EMERGING MARKETING PRACTICES & TECHNIQUES OF LIC

Introduction to LIC

Life Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1st September, 1956, with the objective of spreading life insurance much more widely and in particular to the rural areas with a view to reach all insurable persons in the country, providing them adequate financial cover at a reasonable cost. LIC had 5 zonal offices, 33 divisional offices and 212 branch offices, apart from its corporate office in the year 1956. Since life insurance contracts are long term contracts and during the currency of the policy it requires a variety of services need was felt in the later years to expand the operations and place a branch office at each district headquarter. Re- organization of LIC took place and large numbers of new branch offices were opened. As a result of re-organization servicing functions were transferred to the branches, and branches were made accounting units. It worked wonders with the performance of the corporation. It may be seen that from about 200.00 crores of New Business in 1957 the corporation crossed 1000.00 crores only in the year 1969-70, and it took another 10 years for LIC to cross 2000.00 crore mark of new business. But with re-organisation happening in the early eighties, by 1985-86 LIC had already crossed 7000.00 crore Sum Assured on new policies.

Today LIC functions with 2048 fully computerized branch offices, 100 divisional offices, 7 zonal offices and the Corporate office. LIC’s Wide Area Network covers 100 divisional offices and connects all the branches through a Metro Area Network. LIC has tied up with some Banks and Service providers to offer on-line premium collection facility in selected cities. LIC’s ECS and ATM premium payment facility is an addition to customer convenience. Apart from on-line Kiosks and IVRS, Info Centres have been commissioned at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune and many other cities. With a vision of providing easy access to its policyholders, LIC has launched its SATELLITE SAMPARK offices. The satellite offices are smaller, leaner and closer to the customer. The digitalized records of the satellite offices will facilitate anywhere servicing and many other conveniences in the future.

LIC continues to be the dominant life insurer even in the liberalized scenario of Indian insurance and is moving fast on a new growth trajectory surpassing its own past records. LIC has issued over one crore policies during the current year. It has crossed the milestone of issuing 1,01,32,955 new policies by 15th Oct, 2005, posting a healthy growth rate of 16.67% over the corresponding period of the previous year.

From then to now, LIC has crossed many milestones and has set unprecedented performance records in various aspects of life insurance business. The same motives which inspired our forefathers to bring insurance into existence in this country inspire us at LIC to take this message of protection to light the lamps of security in as many homes as possible and to help the people in providing security to their families

Life Insurance Corporation of India is a wholly owned undertaking of the Government of India.

Life Insurance Corporation of India was established by an Act of Parliament on 1st September, 1956. Its Central Office is located in Mumbai. It also has seven zonal offices each located in Mumbai(Western Zone), New Delhi (Northern Zone), Kanpur (North-Central Zone), Bhopal (Central Zone), Chennai (Southern Zone), Hyderabad(South-Central Zone), and  Kolkotta (Eastern Zone).

It has a network of over 2000(2048) branches and more than nine lakh agents.

Over 47 years, LIC has become a household name for providing security for a lifetime and is synonymous to life insurance in India.

LIC ranks No.1 in the list of top 500 companies on the basis of Net Worth(Rs. 15, 47, 951 million) as well as Net Profit(2,66,277 million)- Dun & Bradstreet (India 500)

Mission
"Explore and enhance the quality of life of people through financial security by providing products and services of aspired attributes with competitive returns, and by rendering resources for economic development."

Vision
"A trans-nationally competitive financial conglomerate of significance to societies and Pride of India."

 Goals

·          Promote within the Corporation greater awareness of the changing environment and the need to align the corporate policy to the emerging situation.

·          Help fashioning, within the constraints, its policies, programmes, practices and products to meet the expectations of the Public. Help the public to appreciate the performance and the limitations of LIC.

Product Offered By LIC

Insurance Plan

As individuals it is inherent to differ. Each individual’s insurance needs and requirements are different from that of the others. LIC insurance plans are policies that talk to you individually and give you the most suitable option that can fit customer requirements.

Children plan

·         Komal Jeevan - Plan No. 159

·         Children Deferred - Plan no.41

·         Jeevan Kishore - Plan no.102

·         Jeevan Chhaya - Plan no.103

·         Marriage Endowment/Educational Annuity - Plan No. 90

·         Jeevan Anurag - Plan no.168

Endowment Policy

·         Endowment with Profits - Plan no.14 Limited Payment Endowment with Profits - Plan no.48

·         Jeevan Mitra - Plan no.88

Group Insurance Policy

Group Insurance Scheme is life insurance protection to groups of people. This scheme is ideal for employers, associations, societies etc. and allows you to enjoy group benefits at really low costs.

·         Janashree Bima Yojana

·         Group Insurance Scheme in lieu of EDLI

·         Group (Term) Insurance Scheme

·         Group Savings Linked Insurance Scheme

Group Superannuation Scheme
Group Mortgage Redemption Assurance Scheme

Joint Life Policy

·          Jeevan Saathi - Plan no.89

Money Back Policy

·           Money Back with Profit - Plan no.75

·           New Money Back - Plan no.93

RECENT INNOVATION STARTEGY FOR ENHANCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BY LIC

LIC has realised the importance of personal involvement and has included it in the training program itself. Once the Agent is recruited he needs to undergo a compulsory training program designed by LIC. The Training Program also explains them the importance of the smallest of the customer .i.e. customer who is just seeking general information.  The Agents and Employees are trained to Apologise to its customers even if they are not at fault.  

“SO IT DOSENT TAKE MUCH OF TIME FOR THE HANDS OF THE LIC LOGO TO COME CLOSER FOR APOLOGY”

                   

, LIC has established elaborate Grievance Redressal Machinery at different level as per the customer requirement. There are Complaint cells which are specially set up to listen up to each and every customer’s problems. LIC gas also set up Policyholder Councils and Zonal Advisory Boards to understand the problems of their customer situated in any part of the city.

Offers a Fair Fix to Problem:

Customers want wrong to be set right and expects service contact employee to be skilled, empowered and interested in setting things right.

This is the main reason why LIC conducts training programs for the newly recruited Agents as well as the other Employees. In any kind of breakdown situations LIC try to offer a rational explanation and demonstrate sensitivity and concern to the customer rather than defending themselves.

Offers Some Compensation for the Inconvenience:

Compensation here wouldn’t mean of just monetary compensation or some extreme measures like firing the Branch Manager Etc; but it is just to make-up for the loss of customer satisfaction. It could be like “it’s on us”; “free service” etc. The service provider should plan certain compensation policies in advance for various types of situations and deliver it as and when the situation is faced.

Keep the Promises: 

It basically means that the Company should keep the promises made to the Customer before or at the time of service provision i.e. the Company should fulfill its commitments.

LIC makes sure that none of the Agents provide any kind of wrong information or false promises to its customers which mislead them. LIC ask their Agents to give reasonable commitments so that they could be fulfilled by the Company or the Agent on behalf of the Company. 

Follow Up:

This is the most important step in Service Recovery as it ensures that whether the implemented Service Recovery was Satisfactory or not. It would include Internal and External Follow-up. Internal Follow-up would be to ensure that the solutions they put in motion are actually executed and the External part would be to get feedback from the customer whether he is satisfy

Complaint Handling

In a vast Organization like LIC, catering to the various needs and aspirations of millions of policyholders, grievances of customers do arise occasionally. In order to redress these grievances LIC has established elaborate Grievance Redressal Machinery

IT in LIC

In today’s world, IT is a must for any industry to keep pace with the customer’s changing expectations. This is especially relevant in the service industry. The insurance sector has to ensure that the technology it chooses does not lag behind where customer expectations are concerned.

LIC has more than 16 crore policy holders. So it has to induct the best IT products available and use them to cater to the needs of the customers and deliver anywhere any time service on demand and to add value to its new products. The trust and the goodwill of the customer gained in the last 50 years have to be consolidated by making all activities more customer-focused.

For instance, LIC has a corporate Web site to provide information on products, services, policy status, grievances and premium calculator. Other facilities include touch-screen information kiosks at central locations to provide 24 x 7 inquiry services to customers.

EMERGING MARKETING PRACTICES & TECHNIQUES OF LIC

With the emergence of competition, LIC has implemented strategic moves for business growth, as well as ensured quality improvement in service standards. As on today, they have been providing service to around 12 crore policy holders and their track has been well acknowledged as reflected through continual upgradation of service standards culminating into a world class performance in the area of claim settlement operations.

It is well acknowledged that LIC has been able to provide appropriate IT support in furtherance of prompt service to their valued policy holders. The complex task of conversion of computerization of all the branches with their conversion as Front Line offices has been completed in aphase manner. In addition to this, the launching of the IVRS facility, MAN and Wide Area Network operations has helped the co-operation improve its servicing.

LIC’s strength lies in:

1. Wide network of branches covering rural areas.
2. A large and well- spread agency organization.
3. An acknowledged record of performance.
4. Adequate yield with high risk cover being offered keeping the policy holders satisfied in the existing in the economic scenario.
5. Well accepted brand equity throughout the country.

In addition to this, LIC has an established and well administered Grievance Redressal Mechanism and with Ombudsman intervention, the customers appear to be well attended. However, this mechanism has to be restructured keeping in view the additional legal provisions laid down by the regulator as expounded in the IRDA act.

 

Futuristic Approach

 

Till today, LIC enjoyed a monopoly. It is now that reality exists in the are of marketing (i.e. sales and after sales service operations). It will now have to follow a multi-faceted strategy towards customer retention and also expanding to a new clientele. With the new face of the market, relationship management seems to be the new mantra.

At the nucleus of this approach is the concept of Customer Relationship management. The need is to have a comprehensive review of the business keeping in view customer expectations

 

Customer Orientation

 

LIC, to be in the reckoning, has to have an efficient feed-back system, so as to understand what the customer desires in terms of product design, service procedures, relationship convinience, accessibility, responses in terms of personalized service, attendance, core and complimentary on an individual basis. The new players in the market like ICICI, HDFC etc. will definitely be very aggressive in the open market. LIC has to go ahead with their former customers, existing customer, in a very gentle and courteous manner, reassuring them of their better services with persona, attention.

ADVERTISING TREND IN LIC

·     News Papers and Magazines

LIC give ads in the news papers and magazines round the year to continue its brand image and also when new products are introduced. Normally its ads are published in Times of India.

·         Television

Companies like LIC, advertise on television to make people aware of their products and services

·         Gifts

LIC provides diaries, pens, booklets, etc to its customers

·         Hoardings

LIC put its hoardings where there is a mass flow of people, especially outside the railway station or at the backside of the bus.

·         Advertisement At Kumbh Mela

LIC has also advertised about its products and the corporation even in the kumbh mela

·         Advertisement On Radio satellite channel

Advertisement about LIC are frequently been telecast on radio and   satellite channel.

Term Paper - STRATEGIC HR PRACTICES ADAPTED BY TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES.

DECLARATION

  I hereby declare that the work entitled “Hr Practices in Tata Consultancy Services.”  in ...........................” submitted to “Prof ............................” is a record of an original work done by us under the guidance of “Prof. ...........................” Prof of Strategic Human Resources Management PGDM batch II Term VI in ........................... college and this project work is submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for award of post graduate diploma in management and communication. The results embodied in this project have not been submitted to any other institute for the award of any diploma.

Date – 25/06/2012                                                                      ...........................

                                                                             

Acknowledgement

I owe a great many thanks to a great many people who helped and supported me during the writing of this book.

My deepest thanks to Lecturer Prof ...........................,The Guide of the project, for guiding and correcting various documents of us with attention and care. He has taken pain to go through the project and make necessary correction as and when needed.

I would also thank my Institution and my faculty members without whom this project would have been a distant reality.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled Hr Practices In Tata Consultancy Services has been carried out by ........................... under my guidance in partial fulfillment of the Post graduate Diploma of management from CH Institute of Business Studies.

Date –                                                                                                    Signature & Seal

Place – Indore                                                                                     ………………………

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                           Prof. ...........................

                                                                               Prof. of Strategic Human Resource Managemant

Introduction

 

History of the company

Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) software services and consulting company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology and business process outsourcing services. It is part of one of India's largest and oldest conglomerates, the group TATA.
One of TCS' first assignments was to provide punch card services to a sister concern, Tata Steel (then TISCO). It later bagged the country's first software project, the Inter-Branch Reconciliation System (IBRS) for the Central Bank of India
In the early 1970s, Tata Consultancy Services started exporting its services. TCS's first international order came from Burroughs, one of the first business computer manufacturers. In 1981, TCS set up India's first software research and development centre, the Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC). The first client-dedicated offshore development centre was set up for Compaq In 1989; TCS delivered an electronic depository and trading system called SECOM for SIS SegaInterSettle, Switzerland. It was by far the most complex project undertaken by an Indian IT company.
In the early 1990s, the Indian IT outsourcing industry grew tremendously due to the Y2K bug and the launch of a unified European currency, Euro. TCS pioneered the factory model for Y2K conversion and developed software tools which automated the conversion process and enabled third-party developers and clients to make use of it.
In 1999, TCS saw outsourcing opportunity in E-Commerce and related solutions and set up its E-Business division with ten people. By 2004, E-Business was contributing half a billion dollars (US) to TCS. On 9 August 2004, TCS became a publicly listed company, much later than its rivals Infosys, Wipro and Satyam.
During 2004, TCS ventured into a new area for an Indian IT services company - Bioinformatics. In 2008, the company went through an internal restructuring exercise that executives claim would bring about agility to the organization

Role of HR as envisaged by management

The Human Resource (HR) function is closely linked to the business strategy and plan by being aligned to the TCS structure through HR support (including resource management through the Resource Deployment Manager (RDM) to each Industry Practice/Service Practice/Geography and innovative workforce practices.

HR functions in TCS

1. Manpower planning

TCS has standard practices and processes for resource mobilisation. Manpower Allocation Task Committee (MATC) is a corporate function with branch and geography level representation. Its main responsibility is allocating people in various projects. The TCS intranet systems maintain up-to-date resumes and skill sets of all associates. The right resources are identified based on the requirements and candidates’ availability.
The following figure illustrates the identification of resources from different streams:

2. Recruitment process

TCS hiring policy includes an optimal mix of campus (fresh) and lateral (experienced) recruits. Fresh recruits are normally selected from academic institutes. TCS has key partnerships with various academic institutions and considers them as a critical community for recruitment. TCS has a number of sources for recruitment but its main source is its strong relationship with universities. Through liaison with university placement officers and recruitment fairs, TCS attracts large numbers of applications.
Experienced professionals are recruited laterally by the sourcing cell with the active involvement of the unit heads through sourcing agencies and direct interviews. The recruitment of experienced professionals is centrally coordinated based on the needs of practice/delivery centres. Referrals, advertisements, job portals/web search, placement fairs, placement agencies, TCS databank, and so on are used singly or in combination for sourcing the CVs.TCS also recruits locally from geographies that it operates in.

The following background checks are conducted for all associates:

Academic Background Check - All TCs applicants, on joining TCS, are required to submit copies of all the academic certificates along with their mark sheets to the HR. An HR officer checks the veracity of the copies received from the applicant, with the originals submitted on joining.
Previous Employment Checks - In case of lateral hires, TCS conducts employment checks of its associates, based on the contact information that they provide of their previous employer. The associates on joining TCS need to submit a release letter from the previous employer and experience certificates from all their previous employers.
Pre-employment Medical Checks - Pre-employment medical checks are conducted for all associates and fitness certificates obtained prior to joining TCS. TCS also conducts a separate set of overseas medical checkups for associates who are required to travel abroad on business requirements.

TCS changed recruiting strategy

TCS has decided to adopt the policy of just-in-time hiring or real-time management. This new strategy is quite different than the previous one where TCS used to hire from campuses in hordes. These new recruits were kept on bench for many months till they were allocated projects.
This not only helps the company to optimise and increase its utilisation, but also aligns its hiring strategy closer to the demand and supply of business. The company is working on ways to reduce the two-month training period by half. TCS, with over 130,000 employees, has already freezed lateral hiring and plans to hire only on need basis. The decision is also been based on their constant interaction with the academia, which have been telling that students are not pursuing higher studies as they get jobs and also during the academic year they tend to get lax.

3. Learning and development
                                                      Learning and development Mission:-To enhance the competency capital of TCS, through co-creation of learning experience continuously and consistently, so as to facilitate delivery of world-class human capability to the customer, enabling the company to achieve its vision."
TCS invests about 4 per cent of its annual revenues in Learning and Development, to build competency capital within the company in cutting edge technologies, domain and functional areas. Special emphasis is placed on providing necessary learning interventions to associates with potential of being leaders in the company.
Thus, it is evident that focus is divided equally between the regular employees and managerial employees alike. All the learning programs are mapped to competencies and address learning needs at different proficiency levels. Learning and Development managers closely work with business to develop and deliver programs that will make our associates deliver value-for-money to our customers. Assessment centers are also being used by TCS. Several levels of learning are provided in TCS. Each of the levels is unique, aimed with varying objectives.

Initial Learning Program (ILP)

TCS Initial Learning Program is designed to provide a smooth transition from Campus to Corporate environment. The program is designed to transform graduate engineers into IT Consultants with global mindset. The participants are put through a rigorous 47-day program that has good mix of technical skills and soft skills.

Continuous Learning Program (CLP)

Continuous Learning Program (CLP) is a manifestation of the company's commitment to the continuous growth of associates, in line with the core value of Learning & Sharing. Programs under the CLP umbrella arise out of business strategies, project needs, technology and business directions and individual aspirations, and span across Technologies, Domains, Processes and Soft-skills. This lay emphasis on long-term, short-term and medium-term needs of the organization alike.

Leadership Development Program (LDP)

The program is to churn out the future leaders for the company. Associates are carefully assessed for leadership potential and then put through rigorous branded programs. TCS also encourages associates to attend various programs at premier B-schools across the globe.

Foreign Language Initiative (FLI)

Foreign Language Initiative is to help the associates to communicate effectively with the customers. Under this initiative, associates are encouraged to learn one or more foreign languages. This initiative also helps associates to use English effectively for business communication. This is highly beneficial in a company with a diverse workforce. The cross-cultural issues are curtailed with the proper use of communication.

Workplace Learning

Apart from all these initiatives TCS encourages "workplace learning". Associates are encouraged to learn while at work. To facilitate this, TCS has subscribed a huge library of e-Learning courses and online books. The classroom session and e-Learning materials complement each other.

 
Some other ways of training

* TCS has a dedicated training centre in Trivandrum (South India) where new recruits undergo intensive training for three months
* Continuing Education Programs are conducted every month to address training requirements and to create awareness of new and emerging technologies
* TCS along with the technology alliance partners, conduct training sessions to keep associates on par with the technological trends in the industry
* Computer Based Training (CBT) programs, such as Skill Port (web-based), are available to all associates. Skill Port is a very vast database containing study material on different topics ranging from technology, domain, and soft-skills to project management. Every lesson concludes with a self-assessment which helps associates measure their understanding.
* Training in foreign languages, exposure and familiarity with various cultures and soft-skills (telephone etiquette, personal grooming, way of dressing for different countries, and so on) are also given immense importance.
* Associates travelling overseas undergo the basic culture training to help them adjust to the new culture.
TCS also addresses training requirements specific to processes followed by clients. This is done in the following ways:
* Knowledge acquisition plans are prepared for every new recruit joining the project team
* A core team is created that is given the responsibility of providing relationship-level induction to new joinees. Relationship-level induction training includes domain-specific training, training on the client processes, security and cross-cultural training sessions
* Further training (hands-on or classroom) is provided by the respective project teams.

4. Customer Feedback
                                          At the end of the project or once in every six months, whichever is earlier, the PL will request the customer to fill the Customer Feedback/Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) form. Additionally, feedback may be collected at the end of every phase as appropriate. The CSS comprises questions on quality of deliverables, project management, documentation, communication, TCS infrastructure, security and confidentiality. A copy of the CSS is sent to the Delivery Centre Head (DCH) and the QC. For attributes, where TCS performance rating is less than 3 or where the overall CSI is less than 3, detailed corrective and preventive action is planned and tracked to closure by the PL/GL. The feedback provided by the customer through the Customer Feedback Form/CSS form is used for process improvement and forms an important input for TCS iQMS. This feedback is discussed in Project Management Review (PMR) meetings.

Customer Complaint Management

Any complaint raised by customer through e-mail, telephone calls, letters, CSSs, during the lifecycle of the project will be sent to the PL. The PL along with other stakeholders will analyse a nd report the customer complaint to the Quality Reviewer. PL/GL along with the QC/QR will take appropriate corrective actions to resolve the complaint. The appropriateness of the corrective action will be verified by the GL/DCH through interaction and follow-up with the customer. QAG will consolidate the complaints at the organisation level and carry out a causal analysis to identify opportunities for improvement.


Managing Key Personnel and Staff Continuity

TCS proposes to have a core team and a flexible team for ramp-up/down. The core team will be identified based on the:
* Learning curve
* Skills requirements
* Criticality
In addition to the policy of "Reward and Recognition" at the organisational level, TCS may also arrange for specific HR initiatives at the client level. Initiatives such as the "Fun @ <<client name>>" news bulletin for <<client name>>, internal associates’ satisfaction survey for TCS associates within the <<client name>> relationship, <<client name>> Star of the month and so on.
While TCS would like to retain the core team as long as possible in the best interest of knowledge retention, a balance between project requirements and career growth/personal constraints will be a consideration.
TCS will ensure an average retention period of 12 months and will strive to extend this period on mutual interests.

Assistance in Helping ‘Onboard’ Associates

TCS helps in the “on boarding” of its associates on the personal as well as professional fronts.TCS provides induction for overseas travel to all its associates to familiarise them with the new environment, culture and language.
For every geography, a manual is available that provides a quick overview to the individual about the place and the do’s and don’ts. Further, the local HR team also assists the individual with accommodation and travel assistance to ensure the individual settles down immediately.
Regarding th
e professional front, TCS ensures that the individual has all the right soft skills to interact with the client’s teams and become part of the same.

Guaranteeing the Quality of the Associates

TCS recruits associates from the top universities. Each associate undergoes six to eight weeks of induction training on joining TCS. Performance is evaluated at regular intervals and if the performance is found below par then the associate is put onto a performance improvement program. Based on the skills, associates are identified for different projects by MATC. Associates undergo formal/informal screening before being inducted into the project. Subsequently, the associates undergo one week of relationship level induction and two weeks of project level induction. Project level induction comprises of classroom sessions, case-studies, quizzes, and playback sessions. Associates are assigned to projects on successful completion of the project level induction.

Guaranteeing that Proposed Associates are a Match for the Skills Requirement

For every position required, TCS will ensure the candidate has the necessary business or technical skills. As a part of its training program, TCS also covers training in soft skills (leadership, conflict resolution, and team building, and so on) and also cultural training (training in the culture and environment of the customer’s geography, foreign language training, and so on.)
Target Time to Fill any New Resource Requirement
The time to meet the requirements depends on the following factors:
* Skill requirement
* Location of the requirement (onsite/offshore)
* Duration of the assignment
* Number of resources required
* Availability of the skill internally or with other TCS subsidiaries
* Whether sourced from Indian market or international market
* Time taken by client to interview the candidate, if the client chooses to interview the candidate
* Dependencies on visa procedures by concerned consulate in India
* Visa type (< Three weeks assignments require one week of visa processing time)
Based on the above dependencies, the lead time can vary from two to six weeks. TCS encourages the client to plan ahead for any resource requirements so that TCS can identify the right candidates for the requirement. With short notice requirements it is generally difficult to meet all the requirements (start date, skills, experience, and duration)

Guaranteeing Satisfaction Individuals Places with a Client

TCS will place its employees as contractors to <<client name>>and will guarantee satisfaction on these individuals in the following ways:
* TCS team will screen the resumes and interview the associates
* Share the resume of the short listed consultants with client.
* For key positions, TCS is open to having the candidate interviewed prior to coming on-board
* Lastly, in rare cases of poor performance, TCS will replace the candidate at no cost to <<client name>>.
Typical Type Lead-time for the Replacement of an Individual
TCS will take all steps to ensure that the candidates proposed possess the right set of skills (technical or domain) and good communication skills as well. The following table lists the unforeseen or undesirable TCS is also equipped to handle unforeseen or undesirable circumstances such as:

Event | Mitigation |

Poor performance by an individual | <<Client name>> will revert within 30 days of the individual’s coming on board about performance issues, if any. In this case TCS will replace the individual at no cost to <<client name>>. The lead time to onboard a person would be 3-4 weeks |
Untimely processing of papers for travel for resources from the global resource pool | TCS will ensure the individual can start contributing from offshore. The lead time to onboard the staff would be a time period of three to four weeks. |
Resignations and Unexpected leave | TCS has defined robust processes that are people independent. Cross-trainings, up-to-date documentation and ensuring back-ups for key personnel are some of the ways in which TCS handles unforeseen turnovers in the team. TCS will ensure that the replacement is onboard before the departure of the outgoing person. |
Lead time for replacing the individual would be approximately three weeks.
Knowledge Transfer Prior to the End of the Assignment
At the end of an assignment, TCS will ensure adequate knowledge is transferred back to the business and IT users of <<client name>>in the following ways:
* Completed system and user documentation
* Formal classroom and hands-on training (train the trainer concept will be used)
* Conduct playback sessions to validate user understanding
* In many cases, TCS has even developed CBTs for users who are spread across geographical boundaries. This enables them to conduct their skills development at their own pace. The CBTs can also be used to induct new recruits

5. Performance Management-
                                                             TCS’s organisational goals are defined at the beginning of the year. These goals are in line with the annual business plan for the organisation. These organisation goals are translated into each Service and Industry Practices goals within TCS to ensure that the organisational goals are met. All higher-level goals are ultimately translated into individual performance measures. Performance is tracked against achievement of these preset individual goals. Appraisers review individual performances on a quarterly basis against the set goals. These goals are revisited and modified, if necessary. Performance is ultimately pegged to a point in a scale, which ranges from 1 to 5. The aim is to highlight excellent performers and to work out an improvement plan for people falling short of the required performance level.
There are two crucial aspects to the individual's appraisals process, which are:
* Goal Setting
* Performance Appraisal
Goal Setting
Goal setting is a process that takes place at the time of an associate’s allocation to a project. The aim of the process is to define Specific, Measurable, Agreed and Action-oriented, Realistic, Time and resource constrained (SMART) goals for the individual, which are aligned with the project and practice goals. Each of these goals has to be tracked by the Project Leader (PL) during the allocation of the associate to the project, at pre-defined intervals. At the time of the appraisal, the associate's performance is assessed against these goals, as well as against certain other soft factors such as flexibility and conduct. Training needs can be identified based on the skills and competencies that the individual needs to develop to achieve the goals.
If the associate is released from the project the goals set in that project are evaluated and the evaluation will reflect on the project end appraisal rating.

Global SPEED - Cascade of goals
ASSOCIATE GOALS
GL,PL, RM,BRM BSC
GEOGRAPHY,DC, LAM, CORPORATE BSC
CEO BSC
Global SPEED (System for performance evaluation & employee development):
* Global SPEED facilitates Role based approach to Performance Management.
* Earlier Global used for international purpose and speed for India.
* Used all over the world in TCS.
* It is an online tool in Ultimatix.
* Global speed is used for Goal setting and we use BSC.

ICLAM

* Online tool which is used for learning and development.
* ICLAM is used for competency mapping for individual (both behavioral and technical).
* Individual roles are defined using this tool.
* Balance score card used for employees to get to know about Corporate Goals and objectives.
* Role tagged for an employee in iCalms forms the basis of Goal Setting.
* Roles details of the employee will be populated in Global SPEED from iCalms.
* Attribute section of appraisal will be connected with the role tagged to an employee. These will be picked up from iCalms at the time of Goal Setting.
Stages in SPEED
* Data validation
* Goal setting
* Self evaluation

Discuss your performance with your appraiser before self evaluation
* Evaluation

Time sheet management
* Update work done by employees on day to day basis.
* Also part of billing process.

Performance Appraisal
* Superior defines targets for individual, and then he talks to them in person and set target together.
* Appraisal is done in form of self evaluation, Immediate Superior will appraise and finally reviewed by reviewer
In TCS, appraisals are conducted at the following instances:
Appraisal for trainees and experienced professionals
For trainees and experienced professionals, appraisals are carried out every two months till confirmation. The appraiser rates the associate qualitatively, based on the performance during those two months and identifies individual training needs. Performance against the individual's goals is also tracked.
Annual appraisals
For confirmed associates, year-end annual appraisals are carried out against some pre-defined parameters. Performance against the individual's goals is also tracked. If project-end appraisals have been done during the annual appraisal period, the current appraiser will also consider the ratings on these appraisals while arriving at the overall rating. Besides an overall rating, the appraiser may also recommend the individual for a promotion. The overall rating determines the increment in basic salary for the individual (different for different grades and different ratings). The new variable pay of the employee is determined by three factors:
* Company EVA
* EVA of the business unit (practice)
* Individual Performance Factor
Project end appraisals
These appraisals are done when the employee is released from the project prior to its completion, or upon the completion of the project. The parameters for this appraisal are the same as for annual appraisal. The employee is also given an overall rating, which will be considered at the time of the annual appraisal.
The future plans of the HR department include moving towards a system without annual appraisal.

6. Compensation structure
                                                       In today’s scenario organizations are not much interested in acquiring physical resources but what occupies their concern is whether those resources have been utilized to the ultimate by their existing human potential. TCS has been given the title of the best employer. And the title givers are none other than the employees. TCS has a compensation structure which has only 5 % of its remuneration based on performance. TCS is such an organization, which makes their employees, work in teams and it is the total team, which they evaluate while deciding the remuneration, not the individual. This has a lot of benefits. First of all it does not encourage peer rivalry. Work teams are characterized by the presence of faith amongst the team members, co-ordination, interdependence, team spirit, trust, etc. These qualities cannot foster if each individual’s greed to stand out in the crowd overcomes his concern for the success of the team as a whole. That is the reason TCS has resorted to such a compensation structures. In an attempt to find out what is the reason for the company generating such a degree of work satisfaction amongst its employees it was revealed that TCS is popular not because of its compensation but it’s principal of proper harnessing the existing human potential within an organization.
To decide which type of compensation is best to adopt the organization to make an in-depth of the job profile, its own area of business. Just like a manger should be paid as per his competencies like team building, leadership qualities on the other hand a software developer should be awarded as per the hours of work he puts in, the skills he posses etc. The idea behind designing all pay packages should be paying as per ones performance, skills, and competencies as well as motivating them to improve in the near future.
TCS uses EVA model for their compensation process. Economic value added (EVA) is a basis for measuring performance and bonus, and is measured at the enterprise and department levels. The EVA system calculates profits after considering all costs, including that of capital. If the revenues are in excess of the costs, including operating expenses, costs of developing and investing in the people, products and business, then value has been created.

The EVA Model
                               In giving shape to the EVA model, an organization needs to keep its focus towards the ultimate goal of aligning its people to the corporate mission, creating an entrepreneurial culture through an empowered work force, and building ownership with accountability.TCS worked out an EVA framework to align corporate value with the performance of the constituent business units and the individuals who comprised these. It translated to a compensation model, where the employee had a share in the corporate pie with add-ons from the profits of the Business Unit and the Individual Performance Factor.
There are three basic drivers - revenue, cost, and capital charge. Revenue is driven by the rate or license price put into the product, sales, billable hours, response time, and domain skills. The individual works towards the improvement of the benefit package, which essentially has three components - the Corporate EVA, the Business Unit EVA, and the Individual Performance Factor. Out of the total EVA payment, a certain percentage goes to each employee on the basis of corporate EVA improvement. Secondly, if your business unit did better than another business unit, then automatically you got more than the other business unit. Again it is a team reward concept. The third one depends on the evaluation of individual performance.

Benefits

The benefits of EVA were realized across all levels in the organization. Employees became aware of their responsibilities and their share in increasing the EVA of the unit and organization. All the units could determine how they had fared against the targets. The bonus banks also helped in sustaining performance from the individuals, with close relationship between pay and performance. There was an increased sense of belonging among the employees and the employees were motivated to increase their contribution as they were also equally benefited by the increase in EVA. It was not just a performance metric but an integrated management process aimed at achieving long term goals. One of the major benefits of implementing EVA in TCS was to increased transparency in the organization. The internal communication within a unit had increased considerably. The decision making process became more decentralized.

Drawbacks

The EVA based compensation system received severe criticism during the initial years of its implementation. Industry analysts commented that EVA concentrated mainly on return on investments, due to which the growth of TCS could be restricted. In 2003, TCS caused uproar in the IT industry when it reduced the variable salaries of employees by 10%. This was the initial impact of EVA which was implemented in the company from April 01, 2003. The reduction in the variable salary resulted in an overall reduction of monthly take-home salary for most of its employees.

7. Retention (why TCS ticks well with its staff) –
                                                                                 Among the domestic IT companies, TCS has the lowest employee turnover rate. The attrition level at TCS as on September 30, 2004 was 7. 9 per cent compared to the industry average of 15 per cent. Employees stay with the company not for the size of the pay packet alone. There are several other factors including job security. The company has a performance improvement plan that takes into account any personal problem the employee may be facing. Company’s HR practices have the ability to absorb people, to manage them from sourcing to deployment, and what it means in terms of scalability and scalability is something that the group evolves with respect to its practices.

TCS tries to retain its associates through:
* Career Development
* Rewards and Recognition
* Associate friendly HR policies
* Performance Based Incentives

Career Development

TCS believes that career and personal development of all associates are vital for organisational success and initiates activities to encourage associates to participate wholeheartedly in the same. Personal Development Planning forms a central part of their annual appraisal and objective setting process. Personal Development is also encouraged through on-line e-learning initiatives that help develop a wide variety of skills, including languages, cultures, sciences, business, technical and the arts subjects.
Associates aspiring for higher roles undergo assessment of current capabilities in order to identify the competency gap to reach the aspired role. The gap in competency is addressed with structured training and orientation.

Reward and Recognition

TCS encourages individual teams to have customised recognition mechanisms and then consolidate the same as a best practice. Towards this effect, some units have instituted the SMILE and Dolphin recognition mechanisms. The following table lists the informal mechanisms of employee motivation and development:
Mechanism | Objective |
Project Milestone Parties | To encourage efficient execution of projects |
Recognition of star performers/high fliers | To recognise outstanding talent |
Nomination to coveted training programmes | To encourage self development |
Best Project Award | To encourage a spirit of internal competition across work groups and foster teamwork |
Best PIP Award | To encourage innovation and continuous improvement |
Best Auditor | To recognise participation in critical support roles |
Recommendation for new technology assignments/key positions | To ensure career progression and development of employee’s full potential |
Spot awards | To ensure real-time recognition to employees |
Performance-based annual increment | To recognise high performance |
Early confirmations for new employees | To recognise high performing new employees |
Long Service Awards | To build organisational loyalty |
EVA-based increments | To ensure performance-based pay |
On-the-spot recognition | To ensure immediate recognition of high performance |
Associate Friendly HR Policies

TCS consistently rolls out policies and practices to enable a better work-life balance for associates.
* Transport facilities

* Super Seva – A facility whereby associates are provided with services at their workplace. For example payment of utility bills, transport arrangements for personal reasons etc.

* Cafeteria and gymnasium facilities
Performance Based Incentive

In TCS, compensation is split into two components, Fixed (linked to inflation and other factors) and Variable (linked to individual performance). All the employees are aware of the organizational goals and objectives. The methods used for evaluating employees’ performance are fair enough and easy to understand. Recognising TCS associates for their hard work, providing for their health and the well being of their family members, opening revenues of growth and career development and easing the balance between work and personal life are all part of TCS’s associate centred environment.
 

Some of the practices within TCS that are aimed at enhancing associate retention are:

* Mentoring – Each employee of TCS is assigned a mentor who is more experienced than the mentee. Mentoring provides a communication mechanism for career growth, personal grooming and all-round development.
* Matching individuals' preference with the business requirements, thereby defining a mutually satisfying career path.
* Job rotations to provide opportunities to employees to enhance their skills and expertise in other areas.
* Motivating employees through appropriate recognition, rewards and benefits.
* Addressing employee concerns in a timely and effective manner.
* Providing opportunities for continuous learning.
* Conducting continuous market surveys to ensure that the compensation and benefits measure up to the best in the industry.

8. Leave policy -

* 3 national holidays applicable for all
* 7 holidays region wise
* 16 days earned leave
* 7 days casual leave
* 10 sick leaves
* Disciplinary action against habitual absenteeism
1. They council the employee and ask about his reason of absenteeism
2. Advisory letter is given
3. Warning letter is given
4. Asks for resignation and if employee is not willing, then he is terminated

9. MAITREE -

Main functions are
* Corporate social responsibility – TCS CSR includes adoption of villages, running of schools. They enable adults to enhance their skills. Tree plantation, cleaning of Juhu beach, emphasis on reducing carbon foot prints
* Employee engagement events – Trekking, parties, family day, summer camp, parenting workshop for 
working parents

10. ULTIMATIX -

* Web portal of TCS includes complete internal information of company.
* It can be accessed by associates only
* It includes global speed, ICLAMS ,time sheet, NOMAX, ideamax
* Nomax is used for knowledge management and includes details of projects, HR policies and documentation done in the company
* Ideamax – Employees are free to give their innovative ideas and is appreciated by management

HR Challenges in TCS

* Attrition rate increased after recover from down turn
* Work load, stress and work-life balance of associates.
* And day to day conflicts

Conclusion

After working on this term paper I learned that
* For healthy & wealthy growth of organization, top management should consider employees as fixed assets
* The goodwill of company depends on good product/service which in turn depends on company’s employees
* Employees today are more interested towards their career development & goals
* TCS can take an extra advantage of this tendency of employees by motivating them & providing ample opportunities to explore



     
                                         Source Of information

·         www.wikipedia.com

·         www.tcs.com

·         www.ultimatix.net

·         www.slideshare.com

·          www.oopeper.com

·         www.managementparadise.com

Thank You