Human resource management

Global recovery
Group 4
GLOBAL RECOVERY - SUMMARY

The year 2008 was one of the most turbulent ever as far as the world economy is concerned. Major corporate financial powerhouses, the veritable symbols of modern capitalism, fell down like a pack of cards. In a flat world none of the economies were isolated from the fallouts of this crisis. The world saw one of the toughest times in the form of a global financial crisis and an economic slowdown. With the us and uk economies contracting by 0.6 and 0.5% respectively in the last quarter of the year 2008, the major developed economies of the world were facing major slowdown or recession. Global recovery is basically the sum total of all the efforts taken to emerge from the effects and repercussions of recession through various means that may be necessary and effective. Regardless of sector or industry, todays workforce has taken a beating: mass layoffs, hiring freezes, renegotiated union agreements, reduced pension fund financing, cuts in wages, bonus plans and benefits. These developments can have a serious impact on employees. For companies looking to restructure and rebound as the global economy begins to stabilize, human resource is very important. The potential for lost jobs creates distractions for employees, affecting productivity and service quality. Cost-reduction initiatives also take their toll on organizations and employees, creating further uncertainty. And when employees leave, they take a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge with them. These are all risky developments for companies that are starting to implement new growth strategies in the aftermath of the economic downturn. Organizations can boost morale and harness their workforce to get their recovery strategy off the ground through four critical steps of rightsizing with the right goals, protecting the best talent, building trust through greater transparency and effective workforce planning. It will take getting people back to work to overcome this recession. Employed people spend money and spending money grows the economy. If a manager does not do a great job with his subordinates and the high turnover rate among those subordinates is ignored, people will quit as soon as they can find other work.

A lookout needs to be kept for signs of employee discontent. The signs will be subtle but present. Companies should not wait till employees start quitting because it is too late by that
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time. Good employees will again be hard to find. All supervisors should encourage staff members, and show them the respect they deserve. Hr plays a very important and meaningful role in global recovery. Economic recovery may be on the horizon but hr cannot afford to be complacent. The recession has had significant repercussions on organisations across the globe and as the economy begins to show signs of recovery, the role of the human resources department has become very important. Hr departments cannot be complacent as there are multiple, potentially conflicting priorities for companies emerging out of recession. Hr professionals have a vital role to play in realizing necessary cost efficiencies and the raising of performance and productivity. They also have to maintain employee engagement and retain key talent. During troubled times there is a temptation for organisations to call hr departments to cut headcount in order to cut payroll costs. However hr leads should remind their management teams that reactive redundancies issued during the depths of the recession only provide a short-term fix and leave organisations exposed to future problems. With the global economy turning around slowly and opportunities beginning to return to the talent pool, forward thinking organisations will have already geared up for the upturn by implementing innovative business practices and cultural change in order to differentiate themselves in a tougher market place and retain personnel. Despite some clients continuing to hire during the recession they still face staff shortages as they reach retirement age. Organisations seeking to maximise their operational capabilities always need to factor in the people element to match the capability of the workforce with requirements of the business. A key way in which hr departments can boost capability is through the implementation of human capital measurement strategies. These can enable organisations to understand and optimise the relationships between investment strategies, people management and business performance, to fully meet the needs of the business. Companies are increasingly seeking ways to implement integrated talent management solutions to not only drive greater process efficiency but to create a vastly improved manager and employee experience around critical talent processes.

The hr function itself should also be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis in order to ensure it is running as efficiently and effectively as possible. Performance management programmes can
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be put in place or refreshed to ensure that all employees are delivering to their full potential and this in turn can help create a culture that is flexible and responsive to customer needs and focused on improvement. Ensuring that the operating model is as effective as possible in delivering business priorities will also deliver significant cost and productivity benefits. Companies can risk losing their competitive advantage through short-sightedness. There is a need to implement innovative working practices such as smart working strategies as they optimise the work environment, maximise employee and business cost benefits and enhance productivity. In addition, the new generation of workers expects to have access to the vast array of emerging collaboration and networking tools. They will naturally gravitate to these approaches to share knowledge, locate expertise and stay connected. Reward strategies help drive a high performance culture, while a strong employer brand can help attract talent as well as increase retention in a highly competitive market. Employers keen to develop a competitive edge must pay attention to employee expectations, take them seriously and do something about it. Globalisation has intensified competition while, at the same time, employee expectations are rising. Only the best companies with strong hr departments are meeting this challenge head on and strengthening the existing talent pool in order to fully optimise business performance both now and for the future. Retaining staff, identifying and developing the next generation of business leaders is essential if these organisations are to remain competitive in the future. In order to survive an unpredictable economic climate we must not forget that organisations are the sum of their people and, during the difficult times, the effectiveness of hr strategies can make the difference between success and failure.

QUESTIONNAIRES

Number 1: Mr. Vinay Dalal Head Human Resources, Vornado Realty Trust, India 1) What HRM policies are followed in the company?
1. Manpower planning 2. Training and development

3. Recruitment and selection 4. Performance appraisal 5. Promotion, transfer and demotion 6. Administration selection 7. Grievance handling 8. Kaizen 9. Welfare activities

2) Does the company give enough importance to HRM and make sure there is someone to handle it? Yes the company gives a lot of importance to HRM. Vornado realty trust India follows the human resource principles framed by Vornado realty trust worldwide.

3) As HR head/personnel what roles and responsibilities are you suppose to carry out? Responsibilities:
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1. Employee relations Management of relations with employees at collective and individual level to the advantage of the unit and the employees while meeting company, legal and social standards:

Maintaining harmonious employee relations Managing aspirations of workforce Grievance handling Tracking absenteeism, adopting a coercive persuasions approach 2. Recruitment

Assisting in establishing recruitment process and operating the process to recruit suitable non-management manpower required for the unit Induction of new recruits

Assessment & follow-up during training/probationary period 3. Performance development Operating and assisting in developing performance development systems & processes for workmen and staff and understanding of the same for executive level.

Performance parameters for workmen/staff Performance appraisal for workmen/staff Reward & recognition systems Workmen/staff promotions Mentoring & coaching Counselling Giving feedback

4. Training & development

Implementing and assisting in need analysis, nominations, design delivery & measurement of training programmes/learning processes that achieve the knowledge, skill and attitudinal development for workmen & staff

Training methodologies Building a learning culture Knowledge sharing 5. Administration Performing/supervising the routine activities that enable the sub functions of personnel/unit perform more efficiently

Time attendance system Leaves procedures Payroll Managing welfare/admin activities Programmes for employee involvement

6. Understanding company policy & unit level strategy Develop basic understanding of the broader picture - company policy, corporate purpose, code of business principles, company businesses and the business expectations from the unit and apply this understanding in day to day activities and conduct them.

4) Has recession had an effect on your company? How? And how have you tried to cope with it? Yes recession has had an effect on our company. We at Vornado did not layoff anyone. We cut salaries of the top two levels i.e. the chief executive officer and the general manager by 20%.
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Travelling was reduced drastically, no leave encashment was given, and bonuses were deferred for the following year, instead of travelling the employees were made to communicate with their clients through emails, video conferencing and conference calls.

5) Did your company have to resort to laying off, downsizing, outsourcing etc. What exactly was done to handle the situation? Why? We did not layoff anyone nor did we adopt downsizing. We at HRM ornado cut the salaries of the top level managers by 20%, the middle managers salaries by 12% and the lower level managers salaries by 7%.

6) Employees during this period were frustrated or motivated to get out of the situation? Initially the employees were frustrated and the company did not know how to handle the situation as it would be long drawn but four to five months later the employees were given motivational talks, team exercises were held and management quizzes and games were organized.

7) What was done in order to handle the problem amongst the existing employees? We at Vornado substantially improved the quantum of communication, fortnightly motivation talks were given to the employees. They were also told that the company would not lay off any employee and were also given a guarantee that though there was a pay cut, their salaries would be given on time. We also held talks with the employees family assuring them.

8) Was the company able to relocate some of the key people in different departments? Yes we relocated some of our key employees in different departments. During recession the employees were pushed to the marketing and sales department in order to push and boost the sales. The employees were relocated from finance, logistics and administration department.

9)

When

global recovery

started

were you

able to

recruit

the right people?

We at our company instead of recruiting people after recession were recruiting people during recession as there were a lot of skilled and talented people available at a reasonable price.

Number 2: Mr. Gyan Nagpal Regional head of talent & development, Human resources (asiapac) at Deutsche Bank

1) What HRM policies are followed in the company?

Great banks are run by great staffand deutsche bank is no exception. The banks hr divisions are focused around its services, such as payroll, training, and performance management. At every level agile thinking is nurtured. And at every level agile minds are rewarded with competitive pay, support and opportunities to excel. Our hr policies are intended to make us the employer of choice in our sector. Our hr policies are shaped by the following principles:

We support diversity and tolerance amongst our employees We expect people to treat each other with respect We try to simplify our customers lives We encourage our employees to make a positive contribution to the

world. We reward performance and challenge employees to turn their ideas into practice, assume responsibility and join in shaping our success. We strive to hire the best talent and help employees individually to develop in a sustainable way throughout their working lives with the aim of strengthening their loyalty to our bank.
2) Does the company give enough importance to HRM and make sure there is someone to

handle it? We know the performance of our employees is integral to the success of our business. For this reason we are committed to motivating, supporting and encouraging our employees from their very first day at the bank.

We take our responsibility as a corporate citizen and employer seriously and try to do justice to it at three different levels: by motivating and supporting our employees, by engaging in a dialog with our stakeholders and by strictly complying with human rights, both within and without the bank.
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Deutsche bank places enormous value on effective corporate governance, which is an important part of our identity. Our focus and emphasis on the one bank culture has a lot to do with this experience, and everyone talks about how our passion to perform has a global reach - our culture embraces the individual while making you feel like you belong to a community. We hire experienced human resource leaders who seek to lead and inspire our staff through our vision. We still aim to remain the employer of choice title for current and potential employees.

3) As Hr head what roles and responsibilities are you suppose to carry out?

Hr manager is one of the most important key to open a lock hanging on the door of success in an organization. If an hr manager is efficient enough to handle and to take out best from his team members any organization and can achieve more from his target goals. Roles and responsibilities include:
1. Deliver hr programs and platforms in areas of learning, talent, employee engagement

and organisation culture 2. To maintain and develop hr policies, ensuring compliance and to contribute the development of corporate hr policies. 3. Mentoring, guiding and developing my team as a second line to my current position. 4. Provide active support in the selection of recruitment agencies which meet the corporate standard. Ensure corporate branding in recruitment webs and advertisements.

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5. To maintain and develop leading edge hr systems and processes to address the effective management of people in relation to the following in order to maintain competitive advantage 6. To recommend and ensure implementation of strategic directions for people development within the organization. 7. Ensure a motivational climate in the organization, including adequate opportunities for career growth and development.

4) Has recession had an effect on your company? How? And how have you tried to cope

with it? Did your company have to hoard to laying off, downsizing, outsourcing etc. What exactly was done to handle the situation? Why? In 2009, deutsche bank employed a total of 77,053 people (full-time employees) world-wide; 3,403 fewer than in the previous year. This reduction, which is comparatively low for the industry, stems from capacity adjustments in our product and infrastructure areas. Deutsche bank is, and always has been, committed to ensuring that staff reductions occur in a socially responsible way and to supporting affected employees as best as possible with appropriate measures, such as workshops to help them find new employment. In the corporate and investment banking (cib) group division, the business most impacted by market disruptions, staff numbers declined by 641, a far more modest decline than in 2008. The financial centers london, new york and hong kong were most strongly affected by these cuts. He age distribution among our employees has remained almost the same compared to the previous year, as has the average corporate tenure, which was 10.1 years in 2009.our international focus has also remained unchanged: we have locations in 72 countries and our employees come from 139 nations. We focused on two human resources-related topics in the reported year. Firstly, the revising of our compensation system to meet the demands of a corporate policy that is more closely oriented toward the idea of sustainability. Secondly, human resources concentrated on making strategic adjustments to our workforce as a result of the financial crisis.
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5) Employees during this period were frustrated or motivated to get out of the situation? For the past ten years, we have conducted an annual employee survey. All employees worldwide are invited to take part. One of the goals of this survey is to determine the employees satisfaction with the banks business strategy and governance concept, and with their own work situation. An important component of the survey is the socalled commitment index, which measures the extent to which employees identify with their company. Deutsche banks commitment index achieved its best marks ever with 77 points (out of 100) in 2009, a year that was especially challenging for the financial industry. The survey also clearly showed that the employees supported the banks strategy in this difficult year and continued to identify with the industry. Another indication of this was the high participation; more employees took part in the survey than ever before. The survey is followed up by a structured process in which measures for improvement are defined and implemented.contrary to the general industry trend, the bank not only remained an attractice employer, but also improved its attractiveness in certain respects in 2009. We gained considerable ground, for example in the prestigious study "the worlds most admired companies" published by the hay group in cooperation with fortune magazine. Further in the "most admired banks" study, we advanced from 16th to seventh place within one year - a year overshadowed by the financial crisis.

6) What was done in order to handle the problem amongst the existing employees? The bank needed its hr systems to match the performance of its customer-facing systems as well as manage current employees. Therefore, deutsche bank decided to use three welldefined delivery channels for hr services: hr online: the hr portal with employee self-service and manager self-service hr direct: the service line for all general and complex inquiries about hr topics
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 hr advisory: for individual consultancy of employees and managers Was the company able to relocate some of the key people in different departments? When global recovery started were you able to recruit the right people? Effective business continuity measures are critical for any business entity. Deutsche bank is committed to protecting its staff and ensuring the continuity of critical businesses and functions in order to protect the deutsche bank franchise, mitigate risk, safeguard revenues and sustain both a stable financial market and customer confidence. The development, implementation, testing and maintenance of an effective global business continuity and disaster recovery program are required to sustain these objectives. As part of a global restructuring programme in global markets, deutsche bank made investments in several areas for 2009, including commodities, fx and cash equities. Also as part of the programme and based upon projected client activity, it is making redundancies in exotic structured products, credit origination and proprietary trading. We maintain strong relationships with leading universities and business schools around the world, targeting selected students for our training programs and internships. We hold orientation and introduction events in london and new york in an effort to carefully structure and plan their transition into their new jobs.

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Number 3: Mrs.Shreya Channa Human Resource Head, J.M Financial - Investment Bank in India

1) What HRM policies are followed in your company?

The company gives a lot of importance to HRM policies , they perform a lot of functions like recruitment, selection, performance appraisal which is a very important factor which actually lets the company know who is the most important to the firm and are the employees actually leading to the success of the firm or no and in what way. They carry out training and development which is the most important thing as the employees need to go hand in hand with the organisation. They also see the compensation and benefit plans and long term incentives, and engagement activities are carried out too for team building of the organisation.
2) Does the company give enough importance to HRM and make sure there is somebody to

handle it? The company does give a lot of importance to HRM there is a whole separate hr department which handles all the functions, the department consists of 12 people in total with 3 main hr heads and 3 people who handle pay roll and bonuses, the other 6 just work under the main heads as junior team.
3) As HR head/personnel what roles and responsibilities are you suppose to carry out?

As HR head we have to first make sure that the employees feel that they are proud to work in a firm like that and get full job satisfaction. They need to make sure that they bring the best out of their employees and carry out the above stated functions well. The main role is of a mediator between the company and the employee; we show them how the company works and help them adjust with the firm as well. A very important factor is that of a pay roll which gives u the highest job satisfaction and this is done in the form of a bonus, and of course performance appraisal is also carried out quarterly which gives them even more motivation.

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4) Has recession had an effect on your company? How? And how have you tried to cope

with it? Yes recession has had a lot of effect on the company since it is a finance based company, and a lot of things had to be restructured to cope with it. It started with laying off a couple of people even though they did play a good role in the organisation but it had to do the needful, they cut the salaries of all the employees so that it could reduce its expenses and lay off lesser people since in this field you require people with different skills and knowledge. The bonus of all the employees were literally reduced to nil and bonuses in this company is 300 percent of your normal pay roll during boom so that again becomes a big cut in your expenses. The next thing they did was they reduced all their leisure expenses like if they use to fly business class initially they now flew economy.
5) Did your company have to resort to laying off, downsizing, outsourcing etc, what exactly

was done to handle the situation? Why? Yes the company did have to hoard to laying off but not many people were laid off as they also carried out salary cuts and expenses were reduced to a great extent . They did not want to give up on skills and knowledge factor as much. They laid off people fact to face, like the manager would call the person in the cabin and talk to him and tell him the situation of the company and send him to a person who will help him find another job if possible, they mainly laid off people who were as it is going to leave in a years time or were going for their higher studies so that it would not be the end of the world for them. So everything was done very well keeping all the factors in mind.the people who were laid off were given the next 3 months salary as well , and they would reduce the expenses of resources and space the people would otherwise occupy which is quite high. 6) Employees during this time were motivated or frustrated to get out of the situation? Employees very not as frustrated because they knew that if they were doing well they would not have been laid off, and they knew what their status in the company was during their performance appraisal which is done quarterly . They were also assured that 10 people are laid off and this will not happen again and the employees also knew that only the contractual employees and people going for their higher studies were laid off so they were kinda motivated to work in this atmosphere and get their company to the same height.
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They dint mind giving in extra hours of work even with a salary cut and no bonus. The employees here are very attached to this company and the hr department has a big hand in it. 7) What was done to handle the problems against the existing employees? The existing employees as above stated were motivated to work more probably with the fear that even they would go through the same thing their colleagues went through but the did work with full dedication even with a pay cut and no bonus. Everyone in this industry knows that when there is a boom they earn like no one does but when recession hits its a bad time for them so you either earn a lot or you earn nothing, this prepares people for anything thus it becomes a bit easier to explain the situation to people. The existing employees were assured that this would never be repeated again and there had been no option, but the people who were doing well knew that they would never face the same thus they were not as frustrated. 8) Was the company able to relocate some of the key people in different department? Yes the company did relocate people in different departments as the people laid off were not the very important people, the company could divide that persons work amongst the others in the organisation. And it became much easier as people were motivated to work more at this time and adjust to various changes, but they did not really need to get another person in their place rather the work was further divided for a while amongst the rest till the company faced a better situation. The expenses had to be cut down. 9) When global recovery started were you able to recruit the right people? When global recovery started our company took in fresh blood rather than taking the people laid off, cause they were either settled somewhere else or went for their higher studies, few even got married. So rather they though it was the right time to get in a new thought process in the system though out of 10 posts only 6 were planned to refill as they though they could manage well with 6 too so why keep 4 more employees if things are working out to be good in the firm.

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Number 4: Mr. Sumukh Shah Hr personnel, JP Morgan Chase

1) What HRM policies are followed in the company? It is JP Morgan chase's policy to ensure equal opportunity for all qualified applicants and employees in all areas of human resources management: recruitment, employment, assignment, transfer, promotion, compensation, benefits and training, as well as companysponsored education, social and recreational programs. It is our policy that you will not be discriminated against or harassed because of your race, color, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, creed, religion, religious affiliation, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status or any other protected status under any law, regulation, rule or guideline. These classifications do not affect our decisions about any aspect of your employment or our decisions about applicants for employment. In addition, it is our policy to reasonably accommodate employees' religious practices and beliefs provided it does not cause undue hardship to the company.

2) Does the company give enough importance to HRM and make sure there is someone to handle it? I personally believe that our organisation gives a lot of importance to human resources and their management because for us they are one of the most important catalysts for our success and play a vital role in our growth and development. There is always a sufficient number of personnel in our hr department to look after all the roles which we have to carry out keeping our organization in mind. Policies are framed keeping our employees welfare in mind and all their grievances are looked after quite well.

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3) As Hr head/personnel what roles and responsibilities are you suppose to carry out? There are different roles and responsibilities associated with my job, which have to be carried out depending on the situation on hand. I have to pay equal importance to all types of jobs, be it manpower planning, recruitment, staffing, training, performance appraisal, promotions, transfers, employee retention or framing of policies. All these need to be carried out by different personnel of the department and there also needs to be coordinating these with the others. 4) Has recession had an effect on your company? How? And how have you tried to cope with it? Recession has had an impact on companies all around the world. It has affected our company as well with a large number of employees facing the axe due to cutting costs in the face of a slumping economy and higher credit losses. There have been cases where employees have been found surplus to requirements and we have had to take steps to make sure none of them are let go off because we try to retain our employees to maintain our existing work culture. A lot of employees have been let go in order to save cost. We have tried our best to let go as few employees as possible but it has been a tricky task. We have tried to let go off the employees in the least painful manner and have tried to give them alternatives for their future prospects.

5) Did your company have to resort to laying off, downsizing, outsourcing etc. What exactly was done to handle the situation? Why? A lot of laying off has been done by the organization since it is imperative we save cost due to the economic slowdown. A large number of employees have been laid off and we have tried our level best to make it painless and with the option of a few alternatives provided to our employees.

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6) Employees during this period were frustrated or motivated to get out of the situation? It was a mixture of both to be honest. Some employees were frustrated by the situation and there was a lot of unrest in the organization due to the uncertainty prevalent. On the other hand, employees have also been motivated to try and get out of this dark period with their jobs intact and heads held high.

7) What was done in order to handle the problem amongst the existing employees? Existing employees were given morale boosting sessions and motivational sessions in order to keep their morale going. Their doubts and fears were sorted out through talks with the management.

8) Was the company able to relocate some of the key people in different departments? A lot of laying off of employees was done but we made sure that certain key personnel in the organisation were relocated in order to retain their services as they were quite valuable to the company.

Number 5:

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Ms. Shaina Singh Joint Manager (People Development), Mahindra Finance

1) What HRM policies are followed in the company? M & M identifies some key HR activities and policies to be followed for better achievement of objectives.

Resourcing Talent Retention & Career Planning Employee Involvement Activities Learning & Development Reward & Recognition Performance Management System Employee Relations of Employer Branding Creating the right partners for building a talent pool. Relationship reviews conducted to ensure healthy boss subordinate relationships Fun @ Workplace - celebrating successes, festivals, birthdays, as well as organising quizzes, outbound & off-sites. To create a culture in which every employee perceived that the companys interests as his own in short, one in which each one felt like a co-owner of the company. To this effect the Company had issued options under the Employees Stock Option Scheme to selective employees linked to their performance.

Talent Management Communication Align employees vision and values with the organizations values. Compensation and benefit The Company follows a very open and structured performance appraisal process, which enables continuous and timely feedback to employees for motivating them and guiding them towards meeting organizational objectives.

2) Does the company give enough importance to HRM and make sure there is someone to handle it? 21

Yes. We at Mahindra consider Human Resource as an important factor for our success. We believe in empowering its employees and constantly take various measures to achieve this. We at Mahindra Finance believe in its people-driven business model based on building long term personal relationships. Therefore, to us, the employees are as important as the customers. This is evident in the fact that Mr. Anand Mahindra challenges the HR teams across all the M & M companies, to achieve the objective of Making M&M a Great Place to Work. The importance of HR and the initiatives taken towards it welfare and development is evident in the fact that Mahindra Finance has won three awards in the Western Regional Round of "EMPLOYER BRANDING AWARDS 2009-10" for various categories like Award for Training - Drona Award for Best HR Strategy in line with Business Strategy - Result Based Monthly Incentive Scheme Award for Talent Management - Chanakya, Chakravyu, Vista 360 and Employees Personal Development Plan The Fun at Work Award, which is the first of its kind award by the World HRD Congress, was given on 11th February, 2010. The Company has also initiated several employee recognition programmes. Employees can also voice their suggestions and opinions to the senior management in sessions held every quarter. Also, recently an internal poll was conducted called What Makes Me Tick amongst all of employees of M & M. The findings the poll showed some interesting responses to What drives me to come to work every morning? which included: Great team and good support from my HR team to handle any kind of situation. To learn something new during the day. Excellent work culture, excellent supervision of seniors as well as motivation and team spirit.

3) As Hr head/personnel what roles and responsibilities are you suppose to carry out? I have mainly two responsibilities:22

I.

Job Analysis: - I have to carry out job analysis every 6 months. Based on this I have to prepare the Job description which is forwarded to my senior to understand the current employees in the organization and the future human resource needs of the organization. Personnel File Audit: - I have to audit the information files of the personnel based on the job analysis and reports from my colleagues in the HR department and other departments of the organization. I have to make sure the file of every personnel is upto-date with all the necessary information and documents regarding: -

II.

Recruitment & Hiring Resume, job application and offer letter A current job description in each employee file, and if required, is each job description signed by the employee and immediate supervisor who has been updated in the last year Acknowledgement forms like Employee Handbook Acknowledgment, signed by the employee Performance Complete performance appraisals signed by the appropriate individuals and supporting documentation attached Performance appraisals completed on time Disciplinary notices Letters of commendation or certificates of achievement Termination letters or letters of resignation Training & Development Proper documentation indicating compliance with mandatory training Copies of applicable licenses should be available and up-to-date (e.g. medical licenses, real estate licenses, etc.) Payroll

Timesheets of each employee which must be complete and signed by the employee and supervisor Employee signed documentation for deductions to pay checks (e.g. charitable donations)

4) Has recession had an effect on your company? How? And how have you tried to cope with it? Yes. Recession did affect Mahindra & Mahindra. However, Mahindra Finance was not affected much. Being an NBFC it faced problems in financial and liquidity aspects. However, from the HR perspective we were not affected to a great extent. Around this time we did undertake a full reassessment of organisation and management structure. This helped in identifying the roles and responsibilities and the competency required for each role was mapped. The officers went through individual assessments of competencies against the
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requirement of each role. Thus, accordingly the payroll and remuneration was modified to some extent but not very drastically. There were some pay cuts, less or no bonuses and so on.

5) Did your company have to resort to laying off, downsizing, outsourcing etc. What exactly was done to handle the situation? Why? The Company did not really resort to large scale laying off or downsizing. The organizational reassessment did lead to a few people being let go but that was mostly because of their nonrequirement or incompetency. Also, employees at the higher level and those holding important positions were retained.

6) Employees during this period were frustrated or motivated to get out of the situation? It was interesting to see how the economic crisis affected the employees even though it didnt affect the Company in a major way. As recession hit, I and my other colleagues in the HR department noticed how the employees were scared. There was no indication from the top management about cost cutting or downsizing but still the employees were restless. My friends in other departments would ask me if they are going to be let go. They all felt the sword hanging over their heads. I remember going to a colleague in operations department to ask about his appointment letter, to update his file and he panicked expecting the worst! So I guess Recession did affect us in some ways.

7) What was done in order to handle the problem amongst the existing employees? Well we realized how scared the employees were so we tried to do whatever we could to assure them. The Companys newsletter carried positive news and information. We realized that the key thing that the employees need right now is assurance. Therefore, motivational talks and talks with the top management of Mahindra Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra
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were organized. We tried to maintain the regular course of working to assure the employees that nothing had change.

8) Was the company able to relocate some of the key people in different departments? The company as such had not lost its key people. However, in the stage of recovery we are recruiting more personnel in lieu of increase in present and future need.

9) When global recovery started were you able to recruit the right people? Mahindra Finance has partnered with several reputed institutes which will enable the employees to upgrade their skills. New employees are provided on-the-job training by senior employees. Going forward, the Company not only plans to maintain this key source of competitive advantage but also build on it through well-structured training initiatives. During 2007-08, the company adopted innovative methods for recruiting fresh graduates through campus recruitment drives in various colleges across India. The company also uses online portals for recruitment drives and awareness. The focus of Human Resources Function has been on driving a competency based model in most of our HR processes and capability building of our employees for meeting future needs of the organization. We will continue to recruit the right people for the right job across the country through innovative methods and shall continue to enhance employee potential trough continuous training and development plans. In fact, this year the Mahindra group has seen an exponential growth in terms of people from 30000 people to 42000 people.

ARTICLES ON GLOBAL RECOVERY Number 1: Pay attention to your people Focus on your workforce in bad times. Youll be better prepared for better times ahead
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Author: Pierre Laporte and Kathy Parker Regardless of sector or industry, todays workforce has taken a beating: mass layoffs, hiring freezes, renegotiated union agreements, reduced pension fund financing, cuts in wages, bonus plans and benefits. You get the picture. Taken individually, any of these developments can have a serious impact on employees. Taken together, they can be devastating. What does this mean for companies looking to restructure and rebound as the global economy begins to stabilize? For starters, this is one of the most significant human resource (HR) challenges weve seen in some time. Younger workers havent experienced a recession before and are unfamiliar with large-scale workforce reductions and other drastic measures. The potential for lost jobs creates distractions for employees, affecting productivity and service quality. Cost-reduction initiatives also take their toll on organizations and employees, creating further uncertainty. And when employees leave en masse, they take a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge with them. These are all risky developments for companies that are starting to implement new growth strategies in the aftermath of the economic downturn. How can organizations boost morale and harness their workforce to get their recovery strategy off the ground? Drawing on the lessons of previous periods of economic recovery, here are four critical steps to getting your workforce back on track.

1. Rightsize with the right goals In the face of imminent financial disaster, most organizations dont think about the recovery. But your companys ability to rebound hinges on the same fundamentals that make you successful in good times: quality products and services supported by a high level of customer service. Instead of pursuing widespread layoffs, approach your staffing needs as an exercise in rightsizing. How lean can you get without compromising service and quality? Once you
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determine how far you need to cut, make the necessary adjustments quickly to minimize disruption. 2. Protect the best talent In turbulent times, some of your employees are likely to seek greener pastures, while others may be eliminated through rightsizing. That makes it even more important to identify your best employees early on and take steps to secure their commitment to your organization. If your company is one of the fortunate few that is financially strong, this may be an opportune time to attract top talent that was previously unavailable. 3. Build trust through greater transparency The aftershocks of the downturn have shaken the loyalty of employees everywhere. One of the best ways to regain their trust is by fostering a more open and flexible culture. If you must downsize, do it as fairly and transparently as possible. People will remember how you handled difficult decisions, and it will put you in a better position to scale up during recovery mode. Conversely, if you cut costs or downsize without adequate communication, youll have a tough time attracting new talent when you need it. How can you maintain transparency and openness? Provide a complete picture of your companys financial status and future investment plans. Be clear about how the company will help employees when restructuring occurs. These are simple ways to help everyone understand how financial decisions, even the tough ones, can benefit the company as a whole.

4. Put workforce planning to work It may seem a long ways off, but sooner or later talent shortages will re-emerge as one of your most pressing issues. And the companies that come out on top will be those that embrace workforce planning as a core management practice. Apply workforce planning practices to your own organization: identify critical workforce segments, analyze available sources of talent and adopt strategies to mitigate future labour gaps. You should have a range of options
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for growing your workforce to meet future needs quickly, ranging from conservative to aggressive. These are just a few of the benefits workforce planning can bring to the table. As you begin to roll out these and other workforce strategies, remember that it isnt only about survival. Economic uncertainty, and the ensuing recovery, present a rare opportunity for you to implement HR best practices that can improve your competitive advantage. And thats a smart move no matter what the economic environment looks like.

Number 2: The CHRO: Zero in on top talent How Chief Human Resource officers can prepare for Economic Recovery When the global financial crisis hit, the CHRO had one of the toughest jobs in the executive suite: deciding how to work with the organization to reduce spending on employees. Businesses needed to make difficult short-term decisions without hindering their ability to
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grow when the market recovers. CHROs also had to devise strategies to maintain employee engagement during difficult times. HR has a real opportunity to demonstrate its value now that the economy is bouncing back. Business leaders need help guiding their organizations back to prosperity and CHROs will play a critical role in that regard. And the challenges dont end there. Market conditions will require CHROs to face new or emphasized challenges into the foreseeable future. First, HR leaders will need to demonstrate the return on their investments in talent management. Thats always a challenge, but even more so now that organizations are in a cost-containment mindset. In uncertain times, change is fast and furious. Mastering change is another major challenge for HR leaders. CHROs can make a contribution by working with the senior leadership of their organizations to prepare for sudden ups and downs in market conditions. If the company is slow to implement change, the CHRO needs to act as a coach and support leaders in strengthening organizational agility and flexibility. As the economy recovers, we can expect to see a spike in turnover as competitors look to expand or acquire top talent, and as employees looking for change feel the confidence to act. If CHROs have not implemented processes to identify and retain top talent, they may end up losing people as new opportunities arise. HR has a real opportunity to demonstrate its value now that the economy is bouncing back. Business leaders need help guiding their organizations back to prosperity and CHROs will play a critical role by showing leadership, forcing a greater focus on strategic talent issues, and leveraging their HR acumen to drive ever greater value for the business. Margot Thom National Leader, Human Capital Leader, Talent

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