HRenaissance september_edition

Volume I || Issue I ||September’ 17

Team HRenaissance
Content Writers
Magazine heads
Design Team
1. Sanhita (Left)
2. Shruti (Right)
Clockwise(Top)
1. Aishwarya
2. Jackson
3. Akriti
4. Apeksha
5. Richa
6. Nisha
7. Prachi
8. Shruthi
Clockwise(Top)
1. Shruti
2. Shivani
3. Apeksha
4. Suraj
HRenaissance

Contents Editor’s Note1
TRANSFORMING HR ---BLEND OF OLD &
NEW
2
HR Outside In7
HR thankful yet thankless11
Technology trends in HR14
Great places to work( cover story)17
AI in HR22
Great leaders in HR( call for articles)26
HR In startups29
Internship diaries32
HRenaissance

Faculty’s Note
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the new edition of HRenaissance.The magazine is aimed at
connecting the student and corporate for discussion, information sharing and
some trivia. I am tempted to write on rising diversity challenges of today’s
organizations with reference to millennials (also known as genY).The
millennials are inching their way into the workforce hierarchy, bringing in their
set of expectations and needs.
Being connected to an Internet-enabled environment of computers
throughout childhood and early adulthood has changed everything for
Millennials and also for those who lead, communicate, or market to this
generation. For the first time in history, there is an emerging generation that
has knowledge and skills that previous generations do not possess.This
generation grew up teaching mom and dad how to troubleshoot a computer,
how to download apps, or how to use Facebook.They are the first generation
that has entered the workplace ready to contribute using their unique skill
sets. Millennials through their connectedness with technology offer the
appropriate data points to powerfully influence future decisions.
The skill of gen X manager is how to skillfully use the uniqueness of the
millennials in making the organization agile and open for change. Making a
business case for diversity makes the concept very relevant in today’s times.
Thank you
Prof. Preeti Rawat
HRenaissance

Editor’sNote
September 2017| K J SIMSR | Page 1
Dear Readers,
It gives us immense pleasure to welcome you to the first
edition of HRenaissance,The HR Magazine
of KJ SIMSR!
We bring to you the latest from the world of Human
Resource. HR continues to be an enigma to
most of us.And hence we come with our first issue to clear
the myths. So join us in this issue of
HRenaissance, as we explore the topic,“Decoding HR” and
help you figure out the role of HR in
businesses!
In this edition, our cover story is,“What makes these
companies the best to work for in India?”
Talks about great companies in India and their work culture
which makes them unique.
We would like to congratulate our CFA winner (Aman
Banka), who brings to us a nicely penned
prospective on the topic (First, break all the rules)
We thank you for all for your enthusiasm and hope to hear
more from you!
Till then,
Happy reading!!!
HRenaissance

Transforming HR-Blend of Old & New
Today’s world of constant evolving
technology demands for HR to move
beyond the conventional norms of
Invites and Emails. HR data is
everywhere and is very crucial to
manage, integrate and analyze. Many
HR decisions about hiring,
onboarding, rewards and retention
rely on professional instincts. This
fails to challenge common workplace
injustice. This could be dealt with
various tools and technology namely,
HR Analytics, Gamification for HR,
and EPMS.
HR Analytics
Problem:- HR processes are
generally physical driven; there is
hardly any far sightedness in terms of
right leadership mapping, retention
of employees, recruitment of the
candidate, and training them with the
required skills to perform the job.
Solution:- HR Analytics, also known
as People analytics, basically revolves
around data mining and business
analysis techniques which can be
beneficial in providing insights for
effectively managing employees. This
will help meet the business goals
quickly. However, the challenge here
is that what data to capture and
analyze. Companies for years have
collected employee history,
performance and demographics. This
data broadly is being used to retain
talent actively, recruitment sources,
and to drive performance.
HR analytics can help us understand
how and what could improve our
employee performance, create a
team determined to reach targets,
evaluate capabilities of managers and
predict who is likely to succeed. So
how and where do we use HR
Analytics?
To predict talent and leadership
gaps – What are the current
loopholes and how the gaps could be
minimized in future, this means that
the company needs to have a clear
analysis of succession planning as and
when a position demands one.
September 2017| K J SIMSR | Page 2 HRenaissance

Employee retention – what
makes employee engaged and
retained for a longer time. HR
analytics helps in predicting the
employees who are at risk of
leaving the firm and having this
data at hand can help the company
retain the employees better and
have less attrition rate.
Recruitment – Which candidate
will eventually be best fit for a
required job and where will they
be found.
Training and Development –
What training needs does the
employees have and how fulfilling
those gaps ensure growth of the
company
This eventually helps to make our
Human resource systems efficient
and robust in terms of results.
Gamification for HR
Problem:- Employees generally lose
interest in a mundane job. The
company uses bonuses payout,
awards and recognition as a
medium to motivate and
encourage employee, however it
does not motivate the employee in
the long run. To keep the
employees interested, retained and
involved in the firm’s operations
company nowadays need to come
up with more creative and
involving activities.
Solution: - Gamified approach to
address complex situations are
becoming norms in organizational
processes. Organizations nowadays
are using Gamifying approaches to
make work more fun for
employees. Gamification is a
process which makes everyday
scenarios and task creative and fun.
This however is not a new
concept, we already have system
like employee of the month, target
based bonus, sales leaderboard.
Gamification basically is digitization
of these techniques and using it to
influence talent retention,
development and attraction.
Many companies are undertaking
these gamification techniques to
create more engaging workplace
for employees motivate them and
boost their productivity.
.

Companies like KPMG, Deloitte,
PWC and Marriot are using
Gamification to achieve the above
mentioned goals.
• Deloitte for example carried
an activity to increase
participation of busy
executives in training program.
The feedback on the 12
competencies was given to
them for a clear learning path.
The employees once
completed the missions they
could showcase these earned
rewards on their profiles and
also compare it with other
colleagues. Employees were
eventually ranked among top
10 that were most competitive
with themselves rather than
overall top 10 list of
employees. The result of the
activity being that 37% more
retention of people was
observed.
• Deloitte used gamification to
identify potential candidates,
where the prospective
candidates had to play various
games which eventually helped
in mapping candidate
personality with the company.
• PWC wanted to engage
prospective candidates more
on their careers page as they
believed that more engaged
candidate pool yields better
prospective employees for the
company. They launched
‘Multipoly’ a 3D online game
which assesses candidate’s
readiness for working in the
company. This game stimulated
one year internship in 12 days.
Candidates are allotted teams,
given different tasks in
different virtual offices after
they passed an entry level
exam. According to the
company candidates who
played Multipoly were better
equipped to handle face-to-
face interaction with clients.
Thus identifying the right
talent and training them before
the job is assigned was
achieved successfully.

Employee Performance
Management System
Problem: - Performance management
is the key resource of employee
engagement and retention exercise in
a company. In today’s scenario many
companies have adopted
performance management systems
but are still not efficiently using it. It is
mere a talk between the manager and
the employee which eventually does
not result in anything fruitful. Instead
of helping one build career it makes
the employee demotivated to some
extent.
Solution: - This is where robust E-
performance management system
comes into picture. The employees
need to be better informed and
involved in their performance
assessment. The system is build such
that it benefits and ensures worker
engagement by highlighting low zones
of the representatives. The benefits of
having a robust EPMS system could
be as follows,
• The EPMS system helps the
employees feel greater alignment
with the organizational mission
• Ensures that employee actively
participate in their evaluation
process
Example- Accenture
By prompting people to
document and adjust their goals
and learning constantly
Accenture hopes to improve
the formal process discussions
• Helps to demonstrate the
weaknesses and strengths of the
organization to the Executives
• Allow Employees (Assesses) to
easily understand key result areas
and how they are to be managed
by themselves on what metrics
that will be measured.

• Data from performance
management technology is
critical in identifying and tracking
high-potential employees as this
data consists of performance of
employees over projects and not
highlighting over all achievements
of an employee. This eventually
helps to better map a skilled
person to a type of project and
generate a pattern which could
reduce time and effort drastically
the next time similar skilled
project is received by the
company.
To stay relevant in today’s
competitive market, retain
employees, engage them effectively,
recruit the best talent available, and
train them with required skills a
company needs these automated
technology and tools. Automation
reduces the effort at the same time
increases the efficiency of the
processes. These technology and
tools of automation are the future
of Automation yet simplification of
HR processes which will result in
robust and effective system.
-- NISHA BUCH

Are we there yet ?
The next step In HR
The field of Human Resources has
undergone numerous transitions
since its inception. It all began
around 1930’s when the primary
task of HR was focussed on merely
managing administrative function.
Shortly after the focus shifted
towards developing a set of
practices with staffing,
compensation, organization design
and development as priorities. It is
in only in last 15 years that HR has
started being linked with strategy.
Dave Ulrich is one of the most
renowned faculty and management
guru for HRM. He is a professor at
the Ross University at Michigan as
well as a co-founder of the RBL
group: a consultancy firm focussed
on helping organizations and
leaders value. An author of many
books, articles and journals based
on Human Resources have been
published by him.
Some people from the organization
design and strategy fields conceived
the idea of looking at strategy from
a rather different perspective, one
that would help in creation of HR
systems. This thought triggered a
chain of reactions that led to the
conclusion that the next step in HR
is to go outside, not just to look at
strategy as a mirror but as a
window and go outside the
company to explore how the job of
HR can be done in a better way.
Dave Ulrich

Context: The circumstances that
a firm operates in, is of utmost
importance. One needs to be well
versed with the country and
industry, moreover to work from
the outside in one must be aware
about the work setting, political,
social, economic and demographic
trends.
Stakeholders: Both internal
and external stakeholders need to
be taken into consideration. It is
necessary to ensure that apart
from satisfying employees, is HR
being able to stand its ground and
deliver to the customers, investor
and to the community. On trying
to understand HR from the
outside in perspective good
reward systems are good not
because they have internal criteria,
but because the customer gets
through the incentive system, the
behaviours that satisfies them.
Elaborating further, one seeks to
not only be the employer of
choice but to be the employer of
choice to the employees one’s
customers would choose.
Focus: It is essential to
understand the three factors that
will drive HR: Individual- Firstly
there is focus on an individual
because the individual is a source
for talent. It is imperative to find
the right people as finding the
right people will lead to having
right talent in the organization
Organization- It is only when
there is a right organization does
the talent get platform to work
and contribute as a team. Right
organization is formed when we
harness the synergies of culture as
well as of capabilities, basically
incorporating things one is good
at. To become the right
organization key capabilities such
as, innovation, service,
collaboration and efficiency need
to be managed. Let us consider a
situation, how many times does
the team playing with its best
player win? Surprisingly individual
talent succeeds only 20 percent of
the time, it is the team that
succeeds rest 80 % of the time.

Leadership: It is the integrator
between the right organization and
right talent (competence,
commitment, contribution).
Leadership is not only restricted to
the individual, but also has roots
embedded deep inside the company.
If one were to understand
leadership, it has a few dimensions to
it, one aspect being purely generic in
nature as it involves all basic things
that leader has to perform and the
other aspect is the brand. To be an
efficient leader one must be able to
develop a differentiated offering, i.e.
is the leader should be capable of
making himself/herself stand-out in a
crowd. The next step in leadership is
sustainability which is the capacity to
adopt individual and collective
leadership behaviour in a company.
Right HR Department: Every
organization faces a dilemma of the
trade-off between having a
centralized vs having a decentralized
hierarchy becomes a crucial element
in determining the future of the
organization. When you take the
decision to centralize HR, you have
one HR head and several other
heads under him reporting to him
taking care of different functions like
staffing, training, compensation
benefits. The other option is to
decentralize when you put a HR
department in every country or in
every business unit without a
structure. The third option is a mid-
way between centralization and
decentralization which is shared
service organization or a matrix of
both.

Practices: Four buckets around
practices are as follows: moving the
flow of people, i.e. people staffing,
training, development, career
management. The second one is
around performance rewards and
compensation. The third one is
around communications and finally
the last one is around work which
includes facilities, organization
design, managing the work flow.
These practices need to be aligned
with the outside customer and
investor they need to be integrated
with each other and at the same
time be innovative.
People: It is necessary to ensure
that HR professionals have the pre-
requisite competencies
Analytics: As an organization it is
imperative to find out whether or not
success is measured. Measurement
quantifies and informs the decisions
made in retrospect. Tracking
performance always counts.
The point is that the HR structure of
the future may be here today but it
needs to be integrated with strategy
and processes for it to be effective.
HR professionals will have to play that
crucial role to align people,
performance, information and work.
Implementation of the same is
expected to increase the integration
of organizational capabilities as well as
foster innovation in the organization
which will aid in generating value for
the firm.
-- AKRITI SHAH

around. By now, I believe I’ve set the ground on which I’m going to talk.
Is HR really a thankless job? Before I step in with viewpoints I would
want you to think over a scenario. Imagine an organization with huge
monetary assets, with the most advanced technology, with the best
infrastructure; with every possible resource it needs to flourish, still all
of it goes in vain if one single element goes missing. That element, the
absence of which indeed makes the presence of all other resources
worthless is nothing but the most valuable Human Resource. As Renee
West has rightly said – “You can have the best strategy and the best
building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the
people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” This world has
multitude of bright minds and a multitude of organizations that need
these skilful and bright minds who could add value to their organization.
But how do we choose the best of the lot?
I was sitting in the office breakout area
with a number of people from diverse
departments and interests. Everyone
claimed the importance of their
respective department and how crucial
their work was. Once their discussion
got over I said, you all forgot to talk
about one important department i.e.
HR and the reaction I got was exactly
the one I expected. “HR? Good for
nothing”, they said. I wasn’t surprised at
all. I was just taken aback once again by
the attitude and ignorance of the people
‘HR – Thankless yet thankful’

undertaken by the HR
department, which if not taken
care of can make the
organization and its strategies
and plans fail miserably.
Going further on this
argument and not only talking
about the functional aspect,
what is the toughest thing to
handle in today’s fast moving
and competitive world? Is it
the finances or the
competition or the technology
up gradation and operations?
The answer to it is
undoubtedly human behaviour
and emotions. It might sound
This is where the role of an HR
comes into picture. Does this role lie
till here? Certainly not!! Take for
example, an organization hired the
best of talent but due to certain
reasons the efforts of the employee
and the expectations of the
organization do not match? Should
the organization in such case
continue with the mismatch and
waste a lot of other resources and
get nothing in return? This is again a
situation where the role of an HR
comes into picture. The HR
department aligns and prepares the
employee in such a manner that
instead of just becoming an additional
cost, they become an asset to the
organization, thus promoting their
personal growth as well as the
growth of the organization as a
whole. Above were just two
examples. Talking about the role of an
HR department, it would be very
unfair to say that it just involves
managing the people. Starting from
the planning, recruiting, training, salary
negotiations, grievance handling etc.
are a few of the major set of
challenging tasks

grudges or clashes hamper the growth
of the employees as well as the
organization.
It’s true that in today’s materialistic
world, the resources that literally make
money are valued the most. Of course,
it should be. But does that mean that
the efforts of all those who always
back these money making resources
and keep them intact should be
undervalued or ignored? That’s where
it becomes the need of the hour
where the people with these false
notions of considering HR as the
thankless job, widen their horizon and
look deeper into the matter. More than
that, it is of utmost importance for the
organizations to come up with policies
that provide some recognition to the
unprecedented and unrecognized
efforts of the HR department. It just
requires that little effort to break
those misconceptions. And, if we all
instead of going with the false notions
of considering the job of an HR as an
unchallenging one, take up this
challenge of studying more about it and
looking towards it from a broader
perspective, then the day is not far
when this thankless job would become
the job everyone would be most
thankful for.
very light but this is one strong hold
which can either build or break the
organization. Multiple studies and
research have gone in this area of
human behaviour and emotions not
only because it is interesting to study
upon but because it is so dynamic
that no rule or algorithm can be
used to study all of it. It is dynamic
to the extent that not only different
people have different attitudes and
behaviour but even an individual
behaves differently in different
circumstances and situations. Amidst
those different attitudes, various
perceptions and beliefs, dynamic
behaviour, unfulfilled expectations,
unexplained grievances lies the HR
department which in itself acts as the
binding sole to keep the employees
and the organization intact binding
sole to keep the employees and the
organization intact so that no
internal or external
-- RICHA CHATURVEDI

HR technology trends
Technology has impacted every role of HR from staffing and retention to
employee engagement and satisfaction. It has changed HR practices and has
influenced the sector in unimaginable means Companieshave adopted several
management software's such as Online learning management, team manage -
meant tools and Wellness and fitness apps. These platforms help the company
improve their core learning programs, help easy tracking of work, enable teams
to work coherently and improve performance ensuring a healthy environment..
.
Let’s delve into some technologies
that are catching up in HR:
Social media: Job sites, social
media and mobile apps are the new
job searchers. These make the search
of employees easier as companies can
post job requirements allowing
candidates to access applications easily.
It also helps in marketing of company
and improves interaction between
employees. Video hiring has also been
in the trend which enables faster
recruitment process.
More and more details being
analysed electronically and is shared
digitally, hence higher security
software are developed. Smart HR
technology enhances employee
efficiency, communication,
engagement and improves the
decision-making process
According to
Bersin by Deloitte
companies with
recently advanced
HR systems see
cost savings of
22% per employee

Gamification:
It is the use of games and game
mechanics in business environment.
Business operations such as
recruitment, training and motivation
use it in order to engage employees,
solve problems and bring innovative
ideas to the table. Companies have
adopted this method to improve
their employee selection process.
Virtual gaming helps analyze
technical, conceptual and human
skills according to the requirement
of job posts. For example, PwC uses
gamificationto simulate recruitment
process and understand what it’s
like to work at the firm. It has
launched a game called Multipoly,
which allows job candidates to
virtually assess their readiness for
working at the firm by working in
teams to solve real world business
complications.
IoT:
As defined by Techopedia and
cited in a recent HR Bartender
blog post, as “a computing
concept where everyday physical
objects will be connected to the
Internet and be able to identify
themselves to other devices.”
For example, use of Wellness
and fitness apps to improve
work-life balance, employee
satisfaction and fitness . Internet
of things can be used for follow
ups by badges, smartphones.
Different applications for real-
time feedback has also been
incorporated through IoT.
Digital communication helps in
efficient and quick transfer of
information.

.People analytics:
This involves use of big data for
analysing data from company’s
prospective employees. It helps to
prevent wasteful spending. It gives idea
about retention and attrition rates for
people to stay in the company. Big data
from job sites and social media helps
in better and faster hiring.
Performance measurement and quality
hiring is also ensured by using analytics
in HR.
HR cloud:
Cloud computing helps in better
workforce management, rapid business
model innovation, better services and
improve ways of controlling costs.
Cloud services enables the company
to install service delivery solutions
quickly, without the barriers normally
associated with size or geography.
These solutions can then be scaled up
or down easily on the cloud thus
saving costs.
AI in HR:
Talent acquisition uses intelligent
machines for screening through
software finding suitable candidates.
Interviewing and figuring the right fit
and the right work for a person,
recruiting and engaging by following up
with potential employees, talent
development by enabling personalised
learning programs based on
employee information skill set,
experience and behaviours and
maintaining employee relations
through AI Chatbot are some of its
functions.
Real time management: this gives the
HR a chance to monitor and reward
the employees on a regular basis and
increase productivity more than ever
before. It allows continuous
evaluation of employee performance,
improves relationships and ensures
better assessment. Upcoming Apps,
different software and the provision
of being available online anytime and
every time through smartphones has
enabled real time analysis of
employee’s work.
Smart and insightful technologies
have helped organizations support
their visions, create better policies,
enhance workplace culture and
ensure better administration. Keeping
in trend with these will enable any
organization to develop in the right
manner.
-- APEKSHA TEJWANI

CoverStory
“If the employees come first,
then they’re happy. A motivated
employee treats the customer
well. The customer is happy so
they keep coming back, which
pleases the shareholders. It’s not
one of the enduring green
mysteries of all time, it is just
the way it works.”
-Herb Kelleher, former CEO,
Southwest Airlines
While some companies maintain the workplace with
stringent policies, keeping a hawkish eye on the employees,
there are some who believe in development through
freedom; freedom to be yourself, and in turn becoming a
great asset to the company. These are the few companies we
all strive to be associated with. They haven’t achieved that
status in a day or two, they have constantly innovated and
discovered the best of the best policies and programmes
that help the employees in every way it can. Something they
all have in common is that they encourage and promote the
well-being of their employees, create a comfortable
environment for the employees, thereby increasing the
retention rate and becoming the most preferred companies
to work for.
“ What makes these companies the
best to work for in India? ”
We have analyzed an eclectic
mix of companies in India
keeping these factors in mind
and following are the top 10
companies to work for, taking
into account their HR
practices:

INTUIT INDIA PDC
With a diverse workforce,
differences are valued and
respected at Intuit. At Intuit they
follow the concept of ‘fast failing’.
This encourages the employees to
take risks and chances, and if they
fail then they are encouraged to
forget it and move forward. This
gives the employees the essence of
empowerment. Apart from the
collaborative and encouraging
environment, maternity leaves,
innovations, medical benefits, Intuit
also provides a unique benefit for
employees who wish to adopt
children, offering Rs. 50,000 and 84
days of adoption leave to allow new
parents to bond with the child.
GOOGLE INDIA
With over 1,683 employees, google
tops the list as the most preferred
company to work for in India. When it
comes to facilities, working environment
and benefits, work-life balance, very few
companies can compete with Google. To
nurture the creative mind, google offers
its employees a vibrant, cheerful and
colourful environment. To enhance the fun
element to their workplace, Google hosts
the TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday) event
every week, where everyone works and
mingles together. Google gives their
employees the best of treatments and
facilities. Unfailingly embracing their
uniqueness, Google encourages and
provides a platform to pursue passions
viz. singing, dancing, musical instruments,
sports etc. Women’s initiative is also
something that google focuses on.
Overall google provides a good holistic
development that a college/school
provides to a person, which makes it a
place to learn rather than a place to
work.

AMERICAN EXPRESS
INDIA
The 1921 starter employing over
10498, American Express has its
practices rooted in the old and
most effective ways. Creating an
inspiring workplace is their top
priority. Promoting talent, growth
and positive relationship with
employees makes American Express
one of the best. Rewards and
Recognition, fun activities, gender
and work force diversity, and smart
savings are few of the things that
adds to the development of the
workforce.
UJJIVAN FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Established in 2005, Ujjivan has 7,853
employees. It has a very different and
evocative way of working. They have a
‘no job title’ policy. To everyone’s
surprise, their CEO has no secretary
or assistants. Ujjivan’s people are
motivated by the very nature of their
jobs. Never deviating from their
original mission, Ujjivan takes in inputs
from all their employees and
customers. Buy-in and involvement of
the key players - staff & customers is
extremely important at Ujjivan.

GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS
in 2001, with an employee strength of 2,284, Godrej Consumer
products falls in the top 5 of the list of companies to work, their core
strength is their female workforce. With 53% of their workforce as
women, Godrej believes in focusing on recruiting and retaining
women to have a robust pipeline of potential leaders for the next
three to five years. Their diversity and inclusion pro-grams: resource
groups of working women, Maternity policy: paid maternity leave for
6 months, 100 leaders programme, Godrej LOUD (Live Out Ur
Dream): a new approach to spotting and attracting talent at business
school campuses in India, and Godrej’s Fellow programme: a unique
programme that mentors and trains 12 young leaders from Godrej to
become greater leaders, annually; these are the few attractions that
Godrej has in comparison to other companies and these
characteristics are what make it rise up the list.
TELEPERFORMANCE
To the disbelief of many,
Teleperformance has no HR
department and yet it ranks
amongst the top 5 companies to
work for. Their key strength is
empathy. Started in 2001 and
currently having 4,653 employees,
Teleperformance has come up from
the rank of 15th to 4th in just one
year.

MARRIOT HOTELS
Founded in 1927, Marriot Hotels
has an employee strength of 8. Their
top policies include a strict NO to
hierarchies. A unique element about
Marriot is that, it calls its employees
“associates”. They say that, taking
care of their associates is the heart
of Marriot’s core values. It all
started with Marriot’s founder, J W
Marriot, way back in the early days
of Marriot, where he would
personally counsel all his employees
on their personal problems. The
managers are responsible for the
satisfaction of their subordinates.
Marriott strives to give its
employees a nurturing work
environment and a good work life
balance.
SAP LABS
Right from Goa trips for the new
recruits to the family days, SAP Labs has
it all. Founded in 1998, SAP LABS is now
a 5,339-employee strength company and
believes in transparent culture.
SAP always encourages the need to stay
in touch with one’s hobbies and
interests. For that, they have 33 interest
groups, each catering to specific
activities like drama, music, art, dance
etc. to help employees pursue an
interest of their choice.
SAP keeps a strong check on keeping
their female workforce happy. It has
various programmes and initiatives for
them viz. maternity leave policy, Run
Mummier, SAPling in-house crèches,
Work from home, temporary part time
work, business women network to name
a few.
They have learnt from their past
mistakes and risen up the ladder year
after year. An empowered and happy
employee attracts satisfied customer
base, which in turn results in growth;
hence it is extremely important to keep
the staff happy and encouraged.
-- PRACHI SHROFF

Though, this has opened up a wider
pool of talent for recruiters, fishing
out data and researching take up
more time of an HR manager than the
other crucial tasks. Moreover,
scavenging through this huge amount
of data to get the right hire is a
draining activity. It can act as a
potential mojo-killer for any
passionate HR over a period of time.
This is where Artificial Intelligence
enters like a knight in shining armour,
dazzling us with solutions to simplify a
time-consuming, costly and complex
process, making it a whole lot easier.
Job seekers these days are well aware
of their worth and the numerous
options available to them. They don't
prefer to linger on if not addressed
with quick responses.
It becomes very necessary for
recruiters to respond quickly to job
applications in order to save their
potential candidates from being
snatched by their competitors.
Artificial intelligence tracks hiring
trends and successful patterns
combines meaning and insight from
multiple data sources and produces
data-driven decisions to select the
right hire.
Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources
As the world today is being reshaped
by Artificial Intelligence, it has brought
to us yet another heated question of
how willing are we to replace human
consciousness with a data-driven
decision-making process.
One of the prominent focuses of
Artificial Intelligence has been in the
field of recruitment.
Touched by the realm of digital
technologies, the talent acquisition
process today is stormed by an
enormity of data about the job-
seekers from various sources like
LinkedIn, social media profiles and
online applications.

is a draining activity. It can act as a
potential mojo-killer for any
passionate HR over a period of time.
This is where Artificial Intelligence
enters like a knight in shining armour,
dazzling us with solutions to simplify
a time-consuming, costly and
complex process, making it a whole
lot easier. Job seekers these days are
well aware of their worth and the
numerous options available to them.
They don't prefer to linger on if not
addressed with quick responses. It
becomes very necessary for
recruiters to respond quickly to job
applications in order to save their
potential candidates from being
snatched by their competitors.
Artificial intelligence tracks hiring
trends and successful patterns
combines meaning and insight from
multiple data sources and produces
data-driven decisions to select the
right hire. Not only is this time-saving,
but it also accomplishes another
important task which humans have
always found it difficult to achieve,
owing to their diverse natures- it
helps duplicate the best practices
shared and implemented across the
team to consistently get great hires
and replicate success. Imagine having
an amazing performer in your team.
Now imagine your entire team being
clones of that worker. This is exactly
what AI achieves.
Another important aspect of AI is; it
bypasses the unconscious bias that
clouds many of the decisions made
by the recruiters. Humans are always
prone to biases, whether consciously
or unconsciously. AI saves us from
those emotions that deter us from
taking right decisions for the benefit
of the organization

It is very common for employees to commit errors in their over-worked
trance. HRs too can fall victim to that, which would result in hiring wrong
candidates or employees being dissatisfied, further leading to attrition and
loss of good resources. The role of an HR is transforming. It encompasses a
lot more responsibilities than it used to a few years ago. An HR today has
to juggle with these various tasks that he is entrusted with and the
organization is dependent on. The best part about AI is that it allows an HR
or a recruiter to solely focus on the human side of Human Resource
Management, empowering him to help and impact more people than he
could without it.Also, another advantage is that
AI technologies don't require you
to program them again and again,
they are based on machine learning.
They use the data from past
experiences to learn by themselves.
This is a huge add-on in an era
where time and resources are
expensive. Moreover, given the
popularity of AI and cognitive
technologies, it is risky for
companies not to implement them.
They might end up getting devoured
by their competitors if they don't
stay ahead in this race! Many
emerging tools such as Arya by
Leoforce, TextRecruit, Ari, Textio
and many more start-ups are
providing such solutions to aid HR
managers, bringing AI to their
doorstep. IBM Watson Talent is one
of the most prominent and highly
appreciated cognitive solution
provider that helps augment the
functionalities of Human Resource
managers. Bob Schultz, Vice
President and General Manager of
IBM Kenexa, explains how HR can
be transformed with the use of
cognitive technologies, "HR leaders
need to rethink their strategies and
relook at their systems. They were
designed for a different era, for a
different need and for a different set
of expectations. Today, you need to
look at your employees holistically,
from HR, business systems, and
social aspects, to really understand
what's going on with
“The techniques of AI are to
the mind what bureaucracy is
to human social interaction”
- Terry Winograd
HRenaissanceSeptember 2017| K J SIMSR | Page 24 HRenaissance

They increase the speed of talent
acquisition and on boarding process.
While AI technologies can never
completely replace the human instinct
needed in HR process, they can surely
free HR managers from tedious tasks
that are prone to human errors and
increase their efficiency. It will create
room for HR managers to explore
and work on strengthening employee
relationships and focus on personal
interactions within the organization.
The time saved can be used to come
up with more innovative ways and
strategies to increase employee
satisfaction and in turn, contribute to
the overall success of the company.
your employees and who are the best
people. That's where cognitive systems
come in. They can be a game-changer
for HR.“ It is not just in the field of
Talent acquisition, cognitive solutions
also play an important role in Talent
development and engagement. In HR
operations, cognitive solutions are
transforming employee engagement to
create more impact. In one of their
products, Discovery, IBM Watson Talent
lets you identify patterns, trends and
actionable insights to drive better
decision-making with the use of simple
queries. Conversation, yet another
service of IBM Watson Talent, offers to
quickly build and deploy chatbots and
virtual agents across a variety of
channels, including mobile devices,
messaging platforms, and even robots.
These chatbots are computer
algorithms crafted to stimulate human
conversations, recruit employees,
answer HR questions and transform
employee learning experiences.
.
-- SHRUTI S

Callforarticle
First, break all the rules
Great managers are integral to the growth and evolution of an
organisation which is a complex and dynamic process that
requires the best out of each and every employee.
Organisations and their respective HR teams spend
tremendous amount of time in nurturing talent, matching talent
to task and analysing individual strengths as people’s talent can
be turned into performance only by putting the right people at
the job instead of changing people to fit the job.
Great managers possess highly developed communication skills
to play their designated role of a facilitator in the growth
process of an organisation. Traits like good negotiation skills,
leadership skills etc. further enable them to perform varied
roles and motivate employees to embrace change with least
possible number of conflicts and issues.
Great managers come with positive attitudes towards their
task. These traits and abilities can be learnt and developed over
a period of time through training, mentoring and experience. It
is an evolutionary process which requires clear path,
methodology, set roadmap and resources.
The key to success of great managers lies in their ability to
identify and deploy the differences among people besides
challenging and ensuring that each employee excels in his or her
own way. They know and value the unique abilities of their
employees, and effectively integrate them to achieve business
goals.

to appreciate the fact that it is not about them but about people allows them
to embrace ambiguity in certain situations and make others comfortable in
dealing with change. Great managers apply different rules to different
employees as they realise each employee is different. They take time out to
know their reports, discover what motivates them, and find a good mixture of
extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. They encourage their reports to see the big
picture and explain to them how their assignments and projects fit into the
company’s larger goals and overall objectives thereby motivating them to work
towards the company’s goals.
Great managers seek accountability from their reports. They realise that their
success depends on the success of their reports and believe in motivating
them to reinforce the outcomes they and their reports are responsible for. To
achieve this, they promote solution-based culture and build an environment of
continuous learning, thereby effectively managing accountability related
conflicts.
Transparency is another key trait of a
great manager. They are direct, factual
and straight forward while speaking to
their reports and managing critical
situations. Their direct communication
encourages solution-based thinking to
promote a transparent culture and
encourage their team to share
meaningful feedback. Great managers
realise the fact that their behaviour
represents and serves as an example of
the company’s values. A flexible positive
attitude also differentiates them from a
mediocre manager.Their ability

Great managers pursue a participatory management style and don’t just
restrict themselves to sharing feedback. They go a step ahead to help the
team find and implement solutions which are beneficial Talent
management is another area where great managers are making huge
contributions. Towards this, they contribute by hiring the right people for
the right roles at the right time. They also play the role of a mentor and
take keen interest in the career development, needs and desires of their
reports. These steps act as a positive reinforcement for their reports and
motivate them to work towards the organisational goals with vigour.
To win the global battle for the best customers, it is imperative for
companies to engage both its customers and employees more
meaningfully and effectively. Organisations therefore must choose great
managers based on their innate talent to develop and engage their
employees, create enthusiastic teams that build highly successful
organizations and create an overall positive perception of the
organisation to effectively engage its customers.
-- Aman Banka
(PGDM_IMC)

HR manager in start-ups:
Is it necessary?
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that
the current period is the golden
era of the start up culture. The
current ecosystem is the most
favourable for start ups. A decade
ago the landscape was entirely
different. Lack of infrastructure,
support from government and
unavailability of funds made the
condition of start-ups miserable.
But today the start ups are
rapidly evolving in India. India has
the third largest and fastest
growing start-up ecosystem.
So what makes a start up
successful?
Three things basically.
A product that fetches demand, a
good effective team and judicious
expenditure. Now not much can
be done with regards to demand
and expenditure can be minimised
but the thing that determines if a
start-up will be successful is how
good and effectively you manage
your team. Here is where HR
comes into picture normally when
it comes to hiring people who will
blend well within the start-up’s
culture and who shares the same
vision of the company.

But is there need for a
dedicated HR manager?
Multitasking is a part of start-up
culture where founders and employees
have to wear multiple hats and take up
roles and responsibilities beyond their
domain of expertise. In most start-ups
they are the ones who also have to
double up as human resource
managers. Here is where it can get
tricky if you don’t have a dedicated HR
manager. It was observed that in most
cases where the start-ups failed it was
due to mismanagement of
organisational resources, be it
allocating tasks, settling grievances or
managing disputes between peers.
In a start-up where the most
important resource is employees
it is extremely important to have
a person dedicated to managing
human resource. A considerable
amount of time and resources are
invested in recruitment of
employees especially if it’s a big
team you’re planning to build.
Here is where having an HR
manager can help by finding a
perfect fit for the start up’s
culture. The work doesn’t end
here. Even after finding the right
person for the job it has to be
taken care that they don’t leave.
An entrepreneur absolutely
cannot lose an employee after
investing in him. An HR manager
can also take care of retaining the
right talent within the company.
For this he has to work on
creating a positive work culture
where employees are encouraged
and given flexibility to brainstorm
for unique solutions and where
out of the box ideas are
appreciated. This can greatly
improve job satisfaction in the
company and help in better
retention.

Apart from this an HR manager can
work on leadership development.
Growth should not be limited to
just the start-up if it wants to
survive in the long term. Employees
should also grow along with it. This
can happen only when the start-up
includes leadership functions as a
part of the job responsibility. When
employees proactively assume
leadership roles everyone wins. The
employee has better job satisfaction,
company performs well, HR doesn’t
have to worry about retention and
founders can finally sit back and
worry about other important issues.
Finally an HR manager can take care
of rewards and recognition, handling
conflicts and the legal issues that
crop up with it. While it is not mandatory to have
a dedicated HR infrastructure while
establishing a start-up , it helps a
lot. Especially if the team is growing
at a fast pace, it is recommended to
have someone look after it. For a
start up its employees are the most
valuable asset and if they are taken
care of everything falls into place.
Investing in an HR infrastructure
can pinch the start-up in the
beginning but can pay off great
returns in the long term.
-- AISHWARYA AMBASKAR

Summer Internships are an integral part of a
student pursuing post-graduation in MBA. It
helps a student understand the nuances of
the business and necessary skills required to
work and improve in a corporate
environment. I had the wonderful
opportunity to intern at Marsh India
Insurance Brokers Pvt Limited. Marsh is a
global leader in insurance broking and risk
management.
With a workforce of 60000 worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13
billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies also include global leaders Guy
Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman. Marsh provides risk management,
risk consulting, insurance broking, alternative risk financing, and insurance
program management services to businesses, government entities,
organizations, and individuals around the world. My project was clubbed
under an umbrella – Creating an engaged workplace. The three primary
projects that were handled by me during my stint at Marsh are as follows:
The internal feedback process was initiated by the Senior Management
Team (SMT) of Marsh in order to further improve the exiting performance
of the internal stakeholders. The assessment framework created will help in
capturing the stakeholder feedback and align it to Year End Performance
Rating as part of Marsh’s client centric strategy. The feedback will also help
in assessing areas of excellence and areas of improvement within Functions
/ Departments and further enhance performance appraisal process to be
more objective and measurable.
SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT
MARSH
Jackson Jose
PGDM-HR

The second project that was to design a system which will auto-populate
the names of winners in the category of Best Branch, Best Business
Enabling Department and Best Department – Business. This involved
interacting with the stakeholders to define the assessment parameters and
then assigning the weightage against each parameter.
Another assignment that was done was to organize a CSR activity at Marsh
Headquarters in Mumbai. Under this initiative, Marsh volunteers had a
chance to visit Ashadaan, Mumbai. Situated in a congested dusty by lane
near Byculla, Mumbai, “Ashadaan” is an abode of some odd 400 under
privileged members. Engaging activities were organized for the inmates at
Ashadaan. The event was well appreciated by all the ones who were a
witness to the event.
As a student the theoretical aspects of an HR department were known to
me but working in HR domain was a new experience. But during the
course of my Internship at Marsh, I got the opportunity to get the
corporate exposure of the different functions of an HR department. My
project required inputs from different stakeholders across departments.
The project taught me the importance of collaboration in teams and how it
fosters a sense of togetherness at workplace. This not only improves the
efficiency but also keeps the environment lively.
I also got the opportunity to understand the employee engagement
function closely as a part of my project. I got to learn how employee
engagement plays an important part in keeping employees motivated which
improves their productivity and helps the business to grow and this in turn
helps in the growth of the organization. I learnt that team work is
important for any department to function efficiently. The HR department at
Marsh has taught me how the synergy in the team drives the crucial
function of human resource dexterously.
HRenaissanceSeptember 2017| K J SIMSR | Page 33

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