Friday, March 16, 2007
`Hospitality industry needs to tackle high attrition rates`
Business Standard - 16th Mar 2007
Even as it continues to grapple with the low influx of tourists in Gujarat despite observing the first ‘Tourism Year’ in 2006, the Hotel & Restaurants Association is yet to tackle another issue: high attrition rate.
According to Rabinder Singh Bedi, president, Hotel & Restaurant Association (Western India), the attrition rate of the hotel industry is as high as 35-40 per cent.
“The industry needs to tackle the high attrition rate. We are losing most of our staff to the IT & ITeS sector, airlines, cruise liners and even hotels in Dubai and Europe at times. Surprisingly, it is happening at all the levels and not just at the top level,” said Bedi. He added that the association will attempt to tackle the issue at the upcoming 14th Regional Convention on March 18 in Ahmedabad.
The association is looking forward to offering more suggestions to the state government, relaxation on prohibition being one of them.
“We definitely want the prohibition to be relaxed in the state. In fact, there should be more bar-licenced hotels just to benefit the industrial growth of the state,” said Jehangir Cama, chairman, H&RA (Gujarat).
Cama revealed that it was the association who had been suggesting the state government to relax the prohibition since last ten years.
On the areas of improvement in tourism, Cama said that the budget hotels are the real answer.
“There are more number of budget hotels than five-star hotels in the country. This shows that these hotels will be the answer. There is a lack of infrastructure when it comes to tourism, with low number of hotels and rooms being one of them. Therefore, at least 2,500 rooms would be coming up in the next couple of years in the state and 30,000 across the country,”he added.
The association would also be suggesting the government to bring tourism under the ministry of infrastructure for better management, said Cama.
H&RA feels that Gujarat needs to endorse ideas from its neighbouring states like Rajasthan in promoting tourism and restoring and maintaining its historical monuments.
“The problem in the state is lack of awareness and not lack of places to visit. Also, lot of restoration work is needed. Even the association will be suggesting the government to allow private players to partially adopt some of the historical monuments for restoration and maintenance work just like Jaisalmer Fort was taken up for restoration by American Express,” said Sunit Kothari, chairman for the convention.
Kothari is expecting an investment of around Rs 150-200 crore in the state in near future for increasing the number of rooms in the state by 2,500.
Even as it continues to grapple with the low influx of tourists in Gujarat despite observing the first ‘Tourism Year’ in 2006, the Hotel & Restaurants Association is yet to tackle another issue: high attrition rate.
According to Rabinder Singh Bedi, president, Hotel & Restaurant Association (Western India), the attrition rate of the hotel industry is as high as 35-40 per cent.
“The industry needs to tackle the high attrition rate. We are losing most of our staff to the IT & ITeS sector, airlines, cruise liners and even hotels in Dubai and Europe at times. Surprisingly, it is happening at all the levels and not just at the top level,” said Bedi. He added that the association will attempt to tackle the issue at the upcoming 14th Regional Convention on March 18 in Ahmedabad.
The association is looking forward to offering more suggestions to the state government, relaxation on prohibition being one of them.
“We definitely want the prohibition to be relaxed in the state. In fact, there should be more bar-licenced hotels just to benefit the industrial growth of the state,” said Jehangir Cama, chairman, H&RA (Gujarat).
Cama revealed that it was the association who had been suggesting the state government to relax the prohibition since last ten years.
On the areas of improvement in tourism, Cama said that the budget hotels are the real answer.
“There are more number of budget hotels than five-star hotels in the country. This shows that these hotels will be the answer. There is a lack of infrastructure when it comes to tourism, with low number of hotels and rooms being one of them. Therefore, at least 2,500 rooms would be coming up in the next couple of years in the state and 30,000 across the country,”he added.
The association would also be suggesting the government to bring tourism under the ministry of infrastructure for better management, said Cama.
H&RA feels that Gujarat needs to endorse ideas from its neighbouring states like Rajasthan in promoting tourism and restoring and maintaining its historical monuments.
“The problem in the state is lack of awareness and not lack of places to visit. Also, lot of restoration work is needed. Even the association will be suggesting the government to allow private players to partially adopt some of the historical monuments for restoration and maintenance work just like Jaisalmer Fort was taken up for restoration by American Express,” said Sunit Kothari, chairman for the convention.
Kothari is expecting an investment of around Rs 150-200 crore in the state in near future for increasing the number of rooms in the state by 2,500.
Family planning to stem attrition rate?
Economic Times - 16th Mar 2007
NEW DELHI: It’s all in the family! It’s not just employees alone who are being wooed by companies. Now, the families of employees are also in the limelight. With high attrition rates being the bane of every industry, employers are finding innovative ways to retain manpower. And, what better a way to do that than to strike an emotional bond with the family members of employees? Be it festival celebrations, workshops or even an exclusive family day, involvement seems to be the buzzword in the companies’ work culture lexicon.
Thirty-year-old Sachin Joshi, an employee of Mindtree Consulting, couldn’t agree more. Sachin’s son was barely a month-old when he fell critically ill. Money from Mindtree’s emergency fund was dispersed immediately for his treatment. “I got Rs 1.5 lakh from the company’s emergency fund on an interest-free loan. It’s something that will always remain with me.”
Mindtree India, an international IT consulting company, has a lot of initiatives that revolve around the family of its employees. Associate director, HR, of Mindtree India Mohan Sitharam says that engaging the larger family is critical to business. “We have a day-long activity on a quarterly basis wherein you can get your dear ones to office. Also, there are stress management programmes for spouses that discuss the benefits of a healthy mind in a healthy body. Besides, our quarterly magazine, ‘Circle of Life,’ updates the family about the company and what their wards are doing. All these steps have added value in our drive to manage attrition.”
Mindtree is not a solitary example. A lot of companies are slowly getting to understand the importance of involving the family in their policies. With most Indians staying with their parents, the family’s role in influencing career decisions remains crucial. Moreover, long hours at work leads to employees spending lesser time with their dear ones. Hence, carving out a plan that includes the family makes utmost sense. Asset management firm, Transparent Value, plans out special company tours, weekend events with lavish dinners for the parents. Wipro Technologies has social events such as family day and festival celebrations in which the family members are also invited. Health care, special insurance and health programmes for parents of employees are also on their list. Vice-president, talent engagement and development, of Wiprotech, Joseph John explains: “It is necessary to involve the family so that they also get to know about the company. A sense of belonging as well as a greater level of bonding are created in the process.” ‘Fun at work’, ‘Reward and Recognition’ and scholarship schemes for employee kids fall under PepsiCo’s domain. ‘Fun at work’ essentially has festival celebrations as well as the Pepsi family day, kids painting competitions and movie tickets for the family. Says Ravindra Sewak, sustainability director, PepsiCo,”The Pepsi family day which has a lot of games, singing, dancing, and interactions is good fun. But, there has to be participation and a sporting spirit from the employees’ side as well to feel involved.”
A company spokesperson from PepsiCo HR says that such initiatives have helped to develop a strong emotional bonding with the employees’ family. “We develop a calendar to track and ensure that such activities are a part of the overall engagement calendar on a sustained basis. This helps us in ensuring that we are able to reach-out to their families with an innovative and emotional appeal.” Fancy dress competition for children, salad-making contest for mothers, access to free medical camps, ayurveda camp, eye check-ups are some of the ways through which Intelenet Global Services, a leading BPO services provider, reaches out to the family of its employees. Their annual 15-day long “Employee Appreciation Programme”, invites the employees’ spouse, children or parents to play an active role in it. Says Manuel D’Souza, VP human resources - Intelenet Global Services Ltd, “We recognise that engaging the family members helps in strengthening the employee’s bond with the organisation.”
NEW DELHI: It’s all in the family! It’s not just employees alone who are being wooed by companies. Now, the families of employees are also in the limelight. With high attrition rates being the bane of every industry, employers are finding innovative ways to retain manpower. And, what better a way to do that than to strike an emotional bond with the family members of employees? Be it festival celebrations, workshops or even an exclusive family day, involvement seems to be the buzzword in the companies’ work culture lexicon.
Thirty-year-old Sachin Joshi, an employee of Mindtree Consulting, couldn’t agree more. Sachin’s son was barely a month-old when he fell critically ill. Money from Mindtree’s emergency fund was dispersed immediately for his treatment. “I got Rs 1.5 lakh from the company’s emergency fund on an interest-free loan. It’s something that will always remain with me.”
Mindtree India, an international IT consulting company, has a lot of initiatives that revolve around the family of its employees. Associate director, HR, of Mindtree India Mohan Sitharam says that engaging the larger family is critical to business. “We have a day-long activity on a quarterly basis wherein you can get your dear ones to office. Also, there are stress management programmes for spouses that discuss the benefits of a healthy mind in a healthy body. Besides, our quarterly magazine, ‘Circle of Life,’ updates the family about the company and what their wards are doing. All these steps have added value in our drive to manage attrition.”
Mindtree is not a solitary example. A lot of companies are slowly getting to understand the importance of involving the family in their policies. With most Indians staying with their parents, the family’s role in influencing career decisions remains crucial. Moreover, long hours at work leads to employees spending lesser time with their dear ones. Hence, carving out a plan that includes the family makes utmost sense. Asset management firm, Transparent Value, plans out special company tours, weekend events with lavish dinners for the parents. Wipro Technologies has social events such as family day and festival celebrations in which the family members are also invited. Health care, special insurance and health programmes for parents of employees are also on their list. Vice-president, talent engagement and development, of Wiprotech, Joseph John explains: “It is necessary to involve the family so that they also get to know about the company. A sense of belonging as well as a greater level of bonding are created in the process.” ‘Fun at work’, ‘Reward and Recognition’ and scholarship schemes for employee kids fall under PepsiCo’s domain. ‘Fun at work’ essentially has festival celebrations as well as the Pepsi family day, kids painting competitions and movie tickets for the family. Says Ravindra Sewak, sustainability director, PepsiCo,”The Pepsi family day which has a lot of games, singing, dancing, and interactions is good fun. But, there has to be participation and a sporting spirit from the employees’ side as well to feel involved.”
A company spokesperson from PepsiCo HR says that such initiatives have helped to develop a strong emotional bonding with the employees’ family. “We develop a calendar to track and ensure that such activities are a part of the overall engagement calendar on a sustained basis. This helps us in ensuring that we are able to reach-out to their families with an innovative and emotional appeal.” Fancy dress competition for children, salad-making contest for mothers, access to free medical camps, ayurveda camp, eye check-ups are some of the ways through which Intelenet Global Services, a leading BPO services provider, reaches out to the family of its employees. Their annual 15-day long “Employee Appreciation Programme”, invites the employees’ spouse, children or parents to play an active role in it. Says Manuel D’Souza, VP human resources - Intelenet Global Services Ltd, “We recognise that engaging the family members helps in strengthening the employee’s bond with the organisation.”
Thursday, March 15, 2007
You can select your boss !
15th Mar, 2007 - Times of India
BANGALORE: Imagine you selecting your boss! This is the latest strategy firms are increasingly adopting to check attrition.
Raja Shekar, a young software engineer, and two of his colleagues played a key role in selecting their project manager in Net Apps, a US-based company with operations in Bangalore. "Who you work with is critical to performance," says Shekar. "It was a great feeling when we were recently given a say in selecting our boss.
A group of us interviewed a managerial candidate, basically to understand his background, cultural fit, the support he will extend to the team, how hands-on he is, his energy levels, passion and enthusiasm at work and his openness to new ideas and innovation.
We felt these factors were key to our professional growth and overall productivity." Enterprises are beginning to look at adopting an open culture where superiors and subordinates together establish comfort level right from the recruitment stage. They believe this will cut attrition levels.
Those adopting such practices include Sapient, WNS, Capgemini, SunGard, Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Some companies have even abandoned recruitments of senior staff where juniors could not reach a consensus on their selection.
Says Akila Krishnakumar, CEO, Sun-Gard: "Such an environment opens up a free and fair communication channel. It increases better understanding between employees and employers, resulting in greater team-play and longer stay of talent."
Vikram Shah, CEO, Net Apps, says: "Our team members are asked to interview their respective team heads. We also follow an open-door policy. New recruits are free to interact with senior managers."
Though US companies, including their operations in India, seem to be leading the way in bringing a non-hierarchical culture, some Indian companies are said to be experimenting with it. Zubin Shroff, MD, Talent Management Group, says Indian enterprises are becoming aware that they need to align with the global corporate culture to retain talent.
BANGALORE: Imagine you selecting your boss! This is the latest strategy firms are increasingly adopting to check attrition.
Raja Shekar, a young software engineer, and two of his colleagues played a key role in selecting their project manager in Net Apps, a US-based company with operations in Bangalore. "Who you work with is critical to performance," says Shekar. "It was a great feeling when we were recently given a say in selecting our boss.
A group of us interviewed a managerial candidate, basically to understand his background, cultural fit, the support he will extend to the team, how hands-on he is, his energy levels, passion and enthusiasm at work and his openness to new ideas and innovation.
We felt these factors were key to our professional growth and overall productivity." Enterprises are beginning to look at adopting an open culture where superiors and subordinates together establish comfort level right from the recruitment stage. They believe this will cut attrition levels.
Those adopting such practices include Sapient, WNS, Capgemini, SunGard, Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Some companies have even abandoned recruitments of senior staff where juniors could not reach a consensus on their selection.
Says Akila Krishnakumar, CEO, Sun-Gard: "Such an environment opens up a free and fair communication channel. It increases better understanding between employees and employers, resulting in greater team-play and longer stay of talent."
Vikram Shah, CEO, Net Apps, says: "Our team members are asked to interview their respective team heads. We also follow an open-door policy. New recruits are free to interact with senior managers."
Though US companies, including their operations in India, seem to be leading the way in bringing a non-hierarchical culture, some Indian companies are said to be experimenting with it. Zubin Shroff, MD, Talent Management Group, says Indian enterprises are becoming aware that they need to align with the global corporate culture to retain talent.
Monday, March 12, 2007
IT Jobs No Longer The Preferred Option ?
Business Line
In 2007, at campus placement time (December-January), the top nine engineering campuses (the six IITs, BITS-Pilani, VHU and IISc) saw a lot of action from global investment banks and consulting firms. Global biggies like Goldman Sachs, Deloitte Consulting and D E Shaw picked up talent for risk management jobs from premier tech schools. IT services companies, though present, are no longer high on the students' preferred list, says Mr Rishi Das, CEO, Campus Connect, a Bangalore-based firm that helps companies develop a formal relationship with campuses in the area of brand building and recruitment. Campus Connect works with 100 tech schools and over 60 companies in the country.
Mr Das attributes this new trend to the changing scenario in the country, "Business activity in the country is so high that students want to start on jobs that give them business orientation." This year also saw the revival of the `core engineering' careers, he says. Average salary also went up (Rs 7-9 lakh per annum) across campuses with one investment bank offering close to $93,000 per annum to an IIT student. Companies like Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, L&T, HLL have found better acceptance among students. "This is also because the old economy companies too have upped their salaries. Apart from this, civil and mechanical engineers are also looking at KPO jobs," observes Mr Das.
In 2007, at campus placement time (December-January), the top nine engineering campuses (the six IITs, BITS-Pilani, VHU and IISc) saw a lot of action from global investment banks and consulting firms. Global biggies like Goldman Sachs, Deloitte Consulting and D E Shaw picked up talent for risk management jobs from premier tech schools. IT services companies, though present, are no longer high on the students' preferred list, says Mr Rishi Das, CEO, Campus Connect, a Bangalore-based firm that helps companies develop a formal relationship with campuses in the area of brand building and recruitment. Campus Connect works with 100 tech schools and over 60 companies in the country.
Mr Das attributes this new trend to the changing scenario in the country, "Business activity in the country is so high that students want to start on jobs that give them business orientation." This year also saw the revival of the `core engineering' careers, he says. Average salary also went up (Rs 7-9 lakh per annum) across campuses with one investment bank offering close to $93,000 per annum to an IIT student. Companies like Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, L&T, HLL have found better acceptance among students. "This is also because the old economy companies too have upped their salaries. Apart from this, civil and mechanical engineers are also looking at KPO jobs," observes Mr Das.
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