Manpower Management :Nurturing Your Best Asset

Training Matters, And How

Training should not be restricted to just the newcomers in a company. On
the contrary, even people who have been with the organization for years should
be trained on how trends and business processes are changing. But sadly,
according to B Mukundh, this is not being done

When we recruit a fresher we see to it that he stands up to our expectations.
Training is necessary for the newcomer to equip himself in his work domain and
gain confidence. We provide different sets of training for new joinees and those
who have been around for some time.

When someone joins Mukesh Infoserve, we provide him with extensive training
and don't restrict him to a particular area. We allow the person to understand
the operations of other divisions, including sales, service, administration, HR,
management, etc.

Constant monitoring of the trainee is essential, which we do carefully for
three months to assess the ability of that person. Proper assessment would fetch
good results as the company can get very good employees through it.

Trainings and meetings

We offer internal training to our employees in all segments and hold a
weekly employee meeting, where everyone discusses their experiences. This helps
them in learning more things as they hear about other people's experiences as
well.

The divisional heads in the company hold these meeting every week and update
the staff on emerging technologies. The interacting sessions have fetched good
results as we get an idea about which new business areas we can consider for the
company's growth.

The initial training process helps in determining which division the trainee
should join. There have been instances where people in sales showed keen
interest in technical aspects and we put them in pre-sales to keep their spirits
going. This ensured that our sales took a jump.

We also hold induction programs to help our new employees establish a rapport
with other employees. Such programs are carried out on weekends when people are
in a more relaxed frame of mind.

Workshops are also orga­nized to enhance our employees' soft skills.
Communication is the need of the hour. In areas like sales and services, an
employee should be proficient in soft skills. In order to have a smooth run in
language and communication, we even send our people for external training,
particularly for soft skills.

External workshops

Some vendors provide regular training programs for the channel partners'
sales people. And I never miss a chance to send our sales people for such
training sessions. I even conduct goal-management sessions personally for my
employees.

To fine-tune our HR process, we appointed a HR person earlier this year. We
have also developed a complete manpower hand­book, which gives a clear picture
about employees' dos and don'ts, and acts as a guidebook to them about the
processes in the company.

Expert speak

When a company recruits someone, it ensures that the candidate gets training and takes up his responsibilities as soon as possible. There are few companies, which deploy the candidate immediately for work and let them learn through experience. But training should be a mandatory process, as it boosts the employee's confidence and gives him good exposure. Normally, when a candidate is selected, his performance in the test or interview is keenly noticed. According to that performance, he would be assessed and given training. The division he is put in also depends on the interest he shows in that area and how proficient he is. Few companies keep training as mandatory for at least three months and then provide them a position in the company. Others would have standard training model in their concern through which they provide training to the candidates. A company usually has an HR policy and does not depend on a particular person for a job. The recruitment process has a system called 'bench' where excess people are always kept as a backup or safety measure to fill the place of sudden exits in the company. Whenever recruitment is done it should be in an excess amount in order to overcome these types of challenges. Those people on the bench should also be trained and be equipped for any challenges. Recruiting over qualified people should not be encouraged, as they are the major reasons for high attrition rate. K Puhazhendi Sr VP-Technology and Operations, Blueshift

Attrition, after training

Attrition is a matter of concern with people taking training in one company
and leaving it to join an MNC for better compensation. It has been happening for
years and will happen in the future too.

However, we have not been affected badly by this trend due to our friendly
policies. For our servicing division, we recruit more people than we need and
provide training to all of them. If somebody leaves, then another person can
fill his place immediately and our business can continue seamlessly.

Employees should think laterally than literally to hold back their people. We
have even contacted training academies to enroll people from there and have
fresh young talent on our payroll.

Reality Check

When a key employee left his organization, Anees Khalfay realized the
importance of having an HR policy in place, so that he did not lose people to
bigger companies

In 2002, Salim Shaikh who was working with us as a telemarketing executive
left Radiant Technologies and joined LG Electronics. At that time we were
offering him a salary of Rs 5,000. But since he was a good worker, LG lured him
away by offering him double that amount.

While the loss of an employee is a reality that we have learnt to live with,
it is still a tough bullet to bite. We spend a lot of time and resources on
training people, like Shaikh, since most of the people we hire are freshers. But
all of this goes down the drain when they leave us for better paying MNCs, whose
pay packages we can never match.

I was shocked when Shaikh left Radiant, as I lost a good telemarketing
person. I attributed this loss to not having any proper HR policy in place and
realized the rising manpower challenges. Some steps that I took as a result of
this were increasing the number of telemarketing staff from three to six
members. I also started giving additional incentives in cash and kind.

I started designating more responsibilities to my employees. For example, I
had a storekeeper who had worked with us for a long time and was familiar with
the workings of the company. I gave him additional responsibility to look after
accounts as well. Also upgrading people saves time and money that I otherwise
have to spend in training freshers.

For a while, I recruited Arif Shaikh, who was in charge of the marketing
department. He used to act as an interface between the marketing team and
myself. He used to communicate the grievances of marketing team to me. However,
this move did not pay off. Therefore, I soon overtook the responsibility of
hearing the grievances of my marketing team.

I have started giving additional bonus to my staff based on their attendance.
Anyone who takes more than 21 days leave in a year will not be eligible for any
bonus or incentive. On the other hand, someone who takes only seven to 10
holidays in a year is rewarded with an extra month's salary.

Whenever I hire someone, first I make him sit in the office for a week
without assigning him any work. This helps him to get familiarized with the
workings of the office as well as with the atmosphere. Once this period is
through, if he gets back to me with queries and shows an interest in the job,
then I know that he will stick to the company. Many times it happens that after
spending a day or two in the office, the person himself does not turn up as he
cannot adjust to the office atmosphere.

Apart from the above measures, I also make it a point to run a background
check of the job applicant before hiring him. I figure out information like
where he has worked before, how long has he been with the previous organization
where he was employed and also if he is a compulsive job hopper. I sit down with
the applicant and ask him about his expectations from the company and where does
he see himself three years down the line in my organization. I also convey him
his role and what I expect from him as a part of the company.

Previously, I was not into any such activities. However after Shaikh left us,
it opened my eyes to the reality manpower management. Around that time, in 2002,
many of my competitors were also employing various HR practices and in this
scenario, I found it imperative to gear up myself.

Expert speak

This is a perfect case where HR needs to be outsourced, as no HR person would like to come and make a career in a small company. This person will not come in between the employer and the employees and will only take care of the HR systems and processes in the company. As an alternative to this, companies facing similar problems could also give HR to one of the line function persons, who can devote some time to HR functions. This person need not come from an HR background but should understand the problems and take remedial actions. It is a good thing that Khalfay has realized the need for having a HR policy in place and has taken some steps in this direction. However, he will continue to face attrition problems, as today the bigger organizations give a lot of allurements in cash and kind to qualified people. Today as his company is growing, he needs to keep his focus on consolidating. For this he should outsource to an HR agency, which can look after the HR systems and processes. Distributing work amongst employees doesn't make much sense if the cost per employee goes up. If you have six people doing the work, which was previously done by three, then they might not be motivated enough, as there will not be much work for each of them and even the incentives will be limited. Every person's role in the company should be defined and if he does extra work, he should know how much will he be paid. It is also very important to continuously motivate the employees. The effective ploy of giving experienced people in the company more responsibilities, which Khalfay has employed, is known as multitasking. But you should be careful in ensuring that you are giving responsibilities to the right kind of people, so that this tactic does not backfire. Amal K Das CHR Global (HR Services)

A Helping Hand

While big companies have the financial strength to setup a separate HR
division to hire employees, often the smaller companies don't have that
capacity. Arinjay Jain suggests that it is a good idea to get the help of a
placement cell, which will save the company much time and effort

The problem of attrition has been pinching our company for a long time, so we
have been seeking a solution - one that is effective yet feasible. In addition,
low quality manpower and attrition, especially in the sales division, has caused
our business to suffer to a large great extent.

There have been times when we were unable to meet the requirements of
customers due to the absence of efficient manpower. What we need are qualified
representatives who have the confidence to convince customers. So, finally, we
decided to take the help a placement agency to hire efficient people.

Attrition-a nightmare

In small towns, freshers tend to look for better prospects out side their
hometowns. Due to this they often gain the requisite hands-on expertise with
smaller companies like us, and then move on to metros or to bigger companies.

This leaves us in the lurch and we have to go through the whole process of
training a fresh lot again. This is an ongoing problem and a large portion of
our energy and investment is drained in this process.

It takes around six months for us to fully train a newcomer and groom him to
handle important assignments. But eventually, I only feel that it is a waste of
time and effort because of this trend of job-hopping.

Till now, partners in small cities have always taken the help of issuing
advertisements in local newspapers to recruit people. But this system of hiring
manpower can also result in sifting through a lot of people who are far below
our expectation level and cannot be considered.

It is a sheer waste of time and money on the employer's part to have to
entertain such folks. Not only do advertisements draw people who are
under-qualified for the job, they also tend to attract people who do not even
understand the job.

Far from short-listing anyone of them, the whole process actually becomes a
time consuming menace by itself. So my observation is that good candidates are
very rarely recruited on the basis of a five-sentence advertisement.

Placement cell is the solution

Taking the support of placement agencies helps us in getting the right kind
of manpower suitable for the job at hand. We give preference to those candidates
who have been sifted by these agencies because they are comparatively better
suited for responsible tasks, as compared to those who are drawn through
advertisements.

Going through placements agency has to an extent lowered the burden of hiring
on us. Agencies take the responsibility of sending qualified manpower based on
the profile we discuss with them and all we have to do is select them as per our
requirement. In fact, this process has become quite convenient for us as we
normally get a better set of candidates who have more knowledge of the market.

Like any other dealer, we too have our business issues with distributors,
customers or vendors and are unable to devote much time towards HR management.
Due to these limitations we cannot devote as much time and energy on manpower
matters, as we would like to. Hence placement agencies are the right solution
for such a situation.

Looking at it in terms of costs as well, placement cells are more of a money
saving recourse. Therefore, having contracts with them is just the right
approach as it eases out the process of appointing new people. We have kept a
limited budget to spend in this area. Being a fairly small company we cannot
take the risk of exceeding this budget or spend much efforts into HR issues,
exclusively.

The outcome

With the help of placement cell the condition in our company has improved a
lot. We have been hiring comparatively better people, but still the standard of
manpower is low. The burden has reduced but we have not observed any drastic
changes in the quality work. We still have to put a lot of efforts in to
training them. But other than this we do not foresee any dramatic results. But
at the end of the day, being left with no other choice, we have to rely on
placement agencies.

Any other option

In the past we have tried taking the support of advertisements but that
proved to be worthless. Establishing our own in-house HR department is beyond
our reach. Neither can we invest so much money for HR, nor can we put so much
effort into organizing everything. All in all, I believe it is always better to
outsource service so that it does not become an additional task. It is much more
convenient for us to ask these HR professionals to probe into the matter and
provide us with optimum solutions.

We expect that in future, with more consultants coming in to the picture, the
standard of manpower will improve, provided the placement cells also become more
focused. These agencies have to be sharp enough to identify the right set of
people, suitable for our requirements. The right candidates should meet our
expectations and our investments toward this direction should reap value.

Expert speak

Taking the support of placement agencies for fighting the problem of attrition is the right approach for small companies. Since they cannot devote much time towards their HR issues, it is much more beneficial for them to outsource the service. These agencies have a large database of manpower, which is difficult to maintain for dealers. Hence they get access to qualified people. It saves their time and energy to a great extent and gradually they can overcome their problem. Chandrashekhar Director, Utkarsh Staffing Solution

Adios, Amigos

With the change in their lifestyle, employees always look for better
options that entice them to switch from one company to another. Hira Singh
suggests that rather than worry about this it is best to say goodbye
open-heartedly

Amajority of manpower today across all the industry sectors comprises youth
who have developed the skill of job-hopping. Twenty years ago there was a time,
when employees foresaw their future in adhering to one company and spent their
entire life working with that particular organization.

Now the situation is nothing but a quaint past. I have noticed in my company
and those of my peers in Jaipur that employees consider quitting one company and
joining another as the only source of growth and prospects. This phenomenon has
occurred due to the rise in standard of living, higher working scope and the
urge to earn more.

These days people want to earn more, which they find possible only by
switching from one company to another. This often leads them to change their
company on a frequent basis.

Changing condition

Since there has been change in the mindset of the working class, I have
realized that it is only natural that I too think in this direction, and change
myself accordingly. I can't stop any of my employees from switching. So the best
way is to be prepared and take this as a part and parcel of business.

Nowadays, it is a daily occurrence that some employee hands in their
resignation. This means, that I have to incur costs on hiring and training new
people. However, the only option that i have left to me is that if any person
has raised his voice to switch to any other company, it is better to welcome his
decision and let him go with dignity. There is no point in compelling him to
stay, because they will not perform and will be deadweight to the company.

In B-class cities like Jaipur, people find government jobs to be a lucrative
offer and they don't want to miss it, irrespective of how attractive a package
they might get in their present job. Once one of my employees disclosed his
decision to join a government office and I welcomed his decision heartily. I
provided him all the supportive documents that he required for joining.

Doing this has resulted in a feel-good factor in my entire organization.
Employees feel that their boss will support them in providing a better future,
even if it means leaving the company.

Moreover, it deepens the spirit of trust and confidence in that particular
person for his employer for his entire life. When a person makes his decision to
quit, the employer should lend his full support to help him in getting all the
requisites.

Leaving a company on a happy note creates a better environment for the people
who are working and it nurtures faith in them. The working class always gives
value to the liberty provided to them at work and hence they need to be handled
in their own way.

It is the time that employers should start learning to welcome their
employee's decision to quit, because ultimately they have no other option. In
our business, we cannot provide lifetime stability to employees particularly in
smaller cities. Our market is such that we cannot provide salary higher than

a limited level and therefore the trend of hiring and quitting will keep
continuing. Employers now need to keep a part of their revenue for hiring and
training session because this is an ongoing trend.

Identify non-performers early

There is another set of people in an organization who need special
attention. This comprises employees who lack determination to work hard and to
be active in their field. They are more driven by a relaxed life where they
don't need to put much effort everyday to earn. This is another reason they are
attracted to join a company where they get fixed salary no matter how less work
they are putting.

Another issue that I have come across is that people who have been working
with one particular company for a long time demand a hike in salary that at
times surpasses his dedication level. When the performance level remains static
and salary tends to increase, an employer needs to keep a check on that person.
In a situation where the performance does not match with the package it is
better for the employer to say goodbye to them.

In a city like Jaipur, the maximum salary that can be given in our field is
Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 monthly. We cannot give higher salary as the nature of work
does not demand more than that. When people spend some time with us they start
demanding for salaries that are beyond our budget.

Employers should be tactful enough to handle such people. It is not possible
for us to hike salaries according to an employee's demand, neither can we afford
to lose him.

Therefore, it is better that the employer maintains open dialogues with him
and convinces him to adhere to his company gudelins. In order to retain
manpower, one should keep changing the responsibility of his people and assign
him work that suits him most.

When an employer gives signal to his employee to resign, it also acts as a
lesson for others to improve their performance.

Expert speak

The employer has to assess the situation that confronts him in the eventuality of an employee handing in his resignation. If the employee is a burden to the company, this may come as a welcome move and all that he needs to do is accept his resignation. However, the case may not always be so straightforward and the employer should in that case patiently hear the grievances of the employee and genuinely be concerned about the fact that he is disturbed and hence has taken such a step. There is a high possibility that at this point the employee might not be speaking the truth and for this reason the employer needs to closely observe the employee's body language. The employer can also ask him to serve his notice period. However, some organizations do not have such requirements as they have a proper succession plan in place, which kicks into action the moment an employee resigns. There are several drawbacks associated with asking an employee to serve his notice period. Chances are that during this period the employee might try and get even with his coworkers, which under normal circumstances he would refrain from doing. Apart from this, the employee could leak confidential information that could jeopardize the company. Again, it is a well-established understanding that an employee serving out his notice period has very low levels of commitment towards his work. All this might lead the company to release him from his responsibilities as soon as he serves his resignation. Mahesh Kasbekar K Square Management Consulting

Who's The Right Man?

Do you look for people with sterling education and other qualifications
while hiring people? Maybe you should follow Mahesh Shah's policy of hiring
people who might not have glowing notations on their resume, but are bright
nonetheless

Hiring one wrong person can affect a company awfully and make it suffer a
great deal, and not just in monetary terms. We have realized that recruiting the
right candidate is an answer to many HR related issues.

But how do you decide who is the right person? Before you define the perfect
candidate, sit and chart out your organizational strengths and weaknesses. Then,
decide where you see that candidate fitting in this larger scheme of things and
accordingly customize your definition of the job profile. Unless your
expectations match your statements, it can have bad repercussions for your
business.

We have made such mistakes. We hired employees as soon as they gain some work
experience, they start getting better opportunities from various organizations.

They used our company as a stepping-stone to bigger companies and quit their
jobs without prior notice. Now we are wiser. We don't hire highly qualified
people. Instead, we hire people with general accounts or commerce background and
groom them as per our requirements.

It is not qualifications but attitude and aptitude that are imperative traits
to seek in an employee.

Use your head

Partners should always remember that their companies belong to the SME
segment and therefore we cannot attract highly-paid talent. Even if anyone
intends to join, he is sure to leave after gathering some experience. Therefore,
while hiring candidates, we take pain to outline how they are likely to grow
within the company. This communication reassures the candidate that we are
viewing him with a long-term perspective and will therefore be less prone to
job-hopping. If these people get proper exposure within the organization and
adequate responsibility compli­mented with independence and authority, they be
loyal and will emerge as good leaders.

Also, while identifying the right candidate, one must be clear of three
factors. Firstly, what is your expectation; secondly, what is his expectation;
and last, do the two meet? It is also important to gauge the prospect's
background. Analyze if he is a job hopper and why he has changed earlier jobs
quickly. Then see if those reasons can be applied to your organization too,
because if the same situation exists here, then sooner or later, the candidate
will quit.

Feed ambition

Often people equate aggression with ambition, but this need not be true.
When we hire people, we try and figure out if the candidate has aspirations and
how far we can meet them. In case we are unable to meet it, then we don't hire
the person, because he is bound to quit.

We also to judge the person's ethical values. In case the candidate lacks
ethical value, it might be harmful to a company in the long run since he can
apply some unethical process to get contracts, or pass on important data.

Based on our interaction, we try to dwell on how loyal the candidate would
be. We also verify how proactive he is and how comfortable he is with newer
challenges. He should be adaptable towards changing situations and capable of
handling those changes.

We also discuss his long-term goals and where he sees himself five years down
the line. This enables us to set his key result areas (KRAs) and plan out his
growth path.

A methodical approach

We generally have three rounds of interviews. The department head fills up a
sheet about the purpose and kind of resource he is looking for and submits it to
the HR. Based on that, the HR searches for suitable candidates and conducts the
initial round.

In case the candidate matches the given criteria, he is short-listed and the
department head takes the second round of interviews. I conduct the final round.
This screening helps filter out the suitable candidate. For example, we are
primarily involved into government business. Therefore we seek to have a
candidate who is very dynamic and possesses a pleasing personality with high PR
skills.

Secondly, he needs to have good technical knowledge, since a lot of product
and technical explanations are required to give at the government organizations
at various levels. Thirdly, he should have an eye for detail, since he needs to
fill up the tenders based on which the company will acquire business.

Few months back, we had a person in our accounts department who was very
lethargic and usually took unwarranted leaves. We counseled him several times
but in vain. Due to his lackluster work attitude, we faced many problems in our
accounts maintenance, delayed internal and external payments, etc. In fact, our
entire finance system was jeopardized.

This shows how important it is to identify and recruit the right candidate.
We have made our share of mistakes but have now learnt from it.

Expert speak

I appreciate the measures applied by Mahesh Shah. One of the most costly mistakes made by the SMB owners is hiring the wrong person. They end up spending money on recruiting, interviewing as well as time and money spent on the employee's training. There are two major elements to be considered while hiring, which I call 'search and select'. When searching for a resume, look out for three things. The first is industry experience. If the candidate has previous experience in the industry, you will see a faster return on your investment, as he already understands what your customers want. Next, look out for transferable skills, which are as critical as industry experience. Skills such as customer service, problem solving, sales and/or crisis management are valuable in almost every industry. Before interviewing candi­dates, make sure you understand the five most important transferable skills needed for the position you are hiring. Keep those skills in mind when reviewing resumes. Candidates whose resumes showcase those skills should be considered, whether they have industry experience or not. Any business can be learned, but great customer service or superb selling skills can only be acquired with time and experience. Lastly, search for achievements and accomplishments. Look out for those applicants who write about their accomplishments. These are candidates who understand the bottomline initiatives of an organization. A resume that mentions saving time, cutting costs, and solving customer disputes represents someone who can handle your problems as well. In order to make the interview rational, one must define the KRAs or 'roles and responsibilities', which is also called job description. This will further allow the hiring manager to understand the skills required against each role or result areas. Raja Bhattacharya Managing Partner, eTree Consulting

A Pat On The Back

While employees involved in sales often get incentives, those who are not
selling, often get sidelined when it comes to getting credit or rewards.
Partners should avoid this trap and ensure that their entire team is
acknowledged for their contribution in their respective vertical, in tangible
terms

In the month of September 2004, we had the highest sales ever in our company.
However, when we did the sales review, I realized that the enthusiasm of
employees from other departments was low regarding this achievement.

The reason for this was that when sales increased, a lot of pressure would
pass down to the non-sales personnel and this in turn would demotivate them.
This was simply because they would not get any tangible incentive for putting in
extra work.

This triggered the start of a new approach, which gives equal opportunity to
both the sales and non-sales personnel in my company to receive incentives. The
employees work in tandem towards a collective company target and not just a
sales target. The objective of this approach was to ensure that employees
working in the accounts, logistics and administration departments worked equally
hard to achieve the company's targets.

We called a collective meeting of all of our employees. A question, which was
put up, was who are our customers? For the sales staff, it was the customer who
would buy material from them. However when it was the turn of the accounts
personnel to define their customers, they did not have a clear answer.

I told them that their customers were the company's internal people, namely,
the sales personnel. When the sales personnel do something, they in turn depend
upon the personnel from the other departments. Ditto was the case with the
administration department.

Share the spoils

I have realized that if a company's targets are achieved, then the
incentives should be shared amongst everyone and not just the sales personnel.
Sales personnel have their sales target but we need to have a common incentive
structure for everyone.

Depending upon the contribution of each employee towards achieving the common
goal, the incentive should be given. We termed this not as an incentive but as
profit sharing, taking into consideration two things. Firstly, had we called it
an incentive plan, then employees might be under the notion that they may or may
not get it. Secondly, we wanted them to understand that if the company makes a
profit, then they would definitely receive their share from it.

I wanted to send a clear message to all my employees that each of them was an
equal contributor to the overall success of the company. The effects of this
approach were immediately visible, as every employee started working with
enthusiasm towards a common goal. For example, the delivery boys asked the sales
team to complete their target, ensuring them that they would undertake as many
deliveries as needed.

Our turnover and profitability has increased since the implementation of this
new approach. We have a yearly review where we assess every employee's
performance against the set common target, and based on that we reward them with
their profit share.

Set the guidelines

An employee should have worked with us for at least one year to receive the
profit share. In the end, this strategy has turned out to be a win-win situation
for both the company as well as the employees. In most organizations today,
there is a clear discrimination between incentives given

to sales and non-sales personnel.

How­ever, being an open-minded individual, I did not hesitate in implementing
this approach.

Expert speak

There are many people with different roles in an organization. If you look at it as a chain, you have sales and marketing at the end of this chain. You also have different departments like sourcing, operations, HR, accounts, etc in this chain. What we discovered was that the sales and marketing department is only an interface with the customer. Of course, their role is the most important in breaking new grounds and building the existing customer relationships. At the end of the day, these departments are in a chain and a chain is as strong as its weakest link. If a department performs their best but the other departments do not perform to their fullest, then even the sales and marketing team cannot achieve their targets. For Creative Peripherals and Distributors, we developed a model where there are cross-functional teams in different verticals. As the cross-functional team comprising of personnel from different departments work towards achieving the company target, instead of rewarding only the sales and marketing team, we decided to reward everyone. At the end of the day, sales and marketing is important but we also factored in customer relationships, profitability and expenses. Based on this, we devised an incentive system, whereby the more an employee contributes to his respective vertical, the more remuneration he gets. The key thing about this approach is that we are not only rewarding the sales and marketing team, rather we are forming a cross-functional team, whom we then reward against the targets achieved. Mahesh Kasbekar K Square Management Consulting

Come Home To The Office

With high attrition rates, you have to come up with unconventional ways to
keep your manpower enthused about coming to work. Prateek Garg has done this by
organizing mentoring programs for his employees and slotting them into groups
based on their capabilities and then upscaling them

Since Progressive Infotech is into solution providing I have to ensure at
every step that I have the right set of people who can cope with the pressure of
this business and give maximum output. Today, the biggest human resource (HR)
problem I face is attrition.

Once we hire a technical person it takes us anywhere from one to two years to
train that person. This is not an easy task because it requires a lot of
retraining every time one hires a young professional. In the wake of this
increasing attrition problem, we have designed a new strategy altogether.

Through this action plan we make an effort to improvise our office
environment, enhance the work culture and initiate few mentoring programs.
Building an acceptable environment is crucial to the success of an organization.
I have made a lot of changes to the office environment by putting the latest
infrastructure in place. This was possible by installing the latest technology,
revamping the existing infrastructure.

Another factor that is essential for creating a healthy environment is
holding programs for employees on a regular basis. Together with my management
team, I have worked upon introducing mentoring programs for employees. This is
to harness the talent we have in our organization and help them grow.

Our mentoring programs lasts for six months, rather than a few days or weeks.
This not only gives the employees a holistic improvement in their personality
but boosts the business generated by them as well.

Creating work groups

It is the technology services division that faces the maximum pinch as far
as employees are concerned. These are a talented bunch of people who, before
they become marketable and capable of delivering a project, are turned into
expert professionals. This is possible only after an employee undergoes training
and exposure, and the time involved in this entire procedure is roughly two
years.

There were times when an employee left the organization without informing or
giving prior notice, and in such cases I was left with no option but to take
legal recourse. I have witnessed such situations many times and most of the
times I had to drag such employees to court and in all the cases I have won the
battle.

It was only after these experiences, that my team comprising high-level
management staff and HR professionals devised a strategy so that the people feel
more involved in the work and responsibility towards the organization. This was
how our three work pools-A, B and C were formed.

The first category includes people who form the core of the company and the
dependency upon them is large. These are employees who are given special care
and better salaries.

The B category includes those people who are the bulk and they have to be
treated well both in terms of salary and training. We create backup for these
people, who are not easy to replace, but are easy to lose. The last category
involves trainee level people and this is where the talent is generated. Most of
the mentoring programs happen over here itself, as they are the ones who have to
be constantly motivated.

By making these changes effectively, we have been able to create an employee
friendly environment, where employees become proactive, thereby leading to
higher productivity. It is also my endeavor to try and keep shifting employees
from C group to B and then from B to A. This keeps them motivated and works in
the favor of the organization.

Turtle approach

Another mentoring program run at Progressive is known as the 'Turtle'
program. It is inspired by the hare and turtle story and under this program; we
hire 10 to 15 MBA students and provide them with an 18-month long training. A
monthly forum is created for them, where they interact with each other.

This program was devised with the help of an HR expert to whom we have
outsourced some of our manpower work since we were facing attrition issues for a
long time. The way this program helps and benefits the new entrants is that
work, which would have otherwise taken them three years to understand, can be
done in 18 months.

Thus our company benefits in a way that more talent can be roped in and
trained to perform.

Expert speak

The strategies devised by Prateek Garg are indeed commendable and shows the concern he has for his employees. There are some other additions he can make which will help him reduce the attrition problem. He can give employees a career growth and hold personality development classes. These days, many large organizations like HCL, provide every facility to the employee within the organization itself. If today an employee wants to get a needle also, then he need not move out of the office premises. Everything beginning from canteen to games and for that matter even a parlor is being provided within the perimeter of the organization. However, with small sized organizations there is financial limitation involved. Thus in his case if he installs a television set within the organization where people can take some time out to entertain themselves, it will enhance the environment further more. This apart, the employees can be given a special treatment by providing them outing and other activities where they indulge in interactive and entertainment sessions. Such organizations can also indulge in an interesting exercise, which is better known as Psychometric Personality Test. Through this an employer can understand the requirements of the employees well. In the corporate world there is a lot of dirty politics that goes on in an office. Many times an employee is subjected to harassment and if he is performing well then there are chances that the seniors try to spoil the career by favoring other people. Also if an employee joins you as an HR executive and for the next three years, you make him work on the same post then it likely that such an employee would not prefer to stay with your organization. Hence creating a healthy environment and promoting the lower level employees to a higher level is always the key to run an organization successfully. Mansi Jain Specialist-Recruitment Practice, Alp Management Consultants

Acquisition = More Manpower

Most believe that an acquisition will help fuel topline and bottomline. But
they forget that it gives the employees of the acquired company a valuable
chance to get access to large opportunities that could not have been possible
otherwise

When two companies decide to merge, they have a mutual understanding to pool
their resources and build a joint entity that will serve their single purpose-to
grow and churn larger profit. Merger and acquisition (M&A) has become a common
feature in the Indian IT business in recent times, if the recent spate of M&A is
any sign.

Each merging company could have its independent business strategy to
safeguard the interest of different sections of the company. One major segment
where an entrepreneur has to keep his eyes open is human resources (HR).

While employers are doing their best, it is very important that employees
understand how the merger will benefit them directly too. Starters can grab
bigger opportunities as the M&A will widen the scope of growth and give them
multiple options to expand. This is something that an employer should take time
out to explain to his entire team.

There is no denying that any M&A will bring about a host of uncertainties in
the employees' mind and they can take unpredictable decision due to lack of
knowledge and assurance from employer. It is therefore a challenge for the owner
to retain his strong team and convince them to stay with them as long as all
their interests are served.

Employees' benefit

Employees enjoy multiple benefits after their company is merged with
another. They get sudden access to a vast database of clients, they get to know
the best practices of the other company, come across more potential business
contacts and can expand their domain knowledge.

They also get a clear picture of how successful companies work and enjoy the
opportunity to be a part of that environment. Successful companies have
professional working environments and they use the best technology to implement
their strategies.

But these benefits might get sidelined due to their fear of the future. The
employee should take it on himself to highlight these benefits to his people.

Every company has all sorts of people in its fold. There is a certain group
of people who cannot digest the concept of acquisition and they decide to quit
the company. Entrepreneurs should identify the demand and nature of his
employees and convince the situation in their way. This nurtures feeling of
personal attachment of employee with the company and he might change his
decision to quit.

Learn from leaders

Entrepreneurs of smaller companies have to understand that they have yet to
achieve a lot and to learn some mind-boggling manpower management skills.

Often, entrepreneurs are quick thinking, innovative in their thinking and
sharp in mathematical calculations. But somewhere they lack getting their people
to work as a team. They need to overcome such sore points, and acquisition is
one way to do it. They should learn various things from each other and combine
our learnings for the benefit of our individual companies. They should also know
how to pass on this information to their employees.

Culturally mismatched

Cultural mismatch is one criterion that may cause ripples in the
environment. An employer should eradicate this obstacle by identifying the two
corporate cultures and making his people understand the new environment well in
advance.

Employees always have certain expectations from their company and are
besieged with doubts over the post-merger scenario. Hence, objectives and scope
of the merger should be outlined to the employee well in advance.

An employer cannot force his manpower to stick to his company, and if anyone
exhibits his will to quit the company, it should be welcomed. It is better to
have few willing people working for you than several reluctant employees.