English is a global language. It has become so important in everything in our lives that even people’s calibre is judged based on how well they speak the language. Speaking in English during job interviews has become an involuntary response now. It has come to be the language of success. If one were to google the definition of ‘language’, one will find that it is just a principal method of human communication. That makes English simply a means to an end. Often, there have been cases during recruitment when the fluency of the same language has threatened to determine the…
Author: Moumita Bhattacharjee | HRKatha
Bisleri International’s in-house ozone therapy procedure turned out to be a blessing for the Company during the COVID-19 outbreak. Bisleri Cares is the health and immunity protocol it used for its employees, especially staff who handled the essential services or water supply during lockdown. In-house doctors (who have been practising and researching on ozone therapy for the last 18 years) energise the staff with the therapy and also give them vitamin injections to help them reduce their risk. The pandemic-induced lockdowns made many businesses go remote, but essential services were allowed to operate. That had put several people at the…
The Indian job market has been disturbed and disrupted for a while now, and the COVID-19 outbreak only worsened it further. Layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes came to be the most dreaded terms for employees. The unlock periods, however, brought some cheer to businesses and the job market as such. A Naukri.com report from 2020 claims that there has been 14 per cent spike in hiring processes in December. The insurance sector saw 45 per cent growth while BFSI, pharma/biotech, FMCG and IT software saw marked improvement. More data points now reveal that with the COVID-19 vaccines getting approvals in…
Recently, an employee of Kannur International Airport was reportedly terminated from his post after the person criticised the state government on his Facebook post. The employee was apparently unhappy with the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and made his opinions public. Getting busted for posting something offensive on social media is not a new phenomenon. James Gunn, a filmmaker, was removed from the director’s chair for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, when his past tweets came haunting. However, in his case, it was a matter of political opinions and sharing them on social media. Having a…
There are always dos and don’ts about what to say or ask during an interview. Many a time, candidates refrain from asking important questions assuming that it could be a deal breaker. One such question is ‘What’s your culture like?’ Candidates want to know about a company’s work culture, core values and goals during an interview, because they decide on taking up the offer only if they are satisfied with the answer of the interviewer. Different candidates, different needs For different candidates the definition of workplace culture that better suits them can be different. Some may find a posh-looking, all…
The hybrid model of work is the new normal now after 2020 saw an unprecedented shift to remote working. Many organisations have already switched to that model, while others are still devising plans to put it to action. ‘Some at home and some in office’ work concept is the only ideal way of moving forward as long as the uncertainties continue to prevail. However, it does have a few rough edges and perhaps requires a very cautious approach. Inclusivity can become an issue when an organisation has two separate sets of people working from different locations. Among many biases that…
Back in 2013, a German company, Haufe, introduced a unique democratic CEO selection process. The employees of the company are given the right to choose the CEO through elections. Kelly Max, who was elected by the employees, as the CEO of the US branch in 2016, revealed to a media outlet how the practice came into being. He shared that Hermann Arnold, founder of Haufe, felt he wasn’t the ideal candidate for the post of global CEO as the company widened its roots all over the world. He stepped down from his role and became the chairman of the Company.…
Skillgaps, upskilling and reskilling are some of the jargons that dominated this year, especially because a pandemic has thrown all set rules and procedures in HR history out the window. Since these are unprecedented times with extreme uncertainty in the job market, a few old models became the new normal. One is work from home and the other is the gig economy. A Gartner report suggests that 32 per cent organisations have replaced full-time employees with gig workers as a cost-saving method. Another report, this time by ASSOCHAM, predicts that by 2024, the sector in India will grow to $455…
It is a widely-held belief that COVID-19 is the biggest disruptor, but nothing can beat the monumental shift that has taken place at the workplace in its wake. All things remote was a possibility that was still being debated and discussed, when, all of a sudden, a pandemic trapped everyone in their houses to stay safe, and yet business went on as usual. Due to this remote-working setup, the issues and situations that organisations faced before either escalated to something completely new or just vanished. In the midst of all this, companies held on to their value systems, keeping diversity…
Back in January 2020, a LinkedIn report revealed that 96 per cent HR professionals in India prefer internal recruitment as compared to 81 per cent globally. Cut to post COVID-19 days, and yet another LinkedIn report informs that internal hiring rate has been nearly 20 per cent higher than the same time last year. The reason cited is that the pandemic has put a strain on the finances and with building uncertainty, organisations have gone for a rapid internal movement to fill its vacant roles. It is a usual trend to see a recruitment uptick in January, which falls in…
Many changes, that were supposed to happen in the next five years, were accelerated due to the unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases. Remote working was supposed to be the norm from 2025 according to many reports, but it is already in vogue in 2020 and is here to stay for long. Similarly, the pandemic also served as a lesson in moving with the times, forcing many organisations to move from archaic IT systems with manual feeds to more technologically-advanced HR processes. On the flip side, going completely digital also gave rise to data-security issues and logistics-related problems. Companies that carried…
The Code on Wages Bill 2019 has become a topic of much chatter. The new rule states that the allowances cannot be more than 50 per cent of the total salary. That means, the basic pay has to be 50 per cent or more of the total pay. The rule will come into effect from April 2021. The Government’s intent behind these revised norms is to increase social security benefits of the employees. They will now have increased PF contributions and gratuity. However, that can impact their take-home salary. It obviously makes the retirement benefits a lot more lucrative with…
COVID-19 has been quite cruel, but it has also opened up vast possibilities in terms of work-life balance. The biggest paradigm shift is, of course, remote working with many companies admitting that work-from-home has indeed spiked productivity. It has also made the world a much smaller place, with the talent pool nullifying location boundaries, as now anybody can be hired anywhere. Human resource departments have already moved a major part of the recruitment and onboarding processes to the digital medium. While all this has obviously eased out the burden of a changed workplace structure, instances of bias have emerged. One…
SIRO Clinpharm, a clinical research organisation, is driving its growth through employee-engagement surveys. The focus is to create a work-friendly environment for the employees and also ensure their mental and physical wellbeing. SIRO has managed to leverage the findings of these surveys to come up with engagement activities, which can bind the team together in this virtual world post-COVID-19. Prachi Ghogle, head – HR, SIRO Clinpharm, elaborates that the surveys are done on a regular basis and are anonymous in nature. This helps the employees feel free while sharing their ideas. “Based on the feedback received, we are driving the…
Netflix, the streaming giant, had introduced a ‘keeper test’ a few years back to determine how much effort a leader or manager would put in to stop a team member from quitting. In the organisation’s own words, “If one of the members of the team was thinking of leaving for another firm, would the manager try hard to keep them from leaving?”. If employees failed the keeper test, they would be honourably paid a lavish severance package and the organisation would then go looking for a replacement who could make the team better. Neil Hunt, chief product officer, Netflix, was…
In any organisation, the human resources budget takes into account a lot of parameters — from selection and placement, compensation and benefits, background checks, health, safety and security, to learning and development. This pandemic-touched world has proved that technology is the key to survive a crisis. It has given rise to the need for reskilling and upskilling of existing and new employees, making the conversation on learning and development (L&D) and related costs extremely important. It is believed that since being digitally savvy is imperative in a lot of processes, the HR budget may see a larger allocation towards L&D.…
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report from 2018 reveals that half of India’s workforce needs to be reskilled to cope with the talent demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This year, COVID-19 could have accelerated that process with full force. Dependency on technology to complete HR tasks is here to stay. In fact, it is only going to get more intensive and inclusive in various HR processes. That also brings to the fore an evolving workforce, which will need certain skills to function in this techno age. There has always been talk of how the skill gap —…
During our past discussions with industry leaders regarding the perfect team size, it had become apparent that both small and large teams have their pros and cons. A lot depends on how they are handled, and that’s where technology comes into the picture. From being just a temporary solution, remote working has become a permanent alternative in the case of many organisations now. Thus, it has become even more important to rely on technology for better output. Irrespective of the team size, tech is expected to ensure productivity and make employees feel collaborative. Each process is undergoing automation now, which…
The out-of-turn promotion of Seema Dhar, a head constable from Delhi, after she rescued 76 missing kids in just two and a half months became a topic of great discussion. Delhi Police received a lot of praise for rewarding her for her incredible work. As part of a new incentive scheme rolled out by the Delhi Police, anyone who finds 50 missing kids under 14 years of age, in the next one year, will be promoted before the cycle. It is seen as a big morale boost for employees to do their job well, and even over achieve. The HR…
COVID-19 has brought in a lot of changes in the way organisations are functioning today. One of the biggest paradigm shifts was the movement of the workforce to their homes. While these mass movements did result in a few initial hiccups, many have now announced a permanent work-from- home arrangement for the coming years. This has also given birth to conversations regarding salary restructuring. Many organisations are looking to increase the variable component in salaries, as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. Reports suggest it is being done to preserve cash for business requirements as the pandemic has caused a…
It has been a tumultuous year for Indian non-banking financial companies or NBFCs owing to COVID-19. Jaidip Chatterjee, chief human resource officer, SREI, shares that the biggest challenge has been liquidity squeeze, externally, and the fact that the collections are slower than expected. However, thanks to the Company’s robust structure, SREI has been able to keep jobs and even incentivise employees who perform well in these precarious times. Going digital The Company is going through a phase of digital transformation — both in sales and collection — and the main focus is to connect with customers, OEMs and dealers through…
Remote working is here to stay, which is also leading to many changes in HR practices. Facebook recently announced a new role — director for remote work. The job description (JD) reads, “The director of remote work will be a strategic thinker who understands distributed and virtual teams, an outstanding relationship builder and a change agent. Our ideal candidate is someone who can collaboratively build on and evolve our remote workforce strategy, with a passion and proven acumen for experience design, process excellence and change management.” This makes us wonder if such a role is a necessity today in India…
Human resource management and human capital management are terms, which are often considered interchangeable. However, they are not as similar as they appear to be. Although many would argue that the difference just lies in ‘resource’ and ‘capital’, the dissimilarities run deep. Today, it has become imperative to look at human resources as human capital, as the former needs to be more people centric. However, before we go further, it is important to know what HRM and HCM are, and how similar or dissimilar they are. HRM vs HCM The word ‘resource’, implies a stock or supply of money, material,…
There has been no dearth of discussions on how HR practices will change or evolve in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most crucial change that has emerged, is adaptability to technology. In the last couple of months, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have already proved how efficiently they can deliver, in terms of recruitment processes. Keeping up with the changes, Matrimony.com is looking to upgrade HR tech further with talent cloud, geo-fencing and more. Harnessing technology Speaking to HRKatha, Rajesh Balaji, newly appointed CHRO, Matrimony.com, points out, “Technology is no more a nice-to-have tool for HR.…
A perfect boss is an illusion. We either have a soft boss or a tough one, and though we learn to deal with both, it is often the tough boss who gets loathed a bit too much. More often than not, however, it is the tough boss we are reminded of when we face a certain situation. We have all been there when we felt a deep sense of gratitude towards a supervisor who may have come across as a little too strict at the time, but whose words of wisdom helped us sail through. So why is it that…
The pandemic-induced remote working situation has also impacted the hiring process in various organisations. While organisations navigate these massively altered work conditions, the question that arises is, ‘What happens to the cost of living index now?’ While deciding on the compensation structure, many companies factor in the expenses of accommodation, food, fuel, clothing, education, healthcare and entertainment, among others incurred by a person in various regions. However, now that many new hires are logging in from their own locations, will these expenses be taken into consideration in the payment structure? “In case of a shift from a low- cost city…