Case Study

Nature and scope of Human Resource Management

Case I-:

Tata consulting services( TCS) is a truly global company. It has 28000 software
engineers drawn from 32 countries. TCS adopts a unique system of hiring people. It
starts its human resource sourcing at the right level. The software leader sends
more than 50 senior executives to interact with academic institutions. At these
institutions, TCS funds many events like conferences , seminars, gets involved in
improving curricula, establishes fellowships, and exchanges expertise through
visiting faculty programmes . To Top all these is the annual retreat with over a
hundred top academics in Triuvantpuram , the training hub of TCS.

TCS also built computer science department at IIIT, Kanpur. Similarly ,it sponsored
the entire M tech programme at IIT Bombay.IIT Madras too has a TCS sponsored
Programme in mathematical modeling.TCS extends its relationships to several
universities abroad as well. It has sponsored projects at MIT , Havard, Kellog School,
CarnegievMellon, University of Waterloo and Institutions in Japan, Australia,China,
and Singapore.All the spadework being done,TCS finds it easy to hire the best talent
in campus recruitmet.

Case-II

WIPRO ,another software leader,has excellent human resource policies and

practices. one such is the way a potential Job hopper is handled. Exit interviews are
held when people quit WIPRO . Reasons why people leave WIPRO are ascertained
and interestingly, the company helps them find placements in other firms with
guarantee that the doors of WIPRO would always be kept open to those willing to
come back., and few did come back.

Case III

Toyota is one company which has benefited immensely from employee suggestions
schemes. The company s suggestions scheme operational for decades now, nets
almost 2,00,000 suggestions per year , that is 33 suggestions per employee every
year. Interestingly 95% of these are implemented.That makes about 5000
improvements per day. Employee suggestions helped British Airways cut its cost by
4.5 Ponds million. HSBC saved upto Rs 50 lakhs per annum,just by adopting a
single useful made by employee.Gujrat Narmda fertilizer received 5000
suggestions over five years, with saving of Rs 65 lakh per annum.

Case IV-: ( on Job specification)

Mr Kisshore is a branch Manager of Indian Bank at one of its village branches.His
staff staff included two clerks and attender.Very often Mr Kishore was left alone in
the bank after 5pm to tally accounts day books and complete all other formalities.

On the 30 th December Mr Kishore was working till past past 2 a.m tallying the
accounts since hardly one day is left for closing the accounts for the year. On this
fateful night , the Branch Manager was attacked by band of robbers, who looted Rs
5 lakhs after wounding Mr kishore s right hand, which had to be amputated later.
After His recovery , the Branch Manager applied for compensation .The Bank
Management was of the opinion that Mr kishore violated the job specification by
working beyond the stipulated hours of work. He in their views was not entitled to
any compensation as the accident occurred during non employment hours . They
also for an explanation as to why the amount lost cannot be recovered from his
salary and provident Fund.

Q1) How do u Justify the banks stand in this case.

Q2) What modifications do u suggest in the Job specification to overcome such

incidents in future.

Case-:(HR Department)

Sinha is senior employee of S&S Law firm having its head office at delhi and
branches at all major cities in the country.The managing partner of the firm asked
sinha to head its southern branch at Banglore. The firm has been quite successful
since its inception in 1950s,but has witnessed high turnover among its younger staff
in the last five years.The managing partner is convinced that the problem is not
salary, because a recent survey indicated that the firms salary structure is
competitive with that of other major firms. Driven by this incomprehension, the
managing partner wants sinha to find out the real reasons.

Having settled in Banglore, Sinha met the four senior managers to determine why
the branch has had such a high attrition rate among the younger staff. Krishna
,aged 46 states that the younger staff lacks dedication and fails to appreciate the
career opportunities provided by the firm. Gowda ,aged 52, says the younger
employees are always complaining about the lack of meaningful feedback on their
performance, and many have mentioned that they would like to have a sponsor
in the organization to assist with their development. Goda explains that the firm
does provide performance rating to its staff and the previous staff and previous
manager had always maintained an open door policy. Manohar ,aged 39 ,says he
has received complaints that training is not relevant and is generally dull. He
explains that various persons in the firm who worked with training from time to
time acted mainly on guidance from delhi. Shobha ,aged 35 says she believes that
the root of the problem is the absence of an HR department.However ,She says that
when the idea was mentioned to the managing partner in Delhi,it was totally
rejected.
Q1) Do u think that the S&S law firm needs an HR Department? If yes what should
be its role?

Q2) How would u sell the idea of the HR department to the managing partner?

Q3) What type of organizational structure would you recommend?

Game-:

Production vs Personnel

Background Information:

Rajdhani Hotel International Ltd ,is situated near the cost in Chennai .It is five star
hotel and one of the biggest hotels in India. It is prestigious name in Chennai. Most
of the foreigners.,Who visit channai stay and dine at the Rajdhani Hotels.

There are four major departments in the hotel viz, production, marketing, personnel
and finance.Mr Chandan is the head of production Department. Mr Dayanand is the
head of the personnel Department. Mr Sabran was selected three years back as an
Assistant cook in the production Department. After on the job training for six
months, he was placed on the job of assistant cook- western foods and later
promoted as chief cook( W.F). He is performing this job with the help of 15
assistants in his section.But Mr Chandan , the Production manager has in recent
times received several complaints regarding taste, varieties, degree of boiling ,
roasting etc regarding western foods in a month. After scrutinizing all the
complaints received in jan 1989. Mr Chandan has written to the general manager of
the company to terminate the services of Mr Sabran. Immediately the General
Manager convened a meeting wherein Mr Sabaran , Mr Dayanand,and Mr Chandan
were present. Mr Kishore, Personnel assistant to GM, Who also present in the GMs
room at the time when the meeting is organized in GMs air conditioned room.

Production Manager has stepped into the room with a file containing the received
by him against Mr Sabaran appears to be somewhat tense. The Discussion proceed
along the following lines.

The General Manager( GM) :Good Morning everybody

All Others :Good Morning Sir

GM :You Know the purpose of this meeting

All Others :Yes Sir

(Immediately Mr Dayanand reacts and Says)

Mr Dayanand ( Facing the Challenge) :It is quite unfortunate to receive
Complaints against Competent and
experienced person like Mr Sabran.

(Mr Chandan responds immediately)

Mr Chandan :Mr Dayanand , How can you say that Sabran is

competent? Suppose he is not under your
care.

Mr Dayanand : Mr Chandan , of course , I am not supervising his

work, but I am the :head of the personnel
Department, I know who is competent and who is not ,
Including yourself.

Mr Chandan : ( Sarcastically ) Including myself: Then Why dont you manage

all the departments in the Hotel

GM : Gentlemen , Instead of arguing on peripheral matters ,Let us

put the the fingers on the problem causing the trouble.

Mr Dayanand : Sir, My assessment of Mr Sabran is based on his

performance appraisal appraisal reports for the past three
years and unfortunately ,all these reports are given by my
good friend Mr Chandan only.

GM : Mr Chandan how do you reacts to this?

Mr Chandan :Sir of Course . The appraisals were based on the reports

Submitted by the deputy Production Manager.

GM : Mr Chandan , then Shall we contact the deputy production

Manager?

Mr Chandan : Sir that seems to be fruitless exercise as the number of

complaints received against Mr Sabran provide ample food
for thought. There seems to be no way except terminating
his services.

Mr Dayanand :Mr Chandan better to know your limits. You dont have
any authority to recommend punitive action.

Mr Chandan : Then Are You the right person?

Mr Dayanand :Yes Certainly. It is personnel matter and as such the

personnel should enquire into the case and recommend
appropriate action to be taken by the GM
Mr Chandan :You cant peep into my area and influence GM that way

Mr Dayanand :No Mr Chandan . You are the manger of production and

personnel. My department is taking care of personnel
matter and not production Department.

GM :Gentlemen , It is useless to fight over trivial issues.Let us

concentrate on Mr Sabran s performance during the last three
years before resolving the controversy.

Dayanand : (Addressing the GM) Sir, refer the case of our Department. I will
enquire in to the matter and submit all the facts

Mr Chandan : Sir , It is my Job. Mr Sabran is my subordinate. I can feel the

pulse of my Subordinates better than anyone else

GM :Mr Chandan , I would like to dispense with this case a

sympathetic manner without injuring your sentiments

Sabran : Sir, You Please consider my case on humanitarian

grounds. Further my performance has been rated
excellent by my superiors during the last three years.

GM : I Know . I have the information

Sabran : Sir,I got degree and PG Diploma from a reputed

Inststitution in the relevant Field.

GM : I see

Sabran : My previous work experience in Ashoka Hotel as an

assistant in western Food speaks for itself

GM : In such a case,What is wrong with you now?

(Mr Sabran is tries to say something, but in the meanwhile Mr Chandan interrupts)

Chandan : Sir, these Paper qualifications in most cases are not borne out
by actual performance.I also give certificates to the
outgoing employees as very Good even where the
performance is just ordinary.

GM : Is So? What compels to give such certificate.

Chandan : To enable outgoing employees to find suitable placement

elsewhere.

GM : I see . Then do you feel that you rating regarding Mr Sabran

during the last three years was also not true ?
Chandan :Sir that is not the case. My rating was based on Deputy
Production Managers Reports.

GM : Mr Kishore

Kishore :Yes Sir

GM :Ask Mr Nayanar , Deputy Manager , Production to report

immediately

Kishore : Yes Sir

(Kishore telephones and asks Mr Nayanar , Deputy Manager , Production , to come

over general Manager s room . Mr Nayanar makes himself available at the
meeting room available)

Nayanar : Good Morning to you all.

All :Very Good morning

Nayanar : ( Addressing the general Manager) What is the matter Sir?

GM :Mr Nayanar What is your opinion regarding Mr Sabran?

Nayanar :He is capable worker, He is quite friendly with people in his

section.

GM :But then Mr Nayanar, Mr Dayanand says his performance was

rated excellent during the last three years

Nayanar : It is true Sir. I appraised his performance during the last three
yenars. Mr Chandan Knows about this . Sir May I know ask
about the purpose query?

GM :You see Mr Nayanar, Mr Chandan has reported against Mr

Sabran and recommended the termination of his
services.

Nayanar :Sir What is matter?

GM : Mr Chandan says he has received several complaints against

Mr Sabrans performance during the last month.

Nayanar : It is quite surprising to know about this.

Chandan :But That is truth and let us face it

GM : But Mr Dayanad feels otherwise. Under the circumstances

what shall we do?
Nayanar & Others :That is left to you sir.

Kishore : Yes Sir

( Mr Kishore telephones and informs Mr Kuldeep Singh and Nayanar Rao

accordingly. Both enter the room)

Both of them : Good Morning to you all

All : Very Good Morning.

GM : Mr Singh & Mr Rao , I have an issue to discuss with you all

before taking final action.

Singh & Mr Rao :What is the matter, Sir?

GM : You Know Mr sabran. He is with us for the last three years in

our production Department.His performance was rated as
an excellent during the last three years.But Mr Chandan
says he has received several complaints against his
performance during the last one month.Hence He recommends termination of
his services. But Mr Nayanar & Mr Dayanand feels that
his his services. But Mr Nayanar& Mr Dayanand feel that his
performance does not warrant such a punitive step.In view of
this contradicting information, I would like you to ponder over
the issue and advice.

GM : Mr Chandan , You please give me the file relating to complaints

against Mr Sabran

(Mr Chandan hands over the file to GM)

GM :I fell it would be better if the case is taken up by Mr Dayanand.

Chandan : Sir, How can personnel people look into the production issues?

Singh & Rao :Mr Chandan has a point. We can endorse his views.

Dayanand :It is basically a personnel problem, but not the production

problem.

Singh & Rao :Even then, Mr Sabran is working in production department . So

the Production

Department. So the Production Department people are better

equipped to deal with the case in a fair manner.

Dayanand :Functional heads do not have a broad perspective on personnel

matters and hence sir I request you to permit me to look into the case.
GM :Yes I agree with you. Please examine the detals carefully and
recommend suitable action within fortnight.

Game-:

Plan for Human Resources in state Bank of India

Plan for human resources in the state Bank of India, Anantpur Branch.

The Branch Manager of state Bank of India , Anantpur Branch supplied the following
data and information on Ist Jan 1996. Present Inventory as on 31 st Dec 1995.

Designation No of
employees
Branch Manager 1
Officers-General, Agricultural, 5,3,2
Industrial Respectively
Head Cashier 1
Cashiers 4
Clerks 6
Typists 3
Sub Staff 8

Two clerks will be promoted and transferred to state Bank of India Dharamvar aram.
Branch in July 1996, three Clerks will be transferred to puttamparti Branch on
mutual transfer Plan in jan 1996. One agricultural officer will be promoted and
transferred to Hydrabad regional office in march 1996.Two industrial officers have
been planning to leave the bank and join industrial development bank of india in
jan 1997. One Agricultural officer while coming from Bathalapalli village, after
inspection met with an accident on 27th December. He may not be able to attend
the field inspection even after his reporting to duty at the the state Bank of India
Branch.

One casher and one clerk will be promoted to the next higher cadre in augst 1997.

Case on ( Human Resource Planning) Plan for original or back up

Bhadrachalam Paper mills ltd was started in 1971 with high level technology and
with its initial capital of Rs 500 crores .It required candidates with minimumof 10
years in the same line to handle the new technology as it found that that the
candidates with less than 10 years experience normally do not possess the
required skills. It found that AP Paper Mills Ltd Rajahumundry and Sirupur paper
mills as most suitable sources of requirement. It used all the requirement
techniques and offered higher salaries and benefits generously. Consequently , It
got suitable employees with 15 years and more experience. The cost of employees
was as high as 65% of total cost of production.But the company did not take it
seriously as the rate of return from the employees was 300 % more than their
cost.The Chief Personnel manager was rewarded suitably by the then Managing
Director in 1975 for enlisting the services of experienced personnel in the service
ofBhadrachalam paper mills .In 1988, When new managing director took over the
reins of the company , the chief personnel manager was called in to explain his
actions in appointing persons with 15 or more years of experience in the service of
the company. Since majority of these employees are going to retire by 1990 , the
company is again threatened by dearth of experienced personnel

Q1) Was Managing Director right when he rewarded the chief personnel Manager
for enlisting the services of experienced persons in the service of Bhadrachalam
Paper Mills?

Q2) Would it have been better to hire raw hands,provide the necessary training and
allow them to develop their potential in the service of the company then merely to
look around for experienced personnel and booking them through attractive
means?

Q3)How would you ensure continued success of a company in the face of such
crisis?

Opening Case ( Ist Chapter)

On October 3, 2003, Anant Dalvi and Akhtar Khan, who worked as contract
workers in Tata Electric Company until they were laid off in 1996, doused
themselves with kerosene and set themselves ablaze even as their co-
workers protested before the companys offices. While Dalvi died on the spot,
Khan died a few days later. The Tata Electric Company said they were no
longer on their payroll and were not permanent workers. Employees union
had taken up their case and filled petition in the Labour Court before their
contracts were terminated. The court directed the company not to terminate
their services without following the due process of law. Despite this their
services were terminated on June 30, 1996. The company union promised
the workers that they would renegotiate. Yet on the night before they killed
themselves when Khan and Dalvi spoke to the union leader Shinde, they
were told that nothing more could be done for them. It is this that led them
to take their lives. Dalvi has been in service as a peon for17 years and Khan
had been employed for 19 years. But their services were not regularized.
Such workers draw salary much less than the permanent employees.

Case Study-: Which is more Important Recruiting or retaining

Uptron Electronics Ltd, is a pioneering and Internationally reputed firm in the

Electronics industry .It is one of the largest firms in the country . It attracted
employees from internationally reputed institutes and industries by offering high
salaries, perks etc. It has advertised for the position of an Electronics Engineer
recently. Nearly 150 candidates working in various electronics firms applied for the
job .Mr Sashidhar , an Elecronics Engineering Graduate from Indian Institute of
Technology with 5 years working experience in a small electronics firm was selected
from among the 130 candidates who took tests and interview. The interview board
recommended an enhancement in his salary by Rs 500 more than his present salary
at his request .Mr. Sashidhar was very happy to achieve this and he was
congratulated by a number of people including his previous employer for his brilliant
interview performance and good luck.

Mr. Sashidhar Joined uptron Electronics Ltd , on 21 st January ,1996 with a great
enthusiasm. He also found his job to be quite comfortable and challenging one and
he felt it was highly prestigious to work with this company during formative years of
his career. He found his superiors and as well as subordinates to be friendly and
cooperative . But this didnt live long. After one year of his service , he slowly
learnt about a number of unpleasant stories about the company , management ,
the superior subordinate relations , rate of employees turnover, especially at
higher level. But he decided to stay on as he promised several things to the
management in the interview . He wanted to please and change the attitude of
management through his deligent performance , firm commitment and dedication.
He started maximizing his contributions and management got the impression that
Mr Sashidhar has settled down and will remain in the company.

After sometime , the superiors started riding over Mr sashidhar. He was overloaded
with multifarious jobs. His freedom in deciding and executing was cut down to size.
He was ill-treated on number of occasions before his subordinates His colleagues
also started assigning their responsibilities to Mr Sashidhar .Consequently there
were imbalances in his family life, social life, and organization life. But he seemed
to be calm and contented . Management felt that Mr Sashidhar had the potential to
hear with many more organizational responsibilities.

It was quite surprising to the general manager to see the resignation letter of Mr
Sashidhar along with Cheque equivalent to months salary One fine morning on 18
th January 1988.The general Manager failed to convince Mr Sashidhar to withdraw
his resignation. The General Manager relieved him on 25 th January ,1988. The
general Manager wanted to appoint a committee to go into the matter
immediately , but dropped the idea later.

Q1) What prevented the General Manager from appointing a committee ?

Q2) What is wrong with recruitment Policy of the Company?

Q3)Why Did Mr Sashidhars resignation surprise the General Manager?

example of several companies( Training) -: where best

practice is being practiced-:
1 ) Infosys has huge facility in Mysore to train 4000 managers at any given time. It
has plans to expand the capacity to 10000 managers.

2) Wipro spectramind(BPO outfit) does not want to lose talented youth , Who want
to pursue higher education. The BPO firm has decided to start SEED(WIPRO
Spectramind Education Enhancement and development) where talented
youngsters are given help and opportunities to study further.

3)LG Electronics has made it mandatory for its staff to do two modules a month and
each module has test that has to be cleared . Every three months a summary of all
the tests is made and prizes are doled out to encourage people to learn.

4)American Society for training and development (ASTD) says new organization
typically deliver 20-30% of training via technology.

5)CISCO uses web-based training as an integral tool to make employee more

productive , because it is available anytime anywhere.

6) GE belives in on the job training its employees. It trains customer service

operators on the job so that the benefits of listening,thinking, and responding occur
on the job.

Case-:Psychological problems in training

Mr vijay Kant joined the S.C Railway five years back when he was 21 years old. He
proved himself as an efficient steam engine driver. He bagged the Railway
Ministers Best Driver award this year. He was asked to under training in diesel
engine due to massive dieselization in south central Railway. But he was reluctant to
take up the training. The Head of the loco staff was quite surprised to know the
reluctance of Mr . Vijay Kant when a number of drivers of steam engines have
volunteered themselves to undergo training in diesel engine driving.

Q1) As an Industrial Psychologist identify important psychological problems in this

case.
Case-: Credit Appraisal to computer application( training)

Mr Naveen has been working as a manager ( Credit Appraisal ) in state Bank of

India since 1970. He got first rank in his MA from Andhra Universities in 1969. He
rose from officer grade-iv to officer gradeI in a short span of 10 years. Personnel
records of the bank show that he is an efficient manager in agricultural credit ,
Indusrial credit and credit to small business etc.The bank is planning to
computerize the project appraisal department. In this connection Mr Naveen was
asked to training in computer operations. But he was quite reluctant to undergo
training.

Q1) Why was Mr Naveen reluctant to undergo training?

Game-: Conducting training Programme-:

Problem :Train the superintendents of the administrative office of your

college/university by identifying training needs, formulated, training programme ,
preparing schedule , writing the training material , administering the programme
and evaluating the programme

Case Study on -: Mechanists Indisciplined Behaviour

(Performance Appraisal) -:

Dinesh , a machine operator, worked as a mechanist for Ganesh, the supervisor.

Ganesh told Dinesh to pick up some trash ie garbage that had fallen from Dineshs
work area, Dinesh replied I would not do the gatekeeper s work .

Ganesh replied when you drop it,you pick it up Dinesh became angry and abusive
,calling Ganesh a number of names in a loud voice and refusing to pick up trash. All
employees in the department heard Dineshess comment.

Ganesh had been trying for two weaks to get his employees to pick up trash in
order to have cleaner workplace and prevent accidents. He talked to all employees
in a weekly departmental meeting and to each employee individually at least once.
He stated that he was following the instruction of the general Manager. The only
objection came from Dinesh.

Dinesh has been with the company for five years and in this department for six
months. Ganesh had spoken to him twice about excessive alcoholism , but
otherwise his record was good. He was known to have quick temper.

This outburst by Dinesh hurt Ganesh badly. Ganesh told Dinesh to come to the office
and suspended him for one day for insubordination and abusive language to a
supervisor. The decision was within company policy, similar behaviours had been
punished in other Departments.

After Dinesh left Ganeshs office, Ganesh phoned the HR manager, reported what he
had done and said that he was sending a copy of the suspension order for Dineshs
file.

Q1) How would rate Dineshs behaviour ? What method of appraisal would you use ?
Why?

Q2) Do you assess any training needs of employee? If yes what inputs should be
embodied in the training Program?

Case-: Politics & Performance Appraisal

Kalyani Electronics Corporation Ltd , recently diversified its activities and started
producing computers. It employed personnel at the lower level and middle level. It
has received several applicants for the post of Commercial Manager computer
Division. It could not decide upon the suitability of the candidate to the position, but
did find that Mr Prakash is more qualified for the position than other candidates. The
Corporation has created a new post below the cadre of General Manager ie joint
General Manager . and asked Mr Prakash to join the corporation as joint General
Manager. Mr Prakash agreed to it viewing that he will be considered for General
Managers position based on his performance. Mr Anand , the Deputy General
Manager of the corporation and one of the candidates for General managerss
position was annoyed with the managements practice.But he wanted to show his
performance record to the management at the next appraisal meeting. The
Management of the corporation asked Mr Sastry , General Manager of of Television
Division to be the General Manager in charge of Computer Division for some time,
until a new General Manager is appointed. Mr Sastry wanted to switch over to
computer Division in view of the prospects, prestige, and recognition of the position
among top Management of the corporation.He viewed this assignment as a chance
to prove his performance.

The Corporation has the system of appraisal of the superiors Performance by the
subordinates. The Performance of deputy General Manager , Joint General manager,
and general Manager has to be appraised by the same group of subordinate. Mr .
Anand and Mr. Prakash is a stranger to the system as well as modus operandi . Mr
Sastry and Mr Anand were competing with each other, in convincing their
subordinates about their performance and used all sorts of techniques for pleasing
them like promising them wage hike,transfer to the job of their interest, promotion
etc .However ,these two officers functioned in collaboration with a view to pull down
Mr Prakash. They openly told their subordinates that stranger should not occupy the
chair. They created several groups among employees like pro Anands group , Pro
Sastrys group, Anti Prakash and Sastri group, Anti-Anand Prakash group

Mr praksh has been watching the proceedings Calmly and keeping the management
in touch with all these developments.However Mr Prakash has been quite work
conscious and top management found his performance under such a political
atmosphere to be satisfactory.Prakashs Pleasing manners and way of maintaining
human relations with different level of employees did, however , prevent anti
Prakash wave in the company . But in the view of politicizing , there is no strong pro
Prakash group either..

Management administered the performance appraisal technique and subordinates

appraised the performance of all these managers. In the end surprisingly, to the
workers assigned the following overall scores.Prakash 560 points , Sastry420
points and Anand 260 points

Q1 ) How do you evaluate the workers appraisal in this case?

Q2 ) Do you suggest any techniques to avert politics creeping into the process of
performance appraisal by subordinates? Or do you suggest the measure of
dispensing with such a appraisal system.

Case study on-: Compensation-:

Everyone likes to be paid . Whatever else It does , money still can be turned into
items most people want. Of course ,the psychological dimensions of the
compensation a person receives are important too. Compensation is frequently
directly tied to the labor market. When certain workers are in short supply , offering
higher compensation may increase the number of persons hired. When the
economy is slower, more people are happy to have a pay cheque.

At the peak of the last hiring boom pay envy presented a significant . Stock
options , performance pay and signing bonuses created ambiguities in pay
systems and caused problems. Current employees hired without receiving signing
bonuses like those given to new employees were envious. Employee with master
degree making less than new IT hires with no degrees were envious too. Some
Managers who made less than new IT hires they supervised were envious too.
Employees doing the same Job may have had salary differences of $20,000 or
more. New hires were paid top doller just for agreeing to come to , while current
employees had their experience and loyalty rewarded by getting more work instead
of more money.

In one survey , more than 50 % workers indicated that they believed they were
paid too little , while only 23 % expressed satisfaction with their pay. One factor
driving the confusion was that wages went up rapidly for those in high demand,
but not everyone was in high demand. Also Paying people based on their individual
performance often created Winners and losers

All this attention to compensation means that even people who did not worry much
about the topic before are turning into it now. Employers often had no choice but to
turn to new and different compensation approaches in order to complete for
employees. Many HR professionals and managers now admit these approaches
have caused problems . Pay envy dampens morale and team work, causes turnover
and creates a caste system in the company. One former Apple vice president
recounts how a new hire $115,000 plus a $30,000 hiring bonus right out of college,
but star performers in the company made about $80,000 at the time. If you bring
in someone at big salary and turn out not to be good hire it can be catastrophic
he notes. This example illustrates that life is never fair in a tight labour market
,especially when compensation is skewed. Neither is it fair when the economy turn
down.

In years 2001-02 , the catered lunches , signing bonuses , free laptop and cell
phones and other generous perks designed to entice and keep many employees
during the high times went away. Some workers who liked the amenities willingly
gave up such indulgences if it meant their business stayed alive and they
continued to have pay cheques .

Many forms of creative compensation , tossed in to attract or keep employees

during the boom time, seemed frivolous in a weakened economy amid stock
market uncertainties . There is now a very clear distinction between nice and
necessary when it comes to perks. We went a little too far a partner with big
accounting firm noted. Less number of jobs reduced the need for signing bonuses
and other recruiting perks necessary a few years ago.

All of these changes illustrate that compensation practices must change. But
compensation continues to be important , visible and often a concern in HR
Management. The scenarios is no different in India .