A report on the HR strategies and

policies of Aditya Birla

Group(UTCL)

Submitted to, Mr Issac Sir (Lr,

Dept of MBA)
Submitted by, Naeema K
(24, s3 MBA)
INTRODUCTION

The importance of Human Resource management is being increasingly

realized in industrial and non-industrial organization both in India and
abroad. The realization has come about because of increasing complexity of
the task of managers and administrators. In most organizations the problems
of getting the competent and relevant people, retaining them, keeping up their
motivation and morale, and helping them to both continuously grow and
contribute their best to the organizations, are now viewed as the most critical
problems.

The study is aimed to cover some knowledge of the HR practices followed in an

organization with reference to Aditya Birla Group.

Aditya Birla Group is India's first truly multinational corporation. The group
has an annual turnover of US$ 24 billion and has over 1,00,000 employees
belonging to over 25 different nationalities on its rolls. Aditya Birla Group has
its presence in 20 countries – India, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines,
Egypt, Canada, Australia, China, USA, UK, Germany, Hungary, Brazil, Italy,
France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Malaysia and Korea. Globally the Aditya
Birla Group is: A metals powerhouse, among the world’s most cost-efficient
aluminium and copper producers. Hindalco, from its fold, is a Fortune 500
Company. It is also the largest aluminium rolling company and one of the 3
biggest producers of primary aluminium in Asia

Ultra Tech Cement: The Groups cement business is under both Grasim and
UltraTech cement. Together the two companies under the group account for a
substantial share of the cement market in India. Now a day the cement division
of the Grasim industries Limited works under the banner of the Ultratech
Cement limited (UTCL).
Ultratech Cement Ltd is having its own vision, mission and values.

Vision of the company:

To be a premium global conglomerate with a clear focus on each business.

Mission of the company:

To deliver superior value to the customers, shareholders, employees and

society at large

Values of the company:

People contribute when they relate to an organization and they relate, when
they understand the organization. People understand an organization through
its values by experiencing the culture that values create and by using the
systems and processes that values define. In large organizations, such shared
understanding cannot be created through leadership of individuals alone; it
requires leadership of principles, of beliefs, of conviction. Integrity,
Commitment, Passion, Seamlessness, Speed; These together constitute what
they call their “Value”.

Organizational Structure (HR)

HR PRACTICES
The success of any business depends as much on appropriate, effective, well-
communicated, HR and business practices as it depends on meeting the
requirements of mandated laws and regulations. In fact, good planning and
the development of effective practices make regulatory compliance much
easier. HR practices helps in increasing the productivity and quality, and to
gain the competitive advantage of a workforce strategically aligned with the
organization’s goals and objectives.

Some of the key performance indicators for Human Resources include:

• Employees’ clarity on HR policies
• Employees’ clarity on roles, responsibilities and expectations
• Development of qualitative staff
• Number of HR issues arising for which there are no clear policies and
guidelines
• Competitiveness of compensation structure relative to industry benchmark
• Usefulness and accuracy of compensation survey
• Lead time to respond to staff welfare issues
• Employees’ assessment of promotion criteria and process (clarity, fairness)
• Measurement of HR policy violation
• Average time required to fill vacancies
• Proportion of training programs resulting in productivity improvement
• Staff attrition rate
• Understanding / Clarity of the Organizational philosophy
Recruitment and Selection:
Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and
stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. Effectively, selection is
'buying' an employee (the price being the wage or salary multiplied by
probable years of service) hence bad buys can be very expensive. The
recruitment process of UTCL Cement Ltd starts from the requirement of
different departments as per to the org chart. Then they tell to the HR
Department. HR Department takes the candidates from Data bank of company,
Poornata etc, then does the short-listing, then does the scheduling for the
interview. After this the selection and negotiation process occurs. Then offer
letter is been given to the selected candidate. The employee then joins in the
organization. Then the company arranges the Induction Program for the
employee. After this the recruitment process ends with this.

The Recruitment Process of UTCL

Performance Management System
It is a structured method of formally and objectively evaluating employees’
performance with respect to their objectives. It addresses the issue of an
employee’s development by providing them with structured and in-depth
analysis of strengths and areas of improvement. It provides with input for
annual increments, training and development. For an organization the aim
should not be just to have the best people, but also to retain them and get best
out of them. Employee Performance management includes planning work and
setting expectations, developing the capacity to perform, continuously
monitoring performance and evaluating it. Most organizations focus on an
annual evaluation process for employees and call that Performance
Management. However, annual evaluations are often subjective and can lack
specific measurements and supportive data to help the employee truly improve
their behavior.

Mainly the performance management of UTCL is done by online system

includes the following basic processes

1. Annual goal setting

2. Mid year review
3. Annual performance review

Annual goal setting:

_ In the month of April/May every year, after the annual planning and
budgeting rounds, all teams identify their KRA’s and goals for the forthcoming
financial year. This process occurs by offline.
_ Then the employees fill their goal setting document in the MIS, listing the
KRA’s, Goals, Measurement Criteria, Assigning weightage and due date for
completion of specific goals as already discussed offline.
_ Then they notify the same to their manager/immediate supervisor and await
approval.
_ The manager recommends any changes if required or else approves the goals
set in the document.
_ The approval of the goals set by the managers completes the goal setting
process.
_ The approved documents will be then available to the employees as well as
their managers for the reference throughout the year. These documents can
also be viewed by manager’s manager (Reviewer) for their indirect
subordinates.

Mid Year Review:

_ Mid year review of goals set at the beginning of the financial year held on
the months of October/November every year.
_ The mid year review generally initiated by the manager.
_ The main focus of the mid year review is to check if the goals set at the
beginning of the year are relevant or if they need to be revised or updated.
_ The mid year review is also an opportunity for the manager and his team
members to identify and discuss about any performance issues and initiate
corrective action for the same.
_ The mid year review does not entail any ratings.

Annual Performance review:

_ The annual performance reviews against goals set and achieved held during
the months of April- May every year.
_ The employee completes his self-review /appraisal against goals set, online in
the MIS and submits the same to his manager for review.
_ The manager then discuss the performance of the employee with him/her
off-line, give him feedback on his performance and capture his own
comments and performance ratings against goals and overall ratings in the
manager’s evaluation form.
_ The manager also discusses the employee’s performance as well as rating
with the manager’s manager (reviewer) and sends the document to the HR
department for further processing
Training and Development

Training refers to the process of imparting specific skills. An employee

undergoing training is presumed to have had some formal education. No
training program is complete without an element of education. Hence we can
say that Training is offered to operatives. Development means those learning
opportunities designed to help employees to grow. Development is not
primarily skills oriented. Instead it provides the general knowledge and
attitudes, which will be helpful to employers in higher positions. Efforts
towards development often depend on personal drive and ambition.
Development activities such as those supplied by management development
programs are generally voluntary in nature. Development provides knowledge
about business environment, management principles and techniques, human
relations, specific industry analysis and the like is useful for better
management of a company. The need for Training and Development is
determined by the employee’s performance deficiency, computed as follows.
Training & Development Need = Standard Performance – Actual Performance

Importance of Training & Development

• Helps remove performance deficiencies in employees
• Greater stability, flexibility and capacity for growth in an organization
• Accidents, scraps and damages to machinery can be avoided
• Serves as effective source of recruitment
• It is an investment in HR with a promise of better returns in future
• Reduces dissatisfaction, absenteeism, complaints and turnover of employees

Training is given on
• Safety aspects
• Behavorial aspects
• Technical aspects
• Communication skills
Identification of Training needs (Methods)

Individual Training Needs Identification

1. Performance Appraisals
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires
4. Attitude Surveys
5. Training Progress Feedback
6. Work Sampling
7. Rating Scales

Group Level Training needs Identification

1. Organizational Goals and Objectives
2. Personnel / Skills Inventories
3. Organizational Climate Indices
4. Efficiency Indices
5. Exit Interviews
6. MBO / Work Planning Systems
7. Quality Circles
8. Customer Satisfaction Survey
9. Analysis of Current and Anticipated Changes
Talent Management
It is a holistic and systematic process, across the group. It is built on the work
done so far on people processes, and has a Talent Identification and Talent
Development Strategy for all the 3 levels of management i.e. Senior, Middle &
Junior Management.

The talent management process includes HR process for

• Recruitment,
• Performance,
• Compensation,
• Succession planning,
• Learning and other capabilities around self-service
• Reporting.

Companies that are engaged in talent management (human capital

management) are strategic and deliberate in how they source, attract, select,
train, develop, promote, and move employees through the organization. This
term also incorporates how companies drive performance at the individual
level (performance management).
Human Resource Information System
POORNATA, an ERP (People soft) implementation of Human Resource practices
has been introduced in UTCL to elevate HR processes to world class levels and
standardize them across Units and Businesses. This has resulted in single
integrated HR-ERP for all management cadre employees of the group. These
automated HR Processes will also aid in faster, efficient, timely and accurate
data availability to Management for decision-making. UTCL’s People Soft
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) enables it to achieve world-class
performance by aligning the right information and resources to strategic
objectives. EPM offers performance management solutions for every budget
and every phase of the management cycle, helping its managers to formulate
strategies for profitable growth, align strategies with operational plans, and
actively monitor day-to-day operations.

Poornata helps a lot in the different works of the organization. It helps in the
following ways
• It helps in entry of all the database of all the employees.
• It reduces time to note all the databases of the employees.
• It reduces different mistakes or errors while maintaining the databases
• It helps in doing performance appraisal of the employees.
• It also helps in doing the data updation of the employees.
• It helps in recruitment and selection of the employees
• It reduces the time of the work
• It also reduces the no of employees for maintaining the database.
• It helps in maintaining the job description of employees.
• It records the compensation details for the employee.

Poornata (ERP) helps UTCL in the following ways

• Poornata helps in performing day to day roles.
• Poornata helps in creating and updating of the positions of the employee
Compensation
It is an outcome of what the Organization would like to pay for, which is
determined by external and internal factors. The company views
compensation not only as something that reflects on the pay slip or in the CTC
(Cost To Company) but also they are concerned about overall employee well
being though they may not put any monetary value on items like Scholarships,
Club membership, Retirement benefit, Health and Accident coverage.

The Group’s approach towards various aspects of compensation focuses on:

• Pay for performance (Variable Pay)
_ Rewards stretch performance which is linked to business, team and
individual results
• Compensation increase
_ Pay for the job
_ Internal equity based on contribution to the organization

Three major terms used in the company’s compensation:

1. Fixed Cost: It is the fixed component of the salary that is committed to an
employee and is paid on monthly / annual basis. This includes base salary, all
perks and reimbursements and retrials such as PF, Gratuity and
Superannuation.
2. Variable Pay: This is the variable component, payout of which is contingent
on Business, Unit/Zone and Individual performance. Targets for the year will
be fixed and communicated at the beginning of every performance year
3. Cost to Company: This is a sum of Fixed Cost and Variable Pay. CTC is
decided based on designation, qualification and experience. Basic is around
42% of fixed cost without housing. Perks and allowances are fixed as per the
designations. Variable pay based on job band is payable at 18%, 15% and 12%
of fixed cost without housing. Balance amount is paid as special allowance.
EXIT INTERVIEWS
An exit interview is simply a conversation between a departing employee (who
is leaving the company either voluntarily or involuntarily) and a
representative from the organization. The interview can follow a structured
format or be conducted on an informal basis; written questionnaires can even
be used in place of a face-to-face meeting. Whichever format is used, exit
interviews are generally documented

The exit interview is an important learning tool for employers. When properly
conducted, the interview provides the employer with the opportunity to:
• Discuss and clarify the reasons for the termination
• Clarify pay and benefits issues (e.g., receipt of the last paycheck, the amount
of unused vacation, conversion or continuation of benefits, terms of a
severance package, unemployment insurance, etc.)
• Explain company policies relating to departing employees (e.g., trade secret
confidentiality, restrictive covenants or non-compete agreements, the
possibility of future re-employment, freelance or contract work, the provision
of references to prospective employers, etc.) Ensure the return of keys, security
cards, and company property
• Obtain information about improper or questionable management practices
connected with the employee's termination
• Obtain information about a supervisor's management skills
• Obtain information about how effectively a department operates
• Obtain feedback about employees' opinions and attitudes about the company
• Resolve or defuse any remaining disputes with the exiting employee
• Protect itself against subsequent charges that the employee was forced to
resign (i.e., constructive discharge)

UTCL is doing this interview. Because it knows “Learn of potential changes in

policies and practices that may make the company more competitive (e.g.,
compensation and benefits packages, flexible work arrangements).
CONCLUSION

Effective and Efficient HR practices are very much important for every
organization. So, UTCL has also its HR Practices, which helps it a lot to achieve
the targets.
Human Resource Management initiatives in any Organization endeavor to
change, redefine, revisit, renew, reinvent, revitalize & restructure the
Organization architecture. This is effectively done with the help of alignment
& integration of HR policies & strategies with business goal & objectives.

All companies are having their HR Practices but the company who is having
the best, is the most successful company among its competitors. So the
company can get success within its competitors by applying best, effective HR
Practices. The best practices in the management of human resources are the
ones which optimize a workforce so that it can not only get work done, but
also ensure a greater level of efficiency, timeliness and quality as it
accomplishes increases productivity overall.

Hence the job of the best practices human resources firm is to make sure that
these benefits and pay scales meet the company’s budget while remaining
attractive and competitive enough to pull in the very best talent possible. We
should know that these figures put the company in a good light while also
presenting themselves as engaging and competitive for company’s recruitment
efforts.

Transparent HR practices ensure continuous business growth in every

organization.
• It gives the suitable working environment to the employees.
• The success of company motivates the employees of organization to
continue relationship with it. For example as all the employees Perks
chart has been mentioned according to their designation in the HR
practices, it helps the employees to know what their perks charts are. So
it creates a transparency
Reference

• www.adityabirla.com
• IBSAR Navi Mumbai
• Wikipedia