Airtel most innovative in HR

RAJIV RAGHUNATH Early this year, premier cellular service provider Bharti Cellular,operating under the brand-name of Airtel, was adjudged the `Company with theMost Innovative HR Practices in the Asia Pacific Region' at the Asia PacificHRD conclave held in Mumbai. Anil Nayar, executive director of the firm,says the award is the culmination of concentrated efforts in HRD, whichAirtel initiated in 1996. ``We did the job quietly. And at every moment of truth, we checked if ourteam had the right attitude to realise the vision statement of thecompany,'' says Nayar.

During the learning phase, the most important part Airtel general manager(HR) Arun Kumar Padhi had to play was to actually check if ``people enjoyedtheir roles''. ``We didn't want anyone to treat his position as a mere job.Now when we look back, it emerges that we had undertaken strongteam-building activities,'' says Padhi.

Airtel decided to go in for a very young team. The average age is just 26years. Nayyar believes this has helped the HR department to mould the youngentrants to the company. ``But having decided to take in relatively lessexperienced professionals, we did not want to curb their creativity orinteraction,'' says he.

The senior management was advised to walk the talk and ``invite criticismfrom the employees''. ``Initially, the younger professionals werecircumspect about airing their views. But with better interaction with thesenior managers, they began to play a more proactive role in team-buildingefforts,'' he says.

Airtel's HR success was powered by a well defined rewards and recognitionsystem. This was backed by a strong training programme. ``Unlike most otherorganisations, we let our employees decide their training needs. And if theindividual does not know what his training needs are, then we don't needhim,'' says Nayar.

To encourage learning within the organisation, the company has set up astate-of-the-art learning centre. Here, employees can get logged on tocustomised training programmes developed by British Telecom (BT). Though thematerial is transmitted through the Internet, Padhi says that they are notaccessible to anybody outside the organisation as the access is protected.Airtel also seeks to certify every employee on quality and IT. ``To be aheadin the business, we need to train, develop and re-certify our employees on acontinuous basis,'' he says.

Over the years, it is the HR steering committee (HRSC) of the company thathas acted as the fulcrum of the HRD efforts in the organisation. HRSCconsists of the CEO, the COO and all other functional heads. The committeemeets once a week to discuss various initiatives and the plan of action onthe same.

To carry forward these plans, the entire organisation is measured on fiveperformance parameters: profitability, market share, brand saliency,customer

satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. Further, each employee isgiven individual targets that are linked to these five parameters.

Eventually, there are the performance-related bonuses that set the tone forthese activities. Padhi informs us that 60 per cent of the employees are ona variable pay structure, and that explains the success Airtel has had inbusiness and HRD.

Padhi's team also conducts an internal employee satisfaction survey calledPACE (Progressive Assessment of Culture and Environment), the inputs ofwhich go into the company's annual strategy.

``Measurement is indeed a key driver of business within Airtel. A philosophyof constant monitoring has been established. `Measurement Boards' for everydepartment are prominently displayed where the performance indicators of thesame are displayed graphically,'' says Padhi.

``We believe that an individual can be effective if he knows what isexpected of him. Formal job description documents have been issued to allour employees that clearly mention the `key result areas'. This goal settinghas helped us in communicating to each of our employees about ourexperiences from them, and established role clarity,'' he adds.

The HR department also sets up cross-functional teams in times of product orservice launches. ``Such teams typically constitute high performers fromeach department, who collectively make it happen,'' says Padhi.

Some of the other key HR initiatives include the managers' communicationforum, open house, family group meetings, HR interface and HR intranet. Toexplain them, the managers' communication forum, undertaken once a quarter,facilitates direct interaction of the employees with the top management.``They get to discuss issues relating to the performance of the previousquarter, directions for the next quarter, an

update on the regulatoryenvironment and the key initiatives for the period,'' says Nayar.

The `open house' conducted between the departments and HR takes upindividual grievances. In the case of family group meetings, each HODconducts meetings with his direct reportees once a month, wherein issuesother than those related to work are discussed.

To further HR interface, every member of the HR department has been assignedtwo departments each to discuss and sort out all HR, personnel andadministration issues. ``The idea is to provide employees with a singlewindow to the department,'' Padhi explains.

The HR Intranet provides information on HR policies, organisationalstructure, training calender and the house journal.

With these initiatives, Nayar says, ``Airtel has won a special place in theBharti group. The quality of service

and customer care is a reflection ofthe quality of people and our belief in constant improvement andupgradation.''

On the business side, Airtel has won the Techies award for three consecutiveyears in 1997, 1998 and 1999. The HR award will galvanise the company totouch even greater heights. Executive Summary The objective of Recruitment is to ensure precisely channeled selection of resources, to enable achievement of the company s business goals. In Bharti Airtel once the Manpower budgeting is prepared by the CEO, GM-HR & HODs at the end of financial year. The concerned manager of a vacant position requests for manpower through Manpower Requisition Form (MRF). GM-HR approves the form. If the manpower requirement is approved it is forwarded to recruitment manager. Then the sourcing of CVs is done, through various methods. Then the initial screening, if the candidate is

selected then he is supposed to fill JAF , and then get the JAF form and mark the date of functional Interview . Short listing of CV s as per requirement and then the candidates are called for the interviews. Then the candidate s initial screening is done i.e. qualification of candidate is matched with the requirement. JAF is made to fill by the candidate. Then comes the functional interview round which is taken by the functional manager. If he qualifies functional interview round then the candidate goes for the salary negotiation, which is done by the HR. At last the offer letter is issued to the selected candidate.