RECESSION AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

….In today’s recession what changes have taken place!!!

SUBMITTED TO :Dr. Shuchi Agrawal

SUBMITTED BY : Shruti Bhatia (70)

INDEX

Introduction to Recession

Policies

Religare Securities limited

Major HR policies before Recession

Changes during Recession

Some of the malpractices

Interview with HR managers

ICICI Prudential

Genpact

HOV Services

References

RECESSION A Recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle. A recession is a decline in a country's gross domestic

product (GDP), or negative real economic growth, for two or more successive quarters of a year.

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is the official agency in charge of declaring that the economy is in a

state of recession. It define recession as “significant decline in economic activity lasting more than a few

months, which is normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and

wholesale-retail sales”. For this reason, the official designation of recession may not come until after we are in a

recession for six months or longer.

Recession may be caused by Currency Crisis, Inflation, National/Government Debt, Speculation ,War which may

result to Bankruptcy, Reduced sales, Stock market crash, Unemployment, Lower production etc. A recession

normally takes place when consumers lose confidence in the growth of the economy and spend less. This leads to a

decreased demand for goods and services, which in turn leads to a decrease in production, lay-offs and a sharp rise

in unemployment. Investors spend less as they fear stocks values will fall and thus stock markets fall on negative

sentiment.

In Current recession the main causes are US Sub Prime Lending, Tightening of Liquidity, Rising oil prices and

Capital Flights in emerging market. Due to this it has become difficult for an individual to borrow, Unemployment

has increased, Profitability has declined, Stock Price fallen and consumer confidence has declined. RBI took

measures recently to reduce Repo and reverse repo rate so as to increase money supply in the hands of people.

Recession not always result in losses but also benefits(opportunity) like, Lower interest for borrowing, lower

interest rates, lower inflation, home at lower price. Some of the sector which has major impact of recession is

financial services, export-import sector, IT sector etc. But another company least affected by recession during this

phase also are Job portals like Naukri, Monster etc .

PERSONNEL POLICIES

Policies are broad guidelines as to how the objectives of a business are to be achieved. While objectives provide the

ends which a manager should try to achieve, policies provide the guidelines which he should keep in view while

achieving the ends. A policy is “an established guiding canon premised on objectives, devised to govern the activities

of the business enterprise and from which the basic precepts of conduct are derived. A policy is designed to guide the

organizational members to deal with a particular situation in a particular manner. It delimits the area within which a

decision is to be made and assures that the decision will be consistent with and contributive to business objectives.

A policy is a predetermined and accepted course of thought and action to serve as a guide towards certain accepted

objectives. In other words, we can say that policies are related to the organization’s overall purpose and its objectives

in the various areas with which its operations are concerned. Personnel policies lay down the decision making criteria

in line with the overall purpose of the organization in the area of Human Resource Management. Personnel policies

are developed by the top management to assist the managers at various levels to deal with the people at work. Thus,

personnel policies can be interpreted as the recognized intentions of top management with respect to efficient

management of workforce. Some examples of personnel policies are given below:

1. The employees will not accept any gift from any supplier for token gifts of purely nominal or advertising value.

2. Each employee will proceed on at least one week vacation each year.

3. The employees will not accept any outside assignment.

Personnel policies cover the principles and rules of conduct governing the dealings of the organization with its

employees, and set the tone for the administration of personnel programmes in a manner conducive to the

attainment of the objectives of the organization. The need for sound personnel policies stems from the fact that in

order to achieve the overall objectives of the enterprise, an atmosphere has to be created in which optimum and

spontaneous co-operation of the employees can be achieved.

Characteristics of a Policy

Policies tend to pre decide issues, avoid repeated analysis, and give a unified structure to other types of plants. Thus,

policies are not simple statements; they have certain purpose behind them. A statement should have the following

characteristics in order to be accepted as a policy.

(i) Policy is an expression of intentions of Top Management: It should present the principle that will guide

the organization actions. Most of the policy statement reflect a faith in the ethical values of the society.

(ii) Policy is stated in Broad Terms: The purpose of a policy statement is to serve as a guide to practice now

and in future; so it should be stated in the broadest possible terms.

(iii) Policy is long Lasting: A policy is enduring in nature as it is formulated after taking into account the long-

range plans and needs of the organization.

(iv) Policy is developed with the Active Participation of all Executives: Policy formulation calls for serious

thinking and participation of all executives. Policies live longer than people who frame them. Basic

organizational policies are framed in such a manner that they apply to all members of the organization

alike from top to bottom. The policies should also get approval of the highest authority in the

organization.

(v) Policy is in Writing: Policies take concrete shape when they are put into writing. This will ensure

uniformity in application. In case of disagreement at lower levels, written policy serves as the final

reference point. Written policies ensure continuity and greater conformity.

(vi) Policy is linked with Objective: A policy is derived from specific objectives and it facilitates their

achievement.

TYPES OF POLICIES

A business enterprise may have the following kinds of policies:

(i) Functional Policies: Policies may be set up in the key areas of the enterprise like production, purchase,

finance, personnel and marketing. Such policies are knows as functional policies.

(ii) Internal Policies: Internal policies include those initiated by managers at various levels to guide the

subordinates. Such policies are closely related to the organizational objectives. They differ in their nature

and scope depending upon the level of management where they have been formulated. They can be sub-

classified into three categories.

a) Basic Policy: It is used primarily by the top managers and is very broad in scope. It is applicable to the

organization as a whole.

b) General Policy: It affects the middle level managers and is more specific than a basic policy. It is used

mainly by the middle level managers.

c) Departmental Policy: It is highly specific in nature and is applicable at the lowest level of the

management to provide a guide in the day-to-day activities.

(iii) External Policies: External or imposed policies include those policies arising to meet the various pressures

and requests of forces outside the enterprise such as government, trade unions and trade associations.

(iv) Appealed policies: Such policies are formulated on the basis of the suggestions and complaints received

from the employees. This happens when the subject matter of a suggestion or complaint is exceptional in

nature and is not covered by the existing policies. Such policies are sometimes incomplete. So it is better

to replace them by the originated policies.

(v) Stated or explicit policies: Such policies are usually in writing and form a part of enterprise manual. They

are definite and generally rigid.

(vi) Unstated or implied policies: These policies are not recorded in writing even though they are followed at

every level. Sometimes they are not stated orally but are inferred from the behavior of the managers. That

is why they are known as implied policies. An implied policy is generally flexible.

NEED AND BENEFITS OF PERSONNEL POLICIES

A policy is a guide for repetitive action in major areas of business. It is a statement of commonly accepted

understanding of decision making criteria. Policies are set up to achieve several benefits. By taking policy decisions on

frequently recurring problems, the top management provides the guidelines to lower level managers. It will permit

decisions to be made in similar situations without repeating the reasons and expensive analysis required initially to

state the policy or make the decision. Policies help managers at various levels to act with confidence without the need

of consulting the superiors every time. This will also ensure promptness in action.

The benefits of policies are as follows:

(i) By making policy decisions on frequently recurring problems, the top management provides guidelines to the

lower level managers.

(ii) Policies help managers at various levels to act with confidence without the need for consulting the superiors

every time. This also ensures promptness of action.

(iii) Policies facilitate better administrative control as they provide the rational basis for evaluating the results.

(iv) By setting up policies, the management ensures that decisions made will be consistent and in tune with the

objectives and interests of the enterprise.

(v) Policies secure coordination and integration of efforts in accomplishing the organizational objectives.

(vi) Policies save time and effort by pre-deciding problems in repetitive situations. They save the management

from the botheration of repeating the expensive analysis required to take the policy every time.

LIMITATIONS OF PERSONNEL POLICIES

Personnel policies may suffer from some limitations which are as follows:

(i) Policies are repeatedly used plans: They bring about rigidity in operations as they leave no room for

initiative by the subordinates.

(ii) Policies may not cover all the problems: Sometimes, unforeseen situations arise which are not covered by

the existing policies.

(iii) Policies are no substitute for human judgement. Policies only delimit the area within which decisions are to

be made.

(iv) Policies may not be ever lasting as they lose their utility with the changes in the internal and external

environment of the business.

RELIGARE SECURITIES LIMITED .Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), is one of the leading integrated financial services groups of India. The company

offers a diverse bouquet of services like

Equities

Commodities

Insurance broking

Wealth management

Portfolio management services

Personal financial services

Investment banking

Institutional broking services

The services are broadly clubbed across three key business verticals- Retail, Wealth management and the Institutional

spectrum. Religare Enterprises Limited is the holding company for all its businesses, structured and being operated

through various subsidiaries.

VISION - To build Religare as a globally trusted brand in the financial services domain and present it as the ‘Investment

Gateway of India'.

MISSION - Providing complete financial care driven by the core values of diligence and transparency.

BRAND ESSENCE - Core brand essence is Diligence and Religare is driven by ethical and dynamic processes for wealth creation

MAJOR HR POLICIES BEFORE RECESSION .1. LEAVE POLICY : As per Religare Policy, An employee can avail following leaves in a year starting 1st Jan ending 31st

March which must be sanctioned(unless it’s not an emergency)

MATERNITY LEAVE: Maternity leave is provided as per provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act. All female

employees who have completed at least 80 days of service will be eligible for maternity leave. Individuals will

be entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks of maternity leave with pay of which not more than six weeks can be

taken before childbirth. However the entire period of 12 weeks can be utilized post delivery.

CASUAL LEAVE: Casual leave is restricted to a maximum of three days on one occasion. In case the individual

remains absent beyond three days of casual leave the entire leave will be adjusted against annual leave.

Casual leave cannot be combined with any other kind of leave. Casual leave cannot be accumulated and will

lapse at the end of the year.

SICK LEAVE: All Sick leaves in excess of 3 days should be supported by medical certificate from a Registered

Practitioner. Sick leave can be combined with Annual leave.

PRIVILEGE LEAVE: Privilege leave may be accumulated to a maximum of 120 days at any time. Privilege leave

can be encashed on the basis of Basic salary. Privilege leave can be combined with sick and maternity leave. It

can be availed only after completion of at least 6 months in the org. In the event of a probationer requiring

privilege leave for compelling reasons, clearance must be obtained from Regional Head. Such leave will be

debited against prospective entitlement. In case employee leaves before earning that leave the wages paid

for such period will be recovered at the time of settlement.

LEAVE RECORD

HR will maintain the leave record in Delhi and designated persons at various locations would send the monthly

attendance data along with leave applications to Corporate HR. Details of leaves with leave applications availed by

employees will be sent to HR by Branch heads at the end of the month.

LEAVE RULES

In case of some emergency where prior sanction is not possible, information on telephone/in writing must be sent to

the concerned authority. Any absence from office for more than 2 days without any intimation will lead to disciplinary

action.

If an employee is absent from the services of the company without prior written permission or intimation or overstay

the sanctioned leave for 7 consecutive days , he/she will be deemed to have abandoned the service voluntarily

without giving due notice and the name will be struck off the rolls. It must be understood that leave is granted at the

discretion of the management. Employees must be prepared to adjust their leave in keeping with the exigencies of

their work.

Leaves cannot be claimed as a matter of right where the exigency of service so requires.

2. LOCAL CONVEYANCE POLICY

3. NEW HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY : Religare cover its employee under Group Health Policy with New India

Assurance Co. Ltd. It covers not only its employees but also their dependents (as mentioned). The policy helps

employees to take care of heavy financial burden of treatment in hospitals for illness, disease or accident involving

surgery or not.

The Salient Features of the Policy are given below

The claim will only be admissible when there is a hospitalization for a minimum period of 24 hours. However,

this time limit is not applicable to specific treatments where due to technological advances hospitalization is

required for less than 24 hours only and surgical procedure is involved for e.g. Cataract operation.

The expenses payable includes Room, Boarding & Nursing Expenses as provided by the hospital/nursing home

including registration and service charges, Surgeon, Medical Practitioner, Consultants and Specialists fees

respectively.

The pre-existing condition means a medical condition which existed on the date of cover in the policy for

which insured employee received medical advice and treatment or symptoms are such for which an ordinary

person would seek medical advice or treatment. Hence if any claim is arising due to said conditions will be

payable subject to certain conditions. However, there is waiting period of 30 days for new joinees from

addition in the policy (which happens on 6th of every month).

The treatment taken in hospital/nursing home arising from or traceable to pregnancy, child birth, including

normal caesareans section only for first two children with maximum sum insured of Rs 50,000 per case is

admissible . However, there is waiting period of 9 months for new joinee from the day of addition in the

policy.

The new born baby is covered from day one and available sum insured for it will be shared from available sum

insured for maternity coverage i.e. Rs 50,000.

Relevant Medical Expenses incurred during period upto 30 days prior to hospitalization on

disease/illness/injury sustained will be considered as a part of claim.

Relevant Medical Expenses incurred during period upto 60 days after hospitalization on disease/illness/injury

sustained will be considered as a part of claim.

The claimant will receive Rs.1000/- per day for hospitalization period in addition to an admissible

hospitalization expenses.

4. OTHER BENEFITS

MARRIAGE GIFT

All employees of the company, on the occasion of theirs or their ward’s marriage, shall be given a gift in the form

of a gift Cheque worth Rs. 5100/-. The HR department shall coordinate the exercise and get the gift Cheque,

flowers and a greeting card signed either by the Functional Head or the Managing Director.

LATE SITTINGS

As far as possible, late sitting at work must be avoided. Still, however, if employees are required to overstay at

work beyond two hours, they will be provided local conveyance reimbursement at the rate of Rs. 2.50 per k.m.

to the maximum of Rs. 50/- per day.

In case employees are required to attend office on an off-day, they shall be eligible for claiming

reimbursement of Local Conveyance at the rate of Rs. 2.50 per kilometer to the maximum of Rs. 100 /- per

day. Besides, the employee shall also have the provision of claiming Meal expenses @ Rs. 30 /- per day.

These shall be applicable only till the Executive grade and not above that.

5. MEDICAL POLICY

Medical Reimbursement: The medical reimbursement is applicable to all the employees in the Executive Grade & above.

GUIDELINES

a. Actual medical expenses will be reimbursed against receipts/vouchers for all the employees and their family.

The family includes:

Spouse and dependent children

Dependant Parents (In case of male and unmarried female employees)

b. An individual can claim medical reimbursement from the date of joining on pro-rata basis.

c. Employees in Grade Executive & M1 have an option to include for medical reimbursement in the

remuneration (Cost to Company). The entitlement depends on the grade of the employee.

The employee can choose from the options which are mentioned below

S. No Earlier Grade New Grade Amount(per annum)1 Jr. Executive L8 NIL2 Executive L7 5,0003 Executive L6 7,5004 M1 L5 10,0005 M2 L4 15,0006 M3 L3 15,0007 M3 L2 15,0008 M4 L1 15,000

6. EXIT POLICY

Incase employee plans to leave the organization, he must inform the organization 45 days before his date of

leaving (except emergency case ) with the written reason for leaving the organization.

If employee has been terminated than he must return all the organization belongings within a period of 7

days. If he doesn’t comply with it he may be liable to legal actions. He would be payed his dues only when he

returns these belongings.

CHANGES DONE IN HR & BUSINESS POLICY IN THIS RECESSION PHASE

1. Exit policy has changed. Now employee requires giving only 7 days time period to leave the organization.

2. Employees job is directly proportional to the business he gets. Each employee must get business minimum up

to 1.5 times the salary he or she is taking. If he or she doesn’t do so, he must be given warning letter for

showing performance for next 2 months; after that he doesn’t perform, than he may be terminated.(This

policy is verbal to all managers not in written)

3. For the local conveyance reimbursement only L8, L7 and L6 category employees are applicable.

4. No leaves are sanctioned by managers. Since we are hard pressed with time and cant employ back up for

every employee for a period of 6 months no leaves must be sanctioned.

5. Office has been shifted from Nehru Place to Noida. Bus conveyance has to be paid by employees @ Rs 1,500

per employee.

6. Benefit of long working hours has been discontinued for the period of 6 months.

7. All employees of the company, on the occasion of theirs marriage, shall be given a gift in the form of a gift

Cheque worth Rs. 4,500/-.

8. Company’s Laptop and Mobiles are shared by two to three employees. Two laptops are available incase any

employee requires it at same time.

SOME OF THE MALPRACTICES/PRACTICES NOTICED BY US

1. In one of the place, regional head wanted to remove three people under him who were not signing resignation

on their own. But their performance was very low. And they were in regional head A (name not known as HR

person were talking about this case informally) team for about an year and was the reason for regional heads

bad performance. Regional head told watchman not to allow these three personnel in the organization for

about a week’s time and hence issued them notice for termination of their services. There case is now handled

by legal department of HR.

2. In other case, one of the manager asked HR executive the way he can throw out an employee who keeps on

using employees resources for his personal use thereby wasting his time in organization. For this HR advised to

give a month notice with proof to employee telling him he need to improve his acts or else he may be

terminated

3. In another case a female employee threatened his male manager through an outsider that he needs to stop

his acts or else acid may be thrown. This was due to manager’s pressure on his team for showing performance.

Employee was terminated as soon as the information was provided to HR and police was informed for the

same. This case is fought by Legal department on the behalf of manager but here employee has not filed case

on real scenario. She filed case saying that his manager misbehaves.

4. Employee’s bonus due on November has been delayed to March.

5. Shifting of employees to Noida office resulted in resignation of 27 employees. This helped organization to

downsize but in this process it also lost 3 of its best employees. Bus service was provided after a months time

so that people themselves leave and hardworking ones remained with organization.

6. In order to improvise on its one of the SBU Fortis sales, they provided discount of 10% on billing of medicine

and 5% on other items.

7. There were rumors that high management level employee’s salary may be cut down to 10-20%.

Result of these policies

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION : Employee Satisfaction was very low. One of the employee told that if given a chance she will move to other organization even if it pays her equal salary or low job profile. She was looking for an opportunity outside the organization

LEGAL CASES: Legal department has to handle some of the cases in which their managers were at mistake. Their burden has increased during this period.

TURNOVER RATE : Turnover rate has increased. Though it is taken positively during this cost cutting phase but thinking long term is not at all a good idea because it is also incurring huge cost on recruiting by paying to consultants to cover some of the important positions.

INTERVIEW WITH HR MANAGERS OF

i. ICICI PRUDENTIAL

ii. GENPACT

iii. VOH SERVICES

ICICI PRUDENTIAL ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank - one of India's foremost financial

services companies-and Prudential PLC - a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United

Kingdom. Total capital infusion stands at Rs. 47.80 billion, with ICICI Bank holding a stake of 74% and Prudential plc

holding 26%.

It began its operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority

(IRDA). Today, its nation-wide team comprises of over 2000 branches (inclusive of 1,100 micro-offices), over 258,000

advisors; and 24 bank assurance partners.

ICICI Prudential is the first life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (India) from

Fitch ratings. For three years in a row, ICICI Prudential has been voted as India's Most Trusted Private Life Insurer, by

The Economic Times - AC Nielsen ORG Marg survey of 'Most Trusted Brands'. As it grows its distribution, product range

and customer base, it continues tirelessly to uphold its commitment to deliver world-class financial solutions to

customers all over India.

VISION: To be the dominant Life, Health and Pensions player built on trust by world-class people and service. This it

hopes to achieve by:

Understanding the needs of customers and offering them superior products and service

Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently and conveniently

Developing and implementing superior risk management and investment strategies to offer sustainable and

stable returns to our policyholders

Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for its employees

And above all, building transparency in all its dealings

The success of the company will be founded in its unflinching commitment to 5 core values - Integrity, Customer

First, Boundary less, Ownership and Passion. Each of the values describes what the company stands for, the qualities

of its people and the way it works. It believes that it is on the threshold of an exciting new opportunity, where it can

play a significant role in redefining and reshaping the sector. Given the quality of its parentage and the commitment of

its team, there are no limits to its growth

VALUES: Every member of the ICICI Prudential team is committed to 5 core values: Integrity, Customer First, Boundary

less, Ownership, and Passion. These values shine forth in all what it does, and have become the keystones of its

success.

RAHUL BALAKRISHNAN, HR AND CONSULTING MANAGER, ICICI PRUDENTIAL, NOIDA BRANCH

1. Because of recession how many people have left the organization till now? Was it on their own or

the company decided to reduce the number of employees and what are the reasons behind it?

Employees have not yet been fired or have left the organization because of recession. But by end of March

2009, you may see few employees losing their jobs.

2. We have heard that in this recession time also almost 63% of Indian firms are still recruiting. Are

you amongst them?

No, we have not recruited employees during this recession period. We are aware of the situation and won’t

like to penalize good employees at this time. However we are into cost cutting measures and worst

performers have to be removed since they are more of liability than an asset.

3. Why haven’t you recruited employees in this recession period?

Recession is a very critical phase and we don’t want to take risk by recruiting new employees because

recruiting new employees means incurring extra costs and at this point it’s not feasible to incur costs. Also

new employees may take time to go about doing the work, so we decided that experience employees can take

more burdens during this time period. But, we will start recruiting from April onwards as there’s a need of

more employees.

4. Do you think the role of HR manager will change looking at the current scenario? What do you

personally feel would be a good strategy to tackle recession?

Yes, HR manager’s role has changed. We are currently thinking to retrench the bottom 20% of the employees

at end of March 2009. Earlier it was that more employees will do a certain amount of work. But, now by

cutting down on the number of employees, the strategy is to have more amount of work done by less number

of employees. So, employees are expected to do more amount of work. They will be entrusted with more

responsibilities.

5. Don’t you think that this will have a negative impact on the performance of the employees?

No, I think this will make employees work harder which will in turn benefit the company. Nobody wants to

lose their job in this recession period because finding another job will be very difficult.

6. What about promotions? Are employees getting promoted?

Yes, the employees are getting promoted as before however salary is not increasing at similar rate.

7. How long employees have to serve the notice period.

Employees usually have to serve one month notice period.

8. As you said employees are required to take additional work. Won’t the existing employees feel

overburdened by the amount of work they will have to do?

Yes, they will be overburdened, but they know that to keep company in a good position this is required.

9. According to you when exactly did recession started actually affecting your company?

Recession began affecting us in the beginning of September and as it affected the whole world, it also affected

our company. People were not interested in getting insurance and also there were rumors that ICICI will

become bankrupt. Yes, so this all did affect the company.

10. What type of measures you are taking to tackle /overcome this problem?

Employee’s mobile expenses have been reduced from Rs 1500 to Rs. 1300. As a result Rs. 2crores have been

saved in the last 6 months.

Instead of international holidays to countries like Bangkok and Singapore which were offered to employees

once a year, now domestic holidays are offered to employees to Mumbai, Goa and other parts of India twice

or thrice a year. This has led to reduction of costs as international holidays are 5-6 times costlier than domestic

holidays. Also employees are rewarded now 2-3 times a year in the form of holidays as compared to once in

previous years. Hence employees feel that they are rewarded and looked after by the company well.

CONCLUSION FROM ABOVE INTERVIEW

There HR Policies involves cost cutting but during this situation also they are giving promotion with hikes which shows

they value their good employees. In their cost cutting measures they have reduced expenses which can be avoided like

mobile expenses and international trips.

GENPACT Genpact is a leader in the globalization of services and technology and a pioneer in managing business processes for

companies around the world. The Company combines process expertise, information technology and analytical

capabilities with operational insight and experience in diverse industries to provide a wide range of services using its

global delivery platform. .

Genpact provides a wide range of services, including Finance & Accounting, Collections and Customer Service,

Insurance, Supply Chain & Procurement, Analytics, Enterprise Application, IT Infrastructure and Management.

Its goal is to help its clients to improve the ways in which they do business by continuously improving their business

processes through Six Sigma and Lean principles and by the innovative use of technology. As a service provider, it

strives to be a seamless extension of its clients operations. .

Genpact manages complex processes in multiple geographic regions, delivering its services from a global network of

more than 30 operations centers in 12 countries. Its global delivery centers are located in India, China, the Philippines,

Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Morocco, Mexico, Guatemala and the United States.

It has a unique heritage. It built its business by meeting the demands of the leaders of the General Electric Company

(GE) to increase the productivity of its businesses. It began in 1997 as the India-based business process services

operation of GE Capital. .

Its leadership team, processes and culture have been deeply influenced by its eight years as a captive operation of GE.

Many elements of GE’s success-the rigorous use of metrics and analytics, the relentless focus on improvement, a

strong emphasis on the client and innovative human resources practices-are the foundations of its business.

It became an independent company in 2005 and, since then, it has grown rapidly, continued to expand its range of

services and diversified its client base.

RADHIKA GOYET, HR MANAGER, GENPACT, NEW DELHI

1. Because of recession how many people have left the organization till now? Was it on their own or

the company decided to reduce the number of employees and what are the reasons behind it?

In our company, nobody is fired. This is our company’s policy, if a process is taken back, then the employees in

that process are relocated in other processes. Three years back, we had a Dell Process, which was taken back. The

employees of Dell process were relocated in other processes of the company.

2. We have heard that in this recession time also almost 63% of Indian firms are still recruiting. Are you

amongst them?

No new process has yet come to Genpact, so there’s no recruitment as of now. The recruitment depends on the

businesses our company can get. More people will be recruited if we can get new business.

3. Do you think the role of HR manager will change looking at the current scenario? What do you

personally feel would be a good strategy to tackle recession?

Yes, the role of HR manager has changed in the current scenario. It would be good not to throw out employees.

Also as our company’s growth depends on the number of businesses it gets. So, in case there are excess

employees it would be apt to keep them on payroll till we get a new business.

4. How much long is the employee’s resignation period?

Generally employee has to serve one month after giving resignation. He has to serve one month notice period

before leaving the organization. An employee can take back his resignation letter anytime during the time of

serving his notice.

5. What about promotions? Are employees still getting promoted?

All the promotions have been stopped for now. The promotions have been shifted three months further and in

some processes 6 months further.

6. Has there been cut in the salaries of the employees?

No, there hasn’t been any salary cut this year The salaries of employees have remained the same as before. The

yearly increment in the salary of 10% -15% has not been given. Bonuses have also not been given. Incentives have

remained the same.

7. Won’t the existing workers feel overburdened by the amount of work they will have to do?

In recession period, our workload has become less. As most of our businesses are of U.S., and in recession U.S. has

been affected a lot, so there’s no burden of work on employees as of now.

8. According to you when exactly did recession started actually affecting your company?

Recession started affected our company from the month of August as the amount of work which we were getting

daily from U.S. became less.

9. What type of measures you are taking to tackle /overcome this problem? What strategies should

company adopt in recession?

Outside every process, there were at least 3 telephones. Employees used to talk for hours on phones. But, now

they have removed all the telephones.

There were parties every three months, which now do not take place. At the New Years Eve, there were parties in

night clubs and discos, which also didn’t happen this time.

Computers have to be switched off and the last person before leaving the bay should make it a point to switch off

the lights and fans.

CONCLUSION OF ABOVE INTERVIEW

Genpact has business focused approach. But when met with employees they were also bit unsatisfied as they were

told to come in organization when they don’t have any thing much to do. Besides this there HR policy is focused to

some extent on its employees more than organization. Rather than cutting cost through retrenching employees they

focused more on except employees where can we reduce cost. In comparison to other organization there employees

were happier than other organization interview and visited.

HOV SERVICESHOV Services, Inc is a provider of business process and knowledge process outsourcing solutions. HOV Services is a

leader in the delivery of flexible, end-to-end outsourcing solutions. As a strategic partner and leader in the Business

Process and Knowledge Process outsourcing marketplace, it is focused on improving financial and operational

performance for its customers. Its clients include over 50 percent of the FORTUNE 100 and are some of the largest

companies in the industries served. It combines over 20 years of industry experience with Right Shore delivery centers

strategically located in India, North America, China and Mexico with over 12,000 associates working together to

Exceed Expectations of its clients by assisting them in reaching their strategic business goals.

They have received a ranking of 15 on the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Global

Outsourcing 100 list for 2008. This is the third consecutive ranking for HOV Services within the top 25, and moves HOV

Services up nine positions from last years ranking.

HOV Services strives to exceed expectations for every one of its customers. As a leader in Global Business Process

Outsourcing, it develops fully integrated solutions that combine best-of-breed technology, leading-edge infrastructure

and domain expertise to give you the most streamlined process available. Its end to end solutions for healthcare,

banking and publishing and our e-content management solutions coupled with workflow based large volume

transaction processing services set standards for the industry. HOV Services applies LEAN Six Sigma techniques to

improve quality, reduce cost and improve cycle time of your business processes.

BHAVANA SHARMA, DGM, HOV SERVICES, CHENNAI

1. Because of recession how many people have left the organization till now? Was it on their own or the

company decided to reduce the number of employees and what are the reasons behind it

No employee as yet has left the organization or been fired because of recession.

2. We have heard that in this recession time also almost 63% of Indian firms are still recruiting. Are you

amongst them?

The company is still recruiting many employees. From January till now, nearly 1400 employees have been

recruited. The companies have got many new businesses and processes, during this period, so we require more

employees.

3. Do you think the role of HR manager will change looking at the current scenario? What do you

personally feel would be a good strategy to tackle recession?

Yes, HR manager will have to come up with different ways to tackle recession. What I personally feel is that a

performance mechanism has to be followed. For this, our company has already laid out strategy. The company has

now become strict on performance. Employees would be evaluated on their performance. They would be rated on

a scale of 1 to 10. Those employees who would get rating anywhere between 6 to 10 would mean are doing good

job. The rest who would be getting below 6 need to improve their performance, and if they further continue to be

in the ratings ranging between 1 to 5, then the company has no other option but to tell them to find another job

for themselves. They are not fired immediately but are given two months time to either improve or find another

job.

4. As you have already said that those employees who don’t perform well will be asked to find another

job. Don’t you think that this will have a negative impact on the existing employees?

No, I don’t think that this will have a negative impact on the performance of the employees that the employees

will be scared or disturbed. Every employee knows the importance of performance. If you perform you stay,

otherwise you are out.

5. What about the promotions of the employees. Are they getting promoted?

Promotions are taking place. Employees are getting promoted as and when it is due. As it happens in the case of

promotions, when an employee moves on to the next higher level, there’s a hike in the salary. But after recession,

that’s not the case, employees are getting promoted, but with no increase in salary.

6. Won’t the existing workers feel overburdened by the amount of work they will have to do?

In fact I think that this is an opportunity for the employees to show what they are capable of, how they can handle

stress and extra work that they are supposed to do in times of recession.

7. How long an employee has to serve the resignation period?

At the lower level, employee has to give prior notice and serve one month before leaving the organization. But at

management level, generally its three months. But, the period to be served also depends on the amount of

holidays employee has taken and it gets adjusted with the notice serving period.

8. According to you when exactly did recession started actually affecting your company?

Recession started affecting the company from August end. But, it hasn’t affected the company as such that there’s

a need to retrench employees. There’s been cut in expenses and other spendings.

9. What type of measures you are taking to tackle /overcome this problem?

Before recession, there was lavish spending on training and development of employees. External trainers were

hired on temporary basis and were paid handsomely. But after recession, the company has stopped inviting

external trainers because they cost a lot of money.

The employees were send to institutions such as IIM’s where they had training sessions. A large number of group

of employees were send to IIM’s. This costs a lot to the company as travelling, food and staying expenses were to

be borne out by the company. Also sometimes, experienced and knowledgeable professionals from IIM’s were

invited to take up sessions with the employees. In the company. But, it costs huge amount to the company, and

they took anywhere between Rs. 50000 to Rs. 60000 apart from other expenses like food, travelling and staying

expenses.

So, after recession, the company decided to send only a single employee to IIM’s, who would get trained there and

would come back and train the other employees. This way they would be able to reduce their costs of inviting

professionals as well as travelling, food and staying cost would be cut.

Also earlier, there were four trainers for four different shifts. But, now what the company has done is that they

have prepared a training module. Now, there would be only one trainer for a shift who would give training. And in

rest of the shifts where the trainer would not be there, then the training would be given by Project Leader of the

group, through the module prepared for training purposes.

Also, earlier employee’s salaries at higher level were hiked by 20% - 25% annually. But, now it’s hiked by 8% - 10%

only annually.

Earlier quarterly, performance bonus was given to employees, which is not given now.

There used to be group dinners, lunches, outings with team member, which doesn’t happen anymore.

Also, the bench has been dismantled. Those employees, who do not have any project on their hands, have been

loaded off.

Earlier employees were sent to different countries like USA and UK to meet clients and attend meetings. But, now

everything is done through video conferencing

CONCLUSION FROM THIS INTERVIEW

This company is in better position since recession didn’t affect its business. However it has set certain performance standard so that non performers pull up their socks timely. They are doing cost cutting but to certain extent are able to attain employee job satisfaction. They are doing cost cutting in areas where employee is not affected much. Overall, out of the four companies, we found this company’s employee at a better position in this recession.

REFERENCES

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance - Noida H.O. Plot No. K-3, Sector - 18(Brahm Datt Tower, Noida Complex) 6th Floor.

Genpact,DMRC Building,Shastri Park., Delhi.

HOV Services LimitedDowlath Towers, 8th to 12th Floor, 59, Taylors Road, Kilpauk, Chennai.

Human Resource Management, by T.N Chabra

Personnel Management, by C.B. Mamoria

www.religare.in