Looking at the growing attrition rate it’s imperative for the company’s HR department to retain the best talent within the organization. According to Raghu Raman, CEO of Mahindra Special Services Group, the most important source of information loss in an organization is attrition. This places the HR in the forefront in the battle of risk management

Rajiv Singh, VP (HR) of Geometric, feels with the increasing size of IT operations in India, and the need to manage operational efficiency, there is no alternative other than deployment for process management, including HR processes.

As more and more employees are linked with others to carry out their work through networking, HR managers need to develop new skills. In such a scenario, knowledge of IT becomes an important factor in the success of the HR function. C S Venkata Ratnam, director of International Management Institute, Delhi adds, “In IT enabled services knowledge of technology becomes necessary because if the HR person does not understand the business, he/she will be clueless in being the internal consultant that an HR is supposed to be.”

Ways to pool in best talent in the organization

Going by the exit interviews conducted in organizations, it should be noted that money alone is not the motivator for an employee, there are other drivers too. HR should focus not on the best talent but the right talent, which is appropriate for the needs of an organization and ways of functioning. Ratnam opines, “The recruitment process should find out which factors drive the company while considering an employee, and whether those are aligned with that of the organization.”

The HR system in an organization demands an effective campus placements, strong alumni networking, strong hiring programs, and effective career development programs.

Besides these, HR personnel nowadays, to a great extent, depend on various job sites and portals to get in the best available talent in the organization. According to Singh, recruitment sites provide a cost effective and scaled way of fulfilling talent needs. They provide efficiency in terms of candidate contact, information exchange, and marketing. “We have used some Indian portals and are pleased with the effectiveness that it has lent to our hiring process,” he adds.

Rosita Rabindra, executive VP and head (HR) at NIIT Technologies comments that 24% of overall hiring at NIIT done through well-known recruitment sites or portals. However, it also has an end-to-end recruitment portal.

Recruitment sites, portals, and consultants are part of the recruitment ecosystem. Employee referral schemes today play a key role in attracting talent. New media, like networking sites, are also a good hunting ground for talent.

Need for HR personnel to have knowledge of technology

HR personnel should be given on the job training, including process and systems training. Benny Augustine, director-HR of Unisys Global Services India, feels that to equip HR personnel in technical competence he/she should be trained through a range of online courses. These courses enable the HR personnel gain knowledge of processes, tools, and technologies used for managing solutions, services, and analyzing data affecting the workforce.

It’s crucial for an HR to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between the management and its employees. Regular team building exercises, soft skills training on leadership etc., are some of the activities should be regularly conducted for the managers. Singh is of the opinion that one of the most effective methods is to rotate HR staff through technical teams.

How dependent are HR’s on IT?

Many IT firms today are dependent on the various Human Resource Management (HRM) solutions, which enable them to overcome the challenges faced in retaining the best employees. The HRM solutions help in process management, thereby assuring robust process design, accuracy of data, data and workflow integration with finance, etc. According to Augustine, HRM solutions do help in managing employees for greater profit. It can contribute to an organization’s effectiveness, improve quality, increases productivity, and manages talent management. In today’s IT/ITeS industry, HR can partner with the technology team and fill the vacuum, if any, complimenting each other.

A company needs to look for HR solutions that enable knowledge of processes, tools, and allows it to understand the trends, thereby enhancing HR business value. There are tools like ERP that need to be customized before implementation.

It should be noted that these and other tech companies are highly dependent on HRM solutions. Companies such as NIIT and Geometric use SAP HR modules. In addition to this, Geometric also has number of tools developed internally for fulfilling the HR needs.
Unisys uses PeopleSoft to meet HR requirements.

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