Parvathi karthik

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES

13

Integrated Framework of

HR and Business Processes

is the key driver for a

Strong Engaged Workforce

Integrated Framework of HR and Business Processes is the key driver for a Strong Engaged Workforce

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ABSTRACT

We are a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, part of a group company which is India‘s Largest industrial conglomerate, with a total employee strength of 276,196 professionals and revenues at $ 11.6 billion and profit after tax at $ 2.6 billion as on Q4.

Our global diverse workforce, operates across 42 countries worldwide, representing 118 nationalities, Women representing 32% of our workforce and 70% Gen Y

We have a utilization of 72.2% and an attrition of 10.6%. We have hired 69,728 professionals in FY 13 to support business growth and we continue to forecast a healthy growth in the workforce numbers.

This paper explores the facets of the Talent Management System designed to effectively manage and

support performance and results in a dynamic and ever changing environment characterized by rapid

growth, mobility, global diverse culture, changing technology and a Gen Y

The paper focuses on

The specific processes based on the integrated functioning of the HR metrics and the way it is taken up for action and implementation so as to give an experience of certainty to our end customers.

The case studies to illustrate the integrated talent management approach

Explore initiatives and further course of action to bridge the gaps in the existing ecosystem


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Introduction

OUR ORGANIZATION is in the business of software development, IT services, Consulting and BPO.

The business processes defined for meeting customer requirements include Sales, Project and Program

Management, Delivery Management and Support Processes.

Since people are the raw material for the company, the core HR processes of Talent Acquisition

(Recruitment), Talent Management (Training and Competency Development, Performance Management

and Career Development) and Resource Management (Staffing) are vital enablers for the Business

Process.

What are some of the Key Perceived Behavioral Characteristics and Outcomes exhibited by an

Organization which has an engaged workforce?

Productivity and Customer Satisfaction

The engaged workforce will be committed to perform and motivated at work which will directly translate to

attributes at work such as being result driven, customer focused thereby meeting deliverables and

achieving customer satisfaction and repeat business

Continual improvement in key delivery metrics and improvements in the Customer satisfaction index will

be evident

Healthy People Metrics

In an organization where the workforce is engaged the attrition will be low and there will be focused

initiatives in support of workforce development practices

Participatory Culture

An engaged workforce will be interested to involve themselves in Organizational Initiatives and support

the overall focus areas of the company. The organization is perceived as vibrant and alive if there is an

Engagement in the workforce.

Agility and Adaptability to Organizational Changes are lag measures which are indicative of an Engaged

workforce


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A highly productive organization with Healthy People metrics and a participatory culture

achieving Customer Satisfaction and Continual Improvement in Metrics are Attributes of an

organization which is an Industry Leader demonstrating Growth and Profitability Quarter on

Quarter ,Year on Year

This paper will illustrate with examples how the Integration of HR and Business Processes has actually

demonstrated the perceived benefits of an Engaged Workforce with the help of two case studies and

examples

CASE STUDY 1: HEALTHY PEOPLE METRICS – INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT WORKFORCE

DEVELOPMENT: SIX SIGMA VEHICLE

Workforce Engagement prevails when there is an adherence to Operating Level Agreements linking HR

processes with Business Process eliminating unnecessary follow-ups and beurocracy. To support the

effectiveness of the overall framework we have a Process Excellence Group which champions and

mentors improvement projects on OLA and SLA compliance. One such project which was very successful

in the above context was the Six Sigma Project to reduce the Cycle time of Recruitment

The business process , Project Planning requires the the Project Manager or Project Leader details out

the Resource Plan and the Ramp up plan for the project or account based on the project proposal or

statement of work [SOW].The timely allocation of the resources in the right mix is a key determinant for

the project’s success.

The HR process of Staffing and Talent Acquisition is pivotal in servicing these requirements


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Fig 1: Process Flowchart of the Staffing Process

BUSINESS PROCESS

BUSINESS PROCESS

Linked to Payroll System


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Fig 1 illustrates the process flow chart of the Staffing Process integrated with the Business process of

Project Planning. The workflow described is completely digitized and driven through tools that are

integrated into organizations Enterprise Wide Application called Ultimatix.

The Service Level Agreements for each stakeholder of the workflow are in built in the design of the

Resource Allocation tools. This enables the seamless flow of requirements from the Hiring Managers in

the Business to the HR Managers in the Allocation group.

The workflow has an inbuilt redirection to the External Hiring Process (Recruitment) if it is not possible to

staff the position within the time specified from the resources in the internal pool. The request is then

pushed to Talent Acquisition group for external hiring. The recruitment process from sourcing to

candidate evaluation and offer is tracked in the same system and upon joining the associate receives his

employee number and the request is then closed by the Resource Management Group. The generation of

the employee number is automatically updated in the Payroll processing System of the company.

In order to ensure the effective functioning of the framework we employ the knowledge of problem solving

tools and expertise of Six Sigma Black Belts., Six Sigma is a powerful methodology for bringing

improvements to strengthen the Integration of HR and Business Processes

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Axis

Tit

le

Count of Aging Open Requirements

BEFORE AFTER DEFECT PREVENTION

Fig 2: The BEFORE and AFTER trend of Open Aging Resource Requirements [Apr – 11 to Sept -12]


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The business processes with respect to timely billing was improved by the six sigma project to improve

the cycle time for recruitment. The project executed was on reducing the cycle time of recruitment -

measured as elapsed time from request pushed to Joining. The initial baseline was 99 days [May 2011].

The focus was on reducing the time to offer a candidate.

This time to hire value was then studied for the sub – process steps and the interim SLAs were defined

for the recruitment sub-processes. Delay in offer was analyzed by Pareto to arrive at the vital few and

then a fishbone to drill down to the root causes. Discussions with business hiring managers and panelists

enabled solutioning to overcome the identified pain areas. Prioritization of solutions using Criteria Based

Matrix was performed to select the best solutions for implementation. The identified solutions were

prioritized and piloted.

The solutions included

technology enabled solutions such as same time video chat based interviews to address the concern of cross location interviews

Development of new modules in the recruitment system to automate manual process e.g. the excel based evaluation sheets for quick real time upload.

Re-definition of sub process SLAs with internal stakeholders.

Infrastructure improvisations to facilitate the reduction in the waiting time of the candidate.

Focused sessions with the candidates to discuss the components of the salary and facilitate discussions with the business for role clarity if needed

Customized measurements and dashboards to track critical dependencies

Best Practice adoption program to ensure quick learning

Branch wise governance reviews for issue handling

Agile Processes for evaluation within Business Units

The project resulted in the time to offer reducing by 23 days.

QUANTIFIED BENEFITS TO THE BUSINESS

The computed soft savings to the company were 18 million USD. The project was also awarded the Best

Process Improvement Project award in the Q3 2012 for the demonstrated improvements and the benefits

accrued


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CASE STUDY 2: HEALTHY PEOPLE METRICS - INFANT ATTRITON ANALYSIS

An organization with a strong engaged workforce will have a healthy trend with respect to attrition. In this

case study we look at the specific measure of Infant Attrition. An associate leaving the company within

the first year of joining is considered as Infant Attrition. Infant attrition has shown a reducing trend over

the last three years. This has been achieved by following a three step Integrated engagement process

involving Business and HR

Proactive Engagement with the associate

Proactive Engagement is performed through the first one year where the associate is guided on different

processes and tools of the company through a system called the My Integration portal.

The portal also sends out regular surveys to the associate to measure his satisfaction levels and track his

progress at regular milestones in the first one year

The survey results are published on a quarterly basis to the Business Unit HR so that corrective actions

can be planned

Supportive Engagement with the Associate

PROPEL and PEEP sessions: These sessions are conducted to engage with the workforce and build a

camaraderie and team synergy. The sessions are customized and championed by a team of Propellers

who are trained on People Practices. PEEP is the Proactive Employee Engagement Program targeted to

interact and address the happiness quotient and integration levels of the associate. This is a one on one

session and is scheduled with a senior associate from the Business who is not the reporting authority for

the associate. It is also a form of mentoring.

Reactive Engagement with the associate

Reactive Engagement is performed by addressing his reported concerns and grievances.

Every project has a dedicated HR SPOC for supporting the requests of the associates. OUR

ORGANIZATION has a grievance handling mechanism where any associate can raise a concern to HR

and it is dealt with the required level of confidentiality and care.

OUR ORGANIZATION has a detailed exit interview process which is carried out by the HR for the

business unit. The interview is conducted to understand the concerns of the associate who has decided

to move on.


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The interview enables the HR to understand the dynamics and recognize patters observed in exit

How is the Infant Attrition analyzed and controlled?

Pareto Analysis for Infant Attrition is carried out at a Business Unit Level. The vital few reasons are

identified and addressed.

Example. In the Infant attrition analysis carried out at Chennai it was observed that one of the main

reasons for the exit was the number of instances where the Back Ground Check turned negative.

As a corrective measure the BGC process was analyzed and corrective measures were taken

Documentation required for performing the above checks were collected before evaluation process

Pre-BGC process was introduced for certain checks were there was reasonable doubt of the report turning negative

Vendor SLAs were monitored rigorously and taken as an input for review and contract renewal

Tool enhancements to facilitate online submission of BGC documentation was introduced

Fake company lists were updated real time and made available for ready reference

Approval process was introduced to onboard a candidate whose BGC process was pending after joining

As a result of these additional checks the results achieved were as shown


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Fig 3: Infant Attrition Analysis

EXAMPLE 1: The link of HR PROCESSES with PRODUCTIVITY and PROFITABILITY

Another example of the Integration of HR and Business process is the tracking and driving of the

employee utilization metric. All associates of OUR ORGANIZATION are tagged to a Work order number

which is indicative of the “allocated “ status of the associate. The associates who are unallocated are

under the custody of the Resource Management Group.

We have integrated the allocated status to the calculation of the deployment index which is linked to the

payroll under the quarterly variable compensation.

Thus if an associate who is not allocated for 6 months of the year will have a lower deployment index

which will impact his compensation to that extent. This ensures that there is a driver to be allocated and

that the business profits of quarterly variable compensation are justifiably apportioned to the associates

Negative BGC reduced by 43% and Infant Attrition has reduced by 10%

BGC Negatives

2011

2013


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While this Integration of Allocation to the Compensation creates a PUSH on the Associate to ensure

Utilization. The organization supports the same initiative to create a PULL major ways

Support through Competency Development using ICALMS [ integrated Competency Development and Learning Management System]

The Competency development of associates is one of the key drivers to bring the Engagement of

workforce

Initiatives to support the ongoing learning requirements of all associates are supported by the business in

terms of identifying the learning needs and mandating a 7 person day of learning every half year

sponsored by the project.

Every business unit has a dedicated Competency Development Manager and Learning Officers who

identify the learning needs of associates in the unit and arrange for classroom trainings or external

programs

The upgraded competency is fed into the Integrated Competency and Learning Management System [ ICALMS] from where the Resource Management Group is able to pick the best fit for future roles

The performance of all the associates is role based, every associate once allocated is assigned a role

and the role templates have defined goals in the system. Thus the performance standardization and role

parity are systemically controlled.

In addition to the goals defined in the goal template we have the project specific goals defined by the

project leader. Appraisal cycles are bi-annual and the performance is strictly controlled by system driven

deadlines. The dates are not flexible and the elapse of the deadline could result in the defaulted rating for

the associate.

Leadership Development Program High Performers in the organization are identified in discussion with the Account Heads and Managers and shortlisted for Management and Leadership Development Programs Succession Planning is integrated with this exercise so that the trained Leaders are deployed to higher roles as and when the need arises

.

EXAMPLE 2 : PARTICIPATORY CULTURE


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Need to address the expectations of Gen Y

We have identified that the presence of social media is a way of life for the Gen Y community. OUR

ORGANIZATION has launched a social networking platform called the KNOME which is designed on

WEB 2.0 and is the medium where views and ideas are expressed freely and is the thread of integration

between the Gen X and Gen Y

This platform has

Events

Discussions

Polls

Media Threads

Challenges and Quizzes

Questions and Discussions

Blogs

An adaptation of KNOME is the platform called CAMPUS COMMUNE where we leverage the support of

the Business to effectively engage with the student community. The ability to reach out to 50,000 students

across the country with a portal such as Campus Commune is a message in itself on how technology

rules the minds of the Gen Y. Several contests have been hosted on this platform such as the Code vita –

National Level coding competition and Mobeel – Mobility contest. These contests enable us to gain a

mindshare with the campus community and also identify the best talent pool for our organization based

on the big data analysis and behavioral patterns

Associate Satisfaction in our Organisation is measured using a survey called PULSE. Pulse

results have shown a 0.8% increase from FY-11 to FY 12 and the Engagement Index has increased

by 0.8% from FY -11 to FY-12

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

The critical success factor enabling the integration is the Organization’s structure and robust,

rigorous and time tested Documentation of the Quality Management System and the Quality Audit

Effectiveness

Our Organizational framework consists of business verticals, the horizontals and the practices and the

Support groups and enabling functions. Our processes are the backbone on which the entire organization


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is functioning. The processes are classified as delivery processes and support processes and together

make up the Integrated Quality Management System

The HR procedures manual has the detailed procedures to Attract, Recruit, Manage and Retain Talent in

the company. The framework consists of the All processes are digitized and are tightly integrated into the

Enterprise wise IQMS. IQMS is the standard against which the internal audit of the company is performed

and the adequacy verified during external ISO audit and CMM assessments

The audit function has a mechanism to raise Escalation reports [NCER] in a Business Process audit on

gaps observed in Support processes. Thus there is a continuous validation of the effectives

The HR function is aligned to the Business Unit as well as to the Geographical region

This ensures

Penetration of the HR function with one- one rapport with each project within a business unit

Understanding of the grass root level challenges so as to address the pain areas and enable change

Quality

Policy

Procedures and Process Documents

Standards Guidelines and Templates

Fig 4: IQMS Documentation Structure


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LESSONS LEARNT

Need for Technology Enablement

Every process described and documented in our Quality Management System is also digitized. The technology enablement is understood as a mandatory requirement for any process. The next step in this is the enablement is BYOD [Bring Your Own Device] where we have also started enabling several of our application on mobile devices

Need for Macro Measurement Systems and Account Initiatives

While the Integration of the Business and HR processes is addressed by measurement defined along the

Balanced Scorecard. OUR ORGANIZATION has also learnt that the real pulse lies in the one-one

connect with each project. The cascaded BSC ensures that there are shared goals and the initiatives are

inherently supported with collaborative team work .However the Endeavour of each HR professional of

the unit and the region is to focus on Initiatives which bring a culture of Participation and Engagement.

Some of these initiatives are

People Plus : A program for the middle level management [ Team Leads , Project Leads and Project Managers ] The workshop orients the participants on various aspects of team management and HR processes.

3C: Communicate . Connect and Collaborate. A team building Initiative

DAWN : Initiative towards Leadership Development of Women Leaders

HIPO: High Potential tracking is an initiative which we have to build the Leadership capability of our associates

GEMS : The Rewards and Recognition program called GEMS and this ensures that associates who have demonstrated exemplary contribution over and above the call of duty for sustained periods of time are rewarded by the company with GEMS points under various categories

FIT FOR LIFE: The fitness initiative to build a culture of work and play and encourage all the associates to lead a healthy lifestyle

CHALLENGE


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The road ahead is still challenge prone as the market continues to be very dynamic and the shelf life of

any technology is not more than 3 years.

Getting quality talent with the right mix and suited to the role with the necessary domain exposure is a

challenge

The road ahead has initiatives designed to address the Upskilling and Reskilling of associates and

arriving at more effective competency development and assessment mechanisms using Gamification

techniques

Conclusion

The backbone of any organization is its workforce and having the right framework supported by tools,

structure and processes enables the Engagement of the Workforce.

The associate engagement has a push and pull factor and Business and HR functions have to continually

collaborate and measure process performance in innovative manner to maintain the balance on both

sides to achieve the associate satisfaction and customer objectives

An engaged workforce is the fertile soil for the Organization to grow and retain Industry Leadership.

About the Author

Parvathi Karthik is the Head of Lateral Onboarding for OUR ORGANIZATION India and the Process

Excellence Lead for the Talent Acquisition Group of HR in OUR ORGANIZATION. She is a Six Sigma

Black Belt.


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With 15 years of professional experience she has essayed different roles in Project Delivery, Quality

Assurance, Quality Audit and HR working with teams across locations in India and their onsite

counterparts. She is a post graduate in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.

She lives in Chennai.

In her current role she is responsible for the complete post offer life cycle of a candidate until completion

of one year in the organization. She mentors and drives process improvement projects targeted at

improving the operational efficiencies and reduction of cycle time in core HR processes using six sigma

and structured problem solving methodologies and manages the Competency Development Program for

the HR associates of Talent Acquisition Group of OUR ORGANIZATION

References

1. TCS Press Release Quarterly Results April 17th 2013

2. Project Management Report Q3-2011 3. Project Management Report Q1-2013 4. Six Sigma Project Report Oct 2012 5. Ultimatix IQMS Documentation

GLOSSARY

1. HIPO: High Performer 2. ICALMS : Integrated Competency and Learning Management System 3. IQMS : Integrated Quality Management System 4. NCER : Non Conformance Escalation Report 5. OLA : Operating Level Agreement 6. PEEP : Proactive Employee Engagement Program 7. RMG : Resource Management Group 8. SLA :Service Level Agreement 9. WON: Work Order Number