Description
The doc about the HRD climate in the Telecom Sector.
PROJECT REPORT ON HRM
Economic Slowdown: Implications on HR Practices
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 HRD Climate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Background of Sector ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Literature Review Paper Review 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Paper Review 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Paper Review 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Paper Review 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Paper Review 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Paper Review 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Qualitative Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
Quantitative Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 23 References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Log of Visit ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Annexure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
Introduction
Economic Slowdown of recent times has affected nearly all the functions of business and management. Finance is the worst hit due to the credit crunch. Marketing and Operations also have been affected. What about HR? If all the above functions are affected can HR be insulated or will it also be affected? HR mainly is related with recruiting and selecting suitable people for the job and is as critical as any other business function. So in the scene of economic slowdown what are the challenges faced by HR. 1. Rightsizing the organization 2. Stratifying Performance 3. Retraining 4. Managing the social upheaval (most difficult for Hr to implement) 5. Evolving a communication strategy 6. Realigning HR to current business realities 7. Organization building initiatives to be implemented 8. Building innovation fostering climate 9. Retaining by talent 10.Identify key skill set requirements of the organizations and the best. Post the meltdown, employee expectations with regards to salary hikes during job changes are bound to mellow down. We already have reports that the average salary jumps during job changes are lowering to levels of 20-25%, down from 35-40%. One can sense that job security will hold a more premium position, in the list of priorities, than it has done in the past. Another fact that the downturn has highlighted is the importance of working in a reputed, professional and values based firm. However, in the past, since the economy was booming and nearly all sectors were doing extremely well, even a remote thought to downsize hardly arose in the minds of most companies. Since the industry was too bullish, job security was never a key deciding factor for employees when they went looking out for a job. ‘Employer Branding is key’. This factor is hugely advantageous to the reputed professional organizations for attracting talent and it also provides an opportunity to the rest to improve their respective employer branding by working on building a professional work culture and showcasing the same through media, industry bodies, academic institutions etc. Indeed, this provides a very exciting proposition to HR professionals across corporate India.
HRD Climate
If we need to find a way to develop employees in order to become effective contributors to the goals of an organization, we need to have a clear view of what an effective contribution would look like. The matter of what, finally, makes an effective employee is a combination of personality, natural capabilities, developed skills, experience and learning. The process of enhancing an employee’s present and future effectiveness is called development. Meaning of HR+D+Climate HR means employees in organization, who work to increase the profit for organization. Development, it is acquisition of capabilities that are needed to do the present job, or the future expected job. After analyzing Human Resource and Development we can simply stated that, HRD is the process of helping people to acquire competencies. Climate, this is an overall feeling that is conveyed by the physical layout, the way employees interact and the way members of the organization conduct themselves with outsiders. (It is provided by an organization.) An organization became dynamic and growth oriented if their people are dynamic and proactive. Through proper selection of people and by nurturing their dynamism and other competencies an organization can make their people dynamic and pro-active. To survive it is very essential for an organization to adopt the change in the environment and also continuously prepare their employees to meet the challenges. The essentials needed to Develop Organizational Climate in Organization 1.Top to Bottom effort 2.Motivator role of Manager and Supervisor 3.Faith upon employees 4.Free expression of Feelings 5.Feedback 6.Helpful nature of employees 7.Supportive personnel management 8.Encouraging and risk taking experimentation
9.Discouraging stereotypes and favoritism 10.Team Spirit
Components of HRD Climate
The organizational climate consists of:1.Organisational StructureAn organization’s structure is actually a ‘snapshot’ of a work process, frozen in time so that it can be viewed. The structure enables the people’s energy to be focused towards process achievement and goal achievement. Employee must have a clear definition of not only the work structure but also the role used to organize the work. If the structure and the role is not clear, people will not know what the work process is, who is responsible for what, whom to go for help and decision, and who can Assist in solving problems that may arise. 2. Organizational CultureOrganizational culture is the pattern of beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and customs that exists within an organization. Organizational culture may result in part from senior management beliefs or from the beliefs of employees. Organizational culture can be supportive or unsupportive, positive or negative. It can affect the ability or willingness of employees to adapt or perform well within the organization. The most effective work culture is one that supports the organizations HR strategies by aligning behaviors, processes and methods with the desired results. Before any HR strategy is designed there must be a clear understanding of the organization, its current values, its structure, its people as well as its goals and vision for the future. 3. HR ProcessesThe HR system of an organization should be comprehensive enough to take care of employees from the time they join till the time they leave HR. Their demands must not be ignored, but a feeling of belongingness be created. Process should be very clear and impartial, so that employee’s faith in organization. From recruitment to retirement whole process should be according to employee’s expectation and ability of employer.
Importance of looking at the organization climate is:
Looking at the organizational climate, which means taking a closer look at what is happening in
and around in the HR scenario of the various organization. It is essential to work on because directly or indirectly this environment affects the organization and the employee. Importances are: • Environmental factors of HR are prime influencing elements of change in HR strategy. • It gives HR professionals time to anticipate opportunities in HR area and time to plan optional responses to these opportunities. • It helps HR professionals to develop an early warning system to prevent threats emerging out from HR scenario, or to develop strategies, which can turn a threat. • It forms a basis of aligning the organization strengths to the changes in the environment. • It enables the entry of the latest national/international HR developments.
Measuring HRD Climate
Economic condition – An organization’s economic condition influences its culture in several ways. The more prosperous an organization is the more it can afford to spend on research and the more it can afford to risk and be adventurous. Leadership Style: An organization leadership style plays a profound role in determining several aspects of its culture. An authoritarian style may make the organization’s culture characterized by high position structure, low warmth and support and so on, or it may be opposite, like goal directed leadership. Managerial assumption about human nature: Every act on the part of the management that involves human beings is predicated upon assumptions, generalizations and hypotheses relating to human behavior. There are two theories of behavior (Theory X and Theory Y). Managerial values and ethos: The feeling of managers about norms and values what is good and what is poor as management practice. There are few dimensions on which it can be checked. They are – self-awareness, risktaking, participation, bureaucracy, equity, employee’s security and growth.
Organization size: A small organizations there are few levels of management; these are generally more amenable to democratic and participative functioning than big organizations. More open communication system in small organizations. Hence these organizations have a different type of climate than what are in big organizations.
Sector and Companies for Analysis
For studying HRD Climate and implications of Economic Slowdown, our group has selected Telecom sector .It has been one of the most emerging sectors in India. The companies which we have covered under this sector are 1) Idea 2) Tata Communications 3) Swan Telecom
A questionnaire (Annexure 1) was given to all the executives interviewed by our group. On the basis of the responses and insights we have qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the situation in the Telecom sector.
Background of Sector
The Indian telecommunications has been zooming up the growth curve at a feverish pace, emerging as one of the key sectors responsible for India's resurgent economic growth. India is has surpassed US to become the second largest wireless network in the world with a subscriber base of over 300 million in April, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Evolution of the industry-Important Milestones History of Indian Telecommunications Year 1851 First operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power) 1881 Telephone service introduced in India 1883 Merger with the postal system 1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)
1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable Communication Company (IRCC) 1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry of Communications 1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system) 1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications 3 and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in Metropolitan areas. 1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created. 1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is Adopted. 2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL Major Players There are three types of players in telecom services: • -State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL) • -Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices,) • -Foreign invested companies (Hutchison-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications) BSNL On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL is now India’s leading telecommunications company and the largest public sector undertaking. It has a network of over 45 million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35 million telephone connections. BHARTI Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. MTNL MTNL was set up on 1st April 1986 by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of India’s key metros – Delhi, the political capital, and Mumbai, the business capital. In the past 17 years, the company has taken rapid strides to emerge as India’s leading and one of Asia’s largest telecom operating companies.
RELIANCE INFOCOMM Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles conglomerate (Source:http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated telecom service provider with licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and international services. Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the traditional value chain to develop and deploy telecom solutions for India's farmers, businesses, hospitals, government and public sector organizations. TATA TELESERVICES Tata Teleservices is a part of the $12 billion Tata Group, which has 93 companies, over 200,000 employees and more than 2.3 million shareholders. Tata Teleservices provides basic (fixed line services), using CDMA technology in six circles: Maharashtra (including Mumbai), New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. The leading cellular service providers have the following number of subscribers: Service Provider Reliance Tata Airtel MTNL BSNL Hutch Idea Spice BPL Aircel No. of CDMA Subscribers 2.75 crores 1.07 crores 3.37 crores 24.98 lakhs 2.44 crores 2.44 crores 1.3 crores 25.56 lakhs 10.62 lakhs 48 lakhs No. of GSM Subscribers 38.76 lakhs
Bharti Airtel has the largest customer base with 31% market share, followed by Hutch and BSNL with each holding 22% market share.
Literature Review
Paper Review 1
Recession: The Human Capital Challenge
By Jack Keogh
During recession the HR might decide to implement some strategies of how to manage Human Capital in an organization during the current recession. Immediate action has to be implemented and a handful of strategic actions will have a measurable impact on the firm’s productivity, rate of innovation and competitiveness in the marketplace instead of waiting for the inevitable budget cuts. The firm may need to examine vital strategic areas that the HR should focus on which can impact increasing workforce productivity, innovation, workforce flexibility, workforce planning and metrics, thereby helping fight problems due to recession.
The main objectives which should be laid to counter the ill-effects of recession by various HR activities are as below:
•
Focus on productivity: The HR should identify barriers to increased productivity and develop a rapid plan to remove them. The HR needs to develop metrics to capture the productivity of the workforce. Once that is done, the department needs to provide managers with the tools that have proved to increase productivity.
•
Nurture Relationships: Relationships are best fueled by face to face contact. Recessions are the perfect time to forge new connections and strengthen long-standing relationships. People are your best sources of information, best advocates for your success. It is important to stay optimistic and be flexible. Also, attend industry events, make connections with movers and shakers, and do field research by speaking with those doing the work you want to do.
•
Training and development: Low-cost options such as coaching and mentoring programs using existing talent to train developing talent should be considered. Activities with limited business purposes should be restricted. Instead, organize a sales or other company meeting with a clearly defined profit purpose. The companies with strong customer bonds have the best chances of weathering the storm of recession.
•
Talent and Performance management: HR processes should be clear, such as succession planning and career paths are the basic building blocks together with the right training and development. Tackling poor performers head on, and removing from the workforce can help a business survive so long as fair capability and disciplinary procedures are used. Poor performers can reduce profits dramatically through low productivity and disengagement. Also, there is the need to look at creative ways to reward staff.
•
Increase employee innovation: Companies need to accelerate innovation in product and service areas despite having fewer resources. HR staff can then function as business consultants by providing tools, training and advice on increasing the rate of innovation. This can be done by implementing specific actions to improve the group’s ability to work with mission-critical business teams.
•
Increase workforce flexibility: Introduction of flexible working; flex-time, job sharing, and telecommuting are ways to improve the bottom line. HR can also help managers make their labor costs more flexible by providing them with a larger percentage of contingent labor that can be more easily released. Offering more tax-efficient benefits act as motivational perks and to improve motivation.
•
Communication with employees: Be honest with employees as often employees are willing to make changes when they understand the facts. Talking clearly and honestly with your employees also helps to reducing rumors and helps then in bonding through trust.
Paper Review 2
Talent management in a recession
During periods of economic instability and recession it can seem almost impossible and managers shouldn’t forget about talent management in times of crisis and ensure they are using their biggest asset – their staff – as effectively as possible. Talent Management has risen up the management agenda along-with cost cutting exercises. Businesses may wish to reduce staff numbers, but are still facing skills shortages; and many are typically far leaner in terms of staff numbers and productivity than they were 20 years ago, meaning there is less fat to trim. Developing and sticking to a comprehensive talent management programme can help resolve some of these contrasting factors.
Talent management tend to focus on four key areas of interaction between an organisation and its staff i.e. Recruitment, Development, Reviewing and Retention. These four areas can be used to develop a comprehensive talent management programme depending on priority levels and budgets.
Talent management can be used to overcome the effects of economic slowdown by considering the following ways i.e • • • • • • Process perspective Cultural perspective Competitive perspective Developmental perspective HR planning perspective Change management perspective
Thus by applying effective Talent Management Programme, the above mentioned factors can be implemented and can be useful in overcoming economic slowdown.
A structured Talent Management Programme in Recession must consider the follwing:
•
Recruitment and Staff Levels The key to recruiting talent in times of economic instability is to understand exactly what skills your organisation needs at each level, whether there are skills shortages in your industry, and what is needed in the future. Consider using attrition for laying off employees. It may be easier to remove one high salaried employee than two or three low salaried employees, but managers should assess the performance of all employees. Thus, the role of managers and Human Resources is to make sure the organisation survives and that it grows faster than the competitors when economic recovery occurs.
•
Development Training and development provides more value than it costs especially during recession. If training budgets do need to be reduced, the development of staff can take alternative forms by telling internal staff members to participate. Studies have shown that employees highly value the development of their own skills, with talented employees likely to do so more than others. Thus, training would be beneficial for overcoming the hurdle of recession.
•
Reviewing Reviews can be used to find both the ‘talent’ within an organisation and those who can be easily replaced or let go of. A review of current staff skills and the current needs of your organisation will be of use if any restructuring activity is needed. Also, reviewing of the labour market in your industry alongside will also show where any future skills shortages are likely to exist.
•
Retention After reviewing the situation in the organization, and the requirements of the market, it would help in understanding which employees are to be retained. Moreover, the people who are assets to the company should be encouraged and motivated to perform even further. Not only will this help to promote the service-profit chain within your organisation, it will help to retain key talent. Reward schemes, bonuses and honing skills should be provided for better cooperation of staff during economic slowdown. Communication also needs to be more open especially during times of uncertainty, as it gives a sense of belonging to the employees.
Thus, the Business managers need to work with HR managers to develop and realise a suitable talent management programme for their organisation and undertake the numerous tasks discussed above in order to see the fruits and help the organization overcoming the bad phase in the market due to recession.
Paper Review 3
Performance Appraisals: Any Use for Training The article talks about the importance of performance appraisal and training in an organisation in order to survive in the dynamic global economy (PT + T =Success). Importance of training
Employees training and motivation is top priority for business but in spite of huge expenditure the result of training are unsatisfactory. Irwin L Goldstein says that training is subject to fads and fads persist when organisation fails to systematically asses the training need and measure training effectiveness. Training effectiveness must begin with a renewed effort to understand how to identify training needs and then assess training effectiveness. Training is commanding a growing share of organisational resources, a renewed focus on the effectiveness of performance appraisal in training process is needed.
The Role of Performance Appraisal In many organisation, performance appraisal appears to as necessary required of manager to justify decision about rewards and promotion but the main purpose behind performance appraisal is to identify discrepancies between actual and expected performance, thus providing feedback for employees and a mean for the organisation to identify training need. Although there does seem to be an increasing managerial awareness of the importance of training to organisational success, many managers still fails to appreciate the value of performance evaluation in the training process. Performance Appraisal Research and Politics Performance appraisal researchers seem to be most concerned about how people observe and process information in the appraisal process and how errors such as halo effect and leniency bias influence the outcome. The organisational politics plays a significant role in the appraisal process as managers as a member of the organisation they have to preserve their relationship with people they praise. So achieving accuracy in the appraisal process may not be most important objective. Therefore organisation must ensure that the performance appraisal process should not degenerate into a sterile bureaucracy. Weak Link in the Appraisal and Training Large portion of the work force is subject to no appraisal at all it raises serious question about the willingness of many organisations to engage in truly effective training. Training however alone would not provide key to success for American company if they continue to rely on fads, fashion, and fantasy to design their training programs. Training success can be achieved only when we modify the way we perceive, conduct and reward performance appraisal.
Paper Review 4
Increasing Performance Appraisal Effectiveness: Matching Task Types, Appraisal Process, And Rater Training 1. Increasing Performance Appraisal Effectiveness The paper say that people judge one another based on factors or categories of which they are unaware thus performance rating may be based on relevant and irrelevant criteria, or behavior unlikely to be representative of the ratee’s job. The performance appraisal effectiveness can be affected by numerous factors such as the nature of the task, the continuous work group and the rater and ratee’s attitude similarity and observational opportunity as possible direct or indirect causes of judgmental error.
2. Matching Task Types with Appraisal Process For effective performance appraisal the paper proposes a cognitive process approach that matches rater training and performance appraisal formats to characteristics of the task in order to aid the rater to form, process, and integrate behavior relevant categories. Matching task with the performance appraisal format and designing the training programs to increase observational accuracy may will improve performance appraisal system as well as contribute to successful organizational placement and promotion decisions. Specification of performance criteria through MBO or output control and the specification of required role behavior through BARS (behavioral anchored rating scale) or behavioral control according to task types will increase the likelihood that the rater will use task relevant information for performance appraisal. 3. Raters Training Also it is discuss in the paper that training increases the rater accuracy in observing and recalling specific behavioral event. Moreover it was also found that the accuracy in observation is related to accuracy in performance evaluation and also within each rating task different aspect of accuracy is somewhat independent. Rater training according to the cognitive demands of the task types and criteria specified in the performance appraisal formats will to higher performance effectiveness. Also increasing raters self efficacy perception knows what information to gather, process and integrate will facilitate performance appraisal effectiveness. So future research should examine other factors that may contribute to performance appraisal effectiveness.
Paper Review 5
The Three Dimensional Leadership Development
Strong Performers do not hesitate to change their company when they see better career opportunities elsewhere. In a tight talent market companies that fail to provide development opportunities risk loosing their future leaders. To keep the best and brightest engaged, 3D approach to leadership can be used. This Approach will help generate enormous benefits for individuals and companies. The Three dimensions are as follows
? Through The Head - Strategically and logically making strategic decision about what
skills a company needs Investment in developing leadership talent in team should dovetail with company’s strategic priorities, whether to go global, more customer focus, or go to innovate. 1. Be clear what types of capabilities the company will require in the future.
2. Educate your people about the strategy and industry/customer company realities 3. Understand company’s talent strategy and leverage opportunities
? Use of Heart: Engage with people and develop
Relationships Many surveys shows the Emplyees are hungry for engagement with their leader. One of the most effective actions one take is to build into weekly routine a quick sharing of observations about what an employee has done well that week and one can improve. Talent development conversations with need to cocur overtime and not as one shot activity appended to performance management process. People are likely to share their career aspirations and learning needs when they trust that thought the year you are listening and taking their development seriously. 1) Providing frank, constructive ,regular performance feedback 2) Develop a trusting relationship as a coach and mentor 3) Create opportunities to talk about strengths , inadequacies, passions and goals
4) Build realistic , meaningful development plans
? Use of Guts: Having the courage to take calculated risks
Leading through guts means helping best employees gain exposure and experience in high profile stretch roles or projects. Elevating a talented employee to a leader involves risks as failure will impact both. 1) Letting new people lead projects and learn from the experience 2) Look for stretch role opportunities in other parts of the business. 3) Raise the bar on performance- good enough is not enough 4) Be a role model by taking risks for your own development.
Paper Review 6 Developing the leader in one’s own Team.
One of the reasons why companies fails and succeed is due because of the leaders that the company creates in itself. In successful companies those who excel in leadership development do so because they consider it an everyday endeavor and lay responsibility for it squarely at managers’ doors. The high potentials receive targeted, on the spot coaching. Identify one or two critical areas to improve and give feedback The most effective way for a manager to move a high potential along is to home in one one or two areas where improvement will translate to a significant jump in overall leadership capability. And once the reasons are found, probe the reason and address it to the performer Delivering precise and targeted feedback. When feedback is deliverable, emerging leader actively pursue it, and the whole relationship between the boss and the high potentials on team becomes more open and trusting. Taking Stock Quarterly and monthly operating and budget reviews are a terrific opportunity for managers both to take stock of high potentials progress and provide specific feedback on the one or two problem ares that emerge. It is not about hitting their targets, but how well they are taking hold of their jobs and what they should focus on going forward. Assessing the high potentials performance
In seeking to identify the one or two areas on which to focus your coaching, assess the emerging leaders performance in these two critical ares. Bussiness Acumen § How thoroughly does the performer evaluate risks § How well does the performer balance long term and short term objectives § Does the performer understand the relationships among various financial measures? Social Acumen § How skillful is the performer at identifying and leveraging others’s talents § Does performer communicate in a way that reduces conflict and creates a free flow of ideas and information § Is performer putting right people in right places. High performance in leadership, as in athletics and arts ,depends on repeated ,thoughtful practice,constructive,specific feedback. Everyone in the team benefits form the opportunity to practice new skills and receive real time feedback.
Qualitative Analysis
Indian telecom companies added a record 15 million customers in January, indicating that the world’s fastest growing telecom market remains untouched by the economic slowdown. The telecommunication industry maintained the growth momentum with operators expanding networks to smaller towns and villages. Besides, cheap call rates, which are among the lowest in the world, have also helped the record growth. Growth was led by Reliance Communications that added close to 5 million new subscribers, GSM and CDMA combined, taking its subscriber base to 66.2 million. RCom had launched GSM services in January with an aggressive pricing strategy that enabled the company to garner a third of the total customers added by the industry in the month. We interviewed employees and HR managers from 3 companies belonging to the telecom sector. The general feeling of the employees was that recession has affected them but not In a big way as to other factors. The recruiting is still going on even if not as aggressive. According to many
reports and articles in various newspapers and on internet, telecom is the only sector which has not been affected by the economic meltdown. The main emphasis is still on quality jobs and challenges. Job security is desirable but still due to many new and established players in the sector job competitiveness is there. The general feeling of HRD climate is that recession has affected them but not as other sectors.
Quantitative Analysis
Our group took responses from 3 different companies which have already been told previously. We took 16 responses in total.By analyzing and studying these 16 responses, we calculated the means and standard deviation from the data. In the table below Ti and Ii stand for TATA Communications and Idea respectively. Si stands for SWAN telecom. Table 1 consists of all the responses of all 16 people.
Respondents T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 DIMENSIONS Participation 2.7 3.3 3.0 3.0 3.0 Succession 2.3 4.0 4.0 3.3 4.0 Planning HR 2.5 4.0 4.0 3.0 4.5 Information Organization 3.7 3.0 2.7 3.3 3.0 Development Training 3.0 3.4 3.9 3.4 3.4 Appraisal 3.5 3.0 2.0 3.0 3.5 Counselling 4.0 2.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 Career 3.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 Planning Reward and 2.0 3.3 3.7 4.0 4.0 Welfare Job 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 Enrichment Tab 1 Mean Responses of all 16 respondents T6 T7 T8 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 S1 S2 S3
3.3 3.3 3.0 4.7 4.0 5.0 3.3 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.7 4.0 3.7 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.7 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.3 5.0 5.0 3.3 3.7 4.0 4.3 4.3 3.4 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.6 3.0 2.5 3.0 3.3 3.5 2.5 3.0 4.1 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.1 5.0 3.5 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.5 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.5 4.0
3.3 3.3 3.3 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Dimensions Participation
Mean 3.6
SD 0.6
Succession Planning 3.8 HR Information 3.8 Organization Development 3.7 Training 3.8 Appraisal 3.7 Counselling 3.6 Career Planning 3.7 Reward and Welfare 3.9 Job Enrichment 3.9 Tab 2 Mean Dimension Scores for whole sector
0.5 0.6 0.8 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.7
Table 2 contains the mean data for various dimensions of HRD climate. The figure below shows the trend across the telecom sector. We see that in this sector Job enrichment is the dimension with the highest mean score. In the times of recession, the job enrichment seems to be most sought after aspect. Telecom is one sector which has not been affected as much as other sectors by the recession, which is visible by the fact that Job enrichment is top priority than reward or welfare. The employees seem to be more concerned about the job and the role in the company rather than other things. Reward and welfare, Training and HR information also seem to be high on the list. Surprisingly Organization development seems to be low on scores. The figure below shows the complete trend with standard deviation also in red.
Fig 1 Trend in the Telecom sector
Companies
TATA
IDEA
SWAN
Communications DIMENSIONS Mean Score Participation Succession Planning HR Information Organization Development Training Appraisal Counselling Career Planning Reward and Welfare Job Enrichment Tab 3 Company wise mean scores SD 3.1 0.2 3.6 0.6 3.7 0.7 3.1 3.4 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.5 Mean Score SD 4.1 0.7 4.1 0.5 4.0 0.6 4.3 4.2 4.5 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.6 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.5
Telecom Mean Score
SD 3.9 0.2 3.9 0.2 4.0 0.0 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.3 4.0 4.2 4.0 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0
We also analyzed and compared the whole data company (organization) wise. We divided the data according to the 3 companies and calculated the mean scores for each company on all the 10 dimensions. The trend is visible in the fig 2 below. TATA communications’ mean scores are less than both the other companies. IDEA and TATA C have a lot of contrasting opinions. In responses from TATA communications most of the respondents are employees and at IDEA the respondents are basically the HR personnel. In TATA appraisal and succession planning have the highest scores whereas in IDEA job enrichment has the highest scores. IDEA is more consistent with the overall industry trend. SWAN telecom being a very new company scores high on organization development and counseling.
Fig 2 Company wise Trend
Conclusion
As studied from the various responses which we have obtained that though the telecommunication industry hasn’t really been badly affected the economic slowdown, there are signs of fluctuation prevalent in the industry due to overall economic turmoil. Idea which is entirely into the telecommunication industry sector, has the least of HR speculations and has very stable HR activities even through the stages of recession. On the other hand, Tata communications has given importance to succession planning which shows the effect recession has been having on the employees of Tata Communications. HRD climate in an industry like telecommunication has had to change its focus towards more employee training, increased efficiency of work forces, retention of efficient staff and initiating long lasting processes which would help even after the economic slowdown has ended.
References
1. www.business.mapsofindia.com/india-industry/telecom.html
2.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...n-telecom-users-inJan/articleshow/4163653.cms
3. www.management-standards.org/ 4. 3Dimensinal leadership Development by Seth Lieberman and Steve Krupp,Publishsed in Hardward Manament Update ,march edition
5. Recession: The Human Capital Challenge By Jack Keogh
6. Ram Charan ( Author of worldwide best seller: The discipline of getting things done. Larry Bossidy, Visting facultiy at Harward and Kellogs Bussiness schools.The paper was published in Harward business review
Log Of Visit
Company Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Respondents Name T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 I1 I2 Age Gender Designation 25 M 24 M 24 F 24 M 27 M 24 M 23 M 24 M 40 M 38 M
Arpit Nehul Ishwar Makwana Priyanka Rawle Sheshnarayan Maurya Ashok S. Devkate Sachin Charfelkar Praful Pandit Ritesh Maurya Atul Mathur Johnson Paul
Executive Networks
Network Engineer TX Engineer Transmission Engineer Network Engineer Transmission Engineer Network engineer Transmission engineer AVP & Head Management Development Function
Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd
DGM HR & TQM
Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd SWAN Telecom SWAN Telecom SWAN Telecom Point of contacts:
I3 I4 I5 S1 S2 S3
Prasenjit Choudhury Reshma Shinde Sai Chandran Jiel Dsouza Arthi Raman Shahid Balwa
38 M 31 F 31 M 27 F 31 F 38 M
Senior Manager Asst. Mgr Head Content & Leadership Competency Development Hr Manager Sr. Hr Manager MD
Mr Anil Mathur IDEA Mr Nehul Makwana TATA
ANNEXURE
1.1 HRD CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE
PERSONAL PROFILE Name Designation Name of the Organization Educational Qualification University Year of Passing Discipline/Specialization
Number of years of experience with Industry Current Organization Age Gender Marital Status Number of Dependents Mother Tongue State of Domicile Email ID Contact No
Roles and Responsibilities with the current organization (Please use additional sheet if required) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________
HRD CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE
Instruction: Please read the following statements carefully and indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the statements on a five-point scale. Please indicate your choice on the blank provided left side of each item.
5 = Strongly Agree
4 = Agree
3 = Neutral
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly Disagree
1.
________ The efforts of the management is to utilize the services and potentials of employees for the development of the organization
2. _________ The reward system instituted by our organization encourage us to put in more efforts and present a better show or performance 3. _________ The appraisal helps the employees to know our efforts and potentials. 4. _________ The training programmes of our organization help us to know of our hidden talents and thus let us know of our capabilities and potentials 5. _________ Seniors often help us in sorting out our personal problems 6. _________ In this organization we have an impartial system of performance evaluation of employees. 7. ________ The policies of this organization are such that they are favourable for the employees to move ahead smoothly and adjust to his new position comfortably. 8. _______ Our organization helps us familiarize ourselves to the challenges and tasks of the next higher position. 9. ______ The management is making sincere effort to develop the organization in all respects. 10. ______ In our organization, we are given a chance to present our ideas and the same is given due weightage in decision making 11. _____ Our organization tries its level best to pass on the information regarding the potentials of an individual employee to him and also to his supervisors.
12.
_____ The efforts to implement the effects of conclusions of training programmes in our work situation is supported and encouraged by our organizations.
13. ______ We have a say in the path the management decides for organizational growth. 14. _______ We are exposed to the challenges and setbacks of the position above as so that we get accustomed to those situations prior to our elevation to those positions. 15. ______ The management of our organization calls for active participation of the employees in the day to day functioning of the organization. 16. ______ The training programmes formulated by our organization are in tune with the needs and requirements of employees here. 17. _____ Our organization helps us in all possible ways to know our abilities, our capabilities, our present performance, prospects for improvements, etc. 18. _____ The top and middle management tries to let the training session be a breeding ground for narrowing the gap between the management and the employees. 19. _____ The training programmes of our organization are such that they help us to give some information and at the same time receive solution for our problems. 20. _____ Our seniors help us to solve our personal problems through warm and friendly talks or sessions that sometimes may extend beyond the office hours. 21. _____ The training programmes are finalized in such a way that get an opportunity to present our problems before the trainers and thus try to solve our misunderstandings or difficulties. 22. _____ Each and every employee is given a chance to suggest his opinion on how to develop the organization. 23. ______ In this organization tries to make the job more challenging which prevents us from getting bored on the job. 24. _____ Our organization tries to make the job more challenging which prevents us from getting bored on the job.
25. ______ Training programmes in this organization are well thought of and are planned as per the needs of the individual employees as well as the organization. 26. _____ The reward system in this organization encourages employees to reach better heights in their performance on the job. 27. _____ The reward system here ensures social status and recognition.
Annexure 1.2
Responses of all respondants Please Find Attached the excel sheet responses.xls
doc_279525317.doc
The doc about the HRD climate in the Telecom Sector.
PROJECT REPORT ON HRM
Economic Slowdown: Implications on HR Practices
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 HRD Climate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Background of Sector ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Literature Review Paper Review 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Paper Review 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Paper Review 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Paper Review 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Paper Review 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Paper Review 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Qualitative Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
Quantitative Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 23 References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Log of Visit ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Annexure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
Introduction
Economic Slowdown of recent times has affected nearly all the functions of business and management. Finance is the worst hit due to the credit crunch. Marketing and Operations also have been affected. What about HR? If all the above functions are affected can HR be insulated or will it also be affected? HR mainly is related with recruiting and selecting suitable people for the job and is as critical as any other business function. So in the scene of economic slowdown what are the challenges faced by HR. 1. Rightsizing the organization 2. Stratifying Performance 3. Retraining 4. Managing the social upheaval (most difficult for Hr to implement) 5. Evolving a communication strategy 6. Realigning HR to current business realities 7. Organization building initiatives to be implemented 8. Building innovation fostering climate 9. Retaining by talent 10.Identify key skill set requirements of the organizations and the best. Post the meltdown, employee expectations with regards to salary hikes during job changes are bound to mellow down. We already have reports that the average salary jumps during job changes are lowering to levels of 20-25%, down from 35-40%. One can sense that job security will hold a more premium position, in the list of priorities, than it has done in the past. Another fact that the downturn has highlighted is the importance of working in a reputed, professional and values based firm. However, in the past, since the economy was booming and nearly all sectors were doing extremely well, even a remote thought to downsize hardly arose in the minds of most companies. Since the industry was too bullish, job security was never a key deciding factor for employees when they went looking out for a job. ‘Employer Branding is key’. This factor is hugely advantageous to the reputed professional organizations for attracting talent and it also provides an opportunity to the rest to improve their respective employer branding by working on building a professional work culture and showcasing the same through media, industry bodies, academic institutions etc. Indeed, this provides a very exciting proposition to HR professionals across corporate India.
HRD Climate
If we need to find a way to develop employees in order to become effective contributors to the goals of an organization, we need to have a clear view of what an effective contribution would look like. The matter of what, finally, makes an effective employee is a combination of personality, natural capabilities, developed skills, experience and learning. The process of enhancing an employee’s present and future effectiveness is called development. Meaning of HR+D+Climate HR means employees in organization, who work to increase the profit for organization. Development, it is acquisition of capabilities that are needed to do the present job, or the future expected job. After analyzing Human Resource and Development we can simply stated that, HRD is the process of helping people to acquire competencies. Climate, this is an overall feeling that is conveyed by the physical layout, the way employees interact and the way members of the organization conduct themselves with outsiders. (It is provided by an organization.) An organization became dynamic and growth oriented if their people are dynamic and proactive. Through proper selection of people and by nurturing their dynamism and other competencies an organization can make their people dynamic and pro-active. To survive it is very essential for an organization to adopt the change in the environment and also continuously prepare their employees to meet the challenges. The essentials needed to Develop Organizational Climate in Organization 1.Top to Bottom effort 2.Motivator role of Manager and Supervisor 3.Faith upon employees 4.Free expression of Feelings 5.Feedback 6.Helpful nature of employees 7.Supportive personnel management 8.Encouraging and risk taking experimentation
9.Discouraging stereotypes and favoritism 10.Team Spirit
Components of HRD Climate
The organizational climate consists of:1.Organisational StructureAn organization’s structure is actually a ‘snapshot’ of a work process, frozen in time so that it can be viewed. The structure enables the people’s energy to be focused towards process achievement and goal achievement. Employee must have a clear definition of not only the work structure but also the role used to organize the work. If the structure and the role is not clear, people will not know what the work process is, who is responsible for what, whom to go for help and decision, and who can Assist in solving problems that may arise. 2. Organizational CultureOrganizational culture is the pattern of beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and customs that exists within an organization. Organizational culture may result in part from senior management beliefs or from the beliefs of employees. Organizational culture can be supportive or unsupportive, positive or negative. It can affect the ability or willingness of employees to adapt or perform well within the organization. The most effective work culture is one that supports the organizations HR strategies by aligning behaviors, processes and methods with the desired results. Before any HR strategy is designed there must be a clear understanding of the organization, its current values, its structure, its people as well as its goals and vision for the future. 3. HR ProcessesThe HR system of an organization should be comprehensive enough to take care of employees from the time they join till the time they leave HR. Their demands must not be ignored, but a feeling of belongingness be created. Process should be very clear and impartial, so that employee’s faith in organization. From recruitment to retirement whole process should be according to employee’s expectation and ability of employer.
Importance of looking at the organization climate is:
Looking at the organizational climate, which means taking a closer look at what is happening in
and around in the HR scenario of the various organization. It is essential to work on because directly or indirectly this environment affects the organization and the employee. Importances are: • Environmental factors of HR are prime influencing elements of change in HR strategy. • It gives HR professionals time to anticipate opportunities in HR area and time to plan optional responses to these opportunities. • It helps HR professionals to develop an early warning system to prevent threats emerging out from HR scenario, or to develop strategies, which can turn a threat. • It forms a basis of aligning the organization strengths to the changes in the environment. • It enables the entry of the latest national/international HR developments.
Measuring HRD Climate
Economic condition – An organization’s economic condition influences its culture in several ways. The more prosperous an organization is the more it can afford to spend on research and the more it can afford to risk and be adventurous. Leadership Style: An organization leadership style plays a profound role in determining several aspects of its culture. An authoritarian style may make the organization’s culture characterized by high position structure, low warmth and support and so on, or it may be opposite, like goal directed leadership. Managerial assumption about human nature: Every act on the part of the management that involves human beings is predicated upon assumptions, generalizations and hypotheses relating to human behavior. There are two theories of behavior (Theory X and Theory Y). Managerial values and ethos: The feeling of managers about norms and values what is good and what is poor as management practice. There are few dimensions on which it can be checked. They are – self-awareness, risktaking, participation, bureaucracy, equity, employee’s security and growth.
Organization size: A small organizations there are few levels of management; these are generally more amenable to democratic and participative functioning than big organizations. More open communication system in small organizations. Hence these organizations have a different type of climate than what are in big organizations.
Sector and Companies for Analysis
For studying HRD Climate and implications of Economic Slowdown, our group has selected Telecom sector .It has been one of the most emerging sectors in India. The companies which we have covered under this sector are 1) Idea 2) Tata Communications 3) Swan Telecom
A questionnaire (Annexure 1) was given to all the executives interviewed by our group. On the basis of the responses and insights we have qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the situation in the Telecom sector.
Background of Sector
The Indian telecommunications has been zooming up the growth curve at a feverish pace, emerging as one of the key sectors responsible for India's resurgent economic growth. India is has surpassed US to become the second largest wireless network in the world with a subscriber base of over 300 million in April, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Evolution of the industry-Important Milestones History of Indian Telecommunications Year 1851 First operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power) 1881 Telephone service introduced in India 1883 Merger with the postal system 1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)
1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable Communication Company (IRCC) 1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry of Communications 1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system) 1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications 3 and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in Metropolitan areas. 1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created. 1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is Adopted. 2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL Major Players There are three types of players in telecom services: • -State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL) • -Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices,) • -Foreign invested companies (Hutchison-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications) BSNL On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL is now India’s leading telecommunications company and the largest public sector undertaking. It has a network of over 45 million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35 million telephone connections. BHARTI Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. MTNL MTNL was set up on 1st April 1986 by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of India’s key metros – Delhi, the political capital, and Mumbai, the business capital. In the past 17 years, the company has taken rapid strides to emerge as India’s leading and one of Asia’s largest telecom operating companies.
RELIANCE INFOCOMM Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles conglomerate (Source:http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated telecom service provider with licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and international services. Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the traditional value chain to develop and deploy telecom solutions for India's farmers, businesses, hospitals, government and public sector organizations. TATA TELESERVICES Tata Teleservices is a part of the $12 billion Tata Group, which has 93 companies, over 200,000 employees and more than 2.3 million shareholders. Tata Teleservices provides basic (fixed line services), using CDMA technology in six circles: Maharashtra (including Mumbai), New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. The leading cellular service providers have the following number of subscribers: Service Provider Reliance Tata Airtel MTNL BSNL Hutch Idea Spice BPL Aircel No. of CDMA Subscribers 2.75 crores 1.07 crores 3.37 crores 24.98 lakhs 2.44 crores 2.44 crores 1.3 crores 25.56 lakhs 10.62 lakhs 48 lakhs No. of GSM Subscribers 38.76 lakhs
Bharti Airtel has the largest customer base with 31% market share, followed by Hutch and BSNL with each holding 22% market share.
Literature Review
Paper Review 1
Recession: The Human Capital Challenge
By Jack Keogh
During recession the HR might decide to implement some strategies of how to manage Human Capital in an organization during the current recession. Immediate action has to be implemented and a handful of strategic actions will have a measurable impact on the firm’s productivity, rate of innovation and competitiveness in the marketplace instead of waiting for the inevitable budget cuts. The firm may need to examine vital strategic areas that the HR should focus on which can impact increasing workforce productivity, innovation, workforce flexibility, workforce planning and metrics, thereby helping fight problems due to recession.
The main objectives which should be laid to counter the ill-effects of recession by various HR activities are as below:
•
Focus on productivity: The HR should identify barriers to increased productivity and develop a rapid plan to remove them. The HR needs to develop metrics to capture the productivity of the workforce. Once that is done, the department needs to provide managers with the tools that have proved to increase productivity.
•
Nurture Relationships: Relationships are best fueled by face to face contact. Recessions are the perfect time to forge new connections and strengthen long-standing relationships. People are your best sources of information, best advocates for your success. It is important to stay optimistic and be flexible. Also, attend industry events, make connections with movers and shakers, and do field research by speaking with those doing the work you want to do.
•
Training and development: Low-cost options such as coaching and mentoring programs using existing talent to train developing talent should be considered. Activities with limited business purposes should be restricted. Instead, organize a sales or other company meeting with a clearly defined profit purpose. The companies with strong customer bonds have the best chances of weathering the storm of recession.
•
Talent and Performance management: HR processes should be clear, such as succession planning and career paths are the basic building blocks together with the right training and development. Tackling poor performers head on, and removing from the workforce can help a business survive so long as fair capability and disciplinary procedures are used. Poor performers can reduce profits dramatically through low productivity and disengagement. Also, there is the need to look at creative ways to reward staff.
•
Increase employee innovation: Companies need to accelerate innovation in product and service areas despite having fewer resources. HR staff can then function as business consultants by providing tools, training and advice on increasing the rate of innovation. This can be done by implementing specific actions to improve the group’s ability to work with mission-critical business teams.
•
Increase workforce flexibility: Introduction of flexible working; flex-time, job sharing, and telecommuting are ways to improve the bottom line. HR can also help managers make their labor costs more flexible by providing them with a larger percentage of contingent labor that can be more easily released. Offering more tax-efficient benefits act as motivational perks and to improve motivation.
•
Communication with employees: Be honest with employees as often employees are willing to make changes when they understand the facts. Talking clearly and honestly with your employees also helps to reducing rumors and helps then in bonding through trust.
Paper Review 2
Talent management in a recession
During periods of economic instability and recession it can seem almost impossible and managers shouldn’t forget about talent management in times of crisis and ensure they are using their biggest asset – their staff – as effectively as possible. Talent Management has risen up the management agenda along-with cost cutting exercises. Businesses may wish to reduce staff numbers, but are still facing skills shortages; and many are typically far leaner in terms of staff numbers and productivity than they were 20 years ago, meaning there is less fat to trim. Developing and sticking to a comprehensive talent management programme can help resolve some of these contrasting factors.
Talent management tend to focus on four key areas of interaction between an organisation and its staff i.e. Recruitment, Development, Reviewing and Retention. These four areas can be used to develop a comprehensive talent management programme depending on priority levels and budgets.
Talent management can be used to overcome the effects of economic slowdown by considering the following ways i.e • • • • • • Process perspective Cultural perspective Competitive perspective Developmental perspective HR planning perspective Change management perspective
Thus by applying effective Talent Management Programme, the above mentioned factors can be implemented and can be useful in overcoming economic slowdown.
A structured Talent Management Programme in Recession must consider the follwing:
•
Recruitment and Staff Levels The key to recruiting talent in times of economic instability is to understand exactly what skills your organisation needs at each level, whether there are skills shortages in your industry, and what is needed in the future. Consider using attrition for laying off employees. It may be easier to remove one high salaried employee than two or three low salaried employees, but managers should assess the performance of all employees. Thus, the role of managers and Human Resources is to make sure the organisation survives and that it grows faster than the competitors when economic recovery occurs.
•
Development Training and development provides more value than it costs especially during recession. If training budgets do need to be reduced, the development of staff can take alternative forms by telling internal staff members to participate. Studies have shown that employees highly value the development of their own skills, with talented employees likely to do so more than others. Thus, training would be beneficial for overcoming the hurdle of recession.
•
Reviewing Reviews can be used to find both the ‘talent’ within an organisation and those who can be easily replaced or let go of. A review of current staff skills and the current needs of your organisation will be of use if any restructuring activity is needed. Also, reviewing of the labour market in your industry alongside will also show where any future skills shortages are likely to exist.
•
Retention After reviewing the situation in the organization, and the requirements of the market, it would help in understanding which employees are to be retained. Moreover, the people who are assets to the company should be encouraged and motivated to perform even further. Not only will this help to promote the service-profit chain within your organisation, it will help to retain key talent. Reward schemes, bonuses and honing skills should be provided for better cooperation of staff during economic slowdown. Communication also needs to be more open especially during times of uncertainty, as it gives a sense of belonging to the employees.
Thus, the Business managers need to work with HR managers to develop and realise a suitable talent management programme for their organisation and undertake the numerous tasks discussed above in order to see the fruits and help the organization overcoming the bad phase in the market due to recession.
Paper Review 3
Performance Appraisals: Any Use for Training The article talks about the importance of performance appraisal and training in an organisation in order to survive in the dynamic global economy (PT + T =Success). Importance of training
Employees training and motivation is top priority for business but in spite of huge expenditure the result of training are unsatisfactory. Irwin L Goldstein says that training is subject to fads and fads persist when organisation fails to systematically asses the training need and measure training effectiveness. Training effectiveness must begin with a renewed effort to understand how to identify training needs and then assess training effectiveness. Training is commanding a growing share of organisational resources, a renewed focus on the effectiveness of performance appraisal in training process is needed.
The Role of Performance Appraisal In many organisation, performance appraisal appears to as necessary required of manager to justify decision about rewards and promotion but the main purpose behind performance appraisal is to identify discrepancies between actual and expected performance, thus providing feedback for employees and a mean for the organisation to identify training need. Although there does seem to be an increasing managerial awareness of the importance of training to organisational success, many managers still fails to appreciate the value of performance evaluation in the training process. Performance Appraisal Research and Politics Performance appraisal researchers seem to be most concerned about how people observe and process information in the appraisal process and how errors such as halo effect and leniency bias influence the outcome. The organisational politics plays a significant role in the appraisal process as managers as a member of the organisation they have to preserve their relationship with people they praise. So achieving accuracy in the appraisal process may not be most important objective. Therefore organisation must ensure that the performance appraisal process should not degenerate into a sterile bureaucracy. Weak Link in the Appraisal and Training Large portion of the work force is subject to no appraisal at all it raises serious question about the willingness of many organisations to engage in truly effective training. Training however alone would not provide key to success for American company if they continue to rely on fads, fashion, and fantasy to design their training programs. Training success can be achieved only when we modify the way we perceive, conduct and reward performance appraisal.
Paper Review 4
Increasing Performance Appraisal Effectiveness: Matching Task Types, Appraisal Process, And Rater Training 1. Increasing Performance Appraisal Effectiveness The paper say that people judge one another based on factors or categories of which they are unaware thus performance rating may be based on relevant and irrelevant criteria, or behavior unlikely to be representative of the ratee’s job. The performance appraisal effectiveness can be affected by numerous factors such as the nature of the task, the continuous work group and the rater and ratee’s attitude similarity and observational opportunity as possible direct or indirect causes of judgmental error.
2. Matching Task Types with Appraisal Process For effective performance appraisal the paper proposes a cognitive process approach that matches rater training and performance appraisal formats to characteristics of the task in order to aid the rater to form, process, and integrate behavior relevant categories. Matching task with the performance appraisal format and designing the training programs to increase observational accuracy may will improve performance appraisal system as well as contribute to successful organizational placement and promotion decisions. Specification of performance criteria through MBO or output control and the specification of required role behavior through BARS (behavioral anchored rating scale) or behavioral control according to task types will increase the likelihood that the rater will use task relevant information for performance appraisal. 3. Raters Training Also it is discuss in the paper that training increases the rater accuracy in observing and recalling specific behavioral event. Moreover it was also found that the accuracy in observation is related to accuracy in performance evaluation and also within each rating task different aspect of accuracy is somewhat independent. Rater training according to the cognitive demands of the task types and criteria specified in the performance appraisal formats will to higher performance effectiveness. Also increasing raters self efficacy perception knows what information to gather, process and integrate will facilitate performance appraisal effectiveness. So future research should examine other factors that may contribute to performance appraisal effectiveness.
Paper Review 5
The Three Dimensional Leadership Development
Strong Performers do not hesitate to change their company when they see better career opportunities elsewhere. In a tight talent market companies that fail to provide development opportunities risk loosing their future leaders. To keep the best and brightest engaged, 3D approach to leadership can be used. This Approach will help generate enormous benefits for individuals and companies. The Three dimensions are as follows
? Through The Head - Strategically and logically making strategic decision about what
skills a company needs Investment in developing leadership talent in team should dovetail with company’s strategic priorities, whether to go global, more customer focus, or go to innovate. 1. Be clear what types of capabilities the company will require in the future.
2. Educate your people about the strategy and industry/customer company realities 3. Understand company’s talent strategy and leverage opportunities
? Use of Heart: Engage with people and develop
Relationships Many surveys shows the Emplyees are hungry for engagement with their leader. One of the most effective actions one take is to build into weekly routine a quick sharing of observations about what an employee has done well that week and one can improve. Talent development conversations with need to cocur overtime and not as one shot activity appended to performance management process. People are likely to share their career aspirations and learning needs when they trust that thought the year you are listening and taking their development seriously. 1) Providing frank, constructive ,regular performance feedback 2) Develop a trusting relationship as a coach and mentor 3) Create opportunities to talk about strengths , inadequacies, passions and goals
4) Build realistic , meaningful development plans
? Use of Guts: Having the courage to take calculated risks
Leading through guts means helping best employees gain exposure and experience in high profile stretch roles or projects. Elevating a talented employee to a leader involves risks as failure will impact both. 1) Letting new people lead projects and learn from the experience 2) Look for stretch role opportunities in other parts of the business. 3) Raise the bar on performance- good enough is not enough 4) Be a role model by taking risks for your own development.
Paper Review 6 Developing the leader in one’s own Team.
One of the reasons why companies fails and succeed is due because of the leaders that the company creates in itself. In successful companies those who excel in leadership development do so because they consider it an everyday endeavor and lay responsibility for it squarely at managers’ doors. The high potentials receive targeted, on the spot coaching. Identify one or two critical areas to improve and give feedback The most effective way for a manager to move a high potential along is to home in one one or two areas where improvement will translate to a significant jump in overall leadership capability. And once the reasons are found, probe the reason and address it to the performer Delivering precise and targeted feedback. When feedback is deliverable, emerging leader actively pursue it, and the whole relationship between the boss and the high potentials on team becomes more open and trusting. Taking Stock Quarterly and monthly operating and budget reviews are a terrific opportunity for managers both to take stock of high potentials progress and provide specific feedback on the one or two problem ares that emerge. It is not about hitting their targets, but how well they are taking hold of their jobs and what they should focus on going forward. Assessing the high potentials performance
In seeking to identify the one or two areas on which to focus your coaching, assess the emerging leaders performance in these two critical ares. Bussiness Acumen § How thoroughly does the performer evaluate risks § How well does the performer balance long term and short term objectives § Does the performer understand the relationships among various financial measures? Social Acumen § How skillful is the performer at identifying and leveraging others’s talents § Does performer communicate in a way that reduces conflict and creates a free flow of ideas and information § Is performer putting right people in right places. High performance in leadership, as in athletics and arts ,depends on repeated ,thoughtful practice,constructive,specific feedback. Everyone in the team benefits form the opportunity to practice new skills and receive real time feedback.
Qualitative Analysis
Indian telecom companies added a record 15 million customers in January, indicating that the world’s fastest growing telecom market remains untouched by the economic slowdown. The telecommunication industry maintained the growth momentum with operators expanding networks to smaller towns and villages. Besides, cheap call rates, which are among the lowest in the world, have also helped the record growth. Growth was led by Reliance Communications that added close to 5 million new subscribers, GSM and CDMA combined, taking its subscriber base to 66.2 million. RCom had launched GSM services in January with an aggressive pricing strategy that enabled the company to garner a third of the total customers added by the industry in the month. We interviewed employees and HR managers from 3 companies belonging to the telecom sector. The general feeling of the employees was that recession has affected them but not In a big way as to other factors. The recruiting is still going on even if not as aggressive. According to many
reports and articles in various newspapers and on internet, telecom is the only sector which has not been affected by the economic meltdown. The main emphasis is still on quality jobs and challenges. Job security is desirable but still due to many new and established players in the sector job competitiveness is there. The general feeling of HRD climate is that recession has affected them but not as other sectors.
Quantitative Analysis
Our group took responses from 3 different companies which have already been told previously. We took 16 responses in total.By analyzing and studying these 16 responses, we calculated the means and standard deviation from the data. In the table below Ti and Ii stand for TATA Communications and Idea respectively. Si stands for SWAN telecom. Table 1 consists of all the responses of all 16 people.
Respondents T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 DIMENSIONS Participation 2.7 3.3 3.0 3.0 3.0 Succession 2.3 4.0 4.0 3.3 4.0 Planning HR 2.5 4.0 4.0 3.0 4.5 Information Organization 3.7 3.0 2.7 3.3 3.0 Development Training 3.0 3.4 3.9 3.4 3.4 Appraisal 3.5 3.0 2.0 3.0 3.5 Counselling 4.0 2.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 Career 3.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 Planning Reward and 2.0 3.3 3.7 4.0 4.0 Welfare Job 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 Enrichment Tab 1 Mean Responses of all 16 respondents T6 T7 T8 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 S1 S2 S3
3.3 3.3 3.0 4.7 4.0 5.0 3.3 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.7 4.0 3.7 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.7 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.3 5.0 5.0 3.3 3.7 4.0 4.3 4.3 3.4 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.6 3.0 2.5 3.0 3.3 3.5 2.5 3.0 4.1 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.1 5.0 3.5 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.5 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.5 4.0
3.3 3.3 3.3 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Dimensions Participation
Mean 3.6
SD 0.6
Succession Planning 3.8 HR Information 3.8 Organization Development 3.7 Training 3.8 Appraisal 3.7 Counselling 3.6 Career Planning 3.7 Reward and Welfare 3.9 Job Enrichment 3.9 Tab 2 Mean Dimension Scores for whole sector
0.5 0.6 0.8 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.7
Table 2 contains the mean data for various dimensions of HRD climate. The figure below shows the trend across the telecom sector. We see that in this sector Job enrichment is the dimension with the highest mean score. In the times of recession, the job enrichment seems to be most sought after aspect. Telecom is one sector which has not been affected as much as other sectors by the recession, which is visible by the fact that Job enrichment is top priority than reward or welfare. The employees seem to be more concerned about the job and the role in the company rather than other things. Reward and welfare, Training and HR information also seem to be high on the list. Surprisingly Organization development seems to be low on scores. The figure below shows the complete trend with standard deviation also in red.
Fig 1 Trend in the Telecom sector
Companies
TATA
IDEA
SWAN
Communications DIMENSIONS Mean Score Participation Succession Planning HR Information Organization Development Training Appraisal Counselling Career Planning Reward and Welfare Job Enrichment Tab 3 Company wise mean scores SD 3.1 0.2 3.6 0.6 3.7 0.7 3.1 3.4 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.5 Mean Score SD 4.1 0.7 4.1 0.5 4.0 0.6 4.3 4.2 4.5 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.6 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.5
Telecom Mean Score
SD 3.9 0.2 3.9 0.2 4.0 0.0 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.3 4.0 4.2 4.0 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0
We also analyzed and compared the whole data company (organization) wise. We divided the data according to the 3 companies and calculated the mean scores for each company on all the 10 dimensions. The trend is visible in the fig 2 below. TATA communications’ mean scores are less than both the other companies. IDEA and TATA C have a lot of contrasting opinions. In responses from TATA communications most of the respondents are employees and at IDEA the respondents are basically the HR personnel. In TATA appraisal and succession planning have the highest scores whereas in IDEA job enrichment has the highest scores. IDEA is more consistent with the overall industry trend. SWAN telecom being a very new company scores high on organization development and counseling.
Fig 2 Company wise Trend
Conclusion
As studied from the various responses which we have obtained that though the telecommunication industry hasn’t really been badly affected the economic slowdown, there are signs of fluctuation prevalent in the industry due to overall economic turmoil. Idea which is entirely into the telecommunication industry sector, has the least of HR speculations and has very stable HR activities even through the stages of recession. On the other hand, Tata communications has given importance to succession planning which shows the effect recession has been having on the employees of Tata Communications. HRD climate in an industry like telecommunication has had to change its focus towards more employee training, increased efficiency of work forces, retention of efficient staff and initiating long lasting processes which would help even after the economic slowdown has ended.
References
1. www.business.mapsofindia.com/india-industry/telecom.html
2.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...n-telecom-users-inJan/articleshow/4163653.cms
3. www.management-standards.org/ 4. 3Dimensinal leadership Development by Seth Lieberman and Steve Krupp,Publishsed in Hardward Manament Update ,march edition
5. Recession: The Human Capital Challenge By Jack Keogh
6. Ram Charan ( Author of worldwide best seller: The discipline of getting things done. Larry Bossidy, Visting facultiy at Harward and Kellogs Bussiness schools.The paper was published in Harward business review
Log Of Visit
Company Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Tata communications Respondents Name T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 I1 I2 Age Gender Designation 25 M 24 M 24 F 24 M 27 M 24 M 23 M 24 M 40 M 38 M
Arpit Nehul Ishwar Makwana Priyanka Rawle Sheshnarayan Maurya Ashok S. Devkate Sachin Charfelkar Praful Pandit Ritesh Maurya Atul Mathur Johnson Paul
Executive Networks
Network Engineer TX Engineer Transmission Engineer Network Engineer Transmission Engineer Network engineer Transmission engineer AVP & Head Management Development Function
Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd
DGM HR & TQM
Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd Idea Cellular Ltd SWAN Telecom SWAN Telecom SWAN Telecom Point of contacts:
I3 I4 I5 S1 S2 S3
Prasenjit Choudhury Reshma Shinde Sai Chandran Jiel Dsouza Arthi Raman Shahid Balwa
38 M 31 F 31 M 27 F 31 F 38 M
Senior Manager Asst. Mgr Head Content & Leadership Competency Development Hr Manager Sr. Hr Manager MD
Mr Anil Mathur IDEA Mr Nehul Makwana TATA
ANNEXURE
1.1 HRD CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE
PERSONAL PROFILE Name Designation Name of the Organization Educational Qualification University Year of Passing Discipline/Specialization
Number of years of experience with Industry Current Organization Age Gender Marital Status Number of Dependents Mother Tongue State of Domicile Email ID Contact No
Roles and Responsibilities with the current organization (Please use additional sheet if required) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________
HRD CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE
Instruction: Please read the following statements carefully and indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the statements on a five-point scale. Please indicate your choice on the blank provided left side of each item.
5 = Strongly Agree
4 = Agree
3 = Neutral
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly Disagree
1.
________ The efforts of the management is to utilize the services and potentials of employees for the development of the organization
2. _________ The reward system instituted by our organization encourage us to put in more efforts and present a better show or performance 3. _________ The appraisal helps the employees to know our efforts and potentials. 4. _________ The training programmes of our organization help us to know of our hidden talents and thus let us know of our capabilities and potentials 5. _________ Seniors often help us in sorting out our personal problems 6. _________ In this organization we have an impartial system of performance evaluation of employees. 7. ________ The policies of this organization are such that they are favourable for the employees to move ahead smoothly and adjust to his new position comfortably. 8. _______ Our organization helps us familiarize ourselves to the challenges and tasks of the next higher position. 9. ______ The management is making sincere effort to develop the organization in all respects. 10. ______ In our organization, we are given a chance to present our ideas and the same is given due weightage in decision making 11. _____ Our organization tries its level best to pass on the information regarding the potentials of an individual employee to him and also to his supervisors.
12.
_____ The efforts to implement the effects of conclusions of training programmes in our work situation is supported and encouraged by our organizations.
13. ______ We have a say in the path the management decides for organizational growth. 14. _______ We are exposed to the challenges and setbacks of the position above as so that we get accustomed to those situations prior to our elevation to those positions. 15. ______ The management of our organization calls for active participation of the employees in the day to day functioning of the organization. 16. ______ The training programmes formulated by our organization are in tune with the needs and requirements of employees here. 17. _____ Our organization helps us in all possible ways to know our abilities, our capabilities, our present performance, prospects for improvements, etc. 18. _____ The top and middle management tries to let the training session be a breeding ground for narrowing the gap between the management and the employees. 19. _____ The training programmes of our organization are such that they help us to give some information and at the same time receive solution for our problems. 20. _____ Our seniors help us to solve our personal problems through warm and friendly talks or sessions that sometimes may extend beyond the office hours. 21. _____ The training programmes are finalized in such a way that get an opportunity to present our problems before the trainers and thus try to solve our misunderstandings or difficulties. 22. _____ Each and every employee is given a chance to suggest his opinion on how to develop the organization. 23. ______ In this organization tries to make the job more challenging which prevents us from getting bored on the job. 24. _____ Our organization tries to make the job more challenging which prevents us from getting bored on the job.
25. ______ Training programmes in this organization are well thought of and are planned as per the needs of the individual employees as well as the organization. 26. _____ The reward system in this organization encourages employees to reach better heights in their performance on the job. 27. _____ The reward system here ensures social status and recognition.
Annexure 1.2
Responses of all respondants Please Find Attached the excel sheet responses.xls
doc_279525317.doc