Recent trends in human resource management

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 Table of Contents

Quotes- 2010.1
INTRODUCTION3
New Trends in International HRM ..5
Human Resource Management in India7
Top 10 Human Resource Practices- Post Recession...10
Top 10 Trends in Employee Management..14
Top 10 Work Force Trends.............19
Demographics and changing nature of work..20
Future of Employment Relations............26
New Trend of Upgrading Talent.29
Changes in Technology...33
CONCLUSION...36
References...37

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 INTRODUCTION

H uman resource management is a process of bringing people and

organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of
HR manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a
planner and change agent. Personnel directors are the new corporate heroes. The
name of the game today in business is personnel. Nowadays it is not possible to
show a good financial or operating report unless your personnel relations are in
order.

Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low
skilled jobs are decreasing. This calls for future skill mapping through proper
HRM initiatives.

Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, management cultures

and philosophy due to the global alignment of Indian organizations. There is a need
for multi skill development. Role of HRM is becoming all the more important.

Some of the recent trends that are being observed are as follows:

The recent quality management standards ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 of 2000
focus more on people centric organizations. Organizations now need to
prepare themselves in order to address people centered issues with
commitment from the top management, with renewed thrust on HR issues,
more particularly on training.

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 Charles Handy also advocated future organizational models like Shamrock,
Federal and Triple I. Such organizational models also refocus on people
centric issues and call for redefining the future role of HR professionals.

To leapfrog ahead of competition in this world of uncertainty, organizations

have introduced six- sigma practices. Six- sigma uses rigorous analytical
tools with leadership from the top and develops a method for sustainable
improvement. These practices improve organizational values and helps in
creating defect free product or services at minimum cost.

Human resource outsourcing is a new accession that makes a traditional

HR department redundant in an organization. Exult, the international pioneer
in HR BPO already roped in Bank of America, international players BP
Amoco & over the years plan to spread their business to most of the Fortune
500 companies.

With the increase of global job mobility, recruiting competent people is also
increasingly becoming difficult, especially in India. Therefore by creating an
enabling culture, organizations are also required to work out a retention
strategy for the existing skilled manpower.

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 NEW TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL HRM

International HRM places greater emphasis on a number of

responsibilities and functions such as relocation, orientation and
translation services to help employees adapt to a new and
different environment outside their own country.

Selection of employees requires careful evaluation of the personal

characteristics of the candidate and his/her spouse. Training and
development extends beyond information and orientation training
to include sensitivity training and field experiences that will
enable the manager to understand cultural differences better.
Managers need to be protected from career development risks,
re-entry problems and culture shock. To balance the pros and
cons of home country and host country evaluations, performance
evaluations should combine the two sources of appraisal
information. Compensation systems should support the overall
strategic intent of the organization but should be customized for
local conditions.

In many European countries - Germany for one, law establishes

representation. Organizations typically negotiate the agreement
with the unions at a national level. In Europe it is more likely for
salaried employees and managers to be unionized.

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HR Managers should do the following things to ensure success-

Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit

environmental opportunities and neutralize threats.
Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee
contributions and grant enhancements.
Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and
HR contributions like training, development, counseling, etc
Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create
unsurpassed competence in an area, e.g. Xerox in
photocopiers, 3M in adhesives, Telco in trucks etc.
Lay off workers in a smooth way explaining facts to unions,
workers and other affected groups e.g. IBM, Kodak, Xerox,
etc.

HR Managers today are focusing attention on the following-

Policies- HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and

consensus.
Motivation- Create conditions in which people are willing to
work with zeal, initiative and enthusiasm; make people feel
like winners.
Relations- Fair treatment of people and prompt redress of
grievances would pave the way for healthy work-place
relations.

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 Change agent- Prepare workers to accept technological
changes by clarifying doubts.
Quality Consciousness- Commitment to quality in all aspects
of personnel administration will ensure success.
Due to the new trends in HR, in a nutshell the HR manager
should treat people as resources, reward them equitably,
and integrate their aspirations with corporate goals through
suitable HR policies.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

India is being widely recognized as one of the most exciting emerging economics
in the world. Besides becoming a global hub of outsourcing, Indian firms are
spreading their wings globally through mergers and acquisitions. During the first
four months of 1997, Indian companies have bought 34 foreign companies for
about U.S. $11 billion dollars. This impressive development has been due to a
growth in inputs (capital and labor) as well as factor productivity. By the year
2020, India is expected to add about 250 million to its labour pool at the rate of
about 18 million a year, which is more than the entire labour force of Germany.
This so called demographic dividend has drawn a new interest in the Human
Resource concepts and practices in India.

Indian HRM in Transition

One of the noteworthy features of the Indian workplace is demographic

uniqueness. It is estimated that both China and India will have a population of
1.45 billion people by 2030; however, India will have a larger workforce than

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China. Indeed, it is likely India will have 986 million people of working age
in 2030, which will probably be about 300 million more than in 2007. And by
2050, it is expected India will have 230 million more workers than China and
about 500 million more than the United States of America (U.S.). It may be
noted that half of Indias current population of 1.1 billion people are under of
25 years of age. While this fact is a demographic dividend for the economy, it
is also a danger sign for the countrys ability to create new jobs at an
unprecedented rate.

With the retirement age being 55 to 58 years of age in most public sector
organizations, Indian workplaces are dominated by youth. Increasing the
retirement age in critical areas like universities, schools, hospitals, research
institutions and public service is a topic of considerable current debate and
agenda of political parties.

The divergent view, that each society has a unique set of national nuances,
which guide particular managerial beliefs and actions, is being challenged in
Indian society. An emerging dominant perspective is the influence of
globalization on technological advancements, business management, and
education and communication infrastructures are leading to a converging
effect on managerial mindsets and business behaviors. And when India
embraced liberalization and economic reform in the early 1990s, dramatic
changes were set in motion in terms of corporate mindsets and HRM
practices as a result of global imperatives and accompanying changes in
societal priorities. Indeed, the onset of a burgeoning competitive service
sector compelled a demographic shift in worker educational status and
heightened the demand for job relevant skills as well as regional diversity.

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Expectedly, there has been a marked shift towards valuing human resources
(HR) in Indian organizations as they become increasingly strategy driven as
opposed to the culture of the status quo. Accordingly, competitive advantage
in industries like software services, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology
(where India is seeking to assert global dominance), the significance of HRs
is being emphasized. These relativities were demonstrated in a recent study of
three global Indian companies with (235 managers) when evidence was
presented that positively linked the HRM practices with organizational
performance. In spite of this trend of convergence, a deep sense of locality
exists creating more robust cross vengeance in the conceptual as well as
practical domain.

Key HRM Practices in Indian Organizations

HRM Practice Observable Features
Percentage of employees with formally defined work roles is
Job Description
very high in the public sector.

Strong dependence on formal labour market. Direct

recruitment from institutions of higher learning is very
common amongst management, engineering and similar
Recruitment
professional cadres. Amongst other vehicles, placement
agencies, internet and print media are the most popular
medium for recruitment.
Strong emphasis on security and lifetime employment in
Compensation public sector including a range of facilities like, healthcare,
housing and schooling for children.
Poorly institutionalized in Indian organisations. Popularity of
Training and
training programs and their effect in skill and value
Development
development undeveloped.
Performance A very low coverage of employees under formal
Appraisal performance appraisal and rewards or organisational goals
Moderately variable across industries. Seniority systems still
Promotion and
dominate the public sector enterprises. Use of merit and
Reward
performance limited mostly to globally orientated industries.

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Key HRM Practices in Indian Organizations
HRM Practice Observable Features
Limited in scope. The seniority based escalator system in
the public sector provides stability and progression in
Career Planning career. Widespread use of voluntary retirement scheme in
public sector by high performing staff. Cross functional
career paths uncommon.
Driven by proactive court rulings, ILO guidelines and
Gender Equity legislature provisions. Lack of strategic and inclusion vision
spread.
The central government has fixed 15 per cent reservations
Reservation for scheduled castes, 7.5 per cent for scheduled tribes and
System 27 per cent for backward communities. States vary in their
reservation systems.

TOP 10 HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES-POST RECESSION

Top Ten HR Practices that can help you achieve your

organizational goals every year:

1. Safe, Healthy and Happy Workplace: Creating a safe,

healthy and happy workplace will ensure that your employees feel
homely and stay with your organization for a very long time.
Capture their pulse through employee surveys.

2. Open Book Management Style: Sharing information about

contracts, sales, new clients, management objectives, company
policies, employee personal data etc. ensures that the employees
are as enthusiastic about the business as the management.
Through this open book process you can gradually create a
culture of participative management and ignite the creative
endeavor of your work force.. It involves making people an

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interested party to your strategic decisions, thus aligning them to
your business objectives. Be as open as you can. It helps in
building trust & motivates employees. Employee self service
portal, Manager on-line etc. are the tools available today to the
management to practice this style.

3. Performance linked Bonuses: Paying out bonuses or having

any kind of variable compensation plan can be both an incentive
and disillusionment, based on how it is administered and
communicated. Bonus must be designed in such a way that
people understand that there is no payout unless the company
hits a certain level of profitability. Additional criteria could be the
team's success and the individual's performance. Never pay out
bonus without measuring performance, unless it is a statutory
obligation.

4. 360 Degree Performance Management Feedback

System: This system, which solicits feedback from seniors
(including the boss), peers and subordinates, has been
increasingly embraced as the best of all available methods for
collecting performance feedback. Gone are the days of working
hard to impress only one person, now the opinions of all matter,
especially if you are in a leadership role (at any level). Every
person in the team is responsible for giving relevant, positive and
constructive feedback. Such systems also help in identifying

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leaders for higher level positions in the organization. Senior
managers could use this feedback for self development.

5. Fair Evaluation System for Employees: Develop an

evaluation system that clearly links individual performance to
corporate business goals and priorities. Each employee should
have well defined reporting relationships. Self rating as a part of
evaluation process empowers employees. Evaluation becomes
fairer if it is based on the records of periodic counseling &
achievements of the employee, tracked over the year. For higher
objectivity, besides the immediate boss, each employee should
be screened by the next higher level (often called a Reviewer).
Cross functional feedback, if obtained by the immediate boss
from another manager (for whom this employee's work is also
important), will add to the fairness of the system. Relative ratings
of all subordinates reporting to the same manager are another
tool for fairness of evaluation. Normalization of evaluation is yet
another dimension of improving fairness.

6. Knowledge Sharing: Adopt a systematic approach to ensure

that knowledge management supports strategy. Store knowledge
in databases to provide greater access to information posted
either by the company or the employees on the knowledge
portals of the company. When an employee returns after
attending any competencies or skills development program,

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sharing essential knowledge with others could be made
mandatory. Innovative ideas (implemented at the work place) are
good to be posted on these knowledge sharing platforms.
However, what to store & how to maintain a Knowledge base
requires deep thinking to avoid clutter.

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 TOP 10 TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

The Indian workplace has undergone a sea change, and human resource priorities
have now taken centre stage. In a knowledge economy, it is peoplenot capital or
marketwho make all the difference. As talent occupies centre stage in the Indian
workplace, managing and retaining manpower is becoming crucial to an
organization's success. To achieve this, companies across sectors are focusing on
some of the more critical HR practices. Ten such trends are:

1. Leadership Development: Creating a pipeline of leadership talent is key to a

business' future growth. Peter Cappelli, the professor of management and director
of the Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania, says it is imperative for the top level of an organization to make
leadership talent management a priority, and put its money into long-term plans, as
opposed to short-term ones. If companies are worried about their talent pipeline,
they have to develop their people, says Cappelli. Also, good bench strength helps
companies deal with volatility in labour supply. "Companies including Hindustan
Unilever, Procter and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline have been able to withstand
attrition in key executives because they have always invested in developing
leaders," says P. Dwarakanath, president, National Human Resource Development
Network. Experts say succession planning should not be seen in isolation, but as
part of overall organizational development.

2. Work-life Balance: No company or employee has found the Holy Grail of

balancing work and life, but that is a work in progress. However, multinationals,
information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) companies have been

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able to promote the balance between career, family and leisure-time better. Other
sectors have also been increasingly promoting a work-life balance. Interestingly,
most companies in India use benefits such as flexible timings, telecommuting,
crche facilities and concierge services as an attraction and retention strategy. "We
are yet to fully buy into the fact that employees become more productive and
remain motivated when companies allow them to have a life beyond work," says
Prabir Jha, global head, human resources, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

3. Inclusion and Diversity: With higher numbers of people joining the workforce
in India at a time when companies across the world have an ageing workforce on
their rolls, conflicts are to be expected. "One of the challenges companies face
today is resolving conflicts among different generations," says Pavan Bhatia,
executive director, human resources, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. "An
inclusive and diverse workforce is the future of the workplace," he adds. Therefore,
companies are investing both time and resources in ensuring that all age groups are
comfortable working together. Organizations in India have also been focusing on
making workplaces more representative. For companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd,
Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Vedanta Resources, PepsiCo India, Shell Companies in
India and Bharti Airtel Ltd, gender diversity has become a critical area of focus.

4. Health and wellness: The work culture at globalized workplaces involves long
working hours, frequent travel, multitasking and tight deadlinesand all this often
leaves employees mentally and physically stressed. "Employees are increasingly
grappling with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and
cholesterol, which can be checked by regular monitoring and a healthy lifestyle,"
says A. Sudhakar, executive vice-president, Human Resources, Dabur India.

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Companies have begun to realize that healthy employees contribute to higher
efficiency and productivity. Apart from medical benefits, companies are also
offering yoga classes and health camps and have doctors on campus. HCL
Technologies Ltd, for instance, like many other IT companies, has 24/7 medical
facilities in all its centres. DuPont has an Intranet-based tool, which assesses an
employee's health through a questionnaire and makes recommendations based on
the scores.

5. Right Skilling: Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of

training rather than hiring over skilled workers, is gaining currency. Companies use
this strategy to tide over a manpower supply crunch and to broaden their talent
base. "You don't need an IITian to supervise a car maker's shop floor or a
management graduate from a premier business school to sell soaps, which largely
has been the case," says T.V. Mohandas Pai, head, human resources, Infosys
Technologies Ltd.

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 TOP 10 WORKFORCE TRENDS
1. A global war for Smart Talent will be the top driver of competitive
advantage, as educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in
demand.
2. The aging of the population in America and Europe will have dramatic effect
on society and the economy impacting productivity, knowledge and growth.
3. An increase in women in the U.S. workforce will change the policies, power
and positioning of organizations.
4. A diversity savvy workforce will be required to understand and align with
the diversity in the global marketplace.
5. Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a global
talent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization.
6. Incorporating innovation into the organizational DNA will be a key driver of
future competitive advantage.
7. Building a sustainable, healthy and green workplace will be an essential
capability for retaining talent and attracting the future workforce
8. Preparing employees to meet the challenges of a complex and stressful
future, where accelerated change and risks can be managed effectively with
high performance agility, will be vitally important.
9. An organization that is committed to employee development, continual
education and training, will return to the organization new skills and new
competencies.
10. Attracting the next workforce, or preparing the current one, will require a
new workforce culture to better understand transnational teams, online
collaboration, globalization and business process transformation.

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 DEMOGRAPHIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF WORK

One of the most powerful forces affecting the changing nature of

work and the work force is demographics the changing
distribution of the work force along a number of important
dimensions. Here we can only briefly highlight the most important
demographically- related changes that will be occurring during
the next decade. The work force of 2010 will be significantly
different than it is in 2004, but the characteristics of workers
today are already very different from what most of us think they
are. And basic changes in the characteristics, beliefs, values, and
expectations of millions of workers in all functional areas will
require equally fundamental changes in the way those individuals
and teams are managed. The Changing Nature of Work and the
Demand for Workers One of the most important changes that
affects both organizations and management is what we like to call
the demand side the kinds of workers who are required to do
the kind of work that needs to be done. For insight into how
changes in the nature of work itself are affecting who is in the
work force, we reviewed the research by Professor Richard Florida
of Carnegie-Mellon University. His data shows very clearly that the
most rapidly increasing category of workers is what he calls the
creative class those who are engaged in what others have

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called high-end knowledge work and what we have described as
Creative Activities. The rise of knowledge work as the dominant
activity in the economy has driven the development, coalescence,
and emergence of this new class of workers those who produce
and apply knowledge. The middle class, the working class,
and the service class were products of the Industrial Revolution
and the growing automation of the means of production. The vast
majority of jobs today involve producing, applying, and
distributing knowledge rather than things essentially creative
activities. Florida points out that creative work activities with
low process structure and unpredictable outcomes are what
create economic value and competitive advantage today. But the
most important work force management insight stemming from
his analysis is the values and expectations that Creatives bring
to their work. As he suggests, creative people: - Work on varied
and individualized schedules - Are self-motivated and self-directed
- Rely on their own tools - Place profession and career ahead of a
specific employer - Expect to work in a variety of job situations
(and for a variety of employers) over time - Place a high premium
on self-control (that is, on being in charge of what they do, where
they do it, and under what conditions) - Prefer to work in close
proximity to others who share their interests, skills, and work
styles - Tend to choose where they want to live and work first, and
only then worry about who they will work for, or where they will
find the kind of work they want to do Thus, without even
considering the basic demographic changes within the population

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at large, we already have a work environment in which well over
one-third of the work that must be done (and by far the most
important third) requires people who are very different from the
dependent manual laborers, clerks, and even middle managers
around whom much of organizational life (and management
practice) has been built for the last several hundred years.

Changing Work Force Demographics but equally dramatic

changes are occurring on the supply side of work. The behavioral
and emotional attributes of the workers who constitute todays
work force are changing so rapidly that it is an open question
whether organizations will be able to adapt at all.

First, just consider the fundamental impact of recently changing

birth rates along with the aging of the so-called Baby Boomers.
Birth rates have an enormous impact on the labor pool, and thus
on job opportunities, wage and salary expectations, and related
attitudes about work and life.

Indeed, we believe the most fundamental driver of work force

diversity today is the continuing decline in birth rates in virtually
all developed countries around the world. The work force is aging,
and it is growing at a much slower rate. The result is a much
broader range of ages in all professions generational diversity
is a new condition that most organizations have never faced
before. And the shrinking number of new entrants to the work
force means more importing of labor (and thus a more
multicultural work force), more exporting of work, more use of

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consultants and part-timers, and a growing need to keep older
workers in the active labor pool. To be more specific, in 1965
there were approximately 4 million live births in the United States.
Today those individuals are 39 years old, and at height of their
business careers. Just ten years later, in 1975, there were only 3.1
million births (in the United States); those individuals are just 29
today but will be in their mid-thirties in 2010. That is decline of 28
percent in the biggest source of the labor pool in just 10 years.
And that means that talented workers will be short supply and
thus highly demanding for the rest of this decade. Because of
those declines there are fewer and fewer young adults entering
the work force far too few to replace those who are reaching
the tail end of their careers. And with the Baby Boomer
generation now in its late 50s, that pattern is about to become far
more pronounced. The net result is that the work force in total is
aging, and it is growing at a much slower rate. U.S. Census
Bureau data show a dramatic flattening of the age curves over
the next several decades. That is, there will be many more older
workers, and many fewer younger ones, based on current birth
rates and population statistics. And of course, older folks are
staying in the work force much longer as a result of both
personal choice and economic necessity. In fact, many
organizations already have to cope with what amounts to four
generations of workers in the workplace all at the same time.
These four groups are: Seniors Baby Boomers and their
elders who are 50- and 60-somethings, many of who are already

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actively seeking or enjoying part-time work, and/or flexible
working arrangements. Retirement in its traditional sense just
isnt what these folks want. Forty something mid-career
professionals- In one sense these are the workers you want
they are young enough to have lots of energy, they are ambitious,
they want to contribute, and theyve been in the work force for
20+ years already. But they are also frequently the parents of
growing children (and the children of aging parents) and typically
get caught in classic work/family life balance issues. Thirty-
something- These are the young, hard-working, but still wet
behind-the-ears professionals. They have lots of energy, but they
need lots of direction and molding as well. Many of them were
caught up in the dot-com boom of the late 1990s; some were
incredibly successful, and led rather heady lives. Today they are
older, somewhat

FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

THE CHANGING CHARACTER, PLACES AND PATTERNS OF WORK have

been the subject of intense policy debate and speculation. Will there be sufficient
paid jobs to support the wealth and health of the nation? Will the employment
opportunities of the future assume a radically different character from the present,
and are we, as some commentators contend, poised to experience a radical re-
drawing of the boundaries between paid and unpaid work? As a consequence of
policymakers, think tanks and other visionaries vying to impose their particular
interpretations of the future, there is no shortage of responses to these complex
questions. Commentators typically assert that the forces of globalization, new

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technologies and business restructuring are challenging current patterns of
working, but find little else on which to agree. The more pessimistic accounts
suggest that the new millennium will be blighted by diminishing job opportunities
in the economys traditional industries and occupations, rising levels of
unemployment and widening social divisions. Others, however, point to
developing shortages of suitably trained and skilled workers to support the growth
of new production and service industries and signal new possibilities for more
liberating forms of work and a better blend of leisure and working time.

IN CONTEMPORARY DEBATE OVER THE FUTURE of employment relations

not enough attention is focused any longer in research on the nature of the power
relationship in the workplace. This is a strategic mistake. The role of trade unions
as voluntary and autonomous institutions committed to social justice in the
workplace is being underplayed. By contrast their function as partners of
companies in assisting to bring about improvements in productivity,
competitiveness and profitability are perhaps being over-stressed. In the nineteenth
century many craft trade unions sought to justify their existence in a hostile
political economy that questioned their right to exist by emphasizing their role as
stabilizing and respectable forces in the maintenance of order and authority in the
workplace. In the search for legitimacy they argued there was a harmonious
common interest uniting capital with labour that transcended any underlying
division of purpose. The strike weapon and the threat of its use was kept well out
of sight most of the time and yet even the most peacefully-minded unions argued
the case for their independence and autonomy from employers and the state. They
did so because they recognized the needs and demands of workers and companies
were not only not always identical but often based on an unequal relationship in
the distribution of power.
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There is no reason to doubt todays workplaces are also based on a realistic
perception by employers, employees and unions about the nature of that power.
The implicit assumption that lies behind the onward march of individual employee
rights is a tacit acknowledgement of the urgent need for workers to enjoy a much
stronger representative voice. But a number of difficulties arise as a result of this
that few trade unions have yet to grapple with. The most serious problem remains
the often neglected but entrenched nature of trade union structures. Historically our
trade unions have found it difficult to establish rational forms of organisation that
were able to limit competition between them in the endless struggle to gain new
members. By international standards as varied as collectivist Sweden and the free
market United States, Britains employees have always tended to have trade
unionism on the cheap with relatively low subscription rates and limited services
on offer. There are few signs of any improvement. But the demands made by
todays workers now facing the trade unions make them vulnerable to accusations
of under-achievement. Employees are much more concerned to have an effectiv
NEW TREND OF UPGRADING TALENT

A downturn can give smart companies a chance to upgrade their talent.

Downturns place companies' talent strategies at risk. As deteriorating performance

forces increasingly aggressive headcount reductions, it's easy to lose valuable
contributors inadvertently, damage morale or the company's external reputation
among potential employees, or drop the ball on important training and staff-
development programs. But there is a better way. By emphasizing talent in cost-
cutting efforts, employers can intelligently strengthen the value proposition they
offer current and potential employees and position themselves strongly for growth
when economic conditions improve.

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Companies can maintain their attractiveness to internal and external talent by using
cost-cutting efforts as an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become more
engaging for the people undertaking them. A job's level of responsibility, degree of
autonomy, and span of control all contribute to employee satisfaction. Headcount
reductions provide a powerful incentive to use existing resources better by
breaking down silos and increasing the span of control for challenging managerial
roles-thus improving the odds of engaging key talent in the redesigned jobs.

Consider Cisco Systems' approach to downsizing during the last recession. In

2001, as deteriorating financial performance forced the elimination of 8,500 jobs,
Cisco redesigned roles and responsibilities to improve cross-functional alignment
and reduce duplication. The more collaborative environment fostered by such
moves increased workplace satisfaction and productivity for many employees.
Initiatives like Cisco's succeed when companies focus on redesigning jobs and
retaining talent at the outset of downsizing efforts.

In addition to redesigning roles, companies cutting jobs should carefully protect

training and development programs. These are not only essential to maintaining
workplace morale and increasing long-term productivity, but they also give people
the skills necessary to carry out redesigned jobs that have greater spans of control.
During the last recession, International Paper continued offering classes at its
leadership institute by replacing external facilitators with the company's senior
leaders. This approach not only reduced the cost of delivery but also, thanks to the
involvement of senior leaders, redirected the content of the leadership program by
tying it more closely to decisions and skills affecting the company's current
performance. Similarly, IBM retained its employee-development programs during
its major performance challenges in the mid- to late 1980s. It took the arrival of
Lou Gerstner as CEO and a new strategy to turn the company around, but the

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historical investments IBM had made in developing its people helped achieve a
successful turnaround.

Before undertaking widespread layoffs, companies should use their performance-

management processes to help identify strong employees. Companies that conduct
disciplined, meritocratic assessments of performance and potential are well placed
to make good personnel decisions. These companies should also bring additional
strategic considerations to the decisions. They should assess which types of talent
drive business value today and which will drive it three years from now, as well as
which talent segments are currently available and which will be in the future-
keeping in mind, for example, that new MBAs will be equally available in two
years. They should also look at which types of talent would take years to replace or
develop-for instance, skilled electric utility engineers in an environment where

CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY

Technology may have made things easier for recruiting managers, but it s
beginning to show its evil side as managers go overboard with it...

Key learnings:

Technology is a tool that can be used to aid the recruiting process.

Technology cannot replace human touch and therefore cannot be used to build
relationships

Technology has indeed been a blessing. The reaction time to any problem has been
slashed over a hundred times and leaders, managers and the worker fraternity in
general is more connected now than ever before. However, like all good things, the
positive streak of technology too can fade if it's taken too far. Critics who play
down the role of technology, have always condemned the way technology has

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eroded the personal touch among people. In addition, they blame it for the way
managers use it for the sake of speed and not quality. Amidst the brickbats,
technology has emerged as a force to reckon with and has undoubtedly redefined
the way business is done.

Technology is secular. It has touched every aspect of business however little it

may be. And the human resources function is no exception. In fact the role of
technology in the arena of staff management has been incredible and today the
function has become completely technology-driven. The function right from the
recruiting stage to the exit interview and everything that comes in between is
largely driven by technology. While this may be seen as a revolution of sorts by
some, for many such aggressive takeover is beginning to take its toll on the
efficiency with which the function is meant to be executed. And according to
analysts the first casualty is the recruiting function.

Impersonal recruiting: A recent forum on "Technology and Its Application in the

Human Resources Function", conducted at the Town's hall, at Vancouver, presented
a rather scary picture of what awaits us in the near future. A few speakers at the
forum unintentionally spelt horror for the recruiting function. They were rather
candid about the way they recruit and the role of technology in their recruiting
process. One of the speakers went to the extent of saying that thanks to technology
there is no real need of meeting the candidate or even speaking to him. Recruiting
managers can make their decision by simply exchanging mails!

The trend is indeed horrifying. How can one replace personal relationships that we
by virtue of being humans share with everything that we come in contact with?
Reducing the potency of a relationship to a mere click of a button can be damaging
to the very basis on which an organization is built. If every recruiting manager
were to select recruits on the basis of the mails exchanged then the concept of a
"competitive edge" or a "differentiating factor" will not be there at all since
everybody would be doing exactly the same thing. Moreover in such a
technologically-intensive scenario , the need for any other staff management
initiative too would seem redundant as people would barely interact personally and
even if they did it would only happen in case of a system crash.

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The scenario can be nerve- wrecking and therefore it's time recruiting managers
wake up and understand that technology is only a tool and it can by no standards
be used to replace relationships.

Focus does not stray. When recruiting managers lose perspective of the core issue,
the entire exercise fails. In this case, recruiting managers must understand that
recruitment is like sales, and they are the salesmen. Their main job therefore is to
sell the job And sales is a process that needs human interaction. Hence handing
over this process to technology can sabotage the defining purpose of the activity
and therefore may not give the desired outcome. Understanding that technology is
a mere tool to accomplish the objectives of the sales activity, which is recruiting in
this case would help recruiting managers keep technology in its right place.

A typical sales activity needs four basic pre-requisites for its success. These
include:

Establish and nurture a relationship

Identify customer needs
Strategies to overcome difficulties in meeting the needs
Complete the sale

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 CONCLUSION

The World Competitiveness Report rated Indias human resource capabilities as

being comparatively weaker than most Asian nations. A dramatic shift in
recruitment practices has been taking place as globally pretend Indian companies
as well as global technical services rivals have made India a battlefield of
recruitment for the best workers. The recognition of world class human resource
capability as being pivotal to global success has changed Indian HRM cultures in
recent years. While the historical and traditional roots remain deeply embedded in
the subjective world of managers, emphasis on objective global concepts and
practices are becoming more common. Three very different perspectives in HRM
are evident. Firstly, Indian firms with a global outlook; secondly, global firms
seeking to adapt to the Indian context; and thirdly, the HRM practice in public
sectors undertakings (PSVS). As the Indian economy becomes more globally
linked, all three perspectives will move increasingly towards a cross verging
strengthening. Interestingly, within the national context, India itself is not a
homogenous entity. Regional variations in terms of industry size, provincial
business culture, and political issues play very relevant roles. The nature of
hierarchy, status, authority, responsibility and similar other concepts vary widely
across the nations synerging system maintenance. Indeed, organisational
performance and personal success are critical in the new era.

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 REFERENCES

Google.com
blogs.oneindia.in/24058/15/2/showblog.php
www.management-hub.com/hrmanagement9.html
www.allbusiness.com/human-resource-management/3131796-1.html
Business Today magazine, Jan 10 issue
Money Today, Anniversary issue

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