ASSIGNMENT

OF

MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

ON

TOPIC :- HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES IN TCS

SUBMITTED TO Miss. Azizinder Kaur Sekhon

SUBMITTED BY Anita Roll no. 5335 MBA -1 (E)

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, PUNJABI UNI. PATIALA

INTRODUCTION TO 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 InterBranch 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 clientdedicated 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  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:

 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.

 Learning and development

Learning and development Mission:-To enhance the competency capital of TCS, through cocreation 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, shortterm 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 softskills (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.

 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.

 Performance Management
TCSs 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 associates 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 predefined 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.

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 predefined parameters. Performance against the individual's goals is also tracked. If projectend 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:

 Compensation structure
In todays 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 individuals 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 its 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 indepth 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.

 Retention Policies (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. Companys 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

 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. Asks for resignation and if employee is not willing, then he is terminated