09 METHODOLOGY

The insurance sector is marked with a high level of attrition and therefore recruitment process becomes a crucial function of the organization. At ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, recruitment is all time high during MayJune and Oct-Nov. The attrition is high among the sales managers, unit mangers mostly in the sales profile. The recruitment is high during these months due to the fact that March and September are half year closing and business is high during Jan-Mar. Thus it is only after March that people move out of the companies. Since my summer training was in the months of May-June, it gave me the opportunity of involving myself directly with the recruitment process and analyzing the process so that suitable recommendations can be given. This project is centered on identifying best hiring practices in the insurance industries. It therefore requires great amount of research work. The methodology adopted was planned in advance so as to collect data in the most organized way. My area of focus was the recruitment and selection particularly at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. I was directly involved with the recruitment for candidates for the sales profile. I was particularly involved with the sourcing of candidates for the regions outside Delhi such as M.P, U.P and Rajasthan. Before any task was undertaken, we were asked to go through the HR policies of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance so that we get a better understanding of the process followed by them. The first task was to understand the various job profiles for which recruitment was to be done. The next step was to explore the various job portals to search for suitable candidates for the job profile. Once the search criteria were put, candidates went through a telephonic interview to validate the information mentioned in their resume. A candidate matching the desired profile was then lined for the first round of Face to Face interview in their respective cities. Firstly the candidate had filled up the personal data form(pdf). Then the candidates INTERVIEW EVALUATION SHEET which is provided by interviewer was crosschecked by the HR team. If they think that the candidate was good to hire or not. When a candidate cleared his first round, he is then made to take an online aptitude test. We created the online aptitude test. It the HR department, which has the exclusive rights to assign test, codes to the candidates. Each code was unique and could be used only once by a candidate.

I was involved in assigning codes and administering the test Once the candidate completed his first assessment, his scores were checked. If he cleared his cut-off he was given another test.

I had the responsibility to make sure that candidates complete all formalities and had to regularly follow up with them.

Since we received many resumes, it was essential that a database be maintained to keep a track. It was convenient method than to stock up piles of papers. ICICI has their own database named as PACE, I update all the records of the new joinees in that tracker. PACE containes all the information of a candidate such as name, contact number, location etc.

The external guide maintained a regular updating of the database. Understanding what kinds of database are maintained and how they help in keeping a record. I was also involved in maintaining a track of test codes given, the database for employee referrals, Database for the resumes received through mails and response of advertisement.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Date Source Primary Secondary ::Through Questionnaires Through Internet, Journals, News papers and Misc.

Data Collection Procedure :- Survey Research Instrument :- Structured Questionnaire. Sample Size : - 80 Sample Area : - work done in Delhi regional Office. Sample procedure :- Random sampling.

PROJECT SCHEDULE :-

First 1 week

:-Training program from the company.

Second week

:-Collecting the primary and secondary data.

Third Fourth week

:- Study Recruitment & Selection Process

Fifth week

:-Designing the questionnaire .

Sixth week

:-Conducting the survey in RO.

Seventh week Eighth week

:-Analysis of Data Collection. :-Final Report preparation and presentation.

INTERVIEW PAGE NO 11
General Norms regarding interview Process: A. Interviews should consider the entire data provided by the candidate either through the formal CV or otherwise before coming to a conclusion about the candidate. They may insist on seeing the proof of the claims made by the candidate regarding qualifications, experience and other achievements. They may, at their discretion, decide to meet the candidate on more than one occasion or to refer the candidate to another panel. B. Ratings on various attributes of the candidates shall be recorded in the interview evaluation sheet, soon after the interview is over. Along with these numerical ratings, qualitative observations about the candidate and overall decision regarding selection or otherwise (including a decision to defer the induction, referral to another panel, considering for another position) shall be forwarded to the associated Recruitment Manager/ Head of Regional HR. Individual panel members have the option of appending their additional remarks/observations. No selection will be treated as final unless the IES form is filled comprehensively. Suitably appropriate IES formats may be created for specific positions.

C. Any discrepancies noticed by the panel members regarding the authenticity of the data provided by the candidate should be specifically and formally recorded on the IES form and suitably high lightened. D. Specific points to be probed during the reference check process, if any, must also be clearly recorded and high lightened on the IES forms. Administrative Actions Regarding Interviews A. Scheduling and the venue of the interviews would be handled by the recruitment team in consultation with the short listed candidate and the selection panel members, after taking mutual convenience into account. For field positions, respective branch/regional heads would undertake this co-ordination. B. After the final round, if the candidate is selected, the complete set of papers Personal Data Form, CV, job requisition no., Interview evaluation sheet ,reference check details, educational details, along with the interviewers recommendations and Reference check form should be forwarded by the recruitment managers to recruitment head. Fitment of the candidate into a grade and compensation fitment shall be on the assumption of authenticity of the information provided in the CV/application form. C. An appropriate formal communication shall be sent to the candidate whose candidature is not being taken forward, or details of the verbal/telephonic communications provided to the candidate shall be recorded on the candidates papers, by the recruitment team/associated line managers. In the case of interviews taking place at the branch/regional levels, similar noting should be recorded on the individual candidates papers. Negotiations of the terms and conditions and other pre-appointment formalities A. In the case of sales-Tied Agency functions, the branch managers will be allowed to fix the salary and grade of the incoming sales manager, provided the compensation does not exceed 20% of the candidates current cash salary. Any fitment beyond this norms will need the approval of Head-HR. HR will forward a worksheet to support the BMs to evaluate the appropriate cash CTC of the incumbent. For all

other functions, the compensation and grade would be fixed post a discussion between the Head of the Regional HR and the associated AVP/VP. Any candidate being offered a CTC of more than 4lacs will need the sign off from HEAD-HR. In appropriate cases, at the discretion of the VP-HR, a deviation may be referred to the Managing Director, for the MDs formal approval. B. Responsibility for negotiations and finalization of the terms shall rest with the best Branch Manager/Associated Manager. They may seek the assistance of the recruitment managers, whenever required. Reference checks process should not normally be initiated unless the candidate has indicated his firm acceptance of the offer being made by us. Reference checks A. Normal, reference checks should be undertaken with at least one reference. A second reference check will be done if considered necessary. Responsible officials from the former employers, academic institutes and/or any other eminent personalities can be considered as appropriate references. Close relatives and friends cannot be considered as references. Wherever feasible and considered appropriate, a reference should be made with a senior official of the candidates current employer. In case the candidate is currently un-employed, reference should be made with the latest employer. The format of reference check is to be used as a framework for conducting the process. B. Where the minimum two reference checks are not possible (particularly with the current employer) or where there is a mixed response from different sources, the matter may be to the VP-HR for a final decision. Depending on the seniority and any other considerations about the positions, VP-HR would normally consult the functional head concerned, before coming to conclusions. Any candidate whose credentials are doubtful shall not be recruited. C. In case of recruitment of Management trainees, fresher and life advisors as sales Managers no reference checks will be required. Employment offer letter

A. When a recruitment Manager is fully satisfied about the selection of the right candidate and about completion of all the formalities connected with the appointment of candidate including requisite documentation, satisfactory reference check reports and medical fitness, he/she would forward the relevant papers listed below to the head of recruitment. Personal Data form Employee requisition form duly filled by the regional Head/Branch Manager Interview evaluation sheet filled by the regional head/Branch manager/interviewer with his/her comments. Latest and updated resume of the candidate Photocopy of the appointment letter of the last employer or latest salary slip. Employment details. Two Professional references. Language Proficiency.

B. Document check list for every grade is as follows: Authorization Release Form. Background check Form. Highest Education certificate. Highest Education marksheet. 1 Month Salary Slip of Current Employer. 1 Month Salary Slip of Last Employer.

 Relieving Letter of last Employment. Proof of Residence. 2 Passport Size Photograph.

C. Regional HR manager will take the signature of Head-HR on the employee requisition form and forward the papers to the employee service team for issuance of the offer letter. D. Employee services team will issue offer letter, to be signed by the National Recruitment Manager or Chief Manager-HR, and send the same to the concerned Branch Manager/ HR Manager. E. It would be the responsibility of the Branch Manager/HR Manager to ensure that the accepted copy of the offer letter is forwarded to the employee service team within a week of receipt of the offer letter. Till this letter is issued, the offer has not taken place in formal sense. A copy of the offer letter shall be duly signed and returned to the candidate. Candidate would be expected to fulfill various joining formalities, which are also formally communicated to him/her in the form of a checklist that is attached to the letter of offer. The Regional HR head shall have the overall responsibility and accountability to maintain the templates of the offer letters and also for drafting of suitable nonstandard terms to any specific candidate. F. The employee service team will follow up Branch Manager/Regional HR Manager for the joining of the candidate and will collect all relevant documents from the candidate including the joining report, before issuing the appointment letter. The employee service team may enlist the help of the Branch Manager to ensure that all necessary documents within ten days o the person joining. After the of all necessary documents, the employee service team will send the appointment letter to the new joinee. G. Once the documentation is complete for the new joinee (including the accepted appointment letter), people who may have joined before

20th of the month but have not been included in the payroll for the month because of delay in receipt of papers will be given ad-hoc salary advance (up to maximum of 65% of the pro rated salary). This advance will be adjusted once the person gets included in the subsequent months payroll. H. If the person does not submit the relieving letter from the previous organization, where required to be submitted as per the table given above, within three months of joining, the employee service manager can put their salary on hold till such time as the said documents are received. Key tasks of Regional HR Head

RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Compress the "white space" in your hiring process.
White Spaces are delays in hiring process that are unproductive, waste time, and virtually assure you'll lose talented candidates. Often the longest delays occur between critical selection events. For example, a recruiter may need several weeks to screen a few hundred resumes from the Web job boards, or candidates who make it through screening may wait weeks to interview with a hiring manager. Here at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, the delays occur when the outstation candidates are called for interviews at Regional branches like Delhi and Mumbai. Sometimes, because of busy schedule of senior managers and sometimes because of tight schedule of candidate, the interview has to be postponed. This delay could be minimized by scheduling interviews in the regional locations. It is recommended to reduce the turnaround time for the recruitment and selection process. It must be made mandatory for the candidates to take the test, filling up forms etc within the stipulated time, this will make sure that the candidates do not hold casual attitude and take the recruitment process more seriously. Additionally it can send across a positive

image about the company. White space in recruitment can be compressed by the use of IT also. Technology (such as automated or Web-based tracking) is ideal for eliminating unnecessary steps and reducing delays.

Tie up with more & more consultants from multiple segments

Since the limited placement agencies are sourcing candidates to all insurance companies, there often comes the problem of duplication of data. Therefore it is recommended that more and more consultants should be tied up from multiple segments to attract large pool of new and fresh talent.

Know what you're looking for in candidates.

It is observed that the candidates sourced by placement agencies and send for further rounds of interviews are rarely found suitable by the hiring managers. Therefore, in case there is need to utilize the service of a placement agency, then it is recommended that these placement agencies be given a well drafted job description and job specification. This can also be circulated to internal employees under the employee referral scheme. This will help people to get a clearer picture and provide for most suitable candidates. Thus making efficient utilization of the existing resources.

Reduce the pre offer formalities:

Pre-offer documentation includes filling of a lengthy Blue form which includes all personal, educational and professional details of candidate. This is very time consuming and even after taking these details from candidate its not sure that offer will be made or not. This also becomes frustrating for the candidate sometimes. So, it is recommended that unnecessary details should not be asked before we make the final offer to the candidate. Blue form should be made consise.

One size doesnt fits all

An effort must be made to study local condition, education levels. Since applying common test for all candidates across entire country can overshadow a candidates capabilities. This factor must be given importance since Indian society is divided on various parameters such as education, language, infrastructure etc. A test with high level of English and complicated sentence structure can be a hurdle in areas where

language itself is barrier. An option is to have different tests for different regions.

Blend technology into every aspect of your recruiting and hiring process.
Web-based technology lets you increase hiring speed and quality while reducing costs. Currently, job boards constitute the biggest use of the Web, offering access to thousands of resumes within hours. But the Web can also be a powerful tool for screening and qualifying that flood of resumes. Companies have begun to use the Web to collect and instantly match data on candidate skills, motivations, and experiences against job criteria. Other uses of Web-based technology include online interviewing, candidate assessment and testing, applicant self-scheduling, and tracking. Work the Web wisely and you save time for recruiters and hiring managers and nab top candidates before your competitors can. It is recommended that apart from the person-job fit, method must be devised to check for person-organization fit. A person-organization helps to assess how well a candidate is suited the organization. Whether the attitude he/she carries will promote both organizational as well personal goals. This takes a great importance especially when attrition is high. It will help the organization to retain its employees for a longer period of time and less burden on recruitment staff.

Build and manage your candidate pool as a precious resource.

A "candidate pool" is a group of individuals who have shown interest in working for your company and are qualified for and ready to fill certain positions. Rather than undertaking the time-consuming process of filling one job at a time, you draw on the candidate pool and fill jobs as they become available. How do you keep a pool active? Some companies send their newsletters to pool candidates, give them product coupons, and keep in touch through e-mail. Pool management is not easy in a tight labor market --good candidates often go elsewhere. But many organizations, especially those with a reputation as a great place to work, are able to fill positions quickly using the pool concept.

Create winning impression even on those who are not selected

Its very important to create a favorable impression of your organization on all those who come for interview. Those who are not selected in the first round of personal interview should also carry this impression that they have missed the opportunity to work in a great company. For this, there must a proper coordination of the interview of the candidate and greater degree of professionalism. A candidate when invited for a interview must be attended as soon as possible and should be made to wait for hours together. Interviews conducted on a scheduled time leave a good impression on the candidate. Even if he is not selected, a good impression about the will make him recommend the name to his people.

CONCLUSION
Insurance is confronted with high attrition rate. Therefore it makes recruitment a critical function in the organization. In order to grow and sustain in the competitive environment it is important for an organization to continuously develop and bring out innovations in all it activities. It is only when organization is recognized for its quality that it can build a stability with its customers. Thus an organization must be able to stand out in the crowd. The first step in this direction is to ensure competitive people come in the organization. Therefore recruitment in this regard becomes an important function. The organization must constantly improvise in its recruitment process so that it is able to attract best in the industry in order to serve the best. Thus the organization must look out for methods that can enable it to adopt best recruitment practices. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

Every task is undertaken with an objective. Without any objective a task is rendered meaningless. The main objectives for undertaking this project are: To understand the internal Recruitment process at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance To identify areas where there can be scope for improvement To give suitable recommendation to streamline the hiring process

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In todays rapidly changing business environment, organizations have to respond quickly to requirements for people. The Financial market has been witnessing growth which is manifold for last few years. Many private players have entered the economy thereby increasing the level of competition. In the competitive scenario it has become a challenge for each company to adopt practices that would help the organization stand out in the market. The competitiveness of a company of an organization is measured through the quality of products and services offered to customers that are unique from others. Thus the best services offered to the consumers are result of the genius brains working behind them. Human Resource in this regard has become an important function in any organization. All practices of marketing and finances can be easily emulated but the capability, the skills and talent of a person cannot be emulated. Hence, it is important to have a well-defined recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to get the best fits for the vacant positions. Selecting the wrong candidate or rejecting the right candidate could turn out to be costly mistakes for the organization. Therefore a recruitment practice in an organization must be effective and efficient in attracting the best manpower.

Findings v v v Recruitment is done throughout the year more during the months of May-June and Oct-Nov; Huge investment of time; Huge recruitment cost;

To pursue these, I would be going through the recruitment policies of the company. By active participation in the recruitment process, the areas where improvement can be bought about can be identified. Thus the whole research would be done under the guidance of external guide. It will also involve recruitment and selection processes, reading the material provide internally by the organization, information from the new employees. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a premier financial powerhouse and Prudential plc, a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI was established in 1955 to lend money for industrial development. Today, it has diversified into retail banking and is the largest private bank in the country. Prudential plc was established in 1848 and is presently the largest life insurance company in UK. ICICI Prudential is currently the No. 1 private life insurer in the country. For the financial year ended March 31, 2005, the company garnered Rs 1584 crore of new business premium for a total sum assured of Rs 13,780 crore and wrote nearly 615,000 policies. The Company recognizes that the driving force for gaining sustainable competitive advantage in this business is superior customer experience and investment behind the brand. The Company aims to achieve this by striving to provide world class service levels through constant innovation in products, distribution channels and technology based delivery. The Company has already taken significant steps to achieve this goal. India's Number One private life insurer, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank-one of India's foremost financial services companies-and Prudential plc- a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Total capital infusion stands at Rs. 23.72 billion, with ICICI Bank holding a stake of 74% and Prudential plc holding 26%. ICICI Prudential was the first life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch ratings. For three years in a row, ICICI Prudential has been voted as India's Most Trusted Private Life Insurer, by The Economic Times - AC Nielsen ORG Marg survey of 'Most Trusted Brands'. As we grow our distribution, product range and customer base, we continue to tirelessly uphold our commitment to deliver world-class financial solutions to customers all over India. FACT SHEET THE COMPANY ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a premier financial powerhouse, and Prudential plc, a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential was amongst the first private sector insurance companies to begin operations in December 2000

after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA). ICICI Prudential's capital stands at Rs. 23.72 billion with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2007, the company garnered Rs. 987 crore of weighted retail + group new business premiums and wrote over 450,000 retail policies in the period. The company has assets held to the tune of over Rs. 18,400 crore. ICICI Prudential is also the only private life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch ratings. The AAA (Ind) rating is the highest rating, and is a clear assurance of ICICI Prudential's ability to meet its obligations to customers at the time of maturity or claims. For the past six years, ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No. 1 private life insurer in the country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step in life. Distribution ICICI Prudential has one of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India. It has a strong presence across India with over 680 branches and over 235,000 advisors. The company has over 23 bancassurnace partners, having tie-ups with ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Bank of India, Lord Krishna Bank, Idukki District Co-operative Bank, Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank, Shamrao Vithal Co-op Bank, Ernakulam Bank, 9 Bank of India sponsored Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Sangli Urban Co-operative Bank, Baramati Co-operative Bank, Ballia Kshetriya Gramin Bank, The Haryana State Co-operative Bank and Imphal Urban Cooperative Bank Limited. Products Insurance Solutions For Individuals ICICI Prudential Life Insurance offers a range of innovative, customer-centric products that meet the needs of customers at every life stage. Its products can be enhanced with up to 4 riders, to create a customized solution for each policy holder.