May-17

MAY 2017 BUSINESS MANAGER1

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In every ISSUE

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06 Science of positive leadershipWhile organizations today are on massive agenda of drivingchange,the leadership thrust on arriving at a proper mix ofHedonic and Eudaimonic well-being is its core. Hedonic well-being is the element which focuses on maximizing pleasureand minimizing pain while creating the positive emotions ofjoy and satisfaction at workplace.Eudaimonic well-being atthe other end of the spectrum focuses on helping theemployees find a clear purpose and meaning in achieving theorganizational goals while realizing their strengths and talentsto their fullest potential. An article by Vivian Alfred S.

13 Building Effective Teams

Workplace is a happy place to be; people enjoy and thisenjoyment is conducive to achievement, not a barrier to it.People get satisfaction from their lives and workplace isone of the places where they meet their needs andaspirations.These characteristics can be seen as the raw-materials of effective team work.An article by Dr. Upinder Dhar & Dr. Santosh Dhar

In this ISSUE

2017 Disruptions Cut to the Chase

It is an impossible task for an organization to findindividual reasons to make people stay and pursue acareer in a long-term context. In today's context, careers inthemselves do not necessarily mean long-termassociation.What organizations need are examples like EY,Unilever, Citigroup, Google, McKinsey or Accenture, wherepeople are empowered to get out into the market orworkplace and make things happen.An article by Dr. Ganesh Shermon

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There are many global and domestic trends andchallenges impacting organizations. One such challenge is of managing Hi potential employees.While taking up initiatives for this class of employees,HR need not to confuse high performers with highpotentials. Lot of considerations is to be made whileidentifying such employees for developing futureleaders to take on higher responsibilities. Why gener-ally such initiatives do not derive desired outcomesand even if it is there, why organizations are not suc-cessful in retaining them in long term? It is a chal-lenge for HR and business heads to review the wholeprocess from strategic angle.

Stay realistic, identifydestination & invest inright people-AMIT DAS

Anatomy of a HighPotential (Hi-Po)-BIKRAM MISHRA

Caring for HI-POs: TheUflex way-CHANDAN CHATTARAJ

Delivering a successful Hi-Po program-ANURADHA VERMA

HiPo- World disruptions-NEETUBALA RAINA KOUL

Hi - Pot Talent design &mapping-VIKAS KHOKHA

Identifying the HI-Pos-KETAN BHATT

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Response

From the Editor’s Desk

Guest Column by Dr. Vinayshil Gautam

Guest Column by Prof. Arup Varma



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33 Career mapping- tool to motivate

Career mapping is preparing oneself for the future career,which requires a deep understanding of skills and abilitieswhich one should be identified with and plan to take itfurther. Career mapping ensures availability of people withefficient skills and highly talented employees which is thefair chance for employers to maintain relations withemployees and enhance them personally andprofessionally which is the effective tool to retainemployees. An article by Aakansha Juneja

35 Creating a Winning Strategy

Purpose actually holds broad appeal. Employees, regardlessof demographics and across all industries, are increasinglyattracted to companies where they can feel that they aredoing meaningful work-and tend to stay longer andperform better when that are the case.An article by K.S. Ahluwalia

51 Government Notifications

58 Case STUDY

What makes or break theorganization culture?By Dr. Kavita Singh

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Case Analysis

Need to shift the focusBy Pramod Kumar Tripathi

CEO must walk the talkBy Mihir Gosalia

helpLINE

from the COURT ROOMRecent Important Labour Judgments

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HR NEWSwipro sacks hundreds of employees post performance appraisal

95% engineers in India unfit for software development jobs: studySnapdeal plans to trim staff

HC confirms lifers for 2 trade union leadersWomen in India earn 25% less than men: Monster

Certificate course on “Labour Law and Compliance Audit” at BangaloreVRS: Sweeter terms speed up shedding of excess staff

Delhi high court restrains taxi driver unions from disrupting Ola & Uber

Pink slips for 600 as Reliance Communications trims fatIndustrial tribunal rejects permanency claim of contract Labours

Only employer will decide if employee's work satisfactory: Delhi High Court

The Employees Compensation (Amendment) Act, 2017Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) ActAdm. charges of EPF reducedNo. Adm. fee for EDLIEmployees' Provident Fund OrganisationThe Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

53 Overtime Work: Legal andhuman dimensions

The article discusses many facets of basic and elementaryconcept of work/overtime with reference to the statutoryprovisions under the Factories Act 1948, and also from thehuman and social perspective.Working overtime is arecognized practice and therefore, unless the contract ofservice or collective bargaining agreement in forcestipulates that the consent of the worker is necessary toengage him on overtime, the refusal is not justified. Unlessthere is anything in the contract to suggest that theemployee is entitled to refuse to work overtime, he is liableto do overtime work. An article by P. Soma Raju

16 How Maslow’s hierarchy ofneeds align with IR

In industrial relations (IR) scenario, it depends upon thematurity (attitude and ability) of both the management andthe trade union leaders.The manager must enforcediscipline and productivity, and at the same time, have anopen mind-a safety valve vent- to ease unwanted wildpressures inflated in the system.An article by Dr. Anupriyo Mallick

61 Book LearningDesign Your LifeSHAPE YOURSELF TO SHAPE YOUR DESTINYAuthor : Brigadier Sushil

Contract & Specific Relief LawAuthor : Avtar Singh

Law And EconomicsBREAKING NEW GROUNDSAuthors : Ranita Nagar, P Murali Prasad, Pavan Mamidi

56 A step towards Better Employee Relations

Majority of employers would like to work within aframework of principles and values and be genuinelyinterested in unleashing the human potential of the workersin the pursuit of creating long term competitive advantage,where employers and workmen interact and engage witheach other in their multiple roles and not just as productiveresources.This requires that both sides take care of eachother's dignity and self respect.An article by Dr. P.B.S. Kumar


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Published on 1st of Every Month This issue of Business Manager contains 68 pages including cover

Chief Editor

ANIL KAUSHIK

Associate Editor

ANJANA ANIL

Hon'y Editorial Board

Dr. T.V. Rao Dr. Vinayshil Gautam Dr. Rajen Mehrotra H. L. Kumar


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April 2017 ISSUE

BUSINESS MANAGER VALUES YOURFEEDBACK. WRITE TO US WITH YOUR

SUGGESTIONS AND IDEAS [email protected]

Response

QualitativeDavid Ulrich’s competencystudy is one of the bestarticle BM has provided to usfor knowledge enhancement.The study is an eye opner forHR fraternity.

David has been working onHR and its future and hiswork is highly acclaimed. Theresearch is certainly going tohelp HR Professionals whatcompetencies are going toride over in 2017. HR has tobe a credible activist and thiscompentency has scoredhighest in the research.

Rajendra Sharma

Rich ContentsThe cover theme on future ofperfomance management isvery rich in contents andpresent diverisified views onthe topic which is very hot forthe HR People. Be it PrashantSharma or Rajesh or Sanjay, allhave clearly indicated thatchange in mindset of theorganisation and managers iscompulsory before anysystem is adopted.

Performance measurementhas to be there with full ofobjectivity and managershave to understand theimportance of skills of givingfeedback of both praise andcriticsm. It is correct to assessthat PMS has to be morepersonal and transparent.

Dr. R.S. Verma

ComprehensiveThis refers to editor’s note. PerformanceManagement System (PMS) is an age oldsystem followed with modifications overthe years. With digital environment, thissystem must be continuous and at alllevels. Both management and technicalskills have to be evaluated.

Asesh Datta

InspiringAshish Chauhan views are enough tounderstand, what would be the future ofbusiness and what skills are required tobecome a successful entrepreneur. Hisstory is inspiring. He has rightlyunderstood that future business will befully guided and influenced bytechnology. No business wil be survivedwithout help of technology.

Ajay Verma

Data PowerSimin Askari in her article on PMS hasrightly emphasised that in future PMS willbe highly effected with the data powerwhich is going to play a big role incomplete transformation of the PMS.Annual feedback process is going tobecome past and future is of on goingperson to person feeback on continuousbasis.

Yogesh Chandra

EducativeCase study published in March 2017 issueis very interesting and put a questionbefore HR about how we people behaveand play with new incumbants. Analysisof the case is helpful in understanding thehidden issues in the case. Very educative

Vimal Das

The question of identifying, developing and retaining High potential employees or popularlyaddressed as HI-POs in business world is probably the most sensitive and important where alongwith HR, CEOs are also temped to devote time. Since it is an issue of taking care of future talentpipeline linked with succession planning tools, it gains relevance in most of the organizations.

In spite of having well designed strategy for picking up HI-POs and putting them in groomingprocess for future, why at the end, the initiatives taken by organizations do not deliver desiredresults? There can be few reasons for this casualty. First, organisations make mistake in spottingthem. Generally they are confused with high performers. Actually performance is somewhatdifferent from potential. A person performing well in a current position may not perform in thesame way at higher level because of lack of certain other required skills. Second, organizationsadopt "one- size- fits- all approach" to develop HI-POs. Roles at leadership levels require differentskills and level of capabilities along with ownership. Third, organizations look for aspiration,ability and engagement factors to identify HI-POs as researched well and established but onemore factor, they miss to check is the acceptability factor of HI-POs in higher roles. It is seen inorganisations that when a high potential employee is developed for a particular leadership roleand placed, his acceptability among people does not also get higher rather it decreases due tocertain personality traits. You can also term it as dark side of personality, which was never lookedinto or identified by the HR while picking up that person for future leadership role. Arrogance,less empathy, lack of trust and self insecurity may be such traits. Fourth, Organisations do notcommunicate clearly with identified HI-POs about their expectations from them in future roles,thus leaving such employees free from psychological bonding. Organisations need to provideclarity on their career growth, handhold them during their grooming journey, motivate them andkeep track on their efforts of getting prepared for higher role. In this development process, whatis to be seen is the presence of breadth of experience and depth of skills and expertise in HI-POs.

The real challenge for CEOs and HR is not only to identify and develop such HI-POs, but also toretain them for long term. Retention may become possible when such persons are brought on alevel where it is deemed that both are made for each other. Alignment of business leaders,expectations and HI-POs career pathing is another requirement to avoid any future derailment.Organization culture plays a crucial role in retention. HI-POs have to make total synchronisationwith values and beliefs of the organisation.

But it is not that easy as said. This issue cover story is about managing Hi Potential employees andHR veterans and experts are sharing their wisdom as to how not to get such programs failed. Alsoto about develop and carry HI-POs to sail through in troubled waters.

If you like it let us know. If not, well, let us know that too.

Happy Reading!



Hand holding HI-POs

May 2017Vol. 19, No. 11

From the Editor’s Desk

Anil Kaushik

@ tdanilanilkaushik

anilkaushik



W e all aspire to get the desired results. This happens, more obviously, inbusiness matters. There in negotiations have to be undertaken.Negotiation is a delicate process.

Negotiation is needed, not only in business matters but in every act of humanendeavor.That would include the immediate family circle, friends circle, casualrelations like on the road, corporate relations, community relations and more. Allrelations and transactions, at all levels, from local to global which require recognizingthe presence of two persons or several working together, require skills at negotiation.

To some 'negotiating' comes more instinctively than to others.This is because theirpersonalities are more credible, reliable and evoke trust.There are some who play fastand loose.They believe doing so is convenient and gives them a strategic advantage.Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Credibility is the bedrock of all relationships and no one is exactly a fool. Some have amind which works quicker, others have mind which work slower, but in all casespractically everyone catches up with the reality. Hence the first and the fundamentalbedrock of any relationship or negotiations is credibility. It does not take a genius torealize that to some you will trust your life with, and to others one is reluctant even toloan a paltry sum of money.

It is a sad but a true fact of life, that erosion of credibility has higher costs than theadvantage which playing fast and loose gives. Hence, when entering into a negotiationit is important to not only come out as a person of conviction but also as a person whowill never betray or steal an advantage because that is the person's way of goingforward.

It is important to respect the other person and conduct yourself in a way in which youcan command respect.This applies to all domains of human endeavor which includesbusiness and corporate relationships. One cannot begin a conversation to score pointsand to prove the other person wrong.The other person may have a point of viewwhich may not have occurred to the first person or indeed full facts may not be knownto either, both or all parties concerned. Hence a good point to begin a negotiation is tomake sure all the facts are on the table and all involved have the personality and thecourage to accept what are the facts.

Committing an error is not a crime. Anyone can commit an error. It is important,however, to distinguish between a genuine error and a malafide error. A genuine errorcan easily be overcome, if all parties are mature enough to see that there is no error ofIntention.That is the way forward.

It's important also to register that all parties in a situation may not be fully aware of theconsequences of the situation. One must empathetically recognize what ones actioncould be causing to another person.This helps to stabilize the relationship. In businessnegotiations the fundamental principle is to protect the basic interest of all theconcerned parties and not to gain an unfair advantage over the other, throughmanipulation. Manipulation is not only a bad strategy but also is counterproductive.

There is little point in entering a negotiation with preconceived notion and fixedattitude. It is important to come out as a person who is willing to listen, understandand internalize.This is a fair expectation because this is what one expects the otherperson to do. In all this, false hood has no role. All negotiations must be handled withcare, making sure that attitudes do not harden. Accusations and self-praise are twomalaise which hurt negotiations more than anything else. If these basic postulates areunderstood, there is always a structure to every activity.This applies to negotiationsalso.

All negotiations have beginning, middle and an end. It is rooted, also, in non-verbalcommunication, verbal behavior and not taking advantage of the other person'sgoodness or perhaps lack of information.

A good question to ask at the beginning of a business negotiation is what is likely tobe other parties' agenda. If that can be protected while fulfilling once own agenda, thisis an ideal situation. However this is rare. In each conversation there are certain thingswhich must not be said. Illustratively, it doesn't help to prove that you are morepowerful and the other person can be deeply hurt by you.This sort of an approachcannot but queer pitch of a negotiation and affect the outcome.The objectives of aconversation may be many. Indeed some details may evolve as one goes along.

That's another story.The purpose of the narrative above is to explore the core concernsor architecture of a conversation, of the breed of negotiation.Thus assist in navigatingones way, more pro-actively.

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HR without Prejudice

BM



The year 2017 has kicked off with abang, promotions, innovation andemployment engagement at workhas kept virtually everyorganization on its toes. The

optimism shown in the markets has notconciliated the lingering challenges faced bythe Human Resources fraternity andemployees following a year of uncertainty andprecariousness.

Fiscal fragility has been witnessed in manyemerging markets and the pressure on socialprotection systems is compounding the stresson individuals and families. How does thecompany look at strengthening the ecosystemas per the need of the hour? In such a scenario,it is of paramount importance fororganizations to take a step ahead inestablishes a "Healthy" workforce in terms ofits mental and physical capital focused atoverall well-being of the organization as wellthe employees.

So, what does it mean to be an "employee" isthis era? Today they have far-reachingimplications and requirements.Simultaneously, business models are adjustingto take advantage of contract or contingentworkers - in part to address the talent scarcitychallenges but also in response to what anindividual say they want out of a job.

Executives globally recognize and acceptthe fact that stasis is a formidable enemy of

business growth. Continuous changesustained over a definite period in business isthe key to actualize the business strategies andaccomplish the organizational vision. HRleaders have therefore to stay in tune with thedynamic changes in the business environmentso that they can act as perfect catalysts increating and evolving solid organizationalstructures that can lend the right impetus toaddress the implementation of the businessstrategy.

With this in mind, most of theorganizations are driving change initiativesthrough the key leadership teams applying thetheory of Positive Leadership. As theorganizational structure design evolves, itbecomes imperative for businesses to promotea positive climate and create a "healthy"workforce. A healthy workforce means thepromotion of both psychological as well asphysical well-being. Organizations thereforethrive to nurture positive emotions as a keyconstituent in the DNA of its workforce.Positive Psychology as defined by Dr. MartinSeligman, the founding father of PositivePsychology science- "Scientific study of"Optimal Human functioning to discover andpromote the factors that allow individuals andcommunities to thrive." In OrganizationsPositive psychology translates into the scienceof empowering people to flourish as they workand as a result of this they are able to exceedperformance expectations resulting in the

Science of positive leadership

While organizations today are on massive agenda of driving change, the leadershipthrust on arriving at a proper mix of Hedonic and Eudaimonic well-being is its core.Hedonic well-being is the element which focuses on maximizing pleasure andminimizing pain while creating the positive emotions of joy and satisfaction atworkplace. Eudaimonic well-being at the other end of the spectrum focuses on helpingthe employees find a clear purpose and meaning in achieving the organizational goalswhile realizing their strengths and talents to their fullest potential.

Vivian Alfred S.Vice President- HumanResources, Endress+Hauser IndiaPvt. Ltd., Mumbai


SCIENCE OF POSITIVE LEADERSHIP

achievement of theorganizational goals andVision.

While organizations todayare driving this massiveagenda of driving change,the leadership thrust onarriving at a proper mix ofHedonic and Eudaimonicwell-being is its core.

Hedonic well-being is theelement which focuses onmaximizing pleasure andminimizing pain whilecreating the positiveemotions of joy andsatisfaction at workplace.Eudaimonic well-being at theother end of the spectrumfocuses on helping theemployees find a clearpurpose and meaning inachieving the organizationalgoals while realizing theirstrengths and talents to theirfullest potential.

As India is moving at aquick pace to be reckoned asa developed economy in theupcoming years,organizations which aredriving the change in theirbusiness processes,structures and systems areadapting their organizationstructures in synchrony withtheir talent pool.

The structural redesignbeing driven from thetopmost therefore identifythe new behaviors that areexpected for the business.These adaptations ofbehaviors and the creation ofthe new behaviors normallycreate stress in employeeswhile disengaging them fromthe organization's objectives.Human Resources add valueby partnering with the linemanagers as they align thesenew behaviors by identifyingthe basket of strengths ofeach employee in harmonywith their talents and as aresultant effect neutralizethe stress impact created bythe organizational changes.This naturally results in

Eudaimonic well-being, since these employees are able tounleash their strengths and talents in the new organizationstructure and in the same vein derive a sense of fulfillmentof purpose and meaning in whatever they are expected todo.

Having a strong decision mechanism underpinning jobdesign has never been more critical, especially as new jobsare emerging faster than ever before. Job design is whereHR can truly add business value.

The challenge is also to consider the job's contributionto the creation of value in the organization. We all knowthat business leaders do not have the endurance for lengthyjob evaluations, so the process must be rapid, intuitive, andhandy for all line managers. In contract, regularconversations about an employee's performance andgrooming talent for the future are considered to be criticalfor an individual's growth and are critical fororganizations long term survival. Business researcherJosh Bersin estimates that about 70% of multinationalcompanies are moving toward this model, even if theyhaven't arrived quite yet. The majority are implementing amore scientific approach to valuing contribution.

Responsible and responsive leadership was the leadtopic at the 2017 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.The theme of discrimination and income discrepancy isforcing policy discussions on minimum wage and livingwage and gender pay gap. It's time to cultivate a thrivingworkforce, an empowered workforce that responds to thechanging work landscape. This means creating anenvironment where each individual employee can thriveand flourish at work. So, the key is attracting andnurturing the strengths and talents of the company so thatthey are in sync with the organizational vision and valuesystem. This naturally means the organizations whiledriving the business changes are bringing in core positiveleadership traits at the top level to promote a positive workclimate bringing in the right positive emotions while at thesame time helping the employees to find clear purpose andmeaning at their work by optimally utilizing theirstrengths and potentials to their maximum best.

Echoing the positive psychology framework of Dr.Seligman, in today's business scenario it becomes morethan vital to tap into a neatly designed organizationstructure that focusing on customer centricity throughemployee centricity requires the employment of the rightblend of Positive Emotions, Employee Engagement,Resilience, meaning at work which ultimately results inthe Achievement of the organizational goals as wellindividual career goals.


As India is moving at a quick pace to be reckoned asa developed economy in the upcoming years,organizations which are driving the change in theirbusiness processes, structures and systems areadapting their organization structures in synchronywith their talent pool.

BM


Or g a n i z a t i o n a lU p h e a v a l s !OrganizationalC r i s i s !Organizational

Dilemma! Translates toTalent Crisis, TalentTrauma, Talent Uncertaintyand War for Talent!

Why do staff in very largenumbers follow theirPartners/Leaders like a herdof sheep? Do these staffmembers not have, what wemay call as organizationalalignment, loyalty or a mindof their own? Do these staffnot identify themselves withthe vision and values of theirexisting organization? Arethese staff so shallow thatmoney motivates them to dowhatever? What makes themdo what they do when theyfollow their leader, perhapsknowingly or blindly?

A recent example is Deloitte India acquiring a verylarge number of professionals (in several 100s) from KPMGIndia. Not the first time in talent management history.Pepsi has hired in bulk from Unilever, KPMG from PwC,EY from KPMG, KPMG from Protivity, KPMG fromDeloitte, PwC from KPMG and so on. No one is a saint here!Of course, EY did set a great example in the mid 2000 whenthey Acqui hired Arthur Andersen professionals into EYthrough a structured acquisition program.

Why? Why do firms resort to mass hiring ofprofessional talent at a price significantly higher thanmarket? Questions continue to haunt a discerning mind,and to list a few. Have firmsnot found a more effective wayto attract and retain talent? Have firms chosen a growthpath and a business strategy to weaken competition byweaning away significant leadership role holders? Dofirms treat this as Acqui Hiring when they are not? Havefirms not learnt from their past mistakes, where thepresence of multiple firms that they had acquired in thelast many years have barely worked well with one another-Issues dealing with cultural integration, performance,transfer of clients, geographic alignment, practicemergers, role distribution, promises not kept, exiting theold for the new, conflicting business practices, key partnerexits, staff conflicts etc.?


It is an impossible task for an organization to find individual reasons to makepeople stay and pursue a career in a long-term context. In today's context,careers in themselves do not necessarily mean long-term association. Whatorganizations need are examples like EY, Unilever, Citigroup, Google, McKinseyor Accenture, where people are empowered to get out into the market orworkplace and make things happen.

Dr. Ganesh Shermonis a Managing Partner for "RforC TalentManagement Solutions" (North America) &earlier Partner, Country Head and GlobalSteercom (P & C) - KPMG LLP

2017 Disruptions

Cut to the Chase


2017 DISRUPTIONS- CUT TO THE CHASE

Laggards of the past arenow aspiring leaders! Whynot? If other firms were tolet-go their leadership status!Deloitte is a world leader,competing closely with PwC!And EY is closing its rankswith PwC and KPMG with anew CEO and a leadershipteam will give all that it hasto fight their war for talent!

Clearly, not many in theglobal consulting marketwould doubt Deloitte'scapability to do things theright way. It is possible thatDeloitte's India HR may havegot it wrong, sometimes, butnot at a global level where itsprograms consistently winbest employer awards. So isthis a new shape of things ina talent world, that corporateshould learn to cope andmanage. Is Deloitte setting anew next practice to fastforward growth and provideaspiring minds anopportunity to be a part of anano paced organization? Ordid KPMG not do its part inretaining talent througheffective HR programs andpractices? Was its leadershipweak and ineffective inmanaging its peopleeffectively? Did KPMG nothave appropriate andsufficient people engagementprograms? Did KPMG nothave a suite of Reward -Recognition programs thatcaters to the needs of theirstaff ? Or is KPMG a victim ofmarket forces, employeedynamics, leadership missand just an unhappycoincidence of events?

Or are these simply signsof changing global times? Inthe Digital - Millennialworld, rules are beingrewritten on what makesstaff members retainthemselves in organizations.Remember, it is a free world,Deloitte has done nothingwrong. Their actions areneither unethical norinappropriate. Theattraction of mass talentprogram, perhaps, was not aHR initiated move, so theymay not want to take creditfor this. This,possibly, givenits scale, costs and size of the

dealwas a line management led program by the CEO, globalleaders, with the vision and plan to scale this firmexponentially. They have simply done what best oforganizations, in a war for talent scenario, may do, may be?

Have organizations that are expected to set professionalstandards, ethics and practices stooping down to (perhaps)destroying other organizations by enticing talent throughsubstantive monetary incentives, while articulating it tosuch mobile staff, as changing role power, positionalfreedom, leadership careers, learning opportunities, bonusand incentives and other cultural aspects in business?

The answer to all of the above is simple. Don't judge. Gowith the flow. Establish new rules. Find uniqueness in yourown strategies and business models. Let people managerslead the way. Ask HR to stay out of retention role. Some HRleaders are busy tweeting their "Insights". Let them do thatand stay away from employee engagement issues. It is thenew world stupid!

Rewarding the Retained - Cutting the Chase

Throughout history, employers have been challengedwith attracting, retaining and engaging staff. From thesimplest barter systems of centuries past to the currentcomplex incentive formulas of today, the organizationalpremise has been the same: You, "provide productivity andresults to our enterprise" and we, as employers, "willprovide you with something of value." In their simplestforms, compensation and benefits have involved cash orcommodities, and that still is true to a large degree today.Digital or not. An employee provides a service and anemployer provides cash compensation and/or a benefit ofvalue to the employee. But that is so easy to beat!

Mass Exodus Syndrome - There are of course somesyndromes that we now need to live with:

Syndrome1: Acquiring enterprise pay more.

Syndrome 2: New Forms of rewards.

Syndrome 3: Millennials seek aggrandizement.

Syndrome 4: Social is wasted.

Syndrome 5: I hate the boss.

But are these here to stay or are they changing? Over theyears, organizations have, either explicitly or implicitly,sometimes by default, recognized the fact that the key toachievement of the organizational purpose is the humanresource. If this resource is treated as an input resource inthe overall organizational processes, there is a resourcecost attached to it. Organizations have also realized thatpeople are motivated when a recognition and culturalsystem adheres to where there are concrete approach's tochanging dynamics in talent management:

1. Talent is about personality.

2. Culture is all fitment.

3. Small is big is beautiful.

4. Focus is key.

5. Networks are real.

6. Result are continuous.

7. Rewards are personalized.

8. Recognition is social.

9. Talent management is self service.

10. Freedom is to give me control.


Over the years,organizationshave, eitherexplicitly orimplicitly,sometimes bydefault,recognized thefact that the keyto achievementof theorganizationalpurpose is thehuman resource.



11. Make bosses sweat forstaff engagement.

12. Hating boss is real butignoring a contrived bossis way too real!

Mass economic rewardtrends - The economics ofdemand, supply and thetheories of price elasticitywould definitely apply to thehuman resource. Whatcomplicates the managementof the human resource isthat to this economic theory,one has to superimpose thecomplex theories ofmanaging human behavior.Designing and managing aneffective reward system istherefore a managementexercise that involveseconomic, financialexpertise and mastery ofknowledge of humanbehavior. These issues arethose that are driven by theneed for "Economic versusPsychological Bonding."

Workforces inorganizations are shrinkingand each employee is nowexpected to add distinctvalue to the business. Addedto this is the increasedemphasis in technology,quality and service, whichresults in the business worldchanging from a mechanizedworkforce to the knowledgeworkforce. The knowledgeworkforce is expected to takedecisions, respondinstantaneously toopportunities and take risks.This behavior has to berewarded differently.Performance is no longer alifelong contract ofcommitment, but one thathas to be continuallyreinforced. Changingorganization structures alsonecessitate changingcompetency compensationpractices.

Some of the implicationsof the futuristic structure oncompetency compensationare as follows:

Collective networks ofcompetencies: For anetwork or a team-basedstructure to succeed, itwould demand sharing ofrewards and, therefore,the creation of team-

based reward programs.Lean and sharp business organizations andstrategic outsourcing: Based on a pure economicevaluation, an organization has to prioritize thebuilding of 'owned' human assets and skill-sets and theleveraging of competencies available with specialistindividuals or consulting firms. In the contemporarycost environment, the organizational priorities wouldbe for 'owning' customer focused and service skills andhiring most of the value-adding specialist skills.Nurturing conducive learning: With the increasingimportance of augmenting intellectual capital withinthe organization, individual learning has to beencouraged and incentivized.Employee partnerships- stock options, phantomstock options: Organizations increasingly need to haveemployees with an entrepreneurial spirit. From theorganization's point of view, the entrepreneurial spiritwould ensure greater contribution from the employeethrough diverse ideas, complete ownership for the roleand the organization, higher element of calculated risktaking and higher commitment. From the behavioralperspective, entrepreneurship has several intrinsicrewards like fulfilling of esteem needs and movingtowards self-actualization. From the economicperspective, the extrinsic reward for entrepreneurshiphas been profit.Facilitating life career succession planning: A goodhuman resource philosophy should seek to get theemployee to contribute during his/her work life withoutworries of being left high and dry at the end of thecareer. Beyond the age of retirement, the only elementof human resource strategy that would impact theindividual, is the kind of retirement pension benefitsthat a competency compensation plan may provide.These schemes, complemented with asset-buildingprograms, ensure life planning for the employee. Forexample, a pension plan, which offers a superannuatedemployee his last drawn salary as a pension for the next25 years.

The mass economic model has indeed beeninnovating in the area of monetary reward system:

Social engagement pay.Customer relationship programs.Individual performance related pay for collectivecontribution.Competency (Group) related pay.Bonuses and variable pay for differentiation.Team remuneration rewards.Pay at risk for risk.Profit sharing schemes - partnership models.Role awards.Quarter peak peer equivalence bonuses.

Organizations must reward employees because they arein turn looking for certain kinds of behavior: they needcompetent individuals who agree to work with a high levelof performance, loyalty, and ground level commitment.Individual employees, in exchange for their commitment,expect certain extrinsic rewards in the form ofperformance pay promotions, salary, fringe benefits,perquisites, bonuses, or stock options. But moreimportantly Individuals seek the intrinsic rewards such as


Workforces inorganizationsare shrinkingand eachemployee isnow expectedto add distinctvalue to thebusiness.



feelings of competence,achievement, responsibility,significance, influence,personal growth, fulfillmentand meaningfulcontribution. Experience hasdemonstrated that highlevels of pay do not meanhigher levels of retention.Take examples like stockoption, bonus, and sign onlump sum based rewardsystems in organizations likeInfosys, Sun Micro Systemsor JP Morgan Chase. Theyhave all realized the value ofretention as a function ofnon-monetary rewards. Intoday's world compensationsystem cope with paying forrisk of continuing to beemployable.

Rewarding thoseemployees whoseperformance is assessed andbenchmarked to acompetency standard. Suchan approach communicatesto the individual (or group)that there to the work of theorganization is highlyvalued. The overall messageis simple - improvedperformance results inimproved remuneration.Essentially, workers shouldfeel that their remunerationin relation to their effort,performance andcontribution is fair whencompared with theremuneration and workperformance of theircolleagues. An improvedbehavior that drivesperformance receives betterremuneration.

Retain a Culture soughtby staff - not that whichthe leader wants.Only cultures in whichstaff engage matters - notthe CEOs popularityseeking showmanship.Get HR out of the way. Haveline managers own peopleengagement processes.Talent Management is notan HR role - If it is thenthey should also be heldaccountable for retention.Every Individual shouldshare their need forreward through growth. Ifnot given them what theywant.

Don't assume what HR thinks as effective reward iswhat staff believe that they want.Organizational need for sustained growth ismeaningless if staff do not see that need.Accelerated learning through sharing / synergiespossible only with social engagement.

Some enterprises work on the premise that growth,learning and a culture where people work effectively whenthey move jobs, obtain early responsibility and maketraining and job rotation as a basic means to their growthare indeed effective in their retention of high performers.

Motivating all employees to perform well. Whilst theprinciple of rewarding high performers may well reinforcetheir behavior, it is important to motivate those employeeswho are not performing so well. Good reward systems mustnot therefore concentrate only on employees who are onlyperforming well, but must also consider the motivation ofother employees - all employees must be encouraged toimprove their performance.

Moves across businesses to ensure cross-pollination oftalent & for accelerated learning.Transfers for "hiring from within" to match bestopportunities with the best talent.

There are good examples of hiring from within. Anorganization that would think many times before bringingin lateral management personnel directly from theirmarket. They respect their internal culture and the waythey do things far too much to compromise on hiring tomeet with headcount needs.

Talent technologies hold the key

Reward systems are based on the results/output fromwork rather than the effort put in by individuals, as forexample; in a reward system based on the amount of timestaff spend at work and where staff are encouraged toconcentrate on the standard of the end product rather thanthe input or effort.

1. Consistent performance trumps star performance.

2. Use talent technology to track performance.

3. Let staff assign their own career paths.

4. Leadership pipeline in isolation is a myth - succession isreal. Get staff to target positions and go after them.

5. Internalize package solutions - No single technology cancater to all organizational needs. Get best of breed forcomponent talent needs - for example 360 SharingPlatforms.

6. Make aware AI & Robotics as real possibilities, just asmuch driverless cars and self-managed homes!

Promoting forward planning and objective setting.

The central feature of many systems is the assessment ofperformance based on the achievement of previouslyestablished plans and objectives. This managementtechnique therefore encourages individuals and groups toplan their work activity and achieve predeterminedobjectives.

Consistent not top performers identification.Personalized career progression chart.Skill based development inputs.Customer oriented assignments.Find 360 mentoring processes. People can learn from all.Don't let people hold exalted positions.Coaching, an opportunity for some retired, jobless or


The approach ofrewarding thoseemployees whoseperformance isassessed andbenchmarked toa competencystandardcommunicates tothe individual (orgroup) that theircontribution tothe work of theorganization ishighly valued.



wasted, is a waste ofmoney if the recipientdoes not want it or for theCoach the act is a ritualand not a capability.

Scott Gerber, Founder ofYoung Entrepreneur councilhas compiled a few anecdotalnotes from successful startupCEO's. Take a peek. HR is apotential employee's firstimpression - HumanResources departmentsshould strive to not just besuper-efficient and organizedwith new hires, but shouldreally think of themselves asthe first ones to welcome anew employee and make apositive impression. Takingcare of a newemployee/intern's uniqueneeds is an importantresponsibility that should bedone carefully -Annie Wang,Her Campus Media.

Innovation a criticalcompetency - "One reasoncompanies have begun tomove to a different kind ofpeople management followsfrom a shift that's under wayin how value gets created. Inthe industrial economy,companies could often win byoperating more efficientlythan rivals.

Today, that's no longerenough. Faced with lower-costcompetition from developingcountries, establishedcompanies also need toinnovate, to offer productsthat are better than what'savailable from competitors.But innovation calls fororganizational capabilitiesdifferent than efficiency.Efficiency requires gettingpeople and machines to meshmore smoothly; the emphasisis on parts fitting in andreducing variation aroundaverages. Innovation, bycontrast, involves finding newand better ideas and usingnew processes. Managinginnovation is less aboutaverages and more aboutunderstanding outliers. Theemphasis is on increasinginteresting variation, thenidentifying value in some ofthe variants. That isn't easy.People and organizationsform habits, which can make

it hard to create sufficiently original products and services.Habits also make it hard to see value in new variants; theeasiest kind of value to see is the kind you're accustomed toseeing. That's why innovative companies can benefit frompeople from "the edges" who have different perspectives:individuals with different cognitive or behavioralinclinations who do and see things differently. If industrialcompetition was about managing averages, innovation-basedcompetition is about harvesting the benefits of valuableoutliers.

Traditionally, human resources management has beengeared to enabling companies to execute their strategies andplans. But in an innovation economy, things need to be morefluid. Business strategy needs to pick up on changes in thebusiness environment - and so must human resources.Indeed, organizations including Zappos, the online retailer,are experimenting with less structure and attempting toorganize around temporary projects as opposed to traditionalfunctional hierarchies. As company strategies shift, many jobroles can't be contained in boxes on static organizationalcharts". Organizations must reward employees because theyare, in turn, looking for certain kinds of behavior, what istoday called as competencies: they need proficientindividuals/teams who agree to work with a high standard ofperformance, loyalty (challenged by scholars but still holdingtrue) and ground level commitment.

Individual employees, in exchange for their commitment,expect certain extrinsic rewards in the form of performancepay promotions, salary, fringe benefits, perquisites, bonuses,or stock options. But, more importantly, individuals seekintrinsic rewards such as feelings of competence,achievement, responsibility, significance, influence, personalgrowth, fulfilment and meaningful contribution. Experienceshows that high levels of pay do not always mean higherlevels of retention and in, "The Dandelion Principle:Redesigning Work for the Innovation Economy - 2014, RobertD. Austin and Thorkil Sonne they continue, "Despite financialhooks like stock options, bonuses, sign-on bonuses, and lump-sum reward systems, organizations such as Apple, Google,Airbnb, Sun Microsystems or JP Morgan Chase also seeretention as a function of non-monetary rewards. In today'sworld, compensation systems cope with the need to pay forthe risk of continuing to be employable. This means: a)rewarding those employees whose performance is assessedand benchmarked to a competency standard; b) motivating allemployees to perform well; c) supporting aperformance/result-oriented approach to work; d)encouraging the use of work systems appropriate to theorganization, and e) promoting forward planning andobjective setting.

Effectively, we need to retain and reward such employeeswho wish to be retained. It is an impossible task for anorganization to find individual reasons to make people stayand pursue a career in a long-term context. In today'scontext, careers in themselves do not necessarily meanlong-term association.

What organizations need are examples like EY, Unilever,Citigroup, Google, McKinsey or Accenture, where peopleare empowered to get out into the market or workplace andmake things happen. In doing so, they should gain acombination of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Ask VivekDwivedi, Director from EY and ex KPMG, EY rocks for him!Simple, he feels empowered by his Partners, his CEO/COOwho are highly accomplished - secure leaders who havefound a path for themselves and for their team members.One cannot do without the other. And that is truly the wayfor the enlightened retained!


BM

Individualemployees, inexchange fortheircommitment,expect certainextrinsic rewardsin the form ofperformance paypromotions,salary, fringebenefits,perquisites,bonuses, orstock options.


Organizations are essentiallyabout people working togetherand yet so often fail tocapitalize upon the fullpotential of such resource. A

team can accomplish much more than thesum of its individual members workingalone. Most organizations have meetingswhich dampen inspiration. Departmentsseem to devote more energy in maintainingtheir own organizational positions than tothe common good of the organization as awhole. Team work is individuals workingtogether to accomplish more than theycould alone, but more than that, it can beexciting, satisfying and enjoyable. Perhapsthe simplest analogy is with that of thecricket team.

Were any of us to be given the task ofbuilding up a new national team we knowthat the task would involve much morethan just obtaining the eleven best playersin the nation. The success of the teamwould depend not only upon individual

skills, but on the way those individualssupported and worked with each other. Agood cricket team is more than a collectionof individual skills; it is these skills used ina way which produce a united effort.Similarly, with almost any kind of team, itssuccess, its very existence, depends uponthe way in which all play together.

Team Work and Happiness

Over the past few years we have seenmany approaches aimed at increasingorganizational effectiveness andorganizations today pay more attention tothe training and development of theirpeople, particularly those who holdmanagerial positions. Most of thedevelopment activity is centered upon theimprovement of individual skills,knowledge and experiences, butorganizations are increasingly finding thatthis is not enough, that a real key tosuccess is the way in which individuals


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Dr. Upinder DharVice Chancellor, ShriVaishnav VidyapeethViswavidyalaya, Indore

Dr. Santosh DharDean - Faculty of Doctoral andResearch, Shri Vaishnav VidyapeethViswavidyalaya, Indore

Building Effective Teams


BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS

behave towards each otherand the way in which groupsof people relate to and workwith each other. Team workimproves these processes.How then do we recognizewhere good team work andbad team work flourish?Perhaps as with most things,it is easier to start with thebad than the good, so let uslook at some of thesymptoms of bad team work.

First, there is thesymptom of frustration. Asorganizations get larger, theopportunities for personalexpression and satisfactionoften become less. Toofrequently people who workin organizations becomefrustrated because they canno longer see a clear way ofmeeting their own needs andaspirations. People just loseinspiration and lack thecommitment and motivationwhich are essentialingredients of effective teamwork. In manyorganizations, the symptomsof grumbling and retaliationare easily seen becausepeople cannot expressthemselves through thesystem, they do it privatelythrough gossiping in thecorridors, lavatories and carparks. Often Cafeteria orCoffee shop chat is a betterindicator of organizationalhealth than the mostelaborate attitude surveys.

The organizations thatexperience poor team spiritalso seem to spend a lot oftime on retaliations. They donot use mistakes asopportunities for increasedlearning and improvementbut as excuses for punishingthose who made themistakes, and they do this inmany and varied ways inwhich organizations are ableto punish. Healthycompetition is an indicatorof effective team work.

Competition is the life blood of many organizations butthere is a great difference between the kind of healthycompetition where people can enjoy the rewards of theirdeserved success and others can accept the best man,system or policy and the kind of organization wherebackbiting, dirty tricks and dysfunctional politics are theeveryday pastimes of managers.

Similarly, great differences in rivalry betweendepartments may be found. Many organizations owe muchof their success to the natural competitive spirit whichexists between departments and to the pride of teammembership which departmentalization often brings, butmany other experience each jockeying for superiororganizational position, influence or perks. One particularorganization characterized for many years the constantbickering between the heads of its departments; eachdepartmental head taking advantage over the otherswhenever possible. Not only did that lead to theorganization as a whole missing opportunities, but manyjunior employees found that although they wanted to workwith each other, organizational barriers were erectedbetween team and their counterparts in otherdepartments.

A sound indicator of effective team work is simply theexpression which employees wear on their faces. Effectiveteam work results in happiness and an uninformed visitorcan often get an immediate impression of whether work isa happy place to be or a place for 'clocking off' time. Workdoes not have to be a dull and un- enjoyable place; it caneasily be a rewarding place where people love to be. Tomany, who have studied organizations, openness andhonesty are the key indicators of organizational health.Unfortunately, some people seem to try honesty only wheneverything else has failed. Many managers particularlyseem to go to enormous lengths to avoid telling the truth.There are, of course, occasions in every organizationwhere something other than total openness is necessarybut wherever good team work exists, there is generally noneed for locks on drawers, dishonest statements toemployees and taking of false bargaining stances.

Personal Freedom and Support

Meetings play a significant role in team work. The mainreason for having meetings is to utilize the collective skillsof a team while working on common problems. Too often,however, we experience meetings which in no way usethese skills, where only one or a few people contribute or


The organizations that experience poor team spirit alsoseem to spend a lot of time on retaliations. They do notuse mistakes as opportunities for increased learningand improvement but as excuses for punishing thosewho made the mistakes, and they do this in many andvaried ways in which organizations are able to punish.


BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS

many managers seem to usethe occasion as anopportunity to lay down therules rather than utilize theresources of the team. Thequality of meetings canusually be determined by theway in which individualseither look forward to ordread the normal weekly ormonthly get together. Inmany organizations, thequality of relationshipbetween the managers andthose they manage is so poorthat effective team work justcannot get off the ground.

Team work is unlikely tobe visible, if people cannotconfide in or trust theirsuperior, if they are afraid ofhim / her or theirconversations are on asuperficial or trivial level.Essentially, team workpromotes high qualityrelationships. The lowquality relationship leads tothe leader gettingincreasingly isolated fromhis team. He / she do notrepresent the view of histeam. It has been observedthat there may be perceivedor real time pressures;conflict may exist betweenthe team's culture and that ofthe organization; teamleaders lack the skills orwillingness to make thingshappen; and he / she has fearof consequences.

Sometimes poor teamwork results in jobs gettingdone twice or not at allbecause no clearunderstanding of the roleswithin and between teamsexists. Sometimes, althoughcommon problems exist,people are just not able orwilling to meet and work onthem. Then there is theattitude which teams andindividual members have tothe possibility of externalhelp. The ineffective teamwill usually either rejectoffers of help because it fearsthe consequences of

outsiders finding out what the team is really like or willseize all offers of help because it lacks any coherent viewof how to proceed and is set to hand over its problems tosomeone else. The effective team uses external helpconstructively by recognizing the unique contribution andviewpoint which it can bring, but it always maintains theownership of its own problems and its own destiny.

Creativity is like a delicate flower which flourishes onlyin the right conditions, mainly conditions of personalfreedom and support, freedom to experiment, opportunityto try out ideas and concepts, and support from those wholisten, evaluate and offer help. A dearth of new ideasgenerally results in poor team work, because it is withinteams that the conditions for creativity can most easily becreated. The degree to which people help and use eachother is another indicator. If effective team work does notexist, people tend to work in isolation and neither offer norreceive the help of their colleagues. Everybody needs thathelp in order to perform to the optimum level. Theconditions can significantly be improved by effective teamwork. The characteristics of effective team work are:

People express themselves honestly and openly.Conversation about work is the same both inside andoutside the organization. Mistakes are faced openly andused as vehicles for learning, and difficult situations areexamined and eliminated. Good relationship exists withother teams and departments. Each values and respects theother and their respective leaders themselves comprise aneffective team. Personal relationships are characterized bysupport and trust with people helping each other wheneverpossible. Meetings are productive and stimulating with allparticipating and feeling ownership of the actions whichresult out of the decisions. New ideas and their applicationenable them to stay ahead.

Superior-subordinate relationships are sound, eachhelping the other to perform his /her role better, and teamfeels that it is an appropriate way. Personal development ishighly rated and opportunities are constantly sought formaking development happen. There is clear understandingof the objectives and the roles which team and itsindividual members shall play in accomplishing theformer. External help is welcomed and used whereappropriate. Finally, the team regularly reviews where it isgoing, why it needs to go there, and how it is getting there.If necessary, it alters its practices in the light of review.

All of this means that "workplace" is a happy place to be;people enjoy and this enjoyment is conducive toachievement, not a barrier to it. People get satisfactionfrom their lives and workplace is one of the places wherethey meet their needs and aspirations. Thesecharacteristics can be seen as the raw-materials ofeffective team work. They are like building blocks becausethey are what we can use in a very practical way to buildeffective teams. To conclude, the effectiveness is theoutcome of clear objectives and agreed goals, openness andconfrontation, support and trust, cooperation, soundprocedures, appropriate leadership, regular review,individual development and sound intra-group as well asinter-group relations.


BM

Team work is unlikely to be visible, if people cannotconfide in or trust their superior, if they are afraid ofhim / her or their conversations are on a superficial ortrivial level.



IR managers need to alignworkers and their leaders toproductive co-existence at allthe levels of Maslow'shierarchy of needs. Industrial

relations in any organisation dependprimarily upon the 'attitude of themanagement', and subsequently onthe 'ability of the union leader.'Doesn't this statement conflict withthe general belief of 'ability of themanagement' and 'attitude of theleader'? Think again! Whose attitudestarts controlling and pushingeveryone to the wall? On the otherhand, whose ability coordinates anddrives the masses towards anagenda? People and their actions aresubjected to natural phenomena.Motion creates pressure, pressurecreates heat and after its thresholdlimit, the intense pressure andtemperature causes a big bangwhich recreates a new motion fornew modifications, developmentsand creations. That is howeverything including human beingsand their emotions works in theuniverse. For instance, what willhappen if one starts boiling somewater in a pressure cooker having nosafety valve, and keeps heating it?One has to stop heating the cookerbefore the threshold limit of thesteam pressure in it otherwise it willblast on crossing the threshold limit.Once it explodes, it will cause

enough damage and leave dents tolast even after restoration work. Thesame science works with events andhuman emotions. But the problem isthat one cannot gauge the thresholdlimit of varied and individualizedhuman emotions. These vary fromperson to person, and in a groupsituation, they majorly depend uponthe movement created by the groupleader.

In industrial relations (IR)scenario, it depends upon thematurity (attitude and ability) ofboth the management and the tradeunion leaders. The manager mustenforce discipline and productivity,and at the same time, have an openmind-a safety valve vent- to easeunwanted wild pressures inflated inthe system. The best way is tocoordinate with the establishedunion leader with professionalmaturity, and involve him in theprocess of truthful cohabitation.Both must be on the same page, andunderstand that truthfulness is thebest way to ensure reciprocity, andan open environment is the bestplace to live in, so as to ensureoptimum productivity.

Another IR factor is that thelabour productivity getscompromised in due course of timedue to Maslow's complacency factor?When we are at the 'basic need' level,we tend to work hard to earn the

How Maslow’s hierarchy of needs align with IR

Dr. Anupriyo MallickAssistant Professor and Head HR and OB,Eastern Institute for Integrated Learningin Management (EIILM), Kolkata

In industrialrelations (IR)

scenario, itdepends upon the

maturity (attitudeand ability) of

both themanagement and

the trade unionleaders. The

manager mustenforce disciplineand productivity,and at the same

time, have an openmind-a safetyvalve vent- toease unwantedwild pressuresinflated in the

system.


HOW MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS ALIGN WITH IR www.businessmanager.in

remuneration needed to livelife. Once it is regularised,the comfort zonecomplacency pops up, andwe tend to find out ways toreduce work load andincrease remuneration. Theincrease in remuneration isneeded to offset the costescalation, increasingcomforts, growing domesticrequirements, and savingsfor a safe future. If thissafety is ensured, the elatedleaders go for socialisationto satisfy their self-esteem.If this safety is not ensured,the proactive leaderinitiates the unionisationprocess to make sure it isensured. He will go all out toestablish his leadership,which with time, tends tosatisfy his self-esteem andprobably ego too. Thismesmerizing state of mindcontinues till the very end.Why is the 'need hierarchy'a pyramid? Why can'teveryone reach the top? The'need hierarchy' ispyramidal because everyonecannot make equal andidentical efforts to sharpentheir fitness for theconstantly modifyingecosystem. To leap ahead ofall, one need not be thestrongest but merely fitterthan all other contenders, atthat particular point oftime. The fittest one couldbe an individual or anindividualised cohesivegroup. The same conceptapplies to 'industrialrelations'. The credible IRmanagers work on each ofthese five stages to align theworkers and their leaders toa productive co-existence.Every stage demandsgenuineness, consistency,discipline and professionalcommitment. Unduepressures from either sidecannot be regarded assustainable metrics. The'cause and effect' is auniversal truth. Hence, theenergy spent on pushingsomeone to the wall, isbound to bounce back afterits critical level, in the formof an explosion capable ofdestroying the system,including the intruder aswell as the sufferer. Thus, it

is the responsibility of the management: To behave as a mother: caring andcoaching (at the basic-need level) 2. To behave as a father: systematising,demonstrating and disciplining (at the safety-need level) 3. To behave as abrother: coordinating, monitoring and leading from the front (at the social-need level) 4. To behave as a friend: ensuring equality (at the self-esteemneed level). 5. To behave as a 'guru': safeguarding oneness (at the self-actualisation need level) If applied and tested at any IR situation, the resultswill be the same for improvements through building culture at thegrassroots level.

Failures are faced due to executive incapability or vested interestsworking on either side. While incapability can be overcome by systemicinterventions, it is tricky to manage vested interests. Genuineness ofprocesses establishes the mutual believability and confidence, which, witha firm and fair approach, eventually alienates and takes care of the vestedinterests also. Some manipulators in IR management use Maslow's theory tothreaten and pull targeted persons down to the levels they have risen abovefrom. However, threatening people to surrender at the will of themanipulator is an unfair short cut. These short cuts create after effects thatbreed bigger problems in due course of time. It is always better to handle theissues and people with all fair means so that the rules are genuinelyestablished and sustained. Genuineness gets communicated sub-consciously to others at the speed of light, through the biophotonic mind.The sustained IR strategy is to walk and talk genuinely straight.

In this era of cut-throat competition, productivity is the key to thesurvival of an industry. The advanced definition of productivity hereincludes not merely utilisation of assets but mining them to their sub-atomiclevel. To cope with manufacturing there has to be change from quantity toquality. Finance is changing from value to usability. Marketing has alreadychanged from sales to customer service/ satisfaction to customer delight andinclusion. But the employer-employee relationship still remains in a nascentstage to grow beyond working persons to working partners.

The government machinery is not yet designed to behave proactively in IRhandling. It is incapable of building up a relationship. It merely indulges infire-fighting, joining the event when the fire has already enveloped theplace. There too it weighs the parties, not on the basis of the merit of thecase, but on the strength and weakness of the parties. In fact, they have avery limited role in building proactive and productive IR, because cordialityof relationship cannot be pushed into externally. It is necessary to work ononeself experience and feel togetherness. Still, government agencies canplay a major role in IR by facilitating 'joint proactive forums' for truthfulawareness, reconciliation, arbitration, legislative smoothies, etc. Theseforums can be institutionalised with the help of stakeholders to operateeffectively.

Every stage demandsgenuineness,consistency, disciplineand professionalcommitment. Unduepressures from eitherside cannot beregarded assustainable metrics.The 'cause and effect'is a universal truth.

BM


COVER FEATURE www.businessmanager.in

There are many global and domestic trends and challengesimpacting organizations. One such challenge is of managing Hipotential employees. While taking up initiatives for this class ofemployees, HR need not to confuse high performers with highpotentials. Lot of considerations is to be made while identifyingsuch employees for developing future leaders to take on higherresponsibilities. Why generally such initiatives do not derivedesired outcomes and even if it is there, why organizations arenot successful in retaining them in long term? It is a challengefor HR and business heads to review the whole process fromstrategic angle.


"Hi-POs"! When I hear this word, one thought that always clings to my mind - Shouldwe really invest in top 5% talent or should we look at developing all equally, basistheir potential. There is no common view on the topic anywhere, be it researchor discussions.

I believe that it is good to have healthy competition and differentiated programs for groomingthe top talent in this era of 'War for Talent'. One popular combat strategy is to institutionaliseprograms aimed at "Hi-POs" or "high potentials"- the people who are perceived as organization'smost capable, most motivated and most likely the successors of all critical positions. They havethe uncanny ability to learn how to deal effectively with first-time, or changing situations,applying new and prior learning to each new challenge.

Both Hi-POTs and High performers are valuable to any organization. High-potentials havesimply not reached their full potential. Having a capacity for growth, they are groomed forsenior leadership roles. The only difference being Performance in current role, Potential todevelop into an effective performer in a significantly larger, or more challenging role, over thelong term, and readiness to step into & effectively perform in a new role in the near term.

HBR and CEB reports show the contradictory view. HBR says that more than 40% ofindividuals in Hi-POT programs may not belong there. They may be in the bottom quartile orbelow average of leadership effectiveness. Similarly, revealing the other side of the story, CEBshows almost two-thirds of Hi-POTs (64%) are dissatisfied with their development experiences,

Stay realistic,identify destination& invest in rightpeople

AMIT DASDirector- Human Resources, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

(Times of India Group), New Delhi

High-potentials have simply notreached their full potential. Having acapacity for growth, they aregroomed for senior leadership roles.The only difference beingPerformance in current role,Potential to develop into an effectiveperformer in a significantly larger, ormore challenging role, over the longterm, and readiness to step into &effectively perform in a new role inthe near term.



and over two-thirds of Hi-POTprograms (69%) have failed to build astrong pipeline of leaders forsuccession. These data points present aserious question in front of us.

Most of the Hi-POTs usually possessfollowing four characteristics, whichhelp them in getting noticed and valued:

Strong technical expertise

Taking initiatives & deliveringresults

Consistently honouring commitments

Fitting in to organisation culture

The above four traits may be equallygood for other employees. So what arethe secret traits that differentiate Hi-POTs from others?

Few characteristics that come to mymind, when I look back and explore inthe realms of my memories, few top Hi-POTs I have met and experiencedworking with:

Learning agility - It is not justrelentless learning, but thecontinuous action oriented learning.In one of the HBR article, DouglasReady has coined it as "CatalyticLearning Capability." Actionlearning is a style of learning thatinvolves solving real problems viataking actions and reflecting uponthe results. It allows an individual tocontrol own learning experience,unlike traditional educationmethods. They strive for self-improvement and leverage failuresas learning opportunities.

Strategic vision - Hi-POTs thinkabout the issue from all perspectives,without losing sight of big picture.They think beyond just execution.

Drive to Excel - Even very good, isnot just good enough. They are morethan willing to go the extra mile,being steered by sheer ambition.

Leadership skills - Genuineinterest in broadening scope anddeveloping themselves as leader.

Ability to develop and motivateothers- Assertiveness and Empathyhelp them build long- lasting genuinerelationships which are "nurtured"not "used."

Enterprising spirit - Explorers whowould take up any challenge, leavingtheir comfort zones behind. It mightmean a risky move that

demandsentirely new set of skills.

Dynamic sensors - Their agilityhelps them outweigh the risks andgain success inspite of adversity.They always put a higher premiumon quality results, and are aware ofself and others' perception and striveto reduce animosity. They arecognizant of their personalities,strengths and weaknesses and do notleave any stone unturned tomaximize their strengths, and getover their weaknesses.

When identifying pool for Hi-POTprograms, organizations shouldhandpick people who show signs ofhaving these skills and not place somuch emphasis on traits like culturalfit and individual results.

What could be the possible pitfalls?

Identifying people, who do notactually possess leadershippotential, pose a major threat.Leaders may assume that they havean adequate leadership pipeline,when in reality they do not have asmuch as they expected.

Organization may miss out on thetalent who would make great leaders,even if they don't fit the stereotype ofa high-potential leader.

The situation is similar for theidentified people, who are not likelyto flourish in senior managementroles. These people may assume thattheir career is on fast track when inreality it might not be the bestaspirational path for them.

It is also used to reward topcontributors. This way, organisationsrun the risk of losing a top individualcontributor and demotivate otherpeople, who will report to an unsuitableboss - and losing them as well.

Following things should be kept inmind for effective management offuture leaders and get maximum returnout of Hi-POT program.

Establishment of clear strategicpriority, which shape the method ofgrooming high-potential leaders

Undoubtedly, full buy-in andprogram managers from thefunctions are critical, for drivingand supporting the programsmoothly.

Careful identification and

communication of high-potentialemployees through simple, objectiveand systematic approach -Qualitative discussion & assessmentis the key.

Comparative analysis of Hi- POTswith external competitors. This willhelp an organisation to prepare forthe changing market in the VUCAworld.

Management of Hi-POTs - how highpotentials are developed, rewarded,and retained

Stay realistic with thedevelopment program. Actionbased learning is the need of thehour for thoroughness. This canbe done by identifying destination& intermediary roles, definingdemands of such roles,identifying critical competencies,capabilities & developmentopportunities, mapping thecareer paths and defining thesteps to reach the destinationrole.

The underqualified people in the Hi-POT program, who truly aspire to bein senior positions, should alsoleverage the platform and focus onlearning and practicing theleadership skills required. Sheercommitment and motivation willtake you places, but the problem liesin non-realisation of deficiency inoneself. At the top of it, being part ofthe Hi-POT program also masksindividual's shortcomings.

For employees, who want to be partof the Hi-POT program, should figureout not just how to get in the pool, butwhy you want to get in. That willrequire lot of soul-searching.

As HR professionals, we shouldalways measure outcomes, and shouldnot hesitate in fine-tuning the programwherever required.

We should ask ourselves, "Am Iinvesting in the right people?", "Howshould we develop our Hi-POTs to takeon more challenging roles?" and, "Whyis my high-potential program notworking?"

The world is still evolving in this talentmanagement practice, but I am sure, withconscious utilisation of contextualisedpractices, organisations can reap 100%ROI for years to come.


Managing High Potential Employees (HI-POs)

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High potentialindividuals orHi-Pos, play keyroles within theorganization as

they both need and want anemployer that is willing toinvest in career progressionand acknowledge theirdedication. Theseinvestments provide engagedand talented Hi-Pos who canlead from front and driveorganizations to success.

There is always a risk in any good investment and in thiscase, placing resources into the development of the wrongindividual could mean the loss of both the employee andorganization.

The concept of Hi-Po launched for more than twodecades, but corporates are still having outcry over dearthof all-weathered leaders. The percentage of companies thatidentify high potentials has risen from 70% about a decadeago to 85% today. Various researches make it clear thathigh-potential talent lists exist, whether or not companiesacknowledge them and whether the process for developingthem is formal or informal.

Among three basic tenets i.e. identifying Hi-Pos,developing Hi-Pos and engaging Hi-Pos, identification oftalents is the most conspicuous one.

Corporates commit two major gaffes in identificationprocess.

HyPe - Hype Performer: Flamboyance and WOW aremomentary; they do not standout in disruptiveenvironments. Pedigree helps being noticed and gettingdifferentiated, but does not auto-qualify for Hi Po. Securingreferent identifications (good equation or well networked)from decision makers does not necessitate someone to be aHi Po. HR Professionals should not succumb to these kindsof hypes and focus on "Potential at every possible turns."Hi Pos are required to outperform their peer groupsconsistently and significantly in a variety of settings andcircumstances.

HiPe -High Performer: Domain specialists or tenured

The concept of Hi-Polaunched for more than

two decades, butcorporates are still havingoutcry over dearth of all-

weathered leaders.Various researches makeit clear that high-potential

talent lists exist, whetheror not companies

acknowledge them andwhether the process for

developing them isformal or informal.

BIKRAM MISHRASr.VP - HR, Equitas Bank, Chennai

Anatomy of aHigh Potential(Hi-Po)


employees with high level offlawlessness may be revenuecritical for the time being,but they are not missioncritical. These employees aretermed as "on demand" or"arm twisters" and they donot necessarily live withorganisational spirit andvalues. While achievingthese superior levels ofperformance, Hi Pos exhibitbehaviours that reflect theirorganization's culture andvalues in an exemplarymanner. Moreover, Hi Posshow a strong capacity togrow and succeedthroughout their careerswithin an organization-morequickly and effectively thantheir peer groups do.

Most corporates fail todistinguish between HighPotential and HighPerformer. More ever,practices of making processdiscrete have aggravated thesituation further and Hi Posare identified based on "meresay" or "whims and fancies"or "one time wonder" or"performance appraisalrecords". Imperfect Hi Poidentifications lead todevelopmental issues in formof dropouts (55 - 63% duringdevelopment stages) or lowyields (8 to 15%).

Hi Po identificationprocess needs to bestructured and transparent.There should be cleardifferentiations betweenCritical employees and HiPos and they are notinterchangeable. If we tellsomeone as a future leader,we need to back that up withtangible progress in his / herprofessional development.Otherwise, individual mayfeel manipulated and evenlose motivation. If notmanaged well, completegroup of high potentials mayfeel being "played"-that theirstatus was just a retentiontactic or rhetoric with noreal plans.

Key Levers for Hi Pos Identification

In world of disruptions, digital and design thinking, HRprofessionals are under tremendous pressure frommanagement boards as well as knowledge workforce tocome-up with credible framework on Hi Po strategy andfacilitating business growth. "Multiplying leadership" isone top-most people agenda in era of start-ups, fragmentedand focussed business strategy. In last 4yrs, researchershave come-up with various models to standardize Hi Poidentification.

One needs to understand common competencies of HiPos, so that they can design and develop appropriateframework aligning to their organizational peoplepractices.

High potentials always "deliver strong results", "masternew types of expertise", and "recognize that behaviourcounts". But it's their intangible key levers that trulydistinguish them from the rest.

Here are those levers, which can tip the scales and helpHR professional to achieve and maintain that coveted high-potential rating.

Key Lever 1: Drive to excel.

High potentials are not just high achievers. They areself-motivated to succeed, more than willing to go thatextra mile and realize they may have to make sacrifices inorder to advance.

Key Lever 2: Catalytic learning capability.

High potentials are relentless learners. They have thecapacity to scan for new ideas, the cognitive capability toabsorb them, and the common sense to translate that newlearning into productive action for their customers andtheir organizations.

Key Lever 3: An enterprising spirit.

High potentials are always searching for productiveways to blaze new paths. They are explorers and, as such,take on the challenges of leaving their career comfortzones periodically in order to advance; they see newavenues as advantages, the excitement and opportunityoutweighing the risks.

Key Lever 4: Dynamic sensors.

Successful high potentials have well-tuned radar thatputs a higher premium on quality results. Beyondjudgment, high potentials possess "dynamic sensors,"which enable them to adjoin these risks. They have a feelfor timing, an ability to quickly read situations, and a nosefor opportunity. Their enterprising spirit might otherwiselead them to make foolish decisions, but these sensors helpthem decide, for example, when to pursue something andwhen to pull back. High potentials have a knack for beingin the right place at the right time.

These key levers can be built into talent classificationframework to ensure robust and flawless identification ofHi Pos and to filter out "Hype" and "Hipe".



BM

High potentials are relentless learners. They havethe capacity to scan for new ideas, the cognitivecapability to absorb them.


High potentialtalent is thecritical businessdifferentiator inthe current

times. There exists adisparity between thesupply and demand ofskilled talent globally. Ascompanies struggle toidentify, develop, andmanage their top talent,ensuring the success of highpotential programs is moreimportant than ever.

Identifying the HIPOs

High potential programs are often filled with employeeswho don't belong there. While designing the process theorganizations must be mindful as to not fall victim to suchcases. When we planned to introduce the HIPO exercise inone of our businesses at Uflex, what we learned first andforemost was that it is important to establish a cleardefinition of hi-pot in the organizational context as thisdefinition is often confused with high performers. Anemployee can register off-the-chart performance in acurrent role, but still lack the aspiration, drive,commitment and interpersonal skills or mobility tosucceed at higher levels. Therefore, correctly identifyinghigh potentials in an organization is one key aspect of asuccessful talent management process; another key aspectis developing them to fulfill their potential.

The sustainability aspect

Once we have assembled our pool of candidates androlled out a development plan as per the process, this is thestage where we could make a big mistake, that is, assumethis identified pool is actively engaged. This brings us toanother important aspect of hi-pots- effectively managingand engaging them. Many factors influence how motivateda hi-pot individual may be in moving to the next leadershiplevel and how engaged on is in the current role. One of theways to do this is give our high potential employees alearning experience outside their comfort zone. The hi-posneed to be continually challenged, encouraged to thinkinnovatively and allowed to collaborate so that they canshare and learn from each other's experiences. Also, they


The organizations acrossindustries and geographiesconfirm the criticality of high-potential identification to staycompetitive. This is the reasonpractically every companythese days has some hi-potdevelopment program tonurture their critical talents. AtUflex, we use nine box matrixapproach (Potential vs.Performance) to differentiatehigh performers with highpotential talent.

CHANDAN CHATTARAJPresident - Human Resources (India & Global),Uflex Ltd., NOIDA

Caring for HI-POs: TheUflex way


need to be actively involvedin the decision making thatimpacts the success of theorganization.

Our approach atUflex: Alignmentwith the businessstrategy

The organizations acrossindustries and geographiesconfirm the criticality ofhigh-potential identificationto stay competitive. This isthe reason practically everycompany these days hassome hi-pot developmentprogram to nurture theircritical talents. At Uflex, weuse nine box matrixapproach (Potential vs.Performance) to differentiatehigh performers with highpotential talent. Thereafter,we draft development planfor each of the boxes tofacilitate the developmentalprocess. Important factorswhich we take intoconsideration in the processare the business strategy,past performance,competencies, behaviorattributes, and leadershipand business challenges.While there are manyimportant success factors increating a high potentialdevelopment program, themost critical of all isensuring the program has aclear and well-articulatedalignment with the businessstrategy.

Further, the identifiedpool of hi-pots at Uflex goesthrough a structured careerpathing, we pay utmostimportance in developingtheir career graphs. Wediscuss their present KRAswith their reportingmanagers and make theirdevelopmental plan. Theyalso get an opportunity totravel to our global locationsfor some specific projectswhich is again part of their

developmental plan. These international experiences helpUflex develop a pool of leaders with global mindset andhelp teach high-potential Uflex employees how to adapt todifferent cultures and situations.

Alignment with the leadership

Business strategy has to be the guiding principle of ourhigh potential development program. For that, we needactive involvement of our top leaders. One of my businessheads who had end to end involvement in conducting theexercise and implementing the results perfectly quotes "Itrust these stars (HIPOs) with the fate of my business.They are going to significantly impact our future; they arecritical to our growth and would strategically partner thetransformation process we are in." Leadership alignmentis not only required for effective execution of the program,it is also essential for the long term success of the program.

There might be several challenges pertaining tosuccessful execution of a high potential program likeidentifying the right pool, being able to retain them, failingto create a structured development program to mention afew. Companies worldwide are challenged with a talent gapespecially in leadership roles. As HR and business leaders,this puts us into tremendous pressure to identify andretain the best employees who would play a pivotal role intaking the business to new height. While we achieve this,we also need to make sure that the rest of the workforceremains motivated and committed.

Finally, we must remember that we are operating in aVUCA world where growing talent internally is the beststrategy to address the leadership gap. The stakes offailure is very high; therefore, we have no time to get itwrong!



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The need to identifyand develop HighPotentials (HiPo)has become moreimportant in

today's environment thanbefore;It is essential fororganisations to take a morestrategic and long termperspective to developinternal talents to ensuresuccess and businesscontinuity. CEB study shows

that HIPOs are 50% more valuable to an organization thanother employees as they exhibit 21 percent higherproductivity levels. It also states that HIPOs contribute 91%more in achieving business goals. Another studyconducted by Boston Consulting Group and WorldFederation of People Management Associations states thatsuccessful organisations fill 60 percent of top managementrole with internal candidates, while low performingcompanies fill only 13 percent internally.

A true measure of a successful HiPo program is not thestrong ratios or pipeline, but the proof of pudding is inhaving it and hence how may conversions it facilitates, e.g.how many 'Ready Now' has actually moved into the roleand are successfully enabling business to win at marketplace, how many talents have moved internally to variouspositions they were pegged at and have contributed tobusiness outcomes successfully? Hence the success of aHiPo program should be defined from the success ofbusiness outcomes rather than just talent metrics ofsuccession ratios or key talent retention percentages. It isimportant for organisations to have a more integrated andlong term approach to HiPo programs since it not onlyengages and retains high performing talents, but it feedsthe business with high performing talents and hedges thebusiness continuity risk.

A study by CEB states that 73% of HiPo programs arefailing to deliver business outcomes and 69% do not build asuccession pipeline. One of the most critical elements of a


One of the most criticalelements of a successfulHi-Po program is to havethe right talents beingpicked up to get enrolledon the Hi-Po program. Ifonly left to manager'sability to identify the righttalents than we arelimiting ourselves andrunning into the dangersof investing in wrongtalents.

ANURADHA VERMATalent and Organisation Consultant, Mumbai

Delivering asuccessful Hi-Po program


successful HiPo program isto have the right talentsbeing picked up to getenrolled on the HiPoprogram. If only left tomanager's ability to identifythe right talents than we arelimiting ourselves andrunning into the dangers ofinvesting in wrong talents. Itis essential for organisationsto go beyond manager'sassessments and deploy toolsand take an evidence basedapproach to select thetalents. The performance-potential matrix basedapproach helps managers toplace talents in variousboxes for categorization.While this is a usefulapproach as performance isclearly an outcome of howthe person has beensuccessfully demonstratingachievement, potentialassessment is a grey areaand is largely left tomanager's judgement. Astudy by CEB quotes that29% of high performers arealso High Potentials, 71% arenot and hence it is essentialfor organizations to focus onassessing potential moreaccurately by deploying toolsto support managerialjudgments and enablingmanagers to be moreobjective and realistic. Alongwith this it is essential toonboard manager early onthe principles of the HiPoprogram and not just leave itto their understanding andinterpretation, as it is oftenused by managers as aretention tool to retain highperforming talents who donot have ability, engagementand commitment to move upthe ladder or be part of HiPoprograms.

The next most importantcomponent for the success ofthe HiPo program isdesigning the criticalexperiences that are

required for the HiPos in the journey of developmenttowards the targeted position in the organization. Asdescribed by Taylor Flake (PepsiCo's Vice President ofHuman Resources and Talent Development, NorthAmerica)"Critical experiences are more about job moves,as opposed to a competency model, which is more aboutskills, they are immersive, and necessary in today'senvironment that requires life skills in addition to jobtraining." These experiences should be selected anddesigned based on an overall assessment of talent. It isimportant to determine the highest level targeted positionthat a talent could reach and basis that position determinethe critical experiences required for the talent to move inthe career ladder. It also means that an organizational levelit is important to list down the critical experiences andsuccess factors for the each position and HiPos needs toincorporate these critical experiences their careerdevelopment plans and they should be closely supportedand monitored on their career trajectory. This alsoprovides a long term perspective and clarity for a HiPo forhis development and next level moves. The Korn/FerryAssessment of Leadership Potential, Research guide andtechnical manual(2015), describes these experiences ascore experiences, perspective-building experiences, andkey challenges gained form the foundation for moving tonew, morechallenging roles. The leaders who accumulatevariety of experiences (functional and leadership) over theperiod of time have greater possibility of being successfulas a leader when put into larger / complex roles. Hence itbecomes critical for the development of the HiPo tocarefully choose the lateral / vertical career moves toaccumulate variety of experiences for development.

It is imperative for organizations to have a moreintegrated approach to manage HiPo programs and focuson right identification, development and retentionstrategies. The HiPo program should be critically linkedwith business outcomes and be measured on how it isdriving the business to succeed over competition throughdifferentiated talents. The program needs serious effortsfrom leaders and managers to own and run it as it has farreaching consequences for business success.

References:

1. Corporate Leadership Council. (2005). Realizing the FullPotential of Rising Talent (Volume I): A QuantitativeAnalysis of the Identification and Development of High-potential, Employees. Washington, DC: CorporateExecutive Board.

2. High Performance Organisations, The Secret of theirSuccess, Vikram Bhalla, Jean-Michel Caye, AndrewDyer, Lisa Dymond, Yves Morieux and Paul Orlander.Boston Consulting group. 2011

3. PepsiCo Adding Breadth to Talent Depth with CriticalExperiences, Contributor : Glenn Llopis, Forbes Issue(2/23/2015).

4. Korn/Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential,Research guide and technical manual (2015).



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The HiPo program should be critically linked withbusiness outcomes and be measured on how it isdriving the business to succeed over competitionthrough differentiated talents.


Disruption is ani m p o r t a n tphenomenon inthe businessworld today

including the realm of talentmanagement. Invariablydisruptions will challengeyour current capabilities andcapacity, yet it may resultinto an opportunity forsomeone else. A shift fromEmployer's market toEmployee's market is a

visible example of how disruptions can change theindustry dynamics. So unlike the era when changemanagement was a deliberated intervention, change is away of life today. Therefore organizations are devising"Agile" ways of dealing with the dynamic business andtalent management complexities. Although optimization ofcapabilities is a focus, Hi-Pos retention is a priority too.Worldwide, only 13% of employees working for anorganization are engaged (Gallup). About 78% of theorganizations have engagement and retention as one oftheir top-most concerns (Deloitte). A study reveals anuncomfortable truth about most Hi-Pos i.e. only 1 in 7 (HiPros) high performers are Hi-Pos (CEB, SHL TalentMeasurement). Well! Don't confuse Hi Pros for Hi Pos. Startwith identification of your Hi Pos; authenticity of this stepwill determine your success rate. Here are a few points toreconsider:

1. Stay persistent, not glamorous- Effective talentpipeline is not an outcome of just an intervention butpersistent efforts that shall also provide the right eco-system. Ensure crystal clear goals for Hi Po programs.Are you developing them for the next level roles or is itjust a glamorous activity? Go ahead only if you believeand see a need for it. Yes! It has to make a "businesssense", period!

2. Go agile -Your landscape may change by the time youhave a framework ready. Hence be responsive to changeby staying agile. This is an era of "dynamism" with newthrilling revelations every day!Your Hi Po programsmust be continuously evaluated.


In view of business vision,decide if the focus is toretain Hi POs or Hi Pros orboth; strategize yourtalent score card. Youmay want to retain Hi Prosif the legacy skills, domainexpertise have a greaterinfluence on CSAT scoresand revenues to ensurestability. If you haveaggressive ramp-up plansand foresee verticalgrowth openings, youmay want an intensifiedfocus to retain Hi POs.

NEETUBALA RAINA KOULPrincipal HR Advisor & HR professional, Pune

HiPo-Worlddisruptions


3. Simplify to involveleadership - Thriving ina matrix set up is not acakewalk; in addition,complex frameworks maytake away the conviction.The foundation you layshall decide themagnitude of impact youcan create, so simplifyframeworks. Secondly,involvement of theleaders is key to ascertainthis journeyismeaningful; all partieshave to drive Hi Poprograms with an equalpassion. So cherry-pickyour "drivers" but allowthem to opt-in or opt-outin the very beginning.

4. Heart to Heart connect -Let Hi Pos reveal innerworries and help thememerge out of it. You'vemade this investment forboth parties to reap thebenefits, be assured youboth wish to see success.Also, Hi Pos mustnavigate their wayadeptly through stressfulpatches like anoverbearing manager,peer rivalry etc. Re-strengthen your Hi Po'smental emotional system,which shall eventuallyinfluence their "intent tostay."

5. Head to Headalignment- Let themknow HiPo's label is not aone-time victory but it hasto be earned relentlessly.Also, take care they don'tsuffer "burnout" as mostof your HiPos may not say"NO" to the tasksassigned. Update themabout milestones reached,challenges ahead &support system created toenable success. Rewardthemwell and in time. Wintheir rationalcommitment and hence"discretionary effort" forhigher performance.

6. Leadership that inspires- Createrole models withright attitude. Leadership connect is a strong retentionlever for Hi Pos, as they aspire to become what their"role models" are today! Take care, as things may fallapart when you become oblivious to the fact that yourleaders too deserve genuine attention. They are your HiPos as well! HiPos at all levels are a hot commodity!

7. Inclusive Talent System- It is the topmost level ofTalent Maturity Model by Bersin (Deloitte). For a justand global approach to talent management, you mustinfuse diversity while inculcating a culture ofinclusion. Your workforce dynamics are highlyinfluenced by diversity at leadership and peer levels asthat further impacts the "feeling of inclusion". Culturalissues like nepotism, favoritism are automaticallydiscouraged in a landscape that respects diversity andinclusion.

So start reviewing. With disruptions and increasingglobalization, what are the 20% efforts that would fetch80% results? In view of your business vision, decide if thefocus is to retain Hi Pos or Hi Pros or both; strategize yourtalent score card. You may want to retain Hi Pros if thelegacy skills, domain expertise have a greater influence onCSAT scores and revenues to ensure stability. If you haveaggressive ramp-up plans and foresee vertical growthopenings, you may want an intensified focus to retainHiPos while strengthening your capability plan to mitigatethe risk of "knowledge leak". Your Hi Pros will ensurestability and Hi Pos will enable growth.If you do not"disrupt" your traditional ways of dealing with business,customers or people, you would only disrupt energies,curbing movement and progress thereby.

Disruptions could erupt into a success story, so disrupt tothrive in the age of disruption!



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As we are awarethat the HighPotential Talenthelps absorbingthe business

bumps and establishes aculture of internal talentmovement acrossorganisations. Retention ofHigh -potential Talent also isvery critical and brings moreflexibility into the workplaceand also scalability ofindividuals which help themand others in associating

with the organisation for a longer period of time. We haveobserved that any major flaws in either identifying highpotential talent or in their progress may lead to gaps in theprogram which reduces its effectiveness.

Basis my experience, I have listed down some of thecomponents which have helped in providing the successfulintent through such programs for the business results.

1. Hi Potential career path is linked to the identificationand development of individuals who are critical for thebusiness, critical for succession planning and also haveexhibited business results through their performance.

2. It is very important for the business leaders to have theabove considerations in developing this program byidentifying the right people who would be part of thisprogram.


Identifying End

State

Development

Plan Execution

Career Path

and Growth

Retention of High -potential Talent is very

critical and brings moreflexibility into the

workplace and alsoscalability of individuals

which help them andothers in associating with

the organisation for alonger period of time.

VIKAS KHOKHADirector - Human Resources, Zimmer India

Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon

Hi - Pot Talent design& mapping


3. Post the identification ofpeople it is imperative toidentify their next role orthe target role and thedevelopment areas theyneed to cover for thatparticular role which hasbeen identified for themincludingthe timeframefor achieving the same.

4. The critical component inretaining hi-potentialtalent is defining theircareer path and ensuringthat focussed effort is put

in by supervisors inattaining the developmentareas for the identifiedpopulation.

5. The identified individualsare subjected to anassessment centre whichhelps in identifying thecompetencies & skillswhich need to be workedupon in order to achievetheir respective areas ofachievements. Listingdown the competenciesand skills would certainlyhelp us in understand thegeographies of the jobsthat they would performor are performing.

6. The correct definition ofthe results is also a keycomponent in identifyingthe career definition of an

individual.

7. Hi-pot program need not necessary link the successionplanning of critical identified positions however ishighly based on person and linked to how a person isestablishing across the organisation. However, due tothis we may be able to create a succession planning ofsome of the roles in the organisation.

8. Necessary documentation of the data is establishedinorder to rule out the possibilities for the supervisorchanges to impact this.

9. A cross functional buy-in could also be established to beable to secure the dialogues incase of changes inimmediate supervisors.

10. Needless to mention that the entire process needs to

have a strong business buy-in signed off by therespective supervisors or stakeholders.

11. Post the identification and development basis theidentified results or measure of success, rewards couldbe mapped which are linked to either long term stabilityor achieving desired results with associated clauses.

12. A fool proof review mechanism by the respectivestakeholders after an identified period of time becomescritical for the sustainability and continuity of thisprogram.

13. I have also seen involvement of external partners helpsthe organisation in identification and assessment ofcompetencies for the identified people and their currentand future roles.

As I have come across the above process, I have observedorganisations deriving benefits in creating performancebench which is linked to the vision of the organisation.Necessary evaluation on the value chain also helps inlooking at talent matrix within the organisation which isderived either from continuity of talent within the sameorganisation or the achievement of the business resultswhich the identified portfolio of the persons involved.



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In today's world, whatdifferentiates asuccessful organisationfrom others is the waythey manage their

organisational talent. Focushas now shifted in terms oflooking at the potential &capabilities of employeesrather than the performance,which was like looking inrear view mirror whiledriving the vehicle.

In current scenario, major concerns of every CEO orCHRO are to find their High-potential employees, to makethe most of their capabilities and simultaneously preparethem for the future leadership roles. In classical oldfashioned organisations, the employees climbed the ladderwith help of seniority, qualifications, loyalty, hard workand/or higher performance. However,today the forwardlooking organisationsconsider potential of theiremployees for assigning the strategic and leadership roles.

Many leaders wonder, as how to identify these Hi-POs inour organisation. Here are some quick ways to discernthem:

a) Initiative: Today's Hi-POs tend to pick up problemsthey face, take them in their stride and work to resolvethem. They are far more comfortable to work beyondtheir role boundaries.Like one of our new entry-levelemployee demonstrated courage to reach out to theCHRO to suggest very apt changes in company policyand backed it up with initial study andrecommendations.

b) Promotes co-operation: These Hi-POs find it very easyto extend or ask for help, not limited by variousorganisational boundaries. Some time ago, we had arequirement to depute our bright young engineer toclient's premises for a typical problem resolution. He dida marvellous job there, but that's not the point. Hebecame part of client team so well that their ManagingDirector mistook him as his own employee!Due to thiscapability, they find it very easy to sail through inachieving success.

c) Operate with a higher perspective: The Hi-POs lookat the problem from a very different perspective. While


Major concerns of every CEOor CHRO are to find their High-potential employees, to makethe most of their capabilitiesand simultaneously preparethem for the future leadershiproles. In classical old fashionedorganisations, the employeesclimbed the ladder with help ofseniority, qualifications, loyalty,hard work and/or higherperformance. However, todaythe forward lookingorganisations considerpotential of their employeesfor assigning the strategic andleadership roles.

KETAN BHATTVice President (HR), Head of global HR service delivery,Secure Meters Limited, Udaipur

Identifying the HI-Pos


others are generallycaught up in operationalarguments, they talkabout customer delight,benefit to stake-holders,long term sustainability,'is this what we trulybelieve in' etc.

d) Highly Persuasive: Theyare not dominating, butstill very authentic inlight oftheir perspective.They can win the debatevery easily and bring inthe consensus within theteam effortlessly.

e) Leveraging strengths:They have ability toidentify and exploit thestrength of each memberin achieving the goalwithout being trapped inboundaries at functionalor organisational level.

Each organisation havethese High POs but are notable to benefit much sincethey are not assignedstrategically important roles.We typically find them as:

a) Consistent highperformers: Looking atan employee performing

consistently high especially in cross functionalboundary roles. But the question to be asked is,'are suchemployees involved in solving right problem?'

b) Shining under a 'successful' manager: Look forpossibilities wherein a high performing manager'saccomplishments are due to a High-PO's contribution.

c) Caught up in day to day: Due to their superior workefficiencies, they are assigned an important, but routinework. While they perform very well, it deprives theorganisation in utilising their full potential.

d) Dissatisfied under a bad manager: In organisations,we have many over-promoted clerks now holdingmanager's position. Our Hi-Pos under them are inconstant conflict in opposing the mediocrity.

So, many organisations really end up with a case of atalent wasted. Now, in order tooptimally benefit from these Hi-POs,below are some possible ways:

a) Involvement in a stretchedassignment/project especiallyinvolving higher complexities withcross geography and cross culturalparticipation.

b) Job rotation to a more challengingor strategic assignment.

c) Sponsor them for an appropriatemanagement development program toprepare them for future strategic/leadership role. These are the guy who will make best of the buck spenton it.

d) Change Manager especially if it isa case of over promoted clerks.

e) Let them be mentored by top orsenior leadership team forchannelising their potential in rightdirection.

There is also a shift in the waytoday's Hi-POs prefer to be engaged in

the project or regular assignment like:

a) Far higher level of flexibility in the role they play. Asdifficulty level changes / shifts from one domain toanother, Hi-POs like to change their position for thebenefit of work.

b) They are far more equipped to handle ambiguity incertain part of work, or structure, or project goals andcan adapt easily to changing scenario.

c) They could beprovided flexibility in terms of place andtimings of work as the outcome is far more important tothem.

In nut shell, we see that today, the organisations whichidentify their Hi-POs, leverage most from their potentialare able togrow faster and progressfar better towards theirstrategic goals. They are also able to engage and retaintheir Hi-POs far better.

Finally, it is survival of the fittest.



BM


Companies keep wondering why there is so muchof retention rate in their company instead ofproviding world class facilities to the employeeswhy they are not satisfied and what do theyneed? Why employees don't stay with them and

when those employees leave again hiring the replacementto become a pain for companies and of course it involvestraining cost, hiring cost for the employer and make sure ifthe new employee is satisfied with the new environment.

One of the simple solution and answers to this questionof an employer is career mapping of employees I would sayone of the best retention methods where employee andemployer both get the clear idea of the road they will bewalking alongside with each other.


Career mapping is preparing oneself for the future career, which requires a deepunderstanding of skills and abilities which one should be identified with and plan to

take it further. Career mapping ensures availability of people with efficient skills andhighly talented employees which is the fair chance for employers to maintain relationswith employees and enhance them personally and professionally which is the effective

tool to retain employees.

Career mapping- tool to motivate

Aakansha JunejaHR Consultant, Mumbai


CAREER MAPPING- TOOL TO MOTIVATE

For an employee careermapping is an eye site wherehe can judge which employeehe can train according to hisneeds of business which willbe beneficial for him infuture and he does not needto hire anyone else whichdissolve the hiring cost,training cost and other costrelated to it and of course itshows how sticking to oneorganization for longerperiod can be beneficial toemployees. This kind ofactivities also become eyecandy for another talent alsowho urge to come to ourorganisation as they knowthe future benefits.Especially for the tech folks,it is very important thattheir path should be clearand they should be clear witha vision of what's next.

Career mapping is likeGPS in your career whichwill guide employees whichpath to choose, though willshow many routes to anindividual but one needs todecide which path they wantto walk on. For employees, iftheir talent and skills arebeen identified and nurturedby the employer, they tend toshow their loyalty towardsthe company for longerperiod of time. Careermapping also helps to planand bridge the gap of who tohire next or the existingemployee can be trained.

Purely if we define careermapping is preparing oneselffor the future career, which

requires a deep understanding of skills and abilities whichone should be identified with and plan to take it further.Career mapping ensures availability of people withefficient skills and highly talented employees which is thefair chance for employers to maintain relations withemployees and enhance them personally andprofessionally which is the effective tool to retainemployees. Somewhere, down the line, it also helps insuccession planning for employees. Employees on seniorlevel who leave the organisation their work can be handedover to other employees till the time replacement doesn'tcome or things don't get in place. Through this stepsometimes young talent also emerges who can handle allthe responsibilities at very young age and very efficiently,and young talent also give a wide and different perspectiveto see the industry and turn the tables for the companywhich may take things at the different level which couldnot be even predicted within the organisation. It deepensthe ability to communicate with employee and employerand also give strength to the employee to do multitaskingwhich is one of the important factors which employersnowadays look out in employees while hiring.

Career Mapping also helps to mold employees in a wayhow employer want it and at every stage, employees

become flexible of adapting to things which previouslythey were restricting themselves to do, which widen uptheir area of ability to learn things in and out theorganisation.

Every after the point of time if the session with senioris done of employees they get a clear picture of what's nextthat makes them motivated to learn and grasp things fasterthan other employees in the industry do as they keepthemselves engaged with present and future trendsbasically of the industry. To perform an activity by anemployee also decreases as they perform every task whichis planned for them and as they see the kind of importancethey get from the organisation they also tend to stay withthat organisation with the longer period of time.

I believe career mapping is one of the important factorand efficient tool to motive an employee and to retain themwhich also give an advantage to employer to get an ideawhich employee has hidden talent in them and who cantake their organisation further and to greater heights,which also gives a distinct image of an employee tohimself.


BM


H ow your organizationcan drive a strategichuman resources

advantage.

In kicking off the 2017CEO Talent Summit, formerProcter & Gamble CEO A.G.Lafley made a comment thatresonated with businessleaders gathered for two daysof discussions on developinga strategic human resourcesadvantage.

"When I joined P&G in themid- '70s they selected me,"he said. "When you hiretoday, the candidates areselecting you at least asmuch as you are selectingthem. And then every fewmonths, every few years,they are reselecting you."

That fundamental shift isjust one of several driversreshaping the way

companies approach hiring, nurturing, developing andretaining talent. It's increasingly apparent that, in order tobuild and maintain an effective workforce in today'sintense war for talent, companies need to understand andaddress these 5 themes.

1. Digital transformation is changing expectationson both sides of the talent equation- employer andemployee. The same technological advancementsupending business models-the Internet of Things, mobilecommerce, robotics and additive manufacturing-are alsoreshaping the kind of workforce today's companies need inorder to adapt and evolve. As John Minor, president andchief investment officer at Jobs Ohio, pointed out, "There'sa big disconnect between the skill sets that workers havetoday and the skill sets that are needed by companies.That's an enormous challenge in the workforce today."

The demands that digitally savvy employees make onemployers are, in turn, redefining the employmentequation, noted Carolyn Tastad, P&G's group president,North America. "Digital transformation is changing ourexpectations of what we need from our employees, and it'salso changing the expectations that the new talent base hasof us," she said.

Workers willing to and capable of embracing digitaltechnologies tend to demand transparency from employers


K.S. AhluwaliaExecutive Coach and Mentor- Excalibre, Noida

Creating a Winning STRATEGY

Purpose actually holds broad appeal. Employees, regardlessof demographics and across all industries, are increasinglyattracted to companies where they can feel that they aredoing meaningful work-and tend to stay longer and performbetter when that are the case.


CREATING A WINNING STRATEGY

(both in terms of what isexpected of them and whatthey can expect in terms of acareer path) and to place apremium on things likework-life balance and aculture of inclusion.

At the same time,retrofitting these elementsinto established companieswith hierarchical structuresis a challenge manycompanies are struggling tonavigate. "To reach out tothat talent set, you have to becompletely transparent,"explained Metayer. "As avery hierarchicalorganization, that level oftransparency is not one weare used to."

2. Purpose can play apowerful role in attractingand engaging talent.Popular perception holdsthat younger workers place apremium on purpose when itcomes to choosinge m p l o y e r s - p r o a c t iv e l yseeking out jobs where theycan feel that they'recontributing somethingworthwhile. Businessleaders, however, reportedthat purpose actually holdsbroad appeal. Employees,regardless of demographicsand across all industries, areincreasingly attracted tocompanies where they canfeel that they are doingmeaningful work-and tend tostay longer and performbetter when that are the case.

Bruce Pfau, Ph.D.,KPMG's vice chair of humanresources andc o m m u n i c a t i o n s ,experienced this when hiscompany invited workers toparticipate in an online

initiative by sharing their "higher purpose at work" stories.The response was enthusiastic, with 10,000 storiessubmitted in the first three weeks alone, a number thatswelled to 42,000 in the months following. "We thought theresponses would come from our younger workers, butwhen we actually looked at them we found that 50 percentwere coming from people over age 35," he reported. "Itturned out everyone wants to have a sense of meaning andimpact from their work, not just millennia's.

3. Traditional workspaces and work methods needto be reconsidered. Beyond purpose, employeesincreasingly want more control of when, where and howthey work-and companies offering such flexibility find iteasier to hire and retain top talent. That's proved the casefor Watt Global Media, where CEO Greg Watt adopted aResults Only Work Environment (ROWE) that entirelyeliminated the need for any of its employees to come intothe office-ever. "It's about equal parts autonomy andaccountability," he explained. "It comes from the conceptthat work is not where you go, it's what you do."

Watt said that "treating people like adults" byperformance goal-setting and providing ongoing feedbackthat "manages the work not the people" has led to greaterproductivity, as well as improvements in recruitment andretention. "Our top line has gone up every year since weimplemented it, and our operating margins are the bestwe've ever had in the history of the company," he said.

While less dramatic, P&G has also revisited some of itsapproaches to nurturing talent, noted Mark Biegger, chiefhuman resources officer at P&G, who said that thecompany has dialed back on its tradition of movingemployees into new businesses and new locations everyfew years. A decade ago, it wasn't unusual for the head of abusiness unit to be moved over to manage a completelydifferent business unit in a different country.

Over the past 10 years, P&G also made a big investmentin building a talent-planning data infrastructure thatinforms career planning for all of its employees around theworld. "We literally have a talent profile that bringstogether everything the company knows about everyperson in the organization," explained Biegger. "Theirassignment and compensation history, what categoriesthey've worked on, what markets they've worked in, who alltheir previous managers and mentors have been-it's allthere. That reporting capability gives us easy access to thedata we need to make decisions. You really can't do goodtalent planning without pretty good data."

4. Bridging the generational divide is critical foralignment. For many companies, aligning workers frommultiple generations around a common purpose is proving


For many companies, aligning workers from multiple generationsaround a common purpose is proving difficult. Seasoned employeessteeped in essential industry knowledge often feel threatened byyounger employees eager to bring their skills to the table. Meanwhile,millennials can feel stifled by their more experienced colleagues.


CREATING A WINNING STRATEGY

difficult. Seasonedemployees steeped inessential industryknowledge often feelthreatened by youngeremployees eager to bringtheir skills to the table.Meanwhile, millennia's canfeel stifled by their moreexperienced colleagues.

P&G uses mentoringprograms to encouragecollaboration among itsmultigenerational workforceand to help bringexperienced workers up tospeed on new technologies."We do reverse mentoring,matching new people comingin with skill sets they'vedeveloped organically withthose within who have a deepknowledge base," P&G'sTastad said. "Unleashing thebest of both is something wetry to be intentional about."

5. Cultivating“Intrepreneurial” thinkingis a new imperative. Goneare the days when large,long-established companiescould count on deeplyingrained processes vettedover time to carry them intothe future. Yet that is exactlywhat most largeorganizations do, notedMichael Arena, chief talentofficer at General Motors."We grow up these enormousentities, we lock them in, westructure them, we buildprocesses, rigor andprocedures," he said. "Andthen ultimately, we cannotrespond when the marketdictates it."

Yet, encouraginginnovation, and the risks itinvariably entails, can bedifficult for companies likeP&G, noted CEO DavidTaylor, who added thatfreeing employees to thinkand act like entrepreneursrepresents a huge shift for a$76 billion global company.Once a process is well-established, a company-and,

by extension, its employees-loses the capacity for change,behavior Taylor likens to that of a circus elephant."Sometimes a chained elephant will fight the chain for awhile, but then, if you cut the chain, he will still staywithin that circle," he explains. "If you have processes thatencumber people for an extended period of time, thenwhen you change the process they're like that elephant-nothing changes."

P&G's Innovation Initiatives

Long lauded for the deeply instilled processes thatenabled it to build household-name brands, P&G hasstruggled to continue that winning streak over the pastdecade. Under CEO David Taylor, who was charged withaddressing that issue when he took the helm in 2015, thecompany is looking to reignite the innovation engine byaccessing ideas from frontline employees who engagedirectly with consumers of the household products it sells.

"The U.S. ad showed someone putting a couch on top of acar and taking it through the car wash," recounted Taylor."The category went from declining 3 percent to growingalmost 10 percent and we particularly prospered. Thatwhole idea came from junior people in homes observingcustomers interacting with the brand. It would not havecome up in our Cincinnati headquarters.


Encouraging innovation, and the risks itinvariably entails, can be difficult for companieslike P&G, noted CEO David Taylor, who added thatfreeing employees to think and act likeentrepreneurs represents a huge shift fora $76 billion global company.

BM



Iwant to address how we manage individuals,and their performance.Clearly, this is a vastsubject that requires lots of details and substantial discussion. However, there are twoquestions that I hear all the time related to this subject - how do we manage high-performing employees, and how do we manage poor-performing employees?

First, it is important to explain what exactly we mean when we say someone is a high-performer? It may sound simple enough, but the truth is that the answer to this question israther complex! Let me explain - in most organizations, the performance evaluation process isseen as a necessary evil. In other words, it is seen as something that needs to be done becauseHR keeps reminding the department head that appraisals are due,or threatening to complainto the GM or the CEO, and so on. Rarely do we find organizations where individual employeesand their managers eagerly await the arrival of appraisal season. Unless, of course, theindividual is a high-performer! So, how did they get to be known as high-performers? Ofcourse,there are individuals in every organization and in every job category that do a good jobday in and day out. However, most of these individuals are probably not categorized as high-performers. They are simply seen as solid citizens, and not paid any special attention. This isironic, as they are the ones who need the most attention. I will come back this group in asubsequent issue.

In the meantime, back to the extreme performers. First, let's deal with the so-called high-performers. In my opinion,there are three groups within this category.The first group typicallyconsists of individuals who have objectively exceeded expectations on most performancedimensions for a sustained period of time. Then there are those individuals who may do anoutstanding job in one year and get classified as high performers, after which they ride ontheir reputations. The third group comprises individuals who know how to get classified ashigh-performers, even though their performance may not warrant such classification. Often,this entails getting into the boss's in-group! Of course, each of these groups is unique, andneeds to be treated accordingly.

Group 1 - The true high-performers: These are individuals who are talented, who workhard, and consistently excel at what they do. These are the folks that need to beacknowledged, rewarded, and retained. So, how do we go about doing this? First, it isimportant that we measure their performance objectively, against established goals andstandards. This is critical in order to establish the legitimacy of their classification as high-performers, but also because this is the only way to ensure that others know what they needto do to achieve high-performer status if they so choose. Next, it is important that theperformance of high-performers is formally evaluated,and they are given specific and detailedfeedback, so they understand how they may continue to perform at the highest levels. Ofcourse, it is critical that they are rewarded appropriately - bearing in mind that the rewardsdon't always have to be monetary, but they do have to be commensurate with performancelevels! At the same time, it should be made clear that the classification as high-performer is forthe period under review, and needs to be achieved each year, in the context of theorganization's changing goals and targets. Finally, if we are truly interested in fostering andsustaining a culture of high-performance, it is absolutely critical that the high performerclassification is awarded to every individual who achieves it, based on objective evaluations,not to just a small percentage of those who actually achieved it. As I have noted in the past(and will, no doubt, discuss again in the future), the bell-curve is nothing but a failed andflawed manipulation tool that serves a few in the short run, but hurts many in the long run!Most importantly, it hurts the organization's long-term goals and objectives.

Group 2 - The high-potentials: These folks need special attention. They havedemonstrated that they have the talent and are able to perform at the highest levels.But, theymay not be consistently performing at the highest levels.This is where managers need to findout the reasons that these individuals are not performing up to potential. It could be anynumber of reasons - but,often it is because they feel they are not appreciated enough,or theyfeel that they are not treated fairly by their supervisors and/or the organization, in general.Very often, these very folks are victims of the bell-curve - they actually performed at thehighest levels,but were not awarded the deserved ratings,and asked to continue to work hardso they may get the highest ratings the following year! This is one of the biggest fraudsperpetrated on high-performers by the bell-curve lobby. In what other field would one askhigh performers to accept a lower-than deserved outcome, but continue to perform at thehighest levels, and hope to get just rewards in the future? There is no doubt in my mind thatthe proponents of the forced distribution method have no idea how to fairly and objectivelyevaluate individual performance, or just don't want to do it right. In either case, it is unfair tothe employees, and ultimately detrimental to the organization.

Group 3 - The pretenders: This group is perhaps the most problematic of the three,because these folks aren't really high performers, but somehow or the other they havemanaged to get classified as such, and manage to hold on to their classification through avariety of creative means. So, for example, they may have ingratiated themselves into theirmanager's in-group through doing him/her a favor, or they may share the same backgroundas their manager (e.g.they both went to the same college,or both are fans of a particular sportteam,etc.).Clearly, those outside this circle figure this out soon enough,and this takes a toll ontheir own commitment and performance. If we truly want to conduct fair and just evaluations,especially of those who work with high integrity, this group, and the very practice of creating"in-groups" must be disbanded - period.

And next to discuss about managing average and poor performers!

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Putting the Human Back in HR

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Q. Our few employees are active in forming aunion. In night shift, they are gettingmembership forms signed from other workersand collecting the union membership fee.Management is annoyed and want toterminate all such union activists becausetheir action is deemed against themanagement. Can we terminate them on thisground?

Ans. No! First of all, interfering in unionformation or terminating the workers on thiscause is declared as unfair labour practice underschedule V of the ID Act. for which managementcan be prosecuted. Second, union formation is astatutory right provided by the trade unions Actto the members of any such formation. Tradeunion is meant to regulate the relationship ofemployer and employees. So, formation of aunion by your workers can not be termed asmisconduct for which you can terminate theirservices. Management has no right to interferedirectly or indirectly in formation of union byworkers. It is a matter of workers' choice.

Yes, if you get a complaint from some personsabout collecting the money against their wishand forcefully getting their signatures onmembership form or intimidating them for notdoing so, you can take disciplinary action forthis misconduct. But if it is established that theworkers have been victimized for the reason ofactive role in union formation, court can setaside the termination and reinstate theworkmen. It has been so held by Mad. HC in thecase of Thangaraj A vs. Presiding officer, labourcourt, Madurai, 2008, LLR, 892.

Q. Is there any prescribed format of givingcomplaint to management in respect ofsexual harassment and how enquiry is to bedone on any such complaint, because in theSexual harassment of women at workplace

(PPR) Act 2013 and rules, there is no suchclarity. Can you remove my confusion as it isthe first matter in our company?

Ans. There is no prescribed format for givingcomplaint by the aggrieved woman who feelsthat she been subject to sexual harassment. Shecan narrate the incident on plain paper withdate, time, place and nature of incidence andname of the person who has harassed himsexually. The complaint has to be in six copiesalong with support documents and name ofwitnesses. If the victim is unable to submit thecomplaint in person, she can authorize someother person or his friend or relative to file thecomplaint. It should be filed within 3 monthsfrom the date of last incident of harassment incase of series of incidents. Internal complaintcommittee comprising of 4 members have tocomplete the inquiry within 90 days. Theenquiry has to be conducted by followingprinciples of natural justice, where therespondent will be provided fair opportunity todefend himself. The enquiry is same as youconduct in case of disciplinary action againstemployee. The language of the enquiryproceeding should be in the language which iscommonly understood by in the respondent.After completing the enquiry, the committee willsubmit is report to the management with therecommendations of penalty to be imposed. Thecopy of such report/findings is also to beprovided to both complainant and respondent.The enquiry is to be conducted in confidentialmanner and the name or identity of theaggrieved woman is to not to be disclosed.

Q. What is the time period for the workmanto raise dispute and Govt. to make referenceagainst the employer?

Ans. The Industrial dispute Act has beenamended in 2010 and by virtue of amended Sec.


LABOUR PROBLEMS & SOLUTONS www.businessmanager.in

Anil Kaushik Management Expert -HR & IR

Solutions provided here are in context to narrated facts & not in general.

LINE

Interfering in unionformation orterminating theworkers on thiscause isdeclared asunfair labourpractice underschedule V ofthe ID Act.

2A, individual workman has to file his claimwithin three years from the date of discharge ordismissal. However, for the industrial disputes ofcollective nature there is no time duration fixedfor raising the dispute. The same law applieswith the Govt. when deciding for making areference on such dispute. Because theLimitation Act, 1963 is not applicable on theclaims arising under Industrial Dispute Act,1947. For referring the dispute for adjudicationthe only limitation is existence or apprehensionof industrial dispute as held by Supreme Courtin the case of Sapan Kumar Pandit v. U.P.S.E.B.and others 2001 (90) FLR 754. It is governed byreasonableness only which is to be adjudicatedby the Tribunal and Labour Courts. However,stale claims of 4-13 years have been rejectedeither by the Govt. or by the courts.

Same principle applies in respect of claimapplication under section 33-C (2) of the Act. Butit does not mean that the workmen are free toraise the dispute or to prefer a claim at muchbelated stage without any rhyme and reason.Courts have discussed the issue in catena ofdecisions considering the interest of all theconcerned parties by holding that merit of thecases must not be thrown only on thetechnicalities of delay, as well as the employer onthe other side should not be kept in suchembarrassing position in which they cannoteven produce the relevant documents. In thisregard Supreme Court in the case ofNedumgadi Bank Ltd. v. K.P. Madhav Kutty 2000(84) FLR 673 has held that the dispute raised atmuch belated stage, may not be treated that thereis existence or apprehension of industrialdispute. In this case the delay was of 7 yearswhich was considered as fatal.

In "M/s. Shalimar Works Ltd. v. Their Workmen"AIR 1959 SC 1217 (delay was of 4 years) it is heldthat for belated cases the management may havedifficulty to keep and protect the relevant recordsto prove the case. Following the principle ofdecisions, Patna HC in the case of SecretaryBarauni Tel Sodhak Mazdoor Union v. PresidingOfficer, Central Government Industrial Tribunal-2 Dhanbad and others 1992 LLR 817 has held thatno time limit is fixed to refer the dispute undersection 10 as well as to make an applicationunder section 33-C (2) of the Industrial DisputesAct, but in spite of the fact that no time limit isfixed, even then it is well settled that IndustrialTribunal and the Labour Courts shoulddiscourage the over stale claims unlesssatisfactory explanation is there. It is furtherheld that where the management would be put toundue financial burden with far reachingpecuniary consequences, such stale cases shouldnot be entertained specially under section 33-C(2)of the Act, 1947.

Q. We are coming up with a factory and forconstruction of the building we have engagedone construction company. Our contract is intwo parts. One is about material supply by theconstruction company and other is aboutlabour and equipments charges etc. Myquestion is (1) who is supposed to pay BOCW

cess- we/contractor or sub-contractor? (2) Onwhat value BOCW cess is applicable i.e. onvalue of supply of material or value ofservices or both?

Ans. BOCW Act [Building & Other constructionworkers (Regulation of employment andconditions of services) Act 1996 applies to everyestablishment which employs, or had employedon any day of the preceding 12 months, 10 ormore building workers in any building or otherconstruction work.

Since you are employing through contractormore than 10 building construction workers, theAct is applicable on this establishment.According to sec. 2(f), establishment meansanybody corporate or firm, an individual orother body of individuals which or who employsbuilding workers in any building or otherconstruction work and includes an establishmentbelonging to a contractor. It makes clear thatcontractor as well as establishment who employsbuilding worker through contractor falls underthe coverage of the act.

Act has also clarified under sec. 2(i)(iii) thatcontractor will be deemed as employer inrelation to the establishment where building orother construction work is carried on by throughhim by employment of building constructionworkers.

In view of the above legal position you as well ascontractor as well as sub-contractor will bedeemed as employer and establishment for thepurpose of paying the cess. MP High Court in thecase of Prakash Mahaveer vs State of MP (2004) 2MP L J 383, has also held that definition ofemployer includes in relation to a building orother construction work carried on by orthrough a contractor, or by the employment ofbuilding workers supplied by a contractor, thecontractor. Thus, contractor is an employer inrelation to a building or other construction workwhich is carried on through a contractor or bythe employment of building workers supplied bythe contractor. Therefore, contractor is anemployer for the purpose of sec.3 of the cess Actand cess can be recovered from the contractor.

As far as your second part of question isconcerned, cess will be paid at such rate notexceeding 2% but not less than 1% of the cost ofconstruction incurred by employer. It is clearlystated in sec. 3 of the BOCW Welfare Cess Act1996. Rule 3 of BOCW Welfare cess Rules 1998says that for the purpose of levy of cess undersub sec. 1 of sec. 3 of act, cost of constructionshall include all expenditure incurred byemployer in connection with the building orother construction work but shall not include-cost of land and any compensation paid orpayable to a worker or his kin under WC Act1923.

So, in your case cess is payable on the cost ofconstruction including value of material supplyand value of services.


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Cess ispayable on the cost ofconstructionincludingvalue ofmaterialsupply andvalue ofservices.

AbandonmentWhen the workman himself is not interested in workingwith the management and not reporting for duty, it is anabandonment of service by him and cannot be termed aswrongful dismissal.

The petitioner was in the employment of the Respondent andhe claimed to have worked with the Respondent from 1988 to2006 and thereafter his services were terminated. He thereforeraised and industrial dispute which was referred to theLabour Court for adjudication. The Labour Court held that thePetitioner had himself abandoned the services and thereforehis claim for reinstatement in service with back wages wasdismissed. Feeling aggrieved, the Petitioner filed the presentwrit petition to challenge his dismissal from service.

The High Court referred to the judgment of the Labour Courtand observed that there was clear evidence to show that thePetitioner had abandoned the service and that he was notwilling to report to duty though he was called by theManagement to join duties on several occasions. The HighCourt therefore, held that the finding recorded by the LabourCourt was correct and it does not call for any interference.Hence, the petition was dismissed.

Rakesh Kumar vs. Management of M/s. D.K. Garments. 2017CLR I P. 466 (Delhi H.C.)

AwardOnce the award passed by the Tribunal has already beenset aside, in the petition filed by the Management to

challenge the award, the relief prayed for by theworkman-petition by filing another petition, is notsustainable.

In a case of proved misappropriation, irrespective of the factthat whether the amount is large or small, the question ofconsidering the past record of the employee does not arisesince it is discretion of the employer to consider the same.

Powers under Section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947,are required to be exercised judiciously and not mechanically.

Jamnadas Panchanabahi Bilidia vs. Divisional Controller,G.S.R.T.C. 2017 LLR 445 (Guj. H.C.)

Back WagesHeavy burden is upon the Management to prove byadducing cogent evidence that the workman has beengainfully employed during the intervening period fromthe date of termination till the date of his reinstatement.

Welcome Group Searock vs. Mr. Kashinath Iyer and Another.2017 LLR 352 (Bom. H.C.)

Granting back wages with reinstatement in every case ofillegal termination is not a straight jacket formula.

Without conducting enquiry to the effect that the workmandid not remain gainfully employed during the interveningperiod, granting back wages is not justified.

Illegally terminated employee from his services should not bedenied reinstatement unless there are some other weighingreasons for adopting the course of grant of compensationinstead of reinstatement.



RECENT IMPORTANT LABOUR JUDGMENTS

Secretary, Panposh Cooperative Land Development Bank Ltd.vs. Khetrabasi Tripathy and Others. 2017 LLR 438 (Orissa H.C.)

Awarding full back wages to the workman when thecompany has already been closed is not proper.

Instead of full back-wages from the date of termination to thedate of closure, a lumpsum compensation, is the proper reliefto the workman.

Rustom Spinners Ltd. vs. Amratji Shivaji Thakore. 2017 LLR442 (Guj. H.C.)

BOCW ActIf registration under Factories Act is obtained, labourCess under the act is not applicable from the date ofregistration.

Cess under Section 2(d) of the Building and otherConstruction workers (Regulation of Employment andConditions of service) Act, 1996 is applicable upon the work ofbuilding structure, done before obtaining registration underthe Factories Act or Mines Act.

If the work of erection of a building or a particular structurecannot be subjected to Factories Act or Mines Act, theexcluding part in Section 2(d) will not be applicable, meaningthereby that the Cess is applicable.

Wardha Power Company Limited vs. The State ofMaharashtra, Department of Labour and Others. 2017 LLR 339(Bom. H.C.)

CompensationKeeping in view long litigation and reaching workmennear the age of superannuation, in lieu of reinstatement,a lumpsum compensation in full and final settlement, isjustified.

Instead of ordering regularization of the workmen, by theCourt, it would be appropriate to direct the Management toemploy regular workmen, giving preference to the workmenin question by relaxing conditions as to age and eligibility.

Workmen, Rastriya Colliery Mazdoor Sangh vs. Bharat CokingCoal Ltd. and Another. 2017 LLR 448 (S.C.)

When on the basis of charges, the delinquent employeehas lost the confidence of the Management, order ofreinstatement with back wages can be substituted bylumpsum amount of compensation.

Management cannot act as complainant, prosecution andjudge.

The enquiry findings are liable to be quashed if the principlesof natural justice have not been followed.

When the Management acts as complainant, prosecution andjudge, in conducting a domestic enquiry, the finding ofenquiry would be illegal being in violation of principles ofnatural justice.

Correspondent, Anaikar Oriental (ARABIC) Higher SecondarySchool and Another vs. Haroon and Another. 2017 LLR 441 (S.C.)

When dismissal of a daily wager is found to be illegal,the relief of reinstatement is not a must and consideringvarious factors, the workman can be compensated bygrant of lump-sum compensation.

Respondent No.2 was appointed as sub staff by the RegionalManager for Indian Bank, Bhubaneswar and was posted atCuttack. He joined his duty on 17.8.1991. It appears that due toillness he proceeded on medical leave. But after his return hewas not allowed to join his duty. Respondent No.2 made agrievance to the Assistant General Manager. However, there

was no response. Hence, he raised an industrial dispute. TheLabour Court after considering the facts and circumstances ofthe case held that the discontinuance of the services ofRespondent No.2 was not legal and justified. However, theLabour Court declined to grant the relief of reinstatementand passed an award of compensation of Rs. 1,50,000/- in lieuof reinstatement. Feeling aggrieved, the PetitionerManagement filed the present writ petition contending thatthe Petitioner did not put in service of 240 days in a calendaryear and therefore the provisions of Section 25-F are notapplicable.

The High Court approved the finding of the Labour Court thatthere was non observance of Section 25-F of the I.D. Act whichstipulates that before retrenchment a notice is required to begiven to the concerned workman. The High Court held that theLabour Court was right in not granting the relief ofreinstatement to Respondent No.2. It was pointed out thatRespondent No.2 was appointed as Sub staff against a newvacancy. The Respondent had continuously worked from June1999 to March 2001 and compensation of Rs. 1,50,000/- wasordered to be paid to him in lieu of reinstatement. But,considering the length of service, nature of job and financialconsideration, the High Court found that the compensationwas on higher side. Hence, the High Court reduced the amountof compensation from Rs. 1,50,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- only.Accordingly, the award was modified.

Management of Regional Manager, Indian Bank vs.P.O.C.G.I.T.-cum-Labour & Anr. 2017 CLR I P. 427 (Orissa H.C.)

Co-ooperative SocietyThe provisions of M.P. Co-operative Societies Act willprevail over the provisions of ID Act.

Industrial & Labour Disputes is one of the mattersenumerated in the Concurrent List.

M.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 received the assent of thePresident, hence, Section 55(2) must prevail in the State overthe provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, in regardto term of employment, working conditions and disciplinaryaction.

District Marketing Officer and Another vs. Mehnat KashVipanan Singh, Audyogik Mazdoor Union, Durg. 2017 LLR 438(Chht.garh H.C.)

Court PowersWhen labour court even after holding enquiry fair andproper, reinstate the employee without back-wages forthe misconduct of abusing superior with filthylanguage, after thorough thought to all issues, highcourt declined to interfere.

Punishment of dismissal from service has to be in rarest ofrare cases only in inevitable situations since it is a capitalpunishment.

If the Labour Court has given thorough thought to all issues,writ court cannot re-appreciate the entire evidence for comingto a different view.

Industrial Adjudicator is empowered under Section 11A of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947 to set aside the quantum ofpunishment and/or modify the same with appropriatepunishment, at its discretion giving reason (s) there to.

Writ Court cannot re-appreciate the entire evidence on thecase file for coming to a different view if the IndustrialAdjudicator has already given thorough though to all issues.

The Management of Shrinagar Cinema Theatre vs. Sri S.Thimmaraju Kondapalli. 2017 LLR 418 (Kar. H.C.)


RECENT IMPORTANT LABOUR JUDGMENTS www.businessmanager.in

Disciplinary ProceedingsMerely asking of questions by Enquiry Officer is notagainst principles of natural justice. Enquiry notvitiated.

Enquiry finding is fair and proper when it was held on 4 dates,Presenting Officer submitted his report, union'srepresentative on behalf of workman, chosen by the workmanhimself, cross-examined the management's witness (s),evidence of the workman was recorded, copy of enquiryfinding was supplied to the workman, show cause notice wasserved upon the workman.

Merely asking of questions to the workman by the EnquiryOfficer is not against principles of natural justice.

Enquiry finding is proper when the Enquiry Officer hasconsidered documents including report of reporter,panchnama, evidence led by the parties.

Shri Mahadeo Naik vs. Maharashtra State Road TransportCorporation. 2017 LLR 349 (Bom. H.C.)

In case of charges of criminal nature, absence ofevidence of eye witness will make the enquiry findingsillegal.

Enquiry finding are liable to be set only on the ground of lackof eye/witness of the incident (s) of criminal nature.

An order of dismissal from service is liable to be set asidewhen the enquiry finding on the basis of which the order ofdismissal was based, has been held to be improper.

It is obligatory for the Industrial Adjudicator to frame an issueand decide as to whether the workman is entitled, uponreinstatement, to back-wages or not, irrespective of whetheror not the parties have raised the same.

Failure to frame the issue regarding back-wages will betantamount to failure to exercise jurisdiction since in theabsence of determination of issue, the order Wither grantingor refusing back-wages will be void.

Initial burden showing non-gainful employment is upon theworkman who can discharge the same by simply deposing hislack of gainful employment.

Award of compensation is justified when the termination ofthe workmen is held illegal but the establishment ofmanagement has already been closed and the other workmenhave received closure compensation or VRS as was acceptedby the Union.

For calculation of compensation, when mutually not agreedby the parties, the matter is not to be referred to the LabourCourt for legal determination of the amount of compensation.

Welcome Group Searock vs. Mr. Kashinath Iyer and Another.2017 LLR 352 (Bom. H.C.)

Order of tribunal declaring enquiry illegal cannot bechallenged in High Court being interlocutory order.

Interference by the Writ Court where the challenge in the writpetition is to an interlocutory order is not appropriate.

An order passed while deciding a preliminary issue is aninterlocutory order since the final award is still to be passed.

Challenge to an order in respect of a preliminary issueregarding legality of the enquiry under writ jurisdiction isnot sustainable.

Senior Superintendent of Post Office vs. Kishan Lal Mehra andAnother. 2017 LLR 376 (M.P. H.C.)

Dismissal from service is not sustainable if the enquiryconducted by the employer is vitiated by the LabourCourt.

Enquiry is liable to be quashed if it is not held by following theprinciples of natural justice, not provided opportunity to thedelinquent employee to cross examine the witness of themanagement in the enquiry proceedings, original documentswere not produced though demanded.

For a valid enquiry, generally the following principles wouldemerge:-

(1) The enquiries must be conducted bona fide and caremust be taken to be that enquiries do not become emptyformalities.

(2) If an officer is a witness to any of the incidents whichis the subject matter of the enquiry was initiated on a reportof an officer, then in all fairness, he should not be the EnquiryOfficer. If the said position becomes known after theappointment of the Enquiry Officer, during the enquiry, stepsshould be taken to see that the task of holding an enquiry isassigned to some other officer.

(3) In an enquiry, the employer/department should takesteps first to lead evidence against the workman/delinquentcharged and give an opportunity to him to cross-examine thewitness of the employer. Only thereafter, theworkman/delinquent be asked whether he want to lead anyevidence and asked to give any explanation about the evidenceled against him.

(4) On receipt of the enquiry report, before proceedingfurther, it is incumbent on the part of thedisciplinary/punishing authority to supply a copy of theenquiry report and all concerned materials relied on by theenquiry officer to enable him to offer his views, if any.

Anil Kumar Garg vs. State of U.P. through Prin. Secy. LokNirman Vibhag, Lucknow. 2017 LLR 439 (All. H.C.)

Benefit of acquittal in criminal trial cannot providerelief in disciplinary proceedings.

Labour Court, however, can reduce the quantum ofpunishment in exercise of power under section 11A of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Standard of proof in disciplinary proceeding depends uponpreponderance of probability to arrive at a conclusionwhereas benefit of acquittal, in all circumstances, cannot bemade as basis to provide relief in disciplinary proceeding.

Tulasi Motayya vs. Management of NWKRTC. 2017 LLR 442(Kar. H.C.)

It is within the domain of the employer to hold enquiryand suspend the workman by way of interim measure.

An order granting interim relief to the workman, therebypreventing the employer to hold departmental enquiry againstthe workman and to suspend him is in excess of jurisdictionvested with the Tribunal, needs to be interfered with inexercise 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India.

An order preventing the employer to hold departmentalenquiry against the workman and to suspend him is liable tobe quashed such an action is not prohibited expressly by anyprovisions of law.

Manager Alembic Limited vs. Kanaiyalal Udalbhai Kahar andOthers. 2017 LLR 444 (Guj. H.C.)

DismissalDismissal justified for using forged document fordrawing additional monetary benefits.

When the Issuing authority of a certificate has confirmed thatit has never issued it, such a document would stand as a forgedone in evidence without further evidence.



When the efforts on the part of a candidate, on the basis ofdocuments, prove that his such efforts were to substitute thegenuine evidence, it would be a serious misconduct on hispart.

Punishment of dismissal from service is not disproportionateto the gravity of misconduct of forgery.

High Court is not empowered under writ jurisdiction to re-appreciate the evidence but only see whether there is evidencein support of impugned conclusion since the Writ Court haslimited jurisdiction only to examine as to whether on the basisof evidence, the conclusion could have been arrived at.

The Management of State Bank of India vs. Smita SharadDeshmukh and Another. 2017 LLR 430 (S.C.)

Dismissal justified of bus driver causing accidentresulting into two deaths.

Punishment of dismissal from serve is justified on account ofmisconduct on the part of workman who being a bus drivercollided the bus with a truck, resulting into death of 2passengers and injuries to several other passengers.

Punishment of dismissal from service is not disproportionateto the gravity of misconduct of colliding the bus with a truck,resulting into death of 2 passengers and injuries to severalother passengers.

Shri Mahadeo Naik vs. Maharashtra State Road TransportCorporation. 2017 LLR 349 (Bom. H.C.)

Once an act of misappropriation is proved, the onlypunishment available is of dismissal from service.

Labour Court cannot cause an interference in the quantum ofpunishment may appear to be disproportionate until it isshockingly disproportionate to the conscience of the courtsince quantum of amount misappropriated is of nosignificance.

When charge of misappropriation of money stands proved byconducting fair and proper enquiry, punishment of dismissalwould not be disproportionate shocking to the conscience ofthe court.

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, through itsDivisional Controller, Jalgaon vs. Baburao Raoji Shinde(deceased) through L.Rs. 2017 LLR 399 (Bom. H.C.)

Dismissal not justified for the misconduct of trespassingto residential bungalow of manager without any act ofviolence.

Punishment of dismissal on the charge of trespassing toresidential bungalow of Manager for demand withoutcommission of any untoward act of violence or loss to theproperty or any other misconduct is not justified since it is aminor misconduct.

Keeping in view the charge of minor misconduct, themodification of the punishment of dismissal to reinstatementwith 50% back wages by the Labour Court and confirming thesame by the Learned Single Judge does not call forinterference by the writ court.

Denial of the management to meet the demand of theworkmen for merely a coffin for a slain co-worker who wasbrutally murdered on the previous day.

Management Mornoi Tea Estate and Others vs. State of Assamand Others. 2017 LLR 440 (Gau. H.C.)

Employees’ Compensation ActIf surveyor of the insurance company confirms thatdeceased was in employment of the truck owner, therelationship between the vehicle owner and deceasedgets established.

If surveyor appointed by the insurer confirms theemployment of the deceased cleaner on the vehicle, selling ofthe vehicle by its registered owner to someone else, would notchange the nature of employer-employee relationship.

Insurer of the offending vehicle is liable to pay compensationto the dependants of the deceased employment upon thevehicle irrespective of the fact the owner to someone else.

Babbu Miyan and Anr vs. New India Assurance Co. Ltd. AndAnr. 2017 LLR 338 (S.C.)

When the employer applied for employee coverage underESI Act after the date of accident, employee is notentitled to get any relief from ESI and his claim underemployees' Compensation Act is maintainable.

If injured employee is covered under the Employees' StateInsurance Act, 1948, his claim for suffering permanentdisability in any employment accident is not maintainableunder any other Act including Employees' Compensation Act,1923 except benefit under the Employees' State Insurance Act,1948.

Any amount paid by the employer to the injured or hisdependants for his treatment or otherwise would not berecognizable by the Employees' Compensation Commissioner.

Coverage of an employee under the ESI Act after the accidentwould not make the employee entitled to receive any benefitfrom the ESI Corporation on account of injuries suffered by himdue to accident prior to his coverage under the Act.

Mohinder Pal Singh vs. Upender Paswan & Ors.2017 LLR 371(Delhi H.C.)

Compensation can only be claimed by claimant when he isthe dependant of the deceased.

Claimant could claim compensation under Employee'Compensation Act, 1923 from the respondent (s), on account ofdeceased employee, only if the claimant proves to be dependentupon the deceased employee.

Dependant (s) has been defined under Section 2 of the Act.

As per section 2(1) (d) (iii) (d) a minor brother or an unmarriedsister or a widowed sister, if a minor, of the deceased aredependants entitled to claim compensation.

Photo copy of the driving license of the deceased driver isacceptable in evidence since the original was in possession ofthe deceased driver at the time accident wherein he expired dueto which the claimants are not in capacity to produce originaland even the insurer has not adduced the best evidence to falsifythe driving license.

Kumari Reena and Another vs. Heera Nand and Another. 2017LLR 401 (H.P. H.C.)

Employees’ Provident FundThough financial crisis cannot be a reason to escapefrom damages but in the absence of a finding regardingmens rea/actus reus on the part of employer, impositionof damages cannot be sustained.

In the absence of mens rea/actus reus guilty mind on the partof employer, in the finding of EPF Authority, imposition ofdamages under Section 14B of the Employees' ProvidentFunds and Miscellaneous Act, 1952, cannot be sustained.

The presence or absence of mens rea and/or actus reuscausing delay in deposit of EPF dues by the employer wouldbe a determinative factor in imposing damages.

Quantum of damages is not inflexible that 100 percent arrearshave to be imposed in all cases.

Imposition of damages will be only logical that mens rea andor/actus reus was prevailing at the relevant time.



Financial crisis cannot be a reason to escape from liability ofdamages and interest.

Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO and Anr vs. TheManagement of RSL Textiles India Pvt. Ltd. THR. Its Director.2017 LLR 337 (S.C.)

Since remedy of appeal is available against the orderunder section 7-A of EPF Act, writ is not maintainable.

Normally writ petition challenging an order passed undersection 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds andMiscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, is not maintainable sincethe alternative remedy of appeal under section 7-1 is available.

HMT Machine Tools Ltd. vs. Regional Provident FundCommissioner & Anr. 2017 LLR 374 (Kar. H.C.)

Review petition against the order passed by the LearnedSingle Judge is not maintainable.

Writ Court would not entertain public interest litigation, if it isfound that the petitioner has any personal interest in thematter.

Policy matters coming within the realm of jurisdiction ofparliament cannot be adjudicated by Writ Court.

Review is maintainable only when errors on the face of recordare there.

George Isaac, Managing Partner, the Malabar Coast Products,Kottayam vs. Asst. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner,Kottayam & Ors. 2017 LLR 375 (Ker. H.C.)

EPF Authorities cannot recover the amount, interest anddamages from employer before the limitation period of 60days of appeal.

Limitation period for filing appeal against the order of the EPFAuthority passed under sections 7-A, 7-Q and 14-B of theEmployees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1952, is 60 days.

An appeal is maintainable against a composite order passed bythe EPF Authority under section 14-b and 7-Q of the Act.

An appeal is not maintainable against an order passed by theEPF Authority against the defaulting employer and recoverymade through Bank before expiry of limitation period is notsustainable.

While an appeal along with stay application is pending beforethe statutory appellate authority, recovery before expiry oflimitation period is bad since it tantamount to denying the rightof the petitioner to file appeal.

EPF Appellate Tribunal may, for reasons to be recorded inwriting, waive or reduce the amount to be deposited by theemployer.

Recovery made before expiry of limitation period for filing anappeal is illegal and amount so recovered is to be refunded tothe employer since the question of pre-deposit is yet to bedecided by the EPF Appellate Tribunal.

Q Sources Global Consulting Pvt. Ltd., rep. by the Director,Chennai vs. Regional Provident Funds Commissioner-II,Chennai & Ors. 2017 LLR 380 (Mad. H.C.)

Employer has no legal right to get waived of his liability ofdelayed initiation of proceedings against him by EPFAuthority since he has used the money not belonging tohim and EPF Act has not prescribed any limitation forinitiation of proceedings.

Legislature has not prescribed any limitation for initiation ofproceedings under Section 7-A and 14-B of the Employees'Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

Defaulting employer has no legal right to get waived of hisliability on the plea of delayed initiation of proceedings againsthim by the EPF Authority since he had used the money not

belonging to him.

However, the EPF Authority usually has to consider the numberof defaults, the period of delay, the frequency of defaults,amount involved etc. etc. while imposing damages underSection 14-B of the Act.

Plea of power-cut, financial problems, delay in realization ofamounts paid by cheques or drafts are not justifiable.

Employer can claim prejudice that he has changed his positionto his detriment to such an extent that if the recovery is madeafter such a long delay, he will suffer prejudice of irretrievablenature, he might claim prejudice upon proof of loss of recordsor non-availability of personnel who were maintainingaccounts several years ago, he cannot reconstruct the recordsor produce evidence.

Defaulting must take such grounds causing prejudice to him inreply to show cause notice.

Normally the rate for imposition of damages be taken which isthere on the date of initiation of proceeding since the Statecannot claim damages for its inaction and not as per the rate forthe length of default as prevalent during the period of default.

Where the contentions only revolve round the legal orbit posingbefore the Court to ascertain its circumstance as per law indetermining the legal diameter, despite availability of otheralternate legal remedy of appeal, the writ petition ismaintainable since to close the door of the writ court, is notappropriate.

Orissa Manganese and Minerals Pvt. Ltd. And Another vs.Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner and Ors. 2017 LLR 382(Orissa H.C.)

Court of law cannot wait indefinitely if a party puttingappearance stopped appearance in further proceedingconducted by the court.

EPF Appellate Authority shall have to consider liberally andsympathetically the fact that petitioner was pursuing hisremedy before the High Court while considering an applicationfor condo-nation of delay in filing the appeal against the orderof the EPF Authority passed under Section 7-A of theEmployees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Act, 1952.

A writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution ofIndia is not maintainable if the alternate remedy of appeal isavailable.

A writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution ofIndia is not maintainable if it involves determination ofquestion of facts relating to liability upon the petitioner.

Odyssy Pickles Ltd. vs. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner,and Ors. 2017 LLR 406 (Orissa H.C.)

The Provident Fund Commissioner is not an authorityunder the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, to determinewhether the wages should be paid or not.

The Appellate is a school covered by the provisions of theEmployees Provident Funds and Misc. Provisions Act, 1952.Respondent No.3 was a teacher employed in the said school.According to the Respondent, he was appointed on 1.12.1999 butthe provident fund deductions were made from April 2002 whenhe was issued the account number. His services wereterminated by the said school in January 2005. Therefore hewithdrew his provident fund deposited with the RegionalProvident Fund Commissioner. According to the RespondentNo.3 he was entitled to get provident fund for the earlier periodfrom 1.12.1999. It appears that on the basis of this, a notice wasissued by the P.F. Authorities to the Appellant School and theproceeding under Section 7 of the Act for assessment wasinitiated. The defence of Appellant School was that thoughRespondent No.3 was issued the appointment letter, he was notallowed to join because his original documents could not be





verified. According to them, Respondent No. 3 joined only inMarch 2002 and thereafter, payment of salary was made to himafter deducting P.F. contributions. The P.F. Authorities assessedthe provident funds due for the period from Dec. 1999 toFebruary 2002 at Rs.19,000/- and directed the Appellant Schoolto deposit the same or pay the same to the Respondent No.3Being aggrieved, the Appellant filed an appeal to the Tribunalbut the same was dismissed. Writ petition filed against thatorder was also rejected by a Single judge. Hence, the AppellantSchool has filed the present appeal.

The High Court observed that Provident Fund Commissioner isnot an Authority under the payment of wages Act to determinewhether wages should be paid or not. A party claiming thesame has to prove it and the department which exercise quasijudicial functions under Section 17 of the Act to makeassessment has to work on cogent materials. In absence of proofof payment of wages to Respondent No.3 the assumeddeductions and liability of the employer to pay provident fund,when it is seriously disputed, cannot arise. In this view of thematter, the Division Bench allowed the appeal and set aside theimpugned order.

Residential Public School vs. Regional Provident FundCommissioner & Ors. 2017 CLR I P. 431 (Pat. H.C.)

E.S.I.Order passed under section 45A of the ESI Act ischallengeable under section 15AA before the AppellateAuthority and not through writ.

Writ petition is not maintainable against an order passed by theESI Authority under section 45A of the Employee' StateInsurance Act, 1948, if there is no violation of principles ofnatural justice or procedural requirements.

Writ petition is not maintainable if the petitioner has noexhausted equally efficacious statutory remedy, available topetitioner.

Shantiniketan Awasiya Bal Vidyalya and others vs. RegionalDirector, Employees State Insurance Corporation. 2017 LLR 433(Pat. H.C.)

Period of limitation to prefer an appeal under section45AA of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, is to becounted from the date of communication of the order andnot from the date of order.

An order refusing to entertain the appeal preferred by thepetitioner under Section 45-AA of the Act, on the ground ofdelay, is not sustainable if the appeal has been filed with inprescribed limitation, to be counted from the date ofcommunication of the order to the petitioner-employer i.e.,from the date of knowledge of the employer or from the date ofreceipt of copy of the order under challenge.

M/s. Drug Research Laboratory vs. State of Jharkhand andOthers. 2017 LLR 445 (Jhar. H.C.)

Ex-pparte Award'Lawyers absence' is no valid ground for setting aside anex-parte award, being advocate not allowed to appear inlabour court.

An advocate is not permitted to appear before the LabourCourts by virtue of Injunction under Section 36 of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Flagrant breach of the provisions of Section 25F of theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947 ordinarily lead to reinstatementwith back-wages.

Rule 22 of the Industrial Disputes (central) Rule, 1957 permitsLabour Court to proceed ex-parte against litigants if they do

not appear despite notice.

Manager M/s Rational Business Corporation Pvt. Ltd. vs.Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court,Panipat and Another. 2017 LLR 420 (P&H H.C.)

GratuityEmployees engaged by postal department as extradepartmental agents are entitled to gratuity under theAct.

Postal department being engaged in commercial activities is anestablishment under the Kerala Shops and Establishment Act,1960.

Postal department being engaged in commercial activities is anindustry.

Employees engaged as an extra departmental agent beingdistinct from regular employee Postal department, engaged incommercial activities, after entitled to claim gratuity under thePayment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

In terms of Section 4(5) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 itis for the employee to exercise option of claiming gratuityunder the payment of Gratuity Act or any other Act, whicheverwould be providing better terms of gratuity.

Rules of Postal Department cannot override the legislativemandate in terms of the payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

Superintendent of Post Offices vs. Regional LabourCommissioner. 2017 LLR 378 (Ker. H.C.)

Principal employer is not liable to reimburse the amountof gratuity to the contractor who has paid the gratuity tohis employee. Controlling authority under the Payment ofGratuity Act has no authority to enforce such contract ifat all there is any.

Whether the petitioner (as deemed) principal employer' is liableto pay gratuity to the employees of respondent No.1, acontractor, engaged by the petitioner for the purposes ofcleaning services? The Court answered the question in thenegative (i.e. against the employees) with this conclusion: (i)Herein the 'employer' as contemplated is the respondent No.1establishment, which has engaged these employees, for doingthe work of cleaning in the factory of the petitioner. (ii) It wasrespondent No.1 who applied to Controlling Authority toimplead the petitioner as a party to the proceedings, whichapplication was allowed by the Controlling Authority by orderdt. 2nd December 2000. (iii) S.7 of the Gratuity Act deals witheligibility of a person i.e. employer for payment of gratuityunder this Act and there is no scope to determine liability ofany other person, to pay gratuity by virtue of definition of'principal employer' as provided u/s.21 (4) of the ContractLabour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, as an authority, whois responsible to pay gratuity to these employees. (iv) As suchissue of reimbursement of the amount of gratuity by thepetitioner as 'principal employer' to the Respondent No.1, whois in fact the employer of these employees, does not arise andControlling Authority has no authority to enforce suchcontract, if at all there is any. (v) The infirmity is not on afinding of fact, but is a matter of law and within his limitedjurisdiction; the Controlling Authority cannot exercise anysuch power, fixing the liability against the petitioner, who wasnot even joined by the employees, as their employer in theiroriginal applications.

The Honourable Mr. Justice S.C. Gupte. 2017 I CLR 612 (Bom. H.C.)

IndustryCattle breeding farm is industry because the activities of


Petitioner Farm were not purely agricultural in naturebut they also involved promotion of sales.

The Petitioner is a cattle breeding farm and one of theRespondent was employed by it as a workman. It appears thatthe services of the said workman were terminated andtherefore the said workman raised an industrial disputecontending that the termination was illegal and that he wasentitled to be reinstated in service. The Petitioner resisted theclaim on the ground that the reference was not maintainable asthe said Respondent was not falling under the definition ofworkman and therefore the reference was not legal. TheIndustrial Court decided the reference in favor of theworkman and held that he was a workman within thedefinition of the term. Feeling aggrieved, the Petitionercarried the matter to the High Court by means of the presentwrit petition contending that cattle breeding farm is not anindustry as defined in Section 2(i).

The High Court referred to the definition of the term"Industry' and observed that the definition is both exhaustiveand inclusive. It consists of two parts; the first part says that itmeans by business, trade, undertaking, manufacture orcalling of employees. The second part refers to several otheritems of industry and brings them in the definition in aninclusive way. It was further observed that the primary natureof work of the Petitioner Farm is to achieve geneticimprovement of herd for milk production by scientificselection and mating system, testing of bulls to make availableproven sires, production and distribution of superior bullsand semen of these bulls to State projects, production of seedsof high yielding varieties of fodder an demonstration ofscientific breeding of cattle and farm management practicesand as such although the farm is engaged in Research andDevelopment but it is not exclusive for agricultural purpose.Rather the activities relating to promotion of sales or businessand both are carried on by the Petitioner Farm and thereforeit comes within the definition of term "Industry" as containedin the Industrial Disputes Act. The High Court, therefore, heldthat Petitioner Farm is an industry within the wider conceptof the definition of "industry". Consequently, the High Courtdismissed the petition.

Management of Central Cattle Breeding Farm vs. PresidingOfficer, Industrial Tribunal & Ors. 2017 LLN (1) P. 255,(Orissa H.C.)

Industrial Disputes ActMere quoting a wrong provision in respect of demandnotice and reference does not mean that demand of theworkman for scale of wages would wipe out.

Mere quoting a wrong provision in respect of demand noticeand reference do not vitiate the order as held by SupremeCourt in the case of Md. Shahabuddin vs. State of Bihar andOthers, 2010 (4) SCC 653.

To espouse of the cause of the workmen is not essential whenunder policy of the employer job varies from workmen toworkmen, depending upon area-in-use, staff strength, wagesof workmen, working hours per week etc. etc.

Deputy General Manager, Canara Bank vs. Rajesh Kumar andOthers. 2017 LLR 447 (P&H H.C.)

Central Government would be the appropriategovernment for the program of national leprosyeradication under ministry of health.

When the Programmed/Scheme is generated, financed,administered, controlled and supervised by the Governmentof India, though for the welfare of the people in general of theState with the acceptance thereto by the State, industrialdispute raised before the State Authority could not be

entertained since the appropriate Government under Section2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is the CentralGovernment.

Vimalbai Irappa Kamble vs. Sahayak Sanchalak, Arogya Seva(Kusth), Health Services (Leprosy). 2017 LLR 428 (Bom. H.C.)

If a workman does not have any legal right to claim anybenefit from the employer, Authorities of the LabourDepartment to not have jurisdiction to initiateprosecution against the employer.

When the Industrial Tribunal has held the reference bad,making observation that in case the son of the concerneddeceased workman is eligible, the management shall considerhis case for appointment in any vacant post along with othereligible candidates, ought to be avoided.

Employer in relation to the Management of Bastacolla Colliery,BCCL, Dhanbad vs. Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (C),Dhanbad & Others. 2017 LLR 404 (Jhar. H.C.)

Minimum WagesWhere the employer is paying total sum higher thanminimum wages including VDA, claim of separate VDAover and above is not sustainable.

Minimum wages are not merely for the bare subsistence of lifebut also for preservation of efficiency of the worker, somemeasure of education, medical, amenities for himself and hisfamily.

All remuneration, capable of being expressed in terms ofmoney, payable to employees consisting of basic wages,dearness and other allowances are to constitute 'minimumwages'.

Minimum wages are revisable by the appropriate governmentfrom time to time not just to fix the basic rate of wages butalso provide for special allowances keeping in view the cost ofliving index applicable to the workmen.

Where the employer is paying a total sum which is higher thanminimum rates of wages fixed under the Act including thecost of living index (VDA), claim demanding VDA or suchother benefit separately, is not sustainable.

Where the dispute is of general nature a settlement arrived atduring conciliation proceeding between union/workmen andthe Management is building even on nonmember of theUnion.

Where dispute refers to particular workmen, indicatingnames of the workmen or class of workmen, the benefit ofsettlement or even of award is not available to other workmenor class of workmen.

Proceeding under section 33-C (2) of the Industrial DisputesAct, 1947 is in the nature of an execution proceeding.

No workman can raise a claim under section 33-c (2) of the Actwhich is not based on an existing right under a settlement oraward.

M/s. Polypharma Pvt. Ltd. vs. Shri Rangnath S. Iyer. 2017 LLR343 (Bom. H.C.)

ProbationerUnless the employee proves that the termination orderattaches stigma, the Court cannot interfere with thatorder on the ground of violation of the principles ofnatural justice.

The concerned workman was appointed as Inspector on28.7.1981. He was appointed on probation for 1 year. ClauseNo.2 of the appointment letter specifically prescribed theprobation for 1 year and it also provided that the service of the




workman could be terminated at any time without noticeduring the probation period. It appears that the performance ofthe workman was not satisfactory and several occasions oralinstructions were given to him to improve his performance.But, the performance of the concerned employee did not rise tosatisfactory level and for the deficiency in performance he wasgranted opportunity to offer his explanation. The Sub-committee of the Petitioner considered the reply of theconcerned workman and resolved to discontinue his services.Accordingly, his services were terminated by an order dated2.7.1982 on the ground that his performance was notsatisfactory.

Feeling aggrieved, the said workman raise an industrialdispute which was referred to the Labour Court foradjudication. The Labour Court allowed the reference anddirected the Petitioner to reinstate the concerned workman inservice with back wages. Being aggrieved, the Petitioneremployer filed the present writ petition to challenge the saidaward.

The High Court pointed out that the total tenure of service ofthe workman with the Petitioner was only 11 months and thatthe termination was made during the probation period. TheHigh Court further observed that the facts brought on recordindicate that the employer had granted opportunity to the saidworkman to give his explanation. Besides he was givenopportunity to improve his performance. Under thesecircumstances, the order of termination cannot be regardedas stigmatic. There was no violation of the principles ofnatural justice. The concerned workman died during thependency of the writ petition and the legal heirs of the saidworkman were granted lump-sum payment of Rs.75,000/-Hence, the High Court declined to interfere with thetermination order.

Office Superintendent vs. P.D. Barot. 2017 LLN (1) P. 137,(Guj. H.C.)

ReferenceOnce reference is made, industrial court is underobligation to decide the same. It cannot be dismissed indefault. If the workmen does not file statement of claim,reference is to be answered in negative.

Once the competent authority under section 12(4) read withsections 10(1) and 12(5) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 hasmade the reference of an industrial dispute, the IndustrialAdjudicator is under legal obligation to decide the same.

Reference made under Industrial Dispute Act, 1947, is not bedismissed in default even if the workman does not filestatement of claim since it is expected from the IndustrialAdjudicator to pass the award on merits, on the basis ofmaterial available even by answering the reference innegative.

Section 2(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, indicates thata decision delivered by court would constitute an award.

Award means a decision on the merits in respect of question(s) under reference as per section 15 of the Industrial DisputesAct, 1947.

Industrial Dispute Act does not prescribe any limitation forraising an industrial dispute.

For the lapses/negligence on the part of the workmen, theymay be deprived of monetary benefits, if they succed in theirreference cases, for the period of delay for which theythemselves are responsible.

While awarding lump sum monetary compensation, theIndustrial Adjudicator has to consider the span ofemployment followed by a long period of unemployment, in

addition to other factors.

Sangitabai w/o Bhaskar Kamble & Ors vs. The Commissioner,Aurangabad Municipal Corporation. 2017 LLR 395 (Bom. H.C.)

When the reference order is in the subjective satisfactionof the appropriate government without adverselyaffected any legal right of any party, challenge to it inwrit jurisdiction is not sustainable.

Writ petition against an order of the appropriatedgovernment is maintainable only when extraordinarysituations arise leading to irreversible injustice.

Writ petition would not lie when the issues involved can onlybe resolved on the basis of evidence to be lead by the parties.

The appropriate government is not to collect evidence beforeit issues an order of reference of an industrial dispute to bedecided by the industrial adjudicator.

DCM Textiles, Hissar vs. State of Haryana & Others. 2017 LLR414 (P&H H.C.)

When workmen after signing settlement receivedcheques and encashed, refusal to refer the dispute bygovernment, raised by them, is proper.

Reference of a dispute raised by the workmen, to IndustrialAdjudicator, may be denied by the appropriate governmentwhen the workmen have already received the benefits in termsof settlement entered with the Management under Section2(p) read with Section 18(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act,1948, in the presence of Assistant Labour Commissioner.

Settlement made as per section 2(p) read with Section 18(1) ofthe Industrial Disputes Act, 1948, by the workmen with theManagement in the presence of Assistance LabourCommissioner is of binding effect upon the parties.

Plea of signing the settlement under compulsion has no forcewhen the amount received by the workmen has been utilizedby him.

Motiram and Others vs. The State of Maharashtra. 2017 LLR423 (Bom. H.C.)

ReinstatementIf an employer fails to disprove, by way of cogentevidence, the version of the workman that he was orallyterminated from his services, awarding reinstatement tothe workman is justified.

If the workman fails to prove, by way of cogent evidence, thatas and when he reported for duty, the management refused totake him on duty, he would not be entitled to back wages.

A document having no acknowledgement confirming receiptof the same by the addressee is unsubstantiated evidence, notacceptable in evidence.

M/s. Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd. vs. N. Manjunathappa. 2017 LLR417 (Kar. H.C.)

ResignationResignation after its acceptance by the competentauthority cannot be withdrawn in the absence ofstatutory provision providing for the same.

Jagsir Singh vs. Registrar General and Another. 2017 LLR 416(P&H H.C.)

RetrenchmentTermination of services of a daily wager without givingretrenchment notice and compensation is illegalattracting reinstatement with back wages.



Non-compliance of service of retrenchment notice or payingcompensation in lieu thereof while terminating the servicesof a workman is illegal.

Reinstatement in each case of illegal termination is not astraight jacket formula. Relief of reinstatement is to beawarded after having considered the facts and circumstancesof the case.

Relief of lumpsum compensation is appropriate in view offacts and circumstances, length of service, nature of service,reason of termination etc. etc.

M.T.N.L. vs. Brahamjeet. 2017 LLR 422 (Delhi H.C.)

To get provisions of section 25F attracted, workmen hasto establish that he worked for 240 days in a calendaryear.

In the absence of a finding that the workmen were incontinuous employment of employer for a period of 240 daysor more in a calendar year preceding the date ofretrenchment, the provisions of Section 25F of the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947, are not attracted.

If the workman fails to place on record any cogent evidencethat while terminating his services, person junior to him inthe same category was retained, the provisions of Section 25Gof the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, are not attracted.

The onus to prove that the workman had completed 240 days ofservice in a calendar year preceding the date of retrenchmentis on the workman by way of cogent evidence.

Filling of an affidavit by the workman is only his statementin his favour and that cannot be regarded as sufficientevidence for any Court or Tribunal to come to the conclusionthat the workman had, in fact, worked for 240 days in a year.

Paritosh Marble Sukher vs. Judge, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Udaipur. 2017 LLR 438 (Raj. H.C.)

Sexual HarassmentReduction to lower state by two stages with cumulativeeffect is a major penalty. No interference is required byHigh Court.

Proportionality and disproportionality of the punishment isto be adjudged by the Court considering as to whether anyfundamental right, liberty or interest of the aggrieved partyhas been infringed by the impugned order or not

When the full opportunity was given to both the parties tolead evidence, and quantum of punishment is a majorpenalty, not shocking to the conscience of the Court,interference of the writ court is not called for.

Obligations/duties of the employer have been describedunder section 19 of the Sexual Harassment of Women atWorkplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Well settled law is that if the domestic enquiry is held aftergiving an adequate opportunity to the parties and theEnquiry committee comes to a particular conclusion thenmerely because two views are possible, the Writ Court is notexpected to reap-preciate the evidence and come to thedifferent conclusion than the one which is arrived at by theCommittee.

Vidya Akhave vs. Union of India, Department of Women andChildren & Ors.2017 LLR 357 (Bom. H.C.)

ICC is empowered to enforce attendance of any personfor deposition in the enquiry. Findings of the ICC mustbe with definite conclusion of guilt.

Complaint for sexual harassment of women at work place isto be make in accordance with the requirement of Section2(n) of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Internal Complaints Committee is to be constituted as perprovisions of Section 11 of the Act.

Enquiry Report of ICC is to be submitted to DisciplinaryAuthority for appropriate action under service rules afterfollowing principles of natural justice.

Finding of the ICC must be along with a definite conclusionholding the charges proved against the delinquentemployee/guilty.

Order of the Disciplinary Authority under Section 13(3) ofthe Act is appealable under section 18 of the Act.

Non-providing opportunity by the ICC to the delinquentemployee to lead evidence is not fatal when guilt on the basisof detailed arguments is proved.

Disciplinary Authority will have to , as per Service Rules,necessarily hear the petitioner, by following the principles ofnatural justice, providing proper opportunity to thedelinquent employee for submitting his defense, if any, beforepassing any order of punishment.

Ashok Kumar Singh vs. University of Delhi and Ors. 2017 LLR366 (Delhi H.C.)

TerminationWhen workman was appointed for fixed period of 89days but continued for 2 years, his termination would beillegal leading to reinstatement.

A new plea is impermissible to be taken for the first time inwrit jurisdiction while reviewing award of the IndustrialTribunal which requires evidence and proof.

Termination of services of a workman who has put servicefor 240 days or more during the preceding 12 calendar monthswithout making compliance of Section 25F of the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947 is illegal.

Termination of services of a workman without makingcompliance of Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act,1947 would attract reinstatement with back-wages.

In the absence of any error apparent on the face of the awardor any jurisdictional error or capricious exercise ofdiscretion by the Labour Court, writ petition challenging theaward is not maintainable.

Medical Officer and Another vs. Girdhari Lal Another. 2017LLR 408 (P&H H.C.)

If the management did not file written statement in theCourt below for rebutting the averments of theworkman, the assertion of the workman would standadmitted on the principle of non-traverse. Illegaltermination would lead to reinstatement.

Termination of the workman, effected during pendency ofcivil suit filed by the workman against the managementwithout assigning any reason, issuing notice or payingretrenchment compensation, is in violation of section 25F ofthe Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and the principles of naturaljustice, attracting reinstatement with back-wages.

When the termination is illegal and void, reinstatementwould follow in normal circumstances unless there arereasons necessitating departure.

When juniors were regularized, the claimant-workman is alsoentitled to be regularized in his services since discriminationis relief-based ground in labour maters.

Rajbir Singh vs.The Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Rohtak and Others. 2017 LLR 411 (P&H H.C.)



Trade UnionContract workers of unrecognised union cannot beallowed to exercise the right of secret ballot in relationto matters of functions of corporation.

Whether the contract workers represented by the petitioner-appellant-Union can be allowed to exercise the right of secretballot, in relation to matters in issue, in the functioning ofrespondent No.1 Corporation? The Court answered thequestion in the negative, with these conclusions: (i) Eventhough petitioner- appellant is a registered-Union, it has notbeen recognized by the management of 1st respondent. (ii)The learned single Judge has rightly rejected the claim of thepetitioner-appellant, mainly on the ground that relief soughtfor by the petitioner Union, is not based on any rule of law.(iii) Though the respondent No.1 has permitted these contractworkers in particular places in its establishment, that byitself cannot be a basis to conclude that there is a connectionbetween respondent No.1 and these contract workers. In factthere is no privity of contract between respondent No.1 andthese contract workers. (iv) In the absence of any Law or Ruleto claim such a right mentioned in the writ petition, Article14 of the Constitution of India., does not help these contractworkers.

The Honourable Mr. Justice A. Selvam vs. The Honourable Mr.Justice P. Kalaiyarasan. 2017 I CLR 737. (Mad. H.C.)

Unauthorised AbsenceDismissal justified when found guilty of absence fromduty without sanctioned leave.

Removal from service of an employee who is found guilty ofabsence from duty without sanctioned leave, for a very longperiod is justified.

Mere submitting the leave application does not create anyright to the employee that his leave has been sanctioned whenas per standing order the requirement is that an employeeshall not absent himself from his duties without having firstobtained the permission from the Authority except in case ofsudden illness. Even in case of sudden illness, the employeethe employee is expected to send intimation to his officeimmediately at the earliest possible.

Habitual absence without permission or sanction of leave orcontinuous absence without such leave for more than 10 daysshall render the employee liable to be terminated from hisservices.

Delhi Transport Corporation vs. Rajender Kumar. 2017 LLR 390(Delhi H.C.)

When an employee absents himself from duty withoutsanctioned leave for a very long period of 118 days, itprima facie shows his lack of interest in work.

The Respondent workman was appointed as a Sweeper withthe Appellant Corporation on 13.4.1983. A charge sheet dated29.11.1988 was issued to him for availing of leave without payfor 118 days between the period November 1987 and October1988. The charge sheet stated that the aforesaid act of theRespondent amounted to misconduct within the meaning ofthe Standing orders governing the conduct of D.T.C.employee. The charge sheet also stated that the Respondent'spast record would also be taken into account at the time ofpassing of the order. The past record of the Respondentshowed that he was punished with stoppage of one incrementwith cumulative effect on three occasions for availing ofexcessive leave. The enquiry Officer accepted the explanation

given by the Respondent and exonerated him. Despite thatfinding, the Appellant Corporation directed a de novo inquiryinto the allegations against the Respondent. In that inquirythe Respondent was held guilty and the AppellantCorporation issued a show cause notice to him as to why heshould not be removed from service. The Respondentsubmitted his reply but the same was found not satisfactoryand therefore the Appellant Corporation removed theRespondent from service.

The Respondent raised an industrial dispute and the LabourCourt to which the dispute was referred, passed an award infavour of the Respondent directing his reinstatement inservice. The Appellant Corporation challenged that award byfilling a writ petition in the High Court. The High Courtallowed the said writ petition and set aside the award andremanded the matter back to the Labour Court to proceed inaccordance with law. Pursuant to the direction of High Courtthe parties led evidence and the Labour Court passed anaward in favour of the Respondent directing the AppellantCorporation to reinstate the respondent with continuity ofservice and payment of Rs.50,000/- towards back wages. TheAppellant Corporation preferred a writ petition against theaward but the Ld. Single Judge dismissed it. It is this awardwhich the Appellant has challenged in the present LettersPatent Appeal.

The Division Bench observed that the position of law is wellsettled in the case of DTC vs. Sarda Singh, 2004 III CLR 289(SC) wherein the Supreme Court held that when an employeeabsents himself from duty without sanctioned leave for a verylong period, it prima facie shows his lack of interest in work.Conclusion regarding negligence and lack of interest can bearrived at by looking into the period of absence, moreparticularly, when the said is unauthorized. In the instantcase, the Respondent was absent from duty for 118 dayswithout any leave. The Respondent had produced medicalcertificates justifying his absence for 41 days but still 77 daysof absence was unaccounted for. The Division Benchtherefore disagreed with the finding recorded by the SingleJudge and the Labour Bench therefore allowed the appealfiled by the Appellant Corporation maintaining the order ofremoval of the Respondent from service.

Delhi Transport Corporation vs. Rajender Kumar. 2017 CLR IP.469, (Delhi H.C.)

WorkmanPersons appointed as voluntary health workers, paidsome amount and liable to face disciplinary action, areworkmen under section 2(s) of the ID Act.

Employees, appointed by corporation as Voluntary HealthWorkers even on honorarium basis but paid some amount andliable to face disciplinary action for misconduct, areworkmen under section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act,1947.

Employees, appointed without any test or interview i.e.,without any selection procedure, are not entitled to claimregularization.

Employees, working for the corporation though not governedby general service Regulations, would not mean that theywere not employed by the Corporation.

Writ Court is to avoid its interference with the finding of theLabour Court when the same are just and reasoned.

Mahapalika Arogya Seva Karamchari Sanghtana and Ors. vs.Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and Ors. 2017 LLR437 (Bom. H.C.)

Courtsey - Labour Law Reporter, FLR, CLR , LLJ & APS Labour Digest

BM


GOVERNEMENT NOTIFICATIONS www.businessmanager.in

The Employees Compensation(Amendment) Act, 2017

No. 11 OF 2017[12th April, 2017.]

An Act further to amend the Employee's CompensationAct, 1923.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year ofthe Republic of India as follows:—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Employee'sCompensation (Amendment) Act, 2017.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the CentralGovernment may, by notification in the Official Gazette,appoint.

2. In the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 (hereinafterreferred to as the principal Act), after section 17, thefollowing section shall be inserted, namely:—

"17A. Every employer shall immediately at the time ofemployment of an employee, inform the employee of hisrights to compensation under this Act, in writing as well asthrough electronic means, in English or Hindi or in theofficial language of the area of employment, as may beunderstood by the employee.".

3. In the principal Act, in section 18A, in sub-section(1),—

(i) in clause (d), for the word and figures "section 16,", thewords and figures "section 16, or" shall be substituted;

(ii) after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted,namely:—

"(e) fails to inform the employee of his rights tocompensation as required under section 17A,";

(iii) in the long line, for the words "which may extend tofive thousand rupees", the words "which shall not be lessthan fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to one lakhrupees" shall be substituted.

4. In the principal Act, in section 30, in sub-section (1), inthe first proviso, for the words "three hundred rupees", thewords "ten thousand rupees or such higher amount as theCentral Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, specify" shall be substituted.

5. Section 30A of the principal Act shall be omitted.

DR. G. NARAYANA RAJU,Secretary to the Govt. of India.

Adm. charges of EPF reducedNOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 15th March, 2017

S.O. 827(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by theExplanation to paragraph 30 read with paragraph 39 of theEmployees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, and insupersession of the notification of the Government of Indiain the Ministry of Labour and Employment published inthe Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O. 323(E), dated the 2nd February,2015, except as respects things done or omitted to be donebefore such supersession, the Central Government, afterconsulting the Central Board and having regard to theresources of the Employees’ Provident Fund available formeeting its normal administrative expenses, hereby fixesthe administrative charges payable by the employer for thepurposes of paragraph 30 and sub-paragraph (1) ofparagraph 38 of the said Scheme with effect from 1st April,2017 at 0.65 per cent (zero point six five per cent.) of the payas referred to in the said paragraphs subject to a minimumsum of seventy-five rupees per month for every non-functional establishment having no contributory memberand five hundred rupees per month per establishment forother establishments.

2. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby notified thatnothing contained in this notification shall affect theadministrative charges payable in respect of the period upto and inclusive of the 31st March, 2017 in respect of whichthe notification referred to in paragraph 1 herein shallcontinue to apply as if the same had not been superseded.

[F. No. S-35012/01/2014-SS-II]R. K. GUPTA, Jt. Secy.

No. Adm. fee for EDLINOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 15th March, 2017

S.O. 828(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred byclause (a) of sub-section (4) of section 6C of the Employees’Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19of 1952), and in supersession of the notification of theGovernment of India, in the Ministry of Labour andEmployment published in the Gazette of India,Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), videnumber S.O. 324(E), dated the 2nd February, 2015, except asrespects things done or omitted to be done before suchsupersession, the Central Government hereby determinesthat no sum shall be payable for the time being by theemployer in relation to his employees as the further sumpayable by the employer every month to the Deposit-LinkedInsurance Fund for the meeting the expenses in connectionwith the administration of the Employees Deposit-LinkedInsurance Scheme, 1976 other than the expenses towardsthe cost of any benefits provided by or under that scheme.

2. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby notified thatnothing contained in this notification shall affect theadministrative charges payable in respect of the periodupto and inclusive of the 31st March, 2017 in respect ofwhich the notification referred to in paragraph 1 hereinshall continue to apply as if the same had not beensuperseded.

3. This notification shall come into force from 1st day ofApril, 2017.

[F. No. S-35012/01/2014-SS-II]R. K. GUPTA, Jt. Secy.

Payment of Gratuity(Amendment) Act

CORRIGENDUM

New Delhi, the 3rd April, 2017

S.O. 1049(E).—In the Government of India, Ministry ofLabour and Employment notification No.914 dated 31st

March,2017, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary,Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O. 1026 (E)dated the 31st March, 2016,–for the words and figures ‘sub-section (5) of section 3’ , the words and figures ‘sub-section (1) ofsection 4’ may be read at both the places.

[F.No.S-36012/03/2015-SS-I]

MANISH KUMAR GUPTA, Jt. Secy.


GOVERNEMENT NOTIFICATIONS www.businessmanager.in

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

No. 6 of 2017[27th March, 2017.]

An Act further to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic ofIndia as follows:—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may,by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint :

Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisionsof this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencementof this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of thatprovision.

2. In the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as theprincipal Act), in section 3, after clause (b), the following clause shall beinserted, namely:—

‘(ba)“commissioning mother”means a biological mother who uses heregg to create an embryo implanted in any other woman;’.

3. In the principal Act, in section 5,—

(A) in sub-section (3)—

(i) for the words ‘‘twelve weeks of which not more than six weeks’’, thewords ‘‘twenty-six weeks of which not more than eight weeks’’ shall besubstituted;

(ii) after sub-section (3) and before the first proviso, the followingproviso shall be inserted, namely:—

‘‘Provided that the maximum period entitled to maternity benefit by awoman having two or more than two surviving children shall be twelveweeks of which not more than six weeks shall precede the date of herexpected delivery;’’;

(iii) in the first proviso, for the words ‘‘Provided that’’, the words ‘‘Providedfurther that’’shall be substituted;

(iv) in the second proviso, for the words ‘‘Provided further that’’, thewords ‘‘Provided also that’’shall be substituted;

(B) after sub-section (3), the following sub-sections shall be inserted,namely:—

‘‘(4) A woman who legally adopts a child below the age of three monthsor a commissioning mother shall be entitled to maternity benefit for aperiod of twelve weeks from the date the child is handed over to theadopting mother or the commissioning mother, as the case may be.

(5) In case where the nature of work assigned to a woman is of suchnature that she may work from home, the employer may allow her to do soafter availing of the maternity benefit for such period and on suchconditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree.’’.

4. In the principal Act, after section 11, the following section shall beinserted, namely:—

‘‘11A. (1) Every establishment having fifty or more employees shall havethe facility of créche within such distance as may be prescribed, eitherseparately or along with common facilities :

Provided that the employer shall allow four visits a day to the creche bythe woman, which shall also include the interval for rest allowed to her.

(2) Every establishment shall intimate in writing and electronically toevery woman at the time of her initial appointment regarding everybenefit available under the Act.’’.

DR. G. NARAYANA RAJU,Secretary to the Govt. of India.

(The Amendment Act has been made applicable from 1.4.17 except the sub sec. 5 of sec. (3) ofthe Amendment Act, which is made applicable from 1.7.17 vide Noti. No. S.O.1026 (E) dt.

31.3.17)- Ed.

Employees' Provident FundOrganisation

Ministry of Labour and Employment, Governmentof India

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place, NewDelhi-110066

File No. IWU/7/) (25)/2017 /Payment of PF andWithdrawl Benefits /34140 Dated: 23 Mar 2017

To,

All Addl C.P.F.Cs (Zones),

All R.P.F.Cs (In Charge) of Regional Offices,

All R.P.F.Cs (In Charge) of Sub-Regional Offices.

Sub: Payment of PF and withdrawal benefitunder Pension Scheme on the date ofleaving service to International Workers-Regarding.

Sir/Madam,

Instruction were issued vide circular No. CSD-I/CPGRAMS/Pragati E-Samiksha/2016/1289 dated01.11.2016 wherein it has been decided that PF andpension payment to member of EPF Scheme, 1952 andEPS 1995, are made on the date of retirement.

In order to facilate payment of Provident Fund andwithdrawal benefit under EPS, 1995 to InternationalWorkers on the date of leaving service in India, thefollowing instructions are issued:-

The employer should be requested to makepayment of contribution of retiring InternationalWorkers with in first three days of the month inwhich the said member is retiring, through separateECR.

The employer should submit the claim forms inrespect of such International Workers complete in allrespect in the concerned PF office by 6th of the monthin which such member is leaving service.

The RPFC/OIC of the concerned PF office shallensure settlement of such retirement claims andcredit the settlement amount to the member's accounton the date of leaving service in India to the bankaccount maintained in India.

In case the International Worker desires intereston the settlement amount for the month ofretirement also, the PF Claim settlement amount becredited to the member's account on the first day ofthe next month.

Necessary provision is being made in the softwarefor processing of claim before exit from service.

The officers In charge of all field offices shallensure that the above instructions are implementedfully so that the International Worker gets his PFamount in bank account maintained in India beforeleaving India.

(This issues with the approval of CPFC)

(S.K. Thakur)Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner-HQ

(Pension)


To understand andappreciate thetopic of overtimein its correctp e r s p e c t i v e ,

proper understanding aboutregular working hoursprescribed under the law is amust. A worker cannot beemployed for more than 9hours a day. He cannot beemployed for more than 48hours a week. He must begiven an interval of rest atleast ½ hour after five hourswork. His total period ofwork inclusive of restinterval must not spreadover more than 10½ hours ina day. He must be given aholiday (Week off) for wholeday in a week. If he works formore than 9 hours a day ormore than 48 hours a week,he shall be paid for theovertime work, at twice theordinary rate of wages. Theabove restrictions can berelaxed by the chief

inspector of factories or the state government undercertain circumstances subject to conditions (Sections:51,52,54,55,56,59,64 and 65 of the Factories Act 1948).

Computation of Overtime hours:

Issues have been raised in the past on computation ofovertime hours especially in the manufacturing sectorwhere trade union of workmen is active, the workmen inone case demanded that the time recorded in punch cardshould be considered basis for calculation of overtimehours. The court after considering the rival contentionsheld that the time in and time out on punch cards is notconclusive proof of working. They only indicate thepresence of the worker in the premises. It is not thepresence or attendance that should be paid. It is only thetime spent actually carrying out the assigned job or workthat is to be taken to calculate over time hours of work forpayment of over time wages. In another case workinghours are initially fixed at 42 per week. Whether workersare entitled to overtime wages between the hours of 42 and48 is examined and held section 59 prescribes overtimewages at twice the ordinary rate of wages over and above48 hours a week. (Model Mills vs. Presiding Officer 1992 LIC1171 Bombay HC). In another case the working hoursincreased from 7½ hours per day to 8 hours. Whetherovertime wages payable for extra ½ hour-Held no. Theemployer is liable to pay overtime wages under section 59,if he works for more than 9 hours a day or 48 hours a week.


The article discusses many facets of basic and elementary concept of work/overtime withreference to the statutory provisions under the Factories Act 1948, and also from thehuman and social perspective. Working overtime is a recognized practice and therefore,unless the contract of service or collective bargaining agreement in force stipulates that theconsent of the worker is necessary to engage him on overtime, the refusal is not justified.Unless there is anything in the contract to suggest that the employee is entitled to refuse towork overtime, he is liable to do overtime work.

P. Soma RajuSpecialist HR, IR and Labour Laws,Management Consultant, Hyderabad

OVERTIME WORK: Legaland human dimensions


OVERTIME WORK: LEGAL AND HUMAN DIMENSIONS

(Section 51 and 54) Whethermandatory rest intervalneeds to be included incomputing overtime work ornot is answered in negative.A big no to a over time claimof worker while on tour asthe worker goes out of hissphere of duty (Director ofStores Gujarat SRTCorporation vs. PS Dube 1978licence 390 Gujarat HC).

Twice the ordinaryrate of wages :

It is clear from section59(1) of the Factories Act1948, that a worker is entitledto wages at twice hisordinary rate of wages if heworks overtime. 59 (2) doesnot define the allowancesthat should be included alongwith basic wages toconstitute ordinary wages.The ordinary wages referredto in the section do notconvey any special meaningto it except literary meaningwhich is the pay andallowances paid to worker.Obviously allowance likeDearness allowance formpart of wages. In respect ofother allowances paid to aworker in the form ofcompensatory allowancesand allowances in the form ofincentives to include inordinary rate of wages or notis a matter of interpretation.Mumbai High Court in ChiefGeneral Manager TelecomFactory vs. HR Thakur &

others 1998 1 CLR 1260 held that house rentallowance should be included whilecomputing overtime wages whereas KeralaHigh Court in Jessie vs. Flag OfficerCommanding in Chief 2011 LLR 1168 held thathouse rent allowance cannot be treated aswage for the purpose of overtime wages.There is hardly any unanimity and finality onthis issue of interpretation. Divergence ininterpretation apart from the common viewthat emerge is 59 (2) of the Act does notvisualize and accept the different componentsof wages not paid uniformly to the workers to

constitute ordinary rate of wages. In order to have uniformrate of wages payable to the same category of employees,the original rate of wages ordinarily and uniformly paidshould be same which includes only basic salary andallowances for the work, Allowances which are varying fordifferent employees and eligibility depends on the locationof employment etc will not constitute ordinary rate ofwages. Therefore, every organization having its own wagestructure should decide on the basis of above criteria as towhat constitute ordinary rate of wages for payment of OTwages in their respective organizations.

Persons eligible and ineligible to overtime claim:

All workers under the Factories Act 1948 are eligible toclaim overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages.If it is considered on the face of it, every person employedin the factory irrespective of their status, designation,nature of duties is a worker. While granting claim ofovertime to worker in general, the statute provides forexemptions. The Andhra Pradesh Factories rules exemptsthe persons employed in positions of supervision andmanagement from section 59. The list of employeesexempted include Managers, Secretaries, Administrativeofficers, Accountants, Personnel officers, Engineers,Technologists, Chemists, Metallurgists, Technical andscientific personnel engaged in R&D, Stenographers,personal secretaries/Assistants, Cashiers and otherpersons discharging similar functions. Similarlyexemption is also granted on working hours in respect ofoperations like urgent repairs, breakdown of machineryfire services, Boiler operations, continuous operations etcin all factories and also granted exemptions to industryspecific operations from some provisions dealing withworking hours under chapter -VI of the Factories Act 1948.Other states rule may also be having such provisions.

Is overtime work a forced labour:

International agencies conducting social audit inindustries supplying goods to multinational clients areoften objecting to engagement of workers on overtime workwithout their consent. They argue that engaging workerson overtime without their consent amounts to forcedlabour. No worker is obliged to work for more than his



OVERTIME WORK: LEGAL AND HUMAN DIMENSIONS

normal working hours in aday. If he is forced to doovertime against his will, Itis forced labour. The aboveargument does not findfavour with the Indiancontext and conditions.There is no prohibition ortotal ban on engagingworkers on overtime. The Actprescribes only restrictions.It is argued that when lawallows engagement of workeron overtime the question offorced labour does not arise.Judiciary also agreed withthis view and upheld theemployers' right to engageworker on over time withinthe statutory limits.

Judiciary onrefusal of overtimework:

Working overtime is arecognized practice andtherefore, unless the contractof service or collectivebargaining agreement inforce stipulates that theconsent of the worker isnecessary to engage him onovertime, the refusal is notjustified. Unless there isanything in the contract tosuggest that the employee isentitled to refuse to workovertime, he is liable to doovertime work. It isgenerally held that in caseswhere order to workovertime is within thestatutory limits, the workershould abide by the orderand if he refuses to doovertime it will be amisconduct (Unitedcommercial Bank vs. Theirworkmen Air 1951 SC 230,Bennett Coloman & Co vs.Their workmen 1955 1 LLJ 548later) Therefore a clause inthe standing orders of acompany treating workerrefusal to work overtime asmisconduct is justified andlegal to the extent the orderof employer is within thestatutory stipulation underthe law.

Rationale on restriction to workovertime:

According to section 64 (4) (III) of the Factories Act1948.the total hours of OT work should not exceed fifty forany one quarter. Section 65(2) of the Act provides forexemption by the state government from the limits ofworking hours to enable the factories to deal withexceptional pressure of work.

Need for reforms:

Pro reformists argue that the limits on working hoursand overtime work have been prescribed by theGovernment more than seven decades ago. There is need toevaluate their relevance in the context of Globalization.Industry should respond to global market volatility anduncertainties and produce the goods and services as per themarket requirement failing which the Indian industrybecomes a non player and left behind in the competition. Infact during war years (1945) the Government used to giveexemptions in respect of hours of work and OT to thefactories connected with war effort. Employers argue thatglobal market is like a war field and unless the Indianindustry competes with competitors on the market thegame or the war ends in failure. Exports and foreign trade inIndian economy plays a vital role in the development of ournation. All most all industries are looking for export marketto their products and services besides making use of hugeinternal market. Therefore, the restrictions on OT havebecome a stumbling block to engage workers on OT whenneeded. Employers suggest that they should not be made torun from pillar to post for exemption under 65(2) of the Actevery time they need to engage workers on OT beyond theunreasonable and unrealistic restrictions on the trade andindustry. The employers have been demanding to increasethe limits prescribed on OT under section 64 of the Act.

The Government as a neutral and objective agencyshould consider the demands of the stake holders in theoverall and larger perspective and take a balancing viewprotecting the interests of employers and workmen. As afirst step in this direction, the Government have increasedthe limits on OT engagement of workers in textiles andgarments sector which obviously have been facing stiffcompetition in the global market, from 50 hours to 100hours in a quarter. The Government can further increasethe limit up to 125 hours in a quarter. The government hasalso proposed amendments to the Factories Act 1948 andincorporated the same limits as are given to Textile andgarment sector, in section 64 and 65 of the Factories Actand rules made there under.

In fact there is a lot of change in the working conditionsin the factories. Dirty, dingy semi mechanised work placeshave been changing to technology driven automated workenvironment reducing the manual effort day by day. TheGovernment finds a rationale in the demand of employersfor change in the restrictions on overtime work. At thesame time the Government, without completely removingthe restrictions have relaxed the limits on overtime workby keeping in view the health and safety of workers.


Working overtime is a recognized practice and therefore, unless thecontract of service or collective bargaining agreement in force stipulatesthat the consent of the worker is necessary to engage him on overtime,the refusal is not justified.

BM



A STEP TOWARDS Better Employee Relations

Majority of employers would like to work within a framework of principles andvalues and be genuinely interested in unleashing the human potential of theworkers in the pursuit of creating long term competitive advantage, whereemployers and workmen interact and engage with each other in their multipleroles and not just as productive resources. This requires that both sides take careof each other's dignity and self respect.

Dr. P.B.S. Kumar, Principal Director, Kakinada HR Consultancy Services, Kakinada

look at the conditions under which contract labouroperates with special focus on compensation, thebehaviour of management and the permanent workforcevis-à-vis contract workers, their involvement ininnovation/productivity initiatives, training and skilldevelopment, levels of engagement and a sense that theyare being heard and their contribution is being recognized.And, of course, basic hygiene factors like safety, medicalfacilities, canteen, uniform and social security. Contractlabour is a ticking time bomb that needs to be addressedimmediately and not to be put under the carpet. This timebomb is the main path way to create somewhat unhealthyatmosphere in the work places. Sometimes the IR issueswill be the trigger point from this contract labouroperations and will create a cutting wire betweenmanagement and workers. In this critical juncture the IRManager position is vital.

Role of IR Manager

IR being collectivist and pluralist in its outlook is fullyresponsible for maintaining a healthy relationshipbetween individual workers, employees and plays a criticalrole in settlement of various disputes within anorganization. Unlike an HR manager, an IR manager playsthe role of directive leader and ensures that all the rulesand regulations of the employer are strictly followed.

According to Lester, "Industrial relations involveattempts at arriving at solutions between the conflictingobjectives and values; between the profit motive and socialgain; between discipline and freedom; between authorityand industrial democracy; between bargaining and co-operation and between conflicting interests of theindividual, the group and the community."

Challenges

Suppose a fatal accident happens in a factory and theworker is contract labour. Normally the contractor runsaway as soon as this incident occurs. As an IR managerwhat would you do? You will find there is no provision for

Industrial relations isrecognized as a criticalsuccess factor and

becomes a strategic businessprocess which is treated withthe same rigour, sense ofurgency and importance thatis given to other businessprocesses like finance,operations, marketing andnew product development.This implies having astrategy, being subject tocontinuous review and beingcontinuously on the topmanagement radar screen.

Contract labour willy-nilly has become almostcentre point in whole debate.While contract labour as amode of employment is hereto stay, what is required is to


A STEP TOWARDS BETTER EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

compensation by principalemployer for death ofcontact labour inside factorypremises in Contract Labour(Regulation and Abolition)act 1970. Though thedependants of deceased mayclaim compensation fromcontractor or principalemployer or both underemployee's compensationact, if not covered under ESI.But here the question is notof legally sustainablecompensation. Here the issueis of handling the demand ofhuge compensation beingput forward by workersimmediately on the spot insurcharged atmosphere. Soan IR manager has to beprepared for this type ofscenario.

Labour is a subject in theconcurrent list of the IndianConstitution where bothcentre and state can amendand frame the labour laws.As a result, labour law variesfrom state to state and thus itbecomes difficult for IRmanagers to follow the laws.

In this cut throatcompetition, dependence oncontract labours isincreasing at phenomenalrate. There are not that manyamendments in ContractLabour (Regulation andAbolition) act 1970, whichcould really cover all thedynamism of ContractLabour issues. As a result, IRmanagers are found withalbatross around their neck.At the same time, the roles ofthe unions are defined, buttheir responsibilities are notmentioned.

A 'protected workman' isdefined, but there are nosuch provisions for factoryofficers managers.Productivity & Flexibilityare not addressed anywherein ID Act 1948, so it becomesdifficult to retrench anyworker or take any stepsagainst him even though heis not working as perexpectations.

There are lot ofmisconceptions regarding'collective bargaining' issue.Difference in wages of theregular employees andcontract labours is a majorissue of concern and is one

of the main causes for several disputes because manytimes it has been seen that there is no difference in natureof the job between regular employee and contract labourbut wages paid are different.

Meeting out the challenges

1. To deal with Trade Unions, Contractors, labours, IRmanagers should minimize the use of jargons and theyshould try to communicate in simple language and ifpossible try to communicate in local language to avoid anyconfusion.

2. Review different labour laws, civil laws and consultwith the company's legal representative to assure if thecompany is in compliance with all of these regulations.

3. Always try to listen closely to the employee's concern.It is not always necessary to give judgment or suggestionsand to enforce certain policies, which are not in line withlegal compliance.

4. Sometimes to settle down dispute, An IR manager cantake the decision on the basis of intuition and build mutualtrust.

5. Job rotation policy can be the another way to enrichworkers experience and settle the disputes.

6. IR manager should not directly intervene to check theworkmen to form unions or groups, which may lead toaggression among them.

7. The task for HR professionals in manufacturingorganisations is to create such a collaborative culture andbuild a growth oriented environment by, apart from otherthings, successfully arguing the case for investment inworker development programs and in driving a calendar ofactivities that channelise the energies of workerspositively. Bad practices (for example, engaging contractlabour for core work) and aged thinking (e.g. creatingsymbolic forums for worker participation in factoryaffairs) will have to be replaced with more contemporaryapproach to industrial relations.

Majority of employers would like to work within aframework of principles and values and be genuinelyinterested in unleashing the human potential of theworkers in the pursuit of creating long term competitiveadvantage, where employers and workmen interact andengage with each other in their multiple roles and not justas "productive resources." This requires that both sides:

Be willing to "listen" and provide "psychological air."especially to the younger work force.Keep looking for third alternatives through opennessand dialogue.Believe in the power of win-win solutions rather thanwin-lose conflicts.Always remember to keep channels of communicationopen, especially during periods of confrontation / strife.Avoid taking positions that are "irreversible" and,finally.Believe in ourselves - that we can bring about largechange by working on many small changes.

It is a process of engaging people with each other,wanting to make a difference, having a passionate desire tocreate a better world, staying the course and beingprepared to run the marathon. One can argue that all this isa utopian dream, and far away from the harsh realities ofthe workplace. May be so, but any transformation startswith a dream. Let us make a departure from the past andmove to the future where both business partners are eagerto work together for mutual benefit.


BM

IR managershould notdirectlyintervene tocheck theworkmen toform unions orgroups, whichmay lead toaggressionamong them.

Alpha Corporation is an organizationthat takes care of its employees in a numberof ways. The company has initiated manysteps to make things easier for theemployees and to promote positiveorganizational behavior. On thetransportation front, the company providesAC cab facilities to the staff to commute tothe company. This service is provided free ofcost. Among other free benefits, food iscatered to the employees. Employees arestrongly urged to work to complete theirtasks during the scheduled working hours.All facilities are provided for people workingovertime.

The senior management team closelyinteracts with junior team. Often managerscome to the desk of employees withbouquets and organize small celebrationsfor employees on occasions such asbirthdays and anniversaries. Thisencourages informal interaction andteaches employees a lot about the culture ofthe organization. Festivals such a Holi andDiwali are celebrated with lunch or dinnerparties.

The culture of the organization is openand non-hierarchical. Many members of thestaff are so impressed with the culture andthe management style of senior managersthat they have made them their role models.This has gradually resulted in buildingharmony in the organization. The regularinteractions between senior managementand employees enable younger employeesto adapt to the organization much faster.They are given all possible opportunities toseek opinions and explanations from thesenior management about any doubts thatthey might have.

There are regular training programs inthe company. The training programs are ondifferent aspects such as behavioral training,technical training, and domain-specifictraining. This contributes towards the overalldevelopment of the employees along withdevelopment in their technical skill. This also

helps in making employees more congruentwith the company policies and objectives.

The reward and recognition programs atthe company are based on merit. The paystructures as well as the extra rewards aregiven on the basis of performance indifferent projects. The compensationoffered by the company is competitivethough not the highest in the industry.Employees are recognized for the work thatthey do during regular summits in order tohonour leading performers.

The offsite programs for employees arearranged team-wise, business unit-wise, andpan-company wise. The generalatmosphere in the company is that ofstability and calm, and is conductive tolearning and improvement. It has a greatbrand name internationally and maintainsthe same working conditions and policiesfor its employees in India.

Although the organization promotespositive behavior among its employeesthrough various initiatives, there are someissues which need to be tackled. First, as aresult of the free culture, the level ofcompetition that can drive employees togreater success is lacking. Also comparedwith its peers, the organization does notprovide fast career growth to employees,which may discourage and frustrateambitious employees. As most of theorganization's systems are set andstructured, there is limited scope forfeedback and change. Also, as theorganization is relatively large, it does notpromote an entrepreneurial mindset in itsemployees, and takes fewer risks.

As projects are assigned arbitrarily toteams, some teams get to work on morechallenging and exciting projects thanothers. This creates feeling ofdiscontentment, irritation, and resentmentin employees who are assigned less excitingprojects. As employees are used to workingonly until 5:30 p.m, some of them areunwilling to put in longer hours when a

larger project or assignment is due. As theorganization tries to promote stability, it isalso soft on all employees-includingincompetent and unmotivated employees.Thus, the organization has to support morethan its fair share of "deadwoods", whichaffects and hampers the productivity ofother employees.

Although the company sponsors severalfestivals, celebrations, and contests,participation is limited to a few enthusiasticemployees.

Finally, despite several fine initiatives,several employees are dissatisfied with theirmonetary compensation. Thus, this may bethe primary reason why many employeesare always on the lookout for anopportunity to quit the organization.

A few interesting trends were observedin the organization over the past few years.According to a survey conducted, mostemployees admired the organization and itsvalues. Most employees who quit theorganization did so within two years ofjoining, and were generally new graduates.Employees, who quit when at mid-management level are highly sought afterand get attractive offers in leadership roleswithin the industry. Among the olderemployees, many have spent their entirecareer comprising more than 20-30 years inthe organization. The top managementcomprises of a large percentage of womenand non-resident Indians based in theUnited States.

Questions for Discussion1. How would you classify this organization

on cultural parameters?

2. What are the problems encountered bythis organization?

3. Identify the initiatives taken by theorganization to promote its strongculture.

4. If you were the CEO of this organization,how would you bring about a positiveculture in the organization?


What makes or break the organization culture?

Case Study www.businessmanager.in

BM

Dr. Kavita Singh

Professor, O.B. FMS, University of Delhi, Delhi



1- The Alpha Corporation envisaged andimbibed the efficacious concept of employeerendezvous in the organization. The workplaceapproaches for flourishing the engagementactivities, reward and recognition, festivalscelebrations & partying various happy momentare evidently display the organization intention-right conditions for all members to give their bestproductivity each day, commitments towards theorganization goal & values, with an enhancedsense of belongingness & guzzle the sense oftheir own well-being.

The Alpha Corp. has also instigated &emphasis on the overall developments of allemployee by executing the various generoustechnical, soft skill and domain based trainingprogram. The all enunciated activities sponsoredby the Alpha, tend to stimulus the employeebehavior & level of efforts in work relatedperformances. The Alpha has adopted the clanculture with a passionate manner.

2-Despite of adopting the clan culture byAlpha Corp., a group of employee were dis-engaged & discouraged in the arena of awardingthe projects/task arbitrarily, monotonous tendsabsence of clear career growth policy orsuccession planning and competitive paystructure etc.

Amen had rightly said "It is better to spend thetime & money while one is alive and not while onehas gone still & not alive". In spite of providing allthe amenities & flexi-benefits to the employee,the company has suffered from so many issues-

Attrition prospective: - As per the surveyreports conducted in Alpha, the employees whoadmired the organization /values were highlyproductive since they were assigned excitingprojects and get recognized, the others who wereassigned less exciting projects were highlydisengaged, discontented & vexed. The trends ofjumping off the ship by the new graduates within02 yrs. of joining may be due to salary packages,career growth & monotonous surrounding etc.on the other hand, when middle managementemployees quit & offered leadership role inhierarchy, de-motivate the others resulting in lessproductive approach. This compels the

organization to rethink, revitalize & rejuvenate the workforce to downturn the rate of attrition. Thephenomena is like a flowing of river -"the objective is not to try and stop the flow but to control & regulate".There is a need to turn to market drivers retention strategy with idea to shift the focus from trying to retainall to try to retain only desirable & deserving.

Monetary views & review: - Several employees are disengaged due to compensation structure &seek for opportunity to quit though the company has good practices for engagement activities & rewardsto cope up the echelon of stress and enhance the altitude of engagement & commitments. The systemof pay should be reviewed.

Laxity in communication/feedback systems:- The success of any organization rest with thecapability of leaders to address the both emotional & practical issues. Lack of sense of belongingness &ownership were diagnosed since some of the employees are not keen to work more than scheduledworking hours.

3- The culture is benevolent of social glue that muddles people together through shared cyphers,dialects, & practices& Co. has taken various initiatives to imbibe the strong culture.

Open culture & non hierarchal systems:-The interaction of senior management team with junioror new buds at work to celebrate birthday, anniversary & festivals, primarily tried to overcome theapprehension & edifice bonding of emotional attachments & intent to break the slit of formal interaction& also slant to create atmosphere of fraternity which diagnose the doubt of thought they might have.

Structuring training on soft/technical skill & even domain based knowledge sharing to equipemployee, to hone the skill set & behavioural aspects as well.

The reward & recognition program & uniform working conditions indicate a progressive impressionon its employee to build mutual trust & respect leads to collaborative culture working in India & abroad.

4-Being a CEO of Alpha, I would like to become designer, leader as steward and leader as teacher &endeavours to imbibe & indulge into the following :-

Addressing the issues amicably and bringing the talent on track,

Empathizing with person and his predicaments,

Creating transparency of limitations in meeting their career growth, aspirations & compensation etc.,and

Preparing succession planning either within or from outside, least one is caught un-aware.

All these or combination of these can really go long way in binding within organisation that seekemployers' empathy & enterprise ethics without any compromise on both.

Conduct survey to take impulse of sensation & chart out the employee friendly policy based on surveyreports, to ripen a sense like "it is my baby should be developed" & philosophy of "we count on you". Re-design the Job description & reward systems to encourage the employee delight. Nurturing thesupporting environment that consent employee to grow & know that someone is taking care.

Recognition of those who are not motivated since it is the nutrients that let employee texture they arecontributors to the success of the Co. & feelings of ownership to make them feel involved in the goal & valueof the organisation.

Support folks who are alacritous to champion new ideas, better services and innovation and are eagerfor a chance to turn innovation into new division, dimension & business. Identify the Manager who are ableto accomplish, make positive emotions & harnessing the skill set of their subordinates. Creating a blog ofCEO for new impending decisions/changes to take a dip stick on the prevailing mood/solicit opinion orbuild influence group etc. Try to build a learning organization where openness, systematic thinking,creativity, personal efficacy, empathy shall be in the existence.

Need to shift the focus

Case Analysis

Pramod Kumar TripathiAsstt. General Manager - HR,

Bajaj Energy Limited (BEL), Lucknow

BM

Mihir GosaliaManager - ISO & OHSAS,

Kesari Tours Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai



1. How would you classify this organisationon cultural parameters?

The culture of Alpha Corporation seems tobe that of family owned & managed basedon traditional relationship value. This isevident from various examples like open &non-hierarchal culture, companywidecelebration of festivals such as Holi & Diwaliwith Lunch & Dinner Parties, provision ofemployee facilities like AC cab forcommuting, food, urging employees tocomplete work during office hours only, etc...

The culture of Alpha Corporation can also beviewed as not so professionally managed &maybe equated to that a start-up culturegiven by the fact that compensation thoughcompetitive is not as per industry standardsleading to employee dissatisfaction andultimately leading them to quit for betterprospects. Most employees who quit theorganisation do so within 2 years of joining& are generally new graduates. So AlphaCorporation can be deemed as TrainingInstitute for Freshers or from wherecompetitor companies can pick up skilledand trained employees ready to perform onthe job from Day 1. No training investmentrequired by them.

It also seems that all the employees areworking in their comfort zone and there isno competitive pressure on them to performand sustain their positions. This is evidentfrom older employees having spent theirentire 20-30 years career or employees notused to working beyond office hours orputting in longer hours when a large projector assignment demands so. AlphaCorporation in its endeavour to promoteculture of stability and care for theemployees makes do with incompetent andunmotivated employees and supportsdeadwoods, doesn't take any performancebased action against them.

2. Identify the initiatives taken by theorganisation to promote its strongculture

Alpha Corporation has undertaken manyinitiatives to promote its strong culture. Thisincludes provision of free AC cab facilities foremployees for commutation, food provision,

facilities for working overtime. Senior management participates with junior team forcelebrating occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries thus encouraging informalinteraction. Lunch & Dinner parties are organised for major festivals such as Diwali. ThusAlpha Corporation has various employee engagement activities in place. D u eto open and non-hierarchal work culture, senior managers serve as role models for juniorsand new comers in the organisation. Juniors are free to seek opinions and explanationsfrom seniors for any doubts that they might have without any hesitation. This has alsoresulted in younger employees adapting to the organisation work culture and itsprocedures much faster. This has also resulted in building harmony amongst theemployees in the organisation. Structured training programs exist in thecompany on different aspects such as behavioural, technical and domain-specific. Thishelps them to develop their competencies and also make them more aware of company'spolicies and objectives. Alpha Corporation also has various reward and recognitionprograms.Employees are recognised for the work that they do and leading performers arehonoured.

3. What are the problems encountered by this organisation?

Alpha Corporation in its endeavour to be an open and non-hierarchal organisation andpromote traditional values like culture of caring & harmony amongst its employees, firstlyfaces the challenge of retaining skilled, ambitious, enthusiastic, professional and careergrowth oriented employees who would like to move up the career ladder. Attrition is anissue in the organisation. Also due to cultural issues, employees do not seem to striveto work hard or put in extra efforts in their work when it is required of them.They are usedto fix working hours. Employees are used to work in a routine and do not wish to gobeyond it. Also due to non-professional and non-competitive work culture whereinemployee performance is not reviewed regularly and feedback given, the companysupports incompetent and unmotivated employees (deadwoods).This in turn affects andhampers the productivity of other employees.They in turn get demoralised, disconnected& disengaged with the organisation. One issue leads to another. The company though itsponsors festivals, celebrations and contests, only few regular & enthusiastic employeesparticipate in it.

4. If you were the CEO of this organisation, how would you bring about a positiveculture in the organisation

The culture at Alpha Corporation is in need of a revamp. And this can only happen whenit's driven from the top.When it's leadership driven. The CEO must walk the talk in leadingsystematic performance improvement throughout Alpha Corporation. This can be doneby carrying out many visible activities like setting goals, planning, recognising & rewardingperformance. A significant portion of the time of CEO has to be spent in performanceimprovement activities if a positive culture change has to be brought about.

Job definitions with performance targets must be clearly delineated for each level of theorganisation, objectively measured, and presented in a logical and organised structure.Systems and procedures must be deployed that encourage cooperation and a crossfunctional approach to management, team activities,and problem solving.Actions must betaken to assist those employees that are not meeting their goals or performing to plan.

Promote the concept of cross-training and job rotation. Cross-training, job sharing, androtational assignments promote a more engaged employee and makes that employeemore valuable to the organisation. Although Alpha Corporation claims to have manyemployee engagement initiatives in place, a systematic process must be deployed toevaluate and improve the effectiveness and extent of employee satisfaction &engagement initiatives. Consistent and prompt action must be taken to improveconditions identified through these surveys.

CEO must walk the talk

Case Analysis

BM



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HR NEWS

Snapdeal plans to trimstaff

Snapdeal aims to trim about 30% of its workforce over thenext two months, according to people aware of the plan at theGurgaon-based company. The online marketplace plans todrastically cut costs as the Indian ecommerce industry battlesslowing growth and a paucity of investors willing to providefresh rounds of funding.

The move is expected to affect about 1,000 employees directlyemployed by the company in its ecommerce marketplace whilethousands of contract workers in the company's logisticsdivision are also expected to be let off, said the people. "5,000-oddcontract staff employed by the company's logistics subsidiaryVulcan Express will be pared down as well as about 3,000 peopleon the rolls of the logistics company," said a company executiveand two consultants working with the company.

In an email sent out to managers within the marketplaceoperations earlier this week, the company asked them to "right-size" their respective teams. With this round of layoffs, thecompany is expected to let go of about 1,000 from themarketplace. According to one of the people quoted above, thelatest round began last week.

In February 2016, Snapdeal had put over 200 employees on aPerformance Improvement Program and eventually let go of theadditional staff.

Jasper Infotech which owns and operates Snapdeal employsabout 10,000 people across all operations, including theecommerce marketplace Snapdeal, payments platformFreeCharge and logistics and supply chain arm Vulcan Express,according to company representatives.

This estimate also includes over 5,000 contract workers inVulcan. The company's employee-related expenses rose to Rs 911crore in FY 2016, up 148% from the previous fiscal. Employeeexpenses is the largest cost for Snapdeal after marketing andadvertising.

The decision to further reduce its workforce also comes onthe back of the company's decision to shut down Shopo, theEtsy-like online consumer-to-consumer platform for smallsellers that it relaunched in 2015.

Source - ET

Wipro is learnt to have fired hundreds of employees as partof its annual "performance appraisal". According to sources,Wipro has shown the door to about 600 employees, whilespeculation was rife that the number could go as high as 2,000.

When contacted, Wipro said it undertakes a "rigorousperformance appraisal process" on a regular basis to align itsworkforce with business objectives, strategic priorities of thecompany, and client requirements. "The performanceappraisal may also lead to the separation of some employeesfrom the company and these numbers vary from year to year,"it added.

Source: ET

wipro sacks hundreds ofemployees post performance

appraisalTalent shortage is acute in the IT and data science ecosys-tem in India with a survey claiming that 95 per cent ofengineers in the country are not fit to take up softwaredevelopment jobs.

According to a study by employability assessmentcompany Aspiring Minds, only 4.77 per cent candidates canwrite the correct logic for a programme - a minimumrequirement for any programming job.

Over 36,000 engineering students from IT relatedbranches of over 500 colleges took Automata - a MachineLearning based assessment of software development skills- and over 2/3 could not even write code that compiles.

The study further noted that while more than 60 per centcandidates cannot even write code that compiles, only 1.4per cent can write functionally correct and efficient code."Lack of programming skills is adversely impacting the ITand data science ecosystem in India. The world is movingtowards introducing programming to three-year-old! Indianeeds to catch up," Aspiring Minds CTO and co-founderVarun Aggarwal said.

The employability gap can be attributed to rote learningbased approaches rather than actually writing programmeson a computer for different problems. Also, there is a dearthof good teachers for programming, since most goodprogrammers get jobs in industry at good salaries, thestudy said.

Moreover, programming skills are five times poorer fortier III colleges as compared to tier 1 colleges. "Sixty nineper cent of candidates from top 100 colleges are able towrite a compilable code versus rest of the colleges whereonly 31 per cent are able to write a compilable code," thereport said.

Source: Hindu BusinessLine

95% engineers in Indiaunfit for software develop-

ment jobs: study

HC confirms lifers for 2 trade unionleaders

The Madras High Court upheld the life sentenceawarded by a trial court to two trade union leaders oncharges of murdering vice-president of Pricol Limited inCoimbatore in 2009. However, the division bench,comprising Justices S. Nagamuthu and N. Authinathan,acquitted few others from all charges. The matterpertains to unrest in Pricol Limited,Periyanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore on September 21,2009. During the strife, Roy J George, vice-president, HRdepartment was fatally attacked by a few workmen. Thecompany is involved in manufacturing accessories fortwo-wheelers including switches, gauges, meters andvalves.

The police registered a case for various offences underthe IPC, including Sec. 302 (murder) and Prevention ofDamages to Public Properties Act.



HR NEWS

Women in India earn 25% lessthan men: Monster

Gender continues to be a significant parameter indetermining salaries, as men earned a median grosshourly salary of Rs. 345.8, whereas women earned Rs.259.8 in 2016.

About 68.5% women of India inc feel that gender paritystill a concern and the management needs to 'walk-the-talk'.

Gender pay gap:

The MSI data from 2016 indicates that the current gender pay gapin India stands at 25% where men earned a median gross hourlysalary of Rs. 345.8, in comparison women earned only Rs. 259.8. Thegap has narrowed by two percentage points from 27.2% in 2015 andis closer to the 24.1% in 2014.

Analysing the employment intensive sectors, the index derivesthat the average gender pay gap in the Manufacturing sector stoodat 29.9%. This is an improvement of 5 percentage points from 2015,however the highest in India. This was followed by a 25.8% pay gapin the IT sector. The gender pay gap in the BFSI sector was at 21.5%,slightly under the general gender pay gap in India (25%). InEducation and Research sector the average gender pay gap was at14.7%.

Sharing his views, on the gender pay gap Sanjay Modi,Managing Director, APAC & Middle-East, Monster.com said, "InIndia, the gender pay gap story holds true and the overall gap acrossIndia Inc. is at 25 percent. This primarily is a manifestation of theunderlying diversity challenges that organisations currently face.There is a dire need for tangible initiatives to bridge this pay gapwith removing structural impediments to women's growthproviding access to skills training, jobs; and decision-making."

The survey aimed at understanding the working women of Indiaand their workplace concerns broadly was categorised under theparameters of- workplace, growth and safety. The survey wasconducted on Monster India's database capturing responses fromover 2000 working women.

The survey witnessed maximum share of participation fromDelhi NCR at 15%, followed by Mumbai and Bangalore at 12%. Theparticipation from non-metros was at 35%. Hence, it would belogical to say that the sentiment portrayed in the report is primarilyfrom Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore.

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Certificate course on “LabourLaw and Compliance Audit” at

Bangalore

NHRD Hosur and NHRD Bangalore chapter have joinedhands in launching an "Advanced certificate course onLabour law and compliance audit" program on January 20,2017.

This course is designed as a weekend course for benefitof practicing HR managers, executives and professionals,spread over 6 months. The course was formally inauguratedby eminent Senior Advocate and management consultant inIndustrial and Labour law Mr. S.N. Murthy in the presence ofNHRD Hosur Chapter President Mr. Manivannan, DGM - IR,Avtec, the Master Faculty Mr. Vittala Rao, Managementconsultant in Legal compliance and Course Director Mr. F.Israel Inbaraj, GM - HR TCS. The chief guest and dignitariesemphasized the importance of "Legal compliance" in anorganization and the impact of proper understanding andeffective application of same that can be leveraged forbusiness growth. The practitioners from various industriesthrowed light on contemporary challenges and shared bestpractices how each issue can be approached. The inauguralsession was a great eye opener and prelude to theforthcoming sessions.

The course covers twelve vital and important acts likeIndian Factories Act, Contract Labour Act, Industrialdisputes act, Employee compensation Act, Minimum WagesAct etc.

Each Act is dealt in detail with a perfect blend of theoryand application. The theory is handled by the subject matterexpert Mr. Vittalla Rao who has a rich experience of over 40years as a management consultant in areas of Legalcompliance and Industrial relations.

The current scenario and challenges is covered by theCourse Director Mr. Israel Inbaraj, GM-HR, TCS Ltd whoconceptualized and designed this course. There are guestfaculties from different corporate who join for everysession.

The participants are required to go through this rigorousand power packed training, followed by assessment aftereach session. Participants are certified only after meetingthe qualifying criteria. At the end of course the participantstransform to rich individuals and HR Professionals therebycontributing significantly to their respective businesses,organizations and the society.



HR NEWS

VRS: Sweeter terms speedup shedding of excess staff

Voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) at central public sectorenterprises (CPSEs) have gathered some extra momentum after theModi government sweetened the package for employees of sickunits in September last year.

After reaching a peak of nearly 34,400 in FY07, the rate of attritionthrough VRS in chronically sick and other units, including profitableones, has declined steeply, to just 2,525 in FY15. In comparison, 3,901persons were offered VRS in sick companies alone in FY17.

Under the September 2016 scheme of the Modi government,employees are offered VRS packages at notional 2007 pay scales. Inaddition, all dues including salary arrears will be settled at the time ofseparation. Prior to this, no settlements; in some cases, the staff hadto accept early 1990s pay scales.

Among the 3,901-odd employees belonging to eight sick CPSEswho took VRS in FY17, most belonged to Hindustan Cables, HMTTractor, Instrumentation Ltd and three other units of HMT.

The number employees who took VRS in the last fiscal year wouldbe higher after such data for profitable CPSEs are included, an officialsaid. However, VRS adoptions happen mostly with sick PSUs.

Only employer will decide ifemployee's work satisfactory:

Delhi High Court

An employer, not a court, will decide whether a probationaryemployee's services are satisfactory, the Delhi High Court has said. JusticeValmiki Mehta made the observation while upholding the termination ofservices of a teacher by a private school in the national capital. "Whetheror not a probationary employee's services are satisfactory, it is for theemployer to decide ..., and this court cannot substitute its view for that ofthe employer with respect to satisfactory services or otherwise ofemployee with the employer," the court said. The school had terminatedthe services of a teacher in March 2014 after keeping him on probation fornearly three years as his work was not found to be satisfactory. Theteacher had challenged the decision in the Delhi School Tribunal (DST)which on December 10, 2015 had ruled in his favour by ordering hisreinstatement.

Pink slips for 600 as RelianceCommunications trims fatReliance Communications has laid off over 600 roles in an

ongoing effort towards a leaner organisation, people familiarwith the matter said. The country's fourth largest telecomcompany is in merger talks with Aircel and MTS. Retrenchmentover the month has even touched some middle and seniormanagers — in the Rs 30-50 lakh salary bracket, they added.

"In-country consolidation is taking place in telecom and, asis the practice globally, rationalisation of networkinfrastructure, sales and marketing, people and other assetswill be the key drivers of greater efficiencies and synergies,"said an RCom spokesperson. Company officials said job cutswill help the 7,500-strong RCom integrate workforce whenmergers with Aircel and MTS materialise.

Industrial tribunal rejects permanency claim of

contract LaboursThe Industrial Tribunal Ahmednagar provided relief to AAM India

Manufacturing India Pvt Ltd — an MNC with global presence — byturning down the permanency in service claim of its 52 contractualemployees.

The MNC, having its unit at Supa in neighbouring Ahmednagardistrict, has 377 employees and has an annual turnover of over Rs 130crore. While passing the judgment, DJ Shegaonkar, memberIndustrial Tribunal, Aurangabad, ruled that there is no cogent, reliableand satisfactory evidence on record to show that the company andcontractors are sham and bogus, or the company is the principalemployer of the 52 workers.

The judgment went on to state that there is absolutely no evi-dence on record to show that the company has paid wages to theworkers. Also, there is no satisfactory evidence on record to show thatthey continuously worked for more than 240 days every year with thecompany.

The court went on to state that in contrary to the claims made bythe workmen, there is voluminous documentary evidence on recordto show that the 52 workers were deployed by the company as con-tract labourers for doing sundry work on its premises.

The tribunal in its order has concluded that the demands madeby the 52 workmen are not found proper, legal and justifiable and assuch, those are liable to be rejected.

Out of the 150 employees hired by the MNC on contract basis, inSeptember 2014, a total of 52 reached out to Ahmednagar-basedindustrial tribunal claiming permanency in service.

Delhi high court restrains taxi driver unions from disrupting Ola

& UberThe Delhi high court on Monday permanently restrained two taxidrivers' unions from interfering in services offered by taxi aggrega-tors Ola and Uber in the national capital region.

The Court passed the order after being informed of anunsuccessful attempt at mediation with the two unions-SarvodayaDriver Association and Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union-that werealleged to have disrupted services of taxi aggregators who did notwish to participate in a February strike for higher fares and otherincentives.

The court also reiterated its earlier order restraining the driversunions from staging any protest within 500 metres from the officepremises of Ola and Uber in the future.

May-17

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