Author: Kartikay Kashyap | HRKatha

Giesecke + Devrient MS India (G+D India), manages to attract about 90 per cent of its overall talent through referrals. Talking to HRKatha, Ranjini Chakraborty, director – HR, Giesecke + Devrient MS India, shares that hiring through referrals is a major talent-acquisition strategy of the Company in India. In India, G+D — the global company which offers security solutions in digital and physical world — also has R & D centres that work on developing and manufacturing products for safeguarding payment processes, identities, connectivity and data. As per Chakraborty, in India, the Company employs a little more than 500 people.…

The term ‘office politics’ is always associated with negativity. Not surprising, since it usually refers to incidents involving one person trying to hurt or pull down the other for selfish reasons. Office politics manifests in many forms — taking credit for someone else’s hard work or spreading ill about co-workers and deliberately trying to tarnish their image. ‘Politics’ literally means the science and art of managing a government. It includes activities to promote one’s own political ideologies, negotiating with other political subjects, making and implementing laws, exercising force where required, and even strategising warfare. The question is, are these activities…

Axis Securities — a part of the Axis Bank Group — has taken some significant steps to address the mental-wellness concerns amongst employees. Soonu Wadewala, head – HR, Axis Securities, shares with HRKatha that this year the Company did an internal pulse check on employees, to measure their stress levels and happiness quotient. The exercise revealed that while the happiness quotient in employees was relatively high, the stress levels in the workforce were also rather high. As per Wadewala, this was a matter of concern for the management, and it was decided that significant steps will have to be taken…

While cribbing about the lack of work–life balance, many employees don’t think twice before blaming their bosses, work or organisations for the same. It is indeed true that some companies or rather, bosses, do not really respect their employees’ time, assigning them ‘urgent’ work at the eleventh hour and expecting them to complete it before leaving for home. However, it is not right to hold the bosses solely responsible for ruining work-life balance. Aren’t employees also responsible for maintaining work–life balance? All it requires is for the employee to be slightly organised, to manage time and to prioritise work efficiently.…

Today’s job market is very much a candidate’s market. With so many opportunities waiting to be grabbed, candidates are spoilt for choice, while employers are living a nightmare. Employees are just shopping offers and trying to bag the best deal! As candidates, many a time, we think we can negotiate and seek a better offer. Sometimes, we can’t help but wonder what the employer would think of us if we negotiate. We tend to fear being perceived as greedy, or driven only by money. Whether too much of negotiation will lead to loss of the opportunity altogether is yet another…

Achieving pay equity has been a challenge for most organisations, not just in India but around the world. Multiple research reports suggest that genuine pay gap in organisations exists either on the basis of gender, or race, or colour or ethnicity. In India, the pay gap mainly exists between men and women professionals doing similar work, and that too in similar roles and positions. The Gender Gap Report 2021, released by the World Economic Forum states that in India, women earn merely 21 per cent of the total income earned by men. Why? From less representation of women in the…

For the success of any business, the culture of the company is as important as the business strategy. They say, “The company culture eats business strategy for breakfast’. It is true that behind every successful company, there is a huge role played by the company culture. That is why, every company strives to create a unique and distinctive identity as part of its culture, for which it is known. For instance, when we talk of Google, innovation is a key element in the Company’s success. Googlers are known for their innovative minds and the Company itself is known for allowing…

The journey of a prospective employee who has applied for a role in a company is referred to as the candidate experience. While organisations today have realised how essential it is to create a good candidate experience, do they really work to provide an excellent candidate experience? The hiring process in all companies has several stages — sourcing of resumes, filtering, conducting interviews and evaluation. At every stage, the candidate goes through a certain experience in the company, which will likely be a key factor in building an opinion about the employer brand in the mind of the candidate. Airbnb…

Globally, layoffs are happening in every other company. The fear of recession has caused many big brands such as Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Twitter, Netflix and others to lay off employees in big numbers. Downsizing across the US has rendered many jobless lately. In India, the startup ecosystem is already feeling the effects of low funding. The edtech space, in particular, has been cutting its workforce drastically. While the employees who lose their jobs have their own set of challenges, not much thought is given to the employees who remain. With so much uncertainty at the workplace and their future shrouded…

Organisations worldwide are in a mad rush to take forward their diversity, equity and inclusion agendas. Yes, the spotlight has been on DE&I lately, with organisations trying to outdo each other in showing how fearless and open they are in terms of giving opportunities to one and all. However, there is another debate taking place on the sidelines. Should diversity be given more importance or equity? Before we try to arrive at an answer, we should first try and understand the meaning and context of the words, ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’. Diversity, as we all know, is a strategy to make…

There has been a lot of talk around human resources (HR) as a strategic business function in the organisation. That is why, Dave Urich’s HR model introduced the strategic HR business partner (HRBP) role, which has come to be an integral part of organisational design across sectors in India. Being a strategic partner, the HR business partner or HRBP is also responsible for the performance of the business function that it is partnering with. Most of the HR leaders agree that the performance of the function that an HR business partner is assigned to is integrated with the key performance…

Polycab, the Indian wire and cable manufacturing company, has done away with the rating part of the performance management system, reveals Rajesh Nair, EVP & CHRO, Polycab India, to HRKatha. It all started with the management team at Polycab realising that there were too many flaws with the rating system, and that it was high time they did away with it. The feedback from the management was that it was stressful to rate people and assign them numbers. In fact, after the exercise, many employees who were rated badly questioned the managers about their ratings or approached them with requests…

Last year, Advent International decided to merge its two portfolio companies, Dixcy Textiles and Gokaldas Intimate wear, the latter being the parent company of Enamor. What was common to both the companies was the nature of business, which was retailing of comfortable and essential wear. Dixcy had an edge with its strong distribution network, while Enamor had it’s strengths in product development & design. The former was a men’s innerwear brand and the latter a women’s brand. When the two merged to form a new entity with the brand name ‘Modenik Lifestyle’, a key imperative to integrate the cultures of…

Paying star performers above the market rate is quite common in the corporate world. Today’s job market is characterised by fierce competition for talent, and certain industries, such as information technology and tech products and services, are struggling to fulfil the huge talent demand. With the pandemic having subsided in most parts of the world, normalcy is being restored to ‘pre-pandemic’ levels. This has led to a surge in demand for talent across sectors, even while attrition has soared to an all-time high. Given the circumstances, what better way than to lure quality talent and retain them with money? By…

Who manages the HR processes, administration, operations and people strategy of a company? The HR of course. When we talk about all the challenges of a firm, from hiring the best talent to training and upskilling them, and keeping employees engaged as well as mentally and physically healthy, we all rely on the HR. But while the HR takes care of the employees, who takes care of the HR? After all, HR personnel are also employees at the end of the day. HRKatha decided to find out who is the HR for the HR in an organisation? Or do we…

In most multinationals, the culture fit of candidates is taken very seriously at the time of hiring. Even if the candidates possess great skill sets and are backed by a great track record in previous stints, if they fail the culture fit test, it is a deal breaker for most companies. More often, it is the HR in the company that measures or assesses this culture fit. During a chat with HRKatha, Vikrant Shrotriya, MD and corporate vice president, Novo Nordisk India, also admits that while hiring candidates for leadership positions in the Company, he generally looks for culture fit…

It is the HR’s job to ensure a high level of employee engagement in the organisation. That is why, companies invest heavily on various dipstick polls and employee- engagement surveys. Some have even resorted to using pulse surveys to track the engagement level of their employees. Many HR leaders believe that employee engagement is the key to high-level growth in the company. It would be interesting to know, which level of employees is the most disengaged in the organisation. There are different challenges and problems to engaging employees at different levels, depending on their varying demographics, expectations and overall needs…

Giving critical feedback to an employee is the most difficult thing to do for any manager. Why? Because as human beings, our big egos prevent us from accepting our mistakes. Ironically, as employees, we expect to receive honest feedback from our employers or organisations. A study on this subject by an American HR solutions firm found that more than 60 per cent of the 2000 people covered in the study accepted that they wanted a genuine feedback from their employers. But are employees capable of digesting honest feedback from their managers? Saba Adil, chief people & risk officer, Raheja QBE,…

While ‘continuous feedback’ is discussed a lot, not many actually practice it with seriousness. Blue Dart, however, not just embraces continuous feedback for the benefit of its employees, but has made it a daily practice! Speaking exclusively with HRKatha, Rajendra Ghag, CHRO, Blue Dart Express, shares that the Company has an everyday practice of giving feedback to employees on how the previous day went. Ghag reveals that it has now become a daily ritual at Blue Dart that all regional and local managers give a 15-30 minute feedback to all their subordinates. Blue Dart calls this activity ‘Performance Dialogue.’ With…

Aarti Industries, a manufacturer of speciality chemicals — largely catering to the pharmaceutical sector — has progressed on its plans to build and acquire a talent pipeline. The Company has recently concluded the hiring of 260 students as part of its leadership-trainee programme for this year. In conversation with HRKatha, Manoj Kumar Sharma, CHRO, Aarti Industries, shares that the special highlight of this initiative is that the Company has onboarded all 260 future leaders in a single event, which is rare, especially in the chemical- manufacturing sector in India. “This is part of the Company’s efforts to build a talent…

Are you also a fan of the ‘capsule wardrobe’ like many others across the world? Do you also believe in maintaining a collection of interchangeable clothing items only, so that maximum number of outfits can be created with minimum items? Do you think wearing the same outfit to work every day, just like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg will make you as successful as they are? Let us see what our HR leaders have to say. Jobs, the founder of Apple, and Zuckerberg, the brain behind Facebook, are not the only leaders known to wear the same outfits to work…

Strikes, shut-down of operations, sit-in protests and other such disruptive acts are usually associated with factory workers or labourers, or the so-called blue-collar employees. This has been the case from the times of the industrial revolution. However, over the years, with the implementation of labour laws, the volatility of these industrial workforces and the frequency of such unrests have decreased. This reduction in disruptive activities does not necessarily mean that employees are more satisfied and less disgruntled. It is just that, with the evolution of industries such as information technology, aviation and other services industries, a new breed of employees…

Bullies exist everywhere. They exist amongst the neighbourhood gang of children, amongst students and faculty at renowned universities or prestigious schools, they make team mates miserable at local sports club, and make the environment toxic even in a corporate setup. These bullies thrive because stronger personalities tend to suppress the weaker ones. What happens when a high-performing employee turns out to be a bully? All HR leaders with whom HRKatha spoke agree that bullying at workplaces is quite common. It is a trait widely seen in the high performers of organisations. Many believe that high performers are rather demanding and…

Soham is celebrating his recent promotion. For the first time, he has been elevated to a managerial role. At first, he basks in the glory of having become a leader — something he always dreamt of. However, he soon realises that managing team members comes with its set of challenges what with the multiple demands that accompany the role. Being in the talent-management function, Soham was, at one point, looking to build a good succession pipeline. He was also looking into the upskilling of employees and working towards offering them a better employee experience. It took him a while to…

How many organisations can proudly say, ‘Our average employee tenure is 17 years’? Hardly any. Of course, there are the rare brands such as Unilever and P&G that have employees who end up staying with them for life, unless poached by competition. However, generally, very few companies in the world can boast of such an achievement. Talking to HRKatha, Manoj Sharma, president & CHRO, RSWM (Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills), proudly shares, “Our average employee tenure at LNJ is 17 years for white-collared employees”. Astounding! Similarly, people who join the Company at its plants as engineers also manage to stay…

After spending more than seven years with Big Basket, Hari TN, head – HR, Big Basket, has decided to exit. Tanuja Tewari will step into Hari’s shoes, as sources close to the development have confirmed to HRKatha. Hari has announced his exit from Big Basket on social media and has thanked the Big Basket family for all the support and love in the last seven years. “I learned a lot in these seven years and developed character. The parting wasn’t easy emotionally, but parting is the very essence of any new beginning in life,” writes Hari. Post this, Hari has…