STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

Xpress HR
August Edition SAPPHIREs Newsletter on Human Resources 18/08/2012

In our second edition of Xpress HR, we bring to you interesting thoughts on topics of Sociograms and Employer branding along with the winning monthly article. Do not miss out on the HR CROSSWORDS - The winners will have an opportunity to collaborate with SAPPHIRE with their contributions...

Inside this issue:

SOCIOMETRY - QUANTITATIVE FACET OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 1 EMPLOYER BRANDING : APPLICATION OF BRAND MANAGEMENT TO HUMAN 3 RESOURCES , A THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING HR CROSSWORDS - A MUST DO !!! HR DOSE HR TRIVIA XPRESS HRWINNING ARTICLE : HAS THE CORPORATE NEGLECTED THE REAL FACETS OF HR FOR TOO LONG ? HR ROUND THE GLOBE
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STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

SOCIOMETRY
Interpersonal Relationships often widely discussed, are often defined in student circles and elsewhere only qualitatively. What is really interesting is the possibility to measure such relationships quantitatively ! Yes Sociometry is the answer and this is why.
The term sociometry relates to its Latin etymology, socius meaning companion, and metrum meaning measure. Jacob Moreno defined sociometry as "the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them." He goes on to write "As the ...science of group organization, it attacks the problem not from the outer structure of the group, the group surface, but from the inner structure. Sociometric explorations reveal the hidden structures that give a group its form: the alliances, the subgroups, the hidden beliefs, the forbidden agendas, the ideological agreements, the stars of the show". The structure of interactions and pattern of influence in an organization can be characterized in terms of a map of interactions within and between cohesive groups. Sociologists and others who study organizations and communities have attempted to understand complex patterns of human relations by representing the relations in a map of two or three dimensions. Such interaction maps typically consist of nodes and points representing the people, lines and arcs representing the relations among people. Though there are improved techniques for constructing maps have become sophisticated and rigorous it is difficult to interpret the results solely in terms of relations between each pair of actors. Therefore researchers have identified clusters of actors who are strongly related and who are plotted close together.
Article by - Mrityunjay Sharma (XLRI HRM, Batch of 2011-13)

Why should we know about interaction patterns? The ability to work efficiently and effectively with others in a group is not merely important to a business students success, it is mandatory. A survey by Gordon in 1992, indicated that 82% of companies with used teams for most of the activities and managers were spending anywhere from 60 to 90% of their time in group related activities. Furthermore a survey of 240 managers revealed that they were on average working on three different team projects with several managers stating they were on up to 12 teams at any given time. In a study conducted by Bacon, Stewart, & Silver 1999; it was noticed that students appear to first select friends to work with and then, make additions to the group based on someones physical proximity or by adding students who are known as good group members. Methodology: For the experiment a group of 28 female students were taken from the same college and same major. However these girls were divided into two sections for the purpose of classes. So we called these two groups as Sec A and Sec B. A customized questionnaire was delivered to them in which they were asked for their top 3 names when it came to preferences for seating in the class, Study group, Shopping, Gossip and overall best friends.

Sociograms are often used to analyze various choices made by members within a group. By understanding such choices, sociograms are created and pathways that connect maximum social acceptance are identified. Such pathways may then be used to reduce the existing misbehavior in groups. Referred as the Social Discipline Model , this exercise is quite common in reducing the misbehavior in classrooms. Page 1

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

Afterwards the responses from these girls were col- Key Findings: lected and Sociograms were created for each of the (a) Physical proximity is an important deciding broad arrangements like Class seating, Study group, factor in the selection of the individuals for Shopping, Gossip and best friends. The Sociograms their preferences. For individual activities like showed the links between the different girls repreShopping Sisters or Study circle, the star sented as nodes and various relations between them attributes could have come from core compewhen it came to preferences. tencies, like ability to bargain or scholastic abilities respectively. They also could be due There are few terminologies that have been used to to combination of factors like physical proxexplain the findings of Sociograms: imity and scholastic skills. But the emergence Stars: When several children "positively" nominate of stars like 5, 13 and 1 across categories indithe same person the many arrows all lead to that percates role of likeable personality attributes like son thus emphasizing their "Starness". They are the low neuroticism in making someone the center center or "hub of attraction." We call them "stars." of attraction. This may point to favorable position in future for leadership roles for members 1, 5 and 13. (A case of charismatic leadership) Mutual choices: These consist of pairs of students who chose each other. The more there are the more (b) There is a very poor co-relation between an individuals CQPI & its study groups CQPI congenial the group is and thus there may be a which goes against the common assumption of greater positive social climate to the classroom. Obhigh CQPI people sticking together. viously, mutual negative choices are dangerous situations to be avoided, corrected by intervention, (c) However, in case of an expressive network or at least used as useful knowledge when grouping relationship which involves the exchange of children with each other. friendship like shopping group see a relatively high positive co-relation with individual CQPIs. Islands: When pairs (mutual choices) or small groups are separated from the larger patterns, and (d) The correlations for other activities with CQPIs lie in between these two extremes menmembers of this group are not nominated by anyone tioned above. in other patterns, we describe them as "Islands." Page 2

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

EMPLOYER BRANDING
The application of Brand Management concepts to Human Resources has been instrumental in addressing many problems from skill shortages to improving growth and profitability. While eliciting the reasons for why organizations go for employer branding, the article also gives rationale through theoretical frameworks for explaining Employer Branding. Employer Brand can be defined as The package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company. Why Employer Branding: In todays world when information is galore, the potential employees have the cushion of exploring the benefits/ employee centric privileges of any employer before they decide to take a plunge in the process for any companys recruitment and selection. Thus, a firm needs to differentiate itself from its competitors in terms of the value proposition that it offers to its employees. Employer branding has gained a lot of impetus in the knowledge based industry. Besides increasing the number of quality applications for any particular position, it also helps in increasing the number of offer acceptances by the candidates. This helps in cutting down the recruitment and selection cost for a firm. The increased visibility of the employer value propositions ensures that the existing workforce is motivated enough to continue with the organization and give its optimal performance. This again has an impact on reducing the attrition figures for any organization. Reducing attrition figures adds to the stability of the workforce and hence helps in the organization in: Reducing costs in term of on boarding and training new employees. Leveraging on the existing learning curve in the organization which is

Article By Abhishek Vinay (XLRI HRM, Batch of 2011-13)

critical in executing complex projects The message content used while doing branding also states the culture of the organization, hence this creates a better engagement of the current and potential employees with culture and strategy of the firm. Recent researches suggest that employer branding has become critical in an increasingly knowledgebased economy where skilled employees are often in short supply. Since, employer branding caters to both internal as well as external marketing it becomes as critical as the corporate and the product brand of the firm. Theories can help us understand the theoretical aspects of employer branding: Resource based Theory: This theory suggests that resources of a firm can contribute to its sustainable competitive Page 3

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

advantag. Research done by Barney suggests that the possession of resources that are rare, valuable, non-substitutable and difficult to imitate allow a firm to move ahead of its competitors. For the knowledge based industry the resource that can create competitive advantage is Human Capital. External marketing enables a firm to create a distinctiveness of the brand that in turn allows the firm to acquire distinctive human capital to build competitive advantage. Internal marketing helps create a workforce that is hard for other firms to imitate which puts a firm at

This theory stresses on the employee organizational relationship wherein the employee starts looking at the total rewards in lieu of working for the organization rather than simply monetary benefits. Brand Equity Theory: As defined by Asker, Brand Equity is a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firms customers.

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR EMPLOYER BRANDING

Employer Brand Association Employer Image Employer Attraction

Employer Branding

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Organization Identity and Culture

Employer Brand Loyalty

Employee Productivity

an advantage in terms of resources. Theory of Psychological Contract: Traditionally, psychological contract enforced loyalty in workmen in lieu of job security. The recent trend toward downsizing, outsourcing, and flexibility on the part of the employer has imposed a new form of psychological contract, in which employers provide workers with marketable skills through training and development in exchange for effort and flexibility. The current trend suggests that firms use employer branding to advertise the benefits they still offer, including training, career opportunities, personal growth and development.

In terms of employer branding, brand equity applies to the effect of brand knowledge on potential and existing employees of the firm.

Employer brand equity propels potential applicants to apply. Employer brand equity encourages existing employees to stay with, and support the company. Some of the research work done suggest that potential or existing employees react differently to similar recruitment, selection, and retention efforts from different firms because of the underlying employer brand equity associated with these firms. Thus, credible brand equity of a firm establishes a greater chance of building competitive advantage in terms of its internal as well as external customers i.e. current and potential employees. Page 4

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

HR
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CROSSWORDS
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6 I know there is an altercation. But I am 1 I always look at my topper in the batch and aim to be that way ! highly concerned about others as much as I am about myself. 2 An Indian Management guru - went to the bottom of this, but was criticized for it 7 I am born in 1989 and by far I am the most glamorous thing on campus ! 13 Organizational Behavior has its room from this! 14 First Prize has 10K, Second prize has 5K and the third has 2K. What is my logic 15 U need one as soon as u join the firm and u will be one if are good enough 16 This is the positive effect of overloading you with work at B School 17 If its too short, its just called a tactic 3 We can give you a hundred thousand rupees if you are really good at this ! - Just wait for Ensemble 4 What do you say for "Change for the better" if you are in Tokyo ? 5 Extremely important in driving you towards your goals 7 "U give me (17) and I give you this" said Alfred Chandler 8 Fundamental rethinking about systems and processes leading to improvement 9 Ownership gimmick with curtailed risk to boost up your CTC 10 Smart targets are a byproduct of this theory 11 These are underlying characteristics that ensure you perform better than others 12 We unleashed ourselves and connected to people through this book!

Send us your filled entries to us (sapphire@xlri.ac.in) by 31st August 2012 and get your profiles and contributions published in XLRI SAPPHIRE Newsletters reaching top B Schools in India Page 5

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI Internal Labour Markets : Internal labor markets are an administrative unit within a firm in which pricing and allocation of labor is governed by a set of administrative rules and procedures. The remainder of jobs within the ILM is filled by the promotion or transfer of workers who have already gained entry. Internal labor markets are shielded from the competition of external labor markets.

HR DOSE

Learning Curve : A learning curve is a graphical representation of the changing rate of learning (in the average person) for a given activity or tool. Typically, the increase in retention of information is sharpest after the initial attempts, and then gradually evens out, meaning that less and less new information is retained after each repetition.

Experience Curve Effect : Generally the production of any good or service shows the experience curve effect. Each time cumulative volume doubles, value added costs (including administration, marketing, distribution, and manufacturing) fall by a constant percentage.

Trivia times
Skills Shortage: workplace is Shortage of skills in the rrently. Only the most debated issue cu have under2% of Indian workforce now targets gone skills training. India illed workto produce 500 millio n sk force by 2022.
Free M arkets : Land, Labor an the m ost im d Capital a rguab portan up firm ly are t reso s. Wh u rces t ile lib busine o star eraliza ss to t t ion a raise Land llows capita and L a l o abor p highly rocure n it s own, regula ment ted. H Land are st oweve Acqui ill r o ff l sit ion ate, th Act of replac e 1894 ed is bein minim wit h a new g um sta one te inte w i th rvent i on!

e: e Allowanc percentag a Dearness is e c allowan South Dearness n only in e iv g y r sala India) to in of basic ly in a m om untries ( otected fr r Asian co p e r a s r earne ensure low inflat ion. the rising

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STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

Has the Corporate neglected the real facets of HR for too long ?
Winning Article : By - Vipul Khanna XLRI - HRM Batch of 2011-13 Has improved quality of human resource management in recent times decreased the need of Industrial relations management? This was a question asked by a peer of mine in a mandatory course on IR. An interesting discussion ensued. The underlying premise for this discussion was that if HR performs its role efficiently and is able to project a pro employee attitude, then :

Employees/workers wont have to unionize to safeguard their rights, since issues that lead to unionization would be already taken care of. Employee/Worker would feel more comfortable approaching the HR department rather than the union in case of disgruntlement.

Do these premises hold good or were we (the future HRs) being too idealistic in our assumptions. Had this discussion taken place today (after the Manesar incident) it would have surely taken a very different course. Lets try to establish the origin of such arguments. In the past decade IR has certainly taken a back seat compared to other facets of HR. Possible reasons are: Increased urge of HR to have a bigger role in strategic decision making : HR graduates from top b schools ,armed with knowledge and theories to kill ,are almost desperate to make their presence felt. Hence, facets of HR such as being in touch with the employees and being aware of the pulse of workforce have been overshadowed by business partnering facets such as alignment of compensation, performance management and human resource planning . Arguing against the importance of these facets would be nonsensical but the points of debate is: How justified is it to promote one at the cost of other? Are the best and brightest of the young generation of HR managers shying away from IR. This is a feeling that has been prominently expressed after the Manesar incident. Possible reasons for this attitude of young HR professionals may be:

Very few IR profiles (of quality) are being offered during campus placements IR roles seen as less lucrative compared to consulting and corporate HR roles. Importance of IR not appreciated by HR students on campuses: Part of the blame has to go to Page 7

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

Has the Corporate neglected the real facets of HR for too long ?
selection procedures at B-schools. Usually 90% of the batch comes from an IT background which has largely been free from unionization. Hence, they arent able to appreciate the importance of IR management. This feeling is well reflected by the registration for elective courses on IR.

A relatively peaceful IR atmosphere in the past decade has meant that the brightest talent hasnt been required in IR jobs.

Decrease in Human Quotient of HR: Incidents like Manesar happen when humans are seen as resources that give increased output if one can increase the number of man-hours that can be derived out of them . De-humanizing of HR refers to the belief that human behavior / attitude can be significantly altered through compensation/incentives and performance management parameters. This de -humanizing is promoted partly through aforementioned over-eagerness of HR to be a strategic partner and partly through the knowledge that is being imparted to students in HR classes which is too skewed in favor of Compensation and Performance management rather than collective bargaining and Labor administration. HR not taking accountability and hiding behind the subjectivities of human behavior: A common reaction of the HR fraternity to the Manesar incident was to give a clean chit to HR and blame the aggressive regional belt for the incident. This argument seems a bit hypocritical since on one hand HR claims to have the magic wand of changing the behavior/attitude of employees through compensation and performance management and on the other hand blames such incidents on ingrained and unchangeable aggressiveness of the workers of a regional belt. This argument of HR fraternity becomes all the more irresponsible considering the aggressiveness of workers in the said incident may well have been borne out of the behaviour changing measures (such as incentivized over-times etc) adopted by HR department. As long as HR would continues to shirk accountability such incidents would continue to occur. Manesar incident can turn out to be a critical juncture that may define the shape of IR for the next few years. One possibility being increased reluctance of people to take up IR roles due to perceived safety concerns , other very distinct possibility is that the IR fraternity would pull up its socks , reinvigorate IR by reemphasizing its importance to the young generation of HR managers. Which course would IR follow in the coming years is anybodys guess.

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STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

HR ROUND THE GLOBE

Companies skilled at core HR practices experience superior economic performance, says new study
A new research by The Boston Consulting Group and the World Federation of People Management Associations says that companies that are highly skilled in core HR practices experience up to 3.5 times the revenue growth and as much as 2.1 times the profit margins of less capable companies. According to the research the correlation between economic performance and capability in these 22 HR areas was especially striking in six contexts: Recruiting On boarding of new hires and employee retention Talent management Employer branding Performance management and rewards Leadership development In three pivotal areas leadership development, talent management, and performance management and rewards, the high-performing companies differentiated themselves dramatically. In each one, these companies engaged in more activities and provided more options, did so more often, and were generally more effective. China, India, Brazil identified as the most challenging emerging countries when it comes to staffing: Mercer Study Mercer conducted a survey HR & Mobility Challenges of Emerging Markets Survey in 2011 and it examined the types of issues that organizations in North America were facing as they were expanding into emerging markets, and which issues and countries present the most critical challenges. It included responses from more than 150 US and Canadian organizations. According to the survey more than half (59%) of participating organizations cited scarcity of local employees with the required technical skills as the most critical human resources challenge in emerging markets. Given the rapid rate and scope of globalization, organizations continue to face significant challenges in emerging markets. In the research China, India, Brazil were identified as the most challenging emerging countries. Scarcity of local talent with appropriate skills in emerging markets topped HR challenges for organizations This challenge was followed by difficulties of dealing with complex labor laws, and, establishing appropriate salary structures (53% and 51%, respectively). Page 9

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

HR ROUND THE GLOBE

E AG N MA NT E M
C O m P
Managing talent mobility a priority: Mercer HR Chief Patricia Milligan, president, human capital Mercer said With the international expansion of organizations, talent mobility has become an important HR function. Managing talent mobility and skill building should be a priority for leaders. Line managers need to pay attention to talent and performance development and not leave the job to the HR department. In the global scenario, leadership traits should be drawn from the East and the West, she added.

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Attrition rate declines this year in Indian IT, ITes & BPO sector: Assocham Study A recent industry specific survey carried out by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India revealed that attrition rate has fallen sharply in IT, ITeS and the BPO sector to the level of about 1520 per cent during the last six months of this year as against about 55-60 per cent in the year-ago period. The reasons for high attrition rate are given as global turmoil and apprehension of economic downturn being continued for some more time. Global Talent Imbalance will shape HR, Talent Strategy 2012 According to Bersin & Associates report Predictions for 2012 Driving Organizational Performance amidst an Imbalanced Global Workforce, leading-edge HR teams will drive competitive advantage for their organizations by building a borderless, agile workplace with new and changed talent and learning strategies in 2012. These new strategies include the heavy adoption of social networking for recruiting, employment branding, learning, and collaboration; a focus on diversity and "GirlPower" to build leadership competencies for the future; and, continual coaching and goal review to drive agile performance management. Page 9

STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AT XLRI

CONTACT US
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Ankita Sharma Krishna Chaitanya

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