HR COMPENDIUM

2022
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 Table of Contents

I. Core HR
Major Functions in Human Resources 4
Recruitment and Selection 4
Human Resource Planning 5
Compensation and Benefits 5
Training and Development 6
Performance Management 8
Industrial Relations 10
Employee Engagement 10
Employee Value Proposition 10
HR Analytics 11
Great Places to Work Survey 2022 Result 12

II. Organizational Behaviour

Basic Terms and Definitions 13
Organization 13
Culture 13
Job Satisfaction 13
Job Involvement 13
Organizational Commitment 14
Cognitive Dissonance 14
Perceived Organizational Support 14
Employee Engagement 14
Emotions 14
Emotional Labor 14
Emotional Dissonance 14
Affective Events Theory 14
Emotional Intelligence 15
Personality 15
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 15
Big Five Personality Model - 5 Dimensions (O.C.E.A.N Model) 15
Type A & Type B Personality 16
Values 16
John Holland’s Person Job Fit 16
Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Culture 17
Perception 18
Fundamental Attribution Error 18
Self-Serving Bias 18
Selective Perception 18
Halo/ Horn Effect 18
Contrast Effect 19
Stereotyping 19
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 19

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 Bounded Rationality 19
Anchoring Bias 19
Availability Bias 19
Confirmation Bias 19
Escalation of Commitment 19
Randomness Error 19
Hindsight Bias 19
Three Ethical Decision Criteria 20
Motivation Theories 20
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 20
Alderfer’s Erg Theory 21
McGregor Theory X & Y 21

III. Law & IR

Contract Labour Regulation & Abolition Act, 1970 23
Factories Act, 1948 24
Trade Unions Act, 1926 25

IV. Miscellaneous Important HR Themes for SIP Interviews

HR Trends 26
Gig Economy 26
HR Tech at Play 27
Focus on Commitment 27
Redefining HR 28
Statutory Employee Benefits 29
Minimum Wages 29
Social Security 31
Maternity Benefit 32
Leaves 32
The David Ulrich HR Model 34

HR as Change Agent 36
Impact of COVID on HR Practices 37
7 HR trends for 2021 38
Additional reading materials 39

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 General HRM
Major Functions in Human Resources

• Selection, Recruitment
• HR Planning
• Compensation & Benefits
• Training & Development
• Performance Management
• Industrial/ Employee Relations

Recruitment and Selection

Basis Recruitment Selection

This establishes initial contact The actual process of picking up the most
Meaning between interested employees and competent candidates and offering them the
employers position

It looks to attract a large pool of

Objective It looks to reject all unsuitable candidates
candidates

Approach It is a positive approach It is a negative approach

It is the terminal step of the entire

It precedes selection
Sequence recruitment process

Separation

Three R:
a. Retirement: As per the contract of employment between the employer and employee -
reaching the age of superannuation and there by termination of his service
b. Resignation: Employee voluntarily opting out of service
c. Retrenchment: (All ways of termination of service) except VRS, Retirement, termination due
to non-renewal of contract or due to ill health. Has to be carried out as per ID Act.

Three D:
a. Dismissal: Removal of employee with a stigma attached.
b. Discharge: Removal of employee without a stigma attached. (For eg. Removal of employee due
to ill health)
c. Death

Cost of Separation
Organizations, at times, need to remove or separate with some employees for a number of possible
reasons. At all such instances, the following costs are associated with the same:

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 1. Recruitment Costs
2. Selection Cost
3. Training Costs
4. Separation Costs

Human Resource Planning

Human Resources Planning / Manpower Planning aims at:

1) Balancing demand, supply, distribution, and allocation of manpower
2) Controlling cost of human resources
3) Formulating policies on transfer, succession, and relocation of manpower

It is about balancing the supply and demand of people at every level of the organization. Supply
generally refers to the number of people reaching a particular level in the organization. Demand is
generally given by departmental heads - the number of people required to do a particular job

Supply > Demand: Retrenchment, VRS, Outplacement assistance (help people to get placed in other
companies)
Supply = Demand: Ensure HR practices are good enough to retain the talent Supply < Demand: Check if
the shortage is qualitative or quantitative

If the shortage is qualitative: Provide training, transfer appropriate people, reposition the staff
If shortage is quantitative but small: Improve the productivity through technology, incentives
If shortage is quantitative but large: Hire more people from the labour market

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation, quite simply put, is the sum total of direct and indirect rewards and benefits (monetary
or otherwise) provided to an employee in return for service provided to the organization.

Some of the components in compensation are:

Base Compensation: Includes Basic pay (Pay is that decided for a position in an organization
rather than an individual)

Allowances: Given as cash directly. This is a component of pay given based on the conditions in
which we work.

Examples: Hardship Allowance for working in remote villages, Travel allowance for salesmen etc.

Benefits: Employees feel the benefit of this part of pay, as cash is given for a particular purpose. It
is aimed at directing a particular behaviour from the employees. Example: PF, Gratuity etc.

Variable Pay: Compensation Contingent on performance organizational parameter like Sales,

productivity etc.

Equity: Stock or pseudo stock programs an employer uses to provide actual or perceived ownership
in the company which ties an employee's compensation to the long-term success of the company.
The most common examples are stock options.

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 Training and Development
Human Resource Development (HRD) is the framework for helping employees develop their
personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. It comprises a wide range of
organizational practices that focus on:
• Training and Development
• Career Development
• Organization Development
• Organizational Knowledge and Learning

Knowledge Skill Ability

Knowledge focuses on the

actual understanding of
particular concepts. It is
theoretical and not practical.
An individual may have an
understanding or textbook
knowledge of a topic or tool,
but have no experience
attempting to apply it or to
leverage it as part of his or her
job activities.
Abilities are those innate
capabilities that you bring
Skills reflect capabilities or
to a particular task or
proficiencies developed
situation. There is a fine line
through training or actual
between skills and abilities.
experience. Skills reflect the
Most people would say the
practical application of the
differentiator is whether the
theoretical knowledge
thing in question was
learned or innate.

Coaching Mentoring Training

It is concerned with
Involves enhancing It is the provision of developing a particular skill to
self-awareness, skills &opportunities, guidance, &
self-management protection to aid career a desired standard by
success instruction and practice
Definition Relationship is dedicated to
Leads to task Training is a highly useful tool
building sustainable that can bring an employee
proficiency, personal & profession & personal
professional into a position where they can
effectiveness & career
development. advancement do their job correctly,
effectively and conscientiously

Performance or Career, behavior or all-

Skill training – upgrading
Emphasis behavior round personal
skills or skill advancement
transformation development

Informal, relationship Formal, structured with

Type Formal, task oriented
oriented measurable learning outcomes

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 Training Evaluation Methods

It is very important to plan & execute a particular training program in any organization, but it is
equally important to gauge the impact of that training program on the employees.

Below are some framework through which we can evaluate the training programs:

Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Framework of Evaluation

One of the most famous fireworks; It classified training outcomes into four levels such as reactions,
learning, behavior and results

● Reaction evaluation is defined as assessing satisfaction of the participants with the program.
● Learning evaluation is concerned with the extent to which the participants have learned the
knowledge, skills and abilities taught in the program.
● Behavior evaluation refers to the extent the knowledge, skills, and abilities learned are
transferred onto the job performance.
● Results evaluation is concerned with monitoring outcomes made by the participants.

Philip’s ROI Process Model

● Philips added ROI as a fifth level to the Kirkpatrick’s Model.
● To calculate ROI, improvement in business impact measures is converted to money. That
monetary value is then compared to the cost of the training initiative.
● The output is expressed either as a benefit,.-cost ratio or as a percentage.

Success Case Method

● How do we know that the business impact has been created only because of the training
program?
● To address this, Success Case method isolates the effects of training.
● It assesses the effect of training by looking intentionally for the very best that training is
producing.
● When these instances are found, they are carefully and objectively analyzed, seeking hard and
corroborated evidence to irrefutably document the application and result of the training.

Kaufman’s Five Level Model

● Kaufman & Keller stated that the drawback of Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Framework of
Evaluation is that it devalues the evaluation of societal impact or the usefulness and availability
of organizational resources.
● Thus, they proposed five levels of evaluation: Enabling, Reactions, Acquisition, Application,
Organizational Output & Societal Outcomes.
● They added ‘Enabling’ & ‘Societal Outcomes’ to Kirkpatrick’s Model to cater to the drawback.

CIRO Model
CIRO Framework Model of Training refers to Context, Input, Reaction & Outcome

● Context evaluation refers to obtaining and using data about the present operational context to
decide training needs and goals.
● Input evaluation refers to the process of assessing the various resources available and their
deployment for training.
● Reaction evaluation refers to assessing the participants’ reaction to the program
● Outcome evaluation is concerned with assessing the results obtained from the program

CIPP Model
CIPP Framework Model of Training refers to Context, Input, Process & Product & is very similar to
CIRO Model.
Four types of Evaluations made in this Model are planning decisions, structuring decisions,
implementing decisions and recycling decisions.

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 Performance Management:

1. Goal setting: Goal setting is a process of establishing objectives to be achieved over a

period. It is the performance criteria an employee will be evaluated against. Performance
goals for individual employees should ideally align with organizational goals.
In addition to focusing only on a few major goals during a single year, the goals should be

SMART:

Specific, clear, and understandable.

Measurable, verifiable and results oriented.
Attainable, yet sufficiently challenging.
Relevant to the mission of the department or organization.
Time-bound with a schedule and specific milestones.

2. Performance review: Performance review is the process of assessing an employee's

progress toward goals. Strengths and weaknesses of all employees are recorded regularly so
that the organization can make informed and accurate decisions regarding an employee's
contribution, career development, training needs, promotional opportunities, pay increases
and other topics.

Recommendations for an effective performance review process include:

1. A feedback process that is continuous and timely throughout the review period so that
employees know how they are doing and what is expected.

2. A dialogue that includes performance feedback measured against clear and specific goals and
expectations established at the outset of the performance management cycle.

3. A process for acknowledging the outcomes of the performance review process that is
documented between the manager and the employee.

4. A two-way individual conversation between the manager and the employee (preferably
face-to-face) at least once a year.

Common Types of Performance Review Systems: Several types of performance review systems
are in common use. Each system has its benefits and drawbacks.

Ranking - Ranking systems list all employees in a designated group from highest to
lowest in order of performance. The primary drawback is that quantifying the
differences in individual performance is difficult and may involve drawing very narrow—
if not meaningless—distinctions.

Forced distribution -The ratings of employees in a particular group are disbursed along a
bell curve, with the supervisor allocating a certain percentage of the ratings within the
group to each performance level on the scale. The actual distribution of employee
performance may not resemble a bell curve, so supervisors may be forced to include
some employees at either end of the scale when they would otherwise place them
somewhere in the middle.

360-degree feedback - This process collects information from the employee's supervisor,
colleagues and subordinates about an individual's work-related behavior and its impact.
Other names for this approach include multi-rater feedback, multisource feedback or
group review. This form of appraisal is widely favored for employee development
purposes.

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Competency-based - This type of system focuses on performance as measured against
specified competencies (as opposed to specific tasks or behaviors) that are identified for
each position

Management by objectives - Management by objectives (MBO) is a process through

which goals are set collaboratively for the organization, various departments and each
individual member. Employees are evaluated annually based on how well they have
achieved the results specified by the goals.

Graphic rating scales - Graphic rating scale (GRS) appraisals list several factors, including
general behaviors and characteristics (e.g., attendance, dependability, quality of work,
quantity of work and relationships with people) on which a supervisor rates an
employee. The rating is usually based on a scale of three to five gradations. This type of
system allows the rater to determine the performance of an employee along a
continuum.

Behaviorally anchored rating scales - Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARSs)

attempt to assess employee behavior rather than specific characteristics. The appraisal
tool generally contains a set of specific behaviors that represent gradations of
performance and are used as common reference points, called "anchors," for rating
employees on various job dimensions.

Performance improvement plans: The use of a performance improvement plan (PIP) can
range from employees who may be new to a role or who are unclear on performance
expectations to employees who are regularly falling short of meeting performance
expectations and whose performance may necessitate the beginning of a progressive
discipline process regarding the performance level.

Errors to avoid in Performance Evaluation

• First Impression (primacy effect): Raters form an overall impression about the employee being
rated on the basis of some particular characteristics of the employee identified by them. The
identified qualities and features may not provide adequate base for appraisal.

• Halo Effect: The individual’s performance is completely appraised on the basis of a perceived
positive quality, feature or trait. In other words, this is the tendency to rate a man uniformly high
or low in other traits if he is extra-ordinarily high or low in one particular trait. If a worker has
few absences, his supervisor might give him a high rating in all other areas of work.

• Horn Effect: The individual’s performance is completely appraised on the basis of a negative
quality or feature perceived. This results in an overall lower rating than may be warranted. “He
is not formally dressed up in the office. He may be casual at work too!”.

• Excessive Stiffness or Lenience: Depending upon the raters own standards, values and physical
and mental makeup at the time of appraisal, ratees may be rated very strictly or leniently. Some
of the managers are likely to take the line of least resistance and rate people high, whereas others,
by nature, believe in the tyranny of exact assessment, considering more particularly the
drawbacks of the individual and thus making the assessment excessively severe. The leniency
error can render a system ineffective. If everyone is to be rated high, the system has not done
anything to differentiate among the employees.

• Central Tendency: Appraisers rate all employees as average performers. That is, it is an attitude
to rate people as neither high nor low and follow the middle path. For example, a professor, with
a view to play it safe, might give a class grade near the equal to B, regardless of the differences in
individual performances.

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• Personal Biases: The way a supervisor feels about each of the individuals working under him -
whether he likes or dislikes them - as a tremendous effect on the rating of their performances.
Personal Bias can stem from various sources as a result of information obtained from colleagues,
considerations of faith and thinking, social and family background and so on.

• Spillover Effect: The present performance is evaluated much on the basis of past performance.
“The person who was a good performer in distant past is assured to be okay at present also”.

• Recency Effect: Rating is influenced by the most recent behaviour ignoring the commonly
demonstrated behaviours during the entire appraisal period.

Industrial Relations

Industry Relations (IR) is concerned with management of relations between workers and employer
(management) and the role of regulatory mechanisms in resolving any dispute.

Employers, Employees, Unions, Government and Judiciary have stakes in IR. IR assumes its
significance
owing to its direct linkage with productivity, ethical dimensions, and legal compliance. IR is perceived
as a method to involve workers/employees in decision-making, share ideas with them, redress
grievance and improve working conditions. All this culminates into increased productivity and
morale. Broadly IR covers the following areas:

• Collective Bargaining
• IR Training
• Labor legislation
• Grievance Management
• Disciplinary practice and procedure
• Role of management, unions, and government
• Improving Working Conditions

In today ‘s era, there is a need for proactive strategy to tackle IR. This involves ensuring proper
communication of company philosophy, fostering relationships with employees and unions,
developing
competence of managers and supervisors and ways of dealing with a conflict as and when it occurs.

Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between an organization and its employees. An
"engaged employee" is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and
so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interests. According to Kahn
(1990), engagement means to be psychologically as well as physically present when occupying and
performing an organizational role.

• The cognitive aspect of employee engagement concerns employees’ beliefs about the
organization, its leaders and working conditions.
• The emotional aspect concerns how employees feel about each of those three factors
and
whether they have positive or negative attitudes toward the organization and its leaders.
• The physical aspect of employee engagement concerns the physical energies exerted by
individuals to accomplish their roles.

The vast majority of HR practitioners state that employee engagement is one of the primary objectives
of a talent strategy and therefore, many organizations are measuring employee engagement through
regular employee surveys.

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 Employee Value Proposition
The job markets are often very dynamic with a lot of to and fro movements of employees between
organizations. In such an environment, it is imperative for organizations to hold on to their top
performers. This is where Employee Value Proposition comes into play.

EVP encompasses everything an employer is doing to attract and retain employees. It includes all of the
pay, benefits, rewards, and perks that come with being an employee of that organization. Basically, it is
the reason why an employee would want to work there as opposed to finding employment somewhere
else.

Some major tools used by organizations to accentuate their EVP practices are:

• Future career opportunities

• Compensation

• Development opportunities

• Organizational growth

• Organizational stability rate

• Job interest alignment

• Work life balance

• Innovation

• Recognition & Respect

HR Analytics
Human Resource analytics or Talent analytics is the application of data mining and business analytics
techniques to human resources (HR) data. It is a data driven approach to manage people at work.

TYPES OF ANALYTICS:
1. Descriptive – What happened?
Looks at data statistically to show what happened in the past
2. Diagnostic – Why did it happen?
Often called as root cause analysis, it provides a deeper analysis to the descriptive data by
answering: Why did this happen?
3. Predictive – What will happen?
Considers historical data and feeds it into a machine learning model that considers key trends.
This is then applied to current data to predict what will happen next.
4. Prescriptive – How can we make it happen?
Basis the predictive data, it helps answer “What should be done next?” by suggesting course of
action and outlines the potential implications for each

Google is the pioneer in this field.

• Leadership characteristics and the role of managers: Its “Project Oxygen” research analyzed
reams of internal data and determined that great managers are essential for top performance
and retention. It further identified the eight characteristics of great leaders. The data proved
that rather than superior technical knowledge, periodic one-on-one coaching which included
expressing interest in the employee and frequent personalized feedback ranked as the No. 1 key
to being a successful leader. Managers are rated twice a year by their employees on their

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performance on the eight factors.
• The PiLab: It conducts applied experiments within Google to determine the most effective
approaches for managing people and maintaining a productive environment (including the type of
reward that makes employees the happiest). The lab even improved employee health by
reducing the calorie intake of its employees at their eating facilities by relying on scientific data
and experiments (by simply reducing the size of the plates).
• An effective hiring algorithm: One of the few firms to approach recruiting scientifically, Google
developed an algorithm for predicting which candidates had the highest probability of
succeeding after they are hired. Its research also determined that little value was added beyond
four interviews, dramatically shortening time to hire. Google is also unique in its strategic
approach to hiring because its hiring decisions are made by a group to prevent individual hiring
managers from hiring people for their own short- term needs.
• A Predictive retention algorithm: Google developed a mathematical algorithm to predict which
employees proactively and successfully are most likely to become a retention problem. This
approach allows management to act before it’s too late and it further allows retention solutions
to be personalized
• Calculating the value of top performers: Google executives have calculated the performance
differential between an exceptional technologist and an average one (as much as 300 times
higher). Proving the value of top performers convinces executives to provide the resources
necessary to hire, retain, and develop extraordinary talent.

Great Places to Work Survey 2022 Result

● Cisco Systems India Pvt Ltd
● Aye Finance Pvt Ltd
● Ford Motor Pvt. Ltd
● SIS Ltd
● Salesforce
● ISS Facility Services India Pvt. Ltd
● HP
● Nvidia Graphics Pvt. Ltd
● Accenture Solutions Pvt. Ltd

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 OB
Basic Terms and Definitions

Organization
A consciously organized social unit, composed of 2 or more people, which functions on a continuous
basis to achieve a common set of goals.

Culture
A culture of a group can be defined as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by
a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has
worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the
correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

Culture is found in:

Basic Assumptions: Underlying (often unconscious) determinants of organization’s attitudes,

thought process and actions.

Espoused Values: Those values championed by the company’s leadership

Observable Artifacts: Architectural & Physical surroundings, stories in the organization, rituals
etc.

Job Satisfaction
A positive feeling about one’s job after analyzing its characteristics.

It is often measured in two ways, either by asking a single global rating question like are you
satisfied with your job, or by identifying key elements in a job and then asking for a rating for
those individual items.

Interesting jobs that provide training, variety, independence and control satisfies most
employees. From the co-workers, we expect interdependence, feedback, social support and
interaction.

When people are dissatisfied with their jobs, their response ranges from active to passive and
constructive to destructive. The employee may constructively either voice his displeasure or
stay back in the company hoping that things will improve. A destructive response would be
them quitting, or neglecting work itself, leading to absenteeism and lack of efficiency.

Job Involvement
Degree to which an employee identifies with the job, actively participates in it and considers
performance important to self-worth.

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 Organizational Commitment
The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and wishes to
maintain his membership.

Cognitive Dissonance
Any incompatibility between behavior and attitude or in between two attitudes.

Perceived Organisational Support

The degree to which an employee feels that the organization values his or her contribution and
cares about their well-being.

Employee Engagement
An employee’s involvement in, satisfaction with and enthusiasm for the work he does.

Emotions
Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something

Emotional Labor
A situation in which an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions during
interpersonal transactions. E.g. Airhostess, customer care representative

Emotional Dissonance
Inconsistencies between emotions people feel and the emotions they project.

Affective Events Theory

A model that suggests that workplace events cause emotional reactions on the part of the
employees, which then influences workplace attitudes and behaviors

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 Emotional Intelligence
Following are the components of emotional intelligence:

Perceive
Conscientiousness
emotions of self
& others

Understand
Emotional
Cognitive the meaning of
Intelligence
emotions

Regulate
Emotional Stability emotions
according to
situations

Personality
The sum total of the ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• Extraverted Vs Introverted
• Sensing Vs Intuitive
• Thinking Vs Feeling
• Judging Vs Perceiving

Big Five Personality Model - 5 Dimensions (O.C.E.A.N Model)

Human resources professionals often use the Big Five personality dimensions to help place employees.
That is because these dimensions are the underlying traits that make up an individual’s overall
personality.

The Big Five personality traits are:

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

or OCEAN:
• Openness - People who like to learn new things and enjoy new experiences usually score
high in openness. Openness includes traits like being insightful and imaginative and having a
wide variety of interests.
• Conscientiousness - People that have a high degree of conscientiousness are reliable and
prompt. Traits include being organized, methodical, and thorough.
• Extraversion - Extraverts get their energy from interacting with others, while introverts get
their energy from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits of energetic, talkative,
and assertive.
• Agreeableness - These individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate. People with

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low agreeableness may be more distant. Traits include being kind, affectionate, and
sympathetic.
• Neuroticism - Neuroticism is also sometimes called Emotional Stability. This dimension
relates to one’s emotional stability and degree of negative emotions. People that score high
on neuroticism often experience emotional instability and negative emotions. Traits include
being moody and tense

Type A & Type B Personality

Type A Personality
● Very competitive and self-critical
● Strive toward goals without feeling a sense of joy in their efforts or accomplishments
● Experience a constant sense of urgency
● Quickly become impatient with delays and unproductive time
● Schedule commitments too tightly
● Try to do more than one thing at a time
● Easily aroused to anger or hostility

Type B personality
● More tolerant of others
● More relaxed than Type A individuals
● More reflective
● Experience lower levels of anxiety
● Display higher level of imagination & creativity

Values

These are basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially
preferable.
There are stable and enduring.
Terminal Values are the desirable end states of existence.
Instrumental Values are preferable means of achieving one’s terminal values.

John Holland’s Person Job Fit

John Holland talks about six types of personalities which are each suited for a
particular occupation and environment. The six types are as follows:

Realistic Prefers activities that require skills and strength Mechanic

(Doers)
Investigative Prefer activities involving thinking & organizing Scientist
(Thinkers)
Artistic Prefer ambiguous and unsystematic Writer
(Creators)
Social Prefer activities that involve helping others Teacher
(Helpers) Teacher
Enterprising Influencing and attaining power Lawyer
(Persuaders)
Conventional Prefer rule regulated and orderly Conventional
(Organizers) (Organizers)

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Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Culture

This framework is used to analyze various cultures. The following characteristics were
observed by Hofstede in a cross-cultural study performed for IBM:

POWER DISTANCE
Degree to which people in a country accept that power is distributed in-equally and are
comfortable with it.

INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM
In individualistic cultures people believe that an individual’s life belongs to him & he has an
inalienable right to live it as he sees fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep & use the product of
his effort, and to pursue the values of his choosing. USA and most other European countries display
traits of individualistic culture.

Contrary to this, collectivistic cultures believe that an individual’s life belongs not to him but to the
group or society of which he is merely a part, that he has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his
values and goals for the group’s “greater good.”

Indian Culture can largely be seen as an example of collectivistic culture

MASCULINITY VS FEMINITY
Masculinity is the degree to which the culture favors traditional masculine roles such as
achievement, power and control as opposed to viewing men and women as equals.
They tend to advertise and stick to traditional roles of males being breadwinners and females being
homemakers.

A high femininity rating means the culture sees little differentiation between male and female roles
and treat women equally in all aspects. Here we are referring to cultures with lower degree of
gender-based differentiation of job roles.

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
It refers to the degree to which people in a culture are comfortable with uncertainty. People in high
uncertainty avoidance cultures value structures and feel threatened by uncertainty. Whereas
people with low uncertainty avoidance are comfortable with the lack of structure and have made
peace with uncertainties.

Japan can be seen as a country with high uncertainty avoidance whereas a Denmark would display
lower uncertainty avoidance. India shows a moderate degree of uncertainty avoidance.

LONG TERM VS SHORT TERM ORIENTATION

People in long term-oriented cultures look to the future, value thrift, persistence and tradition.
Whereas people in a short-term orientated culture value Here and Now, accept change more
readily and don't see commitments as impediments to change.

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 It is a framework for cross cultural communication that
describes society’s impact on the values of its members.

Power Distance Index - the extent to which the less

powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the
family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally
Individualism vs Collectivism - degree to which people
in a society are integrated into groups
Uncertainty avoidance Index - a society's tolerance
for ambiguity
Masculinity vs Femininity - a preference in society for
achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards
for success vs a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring
for the weak and quality of life
Long Term Orientation vs Short Term Orientation
- associates the connection of the past with the current
and future actions/challenges
Indulgence vs restraint - measure of happiness;
whether or not simple joys are fulfilled

Perception
A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to the world. The way we perceive things determines our behaviour. The factors which
influence perception are the perceiver, situational factors and factors in the target.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency (of managers) to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate
internal factors when making judgments about the behaviour of others. For Example, managers
who will always blame the laziness of salespeople as being the primary driver behind the lack of
sales without recognizing that it might also have been a function of poor market conditions.

Self-Serving Bias
Tendency to attribute positive outcomes to internal factors and put blame on external factors
for negative outcomes.

This bias refers to people who like to hog all credit when the going is good but the first ones to
shift blame on externalities when the fortunes reverse.

Selective Perception
The tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one’s interest, background,
experience etc. For example, a physicist always looking at everything through Physics perspective.

Halo/ Horn Effect

Tendency to draw general impressions about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.
It causes you to allow one trait, either good (halo) or bad (horns), to overshadow other traits,
behaviours, actions, or beliefs. This is a potentially dangerous trait because it can result in forming
unnecessary pre-conceived notions about people without knowing them or giving them a fair
chance.

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Contrast Effect
Evaluation of a person is affected by comparisons with someone else. For Example, a performer
who follows a brilliant performance will always be judged as a comparison to that previous
performance.

Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which he belongs. An
example of a stereotype would be ‘All blondes are dumb’

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Also known as Pygmalion effect. A situation where a person inaccurately perceives another person,
and then the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with
original perception.

Bounded Rationality
It is the process of making decisions by constructing overly simplified models that extract the
essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.

Anchoring Bias
The tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one fails to adequately adjust to new
information. For Example, a lot of people might be anchored to the fact that Indo-Pak relations
are bad and will not be willing to accept or envisage an altered reality where that may not be the
case, thereby ensuring that the status quo of Indo-Pak rivalry continues.

Availability Bias
The tendency of individuals to base their judgment based on information that is readily
available.

Confirmation Bias
The tendency to stick to choices made in the past and then seeking information that reaffirms
them, and not giving importance to contradictory evidence. Example, I believe that drinking is
good for health, so I will only seek out those research journals and papers which reaffirms the
same.

Escalation of Commitment
An increased stubborn commitment to a previous decision in spite of negative information.
Example, when you realise too deep into an argument that you are wrong but you feel it’s too late
to back track so you go along with it anyway.

Randomness Error
Tendency to think that they can predict outcomes of random events.

Hindsight Bias
The tendency to falsely believe, after the outcome of an event is actually known, that one would
have accurately predicted that outcome. Example, looking back at the recently concluded football
World Cup, one can say that France was always the obvious choice to win it.

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 Three Ethical Decision Criteria
An individual can use three different criteria in making ethical choices.

UTILITARIANISM
This approach asserts that decisions are made to provide the greatest good for the greatest
number. A kind of faith in doing good work for the majority even if it hurts a few. It dominates
business decision making. It is consistent with goals such as efficiency, productivity and high
profits.

MORAL-RIGHTS APPROACH
This approach asserts that human beings have fundamental rights that cannot be taken away by
an individual's decision. An ethically correct decision is one that best maintains the rights of those
people affected by it. Six moral rights should be considered during decision making.

JUSTICE APPROACH
This holds that moral decisions must be based on standards of equity, fairness, and
impartiality.
Three types of justice are of concern to managers are:

a) Distributive justice requires that different treatment of people not be based on arbitrary
characteristics. Men and women should not receive different salaries if they are performing the
same job; however, people who differ in a substantive way can be treated differently.
b) Procedural justice requires that rules be administered fairly. Rules should be clearly
stated and be consistently and impartially enforced.
c) Compensatory justice argues that the party responsible should compensate individuals for
the cost of their injuries. Individuals should not be held responsible for matters over which they
have no control.
Motivation Theories

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The theory says that the lower order needs have to be satisfied first before acting on the higher
order ones in order to motivate somebody. Once a lower need is sufficiently satisfied, the next
ones becomes dominant. The following are the 5 needs of human beings as identified by Maslow:

PHYSIOLOGICAL
Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs

SAFETY
Security and safety from emotional and physical harm.

SOCIAL
Affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.

SELF-ESTEEM
Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement and external factors such as
status, recognition and attention.

SELF-ACTUALIZATION
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 Drive to become what we are capable of. It includes growth, achieving our potential and
fulfillment.

The lower order needs (Physiological and Safety) are predominantly satisfied by external things
like pay, unions, contracts etc. the higher order needs (Self Actualization and Esteem) are satisfied
internally by the person

Application
To motivate anyone according to Maslow, one needs to understand what level of the
hierarchy the person is currently in and focus on satisfying those needs.
● Basic need: Basic pay, House rent allowance
● Security need: Seniority plans, health insurance, employee assistance plans, severance pay,
pension
● Social needs: Formal and informal work groups or teams
● Esteem needs: Titles, status symbols, promotions, job assignments
● Self-Actualization needs: Workplace autonomy, Challenging work

Limitations
● Maslow’s theory lacks empirical support
● The pattern of hierarchy of needs as suggested by Maslow may not be applicable uniformly
for different individuals
● People may be driven by different needs at same point of time
● Difficult for manager to identify the need level for employees- There will be some difficulty for
managers in deciding which need level employees are on, and this might curb the motivation of
employees at the workplace
● Basic Needs may not need to be satisfied to acknowledge higher needs

Alderfer’s Erg Theory

Existence: Physiological and safety needs
Relatedness: Social and external esteem needs
Growth: Internal esteem needs and Self-actualization

Differences between ERG theory and Maslow's model

1) A lower level need does not have to be gratified
2) The ERG theory acknowledges that if a higher-level need remains unfulfilled, the person may
regress to lower level needs that appear easier to satisfy.
3) Alderfer's ERG theory allows the order of the needs to differ for different people (e.g., it accounts
for the "starving artist" who may place growth needs above existence ones).

Workplace Implications
According to ERG theory, managers must recognize that an employee has multiple needs to satisfy
simultaneously. Furthermore, if growth opportunities are not provided to employees, they may
regress to relatedness needs. If the manager is able to recognize this situation, then steps can be
taken to concentrate on relatedness needs until the subordinate is able to pursue growth again.

McGregor Theory X & Y

McGregor presented two different views of individuals and suggested that there are two
fundamental approaches to managing people (employees).
One of the approach is negative, and is known as Theory X and the other is positive, known as
Theory Y.

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 An average employee intrinsically doesn’t like work & tries to escape it whenever possible.
Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or warned with
punishment to achieve organizational goals. A close supervision is required on part of
managers. The managers adopt a more dictatorial style. Many employees rank job security on
top, and they have little or no aspiration/ ambition.

Employees generally dislike responsibilities. Employees resist change and an average employee
needs formal direction. Employees can perceive their job as relaxing & normal. They exercise
their physical and mental efforts in an inherent manner in their jobs. Employees may not
require only threat, external control & coercion to work, but they can use self-direction & self-
control if they are dedicated and sincere to achieve the organizational objectives. If the job is
rewarding & satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty & commitment to organization. If
the job is rewarding & satisfying, then it will result in employee loyalty & commitment. An
average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility. In fact, he can even learn
to obtain responsibility.

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 LAW & IR

Contract Labour Regulation & Abolition Act, 1970

The act serves essentially two purposes, as reflected in the title:

• To abolish the practice of contract labor, as far as possible

• Where abolishing contract labor is not possible for reasons of practicality, to
regulate the same

Applicability
• To every establishment employing 20 or more workers on any day of the
preceding 12 month
• To every contractor employing 20 or more workmen on any day of the preceding 12
months

Act not applicable to any establishment in which the work of intermittent or casual nature is
performed. Intermittent – less than 120 days in the year & seasonal work – less than 60 days.

(The number of days is not supposed to be the sole test; the nature of work has to be considered
as well.)

Important Sections
Section 2(definitions), 7, 8, 10, Sham & Camouflage, 12, 14, 20, 21, 25, 31

Rule 25 (Same & Similar kind of work)

Important case laws

1) Air India Case (Prohibition of CL - automatic absorption of CL as regular
employees of PE)
2) SAIL-1 (Prohibition of CL will not lead to automatic absorption of CL (overruled AI
& Consultation with Board and consideration of S.10 (2) before prohibition)
3) SAIL-2 (Labor Court or Writ Court cannot prohibit employment of CL)

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 Factories Act, 1948

An act to consolidate and amend the law regulating labor in factories primarily with the object of
protecting workers against industrial and occupational hazards by imposing obligation on the owner.

It is a penal statute.

Applicability

• Applicable to the whole of India including Jammu & Kashmir.

• Applicable to any premises, wherein any manufacturing process is being carried out
using power and employing 10 or more workers

• If not using power, employing 20 or more workers on any day of the preceding 12
months.

Important Sections

2(definitions), 11-20 (facilities), 21-32(safety), 51, 52, 54(working hours), 59(overtime), 67-
73(Child Employment)

Important Case Laws

1. IOCL v. Chief Inspector of factories (Litmus test : Who is deemed to be the occupier of a factory
(of a Govt. company incorporated under Indian companies Act with respect to the given case)?

2. Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd. V. State of Saurashtra (Essential condition for person to
be a workman (taken from ID Act) and the same test can be invoked for a worker)

3. State of Gujarat v. Jethalal Ghelabhai Patel (Safety Obligation with respect to workers)

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 Trade Unions Act, 1926

Applicability

An act to provide for the registration of Trade Unions and in certain respects to define the
law relating to registered Trade Unions.

Important Sections

Section 2, 4, 5, 9A, 11, 16, 18, 22

Important Facts

• The first organized labor movement in India was in 1884 by N.M.Lokhande

• Shri. N.M. Joshi is the father of modern trade unionism in India, and he introduced the
Trade Union Bill in the Assembly in 1921
• “a dispute raised by a dismissed employee/workman will not be treated as an
industrial dispute, unless it is supported by a trade union, registered or not, or by a
body or section of workmen”
• Registration of a trade union is not mandatory. As the registered trade unions enjoy
various privileges and immunities, it is better to get the trade union registered

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 HR Trends

Gig Economy

A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common & organizations
contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.
The short tenures and multiple employers (often at the same time) differentiates gig worker from
the traditional full-time workers who rarely change positions and instead focus on a lifetime career.
The gig economy is not new – people have always worked gigs… but today when most people refer to
the “gig economy,” they’re specifically talking about new technology-enabled kinds of work.”
- Molly Turner, Lecturer, University of California
With increased digitalization we are living in an age where gig economy has found a new dimension
owing to the exponential rise of mobile phones and subsequent opening of several avenues to avail
the service of gig workers by public in general, and not just in industries known for their historical
use. Thus, providing these gig workers online platforms and resulting in rise of what is commonly
known as “platform economy”.

Advantages of gig economy:

● Empowering workers to work with freedom and flexibility as opposed to traditional jobs
● Convenience of selecting temporary jobs and projects around the world
● Employers can select the best individuals for specific projects from a larger pool
● Businesses save resources in terms of benefits, office space and training.
● Ability to contract with high-priced experts for specific projects

Disadvantages:
● Lack of well-defined employer-employee relationships
● Lack of continuity and stability work and hence income insecurity
● The flexibility of working gigs can disrupt work-life balance
● Lack of employee benefits, social security etc
● Not protected by law as worker/workmen in many countries

Global Perspective on status of gig workers:

USA: In California legislators approved a landmark bill that requires Uber and Lyft and similar
companies to treat contract workers as employees. In other states they are still not recognised as
employees, rather independent contractors

UK: In a landmark case of “Aslam vs Uber BV”, the Central London Employment tribunal gave the
verdict that Uber drivers are "workers", rather than self-employed individuals and should get the
minimum wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, paid holiday, and other normal
employee benefits.

Australia: Though Uber drivers is Australia is recognised as formal employees, but they are
required to have an Australian Business Number and pay Goods and Services Tax.

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 India: The platform economy in India grew because of a two-pronged demand – the public demand
for the services offered, and unemployed (and sometimes retired) individuals looking for a job that
will have flexible prerequisites and quick pay. But they are not recognised as worker/workmen
legally and thus cannot form trade unions or raise industrial disputes. Mostly they are looked as
independent contractors or partners. Workers often find they have to work 14-16 hours a day to
make living wages, and no considerations are made for environmental conditions like rain, storm
etc. The workers are therefore forced to often work in hazardous conditions, with no concept of
accident coverage in their name. The principal employer holds no responsibility towards providing
a PF. The Code on Social Security has been India’s largest effort towards the welfare of gig workers
and all informal workers in general. Though it proposes to introduce schemes that will support the
informal workers, while it does not state anything regarding the inclusion of these workers in the
workmen category which could lead to much greater benefits for them.

HR Tech at play

We have been seeing development in technology such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence,
machine learning, internet of things, bots, augmented reality and similar such digitization
possibilities. Has HR been able to use any of these tools while attracting talent, assessing their
potential and evaluating their fitment? Have we started predicting retention of the key staff,
developing insights from the talent market and fine-tuning talent attraction strategy based on these
insights?

Scores of administrative tasks are getting automated. Shouldn’t an organization use HR Tech to
schedule interviews with candidates, hold video interactions for screening, enable them to transact
and communicate with the organization? Similarly, for learning, development and other talent
management practices, there is a score of possibilities for the HR team to spend their energies in
carrying out strategic tasks and automate administrative or operational tasks.

Traditional Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is passé now because it largely focuses on keeping
records of the past events. Our world of mobility and apps has made all of us – candidates, as well
as the folks working in the organization, take actions when prompted to do so. We must make our
systems keep up with the current time and appealing to all stakeholders of the business.

We can strengthen employer branding by leveraging social media and various professional
networks. The way we communicate with passive candidates and build a talent pipeline can be
transformed using technology. 2019 offers many possibilities of HR Tech and organizations would
take advantages of new technology.

Focus on Commitment

Globally, senior leaders have been paying attention to rewards and recognition, learning and
development, employee benefits, health, and wellness. In spite of the huge investment of time,
money and efforts, employee engagement scores are moderate at the best.

Organizations have been wondering how they can win the commitment of their employees and
occupy a prominent place in their hearts. Leaders know, the feeling in the employee’s heart towards
the organization determines the productivity and retention.

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 Given the economic scenario that we face today, the social norms around us and the rise of
millennials in the workforce, leaders have to actively participate in building the culture of agility,
genuineness, transparency, and collaboration at their workplace. The life experiences of the leaders
and the younger people are hugely different. Hence, the senior people need to understand, the
things valued by their younger colleagues are different from what they valued in their youth. They
will need to learn to appreciate the current situation and free themselves from the baggage of their
experience.

Soft power needs to be the main agenda of leadership development in the year. Right from the first-
line supervisors to the senior team, winning the team’s commitment is going to be the key focus in
2019.

Redefining HR
Like operations, HR in many organizations has predominantly become a bunch of activities.
Through the lifecycle of an employee, there is a need to engage, develop and leverage human
capability. Practically speaking, most of these are to be carried out by the line managers. They need
to play fair in the team, identify and recognize the talent of the team members, build and nurture a
relationship with each team member. All of these are the most important HR functions!

HR must enable the line managers in engaging and developing the team members. They must help
managers define performance goals, recognize superior performances and develop capability of
their team members. They must build an employer brand and strengthen it further.

Most HR teams today spend a lot of their time in administrative tasks of recruitment, attendance
and leave management, salary hikes, employee query handling, salaries, and incentives. They must
outsource these low value-adding tasks to competent third-party experts who will not only carry
out these tasks efficiently but also bring their insights to the system and improve them further.

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 Statutory Employee Benefits

I. Minimum Wages
II. Social Security Benefits
III. Maternity Benefits
IV. Leaves

Minimum Wages

Complexities in Minimum Wage System in India

• In 2019 nearly 429 scheduled employments and 1,915 scheduled job categories for unskilled
workers for which MW are fixed.
• Scheduled employment (SE) categories vary between the states (agriculture is the only
constant) – for e.g. automobile engineering workshops figure in some states in others
automobile repair workshops (and then Zonal variations)
• For the same Sch. Emp. MW vary between states
• In many states MW is linked to cost of living index since 1989 but in others not
• The range between the lowest and highest of MW varies erratically across the states - The
range (difference between highest and lowest minimum wages) in each state varies from ₹16
in Nagaland to ₹905 in Kerala (Economic Survey 2018-19)
• MW Act coverage is limited by the notification of SE – for domestic workers have been notified
only in 18 states and UT
• Erratic revisions of MW (though cost of living component gets revised twice in an year, if
linked)

Norms to Determine Minimum in New Wage Code 2019

S. 6 (6) For the purpose of fixation of minimum rate of wages under this section, the appropriate
Government:
(a) shall primarily take into account the skill of workers required for working under the
categories of unskilled, skilled, semi-skilled and highly-skilled or geographical area or
both; and
(b) may, in addition to such minimum rate of wages for certain category of workers, take into
account their arduousness of work like temperature or humidity normally difficult to bear,
hazardous occupations or processes or underground work as may be prescribed by that
Government; and
(c) the norms of such fixation of minimum rate of wages shall be such as may be prescribed.

Wages are also proposed to be determined by state level advisory boards, something that Indian
industry has long wanted. This would lead to a race to the bottom as different states would
compete to attract investments by lowering wages – an observation that is borne out by facts on
the ground.

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 Differential wages will lead to distress migration (from lower to higher MW) – standardized MW
is preferable. Reports have revealed that in the period between 2010 and 2015, several
industrialists relocated from Okhla Industrial Area in Delhi to Uttar Pradesh & Haryana as the
latter offered 25-35% lower minimum wages than Delhi. Flight of capital would become extremely
convenient in such a regime, pushing state governments to compromise on worker’s wages and
welfare

Highlights of the Wage Code

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Social Security

Highlights of the Social Code

31 | Page
Maternity Benefit

Highlights of the Wage Code

Leaves

I. Factories Act (Sec 78-82)

The Factories Act has provided annual/earned leave of 12 working days for all the workers who have
worked at least 240 days in a year. However, the duration of earned/annual leave differs for the adult
and young workers. An adult worker is entitled to one day of earned leave for every 20 days of service
while a young worker (under the age of 15 years) is entitled to one day of earned leave for every 15
days of service.

Workers are paid their usual daily wage rates for the days of earned leave. A worker is paid his full
daily wages during the term of annual leave. Daily wages are the average of his total full time earnings
for the day on which he actually worked during the months immediately preceding his leave,
exclusive of any overtime and bonus but inclusive of dearness allowance and the cash equivalent of
advantage accruing through the concessional sale to the worker of food grains and other articles.
If a worker takes four or more days' leave at a time, his wages are paid before the leave begins. A
worker may take all or portion of annual leave provided that he/she notifies the employer in writing
at least 15 days prior to the date of availing annual leave and such request may not be refused unless
it contradicts with the scheme of leave already agreed.

Annual leave may be carried over however no more than 30 days can be carried over to the next
year.

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II. Shops & Establishment Act

Employees are entitled to a certain number of days of leave per year aside from the holidays and
days off.

Generally, three types of leave are mentioned under the Shops and Establishments Act i.e. Privilege
leave, Sick leave and Casual leave. This varies from state to state. So, the number of leaves entitled
to an employee depends upon the state in which the establishment is located. The leave policy of an
establishment should be in consonance with the leave provision of the respective state’s Shops and
Establishments Act. The said leave policy cannot be less beneficial than that mentioned by the
respective state’s Shops and Establishments Act.

Earned leave / Privilege leave

These are the additional leave of absence awarded to an employee with wages for the day’s work
performed by him for specific number of days as prescribed under the Shops and Establishments Act.
The condition to avail the Earned / Privilege leave may differ in every establishment.

Casual Leave:
The Casual Leave is granted for an unanticipated event or when an employee is unable to attend the
office for a day or two due to any personal exigency.

Sick leave:
An employee is entitled to avail Sick leave in case of sickness. During Sick leave, wages are paid to the
employees when they are out of work due to illness.

IV. Model Standing Orders-

Holidays with pay will be allowed as provided for in the Factories Act, and other holidays in accordance
with law, contract, custom and usage.

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 The David-Ulrich HR Model

David Ulrich’s model for Human Resources was revolutionary when first introduced because it
looked at people and roles first and foremost. Human Resources departments are important in
organizations in part because of how they focus on the people in an organization—including
employees, managers, board members, and more. Fittingly, David Ulrich’s HR Model doesn’t build
a Human Resources department around function first, but rather around roles.
In particular, David Ulrich’s HR model defined the four roles listed below:

HR Business Partner: The HR business partner is tasked with communicating with so-called
“internal clients” or “internal customers.” (These are just fancy terms that refer to people directly
connected with an organization, and include employees, shareholders, stakeholders, creditors,
and more.)

The HR business partner is the HR point-of-contact for these individuals and is, therefore, the
channel that most internal members of an organization will use to communicate with a Human
Resources department. Among other things, the HR business partner gives feedback to internal
customers about the quality of their experience, identifies top talents within the organization,
helps fill job vacancies, shares HR goals with employees to ensure they are implemented across
the organization, and helps promote overall productivity and harmony in the workplace.

Change Agent: When an organization is required to expand, evolve, or otherwise alter its goals or
objectives, the change agent is the Human Resources role that communicates those organizational
changes internally. This person or branch organizes training opportunities so employees can
learn the new skills necessary for changing business goals or job roles, or changes job
descriptions to reflect those altered roles. Essentially, the change agent helps adapt the
organization for its next stage of growth or evolution.

Administration Expert: This administration role within HR is responsible for numerous

different types of tasks. On one end of the spectrum, the administration expert follows changes in
legislation, regulation, occupational health and safety rules, and other types of labor or trade law
and helps the organization adapt in order to stay compliant with those laws. On the other end of
the spectrum, the administration expert is responsible for organizing personal employee
information and making sure that it is up to date. This person uses an HRIS (Human Resources
Information System) to monitor, update, and secure that information. In other words, the
administration expert is the closest thing to a true “document management” specialist within
Ulrich’s HR Model.

Employee Advocate/Employee Champion: At all times, any Human Resources department is

responsible for staying aware of employee interests and making sure they are protected. The
employee advocate (also known as the “employee champion”) is the role in charge of gauging
employee morale and satisfaction and using that information to create a positive company where
people will want to work. This person uses surveys to measure employee satisfaction, spot
shortcomings in company culture, and ensure that managers are fair and equitable to all
employees. The employee advocate also leads initiatives to improve morale and employee
experience, helps the change agent with offering training and professional development
opportunities, and ensures that existing employees have opportunities to apply for new jobs or
promotions within the organization.

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Questions (Source: Flipkart Wired 2020)

In a company ABC, Ulrich’s 4 box model for HRM is employed by the Performance development
team to identify individuals who have performed exceedingly well in the set of competencies
outlined in the framework and then promote them to the next grade/role. Following is a snapshot
of the behaviours displayed by 3 HR employees during the past 1 year:

Employee A: Has shown the tenacity to enable category leaders to shape their portfolios going
forward so that they can build long term relationships with brands. Has shown the urge to
streamline processes around talent development and introduced peer recognition in the category.
Has shown interest to work across a varied set of roles in different HR verticals.

Employee B: Takes feedback positively and works on it to get better in his role. Has shown great
collaboration while working with different sets of stakeholders as part of his role. Executes the
task given to him on time and with perfection.

Employee C: Have shown mastery in the management of strategic resources of the team Have
worked on processes and management of the firm’s infrastructure. Have created a Renewed
framework for the team when there was a transition in the leadership.
1. Which of the employees have shown the ‘Change Agent’ competency?
2. Which of the employees have shown Administrative expert competency?
3. Which of the following employees showed the minimum competencies from Ulrich's 4 role
model?

Answers:
1. A, B and C
2. B and C
3. A

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 HR as Change Agent

Change management is fundamentally about establishing a systematic approach that helps to

transform organisations’ values, functions and philosophy. Effective change management is
basically about effectively managing people in organisations to understand, participate and create
change. Change agents are vital in lean transformation. They provide both the technical know-how
and the social support needed by managers and front-line teams alike as they learn and adopt new
lean practices. Usually recruited from within the organization, they can use their knowledge and
contacts to detect and diffuse political issues that might otherwise threaten to derail
transformation efforts.

HR has to implement a change because it is required

● by outside forces/stakeholders (changes in laws or safety requirements, COVID-19 pandemic

for example)
● it is requested by other internal stakeholders (changes in IT operations due to efficiency or
effectiveness needs, for example).
● Sometimes HR enables change because it is the right thing to do to given current and future
organization conditions in alignment with business strategy

HR has a major role in ensuring that change is identified, developed and carried out in a respectful
way. The behavioural competencies required by HR professionals allow them, through things like
relationship management, critical evaluation, consultation and leadership and navigation, to
engage employees in the needed change at hand. C-suite executives expect there to be a wide range
of changes in the HR profession in the next 10 years—everything from broadening the scope of HR
business partnerships to outsourcing HR tasks to pushing out more HR responsibility to line
management. These changes will require finesse, collaboration, expert communication and a focus
on measuring the success of change initiatives.

One key role for HR is to ensure that organizational strategy and organizational culture are aligned;
without this alignment no matter how good the strategy or how good the culture the disconnect
will likely cause failure. The way people are managed is crucial to success and can be a source of
sustainable competitive advantage.

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Few Additional Readings on Organizational Change Management:

https://www.people-doc.com/blog/organizational-change-management-7-strategies-for-
hr-departments

https://www.humanresourcesmba.net/faq/why-is-change-management-important-in-
human-resources/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333394556_The_Role_of_Human_Resources_in
_Change_Management_An_Exploratory_Study_in_Lebanon

Impact of COVID on HR Practices

One of the biggest visible impacts of the virus has been on the organisations and the nature of
workplaces. As the coronavirus spread invisibly across the globe, nation after nation has declared
lockdowns, and organisations have scrambled to comply with lockdown restrictions while striving
to keep operations going. Work-from-home (WFH) became the immediate solution to business
continuity.

Agility, Creativity, Flexibility - these are the attributes demonstrated by HR in the lockdown
scenario. As employees started logging in remotely, HR functions stepped up to transform brick-
and-mortar offices into virtual workplaces almost overnight. Guidelines to ensure that employees
could manage WFH seamlessly and securely had to be quickly defined and disseminated. In many
cases, employees had to be supported with digital infrastructure - laptops, data cards - to ensure
that business continuity could be maintained.

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the emphasis on the ‘human connect’ aspect of the HR
function. Amid a rapidly unfolding health crisis, HR functions geared up to provide critical
communication on safety protocols, hygiene practices, emergency numbers, list of hospitals,
guidelines for quarantining and isolating, and much more. Many organisations went the extra mile
to help employees handle stress by setting up online classes for employee wellbeing and
motivation.

Employee safety became the prime concern, and HR teams partnered with other functions to
define ways of ensuring safety and social distancing compliance at factories and plants that
continued to operate. Regular disinfection of premises, offices, buses, and colonies has become an
essential component of keeping employees safe. The procurement of masks, handwashes, and
sanitizers was critical even though supplies fell low in the market.

The coronavirus crisis has helped shine a spotlight on the value that HR delivers in keeping
employees engaged, motivated, safe, and productive. However, the WFH concept and minimal
staffing situation are likely to continue for some time. The very nature of the virus and its
transmissibility have made it clear that social distancing is going to be the new normal for at least a
year. This implies that the pandemic situation will impact HR practices like recruitment, on-
boarding, and learning and development. Recruitment will focus on tech-savvy talent who can
perform better in a predominantly digital workplace. Processes for on-boarding new hires
will have to change to become fully digital. Training and skilling will reconfigure for an
online-only mode.

Some of the changes are exciting in their potential for transformation. In the appreciable future, HR
will play a key role in redefining, perhaps permanently, the nature of the workplace. For instance,
standard attendance and leave policies will no longer work. Organisations will have to place a
higher degree of trust in the integrity and commitment of employees working remotely. WFH may
impact decision-making structures because of the constraints of video meeting platforms. Smaller
teams may be able to collaborate better and take decisions faster. In some ways, WFH may even be
a blessing in disguise. Being able to work from home may help people to balance professional and

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personal issues better. It may enable more women and people with disabilities to enter the
workforce.

Having larger remote workforces will push organisations to ramp up technology adoption
and digitalization, enable dispersed operations, and collaborative functioning. As organisations
get more comfortable with employees working remotely, the requirement for office space and fixed
workstations may reduce drastically. Organisations may be able to leverage WFH concept to cut
costs on real estate and brick-and-mortar infrastructure.

7 New HR trends for 2022

1. The Call for 4-day Work Week
When Microsoft workers in Japan participated in a four-day workweek trial, their productivity
increased by 40% given that employees earned the same amount. A 4-day work week does not
mean the same work to be squeezed in fewer hours of time. In its most evolved form, an employee
will be paid the same amount despite clocking fewer hours every week. Several studies have
shown both workplace productivity, and employee satisfaction goes up considerably under a
more compressed schedule.
COVID-19 has made managers think about work differently. Several top executives, including
Google co-founder Larry Page, have been in favour of the four-day workweek.

2. Work from Home post-Covid and the rise of the Hybrid workplace
Companies such as Twitter, Square, Cars24 have announced making work from home a
permanent work policy. Companies such as Microsoft have adopted plans to allow more flexibility
in working from home for teams and individuals that desire it. The new hybrid workplace goes
hand in hand with adjustments and new collaboration norms with a more pronounced emphasis
on videoconferencing. It also means newer ways in which companies look for talent and engage
with employees.

3. Rethinking HR practices and reinventing the employee experience

Recruiting, Onboarding, Performance management, and even firing decisions may now need to be
achieved through simulated virtual experiences as opposed to being done in person. A good
onboarding experience is critical to influencing a new hire’s decision to stay with the
organization, which makes getting digital onboarding right even more important.
With remote working becoming the norm of the day, the traditional incentives like promotion
parties, deal- closing dinners became redundant. Nevertheless, employers have come up with new
ways of rewards and positive reinforcements to keep the spirits of employees high despite
working in total solitude. This shift has been a global trend.
Software Delivery Platform, Harness, sent Gift Boxes containing a blanket, mat, water bottle, tie-
dye kit, snacks, sunscreen to compensate for the company-wide picnic that was canceled due to
the pandemic.
To help ease some of the childcare pressures working parents face, business software firm UKG
provided a virtual summer camp and is offering a kids club for after school hours this fall.
Yet another example is of various organizations having online wine and cheese tasting ceremony
to ring in their employees’ success; the supplies being sent to the homes of all the colleagues.

4. Moving towards a Multigenerational Workforce

The previous emphasis on using generations to segment the workforce has now shifted towards
workforce strategies and programmes targeted toward workers’ individual attributes. Careers
have become more dynamic and complex, loosening the historic correlation between age and
career progression. The workforce is too diverse to be able to anchor any specific policies
targeting a specific generation.

5. Data literacy and analytics & Predictive HR

HR Managers need to have a strong business acumen to be able to contribute to the company’s
bottom line. It is predictive data analytics that will help make better hiring decisions by predicting
candidate success or preventing talent from quitting their job.
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 Just as HR managers will need to upskill themselves to apply digital tools better, learning and
development for the workforce too will play an essential role in the success of organizations.
Careful curation of the right training programmes to fix the skill gaps due to digitization and an
ageing workforce (more critical in some country demographics than others) is the need of the
hour.
Peer coaching and mentoring will no longer be the same, so HR will need to innovate new ways to
adapt to a virtual interface.
Despite people analytics team tracking data. It’s the HR Business Partners who often struggle to
leverage data and people analytics insights to make change happen. HRBPs should be taught to
read, understand, and communicate data as information for this to be solved.

6. Possible widening of the gender-wage gap

Many organizations have been compelled to let go of some of their workforce. Not all employees
will eventually return to work at the workplace, and those who return to the workplace are more
likely to get higher raises and promotions than those who continue to work from home. Women
are more likely to remain work from home, increasing the dangers of widening the wage gap. HR
policies may need to be evolved to address this. In the Indian context, companies may want to
Relook the Pay mix and pay package composition in view of the new labour codes and the new
realities of working from home.

7. Virtual CSR
Photo company Magnum now hosts a virtual art exhibition on its Instagram channel and website,
with works portraying joy-filled city streets post lockdown. Virtual visitors can make donations
too and download an original digital artwork as a visual reminder of their contribution.
As countries moved into lockdown, the Knorr team offered store-cupboard recipes to meet tighter
budgets and easy tips for creating restaurant-like meals at home.
Corporate Social responsibility has become more important despite the tightening budgets, with
opportunities for corporates to contribute monetarily to NGOs or public good with new
innovative ways to give back to society.

Additional Reading Material:

https://www.bcg.com/en-in/publications/2020/seven-people-priorities-in-reponse-to-covid

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/hr-says-talent-is-
crucial-for-performance-and-the-pandemic-proves-it#

https://www.payscale.com/compensation-today/2013/11/how-to-properly-forecast-your-hr-
budget

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-
qa/pages/whatneedstobeincludedinanhrbudget.aspx

https://www.digitalhrtech.com/human-resource-basics/

Future Workforce | Accenture

People Stratgy | BCG

Deloitte Insights

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 We have mentioned the various companies that the Senior Team has
interned with. Reach out to us directly or drop us a mail at
sapphire@xlri.ac.in if you need any help with the SIP process.

ALL THE BEST!

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