NMIMS Global Access

School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE)

Course: Employee Development & Talent Management
Internal Assignment Applicable for December 2018 Examination

Assignment Marks: 30

Instructions:

 All Questions carry equal marks.

 All Questions are compulsory.
 All answers to be explained in not more than 1000 words for question 1 and 2 and for question 3
in not more than 500 words for each subsection. Use relevant examples, illustrations as far as
possible.
 All answers to be written individually. Discussion and group work is not advisable.
 Students are free to refer to any books / reference material / website /
internet for attempting their assignments, but are not allowed to copy the matter as it is from the
source of reference.
 Students should write the assignment in their own words. Copying of assignments from other stud
ents is not allowed.
 Students should follow the following parameter for answering the assignment questions.

Question 1.
Companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Microsoft heavily invest in to talent management practices.
What according to you is the need to invest in to such practices? If you are the talent management
expert what steps will you consider while developing talent management practices for an IT
company? (10 Marks)
Answer 1.

Introduction

Talent Management is critical function for strategic employee recruitment, selection, employee
development and employee retention to create a continuous flow of talent pool pipeline for current and
future organizational requirements. If an organization does not take care of its human resources and biased
then the organization may crumble and suffer during its functioning, which will certainly impact the overall
business it is engaged into. Employees are supposed to be the best resources in any organization that
manage man, machine, material through their industrial efforts in all respects which other resources cannot
manage on their own. Machines, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence can manage certain tasks but cannot
manage everything as a whole that a human resource or employee can manage.

Each human resource and employee has distinct career path and different career ambitions and
aspirations. Each employee is distinct and different with a variety of skillsets that an organization encashes
during employee life cycle that helps the organization grow in its business in a given geography. Employee
talent management is a tool or a function to manage employee career path successfully and retaining the
available talent pool within the organization so that the organization can grow and sustain for a long term
in future. Hence, it is imperative to manage talent and therefore HRM has come up with a number of talent
management practices over the years.

The Need for Investment in Talent Management Practices

During these times of dynamic market conditions having the right kind of employee pool is considered as a
key competitive advantage therefore good companies strive to have an edge in creating employee talent
pool at the recruitment and selection stage itself. Most organisations fail to retain most of these employees
in absence of talent management practices. Employees move out due to unavailability of growth
opportunities within the organization, they search for better career opportunities once they gain experience.
The present day HR managers need to be aware of such challenges and employee tendencies and
therefore develop various employee retention strategies. Hence, talent management plays an important
part in acquiring, developing and retaining the employee base.

 With the help of talent management tool and strategies, the organisations can develop employees
to chair the most important and powerful positions within the organisations.
 Talent management strategies help the organization recruit and select the right mix of employees
with required skillsets and competencies.
 It helps ensure that employee skills and competencies are fully utilized at workplace.
 Talent management ensures that the organization develops the employee workforce. This activity
helps the organization grow in its sphere.
 Talent management creates bond between employee and the organization thereby leading to
higher employee retention rate.
 Talent management helps the organisation sustain for a long period of time with distinct employee
capabilities.
 Talent management helps better resource allocation and resource optimization during the downturn
or a bad-phase of the organization.
 The globalization effect makes it more relevant to have talent management strategies so that the
organization can have an edge over competition and can survive in the war for talent management.
Hence this aspect emphasizes the need for having a talent management sub-function within HRM.
 Talent management can help manage organizational diversity across geographies.
 Talent management helps organization be technically and technologically competitive therefore
being responsible and progressive in nature in different market in different product/services
segments.
 In the dynamic and disruptive marketplace, talent management helps in managing these changes
effectively.
  Talent management ensures that the organization is rightly staffed for today and future.

Therefore, right kind of talent management strategies ensure that employees are developed and engaged
that leads to higher employee retention and better performance of the organisations.

Steps for Developing Talent Management Practices in An IT Company

The Indian IT companies are growing in the dynamic marketplace through cost leadership and excellent
talent pool they have created and retained over the years. All global IT companies strive to retain top
positions in the global IT market and hence focus on hiring, developing and retaining the talent pool, they
have created which gives them an edge over competition. The process of talent management is given below
for all successful companies globally:

1. Conduct a Job Analysis – This is the first step in talent management process. Job analysis is the
process of identifying the duties and tasks associated with each job. Over and above this, the skills
and personal attributes that are required in an employee to do a particular job are also identified.
Job analysis is also an important resource for preparing job description. It also helps in identifying
the number and type of people required by the organization. Job description involves the tasks,
duties and responsibilities for every job identified. It also identifies the working conditions and
supervisory responsibilities involved in the job. In simple terms, a job specification is a document
that identifies the knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies and experience that an individual
employee must possess to effectively perform the job. The HR manager handling the talent
management function requires information regarding job analysis and job description before he/she
can go ahead with the next step of talent management process.

2. Workforce Planning – Workforce planning is a continual process used to align the needs and
priorities of the organization with those of its workforce to ensure it can meet its legislative,
regulatory, service and production requirements and organizational objectives. Workforce planning
is an outcome of a tight partnership between human resource management and the finance
organization, it is related to the systematic identification, and analysis of what an organization is
going to need in terms of the size, type, experience, knowledge, and skills of its workforce to
achieve its objectives. It is a process used to generate business intelligence to inform the
organization of the current, transition and future impact of the external and internal environment on
the organization; as well as a key input into the budgeting process.
Strategic workforce planning: usually covers a three to five year forecast period, aligned to business
needs and outcomes. It focuses on identifying the workforce implications, current, transition and
future of business strategic objects and includes scenario planning.
Operational workforce planning: usually covers the next 12–18 months and should align with the
timeframe of the business planning cycle. It is the process and systems applied to gathering,
analyzing and reporting on workforce planning strategy.

3. Recruiting the Talent – Talent Acquisition is the process of attracting and hiring qualified
people. Talent Management is how you develop and retain these skilled hires. If an organisation
attracts and hires good employees but does not invest in their development, it will not be able to
retain them or unleash their complete potential.

4. Employee Testing and Selection – Employment testing and selection procedures are
aptitude tests and examinations that help a business predict the success of a job candidate. In the
modern work force, tests, such as psychological screenings, indicate which employees might have
undesirable personality traits, such as anger problems.

5. Employee Development, Training and Orientation – Orientation means providing

new employees with basic information about the employer. Training programs are used to ensure
 that the new employee has the basic knowledge required to perform the job satisfactorily.
Development programmes are created and implemented through various learning approaches i.e.
learning opportunities, performance appraisals, job rotations, job enrichment etc.

6. Employee Retention – Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to retain

its employees. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic (for example,
a retention rate of 85% usually indicates that an organization kept 85% of its employees in a given
period). Retention strategies are policies and plans that organisations follow to reduce employee
turnover and attrition and ensure employees are engaged and productive long-term. The key
challenge for businesses is ensuring a retention strategy aligns with business goals to ensure
maximum return on investment. Retention strategies include key factors such as compensation,
rewards, development opportunities, challenging assignments, employee recognition etc.

7. Performance Appraisal / Potential Appraisal – Performance appraisal is the process of

measuring the actual employee performance against the previously set goals and objectives during
a given period of time. The gap is mitigated through various training and development programmes.
Potential appraisal is a predictive appraisal method that measures employee potential for future.
The results of potential appraisal helps in career planning, employee development and succession
planning etc.

8. Career Planning – In this step, the HR managers help the employees in understanding the various
future career options and career paths that an employee can have in the present organization. This
activity uses various types of information, performance appraisal and potential appraisal results.
Through this information, HR managers devise various development programmes in line with
organizational objectives and individual growth potential and available positions at present and
envisaged future. In this process, career counselling and career mentoring provisions are made.
This is a big retention tool to provide internal opportunities to employees.

9. Succession Planning – Career planning leads to succession planning. In this process successors
are identified for various positions in the organisations and selected employees are nurtured in
meeting and exceling the requirements of the careers they could achieve in the current
organisations. The strategy behind succession planning is to identify highly productive and high
potential employees who can succeed the key positions within the organization therefore keeping
the organization continuity and sustainability for the long run.

10. Employee Separation – This process of talent management helps the organization understand
the positives and negatives both about the organization from the separating employee. This
process is generally conducted through exit interview or verbal interview. Retiring or
superannuating employees provide valuable information about the organization and help the HR
team identify the talented employees and any loopholes within the organization which in turn helps
the organization take corrective measures in this regard.

Conclusion

The global IT industry is highly competitive wherein the biggest competitive edge these large organisations
have is their human resources. One key employee leaving an IT company can ruin it. Think of a top
influential executive leaving and taking away his team along with him/her. Therefore, these companies
invest heavily to retain the talent pool they have. There have been numerous such examples hence it is
imperative to invest into talent management strategies to have an edge over competition for long term
profitability and sustainability.

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Question 2.
Strive Mutual Funds is planning to have a series of trainings for their customer service executives.
These employees have to deal with client queries and update the transactions of customers in their
online accounts. Customer satisfaction scores have been dipping down. There is also a crunch of
work force. Prateek, the HR head has to consider various on-the job techniques that can be utilized
for the work force. Discuss any 4 on-the job techniques that can be considered for the executives.
(10 Marks)

Answer 2.

Introduction

There are various on-the-job techniques that are utilized in all sorts of organisations to help employees
improve the skillset they have and also help them learn new skills in the business dynamism. These
techniques are best suited for training and developing employees while they are performing their jobs
thereby causing minimum loss of productive hours. Strive Mutual Funds needs to assess the reasons
behind the dipping customer satisfaction scores to help its employees fill the gaps that are visible and
invisible through research and customer surveys.

Under these methods, new or inexperienced employees learn through observing peers or managers
performing the job and trying to imitate their behavior and skillsets. These methods do not cost much and
are less disruptive as employees are always on the job, training is given on the same machines and
experience would be on already approved standards, and above all the trainee is learning while earning.

However, lack of planning and structure is a major issue with these programmes. Sometimes the senior
employees do not train the juniors fully due to insecurity of being jobless or if the juniors outperform them.
Sometimes, wrong work habits also pass through such programmes.

Despite some of the drawbacks, these programmes are generally fruitful for the organization, which have
been tested through times.

On-the-Job Techniques

Some of the commonly used methods are:

1. Coaching and Mentoring

Coaching is a one-to-one training which is imparted by a highly skilled, experienced and

knowledgeable person to another to develop the skills and competencies in other employees. It
helps in quickly identifying the weak areas and tries to focus on them. It also offers the benefit of
transferring theory learning to practice. The biggest problem is that it perpetrates the existing
practices and styles. In the case-let the supervisors or managers can train the customer service
executives in question, so that they learn customer relationship management and provide efficient
and effective customer service. In India, most of the scooter mechanics are trained only through
this method.

In mentoring, the focus in this training is on the development of attitude. It is used for managerial
employees. Mentoring is always done by a senior inside executive. It is also one-to- one interaction,
like coaching. However, this process can carry on for years until the mentee becomes capable to
replace the mentor himself/herself. In this case, the customer service executives need to be guided
by the best practices from a senior customer service employee of the Strive Mutual Funds so that
they are able to provide good customer service and can control the dipping customer satisfaction
scores in their favour.
 2. Job Rotation

It is the process of training employees by rotating them through a series of related jobs. Rotation
not only makes a person well acquainted with different jobs, but it also alleviates boredom and
allows to develop rapport with a number of people. In this case, the customer service executives
should be rotated from one place to another or one product or service line to another so that they
learn about new products and services and can enjoy their work. Similarly, new executives can be
transferred within the customer service function so that they can help provide better customer
service and help the organization control and increase the dipping customer satisfaction scores.
However, this rotation must be logical i.e. you will have to rotate employees who are currently
involved into similar jobs as customer service.

Prateek needs to assess who all are lacking in customer service and then rotate these employees
so that he can correctly take care of the dipping customer satisfaction scores. Once, the areas are
identified it is easier to correct them through various on-the-job techniques.

3. Job Instructional Technique (JIT)

It is a step by step (structured) on the job training method in which a suitable trainer: (a) prepares
a trainee with an overview of the job, its purpose, and the results desired, (b) demonstrates the
task or the skill to the trainee, (c) allows the trainee to show the demonstration on his or her own;
and (d) follows up to provide feedback and help. The trainees are presented the learning material
in written or by learning machines through a series called ‘frames’. This method is a valuable tool
for all educators (teachers and trainers). It helps us:

a. To deliver step-by-step instruction

b. To know when the learner has learned
c. To be due diligent (in many work-place environments)

Through this method, the customer service executives can be communicated and trained how to
excel in customer service and various do’s and don’ts. This training is highly effective in such cases
wherein these customer service executive trainees can be imparted specialized training to correct
their flaws and its implementation can help them take care of customers efficiently and effectively.

4. Understudy

In this method, a superior gives training to a subordinate as his understudy like an assistant to a
manager or director (in a film). The subordinate learns through experience and observation by
participating in handling day-to-day problems. Basic purpose is to prepare subordinate for
assuming the full responsibilities and duties.

Through this method, a senior employee of Strive Mutual Funds can spend time with these
executives to understand and help them the real issues thereby helping Prateek in imparting
training in those areas.

Conclusion

Strive Mutual Funds and its HR Head, Prateek can help in training and development of its customer service
executives through various methods as listed above which can work and help them gain insights and
skillsets for service customer in the best possible way. Prateek, in this case will have to deal with the visible
and invisible issues by assessing the customer satisfaction surveys with the customer service head and
managers (if they have). Once the assessment is done properly then he can plan for training in the grey
areas so that its customer service executives can understand value of their jobs and how it affects the
whole organization and thereby help the organization create a good rapport in customer service. All the
above methods can help Strive Mutual Funds in organizing its customer service and create customer
relationship management practice based on the learnings in this domain from other service providing
organisations.

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Question 3.
Santosh, the Head HR, ATR group is a worried man. The climate survey conducted has indicated
that employee morals are lower than the previous year’s record. There have been a number of exits
at the top level. Attrition has also been on the rise. The 20-year-old organization seems to have lost
its appeal to the millennial employees.

Question 3 a.

A. Santosh needs to device a robust employee retention plan. Suggest some strategies that he may
adopt. (5 Marks)

Answer 3 a.

Introduction
Santosh is facing one of the biggest concerns of employers globally i.e. how to retain employees. According
to a recent report by a global organisation, more than 50% employers polled in the survey do not have a
formal employee retention strategy.

Employees are the biggest assets of your organization – customers come second. If Santosh, Head HR,
ATR Group takes good care of your employees they will replicate this feeling to their clients and customers
making the organization stand out in the crowd.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, TATA and all the other great organizations you can think of have
one thing in common – they hire talent and they keep them. It therefore makes sense to have some
strategies in place to retain the best talent so that the talent pool is created that can give an edge to the
ATR group. Although a decent pay package, job security, career advancement, growth and development
opportunities, good working conditions, minimal work pressure are some of the ways to pre-tested ways to
retain employees but they can prove to be negative when employees don’t get them and ends in separation
or early exit.

Employee Retention Strategies

Here are some simple but highly effective employee retention strategies to significantly reduce attrition
rate:

1. Hiring the Right Fit

The process of employee retention begins much before the actual signing of the work agreement
between an employer and an employee. A lot of organizations, especially those dependent on
technical know-how, have a pre placement test for the interviewees. This lets them understand the
adaptability of the talent beforehand. Though these tests might give Santosh a fair idea of the
technical capabilities of the individual employee, only a personality test can help him evaluate
whether or not the candidate has the right mental and social aptitude to be a right fit to your
organization.

2. Handhold New Employees through Orientation and Induction

The first couple of days at a new workplace can be a very overwhelming. A new employee has to
understand and absorb how things work at a new place. The employee is getting introduced to a
new culture. Instead of leaving the employee to figure the way around, create a plan for the first
week at least to let her sync in to the new organisation. Give the new employee a tour of the
 workplace, assign a buddy, introduce the employees to key people he or she might be working
with, and introduce the employee to the ways of the organization. An induction program helps a
new employee feel less like an outsider and more like a part of the organization he/she has just
joined.

3. Listen to Employees (Take Feedback)

Keep it informal by embracing the open door policy. Listen to them and encourage them to come
up feedback so that ATR group as an organization keeps improving. Most organizations mistake
feedback to be only a tool of relevant criticism. Instead, Santosh can make it a two-way
communication to improve transparency.

Feedback also achieves another very important goal of letting the employee know that the
organization is watching out for him/her. A feedback makes the employee feel that his/her work is
not going unnoticed. When an employee makes new team member feel that his/her work counts, it
makes him/her feel more responsible for it and in turn feel a deeper sense of responsibility towards
the organization.

4. Employee Appreciation

An annual appraisal based on employee assessment is sometimes not enough to keep the team
members motivated. Everybody loves a pat on the back every now and then. There is a sense of
accomplishment when an employee’s work is appreciated by his/her seniors and coworkers.
Appreciations can be circulated within the organization with mentions in fortnightly or monthly
newsletters. It can be appreciation of an individual or a team. Good work when rewarded results in
more good work. Happy employees remain loyal to the organization. Introduction of small but
lucrative incentives can encourage a competitive attitude. Santosh can make the employee feel
that there is more to work than earning his/her monthly dues.

5. Have fun with the Team

Take this fun thing very seriously because all work and no play can make the whole team dull. ATR
group will only be as good as the employees are. Take the team to offsite, let them pursue their
hobbies, let them be who they are, this will not only keep them active but also accountable. Get to
know whether the employees lead a healthy life or not – engage them in yoga and music sessions.
Do respect the personal space of employees but let them know they will be backed up when they
need organizational help. Employees tend to stay longer with organization that show respect to
employees and have a lot of fun.

6. Have a Growth Plan For your Employees

The employees will love to have a clear career graph charted out in front of his/her if he/she keeps
on doing everything right. If the ATR group have not done it already, it should do it. Also, plan the
role of the employee beyond the current project. Cross mentorship programs are a great way to
encourage the employees to interact with other teams and to also help them understand other
verticals within the organization. Employees like to stick to an organization which cares about their
individual success.

7. Update/change Human Resource Policies

We are living in the communication age hence the policies suitable for industrial era might not be
of much use now. Santosh might need an overhaul to your human resource policy. He will have to
have an employee centric policy that is dynamic and that adapts to the changing ways of the world.
The more rigid it stays the more problems ATR group will face retaining talent. Keeping the HR
policies updated at all times in accordance with the best practices is a must.
 8. Communicate with the employees

If Santosh wants to build a robust team he needs to trust them. It is imperative to make a
transparent mechanism to share any developments within the organization. Being a part of the
success story of an organization, increases employee loyalty. Sharing future plans with the
employees, helps them see the larger picture and understand their concern help achieve
organizational goals faster. It instils in them a sense of responsibility of working towards a larger
goal together.

9. Introduce Stay Interviews

While Exit interviews are quite the norm, while one gets to know the reasons why people leave your
organization, stay interviews are more proactive. Here is a great way to understand what makes
your employees stay in your organization and what are the reasons they may not want to continue.

This can be done through asking questions such as :

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

Or
What would you miss the most in your present role, if you went for a role change?

Conclusion
Santosh can also ask them about role change or a suitable department they would want to work in. The
concept of ‘stay interviews’ can help Santosh spot potential damage and give him enough time to act on it.
He can conduct stay interviews periodically.

An organization i.e. ATR group that respects its employees, keeps them engaged with suitable policies
result in higher employee retention. Taking small steps go a long way in enhancing the success and growth
of an organization.

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Question 3 b.
“Millennials work to live and not live to work”. Explain this statement with respect to work-life
strategies undertaken by organizations world-wide. (5 Marks)

Answer 3 b.

Introduction
“Millennials work to live and not live to work”. It is a true statement that working class works to live their
lives and now lives to work like machines do. This statement is relating to the work-life balance of
employees. Work-life balance means properly prioritizing one’s careers and lifestyle. This often takes the
form of setting boundaries between work and life to ensure that employees can be productive at work, while
still finding time for social activities, family, exercise, etc.

However, many Millennials don’t necessarily want to set clear boundaries between their work and their life.
For a lot of people in this generational unit, they prefer “work-life integration.” This term refers to an overall
blending of work life and home life to allow time for both. This blurs the lines between work tasks and
personal activities, which can include a person doing online shopping, checking social media, going to the
gym or taking their dog for a walk during work hours while responding to work emails on evenings and
weekends.

Work-Life Balance Strategies

1. Child Care Leave/Crèches – Many organization give its’ talented employees leaves for taking care
of their children. Some organizations have crèches. Some organisations provide leave during the
birth of first two children to employees to live with their families. These leaves can be ranging from
few days to few years. Employees are paid their salaries during these leave periods i.e. these are
paid leaves.

2. Time Off – Employees have their parents and elders to take care of. Many organisations provide
time off for taking care of the parents and ailing elders. In addition to this, they may give dependent
care allowances so that the dependents can be financially taken care of during such times.

3. Flexible Work Options – This freedom is given by a number of organisations to its employees to
choose the working hours, working location and timings of work. Different employees may have
different needs, responsibilities and priorities. This helps organisations retain talented employees
at the same time help to employees in balancing their work-life.

4. Leaves – Employees are given various types of leaves i.e. privilege leaves or paid leaves, sick
leaves, casual leaves, vacation leave, maternity and paternity leaves, childcare leaves etc.
depending on employee and organizational requirements.

5. Sabbatical – It is a special kind of paid leave that is offered to employees who want to upgrade
their skills with specialized courses or want to pursue higher studies. The sabbatical is generally
offered for a period of 6-months to 2-years.

Conclusion

In all organizations, it’s important that leaders set clear expectations for team members. Whether they are
working remotely, in the office, or a combination of both, all employees need to know what is expected of
them in terms of results and what constitutes professional behaviour at work. In addition, if team members
are required to be available outside of the traditional workday, it’s important that leaders discuss “on hours”
and when people are expected to be available to respond to emails, etc. This ensures that everyone is on
the same page and that important business needs don’t get overlooked.

As organization shift into a new world of work, virtual teams and the ability to maximize flexibility through
technology will become increasingly commonplace. Those organizations that capitalize on this and
embrace the benefits will be able to attract and retain Millennials and high performers from all generations.

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