1. VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
IIT KHARAGPUR
GROUP 1 – HRM MBA 2014
Assessment of HR Practices in
Consulting Industry
SUBMITTED BY :
Divij Sharma(12BM60046)
Ashwini Kr. Rao(12BM60047)
Dev Maletia(12BM60060)
Abhitosh Daw(12BM60078)
Koyel Dutta(12BM60080)

2. INDEX
Topic Page
1. Introduction 3
2. Why Consulting 6
3. Job Analysis and design 7
4. Performance appraisal 10
5. Job Evaluation 14
6. Orientation & placement 21
7. Recruitment 27
8. Selection 31
9. Summary 33

3. Headway into the world of Consulting:
Introduction:
The word Consultant comes from the Latin word “Consultare” which literally means to discuss.
They are generally trained in specific fields and have a wide sphere of knowledge in a particular
subject. Companies when faced with difficult situations regarding policies, organizational
change, technology, market research, law, human resource or strategy can then easily turn
towards the specialized Consultants for their expert advice.
Consultancy firms in essence are hired for a variety of purposes starting from something be as
straightforward as researching a new market, as technically challenging as designing and coding
a large manufacturing control system, as sensitive as providing outplacement services for the HR
department, or as sophisticated as totally rethinking the client's organization and strategy. Their
expertise in the chosen field not only makes them most suitable but also due to exposure to other
clients and similar problems in the same industry aware of “best practices” as well as probable
solutions.
The ultimate aim is to understand the root of the problem and provide solution that is both cost
and time effective and performance enhancing.
The Management Consultancy industry has seen rapid growth and development since the 1980’s
with more than 20% growth rates. And today this sector has expanded into multitude of branches
like:
• Information technology consulting
• Human resource consulting
• Virtual management consulting
• Organizational Change management consulting
• Strategy Consulting
• Medical Consulting
• Financial Consulting
• Operations Consulting
• Sales and market research consulting
And so on.
It’s a huge field and the industry as per size, specialty and clientele and HR practices is broadly
categorized as:
 The industry elite: These companies focus on providing cutting-edge strategy and
operations advice to the top management of large corporations. They are the biggest and
richest consulting firms of the world. Eg. Arthur D. Little, A.T. Kearney, Bain & Co.,
Booz-Allen & Hamilton, the Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Co., Mercer
Management Consulting and Monitor Co
 The Big Five: Although these firms provide some of the same strategy and operations
advice as the elite, they tend to put a stronger emphasis on implementation work,

4. particularly in the IT world. The players are Accenture, Deloitte Consulting (part of
Deloitte & Touche), Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 Boutiques: these are specialized firms that provide expert services and advice along
specific niche lines. They may also provide strategy, operations or financial expertise but
with more industry focus. Eg. Advisory Board Company and APM (health care);
Corporate Executive Board (cross-company research); CSC Planmetrics (energy and
utility industry); Cluster Consulting (telecommunications and the internet); Marakon
Associates (strategy), marchFIRST, formerly Mitchell Madison Group (financial and
strategy); Oliver Wyman (financial services)
 Information technology (IT) consultancies: These firms are specifically focused on
implementation of IT in the strategy, operations, finance, marketing and in fact the entire
organizational structure. IT firms provide advice, implementation and programming work
on issues related to computer systems, telecommunications and the Internet. Eg.
American Management Systems, Computer Sciences Corp., Diamond Technology
Partners, EDS, IBM
 Human resources specialists: These firms as the name suggests are meant for the
personnel management issues in a firm starting from training to recruitment to allocation
or compensation. eg. Hewitt Associates, William M. Mercer.
 Independents: These are freelance consulting firms providing advice on various small
scale issues or at times acting as agents for filling up temporary high management
positions for any organization. These temp positions are not meant for decision making
rather to understand the problem right at the core by working in the environment and
providing solutions for the problem as well as conducting performance enhancement
programs in the process.
This list is however not exhaustive by any means and is ever expanding into even more niche
segments such as
• Strategy Consulting
• Marketing Consulting
• Sales Consulting
• Finance Consulting
• Asset Management and Consulting
• Real Estate Consulting
• Travel and Tourism Consulting
• Hospitality Management Consulting
• Consultant Engineers
• Consulting in Politics and the Public Sector
• Advertising
• Architecture / Building Safety
• Beauty

5. • Business Analysis
• Business Change / Reform
• Business Networking
• Career Advice
Some industry specific segments of consulting are tabulated below.
Advanced Electronics Aerospace and
Defence
Automotive &
Assembly
BFSI
Chemicals Consumer Packaged
Goods
Electric Power &
Natural Gas
Healthcare Systems &
Services
High Tech Infrastructure Media &
Entertainment
Metals & Mining
Oil & Gas Pharmaceuticals &
Medical Products
Private Equity &
Principal Investors
Public Sector
Pulp & Paper/Forest
Products
Retail Semiconductors Telecommunications
Travel, Transport &
Logistics
ITeS
Functional Practices
Business Technology Corporate Finance Marketing & Sales Operations
Organization Risk Strategy Sustainability &
Resource Productivity
Credits: http://blog.mancerconsulting.com/management-consulting-industry-in-india/
So as can be seen almost every industry sector available has a consulting based segment
dedicated to it, if not by large MNCs but boutiques and niche consulting firms are galore.
It is one of the largest corporate sectors in India with an estimated value of Rs. 22,000 crore
industry (Sorce: Assocham) which is growing at a CAGR of 30%.

6. Why Consulting?
The world of Consulting as demonstrated is one of the most expansive and still strongly growing
fields in the industry. It is hugely knowledge expansive and at the same time dependent entirely
on the prowess of the human brain and understanding.
From another perspective it is driven by all the domains and verticals of the business world –
marketing, finance, operations and HR and hence gives one the freedom to either be a specialist
in either of these fields or develop an understanding of the whole business process at the same
time.
From an HR perspective Consulting is a people’s domain – since setting apart all aspects of
business it is the consultant’s expertise that drives any consulting company and gives it the
reputation of BCG or McKinsey. It thus provides one of the best fields to study the HR practices
followed and which of these pays off in the general scheme of things. It also provides us with a
variety of segments to study – starting from small one-man firms to large multinational
corporates and understand how the personnel management varies with size, industry, culture and
location. Being an inter-cultural domain also makes it a mine of information about HR studies.
From a personal front as a group we are all interested in pursuing the field and as such believed it
would be a good opportunity for us to do in depth analysis of the ongoing trends and scenarios.
HR issues in the sector:
The consulting industry being driven largely and most importantly by people has one of widest
personnel management systems prevalent in the corporate environment. With company sizes
varying from global organizations to freelance and spread across various industries it has HR
practices running from one extreme to the other.
The organizational hierarchy is also different but has basic points of similarity and can be
broadly shown as:
The hiring trend prevalent in the industry is about 44% MBA, 24% masters in other fields and
22% of PHD or M.D.
Issues:
 Training and Development: With consultants being hired from a variety of field of
studies with different backgrounds and expertise it is extremely important for them to
have a strong base of training once they enter the industry. Starting from an in-depth
study of the various segments to client interactions specific to industries this training is
the building block of their careers. The recruited candidates are no doubt experts in their

7. own fields but still need proper direction when it comes to client specific or industry
specific interactions, benchmarked best practices and communications.
 Intercultural Communications (Culture Shock): Consulting is a travel intensive job –
be it actual physical travelling or industry shifts. Hence it is common for the players to be
able to handle the culture shock they are met with for every project and every client.
Starting from country laws and regulations to organizational culture differences is
presented at every step and a consultant needs to identify these points and adjust quickly.
Even in the same industry the organizational culture may vary largely and one should be
able to identify these differences to get to the root of the problem and its solution.
Solution: Trainings in consultancy are essential and should be dealt with by the HR team
with utmost importance. These should not be limited to simple inductions or introductory
programs but be continued rigorously to update on current trends, best practices and
different industries. New recruits should be given a detailed idea about what to expect in
their first projects and so forth. Inter cultural communications training should also be
dealt with and grooming in these cases should be carried out all year round for everyone
in the organization.
 Job Design: With consultants having to work cross domain and cross industry job
designing becomes extremely difficult for the HR team. Roles are assigned largely on the
basis of seniority as shown in the hierarchy but it does not provide a well-defined
boundary to each role. Senior roles are generally associated with larger clients and
strategic problems but this does not always entail the people with the best knowledge.
Solution: As such it is extremely important to have a clear idea in mind about the kind of
projects that the company is likely to be offered in the future and job designing should be
more transient in nature in comparison to other sectors. Experience should be coupled
with proper education and expertise when assigning projects and seniority should not be
the sole factor.
HRP, job analysis & design in the Consulting Sector
Human Resource Planning: HRP is the course of action that the human capital in an
organization takes up for a methodical achievement of predetermined goals. HRP thus serves as
the link between the human resources and the overall strategy of the organization.
In a challenging sector that Consulting is, achieving the most productive combination of workers
and work is of utmost importance.
An Example: The example of McKinsey’s 7 S frameworks can be sited to explain how the
company manages the overall HRP:
• Strategy: the direction and scope of the company over the long term.

8. • Structure: the basic organization of the company, its departments, reporting lines, areas
of expertise and responsibility.
• Systems: formal and informal procedures that govern everyday activity, covering
everything from management information systems, through to the systems at the point of
contact with the customer.
• Skills: the capabilities and competencies that exist within the company.
• Shared values: the values and beliefs of the company.
• Staff: the company's people resources and how they are developed, trained and
motivated.
• Style: the leadership approach of top management and the company's overall operating
approach.
Job Analysis and design in consulting sector: The consulting sector being vast and diverse, it
is important to understand and specify the types of consulting roles that the companies provide.
The parameters based on which this can be done are:
• The mental/physical tasks involved (ranging from judging, planning, analysing,
researching, presenting etc.)
• How the job will be done (the methods and equipment to be used)
• The reason the job exists (including an explanation of job goals and how they relate to
other roles)
• The qualifications needed (training, knowledge, skills and personality traits)
An Example: In respect to McKinsey, it offers its clients consultancy services like performance
improvement, strategy initiatives, organizational redesigning, IT-enabled business solutions,
mergers and acquisitions etc. They also clearly specify what they don’t offer, like auditing,
political advice, system software or hardware consulting.
Using the job analysis, a job description and a job specification should be made. The job
description is an outline of how the job fits in to the company and points out in broad terms the
job's goals, responsibilities and duties. The job specification describes the personal requirements
that are expected from the employee. It also lists educational requirements, desired experience
and specialized skills or knowledge required and the salary range and benefits.
In consulting there are two basic career paths can be taken up depending on the JD:
• Generalist: focuses on universal improvement of a company. These people have many
skills (IT, accounting, business management, etc.) that they combine to give companies a
plan to by and large improve their situation.
• Specialist: focuses on one particular area (skill building, human resources management,
accounting practices etc.) and gains all the knowledge and information they can on this
specific area in order to share it with a company and improve that one function in the
company.

9. Prioritizing consulting tasks by mapping them to client goals is done by following the below
mentioned state:
1. Listing down each of the results to be produced to the client.
2. Identifying the goals that each result would meet. If there are items that don’t meet
important goals, then eliminating those items.
3. Identifying interdependencies between the results.
4. Seeking the client’s input on all of these steps and helping him understand what is
more important for him.
Typical work activities for a consultant:
The day-to-day activities of management consultants are often complex and varied. Projects can
vary in length depending on the type of consultancy, firm and the demands of the client. They
can involve an individual or a large team and may be based in one location or across various sites
including overseas.
Typical tasks, particularly for new graduate recruits involve:
• Carrying out research and data collection to understand the organization;
• Conducting analysis;
• Interviewing client's employees, management team and other stakeholders;
• Running focus groups and facilitating workshops;
• Preparing business proposals/presentations.
• New recruits tend to spend most of their time at the client's site.
In addition to the above, tasks for more experienced and senior consultants involve:
• Identifying issues and forming hypotheses and solutions;
• Presenting findings and recommendations to clients;
• Implementing recommendations/solutions and ensuring the client receives the necessary
assistance to carry it all out;
• Managing projects and programs;
• Leading and managing those within the team, including analysts;
• Liaising with the client to keep them informed of progress and to make relevant
decisions.
Skills expected out of a consultant and their relative importance:
• People skills: High
• Sales skills: Medium
• Communication skills: High
• Analytical skills: Extremely High
• Ability to synthesize: High
• Creative ability: High

10. • Initiative: Medium
• Computer skills: Medium
• Work hours: 50-90/week
• Presentation skills: Extremely High
An Example: With respect to McKinsey, the expertise runs along two main dimensions – the
general problem solving skills their consultants apply in an engagement and the industry or
function-specific experience/knowledge with which they supplement their analysis.
In practice, these skills may, for example, involve the ability to handle a complex financial
modeling, to assess economic value of a specific market strategy, or to structure a complex
business problem into a series of simple, actionable alternatives. In order to build these world-
class skills McKinsey seeks to attract people who excel in problem solving, and invests a great
amount of resources in developing analytical tools and frameworks that is then applied in their
client work.
• A deep understanding of a specific sector by the McKinsey team is crucial to the full success
of the engagement. McKinsey provides this knowledge by continuously investing in research,
training, databases and other knowledge development initiatives.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Performance Appraisal System Dynamics
Performance appraisal systems began as simple methods of income justification. That is,
appraisal was used to decide whether or not the salary or wage of an individual employee was
justified. The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employee's performance was
found to be less than ideal, a cut in pay would follow. On the other hand, if their performance
was better than the supervisor expected, a pay rise was in order. Little consideration, if any, was
given to the developmental possibilities of appraisal. If was felt that a cut in pay, or a rise, should
provide the only required impetus for an employee to either improve or continue to perform well.
Sometimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended; but more often
than not, it failed. For example, early motivational researchers were aware that different people
with roughly equal work abilities could be paid the same amount of money and yet have quite
different levels of motivation and performance. These observations were confirmed in empirical
studies. Pay rates were important, yes; but they were not the only element that had an impact on
employee performance. It was found that other issues, such as morale and self-esteem, could also
have a major influence. As a result, the traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was
progressively rejected. In the 1950s in the United States, the potential usefulness of appraisal as
tool for motivation and development was gradually recognized. The general model of
performance appraisal, as it is known today, began from that time.
The areas of the organization and business processes that are targets for the solution:
• Motivate the contributors of organization
• Ensure that every employee’s contribution fits into the overall aims of the business

11. • Help individual employees better understand their aims and role within the business
• Help employees feel valued
• Create standards to measure the quantity and quality of employee’s work
• Monitor the success of the business
• Identify ways to make the business run more efficiently
• Identify ways to expand the business
• Scalability
• The application can scale horizontally to support the operations of multiple
• Locations without variations in performance.
• Advantages
• Time tested application
• Workflow Controls added based on experience and expertise
• User friendly
• Latest Technology
• Affordable cost
• Can be tailored to suit the business and user requirements within a short period
• Continuous support, maintenance & Training
A sample performance appraisal form:

12. It's a commonly held belief, one that gets played out daily in organizations around the world:
Employees who receive performance feedback are much more likely to improve their
performance than those who don't get feedback. But research tells us that it's simply not true.
Typically, performance after feedback improves only modestly—and over one third of the time,
it actually gets worse. People who receive positive feedback often see no need for change, and
those who receive negative feedback often react with skepticism, discouragement, and anger,
dismissing the evaluation as inaccurate, unhelpful, or unfair.
But if feedback doesn't always and easily improve performance, what should managers do?
Research suggests that "pulling" is a better idea than "pushing." Pulling entails teaching,
coaching, and developing employees rather than pushing — or correcting — them. Pulling says,
"Here's how to get ahead in this company; we'll provide you with guidelines and coaching to
help you master these skills and behaviors." Pushing says "You're not doing very well." In
employees' eyes, it's likely to be the difference between a motivating challenge and a
demoralizing reprimand.
To get favorable results from performance evaluations, evaluators must set positive expectations,
showing that they believe improvements can be made, and that the feedback itself — even
negative feedback — is an opportunity to learn rather than a punitive final word. They should
also be willing to assist with concrete steps toward the suggested improvements, including
coaching and goal-setting. Done correctly, performance feedback can lead to improvements —
but don't forget to "pull" for those improvements by making the desired skills and behaviors
clear and helping people acquire them.
HOW COMPANIES USE IT:
• Ernst & Young's "pull" culture is evident from the moment a new hire joins the firm. Formal
mentors provide an immediate avenue for guidance, coaching, and career advice. Peer advisers
provide support and quicker network building opportunities. Formal counselors serve as an
individual's career advocate, manager, mentor, and coach. Feedback, coaching, and people
development are one of the core pillars of performance that every EY employee is measured
by. In addition to formal role assignments, the firm's culture incentivizes and creates the
environment for regular constructive feedback from all levels and across all reaches of the
organization. This instills a "pull" not "push" model of performance management that is the
foundation of EY's differentiating people culture.
• Deloitte's performance appraisal system incorporates coaching, defining and recording job
performance, training, self-assessment, multi-point feedback, behaviorally based appraisal,
two-way communication, and goal setting. Each practitioner has a counselor who is
responsible for evaluation and coaching. Two expectations are outlined: performance at a
client site, and organization citizenship behaviors (OCB), which involve internal initiatives to
increase firm value. Counselors are trained to record performance "in the moment" to aid in
providing meaningful examples. Additionally, they are trained to acknowledge that recent
feedback is more relevant than historic performance.
• The U.S. Army's Officer Corps experiences "pulling" at every level, as well as a feedback
system that is direct, reinforcing, and indicative of clear ways for improvement. An "officer
professional development" system and formal mentoring program help to develop necessary

13. leadership skills, whether technical or tactical. In addition, annual feedback and ratings are
supplemented with After Action Reviews (AARs) that critique every mission, indicate needed
improvements, and fix any problems before the next mission to mitigate risk.
• McKinsey and Co.
Performance evaluations and career progression
“You will have a performance review at the completion of each client study, as well as two
collective performance reviews annually. Performance reviews are based solely on how well you
are doing against a pre-defined and transparent set of criteria—not how you measure against
your peers.”
How you are evaluated
“We evaluate tenure-specific skills across several categories including thought leadership, client
leadership, people leadership, entrepreneurialism, and adherence to values. This is how we
determine your readiness to progress and what client engagement would be best for you next.
Because McKinsey is a merit-based organization, you will be able to progress as soon as you are
ready. You won't have to wait for a spot to “open up”—there is room for everyone.”
ACTION STEPS:
To "pull" for great performance:
• Clarify and specify the behaviors, skills, and accomplishments that employees at each
level need to exhibit to do their jobs well and to progress to the next level: What are these
factors and why are they important?
• Use multiple approaches to teach employees what these factors are and how they link
to the company's strategy, values, and performance. Publicize them in training sessions,
emails, or websites. Ask higher-level employees to meet with lower-level colleagues for a
Q&A session on getting ahead. Offer mentoring, coaching, formal classes, and/or
opportunities to shadow employees working in different units, roles, or higher-level
positions.
• Create an organizational climate that's safe for asking questions, getting feedback, and
learning new things. Let employees know that whenever they have questions they can
and should reach out to their supervisors and others in higher-level positions.
• Coach supervisors in how to give performance feedback to their direct reports that
includes:
o Delivering an honest message in a way that employees are likely to find both fair
and constructive
o Inviting employees to ask questions, provide input, and reflect on their own
performance
o Keeping the focus on the task and behavior, not the self and personal traits

14. o Providing coaching to support employees in acquiring new and more effective
skills, behaviors, and accomplishments
o Setting goals for performance improvement
o Emphasizing the learning opportunity and the fact that change is possible.
• Be prepared when receiving feedback to ask the kinds of questions that will check
defensiveness and enhance learning, such as: What do you think I'm already doing well?
What are areas for improvement? Are there specific things I have done that I should
definitely keep doing? What specific things have I done that have concerned you and
why? Then paraphrase what you have heard ("So key areas for me to work on are…."),
ask what resources exist for you to make improvements in these areas, and set a date to
meet again to discuss your progress.
JOB EVALUATION
UNDERSTANDING THE JOB EVALUATON PROCESS
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?
Job evaluation is the application of a process to identify, analyze and measure each job against
established criteria and weigh the relative value of jobs in a uniform and consistent manner. It is
NOT used to obtain a salary increase for the incumbent.
WHY EVALUATE JOBS?
Job evaluation helps provide salary equity among all jobs in a salary administration. After a job
is evaluated, it is assigned to the appropriate salary group and corresponding salary range.
WHEN IS EVALUATION DONE?
Jobs are evaluated when:
• A new position is established, prior to recruitment
• When an existing position has changed 10-15% (up or down.)
WHO CAN REQUEST EVALUATION?
Requests for evaluation can come from:
• The Job Evaluation Committee (JEC)
• The Human Resources Office

15. • The position’s supervisor
Neither the job description nor the evaluation process reflects upon the personality,
credentials, or performance of an incumbent, or upon salary considerations.
STEPS IN THE EVALUATION PROCESS
• STEP ONE - Job Description
The position supervisor assigns duties and writes the job description. If there is an
incumbent employee, s/he reviews it, and they both sign it. Instructions and additional
assistance are available from Human Resources, if needed. The job description is a
snapshot of the job as it presently exists, reflecting the current duties and responsibilities
of the job and/or the incumbent.
• STEP TWO - Approval
The vice president reviews job descriptions and, if s/he concurs, approves the
responsibilities, requirements, and departmental organization contained within a job
description presented for new evaluation, and signs it. If the vice president does not
concur with the contents of the description, it is returned to the supervisor for changes.
• STEP THREE - Review
Human Resources review the job description as submitted with the supervisor prior to
evaluation by the Job Evaluation Committee (Step 4). Human Resources helps ensure
that there is consistency and equity in the job descriptions and titles by editing them for
clarity and format. If the Human Resources Office makes changes, the job description is
returned to the supervisor and vice president for signature prior to being presented to the
Job Evaluation Committee (Step 4).
• STEP FOUR - Evaluation
The Job Evaluation Committee (JEC) is a multi-member committee, the members of
which are appointed by the Director of Human Resources, representing offices
throughout the College. JEC ensures equity among jobs through the use of established,
consistent criteria for evaluation and prevents escalation of the job evaluation grades by
validating changes in job content presented for review. Members of JEC receive in-depth
training on job evaluation and utilize a consistently applied point system for the
evaluations.
JOB EVALUATION CATEGORIES
The job evaluation process consists of three general categories:
1. Know-how
Know-how is the sum total of every kind of knowledge and skill however
acquired, e.g. experience, education, etc. needed for accept-able job performance.
Know-how includes three elements:
A. Specialized, technical or practical know-how: the basic job knowledge
needed.
B. Managerial know-how: The degree with which the job deals with planning
and organizing the employee’s activities and coordinating with others.

16. C. Human relations skills: The persuasion and communication skills for
motivating, training, and developing others.
2. Problem Solving
Problem solving is the amount of original self-starting thinking required by the
job for analyzing, evaluating, creating, reasoning, arriving at and coming to
conclusions. Problem-solving has two elements:
A. Thinking environment – defines the degree to which the incumbent is free
to develop answers to problems, ranging from the day-to-day decisions
based on simple memory to those which require creative thinking or long-
range strategies.
B. Thinking challenge – defines the complexity and uniqueness of problems
and may range from repetitive to highly creative.
3. Accountability
Accountability is the answerability for action and for the consequences of that
action. Accountability has three elements:
a) Freedom to act is the degree to which the position can take
action without consulting a higher authority.
b) Impact on end results is the real effect of the position on the end
results, i.e., direct, controlling, or primary impact, or an
interpretive, advisory, or facilitating role.
c) Magnitude is the size of the area in which the job functions, i.e,
whole organization, school, single department, etc.
Additionally, JEC establishes job titles.
• STEP FIVE - Confirmation
The appropriate Vice President will review and confirm all job evaluations and titles
recommended by JEC in their respective areas.
After confirmation of the evaluation job description, Human Resources will notify the
supervisor of the results of the evaluation and the title. The supervisor then advises the
incumbent of the position (if applicable) of the results of the job evaluation.
Appeals Procedure
The employee, supervisor, and/or Vice President may appeal the evaluation should they feel the
evaluation rating is incorrect. An appeal includes an assumption that new information is
available. The appeal goes to the appropriate vice president and with the vice president’s
concurrence, to JEC and SSAC (Staff Salary Appeals Committee). For assistance in an appeal,
contact Human Resources and/ or refer to Personnel Policy and Procedure No. 5.02 “Job
Evaluation.”

17. A SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES:
Supervisor:
In collaboration with the employee, develops and reviews the job description, creates the request
for evaluation and prepares organizational chart. Obtaining signatures is also the responsibility of
the department.
Vice President:
• Signs the job description and request for evaluation form.
• Authorizes evaluation and appeals.
Human Resources:
• Ensures consistency in job descriptions and titles.
• Assist supervisors with developing job descriptions
• Obtains appropriate approvals after evaluation.
JEC:
• Ensures equity through use of a common evaluation tool.
• Checks the validity of job contents and requirements to prevent escalation.
BUDGET:
• Ensures funding is available.
SSAC:
• Generally reviews the job evaluation process when evaluation is appealed.
An Example: DELOITTE Consulting
Job evaluation (“JE”) determines the relative value of jobs within an organization, which enables
you to establish that all-important internal equity. If you want to put “equal work equal pay” into
practice, you first need to make sure that it is equal work. Any JE system worth its salt should
strike a balance between art and science. Of course you can’t fully eliminate subjectivity, but all
methods should use a consistent, systematic approach. Remember too that a JE evaluates the
content, roles, and responsibilities of the job – not the people performing it.
In its simplest form, JE orders jobs by rank. On the other hand, an analytical JE assigns scores to
jobs, going beyond simple ranking to quantifying job value. Effectively, you need the latter to
provide a fair, defensible basis for a rewards structure. It’s not enough to simply know that one
job has more value to your organization compared to another; you need to know how much more
value that job holds, and begin to determine your rewards philosophy from there.

18. In talent management circles, the term Total Rewards includes more than compensation, benefits
and perks. It encompasses all the tangible and intangible elements of the work experience that
effect an employee’s on-the-job behavior, including intangibles such as work/life balance,
corporate culture and opportunities for personal development.
A well-executed job evaluation lays the groundwork for strong HR solutions such as Job Design,
Organization Design, Salary Structure, Job Grading, or Career Pathing .
Beyond establishing internal equity for your rewards program, the solid foundation JE provides
also serves as a stepping stone to many other HR solutions. Furthermore, JE has additional
benefits in and of itself for your organization as a whole:
• It helps to set and clarify standards.
• It makes your HR more efficient.
• It serves as a wake-up call.
There are two widely recognized approaches to JE: non-analytical and analytical. Non-analytical
JEs include job ranking and whole job classification, and involve simply ranking jobs according
to their relative value. This approach has the advantages of being simple, fast and relatively
inexpensive. However, it does not consider different compensable factors of a job (for instance,
the physical effort it requires) and is more subjective, making it difficult to ensure pay equity
compliance. In contrast, analytical JEs use a number of compensable factors that are broadly
defined, and assign points to each factor. These include point factor rating and weighted point

19. factor comparison. Therefore, analytical JEs provide an objective, systematic approach to
quantifying job value, ensuring pay equity compliance. From Deloitte’s point of view, the
weighted point factor comparison method is an effective mix of both qualitative and quantitative
measures, as it:
• Uses a number of compensable factors that are broadly defined (a compensable factor is a job
element that is valued by the organization and that they are willing to pay for)
• Assigns points to each factor, where each factor is typically weighted differently within the
overall framework based on a number of quantitative and qualitative considerations.
In fact, a weighted point factor comparison can be applied to more than just jobs; you can even
compare apples to oranges!
Deloitte’s 8 Factors of job evaluation
Similarly, every job has four standard criteria recognized in all pay equity legislation. When
making a pay equity claim, the claimant has to be able to show that his or her job holds equal
value to another one, based on an analysis of these four criteria: Skill, Effort, Responsibility and
Working Conditions.

20. Deloitte’s 8 Factors are developed based on these criteria, providing a gender-neutral, pay equity
compliant tool that is equally applicable to all positions within an organization.
JE gives you a foundation for far more than just total rewards. It strengthens your HR function as
a whole, directly benefitting the organization. However, JE’s direct ROI is just one part of it; it
brings just as much value to the table through your employees. A JE analysis provides the facts
you need to establish internal equity. From there, you can be sure of aligning your rewards
program with pay equity – so everyone gets rewarded appropriately for the work they do. That
increased satisfaction and loyalty gets passed on to your organization, in the form of greater
productivity and retention. Not to mention the very act of conducting JE builds trust between
employer and employee. Doing JE as a joint exercise fosters better understanding of your
rewards program, and that in turn gives it more credibility. JE by itself won’t automatically solve
your talent problems, increase reward efficiency or maintain internal equity. But it will give you
a great springboard from which to do so. A stronger HR function, reward efficiency, and higher
employee retention are just a step away.

21. Orientation & Placement
Once the candidates are selected for the required job, they have to be fitted as per the
qualifications. Placement is said to be the process of fitting the selected person at the right job or
place, i.e. fitting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. Once he is fitted into
the job, he is given the activities he has to perform and also told about his duties. The freshly
appointed candidates are then given orientation in order to familiarize and introduce the
company to him. Generally the information given during the orientation program includes-
• Employee’s layout
• Type of organizational structure
• Departmental goals
• Organizational layout
• General rules and regulations
• Standing Orders
• Grievance system or procedure
In short, during Orientation employees are made aware about the mission and vision of the
organization, the nature of operation of the organization, policies and programmes of the
organization.
The main aim of conducting Orientation is to build up confidence, morale and trust of the
employee in the new organization, so that he becomes a productive and an efficient employee of
the organization and contributes to the organizational success.
The nature of Orientation program varies with the organizational size, i.e., smaller the
organization the more informal is the Orientation and larger the organization more formalized is
the Orientation program.
Proper Placement of employees will lower the chances of employee’s absenteeism. The
employees will be more satisfied and contended with their work.
We need to ask how much potential for success a typical Orientation Program has? The honest
answer would be that it would not have much success-potential at all unless it is made
interesting.
We will now try to explain the concept of orientation, placement and training & development
through organizational best practices with examples from the consulting major – McKinsey &
Co.

22. ORIENTATION PROGRAM:
Consultants are work horses & need to be on their toes & prime all the time. Consulting
companies like McKinsey hire the best talents & pay them very high salaries. So, they require
them to start working as soon as possible & with all their might. Hence orientation program
plays a pivotal role in helping them prepare for the challenge.
An Example : McKinsey & Company
McKinsey organises a program called BCR or Basic consulting readiness program which is to
be undertaken by every new associate who joins the firm. Some typical characteristics of the
BCR program are:
• BCR is the company’s time to shine, to demonstrate their commitment to learning and
veteran employees’
• BCR is supposed to build enthusiasm for the company through compelling programs.
Some of the training methods used are:
1) Creating an engaging program
• Creating an engaging presentation utilizing various training techniques, beyond
simple PowerPoint-driven lectures, which allows an organization to produce
smoother transfers of corporate best practices which yield impressive gains in
productivity among new hires.
• McKinsey use role playing to help new hires understand key concepts. They add
levity to the activity by using a trainer with a squirt gun to simulate an angry
client.
• Plenty of planned activities, utilizing all aspects of the “learning pyramid” –
lecture, reading, audio-visual, demonstration, discussion groups, and practice by
doing are employed in the BCR program.
2) Involving the partners & senior members for inspiration
• BCR makes the new hires feel like the company is buying into their selection and
to the orientation process by making them meet the McKinsey partners &
directors.

23. 3) Creating & communicating a shared vision
• McKinsey considers it mission statement & the values to be very relevant &
important. BCR teaches new hires to ‘live the values.’
• BCR spends many hours introducing new hires to the firm’s consulting process,
including meeting facilitation, process implementation, client development, work
flow diagramming, and other skills specific to consulting and to the firm’s
methodology.
4) Welcoming & making the employees feel special
• McKinsey holds the BCR programs in the most posh hotels of the city & many a
times at a holiday destination
• The employees get a hang of how the company will treat them in future & they
become impressed by the commitment & care the company show towards their
hospitality
By improving orientation programs companies can increase retention by 25 percent (Sullivan,
1998), as well as integrate a new hire quicker, thus improving productivity and contributing
thousands of dollars in bottom line savings
Employee placement in consulting industry
The process of selection is carried out with the sole purpose of placement, normally referred to
as fitting a person to the right job. The Process of placement is a matching process. Matching an
employee well to the job can have significant implications on the quality of employee work. a
Well matched employee will certainly have lower training cost with less operating expenses
required to prepare the employee for the job. Furthermore it can also have significant effect on
work behaviours, a good matched employee will certainly have lower rate of absenteeism, lower
intention to quit and would have higher work morale.
An Example - Associate placement at McKinsey & Co.
The matching up is done amongst the selected candidates on 5 criteria:
• Skills/ Sector qualifications – A consultant is assigned clients of a particular sector in
which he prefers to work or has interest / prior experience in.
• Geography/job location: The location preference is given to the consultants without any
issues as they are anyways required to travel a lot during the work days.

24. • Time/amount of work: Projects or clients are assigned according to the skill set & the
amount of work any associate can put in keeping in mind his other duties & official work
that he may have to perform
• Earnings/expectations : More experienced employees / associates are paid more as they
handle more important clients or critical projects
If the person adjusts to the job and continues to perform per expectations, it means that the
candidate is properly placed. However, if the candidate is seen to have problems in adjusting
himself to the job, the supervisor must find out whether the person is properly placed as per
the latter’s aptitude and potential. Usually, placement problems arise out of wrong selection
or improper placement or both. Therefore, organizations need to constantly review cases of
employees below expectations / potential and employee related problems such as turnover,
absenteeism, accidents etc., and assesses how far they are related to inappropriate placement
decisions and remedy the situation without delay.
Training & development in consulting industry
An Example - Programs at McKinsey & Co.
As a leading consultancy firm, McKinsey’s success and reputation can only be as good as its
people’s capabilities. So it is natural for them to want to create an environment that attracts and
develops the best consultants in the world.
To achieve this, they have training and development in place that:
• ensures advancement through McKinsey at a rate appropriate to each individual’s
capabilities as they develop
• provides strong and accurate feedback on each individual’s successes and areas for
improvement
• seeks a balance between placing the primary responsibility on the individual to develop
and providing the personal and infrastructure support required to help make it happen.
1. Formal Training
Firm and local office-sponsored training programs for consulting service staff fall into three
categories. The emphasis of these programs shifts as your tenure and role changes:
• Prerequisite programs for new consulting staff members
• Core-change programs focused heavily on leadership development

25. • Programs focusing on specific consulting skills.
2. Apprenticeship
Because most of your development will occur during the course of associate’s client work,
the feedback he gets during and after each engagement is very important. But partners know
that their responsibilities to help associates develop go well beyond providing good
feedback.
During each engagement he can help himself develop faster by actively using the firm's
knowledge bases as well as the personal networks he has built. One of the firm's great
advantages is its scale and experience, as well as its tradition of collaboration. Combined,
they literally put McKinsey's global reach at associate’s fingertips.
McKinsey’s various training programs

26. McKinsey recognizes that providing an outstanding training program, which supports employees
throughout their career, is essential to your professional development.
The aim is to develop wide-ranging consulting ability backed up by expertise in one area of
specialization.
This breaks down into five core skill areas:
• consulting
• assignment and commercial management
• communication
• people development
• analytical thinking.
A total of 45 training courses are available covering these five areas and all consultants complete
at least five days of related training each year.
The courses are regularly updated and refreshed by McKinsey’s training and development team.
To provide additional support, all consultants have access to a personalized online ‘training path’
which summarizes the training they have completed and recommends courses for further
development.
They have over 1,000 training opportunities available, which they deliver through courses,
resources, events, e-learning kits and individual coaches.
Development actions
Development is not just about completing courses. McKinsey recommend a variety of other
methods to help employees make the most of their potential:
• Practical application of employee’s new skills and knowledge
• Rotation on assignments to keep trying new tasks
• Taking on management responsibility during client work
• Accepting additional responsibilities
• Working on assignments for other practices or in another country.

27. Recruitment
Definition:
The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an
organization) for a job opening, in a timely and cost effective manner. The recruitment process
includes analysing the requirements of a job, attracting employees to that job, screening and
selecting applicants, hiring, and integrating the new employee to the organization. Recruitment
represents the first contact a company makes with potential employees.
Methodology:
Recruitment is almost central to any management process and failure in recruitment can create
difficulties for any company including an adverse effect on its profitability and inappropriate
levels of staffing or skills. Inadequate recruitment can lead to labor shortages, or problems in
management decision making and the recruitment process could itself be improved by following
management theories. The recruitment process could be improved in sophistication with Rodgers
seven point plan, Munro-Frasers five-fold grading system, psychological tests, personal
interviews, etc. Recommendations for specific and differentiated selection systems for different
professions and specializations have been given.
Recruitment is however not just a simple selection process and requires management decision
making and extensive planning to employ the most suitable manpower. Competition among
business organisations for recruiting the best potential has increased focus on innovation, and
management decision making and the selectors aim to recruit only the best candidates who
would suit the corporate culture, ethics and climate specific to the organisation (Terpstra, 1994).
This would mean that the management would specifically look for potential candidates capable
of team work as being a team player would be crucial in any junior management position. The
process of recruitment does not however end with application and selection of the right people
but involves maintaining and retaining the employees chosen. Despite a well-drawn plan on
recruitment and selection and involvement of qualified management team, recruitment processes
followed by companies can face significant obstacles in implementation. Theories of HRM may
provide insights on the best approaches to recruitment although companies will have to use their
in house management skills to apply generic theories within specific organizational contexts.
Allocating appropriate time and resources to select the right person for the role is likely to
have many positive effects:
• Good employees have a higher retention rate.
• High performing employees provide superior client service generating higher client
satisfaction.
• More capable employees are confident and able to cope with multiple tasks and adapt
more quickly to new roles.

28. • Capable employees work well in a team and need less attention from management. Once
they commence work they will require fewer hours of hands-on supervision.
• High performing employees will be interested in ongoing learning and self development.
• Good employees will most likely have more and better ideas that improve productivity
and work practices.
• Good employees can inspire and develop other staff.
The recruitment process needs to be conducted very carefully, the following points explain
why:
• It is important to make sure that you are attracting the right candidates not only for the
positions that you want to fill, but also for the environment and attitude of your company.
• It can be rather expensive to hire and train new employees so when you are recruiting you
want to make sure that you are making the right choices.
• There is no guarantee that your choice will be right, but you can do all that you can to
minimize your risks and maximize your potential to hire the right candidate.
Factors that affect the recruitment process:
Important factors that affect the recruitment process need to be kept in mind which is explained
in the diagram provided below:
There are 4 key components to a good recruiting strategy:
• Budget: Determine how much money is available to spend on recruiting. The more you
are willing to spend, the more options are available.
• Timing: A replacement opening immediately puts everything in react mode and
eliminates some recruiting options that take longer, think advertising in a trade journal.
The choices of candidate sources may be limited by how long it takes to get a response.
• Resources: Too often recruiting gets shuffled to the back of the to-do list and then you
wonder why it takes too long and costs too much. Recruiting takes resources.

29. • Availability: How many people are present that have the skills to do the job? What is the
current employment situation? Are there geographical concentrations of the people with
the required skills? How much competition is there for the available people? Also, the
compensation plan needs to be factored into the strategy
Recruitment process:
1. Recruitment Planning
•Number of contacts
•Types of contact
2. Recruitment Strategy Development
•Make or Buy Employees
•Technological Sophistication
•Where to look
•How to look
3. Internal Recruitment (Source 1)
•Present employees
•Employee referrals
•Transfers & Promotions
•Former Employees
•Previous Applicants
•Evaluation of Internal Recruitment
4. External Recruitment (Source 2)
•Professionals or Trade Associations
•Advertisements
•Employment Exchanges
5. Campus Recruitment
•Walk-in Interviews
•Consultancy agencies
•Contractors
•Displaced Persons
•Radio & Television
•Acquisitions & Mergers
•Competitors
•Evaluation of External Recruitment
6. Searching
•Source activation
•Selling
•Screening of Applications
7. Evaluation and Cost Control
•Salary Cost

30. •Management & Professional Time spent
•Advertisement Cost
•Producing Supporting literature
•Recruitment Overheads and Expenses
•Cost of Overtime and Outsourcing
•Consultant’s fees
8. Evaluation of Recruitment Process
•Return rate of applications sent out
•Suitable Candidates for selection
•Retention and Performance of selected candidates
•Recruitment Cost
•Time lapsed data
•Image projection
An Example: Recruitment stages of a PA Consulting Group:
The Analyst recruitment process may vary slightly, depending on the country and practice you
are applying to. In general, we use the same four stage process.
‘Which business area for you’ will assist you in finding the best practice applicable to your
skills.
Application:
All candidates must apply for their preferred role online. Applications are now open for our 2012
intake of graduates. Please search and apply via campus recruitment.
First stage (initial interview and aptitude tests):
• Either face to face or by telephone, a 1 hour competency based interview will take place.
This focuses on areas of interest on your CV and for you to discuss real life examples of
your experience. Our aim is to understand your reasons for wanting to join PA and in
particular, the business area that you applied into.
Second stage (assessment centre):
• The assessment centre is designed to test your general business acumen and potential
consulting skills. We do not ask you to prepare anything in advance - all materials are
provided on the day with preparation slots scheduled. We recommend that you are clear
about your reasons for applying to PA and the business area you applied to.
• Interview with a member of the business area you applied to.
• Case study preparation & role play.
• Group exercise.

31. Final Stage:
• One hour interview with a member of PA’s Management Group, usually someone from
the business area you applied to.
#Due to high volumes of applications, we will endeavour to get in touch within two – three
weeks of submission
Selection process:
Definition:
Selection is the process of picking up individuals (out of the pool of job applicants) with
requisite qualifications and competence to fill jobs in the organization.

32. Steps in a selection process:
1. Preliminary Interview:
The purpose of preliminary interviews is basically to eliminate unqualified applications
based on information supplied in application forms. The basic objective is to reject
misfits. On the other hands preliminary interviews is often called a courtesy interview
and is a good public relations exercise.
2. Selection Tests:
Jobseekers that passed the preliminary interviews are called forests. There are various
types of tests conducted depending upon the jobs and the company. These tests can be
Aptitude Tests, Personality Tests, and Ability Tests and are conducted to judge how well
an individual can perform tasks related to the job. Besides this there are some other tests
also like Interest Tests (activity preferences), Graphology Test (Handwriting), Medical
Tests, Psychometric Tests etc.
3. Employment Interview:
The next step in selection is employment interview. Here interview is a formal and in-
depth conversation between applicant’s acceptability. It is considered to be an excellent
selection device. Interviews can be One-to-One, Panel Interview, or Sequential
Interviews. Besides there can be Structured and Unstructured interviews, Behavioural
Interviews, Stress Interviews.
4. Reference & Background Checks:
Reference checks and background checks are conducted to verify the information
provided by the candidates. Reference checks can be through formal letters, telephone
conversations. However it is merely a formality and selections decisions are seldom
affected by it.
5. Selection Decision:
After obtaining all the information, the most critical step is the selection decision is to be
made. The final decision has to be made out of applicants who have passed preliminary
interviews, tests, final interviews and reference checks. The views of line managers are
considered generally because it is the line manager whose responsible for the
performance of the new employee.

33. An Example: Selection of a consultant at ACC (Airport Consultant Council)
Summary:
The consulting sector is wide spread In terms of size, industry diversity, expertise, projects
offered, knowledge, clients and personnel. It is hence a difficult job in itself to understand the
temperament, needs, requirements, values, attitudes and beliefs of all the people in any
consulting organization and work accordingly. Consulting firms are also largely different from
one another and hence have a wide spectrum of practices and methods of HR management.
However as our analysis brings forth it is well organized from the HR perspective and has quite
well defined processes for all major HR practices like recruitment, planning, training, job
analysis and performance appraisals.
Firms like McKinsey, Deloitte, BCG, Accenture etc. who have been in the industry for long have
developed unique ways of governing organization wide personnel management – that are
cultivated and imitated by companies in other sectors as well.
One of the biggest advantages of being a consultant firm is that they deal with organizational
crisis – for structure, HR management, motivation, control, planning, technology etc. on an
everyday basis – and provide solutions to the best in the industry. As a result it is easy for them
to understand the problems underlying their own firms, if analyzed objectively, and thus
determine a stable, long lasting, profitable and efficient solution.
Consultancy from and employee’s perspective is an interesting sector to get into with high
paying, reputable companies, strong brands, recognition, growth prospects and a sound

34. management system. Their recruitment processes are usually carried out at MBA or B-Tech of
reputed colleges and also in some cases off-campus walk-in interviews.
They expect a certain discipline in lifestyle, timeliness, behavior, manner, and work habits from
their employees apart from the knowledge and expertise and HR rules in the organization are
thus built around it. The organizational HR culture is however, more on the flexible side since
most consultants have difficult travel expansive round the clock jobs. This however does not
imply any slack or cavalierity.
In conclusion, it can be said that with the rapid growth in the industry, consultancy today is one
of the dominating corporate sectors and their HR policies and practices are accepted across the
world as stable, suitable, efficient and active. They keep up to date with emerging trends and the
HR personnel put in effort to make all the HR processes fruitful, meaningful and in-line with the
jobs and roles being played by the employees. It is thus, an example of successful
implementation of efficient and well-designed HR strategies and practices.
References:
http://www.scribd.com
http://www.selectingwinners.com
http://www.streetdirectory.com
https://india.jobs.accenture.com/
http://www.paconsulting.com/careers-a/campus/selection/
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.acconline.org/
http://www.scribd.com
http://www.streetdirectory.com
http://www.jobsite.co.uk/insider/understanding-recruitment-consultants-2806/