We would like to thank all the participants for sharing their thoughts and opinions with us, and providing us views from different functions across different industries. We have come across such myriad benefits and services that organizations provide. Organizations are taking “Benefits management” seriously and gearing up to attract and retain the best from the talent pool. Right from tax exemption to rewards and recognition programs, from training to flexi-hour policies, child adoption programs to higher education allowance, organizations provide a bouquet of benefits that are lucrative. When monetary rewards are almost similar for all the organizations in the same sector, it is these benefits that make a difference. The private sector definitely uses these as a tool to gain competitive advantage. We also saw that not only the private sector, but also the Government is realizing the importance of retaining high performing leaders, and changing the traditional norms to the extent of extending the retirement age! It is these softer issues that organizations take advantage of. This heralds the beginning of a new era where non monetary benefits also come into the lime light. Friday, September 5, 2008
The story so far...
We would like to thank all the participants for sharing their thoughts and opinions with us, and providing us views from different functions across different industries. We have come across such myriad benefits and services that organizations provide. Organizations are taking “Benefits management” seriously and gearing up to attract and retain the best from the talent pool. Right from tax exemption to rewards and recognition programs, from training to flexi-hour policies, child adoption programs to higher education allowance, organizations provide a bouquet of benefits that are lucrative. When monetary rewards are almost similar for all the organizations in the same sector, it is these benefits that make a difference. The private sector definitely uses these as a tool to gain competitive advantage. We also saw that not only the private sector, but also the Government is realizing the importance of retaining high performing leaders, and changing the traditional norms to the extent of extending the retirement age! It is these softer issues that organizations take advantage of. This heralds the beginning of a new era where non monetary benefits also come into the lime light. 
Post by Anshul Khanna...PepsiCo India Beverages
PepsiCo India Beverages provides a host of benefits and services to its employees. These include programs like IJP (Internal Job Posting), CDAP process (where the employee chalks out his/her main objectives and needs for fulfilling the same), the LearnSmart program (introduces the powerful, first ever LearnSmart Card that entitles you to create and execute your own Development plan basis your need and convenience). Other non-monetary benefits include Flexi time, Dual Establishment policy, Sabbatical policy, Spouse Hire policy, Hospitalization, Medical benefits, vacation leave. Life insurance and vehicle insurance is provided. At PepsiCo, it is believed that “Total Rewards is one of the five Factors that drive Employee Satisfaction and Commitment”. Monetary rewards include stock options, retirement schemes, performance based pay (depending on both individual as well as organization’s performance). PepsiCo believes in the following:
“Reward and Recognize employees for their performances that reflect our goal of achieving leadership and growth while also abiding by our values and promoting an inclusive work culture.”
Under the ‘A-ha’ program of excellence, there are a number of awards at the MU (Market Unit) level, BU (Business Unit) level and at the international level. These are important as they instill a sense of pride in the employees, especially awards like Cost Saver Award and the Innovator Award for the marketing department, the Ring of honor award for senior level employees (Band 10+).
For FMCG companies, where the competition is so tough, such benefits and services gain paramount importance in attracting and retaining talent, for us, especially the sales force.
Anshul Khanna
Brand manager
Mirinda
PepsiCo India Beverages
“Reward and Recognize employees for their performances that reflect our goal of achieving leadership and growth while also abiding by our values and promoting an inclusive work culture.”
Under the ‘A-ha’ program of excellence, there are a number of awards at the MU (Market Unit) level, BU (Business Unit) level and at the international level. These are important as they instill a sense of pride in the employees, especially awards like Cost Saver Award and the Innovator Award for the marketing department, the Ring of honor award for senior level employees (Band 10+).
For FMCG companies, where the competition is so tough, such benefits and services gain paramount importance in attracting and retaining talent, for us, especially the sales force.
Anshul Khanna
Brand manager
Mirinda
PepsiCo India Beverages
Post By Sumit Gupta
Employees place high value on benefits they receive. They prefer an organization which can provide them not just with a salary and some appreciation, but with a sense of security and a sense of belongingness....they should feel that my company cares for me..
Companies pay attention on benefits management because employees today consider it as their right.. from being an additional benefit, some of them have become basic need.. additionally, packages are no longer a constraint for attracting a talent.. so this has become one of the major differentiating factors for employees.. companies are only trying to understand an employee mindset and changing with the changing needs.
By: Sumit Gupta, Work-ex :3 years in a start-up firm at Bangalore, Currently a student at IIFT Kolkata
Companies pay attention on benefits management because employees today consider it as their right.. from being an additional benefit, some of them have become basic need.. additionally, packages are no longer a constraint for attracting a talent.. so this has become one of the major differentiating factors for employees.. companies are only trying to understand an employee mindset and changing with the changing needs.
By: Sumit Gupta, Work-ex :3 years in a start-up firm at Bangalore, Currently a student at IIFT Kolkata
Organizational dynamics leads to the benifit structure..
Hi All,
While going thru all the posts by many individuals from various industry and companies I feel that the organizational dynamics plays an important role in designing the benefit structure for them. Big MNCs like GE, Tata Steel, huge public sectors like SBI operates with the concept of economy of scale. They give too much importance in long term employability by providing long term schemes like high basic pay or net in hand pay unlike performance based variable pay. Companies like HUL in India and GE worldwide known as the CEO factory for their intensive employee improvement schemes. But companies like 3M, Google provide too much of freedom to employees to try, innovate even fail.....
The high attrition rate in major IT companies does not bother affect their bottom line because they know if a large chunk of employees are leaving them, at the same time a similar chunk of employees are joining them due to the concept of 33 % hike in pay package while switching from one company to another.
Similarly the higher pay package of tier 1 companies like Microsoft, Google, sap labs attract employees from the tier 2 IT companies. But the number is very few as they operate on the principle of developmental projects unlike the maintainace/support work which satisfies the employee in both compensation and work wise. Many ppl wants to work routine based work so they are happy with the current monotonous work culture prevailing in their organization.
But it is important for the organization to observe when it transforms from one stage to another. and accordingly design its benefit structure. Wipro has the highest attrition rate among all IT companies in India but still then its employees are increasing day by day....now its nearly 100000...n its bottom-line is also growing...
M n A plays an important role in designing the structure according to the cultural change but at the same time it benefits a lot and dissatisfies some....
As I said earlier organizations should keep on innovating the strategy....but with the employees ' consent after all this are for them only..they are the major stakeholders of any organization...there is not dearth of any labour/employee pool....companies are shifting their operation from low cost to lower cost places like India, China, etc...
Some employees want short term growth and some want long term security...So accordingly the companies should strategies their policies and no doubt they are doing it...small scale or new prospectors are giving too much importance on individualistic approach like taking them to show a movie...but large scale employers giving stress on group performance... so benefiting the employees if the company grows(organizational benefits...)
So one important thing matters is the level of transparency....where employer and employee can collaborate to grow....where the employer can chose the ri8 employees n vice versa...
Bijen Pattnaik
Post by Mr.Tarun Banerjee...State Bank of India
In Government organizations there are some inherent benefits that are assumed and confirmed with a job, for e.g., pension, medical benefits, LTA and DA. Usually no performance allowance is there, so people look for what is the basic pay or you can say cash in hand component. Definitely having the variable component related with performance will bring in more efficiency into the system. However in SBI, we have performance bonus, largely introduced to handle competition from the private sector banks. These are lucrative for attracting and retaining talent. Some other important benefits include loans at lower rates (can’t be disclosed), medical facilities and subsidized food.
Tarun Banerjee
Chief General Manager
State Bank of India
Ballygunge Branch
Kolkata
Tarun Banerjee
Chief General Manager
State Bank of India
Ballygunge Branch
Kolkata
Kavindra Joshi (Wipro->Sap Labs)
Hi,
This is Kavindra Joshi. Designation : Software Engineer at SAP LABS INDIA PVT LTD. Have a total experience of 3 years in the IT Industry.
I have seen in my stint in this IT Industry that "People are the most vital assests to the company". In the service industry this is even truer! When i went through the posts blow the one issue that caught my attention is the question by SSG if Benefits can be source of Competitive Advantage for a firm.
I found it especially interesting because one of the key reasons of leaving Wipro to join SAP Labs. was the marked difference in the HR policies of the two companies. I preferred to leave my On-site opportunity at Wipro as the benefits in SAP Labs are far superior. I am given free Sodexho Coupons for food, free Bus service (which used to cost a whopping Rs. 1300 p.m. in Wipro) and CTC i was promised was not inflated. Because of all these reasons i have been able to get much more cash in hand for the same package in SAP Labs than i would have got in Wipro.
In fact some of the benefits like Health Insurance were there in Wipro but there was a tedious process of filing for the claims and then waiting for weeks before that money miraculously appeared in your Bank account. Here there are no such hassles- Health benefits are like everything else-pure Cash!
Ultimately the result of above policies in SAP is that i am able t save so much more and in nstruments i want to! The flexi-timings are another motivator for a late morning person like me ;P
All in all i personally feel that superior Benefits make the company so much more lucrative for the employees to stay and work in!
This is Kavindra Joshi. Designation : Software Engineer at SAP LABS INDIA PVT LTD. Have a total experience of 3 years in the IT Industry.
I have seen in my stint in this IT Industry that "People are the most vital assests to the company". In the service industry this is even truer! When i went through the posts blow the one issue that caught my attention is the question by SSG if Benefits can be source of Competitive Advantage for a firm.
I found it especially interesting because one of the key reasons of leaving Wipro to join SAP Labs. was the marked difference in the HR policies of the two companies. I preferred to leave my On-site opportunity at Wipro as the benefits in SAP Labs are far superior. I am given free Sodexho Coupons for food, free Bus service (which used to cost a whopping Rs. 1300 p.m. in Wipro) and CTC i was promised was not inflated. Because of all these reasons i have been able to get much more cash in hand for the same package in SAP Labs than i would have got in Wipro.
In fact some of the benefits like Health Insurance were there in Wipro but there was a tedious process of filing for the claims and then waiting for weeks before that money miraculously appeared in your Bank account. Here there are no such hassles- Health benefits are like everything else-pure Cash!
Ultimately the result of above policies in SAP is that i am able t save so much more and in nstruments i want to! The flexi-timings are another motivator for a late morning person like me ;P
All in all i personally feel that superior Benefits make the company so much more lucrative for the employees to stay and work in!
Post by Anonymous...Google
Give the proper tools to a group of people that want to make a difference, and they will.
This is what Google believes in and practices in reality! Well after reading a host of benefits that others have written about, let me share some different benefits that are provided @ Google. Extensive medical insurance is provided, ranging from vision and dental insurance to long term and short term Disability insurance. Google encourages its employees to go for further education, and provides tuition reimbursement and financial planning classes. Under the Gift Matching Program, Google bolsters employee contributions to various non-profit organizations, wanting its employees to get involved in such causes. Google assists our employees by offering financial assistance in the adoption of a child. Other benefits include company movie day, summer picnic, holiday party, health fair, quarterly group offsite, credit union, sauna, discounts for products and local attractions.
Google knows the secret mantra behind attracting and retaining the best available talent in today’s competitive arena.
Search Quality Team
Google
Hyderabad
Post by Pankaj Mishra @ IIM Lucknow
Hi,
Currently I am a PGP1 student at IIM Lucknow.In the past,I had worked in Infosys for nearly 3 years.In my view, benefits and services are the biggest motivators for any employee in the company to derive job satisfaction.We all tend to think on the way we get the hikes in the company and compare with our peers in the same or different company.But more than that ,it is the work culture and environment of the company that makes people to stay longer.
At Infosys, we used to have good gym facility,billiards,TT and swimming pool facility that used to draw chunks of people esp. new joinees .They act as good stress relievers and draw significant number of people to them.
I also remember the Infosys Mysore days,when we were given European style accomodation and all we could have ever thought of.Every new batch of joinees could be easily identified as groups roaming around the swimming pool or playing some game or the other.In a way it was a welcome relief to people out of the academics world and joining the rigours of professional life.So good were the after effects of these facilities that people tended to like Mysore and wanted to stay there for life.It was only after the trainings and city life of the place dawned that people started to take these facility for granted and were back to the real world.
As a company,Infosys has done a great job in fulfilling aspirations of nearly 1 lakh employees with a wonderful induction program and catering to all the employee needs within its facility.It has shown that inspite of tremendous work pressure and deadlines ,software engineers become a motivated lot and can do wonders for the organization.
Currently I am a PGP1 student at IIM Lucknow.In the past,I had worked in Infosys for nearly 3 years.In my view, benefits and services are the biggest motivators for any employee in the company to derive job satisfaction.We all tend to think on the way we get the hikes in the company and compare with our peers in the same or different company.But more than that ,it is the work culture and environment of the company that makes people to stay longer.
At Infosys, we used to have good gym facility,billiards,TT and swimming pool facility that used to draw chunks of people esp. new joinees .They act as good stress relievers and draw significant number of people to them.
I also remember the Infosys Mysore days,when we were given European style accomodation and all we could have ever thought of.Every new batch of joinees could be easily identified as groups roaming around the swimming pool or playing some game or the other.In a way it was a welcome relief to people out of the academics world and joining the rigours of professional life.So good were the after effects of these facilities that people tended to like Mysore and wanted to stay there for life.It was only after the trainings and city life of the place dawned that people started to take these facility for granted and were back to the real world.
As a company,Infosys has done a great job in fulfilling aspirations of nearly 1 lakh employees with a wonderful induction program and catering to all the employee needs within its facility.It has shown that inspite of tremendous work pressure and deadlines ,software engineers become a motivated lot and can do wonders for the organization.
Post by Kevin Rivera...Systems Maintenance Service
I would like to address the questions raised by SSG.
1. Do organizations give much importance to benefits management because of the cost of employee benefits have raised significantly?
It depends from company to company. Almost all of the fortune 100 companies have separated themselves from the rest of the crowd due to the fact that they make excellent products which only happens because they recruit and retain the top brass of employees. I am working as a Systems engineer in a service based company called Systems Maintenance Service (http://www.sysmaint.com/) in Boston for the past three years. Since this company is a small company of only around five hundred employees and still making its mark in the market, benefits for employees is not its top priority. The only benefits I get is the norm in the market for this job profile. These benefits included: - medical insurance, life insurance, 401k retirement plan, ten days of paid vacation, master’s reimbursement if done in the field which the company specifies, cell phone allowance and laptop allowance.
2. In what way "employee benefits management" provide competitive advantage to organizations?
Since now a days the average salary of a specific job profile is known to the job applicant due to sources like monster.com or dice.com the only way these companies can attract the top players of their respective field is via benefits. Just to name a few of the companies which are highly coveted in the Boston region are EMC^2 and Google. Both these companies, other than matching the best package in the market for the respective job profile, these companies provide various other things that other companies don’t. Example being :- gym facility at the office , full fledge swimming pool , billiards, gourmet food, in some cases company car, freedom of working from home, no formal dress code and various other amenities which are rare to find in an office complex.
3. Do employees place "high value" on the benefits received or do they merely look at them as entitlements or just feel good factor?
I personally would place a high value because if the pay scale is the same across the board then the only thing that will differentiate the job to me are the benefits. If these benefits are making my life easier and relaxed at the work place then yes they do make a big difference in terms of directing my decision one way or the other.
Kevin Rivera
Systems engineer
Systems Maintenance Service
Boston
Ravi Kant Awasthi@ SAP
Hi,
I am Ravi Kant Awasthi working for SAP Labs India from last 16 months. When I joined it I was told that it ranks 8 among all and 2 among s/w companies in terms of employee satisfaction in India and soon I realised this fact also. The funda here is when the mind is free and does not have any kind of restriction then it is supposed to be best in terms of productivity and quality. At the time of hiring, they check that how much you are interested in the kind of work which will be allotted to you and after that they allow the person to work in his own way that is why the interview itself is taken by the person who will be the manager later.This freedom starts from flexibility in timings. No time recording so no compulsion on no. of hours or specification of them. Once in an year goals are smartly decided and you need to fulfil them, so no body cares about timings at all. Other very important thing is that people have good expertise in their areas and they are always ready to help so there is always a helping hand. In terms of growth opportunity, it depends on individual. System is very flexible towards individuals choice and skills. Everybody is free to choose any line i.e. technical, people management, consultant. The knowledge database is huge. You can get several possible solution and people to discuss about them very easily.About other benefits I will say no transportation charges, no restrictions on the internet usage and no charges for lunch. In fact from CEO to security person all share the same canteen! In the work place also everybody is given equal importance. No interference in your work without your permission. I will associate the word FREEDOM with the working environment of SAP.
Thanks
Ravi Kant Awasthi
Software Engineer SAP Labs India
total exp:25 months
I am Ravi Kant Awasthi working for SAP Labs India from last 16 months. When I joined it I was told that it ranks 8 among all and 2 among s/w companies in terms of employee satisfaction in India and soon I realised this fact also. The funda here is when the mind is free and does not have any kind of restriction then it is supposed to be best in terms of productivity and quality. At the time of hiring, they check that how much you are interested in the kind of work which will be allotted to you and after that they allow the person to work in his own way that is why the interview itself is taken by the person who will be the manager later.This freedom starts from flexibility in timings. No time recording so no compulsion on no. of hours or specification of them. Once in an year goals are smartly decided and you need to fulfil them, so no body cares about timings at all. Other very important thing is that people have good expertise in their areas and they are always ready to help so there is always a helping hand. In terms of growth opportunity, it depends on individual. System is very flexible towards individuals choice and skills. Everybody is free to choose any line i.e. technical, people management, consultant. The knowledge database is huge. You can get several possible solution and people to discuss about them very easily.About other benefits I will say no transportation charges, no restrictions on the internet usage and no charges for lunch. In fact from CEO to security person all share the same canteen! In the work place also everybody is given equal importance. No interference in your work without your permission. I will associate the word FREEDOM with the working environment of SAP.
Thanks
Ravi Kant Awasthi
Software Engineer SAP Labs India
total exp:25 months
Post by Mr.Ramawatar Sharma...Binani Industries
It is quite true that private organizations have greater liberty in providing a bouquet of benefits and services (as rightly pointed out by Samuel), but the Government is also gradually becoming aware. This is visible in the benefits provided by SBI to its employees. It includes a host of performance bonuses as well as loan facilities. According to a recent article in The Economic Times, “Government is serious about giving grand pay hikes to CEOs of sick public sector units (PSUs). The idea behind the move is to retain them and offer additional incentives for turning around a sick company. Currently, the CMD of a navratna company gets a salary of around Rs 10 lakhs along with other benefits.”
The second PSU pay revision committee has made a strong case for increasing the salary of PSU employees and put them at par with their private sector counterparts. It has also suggested that variable pay or performance-related pay (PRP) should be made an integral part of the compensation package which should be directly linked to the profits of the company. Extension of tenure beyond the age of 60, post-retirement medical benefits and additional gratuity are some other benefits that will be helpful to retain talent.
Ramawatar Sharma
Vice President
Finance
Binani Industries
Mumbai
The second PSU pay revision committee has made a strong case for increasing the salary of PSU employees and put them at par with their private sector counterparts. It has also suggested that variable pay or performance-related pay (PRP) should be made an integral part of the compensation package which should be directly linked to the profits of the company. Extension of tenure beyond the age of 60, post-retirement medical benefits and additional gratuity are some other benefits that will be helpful to retain talent.
Ramawatar Sharma
Vice President
Finance
Binani Industries
Mumbai
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Post by Sandeep Rath...Logica
Competition has always been a boon for the end users. In the employment sector, the employees can be compared to the end-users, benefiting from the competition among multitudinous employers. It has become imperative on the part of organizations to go that extra mile, not only to attract but also to retain talent. And companies have now begun differentiating themselves with their exclusive offers for their employees.
These benefits need not be in the form of cash bonuses. Organizations are maturing into a level, where employee care has become one of the high priorities. HCL Technologies is a company that has been globally applauded for its "Employee First" policy, whereas most IT organizations still follow the age-old policy of "Customer First".
I have been working in Logica for more than 2 years now. One of the most distinguishing factors about Logica would probably be its "very informal" atmosphere. One need not wear a tie on Mondays and Tuesdays, knowing well the sultry weather conditions of India – It isn't really snowing out there, is it? However, great care is taken to educate employees on their dressing sense. One can wear casuals, as long as it doesn't become objectionable. During client visits or formal meetings, formal dinners, the dress code is officially announced for all employees to follow.
Moreover, Logica has a very employee-friendly work-from-home policy. This policy is a great boon for people like me, who lose their patience while navigating the snail-slow traffic of Bangalore. I have realized, I am twice as productive working from home as it I am when working at my office. It saves me a great deal of time and energy to work from home. At times, it also turns out helpful, if I need to step out for an hour or half. In fact, most of the MNCs in Bangalore have started adopting work-from-home policy.
Thirdly, a great incentive to employees is the financial structure of our salaries. A significant portion of our salary becomes non-taxable for us. At the end of the day, that helps us take back more money home than we would have otherwise had!
Finally, Logica, like most other IT organizations of our age, has an all-employee club that keeps entertaining employees over a myriad of options.
Leaving aside the IT sector experience, one can draw a lot of employee-care experience from the TATA Group. It is a well known fact that Tata, other than its IT arm – TCS of course, has one of the lowest attrition rates in all industries. Is it because of non-availability of options to those employees? Not really. In a globalised work environment, employees are option spoilt for choice. Tata manages to retain its employees over long periods primarily because it employs exceptionally employee-friendly policies. Countless benefits and perks are offered to their employees – what better than a heavily discounted stay at the Taj group of hotels!
Thus to conclude, in today's work environment, employers have to buy to sets of people – one, their customers, and second, their employees. The way, customers have plenty of alternate options, employees too have various alternatives today. In such a scene, it is not an option anymore for employers to define employee-friendly policies. That's the best way they can attract and retain scarce talent in the market.
Sandeep Rath
Global Marketing Consultant – Group Marketing
Strategic Business Development Group
Logica - Releasing your potential
Post by Samuel B.Jenkins...District of Columbia Government
I currently work as a Training and Development Manager for the District of Columbia Government. One of the best benefits or service that an organization can use to attract and retain talent is to offer Training and Professional Development programs with some type of incentive, either monetary or non-monetary.
In my experience with the private sector, I found that the benefits and services used to attract and retain talent were numerous and substantial. Not only that, but in the private sector, there is less bureaucracy so you are more able to implement employee attraction and retention ideas, plans and incentives.
For example, as a Training and Development Consultant for a fortune 500 company (manufacturing industry), I developed a set of 14 policy, procedure, and training manuals designed to improve morale and increase production. As a result of creating these manuals, I also created and implemented the “Pay for Knowledge” personnel development program, where employees may take up to 14 sequential examinations (based on the 14 policy, procedure, and training manuals I created) that test employee’s on-the-job knowledge of production procedures and processes; each examination an employee passed equals a $.05/hour raise. The “Pay for Knowledge” training program was very successful in increasing productivity rates, morale, employee satisfaction and motivation. With a few minor modifications, the “Pay for Knowledge” training program is still in use today.
In the Government, a monetary incentive like this would not work simply due to the bureaucracy and the fact the Government is not motivated by profit! However, we know that in the private sector where an organization is motivated by profit, an incentive to increase knowledge and productivity at such a small cost is a winning and “can do” idea!
Samuel B.Jenkins
Washington DC
In my experience with the private sector, I found that the benefits and services used to attract and retain talent were numerous and substantial. Not only that, but in the private sector, there is less bureaucracy so you are more able to implement employee attraction and retention ideas, plans and incentives.
For example, as a Training and Development Consultant for a fortune 500 company (manufacturing industry), I developed a set of 14 policy, procedure, and training manuals designed to improve morale and increase production. As a result of creating these manuals, I also created and implemented the “Pay for Knowledge” personnel development program, where employees may take up to 14 sequential examinations (based on the 14 policy, procedure, and training manuals I created) that test employee’s on-the-job knowledge of production procedures and processes; each examination an employee passed equals a $.05/hour raise. The “Pay for Knowledge” training program was very successful in increasing productivity rates, morale, employee satisfaction and motivation. With a few minor modifications, the “Pay for Knowledge” training program is still in use today.
In the Government, a monetary incentive like this would not work simply due to the bureaucracy and the fact the Government is not motivated by profit! However, we know that in the private sector where an organization is motivated by profit, an incentive to increase knowledge and productivity at such a small cost is a winning and “can do” idea!
Samuel B.Jenkins
Washington DC
Post by K.Rajesh...Cognizant Technology Solutions
Companies take Benefits Management seriously as it definitely provides a cutting edge over competitors. CTS has lots of rewards and recognition programs. This helps to motivate people and help them to stay attached to the company. It uses lots of fancy words for these programs. For example:
Associate of the year
Young star of the week
Wah points (which gets accumulated with every work you do and after that you can exchange the points for gifts)
Another strategy adopted is training. CTS trains its employees in different areas, and continues giving people challenging work. After 2 years as the work becomes boring and monotonous, it trains them in new technology and moves them into that area.
Such practices ensure that employees find their jobs interesting, lucrative and rewarding, and stick to the organization.
K.Rajesh
Associate- projects
(Team Leader)
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Associate of the year
Young star of the week
Wah points (which gets accumulated with every work you do and after that you can exchange the points for gifts)
Another strategy adopted is training. CTS trains its employees in different areas, and continues giving people challenging work. After 2 years as the work becomes boring and monotonous, it trains them in new technology and moves them into that area.
Such practices ensure that employees find their jobs interesting, lucrative and rewarding, and stick to the organization.
K.Rajesh
Associate- projects
(Team Leader)
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Post by Mr. G.P.Sakunia...Maharashtra Seamless Ltd.
In our organization, we have the following practices to attract and retain talent:
1. Compensation is somewhat more than what he/she deserves
2. Attractive ESOP Scheme is made available to all employees
3. Promotional criteria are made transparent
4. Major achievements are recognized and rewarded properly and timely
5. Attractive performance incentive schemes are implemented and made transparent
(It is against my company policy to reveal the figures for bonus and other incentives)
G. P. Sakunia
Deputy General Manager (Commercial)
Maharashtra Seamless Ltd.
Sarjan Plaza
100 Dr.Annie Besant Road
Worli
Mumbai -400 018
1. Compensation is somewhat more than what he/she deserves
2. Attractive ESOP Scheme is made available to all employees
3. Promotional criteria are made transparent
4. Major achievements are recognized and rewarded properly and timely
5. Attractive performance incentive schemes are implemented and made transparent
(It is against my company policy to reveal the figures for bonus and other incentives)
G. P. Sakunia
Deputy General Manager (Commercial)
Maharashtra Seamless Ltd.
Sarjan Plaza
100 Dr.Annie Besant Road
Worli
Mumbai -400 018
Post by Mr. Sunil Patwari...Binani Industries
I am going to complete around 20 years of service in about 8 Companies, as per my own assessment I would like to address the questions raised by SSG as follows:
1) Organizations typically are being faced by the challenges of employee compensation. In these circumstances, employee benefits have come as a welcome respite for most companies. However the very fact that the cost of employee benefits has risen steeply, the importance of these benefits is being re-considered. It has been a debate as to how to manage the mix of benefits and compensation components. In my opinion, the importance of employee benefits can't be undermined particularly because there are so many others (tax seekers) peeking at your money. Any employee certainly appreciates being given the benefit directly over cash. The challenge for organizations is to tap in the right benefits required by the employees.
2) "Employee benefit management" provides a definite benefit to the company. There was a time when it was a differentiator. But now it has become a necessity. The factor that matters these days is how one claims to give these benefits. There are companies who include benefits as a part of CTC of the employee. These measures are not really welcome by the employee when the actual take home comes in. However the corporations who try and keep employee benefits out of compensation claims are adored as good employers. Clearly, an employee benefit management strategy becomes imperative under these conditions. If properly handled, it can motivate workforce over bigger salary components. However most important work is to identify what benefits are sought by the employees.
I would also like to share some additional thoughts. Apart from Benefits & Services, few other important factors to attract and retain talent are:
1) Goodwill of the Company
2) Environment & attitude of Employer & Superiors
3) Liking for the roles & responsibilities given
4) Social Responsibilities of the person
5) Location Factors
Sunil Patwari
General Manager (Finance)
Binani Industries
Mumbai
1) Organizations typically are being faced by the challenges of employee compensation. In these circumstances, employee benefits have come as a welcome respite for most companies. However the very fact that the cost of employee benefits has risen steeply, the importance of these benefits is being re-considered. It has been a debate as to how to manage the mix of benefits and compensation components. In my opinion, the importance of employee benefits can't be undermined particularly because there are so many others (tax seekers) peeking at your money. Any employee certainly appreciates being given the benefit directly over cash. The challenge for organizations is to tap in the right benefits required by the employees.
2) "Employee benefit management" provides a definite benefit to the company. There was a time when it was a differentiator. But now it has become a necessity. The factor that matters these days is how one claims to give these benefits. There are companies who include benefits as a part of CTC of the employee. These measures are not really welcome by the employee when the actual take home comes in. However the corporations who try and keep employee benefits out of compensation claims are adored as good employers. Clearly, an employee benefit management strategy becomes imperative under these conditions. If properly handled, it can motivate workforce over bigger salary components. However most important work is to identify what benefits are sought by the employees.
I would also like to share some additional thoughts. Apart from Benefits & Services, few other important factors to attract and retain talent are:
1) Goodwill of the Company
2) Environment & attitude of Employer & Superiors
3) Liking for the roles & responsibilities given
4) Social Responsibilities of the person
5) Location Factors
Sunil Patwari
General Manager (Finance)
Binani Industries
Mumbai
Post by Paritosh Agarwal...Wipro Technologies
Hi buddies...This is Paritosh Agarwal here working as an Associate consultant in Wipro Technologies in the city of Bangalore. When I read the topic "Role of Benefits and Services to attract and retain Talent", I started wondering what benefits Wipro provide to its employees so that they don't leave the organization. For those who do not know, let me tell them that Wipro has the highest attrition rate among all the software companies in India.
I have been working in Wipro for past 2 years and since then there are many people around me who have left the organization. When I asked them why they are leaving the organization, I got different replies, but one thing was common among all the replies and i.e. “because of HR policies".
Time has not gone too far, when Wipro HRs realized were they are going wrong and they every year they roll out some innovative and fascinating ideas to woo the employees and stop the employees drain out. The different schemes that have been rolled out in Wipro which can prove beneficial to the employees are as follows:-
Health reimbursement policy
Tax exemption for house on rent
Tax exemption for vehicle maintenance
Tax exemption for broadband internet connection
Providing food coupons under tax exemption
In spite of these lucrative schemes, Wipro HRs’ are not able to woo the employees to retain them. Definitely there is something lacking somewhere. After much contemplation and discussions with my colleagues, I reached a conclusion that employees do not get enough monetary benefits. In other words I can say people are looking for bonuses. Bonus is a very old technique to provide benefit to the employees and keep them happy but still it is a hot technique. We can say it is an evergreen technique. In a company like Wipro where head count exceeds 50,000, company can’t think of giving bonus to its every employee. Secondly in such a big organization people don’t get recognition for their work easily. They have to toil very hard and not only compete outside the organization but also within the organization.
In Wipro, before every appraisal all the employees are forced to sign an agreement which states that we cannot join the client for whom we work for, after leaving the organization. When I asked my HR why we are forced to sign this bond, she simply replied, “It is a step to retain out best of talent”. Now that’s what is called an innovative idea to retain the talent.
I have been working in Wipro for past 2 years and since then there are many people around me who have left the organization. When I asked them why they are leaving the organization, I got different replies, but one thing was common among all the replies and i.e. “because of HR policies".
Time has not gone too far, when Wipro HRs realized were they are going wrong and they every year they roll out some innovative and fascinating ideas to woo the employees and stop the employees drain out. The different schemes that have been rolled out in Wipro which can prove beneficial to the employees are as follows:-
Health reimbursement policy
Tax exemption for house on rent
Tax exemption for vehicle maintenance
Tax exemption for broadband internet connection
Providing food coupons under tax exemption
In spite of these lucrative schemes, Wipro HRs’ are not able to woo the employees to retain them. Definitely there is something lacking somewhere. After much contemplation and discussions with my colleagues, I reached a conclusion that employees do not get enough monetary benefits. In other words I can say people are looking for bonuses. Bonus is a very old technique to provide benefit to the employees and keep them happy but still it is a hot technique. We can say it is an evergreen technique. In a company like Wipro where head count exceeds 50,000, company can’t think of giving bonus to its every employee. Secondly in such a big organization people don’t get recognition for their work easily. They have to toil very hard and not only compete outside the organization but also within the organization.
In Wipro, before every appraisal all the employees are forced to sign an agreement which states that we cannot join the client for whom we work for, after leaving the organization. When I asked my HR why we are forced to sign this bond, she simply replied, “It is a step to retain out best of talent”. Now that’s what is called an innovative idea to retain the talent.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Post by Anonymous...Genpact
I am a senior Training manager at Genpact, and would like to comment on the practices followed by the company to retain talent.
In a company such as ours, people are our biggest resource. We can not afford to lose even a single resource. More so, the ITes industry is constantly plagued with the mounting problem of attrition and issues regarding talent scaricity.
In a company such as ours, people are our biggest resource. We can not afford to lose even a single resource. More so, the ITes industry is constantly plagued with the mounting problem of attrition and issues regarding talent scaricity.
From the earlier oft-repeated phrase of ‘no one is indispensable’, today the key words for any HR department are ‘key personnel’, ‘talent war’ and ‘attrition’. In such a situation, employee retention programmes have gained importance in sectors like IT/ITES, retail, banking and financial services which witness high rates of employee turnover
Where monetary compensation -- salary, perks, stock options – are a given, it is the intangible benefits like career roadmap and bonding of the employee with the organization which determines whether one will seek out greener pastures
Insuch a situation we at Genpact go beyond what is expected and provide the employee with benefits that are more intangible and help the company bond with the employee
The company is extremly supportive towards the women employees. Recently my collegue, who was expecting, had certain issues because of which she had to take an extended maternity leave. The company and all senior managers were extremly supportive towards her and there were absolutely no problems when she almost doubled her leave period.
As the above mentioned case shows, it is much more important to understand a person's problems and step in with the right support. This is much better than having policies carved in stone and trying to push them down the throats of you employees.
In another case a manager whose wife had gone out of the country for a very important assignment wanted the facility to work from home as he had a small child. In most companies male employees find it pretty difficult to avail this facility but again here the company stepped to make all the necessary provisions so that this could be possible.
Other than that, a very strong training department also helps the employee stay on. We provide training that are extremly sought after and expensive such as 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' which is a licensed course from the Stephen Kovey foundation. Other than that there are a lot of training programs that focus not only on the specific business that the employee is working on but also help them become a better person in his personal as well as professional life. Some of these are Time management, Handling Stress and Effective Communication.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Post by SSG..The world of benefits...
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Dear All,
It is interesting to note from the posts of Sourabh Bhatia and Bijen Pattnaik that there are different challenges in front of established corporates and start-ups when it comes to benefit management. The posts really emphasize the need for an innovative approach to benefits management at start-ups where entrepreneurs like Sourabh Bhatia always need to look for an opportunity to surprise their employees by making them experience small moments of joy by capitalizing on the religious and cultural diversity of employees.
But such practices, do they help the companies build a cohesive teams which appreciate diverstity? and what extend such practices enable them to be more collaborative in their tasks and assignments?
Looking at Debajoyti's post we get the feeling that Laptops can motivate employees. The only practical theoretical problem we face is, "where do we place laptop in Maslow's hierarchy?" The prices of laptops have fallen so sharply over the years and the fact that they occupy so little space compared to a desktop, every organization would like to provide a laptop to save costs (read "space" is cost for organizations).
However, this post brings us an important question as why do companies have differential benefits treatement to different categories of employees?
Many companies realize that the cost of providing a bouquet of employee benefits is increasingly high for the organizations to the extent that it is one third of payroll costs for many organization.
Although employee benefits have gained currency in corporate world, there are several questions remain unanswered.
1. Do organizations give much importance to benefits management because of the cost of employee benefits have raised significantly?
2. In what way "employee benefits management" provide competitive advantage to organizations?
3. Do employees place "high value" on the benefits received or do they merely look at them as entitlements or just feel good factor as stated by our anonymous marketing executive from Forbes Marshall?
Posted by SSG at 6:44 PM Links to this post
Post by Pallavi..
Pallavi said...
With the retirement of baby boomers, shifting attitudes of younger workers and increasing dominance of women in the workforce - coupled with the potential labor shortage - companies today face escalating demands to better attract, retain and develop high-potential and high-performing talent.
Compensation alone will not retain and attract top talent. The emerging strategy is a combination of benefits including compensation, benefits, performance and recognition incentives, work-life and career development opportunities.
Because benefits help support the corporate business strategy and create the desired culture, it’s critical for companies to define a total benefits philosophy that articulates the objectives and priorities for each of the benefit components. An effective total benefits program includes a variety of monetary and non-monetary recognition programs. The key emerging practices that companies adopt fall into the areas of retirement benefits and performance management.
Five years ago, broad-based equity compensation — like stock options — was widely used, but with the stock option expensing rules, companies have been limiting their use. However, for executive levels, non qualified deferred compensation plans and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERP) are often used to reward executives for the long-term success of the company or as a retention vehicle. As companies are looking for ways to develop their internal talent, some are adding formal career planning, while some are considering adding competency-based performance management and the use of multi-rater feedback.
The one-size-fits-all approach is no longer applicable in the development of benefit programs. With the multi generational workforce, companies need to design benefit programs that retain and motivate a diverse employee population. For example, the present generation wants to feel empowered to challenge thinking and express their own ideas. They thrive on change, value entrepreneurialism and are independent, multi-taskers. So what can companies offer to retain and motivate them?
• Provide more flexibility in work hours, compensation, benefits and attire
• Establish formal career paths• Reward for learning new skills or competencies
• Provide multi-rater performance feedback
Companies conduct various surveys in which they take a feedback from the employees on the various policies in place. These are the surveys, which frankly speaking, most of the employees do not genuinely fill in and reflect their ideas in. These surveys serve as the ground for framing policies in the organization. The HR , based on these surveys, comes up with new initiatives. Company Survey responses indicate the following incentives to be most effective in retaining employees:
• Cash bonuses
• Supplemental benefits such as dental insurance or a pharmaceutical plan
• Flex time
• Long-term incentives
Understanding the workforce and the current trends in benefit programs can lead to better communication, improved recruiting and recognition programs and increased retention of satisfied employees.
August 12, 2008 8:52 AM
Post by Mr. Tushar Dilip Paralikar
Tushar said...
In this world of cut throat competition, definitely attracting the talent and retaining it has been one of the herculean tasks for the corporate sector.
As I am associated with IT Sector for past 3 years now, I would have certain level of comfort to speak about the role of services & benefits in IT.
Following are the basic Services and Benefits which a common IT Professional expect from the company:
* Provident Fund and Gratuity
*Medical Facilities for Employees and their dependants by providing Insurance Coverage and fixed amount for medicals expense.
* LTA, Facility of Company Guest Houses at different tourist destinations.
* Learning Opportunities to grow personally as well as professionally.All major IT companies now provide ample learning opportunities. Many technical certifications are now company sponsored. Foreign Language Sessions. All IT majors have tie-ups with reputed educational institute for part time courses like MS/MTech/ MBA
* High Performance reward in terms of perks or Employee Stock Options.
* Profit sharing with all the employees in terms of different variable pays.
Apart from all above mentioned services and benefits, from HR perspective, Talent should be categorized as per different age groups.
Young professionals would always get attracted towards higher pay packages and onsite opportunities. Young professionals would hardly care about Provident Fund and Gratuity. Younger professional in age group of 22-30 would always have more inclination for onsite exposure. In order to retain the young talent, they should be given pay packages as per the industry standards and onsite exposure on a short term basis if long term is not possible. Obviously but some contractual binding is necessary so that the employee can not resign from the companmy immediately after the onsite trip. This could be a win-win situation for both employer and employee.
Well, if you want to target middle aged IT professional, they would seek for stability and responsible positions. In order to attract and retain Middle aged professionals, they should be given benefits like Children Health Care Program, Family Medical Checkups with concessional rates. On a professional front higher positions with appropriate skill sets should be given. If necessary some new positions based on different types of skill sets should be devised.
August 12, 2008 6:58 AM
Post by Bijen Pattnaik
Bijen Pattnaik said...
It's nice to know that people like Saurav Bhatia are doing something new which we don’t get in a big corporate. This I am saying because I ve worked before and with many people like Saurav..In our snacks session one the most important topic to discuss among us was abt the company policies, benefits.. and all the time we found our company in a deficit side and other companies better than ours. But As the grass always looks greener on the other side the benefits of the other companies are like a GAZAR....wh attracts u then u r trapped...People like us dont bother abt the gr8 benefits like insurance, LTA, Reimbursement, etc cuz these things are offerd in almost every company. so in what way we as a company is different from others!!!
As Madhu said earlier those benefits are good but they are very generic in nature...Now my congratulation to Saurav not only for his success in establishing a company of his own but also for implementing the small small things which we were deprived while working together in a big corporate. Taking the teams to a movie together ll give us tremendous belongingness than the hi fi insurances...Yesterday I attended one session by one of the prominent person of Infosys...What I heard frm him was quite interesting but dont know how much this is liked by the employees...For example they organize various events (rangoli,football match, cricket match, n many competition, etc) but can somebody tell me how many are truly interested to participate in these kind of events. Did we take a consensus from the employees who are the ultimate stakeholders for whom these things are done for organizing these events!!
Why people like Saurav are not happy with the "So called pen n paper" policies/benefits of big corporate!! n now they are implementing these things in their small but growing organizations!! Or is it the agreement between the big corporate to offer the same n generic benefits... When they ll differentiate themselves...Now its time to get some practical experiences of people who can site about some differentiating factor...abt their organization....I ve no offence against ne of these big organizations but my only concern is when they ll come frm the top of the ladder to listen the employees who are at the bottom of the pyramid to listen what exactly they want!! there are many good things to say abt all abt these organizations....I too respect Saurav for respecting the cause for which I left my old organization...that to go for higher studies...wh is highly discouraged in these organizations for their opportunistic behavior n bounded rationality...when they ll also make policies which ll make the employees feel like they belong(truly not only in Payroll) to the company....This is really a serious issue to think over n discuss...where we can know abt the prevailing benefit structure across all the corporation starting frm small to big...IT to manufacturing....At the end this is for the people like us who are the employees and base of these big companies....
August 10, 2008 2:17 AM
It's nice to know that people like Saurav Bhatia are doing something new which we don’t get in a big corporate. This I am saying because I ve worked before and with many people like Saurav..In our snacks session one the most important topic to discuss among us was abt the company policies, benefits.. and all the time we found our company in a deficit side and other companies better than ours. But As the grass always looks greener on the other side the benefits of the other companies are like a GAZAR....wh attracts u then u r trapped...People like us dont bother abt the gr8 benefits like insurance, LTA, Reimbursement, etc cuz these things are offerd in almost every company. so in what way we as a company is different from others!!!
As Madhu said earlier those benefits are good but they are very generic in nature...Now my congratulation to Saurav not only for his success in establishing a company of his own but also for implementing the small small things which we were deprived while working together in a big corporate. Taking the teams to a movie together ll give us tremendous belongingness than the hi fi insurances...Yesterday I attended one session by one of the prominent person of Infosys...What I heard frm him was quite interesting but dont know how much this is liked by the employees...For example they organize various events (rangoli,football match, cricket match, n many competition, etc) but can somebody tell me how many are truly interested to participate in these kind of events. Did we take a consensus from the employees who are the ultimate stakeholders for whom these things are done for organizing these events!!
Why people like Saurav are not happy with the "So called pen n paper" policies/benefits of big corporate!! n now they are implementing these things in their small but growing organizations!! Or is it the agreement between the big corporate to offer the same n generic benefits... When they ll differentiate themselves...Now its time to get some practical experiences of people who can site about some differentiating factor...abt their organization....I ve no offence against ne of these big organizations but my only concern is when they ll come frm the top of the ladder to listen the employees who are at the bottom of the pyramid to listen what exactly they want!! there are many good things to say abt all abt these organizations....I too respect Saurav for respecting the cause for which I left my old organization...that to go for higher studies...wh is highly discouraged in these organizations for their opportunistic behavior n bounded rationality...when they ll also make policies which ll make the employees feel like they belong(truly not only in Payroll) to the company....This is really a serious issue to think over n discuss...where we can know abt the prevailing benefit structure across all the corporation starting frm small to big...IT to manufacturing....At the end this is for the people like us who are the employees and base of these big companies....
August 10, 2008 2:17 AM
Post by Saurabh Bhatia
Saurabh Bhatia said...
In small companies like mine, the as the average age is 23, my policies are all inline with the kind of target Audience. Group Insurance, Provident Funds are although important, but are not seen by them in the big picture.Apart from the mentioned long term benefits, they get many short term benefits from time to time.Some of them which I work out is:
"One Movie Per Month"
"A Team Outing, can be lunch or a picnic"
"Travel Allowance, like Bus Pass or Train Pass"
There are several other things like training, attending knowledge sessions, for which I give them ample time to attend and grasp new concepts. This helps them with their personal growth.
Plus we also hold small parties on all the festivals as there are people from all the religions in here, so people feel at home. All in all we have been affected by attrition but we respect that because it was for higher studies, which is something which we cant stop.
However, I have faced many bad policies in Satyam, where everything is only on paper.
August 10, 2008 1:05 AM
In small companies like mine, the as the average age is 23, my policies are all inline with the kind of target Audience. Group Insurance, Provident Funds are although important, but are not seen by them in the big picture.Apart from the mentioned long term benefits, they get many short term benefits from time to time.Some of them which I work out is:
"One Movie Per Month"
"A Team Outing, can be lunch or a picnic"
"Travel Allowance, like Bus Pass or Train Pass"
There are several other things like training, attending knowledge sessions, for which I give them ample time to attend and grasp new concepts. This helps them with their personal growth.
Plus we also hold small parties on all the festivals as there are people from all the religions in here, so people feel at home. All in all we have been affected by attrition but we respect that because it was for higher studies, which is something which we cant stop.
However, I have faced many bad policies in Satyam, where everything is only on paper.
August 10, 2008 1:05 AM
Post by Madhurima Acharya
madhurima said...
Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm that helps organizations around the world optimizes performance through effective people, risk and financial management.
The firm provides innovative solutions to client issues in the areas of human resource strategy, design and management; actuarial and management consulting to the financial services industry; and reinsurance intermediary services.
The firm has served large organizations in both the private and public sectors for over 70 years. Our clients include three-quarters of the world’s 500 largest companies and three-quarters of the Fortune 1000 U.S. companies.
Starting from business plan to the performance, the Towers Perrin Total Rewards Effectiveness Blueprint talks about attracting and retaining talent on a broader organizational level. One read through the pictorial representation would make you feel that this is mostly same in one and all companies.
So, From Understanding to Action Plans: what do multinationals do differently? That would, and will be, a debatable topic.
Some points I could lay my hands on are :
Organise HR to support§ an integrated approach to Talent Management: dedicated TM function or senior professional within corporate HR, ensuring process visibility and status in the organisation
Establish Leadership Competencies and a clear definition of§ talent to build common language and a favourable environment for talent development
Core Talent Management requirements lived in the same way by§ all operating units in multinationals (timeline, process, tools).
Talent§ Management Councils (cross functional, cross regional) owned by senior line management supported by HR to share talent information in an integrated way.
Utilising Technology as a Talent Management Integrator (to combine and§ record consistently performance management and potential evaluation, succession planning and reward) Measure Talent Management Effectiveness (scorecards,§ employee surveys, metrics)
The IT industry being people-oriented, what differentiates the best from the rest is the “quality of human capital” in every organization. While there is plenty of talent available, the difficulty comes in finding the talent with the “best fit” to the organization. Potential employees would like to associate themselves with companies which have a “brand” of success, leadership, people development initiatives and also instill a deep sense of pride and commitment.
With increasing global competition and a more mature work environment, Indian IT companies have also started looking at this facet of branding.
This branding, called Employer branding is all about the company’s value in the market, a timeless process that, in today’s scenario has gained even more significance. It is essentially a combination of the reputation of the organization, the career offer and the corporate culture existing in the company.
August 9, 2008 8:58 PM
Post by Mr. Debajyoti Chatterjee
Debajyoti Chatterjee said...
In our organization too, off late the HR has started some Fun activities amongst emloyees, to break the monotony of work/work pressures and provide the employees with a more relaxed/encouraging R&D environment.
Moreover many of the employees have been given Laptops, which was earlier given only to the high level managers, all of it just to motivate employees. Also as part of the HR policies all employees of our company are covered under a Mediclaim policy of 2 lakhs and an Accidental policy of a minimum of 45 lakhs, all this paid for by the Co, this is something which i haven't seen in many Cos.
All this have been successful in retaining employees, and controlling the attrition rates.
Debajyoti
PTC Softwares India Ltd.
July 31, 2008 4:41 AM
In our organization too, off late the HR has started some Fun activities amongst emloyees, to break the monotony of work/work pressures and provide the employees with a more relaxed/encouraging R&D environment.
Moreover many of the employees have been given Laptops, which was earlier given only to the high level managers, all of it just to motivate employees. Also as part of the HR policies all employees of our company are covered under a Mediclaim policy of 2 lakhs and an Accidental policy of a minimum of 45 lakhs, all this paid for by the Co, this is something which i haven't seen in many Cos.
All this have been successful in retaining employees, and controlling the attrition rates.
Debajyoti
PTC Softwares India Ltd.
July 31, 2008 4:41 AM
Post by Anonymous
Anonymous said...
In my organization, which is purely a Sales and marketing driven company a lot of benefits viz a viz a laptop, car and accommodation are now being doled out.
Attrition rates are quite high and there is fear of poaching from more reputed business houses like Thermax. Keeping competition in mind the HR is taking extra pains to ensure that attrition levels are kept as low as possible. A bus service which was previously absent was started recently to ensure further employee satisfaction.
Benefits which brings in a feel good factor, to a large extent do help in retaining talent though it must be coupled with a good working environment which fosters leadership.
Anonymous
Marketing Executive, Forbes Marshall
July 31, 2008 3:14 AM
In my organization, which is purely a Sales and marketing driven company a lot of benefits viz a viz a laptop, car and accommodation are now being doled out.
Attrition rates are quite high and there is fear of poaching from more reputed business houses like Thermax. Keeping competition in mind the HR is taking extra pains to ensure that attrition levels are kept as low as possible. A bus service which was previously absent was started recently to ensure further employee satisfaction.
Benefits which brings in a feel good factor, to a large extent do help in retaining talent though it must be coupled with a good working environment which fosters leadership.
Anonymous
Marketing Executive, Forbes Marshall
July 31, 2008 3:14 AM
Post by Mr. Mansoori Lal Kesarwani
Mansoori Lal Kesarwani said...
the process of attracting an employee starts from the release of an advertisement inviting candidates to join an organisation. at this stage the profile of the organisation, nature of job responsibilities and an assurance for performance linked and industry matching compensation together with opportunity for career growth opportunity are the most important points to an aspiring candidate.
besides direct monetary compensation (like salary and bonus etc) and indirect incentives having monetary value for the employee (like medical facilities, insurance cover, etc), non-monetary facilities (like flexi work schedule, training opportunities, etc) also matter very much because they go a long way to enable an employee to balance his job and family responsibilities.
loyalty of an employee to his organisation does go a long way to retain him within the organisation. for this the ability of the superior to identify the skills of his subordinates (say by asking him to work independently), groom him for higher responsibilities (say by asking him to analyse and solve a problem) and get him exposed to more challenging opportunities (say by rotating him to more complex job role) is very important. the higher management is also equally responsible to structure the organisational systems for identification of such employees. periodical competency tests, group discussions and conferences are some of the tools to be used by the higher management.
a human resource executive would definitely like to ensure the above in his organisation.
July 30, 2008 12:13 PM
the process of attracting an employee starts from the release of an advertisement inviting candidates to join an organisation. at this stage the profile of the organisation, nature of job responsibilities and an assurance for performance linked and industry matching compensation together with opportunity for career growth opportunity are the most important points to an aspiring candidate.
besides direct monetary compensation (like salary and bonus etc) and indirect incentives having monetary value for the employee (like medical facilities, insurance cover, etc), non-monetary facilities (like flexi work schedule, training opportunities, etc) also matter very much because they go a long way to enable an employee to balance his job and family responsibilities.
loyalty of an employee to his organisation does go a long way to retain him within the organisation. for this the ability of the superior to identify the skills of his subordinates (say by asking him to work independently), groom him for higher responsibilities (say by asking him to analyse and solve a problem) and get him exposed to more challenging opportunities (say by rotating him to more complex job role) is very important. the higher management is also equally responsible to structure the organisational systems for identification of such employees. periodical competency tests, group discussions and conferences are some of the tools to be used by the higher management.
a human resource executive would definitely like to ensure the above in his organisation.
July 30, 2008 12:13 PM
Post by Bijen Pattnaik
Bijen Pattnaik said...
I would like to agree with the hard fact that all organizations are providing the same type of benefits. If I look as a neutral observer, I find these benefits like Medical, Life insurance; travel, Hotel facility etc are very generic in nature. All organizations provide more or less the same. As I have worked for a couple of years in a company of IT industry I find my old organization in no way different from rest of the organizations on the basis of Benefits.
I believe the only thing matters while switching a job is the salary hike at the time of switching. It’s a 33% hike generally. Currently I am in touch with many of my friends who have already switched n few who are still in the same old organization. The experience of both these categories is same regarding benefits. Some lucky guys got some good projects and few poor fellows got some horrible projects, as in the sense of work culture (late night work, team mate behavior, superiors’ attitude).
As I have experienced one of an IT industry I would like to comment on this industry in specific. I have seen many people staying in my old organization for a long time. Several times I had tried to find out the reason of their loyalty. Is it the horse riding club or the swimming pool facility or the club facility or the free ac multi gym facility making them stays in the organization for so long years? As a fresher these things have obviously fascinate anyone but later when he/she ll find out these things are available in all the other companies, the only differentiating factor will be package or salary or onsite opportunity. Apart from these benefits I believe the organization culture matters a lot in deciding the long term stay. I can say this after experiencing a company of some other industry like manufacturing. The kind of culture you develop around you will be like the benefits you are having. The freedom in working or independent working style matters a lot. Many companies provide or facilitate the regular get together, arrange some games, provide the opportunity to explore your topic of interest. This may be considered as the part of the benefits.
Again I will say after few or some ten fifteen years of working in any organization money of compensation will not matter a lot for anyone. At that point of time people will look for long term employment. If at that point of time they will be provided some good facilities which no other organization provides them (individually) the obviously these people will stick to the organization.
So my question at this point is if for the new joinees these companies providing any special kind of benefits like fringe benefit tax which some other company may not be providing, which is becoming the cause of their long term stay in the organization. So if any one can say about these differentiating factors on the basis of benefits then it will be nice to know the true facts.
July 18, 2008 7:55 AM
I would like to agree with the hard fact that all organizations are providing the same type of benefits. If I look as a neutral observer, I find these benefits like Medical, Life insurance; travel, Hotel facility etc are very generic in nature. All organizations provide more or less the same. As I have worked for a couple of years in a company of IT industry I find my old organization in no way different from rest of the organizations on the basis of Benefits.
I believe the only thing matters while switching a job is the salary hike at the time of switching. It’s a 33% hike generally. Currently I am in touch with many of my friends who have already switched n few who are still in the same old organization. The experience of both these categories is same regarding benefits. Some lucky guys got some good projects and few poor fellows got some horrible projects, as in the sense of work culture (late night work, team mate behavior, superiors’ attitude).
As I have experienced one of an IT industry I would like to comment on this industry in specific. I have seen many people staying in my old organization for a long time. Several times I had tried to find out the reason of their loyalty. Is it the horse riding club or the swimming pool facility or the club facility or the free ac multi gym facility making them stays in the organization for so long years? As a fresher these things have obviously fascinate anyone but later when he/she ll find out these things are available in all the other companies, the only differentiating factor will be package or salary or onsite opportunity. Apart from these benefits I believe the organization culture matters a lot in deciding the long term stay. I can say this after experiencing a company of some other industry like manufacturing. The kind of culture you develop around you will be like the benefits you are having. The freedom in working or independent working style matters a lot. Many companies provide or facilitate the regular get together, arrange some games, provide the opportunity to explore your topic of interest. This may be considered as the part of the benefits.
Again I will say after few or some ten fifteen years of working in any organization money of compensation will not matter a lot for anyone. At that point of time people will look for long term employment. If at that point of time they will be provided some good facilities which no other organization provides them (individually) the obviously these people will stick to the organization.
So my question at this point is if for the new joinees these companies providing any special kind of benefits like fringe benefit tax which some other company may not be providing, which is becoming the cause of their long term stay in the organization. So if any one can say about these differentiating factors on the basis of benefits then it will be nice to know the true facts.
July 18, 2008 7:55 AM
Post by Byzantine
Byzantine said...
Although organizations, specially those in the services sector, began to sit up and take notice of the increasing rate of attrition from quite some time ago, it is only a select few that have moved beyond the almost "standardized" benefit plans (the ones which every Tom Inc, Dick Inc and Harry Inc provide) and have come out with innovative ones of their own.
A leading IT/ITES organization based out of Gurgaon did a profile study of their employees and found that a majority of them were in their 20's and early 30's and with partners (married or otherwise). One of their benefit plans involved dishing out two tickets for a weekend show in PVR Priya. Similarly, another one based out of Bangalore found that many of their managers had young kids, and hence the organization started with a creche facility of its own.
One can find such examples in the corporate world, however surprisingly the number of instances of organizations adopting such innovative benefit plans, though on the uprise, is still few and far between, specially in India.
A friend of mine was recently looking to book a car in order to save some tax, but his organization's policies didn't let him book one that was priced beyond 6 lakhs. Apparently, this limit had been in place for a couple of years. Now 6 lakhs might have been decent two years ago, but in today's condition of spiralling prices, it might not be enough. Failure on the part of the organization to raise that limit left my friend with a below par car and a peeved wife, and the organization with a dissatisfied employee.
I believe that organizations have to be innovative now, not just in their marketing strategy for their external customers, but in their marketing strategy for their internal customers as well. Today, if an organization tells me "Come to me, I have medical benefit plans and insurance plans for you", I would probably just yawn and show it the door, coz the last organization told me the same thing, as did the one before that.
July 14, 2008 8:55 AM
Although organizations, specially those in the services sector, began to sit up and take notice of the increasing rate of attrition from quite some time ago, it is only a select few that have moved beyond the almost "standardized" benefit plans (the ones which every Tom Inc, Dick Inc and Harry Inc provide) and have come out with innovative ones of their own.
A leading IT/ITES organization based out of Gurgaon did a profile study of their employees and found that a majority of them were in their 20's and early 30's and with partners (married or otherwise). One of their benefit plans involved dishing out two tickets for a weekend show in PVR Priya. Similarly, another one based out of Bangalore found that many of their managers had young kids, and hence the organization started with a creche facility of its own.
One can find such examples in the corporate world, however surprisingly the number of instances of organizations adopting such innovative benefit plans, though on the uprise, is still few and far between, specially in India.
A friend of mine was recently looking to book a car in order to save some tax, but his organization's policies didn't let him book one that was priced beyond 6 lakhs. Apparently, this limit had been in place for a couple of years. Now 6 lakhs might have been decent two years ago, but in today's condition of spiralling prices, it might not be enough. Failure on the part of the organization to raise that limit left my friend with a below par car and a peeved wife, and the organization with a dissatisfied employee.
I believe that organizations have to be innovative now, not just in their marketing strategy for their external customers, but in their marketing strategy for their internal customers as well. Today, if an organization tells me "Come to me, I have medical benefit plans and insurance plans for you", I would probably just yawn and show it the door, coz the last organization told me the same thing, as did the one before that.
July 14, 2008 8:55 AM
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
ROLE OF BENEFITS AND SERVICES TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT
Employee Benefits are the range of Non-Wage compensation provided to employees over and above their normal Salary. Examples include:
• Housing
• Group insurance (health, dental, life etc.)
• Disability income protection,
• Retirement benefits
• Daycare
• Tuition reimbursement or training cost reimbursement
• Sick leave
• Vacation (paid and non-paid)
• Social security
• Profit sharing
While these are some options there is no end to the possible creativity that firms may use to devise a novel Benefits plan that gives them competitive advantage!
One thing is certain in this day and age- Compensation alone will not retain and attract top talent. The emerging strategy is a combination of rewards including compensation, benefits, performance and recognition incentives, work-life and career development opportunities.
Of these the Benefits and services constitute the major chunk that enable the firm to differentiate itself from the others and to provide its employees the following advantages:
· Morale Boosting
· Peace of mind for employees as insurance cover for them and their family members may be included in the benefits package
· Increase the pride in the company
But the most important benefit albeit from the organization’s perspective is that it helps them attract and retain talent.
• Housing
• Group insurance (health, dental, life etc.)
• Disability income protection,
• Retirement benefits
• Daycare
• Tuition reimbursement or training cost reimbursement
• Sick leave
• Vacation (paid and non-paid)
• Social security
• Profit sharing
While these are some options there is no end to the possible creativity that firms may use to devise a novel Benefits plan that gives them competitive advantage!
One thing is certain in this day and age- Compensation alone will not retain and attract top talent. The emerging strategy is a combination of rewards including compensation, benefits, performance and recognition incentives, work-life and career development opportunities.
Of these the Benefits and services constitute the major chunk that enable the firm to differentiate itself from the others and to provide its employees the following advantages:
· Morale Boosting
· Peace of mind for employees as insurance cover for them and their family members may be included in the benefits package
· Increase the pride in the company
But the most important benefit albeit from the organization’s perspective is that it helps them attract and retain talent.
Emerging Trends:
The 2006/2007 U.S. Compensation Planning Survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting — an all-industry review of 950 organizations — found that key emerging practices fell into the areas of retirement benefits and performance management.
The one-size-fits-all approach is no longer applicable in the development of these programs. This is because the multi generational workforce needs the companies to design programs that retain and motivate a diverse employee population such as:
· Provide more flexibility in work hours, compensation, benefits and attire
· Establish formal career paths
· Reward for learning new skills or competencies
· Provide multi-rater performance feedback
Programs effective for Retention:
Survey responses indicate the following incentives to be most effective in retaining employees:
· Cash bonuses
· Supplemental benefits such as dental insurance or a pharmaceutical plan
· Flex time
· Long-term incentives
· Tuition reimbursement
Short Term vs. Long Term planning of BenefitsShort Term focus:
Pay for performance such as bonuses and commissions. Short term incentives can provide a number of benefits, such as making a position more attractive for a potential employee.
Properly structured, they can help employees focus on activities that support the bank’s short-term goals.
They can also control your organization’s fixed costs, providing compensation only when the organization is doing well.
Short-term incentives also provide employee recognition.
The benefit can be delivered in a formal fashion or simply by personalized informal way like a CEO writing handwritten notes and personally handing over appreciation letters to employees along with the bonus in cash (Message: “This bonus is because you were exceptional at(insert task). Enjoy and spend it on yourself.”)
Long-term incentives
Examples include employee stock options and stock appreciation rights.
They can play a part in attracting employees, but they’re generally more valuable as retention tools.
These also provide the employee some recognition. But, the primary objective is to reward vital employees for long term success that enhances shareholder value.
P.N.: While this general idea of use of Benefits is essential to kickstart the discussion on the topic, it is vital to see specific Industry cases to gain in-depth understanding into the issue.
We invite executives to be a part of this endeavour by contributing to this blog about their own experiences about effectiveness of different Benefits and Services programs.
Happy Posting!
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