HRNV-Jun-2019

HR NEWS & VIEWS
JUNE | 2019

VALUE

PEOPLE

INNOVATIONS @ HR SKILL BUILDING
HR INTERNATIONAL COMPANY UPDATES



VALUE PEOPLE – USE
TECHNOLOGY

SHIFTING PARADIGM

There is a major shift that is happening in today’s
business world with the introduction of technology and

digital space acquisition in mind. With Artificial
Intelligence, BI and BIG Data, the essence of tech-gig

workforce and work-mind is becoming supreme.

I am a tech-lover and do not decline the emergence of
technology as an intervention or tool for effectiveness,
however I do disapprove to the diminishing aspect of
“valuing the people” element in this upcoming space.

COMPARING ROADMAP

From where we are to where we will be…

WAY EARLIER CURRENT TREND FUTURE

People were Technology are Heavily
considered to providing the dependent to
aspect of technology and
bring in intelligence to people will just
intelligence in people in their take up the role of
creating systems business a doer with nearly
functions zero application of
and design
interventions mind

GAIN – RISK CHART

Make the competition irrelevant

GAINS RISKS

› Business focus with › Shift in human
operations cost capabilities
optimization
› Diminishing value for
› Ability to create a small people at various roles
scale command center
› Minimal futuristic focus to
› Psychological feel of develop people
trending of data competencies
management
› Several time creating
frustrating customer
experience

ARE WE TRING TO REPLACE
HUMAN FACTOR ?

In today’s business age with robotics coming into place, Usage
what is the end goal that we are trying to achieve? Can a
robot replace what a human mind can do ? As we execute
tasks it will be a task completion machine, but can it bring
in the right emotions that is required to deliver to a human

experience.

Think deep, it cannot and it is more concerning when
people interfacing functions are talking now a days of

using more of more robotic experience.

Customer care Product / service
functions knowledge
functions
HR and enabling
functions, like Technical
bots etc. guidance at real

workplaces,
service industry

etc.

DECODING – PEOPLE
TECHNOLOGY MATRIX

VALUE People are the creators of technology PEOPLE
MATRIX and they it should be understood that There is an
technology exist because of people and overlap and
not the other way round. Human that needs
emotions can never be conveyed in it’s to be
true perspective how effective a robot designed for
may be. right benefit

Technology should be an enabler and TECHNOLOGY and usage
support to people and it is something
which should be used by people and
not other way round. Technology
innovations should bring in awareness
of positivity, prosperity and overall
upliftment of people and society

LET’S UNDERSTAND THIS
PRACTICALLY

How many times do we get Sometimes it becomes too
frustrated with an annoying when you get so
many suggestions, mails
automated IVR and hang up coming our way based on
without a solution.
our web analysis by
On various website chats companies
we feel more comfortable
connecting to a person than and lastly when a human’s
over dependence on tech
a robot.
kills his/her own self
development

WHERE IT FITS &
WHERE IT DOES’NT

Places where it can reduce F Increased robotic
human risk and brings in I experience with customer
T
ease of work effectiveness. searching for answers,
direct human interfaces
replaced by robots lacks

human touch

UNFIT

U Service aspects which

FIT N needs faster agility and
flexibility to adapt to
Places where it can provide F dynamic situations and gets
insight by finding relevance,
trends, patterns in data and I stuck due to a predefined

it multiplies the human T workflow, hospitals,
ability to apply it’s
intelligence airports, stations etc..

Let’s not forget

“Technology is for
Human”

and not vice-versa

TIME TO PREPARE
THAN REPAIR

Explore RD Training Solutions
on multi disciplinary functions with some of

the specialized trainers.

CLICK HERE TO KNOW MORE

INNOVATION @ HR Dr. Deepak
Deshpande
Hiring Team - Differential CHRO & SVP
Rewards
For NETMAGIC

Super Achievers



SKILL BUILDING







What are the various policies you have that encourages employees to
enhance their skills

• Skill Development or Apprentice is more or less same but with different
approach. The Companies need to focus on quality manpower for which
Skill Development Centers need to be build up to train quality manpower
for future crisis.

• IDP
• Focus Group, Calibrate Skill Matrix and linked to there development

needs/goal
• training policies
• KRA Based Performance Appraisal System *HSE Meetings *Integrated

QHSE Systems
• Employee engagement like Sports activity, sharing the gain & pain with

employees in the shop floor meeting, Appreciation for best performer of
the month, Birthday celebration.
• Reward & recognition
• Some of the steps are:- Discuss and create a development plan during
the performance planning cycle Cross-training Provide timely behavioral
feedback on performance and discuss ways to improve and develop
further Mentoring
• Career Advancement Policy



Key Innovative
Product

click to explore more about our products

HR

Paul Strange INTERNATIONAL
HR Consultant
EUROPE HR

IS IT TIME TO SPLT HR INTO SEPARATE split in two functions – one for
DEPARTMENTS? Administration or the function of
pay and employee benefits and
I listened to a speech this month that reporting to the CFO. The other for
suggested that HR needs to split off its Leadership and Organization (HR-
‘organization design and development’ LO), would focus on improving the
work (OD) into a separate department. people capabilities of the business
The theory was that HR was the critical and would report to the CEO. The
function that is supporting organization second piece was the more
change, and it needed a clear identity evolutionary one. He saw this as
that was separate from its traditional creating high potential managers
role as a provider of employment from operations or finance whose
services and supporting and developing business expertise and people skills
managers. It reminded me of a proposal give them a strong chance of
by Ram Charan a few years ago. Charan attaining the top two layers of the
is a US-based, Indian-born management organisation.
guru. He thought that HR needed to be

Other HR sages responded. David Ulrich was concerned about HR governance
‘a centralised business should not have divided HR governance. The structure
of the HR department should be tied to the business structure.’ He is also an
advocate of a customer viewpoint approach – called an Outside-In. HR can
best serve the business when HR sees the business from the outside
customer’s perspective. This is not addressed by Charan.

John Boudreau recommends “adapting financial and other management
frameworks to HR and talent decisions.” For example, retool total rewards
by using the principles that have proven to work in product design and market
segmentation. In other words, use methodologies that are effective in other
functional areas of the enterprise, and apply them to HR.

Josh Bersin thought that HR was too complex a function to split so clearly. HR
executives must deal with workforce shortages, labour relations, complex
technology, diversity and women’s issues, employee engagement,
management skills (or lack thereof), and leadership development.
Organisation changes, such as mergers and acquisitions, need an integrated
approach, though senior HR people needed to be upgraded in the talent and
business acumen. A point also made by Ulrich.

My own humble opinion - I am not a guru like these people – is that 80% of HR
departments are too small to evolve into to two distinct functions, and that
there are some pros and cons to Charan’s idea. For larger organisations, The
HR-LO piece does not need to evolve from the HR function and to be a
separate department. So HR is downgraded, with the possibility that the
Leadership and Organisation executive gets the board role, or equivalent.
Some of the criticism of Charan’s idea is that he labelled it as an evolution of
HR. However we deliver organisation change and future leaders, it does not
need an HR label. Only that it is effective.

I think that some HR departments are evolving to deliver the benefits that HR-
LO describes without a distinctive separation. Some may not be able to
without a CEO backed push which may be delivered by external consultancies
combining with senior management. Or is may be delivered by a CHRO who
has the respect of the CEO and the board. How to get that reputation is
another question.

SLOVAKIA: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT ENCOURAGES TOURISM

The government in Slovakia has introduced several incentives to boost local
tourism. One of is a novel employee benefit.

New laws require all employers to provide a recreation allowance in the form of
vouchers which can be used to buy holidays. Only employers with over 50
employees are legally obliged to participate, and only employees working for
the company for at least two years will be entitled to this benefit. The voucher
is 55% paid for by the employer. The allowance is up to €275 per employee. It
will be possible to use these vouchers only in Slovakia. The benefit will be
exempt from income taxes.

Most tourists to Slovakia are from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria
and Germany, in addition to local nationals. The Slovak tourist industry has been
struggling to maintain the same standards as those countries, and wages are at
the lowest end of the range in the country. The new measures will directly
encourage Slovak workers to vacation at home rather than go abroad.

HR SHORT STORIES

Russia: a manufacturer in central Russia has begun a feminity programme
aimed at its female workers. With a male dominated workforce, and many
female workers wearing trousers, they are rewarding women with bonuses if
they wear short skirts and make-up to work. Other "femininity" events in June,
including a competition to see who is the quickest at making dumplings. The aim
is cheer up the workers, but the company has received much criticism on social
media for its sexist policy. One called the initiative "news from the Middle
Ages".

• Google: The New York Times reports that contingent workers – temporary
contractors – now outnumber the company’s’ employees in the global
workforce. In 2018, Google had 121,000 temps and contractors around the
globe, but only 102,000 full-time employees.

• UK: The number of EU nationals working in the UK hit a record high in the
three months to March. Almost 2.4 million citizens of other EU
countries now work in the UK.

• Automation: Workers in the Czech Republic and Slovenia are most at risk of
losing their jobs to automation, according to a new report by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Poland,
Italy and Slovakia are also considered some of the other countries where
workforces are at risk of eventually losing jobs to automation. Globally, the
OECD estimates that only 14 per cent of jobs are at high risk of automation,
much less than other forecasters have suggested. Even as some jobs are
eliminated, others will be created.

POLAND HELPING UK’S NHS RECRUITMENT DRIVE

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is Europe's biggest employer — with a
workforce of 1.1 million. Presently it has 100,000 medical practitioner jobs unfilled
- 7,000 of these are family doctor positions. The latest statistics show the health
service had the equivalent of 28,596 fully qualified GPs working in England in
December 2018 — 593 fewer than 12 months earlier.

In 2016, the NHS began a £100 million plan to find 500 family doctors from abroad
to work in England by 2020. This target was increased to 2,000 in 2017.

In this plan, the NHS hired a Polish company last month to orientate – on-board –
doctors from other European countries to join the NHS. The family doctors, who
come from Spain, Lithuania, Greece and Poland, are enrolled at a campus in the
small town near Warsaw. These doctors will take an intensive 12-20 week
residential course in Poland and then, in the U.K., the doctors undergo additional
training under the supervision of a local doctor. The company also helps GPs with
resettlement, finding a school and opening a bank account when they get to the
U.K.

The training orientates doctors to UK language and culture. Doctors are also made
to watch British TV soap operas to improve their understanding of the British way
of life and local language.

SWITZERLAND - IF YOU REACH YOUR SALES TARGETS

I liked the story from Switzerland who, in May, welcomed 12,000 employees on a
trip from China. A cosmetics company rewarded its China based sales employees
with an all-expenses paid tour after they reached sales targets this year. The group
was the “biggest tourist group Switzerland has ever seen,” according to locals, and
visited several popular tourist locations.

UPDATES

Up to 12 mn Indian women may lose their jobs to automation by 2030: Study

In a country marked by low female labour force participation, robots, artificial intelligence and
other forms of automation could spell further job losses for women. By 2030, up to 12 million
women in India could risk losing their jobs to automation, according to a new study by the
McKinsey Global Institute. The study on the future of women at work mapped the impact of
automation on occupation among women in 10 countries. Agriculture, forestry, fishing,
transportation and warehousing are among sectors where job losses from automation will be the
most acute for India’s female workers. It will require future job seekers to upskill themselves and
gain secondary education. Men could lose roughly up to 44 million jobs to automation in the same
period in India, McKinsey noted. The report comes even as joblessness touches a 45-year high and
female labour force participation rate remains a low 27%. Automation has become a threat to
workers around the globe, especially in economies that rely heavily on manual labour in
manufacturing and services. Worried, companies and governments of the world over are upskilling
employees and finding means to prevent workers from being made redundant by robots and
artificial intelligence. Source: Livemint.com

Mr. Azim Premji to retire; son to take over reins of Wipro

Tech magnate and Wipro Ltd founder Mr. Azim Premji, who turned a small maker of vegetable oil
into a USD 8.5 billion software behemoth, will retire as the company head by July-end and hand
over reins of the firm to his son, Rishad. Mr. Premji, who turns 74 next month, will retire as
executive chairman upon the completion of his current term on July 30, 2019, after having led the
company for 53 years, Wipro said in a statement. Mr. Rishad Azim Hasham Premji is Wipro's Chief
Strategy Officer since May 2015 and has been on the company board since 2018. A BA in
Economics from Wesleyan University in US and an MBA degree holder from Harvard Business
School, he is also Chairman of National Association of Software and Services Companies
(NASSCOM). Mr. Azim Premji, who gave up studies at Stanford in 1966 to look after the family's
cooking oil business when his father died, will continue to serve on the board as a non-executive
director for five years till July 2024. He has also been conferred the title of founder chairman.
Wipro board also announced that chief executive officer and executive director Mr. Abidali Z
Neemuchwala will be re-designated as CEO and managing director, while Mr. Rishad Premji will be
re-appointed as whole-time director for a period of five years with effect from July 31, 2019, to
July 30, 2024. Source : Business-standard.com

Zomato extends 26 week paid parental leaves for all employees across the globe

Mr. Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Zomato believes that a lot of that imbalance at the top stems from
an unequal leave policy for men and women when they welcome their children to this world. And
hence, understanding the need for both men and women to be there for their children, Zomato
has decided to extend paid parental leaves to all of its employees, irrespective of their gender.
“For women across the globe we will be offering 26 weeks paid leave, or will follow the
government mandated policy, whichever is more. We will be offering exactly the same benefits to
men as well. There won’t be even an iota of difference in parental leave policy for men and
women at Zomato going forward,” wrote Mr. Goyal in his blog. What’s even more interesting is
that this policy also applies to non-birthing parents, and in cases of surrogacy, adoption, and
same-sex partners. Additionally, the new parents will also be given an endowment of $1000, per
child. These policy changes will be applicable to even those employees at Zomato who have had a
child within the last 6 months. In a country, where same sex-relationships have only recently got
acceptance, the trend of extending parental leaves for all the genders alike and in the cases like
surrogacy and adoption, is not that popular. Even if some forward-thinking companies have such
policies for male employees and non-birthing parents, the leaves given our often not as long as 26
weeks. As the government has not mandated the employers to extend leaves for this long, not
many companies themselves have taken that initiative. Source : Peoplematters.in

Startup India initiative created over 560,000 jobs since 2016: Government

The Startup India initiative has created an estimated 187,004 direct jobs since its inception in
2016, with the number of related indirect jobs taking the total tally to more than 560,000, the
government has claimed. “Start-ups create valuable jobs. 187,004 jobs have been reported by
16,105 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)-recognized start-ups, i.e.,
more than 11 direct jobs per start-up. With each direct job leading to 3x indirect jobs, the total
jobs created by these start-ups are estimated at more than 560,000,” Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, DPIIT
secretary, said. However, the figures are self-reported by start-ups and not verified by the
government. This job growth has come at a rough cost of more than Rs. 2,500 crore disbursed by
the government to fund start-ups. In 2016, the Centre had established a Rs. 10,000-crore fund of
funds under the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) to meet the financial needs of
start-ups. Source : Business-standard.com

Ford to shut Welsh plant with loss of 1,700 jobs

Ford will shut its engine plant in Wales next year, costing about 1,700 jobs, the US auto giant
announced in a further blow to Britain's embattled car sector struggling with Brexit uncertainty
and a global race to meet rising demand for electric vehicles. The head of Ford's Europe division,
Mr. Stuart Rowley, said in a company statement that "changing customer demand and cost

disadvantages" had contributed to making the Bridgend facility in south Wales "economically
unsustainable in the years ahead" and that it would shut in late 2020. Ford insisted that the US
group remained "committed to the UK, where it continues to be the passenger and commercial
vehicle sales leader". Mr. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Britain's biggest union Unite, called
the announcement "a grotesque act of economic betrayal". He called upon the British government
and devolved Welsh assembly to help fight the closure and "prevent yet another grave injury to UK
manufacturing". The news is a further blow to the British car sector amid heightened uncertainty
over the UK's departure from the European Union. It comes also as sales of diesel cars plummet
with consumers increasingly switching to greener electric vehicles. Source : Business-standard.com

Flipkart names ex-POKKT executive as Director Monetisation for Flipkart Ads

Ecommerce major Flipkart has appointed M. Dina Dsouza as Director Monetisation for Flipkart Ads,
as per media reports. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Dsouza was the Vice-President at POKKT
Video Ads and was looking into enhancing sales across markets. Ms. Dsouza had joined POKKT in
January 2016 and part of the leadership team at POKKT, a leading video ad platform for Mobile
games in India & the SEA region. At POKKT, she was responsible for driving sales & building the
revenue strategy for the organization across markets. She was responsible for successfully driving
discussions with key partners on the mobile gaming ecosystem which led to some of the top
brands scaling revenues & including mobile gaming as part their digital strategy. Prior to POKTT,
she was Senior Vice President, Digital at 9X Media for year. Before that, she spent over six years at
Microsoft as their India sales lead, driving advertising and online. Her 18 years of experience also
includes stints at Yahoo! and Bennett Coleman Co. Limited. Source : Peoplematters.in

British insurer Aviva overhauls UK biz, plans to cut 1,800 jobs globally

British insurer Aviva will change the structure of its UK business and cut costs across the firm, with
the loss of 1,800 jobs. Aviva said it would make cost cuts of 300 million pounds ($380.22 million)
over three years, in a statement ahead of its first investor day under new Chief Executive Mr.
Maurice Tulloch. The cost base in 2018 was four billion pounds, an Aviva spokeswoman said.
Following the departure of Mr. Andy Briggs, head of the life and general insurer's UK business and
a contender for the top job, Aviva said it would review its UK life and general insurance businesses.
Its UK digital business, housed in a former garage in the City's tech district, will be incorporated
into the general insurance business, Aviva said. Ms. Angela Darlington has been appointed interim
Chief Executive Officer of UK life and Mr. Colm Holmes CEO of general insurance across the group,
including Britain. "Today is the first step in our plan to make Aviva simpler, more competitive and
more commercial," Tulloch said in the statement. "Reducing Aviva's costs is essential." Aviva
employs 30,000 people and its international markets include Canada, France, Ireland and Asia.
Aviva said trading to date had been in line with 2018 and reiterated its commitment to a
progressive dividend policy. Source : Business-standard.com

Spice Jet to hire up to 2,000 Jet Airways staff

Spice Jet plans to hire up to 2,000 staff, including pilots and cabin crew, of the defunct Jet Airways
as the no-frills carrier continues to expand its operations. The airline has taken at least 22 planes
that were earlier used by Jet Airways, which temporarily shuttered its operations due to cash
crunch in April. "We have taken significant number of people from Jet Airways. They were well
qualified ad professional people. We will continue to take more Jet staff in the times to come. "We
have taken around 1,100 people so far. Expectation is that we will go up to 2,000 people. It will be
pilots, cabin crew, (people) from airport services, security," Spice Jet Chairman and Managing
Director Mr. Ajay Singh said. Currently, Spice Jet has around 14,000 staff and a fleet of 100 planes.
It is the fourth airline after Air India, now defunct Jet Airways and IndiGo to have 100 aircraft.
Source : Livemint.com

Volkswagen to cut 4,000 jobs as part of digital transition

Volkswagen AG’s main car brand said it will cut as many as 4,000 general and administrative jobs
in Germany — fewer than previously indicated — while adding at least 2,000 IT positions over the
next four years and extending a job guarantee until 2029. “We are making the company fit for the
digital age in a sustainable way," VW brand Chief Operating Officer Mr. Ralf Brandstaetter said in a
statement. VW said in March it was looking to trim as many as 7,000 jobs by 2023. Plans to
achieve an annual profit gain of 5.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) starting in 2023 and deepen cutbacks
irked VW’s union leaders as manufacturers wrestle with the transformation of sprawling industrial
operations. Software solutions are shaking up the industry’s traditional business model and
electric cars require fewer parts and workers for assembly. The Volkswagen car brand, which
accounts for about half the group’s global deliveries, employs about 185,000 workers out of a total
workforce of 663,000. VW has been pushing to rein in bloated expenses to lift profitability that’s
trailing rivals like PSA Group. Source : Livemint.com

Sharp drop in H1B visa approvals in 2018: Report

There was a sharp 10 per cent decline in the approval of H-1B visas by the US in the fiscal year
2018 which experts attributed to the “aggressive” policies of the Trump administration to clamp
down on the use of the work visa programme, popular among highly-skilled Indian IT
professionals. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign
workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The US Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 335,000 H-1B visas, which included both new and
renewable, in the fiscal year 2018. This was 10 per cent less from 373,400 in the previous fiscal
year of 2017, according to the USCIS’s annual statistical report. The approval rate of H-1B declined
from 93 per cent in 2017 to 85 per cent in 2018. Source : Thehindubusinessline.com

Foxconn plans management overhaul as founder Mr. Terry Gou sets sights on presidency:
Report

Apple supplier Foxconn is planning to overhaul its management structure to get more senior
executives involved in the running of its daily operations. The move to appoint a new
"operations committee" comes as Chairman and Founder Mr. Terry Gou is seeking to run in
Taiwan's 2020 presidential election. He said that he planned to step down from Foxconn to pave
the way for younger talent to move up the ranks. The overhaul will mark a major shift in
Foxconn's corporate leadership that has seen 68-year-old Mr. Gou hold a tight grip on the firm's
daily operations and strategic decisions. "The good thing is it will no longer be a company ruled
by one man and the decisions won't be as dogmatic as they used to be," sources said. "It will be
a co-management model." Investors are keen for any insight into succession plans at the world's
largest contract manufacturer, whose business ranges from smartphone assembling to panel
manufacturing, and what it means for plans laid out by Mr. Gou such as a $10 billion investment
to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin and an $8.8 billion display factory in southern China. Source :
0Business-standard.com

OYO India hires senior safety professionals for guest safety

OYO Hotels & Homes, as part of its efforts to improve guest safety and security, has appointed
Capt. Shakil Ahmed as Vice President of Security and Risk and Ms. Annie Vig as Director-
Emergency Response for India and South Asia operations. Together with multiple tech
innovations for improved guest experience and safety, the hires will help strengthen existing
efforts as the company focuses on elevated guest experience and safety as a key business
priority. Captain Shakil Ahmed, has over two decades of experience spanning the Indian Army,
Banking & Financial Sector, Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Manufacturing, BFSI and E-commerce
sectors. He has previously led Global Security, South Asia at Pfizer, Brand Protection at Diageo
India and has most recently led the middle mile Logistics and Supply Chain Security program for
Amazon in India. Ms. Annie Vig brings with her a rich experience of over 20 years. She is
passionate about safety oversight, both, at work as well as home. While at her previous
organization- IndiGo, she worked closely with the chief of safety and the CEO and was
responsible for developing and leading the implementation of policies and strategies derived
from ERM Manual through training, audits, and other modes of communications and
collaborating on joint exercises with neighbouring countries and security forces and other
agencies. Source : Businessworld.in











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