IIM Ranchi || Pensol Industries

Ltd

Navigating the
Recruitment and
Selection
Process
Guide for Pensol Industries
Managers/Supervisors

Prepared and Provided by:

IIM RANCHI, Human Resource Management
Students (PGDHRM 2013-15)
ALOK GUPTA (H004/13)
DEVANSHU
WADHAWAN (H009/13) MEGHDOOT MUKHERJEE (H014/13)

NISHIT KUMAR MINZ (H020/13) RUSSELL WARJRI

(H030/13)
SATVIR SINGH (H034/13)
SHAILESH JAYACHANDRAN (H036/13)
SULABH
DAIGAVANE (H041/13)

Acknowledgement
We take the opportunity to express our gratitude to all of them who in
some or other way helped us to accomplish this challenging project on
Recruitment and Selection. No amount of written expression is sufficient
to show my deepest sense of gratitude to them.
Weare extremely thankful and pay our gratitude to our faculty guide Mr
Andrew Dutta for his valuable guidance and support on completion of this
project in its presently.
We are very thankful to Mrs Ruchi Agarwal (HR Manager) for her
everlasting support and guidance on the ground of which we have
acquired a new field of knowledge.
This task would not have been successful without unlimited resources of
our Institute library. Special thanks to Mr Jayanta Tripathy, library incharge of IIM Ranchi.
At last but not the least, gratitude goes to all of our friends who directly or
indirectly helped us to complete this project report.

ALOK GUPTA alok.gupta13h@iimranchi.ac.in

DEVANSHU WADHAWAN devanshu.wadhawan13h@iimranchi.ac.in
MEGHDOOT MUKHERJEE meghdoot.mukherjee13h@iimranchi.ac.in
NISHIT KUMAR MINZnishit.minz13h@iimranchi.ac.in
RUSSELL WARJRI russell.warjri13h@iimranchi.ac.in
SATVIR SINGH satvir.singh13h@iimranchi.ac.in
SHAILESH JAYACHANDRAN shailesh.jayachandran13h@iimranchi.ac.in
SULABH DAIGAVANE sulabh.daigavane13h@iimranchi.ac.in

INTRODUCTION
Recruitment and selection are two of the most important functions of
personnel management. Recruitment precedes selection and helps in
selecting a right candidate. Recruitment is a process to discover the
sources of manpower to meet the requirement of the staffing schedule
and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in
adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of efficient personnel.
Staffing is one basic function of management. All managers have
responsibility of staffing function by selecting the chief executive and
even the foremen and supervisors have a staffing responsibility when they
select the rank and file workers. However, the personnel manager and his
personnel department is mainly concerned with the staffing function.
Every organisation needs to look after recruitment and selection in the
initial period and thereafter as and when additional manpower is required
due to expansion and development of business activities.
Right person for the right job is the basic principle in recruitment and
selection. Every organisation should give attention to the selection of its
manpower, especially its managers. The operative manpower is equally
important and essential for the orderly working of an enterprise.
Every business organisation/unit needs manpower for carrying different
business activities smoothly and efficiently and for this recruitment and
selection

of

suitable

candidates

are

essential.

Human

resource

management in an organisation will not be possible if unsuitable persons

are selected and employment in a business unit.
To carry out a detailed study on the Recruitment and selection of a
company, we selected Pensol Lubricants. Founded in 1972, as a
partnership, and converted into a closely held Public Limited Company in
1995, Pensol Industries Limited, has grown to become one of the largest
independent manufacturers of lubricants in India. Recognized nationwide
for its innovative lubricants and industry related specialty products, Pensol
today boasts of a vast product portfolio manufactured as per the exacting
national and international quality standards of API, JASO, BSI etc.
Why Pensol? Firstly, it is located in the heart of Ranchi which helped the
group to conduct a detailed study about the company. Secondly, Pensol
considers its Human resources to be of core importance for the success of
the company. One of its values states Treating our human resources as
our greatest asset and ensuring that all possible steps are taken to
facilitate the well-being, growth and retention of our huge pool of talented
employees Thirdly, the company was very supportive and professional
when we approached them for this project.

Background of Company
An ISO 9001:2008 certified company, Pensol Industries registered office is
at Mumbai, India along with two regional offices - one in eastern India at
Ranchi (Jharkhand) and second one at Indore (MP). Pensol Industries Ltd
has grown to become one of the largest independent manufacturers of
lubricants in India. At present, Pensol Industries Limited has a wide range
of products, both in Automotive and Industrial lubricants, and is a market
leader in automotive greases in India. With its two state-of-the-art
manufacturing plants in India (Namkum, Jharkhand and Pithampur, M.P.),
the Company has been successful in creating a niche for themselves in
the lubricant segment in India.
Pensol Industries Limited was founded in 1972, as a partnership, and
converted into a closely held Public Limited Company in 1995, it has
grown to become one of the largest independent manufacturers of
lubricants in India. Recognized nationwide for its innovative lubricants and
industry related specialty products, Pensol today boasts of a vast product
portfolio manufactured as per the exacting national and international
quality standards of API, JASO, BSI etc.

Under the able leadership of its founder Mr. C. B. Khemka, Pensol

Industries has witnessed a steady and appreciable growth. During the last
four decades, the company which started out with just one product Monoutility Grease - today boasts of a product mix of more than 150
different lubricants and greases. At present, Pensol Industries Limited has
a wide range of products, both in Automotive and Industrial lubricants,
and is a market leader in automotive greases in India. With its two stateof-the-art manufacturing plants

in India (Namkum, Jharkhand and

Pithampur, M.P.), the Company has been successful in creating a niche for
themselves in the lubricant segment in India.
Since its inception Pensol Industries Limited has formulated and followed
the philosophy of charting its own unique path in the market. At Pensol,
the management is fully aware of the changing markets - the increased
competition and complexities that necessitate a firm resolve towards
ceaseless innovation. It is committed to continuously invest in skills,
technology, facilities and manpower to keep abreast with the latest
changes. Its success is the result of its strategic business alliances with its
agents,

distributors,

business

partners

and

customers.

It

is

also

commitment to provide quality products at competitive price which is one

of the key focus points of our companys philosophy. With more than 40
years of experience, Pensol remains committed in providing high quality
lubricants and services.
The vision of the company is to be the leading lubricants and functional
fluids company with a global market share and offer innovative lubrication
solutions that customers can implicitly trust. It aims to become a leading
lubricants and functional fluids company with a global market share
amongst the top competitors, To achieve its strategic vision and mission,
it focuses on the following core aspect - Human Resources, Customer
Centric Approach, Excellence in Execution, Team Work and Innovation.
As a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Pensol is also deeply
committed to developing a sustainable business environment conducive

for long term growth and prosperity. It proactively seeks out opportunities
to make positive and tangible differences in a variety of ways that are
both directly and indirectly related to its service lines. Pensol has taken
concrete steps to build value for the communities within which it operates.
The company deeply respects its employees and has taken continuous
steps to build value for its stake holders. In addition it proactively seeks
out new solutions and technologies to develop techno-economically viable
and environment-friendly products. In the last 40 years, Pensol Industries
Limited has also supported several community and social initiatives
covering educational, cultural, social and environmental projects across
the nation
Pensol Ranchi circle has set different targets trying to cover the rural as
well as urban market. The products are readily available in the market.
The company is trying to expand and compete in this segment. The
company is not able to market their products in this region because the
sales people who are being hired find difficult to gel in with the culture of
Ranchi. Also branding is very important for a product to be sold. The
people who are hired work for some time and then switch the company or
leave the company due to personal as well as family reasons. People are
not stagnant here. The company hires local people who have idea about
lubricants and also have work experience in these areas. The current
process is not working here because of shortage of manpower. Also the
people who are hired here dont have professional degree. When they are
hired they are given inductiontraining and are given the job role as sales
representatives. The Pensol lubricants in Ranchi lack manpower due to
which the company is not able to hold its place in the market (both rural
and urban).The people who are hired are normally graduates. The person
who does marketing in urban has to also do marketing in the rural areas.
Due to this selling of lubricants is not effective and result oriented and
targets are not reached. The company sets two kinds of targets 1) Yearly
based 2) Target Based. The employee numbers are not much. The number

of people working in eastern region is about 100 and its trying to increase
the number up to 200.

Recruitment and Selection

Practice

Recruitment and selection is an important, time-consuming and expensive

process.

Effective

and

non-discriminatory

selection

of

employees

maximises the companys use of human resources, and reduces the

chance of costly errors. It is essential to good administrative and
educational practice.
Selections to positions within the Company are based on the principles of
appointment on merit and the provision of equal employment opportunity.
The appointment of employees must be made on the basis of the
individual capacity of the person having particular regard to the
knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience and potential for future
development of that person in their employment.
Selection on the basis of merit means that the grounds for the decision
must directly relate to the inherent requirements of the position and
prevents those decisions being made on unjustified discriminatory
grounds such as:

race, colour, national or ethnic origin, nationality

sex or gender, sexual preference, marital status, pregnancy, status

as a parent or a carer
religious or political belief or activity, industrial activity
age, physical features, disability, medical record
personal association with a person who is identified by reference to
any of the listed attributes

You have a vacancy, where do you begin? First, review the job description:
Is it up to date?Does it encompass all of the critical competencies
necessary for the incumbent to perform thejob? Work with CHR
Compensation to get the position classified. Submit the job description
inthe People Admin system for review and classification. Once the job
description has beenreviewed and classified by Compensation, you may
create and enter your requisition in the people admin system to start the
recruitment process.
Pensol Industries ltd Employment Process General Overview

The Organizational structure of Pensol Industries ltd

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The recruitment process marketing and sales executive

essentially tries and answers the following 4 questions.

Who makes a good employee for Pensol company for the position of
marketing and sales executive?

How to get these people to apply?

How to screen these people?

How to select these people?

In order to answer the above questions, HR departments head

starts with the strategic question, What is the objective of
recruitment?
As per the information shared by Mrs Ruchi Agarwal (HR Manager) the
main requirement for the organization is generated from two possible
ways:

If there is a shortage of manpower

If employees are not working properly

Out of these two the main requirement occurs due to the shortage of
man-power. Being a middle level company, attrition rate at the level of
Marketing and sales executives which is an entry level position in this

organization is relatively high. The recruitment process is initiated almost

every quarter. This requirement is analyzed on timely basis and takes
care of the shortage. The company being a middle level company does
not have large number of hierarchies.

The recruitment strategy that the company follows is as

given below.
Requirement assessment and approval: 1st and foremost the
requirements are assessed at the position of marketing and sales
executive. It is done as a joint exercise between marketing & sales head
and the HR head of the company. It is an iterative process.
It involves developing Job description and Job specification.
Since the company is mostly operational in east and south of India as far
after the requirements of marketing and sales are concerned, the job
summary states that executives are required to work in different locations
in east & south understanding market for different lubricants; give
business & statistical insights via reports on lubricant industry, company
products, competition products & future trends on industry & products.
Executives are required to conduct local launch and promotion events.
They are also required to ensure sales of products at the retailer level and
act as a co-ordination point between retailers, wholesalers and regional
office. The job requires them to move around in the field.
The job specification states that executives should be well versed with the
vernaculars of the region located in, must have knowledge of lubricant
industry, market research.
Executives must have skills of writing business reports, communication
etc.
Once the job description and job specifications have been developed, HR
department goes on to revise compensation structure in the light of new
requirements. Once the requirements have been understood, they send it
for the approval from the higher authority or there senior managers. They
wait till the proposal has been approved and then take the next step.

Notification of Job: The job notification is given after the

requirements are approved by the managers. There are mainly two ways
which they use in order to recruit people at the level of marketing and
sales executive

Internal resource or by peer referral

Consulting firms

Since the company has a total strength of 200 employees company does
not get enough candidates from internal referrals. Thus, Consulting firms
are the main source of their recruitment. Since, these firms have a large
database related to people- sales and marketing in lubricant industry, the
company prefers having access to data from these consulting firms as and
when required. In spite of these major recruitment sources, the other way
that they use some times are online portals like naukari.com.
As far as the consulting firms are concerned, they charge 5 to 8.33
percentage of the total of the employee salary.

Filtering: After the notification has been given to the consulting firms
and employees, these consulting firms and employees provide resumes to
the HR department.
The company always demands applications at least 5 times the actual
requirement. Though this number is less than the thumb rule of 7 X actual
requirement but since the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the
job are not very technical or very industry specific, this number has been
giving them satisfactory results.
Out of these submitted applicants the HR filter the application forms
based on the job description and job specification developed before
releasing notification. The company provided in sights in to filtering
criteria that experience, relatively young age knowledge of vernacular is
definitely taken in to account. These applicants are selected on the
following criteria:

At least Experience of 2-3 years in the relevant area

Local language

Should know basics of marketing

Interview: Since it is field job where they take experienced people, test

step of the process is not required to be conducted. After resumes have

been filtered, HR conduct the following two interview:

Telephonic interview

Personal interview

First, the telephonic interview is conducted; it saves time and money for
company. Depending upon their performance of the candidates in the
telephonic round, people are further short listed. The selected people are
called for personal interview.

The company does not have a very long hierarchy, thus the personal
interview are conducted by the senior managers and then candidates are
judge based on the performance on telephonic and personal interview
together because some of them perform well in telephonic interview and
fail to show themselves in the personal interview. Over a period of time,
company has developed an objective marking criteria based on different
parameters. 2 lists are prepared. One of the lists consist of candidates
who have been selected while the other one consists of waitlist
candidates.

Probationary Period: The candidates are given conditional offer

letters subject to successful medical test and other requirements. The
probationary period is of 3/6 months and they are judged for their
performance. If they perform well as per the standards set by the
company then they are declared as regular employees and confirmed.

References

Strategic Staffing by Jean M Philips and Stanley M Gully

http://www.humanresources.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/8918/

rs_guide_prac.pdf
http://www.cipd.co.uk/nr/rdonlyres/01f95685-76c9-4c96-b291-

3d5cd4de1be5/0/9781843982579_sc.pdf
http://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/faccp/files/aglabor/employee_re

cruit.pdf
http://humanresources.nuim.ie/documents/recruitmentandselectionguideli

nes.pdf
http://www.chr.ucla.edu/chr/portaldocs/emp/empdoc-guide-

interviewandselect.pdf
http://www.wnc.ac.uk/Documents/About-Us/Working-Here/Recruitment

%20and%20Selection%20Procedure.pdf
http://www.pensolind.com/