HR Practices at Microsoft INTRODUCTION

Microsoft is considered by many to be an ideal place to work. The company has won several awards for innovation, for their commitment to diversity, and for their flexible work arrangements. It has always been a leader in the market with regard to its compensation. With a total strength of about 80, 0004 employees across the globe, and a total revenue exceeding $15 billion, it is one of the biggest and bestknown technology companies in the world. The organization believes in providing the employees whatever tools and technologies they need to achieve the best results possible; and the employees are expected to create software and entertainment products that could sell millions of copies worldwide. The office campuses at most locations are considered the benchmark of technology hubs, with fir trees, forested trails, snowcapped mountain vistas, basketball courts, and even shuttle buses for employees to make use of. Employees at Microsoft are recognized as the intellectual fuel and are provided with various benefit plans and resources, which are designed to retain them. The way the business and HR strategy have been intertwined at Microsoft is an example of how the businesses that are run with common goals and vision make money for their investors and employees. The amount of investment that Microsoft has done for its employees and how well the HR Managers have been able to align the work culture to the business strategy is clear from the results the company has posted year after year. From being a geeks playhouse in 1980s to being a company that is a household name everywhere in the civilized world, Microsoft is a company which is admired and envied by even its most ardent rivals. As an organization, Microsoft offers a lot of flexibility to employees the flexible work arrangements and flexible benefit plans offered at Microsoft are often considered Best Practices by many employers

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HR Practices at Microsoft

HR as a business partner
At Microsoft, what businesses seek of HR is to: a) Understand the talent needs of the business b) Help develop strategic plans regarding employees c) Identify talent issues before they impact the business and d) Help identify new business strategies. HR growth model is based on one solid infrastructure to grow through flawless execution into leading change and becoming strategic business drivers. Execution excellence is important and lays the foundation for HR to grow relationship building is important but it needs to be supplemented by a real value to the business.

Microsoft India- HR Growth Model

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HR Practices at Microsoft
Recruitment and Selection
The company believes in recruiting extremely intelligent staff, favouring intelligence over experience, as quoted by Bill Gates preference for hiring extremely intelligent, not necessarily experienced. Recruitment: They sought the smartest and the most driven people from elite educational facilities.

They prefer in recruiting extremely intelligent staff preferring education more than experience. Microsoft has four main recruitment channels: University/Campus Recruiting Direct Resume Submission On-staff Headhunting Outsourced Headhunting Microsoft only occasionally uses outsourced headhunting, typically for very specialized positions. Selection: Once recruitment process is done, a multi-step interview/ assessment program follows which can be at least 3 step or sometimes up to 10 stem process. These interviews were designed not to test knowledge, but to test thought processes, problem-solving abilities, and work habits. Technical interviews are described as being focused mainly on problem-solving, with interviewers posing problem scenarios. To test the composure of the candidate and also their creative problem-solving skills, unexpected questions were also included. The very last step is an interview by someone outside the hiring group, this person is independent and so unbiased in their opinion.

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HR Practices at Microsoft
DBSPT competency model for the HR value proposition
Business Knowledge

Personal Credibility

Strategic Contribution

HR Delivery

HR Technology

Competency Model (DBSPT)

1. Strategic Contribution Culture management Microsoft employees are great people who share the following values Integrity and honesty Willingness to take big challenges Self-critical, Questioning and committed to personal excellence and selfimprovement Standard of business conduct to guide decision-making and business activities

Strategic decision making Microsofts HR department plays two roles in key decisions o They take strong stands and bring intellectual rigor to business decision making o They play a reactive role relative to business decision-making. Ask insightful questions, encourage others to be strategic

Fast change

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HR Practices at Microsoft
Microsoft has an organizational change management framework to drive an organization-wide competency around planning, managing, and implementing organizational change. Utilizing a structured process and specific set of resources for addressing the impact of change on people, Microsoft is able to realize faster change adoption, maintaining momentum and its commitments while mitigating the natural resistance to change. There are two types of change management: Organizational change management focuses on the people side of change: how peoples behaviors influence operational changes, and how changes impact the intended audience Operational change management focuses on the physical aspect of a change, for example, infrastructure, software, hardware, or environmental changes.

Example of strategic contribution At Microsoft, every employee is committed to helping expand access to quality education worldwide. They recognize that although technology has helped drive significant advances in education, there is still enormous potential for transformative change. The following diagram and descriptive text provide a concise overview of the Microsoft approach to strategic planning for education. The approach begins with a common vision of delivering a 21st-century education and then focuses on the core needs and concerns of all key stakeholders.

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HR Practices at Microsoft

2. Personal Credibility Achieving results Credible HR professionals have a reputation for meeting their commitments for doing what they say and saying what theyll do for getting error-free results Effective Relationships Microsoft provides people with opportunities to grow, be creative and acquire training for challenging assignments and advancement It provides for its staff to achieve self-actualization and also exactly what it expects, for them to be the very best they can be communication skills

Example of Personal Credibility MY Microsoft: On May 18, 2006, Microsoft Corporation announced a plan named MY MICROSOFT. Introduced by Lisa Brummel who was the Senior Vice-President of HR. She was appointed by Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft in 2006. Developing appropriate systems to enhance communication between the employees and the HR department. Made the companys HR polices transparent.

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HR Practices at Microsoft
Centralizing the information the employee should have about what they are getting there.

3. HR Delivery Staffing People are what make Microsoft the unique, innovative and progressive company that it is. To ensure they invest in this critical asset, Human Resources employees identify, hire, and grow the people and develop and run the industry-leading compensation and benefits programs. Staffing employees develop and execute recruitment strategies to find, attract, and hire the best talent to the company. Training and Development Role of HR at Microsoft: Identification of potential skill shortages for proactive planning, hiring, and training to meet future needs Develop and Maintain training and certification plans to achieve workforce skill and knowledge goals. Performance Management Performance goals pertaining to employees were measured against specific measurable ones, the objectives shortened to SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result, Time-bound) Formal review system ensures no unexpected deviations Also includes the process of employee evaluating themselves These self-evaluations are then sent to managers for their own evaluation The employee and manager then meet to discuss the review

4. HR Measurement At Microsoft, all critical people metrics are tracked to measure the effectiveness of HR. They can be categorized as:

Organisation: Organisation size, open positions, line HR ratios Organisation Health: Workgroup Health Index, Microsoft Pulse Index, Microsoft Culture Index

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HR Practices at Microsoft

Staffing: Hiring stats types of hires, channel wise hiring stats, positions closed internally, hiring spends, lead time, % of hiring plan, net adds, offer acceptance rates, reasons for offer decline Talent Management: Good attrition, bad attrition, YOY and Qtr-on-Qtr tracking, reasons for bad attrition, % retention of high positions, % of promotions, succession planning indicator, succession planning usage Diversity: % of women (target vs. actual), % of women hired, % of women talent losses, reasons for bad attrition, % of women in leadership succession slate, % of Managers and employees completing MS Diversity training programs, % of other diversity hiring (differently abled) Manager Capability: Span of Control, Organisation Depth, % of Managers Learning & Development: Field Readiness Index, number of employees trained on employee development programmes, number of managers trained through management excellence framework (that provides for management development through career events, continuous learning and building connections) Leadership Development: % of leadership hires, % of leadership attrition, succession planning index (% of successors in stages of readiness for a Leadership role) Rewards: % of budget used on rewards

5. Legal Compliance Compliance with business standards, laws and regulatory requirements Accountability for bribery and anti-corruption, anti-money laundering laws applicable Taking appropriate actions that are ethical and in compliance with applicable legal requirements Creation, retention and disposal of business records and information assets as a part of the normal course of business compliance with Microsoft policies Promotes and supports diverse workforce at all levels of company Microsoft promotes equal employment opportunity Allegations of harassments and unlawful discrimination addressed with high priority

Business Knowledge

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HR Practices at Microsoft
Microsoft HR professionals understand the company they serve and the industry in which they function. Knowledge of the value chain: Microsoft HR professionals understand the firms external customer, suppliers and competitors; and to see how to translate their knowledge into internal financial and production requirements. Knowledge of the firms value proposition: The HRs decide on what activities to conduct through which internal channels and which to outsource; harmonize in deciding which business to emphasize Labour knowledge: HR professionals track employee satisfaction, key needs of employees and maintaining ongoing two-way communications within the workforce.

Example: The HR gain in depth business knowledge during mergers and acquisitions, organization restructuring and participate in developing strategies and ensure that human resource dimensions are considered. HR Technology The Microsoft HR department regularly finds new applications of technology to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Employee Loyalty and Satisfaction Empowering employees is one of the new approaches being utilized by Microsoft Providing data opportunities to younger people for having elder employees to coach them Three aspects of task that affect job satisfaction are : o Job Complexity o Degree of physical strain o Perceived value of the task Microsoft manages this by providing high complexity that high achievers require ensuring the perceived value of the task assigned. Role Ambiguity is kept low because of the consistency in the culture

Rewards and Recognition They recognize the importance of the people and reflect it in their rewards system Rewards for current achievements and also for those that are seen as valuable future assets Divide the skills of employees into areas : conceptual, technical and human Offers to advancement path, allowing those with technical skills to advance as technical experts and people with conceptual skills advance as managers

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HR Practices at Microsoft
By having two reward systems, it effectively communicates that both sets of skills are valued Microsoft offers stock options to employees based on performance

Best practices of HR at Microsoft

Employee Retention program Microsoft conducted a questionnaire survey to frame an Employee value proposition Surveyed for 8 needs in Employee value proposition o o o o o o o o Working with technology everyday Caring for every employee Working in an energizing environment People friendly benefits Building careers in life Recognizing great work Enjoying each day Making a difference globally

Launched You and Microsoft, Living the Experience together!

Flexible Working Hours Introducing Flexible working hours, Enables employees work according to their convenience Sense of responsibility and discipline. Helps in building rapport 56% of flexible workers believe they work more productively away from the office, and 48% say this is because they can fit their work around personal commitments o Three in ten are most productive when at home o o o o
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HR Practices at Microsoft
o Four in ten (40%) respondents think flexible working would be at least very important to any decision they would make about changing job o Therefore, whether it being flexible in regard to place or time of work, there are strong indications that employers can improve the productivity of their employees by allowing them to work flexibly

Women Empowerment Drive o Special recruitment drives to raise the female to male ratio in the workforce. o One-India women's conference conducted annually. Microsoft Corporation is in the list of 100 best companies for working women for six consecutive years till 2008.

Investing and budgeting Microsoft provides an employee stock purchase program that allows employees to purchase shares of Microsoft stock at a discount. Each quarter, employees can purchase Microsoft stock at a 10 percent discount off the market price during a defined purchase period. In addition to competitive pay, bonuses and stock awards to eligible employees based on individual performance, benefits such as tuition assistance and encashment of unused benefits can also help employees invest in their future.

A goodie-bag of benefits

Free beverages Awesome cafeterias Transportation :free air-conditioned bus and carpool service Time off: 15 paid vacation days, 10 paid sick-leave days and 12 paid India holidays. Relocation: If an employee has to move to begin his Microsoft career, he may be eligible for help with everything from packing and moving stuff to temporary housing. Discounts on software and hardware: Enjoy substantial discounts on Microsoft products And more: Enjoy flexible work hours, freedom to dress as employees choice (within reason), a team morale budget (a longstanding Microsoft tradition), product launch parties, and the annual Microsoft company meeting.

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HR Practices at Microsoft
Microsoft Intern Program Under this program, Microsoft provides to the interns real responsibility, amazing experiences and the opportunity to jumpstart their career. Microsoft takes pride in treating its interns like real employees, having them join project groups and assigning tasks that could potentially impact national initiatives and strategies. These groups fall into a number of categories, some outside of software and hardware development like User Experience and Marketing. The perks don't stop with a real-life work experience. Microsoft interns also receive paid travel to Microsoft (including subsidies for bike purchase/rental!), health club memberships, and discounts on software. Interns get mentors and performance reviews. Microsoft offers full-time jobs to 85 percent of the interns, and more than 80 percent accept

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