The Recruitment Mission

The beauty of this summer was the internship and its gyan exploration. Knowledge grows with sharing, right? And It’s a long one.

My assignment was on ‘Recruitment – Selecting profiles and Scheduling for interviews’ and to close ‘X’ number of openings. So, the mission starts with the objective to close the openings in ‘Z’ week(s) timeframe.

First action was to devise the plan, How? I need to choose the right channel, ideal profiling , categorization based on profiles, time scheduling, and gyan (knowledge) on the JD (Job Description) of openings.

Gyan on JD

First of all be acquainted for whom and which position(s) the recruitment is done. Foundation on the roles & responsibilities, benefits entitled, etc through the JD.

Channel Selection

Choosing a channel depends on the job position (opening), the employer’s brand, the resources, the recruiting budget, urgency to close the opening or the time window, manpower forecast, etc.

So, one can choose from a huge pile of options; say

• Ø  Internal advertising – Posting on intranet via online notices, mails to employees(Buddy referral)
• Ø  Printed advertising – Posting on local/national/employment special newspapers, newsletters etc
• Ø  Online – Using job portals, social – media (as LinkedIn or twitter)
• Ø  Consultancy
• Ø  Head hunting and /or Poaching
• Ø  Re-hire
• Ø  Campus recruiting
• Ø  Walk-in
• Ø  Body Shopping
• Ø  Promotions and Present temporary workforce
• Ø  Casual applicants
• Ø  Candidate references i.e. taking references from the candidates, etc…

Profile Selection and Ideal Profiling

The profiles are selected based on the JD i.e. role and responsibilities, age, benchmarking the current/previous working companies, pay scale, preferred work location, etc… Recruiters practicing the same and using job portals might notice a strange phenomenon that not all profiles available on the website are job-seekers. Many candidates upload the resume just to check their own market demand and stay updated (assumption- by getting recruiter’s call). Also, some resumes are inactive for a period; still they make appearance on search; which can be filtered out.

Again, before jumping to the assignment a recruiter need to do groundwork on Ideal Profiling i.e. identifying the common employee profile based on psychological parameters that incline to succeed in definite role.

Time Scheduling

It is the most important, yet at times neglected section. A recruitment process can be breakdown into 1-5 stages depending upon the employer’s style of recruitment drive and channel. It may consist of an initial written knowledge test followed by interviews, discussions or combination. The efficiency of the recruitment based on time taken to conduct each stage is necessary; it will help the recruiter to amplify the process.  It also has dependence on the decision making ladder. The more complex and lengthy the ladder, the slower the decision, thus long time taken to close the opening(s).

Also, the time taken to complete the entire process starting from the first round till the result announcement impacts the employer’s brand.

Even though for a greenhorn initially it seems as easy as cakewalk, but its demanding. But the above four points of homework makes it enjoyable. It may seem story of recruitment - selecting 10 profiles from job portal, 8 interested to attend, 4 – 5 arrived for the drive and 2 candidates are offered the position, ending up as 1 new hire. But selecting the right channels, ideal profiling and scheduling makes it easier.

What do you think on the same? 

Is innovation required?

Innovation is the talk of globe, everyone CXOs, academic leaders, Presidents and customer want to innovative concepts, technology and techniques.  Once all a company needed was to – improve, continuously improve and expect to succeed. But the information explosion and global economy changed all the rules of business. Peter Drucker, management guru stated innovation as one of the business competence needed for the future. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE believes in ‘break the glass’ i.e. continue to innovate.

What is it?

Innovation is creation of ideas with excellence in execution due to human curiosity.  Innovation is not invention, as it is commonly misunderstood as. Invention is creation of idea and innovation is commercialization of former. Innovation is the art of sustaining a company’s competitive advantage by discovering new opportunities.

Why?

Too many companies start investing money, manpower, material without defining the need and facets for innovation. A firm starts effective and efficient innovation when there is a reason or need to do it, those can be one or multiples from the list below to improve, save money, grow and survive

•  Growth

With the rapid global economic growth the products and industries are maturing rapidly and consumers are willing to experience something new rather than repair or recycling. Products and services are getting short attention span and expectation from them is rising. Thus, product life cycle is shortened and firms must discover new needs quickly and swiftly than other market players.

•  Opportunity

Diminishing the boundaries, as the global village is growing firms should realize potential of new markets and products beyond pre-existing geographic locations, products/services and systems.

•   Competitive advantage on ‘Distinctive Capabilities’

Customers no longer want same product/service as their neighbors, they demand an upgraded version of same. Firms need to determine the innovative solutions to tap the demand to move ahead of others and gain the advantage point. Companies which can move with new well executed ideas leap far ahead before others realize and it become their distinctive capability.

• Survival

In the world of uncertainties many companies stick to their standard mode of operation.  Innovation distinguishes the firm from other similar and it helps to survive through the rough patches of economy and be the leader. Innovation is the key to long term sustained growth.

Innovative organizations

·         3M :sticky Post-it notes

·         EnronOnline: B2B site

·         HP: laser and ink jet printers

·         Michelin: radical tire

·         Citibank:ATM

Organizations which ignored innovation

·         Xerox

·         Kodak

·         Motorola

·         Levi Strauss

·         Smith Corona(’s type writers)

·         P&G (in 90’s)

Wind up

To go ahead innovation is must. As the management guru, Gary Hamel, puts it ‘Most companies are built for continuous improvement, rather than for discontinuous innovation. They know how to get better, but they don’t know how to get different.’

EXCELerator 2012

The Excelator-2012 conference was the initiative of SHARP (Sriperumbudur Human and Allied Resource Professional Forum) and CEO (Center for Excellence in Organization) Pvt Ltd. The theme for this convention was: “HR – a valued business partner”.


Esteemed members of the forum inaugurated the event. Mr. A. Rajan Babu, Head HR and Admin, Sona Koya Steering Systems Ltd, President SHARP said in the keynote addressee that role of HR revolves around work ethics, commitment and persistence and foundation of the SHARP forum. The forum started with 7 professionals in 2011, and now has expanded with 300 active members. The core value of the forum has always been – ‘Working for the benefit of society’.

Mr. E.I. Ravidranath, Group VP HR, Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd spoke about the SHARP forum and skills required by HR. He stressed that passion, ability to attract, ever learning hunger and knowledge sharing are key ingredient for HR. Soon he is going to release him book (untitled) on Industrial Relations.

Mr. S.Y.Park, GM ER/IR & Training, Hyundai Motors India Ltd spilled beans on the importance of HR/IR, need of proactive action by HR and expected HR functions.

Mr. Mike Park, MD Hanil Tube India Ltd. focused on HR skills needed, CEO’s expectation from HR and solutions that can consider.

Mr. Raja Gopalan, CEO Ashley Alteams emphasized on role, responsibility and expectation from HR.

Mr. S. Karthikeyan, Director Centre for Excellence in Organization Pvt Ltd. acknowledged the industry demand gap of skilled people in India in his presentation ‘Skilling India’.

Mr. BalaKrishnan, Unit Head, Wheels India Ltd. shared his experience of implementation of ‘Self Directed Work Team’ model in the organization and the changes experienced.

Mr. Prem Kumar, Ex-Director NIOT, Founder, Win Marine Consultancy highlighted on Hr as a business escalator and shared his leadership wisdom.

Dr. R.Karthikeyan, Director GEMBA School of Management encouraged audience to think out of box and blur the boundaries of traditional conventions. He explained the need of change in education and organization system and raise scope of democracy.

HR as a Valued Business Partner

The current business demands is on all support functions in all industries and businesses. Outsourcing and consulting contracts are eating into the traditional security that many classic support specialists have enjoyed. It is not enough to just deliver good transactional services. In today’s environment if you are not adding value it is not long before someone starts asking challenging questions about the value-added of IT, Internal Audit, Finance.

For HR the pressure is strong. Business leaders want more from their HR support professionals. They are seeking a more proactive and challenging role that forces managers to think about how they are leveraging people and the organization for business success. New business requirements need new HR skills and competences to make the transition to a big performance Business Partner.

David Ulrich introduced the HR business partner in his book ‘HR Champion’.

A HR Business Partner (HRBP) works with business to add real strategic value. A HRBP has to understand the business, have an insight into the people challenges and the ability to make effective links between the two.

Till date a HR worked in foundation HR practices as

• Talent management
• Outsourcing
• Performance management
• Diversity management
• Graying population
• Down Turn
• Cost optimization
• Leadership development
• Engagement and empowerment.

HR jobs that focus on processes and systems are already becoming redundant. Much of the transactional work of HR such as payroll, employee policies, training administration, and so on, is being automated, centralized or outsourced.

Emerging HR practices are organization design, executive leadership development, work process design, internal communication etc. Being able to create increasing returns from intangibles presents tremendous opportunities for HR professionals because the only way intangibles gain value is through people. “The benefits intangible investments yield is the only means companies can use to escape intensifying competitive pressures.” Baruch Lev, Harvard Business Review, June 2004.

This situation creates a compelling argument that to drive profitable growth from intangibles, this asset class must be systemically managed by HR. But to seize this opportunity HR departments and professionals must fundamentally transform their roles.

Changing HR mission
· The human resource function must lead change and adapt to the changing nature of work in order to remain effective
· The successful HR function provides the link between strategy, people and results
· Human resource priorities and programs must be aligned with the strategy and work culture of specific organizational units
· Human resource programs must operate as an integrated system

HR as valued business partner needs to lead a transition from existing ‘traditional’ role to a new dynamic personality. HRs need to be in proactive mode rather than the existing reactive mode, they need to move from the role of employee regulators and create self sufficient employees. As add on to the current activities of benefits, policy, wage etc; they need to in-source, out-source and re-engineer HR process to improve performance and organization. New horizons of HR should target on results and future rather than know-how or program design.

To become a change-agent and business partner HRs need to have certain competencies like

• Exhibit understanding the business
• Help leaders to think new way in business
• Develop and implement HR solutions to meet business needs
• Build credibility
• Influence change
• Impact the client’s thinking
• Participate in decision making
• Challenge constructively

Wind up:
HR business partnering is a process whereby HR professionals work closely with business leaders and/or line managers to achieve shared organizational objectives, in particular designing and implementing HR systems and processes that support strategic business aims. This process may involve the formal designation of ‘HR business partners’, that is HR professionals who are embedded within the business, sometimes as part of a wider process of restructuring of the HR function.

However, it is important to note that many varying definitions of HR business partnering exist and, where HR business partners operate, there are wide variations in their role.

• HR is shifting from a focus on compliance and control to building strategic business partnerships to support line management. 
• The value added of HR will come from leading strategic change and ensuring alignment between business strategy and talent management priorities
• Thinking strategically, building partnerships and influence will be key differentiators for successful HR business partners
• Becoming an HR business partner requires more than changing behavior, it requires a change in self-perception.

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the procedure of identifying potential leaders in an organization to fill important positions in near future. It is important for an organization to find the right people who will fill key positions. Any organization needs to select the candidates carefully, as they would in key positions and strategically significant roles with great responsibility and power. Thus organizations need to adopt a detailed and broad system of selection, inspection, grooming and orientation.

This process of succession planning enables organizations to:

•  Assess if they have the right skills mix to achieve company goals – and determine what gaps exist that must be closed. 
• Identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for future higher level and broader responsibilities 
• Identify which employees are at risk of leaving. 
• Retain superior employees 
• Build “bench strength."
• Determine where people belong on the bus. 
• Determine if they should be on your bus - or someone else’s.

Succession plan ideas can be

• Strategic succession plan - It is done when organization knows about any upcoming key vacant position. Generally at such situations, current (or outgoing) key role holder is involved in the lookup for a successor and also gives initial guidelines about the role.
• Emergency succession plan – It is done when a critical key role holder departs unexpectedly due to illness or accident.

Also, succession plan depends upon the company policy.

• Some organizations prefer to use the talents within the company to grow and lead
• Some companies adopt talents outside the organization to avoid collision amongst employees

Further, strategic succession plan can be

• Immediate (0 – 1 year)
• Mid-term   (2-5 years)
• Long term  (beyond 5 years)

Key elements of succession planning:

• Identification of key position
• Identification of key talent
• Assessment of key talent
• Grooming and development
• Support through transition

Steps to ensure Effective Succession Planning

• HR and business leaders should monitor succession plan.
• Rather than just recording performance, potential for future roles need to be assess. 
• Manage succession data on individuals and talent pools.
• Balance talent development and acquisition in achieving future objectives.
• Integrate succession planning systems with other businesses and HR systems in the organization to achieve efficiency, consistency and impact.

Barriers to succession plan

• Projected shortage of talents
• Cost and Time
• Talent retention 
• Conflict within employee and employer
• Insecurity feeling
• Lack of learning opportunity
• Expectation of organization