PERCEPTUAL MAPPING OF INTERVIEW PROCESS AT TCS AND ITS COMPARISON WITH TIER I COMPANIES

REPORT FOR THE PROJECT UNDERTAKEN AT

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. CHENNAI Submitted for the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Management June 2010 By Chippy Ajit PGDM-09DM32 Birla Institute of Management Technology Knowledge park-II, Greater Noida

SUMMER PROJECT CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ms.

Chippy Ajit

Roll No.

09DM032

a student of PGDM has

worked on a summer project titled PERCEPTUAL MAPPING OF INTERVIEW PROCESS AT TCS AND ITS COMPARISON WITH TIER I COMPANIES at M/S. Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Chennai after Trimester-III in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management programme. This is his/her original work to the best of my knowledge.

DATE: __28 J UNE 2010__

SIGNATURE ________________

(________________________) BIMTECH SEAL FACULTY GUIDE

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The sense of contentment and elation that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible, whose constant guidance and encouragement crowned my efforts with success. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have generously helped me to give a proper shape to my work. I would like to express gratitude and sincere thanks to the management of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Chennai for giving me an opportunity to do the internship in the prestigious organisation from 12 April 2010 to 12 June 2010. I would like to thank Mr. Shreekaanth (industry guide) - campus recruitment, Ms. Sakshi Munglani from the EP team of TCS Talent Acquisition Group Chennai and the entire department for extending their invaluable guidance and assistance which enabled me to overcome many obstacles during the project work and in giving a wholesome exposure and experience at work. I would like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to Dr.H. Chaturvedi, Director, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida for standing by me in all my endeavours. I would also like to thank Dr. A.K Dey for his valuable inputs and guidance for the analysis of primary data without which this project would have remained incomplete. It was a great privilege for me to work under the expert guidance of Prof. Jaya Gupta , Birla Institute of management technology, Greater Noida who was around to monitor my progress in the project and provide me with ample suggestions to proceed with my work.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Background To The Problem 1.2 Statement Of Problem 1.2.1 Objective Of Study 1.2.2 Approach to Problem 1.3 Major Findings 1.4 Conclusions And Recommendations INTRODUCTION 2.1 Industry Profile 2.2 Company Profile 2.3 Introduction to the Topic 2.3.1 Talent Acquisition - Recruitment and Selection 2.3.2 Overview of the Process In TCS PROBLEM DEFINITION 3.1 Background To The Problem 3.2 Statement Of Problem 3.2.1 Objective Of Study 3.2.2 Approach to Problem 3.3 Scope Of Study RESEARCH DESIGN 4.1 Type Of Research Design 4.2 Information Needs 4.3 Data Collection From Primary Source 4.4 Scaling Techniques 4.5 Questionnaire Development And Pretesting 4.6 Sampling Techniques 4.7 Fieldwork DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 5.1 Pilot Study 5.2 Descriptive Analysis 5.3 Factor Analysis 5.4 Discriminant Analysis 5.5 Perceptual Mapping LIMITATIONS CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PAGE 7 7 7 7 7 8 9 11 11 13 15 15 19 22 22 22 22 22 23 24 24 24 24 24 24 25 25 26 26 30 35 41 46 51 52

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. 7.

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8. 9. 10.

ANNEXURE - I ANNEXURE - II REFERENCES

55 58 60

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE TITLE Result of Fisher MSD - Q9 - Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it comes to salary and role during negotiations) - Pilot Study Result of Fisher MSD - Q11 :Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer - Pilot Study Information provided regarding the pre-requisites of interview Descriptive Analysis Time taken for Registration - Descriptive Analysis Time between the call interview and actual interview - Descriptive Analysis Communication Venue & Interview schedule - Descriptive Analysis Interaction with Panellist - Descriptive Analysis Interaction with HR - Descriptive Analysis Seating & Other Infra at Venue - Descriptive Analysis Level of Difficulty Interview as against your years of experience Descriptive Analysis Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it comes to salary and role during negotiations) Descriptive Analysis Interaction with HR personnel after selection - Descriptive Analysis Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer Descriptive Analysis Process Co-ordination at venue - Descriptive Analysis Overall Experience at Venue - Descriptive Analysis Case Process Summary and Reliability Statistics :Reliability Test Factor Analysis KMO and Bartletts Test - Factor Analysis Total Variance Explained :Validity Test - Factor Analysis Rotated Component Matrix :Validity Test - Factor analysis KMO and Bartletts Test - Factor Analysis Total Variance Explained - Factor Analysis Rotated Component Matrix - Factor analysis PAGE

Table 1:

29

Table 2: Table 3: Table 4: Table 5: Table 6: Table 7: Table 8: Table 9: Table 10: Table 11: Table 12: Table 13: Table 14: Table 15: Table 16: Table 17: Table 18: Table 19: Table 20: Table 21: Table 22:
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30 30 31 31 31 32 32 32 33 33 34 34 34 35 36 36 37 38 39 39 40

Table 23: Table 24: Table 25: Table 26: Table 27: Table 28: Table 29: Table 30: Table 31:

Classification Processing Summary - Category I : Gender of the Candidate - Discriminant Analysis Prior Probabilities for Groups - Category I : Gender of the Candidate - Discriminant Analysis Classification Results - Category I : Gender of the Candidate Discriminant Analysis Classification Processing Summary - Category II : Years of Experience of the Candidate - Discriminant Analysis Prior Probabilities for Groups - Category II : Years of Experience of the Candidate - Discriminant Analysis Classification Results - Category II : Years of Experience of the Candidate - Discriminant Analysis Classification Processing Summary - Category III : Source of Information on Walk-In - Discriminant Analysis Prior Probabilities for Groups - Category III : Source if Information on Walk-In - Discriminant Analysis Classification Results - Category III : Source of Information on Walk-In - Discriminant Analysis

42 42 42 43 43 44 45 45 45

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 Fig 4 Fig 5 Fig 6 Fig 7 TITLE Indian IT and ITES Sectors: Growth in Professionals A Flow Chart of Recruitment Process at TCS Communication - Venue Details & Interview Schedule Vs Information provided on pre-requisites
Seating & Other Infra Vs Overall Experience

PAGE 12 19 46 47 48 49 50

Transparent Negotiations Vs Overall Experience Interaction with HR after selection Vs Overall Experience at Venue Query Resolution by HR Vs Overall Experience

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 BACKGROUND TO PROBLEM
The recruitment process is not just about employers identifying suitable employees for the future, its also about candidates finding out more about the business, and considering whether the organisation is one where they would like to work for. The experience of candidates (both successful and unsuccessful) at each stage of the recruitment process will impact on their view of the organisation. This could be both from the perspective of a potential employee and, depending on the nature of the business, as a customer.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

With an upsurge in interest in the idea of employer branding, more employers are giving thought to ensuring a positive candidate experience and the kind of company material and communications received by individuals as part of the recruitment process. Hence, this project aims at realising how TCS is perceived by candidates with respect to few attributes identified and in comparison to other Tier I companies in Chennai. 1.2.1 OBJECTIVE To realise the factors that contribute to effective/ineffective recruitment process. This objective when attained will show us how closely TCS recruitment process is related with other Tier I companies with respect to the various attributes considered.

1.2.2 Approach to the Problem These objectives have been realised by the method of Perception mapping

Perception mapping: Perceptual mapping is a graphics technique used by marketers that attempts to visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition.

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1.3 MAJOR FINDINGS

The Major findings from Descriptive Analysis: By the Descriptive Analysis it is found TCS has fared well in all the variables. Majority of the respondents 50% and above have always rated TCS with a high score. Two variables Query Resolution by HR after selection and Seating arrangements have a similar ratings with equal proportion of candidates rating TCS with a mid score. The major Factors as identified by Factor Analysis: 1. Interaction the candidate has with the HR or the Interview Panel creates a certain mental map of the company in the minds of the candidates. 2. The factor of Time matters to the candidate and this is directly helps in quantifying the effectiveness of the whole interview process in the minds of the candidate. 3. The third factor is Experience of comfort - Level of difficulty perceived, HR negotiations and Query Resolution once the candidate is selected. The infra structure provided also has an impact on the experience candidates has and this has been explained in tandem with the above variables by the third component of Factor Analysis. 4. Communication and information shared by the organisation before and during the process are also considered a major factor by the respondents. The major findings as identified by Perceptual Mapping: From the scatter graph it is evident that as per respondents perception, TCS scores high on the factor of communication with regards to venue details. However, CTS and Infosys are ahead of TCS when it comes to information shared before the interview process. The variable Seating & Other infrastructure is cause of bad experience as attributed by candidates. It is evident that candidates perceive CTS and Infosys are far ahead of TCS with regards to Seating & Other Infra contributing to Overall Experience as perceived by the candidates. TCS has the highest score in transparent HR negotiations and stands ahead of the rest of the Tier I organizations used in comparison.

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CTS and Infosys are major competitors of TCS with regards to many factors such as query resolution by HR, Interaction of candidates with HR and Overall Experience.

1.4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

As evident from the above findings the basic four factors identified although simple and common has deep impact on the perception of an organization in the minds of the candidates. TCS has the highest score in transparent HR negotiations and stands ahead of the rest of the Tier I organizations used in comparison. The variable Seating & Other infrastructure is cause of bad experience as attributed by candidates. It is evident that candidates perceive CTS and Infosys are far ahead of TCS with regards to Seating & Other Infra contributing to Overall Experience as perceived by the candidates. Recommendations: The Seating arrangement is one variable that most of the respondents felt as unsatisfactory. This is with respect to the Velachery facility (captured through the open ended questions and attached in Annexure II ) of TCS. An alternate arrangement of seating can be made in one part of the cafeteria for the weekend drives. This would certainly make perception of seating arrangements better. CTS and Infosys are ahead of TCS when it comes to information shared before the interview process. This could be explained as many non-eligible candidates who report to the venue unaware of the eligibility criteria and certain candidates reporting with wrong skill set at the walk-in. The onus of this not only lies on TCS as there have been cases where candidates have chosen to ignore certain specifications. To improve the information sharing quotient before interview of TCS in the minds of the candidates: Recommendations: To minimize the number of candidates report with incorrect skill set / Technologies we can get the sourcing team to understand different technologies under a

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category of skill for which opening is available. Also, team can clarify the same with the candidates while scheduling their interview. For eg: While recruiting for Testing openings project requirement is either for Performance or Automation Testing. Within Automation testing there are applications further classifications like QTP (for which opening is available) and RFT and manual scripting. Similarly under Performance Testing there is Load runner, win-runner etc. Hence this the sourcing team can specifically clarify with the candidates in case of scheduled interviews. Also, one common are of miscommunication seems to be confusion between performance testing and performance engineering. The latter is into hardware testing of ICs etc. While scheduling the candidates need to be asked specifically for their area of work.

TCS needs to look into the interaction factor selected candidates have with the HR personnel and also its Query resolution process one the candidate is selected. These two factors majorly influence any candidates decision while joining an organization. Recommendations: Query resolution by HR personnel after the selection of the candidate greatly influences his decision to join the organisation. Hence the HR for the respective skill set or any other HR personnel can be given the responsibility of handling queries such as joining formalities, change of candidates information etc. The person can be the SPOC to answer such queries and can redirect the candidates to recruiters of specific skill set. The details of communication (email ID or extn number) of this SPOC can be given to the candidates after the HR interview. This makes the HR easily accessible to the candidate. Interaction with HR after selection as been pointed out to be minimal by responses captured by the open ended questions administered in the questionnaire. This can be improved in tandem with Query Resolution process.

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2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 INDUSTRY PROFILE
The information technology (IT) industry has become of the most robust industries in the world. IT, more than any other industry or economic facet, has an increased productivity, particularly in the developed world, and therefore is a key driver of global economic growth. Economies of scale and insatiable demand from both consumers and enterprises characterize this rapidly growing sector. Over the past decade, the Indian IT-BPO sector has become the countrys premier growth engine, crossing significant milestones in terms of revenue growth, employment generation and value creation, in addition to becoming the global brand ambassador for India. However, the industry performance was affected by these recessionary headwinds as the clients cut their IT budgets, cancelled deals, delayed payments and deals, went bankrupt while others renegotiated pricing, looking for severe pricing cuts and stretching the dollar.

The changing demand outlook, customer conversations and requirements acted as a driver to build in greater efficiencies and flexibility within the service delivery and the business models one which is here to stay. 2009 was also instrumental for more ways than one for the industry. While the industry displayed tenacity and resilience, it also commenced its journey to achieve its aspirations in view of the altered landscape. It commenced working on its agenda to diversify beyond core off earnings and markets through new business and pricing models, specialises to provide end-to-end service with deeper penetration across verticals, transform the process delivery through re-engineering and enabling technology, innovate through research and development and drive inclusive growth in India by developing targeted solutions for the domestic market. All these measures, along with Indias game changing value proposition has helped India widen its leadership position in the global sourcing market.

The advent of 2010 has signalled the revival of outsourcing within core markets, along with the emerging markets increasingly adopting outsourcing for enhanced competitiveness. Key demand indicators in the last two quarters such as increased deal flow, volume growth, stable pricing, and faster decision making has made the industry post good results. Though full
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recovery is expected in another two quarters, development of new growth levers, improved efficiency and changing demand outlook signifies early signs of recovery.

THE IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE PROFESSIONALS Indian software and services industrys strong value proposition existence of a large, English speaking, technically qualified manpower, competitive billing, high productivity gains and scalability - which had helped the country emerge as a key IT services outsourcing destination, continue to hold India in good stead. These intrinsic strengths and advantages gave India a leg up in the burgeoning ITES-BPO space as well, taking it beyond the realms of IT services.

The country is at an important juncture in its history, having completed the transition from an agrarian economy to a fully-fledged, first-world economy, operating at the leading edge of contemporary technology. A key element in taking the country forward and maintaining its growth momentum will be the provision of a highly skilled and competent global workforce. Having apt IT and management skills, in fact, is assuming an ever-greater importance, in the current day environment, where the IT sector is emerging as a major driver of the Indian economy. IT manpower development today, is not only crucial for sustaining the growth of the Indian economy, it is also important for maintaining the countrys edge in the global markets, where competition is on the rise.

GROWTH OF IT AND ITES PROFESSIONALS IN INDIA The total number of IT and ITES professionals employed in India has grown from 284,000 in 1999-2000 to over 1 million in 2004-05, growing by over 200,000 in the last year alone.

Fig 1: Indian IT and ITES Sectors: Growth in Professionals

1000000 750000

1045000 841500 670000 522250 430114 160000 56000 284000

500000 250000 0

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Break-up of Professionals in the IT industry Most of the new recruits in the industry are fresh graduates indicating the availability of a large pool of fresh resources each year as opposed to the siphoning off of resources from other industries. A break-up of the 1 million professionals in different sectors indicate that the number of employees in the ITES-BPO segment has witnessed the highest levels of growth over the last few years attributed to the tremendous growth in demand for these services. ITES companies recruited approx. 100,000 professionals in 2004-05. Companies in the IT software exports sector recruited 75,000 professionals in 2004-05, compared to 65,000 professionals recruited in 2003-04.

Given the growing demand for skilled professionals, and the rapid changes in technology, there is an increasing need to keep the academia abreast of the skill set requirement of the industry.

As the global economic recession begins to become a thing of the past and companies across the world start hiring with gusto, the issue of talent will once again take centre stage. The war for talent is getting extremely acute in 2010, with most industry sectors, including the sunrise IT-BPO segment facing a challenge in terms of hiring right and holding on to expertise. As hiring becomes the norm, so will attrition. Interestingly, IT-BPO organisations will not only face pressure from peer firms, but also from organisations operating in other industry verticals as well. The IT-BPO industry will therefore have to focus on its internal customer, its people. This year, companies will be compelled to relook at their people management practices and embrace policies that create a conducive work environment and help retain valuable employees.

2.2 COMPANY PROFILE

Tata Consultancy Services started in 1968. Mr.F.C Kohli who is presently the Deputy Chairman was entrusted with the job of steering TCS. The early days marked TCS responsibility in managing the punch card operations of Tisco. The company, which was into management consultancy from day one, soon felt the need to provide solutions to its clients as well.TCS was the first Indian company to make forays into the US market with clients

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ranging from IBM, American Express, Sega etc. TCS is presently the top software services firm in Asia. It benchmarked its quality standing, invested heavily in software engineering practices and built intellectual property-in terms of patents, code and branded products. At the same time, it expanded its relationships with technology partners and organizations, increased linkages with academic institutions and incubated technologies and ideas of people within TCS and outside. TCS has already patented 12 E-Commerce solution product packages and has filed six more applications for patent licenses. Over $25 million were spent on enhancing hardware and software infrastructure. The company now has 72 offices worldwide. As many as seven centers were assessed at SEI CMM Level 5 last year(3.4 mistakes in a million opportunities).These include Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Several business and R&D relationship with global firms like IBM, General Electric, Unigraphics Solutions have been made. The countrys largest IT services company by revenues Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also happens to be the countrys biggest IT employer. Growing by over 30% in net profit and witnessing an 8% increase in revenues. The company added over 30,000 employees during this fiscal. Here we look inside employee make up of TCS, which includes the no. of foreign employees, women employees, average experience, average age and more. TCS has total employee strength of 160,429. Of these 140,619 are TCS employees. The companys 93.3% of workforce is Indian. It employs associates from 80 different nationalities. These include Argentina: 2.4%; Mexican: 8.0%; American: 11.9%; Chinese: 8.6%; Brazilian: 10.7%; Uruguayan: 8.4%; Ecuadorian: 11.9%; Hungarian: 5.6%; Chilean: 13.4%; Colombian: 2.3%; British: 5.8%; Other 11.2%. The number of American employees at TCS is just under 12%. The average age of TCS employees is 28 years and Thirty percent of TCS employees are women. Of the total workforce, 57% have three years or more experience. The attrition rate at TCS during the fiscal year 2009-10 stood at 11.8%. In IT services division the attrition rate is 11%, while in BPO it is 18.8%.

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The fiscal year 2009-10 saw gross addition of 38,063 professionals and net addition of 16,668 professionals. The Jan-Feb-March quarter (Q4) saw largest ever organic gross addition of 16,851 professionals and net addition of 10,775 employees. Of the total addition, 8,429 were trainees and 5423 laterals in India; 981 people were taken in overseas branches. TCS made 20,000 campus offers for FY 11 and visited 294 institutes in Q4. This takes the taking total campuses visited to 371 with 98.4% day 1 slots. The company's global regional delivery centres are 4,020.

2.3 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

2.3.1 TALENT ACQUISITION - RECRUITMENT & SELECTION It is the discovering of potential of applicants for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. It actually links together those with jobs and those seeking jobs. Flippos definition: It is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organization. Thus the purpose of recruitment is to locate sources of manpower to meet job requirements and job specifications. Recruitment and selection is not only about choosing the most suitable candidate. The recruitment and selection experience can also impact on the likelihood that a candidate will accept a job offer and on their subsequent commitment to remaining with the organisation. Committing time and resources to develop a comprehensive recruitment strategy is a worthwhile investment. Poor recruitment choices (i.e., poor person-job fit) can have a range of undesirable consequences for the organisation and the worker including: Higher rates of turnover Reduced performance effectiveness Lowered job satisfaction Reduced work motivation

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SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT Internal Recruitment The first source of recruitment to fill up the vacancies happens from within the concern or organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an organization. Internal sources are primarily three Transfers, promotions and Re-employment of ex-employees. Re-employment of ex-employees is one of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when ex-employees provide unsolicited applications also. Internal recruitment may lead to increase in employees productivity as their motivation level increases. It also saves time, money and efforts. However, a drawback of internal recruitment is that it refrains the organization from new talent. Also, not all the manpower requirements can be met through internal recruitment. Hiring from outside has to be done. Primary Internal sources: a. b. Transfers Promotions (through Internal Job Postings)

External Recruitment External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from outside the organization. The external sources of recruitment include Walk-in, advertisements, employment agencies, educational institutes, labour contractors, recommendations etc. Primary External Sources used: Walk - In (Direct & Scheduled): This a source of external recruitment in which the applications for vacancies are presented on jobsites and candidates can walk-in to the venue of the recruitment process and apply for the vacancies available. A NEW TREND : There is also an internal sourcing team works on scheduling interviews for eligible candidates who have applied in the organizations websites. The candidates are given an electronically generated reference ID which is unique to each for further correspondence till they become a part of the organisation in case they are successful.
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Placement Vendors / Third Party Vendors: There are certain professional organizations which look towards recruitment and employment of people, i.e. these private agencies run by private individuals supply required manpower to needy concerns. These are proving to be strategic partners to any organisation as they provide immediate supply of candidates whenever there is an urgent need to satisfy a requirement, and when organisations do not have the time to plan a recruitment drive for those vacancies in hand. Referrals: Employee referral is employed by organizations to identify potential candidates from their existing employees' social networks. An employee referral scheme encourages a company's existing employees to select and recruit the suitable candidates from their social networks. As a reward, the employer typically pays the referring employee a referral bonus. Recruiting candidates using employee referral is widely acknowledged as being the most cost effective and efficient recruitment method to recruit candidates and as such, employers of all sizes, across all industries are trying to increases the volumes they recruit through this channel.

Campus recruitment: Campus Recruitment is one of the most common and widely used recruitment methods for hiring the best and most suitable talent while still in college. Most colleges have a designated College Recruitment season during which time recruiters from various Companies visit specialized colleges and meet students with an intern to screen, interview and select talented individuals to join their Company. Entry Level Hiring: Most campus recruiters interview college students with an aim of filling up entry level positions in various departments. Long Term Benefits: Such early association with suitable candidates can also open up avenues for hiring individuals who may go a long way with the current Company.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT: 1. The size of the organization. 2. The employment conditions in the community where the organization is located.
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3. The effects of past recruiting efforts which show the organizations ability to locate and retain the good performing people. 4. Working conditions, salary and benefit packages offered by the organization. 5. Rate of growth of the organization. 6. The future expansion and production programs. 7. Cultural, economic and legal factors.

RECRUITMENT IN A NUT SHELL: Recruitment is a process of identifying manpower needs and filling the gap through: 1. Identifying the Manpower needs per the Project requirement. 2. Sourcing- various media like Job Portal, head hunting, Paper Ad, references etc. 3. Conferencing: Identifying the prospective Candidates. 4. Scheduling: Interviews, video conferencing etc. 5. Negotiation & verification: based upon CTC, Allowances, and Compensation etc. 6. Background Check: Candidates background and reference check is done 7. Selection: Last phase in which after positive verification and negotiation, an offer is rolled and candidate is put On board for delivery.

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2.3.2 OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT IN TCS

Start 1.Sourcing Team Checks profiles in careers portal or career websites and schedule Interviews 2.Placement Vendors inform candidates in their database 3.Direct Candidates report directly at the Venue 4.Candidates through BYB report directly with EP Ref ID created by the referee

Requirements / Vacancies in Project

Reported to Resource Management Group (RMG)

No

TAG for Recruitment

Checks for internal availablitly

CAMPUS TEAM for Freshers

EP TEAM for Experienced Professionals

Yes

Then the candidate is redirected to project for internal absorbtion

Sources Of Recruitment 1.Direct Candidates 2.Careers Portal 3.Regional Fast Track (RFT) 4.Referrals BYB 5.Placement Vendors
NO

Registration at Venue

Check for Eligibility Criteria

Drop candidate

YES

llo ca tio n

Offer Acceptance by Candidate

Interview Process

Pr

oj ec tA

Initiation of BGC by the candidate

1.Technical Round 2.Management Review 3.HR Round

Induction Program 1.5 Days

BGC Positive?
YES

NO

Drop The Candidate Reject

END

Fig 2: A Flow Chart of Recruitment Process at TCS

Opening of Requisition The recruitment process at TCS Chennai starts at the Project / ISU followed by the Resource Management Group (RMG) Any requirement or vacancy in a project the business / ISU is
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first checked against internal availability of resources with the Resource Management Group (RMG). The requisition is thus opened by the RMG with the creation of RGS ID. These IDs map the requirement with a particular and act as a reference number for the that particular vacancy (Skills, experience, role taken in tandem). Once the RMG reports the unavailability of internal resources the requisition is then passed on to the Talent Acquisition Group (TAG).

TAG at TCS is broadly classified into two teams, one dealing with recruitment of Experiences Professionals (EP) and the other with Campus Recruitment. The EP team has an internal sourcing team and a team of recruiters handling specific Technology skill set like Java, Oracle, Sap, Mainframes, Testing etc.

Sourcing Profiles

Once the requirement for the projects reach TAG, it allocates the task of sourcing profiles of eligible and interested candidates to the Internal Sourcing Team. The internal sourcing team does the task of corresponding with the candidates who have applied through TCSs online portal careers.tcs.com and scheduling interviews for them during the planned weekend recruitment drives.

The Sourcing team also sources profiles through job sites like Naukri.com, monster.com etc. And sends invites to candidates who clear the basic eligibility criteria of TCS. There might also be candidates who have been referred by employees in TCS through the BYB referral (Bring Your Buddy) scheme or those who have been referred by placement vendors who are in contract with TCS. The initial screening of profiles is done by the sourcing team.

Candidate Screening and Introduction

One the day of the walk-in the candidates are first screened during the registration process at the venue. Scheduled candidates or those referred through Placement Vendors are usually informed to create their online profile in the TCS online portal. These candidates also undergo the initial screening process at the registration.

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Few Checks at the Registration Information about a persons professional qualifications and experience can be obtained from their Curriculum-vitae (CV) and their written applications. This information needs to be verified as far as possible before the person is hired. The first Step is to affirm the candidates meet the basic eligibility criteria of TCS. During the review of CV and written application certain clarifications are asked for such as: Unexplained gaps in employment history Unanswered or partly answered questions Inconsistent information Past Employers Frequent job changes

Interview Process After the registration Process eligible candidates are put through the Interview Process. The interview process of TCS has three stages: Technical Interview Management Review HR interview

Once the candidate clears all the three stages he is prompted to complete his online application form for offer generation. The offer initiation takes a minimum of 5 days from the day of complete online application. After the offer has been rolled the candidate accepts the offer and then initiates the Background Check (BGC) process and submits the relevant supporting document. If the BGC process is positive for the candidate, he/ she is called for the induction process at a date close to the joining date. The candidate is then redirected to the specific ISU for project allocation.

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3. PROBLEM DEFINITION
3.1 BACKGROUND TO PROBLEM
The recruitment process is not just about employers identifying suitable employees for the future, its also about candidates finding out more about the business, and considering whether the organisation is one where they would like to work for.

The experience of candidates (both successful and unsuccessful) at each stage of the recruitment process will impact on their view of the organisation. This could be both from the perspective of a potential employee and, depending on the nature of the business, as a customer.

3.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

With an upsurge in interest in the idea of employer branding, more employers are giving thought to ensuring a positive candidate experience and the kind of company material and communications received by individuals as part of the recruitment process. Hence, this project aims at realising how is perceived by candidates with respect to few attributes identified and in comparison to other Tier I companies in Chennai. 3.2.1 OBJECTIVE:

To realise the factors that contribute to effective/ineffective recruitment process. This objective when attained will show us how closely TCS recruitment process is related with other Tier I companies with respect to the various attributes considered.

3.2.2 APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM These objectives have been realised by the method of Perception mapping

Perception mapping: Perceptual mapping is a graphics technique used by marketers that attempts to visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition.

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Perceptual maps can have any number of dimensions but the most common is two dimensions. Any more is a challenge to draw and confusing to interpret. Items that are positioned close to each other are seen as similar on the relevant dimensions by the consumer. Some perceptual maps use different size circles to indicate the sales volume or market share of the various competing products. Apart from displaying the consumers perceptions of related products, many perceptual maps also display consumers ideal points. These points reflect ideal combinations of the two dimensions as seen by a consumer. On such a map, each dot represents a respondent's ideal combination of the two dimensions. Areas where there is a cluster of ideal points indicates a market segment. Areas without ideal points are sometimes referred to as demand voids. Perceptual maps need not come from a detailed study. There are also intuitive maps (also called judgmental maps or consensus maps) that are created by marketers based on their understanding of their industry. This method brings out positioning of various entities of one category on candidates mind, on the basis of any kind of similarity that is perceived by the candidate (respondent)

3.3 SCOPE OF WORK

The study was conducted among the Experienced Professionals who came in for weekend and weekday drives at TCS facilities in Chennai with the aid of a questionnaire. Candidates currently working in Tier I companies as well as earlier employed by Tier I companies have been chosen as the respondents of this survey. It should also be noted that majority of the respondents have attended interview process of more than two companies and have been selected through at-least the MR round of interview process.

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4. RESEARCH DESIGN
4.1 TYPE OF RESEARCH DESIGN
The exploratory research design was used in this project for the purpose of analysis using surveys. The questionnaire has tried to capture certain factors which have been obtained through discussions with the employees, and which have been observed during the course of the project duration.

4.2 INFORMATION NEEDS

The information collected from the sample of respondents was to identify the major factors out of those already captured in the questionnaire and where TCS stands against other major Tier I companies with respect to certain factors in the minds of candidates who walk-in for the recruitment drive.

4.3 DATA COLLECTION FROM PRIMARY SOURCES

The data for this project was mainly primary data. The respondents were Experienced professionals from Tier I companies or those who had been employed by Tier I companies in their past.

4.4 SCALING TECHNIQUES

Scaling involves creating a continuum upon which major objects are located. For this project, an interval 5 point Likert scale has been used to collect the responses. In an interval scale, numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in the characteristic being measured. It contains all the information of an ordinal scale and also allows comparing the differences between the objects. There is a constant or equal interval between scale values.

4.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT AND PRE-TESTING

The development of the questionnaire was on a five point scale. The questionnaire had questions which were based on Information sharing, communication, time taken for the interview process, Interaction between candidates and the HR / Panellist, response of HR personnel regarding queries from selected candidates etc,. The questions were kept short and were close ended and had two open ended questions. Total number of questions in the questionnaire was kept as 15. Pretesting was done and chron-bach alpha value was found to
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be above 0.5. The pre-test was found to be satisfactory and thus the questionnaire was continued to be administered as before.

4.6 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

The population considered included experienced professionals only from Chennai who were able participate in the Weekend & Weekday walk-in drives conducted by TCS in three of its facilities in the city. The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. Out of the population a sample of around 43 based was taken into account.

4.7 FIELDWORK
The field work was done by going for each of the walk-in drives held during Saturdays & Sundays and sometimes during weekdays on Wednesday & Thursday to collect data from candidates. Internet, direct mail and personnel interview were the modes by which responses were collected from samples.

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5. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

5.1 PILOT STUDY
A pilot study was conducted with a limited number of respondents to pre-test the questionnaire. Pretesting refers to the testing of the questionnaire on a small number of respondents to identify and eliminate potential problems. Initially, a sample of 20 people were administered the questionnaire and their responses were collated and tested for consistency. Therefore, sample size n=20, alpha =0.05 The hypotheses tested include: Q1 Information provided regarding the pre-requisites of interview

H0: All the companies are similar in terms of the Information provided regarding prerequisites for a walk-in drive. H1: There is difference between the with respect to information regarding pre-requisites by different companies. Q2 Time taken for Registration

H0: All the companies are similar with respect to the time taken for registration. H1: There is significant difference time taken for registration by different companies. Q3 Time between the call interview and actual interview

H0: All the companies are similar with regards to the time given to the candidate i.e time between the call for a scheduled interview and the actual date of interview. H1: There is significant difference with regards to time given to the candidate for his scheduled interview in different companies. Q4 Communication Venue & Interview schedule

H0: All the companies are similar in communication regarding Venue & Interview Schedule.

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H1: There is significant difference in the communication with regards Venue details and Interview schedule among different companies. Q5 Interaction with Panellist

H0: All the companies are similar with regards to the interaction the candidates have with panellist during the interview process. H1: There is significant difference with regards to the interaction the candidates have with panellist during the interview process among organizations. Q6 Interaction with HR

H0: All the companies are similar in the interaction a candidate had with the HR during interview process. H1: There is significant difference with in the interaction a candidate had with the HR during interview process among different companies. Q7 Seating & Other Infra at Venue

H0: All the companies are similar in the Seating and other infrastructure provided to the candidate during an interview process. H1: There is significant difference in the Seating and other infrastructure provided to the candidate during an interview process among organizations. Q8 Level of Difficulty Interview as against your years of experience

H0: All the companies are similar in the level of difficulty a candidate perceives as against years of experience. H1: There is significant difference in the level of difficulty a candidate perceives as against years of experience between companies. Q9 Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it

comes to salary and role during negotiations) H0: All the companies are similar in terms of transparency during HR negotiations.

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H1: There is significant difference in transparency during HR negotiations among organizations.

Q10

Interaction with HR personnel after selection

H0: All the companies are similar with regards to the interaction a candidate has with HR personnel after selection. H1: There is significant difference with regards to the interaction a candidate has with HR personnel after selection among different companies. Q11 Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer

H0: All the companies are similar in their approach to resolution queries from selected candidates. H1: There is significant difference their approach to resolution queries from selected candidates among different companies. Q12 Process Co-ordination at venue

H0: All the companies are similar in effective co-ordination of interview process at the venue. H1: There is significant difference in effective co-ordination of interview process at the venue among different organizations. Q13 Overall Experience at Venue

H0: All the companies are similar with regards to the overall experience of a candidate at venue of walk-in. H1: There is significant difference with regards to experience of a candidate at venue of walk-in among different companies. A Fisher MSD test was conducted to test these hypotheses. Finally form the final set of data we could conclude that there is no significant difference between majority of the factors among the Tier I companies since these processes are more or less standardised in the IT Industry.
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However, there are two hypotheses that have been rejected by Fisher MSD. Q9 Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it

comes to salary and role during negotiations) H0: All the companies are similar in terms of transparency during HR negotiations. H1: There is significant difference in transparency during HR negotiations among organizations. The minimum significant difference which causes this rejection can be obtained from Fisher MSD. TCS CTS Infosys Wipro HCL Patni

TCS CTS Infosys Wipro HCL Patni

0.7281

0.7629 0.8617 0.4192 0.06176

0.8921 0.9780 1.0041 0.3575

0.8075 0.9015 0.9298 1.0384 -

1.0332 1.1082 1.1313 1.2222 1.1619

0.24975 0.5128 0.932* 0.5746 0.4961 0.26304 0.6823 0.3248 0.24638

0.016667 0.4359

0.07843 -

Table 1: Result of Fisher MSD - Q9 - Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it comes to salary and role during negotiations)

Here the rejection occurs due to significant observed absolute value of the difference in means between each pair of groups i.e TCS Vs Wipro. Since 0.932 > 0.7629 The null hypothesis is rejected. Q11 Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer

H0: All the companies are similar in their approach to resolution queries from selected candidates. H1: There is significant difference their approach to resolution queries from selected candidates among different companies.

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The minimum significant difference which causes this rejection can be obtained from Fisher MSD. TCS CTS Infosys Wipro HCL Patni

TCS CTS Infosys Wipro HCL Patni

0.4307

0.6838 -

0.7164 0.8093 -

0.8378 0.9184 0.9430

0.7583 0.8466 0.8732 0.9752

0.9702 1.0407 1.0624 1.1478 1.0911

0.9047* 0.4739 0.6816 0.487 0.7158 0.25084 0.05627 0.28502

0.22308 0.4176

0.19457 -

0.18889 0.03419 0.22876 -

Table 2: Result of Fisher MSD - Q11 - Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer

Here the rejection occurs due to significant observed absolute value of the difference in means between each pair of groups i.e TCS Vs Infosys. Since 0.9047 > 0.7164 The null hypothesis is rejected.

5.2 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

Table 3: Information provided regarding the pre-requisites of interview

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 Total 14 22 4 3 43 Percent 32.6 51.2 9.3 7.0 100.0 Percent 32.6 51.2 9.3 7.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 32.6 83.7 93.0 100.0

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Table 4: Time taken for Registration

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 5 Total 15 19 5 3 1 43 Percent 34.9 44.2 11.6 7.0 2.3 100.0 Percent 34.9 44.2 11.6 7.0 2.3 100.0

Cumulative Percent 34.9 79.1 90.7 97.7 100.0

Table 5: Time between the call interview and actual interview

Valid Frequency Percent Valid 1 2 3 4 5 Tota l 14 19 6 3 1 43 32.6 44.2 14.0 7.0 2.3 100.0 Percent 32.6 44.2 14.0 7.0 2.3 100.0

Cumulative Percent 32.6 76.7 90.7 97.7 100.0

Table 6: Communication Venue & Interview schedule

Frequenc y Valid 1 2 3 5 20 18 3 2 Percent 46.5 41.9 7.0 4.7 100.0

Valid Percent 46.5 41.9 7.0 4.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 46.5 88.4 95.3 100.0

Total 43

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Majority of the factors above have got a rating of 2 (1 being highest and 5 being lowest). As seen from the percentage score many candidates have rated TCS with score of two which is a high end score.

Table 7: Interaction with Panellist

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 17 22 3 1 Percent 39.5 51.2 7.0 2.3 100.0 Percent 39.5 51.2 7.0 2.3 100.0

Cumulative Percent 39.5 90.7 97.7 100.0

Total 43
Table 8: Seating & Other Infra at Venue

Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 Total 13 16 10 4 43 30.2 37.2 23.3 9.3 100.0 Valid Percent Percent 30.2 37.2 23.3 9.3 100.0 30.2 67.4 90.7 100.0

Table 9: Interaction with HR

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 5 18 17 7 1 Percent 41.9 39.5 16.3 2.3 100.0 Percent 41.9 39.5 16.3 2.3 100.0

Cumulative Percent 41.9 81.4 97.7 100.0

Total 43

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Table 10: Level of Difficulty Interview as against your years of experience

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 16 16 9 2 Percent 37.2 37.2 20.9 4.7 100.0 Percent 37.2 37.2 20.9 4.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 37.2 74.4 95.3 100.0

Total 43

The above factors seem to be slightly skewed to the right with Seating & other Infra having almost similar percentages across first three scores.

Table 11: Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it comes to salary and role during negotiations)

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 5 23 8 9 2 1 Percent 53.5 18.6 20.9 4.7 2.3 100.0 Percent 53.5 18.6 20.9 4.7 2.3 100.0

Cumulative Percent 53.5 72.1 93.0 97.7 100.0

Total 43

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Table 12: Interaction with HR personnel after selection

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 5 13 19 5 4 2 Percent 30.2 44.2 11.6 9.3 4.7 100.0 Percent 30.2 44.2 11.6 9.3 4.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 30.2 74.4 86.0 95.3 100.0

Total 43

Table 13: Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 5 4 17 16 4 2 Percent 9.3 39.5 37.2 9.3 4.7 100.0 Percent 9.3 39.5 37.2 9.3 4.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 9.3 48.8 86.0 95.3 100.0

Total 43

Table 14: Process Co-ordination at venue

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 16 20 4 3 Percent 37.2 46.5 9.3 7.0 100.0 Percent 37.2 46.5 9.3 7.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 37.2 83.7 93.0 100.0

Total 43

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Table 15: Over all Experience at Venue

Valid Frequency Valid 1 2 3 4 12 23 6 2 Percent 27.9 53.5 14.0 4.7 100.0 Percent 27.9 53.5 14.0 4.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 27.9 81.4 95.3 100.0

Total 43

Descriptive Statistics thus give us a fair idea how TCS scores in each of the above mentioned factors. From the above percentage score we can see that TCS has high scores when with only one or two factors having scored a score of three.

5.3 FACTOR ANALYSIS

Factor analysis is a correlation technique to determine meaningful clusters of shared variances. Factor analysis begins with a large number of variables and then tries to reduce the interrelationships amongst the variables to a few number of clusters or factors. It finds relationships or natural connections where variables are maximally correlated with one another and minimally correlated with other variables, and then groups the variables accordingly. After this process has been done many times a pattern appears of relationships or factors that capture the essence of all of the data emerges. Factor analysis refers to a collection of statistical methods for reducing correlational data into a smaller number of dimensions or factors

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Reliability Test:
Table 16: Case Processing Summary & Reliability Statistics

N Cases Valid 43

% 100.0 .0 100.0

Excludeda 0 Total 43

Cronbach's Alpha .879

N Items 13

of

From the results above it can be concluded that the data is reliable. The Cronbachs Alpha being 0.879 shows data is highly reliable.

Table 17: KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square Df Sig. .690 332.193 78 .000

As the value of KMO is 0.690, this shows that the number of sample is adequate for doing factor analysis. The high value of Bartletts Test and the sig. Value of 0.000 (<0.05) indicates appropriateness of data for factor analysis.

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Table 18: Total Variance Explained - Validity Test

Extraction Com Initial Eigenvalues pon ent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total 5.587 1.574 1.203 1.134 .914 .740 .564 .420 .321 .242 .143 .102 .055 % Variance 42.975 12.104 9.253 8.724 7.033 5.690 4.341 3.233 2.470 1.864 1.103 .782 .427 of Cumulative % 42.975 55.080 64.333 73.057 80.090 85.780 90.121 93.354 95.824 97.688 98.791 99.573 100.000 Total 5.587 1.574 1.203 1.134 Loadings % Variance 42.975 12.104 9.253 8.724 of Cumulative % 42.975 55.080 64.333 73.057 Total 2.809 2.767 2.397 1.525 Sums of Squared Rotation Loadings % Variance 21.609 21.282 18.438 11.728 of Cumulative % 21.609 42.891 61.328 73.057 Sums of Squared

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

The above table shows that 13 variables have been reduced to 4 factors explaining 73.057% of the total variance.

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Table 19: Rotated Component Matrix - Validity Test

Component 1 5. Interaction with Panelist 10. Interaction with HR .875 .819 .745 .406 .229 .462 2 3 4 .301

personnel after selection 6. Interaction with HR 3. Time between the call interview interview 2. Time taken for and actual

.775

.140

Registration 12. Process Co-ordination at venue 13. Over all Experience at Venue 9. Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when

.141

.660

.441

.471

.657

.315

.605

.650

.204

it .243

.603

.513

.109

comes to salary and role during negotiations) 7. Seating & Other Infra at Venue 8. Level of Difficulty .479 .737 .177 .195 .142 .839 .100

Interview as against your years of experience 11. Query Resolution by Personnel until offer 1. Information provided after selection .305

.136

.564

.124

regarding the pre-requisites of interview 4. Communication Venue & Interview schedule

.248

.819

-.103

.368

.702

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations.

Questions or variables which load substantially high on one component than the other are retained. Other variables are thus eliminated. Here we eliminate the Variable 4 and proceed further.

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Table 20: KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square Df Sig. .733 309.773 66 .000

As the value of KMO is 0.733, this shows that the number of sample is adequate for doing further factor analysis. The high value of Bartletts Test and the sig. Value of 0.000 (<0.05) indicates appropriateness of data for further factor analysis.
Table 21: Total Variance Explained

Com pone nt 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Initial Eigenvalues % Total 5.516 1.481 1.171 1.036 .822 .569 .430 .355 .257 .166 .142 .056 Variance 45.965 12.343 9.756 8.632 6.851 4.739 3.581 2.956 2.141 1.386 1.183 .467 Method: Principal of Cumulative % 45.965 58.308 68.064 76.696 83.547 88.287 91.868 94.823 96.964 98.350 99.533 100.000 Component

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings % Total 5.516 1.481 1.171 1.036 Variance 45.965 12.343 9.756 8.632 of Cumulative % 45.965 58.308 68.064 76.696

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings % Total 2.690 2.621 2.496 1.396 Variance 22.420 21.844 20.803 11.630 of Cumulative % 22.420 44.264 65.066 76.696

Extraction Analysis.

The above table shows that 12 variables are still being reduced to 4 factors explaining 76.696% of the total variance.

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Table 22: Rotated Component Matrixa

Component 1 5. Interaction with Panelist 10. Interaction with HR .881 .791 .763 .456 .227 .465 2 3 4 .293

personnel after selection 6. Interaction with HR 3. Time between the call interview interview 13. Over all Experience at Venue 12. Process Co-ordination at venue 2. Time taken for and actual

.793

.166

.555

.716

.205

.428

.695

.325

Registration 7. Seating & Other Infra at Venue 8. Level of Difficulty .230

.592

.153

.534

.870

Interview as against your years of experience 9. Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting you know their limitations when it .233

.345

.809

.229

.468

.610

.266

comes to salary and role during negotiations) 11. Query Resolution by Personnel until offer 1. Information provided .129 .934 after selection .282 .294 .477 -.111

regarding the pre-requisites .109 of interview Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations.

Thus there are 4 main components that explain the 13 variables 1. From the rotated component matrix we see that questions like Q5 - Interaction with Panellist, Q6 - Interaction with HR and Q10 - Interaction with HR personnel after selection load high on the first Component.
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Hence we can name this component the factor of Interaction during the process of Walk-In. 2. From the rotated component matrix we see that questions like Q3 - Time between the call interview and actual interview, Q13 - Over all Experience at Venue, Q12 - Process Co-ordination at venue and Q2 - Time taken for Registration load high on the second component. Hence second component explains the factor of Time and its correlation to effectiveness of the process. 3. From the rotated component matrix we see that questions like Q7 - Seating & Other Infra at Venue, Q8 - Level of Difficulty Interview as against your years of experience, Q9 - Transparent negotiations by HR ( i.e. letting you know their limitations when it comes to salary and role during negotiations) and Q11 - Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer load high on the third component. Hence third component explains the factor of experience a candidate has in different stages of interview. 4. From the rotated component matrix we see that question Q1. Information provided regarding the pre-requisites of interview loads high on the fourth component. The fourth component thus explains the factor of information shared by the organisation before the Interview process.

5.4 DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS

Discriminant Analysis may be used for two objectives: either we want to assess the adequacy of classification, given the group memberships of the objects under study; or we wish to assign objects to one of a number of (known) groups of objects. Discriminant Analysis may thus have a descriptive or a predictive objective. Here we use Discriminant analysis as confirmatory research as against the factor analysis carried out in the previous section.

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Classification Statistics I - Gender of the Candidate

The first category used for the analysis is the gender of the candidates. 1. 2. Male Female

Table 23: Classification Processing Summary

Processed Excluded Missing or out-of-range group codes At least one missing discriminating variable Used in Output 43 0

0 43

Table 24: Prior Probabilities for Groups

15. Experience of Candidadte 1 2 3 Total Prior .465 .488 .047 1.000 Unweighted 20 21 2 43 Weighted 20.000 21.000 2.000 43.000 Cases Used in Analysis

Table 25: Classification Resultsa

15. Experienc e of Candidad te Original Count 1 2 3 % 1 2 3 a. 81.4% of original grouped cases correctly classified. 1 14 1 0 70.0 4.8 .0 2 6 20 1 30.0 95.2 50.0 3 0 0 1 .0 .0 50.0 Total 20 21 2 100.0 100.0 100.0 Predicted Group Membership

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Classification Results is a simple summary of number and percent of candidates classified correctly and incorrectly. Hence from the above analysis we see that of the total 33 male candidates we are able to re-classify 32 male candidates. Similarly of the 10 female candidates 6 six of them have been correctly re-classified. Hence 88.4% of the original groups were correctly classified.

Classification Statistics II - Years of experience of the candidate The second category is the Years of experience a candidate falls into. 1. Less than 4 years 2. 4 to 7 years 3. 7 to 10 years 4. 10 to 13 years 5. Above 13 years
Table 26: Classification Processing Summary
Processed Excluded Missing codes At least one missing discriminating variable Used in Output or out-of-range group 43 0

0 43

Table 27: Prior Probabilities for Groups

15. Experience of Candidadte 1 2 3 Total Prior .465 .488 .047 1.000 Unweighted 20 21 2 43 Weighted 20.000 21.000 2.000 43.000 Cases Used in Analysis

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Table 28: Classification Resultsa

15. Experience Predicted Group Membership of Candidadte Original Count 1 2 3 % 1 2 3 1 14 1 0 70.0 4.8 .0 2 6 20 1 30.0 95.2 50.0 3 0 0 1 .0 .0 50.0 Total 20 21 2 100.0 100.0 100.0

a. 81.4% of original grouped cases correctly classified.

From the above classification results table we see that of the total 20 candidates belonging to less than 4 yrs experience group, we are able to re-classify 14 candidates. Similarly of the 21 and 2 candidates belonging to the 4 to 7 yrs experience and 7 to 10 yrs experience respectively 20 candidates for the former and 1 candidate for the latter have been correctly reclassified. Thus 81.4% of the original groups were correctly classified.

Classification Statistics III - Source of Information on the walk-in The third category is the type of sourcing or the source of information through which the candidate received information on the walk-in drive. 1. Job Portals (like naukri.com and monster.com) 2. Placement Vendors 3. I directly applied online through careers.tcs.com 4. Referrals (Friends or Family) 5. Newspaper and print media ads 6. I got a call from TCS HR

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Table 29: Classification Processing Summary

Processed Excluded Missing codes At least one missing discriminating variable Used in Output or out-of-range group 43 0

0 43

Table 30: Prior Probabilities for Groups

16. of Source Info on Unweighted 7 8 4 11 13 43 Weighted 7.000 8.000 4.000 11.000 13.000 43.000 Cases Used in Analysis

Job Opening Prior 1 2 3 4 6 Total .163 .186 .093 .256 .302 1.000

Table 31: Classification Resultsa

16. Source Predicted Group Membership of Info on Job Opening Original Count 1 2 3 4 6 % 1 2 3 4 6 1 5 0 0 0 1 71.4 .0 .0 .0 7.7 2 1 4 0 2 0 14.3 50.0 .0 18.2 .0 3 0 0 3 0 0 .0 .0 75.0 .0 .0 4 0 2 0 5 1 .0 25.0 .0 45.5 7.7 6 1 2 1 4 11 14.3 25.0 25.0 36.4 84.6 Total 7 8 4 11 13 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

a. 65.1% of original grouped cases correctly classified.

From the above classification results table we see that 65.1% of the original groups were correctly classified.

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5.5 PERCEPTUAL MAPPING

The perceptual mapping for the various attributes are done on the basis of the responses received. The mean of the responses are plotted in a scatter graph (one attribute against another) and the perceived relations between the attributes are thus interpreted. In this case, five pairs of attributes are formed on the basis of their relevance to each other and the positioning of the brand as per the attributes is evaluated. The pairs of attributes are: Communication Venue & Interview schedule Vs Information provided regarding the pre-requisites of interview Seating & Other Infra at Venue Vs Over all Experience at Venue Interaction with HR Personnel after Selection Vs Over all Experience at Venue Transparent Negotiations Vs. Over all Experience at Venue Query Resolution by Personnel after selection until offer Vs Over all Experience at Venue

Fig 3: Communication - Venue Details & Interview Schedule Vs Information provided on pre-requisites

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From the scatter graph it is evident that as per respondents perception, TCS provides an apt description of Venue & Interview Schedule. However TCS comes almost third with regards to information shared on pre-requisites. This can be explained by missing pay-slips during registration process / many non-eligible candidates who report to the venue unaware of the eligibility criteria. The onus of this not only lies on TCS as the candidates can still choose to ignore certain specifications.

Fig 4: Seating & Other Infra Vs Overall Experience

As per the graph it is evident that CTS and Infosys are far ahead of TCS with regards to Seating & Other Infra contributing to Overall Experience as perceived by the candidates. TCS, Infosys, Wipro are very similar in this attribute based perception by the candidates.

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Fig 5: Transparent Negotiations Vs Overall Experience

As per the graph it is evident that HCL and Patni have almost similar transparency in negotiations. Of all the six brands, TCS has the highest score in transparent HR negotiations though slightly less in its contribution to Overall experience in the minds of candidates as compared to CTS & Infosys. This is one key area where TCS stands ahead of the rest.

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Fig 6: Interaction with HR after selection Vs Overall Experience at Venue

As per the graph it is evident that CTS, Infosys, Wipro as one category and TCS and HCL as another are similar in their overall experience as perceived by the candidate, this contributed by the interaction with HR personnel after the selection process.

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Fig 7: Query Resolution by HR Vs Overall Experience

As per the graph it is evident that Infosys leads in this attribute, whereas CTS, Wipro HCL and Patni very closely associated when it comes to Query resolution in the minds of a selected candidate. Of all the six organizations the Infosys seems to lead in as the candidate friendly organization.

The open ended questions asked to respondents during the survey and their respective areas of concerns as well as areas of differentiation have been attached in the appendix along with the Questionnaire.

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6. LIMITATIONS

1. Data collected for doing this project was taken from Only Experienced Professionals at Chennai location of TCS. The experience of the candidates range from 2 yrs and above to 10yrs. This makes it more specific. 2. Perception of candidates from few Tier I companies and candidates who had earlier been employees of Tier I were considered. This makes the sampling very specific. 3. The respondents were chosen such that majority of the candidates had attended the interview process of at least more than two organizations to assist in the comparison of processes. 4. The research work is restricted to Chennai location only and hence the parameters may vary when we consider other locations also.

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7. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

The research was successful in identifying the various factors which helped the candidates build a certain perception of the organizations interview process. Also has given insights into various variables and factors that help in comparison with selected Tier I companies. The Major findings from Descriptive Analysis: By the Descriptive Analysis it is found TCS has fared well in all the variables. Majority of the respondents 50% and above have always rated TCS with a high score. Two variables Query Resolution by HR after selection and Seating arrangements have a similar ratings with equal proportion of candidates rating TCS with a mid score.

The major Factors as identified by Factor Analysis: 1. Interaction the candidate has with the HR or the Interview Panel creates a certain mental map of the company in the minds of the candidates. 2. The factor of Time matters to the candidate and this is directly helps in quantifying the effectiveness of the whole interview process in the minds of the candidate. 3. The third factor is Experience of comfort - Level of difficulty perceived, HR negotiations and Query Resolution once the candidate is selected. The infra structure provided also has an impact on the experience candidates has and this has been explained in tandem with the above variables by the third component of Factor Analysis. 4. Communication and information shared by the organisation before and during the process are also considered a major factor by the respondents.

The Major Findings from Perceptual Mapping: From the scatter graph it is evident that as per respondents perception, TCS scores high on the factor of communication with regards to venue details and information on pre-requisites.

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CTS and Infosys are ahead of TCS when it comes to information shared before the interview process. This could be explained as many non-eligible candidates who report to the venue unaware of the eligibility criteria and certain candidates reporting with wrong skill set at the walk-in. The onus of this not only lies on TCS as there have been cases where candidates have chosen to ignore certain specifications. To improve the information sharing quotient before interview of TCS in the minds of the candidates: Recommendations: To minimize the number of candidates report with incorrect skill set / Technologies we can get the sourcing team to understand different technologies under a category of skill for which opening is available. Also, team can clarify the same with the candidates while scheduling their interview. For eg: While recruiting for Testing openings project requirement is either for Performance or Automation Testing. Within Automation testing there are applications further classifications like QTP (for which opening is available) and RFT and manual scripting. Similarly under Performance Testing there is Load runner, win-runner etc. Hence this the sourcing team can specifically clarify with the candidates in case of scheduled interviews. Also, one common are of miscommunication seems to be confusion between performance testing and performance engineering. The latter is into hardware testing of ICs etc. While scheduling the candidates need to be asked specifically for their area of work. The variable Seating & Other infrastructure is cause of bad experience as attributed by candidates. It is evident that candidates perceive CTS and Infosys are far ahead of TCS with regards to Seating & Other Infra contributing to Overall Experience as perceived by the candidates. Recommendations: The Seating arrangement is one variable that most of the respondents felt as unsatisfactory. This is with respect to the Velachery facility (captured through the open ended questions and attached in Annexure II ) of TCS. An alternate arrangement of seating can be made in one part of the cafeteria for the weekend drives. This would certainly make perception of seating arrangements better.
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TCS has the highest score in transparent HR negotiations and stands ahead of the rest of the Tier I organizations used in comparison. As evident from the Perceptual Maps TCS needs to look into the interaction factor selected candidates have with the HR personnel and also its Query resolution process one the candidate is selected. These two factors majorly influence any candidates decision while joining an organization. Recommendations: Query resolution by HR personnel after the selection of the candidate greatly influences his decision to join the organisation. Hence the HR for the respective skill set or any other HR personnel can be given the responsibility of handling queries such as joining formalities, change of candidates information etc. The person can be the SPOC to answer such queries and can redirect the candidates to recruiters of specific skill set. The details of communication (email ID or extn number) of this SPOC can be given to the candidates after the HR interview. This makes the HR easily accessible to the candidate. Interaction with HR after selection as been pointed out to be minimal by responses captured by the open ended questions administered in the questionnaire. This can be improved in tandem with Query Resolution process. Interaction with HR after selection as been pointed out to be minimal by responses captured by the open ended questions administered in the questionnaire. This can be improved in tandem with Query Resolution process.

Overall, since in any recruitment process offer acceptance by the candidate and final decision of candidates to join an organization is as important as selection the right number of candidates, the experience a candidate has based on the four factors realised by this study and the perception of TCS against its major competitors matters. Also, the major competitors of TCS as realised from perception maps are CTS and Infosys followed by Wipro being the minor competitor.

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ANNEXURE I
Questionnaire to capture the perception of TCS Interview Process viz-a-viz other Tier I companies in Chennai

1. Experience (in years) Less than 4 4 to 7 7 to 10 10 to 13 Above 13

2. Source of Job Opening

Job Portals (like naukri.com and monster.com) Placement Vendors I directly applied online through careers.tcs.com Referrals (Friends or Family) Newspaper and print media ads I got a call from TCS HR

3. Skill

4. Current organization: 5. Last Employer (s) 6. Gender Male Female

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: :

7. Rate TCS Process of Interview based on the following attributes. NOTE: 1- high rating, 5- low rating
1 Information regarding provided the pre- Complete Incomplete 2 3 4 5

requisites of interview Time taken for

Registration Time between the call interview interview Communication Venue schedule & and

Quick

Long

actual Sufficient

Insufficient

Interview Effective

Ineffective

Interaction with Panelist

Satisfactory

Not Satisfactory Not Satisfactory Inconvenient/ Not Satisfactory

Interaction with HR

Satisfactory

Seating & Other Infra at Venue

Convenient / Satisfactory

Level

of as

Difficulty against Difficult Easy

Interview

your years of experience Transparent negotiations by HR (i.e. letting me know their limitations when it comes to salary and role negotiations) Satisfactory Not Satisfactory

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Interaction personnel selection Query

with

HR Continuous after /Satisfactor y

Not frequent/ Not Satisfactory

Resolution

by

Personnel after selection Satisfactory until offer Process Co-ordination at venue Over all Experience at Venue

Not Satisfactory

Efficient

Inefficient

Satisfactory

Not Satisfactory

What differentiates TCS Interview Process from the other Tier I Companies (If any) :

Please suggest ideas for improvement/ comments regarding the process of Walk-In (if any):

The above Questions are repeated for five other companies (CTS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Patni)

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ANNEXURE II
Few credible answers to What differentiates TCS Interview Process from the other Tier I Companies (If any): Recruitment process as-such is good. And for me the best thing is the online application to track the application status. Tech, Management & HR interviews happen within 3-4 days which is quicker.'AllTelephonic' method is much easier option here in TCS; I haven't encountered this in any other companies. TCS keeps the candidates informed as to how much more time would it take for his/her turn. If its going to take a long time and if it is close to lunch, recruiters inform the candidates to freshen up or to have lunch and return to the same place in a specific time The HR Negotiations are very upfront and frank though a bit crude at times. It helps unnecessary follow ups The Process Co-ordination is good. But usually takes long due to crowd and less interviewers. HRs at venue are very friendly and help in case of any issues.

Few credible answers to Please suggest ideas for improvement/ comments regarding the process of Walk-In (if any):

I attended my TCS interview at Velachery branch, Chennai and when i came to attend the interview the security personnel didn't allow to part two-wheelers inside the campus and we had to leave the bike somewhere outside in hot sun for about 3-4 hours... Would be happy if this is addressed. I Would prefer face to face interaction with the interviewer than a telephonic process. There is always less satisfaction out of telephonic interview.

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Instead of seating people in the basement car park, they could have provided us with seats inside the building. I think the person who is coming for an interview gets a very bad first impression with the way HR's treat their employees. Infosys is a lot more friendly and I can definitely say that they are more understanding and compassionate. Post interview & selection, the concerned folks are not reachable easily for queries or issues regarding joining; this includes HR too. Was filling up the same form twice after I had filled it up once in online as well. So it was irritating to fill in the same details again and again. Had spent around 45 mins to fill up the online form and i give them my unique number as well but still they ask me to fill the same details again at the venue stating that its a mandatory form.

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REFERENCES

1. Naresh K. Malhotra Satyabhusan dash - Marketing Research an applied orientation Fifth Edition 2. K Aswathappa - Human Resource Management - Fifth Edition 3. John M Ivancevich - Human Resource Management - Tenth Edition 4. Christopher W. Pritchard - 101 Strategies for Recruiting Success Where, When, and How to Find the Right People Every Time

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