TiE-NHRDN HR Summit2010- Flavors of People Practices

Recently attended the NHRDN HR Summit-2010 in Delhi. It was indeed a pleasure being the audience to the distinguished and accomplished panel of professionals. The discussion on 'Strategic role of HR - Linking HR to business strategy' was an indicator of the way HR practice and perception is changing in Indian context as well.

Though there is lot happening on the HR perspective globally (read in west) in India, we are still struggling to make the HR establish as a key organizational stakeholder rather than a side support function. The HR role is undergoing a lot of transition, good to see that there are people daring to set trends. It was visible when Saagarika Rai, Reliance Big Entertainment, shared her experience on how she implemented the practice of office timing at her end! In her own words

"I started with the simple practice that people need to leave for their home by 6:00 pm. This took me a lot of effort. I started plugging off the laptops of senior management and even told them that I will call their wives if they don't leave for home."

The fact was interesting but was indicative of the kind of strong will it takes to initiate a practice from the HR perspective. Even if you have all the data to support your initiative, the way Saagarika had, conviction in the initiative is something that created the actual magic. She added-

"After some time when I kept plugging the laptops of the senior management, I saw that the entire team started waiting for me to come and plug off the power!"

So it was not that everyday you have that much of work to do, most of the people stay because their boss stays, and this becomes a trend. When you have all the time in the world to complete a task, your mind starts planning for it in the same way.

The power of conviction is the key for the success of the HR practices. To know this that people should have a balance of work and family life and if they don't need to slog if not needed, you don't need to go for a survey by Hewitt! It is quite a common sense.

HR is more about people and for most of the thing that people like, a sensitive approach and power of conviction is needed, more than the theoretical consulting.

Pay them to Quit! Recognise them to Stay!

It is amazing place out there! Pure common sense applied with lot of zeal and pure conviction leading to fantastic organizations results.

I was reading Bill Taylor's article on one of the Harward Business Review blogs and liked this story. The story is about the daring approach of a company that might defy several set patterns of business and force the management gurus to put new management theories!

Lot of things is talked about recruiting and retaining talent in the challenging marketplace. One maverick practice established by a company named Zappos is certainly something that should be discussed in detail, if not practiced immediately. This is about just one small practice that offers big lessons for leaders who are serious about changing the game in their field--and filling their organization with people who are just as committed as they are.

Zappos sells shoes (now they have other items as well) over the Internet. With a business over $1 billion, the company has shown a jump of 15 times in just 5 years!

They have best of the warehouse facility to serve the customers in a day's notice, a hassle free 365 days return policy with no strings attached, best of the customer care infrastructure to offer best value proposition. But the fanatical approach of the company to AMAZE their customers is what creates the Emotional Connection with them. The customer care doesn't work on any script, no talk time limit, no mechanical discussion, they do what makes the customer happy. It is impromptu! Huge number of 1700+ employees of the company is the power users of Twitter. All of them act as brand ambassador of the company – in literal sense. How could this be possible?

How could they find such great workforce? Here is the magic. All Zappos new hires undergo a 4 week training period that immerses them in the company's strategy, culture, and obsession with customers. People get paid their full salary for this.

After a week or so in this immersive experience, though, it's time for what Zappos calls "The Offer." The fast-growing company, which works hard to recruit people to join, says to its newest employees: "If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you've worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus." Zappos actually bribes its new employees to quit!

Why? Because if you're willing to take the company up on The Offer, you obviously don't have the sense of commitment they are looking for. It's hard to describe the level of energy in the Zappos culture--which means, by definition, it's not for everybody. Zappos wants to learn if there's a bad fit between what makes the organization tick and what makes individual employees tick--and it's willing to pay to learn sooner rather than later. (About ten percent of new call-center employees take the money and run.)

It's a small practice with big implications: Companies don't engage emotionally with their customers--people do. A great company is made of great people. Great people fitted in all the parts of the pyramid. How the HR managers make sure that the Right people are in the organization? How much are you willing to pay to find this out? Moreover are you ready for it?