BEST HR PRACTICES Objectives of Dissertation To understand the areas which are mainly focused on best HR practices.

To understand the best practices of organizations in terms of the basic HR functions. To understand what measures should be taken while implementing HR practices. Introduction Any practice that you devise to increase the competence, commitment and improve the culture building can be termed as HR Practice, and this can be in the form of a norm, rule, system, or some practices. Examples: 1- Wishing Employees on their birthday, anniversary, etc., by HR Head 2- Having health facilities / baby-sitting facilities 3- Continuous learning and development oriented PMS system 4- Good Employee Services 5- If employee attends the office on his birthday and the amount will be given as allowance, etc. 6- Some companies have deduction for late coming and some companies view it as an odd practice 7- Company's Internal Magazine covering all the happenings in your company 8- Regular training and development 9- Job rotations / internal department transfer like service employees based on their performance shifted to Research & Development, etc.

There is no single best practice to which all organizations should aspire. Rather, the literature shows that each firm has a distinctive HR system that represents a core competency required for the survival and sustainability for that particular organization. "Best Practices" in HR are subjective and transitory. What is best for one company may not be best for another. What was best last month may not be best for today. The concept of "best" is highly subjective and non-specific. "Best Practice" is not a set of discrete actions but rather a cohesive and holistic approach to organizational management. Best Practices are initiatives taken by HR to: Not only satisfy but delight Create a feel good factor

Give high visibility and focused impact Be unique and relevant Gel with organization culture Provide fresh / creative way to accomplish a task Influencing Factors Some factors which constitute best practices in HR are: Communication Continuous Improvement Risk Taking Recognition Work-life Balance Culture Consciousness Recruitment Training & Development Communication The "best practice" companies have the most intense communications which are broad-based, continuous and involve multi-directional employee contact. Communications with employees is "a given", and is formal, focused and ongoing responsibility. Communications are not done as an "extra". 1. "Talk of the Week" where all the employers are asked to participate and give there word and opinion about their superiors helping to bridge the gap. 2. "Taking a Step Ahead" is Round Table Initiative followed by GSK Group to empower the employees. Continuous Improvement The best companies are never satisfied. They focus not only getting it right but doing it better. They are intensely dependent on feedback from all sources as the prime basis of their continuous improvement philosophy. 1. "Dosti" Counseling Facility, where trained counselor offer free and confidential advice on any issue under the sun - from work related stress to marital discord adopted by Texas Instruments.

2. Les Concierges Service - Outsourcing chores like paying bills, booking tickets and buying vegetables followed by Johnson & Johnson. 3. Breakfast with Department Head in groups of 10 adopted by GSK. 4. Cashless Hospital Scheme for employees & their families by Johnson & Johnson. Risk Taking The best companies have leaders who possess courage to make the hard decisions and carry them out. 1. People like Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, is known as "Neutron Jack" for his massive shake-ups at GE. These people are not afraid to go face-to-face with people - internal customers included - to discuss issues they feel need to be addressed. Recognition 1. On-the-spot Recognition followed by Shoppers' Stop where all employers are recognized on there contribution and talent they exhibit. For every contribution, they are given stars making people feel Stars. 2. Special Awards like "Helping Hand", "First Mover", And Quarterly Rewards and appreciation are some of the initiatives taken by many companies. Work Life Balance 1. An initiative taken by GSK that every employee can walk out of the office at 6.00 p.m. helping them to balance both professional and personal life. 2. Quarterly Star Performers awarded with packages like Dinner-with-Family, Stay-over-the-Weekend birthday at Hewitt. Culture Consciousness The best companies are all sharply focused on their culture and are conscious of how culture shapes systems and behaviours. The best example for that is an initiative Fun @ Work Cadbury Annual Theme identified, being a reflection of company's corporate goals. Celebration Calendar built around the theme is to ensure at least one event per month. at Five Star Hotels by Hewitt Packard. 3. Spouses invited to give a pleasant surprise to employees on anniversary and

1. On Company Day, employees are encouraged to interact with consumers and bring back new ideas. 2. Worm controversy overcomes through 'Delivering Smiles'. 3. Specific days like Traditional Day, etc., introduced. Recruitment 1. 2. "Interview Employee over a Meal" Referral Creating comfort Scheme. level. Life.

3. Congratulating Parents on final selection of a candidate adopted by Max Newyork 4. Job openings are posted internally and anybody can apply for an opening two levels above his current designation, an initiative taken by BSL, are some of the best HR practices in recruitment This project report deals with studying the Best HR Practices in the basic HR functions which include: Training & Development Performance Management Compensation & Benefits Employee Relations Recruitment & Selection

The Motorola Career Planning Information on CD-ROM - Corporate HR is designing a multimedia application that runs on desk top computer CD-ROM drives, intranets. The application will present Motorolans with career planning information and tools that will help them define, plan and achieve their career goals. HR 2000 Programme HR 2000 Programme - With the emerging globalization trend, Motorola has designed a common program for all its diverse business locations. All the participants undergo rigorous training programs as follows: An intensive 3-week orientation to Motorola culture, values, goals and initiatives. An 18-month training program consisting of at least 3 rotations in at least 3 different sectors. Functional training in at least 3 or more of HR areas. Quarterly training and debriefing sessions.

Final placement in the specific business and position in the candidate's country or region or region of origin. The HR 2000 training structure enables Motorola to position multi-skilled, capable human resources management candidates within growing markets, thus, significantly expanding the company's worldwide sphere of influence. As a global corporation, it is critical for Motorola to learn a global approach top management. Through this innovative program, Motorola heads for the future armed with HR leaders trained to handle the myriad challenges of a global marketplace. Infosys Training at Infosys was an ongoing process. When new recruits from colleges joined Infosys, they were trained through fresher training courses. They were trained then on new processes and technologies. As they reached the higher levels, they were trained on project management and later were sent for management development programs, followed by leadership development programs. Training New Recruits Infosys conducted a 14.5 week technical training program for all new entrants. The company spent around Rs. 200,000 per year on training each new entrant. The new recruits were trained at the Global Education Center (GEC) in Mysore, which had world class training facilities and the capacity to train more than 4500 employees at a time. GEC, which was inaugurated in February 2005, was spread over 270 acres and was the largest corporate training center in the world with 58 training rooms and 183 faculty rooms. Training Programs for Employees Infosys also conducted training programs for experienced employees. The company had a competency system in place which took into account individual performance, organizational priorities, and feedback from the clients. Performance Management System Infosys

The first step toward carrying out performance appraisal at Infosys was the evaluation of personal skills for the tasks assigned to an employee during the period of appraisal. To evaluate the performance, different criteria like timeliness, quality of work carried out by the employee, customer satisfaction, peer satisfaction, and business potential, were considered. The personal skills of the employees were also evaluated based on their learning and analytical ability, communication skills, decision making, change management, and planning and organizing skills. Each of these criteria was measured on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 signifying above the expected performance level and 5 below the expected performance level). 360-Degree Feedback: The employees also look at aspects of the managers' performance, strategic vision, ability to communicate, problem-solving skills, responsiveness. The results of the survey (the rankings and comments) are then aggregated and published online for everyone to see. Recognition for Adding Value: 'What gets measured gets reviewed and what gets reviewed gets improved' is what the company believes in and rewards each employee whose innovation is lauded by the customer. Employee-Management Interface: It reduces the gap between the manager and the employee. Direct Q&A link with the President himself, who is to respond within a given time-frame. Focus on Learning: A lot of investment in employee-focused resources (eLearning) and creating libraries for employees, holding workshops. All employees are eligible for ESOPs after one year of joining. Innovation: To innovate and nurture your own business ideas by getting support and guidance from the company itself. Innovate@HCL is one such e-forum that enables employee involvement and participation towards innovations in their work environment and beyond. Business Continuity Plan: The company's comprehensive succession plan ensures continuity in the event of an employee-related contingency. Training Programs for Employees Infosys also conducted training programs for experienced employees. The company had a competency system in place which took into account individual performance, organizational priorities, and feedback from the clients.

Employee Engagement: Some of the new initiatives include My Pal, Three Cheers, Wellness Programme, Little Mindian and Bring a Smile Programme while some of the existing ones are preventive health check-ups, yoga classes and employee relief fund. Online Learning Programmes like Enable@HCL, TechForum, e-Kaksh, and iLearn complement classroom training. Then, there is the "Learn from Leaders" Programme where senior managers impart valuable lessons to employees. HCL Comet Job Rotation: Encouraging job rotation every 18-24 months to give exposure, experience, try to do away with monotony and encourage cross-functional movements. The Smart Service Desk (SSD) is an automated trouble ticketing tool for employees to raise online tickets related to their transactional issues with HR, Finance, IT Team, etc. Besides, the company has a 360-degree performance evaluation process that focuses on self-determination and self-assessment, while "I4Excel" allows employees to do their own self evaluation. MyXtraMiles is a loyalty point system that gives 'mileage' to employees who receive appreciation from any of the following four sources: peers, subordinates, managers and customers. The points can be redeemed for attractive gifts, including trips abroad. The EHD Team comprising HR and finance professionals aids the employees in solving their day-to-day transactional needs. Its mascot 'Natasha' is positioned as the employees' personal assistant for policy and information dissemination, and communicates with them on a much personal level. The employees are encouraged to post their feedback and suggestions on company issues on its sub-portal iGen, while through the 'U&I' feature they can get their queries answered directly by the CEO. Work-life Balance: Organize games, birthdays and achiever parties. Besides, it has started a club for the employee's children called the 'Little Comnetians Club', wherein regular events are held for them.

Awards: The company has various recognition-led-incentive programmes / awards like WYGIWYG Certificates and COO's Party Vouchers. Each year, the employee who has been a consistent star performer, is honoured with the 'Top Gun' award at the company's annual function. Employees who refer their friends and acquaintances are given financial incentives, and an annual award called the 'Top Gun Comnet Builder' for providing Google Performance Management Rigorous recruitment policy sets Google apart from other organisations, as talented staff are not a small percentage with special development needs to those of most employees. "Everybody is deemed high potential," Hornsey (HR Director) says. "We hire 100 percent high potential people." This means that if an employee is failing to meet the expected standards, it must be due to the organisation rather than the individual. "We do not sack people. If an individual fails, we see it as our fault," Hornsey adds. For this reason, Google uses the GE Model, but doesn't have a 'C' rating. "If they're failing, it's our fault," she stresses. Employees' work structure follows a '70/20/10' Model, an arrangement which is important to anyone who works there. This refers to a breakdown of the working week: 70 percent of the employee's time should be spent on the business, fulfilling the job role which, incidentally, is very clearly defined - providing absolute clarity about the job description is essential as 'good people only fail if they do not know their role'. Ten percent of the schedule is time to do 'whatever the employee wants' - time for innovation and creativity, freedom to think. 20 percent of the time - or one day out of every week 'personal work' - a period spent on personal development which will ultimately benefit the company. "Staff can work on whatever they want to work on, as long as it's in line with the mission of Google." Employee Benefits the highest number of references.

One solution that provides an affirmative defense against potential fines, fees, and lawsuits is to offer some sort of identity theft protection as an employee benefit. An employer can choose whether or not to pay for this benefit. The key is to make the protection available, and have a mandatory employee meeting on identitying theft and the protection you are making available, similar to what most employers do for health insurance. Accenture All Accenture employees have career counsellors, typically two levels above them in the hierarchy, who are given a budget and specific time to mould the career of their wards.

It has a Cross Entity Leadership Program to allow people to switch between businesses, and all openings are posted on internal portals. It allows employees to work from home and also work part time. It has set up an Inhouse Event Management arm and employees who take part in clubs and special interest groups are expected to conceive and run programmes for each of these initiatives, ranging from sports to corporate social responsibility. Empowered Employees: Employees at relatively junior levels are empowered to take decisions and managers running even 100-person units are allocated budgets to run their businesses. Education Initiatives: There's a massive focus on education and training with 16,000 online courses for employees across all levels. It offers courses in association with the likes of MIT to upgrade employee skills. Career Mobility: Employees are allowed to make their own career choices; there is no compulsion to choose the orthodox vertical approach. Marriott Hotels India All associates, right from the senior management to the junior most, are equally divided into four houses: Elephant, Lotus, Peacock and Banyan. Each house has an activity every month, through the year, around areas such as leadership and

training. Competitions are also held through the year, which enable associates earn rewards and points for their house. Two-way Communication: For new entrants, there is an event called 'Koffee with the GM' to interact with the GM and share their views over a cup of coffee. For employees too shy to talk, there is the option of anonymously calling up the Integrity Hotline, a 24X7 toll free number. Employee Benefit Initiatives: Employees are given six offs in a month and financial support for higher education. Each and every employee on their birthday can stay in the hotel for one day with their spouse or family and can dine anywhere. Knowledge Initiatives: Every Marriott Hotel has a learning centre that has a collection of books and videos, along with an internet connection. Defined Span-of-Leadership: There is a Leadership Performance Process Management System which defines nine competencies which a Marriott associate should have and develop.

Reward System: There are two kinds of awards for individuals or groups to recognise outstanding performance. Each Marriott Hotel in India has its own awards. This is apart from an overall event involving all Marriott properties globally. 8. Recruitment In a tight labor market, attracting and retaining top talent requires a thoroughly thought out hiring strategy that is tailored to the individual characteristics and needs of your company. Hiring should not be an issue that you think about only on the day that an employee gives notice and you are faced with the immediate need to fill his or her position. Google

"The main goal is to hire the right people," company's HR Director, Liane Hornsey, says. "Never make do with someone because you're desperate - only hire the best." With this strategy, Google's recruitment process is certainly thorough - given that applicants face a minimum of four interviews and agreement must be unanimous amongst everyone who has interviewed the candidate. Senior staff spends 30 percent of their time on recruitment and the company employs 300 people specifically to focus on hiring the best candidates. If surviving four interviews and gaining the approval of every employee and even after the candidate has successfully negotiated the series of interviews, there's a final hurdle. After Hornsey has approved the new recruit, the form is sent to the company's co-founder, Larry Page. Google aims to make new recruits feel valued and this begins from the moment the candidate is hired. As soon as the contract is sent, the company sends the employee a present to welcome them to make them feel special. If the employee is still at university, they receive a gift every two weeks until they start work. On their first day, their desk is filled with Google paraphernalia, including balloons which identify the recruit as new and encourages other staff to talk to them. Even better if as a Google employee, you recommended the successful recruit. If you believe your current employees are great, the best way to find more great staff is through referral programmes. The company gives the employee 3000 pounds if the person that has been recommended is recruited. Texas Instruments Measuring Your Recruiting Success Measuring the results of recruiting efforts is the best way to determine the success of a recruiting program, according to Texas Instruments (TI). Not only does the company track traditional measures, such as hiring cycle time and costto-hire, to ensure productivity, it also uses a quality-of-hire metric to determine whether it's getting the right talent for the right job.

Four months after an employee is hired at Texas Instruments, his/her manager are asked to rate the employee (as part of a survey) on whether the person is "meeting", "not meeting", or "exceeding" the manager's expectations. Currently, TI managers report that 97 percent of their new hires are exceeding expectations. New employees are also surveyed to see if the job they are performing is what they had expected. Texas Instruments Recruiting Strategy After extensive research and planning, the TI staffing organization identified five major processes for its recruiting strategy: People Planning - HR partners with Finance at a business-group level to evaluate how many and what type of positions will need to be filled in a given time frame (typically four quarters out) and to ensure that the business group's financial plan will support its hiring plan. Developing Performance Profiles - These extensive versions of job descriptions focus not just on what the job entails, but also on what needs to be accomplished by a person in that position, and what the job expectations are. Centralized Sourcing - The HR team at TI's Dallas Headquarters is constantly on the look-out for new talent. The team partners with search firms to keep the talent pipeline moving. TI also relies heavily on its employee referral program, and it pays a cash incentive to employees upon hire of their referral. Approximately 50 percent of hires are referred by employees. Business-specific Recruiting - TI has recruiters dedicated to each of its major businesses in the United States. These recruiters work directly with hiring managers to land the candidates.

Assessment & Selection - The company uses team-based interviews to select the best job candidates. Interviewers ask both behavioral questions (e.g., how the candidate would approach something from an interpersonal communications perspective) and technical questions (e.g., how he or she would solve a technology or process issue. Some of the Best Retention Strategies

Retention: Top Concern of HR Professionals Once an employer has hired a quality employee, nearly half of 1,000 HR professionals report that retaining workers is their biggest concern regarding 'the bottom-line profitability' of their company, according to a survey by Express Personnel Services, 22 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007. Why are the great employees leaving? Seventy-one percent of top-performing employees say pay is one of the top three reasons they would leave an organization, but only 45 percent of employers cite pay as a top retention issue, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and WorldatWork. What do employers believe? Employers were more likely to cite promotion opportunities (68 percent) and career development (66 percent) as one of the top three reasons top-performing employees leave. Bonuses Gaining Popularity for Retention While base-pay increases remain modest, employers are increasingly relying on bonuses for attracting, motivating, and retaining talent, according to a survey by Hewitt Associates. 80 percent of respondents to Hewitt's survey of 1,028 large organizations offer at least one type of broad-based variable pay plan, up from 51 percent in 1991. 63 percent of respondents offer special recognition awards, which acknowledge individual or group achievements with small cash awards or merchandise. 62 percent of respondents offer business incentives, the same percentage of companies that said they offer signing bonuses. 44 percent of the companies offer individual performance awards, the same percentage of companies that said they offer nonexecutive equity awards. 35 percent of companies said they offer retention bonuses. Competitive Benefits Crucial for Retention In order to combat the loss of employees, employers must focus on meaningful, competitive benefits that make employees want to stay for more.

Just offering competitive benefits is not enough for employers that are aiming to retain talented employees. Employers must also communicate with employees, showing them the value of those benefits and the company that provides them to the individual. Many employees have no concept of what employers are paying in terms of employee benefits and healthcare costs. In order to effectively communicate the value of those benefits, employers should use benefits "report cards" or other type of benefits summary. Aside from the many types of cafeteria health plans employers can offer in order to be competitive (including Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts), employers can also offer wellness programs (physicals, periodic health assessments, tobacco cessation, obesity programs, etc.), recognition through rewards and incentives, professional development and training, coverage of employees' job-related moving expenses, and much more. No-cost rewards such as offering flextime or job-share programs are another way to treat employees in a way that make them feel valuable. Train Bad Managers to Boost Retention It is often said that "people quit managers, not companies." In order to combat the loss of employees caused by bad managers, employers must enact long-term, sustainable, behavioral change in those managers. An employee's relationship with his or her immediate supervisor is the #1 determining factors of whether the employee will stay and how productive he or she will be. When a company learns that employee morale is low, the first reaction is often to conduct leadership training among managers. While this is a good first step, often the training simply isn't adequate. There is usually not enough opportunity for managers to practice the skills they've learned, and once they are thrown back into the "real world" of their jobs, they will instinctively react the way they always have rather than implement newly learned leadership skills. Another component to successful behavioral change is to hold the manager accountable for the success of the training. If participants know that they are going to be held accountable, they don't treat training as "a day off" from work, but are instead highly motivated to acquire and use the skills taught.

Recognition Lets Employees Achieve, Excel Employee recognition and a competitive benefits program are important to the success of any organization. However, those characteristics don't mean much unless the leadership has developed an operational structure that challenges and supports employees to be the best they can be at their work. At Medical City Dallas (MCD), a 660-bed acute-care facility that is the flagship hospital of the HCA North Texas healthcare system. Measures Taken While Implementing Best HR Practices When implementing HR practices and policies, managers should note that HR practices: Cannot be 'copied' from one organization to another. A set of complementary HR practices that have produced increases in productivity, improved quality of service, and given the firm a competitive advantage, will not necessarily produce the same, or even similar results in another organization, or part of an organization, operating in the same industry. Must be implemented with regard to the organizational context of a particular firm. Priorities for implementing particular sets or bundles of HR practices will vary between firms operating in similar markets in the same industry. Are more effective, and can produce a synergistic effect, if they are complementary to each other. For example, self-managed teams being introduced at the same time as team-based or group compensation incentives contingent on organizational performance. Must be congruent to the long-term strategic objectives and mission statement of the organization, if they are to yield returns through increased productivity and ultimately improved customer service. If this congruency is absent, then organizational dysfunctions will result and the attempt to introduce progressive HR practices will rapidly lose credibility among the firm's employees.

Require significant planning, resources and effort. The participation, involvement and commitment of all the firm's employees and their unions have to be secured. This requires leadership and a cohesive management team over the long-term. Necessitate that people who are expected to assist with the implementation of the new HR practices must be consulted and be a part of the planning, development and implementation processes right from the start. May not be successfully implemented without significant changes in the structure and culture if the structure of an organization is highly hierarchical with an accompanying bureaucratic culture. Such changes would most likely involve significant management changes and a move to a leadership style more conducive to participation. Will be of little benefit to an organization unless the appropriate infrastructure and supporting mechanisms are in place. There must be an effective management system to support long-term productivity improvements. Policies and training have to be aligned with HR practices. If the practices are not supported by appropriate policies, then employees will become confused and disillusioned with the implementation of HR practices. Must be broadly complementary to HR policies linked to 'high-involvement work practices' and are, thus, relevant to explaining the variation in the diffusion of such practices. Changes in these work practices are more difficult to carry out than changes in the complementary set of HR policies because they are more intricately bound up with the core business processes and requirements of the organization. Should be supported by the organization's leader(s) who have earned the respect of the employees. If employee respect for the CEO is lacking, then his/her endorsement will 'count for little' and could even be viewed by employees in a negative light if the CEO has been conspicuously absent during the important initial development stages of new HR policies and practices.

Conclusion

The indicator to best HR practices is the long-lasting relationship with employees. At the core of this solid foundation lie various HR initiatives, which are rolled out for employees. Policies should be geared towards the future. Organizations need to match HR policies and practices with long-term business strategies required to compete in the global market place, and generate employee commitment and retention over the long-term. HR practices are required that are incremental and collaborative and provide the opportunity to employees to make decisions affecting their work and to share in the rewards of their creative efforts. Therefore, if HR policy is to contribute to the organization's bottom line, areas such as recruitment, selection, training, development and performance appraisal should be consistent, integrated and strategically focused. Bibliography www.citehr.com www.hrfolks.com www.hr@hyderabad.com www.motorola.com www.google.com www.hclcomet.com www.marriothotels.com www.infosys.com IJTD (International Journal for Training and Development) HR Daily Advisor - BLR