Moneyball Moment in HR

HR has traditionally never been associated as a data driven department. We primarily associate it with softer side aspects of managing an organization, be it training, interviewing, employee engagement and talent management. However, this is changing with a more networked society, and transparency of information with employees. The market dynamics is demanding that organizations become agile, nimble and leaner to take on unexpected competitors. This is resulting in decision making moving to the business managers. Traditional tasks normally associated with HR are now business unit leader’s responsibility. This had a ripple effect and freeing up bandwidth in HR departments, and to allow them to shift focus from mundane to strategic interventions.

At the same time with a fast changing economic environment, the demand for data driven decisions has never been higher, especially in areas of nurturing talent, recruitment and training interventions. This has become easier given HR systems integration with rest of the organization. In a highly competitive market environment, it is becoming imperative for organizations to reduce costs and improve the return on investments. This is resulting in a fight for talent which can enable organization to meet and exceed these demanding business goals. There is immense pressure to acquire talent and retain high performing employees.

This is where data analytics in HR can become the differentiator and help organization gain a competitive edge. Using HR data analytics it became aha! moment for an organization, when it realized the best sales personnel were those who resumes were grammatically correct, and not those who went to the best schools, as one of the factors among others.

Talent requirement and availability is disbursed across geographies/countries with corporations going global and truly global operations. Therefore traditional route of sourcing talent might not work in this environment. Plus with a constant need to proactively source right candidates, there is movement away from request to hire and recruit to identify talent and create opportunities within the organization.

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HR Hidden Facts

1)  It Used to All Be Done on One Computer!

Back in the 1980s, the human resource field looked very different. A great deal of the sort of human resource tasks that need to be done were delegated to machines and generally automated. These automated processes were relegated to these giant mainframe computers that sifted through and sorted the staggering streams of data transactions daily. Sometimes most of a company’s human resource management work was done by just one machine! It’s incredible to think how centralized this system used to be.

2)In 2014,The average time spent by recruiters in USA looking at a resume: 5 to 7 seconds,76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address,88% rejection rate when you include a photo on your resume.

3) In USA,18,400,000 applicants found their job on Facebook.

 10,200,000 applicants found their job on LinkedIn.

 89% of recruiters have hired someone through LinkedIn.

 8,000,000 applicants found their job on Twitter.

 93% of recruiters are likely to look at a candidate’s social media profile.

4) What is the best colour to wear for an interview?
Did you know that the best colour to wear when going for an interview is blue? Colour psychologists believe that blue indicates that you are trustworthy, and it also tends to be most people's favourite colour. Grey is also a safe colour as it gives an element of formality, and trustworthiness too. Black is regarded as authoritative, and brown and dark green are both ok, but you can be seen as a bit "alternative”.

5) What is the best time of day to have an interview?
The best time of day to be interviewed, is at the beginning or the end of the day. Interviewers will always remember the first and last people they interviewed, and if you are scheduled for around lunchtime, you will have to work extra hard to keep the interviewer's attention on you!

6) When is the best time of day to ask for a pay rise?
The best time of day to ask your boss for a pay rise is first thing in the morning. Always avoid times when they are hungry or about to leave the office, as you will never grab their attention for very long! The same advice can be extended for asking your boss about anything from holiday requests to a discussion about future promotion in the firm.

7) Yes, You Can Get Hired During a Recession! 52% of organizations that are currently hiring are finding it difficult to fill specific vacancies.

8)24% of organizations have hired workers from overseas for difficult-to-fill jobs, with larger organizations being more likely to do so.

9)39% of organizations have hired U.S. veterans, and a further 15% are planning to do so in the near future. The federal government hires more veterans than any other industry.

10) Only 23% of organizations believe global competition for talent is a threat when it comes to recruiting qualified applicants. Larger organizations report more global competition than smaller organizations.

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HR Puzzle

You have a set of 3 light switches outside a closed door. One of them controls the light inside the room. With the door closed from outside the room, you can turn the light switches on or off as many times as you would like. You can go into the room - one time only - to see the light. You cannot see the whether the light is on or off from outside the room, nor can you change the light switches while inside the room. No one else is in the room to help you. The room has no windows. Based on the information above, how would you determine which of the three light switches controls the light inside the room? Answerfirst any one of the switch and let it be on for 10 min and then close on the another switch and go inside the room if the bulb is lighted then the correct switch is 2 and if the bulb if not lighted but it is hot (feel it by touching) then it is the 1st switch otherwise the 3 rd switch

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Besides salary, what do your employees really want in 2015

As the focus on employee recruitment and retention sharpens in a recovering economy, many executives may be undervaluing a perk their workforce wants most, suggests new research from Accountemps.

When asked which workplace perk they think their employees are most interested in receiving this year, 41% of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said better benefits, and 19% said more vacation days. In a separate survey of workers, however, more paid time off (30%) narrowly edged out better benefits (26%) as most desired in 2015.

The surveys were developed by Accountemps—the world's first specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals—and conducted by an independent research firm. The surveys include responses from more than 2,100 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in more than 20 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas and more than 320 employees age 18 and older who work in an office environment.

CFOs were asked, "Other than additional compensation, which one of the following do you believe would top your employees' wish lists when it comes to their jobs this year?" Their responses:

Better benefit plan, such as enhanced healthcare plan			41%
More vacation days			19%
More scheduling flexibility, such as telecommuting or flexible work hours			15%
More training or professional development opportunities			12%
Other corporate perks, such as on-site meals and amenities, health and wellness, or subsidized transportation			11%
Don't know			2%
			100%

Employees were asked, "Other than additional compensation, which one of the following would top your wish list when it comes to your job this year?" Their responses:

More vacation days			30%
Better benefit plan, such as enhanced healthcare plan			26%
More scheduling flexibility, such as telecommuting or flexible work hours			19%
More training or professional development opportunities			15%
Other corporate perks, such as on-site meals and amenities, health and wellness, or subsidized transportation			9%
			99%

*Responses do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

"You can't underestimate the importance of time away from work," said Bill Driscoll, a district president with Accountemps. He noted companies should encourage staff to take the vacation time they've earned and disconnect while out of the office to relax, recharge, and return with renewed energy. "Managers can set a good example by taking time off themselves and not checking in when they're on vacation," Driscoll said.

Driscoll added there's a potential silver lining to the survey results. "Changing a company's benefits package can be a lengthy, challenging, and expensive process; re-evaluating the vacation policy is fairly straightforward in comparison," Driscoll said. "Offering additional vacation time shows employees you're committed to helping them achieve greater work-life balance."

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Flipkart cuts hiring in bid to reduce costs

Under new chief financial officer Sanjay Baweja, Flipkart Ltd is slashing hiring in all but two functions, increasingly outsourcing order deliveries to logistics companies, improving its supply chain planning and boosting marketplace sales to bring the company’s ballooning costs under control. While Flipkart has emerged as one of the most valuable Internet companies globally, there is growing pressure on the Bengaluru-based e-commerce firm to control costs and show investors that it can generate profits in future. The pressure will only become stronger as Flipkart prepares for an initial public offering (IPO), which is expected some time at the end of 2016, according to investors and analysts. None of India’s e-commerce companies, including Flipkart and Snapdeal, are anywhere near achieving profitability. “As the industry matures we need to show the path to profitability,” Baweja said in an interview. “We’re moving into a cost-containment mode where our fixed costs will become smaller of the overall pie going forward. The aim is to make most of our costs variable so that we spend only as per the volumes or sales we’re generating. Hiring for our corporate functions will need to be much more controlled. We’ll continue to hire aggressively in technology and logistics but we don’t need to add people in functions such as HR (human resources), finance and legal.” Baweja, who is the senior-most executive hired by Flipkart yet, was brought in by the company late last year from Tata Communications Ltd. He is expected to play a key role in preparing Flipkart for its IPO. Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce firm, is growing sales at a rapid pace by spending huge amounts of cash on deep discounts, advertising and adding warehouses. The company’s workforce has more than tripled to roughly 33,000 people over the past year. For the year ended 31 March, 2014 the losses of various Flipkart India entities amounted to Rs.719.5 crore on revenue of Rs.3,035.8 crore, according to data from the Registrar of Companies. These entities reported sales of Rs.1,195.9 crore and losses of Rs.344.6 crore for the year ended 31 March, 2013. Supply chain costs, primarily warehouse management and logistics, are one of Flipkart’s largest expenses. The company has struggled to operate its large logistics network, which includes more than 15,000 employees, in a cost-efficient manner, partly because its focus was toward adding capacity to meet surging demand rather than saving costs. Now, the company is putting greater emphasis on controlling supply chain costs by strictly implementing its business plans by monitoring expenses on a quarterly basis and improving space utilization at its warehouses by increasing use of technology. “If our planning becomes better then capacity utilization of our warehouses will improve and that’s a key part of improving supply chain efficiencies. This includes signing up new warehouses much closer to when we can start using the warehouse. Earlier there were times when we were signing warehouses several months before they started being operational. That will stop,” Baweja said. The company is also increasingly outsourcing its order deliveries to external logistics firms. Currently, a majority of Flipkart’s deliveries are handled by WS Retail Services Pvt. Ltd, which is the company’s largest seller and logistics provider. “We had a relatively transactional approach with third-party logistics partners since we delivered a majority of our orders. But now we’re working much more closer with our third-party logistics partners. We’re going to share our technology with them, give them large volume commitments and enter into much more collaborative partnerships,” Baweja said. Apart from controlling costs, Flipkart is trying to build its high-margin advertising business, with chief executive officer Sachin Bansal taking direct charge of this initiative, Mint reported on 16 February. The company is also increasingly moving toward the marketplace model and has set a target of adding 100,000 sellers in 2015 from 12,000-13,000 currently. Flipkart, which started out by selling products directly to shoppers, moved to a part-marketplace model, where it connects customers with other merchants. The marketplace model burns less cash than direct online retail. To be sure, it’s far from clear if Flipkart’s cost-control and margin-boosting measures will work. The company will need to continue to spend big on hiring thousands of people in the supply chain and adding capacity. It plans to more than double its warehousing capacity over the next year, according to three people familiar with the matter who declined to be named. Since its valuation—estimated at $11-$12 billion—is based almost entirely on its ability to maintain its flying sales growth, Flipkart will also have to continue giving deep discounts and spending large amounts on advertising. “It’s highly doubtful if Flipkart can achieve profitability over the next few years,” an analyst who works with Flipkart said on condition of anonymity. “Discounts, advertising and supply chain account for their largest expenses and if they want to maintain their market share, they will have to continue to spend big on these three. When there is no way you can cut your biggest expenses, how will profits come?”

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Emerging Human Resource Trends in 2015

Human resource trends change just as frequently as fashion (if not more). Because the industry is constantly evolving, regulations regularly adapting, and employees changing as well, small businesses have to be flexible enough to keep up with them. Whether you have a larger human resources department or you are handling all of the HR work yourself, you can get a step ahead by familiarizing yourself with these emerging human resource trends in 2015.

Generation Z Has Arrived

You’ve heard about Generation X and Generation Y, but now you need to know about Generation Z. These individuals were born between 1995 and 2010, and many are likely to be seniors in college by the end of 2015. Generation Z workers will start to enter the workforce as interns and entry-level employees, and they are going to go fast. You may want to get in on the action by snatching up highly talented college seniors before competitors hire them.

Millennials Move Into Leadership Roles

The Millennials will now be moving into leadership positions. According to a study by Elance oDesk, 27 percent of Millennials already work in managerial positions, and in ten years that number will increase to 47 percent. But Millennials may not be adequately trained to handle the tasks. So, if you plan to promote Millennials into higher positions, start training them for their new roles in 2015.

Employees Treasure Honesty Most

Compensation and job security are both very important, but another emerging human resource trend in 2015 will be employees having a sense of loyalty to small businesses that are honest with them. An open-door policy and transparency will keep your employees from jumping ship and moving on to the competition. So, start sharing with your employees, discussing issues with them, and getting their input.

Retention Rates Drop

Due to the generational changes coming in 2015, small businesses will notice that it’s harder to retain their best talent. In fact, it’s estimated that 86 percent of employees will already be looking for a new position while they’re working in their current one. To keep your employees from doing the same, you need to create a culture that allows employees to create friendships, socialize, and feel attached to their job.

Social Media Becomes a Recruitment Medium

In 2014, social media was already becoming popular for recruitment, but this is a human resource trend that will increase in 2015. More small businesses will be using blog posts and social media updates to stand out and help them attract the top talent. In fact, it’s estimated that 58 percent of employees are more likely to apply to a company that uses social media. So, if your small business has yet to create a compelling social media presence, now is the time to do so.

There are many emerging human resource trends predicted for 2015. Most have to do with retention and attracting new talent. As a small business, you can remain competitive in 2015 just by understanding the different generations, working hard to attract the best employees and, of course, keeping your existing ones from searching for a new job.

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Eliminating Performance Appraisals

Should organizations stop doing performance appraisals? The argument in favor of eliminating them is that they frequently do more damage than good. Among the damage that they do, the least troublesome is wasting time, and the most troublesome is the creating conflicts between employees and their supervisors.

There is no doubt that in many organizations appraisals are poorly done, and that they create a number of problems. However, it is important to point out that they exist because of the need to motivate, direct, and improve the performance of individuals and organizations. Those who advocate eliminating performance appraisals don’t disagree with these needs, but they point out that managers can and do this anyway.

It is hard to argue with the point that “good managers” do what a good performance appraisal is supposed to do. The fact that they can and do it supports the argument that appraisals can be eliminated, or at least, radically simplified. The “problem” is that many managers do not manage in ways that make performance appraisals unnecessary. Despite this, some companies have declared that they are performance appraisal-free organizations.

Organizations do not have to make a choice between no performance appraisals and everyone having a performance appraisal. An interesting alternative is to require performance appraisals only where they are necessary.     One approach organizations can take to eliminating unnecessary performance appraisals is to focus on identifying those managers who have the motivation, management skills, and behaviours that make their doing formal performance appraisals unnecessary. In essence, this approach identifies managers who are good managers and leaders and, as a result, do not need to do performance appraisals. They can be certified as not needing to do performance appraisals with their direct reports and their part of the organization can be declared performance appraisal-free.

One needed feature of an appraisal-free approach is a training course for employees about what they should expect from their manager given that there will be no formal performance appraisal. Unfortunately, in most organizations today, employees are not even trained in how they should behave in the performance appraisal. This is one of the many reasons why they are not particularly effective in most organizations.

Of course, even the best performance management system cannot make all managers effective at setting goals, coaching, and giving feedback. The answer for them is not eliminating the appraisal system; it is eliminating them.

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