International Journal of Human Resource

Management and Research (IJHRMR)

ISSN 2249-6874

Vol. 3, Issue 2, Jun 2013, 1-8

© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

A STUDY ON TALENT ACQUISITION WITH REFERENCE TO KOTHAGUDEM

THERMAL POWER STATION, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA

RANJIT KUMAR SIRINGI

Faculty Member, Department of Management Studies, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT

This new age economy, with its attendant paradigm shifts in relation to the human capital, in terms of its

acquisition, utilisation, development and retention, has placed a heavy demand on today’s HR professionals. Today HR is

expected to identify potential talent and also comprehend, conceptualise and implement relevant strategies to contribute

effectively to achieve organisational objectives. Hence a serious concern of every HR manager in order to survive this

‘War for Talent’, is to fight against a limited and diminishing pool of qualified available candidates to replace valuable

employees when they leave, dramatically underscoring the difficulty to attract, motivate and retain the best employees in

an organisation.

In an organization, there is nothing more crucial than fitting the right employee in the right position. Or else you

would be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. When people do jobs that just don't suit their liking, inclination or

temperament, the results, or rather the lack of them will be disastrously obvious. Low productivity, dissatisfaction, low

morale, absenteeism and other negative behavior will become typical till the employee is shown the door. Organization

need to have a vision and a well defined strategy on hiring for the future. India has become the outsourcing capital of the

world and this has created its own set of HR challenges. Talent acquisition is the process for planning, sourcing, assessing,

hiring, and on-boarding of new or existing employees into appropriate positions within the organization. This paper focus

of the process is on attracting talented workers to the organization

KEYWORDS: Talent, Utilisation, Retention, Sourcing, Assessing

INTRODUCTION

In an organization, there is nothing more crucial than fitting the right employee in the right position. Or else you

would be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. When people do jobs that just don't suit their liking, inclination or

temperament, the results, or rather the lack of them will be disastrously obvious. Low productivity, dissatisfaction, low

morale, absenteeism and other negative behavior will become typical till the employee is shown the door. Or perhaps, there

is another option - Talent Management. Organization need to have a vision and a well defined strategy on hiring for the

future.

India has become the outsourcing capital of the world and this has created its own set of HR challenges. India’s

biggest problem is that qualified graduates are becoming scarce. Despite the large population, the supply of engineers

cannot keep up with the sharply increased demand. So, do we have the right talent within to attract and retain the best

available talent? Talent acquisition is the process for planning, sourcing, assessing, hiring, and on-boarding of new or

existing employees into appropriate positions within the organization. Talent Acquisition allows us access to a pool of

competitive talent that would otherwise have been missed or even worse, ignored. The focus of the process is on attracting

2 Ranjit Kumar Siringi

talented workers to the organization. The process stages were typically performed as disconnected steps that made the

process inefficient and ineffective. Today, business leaders understand the strategic significance of talent acquisition. They

are carefully looking at how they are going to fill the gap in skills and company knowledge left by retirees. They are

applying new uses of technology for virtual workplace options that can make them more flexible to employees, more

attractive to candidates, and open to talent from around the world. They are adopting advanced strategies and tactics to

evolve their talent acquisition operations, and they are embracing a range of emerging best-practices, from workforce

planning to employment branding. In short, they are recognizing the need to continue to advance their abilities not only in

talent acquisition, but also to support retention and employee development.

Understanding Talent Acquisition

So what exactly do we mean by the term Talent Acquisition? Well, just as Customer Acquisition describes the

overall strategic process around identifying market sectors, targeting client prospects, running direct marketing campaigns,

selling and receiving the order (i.e. acquiring a new customer), so Talent Acquisition involves all the sub-processes around

finding, attracting and engaging highly talented individuals into your organization.

Talent Acquisition Life Cycle

Recent business factors, such as increasing competition and the shortage of talented workers, have encouraged

organizations to focus on the results of the full talent acquisition life cycle.

Need for the Study

The supply side discussed puts pressure on companies to attract the best talent and ensure that employees join the

company and choose to stay in the organization rather than look for opportunities elsewhere. Present study is supposed to

find out the existing Indian talent scenario so as to analyze its emerging challenges and trends.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

• The study is carried at the campus of Kothagudem Thermal Power Station.

• The study explains the process of hiring at entry level as trainees and also the lateral hiring process.

• The suggestions are made based only the observations of the processes followed by the company.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To Understand and analyze the process of Talent Acquisition at Kothagudem Thermal Power Station

A Study on Talent Acquisition 3

• To identify the ways to retain the best talent.

• To identify various upcoming challenges of talent management.

• To establish upcoming trends in talent management.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

Towards the accomplishment of the mentioned objective, information would be obtained from primary as well as

secondary data sources;

Primary Data will be generated by meeting different executives concerned with Talent Acquisition department.

Also a survey on Talent Acquisition Process is conducted by means of a questionnaire to derive the effectiveness of the

process at Kothagudem Thermal Power Station. The study covers a sample of 300 respondents from Kothagudem Thermal

Power Station, Paloncha, AP, India. Selected based on purposive sampling method.

Secondary Data is concerned with the Information Pertaining to Talent Acquisition Process organized over a

period which will be obtained by referring to record of the statistical departments and Talent Acquisition department. In-

house magazines, journals, newspapers and other published materials will be used for reference and collection of necessary

data.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

• The process described is the one followed for the lateral hiring process by the Talent Acquisition Department of

Kothagudem Thermal Power station.

• The Facts, Findings and Suggestions are based on the observation of the process and the procedure in the

company.

Company Overview

Kothagudem thermal power station is situated in Paloncha of Khammam (District) in Andhra Pradesh state.

Paloncha is a small town, which is 14kms away from Kothagudem. Kothagudem town, which is also called as

Bhadrachalam road is having railway station of broad gauge branch line taken from Dornakal on the Vijayawada-Kazipet

railway line of south central Railway. The concept of modern thermal power plant is that it should be situated at such a

place that the basic requirement of coal, water and land should be satisfied. K.T.P.S. is the best ideal pithead station

involving minimum cost on transportation of coal. M/s Singareni Colleries Company Limited from Rudrampur, Ellandu

and Hemachandrapuram, Manuguru mines of Kothagudem area, meets the requirement of coal to K.T.P.S.For large

capacity thermal power stations like K.T.P.S., a huge quantity of cooling water is required for various needs in the

production of Electrical power. The water supply is drawn from the reservoir, built specifically for power station across

Kinnerasani River at a distance of 10 km from power station. The total area of K.T.P.S. complex is 5650 acres in which

power station along with associated constructions, administration buildings Accounts buildings and residential colonies are

located.

Employees Strength and their Characteristics

In Kothagudem Thermal Power Station, the total employees strength is around 3000 out of these Executive cadre

would be around 500 and the remaining 2500 are in Non-Executive cadre. There are different kinds of employees in the

K.T.P.S. holding various designations. In the group of executives the important designations are Chief Engineer, SE, DE,

4 Ranjit Kumar Siringi

ADE, AE, AAE, SAO, AO, Sr.Chemist, Medical officer. Similarly in the group of workman the important designations are

Foreman 1st grade, Foreman 4th grade, PA, JAO, LDC, UDC, JPA watchman, Attenders, Mazdoors, sweepers etc. K.T.P.S.

thus offers peoples with various demographic and psychographic characteristics.

Analysis of Data

Table 1: Designation Wise Classification

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

DE Count 34 16 50

% of Total 11.30% 5.30% 16.70%

ADE Count 55 45 100

% of Total 18.30% 15.00% 33.30%

AE Count 89 61 150

% of Total 29.70% 20.30% 50.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 1 indicates to the designation wise classification of male and female respondents. Majority of the

respondents were belonging to AE designation whose per cent was 50 whereas 29.7 per cent were male and 20.3 per cent

were female respondents respectively.

Lowest respondents were belonging to DE their percentage was 16.7 whereas male 11.3 per cent and female5.3

per cent respectively. Hence, it is concluded that Assistant Engineers are more in the organisation.

Table 2: Respondents Opinion on Talent Management Initiatives in the Organization

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

Yes Count 135 90 225

% of Total 45.00% 30.00% 75.00%

No Count 43 32 75

% of Total 14.30% 10.70% 25.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 2 refers to the respondents opinion on talent management initiatives in the organisation. Majority

of the respondents say yes whose percentage is 75 whereas male 45 per cent and female 30 per cent. Lowest number of

employees said no whose percentage was 25 whereas 14.3 per cent were male and 10.7 per cent were female. Hence it is

concluded that management is encouraging the talent.

Table 3: Respondents Opinion as to whether Talent Management Initiatives are given Top Priority

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

Yes Count 143 97 240

% of Total 47.70% 32.30% 80.00%

No Count 35 25 60

% of Total 11.70% 8.30% 20.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 3 examines whether the talent management initiatives are given top priority. Optimum number of

respondents said yes whose percentage was 80 whereas male 47.7 per cent and female 32.3 per cent respectively. Lowest

A Study on Talent Acquisition 5

number of employees said no whose percentage was 20 whereas 11.7 per cent were male and 8.3 per cent were female.

Hence, it is concluded that organisations training methods are influencing the performance of employees.

Table 4: Respondents Opinion on Identification of Talents

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

By competencies Count 82 56 138

% of Total 27.30% 18.70% 46.00%

By Results Count 49 32 81

% of Total 16.30% 10.70% 27.00%

By Potential Count 47 34 81

% of Total 15.70% 11.30% 27.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 4 explains the identification of the talents in the organisation. Most of the respondents are

competencies whose percentage was 46 whereas male 27.3 percent and female 18.7 per cent respectively. Lowest

respondents are results and potential their percentage were 27 whereas 16.3 per cent male 10.7 per cent female in results,

15.7 percent were male and 11.3 per cent were female. Hence it is concluded that most of the respondents are by

competencies because of the availability of organisations resources.

Table 5: Identification of the Presence of a Staff Member who is Exclusively Responsible for Talent Management

Initiatives

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

Yes Count 127 83 210

% of Total 42.30% 27.70% 70.00%

No Count 51 39 90

% of Total 17.00% 13.00% 30.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 5 gives the opinion of respondents regarding the presence of a staff member whose position is

exclusively responsible for overseeing talent management initiatives. Most of the respondents said yes whose percentage

was 70 whereas male 42.3 percent and female 27.7 per cent respectively. Lowest respondents said no whose percentage

was 30 whereas 17 per cent were male 13 per cent were female. Hence it is concluded that management taking the

responsibility for talent management because of reputation of organisation.

Table 6: Designation Wise Classification of Respondents Opinion on Methods of Talent Retention Initiatives

Particulars Designation

Total DE ADE AE

Acquiring New

Talent

Count 14 27 40 81

% of Total 4.70% 9.00% 13.30% 27.00%

Leveraging New

Talent

Count 17 35 53 105

% of Total 5.70% 11.70% 17.70% 35.00%

Retaining the

current potential

Count 19 38 57 114

% of Total 6.30% 12.70% 19.00% 38.00%

Total Count 50 100 150 300

% of Total 16.70% 33.30% 50.00% 100.00%

The above table 6 outlays the designation wise classification of respondents regarding the methods of talent

6 Ranjit Kumar Siringi

retention initiatives. Majority of the respondents i.e., 38 per cent which comprises of 6.3 per cent Divisional

Engineers(DE), 12.7 per cent Assistant Divisional Engineers(ADE) and 19 per cent Assistant Engineers(AE) say that the

organisation has its talent retention initiatives by retaining the current potential and 35 per cent of the respondents

constituting 5.7 per cent of Divisional Engineers, 11.7 per cent Assistant Divisional Engineers and 17.7 per cent of

Assistant Engineers say that it is by leveraging existing talents and the remaining 27 per cent of the respondents comprising

of 47 per cent Divisional Engineers, 9 per cent Assistant Divisional Engineers, and 13.3 per cent Assistant Engineers say

that it is by acquiring new talents.Hence it is concluded that retaining the current potential plays a major role in the

methods of talent retention because of the improvement of employees.

Table 7: Gender Wise Classifications of Talent Retention Initiatives

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

Acquiring New Talent Count 50 31 81

% of Total 16.70% 10.30% 27.00%

Leveraging New Talent Count 63 42 105

% of Total 21.00% 14.00% 35.00%

Retaining the current potential Count 65 49 114

% of Total 21.70% 16.30% 38.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 7 examines the respondents opinion on the methods of talent retention. Majority of the

respondents are retaining the current potential whose percentage was 38 whereas male 21.7 per cent and female 16.3 per

cent respectively. Lowest respondents are acquiring new talent whose percentage was 27 whereas male 16.7 per cent and

female 10.3 per cent respectively. Hence it is concluded that male respondents are more active.

Table 8: Gender Wise Classification of Respondents Opinion about Their Job

Particulars Gender

Total Male Female

Challenging Count 84 51 135

% of Total 28.00% 17.00% 45.00%

Interesting Count 54 42 96

% of Total 18.00% 14.00% 32.00%

Responsible Count 27 18 45

% of Total 9.00% 6.00% 15.00%

Others Count 13 11 24

% of Total 4.30% 3.70% 8.00%

Total Count 178 122 300

% of Total 59.30% 40.70% 100.00%

The above table 8 considers the gender wise classification of respondents opinion about their jobs. Maximum

number of respondents are challenging whose percentage was 45 whereas male 28 per cent and female 17 per cent

respectively. Lowest respondents are responsible with 15 per cent whereas 9 per cent were male and 6 per cent were

female. Hence it is concluded that most of the male respondents getting benefits from the organisation.

FACTS AND FINDINGS

• Management is encouraging the talent.

• Organisations training methods are influencing the performance of employees.

A Study on Talent Acquisition 7

• Most of the employees are by competencies because of the availability of organisations resources.

• Management is taking the responsibility for talent management because of reputation of organisation.

• Retaining the current potential plays a major role in the methods of talent retention because of the improvement of

employees.

• Male respondents are more active.

• Classroom workshops are useful to develop the skills and abilities.

• Most of the employees are taking the challenge about their job. They feels like profession is accountability.

• Most of the male respondents are getting benefits from the organisation.

• Most of the respondents accepted the recruitment process because they are using different types of recruitment

process like online etc.

• Most of the respondents say about profiles from job portals because of the every respondent get the information

through the various channels.

• Selections decisions left to talent acquisition department because of the proper respondents set in the proper

position.

• On-boarding process for the employees are good because of availability of facilities like canteen, transport etc.

• Management is providing required training to the employees because the organisation seeks to improve the overall

performance.

• Majority of the respondents are interested to do their jobs in the organisation since ten years because of the

providing some benefits like financial, medical, educational etc.

SUGGESTIONS

• Identification of talent by results must also be encouraged.

• Organisation must give importance in acquiring new talent and retaining them.

• The skills of employees can be improved by providing coaching.

• Employees must consider their jobs interesting and responsible.

• Head of the resource management group must also be involved in the decision of selecting an individual.

• Facilities like medical, transport; canteen etc must be improved further.

• Use of Social Media for posting job openings will also increase company’s brand image.

• Usage of psychometric/ behavioural tests to ensure if right candidate is being offered.

• Providing feedback immediately after technical discussion would create a positive impression on the company.

This will help to build rapport with the candidate and also helps us in lead generation.

8 Ranjit Kumar Siringi

REFERENCES

Books

1. Essentials of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Subba Rao,P, Himalaya Publishing House,

3rd Revised and Enlarged Edition.

2. Human Resource Management, Aswathappa.K, Tata McGraw Hill Publications, 5th Edition.

3. Talent Management: Overview: Talent Management Series Part I," Nancy R. Lockwood, SPHR, GPHR, Society

for Human Resource Management, July 2005

4. "Attracting and Retaining the Mature Workforce," Barbara McIntosh, Ph.D.,

Articles

1. Kurt Ronn, the president and founder of HR works of a National Recruitment Firm, Re-Thinking Talent

Acquisition.

2. Hewitt, Talent and Organization Consulting, Best-In-Class Global Talent Management.

3. Dr. John Suvillian, Emerging Talent Acquisition Trends for 2010 : Are you Ready for a Roller Coaster?

4. Marsha Lindquist of The Management Link, Inc., an Arizona-based business and advisory company, How to

make Talent Acquisition Today?

5. Sally Millick, The Newman Group (2008) , Talent Acquisition 2008; Survey and Analysis of the Changing

Recruiting Landscape.

Websites

1. http://my-workforce-planning.com/

2. http://www.nuviewinc.com/recruiting-metrics-and-more-from-nuviewhr.html

3. http://search.ere.net/results/?cx=005106741110345417136%3Aav2yz16qqik&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-

8&q=ROI#1180

4. http://www.ere.net/2009/03/23/metrics-for-assessing-college-hire-effectiveness-and-roi/

5. http://www.ere.net/2010/01/05/emerging-talent-acquisition-trends-for-2010-are-you-ready-for-a-roller-coaster-

part-ii-of-iii/