IT map as a potentialleader in IT domain, with theirhard work, knowledge,intelligence and creativity.Whereas, Gen Y are the youngleaders, game- changers, globalby default and will lead thecompetition and take it to thenext level. They are driven byworking with mobility conceptand follow a method in madnessworking style.”
A TJinsite study revealed,Generation Y (Gen Y) representmajority of the workforce inmost of the companies (67%),followed by Generation X (GenX) which represents 28% of theworkforce in the surveyedorganisations. More than 81% ofthe organisations are activelyhiring Gen Y.
Both these generations arewilling to change jobs anywherefrom five to ten times over thecourse of their career, revealsthe study.
Where there are certainsimilarities, there are manydifferences as well in theapproach and attitude of thesetwo generations.
The study observed that thevarious deciding factors for GenY to take up a job in order ofpreference were salary (42%),job profile (23%), flexibility(18%) and brand value (14%).
Almost 35% of Gen X workforceconsidered job position as themost important deciding factorfollowed by job profile (22%),salary (18%), brand value andflexibility (11%). Thisgeneration of employeesdemands creative freedom andauthority to perform their job.
Gen Y want attractive salarypackage and flexible workinghours and schedules, so thatthey can maintain a healthywork-life balance.
As the two groups are different,the selection practices adoptedfor the two also varies.Employers revealed that whileselecting a candidate, in case ofGen X, experience evaluationaccounts for around 50%, andthe same criteria weighs muchless (17%) for Gen Y. Skill setsmatters the most (48%) whenhiring Gen Y.
Nearly 64% of the employersprefer using interview as theselection method for recruitingboth Gen X & Y candidates. Incase of Gen X recruitmentportals took an edge over otherchannels of recruitmentasmore than 50% of theemployers voted for it.
For Gen X, reference/word ofmouth are said to be morepreferred and effective
recruitment methods. Like thehiring approach for Gen X & Ydiffers, the retention strategiesalso vary.
The TJinsite study clearlyrevealed that job satisfaction,opportunity to learn somethingnew and growth is moreimportant these days. Though,Gen X still considered money asthe best retention option but forthe younger population (65%)training and growthopportunities are moreessential. Training anddevelopment leads not only tohigher productivity but also tohigher retention as stagnationin work results in greaterdissatisfaction. In today’semployment market, it iscomparatively easier to hireresources than trying to retainthem. Earlier the employeeswere happy to continue in thesame organisation for years.This generation was known asthe ‘baby boomers’ and wereconsidered as assets by the
companies as they nevercontemplated career moves.However, this scenario haschanged with large number ofpeople belonging to “babyboomer” category retiring andcreating a huge void. This voidis being filled by the newergenerations who are referred toas the “Gen X” (born between1965-1979) and “Gen Y” (bornbetween 1980-1994).
Which generation of
employees
possesses better
leadership skills?
Gen
erati
on
X 5
7%
Gen
erati
on
Y 4
3%
Gen X looks for: • Stability• Esteem• Peer Group• Business Knowledge• Wealth Creation• Career Goal
Gen Y looks for:• Brand Name• Growth prospects• On-the-job learning anddevelopment• Salary• Overseas Opportunity
What are the deciding factors for Gen X andY to choose a new job?
X
Y
Managing generation X & YEmployers are cautious when it comes to hiring and managing talent belonging to generation X & Y. As job hoppingis predominant among these generations, both recruitment and retention of employees are equally important
Generation X & Y
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Mukund Menon, Director-HR, India and Singapore, Steria
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Total Rewards
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Total rewards, bydefinition, encompassesnot only compensation
and benefits but also personaland professional growth
opportunities and a motivatingwork environment. “The TotalRewards Program is ideallyderived out of theorganisation’s culture, businessstrategy and human capitalstrategy,” explained AnaghaWankar, Head-Human CapitalManagement, FujitsuConsulting India. In today’shighly competitive and talent
crunched job market employersare making significantinvestments in employeeengagement and retentionstrategies. They are moving
from traditional compensationand benefit programs to morecomprehensive reward policies.
“A total rewards approachhelps both employer andemployee to look beyondmonetary rewards andstrategically evaluate the valueof non-monetary rewards. Allelements of the rewardsprogram are then integrated
into one system,” statedRamaswamy Kavalapara, HeadHR, Xchanging India.
A TJinsite study suggests thatin 33% surveyed organisationstotal rewards strategy is in theplanning stage and only 28%organisations claim that it as anarea of focus.
Over 30% of the employersstated lack of support frombusiness leaders/topmanagement as the biggestbarrier in effectiveimplementation of totalrewards program, followed bylack of awareness of totalrewards objectives.
A well executed TotalRewards strategy helps inenhancing business output also.The TJinsite study revealed thatnearly 50% organisationsconsider alignment of totalrewards strategy with businessobjectives as the most criticalelement while implementing atotal rewards program.
A major chunk of thesurveyed employers planned toimprove their employeeengagement and retention plansas part of their Total Rewardstrategy in 2012.
“Different employees havedifferent needs that have to bemet by the Total Rewardsprogram. Thus, the program hasto be designed in a way thatthere is desired flexibility toallow employees to customize itto a certain extent.
At the same time, the programshould not lose focus on theorganisation benefit either,”said Wankar.
In conclusion, total rewardshave a major role to play inengaging and retaining talent.
2012 witnessed considerableadvancement in total rewardstrategy but it still needs propernavigation to emerge as acritical business strategy.
“The elements of a Total Rewards Program– compensation, benefits, work life balance,performance & recognition and developmentopportunities – create an environment in theorganization which is completely focused onemployee engagement.”
Anagha Wankar, Head - Human Capital Management, Fujitsu Consulting India
Benefits
35%Attracting talent
20% Increase
business output
35%Retaining topperformers
Living the internalemployer brandLike a living organism, abrand also experiencestriumphs, failures andsuccumbs to timely varyingtrends. A company, whilebuilding its brandessentially focuses on threekey aspects: themarketplace, the consumersand its employees. Internalemployer branding is animportant strategyemployed by an organisationto create an image in theminds of employees that theorganisation, above allothers is a ‘great place towork’. Creating an EmployerValue Proposition (EVP) isone of the key motivationsbehind employing internalbranding strategies.Conveying the company’sunique appeal to itsemployees enhances talentretention.http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=799
n The Times of India, Nov 2012
Land the job that noone knows aboutEveryone knows: The bestjobs are never advertised.Those who know this alsorealize that nothing muchcan be done about it. Butwhat set Jayesh J. apart washis determination to createan opportunity where noneexisted. “After completingengineering, I tried my handat running a start-up. Whenthat venture crashed, Ijoined a software firm andwas posted to the US in adead-end programming job,”he says, “But I needed tobuild my skills for a secondshot at entrepreneurship. Ireally wanted to get back toIndia and work in arelatively senior role with asmall company here.”http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=1404
n The Times of India, Dec 2012
TJ RESEARCHIN NEWS
10%Boost employee
morale
Reward and recognitionsTotal Rewards is an important strategy which ensures optimum returns on theorganisation’s investments besides motivating employees. TJinsite tries to figure outhow this process has evolved
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By definition, anassessment centre is aplace where a
person/prospective employee isassessed to determine his/hersuitability for a particular jobprofile/role/position. Multipletrained observers andtechniques are used for thissuch as interviews,examinations and psychometrictesting. Some organisationsconduct internal pre-employmentassessments. Butmajority oforganisations todayare opting forassessments centresto conduct theseassessments. “Toachieve organisationperformance goals itis imperative fororganisations to havecompetent peopleand thus assessmentcentres have becomean integral part ofthe businessprocess,” says, HemaParikh, Director,Human Resources,Ajuba Solutions.
According to aTJinsite survey,nearly 68%employers usedassessment centresfor recruitment as ofJuly 2012. About 79%of the organisations usingassessment centres, believe theyare reasonably effective meansof recruiting workforce.
The study also revealed,nearly 45% of the employersstated that assessment centreslargely works because they offera comprehensive insight intocandidate’s suitability. Nearly36% employees feel that theevaluation information fromassessment centres is fairlytransparent and comprehensive.Over 50% the organisations useassessment centres mostly tohire fresher/graduates. Nearly
30% companies seek assessmentcentre services while moving anemployee from executive role tomanagerial role. The remaining20% said they avail the centre’sservices when seeking aposition at a senior level.
Apart from highlighting theadvantages of assessmentcentres, the TJinsite survey alsorevealed its flipside. For 50% ofthe employers the biggestlimitation comes from the lack
of skilled assessors to performthe task effectively. Majority ofthe organisations also feel thatsubjectivity of thecharacteristics which needs tobe measured posses a bigbarrier to use of assessmentcentres. The personal traits andbehavior examined viaassessment centre exercisesmay not necessarily give similarresults. Also, assessment of acandidate’s personality andother traits to some extentdepends on the assessor’sindividual judgments, whichcould be biased or skewed,
stated employers.
More than 80% of thesurveyed employers predict anincreased use of assessmentcentres in near future.Therefore, it is essential for thecandidates to acquaintthemselves with the functioningand role of assessment centres.
The job-seekers must preparethemselves for the vaiousassessment excercises they can
be subjected to.According to Vijay LSonawane, Sr VicePresident – HR,Glodyne TechnoserveLtd, the essentialelements of anassessment centreincludes:
a) The assessment centre must be basedon a job analysisdesigned tounderstandcompetencies requiredfor successfulexecution of the job.
b) Multiple assessmenttechniques/ exercisesmust be used to assesseach essentialcompetency.
c) Accurate andunbiased observationis the most criticalaspect of assessmentcentre.
d) To eliminate biases,multiple assessors shouldassess the performance of thecandidate.
e) Assessors must be trained torecord their observationsystematically and accuratelyfor future references.
f) Integration of scores andpooling of information fromdifferent assessors should bedone through statisticaltechniques only.
g) Each participant must begiven systematic feedback ontheir performance
“AssessmentCentre is more of ascience that wouldrequire assessorswhose judgmentalabilities areunbiased andbeyond subjectiveinfluences. Theyassess candidatefrom a futuristicperspective.”
Dr. M. S. Manohar
Group President -HR & Strategy
JRG Group
Benefits of assessment centres
Enhances the employer brand value6%
19%
35%
40%
Provides standardisedapproach to evaluating
performance
Comprehensive insight intocandidate’s suitability
Assess existing performance aswell as predict future job
performance
Building talent pool with assessment centres In an assessment centre, employee behaviour is assessed in a workplace-like setting through specificallydeveloped assessment simulation. A TJinsite study explores this concept
Assessment Centres
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Crowdsourcing
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Though not a new conceptit has recently gainedmomentum as a very
efficient recruitment tool in thenew age recruitment modelRecruitment 4.0, whichemphasizes on technology andnetworking advancements.Tracing the developments inrecruitment in the past fewyears, industry experts agree
that the method of finding andseeking jobs has evolved.Recruitment 1.0 and 2.0essentially focused on the activejob seeker and traditional waysof hiring, recruitment 3.0
progressed to social media.Recruitment 4.0 goes a stepfurther and focuses on makingthe most out of the informationtechnology and networkingopportunities available onlineand offline.
According to organisationsthat have used crowdsourcingmore than 60% have been highlysatisfied with the results.
Among the key benefits, over60% of the surveyed employerscount efficiency and costeffectiveness as the biggestbenefit of crowdsourcing.
“Crowdsourcing exploits the‘productive potential of themillions’. Many westerncountries were outsourcingtheir work to India and Chinadue to cheap labor. But withcrowdsourcing, they can stillmanage to get the costadvantage without caring if theprovider is in the next building,Indonesia or Africa as long asthe track record and referencesare within their eligibilitycriteria. If the entire HRcommunity adoptedcrowdsourcing approach anddoes effective hiring, it will havedirect impact on the business,”says, Chetan Indap, CEO &Founder, OnContract.com.
Industry experts stated thatgoing by the encouragingemployee involvement in thecrowdsourcing process, the useof this technique would onlyincrease with time.
The concept also suffers fromsome major flaws which werehighlighted in the TJinsitesurvey on crowdsourcing. Thetime consuming nature ofcrowdsourcing is one of themajor flaw of crowdsourcing.Since gathering, compiling andanalysing responses from alarge audience size are tediousand critical tasks,crowdsourcing cannot be usedunder pressing conditions forjobs which require immediateclosure.
Close to 33% employers statedmanaging the crowdsourcingprocess as a big challenge. Theyexplained that the process isquite cumbersome and tedioussince it involves multiplestakeholders.
By countering the challenges,crowdsourcing can helpleverage the available resourcepool and generate new businessinnovations. Besides, it can alsohelp engage the current talentpool to help contribute inrecruitment and retentionprocess.
“As a model which allows one to get accessto masses and select the best fit,crowdsourcing works wonderfully well forhuman resources function. Especially intoday’s age where technology enables one toreach out beyond boundaries, crowdsourcingallows companies to hire the best fit indifferent employment models.
Manik Kinra, Co-founder & CMO, Jademagnet.com
Future of crowdsourcing
71%Will grow at a
fast pace 24% Will grow at a
slow pace
5%Will lose
momentum
Your social mediaposting could get youin trouble!If you think postinginebriated pictures of youbehind the wheel is funnyand would get loads of“likes” and “comments” onyour social media page. Becareful! Your boss might notshare your sense of humor.Your promising careertrajectory could take aserious hit courtesy aseemingly harmless updateyou posted on your socialmedia page. Such could bethe consequences of yourcallous social mediaconduct. Employers acrossall domains are increasinglyusing social media as theirhiring and engagementstrategy. http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=1720
n The Times of India, Dec 2012
‘IT Careers requiresmuch more than merecoding skills’Given the IT scenario today,employees are required tounderstand the working ofvarious industries ordomains such asmanufacturing, banking,insurance and healthcare ascompanies are growing upthe value chain. “Companieslike Cognizant providesolutions to businessproblems leveragingtechnology rather than meretechnology capability. As aresult, employees are nowexpected to specialise earlyin technology, industry(domain), program/projectmanagement or consulting,”says Shankar Srinivasan,Chief People Officer,Cognizant. They arerequired to marry domainknowledge withtechnological excellence.http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=1671
n The Times of India, Dec 2012
TJ RESEARCHIN NEWS
Age of crowdsourcingMuch has been said about many being smarter than a few. Crowdsourcing, givesprecedence to the collective wisdom of a group of people over a single expert
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Organisations are strivinghard to build theirdynamic and efficient
international managementteams. TJinsite conducted astudy to understand thesechallenges well and figure outsome efficient approaches tobuild an internationalmanagement team.
A TJinsite study highlightedthe fact that close to 80% of thesurveyed organisations find itdifficult to hire for globalpositions. The studyhighlighted that themost commonchallenges in fillingjobs globallyincludes, lack ofdomain/job specificskills, followed bylack of soft skills(communication/interpersonal) anddissatisfaction withpay package.
Ashwin Shirali,Regional Director,Human Resource,Accor Hotels, India,believes it’s thecultural affinity thatis the mostdistinctive challengehe faces in hiringglobally fitcandidate. “Whilst itis relatively easierand less challengingto assess objectiveindicators such asperformance on thejob and leadershippotential and proven pastexperience for the role inquestion, it is very challengingto be able to predict how welland successful the candidatewill be in integrating andharmonising with a vastlydifferent socio cultural milieuand people mindset to be able toensure continued superiorperformance that is sustainableover the mid-term. All too oftenone has seen outstandingperformers come to grief in a
new country setting simplybecause they have been unableto grasp the mindset andcultural nuances of the newpopulation and what is the bestpossible approach which candeliver expected performance.”
Where domain skills are muchneeded, soft skills are alsodeemed critical to grow in anorganisation. For globalpositions, having internationalexperience is also critical. Asper the survey, close to 60%
employers choose to build aninternational management teamfrom within the company, butthey do seek internationalexposure.
The skills mismatch hasmajor consequences onemployment and businesssuccess in the domestic andglobal markets. The employersrecognize this and areincreasingly investing intechnology, training &development and employee
engagement programs.
Besides, impediments tohiring for global positions, thereare challenges to businessgrowth in the internationalmarketplace, as well. The surveyhighlighted that over 60% ofthe organisations believe thateconomic uncertainty is thebiggest barrier to grow in globalmarkets. Considering thevolatile economic environmentand new regulations, expansionand growth in global locations is
indeed a tricky taskfor organisations,resonated industryexperts.
One of the ways inwhich recruitmentand growth challengein the global marketcan be dealt with isleveraging technology.Understanding thesame, nearly 44% ofthe organisations planto focus on significanttechnologyinvestments tomanage the globalworkforce, in timesahead.
Besides, sourcingglobally fit talent, useof internet, job portalsand social media willbe the ultimaterecruitment tools toconnect and engagethe nurtured talentpool, revealed theTJinsite study.
Close to 50% of theorganisations think thatcreating a system for developingmanagerial and leadershipskills is critical to establishbusiness on the global map. Toput it in a nutshell,organisations feel that having awell thought-out workforcestrategy in place thatencompasses current and futureneeds of the business isimperative to their success onthe global landscape.
What is the key reason behind difficulty infilling global positions/profiles?
22%Lack of soft
skills
20%Dissatisfaction
with pay package
47%Lack of
domain skills
11%Lack of
experience
Globalised hiringHiring talent for global positions is fast emerging as a valuable concept. Although the concept seems lucrative,the challenges associated with it are of serious concern
Global Hiring
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Recruitment requisite:cross cultural orientationas it creates edge overother candidates
Must haves: excellentacademic background,career stability, provenbackground of beinglogical, analytical andstrong in quantitativeaptitude, exposure towork amidst people withmixed culturalbackgrounds, immaculatebackground
Managing mantra: need tosensitise new recruits aswell as existing managerson the cultural differences
Building inclusiveworkplace: the mostimportant step to makeworkplace inclusive is toimprove uponorganisation’s diversity
Rituparna ChakrabortyVice President
Indian Staffing Federation
Quick Bytes
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“Most organisationsdepend on externalconsultants tosource relevantcandidates. Theseconsultants in turnsource thesecandidates from thesocial media andorganisations endup paying a hugesum of money fortheir services. Thistool is available forus to use and weshould use it,organisationsshould have a social mediastrategy –engagement andsourcing, bothshould be a part of it.”
Prashant Khullar
General Manager, HR
Taj Group of Hotels.
“Candidates are more accessible andcomfortable in the social sphere as they cangather unbiased feedback about theirprospective employer from current employeesthrough social sites,” said Purva Misra,senior vice president human resources,MakeMyTrip.com at a boardroom dialogue.
Get socialAs per a TJinsite survey, 49% surveyed
employers believe that the key benefit ofsocial recruiting is its potential to reach theinaccessible passive candidates. Nearly 18%employers opined that employing socialnetworking tools would help them source andhire potential tech-savvy candidates. In thisseries of ‘Boardroom Dialogues’, expertsagreed that technology, social tools andreferrals play a very crucial role whileadopting this approach.
Get noticed on the web!A TJinsite survey highlighted the
importance of an organisation’s webpresence to attract talent. About 92% of theorganisations believe that enhanced webpresence would assist their organisation toreach out to Gen-Ycandidates. Vijay Aloysius,head-recruitment, Samsung India SoftwareOperations, felt spreading the word about theorganisation was important in appropriateforums in the social media platforms.
Recruiters have identified and are tappingthe potential of social networking platformsfor sourcing candidates but now are strivingto employ social networking tools forassessing and engaging potential talent.
Expressing his views on the same, duringthe Boardroom Dialogue organised byTimesJobs.com in Delhi, Anil Garg, vicepresident-human resource, Whirlpool, opinedthat the approach of assessing and engagingtalent on social media is an evolving field. Headded that since competition is also tappinginto the same talent pool, engagement isimperative. He said, “The idea is not only totap the best talent, but to engage those whoare continuously associated with ourbusiness and are willing to be part of it.
Not all good newsAmidst all these benefits, there are few
disadvantages of social recruiting as well.Discussing this concern during theBoardroom Dialogue, Sanjeev Kumar, vicepresident-human resource, Moser Baer Power& Infrastructure Limited, stated that thesuccess ratio of this medium iscomparatively lower than traditionalchannels.
Organisations across India havecomprehended the potential of socialrecruiting and are appreciating the results.Yet the application of social media forassessing and engaging talent remains anexciting yet unchartered territory.
Social recruitment of Gen-Y candidatesSocial recruiting is fast gaining popularity among employers across all domains to source and engage Gen-Ycandidates. Social networking sites are the new head-hunting grounds for employers
Going Social
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Gamification, bydefinition, is theapplication of game
mechanics and game designtechniques to non-gameapplications and scenarios tomake them more fun andengaging.
Gamify employeeengagement!
In recent times, gamificationhas been used in the workscenario for various employeeengagement and recruitmentinitiatives. According to a
recently concludedTimesJobs.com survey, nearly60% of the surveyed employersuse gamification for employeeengagement. When asked aboutthe key benefit of usinggamification for employeeengagement, about 43% of thesurveyed employers vouchedthat gamification generatescompelling stories that driveenhanced employeeparticipation. Nearly 27%employers believe thatgamification generatedachievable short term goals andprepare employees for rewarddriven long term goals.
Employers today couplegamification with social mediato attain efficient talentengagement tools. Anil Garg,vice president, HumanResource, Whirlpool, saidduring a recent TimesJobs.comboardroom dialogue that theyhave been extensively usingsocial media along withgamification to engageprospective talent. They usecryptic puzzles through socialmedia to keep the brandconnect alive.
Play games and get hired!Employers today are ready to
experiment with their hiringstrategies and gamificationseems to be another innovationapproach in this direction.According to the survey results,nearly 25% employers usegamification for the purpose ofrecruitment. They screenpotential candidates forattributes like competitive driveand multi tasking abilities thatwould set them apart from othercandidates who are onlyacademically fit for the job.
Gamification plays animportant role in crowdsourcedrecruitment. Madu Ratnayake,vice president, Virtusa’s socialbusiness strategy and globalquality framework, said, “Youget real ‘crowd sourced’recruitment when you
effectively engage your entireemployee base as brandambassadors and leadgenerators in the recruitmenteffort. Gamification is apowerful tool to create thatexcitement and tap into thecompetitive spirit of youremployees to make every singleone of them an ‘active talentscout’. Hiring contests,leaderboards and badges are thebuilding blocks of a socialgamified recruitment process.
Not all fun and gamesAlthough gamification has
wide-ranging applications in thework scenario, the process hasyet to carve its niche in the HRecosystem. The recentTimesJobs.com survey resultshighlighted the fact that only22% surveyed employers employgamification as their hiringstrategy. Nearly 66% employersare considering using thisprocess in near future. Being arather new concept, there is alot of curiosity involving thisprocess. Organisations arecarefully analysing all thepotential shortcomings of theprocess before they decide totake the leap.
A recent TJinsite surveyresults threw some light onsome of the potentiallimitations of usinggamification in work scenario.About 39% of surveyedemployers believe the concept’slack of universalorganisational appeal is themajor demerit of gamification.Successful models are generallyrequired by most new conceptsto pave the way. Gamificationhardly has any. Nearly 20%surveyed employers this to bethe most acute shortcoming ofgamification.
Gamification in the workscenario is yet to evolve into anefficient hiring and talentengagement tool. Employers arecurious but willing to try thisnew age engagement tool.
Prashant Bhatnagar
Director- Hiring
Sapient India
Biggest challenge
34% Taps into the
competitive driveof the employees
22%Provides a unique
experience to developleadership qualities
22%Innovative approach foremployee engagement
15%Promote socialcollaboration
“We believe thatgamification has risenas an effective tool insifting through talent.It helps us understanda lot about acandidate’scharacteristics, theirbehavior, approach,potential to applyknowledge, problemsolving capability andthe like.”
Gamifying recruitment Gamification has an extensive area of application ranging from being a tool for customer engagement, health andwellness programs to employee training programs. A TJinsite study explores this concept
Gamification
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For many years resumeshave remained the same,witnessing hardly any
changes. Nothing changed,because it didn’t need to. Untilnow. Organisations are nowhiring from halfway across theworld, HR managers want toreach people who have the skills,the drive but are not looking fora job – the passive candidate.Result: the new age resume!
Infact according to a recentTJinsite survey, employers areincreasingly accessing new-ageresumes to screen and accesspotential candidates. Survey
results also highlighted the factthat nearly 58% surveyedemployers believe traditionalresumes are under threat fromnew-age resumes.
Web-ready social mediaresumes
Being web-based, new-ageresumes can be accessedanytime, anywhere. Thisfacilitates passive job-seeking.Employers can convenientlyreach out to potential passivecandidates 24/7. Nearly 37%surveyed employers deem thisattribute of new-age resumes asmost-appealing, according tosurvey findings. Employersassess potential candidatesbasing on the recommendationsthey feature on their socialresumes, as well as their
networking skills. FarzanaAdenwalla, Head HR, OmnitechInfoSolutions Ltd. agreed thatshe would go through a potentialcandidate’s recommendationsand analyse his/her networkingcapabilities within the socialmedia. “Infact, I would besurprised if a candidate doesnot have a profile on aprofessional networking site,”she added.
Old is goldAlthough a major chunk of
surveyed employers believetraditional resumes are getting
obsolete, nearly 30% employersstill believe the age oftraditional resumes is not over.New-age resumes suffer fromsome major flaws that arecausing employers to beapprehensive.
The recent TimesJobs.comsurvey results threw some lighton some of the limitations ofnew-age resumes. Adding a hintof creativity to one’s new-ageresume can grab attention butone must know where to drawthe line. Candidates tend to gooverboard with overtlyelaborate and irrelevantgraphics while designing theirnew-age resumes.
Even though new-age resumessuffer some minor flaws, theyare here to stay for a long time.
Is B-School the answerfor a Fat Pay?Over the past two decadesthere has been anunprecedented rise in Indianstudents opting for B-schools; one of the primereasons for this rise is thegreater salary prospectsoffered by business degrees.The QS Global 200 BusinessSchool Report for the year2012 maintains that IndianMBA graduates are theworld’s most academicallydistinguished. This yearIIM-C’s fifth batch for post-graduate programme wasoffered a salary package forRs 28 lakh per annum; anIIM-Indore’s student wasrecruited by a Singaporebased infrastructure firm onan annual package of Rs. 53lakh, this highlight the factthat why admissions in areputed B-schools are sopopular in the country.http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=1830
n The Times of India, Dec 2012
Perspective 2013: TheJob creatorsThe Promising EducationSectorThe year 2012 broughtvaried opportunities forIndia’s education sector; theindustry witnessed theinaugural of new IITs, IIMsand adoption of otherfavorable policies for thesector. On the other hand,the government is all set towelcome the 12th Five YearPlan to bring in greaterefficiency in the educationsector –through governmentsanctions, aids andinvestments. India’s E-learning domain is athriving industry and catersto some of the world’sleading E-leaning giants.
http://content.timesjobs.com/?p=1961
n The Times of India, Jan 2013
TJ RESEARCHIN NEWS
Things to keep in mind whilecreating your new-age resumes:l Include relevant
recommendations, preferablyfrom immediate seniors
l“Make them short and crisp butcommunicative enough,” saysSunil Goel, director, GlobalHunt.Source impressive phrases andinformation from your regularresume and include in your“about me” section of yoursocial resume
l Showcase results rather thanyour descriptions- Provide HTML or PDF links to
the important online projects you’ve undertaken
- “Avoid too many links as it dilutes the employer focus”, says Goel
- Candidates who don’t have online links can upload their projects in DOC or PDF format in their social media page and share that link
l Highlight your personality andnetworking skills. Build up anextensive connection onLinkedIn
l Make them printablel Never use a template. Using a
template used by someone elsecould negatively impact yourimage
New-age Resumes
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New-age resumesWhat you create online is now considered your resume – your LinkedIn profile, whatyou tweet, the video you create on YouTube is often more important than what youput on a paper
Disclaimer: Information provided in this newsletter shall not be reproduced, published, re-sold or otherwise distributed in anymedium without the prior written permission of TimesJobs.com and a clear acknowledgement to TimesJobs.com.Contact: TJinsite, TimesJobs.com, Plot No 6, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida. Write in to [email protected]
On our second anniversary…We would like to thank all our beloved readers for their constant support and motivation that hasinspired us to reach this far.
As another year passes by, we halt for a while, retrospect and recollect our accomplishments. Webring to mind the various milestones achieved as we try to get a better understanding of the past,which would help us envision our future better.
This special anniversary issue is an anthology of all the research TJinsite undertook last year todevelop a better understanding of the various HR concepts and trends. With this issue, we strived tofocus on how and why these trends and concepts have originated and evolved and the ways in whichthey affect the HR ecosystem.
In the words of Robert Frost, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep,and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep, “ TJinsite promises the HR andrecruitment fraternity quality and relevant content for many more years.
Thank You!Team TJinsite
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