HRM Practices In India

India’s Changing HRM Horizon

The outlook to Human Resource Management in India has witnessed sea-change in last two decades. Economic liberalization in 1991 created a hyper-competitive environment.

As international firms entered the Indian market bringing with them innovative and fierce competitiveness, Indian companies were forced to adopt and implement innovative changes in their HR practices. Increasing demand for skilled performers forced the companies to shift focus on attracting and retaining high-performing employees in a competitive marketplace.

Emphasis on Employees: Human Resource policies, forming the framework for the culture in the business management, create awareness towards the need to achieve the business goals in the best possible and ethical manner.

Indian companies have realized that in today’s competitive business milieu, the quality of people you employ can make all the difference. In the last few years, the Human Resource has become a key player in strategic planning – it has come a long way from traditional HR operations like managing the recruitment process, handling staff appraisals.

HRM Challenges: One of the challenges HR managers face is issues of up gradation of the skill set through training and development in the face of high attrition. Indian companies are recognizing their responsibilities to enhance the employee’s opportunity to develop skills and abilities for full performance within the position and for career advancement.

Progressive HR Policies: Today, most Indian companies are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for both men and women. The employers are increasingly realizing the value of trained human resource, especially women in India. Some organizations are changing their HR policies to stick with their valuable employees.

MNCs like Pepsico are providing flexibility so that female employees at various life stages could benefit from these policies like working from a different city, sabbatical from corporate life, and extended maternity leave.

Entrepreneurship by Employees: India Inc. is encouraging ‘intrapreneurs’ or employees who have ideas that could potentially become a venture. Companies like Pepsico, NIIT, and Adobe are actively promoting practice of entrepreneurship by employees within the organization. Human Resource Management has taken a leading role in encouraging corporate social responsibility activities at all levels.

Companies like Wipro inculcate corporate social responsibility values amongst its workforce right at the beginning during the induction process. Corporate presentations and keeping employees updated through regular newsletters are the instruments used by HR to keep employees energized about the organization’s socially responsible initiatives.

Over the last decade, India’s vast manpower has played an instrumental role in its economic success story. Indeed, the success of Indian companies is not based on superior access to raw materials or technology or patents, but fundamentally upon human skills. The synergy between the strategic planning and innovative HRM practices will be important as Indian Industries embarks itself on the global journey.