Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION2
New Trends in International HRM ..4
Human Resource Management in India6
Top 10 Human Resource Practices- Post Recession...9
Top 10 Trends in Employee Management..13
Top 10 Work Force Trends.............18
Demographics and changing nature of work..19
Future of Employment Relations............25
New Trend of Upgrading Talent.28
Changes in Technology...32
CONCLUSION...35
References...36

INTRODUCTION

uman resource management is a process of bringing people and

organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of

HR manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a

planner and change agent. Personnel directors are the new corporate heroes. The
name of the game today in business is personnel. Nowadays it is not possible to
show a good financial or operating report unless your personnel relations are in
order.
Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low
skilled jobs are decreasing. This calls for future skill mapping through proper
HRM initiatives.
Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, management cultures
and philosophy due to the global alignment of Indian organizations. There is a need
for multi skill development. Role of HRM is becoming all the more important.
Some of the recent trends that are being observed are as follows:

The recent quality management standards ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 of 2000
focus more on people centric organizations. Organizations now need to
prepare themselves in order to address people centered issues with
commitment from the top management, with renewed thrust on HR issues,
more particularly on training.

Charles Handy also advocated future organizational models like Shamrock,

Federal and Triple I. Such organizational models also refocus on people
centric issues and call for redefining the future role of HR professionals.

To leapfrog ahead of competition in this world of uncertainty, organizations

have introduced six- sigma practices. Six- sigma uses rigorous analytical
tools with leadership from the top and develops a method for sustainable
improvement. These practices improve organizational values and helps in
creating defect free product or services at minimum cost.

Human resource outsourcing is a new accession that makes a traditional

HR department redundant in an organization. Exult, the international pioneer
in HR BPO already roped in Bank of America, international players BP
Amoco & over the years plan to spread their business to most of the Fortune
500 companies.

With the increase of global job mobility, recruiting competent people is also
increasingly becoming difficult, especially in India. Therefore by creating an
enabling culture, organizations are also required to work out a retention
strategy for the existing skilled manpower.

NEW TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL HRM

International HRM places greater emphasis on a number of responsibilities and

functions such as relocation, orientation and translation services to help employees
adapt to a new and different environment outside their own country.
Selection of employees requires careful evaluation of the personal characteristics
of the candidate and his/her spouse. Training and development extends beyond
information and orientation training to include sensitivity training and field
experiences that will enable the manager to understand cultural differences better.
Managers need to be protected from career development risks, re-entry problems
and culture shock. To balance the pros and cons of home country and host country
evaluations, performance evaluations should combine the two sources of appraisal
information. Compensation systems should support the overall strategic intent of
the organization but should be customized for local conditions.
In many European countries - Germany for one, law establishes representation.
Organizations typically negotiate the agreement with the unions at a national level.
In Europe it is more likely for salaried employees and managers to be unionized.

HR Managers should do the following things to ensure success-

Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmental

opportunities and neutralize threats.
Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributions and
grant enhancements.
Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HR
contributions like training, development, counseling, etc
Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence
in an area, e.g. Xerox in photocopiers, 3M in adhesives, Telco in trucks etc.
Lay off workers in a smooth way explaining facts to unions, workers and
other affected groups e.g. IBM, Kodak, Xerox, etc.

HR Managers today are focusing attention on the following-

Policies- HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and consensus.

Motivation- Create conditions in which people are willing to work with zeal,
initiative and enthusiasm; make people feel like winners.
Relations- Fair treatment of people and prompt redress of grievances would
pave the way for healthy work-place relations.
Change agent- Prepare workers to accept technological changes by
clarifying doubts.
Quality Consciousness- Commitment to quality in all aspects of personnel
administration will ensure success.
Due to the new trends in HR, in a nutshell the HR manager should treat
people as resources, reward them equitably, and integrate their aspirations
with corporate goals through suitable HR policies.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

India is being widely recognized as one of the most exciting emerging economics
in the world. Besides becoming a global hub of outsourcing, Indian firms are
spreading their wings globally through mergers and acquisitions. During the first
four months of 1997, Indian companies have bought 34 foreign companies for
about U.S. $11 billion dollars. This impressive development has been due to a
growth in inputs (capital and labor) as well as factor productivity. By the year
2020, India is expected to add about 250 million to its labour pool at the rate of
about 18 million a year, which is more than the entire labour force of Germany.
This so called demographic dividend has drawn a new interest in the Human
Resource concepts and practices in India.
Indian HRM in Transition
One of the noteworthy features of the Indian workplace is demographic
uniqueness. It is estimated that both China and India will have a population of
1.45 billion people by 2030; however, India will have a larger workforce than
China. Indeed, it is likely India will have 986 million people of working age
in 2030, which will probably be about 300 million more than in 2007. And by
2050, it is expected India will have 230 million more workers than China and
about 500 million more than the United States of America (U.S.). It may be
noted that half of Indias current population of 1.1 billion people are under of
25 years of age. While this fact is a demographic dividend for the economy, it

is also a danger sign for the countrys ability to create new jobs at an
unprecedented rate.

With the retirement age being 55 to 58 years of age in most public sector
organizations, Indian workplaces are dominated by youth. Increasing the
retirement age in critical areas like universities, schools, hospitals, research
institutions and public service is a topic of considerable current debate and
agenda of political parties.
The divergent view, that each society has a unique set of national nuances,
which guide particular managerial beliefs and actions, is being challenged in
Indian society. An emerging dominant perspective is the influence of
globalization on technological advancements, business management, and
education and communication infrastructures are leading to a converging
effect on managerial mindsets and business behaviors. And when India
embraced liberalization and economic reform in the early 1990s, dramatic
changes were set in motion in terms of corporate mindsets and HRM
practices as a result of global imperatives and accompanying changes in
societal priorities. Indeed, the onset of a burgeoning competitive service
sector compelled a demographic shift in worker educational status and
heightened the demand for job relevant skills as well as regional diversity.
Expectedly, there has been a marked shift towards valuing human resources
(HR) in Indian organizations as they become increasingly strategy driven as
opposed to the culture of the status quo. Accordingly, competitive advantage
in industries like software services, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology
(where India is seeking to assert global dominance), the significance of HRs
is being emphasized. These relativities were demonstrated in a recent study of
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three global Indian companies with (235 managers) when evidence was
presented that positively linked the HRM practices with organizational
performance. In spite of this trend of convergence, a deep sense of locality
exists creating more robust cross vengeance in the conceptual as well as
practical domain.
Key HRM Practices in Indian Organizations
HRM Practice Observable Features
Job Description

Percentage of employees with formally defined work roles is very high in the
public sector.

Recruitment

Strong dependence on formal labour market. Direct recruitment from

institutions of higher learning is very common amongst management,
engineering and similar professional cadres. Amongst other vehicles, placement
agencies, internet and print media are the most popular medium for
recruitment.

Compensation

Strong emphasis on security and lifetime employment in public sector

including a range of facilities like, healthcare, housing and schooling for
children.

Training
and Poorly institutionalized in Indian organisations. Popularity of training programs
Development
and their effect in skill and value development undeveloped.
Performance
Appraisal
Promotion
Reward

A very low coverage of employees under formal performance appraisal and

rewards or organisational goals
and

Moderately variable across industries. Seniority systems still dominate the

public sector enterprises. Use of merit and performance limited mostly to
globally orientated industries.

Limited in scope. The seniority based escalator system in the public sector
provides stability and progression in career. Widespread use of voluntary
Career Planning
retirement scheme in public sector by high performing staff. Cross functional
career paths uncommon.
Gender Equity

Driven by proactive court rulings, ILO guidelines and legislature provisions.

Lack of strategic and inclusion vision spread.

Reservation
System

The central government has fixed 15 per cent reservations for scheduled castes,
7.5 per cent for scheduled tribes and 27 per cent for backward communities.
States vary in their reservation systems.

TOP 10 HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES-POST RECESSION

Top Ten HR Practices that can help you achieve your organizational goals every
year:
1. Safe, Healthy and Happy Workplace: Creating a safe, healthy and happy
workplace will ensure that your employees feel homely and stay with your
organization for a very long time. Capture their pulse through employee surveys.
2. Open Book Management Style: Sharing information about contracts, sales,
new clients, management objectives, company policies, employee personal data
etc. ensures that the employees are as enthusiastic about the business as the
management. Through this open book process you can gradually create a culture of
participative management and ignite the creative endeavor of your work force.. It
involves making people an interested party to your strategic decisions, thus
aligning them to your business objectives. Be as open as you can. It helps in
building trust & motivates employees. Employee self service portal, Manager online etc. are the tools available today to the management to practice this style.
3. Performance linked Bonuses: Paying out bonuses or having any kind of
variable compensation plan can be both an incentive and disillusionment, based on
how it is administered and communicated. Bonus must be designed in such a way
that people understand that there is no payout unless the company hits a certain
level of profitability. Additional criteria could be the team's success and the

individual's performance. Never pay out bonus without measuring performance,

unless it is a statutory obligation.

4. 360 Degree Performance Management Feedback System: This system, which

solicits feedback from seniors (including the boss), peers and subordinates, has
been increasingly embraced as the best of all available methods for collecting
performance feedback. Gone are the days of working hard to impress only one
person, now the opinions of all matter, especially if you are in a leadership role (at
any level). Every person in the team is responsible for giving relevant, positive and
constructive feedback. Such systems also help in identifying leaders for higher
level positions in the organization. Senior managers could use this feedback for
self development.
5. Fair Evaluation System for Employees: Develop an evaluation system that
clearly links individual performance to corporate business goals and priorities.
Each employee should have well defined reporting relationships. Self rating as a
part of evaluation process empowers employees. Evaluation becomes fairer if it is
based on the records of periodic counseling & achievements of the employee,
tracked over the year. For higher objectivity, besides the immediate boss, each
employee should be screened by the next higher level (often called a Reviewer).
Cross functional feedback, if obtained by the immediate boss from another
manager (for whom this employee's work is also important), will add to the
fairness of the system. Relative ratings of all subordinates reporting to the same
manager are another tool for fairness of evaluation. Normalization of evaluation is
yet another dimension of improving fairness.

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6. Knowledge Sharing: Adopt a systematic approach to ensure that knowledge

management supports strategy. Store knowledge in databases to provide greater
access to information posted either by the company or the employees on the
knowledge portals of the company. When an employee returns after attending any
competencies or skills development program, sharing essential knowledge with
others could be made mandatory. Innovative ideas (implemented at the work place)
are good to be posted on these knowledge sharing platforms. However, what to
store & how to maintain a Knowledge base requires deep thinking to avoid clutter.
7. Highlight performers: Create profiles of top performers and make these visible
through company intranet, display boards etc. It will encourage others to put in
their best, thereby creating a competitive environment within the company. If a
systems approach is followed to shortlist high performers, you can surely avoid
disgruntlements.
8. Open house discussions and feedback mechanism: Ideas rule the world. Great
organizations recognize, nurture and execute great ideas. Employees are the
biggest source of ideas. The only thing that can stop great ideas flooding your
organization is the lack of an appropriate mechanism to capture ideas. Open house
discussions, employee-management meets, suggestion boxes and ideas capture
tools such as Critical Incidents diaries are the building blocks that can help the
Managers to identify & develop talent.

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9. Reward Ceremonies: Merely recognizing talent does not work, you need to
couple it with ceremonies where recognition is broadcast. Looking at the Dollar
Check is often less significant than listening to the thunderous applause by
colleagues in a public forum.
10. Delight Employees with the Unexpected: The last but not least way is to
occasionally delight your employees with unexpected things that may come in the
form of a reward, a gift or a well-done certificate. Reward not only the top
performers but also a few others who are in need of motivation to exhibit their
potential.

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TOP 10 TRENDS IN EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

The Indian workplace has undergone a sea change, and human resource priorities
have now taken centre stage. In a knowledge economy, it is peoplenot capital or
marketwho make all the difference. As talent occupies centre stage in the Indian
workplace, managing and retaining manpower is becoming crucial to an
organization's success. To achieve this, companies across sectors are focusing on
some of the more critical HR practices. Ten such trends are:
1. Leadership Development: Creating a pipeline of leadership talent is key to a
business' future growth. Peter Cappelli, the professor of management and director
of the Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania, says it is imperative for the top level of an organization to make
leadership talent management a priority, and put its money into long-term plans, as
opposed to short-term ones. If companies are worried about their talent pipeline,
they have to develop their people, says Cappelli. Also, good bench strength helps
companies deal with volatility in labour supply. "Companies including Hindustan
Unilever, Procter and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline have been able to withstand
attrition in key executives because they have always invested in developing
leaders," says P. Dwarakanath, president, National Human Resource Development
Network. Experts say succession planning should not be seen in isolation, but as
part of overall organizational development.
2. Work-life Balance: No company or employee has found the Holy Grail of
balancing work and life, but that is a work in progress. However, multinationals,
information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) companies have been
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able to promote the balance between career, family and leisure-time better. Other
sectors have also been increasingly promoting a work-life balance. Interestingly,
most companies in India use benefits such as flexible timings, telecommuting,
crche facilities and concierge services as an attraction and retention strategy. "We
are yet to fully buy into the fact that employees become more productive and
remain motivated when companies allow them to have a life beyond work," says
Prabir Jha, global head, human resources, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

3. Inclusion and Diversity: With higher numbers of people joining the workforce
in India at a time when companies across the world have an ageing workforce on
their rolls, conflicts are to be expected. "One of the challenges companies face
today is resolving conflicts among different generations," says Pavan Bhatia,
executive director, human resources, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. "An
inclusive and diverse workforce is the future of the workplace," he adds. Therefore,
companies are investing both time and resources in ensuring that all age groups are
comfortable working together. Organizations in India have also been focusing on
making workplaces more representative. For companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd,
Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Vedanta Resources, PepsiCo India, Shell Companies in
India and Bharti Airtel Ltd, gender diversity has become a critical area of focus.
4. Health and wellness: The work culture at globalized workplaces involves long
working hours, frequent travel, multitasking and tight deadlinesand all this often
leaves employees mentally and physically stressed. "Employees are increasingly
grappling with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and
cholesterol, which can be checked by regular monitoring and a healthy lifestyle,"
says A. Sudhakar, executive vice-president, Human Resources, Dabur India.
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Companies have begun to realize that healthy employees contribute to higher

efficiency and productivity. Apart from medical benefits, companies are also
offering yoga classes and health camps and have doctors on campus. HCL
Technologies Ltd, for instance, like many other IT companies, has 24/7 medical
facilities in all its centres. DuPont has an Intranet-based tool, which assesses an
employee's health through a questionnaire and makes recommendations based on
the scores.
5. Right Skilling: Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of
training rather than hiring over skilled workers, is gaining currency. Companies use
this strategy to tide over a manpower supply crunch and to broaden their talent
base. "You don't need an IITian to supervise a car maker's shop floor or a
management graduate from a premier business school to sell soaps, which largely
has been the case," says T.V. Mohandas Pai, head, human resources, Infosys
Technologies Ltd.
6. Managing Solid Citizens: "Solid citizens" are the second-rung performers who
make up 50-60% of employees in any organization. They are the backbone of any
company. Although they contribute significantly to the company's overall
performance, they don't have the potential to become leaders. "Unfortunately, most
organizations focus on the 15-20% key talent at the expense of solid citizens," says
Dwarakanath. Organizations which neglect their solid citizens are doing this at
their own peril, say experts. Unlike star performers who are potential leaders, and
therefore more likely to move out of an organization faster, this group provides
stability and bench strength to an organization.
7. Instant Rewards: Recognizing and rewarding performers is one of the most
effective tools to attract and retain the right talent. Companies in India are looking
15

at rewards systems more seriously, and are adopting total rewards practices that
include compensation in both cash and kind. Apart from lifestyle perquisites such
as a house, a car or a club membership, profit-linked incentives, deferred gratuity,
and wealth-building programs in the form of stock options and soft loans,
companies are also including work-life balance programs; competency pay
packages where niche skills are compensated; and career opportunities, such as
overseas assignments, new projects, etc., to reward staff. These rewards can be
tailored to suit the top performers' aspirations to achieve maximum effect.
8. Measuring human capital: Evaluation of performance plays a key role, not just
in rewarding an individual employee, but also in setting performance benchmarks.
And hence, there is the need for a fair and transparent performance management
system. A strong performance analysis helps make human resources both efficient
and effective. "In today's business environment, where the focus is on increasing
performance, companies must have robust systems to identify performers so that
the best performers get identified, recognized and duly rewarded," says Ganesh
Shermon, partner and head, human capital advisory service, KPMG India.
Shermon cites the example of oil and gas company Bharat Petroleum Ltd, which
has instituted a balanced scorecard based on key result areas to measure
performance.
9. Managing Aspirations: As aspirations of organizations grow, so do those of
employees. And, with the changing lifestyles and profiles of the workforce,
personal and professional aspirations of employees are not just varied, but are
increasingly on the rise. "Since competitive advantage depends on competent
people, knowing what employees aspire for could just be the way to have an edge
over competitors," says Kishore Poduri, head, human resources, eClerx Services
Ltd.
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10. 360 Degrees Feedback: Finally, recognizing the need to make performance
appraisal systems more effective, an increasing number of companies are using the
360 degrees or multi-rater feedback process. Unlike the traditional appraisal
system, which gives one-dimensional feedback, this one allows an employee to
give feedback to her reporting manager, peers, direct reports and others. "Multirater feedback not only reduces the risk of biased perceptions, but also gives you a
holistic view from all the stakeholders within the company," says Sanjay Bali,
vice-president, HR, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. While most companies
started using this system as a means for performance appraisal, most of them now
use the 360 degrees feedback system to identify the learning and development
needs of employees.

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TOP 10 WORKFORCE TRENDS

1. A global war for Smart Talent will be the top driver of competitive
advantage, as educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in
demand.
2. The aging of the population in America and Europe will have dramatic effect
on society and the economy impacting productivity, knowledge and growth.
3. An increase in women in the U.S. workforce will change the policies, power
and positioning of organizations.
4. A diversity savvy workforce will be required to understand and align with
the diversity in the global marketplace.
5. Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a global
talent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization.
6. Incorporating innovation into the organizational DNA will be a key driver of
future competitive advantage.
7. Building a sustainable, healthy and green workplace will be an essential
capability for retaining talent and attracting the future workforce
8. Preparing employees to meet the challenges of a complex and stressful
future, where accelerated change and risks can be managed effectively with
high performance agility, will be vitally important.
9. An organization that is committed to employee development, continual
education and training, will return to the organization new skills and new
competencies.
10.

Attracting the next workforce, or preparing the current one, will require a
new workforce culture to better understand transnational teams, online
collaboration, globalization and business process transformation.

DEMOGRAPHIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF WORK

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One of the most powerful forces affecting the changing nature of work and the
work force is demographics the changing distribution of the work force along a
number of important dimensions. Here we can only briefly highlight the most
important demographically- related changes that will be occurring during the next
decade. The work force of 2010 will be significantly different than it is in 2004,
but the characteristics of workers today are already very different from what most
of us think they are. And basic changes in the characteristics, beliefs, values, and
expectations of millions of workers in all functional areas will require equally
fundamental changes in the way those individuals and teams are managed. The
Changing Nature of Work and the Demand for Workers One of the most
important changes that affects both organizations and management is what we like
to call the demand side the kinds of workers who are required to do the kind of
work that needs to be done. For insight into how changes in the nature of work
itself are affecting who is in the work force, we reviewed the research by Professor
Richard Florida of Carnegie-Mellon University. His data shows very clearly that
the most rapidly increasing category of workers is what he calls the creative
class those who are engaged in what others have called high-end knowledge
work and what we have described as Creative Activities. The rise of knowledge
work as the dominant activity in the economy has driven the development,
coalescence, and emergence of this new class of workers those who produce
and apply knowledge. The middle class, the working class, and the service
class were products of the Industrial Revolution and the growing automation of
the means of production. The vast majority of jobs today involve producing,
applying, and distributing knowledge rather than things essentially creative
activities. Florida points out that creative work activities with low process
structure and unpredictable outcomes are what create economic value and
competitive advantage today. But the most important work force management
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insight stemming from his analysis is the values and expectations that Creatives
bring to their work. As he suggests, creative people: - Work on varied and
individualized schedules - Are self-motivated and self-directed - Rely on their own
tools - Place profession and career ahead of a specific employer - Expect to work
in a variety of job situations (and for a variety of employers) over time - Place a
high premium on self-control (that is, on being in charge of what they do, where
they do it, and under what conditions) - Prefer to work in close proximity to others
who share their interests, skills, and work styles - Tend to choose where they want
to live and work first, and only then worry about who they will work for, or where
they will find the kind of work they want to do Thus, without even considering the
basic demographic changes within the population at large, we already have a work
environment in which well over one-third of the work that must be done (and by
far the most important third) requires people who are very different from the
dependent manual laborers, clerks, and even middle managers around whom much
of organizational life (and management practice) has been built for the last several
hundred years.
Changing Work Force Demographics but equally dramatic changes are occurring
on the supply side of work. The behavioral and emotional attributes of the workers
who constitute todays work force are changing so rapidly that it is an open
question whether organizations will be able to adapt at all.
First, just consider the fundamental impact of recently changing birth rates along
with the aging of the so-called Baby Boomers. Birth rates have an enormous
impact on the labor pool, and thus on job opportunities, wage and salary
expectations, and related attitudes about work and life.

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Indeed, we believe the most fundamental driver of work force diversity today is the
continuing decline in birth rates in virtually all developed countries around the
world. The work force is aging, and it is growing at a much slower rate. The result
is a much broader range of ages in all professions generational diversity is a
new condition that most organizations have never faced before. And the shrinking
number of new entrants to the work force means more importing of labor (and thus
a more multicultural work force), more exporting of work, more use of consultants
and part-timers, and a growing need to keep older workers in the active labor pool.
To be more specific, in 1965 there were approximately 4 million live births in the
United States. Today those individuals are 39 years old, and at height of their
business careers. Just ten years later, in 1975, there were only 3.1 million births (in
the United States); those individuals are just 29 today but will be in their midthirties in 2010. That is decline of 28 percent in the biggest source of the labor pool
in just 10 years. And that means that talented workers will be short supply and
thus highly demanding for the rest of this decade. Because of those declines
there are fewer and fewer young adults entering the work force far too few to
replace those who are reaching the tail end of their careers. And with the Baby
Boomer generation now in its late 50s, that pattern is about to become far more
pronounced. The net result is that the work force in total is aging, and it is growing
at a much slower rate. U.S. Census Bureau data show a dramatic flattening of the
age curves over the next several decades. That is, there will be many more older
workers, and many fewer younger ones, based on current birth rates and population
statistics. And of course, older folks are staying in the work force much longer
as a result of both personal choice and economic necessity. In fact, many
organizations already have to cope with what amounts to four generations of
workers in the workplace all at the same time. These four groups are: Seniors
Baby Boomers and their elders who are 50- and 60-somethings, many of who are
21

already actively seeking or enjoying part-time work, and/or flexible working

arrangements. Retirement in its traditional sense just isnt what these folks want.
Forty something mid-career professionals- In one sense these are the workers
you want they are young enough to have lots of energy, they are ambitious, they
want to contribute, and theyve been in the work force for 20+ years already. But
they are also frequently the parents of growing children (and the children of aging
parents) and typically get caught in classic work/family life balance issues.
Thirty-something- These are the young, hard-working, but still wet behind-theears professionals. They have lots of energy, but they need lots of direction and
molding as well. Many of them were caught up in the dot-com boom of the late
1990s; some were incredibly successful, and led rather heady lives. Today they are
older, somewhat wiser, and still ready to work hard. But they are also rediscovering
life outside work and most of them dont want to work those 80-hour weeks any
more. Generation X and Generation Y- This group, predominantly twentysomething, came into the work force with a very different set of values and
expectations from their elders. They grew up with the PC and instant messaging,
with Game Boys, with cell phones, and with loud music. They are incredibly
proficient at multi-tasking, and they are more social and collaborative from their
genes up. They are willing to work hard too, but only on their terms. Theyre
unwilling to suffer under poor managers, and they have no hesitation in speaking
their minds and in moving on quickly if they get turned off, or turned down.
And the overall shrinkage in the number of new entrants to the work force is
another reason why the Seniors will be actively encouraged to stay in the work
force. That shrinkage also means more importing of labor (and thus a more
multicultural work force), more exporting of work (offshore outsourcing may be
unpopular, but its not going to go away), and more use of consultants and parttimers. All of these factors mean a whole lot more complexity in work force
22

management and support. For example, this picture suggests that workers will ask
for and get much more choice in the design of their workplaces and a much
wider range of types of office equipment. In essence, we have to recognize that, in
Alvin Tofflers words, one size misfits all. This diversity will in turn put
enormous pressure on infrastructure and support staffs, which will be tasked to
satisfy those complex requirements and manage the resulting portfolio of
workplaces and technologies. Implications for Real Estate Executives The general
business implication of these demographic shifts is that there is going to be a major
talent shortage, especially for knowledge workers, in the developed world within
five years. Although the human resource management challenges are fairly
obvious, the implications for the real estate professional are perhaps less clear. We
believe that changes in demographics and an increased demand for creative talent
means that more work will have to be taken to the worker, not that workers will
migrate and relocate to wherever companies want to be. The basic location strategy
for sustainable companies within five years will be the development of a
workplace portfolio that has as its primary focus, Where are the workers we need
and how do we move our business there? In addition, this new work force will
demand and expect very different workplace configurations more
collaborative space in corporate facilities, a wider variety of locations and facilities
in which work can be accomplished, more personal control over when and where
they will work, and more support for remote and mobile work styles. The task of
real estate and facilities managers is clearly shifting from providing a place to
enabling the organizations work to get done wherever and whenever it must be
done. Organizations will need comprehensive real estate strategies of place that
appeal to all the major demographic segments. No one group will supply the talent
needed in the future. And the various groups will continue to have varying needs

23

and expectations. Providing work force support is not going to get any easier in
the future; in fact, it will be far more complex than it is today.

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FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

THE CHANGING CHARACTER, PLACES AND PATTERNS OF WORK have
been the subject of intense policy debate and speculation. Will there be sufficient
paid jobs to support the wealth and health of the nation? Will the employment
opportunities of the future assume a radically different character from the present,
and are we, as some commentators contend, poised to experience a radical redrawing of the boundaries between paid and unpaid work? As a consequence of
policymakers, think tanks and other visionaries vying to impose their particular
interpretations of the future, there is no shortage of responses to these complex
questions. Commentators typically assert that the forces of globalization, new
technologies and business restructuring are challenging current patterns of
working, but find little else on which to agree. The more pessimistic accounts
suggest that the new millennium will be blighted by diminishing job opportunities
in the economys traditional industries and occupations, rising levels of
unemployment and widening social divisions. Others, however, point to
developing shortages of suitably trained and skilled workers to support the growth
of new production and service industries and signal new possibilities for more
liberating forms of work and a better blend of leisure and working time.
IN CONTEMPORARY DEBATE OVER THE FUTURE of employment relations
not enough attention is focused any longer in research on the nature of the power
relationship in the workplace. This is a strategic mistake. The role of trade unions
as voluntary and autonomous institutions committed to social justice in the
workplace is being underplayed. By contrast their function as partners of
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companies

in

assisting

to

bring

about

improvements

in

productivity,

competitiveness and profitability are perhaps being over-stressed. In the nineteenth

century many craft trade unions sought to justify their existence in a hostile
political economy that questioned their right to exist by emphasizing their role as
stabilizing and respectable forces in the maintenance of order and authority in the
workplace. In the search for legitimacy they argued there was a harmonious
common interest uniting capital with labour that transcended any underlying
division of purpose. The strike weapon and the threat of its use was kept well out
of sight most of the time and yet even the most peacefully-minded unions argued
the case for their independence and autonomy from employers and the state. They
did so because they recognized the needs and demands of workers and companies
were not only not always identical but often based on an unequal relationship in
the distribution of power.
There is no reason to doubt todays workplaces are also based on a realistic
perception by employers, employees and unions about the nature of that power.
The implicit assumption that lies behind the onward march of individual employee
rights is a tacit acknowledgement of the urgent need for workers to enjoy a much
stronger representative voice. But a number of difficulties arise as a result of this
that few trade unions have yet to grapple with. The most serious problem remains
the often neglected but entrenched nature of trade union structures. Historically our
trade unions have found it difficult to establish rational forms of organisation that
were able to limit competition between them in the endless struggle to gain new
members. By international standards as varied as collectivist Sweden and the free
market United States, Britains employees have always tended to have trade
unionism on the cheap with relatively low subscription rates and limited services
on offer. There are few signs of any improvement. But the demands made by
todays workers now facing the trade unions make them vulnerable to accusations
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of under-achievement. Employees are much more concerned to have an effective

and professional servicing of their individual concerns than in the past. They
expect a greater degree of competence from trade union officials and shop
stewards. But the numbers of qualified people holding positions of authority in the
trade unions to service those demands are far less than they were thirty years ago.
There are now only an estimated 5,000 full-time trade union officers. In the past
trade unions were able to make them more effective by the mobilization of their
collective strength. Now this is no longer possible and we are unlikely to see any
improvement in the degree of leverage trade unions may expect to wield in the
years ahead.

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NEW TREND OF UPGRADING TALENT

A downturn can give smart companies a chance to upgrade their talent.
Downturns place companies' talent strategies at risk. As deteriorating performance
forces increasingly aggressive headcount reductions, it's easy to lose valuable
contributors inadvertently, damage morale or the company's external reputation
among potential employees, or drop the ball on important training and staffdevelopment programs. But there is a better way. By emphasizing talent in costcutting efforts, employers can intelligently strengthen the value proposition they
offer current and potential employees and position themselves strongly for growth
when economic conditions improve.
Companies can maintain their attractiveness to internal and external talent by using
cost-cutting efforts as an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become more
engaging for the people undertaking them. A job's level of responsibility, degree of
autonomy, and span of control all contribute to employee satisfaction. Headcount
reductions provide a powerful incentive to use existing resources better by
breaking down silos and increasing the span of control for challenging managerial
roles-thus improving the odds of engaging key talent in the redesigned jobs.
Consider Cisco Systems' approach to downsizing during the last recession. In
2001, as deteriorating financial performance forced the elimination of 8,500 jobs,
Cisco redesigned roles and responsibilities to improve cross-functional alignment
and reduce duplication. The more collaborative environment fostered by such
moves increased workplace satisfaction and productivity for many employees.

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Initiatives like Cisco's succeed when companies focus on redesigning jobs and
retaining talent at the outset of downsizing efforts.
In addition to redesigning roles, companies cutting jobs should carefully protect
training and development programs. These are not only essential to maintaining
workplace morale and increasing long-term productivity, but they also give people
the skills necessary to carry out redesigned jobs that have greater spans of control.
During the last recession, International Paper continued offering classes at its
leadership institute by replacing external facilitators with the company's senior
leaders. This approach not only reduced the cost of delivery but also, thanks to the
involvement of senior leaders, redirected the content of the leadership program by
tying it more closely to decisions and skills affecting the company's current
performance. Similarly, IBM retained its employee-development programs during
its major performance challenges in the mid- to late 1980s. It took the arrival of
Lou Gerstner as CEO and a new strategy to turn the company around, but the
historical investments IBM had made in developing its people helped achieve a
successful turnaround.
Before undertaking widespread layoffs, companies should use their performancemanagement processes to help identify strong employees. Companies that conduct
disciplined, meritocratic assessments of performance and potential are well placed
to make good personnel decisions. These companies should also bring additional
strategic considerations to the decisions. They should assess which types of talent
drive business value today and which will drive it three years from now, as well as
which talent segments are currently available and which will be in the futurekeeping in mind, for example, that new MBAs will be equally available in two
years. They should also look at which types of talent would take years to replace or
develop-for instance, skilled electric utility engineers in an environment where
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retirements are dramatically reducing supply. Performance management well

informed by key strategic questions can minimize the negative cultural impact of
downsizing, improve the bottom line, and help identify talented people the
company should try to retain.
Companies that are reducing staff must focus relentlessly on the internal cultural
and external reputational implications of cost-cutting efforts. Although strong
employer brands are resilient, it's difficult to reestablish brand strength once the
culture has been damaged. The way many companies conduct large-scale
downsizing decreases efficiency, morale, and motivation on the part of remaining
employees. It also increases voluntary turnover among high performers and
compromises a company's ability to attract strong talent in the future, as potential
employees wonder how risky it is to take a job there.
Counteracting these tendencies requires creativity. In 2001, Cisco gave generous
severance packages and assistance with job searches to the workers it laid off and
launched a program that paid one-third of salary, plus benefits and stock options, to
ex-employees who agreed to work for a local charity or community organization.
Steps like these protected Cisco's employer brand by attempting to make departing
employees feel better about Cisco and underscored the company's commitment to
its people for those who remained. The results were measurable: employee
satisfaction remained high, and Cisco retained a prominent spot on Fortune
magazine's "Best Companies to Work For" list.
A strong employer brand is also important for companies undertaking selective
recruitment even as they cut personnel costs elsewhere. Using slowdowns to
uncover and hire displaced talent is often fruitful. Studies have shown that
although overall levels of recruitment may level off or even fall, the quality of
30

workers hired rises in recessions. And opportunities to find and hire displaced
talent may be particularly valuable during this downturn, as massive downsizing in
the financial-services sector makes available to nonfinancial companies a large
pool of highly educated and motivated professionals who previously might not
have considered jobs outside their previous employers or industries.
Some organizations are moving surprisingly quickly in response to these
opportunities in the talent market. In late October 2008, the US Internal Revenue
Service hosted a Manhattan career fair targeted at displaced financial-services
professionals. More than 1,300 people attended, many standing in line for three
hours to learn more about an employer that offered a newly interesting brand of
"job stability."
Cost cutting during a downturn is often necessary to ensure a company's current
profitability and future competitiveness. Rather than freezing all hiring and
employee-development programs, companies should use this period as an
opportunity to upgrade talent and better engage existing staff. This means
reinventing a percentage of the capital liberated from cost cutting into, for
example, selective recruiting and development programs and in efforts to safeguard
the culture and to redesign jobs so that they are more engaging to the remaining
employees.

31

CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY
Technology may have made things easier for recruiting managers, but it s
beginning to show its evil side as managers go overboard with it...
Key learnings:
Technology is a tool that can be used to aid the recruiting process.
Technology cannot replace human touch and therefore cannot be used to build
relationships
Technology has indeed been a blessing. The reaction time to any problem has been
slashed over a hundred times and leaders, managers and the worker fraternity in
general is more connected now than ever before. However, like all good things, the
positive streak of technology too can fade if it's taken too far. Critics who play
down the role of technology, have always condemned the way technology has
eroded the personal touch among people. In addition, they blame it for the way
managers use it for the sake of speed and not quality. Amidst the brickbats,
technology has emerged as a force to reckon with and has undoubtedly redefined
the way business is done.
Technology is secular. It has touched every aspect of business however little it may
be. And the human resources function is no exception. In fact the role of
technology in the arena of staff management has been incredible and today the
function has become completely technology-driven. The function right from the
recruiting stage to the exit interview and everything that comes in between is
largely driven by technology. While this may be seen as a revolution of sorts by
some, for many such aggressive takeover is beginning to take its toll on the
efficiency with which the function is meant to be executed. And according to
analysts the first casualty is the recruiting function.
Impersonal recruiting: A recent forum on "Technology and Its Application in the
Human Resources Function", conducted at the Town's hall, at Vancouver, presented
a rather scary picture of what awaits us in the near future. A few speakers at the
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forum unintentionally spelt horror for the recruiting function. They were rather
candid about the way they recruit and the role of technology in their recruiting
process. One of the speakers went to the extent of saying that thanks to technology
there is no real need of meeting the candidate or even speaking to him. Recruiting
managers can make their decision by simply exchanging mails!
The trend is indeed horrifying. How can one replace personal relationships that we
by virtue of being humans share with everything that we come in contact with?
Reducing the potency of a relationship to a mere click of a button can be damaging
to the very basis on which an organization is built. If every recruiting manager
were to select recruits on the basis of the mails exchanged then the concept of a
"competitive edge" or a "differentiating factor" will not be there at all since
everybody would be doing exactly the same thing. Moreover in such a
technologically-intensive scenario , the need for any other staff management
initiative too would seem redundant as people would barely interact personally and
even if they did it would only happen in case of a system crash.
The scenario can be nerve- wrecking and therefore it's time recruiting managers
wake up and understand that technology is only a tool and it can by no standards
be used to replace relationships.
Focus does not stray. When recruiting managers lose perspective of the core issue,
the entire exercise fails. In this case, recruiting managers must understand that
recruitment is like sales, and they are the salesmen. Their main job therefore is to
sell the job And sales is a process that needs human interaction. Hence handing
over this process to technology can sabotage the defining purpose of the activity
and therefore may not give the desired outcome. Understanding that technology is
a mere tool to accomplish the objectives of the sales activity, which is recruiting in
this case would help recruiting managers keep technology in its right place.
A typical sales activity needs four basic pre-requisites for its success. These
include:

Establish and nurture a relationship

Identify customer needs
Strategies to overcome difficulties in meeting the needs
Complete the sale
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Each of these factors is relevant even as we see recruiting as a sales strategy. Hence
recruiting managers must use technology in the third stage where difficulties
hampering the activity need to be overcome by use of means that are both time and
cost-effective.
Understanding how technology can aid the process of recruiting will help
recruiting managers maximize their efficiencies. However, if they let technology
drive the process then the intended benefit may fizzle out and the process
efficiency would be affected adversely. The best solution therefore would be to
integrate the benefits of technology with the recruiting process in a way that helps
maximise its efficiency.

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CONCLUSION

The World Competitiveness Report rated Indias human resource capabilities as

being comparatively weaker than most Asian nations. A dramatic shift in
recruitment practices has been taking place as globally pretend Indian companies
as well as global technical services rivals have made India a battlefield of
recruitment for the best workers. The recognition of world class human resource
capability as being pivotal to global success has changed Indian HRM cultures in
recent years. While the historical and traditional roots remain deeply embedded in
the subjective world of managers, emphasis on objective global concepts and
practices are becoming more common. Three very different perspectives in HRM
are evident. Firstly, Indian firms with a global outlook; secondly, global firms
seeking to adapt to the Indian context; and thirdly, the HRM practice in public
sectors undertakings (PSVS). As the Indian economy becomes more globally
linked, all three perspectives will move increasingly towards a cross verging
strengthening. Interestingly, within the national context, India itself is not a
homogenous entity. Regional variations in terms of industry size, provincial
business culture, and political issues play very relevant roles. The nature of
hierarchy, status, authority, responsibility and similar other concepts vary widely
across the nations synerging system maintenance. Indeed, organisational
performance and personal success are critical in the new era.

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REFERENCES
Google.com
blogs.oneindia.in/24058/15/2/showblog.php
www.management-hub.com/hrmanagement9.html
www.allbusiness.com/human-resource-management/3131796-1.html
Business Today magazine, Jan 10 issue
Money Today, Anniversary issue

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