Only Engineers or MCAs Allowed Here

Then it comes to recruitment, the HR department at HCL Pero Systems (HPS) does not compromise on the educational qualifications of its applicants. But in a tech savvy world, where it has been deemed absolutely essential to keep your entire workforce networked or hooked on, HPS has made sure that the advancements in technology help enhance the creative capacities of the employees. In the knowledge industry, HR has got a pivotal role to play from planning, hiring and even in rightsizing. The most important role is in bringing in the quality talent available in the market. Once the talent is in, the challenge for HR lies in grooming and retaining that talent and for this it is imperative to create a culture within an organization, which facilitates an associate’s growth and development. The approach has to change from reactive to proactive HR.

Rajat Ganguly, HR head at HPS, maintains that “the biggest challenge that HR faces today is creating a uniform culture and opening up effective communication channels, which would help in bringing together people from different cultural backgrounds”.

With a very stringent recruitment process, the emphasis at HPS is to evaluate an individual’s technical and behavioral strengths, along with domain knowledge and leadership skills. And as technology requirements change, the company constantly upgrades its productive intellectual capital. Ganguly says, “We have set up Competency Development Centers (CDC) which are responsible for analyzing trends and developing programs to enable our employees to rapidly gain expertise in new technology areas. The CDCs also provide a medium for client-specific training in methodology, technology and business domains.” 

There are some innovative methods employed at HPS. In a set-up where performance is rated on an individual basis, 3Ts or Triumph Through Teamwork is an initiative that seeks to foster teamwork through various types of teambuilding programs including outbound, adventure sports-based training sessions. 

Considering that the employees are spread across the globe, 3As or Access, Assist and Advice, a mail/Intranet-based system provides employees at all locations a single window through which they can get information, voice concerns and get their grievances addressed. Under the PEG initiative, HPS provides opportunities for learning and self-development of employees. 

But when it comes to cutting costs, measures like recycling paper and effective utilization of power have been around since the very beginning. The next in line is cutting down on overseas and domestic travel of employees, talk time on phones and better utilization of available people. As far as cut backs in salary are concerned, Ganguly informs that the senior staff voluntarily opted for a salary cut rather than it being imposed across the board. 

Commenting on the company’s attrition rate of 9-10%, Ganguly explains that HPS has had a few cases of employees revolting against the organization, and it was forced to take recourse in legal action. Ganguly further explains that HPS has a robust management system, which helps identify under-performers, who are subsequently put on the ‘Performance Improvement Plan’.

HPS, employees are made to sign a network usage agreement at the time of joining. “Appropriate action is taken against an associate if he is caught breaching the agreement. Considering that HR is sometimes defaced as a non-entity in organizations, Ganguly stresses that HR is not becoming redundant, but some of the routine HR functions are. “We are in the industry of knowledge and our capital assets are our people, therefore it is imperative that we have a continuously evolving HR department. HR in its new creative role as a facilitator is certainly not redundant, but is evolving,” he says.

Dhanya Krishnakumar In New Delhi