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PREFACE

It is a matter of honour for me to present my findings on Employee Relations. This report


is an honest earnest effort to study Employee Relations as an important tool of Human Resource
Management.

I got an opportunity to work at GPI for my summers which instigated initiated the idea of
the project. I started with reading HRM by Ashwathapa which gave me a foundation to HUMAN
RESOURCES as a function. Later I surfed the net for more specific information and browsed
through a variety of HR policies of companies. It gave me a brief knowledge about Employee
Relations and I formed a questionnaire for the companies I was going to research on. Some
articles that caught my attention while doing research are included in my observations. To add
spice to this dish, I have also scaled the practices of Employee Relations in other countries.

Since I was working at GPI, gathering information was easier compared to others. I have
found some interesting insights regarding Employee Relations which are mentioned in the report.

So, with due respect to my patient readers, I welcome you to the unremitting process of
Employee Relations.
STUDY OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Sr. no. TOPIC PAGE NO.

I Executive summary 3

1 Human Resources Management 5

2 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS 8

2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 Overview 9

3 Employee Relations in brief 11

3.1 Downward Relation (employer to employees) 11

3.1.1 Training and induction 11

3.1.2 Benefits

• Incentives and allowance


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• Monetary benefits
• Medical facilities to staff

3.1.3 Safety

3.1.4 Career Development 13

3.1.5 Recreation facilities and stress management 13

3.1.6 Collective problem solving.(bargaining) 13

3.1.7 Involvement and engagement 14

3.1.8 Rewards and recognition 15

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3.2 Upward communication (employee to employer) 15

3.2.1 Feedback 15

3.2.2 Performance appraisal 15

3.3 Horizontal Relation (amongst Employees) 16

3.3.1 Annual events and magazines 16

3.3.2 Welfare activities 16

4 Advantages of maintaining Good Employee Relations 17

5 Role and scope of Human resources. 19

6 GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD 20

7 PARLE INDIA LIMITED 31

8 TAJ LANDS END 39

9 Comparative study 47

10 Worldwide Employee Relations 51

11 Personal observation. 58

12 Conclusion 61

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of the report is to have an overview of HRM and Employee Relations at
GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD. (Andheri), TAJ LANDS END (Bandra) and at PARLE
PRODUCTS PRIVATE LTD. (Vile Parle). The objective was to analyze Employee Relations at
a plant factory and in the service sector.

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The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and
key among them is maintaining amicable relations with the workforce. Both the sectors are such
where employees become the crux of all operations. For the plant (factory), it is the employee
who works on the machine. Even at PARLE, where most of the operations are automated,
workers need to operate the machines.

At the hospitality sector, it is the employee who communicates with the guest. The
behaviour of the employee gives inkling about the company. Thus it is very important to
maintain cordial relations with the workforce.

The goal of Employee Relations is to end up with a productive and motivated employee
that will help effectiveness. Following the introduction to Employee Relations is a brief
overview of how Employee Relations has evolved as an activity. Following that in chapter 6 are
the advantages of maintaining good employee relations.

The importance of HR department, HR mission and the activities of the department for
Employee Relations are detailed.

According to me, HR department gets concerned in 3 types of relations. First the


employer to the employee, second employees to employer and third is amongst the employees.
There is comprehensive information on all 3 and how it benefits the company.

The report gives a brief introduction about the companies. It has knowledge about the
history of the company, vision, core values and the Corporate Social Responsibility activities
initiated by the company. Following this is the organization structure.

In addition, I have also studied the practices at other countries like Japan, UK and USA
for Employee Relations. This includes the different procedures for Employee Relations, their
trade unions and the laws regulating the same.

The report ends with my personal observations about each company and some articles
that caught my attention while research. Conclusion about employee relations ends my report

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In order to achieve the above mentioned objective and finish the study to perfection, the
methodology used was a balance of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were the
personal visits to the companies and secondary was the information collected from websites.

To facilitate this, I started with reading a few books on Employee Relations and human
resources to understand the basic concept of Employee Relations. I also browsed the net to find
more detailed information on specific topics. I practically saw the HR department at GPI work
and Later, I formed a questionnaire on various practices to understand the functioning of HR
department at other companies.

A sample of these companies was chosen on the basis of their scale of operations,
reputation and quick accessibility.

1. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management is an integral part of management. It helps the


management in taking a strategic view of a very important resource i.e. Human Resource. It
helps management in identifying key skill sets, knowledge, values required in the employee and
the rewards that are needed to be given to the employees so that the organisation goals are
fulfilled. Also like other management functions, it has to ensure that these resources are available
at an optimal cost. It has to look into various training and development activities to ensure this.
This is a key area for Human Resource Management as it shows their contribution in terms of

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money. The money here would be the opportunity cost incurred due to appointing of new
employees instead of developing current employees for the task in hand.

FUNCTIONS

From recruiting to orienting new employees, from writing job descriptions to tracking
vacation and sick leave, and from instituting and monitoring policies to monitoring benefits,
there has been a need for an HR generalist to assist senior management in both establishing a
"structure" to holding down costs of administration.

HRM is a function that helps manager’s recruit, select, train, and develop employees for an
organization.

1. Human Resource Planning: is understood as the process of forecasting an organizations


future demand for, and supply of, the right type of people in the right number.

2. Job Analysis: is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the
operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of this analysis
are job descriptions and job specification.

3. Recruitment: is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment.
The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are
submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected.

4. Selection: is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify (and


hire) those with greater likelihood of success in a job.

5. Placement: is understood as the allocation of people to jobs. It is the assignment or re-


assignment of an employee to a new or different job.

6. Training and development: It is an attempt to improve current or future employee


performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by
changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her skills and knowledge. The need
for training and development is determined by employee’s performance deficiency,

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computed as follows: Training and development need = Standard performance – Actual
performance

7. Remuneration: is the compensation an employee receives in return for his or her


contribution to the organization.

8. Motivation: is a process that starts with a psychological or physiological deficiency or


need that activates behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal or an incentive.

9. Participative management: Workers participation may broadly be taken to cover all


terms of association of workers and their representatives with the decision making
process, ranging from exchange of information, consultations, decisions and negotiations
to more institutionalized forms such as the presence of workers members on management
or supervisory boards or even management by workers themselves as practiced in
Yugoslavia. ((ILO)

10. Communication: may be understood as the process of exchanging information, and


understanding among people.

11. Safety and health: Safety means freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. In
order to ensure the continuing good health of their employees, the HRM focuses on the
need for healthy workers and health services.

12. Welfare: as defined by ILO at its Asian Regional Conference, defined labour welfare as
a term which is understood to include such services, facilities, and amenities as may be
established in or in the vicinity of undertakings to enable the person employed in them to
perform their work in healthy, congenial surroundings and to provide them with
amenities conducive to good health and high morale.

13. Transfer: involves a change in the job (accompanied by a change in the place of the job)
of an employee without a change in the responsibilities or remuneration.

14. Separations: Lay-offs, resignations and dismissals separate employees from the
employers.

15. Employee Relations: is concerned with the systems, rules and procedures used by unions
and employers to determine the reward for effort and other conditions of employment, to

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protect the interests of the employed and their employers, and to regulate the ways in
which employers treat their employees.

16. Disputes and their settlement: Industrial disputes mean any dispute or difference
between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between
workmen and workmen, which is connected with the employment or non-employment or
terms of employment or with the conditions of labour of any person.

2. EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

2.1 INTRODUCTION

People in organisations interact with each other during work, formally and officially as
well as socially and informally. During the course of interaction, relationships develop, which
are invisible connecting links, coloured by emotions of love, hate, repulsion, respect, fear,

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anxiety and so on. These are usually mutual but not necessarily reciprocal. If A hates B, it does
not follow that B hates A. It is possible that B loves A and even sympathizes with his thoughts.

Relationships imply feelings for each other. They may be positive (friendly, wanting to
be close) or negative (unfriendly, wanting to be distant). Relationships always exist between
interacting persons. There is no neutral point. Indifference is not neutral. Indifference tends to be
negative.

Relationships influence behaviours at work. Expectations of each other, perceptions of


the intentions of either, distributions of assignments, readiness to conform or to rebel, enthusiasm
to contribute, etc., are to some extent outcomes of these relationships. Attitudes and motivations
influence, and are influenced by, the nature of these relationships.

Employees are among an organization's most important audiences with the potential to be
its most effective ambassadors.

Employee Relations are practices or initiatives for ensuring that Employees are happy
and are productive. Employee Relations offers assistance in a variety of ways including
employee recognition, policy development and interpretation, and all types of problem solving
and dispute resolution.

Once there was a time when "Employee Relations" meant labor relations everywhere
around the world. Negotiate. Orchestrate. Dictate. HR professionals helped negotiate collective
bargaining agreements. The provisions of that contract defined the relationship between
management, unions, and workers.

Today, Employee Relations is a much broader concept. It involves maintaining a work


environment that satisfies the needs of individual employees and management. Improving
employee morale, building company culture, conveying expectations

2.2 OVERVIEW

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An effective employee relation involves creating and cultivating a motivated and
productive workforce. People are generally motivated from within, but what can you do to help
foster the type of environment where employees thrive, enabling your company to outperform
the competition

“Employee Relations” starts with determining the type of workplace the company wants.
It starts by considering what the company wants its employees to say about working for the
company. In a competitive market, it is important to that employees don’t feel that they might be
treated more fairly elsewhere. After all retention is one of the major functions of HRM.

By considering what the company wants employees to say about working for it gives
shape to the company’s culture. The company culture conveys organization's core values to its
employees, customers, vendors, and community.

In addition to the workplace climate, the company also considers the types of processes
or systems it wants to employ within the workplace to support the company culture and enhance
the working relationship that exists between the company and its workforce. Such systems could
include communications, policies, training, and development.

Also, an essential step in building effective Employee Relations is to evaluate the human,
financial and other resources available that reinforce the values and guiding principles the
company wants echoed throughout the organization. For example, what type of supervisors and
managers does it believe can bring out the best in people and projects?

The company should also make certain from the start that employees are not in counter
productive work environments where work is more arduous than it needs to be. Is the workplace
compliant with employment law? A major source of frustration for employees is the feeling that
they were treated unfairly. Good liability management tools are necessary to ensure that the
company avoids unnecessary confrontations, time wasters and costly legal battles

Traditionally Employee Relations programs were centered around labor union relations.
Today, Employee Relations does not necessarily involve unions. However, it does involve

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cultivating the leadership style and workplace practices that help make union organizing
activities a less attractive option for employees.

Establishing workplace and management principles set the stage for fostering a
successful work climate and establishing your company's culture. Effective Employee Relations
is about establishing processes that address and nurture that culture.

Employees in such organisations develop attitudes very different from those in another
organisation that does not make any such distinction and is more secular in its policies. These
different attitudes will be reflected in their behaviours outside the organisation and will either
strengthen or weaken the social fabric. An organisation in which authority is highly centralised
and does not allow its people enough discretion, will develop among its people tendencies for
dependency and inability to take responsibility. These tendencies are handicaps in their roles as
parents or citizens. The extent of concern shown for the effect of working conditions on
employees’ health has an impact on the society, not merely in terms of general health and costs
on medical care, but also in terms of the kind of activities that the members of the society
participate in.

When an organisation is sensitive to its impact on society, and responds to the society’s
concerns, it is said to be socially responsive. On the contrary, if it is concerned only with its own
purposes and ignores the impact that it has on society, it is said to be socially not responsive

Relationships also contribute to stress and conflicts at work, which in turn, affect quality
of work life of individuals as well as the quality of organizational outputs, measured in terms of
customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, innovation, and so on.

3. EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN BRIEF

According to me, Employee Relations can be classified in 3 types, with HRM


intervening.

First is the downward communication flowing from employer to the employees

Second is upward flowing from employees to employer and

Third is horizontal communication amongst the employees.

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3.1 Downward communication (employer to employees)

3.1.1. Training and Induction

Every new employee needs a company orientation, but most supervisors forget that
employees also need to be orientated to the company's VISION in addition to learning their
coworkers' names, company policies, and what not to eat in the cafeteria. The company's vision
statement tells the employee where the company is going, what their role will be, and how
success and achievement will be measured.

Achieving great performance in the company is a journey, not a destination. For any
business to succeed one must first recognize that the people are the greatest asset, and service is
your most valuable product. Continuous improvement by training and developing employees is
critical for business survival.

Recent U.S. workforce demographics provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics make a
compelling case for businesses of all sizes to begin planning for ongoing training of employees.
Experts project that 60% of new jobs in the early 21st century will require skills possessed by
only 20% of today’s workforce. Technology is raising the skill level requirements for the best
and fastest growing jobs, but schools and adult learning programs are not keeping pace.

The likely result is that demand for highly skilled workers will outstrip the supply of
qualified workers in the coming years. These statistics would seem to move training and
employee development to the list of services in high demand.

3.1.2 Benefits

Benefits often have a higher impact on employee recruitment and retention than
compensation. Employees who know their needs are met are also more likely to contribute to a
positive morale.

Besides the customary Allowance like

• For Workers

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Attendance bonus, Over Time Allowance which is double the Basic, House Rent Allowance,
Education Allowance, Conveyance Allowance which is fixed as per 6 scales of the workers, and
Leave Travel Allowance amongst others.

• For Staff

(Basic)TA/DA, Attendance Bonus, Production Incentive, Over Time Allowance which is equal
to one and half times, House Rent Allowance, Education, Leave Travel Allowance, and Annual
Bonus amongst others.( Sodexho Meal Vouchers, medical reimbursement )

Companies also provide Monetary Benefits, ( Insurance) and Medical Facilities to the workforce.

3.1.3 Safety

Health and safety risks may arise from physically dangerous work, such as work with
hazardous machinery or relate to less immediately visible factors such as exposure to pollution.

Accidents and ill health may ruin or seriously impair the lives of employees and their
dependents. An employer must encompass necessary safety measures for the trust from the
employee.

3.1.4 Career Development and job opportunities

Career Paths are constructed in order to determine the optimum movement and utilization
of people in the organisation. Therefore, due care should be given to various elements of the
position – including job analysis and the competency requirements at each stage.

3.1.5 Stress management and Recreation facilities

Working Hours and Holidays need to reflect an adequate balance of the quality of work
life of all employees. It is recognized that for certain categories of employees business related
work may transcend the routine office timings; whilst for other categories business may be

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purely confined to the work hours and timings. The quotation “all work and no play can make
jack a dull boy” is apt for the company to understand the importance of recreation facilities.

3.1.6 Collective problem solving

It is the duty of the HR to find ways of resolving issues between employees on one hand
and employees and Management on the other. As long as there are human beings at the work
place there would always be need for arbitration amongst them.

It is at this time that HR should use the "grape vine channel" to its advantage and call
officers to a round table for reconciliation and if it is between workers and Management should
ways of brokering peace. Although the trade unions are expected to only deal with matters
concerning workers, it can be argued that everything that happens within a company, including
product development and business strategies, affect workers one way or other and trade unions
have gradually sought to extend their areas of concerns. The management’s attempts to contest
such expansions on the ground of “management prerogative” have by and large not succeeded.

These activities involve a number of skills crucial to human resource managers. HR


specialists are also involved in issues which are considerably legislated and touch on home life
and health as well as more familiar workplace topics such as discipline and conflict.

3.1.7 Involvement and Engagement

Participation of employees has been a subject of discussion since the 1930s when Elton
Mayo’s experiments led to the development of the human relations school. Participation can be

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and has been provided in the structure of the organisations. Participative management involves
associating employees at every level in the decision making process. Participation may be at the
board level, collective bargaining, job enlargement, job enrichment, suggestion schemes, quality
circles, and empowered teams. Participative management is also called Employee involvement.

The Industrial Disputes Act provided for participation in the management of the shop
floor. Representatives of the workers would be appointed to various committees to decide upon
matters affecting the worker at the shop floor.

The rationale behind the concept of involving workers in bodies that decide on matters
concerning them is that the principle of democracy

The lesson is that the advantages from the practice of participation cannot be derived
from creating appropriate structures alone. The nature of the processes within the structures, are
important.

At the basic level, calling for suggestions is participation. In terms of Hertzberg’s


motivation-hygiene theory, participation in decision making is a powerful motivator, because in
that process, there is recognition and achievement, a sense of being wanted, of being important.

Employees may also reduce turnover and absences when they begin to feel that working
conditions are satisfactory and that they are becoming more successful in their jobs. They
identify themselves with the work and this leads to an improved performance.

3.1.8 Rewards and Recognition

The purpose of an employee recognition and reward program is to express the employer’s
appreciation for a job well done. Employee recognition and rewards can take many forms, from a
simple thank you note to cash to an extravagant awards ceremony, just to name a few.

Generally, recognition and rewards can be distinguished in two categories.

At all these companies, recognition is distinguished as a pat on the back or a word of


praise, growth prospects and competent supervision amongst others. Alternative monetary

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rewards include incentives, bonuses, and commissions. In addition, employees put a great value
on benefits such as life insurance, disability insurance, health and/or retirement benefits, and
perks.

Top performing companies have begun documenting "best practices" which show a
direct relationship between employee morale and productivity, profitability, turnover and
retention, thus measuring the value of human resources.

3.2 Upward relation (employee to employer)

3.2.1 Feedback

It is the job of the supervisor to guide the employee into understanding which of their
ideas for change will be helpful in meeting the company's goals. A good supervisor also guides
each of their employees differently because similar to Pokémon, each employee offers unique
talents and will evolve into different forms of advanced employees

3.2.2 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Most managers say they want to pay for performance, but few sit down and conduct a
performance review with an employee. Raises, Career paths, training plans, and departmental
productivity are impacted by an employee’s performance.

In addition, a well-designed, effectively implemented appraisal system can provide solid


documentation of performance accomplishments or problems that the supervisor can use to
justify or defend a wide range of personnel actions or decisions.

3.3 Horizontal Relation (amongst Employees)

3.3.1 Annual events and magazines

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Annual events are a way of getting to know the employee on a personal level. It is also a team
building exercise and is common in all companies

Inhouse magazines too are common. They tell the employee about the company and employee
participation is encouraged by articles.

3.3.2 Welfare activities

The objective of providing welfare facilities is to ensure that employee attention is not
diverted from work to maintenance activities. It also aims to provide a caring environment that
enhances the satisfaction of the employee with working conditions

4 ADVANTAGES OF MAINTAINING GOOD EMPLOYEE RELATIONS.

The Gallup Organization published research proved that a more engaged employee is also
a more productive employee. The research also proved, that a more engaged employee is also a
more profitable employee, a more customer-focused employee, a safer employee, and an

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employee who is more likely to withstand temptations to jump ship and in turn it is also true that
the longer employees stay with an organization, the less engaged they become.

Following are the advantages of maintaining good relations with the employees.

1. Reduced Absenteeism

One reason, outside of illness, that employees are absent is stress, and the number one
reason employees are stressed has to do with their relationship with their manager/supervisor.
Management styles that are too authoritarian tend to promote high levels of absenteeism among
employees also increase turnover, job burnout, and employee health problems such as backaches
and headaches. Employees may also reduce turnover and absences when they begin to feel that
working conditions are satisfactory and that they are becoming more successful in their jobs

Absenteeism rate at GPI is around 13-14 % on an average but a little high during summer
holidays. ( Does it include approved leaves?..why elaborate/justify..)

Absenteeism at TAJ is under control as per the norms.

The absenteeism rate at PARLE is 8 % and increases by 3 % reaching to 11 % during the


summer holidays.

In addition, these programs help reduce turnover thereby reducing your training,
recruiting, and administrative human resource expenses.

2. Improved Morale & Motivation.

The secret of creating a motivating employee review lies in the relationship between
accuracy and money( not a correct expression...expectations of the employee & the C&B)
The right combination provides with a highly motivated employee. Maintaining good Employee
Relations creates an environment of trust and increases morale. This improves the motivation of
the employee. A motivated employee is contagious and is beneficial for the growth of the
company

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3. Harmony in the organisation

Increase in the level of job satisfaction has a direct relation with the smooth workflow.
There will be lesser arguments and more discussions. Employees will be ready to share
information and help each other out.

A good relation with the employee also inculcates discipline. Thus harmony is
maintained.

4. Lesser attrition - reduced cost on training, less cost of retention

A reduced attrition rate will reduce the cost of training and induction. No new employees
will need to start afresh. The company can save on getting to know new employees.

GPI spends around Rs.5 Lakhs( isn’t it less?..) on training every year with the attrition
rate being less than 2 %.

For TAJ, There is a bloodbath in Mumbai today, with seven hotels cheek-by-jowl near
the airport. Retention of talent is the chief challenge. Staff is routinely poached by not just
industry competitors but also banks, call centers and others. On the upside, they are the biggest
and the most profitable chain and apparently enjoy an attrition rate which is lowest in the
industry. They are most in the news, too. They must be doing something right( What are they
doing?..)

At PARLE, it seems the employees are not interested in leaving at all. The attrition rate is
a minimal at 2-3% for staff, and between 1-2% for its workers.( Please re-check the figures!! It
can’t be!! Last one year it should be around 15%..which Parle location is this?..)

5. Attract good talent

Attracting the most qualified employees and matching them to the jobs for which they are
best suited is important for the success of any organization. A good company with good
Employee Relations will be talked about. There is a brand image created in the mind of the
employees which attracts them to the company like a drop of honey.

Like for example there are companies like TATA, HLL, Birlas, or Infosys where people
would be glad to work. TAJ wants to create an image where, if 10 employees are interviewed

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and 1 gets selected, then the rest should feel sorry, not for being unemployed (selected) but for
losing getting an wonderful opportunity to work for an interview with for TAJ

Knowledge about satisfying work places with comfortable working conditions and
friendly work culture and transparency in the organisation are always passed through the
grapevine and thus attract employees. Later it’s the job of the recruitment cell to hire employees
as per the requirements.

6. Responsible for increase in productivity.

As the saying goes, a happy worker is a productive worker. Thus a satisfied worker will
take lesser breaks, spend lesser time in the canteen gossiping and more time working for the
company. There will be Greater commitment which means quality output.

There will be loyalty and less wastage of company resources. The employee will seek for
opportunities for intensifying the business and look out for new chances of expanding the
company. They identify themselves with the work and this leads to an improved performance.
Finally, the act of participation in itself establishes better communication, as people mutually
discuss work problems.

7. Open to organizational / hierarchical changes (flexibility)

The workers’ self-esteem, job satisfaction, and cooperative with the management is
improved. The results often are reduced conflict and stress, more commitment to goals, and
better acceptance of a change.

8. Shared learning and Continuous improvement.

A satisfied employee will look for ways of continuous improvement. They will
participate in programs such as kaizen and try for the better of the company. Employees in a
good employee relation management will share their new learning’s and wisdom with his
colleagues.

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5. ROLE AND SCOPE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

The key process that defines the HR strategy is ensuring an effective and efficient
organisation through appropriate people-job-organisation fit

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Each and every HR plans thus focuses on:

• Productivity

• Performance

• Satisfaction, to further the business objectives of the organisation through the optimal
utilization of the human resources.

6. GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD. (ANDHERI)

Vision

“To be the best quality cigarette manufacturing in the country, producing at optimum cost
with total employee involvement and maintaining clean and safe environment inside and outside
the factory premises.”

INTRODUCTION

GPI, the second largest player in the Indian cigarette industry with an annual turnover of
over US$ 265 million is a joint venture between Modi group and global cigarette major Phillip
Morris.

Some of the leading brands in GPI’s portfolio are Jaisalmer, Cavenders, Four Square,
Red & White and Originals. The company has a value market share of 11.4% and a volume share
of 12.4% in the cigarette industry in 2004-2005. Godfrey Phillips has the strong backing of over
15,000 shareholders in the Country.

The manufacturing of cigarettes is done in the Andheri factory in Mumbai and in Guldhar
(Ghaziabad) called the ITC factory (International Tobacco Company). These constitute the
manufacturing operations of the CIGARETTE DIVISION in the company.

Core values

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Core Values are those values, which are enduring tenets of the organisation and are
timeless guiding principles. Core values help the organisation to achieve its vision.

Core values are those values, which are not compromised, even though they become a
competitive disadvantage under certain situations. The Andheri Factory, has articulated the
following Core Values.

• Provide Environment For Development

• Urge to change for Improvement

• Focus on Quality.

The Andheri Management Team with its commitment to achieve excellence in Quality shall
ensure compliance to this policy and economic competitiveness in the implementation.

Nothing represents the true spirit of Godfrey Phillips more aptly than the many initiatives
it has taken to be a socially responsible corporate citizen. The commitment has always been to
enrich and energize the community within which it operates.

• Red and White Bravery Awards

Started in 1990-91, the purpose of these awards is to instill in people the culture of selfless
action. The awards bring into limelight extraordinary, yet little known acts of bravery and social
acts of courage by the common man.

• Farmer Program

Godfrey Phillips helped create awareness amongst the farming community about the benefits of
adopting approved agricultural practices. It imparts training and knowledge to farmers in tobacco
producing areas

• AIDS Prevention Program

GPI’s participates in AIDS Prevention Programme, rehabilitation of the Gujarat Earthquake


victims and Blood donation camps. However, since charity starts at home, they insist upon and
ensure safe environmental practices within our factories and offices

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Realizing the importance of human factor in producing good quantity and quality, GPI
signed an agreement with Japan Tobacco Company (an acknowledged world leader in the
management of people and machines) for the improvement of its Andheri factory.

The Andheri plant went 100% filter manufacturing in 1991. The modernization of the primary
line at a cost of RS.11 Crore's was done in 1990-91.

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

GPI believes in a flexible, business-oriented organisation structure. It follows a flat


organisation structure with decentralized management. There are around 5 levels in the
organisation structure making it a decently flat structure comprising of 407 employees
comprising of 69 staff members, 289 workers and 47 managers. ( Hey give an organization
structure as an annexure)

The organizational business is built around a structure that comprises various jobs carried out by
individual in the organisation

Role and scope of HR at GPI

Mission To facilitate the processes which create an environment where each member of GPI
family is able to contribute their best.

Aim: To be amongst top 10 employers in India.

• All HR processes are linked to Core Competency Model which was launched for GPI,
2003.

• Assessment Centers are launched for promoting staff into management cadre.

• HRIS (Human Resource Information System) launched to empower employees of


Godfrey Phillips.

• Six-Sigma project is undertaken to create a robust performance management system.

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• Annual training calendar is introduced which is based on the GPI competency model.

• Internal Recruitment is encouraged to fill vacant positions.

• Each management staff is entitled to training and development intervention of at least 8


days.

• 360-degree feedback is initiated.

• Variable income plan was launched in 2004 to attract the organization to raise their
performance bar.

GPI believes in Total Employee Involvement. This is done through small group activity
including all employees in teams, whereby identified problems are resolved and presented to
management. The HR department is the central point which initiates, monitors and follows up on
the processes. It coordinates the task force activities of the factory. There are at present 11 task
forces in the factory

There is a micro site that has been created called ELIVE to generate the awareness
among the employees about the concept and its benefits. Each manager should therefore evolve
his or her people strategy aligned to the business strategy of the organisation

DOWNWARD RELATION

TRAINING AND INDUCTION

An employee at GPI is placed on the job after induction. The basic induction training is a
seven-day program; additional training is imparted as required. Technical personnel are given
induction training in various technical departments for one month before being placed on their
actual jobs.

GPI at its HO follows a mentoring program for the employees. It will be implemented at the
Andheri factory from July 2005. Training for the same will be conducted by the HO. Mentoring
at GPI was launched on the 5th September, 2004 which is celebrated as the International
Mentoring Day world wide.

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GPI believes that the best investment that it can make towards its people is in increasing
their knowledge, skills etc. This can be done by periodically identifying the training needs,
imparting training and measuring the effectiveness of the training programs thereby assessing
how effective the training programs are and their contribution to the bottom line of the business.
GPI places a great emphasis on training

Training and Development systems focus on aspects such as continuous learning, on-the-
job learning, easy access to training programs, self-managed programs. Training is controlled
and monitored through a budget of around Rs. 5 Lakhs

A Training Directory is created by each unit. The Directory identifies both training needs
as well as training delivery in respect of all employees. The training programs include both job
related technical training as well as behavioral training. Training needs of employees are decided
once in a year.

The factory manager identifies training needs of HOD’s. In line with the Training
Activities in the Factory, Quality System Procedures of Personnel Department are documented,
scope of which includes Training Need Identification, Training Plan, Training Calendar,
Training Evaluation and Training Records.

GPI provides the following BENEFITS:

• Canteen Facility - The Company has a subsidized canteen for its employees, which provides
food at highly subsidized rates in all shifts. The employees working in the night shift get
refreshments. Everyday in the morning, the food is tasted by the responsible person from the
Personnel Department and accordingly the taste is approved or is changed if necessary. Every
week, the menu is approved by the Personnel Department. Lunch is made available at 50
paisa, refreshments for 20 paisa and tea for 10 p

• Uniform - The Company provides free uniforms to certain categories of employees once in
every year around the month of Feb-March. The washing of the uniforms is taken care by the
company itself once a week. Winter and monsoon wear is also provided to selected
employees.

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• Housing facility – is provided to the security guards and workers at key position. They are
highly subsidized accommodation at a pay of Rs. 7.50 per month.

• Holiday Home Scheme - Each individual management staff is entitled to a stay up to one
week at any of the properties available during the course of a calendar year

• Marriage Gift Scheme - The Company provides a gift to all its managers on the occasion of
the wedding of the employees as well as their children. On all such occasions the employees
shall have the option to purchase a gift of their choice at a value not exceeding an amount of
Rs.5000/- per wedding

Monetary benefits GPI employees can avail Retirement Services/benefits

GPI has a credit society which provides the following benefits. It was established in 1953 and
membership is open to all employees working in the various establishments of GPI. It is
registered under the Societies Registration Act. Its meetings are held once a month. It offers 2
savings schemes to its members

• Cumulative Deposit Scheme

• Monthly Contributory Deposit Scheme.

A member can also avail of loan schemes immediately on acquiring membership in the
credit society.

• Short term loans - for a period of 1 year, monthly installments, which are deducted from the
member's salary

• Long term loans: for a period of 5 years and is recovered through 60 monthly installments
deducted from the salary.

MEDICAL FACILITY.

In GPI, there are two panels of doctors. The company has 50 trained first-aiders which are
required if any accident takes place. Every department has a first aid kit which is replenished and

27
audited every month. The Personnel Department includes a Nurse and an Ambulance room who
maintains a medical kit as well. The company carries out medical examination of all the
employees once in every three years.

SAFETY

GPI believes that companies are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of the
employees. Every employee follows operating procedures and practices are designed to protect
people and equipment from risk of injury or damage to property.

GPI has a Safety Department which aims “To create at all levels in the organisation a
Safety Consciousness and to develop and maintain safety at work place.”

HR department has to see to it that an acceptable safety standard is kept in the workplace-
safety gears are provided, Fire extinguishers are placed at the right places, multiple entrances and
exits are provided and possible fire/safety drills are conducted once in a while. The safety squad
conducts a safety drill in the first week of March on safety day and once in two months.

GPI also pursues ERP which is run by the emergency squad. The EMERGENCY
RESPONSE PLAN is responsible to deal with various types of emergencies that could occur at
the facility with the response organization structure being deployed in the shortest time possible
during an emergency.

Thus when an emergency occurs, the initial indication is by raising the alarm by the
person who first notices a problem. The respective Managers is immediately notified who then
assesses the severity of the condition, classifies it appropriately and directs the response actions
of the facility personnel to mitigate the condition. Upon analyzing the emergency situation, if
situation is beyond his control he informs the Security Main Gate who activates the ERP.

GPI also has a Medical Attendant (Nurse) who during an emergency is to provide first-
aid to victims of the accident, and to ensure their prompt transportation to a treatment installation
such as a hospital, when required the Medical Function is responsible for the establishment of a
first-aid station for the immediate treatment of possible victims, which shall be appropriately
equipped with medical supplies, oxygen, resuscitators, and other supplies and the emergency
response personnel are familiar with first aid administration

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There hasn’t been a case of sexual harassment or drug abuse. GPI is short of a policy
against it, but any individual found guilty will not be allowed on the premises and will be
dismissed if it continues.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The emphasis at GPI will be to focus on career paths rather than on career per se. GPI
focuses on generic career paths as well as specific career paths for identified individual. There
are 8 basic Job Bands. All grades are structured around these levels. Jobs are placed in
appropriate bands, corresponding to the responsibility levels.

Job bands are used for specific HR action such as promotions, career development etc.
GPI recognizes that in a dynamic, fast-changing environment jobs will also be flexible

Job Rotation Programs (JRP) can not only reduce turnover but they also increase
learning, and provide added bench strength. At GPI, the technicians are rotated in the whole
department. This helps the technicians become Almighty operators. Knowing a variety of jobs
improves the worker’s self-image, provides personal growth and makes the worker more
valuable to the organization. It also helps them become a trainer and fill the vacant places if
some employee turns out absent. Job rotation is a way to overcome boredom and monotony.

Periodic job changing can also improve interdepartmental co-operation, employees


become more understanding of each other’s problems.

Job enrichment too is used at GPI. It seeks to improve both task efficiency and human
satisfaction by building into people’s jobs, quite specifically, greater scope for personal
achievement and recognition, more challenging and responsible work, and more opportunity for
individual advancement and growth. Operators become Technicians who then become
supervisors who in turn become managers

RECREATION AND STRESS

The employees at GPI work for 8 hours with a lunch break for half an hour.

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The leaves allotted are different for workers and different for staff.

For Workers:

Workers receive Annual leave of 21 days, Casual leave of 14 days & Sick leave of 21 days.

FOR STAFF:

The staff members are entitled to get Annual leave of 30 days, Casual leave of 14 days & Sick
leave of 20 days.

GPI proudly holds interdepartmental cricket matches annually. Steps are taken by each
department to send their best players and employee participation is encouraged to the fullest

Various stress management programs are held by external faculty for the welfare of the
employees

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

The trade union at GPI is KAMGAR UTKARSH SABHA is registered under


commissioner of labor and recognized under All India Trade Union Congress. Employee
Relations as an activity extends through negotiation and bargaining, discipline and employee
involvement. When GPI is concerned, there hasn’t been a strike ever. All are part of this union
for the past 15 years.

The procedure for grievance solving at GPI is followed as per hierarchy, the employee
goes to the department head and the grievance is presented. If the department head is not in the
condition to solve the grievance, the personnel department is informed. If the employee is still
not satisfied, the grievance is then forwarded to the FM.

INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT

GPI follows the technique of Quality Circle, originating from Japan and introduced in
many establishments in India. In this, employees voluntarily become members of quality circles,
which study various situations and problems at the work place, suggest and implement solutions.

30
There is thus much involvement of the worker, in what happens at his work place. The
participation is not of representatives. All of them could get involved.

GPI follows a Suggestions scheme called Kaizen Teian. Employee can give suggestion in
the field of Operation, Safety, Quality, Workplace Environment, Waste Elimination ,5 ‘S’,
Energy Saving ,Cost Saving. There are department committees consisting of Dept Head, Dept
Level Managers and Supervisors, who motivate employees and evaluate the suggestions and
reward the employees. The factory committee meets once in a fortnight. It is involved in
planning and implementing for increasing the participation and number of suggestions of the
employees. It also reviews the reward at regular intervals.

GPI (as per rules of KT) has star, super star and pole star. Star is felicitated with a silver
medal of approximately Rs.225. Super star is awarded with 30 Gms of silver medal of
approximately Rs.450. The pole star who must have 3 implemented Kaizens per month for 6
continuous months is awarded with Sodexho coupons worth Rs.350.

At GPI, mostly the department heads go at the employee’s workplace and congratulate
them and gift them their reward. Best suggestion of the month and kaizenee of the month are
recognised by displaying their photo at the canteen and at main gate entrance. And also gets a
free lunch with family in a restaurant.

The company has a tradition of felicitating those employees who have completed 20
years of service with the company by offering them a gift and a certificate.

UPWARD COMMUNICATION

FEEDBACK

GPI has started taking an EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY annually from the
last two years. It is conducted, monitored and evaluated by the HR department.

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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

At GPI, managers have an online Performance Appraisal. For the staff, an informal
procedure is followed, the employees are monitored regularly by their immediate boss and
regular feedback is given to the employees as and when required. This forms the basis for
identification of training needs with respect to HOD's and management staff. ( what kind of
system of PA is followed?..)

HORIZONTAL RELATION

ANNUAL EVENTS

GPI holds the following:

• Picnics – GPI has a four squares club which carries out picnics and other excursions for the
staff to nearby places like Khopoli and Virar.

• Dassehra Puja - The workers organize Dassehra Puja every year with the aid of contributions
collected from the employees of the company. Every department celebrates this auspicious
day by carrying out pujas in their respective departments. The company distributes sweets to
all the employees.

• House Magazine - GPI publishes a quarterly house magazine known as ‘SAMVAD’;


highlighting the various events at GPI. It was started in the year 1986.This helps to
encourage people for active participation in writing pros, poems, drawings. The magazine
also gives information about the Kaizens given by the employees and the Kaizenee. The
promotional activities, suggestions regarding Safety, Pollution Control are also included in
the house magazine. The achievements of the employees and their family members are
published in the magazine

WELFARE ACTIVITIES

GPI gives the welfare facilities as mentioned in THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948. Various
incentives, cash benefits, rewards for good performance etc. are offered at GPI as a part of the

32
commitment towards the well being of employees. In addition to these, the company has initiated
several other programmes to achieve the goal of employee welfare.

The Godfrey Phillips Employees' Welfare Society: It was constituted and registered
under the Mumbai Trusts' Act, 1950 in 1971. The membership of the society is open to the
employees of GPI. A few of the programmes organized by the society are listed below:

• Annual Prize Distribution:

This programme is organized every year. The employees’ children who excel in
academics are awarded so as to encourage them to perform better.

In addition to the prizes, each awarded also gets a Textbook Gift Coupon.

• Note Book Distribution:

Every year, before the beginning of the academic session the employees of GPI are given
notebooks at concessional rates. Each employee can purchase a maximum of 4 dozen-note books
from the welfare society.

• S.S.C. Vyakhyanamala:

An expert hired by the society gives the children of employees appearing for the S.S.C.
exhaustive guidance in all the aspects of these exams. If the number is inadequate, the society
sends them to counseling agencies at its own expense.

• Career Counseling:

Children of employees in the 9th and 10th standards and Jr. College are given guidance
as to which career they should choose based on the results of a 5 hour test administered to them
by the Maharashtra Vyavsaya Margdarshan Kendra.

The society has several other activities in the pipeline such as a talk on the Union Budget,
a rangoli competition, establishment of Adarsh Kamgar Puraskar, a pulse polio vaccination
scheme etc.

7. INTRODUCTION TO PARLE

VISION

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“With the unfolding of the InfoTech age, and the emergence of a borderless world, we
have a quest to become the most admired group to all our stakeholders, alike customers,
employees, contract manufacturers, wholesalers, C&F agents, suppliers and society. Our
customer being the king we will try to exceed their expectations by pursuing world class
standards in our people, products, process & performance encouraging innovation & nurturing
intellectual capital. We will follow ethical & fair business practices maintaining respect for all
the fellow human beings.”

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Mohanlal Dalal came to Mumbai in the 1880’s from pardi village. He did some
work here and there to earn his living. Soon PARLE biscuits were formed in a 60 ft long and 40
ft wide tin shed with an initial investment of 1,50,000 with the help of 12 men.

In the year 1929 the market was dominated by famous international brands that were
imported freely. Despite the odds and unequal competition, this company called PARLE
Products, survived and succeeded, by adhering to high quality and improvising from time to
time.

Over the years, PARLE has grown to become a multi-million US Dollar company. Many
of the PARLE products - biscuits or confectionaries, are market leaders in their category and
have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971.

Today, PARLE enjoys a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share of the
total confectionary market, in India.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

PARLE on the other hand has an organisation structure of 7-8 levels. Starting with the
Factory Manager and then the Deputy Manager, but it is more on paper than for operational
purpose.

It has a total of 742 workers, 30 staff members and 150 managers and officers.

Role and scope of HR at PARLE

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The HR mission at PARLE is to develop the employee behaviour, identify their training
needs and help them grow in the future.

They don’t have a HR Department per se, but the personnel department handles the
functions of the HR. Their Personnel department handles 742 workers, 30 staff members and 150
managers and officers.

Though no special steps are taken to increase employee involvement at PARLE, they
have had no disputes and work goes on smoothly because of the team spirit in the e employees.
The Personnel department handles all the activities amongst the employees and believes that no
disputes and smooth flow of work is a live testimony of credibility to HR department.

DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION

TRAINING AND INDUCTION

At PARLE, the nature of recruitment is purely internal. Thus training needs may be more
as compared to hiring trained individuals. Here, the department Heads identify the training needs
as and when required. These training needs are then sent to the Personnel department. The
Personnel department checks its external brochures and the training is conducted

There is internal training for the workers for KAIZEN, 5S, and other Japanese systems
which are recently implemented by the company.

External training is not given for workers unless critical or really required. The staff and
the managers are given external training for behaviour and management. There is follow-up done
after the training with the help of feedback forms. These feedbacks are submitted to the
Personnel department who looks after them and implements the changes if possible. There is
religious feedback taken after training and the form is evaluated by the Personnel department.

PARLE doesn’t have an induction program for its workers in place. Workers are
recruited and put on job, whereas the managers and staff have to go through a 15 day induction
program. The employees learn about the functioning of each department.

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PARLE has the following BENEFITS

• Apart from the regular allowances, PARLE provides Production Incentive and festival
allowance.

• Canteen facility - It too has subsidized food for all its employees. Lunch is for Rs. 2 and
tea and refreshments are served at 20p. The canteen is run by contractors.

• Housing facility - PARLE doesn’t provide housing facilities to its employees but a few
important ones like the technicians and engineers stay on the compound of the factory.

• Uniforms – Like in GPI, the workers wear uniforms, some also receive monsoon wear
and winter wear. The uniforms are washed on a weekly basis on contract.

PARLE also gives various MONETARY BENEFITS. It has an ECS (employee credit society)
which offers loans short term and long term loans like GPI.

MEDICAL BENEFITS

There are 2 in-house doctors who conduct free medical check ups on half yearly basis at
PARLE. There is a well equipped ambulance room with 3 full time nurses. Employees at
PARLE also receive reimbursement of medical expenses. Compensation is also given on death
of the employee

SAFTEY

PARLE endeavors to adequately train all employees, suitably equip them and instruct
them to perform their duties in a safe and effective way. PARLE trains all its employees against
safety and first aid and Fire fighting. Apart from this there is a Guard for all the machines who
prevents the accident from occurring.

PARLE is a non tobacco zone. Thus there is no smoking allowed in the premises or the
working area. They are also strict about alcohol or drugs. Though there is no policy, but an

36
employee is not allowed to enter the gates if he is drunk or is caught with drugs. There has never
been a case of sexual harassment either.

PARLE also conducts safety day competitions on safety week during March. Colourful
posters and illustrations of the harms of not wearing a helmet and other such warnings are pinned
on the entire lobby and the passage area all over PARLE.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

PARLE doesn’t follow Job rotation, thus an employee does gains specialization. PARLE
believes Moving from one job to another also gets irritating because the normal routine of an
employee is disturbed and also time is wasted in adjusting to the new job.

PARLE too believes that enriched job will have more responsibility and autonomy
(vertical enrichment), more variety of tasks (horizontal enrichment), and more growth
opportunities. Thus after receiving considerable knowledge at packing, a worker is soon
promoted to charge-hand.

RECREATION AND STRESS

Employees at PARLE receive an annual leave of 16 days, sick leave of 10 days and CL
of 7 days. The management decides the paid holidays after discussion with the Union and the list
of holidays is posted on the notice board. In all, there are 14 paid holidays. Although there have
been talks about health clubs and gyms. Employees at PARLE receive an annual leave of 16
days, sick leave of 10 days and CL of 7 days. And refreshment breaks of 15 minutes at PARLE.

They are sanctified with a play ground. They have regular tournaments of volley ball,
cricket and tennis. Employees also have the facility to play carromen, table tennis in their rest
rooms. There is an annual sports day held by the ECS where employees are encouraged to
participate.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

37
The trade union at GPI & PARLE is the same; KAMGAR UTKARSHA SABHA. There
has been a strike at PARLE due to conflict of interest which lasted for 40 days, in the year 2000.

The procedure for grievance solving at PARLE goes as per hierarchy too, first the
employee goes to the department head and the grievance is presented. If the department head is
not in the condition to solve the grievance, the personnel department is informed. If the
employee is still not satisfied, the grievance is then forwarded to the FM. The grievance is
further sent for conciliation. ( If you can…study the documents of negotiations between the
two & analyse how the final draft was arrived at …)

INVOLVEMEMNT AND ENGAGEMENT

PARLE has a suggestion box which comes under the plant services manager. These
suggestions are received on a weekly basis. PARLE like GPI follows the technique of Quality
Circle, originating from Japan and introduced in many establishments in India. In this,
employees voluntarily become members of quality circles, which study various situations and
problems at the work place, suggest and implement solutions. There is thus much involvement of
the worker, in what happens at his work place.

PARLE has also implemented KAIZEN recently. Here, employees are expected to
submit at least 6 suggestions per month. If the suggestion is creative and implemented, the
employee earns 2 points. These 2 points entitle him to a gift. There is a considerable rise in the
self-esteem. This helps in terms of interpersonal relationships which directly affect Employee
Relations.

Finally, the act of participation in itself establishes better communication, as people


mutually discuss work problems. Rewards at PARLE are as per KAIZEN. No other rewards or
gifts are given to the workers for making suggestions.

There is a Best worker of the month who is called as the PARLE – G anmol. His picture
is displayed on the notice board and he receives a small gift too. The bottom line is to increase
employee productivity which contributes to making a company more profitable.

UPWARD RELATION

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FEEDBACK

PARLE doesn’t follow job satisfaction survey or any other kind of feedback for its
workers or staff

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

PARLE doesn’t hold any performance appraisals for its workers, though the management
and staff follows a 90 degree performance appraisals system.

HORIZONTAL RELATION

ANNUAL EVENTS

PARLE holds the following functions for the employees

• PARLE does not hold picnics for its employees.

• PARLE has a Sports day arranged by the ECS annually. It has activities like football and
volley ball and cricket.

• PARLE too has an in-house magazine called the PARLE PARIVAR. Like GPI, it has
information on the employees. It is a form of suggestion box wherein the employees write
about their grievances and suggestions.

WELFARE ACTIVITIES

PARLE conducts the following welfare activities.

• At PARLE, One special initiative that takes place is that all the employees are wished on
their birthday and receive a birthday card personally signed by the factory manager.

• PARLE provides biscuits worth of Rs. 30 to the employees every month.

• PARLE has a crèche facility for the employees complying to the law as there are more
than 30 women workers ordinarily employed

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• Jagruti group has 12 members and is formed for a month to make employees aware of
health, hygiene and safety.

8. INTRODUCTION TO TAJ LANDS END (BANDRA)

Vision

“To lead and become an international benchmark in the hospitality industry in India and
key regions of the world. To dazzle and delight the customer with the best quality of hotel
products, F&B experience and above all exceptional service standards.”

The TATA group is India’s best known conglomerate in the private sector with long
known for its adherence to business ethics. As much an institution as it is a business
conglomerate, the Tata Group is unique in more ways than one. Established by Jamsetji Tata in
the second half of the 19th century, the Group has grown into one of India's biggest and most
respected business organisations.

TAJ hotels, resorts and palaces are today recognised as India’s largest and finest global
hotel chains. Incorporated by the founder of the Tata group, Mr. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the
company opened its first hotel, The TAJ MAHAL hotel, in 1903 and has been making new
benchmarks ever since.

The TAJ, a symbol of Indian hospitality, has won international acclaims for its quality
hotels and its excellence in business facilities, services, using and interiors.

Barely a year after its acquisition TAJ LANDS END, Mumbai has been unanimously voted as
the Best Business Hotel in Asia from India for the year 2003.

Core Values

TAJ follows the 5 core values which are followed worldwide by the TATA group. The
Tata Group has always sought to be a value-driven organisation. These values continue to direct

40
the Group's growth and businesses. The five core Tata values underpinning the way they do
business are:

• Integrity: We must conduct our business fairly, with honesty and transparency. Everything
we do must stand the test of public scrutiny.

• Understanding: We must be caring, show respect, compassion and humanity for our
colleagues and customers around the world, and always work for the benefit of India.

• Excellence: We must constantly strive to achieve the highest possible standards in our day-
to-day work and in the quality of the goods and services we provide.

• Unity: We must work cohesively with our colleagues across the Group and with our
customers and partners around the world, building strong relationships based on tolerance,
understanding and mutual cooperation.

• Responsibility: We must continue to be responsible, sensitive to the countries, communities


and environments in which we work, always ensuring that what comes from the people goes
back to the people many times over.

The key theme of corporate social responsibility at TAJ is to build livelihoods with a
clear focus on women, craftsmen and artisans and education of children. Employees of all hotels
and the corporate office contribute and actively participate in numerous on-going projects and
events. The core competencies of the hospitality business have been utilised to make these
themes truly relevant and meaningful. The Tata Group's relationship with its employees has
changed from the patriarchal to the practical, but this is a bond that continues to be nourished
with compassion and care

As any 'Tata person' will tell you, there's something positively distinctive, something less
than completely explainable, about working for the group — the experience is cast in a hue quite
different from the ordinary. This view continues to hold despite the changes that have altered the
way the Tata's interact with their people, moving from the paternalistic philosophy of yore to
bring the group in line with ever-evolving human-resource methodologies.

41
The Tata’s pioneered a slew of employee benefits that would later be mandated through
legislation in India and elsewhere in the world. The eight-hour working day, free medical aid,
welfare departments, grievance cells, leave with pay, provident fund, accident compensation,
training institutes, maternity benefits, bonus and gratuity — all of these and more were
introduced by the group before any legal rules were framed on them. To give but one example of
how far ahead of the times the Tata’s were, while it’s first provident fund scheme was started in
1920, the government regulation on this issue came into force in 1952.

Employee perception also plays an important role. After all, they make the experience
happen. Says Zeller: "At the TAJ it is regular to see seniors guiding the younger employees; it is
a part of our culture. It is this kind of commitment and loyalty of its people that makes the TAJ
so unique and special." The employees are also put through rigorous training sessions to cope
with the changing times, and this is a continuous activity.

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

TAJ being in the hospitality sector has a very rigid structure comprising of more than 20
levels. It follows a centralized management with everyone reporting to their department heads
and follows a strong hierarchy. TAJ has a total of 967 employees filling up the 20 levels.

Role and scope of HR at TAJ

The HR mission at TAJ is “To see all the employees enjoy working and to design a
proper career growth structure for all the employees”

The HR office at TAJ is transparent and open for the employees whenever they have a
grievance. HR is a strategic business asset. The employee is the HR department’s customer. And
TAJ links employee’s satisfaction to customer’s satisfaction.

The hospitality industry, as any other service industry, is all about people. Customer
orientation is the driver of our system. The direct link to the consumer is the employee. Thus

42
communication with the employee becomes important. So the focus is not only on the right
people, but also on the right attitude, the right attitude is far more important than just skills.

Functions of TAJ LANDS END are monitored by the Corporate office. Any hindrance or
setback is pointed and effective steps are taken.

TAJ believes that the HR department plays a very important role in functioning of the
hotel. It plays a crucial element in issues such as personality development, competency mapping
of the employee. We know that the employee is a direct link between the guest and the
management. Thus it becomes like a chain to keep the employee satisfied to see that the guest is
satisfied.

DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION

TRAINING AND INDUCTION

TAJ doesn’t have a training calendar. The average educational level of all the employees
is HSC and Diploma in Hotel management. So there isn’t much training required. But training is
imparted to the employees as and when required. Grooming and internal training pertaining to
the department is given to the employee. For instance, voice modulation training is given to the
telephones department and the reservation department. The managers and HOD’s also receive
behavioral training like stress management.

The training programmes across the group aspire to inculcate a work ethos that is global,
professional and warm. Their leadership programmes and other corporate training progammes
undertake potential assessment and training. At centers of excellence, heads of departments are
trained so they can go forth and train their staff. There are foundation modules and accreditation
programmes that an employee is put through to attain the TAJ standards. It is called the Art of
Hospitality training which takes place in the first year of joining. All employees have to
compulsorily go through this training to learn about the culture and values of TAJ. The
management training programmes conducted by dedicated group institutions are devised to help
employees give expression to their talent.

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Like most hotels, TAJ also has Cross exposure training, here some selected employees
are required to work at various properties of TAJ to gain knowledge and learn different practices.
It happens annually for 2-3 months.

BENEFITS

TAJ supplies the following benefits.

• Canteen facility - Employees at TAJ also receive subsidized food at Rs. 250 for the month.
Rs. 250 is monthly deducted from the pay-check. It includes buffet lunch with breakfast and
refreshments. Food is prepared at TAJ by their hired employees. The menu changes every
month and is approved by the HR department.

• There is a Co operative store which provides ration at lower rates.

• Uniforms – mostly all employees from the chef to the managers have their personal
uniforms. Washing and ironing is done on alternate days for the employees.

• Transport – all employees can avail the transport bus of TAJ. It has specific schedules as per
the shifts but employees are charged a minimal amount for it.

MONETARY BENEFITS

TAJ also has a credit society in the HARMONY group. It is like a small in-house bank,
there are short term and long term schemes for bank. There are various loan facilities for the
employees at reduced rates.

MEDICAL BENEFITS

TAJ has an in-house doctor who is present in normal working hours. The doctor is also
available on call during crisis. The security department has a well equipped ambulance room in
case of emergencies. Employees here receive medical reimbursements and though not now, but
there are plans of insuring them against any accident on the premises of TAJ.

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SAFETY

Regular first aid and safety training is given to the employees of TAJ. TAJ has smoke
detectors and fire alarms on every floor. They have a well equipped safety department. Apart
from this, there is a first aid box and a fire extinguisher in each department. The security
manager handles the safety department.

In case of an emergency, the security department handles and co ordinates the situation.

At TAJ, there hasn’t been a case for sexual harassment or any drug or alcohol abuse. But
a severe offence like this would get the employee terminated. TAJ is very strict regarding the
safety of its employees. TAJ has several emergency exits for the guests and employees located
strategically on every floor.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Job rotation implies movement of employees from one job to another. With job rotation, a given
employee performs different jobs, but more or less of the same nature. TAJ follows this. TAJ
believes that it gives the employee a sense of confidence and encouragement. When an activity is
no longer challenging, the employee would be rotated to another job at the same level that has
similar skill requirements.

RECREATION AND STRESS

TAJ grants a total of 30 leaves. TAJ also has multi-functional Gym and health club open
for the employees. Employees have to pay a minimal amount to avail the facility of the gym.

At TAJ, there is a staggering break structure. The lunch time is 12 - 14-30. Employees
can visit the canteen anytime but since the reception and telephones have to hurry back to office
and send other people of the department, most of the employees stay back only for 15-20
minutes. There is a facility of tea and coffee making in every department for refreshments.

TAJ also has annual events for the employees. TAJ not only does events annually like
cricket tournaments but has events and team building exercises as a part of monthly schedule.
There are guests and VIP’s who constantly keep visiting, so functions become a routine. There

45
are loads of events held on Valentines Day or Holi which turn out to be a stress buster for the
employees.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

There is no trade union at TAJ. At TAJ, there is a grievance box where employees can
drop their grievances. This grievance box is handled by Mr. Jamal. Minor grievances that can be
solved in the department call for unit meetings. Here the employee informs everyone that they
need to discuss some issue and a meeting is held in the department itself.

TAJ also has regular town hall meetings, which are held quarterly for the employees.
Here employees can place their problems and grievances in front of the forum and solutions are
sought.

INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGAEMENT

The TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS has just won the prestigious Hermes Award 2002 in the
human resources category, and the prize is for the 'special thanks and recognition system'
(STARS), a programme so innovative and successful that it has been patented. It aims to
recognize and reward excellence in the services provided to guests.

The STARS is a reward system for doing something good. The programme allows
employees to win points (at the recommendation of a colleague or a guest). This gives them
access to different levels of standing that go hand-in-hand with specific rewards. In addition,
employees are strongly encouraged to make suggestions and recommend innovations that may be
applied to the group as a whole.

Regardless of the structural mechanisms, managers find it worthwhile to bring their


subordinates into the decision making process. The benefits are seen to arise from the fact that
there is knowledge and thinking ability at lower levels, which can make useful inputs into the
process. At TAJ, to ensure participation from employees, proper information is distributed to all.
Employees know it as a norm that their participation is respected and the participation makes
them aware of the rationale behind the decision, as well the details of what the decision is aimed
to achieve, so that doubts during implementation are resolved with much less confusion.

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Rewards at TAJ are given as per STARS. Accumulation of points enables an employee to
pin a star on his lapel. Still more points gets him into exclusive clubs that can fetch him gift
vouchers, cash prizes and holidays in a TAJ hotel of his choice.

Best employee of the month is displayed at the entrance lobby. Employees who have
achieved something in their personal life like winning a tennis championship also get the
opportunity to get their picture taken with the general manager and this picture is published in
their house magazine.

UPWARD RELATION

FEEDBACK

TAJ is the first company in the Tata Group to undertake the HR ‘balanced scorecard’,
which links individual performance with company strategy. In addition, the ‘employee
satisfaction tracking system’ tackles an employee’s problem areas and levels of gratification on a
quarterly basis.

TAJ too follows an employee satisfaction survey on a yearly basis. They have an external
group (Gallup) that surveys and results are presented to the HR department and to the General
and Resident manager. They also have a grievance box that is handled by directly by Mr. Jamal
(the General Manager)

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Performance appraisals are conducted religiously at TAJ. Managing performance


effectively involves clearly communicating expectations to employees. Once expectations have
been set, one must let them know how they are doing and guide them toward ways they can
improve their performance. It also involves making yourself accessible and open to receiving
feedback from employees.( Process..?...)

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HORIZONTAL RELATION

ANNUAL EVENTS

TAJ holds the following functions for the employees.

• It too has regular annual picnics

• Since it’s a hospitality industry and they can’t afford to have a TAJ party with all the
departments, there are departmental parties on quarterly basis or as and when time
permits. All employees are involved in departmental parties along with the HOD’s

• TAJ has its regular monthly magazine which informs of the upcoming events. It has
articles by the employees and their unusual learning at a training program. The last page
gas a column called “know your employees” which informs every one of top managers
and their policies for improvement.

• TAJ has an annual party. It is more like TAJ’s birthday with balloons and games for the
employees.

WELFARE

At TAJ, there is a HARMONY program for employee welfare. A representative of the


HR department is always present in the meetings held by HARMONY. It was started in June
2003 by Mr. Raut. HARMONY has 5 committees namely

• CAFÉ – looks after issues regarding canteen and lunch and refreshments.

• COMMUNITY – looks for issues regarding helping the poor and the needy. They have
regular visits to the unprivileged areas to teach and educate them

• ENTERTAINMENT – this committee looks after the feasts and festivals arranged by the
hotel.

• SPORTS – the annual sports day and regular sports events like volley ball, cricket are
arranged by the sports committee.

• CREDIT – the credit committee looks after the schemes and loans made available by
TAJ.

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TAJ also has other schemes for its employees such as

• Discounts on cakes – employees at TAJ receive 25-50% off on cakes and other products
of TAJ.

• TAJ employees acquire special discounts on Party halls and Banquets for their functions
and gathering

• TAJ has various corporates like AIRTEL and some banks which provide TAJ employees
with special offers and discounts.

• TAJ employees also get passes or entry coupons for the functions held by TAJ.

A COMPARITIVE STUDY

49
Parameters/compa GPI PARLE TAJ
ny

ORGANISATION Flat Flat Tall


STRUCTURE

NO. OF 289 workers 742 workers 967


WORKERS 69 staff 30 staff
47 managers 150 managers

INDUCTION 7 days & compulsory 15 days only for 14 days &


for all managers and staff. compulsory for all

TRAINING • Systematic and • Annual  Done as need


annual. occurs.
• For mangers, staff  Managers only
• Managers and
& workers. workers  Behavioural
• Technical and • Technical for  Cross department
behavioural workers, behavioural trg.
• Internal and for managers
 Internal and
external • External for external.
managers and internal
for workers.

BENEFITS

Canteen Yes, with subsidized Yes, with subsidized Yes, with


food. food. subsidized food.

Selected Selected employees, For everyone.


Uniform
employees, also also monsoon &
monsoon & winter winter wear
wear

For Security guards For selected


Housing For engineers and
at subsidized rates employees like
Technicians in the Front office
compound. manager.
Holiday hone
Other
scheme and Production incentive Transport for
Marriage gift and festival employees and co-
scheme. allowance. op store

MONETARY Retirement services ECS – employee credit Credit group in


BENEFITS and benefits society Harmony group.
Credit society. 50

MEDICAL • 2 in –house  3 in-house doctors  1 in-house doctor.


7. WORLDWIDE EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

1 UK

The British were once notorious for industrial disputes and walkouts. In fact, they were
daily occurrences in the 1960s and 1970s, such that industrial relations were perceived as a
'problem' which brought down governments. Weak management and intransigent unions
produced industrial chaos, manifested by low productivity, hostility towards change and highly
publicized disputes, fundamentally weakening the UK as an economic power.

The reputation of British personnel managers was not enhanced during this period. When
HRM came on the scene in the 1980s, personnel management had become bogged down in a
form of industrial relations characterized by 'firefighting' - undermining any claim to being
strategic or proactive (Hendry, 1995:12).

The situation changed dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s. Recessions, New Right
politics, restrictive legislation on industrial action and massive restructuring in many
organizations considerably reduced the power and role of unions.

The Employment Relations Act (1999) revised trade union recognition and a number of
other rights.

Since the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1958 there have been several attempts to
develop community-wide initiatives on employee participation and corporate industrial relations.
Progress in harmonizing this area has been slow but there has been a considerable convergence
of employment conditions.

The Government embarked on a 12-week consultation on long hours working and the
operation of the individual opt out in the UK. The Government believes that the statutory
recognition procedure should be a “fall back”, only turned to when voluntary efforts have been
tried, but have failed to reach agreement. It therefore does not consider the issues covered for
collective bargaining under the statutory procedure should exceed those typically covered by

51
voluntary collective bargaining recognitions. For this reason, the statutory procedure does not
currently cover training and pensions. The 1998 Workplace Employment Relations Survey
(WERS) showed that whereas 36% of employee representatives said they were consulted over
training, only 7% said they negotiated over it.

UK has a statutory law for every aspect of Employee Relations. One thing that USA lacks
is security of the job. The pink slip system which is very prevalent is a cause of concern for the
employee.

Employees have the right to join or not join a trade union of their choice. Their employer
may not dismiss them, select them for redundancy or make them suffer detriment for being or
proposing to become a union member, nor for taking part in the union's activities at an
appropriate time. They are similarly protected if they choose not to belong to a union or refuse to
join one.

Dismissals which infringe these rights may be taken to an employment tribunal regardless
of the employee's length of service. Employees who claim to have been unfairly dismissed in this
way (except those complaining of unfair selection for redundancy) can also apply to the tribunal
for an order of interim relief (which requires the employer to continue their contract of
employment or to re-employ them pending the final outcome of the case).

An employee may not be dismissed, selected for redundancy (when others in similar
circumstances are not selected) or subjected to any detrimental action for taking certain types of
action on health and safety grounds. These rights apply to all employees, regardless of their
length of service

Workers are entitled to be accompanied at certain disciplinary and grievance hearings by


a fellow worker or a trade union official of their choice, provided they make a reasonable request
to be accompanied. They also have the right to a reasonable postponement of the hearing, within
specified limits, if their chosen companion is unavailable at the time the employer proposes.

Workers have the right to take paid time off during working hours to accompany fellow
workers employed by the same employer.

These rights apply to workers including agency workers and home workers, though not to
those who are in business solely on their own account.

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Complaints to an employment tribunal must normally be made within 3 months of the
date of the infringement of the right. Exceptions to this general rule are detailed in the documents
about the particular individual rights.

2 JAPAN

Japanese Employee Relations methods have relevance in two contexts: Japan itself and
transplant factories in the Pacific area, North America and Europe. Nissan, for example, has been
particularly active in overseas expansion and - in common with many other Japanese
corporations - has a specific attitude towards trade unions. Effectively, independent unions and
multiple union representations are resisted in favour of 'staff association' and tame single-union
representation

More intensive efforts are being made to unify and realign industrial labor unions at
Japan. The nation's labor union organizations are three-layered - consisting of the independent
unions at the lowest level (enterprise unions are the mainstream), industry-level organizations
and national centers. The enterprise union remains the basic unit for organization. There are
more than 100 industry-level labor organizations, five have over 500,000 members. Many of
these organizations do not satisfactorily function as industry-level bodies. They are unable to
adequately survey their members, to formulate industrial policy or to unionize the labor force.
Many are understaffed and inadequately financed.

Following the end of World War II there was a long period when four national centers
competed. They were particularly divided ideologically and in terms of their support for political
parties. One result was the creation of competing organizations within the same industry.
However, with the formation of Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) in 1989, a move
was made to unify and to realign union organizations at the industry level under the umbrella of
one national center.

In 1993, the Japan Institute of Labour (JIL) began a research project on industrial
relations and decisions on working conditions at companies without labor unions (Head: Prof.
Tsuyoshi Tsuru of Hitotsubashi University).

53
According to the report, More than 60 percent of companies without unions have an in-
house employee organization, of which 80 percent have a "fraternity-type" organization, and
fewer than 20 percent have an organization in which "employees have a say." The organization
in which "employees have a say" means those who replied that they have "labor talks with
management on revision of wages and matters pertaining to such working conditions as working
hours, holidays and vacation and welfare provisions" or "labor discusses production plans and
management policy."

As for an individual voicing body, a high of 47 percent of companies without unions


adopt a self-appraisal system, followed by the proposal system (34.2%) and a round table
discussion by those responsible for personnel management (26.1%). Even among companies
without unions, 42.2 percent stress employees' participation in decisions on working conditions,
and 44.7 percent stress their participation in formulation of strategies, thus showing an emphasis
on employees' overall participation in both areas. This, it seems, is the background for
introducing a variety of in-house organizations where employees can have a say, the report
analyzes.

The Japanese employment system has often been referred to as a "lifetime employment"
system. Firms compete with each other every spring to recruit the best of the new university and
high school graduates as regular employees normally determined as much by the prestige
attached to their university or school as by academic record. Regular employees enter the firm
with the expectation that they will be kept on until they reach the mandatory retirement age of
60.

The traditional Japanese wage system was based on seniority. However, in recent years,
Japanese companies increasingly have shifted towards a wage system that is linked to
performance because of increasing global competition and need to further motivate their
workers.

Participation in the Worker's Compensation Insurance System is mandatory for all firms
in industry and commerce. All medical expenses are paid for injured workers. Japan has a
universal health insurance system, under which all citizens can receive medical attention if they
become ill or injured. Businesses with at least five workers must provide their employees and
their families with government-managed health insurance or comprehensive insurance obtained

54
from a health insurance association. As of March 1999, 37.6 million workers participated in
government-managed plans, while 32.6 million had comprehensive insurance.

Collective bargaining is practiced widely in Japan. In the private sector, most aspects of
labor management relations are determined through collective bargaining. However, issues
affecting management and production, such as new plant and equipment and subcontracting
usually are resolved through regular consultations between the unions and management.
Government workers have limited collective bargaining rights. The Government determines the
pay of public sector employees based on a recommendation by the independent National
Personnel Authority (NPA). The NPA recommendation is based on wage surveys.

Standards are set by the MHLW and issued after consultation with the Standing
Committee on Safety and Health of the Central Labor Standards Council. Japan has a total of
343 Labor Standards Inspection Offices, whose staff carry out safety inspections and accident
investigations and provide judicial punishment for serious violations of the law.

As for recreation is concerned, Overtime accounted for 9.8 working hours per month in
the year 2000. In addition, Japanese workers utilized roughly half of the paid holidays and
vacation days to which they were entitled. The Government of Japan has set a goal to shorten the
number of working hours to 1,800 per annum by 2009. To attain its target, the Government is
attempting to make Japanese businesses adhere to the 40-hour workweek, is encouraging
workers to use their vacation days, and is trying to reduce the number of overtime hours.

3 USA

Labour unions date back to the late 18th century in the USA, although it was not until the
late 19th century that the 'modern' labour movement was born.

Unions were organised primarily at the level of the workplace, and it was at this level or
the employer level that their main activities took place, with unions seeking to 'take wages out of
competition' and hence maximize membership gains by co-coordinating settlements across
workplaces and employers.

55
Despite these relatively conservative goals, unions were initially able to gain employer
recognition and engage in meaningful collective bargaining only where their members had skill
levels sufficient to effectively shut-down an employer without fear of being replaced.

The abundant supply of qualified college graduates and experienced workers should
create keen competition for jobs. Overall employment of human resources, training, and labor
relations managers and specialists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations
through 2012. In addition to openings due to growth, many job openings will arise from the need
to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.

Legislation and court rulings setting standards in various areas—occupational safety and
health, equal employment opportunity, wages, health, pensions, and family leave, among others
—will increase demand for human resources, training, and labor relations experts. Rising
healthcare costs should continue to spur demand for specialists to develop creative compensation
and benefits packages that firms can offer prospective employees. Employment of labor relations
staff, including arbitrators and mediators, should grow as firms become more involved in labor
relations, and attempt to resolve potentially costly labor-management disputes out of court.
Additional job growth may stem from increasing demand for specialists in international human
resources management and human resources information systems.

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11. PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

Sponsorships of MBAs or engineering programmes are successful retention tools. There


are a couple of popular models. Managers can take short on-campus courses. Some companies
pay for courses with the rider that managers return to the company once the course is over. For
instance, Coke has started an internal cadre-building programme that promotes the executive
(graduates and technical trainees) cadre to the management cadre through a two-month course in
XLRI.

It has also started the Pegasus programme where high-fliers interact with the CEO at an
off-site location. Cadbury and HLL have also ramped up the process of identifying HIPOs in
their respective companies. IT companies are re-training managers in new software, which is
working as an important retention tool.

Prominent banks, IT companies, BPOs and FMCG companies in Bangalore, Mumbai and
Delhi share the angst of their employees in a different way. They are on the donors’ lists of many
prestigious schools, which reserve some seats for them. Since donations are unaffordable for
most employees, this becomes a huge add-on for them. A few MNCs also provide children
scholarships to some prestigious foreign universities.

Some companies are even altering work schedules. Pepsi has told its employees in the
north to pack up at 6.30 every Wednesday. According to Sanjay Luthra, director of Mumbai-
based BPO 3 Global Services, “We also try and build a very creative work environment with a

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multi-cuisine canteen, which is converted into a discotheque once a week. It has an array of
recreational facilities including a video game parlour, and library.”

Gaurav Lahiri, head of Indian operations in HR consultancy Hay Group, says, “The key to talent
management is to identify top executives and treat them differently. Cross functional training is a
must for such employees. Plus, the strategy is to create such a dominant work culture that
employees find it difficult to adjust in some other organisation.” ICICI is one such company
which follows this strategy.

When Kumar Mangalam is concerned, any Birla story is about people. He just can’t take
his mind off people issues; this is one CEO who looks at himself and his group through people-
focused glasses, there are a select few CEOs who act as enablers in the business, by identifying
the leaders in individual businesses and set goals, giving freedom through explicit decision
making rights and a set of values and principles based on which decisions are to be made.
Explains Maira (HR - Executive), “It’s about moving from being tacit to being explicit

“My objective has been to build a meritocracy and there are lots of nuances about it,”
says Birla and adds,”You are not talking about an object, an organisation is about people who
make it and it would continue to be my focus in days to come.” Getting the right people on board
was a priority, and Birla was willing to do everything to grab them. Internally it raised eyebrows,
not because scores of senior managers working for the group for decades had been asked to put
in their papers, but because a company which had never invested much on HR was suddenly
spending Rs 16-17 crore on management development programmes which would later be called
Gyanodaya.

For Birla, people issues continue to attract maximum attention. One of the most
important functions he has cornered for himself is a regular performance appraisal for people
who directly report to him. Senior employees confide that it’s something he spends hours on.
Being the employer of choice is an objective that’s dear to his heart, but Birla feels that there’s
still way to go on this front. On his short list of immediate priorities, the one that is most
prominent is, “We need to spend much more time grooming our brightest stars.”

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It seems simple. However, balancing employee expectations with those of the company is
easier said than done. Employee Relations in my view is an ongoing activity. It starts from the
day the employee is recruited, with the training, induction process, and goals and norms that are
expected out of the employee. Explaining the vision and core values of the company so that the
goals for the future are set straight.

In the site greatplacetowork.com, there seems to be one common factor in all 100
companies which got them to this reputation. The universal cause was that all of them cherished
and nurtured their human resource. Wegmans Food Market’s (#1 on 2005 "100 Best" list,
Supermarket Chain) Robert Wegman, says "No matter how much we invest in our employees,
they give us more in return."

As per Hertzberg theory of motivation, the first three needs are already met by our
parents and guardians. The monetary needs, social needs of communication, and are
physiological needs are fulfilled by our parents, society or friends. The fourth need to be
recognized and rewarded, this is where the employer comes in. The desire to be renowned by the
employer is the prime motivating factor. Motivation then initiates a cycle of development for the
employee. The employer achieves this by engaging the employee decision making and other
activities.

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12. CONCLUSION

Each company that I interviewed was from different sector and had a different modus
operandi. From a plant factory to the hospitality sector a very important tool of Employee
Relations is communication. It plays a crucial role in Employee Relations. It is important to
motivate the employee and make him aware of the policies.

Employee Relations is necessary in an organisation as salt to food. As one can’t imagine


eating food without salt, a company cannot run without maintaining Employee Relations.

I noticed that internal recruitment plays a very important role in employee relations.
Internal recruitment is when the company recruits someone from within the organisation to fill
the vacancies, as opposed to external recruiting i.e. recruiting from the open market.

Internal recruitment helps with the industrial relations since external recruitment can be
seen as depriving the workforce of opportunity.

TAJ has mixed recruitment. It follows internal as well as external. TAJ has a Database of
People who want to seek employment. It is prepared on the basis of resumes left by job-seekers.

PARLE is strong follower of Natural succession. It strongly believes in internal


recruitment. If the company is looking at improving Employee Relations, then internal resources
should be the first considerations when planning for recruitment.

This is a very effective means as many qualified people can be reached at a very low cost
to the company. The other advantages are that the employees would bring only those referrals
that they feel would be able to fit in the organization based on their own experience. The

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organization can be assured of the reliability and the character of the referrals. In this way, the
organization can also fulfill social obligations and create goodwill.

( Try n think if you can forsee the future trends in these companies..)

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