Kandula said the situation was not that bad in the Indian IT industry and margins were still quite comfortable. IT companies could afford to take slightly lower margins in these difficult times, he said. Firing employees now would be counterproductive in the medium and long-term, as organizations may find themselves short of skilled staff then for leveraging growth opportunities.
"Being able to retain key talent in difficult times is the true strength of any organization. Just because, you have a dull time for a while does not mean that you indulge in a job-cutting spree. Also HR must present a human face," said Kandula.
Acknowledging the difficulty on the recruitment front, Kandula said iGate had planned to employ 1000 professionals in the current quarter and next, but that figure has now been capped to 500 due to delayed business opportunities. "But certainly, we have not cut a single job and are not looking at job cuts in the future either."
Elaborating on his company`s HR model, Kandula said it was based on 5 C`s;
Compensation: Fixed, based on quality of living rather than cost of living; variable, designed to improve performance; and stock-based; for rewarding performance and loyalty to the organization.
Camaraderie: "iGate recognizes that the atmosphere that the employee works in means a lot to her so we have designed socialization that brings together people with common skills, with common hobbies and lastly for doing social work together," said Kandula.
Career Growth: Career Planning Management System is designed to help people chart their career paths over the next 12-15 years and help them understand what they could do to reach their career goals over that period of time.
Culture: A culture of mutual respect and understanding is encouraged at iGate to help employees feel at home.
Competency Framework: Building competencies is very important in a knowledge industry, and one needs to continuosly upgrade her skills to match global levels. iGate has developed the iGate Competency Framework that helps employees test their skills and identify possible gaps. The framework also offers solutions to bridge the competency gaps that may have developed within employees over a period of time.
"This is a completely in-house model that we have developed. Most companies rely on external frameworks that prove to be inapplicable to them after the initial one or two years," said Kandula. He stressed on the need for organizations to understand their own work processes and cultural nuances and develop an HR model accordingly instead of adopting external frameworks.
Kandula also stressed on the adult-to-adult engagement model that his company has deployed. The model recognizes employees as mature adults, said Kandula. Companies often resort to excessive controls over employees; however it is important to recognize them as mature individuals capable of doing the right thing, according to Kandula.
According to Kandula there are several Don`ts that organizations need to follow on the HR front in these recessionary times.
a) Don`t do Layoffs unless extremely critical: Layoffs unless unavoidable should not be done, said Kandula. It might not provide significant benefits, hurt the organization`s human resource capability in the medium and long-term and also hurt the company`s brand equity as an employer.
b) Don`t resort to excessive cost-cutting on employee benefits such as socialization, funds allocated to letting employees have fun etc
c) Don`t be harsh with average employees. Companies tend to try and push average employees too much in difficult times, which could be counterproductive instead of yielding benefits. Instead try and help them upgrade their skills, while adopting a patient approach.
d) Improve resource planning
e) In case profit margins are under too much pressure, take employees into confidence, talk to them about it and suggest cuts in increments.
Job cuts will not be a panacea for bracing the recession; organizations will have to look at enhancing efficiencies. Also organizations can take advantage of the current lull for training their staff, upgrading equipment and restructuring.
Source:
http://www.cxotoday.com/India/News/Job_Cuts_in_IT_Not_Necessary/551-96375-913.ht
