Managing Talent & Careers & Succession Planning

Human Resource Management

Submitted by:
Aditi Shinde 156 Lovenish Ruhela 131 Vijay Singh 158 Aditya Vaidya 169 Kundan Ramteke- 126 Neha Sabnis- 132

INDEX
Sr. No. Topics Page No.

1 2

Introduction Managing Talent

4 7

Finding New Talent

22

Retaining Talent

27

Assessment Of Potential

34

Managing Talent In Virtual Teams

41

Succession Planning

51

Ethical Issues In Career & Succession Planning

60

Bibliography

63

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to Mr. Amit Nayak, General Manager- HR of Bluestar for giving us his valuable time & sharing his immense knowledge in the field of HR.

INTRODUCTION
All organisations, whether in the private or public sectors, need to be able to find people with the right skills to fill key and top leadership jobs. This process needs to be managed, and traditionally, large blue-chip companies ran highly-structured, mechanistic, secretive and top-down schemes aimed at identifying internal successors for key posts and planning their career paths to provide the necessary range of experience. These schemes worked reasonably well in a stable environment where structures were fixed and careers were long-term. But with growing uncertainty, increasing speed of change in the business environment, and flatter structures, succession planning of this sort declined in the 1990s. How could one plan ahead, it was argued, for jobs that might not exist next year? One apparent result was that more and more people came to be appointed to top jobs from outside organisations. A further problem with traditional succession planning was that it failed to take account of non-managerial roles a brilliant scientist, for example, who might be crucial to the future of the organisation and who wanted to stay in a research role. In a climate of growing skills shortages and lack of confidence in the leadership potential of the existing workforce, interest in succession planning has revived. The new succession planning looks quite different from the old version, with a broader vision and far closer links to wider talent management practices. Through this project report, we try to understand the important function of HR i.e. talent management, career & succession planning & its implications on the organisation. Moreover, to get a better insight on these functions, we visited Bluestar to understand their HR practises.

Blue Star is India's largest central air-conditioning company with an annual turnover of Rs 2900 crores, a network of 29 offices, 6 modern manufacturing facilities, over 1200 dealers and around 2800 employees. It fulfils the air-conditioning needs of a large number of corporate, commercial and residential customers and has also established leadership in the field of commercial refrigeration equipment ranging from water coolers to cold storages. The Company also offers comprehensive Electrical Contracting and Plumbing & Fire Fighting Services. Blue Star's other businesses include marketing and maintenance of hi-tech professional electronic and industrial products. Blue Star has business alliances with world renowned technology leaders such as Rheem Mfg Co, USA; Hitachi, Japan; Eaton - Williams, UK; Thales e-Security Ltd., UK; Jeol, Japan and many others, to offer superior products and solutions to customers. The Company has manufacturing facilities at Thane, Dadra, Bharuch, Himachal and Wada which use state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to ensure that the products have consistent quality and reliability. Blue Star primarily focuses on the corporate and commercial markets. These include institutional, industrial and government organizations as well as commercial establishments such as showrooms, restaurants, banks, hospitals, theatres, shopping malls and boutiques. The Company has started pursuing the residential segment with its wide range of sleek and contemporary Room ACs. In accordance with the nature of products and markets, business drivers, and competitive positioning, the lines of business of Blue Star can be segmented as follows: Electro Mechanical Projects And Packaged Airconditioning Systems Cooling Products Professional Electronics And Industrial Systems

Our visit to Bluestar gave us a lot of insight to the HR function in Bluestar. Through the interview of Mr. Nayak, we noticed that the all the HR functions are completely transparent & the department continuously strives for the betterment of its employees. It
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does everything possible to keep the employees happy & satisfied with the company. The company believes that the employees are a very important factor in the success of the organisation & keep them satisfied will ensure the success of the organisation. The company is not involved in any unethical practises & ensures that no biases are made towards any employee.

TALENT MANAGEMENT
Talent management refers to the skills of attracting highly skilled workers, of integrating new workers, and developing and retaining current workers to meet current and future business objectives. Talent management in this context does not refer to the management of entertainers. Companies engaging in a talent management strategy shift the responsibility of employees from the human resources department to all managers throughout the organization. The process of attracting and retaining profitable employees, as it is increasingly more competitive between firms and of strategic importance, has come to be known as "the war for talent." Talent management is a mission critical process that ensures organizations have the quantity and quality of people in place to meet their current and future business priorities. The process covers all key aspects of an employees life cycle: selection, development, succession and performance management. Key components of a highly effective talent management process include A clear understanding of the organizations current and future business strategies. Identification of the key gaps between the talent in place and the talent required to drive business success. A sound talent management plan designed to close the talent gaps. It should also be integrated with strategic and business plans. Accurate hiring and promotion decisions. Connection of individual and team goals to corporate goals, and providing clear expectations and feedback to manage performance. Development of talent to enhance performance in current positions as well as readiness for transition to the next level. A focus not just on the talent strategy itself, but the elements required for successful execution. Business impact and workforce effectiveness measurement during and after implementation. The term "talent management" means different things to different organizations. To some it is about the management of high-worth individuals or "the talented" whilst to others it
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is about how talent is managed generally - i.e. on the assumption that all people have talent which should be identified and liberated Role of Talent Management The role of talent management is to make confident that the organization has the accurate community in position to accomplish all the essential roles. It diminishes the threat to the long term prospect of the business or organization by make sure that there is a channel of inhabitants with the right expertise, practice and behaviours to complete key point in the opportunity. There are several strategies implicated in talent management and responsibilities that necessitate to be accepted. Employee consideration and constant employee assessment are two essential tasks. If you want to make sure you have the very most excellent strategies and procedures in position to spot talent and develop the abilities of your group then employing professionals in this field is a high-quality thought.

As well as recognize the talent and carrying out consideration to see who might be appropriate for undertaking future roles and responsibilities, a thorough development program will need to be put into practiced. By helping members of staff gain more knowledge in a exacting area or providing them with a comprehensive training program towards the very top you will make sure smooth transitions at a later date with observe to staff moving into new jobs and taking on extra responsibilities.

It is the strength of character of any organization. Without competent employees it's tough to visualize any organization succeeding. A particularly fundamental role of talent management is to make available leadership development training to potential and existing manager. Talent can either be get hold of from outside the organization or raise from the inside. Talent management ensures that all potential employees get the position they justify by provided that training and accepted feedbacks.

Lots of organizations have a preference their potential employees to receive recognized leadership development training and concentrate leadership programs. These training programs can be carrying out in the organization's own educational services through a

simulation program managed by human resource companies that play the trainers' role, and even by outsourcing the training to a guidance organization.

Leadership development training can be classified into following categories: On-job training, Official training Judgment Mentoring

To develop leadership expertise on the job has need of employees to take jobs or project coursework that include leadership farm duties. Employees can learn from colleagues with more experience. For those who prefer a more special approach can hire a personal leadership adviser. Personal instructor can provide intensive leadership development training.

Components of Talent Management

Talent management includes seven components that, when implemented strategically, combine to keep an organization on the leading edge. 1. Strategic Employee Planning- Developing your organizational goals and strategic plan is the first step. Next you must think about how to reach your goals and implement the plan. More specifically, you must identify the key roles and personnel who will get you there. You may already have the positions and people in place, or you may need to adjust the current structure to fill the gaps. 2. Talent Acquisition and Retention- Bringing new talent into your organization is important, yet equally so is recognizing and cultivating talent you already have in-house. Hiring from within your organization is more cost-effective, so when youre working at talent pooling, remember to look internally as well as externally. 3. Performance Management- Aligning the right person with the right role is the heart of performance management. Its ultimate goal is to ensure that roles align with business strategy to achieve goals. It enables you to ensure that youre aligning a talented employee with a role that suits them, develops goals for success, supports their development, and moves the organization forward. 4. Learning and Motivating- Semantics become important here, because learning is more than training. Learning is the acquisition of information and skills, which yields knowledge and experience. Implement learning programs that include activities and tasks that support the organizations culture and initiatives. When employees see how their growth impacts the organization, theyll see just how valuable their role is.
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5. Compensation- Alignment remains the important concept. Aligning your strategic goals with incentives means recognizing employees, rewarding contributions to success, and acknowledging their value to the organization.
6.

Career Development- This ties back to the talent retention component and the notion that hiring from within is not only an option, but often preferable. Nurture potential leaders by providing professional development tools that can advance their career. Knowing the key roles essential to its success is equally vital. Which roles are critical to success? Who currently fills those roles? What happens when those positions become available?

7. Succession Planning- Knowing the talent within your organization is a start.

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Talent Management Process

1. Entry- Determine the key leverage skill sets required by the organization in order to move into the future. The organizations strategic plan should give an indication of these, as well as what constitutes the core competence that will ensure a future for the organization. This will all, in turn, direct you to what talent you should be sourcing. a. Source the required people from the appropriate avenues. b. Be sure to have very detailed job descriptions that include specific competencies required. c. Apply behaviour-based interviewing to select the best candidates. d. The ability to retain talent starts from the quality of the first point of contact.
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e. Carefully consider how you orientate a new employee into the culture of the organization, the work area, and the specific job. f. Assist a new employee to transition into the organization and to be able to produce a quality deliverable within the first three months of tenure. This will go a long way to ensuring that the placement will be successful. 2. Retention- Retaining your talent will not solely depend on what you pay them. We have found from exit interviews that many high performing individuals will leave an organization for the same or, in some cases, even less remuneration if other needs of theirs are not being met. a. The culture, the way things are done around here, plays a huge role in creating a work environment that will draw individuals in or repel them. The culture is created through the systems, processes, technology, structure, leadership, and behaviours of people and teams in the organization. b. Congruity in values between the organization and the employee will also exert influence on an individuals decision to commit to an organization. c. The most important relationship for any individual in an organization is the relationship with ones immediate manager. Ensure that your managers have the skills to constructively lead their direct reports and their teams. d. Involve individuals in decision-making in their areas of responsibility. Involve high performers in cross-functional projects. Allow people to feel that they are making a difference. e. Make sure that each new employee is the right fit for the organizations culture, and then ensure fit with the work area, and then the actual job. Revisit this person-environment fit, as people and circumstances change and some adjusting or repositioning may be required for best results. 3. Development- Development is about growing people to meet both own and the organizations needs. Development plays a large part in talent management. No organization can afford to promise a person a particular job through development. At best, you can offer the promise of making a person more eligible to be part of a pool of talent who would be looked at when positions open up, and then only if the existing skills match the position requirements.

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a. Competencies need to be broken down into their four components: i. Knowledge(what you know) ii. Skills(what you know how to do) iii. Behaviour(what you do) iv. Attitude(what you are willing to do) b. Assess every employees competency profile. This would include establishing if there are any competency deficiencies that are responsible for the gaps that exist between the actual and desired current performance, as well as gaps between current competencies and possible future performance needs. c. Avoid getting trapped into only developing weaknesses; focus on keeping strengths at the cutting edge. d. Create opportunities for development through different methods; such as, training, job shadowing, job rotation, involvement in projects, crossfunctional exposure, and teamwork. e. Make sure that the training provided is linked to the strategic needs of the organization. f. Mentoring can play an important role in developing others, as well as strengthening relationships. This goes a long way to influencing feelings of belonging to an organization. g. Build in stretch deliverables for high potential individuals to produce, as being challenged by what they do often meets individuals personal needs. h. Link talent development into the performance management system. 4. Performance - Identifying potential is one component of talent management, but actual performance reflects on usable talent. Sound performance management practices are crucial. a. Clarify roles throughout the organization, ensuring alignment with the strategy, as well as across functions. b. Involve individuals in setting their own performance agreements. These agreements need to be firm on objectives to be met, deliverables to be produced and at what quality standards, actions to be taken, and the deadlines.

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c. People need to be held accountable for what they deliver, but against performance agreements that function as working documents so that adjustments are made to them as circumstances dictate. d. Feedback is essential - ongoing, objective and constructive. e. Positive reinforcement, when done with genuineness, goes a long way to making people feel recognized. f. Tap into what would make talented individuals within your organization feel rewarded; it is not necessarily always about money or upward mobility. 5. Pass it on- Identify high performance individuals who display characteristics favoured by the organization. Use this pool of talent to help transition new employees into the organization. This will ensure the entrenching of desired ways of operating. It has also been found that the better the first experiences of a new employee, the more likely the individual is to be retained by the organization and the quicker performance results can be achieved. Talented individuals can also serve as mentors throughout the organization and it can be seen as recognition or as a reward to do so. Innovations by talented individuals can be introduced into systems, processes, and approaches in the organization in the pursuit of continuous improvement. They should also be recognized for this. The human resource professionals are the cornerstone of any organizations. They not only solve business problems today but also participate in strategic aspects of the organization; talent management is one of them.

Talent Management Strategy

Formulation of a talent management strategy is the responsibility of the HR function. This is often done in consultation with the business function. Be it talent mapping and planning or performance, recruitment and retention the human resource professionals of the day are seeking out ways to streamline and integrate their functions with the broader business functions. In Aditya Birla group, for example there is huge dearth of leadership positions at the top. The company is expanding globally and at a rate faster than it can grow its human

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capital. This has lead to talent deficit and this is common in many organizations. The problem requires a comprehensive set of solutions. Again in the same organization as mentioned above, people are empowered very early in their careers to give them more responsibilities and build more competencies in employees. This enables to develop high potential personnel. The organization runs an internal programme IDventure where they promote entrepreneurship. You have an idea; you come forward, share and develop a comprehensive business plan. The best plan receives a support from the organization! Needless to mention now, organizations require an integrated approach to talent management. There is a need to strategize in HR functions to enable and support the business functions. Some strategies in this direction could be: Aligning Business strategies with the HR strategies: Business HR is one function that is developing fast as part of the human resource department. The person is responsible for ensuring a smooth relationship between business and HR functions. They work with business heads to develop people strategies to support both short term and long term business objectives. Performance Planning and Evaluation: An integrated HR approach means that are uniform and standard procedures for employee performance evaluation and compensation, up and down the organization. Performance is linked to growth and the process adds value for employees to evaluate their work on their own. Indian digital disk giant Moser Baer employs such process. Strategic Manpower Planning: HR and Business function are interrelated. None can exist without the other. HR functions need to work in collaboration to assess current and future manpower requirements are plan for the same. They need to strategize on the approximate manpower requirements, the relevant skills and educational qualification, compensation and the like. This has to happen well in advance. Recruitment itself means a host of other activities like training and development, compensation, induction and orientation etc. Mapping your Talent: An ever increasing emphasis is being laid on identifying the top performing and talented employees to think of ways to develop, nurture and retain them. Further organizations also like to keep skill inventories for contingencies. As organizations realize the skills and abilities of individuals, they

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can then be more focused on devising means and strategies to attract, develop and retain these people. Miller-Talent Pipeline- This is a concept given by Tony Miller in which he explained how different employees should be managed in the company. This pipeline defines that how the employees recruited should be managed in the organization according to their performance. The model is shown below:

The above model, known as the Miller talent pipeline model enables us to understand and be able to explain to others how the process works. Looking at stage one of the model it is a design and process which will help in attracting talent to the organization. At stage one of, we have filtration process namely testing, profiling and interviewing. This process needs to be exceptionally good. This process will also be used for promotion within the company for internal and external candidates and everyone needs to be treated exactly the same. The second stage is to populate the model of the movers. We should have a clear idea of how many we want in this model and before we have spoken about 20% (this is our talent powerhouse). This requirement will drive our recruitment which can be either internal or external. Succession planning which is critical to any organisation will draw
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its requirements from 20% pool. Depending on the type of job and level of job suitable people will be plugged in at any of the five levels shown on the diagram. They will either be an immediate fit or may require some further training and development prior to their taking up the position. The 70 - 20 - 10 principal was the brainchild of Jack Welch. The principle is very easy to understand what is important is to recognize that the bulk of the organisation and accounts for approximately 70% of the organisation's staff-this 70% we label as stickers. They represent the solid fabric of the organisation and require training and motivation to ensure they are fully engaged with the company's activities. The next number is 20%, this forms what we have referred to as movers in the Company. This is talent pool for future development and of course for succession planning. The 20% the employees of the company who should receive the maximum amount of training and development and should be earmarked for various positions as part of your integrated succession plan. The next group is the one that causes great concern. This is the group that comes under bottom performing 10%. They don't require more training, they don't require coaching, what's needed is swift exit from the organisation. This is not a well renowned model for talent management but as this model defines what has to be done for the organization in present and in future it can be really helpful for an organization.

Talent Management Principles

Principle 1 - Avoid Mismatch Costs In planning for future manpower requirements, most of the HR professionals prepare a deep bench of candidates or manpower inventory. Many of the people who remain in this bracket start searching for other options and move when they are not raised to a certain position and profile. In such a scenario it is better to keep the bench strength low and hire from outside from time to time to fill gaps. This in no way means only to hire from outside, which leads to a skill deficit and affects the organizational culture. Such decisions can be taken by thinking about the Make or Buy decision. Perhaps questions like - How accurate is the demand forecast? How long is the talent required? Can we afford to develop? Answers to these questions can better help the talent management to decide on whether to develop or buy talent. Principle 2 - Reduce the Risk of Being Wrong

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In manpower anticipations for future an organization can ill afford to be wrong. Its hard to forecast talent demands for future business needs because of the uncertainty involved. It is therefore very important to attune the career plans with the business plans. A 5 year career plan looks ridiculous along with a 2 year business plan. Further, long term development and succession plans may end up as a futile exercise if the organization lacks a firm retention strategy. Principle 3 - Recoup Talent Investments Developing talent internally pays in the longer run. The best way to recover investments made in talent management is to reduce upfront costs by finding alternative and cheaper talent delivery options. Organizations also require a rethink on their talent retention strategy to improve employee retention. Another way that has emerged of late in many organizations is sharing development costs with the employees. Many of TATA companies for example sponsor their employees children education. Similarly lots of organizations use promote then develop programs for their employees where the cost of training and development is shared between the two. One important way to recoup talent investments is spotting the talent early, this reduces the risk. More importantly this identified lot of people needs to be given opportunities before they get it elsewhere. Principle 4 - Balancing Employee Interests How much authority should the employees haves over their own development? There are different models that have been adopted by various corporations globally. There is the chess master model, but the flipside in this is that talented employees search for options. Organizations can also make use of the internal mobility programs which are a regular feature of almost all the top organizations.

Current Trends in Talent Management

1. Talent War: Finding and retaining the best talent is the most difficult aspect of HR management. HR survey consultancies are one in their view that organizations globally are facing a dearth of talented employees and its often more difficult to retain them. Further research has also shown that there is clear link between talent issues and overall productivity.

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2. Technology and Talent Management: Technology is increasingly getting introduced into people development. Online employee portals have become common place in organizations to offer easy access to employees to various benefits and schemes. In addition employees can also manage their careers through these portals and it also helps organizations understand their employees better. 3. Promoting Talent Internally: An individual is hired, when there is a fit between his abilities or skills and the requirements of the organization. The next step is enabling learning and development of the same so that he/she stays with the organization. This is employee retention. An enabled or empowered means an empowered organization. It is also of interest to organizations to know their skills inventories and then develop the right individual for succession planning internally. 4. Population Worries Globally: World populations are either young or aging. For example, stats have it that by 2050 60% of Europes working population will be over 60! On the other hand a country like India can boast of a young population in the coming and present times. Population demographics are thus a disturbing factor for people managers. Still more researches have predicted that demographic changes in United States will lead to shortage of 10 million workers in the near future! 5. Talent Management to rescue HR: HR has been compelled to focus on qualitative aspects equally and even more than quantitative aspects like the head count etc. Through talent management more effort is now being laid on designing and maintaining employee scorecards and employee surveys for ensuring that talent is nurtured and grown perpetually. 6. Increase in Employer of Choice Initiatives: An organizations perceived value as an employer as helps improve its brand value in the eyes of its consumer. Most importantly it helps it attract the right talent.

Benefits of Talent Management

1. Right Person in the right Job: Through a proper ascertainment of people skills and strengths, people decisions gain a strategic agenda. The skill or competency mapping allows you to take stock of skill inventories lying with the organization.
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This is especially important both from the perspective of the organization as well as the employee because the right person is deployed in the right position and employee productivity is increased. Also since there is a better alignment between an individuals interests and his job profile the job satisfaction is increased. 2. Retaining the top talent: Despite changes in the global economy, attrition remains a major concern of organizations. Retaining top talent is important to leadership and growth in the marketplace. Organisations that fail to retain their top talent are at the risk of losing out to competitors. The focus is now on charting employee retention programs and strategies to recruit, develop, retain and engage quality people. Employee growth in a career has to be taken care of, while succession planning is being performed those who are on the radar need to be kept in loop so that they know their performance is being rewarded. 3. Better Hiring: The quality of an organization is the quality of workforce it possesses. The best way to have talent at the top is have talent at the bottom. No wonder then talent management programs and trainings, hiring assessments have become an integral aspect of HR processes nowadays. 4. Understanding Employees Better: Employee assessments give deep insights to the management about their employees. Their development needs, career aspirations, strengths and weaknesses, abilities, likes and dislikes. It is easier therefore to determine what motivates whom and this helps a lot Job enrichment process. 5. Better professional development decisions: When an organization gets to know who its high potential is, it becomes easier to invest in their professional development. Since development calls for investment decisions towards learning, training and development of the individual either for growth, succession planning, performance management etc, an organization remains bothered where to make this investment and talent management just make this easier for them. Apart from this having a strong talent management culture also determines how organization rate their organizations as work places. In addition if employees are positive about the talent management practices of the organization, they are more likely to have confidence in the future of their organization. The resultant is a workforce that is more committed and engaged determined to outperform their competitors and ensure a leadership position in the market for their organization.

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AT BLUESTAR What kinds of training programs are carried out at Bluestar?

Bluestar has 3 types of training programs: 1. For freshers selected through campus placement: They give three months training for those who are recruited from campus. Training mainly includes behavioural, functional and technical aspects. 2. Onboarding: They provide 2 days on boarding process to understand the organization culture so that newcomer gets familiar with the organization. 3 Reference:

They provide the 5 days self development program on functional , behavioral and technical aspects. How does Bluestar help its employees in career development? The employee is always for challenges & seeks to outperform them. With good package, they also look for growth in career. The employee is at first taken as an understudy by his superior. Working under his superior, he gets to learn a lot of things about his job & the key decisions he takes. After understanding the working of the organisation, the understudy is given more responsibilities. The responsibilities go on increasing from time to time. He is, later, transferred to another location to understand the different cultural setup. This process continues with the promotion of the employee. What team building activities are carried out at Bluestar? Bluestar execute various forums like trekking, management games to strengthen their team. Among these many are done informally.

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FINDING NEW TALENT

Talent management implies recognizing a person's inherent skills, traits, personality and offering him a matching job. Every person has a unique talent that suits a particular job profile and any other position will cause discomfort. It is the job of the Management, particularly the HR Department, to place candidates with prudence and caution. A wrong fit will result in further hiring, re-training and other wasteful activities.

In order to find the right talent, it is important to determine the key leverage skill sets required by the organization in order to move into the future. The organizations strategic plan should give an indication of these, as well as what constitutes the core competence that will ensure a future for the organization. This will all, in turn, direct you to what talent you should be sourcing. Source the required people from the appropriate avenues. Be sure to have very detailed job descriptions that include specific competencies required. Apply behaviour-based interviewing to select the best candidates. The ability to retain talent starts from the quality of the first point of contact. Carefully consider how you orientate a new employee into the culture of the organization, the work area, and the specific job. Assist a new employee to transition into the organization and to be able to produce a quality deliverable within the first three months of tenure. This will go a long way to ensuring that the placement will be successful.

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STRATEGIES TO ACQUIRE TALENT 1. Campus recruitment

Campus placement or campus interview is the program conducted within educational institutes or in a common place to provide jobs to students pursuing or in the stage of completing the programme. In this programme, industries visit the colleges to select qualified students Types of campus placement: There are two types of campus placement. They are on-campus and off-campus On-campus placement This is the placement program organized only for the students within the educational institute. In most cases student in the final year of a program will participate in this placement program. Pool Campus

This job placement program is conducted within a group of colleges. Off campus placement This job placement program is for students from other institutions. This program will be conducted in a common place (it may be in a college or in some public place) where students from different colleges will take part. Project Placement

Companies recruit students to do their academic project in the industrial environment. Student Internship Placement

Companies recruit the students as interns. Internship will be during their student period.

2. Job Portal
A web site where employers can post job offers, and people looking for employment can post their skills.

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3. Advertising Advertisements are the most common form of external recruitment. They can be found in many places (local and national newspapers, notice boards, recruitment fairs) and should include some important information relating to the job (job title, pay package, location, job description, how to apply-either by CV or application form). Where a business chooses to advertise will depend on the cost of advertising and the coverage needed (i.e. how far away people will consider applying for the job 4. Recruitment agency Provides employers with details of suitable candidates for a vacancy and can sometimes be referred to as head-hunters. They work for a fee and often specialise in particular employment areas e.g. nursing, financial services, teacher recruitment

5. Social Media
The latter part of this past decade is proof of the unyielding power social media networks have on talent management. Since inception in a Harvard dorm room only 6 years ago, Facebook has grown to more than 400 million users worldwide. To put this figure in perspective, thats more than the population of the United States and Canada combined! Even more remarkable, the fastest growing age bracket of active Facebook users is 35 49 year olds, highly contributing members of the workforce1. Add Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning and the countless other social networks, and you have a powerful talent acquisition tool. Throughout the coming decade, social networks will continue to be the best way toform relationships with both passive and active candidates. Instead of the one-time static relationships candidates might have expected from recruiters, social networks will allow recruiters to have long term dynamic relationships with an extensive talent pipeline. With passive candidates making up more that 70% of the workforce, leveraging these relationships through social networks is more important than ever

6. Search Engine Optimization

While job boards will continue to play an important role in sourcing and identifying
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qualified talent in the coming decade, search engine optimization will also become a key component in strategic recruiting. Search engine optimized talent hubs will gain popularity, allowing candidates to filter jobs by class, location and company. Organic search engine optimization is now viewed as one of the most cost effective and under utilized ways to generate applicant traffic to a companys listed job openings. Every month, there are over 226,000,000 job related searches on Google. A rapidly increasing proportion of job seekers are now turning to a limited number of search engines to locate opportunities that were previously found through traditional jobsearch channels8. This means that in order for candidates to find job openings within your organization, your job descriptions must be optimized to rank well with search engine results.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is defined as the process of developing and structuring Web content to be easily discovered by search engines and therefore by people. SEO has long been part of an organizations strategy to drive traffic to their individual corporate website. The concept is simple, the higher your website or job *description appears on the list of search results for a given set of terms, the more web traffic your website and job description can expect to receive. Quality content that is search engine optimized will get picked up for a wider range of relevant searches, resulting in a higher number of quality candidates and essentially a more effective recruiting campaign. 7. Personal recommendation Often referred to as word of mouth and can be a recommendation from a colleague at work. A full assessment of the candidate is still needed however but potentially it saves on advertising cost.

AT BLUESTAR
Finding new talent is a challenge for the HR. Which sources do you to tap to find new talent? In Bluestar, 20% recruitment is done through campus placement, 30% through Job Portals, 20% through placement agencies and 30% through Employment Reference Scheme (ERS)
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Under ERS the employee below managerial level who has referred the person selected receives 10,000 and employee at managerial level receives 20,000.Bluestar recruits Engineers, Diploma engineers and MBAs.
What is the screening process?

A criterion followed by the company is: minimum 60% aggregate in all examinations followed by a written test, group discussion, HR interview and functional interview. The screening of candidates will take place at every round.
Do you try to maintain diversity in workforce?

Bluestar does not take any proactive measures to maintain diversity in workforce. However it does not differentiate employees on any basis (gender, religion, etc.) & has a diversified workforce.

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RETAINING TALENT
Gone are the days when a person would join an organization in his mid-20s and would work till his retirement in the late-50s. Today the young professionals hop jobs, especially during the first 4-5 years of their work life. Though the Indian service industry is basking in the light of outsourced jobs from the developed countries, they also cannot ignore the fact that the BPO industry is also facing one of the highest attrition rates, infact never heard before in India, of around 35%. It is a fact that it is the people that add value to organizations. It is also a fact that human is a restless species that, unlike the immovable Banyan tree, cannot stay rooted in one place. People need to move on for one reason or another, and the organization stands to lose. Let us look at some of the reasons behind the massive attrition rates: 1. Gap between organizational and personal values and goals is one of the major

reasons of the attrition rates. If they go parallel, there is no way both would be satisfied and inevitably, the organization would lose out on a talented employee.
2. Working environment is another major factor. Employees in the knowledge

era demand creative and a democratic work environment. Failure on the part of the management to provide such an environment will result in a talented employee leaving the organization.
3. The competitive world has made sure that there is high work pressure on the

employees of any organization. This has led to psychological problems like stress, and in extreme situations, total burnouts. It also leads to other health related problems.
4. Movement for higher salary is also common among the younger

professionals. There is no shortage for organizations who are looking for talented employees and who are ready to shell out a hefty salary for a talented person. Other lures like better job opportunities, higher posts and overseas assignments are also major factors in the attrition rates.
5. Not taking proper care during the recruitment and selection process and not

taking proper care to fit the right person to the right job also breeds dissatisfaction among the employees.

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6. Bad or opaque policies from management on issues of succession planning

and promotion, appointments for senior positions also is a major factor which makes the organization lose out on the talented employees. The professionals have different aspirations at different times of their career. During the initial years, they have good salary and foreign assignments. Next on the list is working on cutting edge technology. More seasoned professionals look for learning opportunities. So employees tend to move to those organizations which provide them with means to fulfill their aspirations. Retaining the present employees is of the foremost importance to the organizations because; the company would have already incurred heavy costs in the form of training and development. Now if the organization has to look for a replacement for the employee who has left, it involves a lot of costs like - hiring costs, training and induction costs and over and above the biggest loss it has to bear is the loss of time which is irrecoverable and is very costly, so to say, in this era of severe competition. At the same time, it takes time for the new employee to adjust to the new work environment. During this time the productivity of the employee will be low. The HR department will have to fit the new employee into a proper role in the organization. Apart from causing the company a monetary loss and breaks in their day-to-day operations, attrition contributes to knowledge transfer, which is a great loss and adversely affects business. Some ways to help keep your employees motivated, engaged and committed to your business:

Role of organisation
Empower and Enable For employees to succeed in their role, a sense of personal ownership in their work is important. Provide a clear understanding of deliverables and timeframes, then give your people the freedom to decide how best to complete the work. Supporting your employees means they can focus on producing their best work. And where possible, involve them in decisions that affect their work and the overall direction of the company. Reward and Recognise

Frequently recognising and rewarding accomplishments is one of the most powerful staff retention strategies. One way to do this is to boost your employees visibility by publically recognising them at staff meetings or through a business-wide email. Also,
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take the time to say a genuine thank you to make people feel valued and appreciated for their efforts. You can also acknowledge your employees for their hard work with appropriate monetary rewards (such as a salary increase or bonus) or non-monetary incentives (such as the opportunity to lead a new project) to assist with career progression. Challenge and Develop

Opportunities for growth and advancement are key to retaining your top performers. High achievers tend to be life-long learners, so providing them with ongoing training will enable them to keep their skills up-to-date and assist with their career progression. Challenging your staff with new responsibilities and allowing them to lead projects where they can be stimulated and acquire new skills is an effective strategy to keep them in the business. Lead and Support The quality of an employees relationship with their manager and co-workers is a critical factor in their overall satisfaction at work. For leaders interacting with a team; ensure your expectations are clear, communicate openly and honestly, and keep promises. Having a good relationship with staff members will help managers to develop a positive work environment where frequent feedback and new ideas can be shared. By spending one-on-one time to discuss progress, employees will feel like a valued member of the team.

Equitable treatment of employees.

Most human resources professionals are well attuned to the surprising speed with which employee-related information can flow through an organization. News about marked differences in salaries and assignments spreads particularly fast and creates a perception of unfairness. When employees perceive their work environment as unfair, they'll seek greater equity with another employer.

Cultivate a sense of ownership.

Employees can be profoundly motivated by personal investment in their work. Some employees are motivated by creative or intellectual challenges in their jobs. Other employees are inspired by the knowledge that they are contributing to something

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meaningful. Successful work environments encourage and support these personal investments by offering employees a sense of ownership in what they do.

Meaningful opportunities for growth.

Talented employees don't become that way by happenstance. Typically, they seek out and capitalize on opportunities to learn new skills, meet new challenges, and diversify their workplace experiences. In short, talented employees are not satisfied unless they are in a work environment that supports their continued growth. Professional development libraries, mentoring programs, and lunch-and-learn seminars are all affordable ways for your organization to demonstrate that it values employee growth.

Acknowledge and appreciate good work.

Most organizations have incentive plans that reward the achievements of outstanding employees who exceed targets or quotas. But too often organizations overlook the importance of acknowledging the consistent, everyday work of their most responsible employees. Opportunities for raises and promotions are certainly important incentives, but so is simple gratitude. For example, celebrating employee anniversaries with a day off, gift certificate, or savings bond is an easy, affordable way to say thanks.

Role of managers and supervisors

When employees make the difficult decision to leave their jobs, it's often because they've experienced dissatisfaction with their supervisors rather than dissatisfaction with the organization. The management styles and leadership ability of your supervisory staff therefore play an important role in employee retention. For most employees, their work experience is shaped by their direct interactions with management. Employees who enjoy supportive, communicative relationships with their managers are much more likely to report high job satisfaction than employees who don't. But mutually pleasant relationships between employees and their managers aren't always enough to retain employees.

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To actively retain employees, managers and supervisors must:

Take time to identify each employee's unique attributes both strengths and weaknesses and delegate assignments accordingly.

Set clear, stable, and achievable expectations for each employee. Communicate often with reporting staff. Establish and adhere to a regular meeting schedule. Provide regular performance feedback. Seek employee input and ideas.

Many times, managers are promoted to supervisory positions because they possess expertise in a particular operational area. As valuable as this expertise is, an effective manager also should possess strong leadership skills, with the ability to encourage, motivate, mentor, and coach others. Organizations that have a commitment to attracting and retaining talented employees know that ongoing leadership training for management is crucial.

Learning from employees

In developing an employee retention strategy, get help from the experts: your employees. Too often, organizations overlook this invaluable resource. Many sophisticated survey tools are available to help human resources professionals assess morale and solicit suggestions for improving the work environment, but sometimes less formal approaches work just as well. For example, traditional suggestion boxes can be effective, if they're implemented properly. Whatever approach you take, be sure that:

Senior management has clearly communicated to employees a genuine commitment to improving the work environment.

Employee respondents are assured of anonymity. A mechanism for providing feedback is available to employees at all times, not just when a special assessment is being conducted.

Information that you receive from employees is actually incorporated in the work environment and employees see it in action.
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As you gather suggestions from your staff, be sure to also schedule exit interviews with departing employees. Exit interviews can be conducted in writing, but in-person interviews will generate more useful information, particularly if they are well structured and end on a positive note. During the first part of an exit interview conversation, query the employee for information about his or her decision to leave. For example, you could ask the following questions:

What factors led you to accept a position with another company? Was your job with us what you expected? How would you evaluate your performance? Your manager? Our organization?

In the second part of the interview conversation, solicit suggestions from the employee for improving the work environment, such as, "If you were running this organization, what changes would you make?" By concluding exit interviews in this way, employees leave with the sense that their opinions were heard and valued.

AT BLUESTAR
What measures do you take to retain the existing talent? Bluestar follows three strategies to retain employees. Bluestar engages in welfare activities such as ESOPs, immediate financial assistance during personal crisis, allowances, etc. It engages in developmental activities such as grooming, up-skilling, etc. The third is brand equity which boosts the self-esteem & satisfaction of the employee that he gets from working in the company. Any employee craves for attention & respect he earns at any public event due to alliance with Bluestar. How do you deal with poaching? According to Mr. Nayak, poaching is unavoidable in todays scenario. If a key employee is being poached, Bluestar increases the pay package of the employee to retain him. However, there is a limit to which they can do it.

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Also, Mr. Nayak believes that employees do not leave organisations, they leave bosses. Hence it is important to understand the trigger for the employee to leave the organisation. Therefore, 3 things that can retain the employee in the organisation are: comfort level, freedom & empowerment and organisational culture & transparency. The culture of the organisation is such that there is a sense of belongingness among the employees.

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ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL
The talent pipeline for applicants to fill key leadership positions may be drying up due to imminent retirements and increased productivity demands. Many organizations report that they arent fully confident that they can staff key leadership positions in the next five years. Internal organizational programs that focus on leadership development of high potential employees can provide a more reliable source of qualified supervisors, managers and executives to meet the forecasted needs. Potential assessments are tools used to determine an employees skill set and potential for leadership. Using the assessments, organizations can identify future leaders and help train them for leadership roles. Identifying employees It is important to differentiate between high performing and high potential employees when selecting applicants for participation in leadership development programs. High-performers give immediate return on investment, with estimates averaging from more than 50% additional value, to as much as a 100%increase in productivity over average performers. High-potentials are typically defined as those demonstrating high-level contributions, organizational values, potential to move up to an identified position within a given timeframe, and potential to assume greater responsibility. For example, some organizations operationally define high potential employees as those who are able to assume greater responsibilities within the next two years and who exhibit a history of high-performance and leadership potentials; also may be defined as employees who are able to advance two leadership levels within 4-8 years and who score well on various assessment criteria.

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Three general types of high-performers typically fail to become high-potentials: Engaged Dreamers have high motivation, but only average ability. Unengaged Stars have aspiration and ability, but do not fully believe in their work or organization. Misaligned Stars have ability and organizational commitment, but lack the drive and ambition for success at the next level. Ten fatal flaws that can derail managers from a high-potential path: 1. Specific performance problems with the business 2. Insensitivity to others 3. Coldness, aloofness, arrogance 4. Betrayal of trust 5. Over-managing: failing to delegate or build a team 6. Excessive ambition 7. Failing to staff effectively 8. Inability to think strategically 9. Inability to adapt to a boss with a different style 10. Overdependence on a mentor or advocate.

NINE BOX PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL MATRIX Nine Box Matrix measures each employees performance against his or her potential to lead in order to assess an employees matrix position. Performance criteria can include progress against goals, results delivery, performance level and direct report development levels. Leadership potential may be comprised of learning agility, potential next moves (vertically and horizontally within the organization) and willingness/ability to address weaknesses. Additionally, it is the use of a
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competency-based tool within an assessment center context, augmented by human resource assistance, to identify high potentials.

The matrix is used to evaluate an organizations talent pool. The X axis (horizontal line) of 3 boxes assesses leadership performance and the Y axis of 3 boxes (vertical line) assesses leadership potential. A combination of Y and X axis makes up the box within the grid that the leader is placed. 1A - High Performance/High Potential, 3C - Low Performance/Low Potential, etc...

1A (high potential, high performance): Stretch assignments, things they dont already know how to do, assignments that take them beyond their current role; high profile, where stakes are high Give them a start-up assignment, something no one has done, a new product, process, territory,etc Give them a fix-it assignment, a chance to step in and solve a problem or repair someone elses mess Job change, rotations, job swaps, - an opportunity to experience a brand new role, short term or long term

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 Help them build cross-functional relationships with other A players Find them a mentor at least one level up. Provide an internal or external coach Access to exclusive training opportunities Access to meetings, committees, etc one level up; exposure to senior managers, VPs; advisory Councils Watch out for signs of burnout Watch for signs of retention risks; know how to save a hi-potential Next level up exposure, responsibilities, shadowing

2A (high performance, moderate potential): Development activities similar to 1A Difference is often degree of readiness for larger roles. Development is preparation for longer term opportunities 3A (high performance, limited potential): Ask what motivates them and how they want to develop Provide recognition, praise, and rewards Provide opportunities to develop in current role, to grow deeper and broader capabilities and knowledge Provide honest feedback about their opportunities for advancement if asked Watch for signs of retention risks; know how to save a hi-pro (high professional) Ask them to mentor, teach, and coach others Allow them to share what they know, presentations at company meetings, external conferences, to be the highly valued expert 1B (good/average performance, high potential): Development activities similar to 1A Difference is current performance level Focus more on competency gaps that will move them from B to A performance; good to great performance

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 2B: (good/average performance, moderate potential): May not be eager or able to advance; dont push them, allow them to stay where they are Continuously check-in regarding willingness to advance, relocate Provide occasional opportunities to test them Provide stretch assignments Provide coaching and training Help them move from good to great Tell them they are valued Listen to their ideas Praise their accomplishments Trust them 3B (good/average performance, limited potential): Combination of performance management, training, and coaching to help them move from OK to good Provide honest feedback about their opportunities for advancement if asked

1C (poor performance, high potential): Find out the root cause of poor performance and together develop an action plan to improve Consider moving the high potential to a different role (may have been a poor fit) Provide additional support, resources Look for ways to attach to 1As, 1Bs, or 2As After a reasonable period of time, if performance does not improve, then reexamine your potential assessment 2C (poor performance, moderate potential): Focus is on boarding, orientation, relationship building Provide a peer mentor Provide formal new leader training

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 3C (poor performance, limited potential): Use a performance management approach, not a developmental approach Improvement action plan vs. an IDP Clarify expectations Identify and remove blockers, poor performers that are standing in the way of high potentials Provide clearly defined goals Be explicit about the ways in which they must improve Provide remedial coaching and feedback After trying all of the above, after a reasonable amount of time, move the person out of the role. Dismiss or move to individual contributor role

Benefits: 1. Its a simple way to assess any population of leaders on two important dimensions 2. Its a great way to facilitate a dialog amongst a senior leadership team. Teams use it to calibrate their expectations and ratings 3. With a good open debate, the multiple perspectives provide for a much more accurate assessment (vs. one persons opinion) 4. The process can facilitate a shared sense of ownership for the organizations talent pool 5. Its a great way to identify development needs and transition to development planning

AT BLUESTAR
Does bluestar take any special efforts to track the potential of an employee? If yes how successful were these assessment strategies? A: Yes, we have been trying to find good talent in our organization itself. These days its becoming very difficult to find good people as there is huge demand supply mismatch in the job market. There are lot of jobs available but too less applicants. Plus the entire process of recruitment is often very costly. Thus we are improving our internal potential assessment systems to generate the pool of talent within our organization so that we can nurture good potential leaders.For this purpose we have many initiatives. Our culture plays a major role in assessment of potential. Each employee in the organization has a reporting manager who tries to assess the
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employees potential under him. The HR personnel frequently take feedback from the managers to know the progress of their subordinates. This activity is carried out at regular intervals and is an independent activity and not related to appraisal process. The appraisal process happens just twice a year but this activity of feedback happens quite often. We generally generate a pool of employees with good potentials We try to nurture such employees by assigning them a basket of training program, making them capable to carry out greater responsibilities in future. This is a very effective way for finding good potential within our organization. What criteria are considered while assessing an employee? A: We look for a competent employee. The employee has to be functionally suitable and behaviourally sound. A person with good knowledge but lacking behavioural skills, unable to work in a team, not willing to take initiatives typically gets eliminated in this process and his growth in the organization remains stagnated. On the other hand person with average functional competency but a good team player is always given preference. Bluestar has always been in search of good talent and our effective potential assessment techniques have helped us to strengthen our organization. The success of this assessment can be learnt from the fact that about 80% of our top manager today had started their career at Bluestar doing some entry level job.

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MANAGING TALENT IN VIRTUAL TEAMS

Virtual teams, or, as they are sometimes called, geographically dispersed teams (GDT), are rapidly becoming the way the world does business. They consist of a group of individuals who are able to work together across time, space, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. Companies are now able to hire the best of the best, regardless of location. In theory, the members of these teams complement each other and share common goals as do most any other type of team that you may think of. They are each committed to a common purpose and while working together, hold each member as well as themselves accountable for getting the job done. Virtual teams do not simply consist of individuals working from their homes (tele-workers), but rather they are comprised of employees working at home or in small groups in offices all over the world. With advancements in technology and the constant outsourcing that companies all over the world are implementing, virtual teams may eventually be the norm in the way to do business.

The Technology
The technology plays a vital role for virtual teams. Without the use of advance technology, virtual teams cannot be effective. The Internet is the primary technology used by the virtual teams. The Internet offers many facilities for the virtual teams. Some of them are: 1. Email 2. VoIP (Voice Over IP) . voice conferencing 3. Video conferencing 4. Groupware software programs such as Google Docs where teams can work collaboratively. 5. Software for conducting demonstrations and trainings such as Microsoft Live Meeting and WebEx. When it comes to the technology, not only the software matters. The virtual teams should be equipped with necessary hardware as well. As an example, for a videoconference, the team members should be equipped with a web camera can a microphone.

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Types of Virtual Teams

There are many different configurations of virtual teams. Although virtual teams can undertake almost any kind of assignment, team leaders and members need to have a solid understanding of the type of virtual team they work in and the special challenges each type presents. What these teams have in common with all teams is that team members must communicate and collaborate to get work done and/or to produce a product. Virtual teams, unlike traditional ones, however, must accomplish this by working across distance, time, and/or organizational boundaries and by using technology to facilitate communication and collaboration. There are seven basic types of virtual teams: Networked teams Parallel teams Project or product-development teams Work or production teams Service teams Management teams Action team

1. Networked Teams- A networked virtual team consists of individuals who collaborate to achieve a common goal or purpose. Such teams frequently cross time, distance, and organizational boundaries. There typically is a lack of clear definition between a network team and the organization, in that membership frequently is diffuse and fluid, with team members rotating on and off the team as their expertise is needed. Team members may not even be aware of all the individuals, work teams, or organizations in the network 2. Parallel Teams - Parallel virtual teams carry out special assignments, tasks, or functions that the regular organization does not want or is not equipped to perform. Such teams frequently cross time, distance, and organizational boundaries. A parallel team is different from a networked team because it has a distinct membership that identifies it from the rest of the organization. It is clear who is on the team and who is not. The members of a parallel team typically work together on a short-term basis to make recommendations for improvements in organizational processes or to address specific business issues. Virtual parallel

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teams are becoming a fairly common way for multinational and global organizations to make recommendations about worldwide processes and systems that take into account a global perspective. Parallel teams also are used domestically when expertise does not reside in one location or in one organization. 3. Project or Product-Development Teams - Virtual project and productdevelopment teams also can cross time, distance, and organizational boundaries. Team members conduct projects for users or customers for a defined, but typicallyextended, period of time. Their tasks usually are non-routine, and the results are specific and measurable. A typical result is a new product, information system, or organizational process. The difference between a project team and a parallel team is that a project team usually exists for a longer period of time and has a charter to make decisions, not just recommendations. A project team is similar to a networked team in that team members may move on and off the project as their expertise is needed. It is different from a networked team in that membership is more clearly delineated from the rest of the organization, and a final product is clearly defined. 4. Work or Production Teams- Virtual work teams and production teams perform regular and ongoing work. Such teams usually exist in one function, such as accounting, finance, training, or research and development. They have clearly defined membership and can be distinguished from other parts of the organization. Many work or production teams are now beginning to operate virtually and to cross time and distance boundaries. 5. Management Teams- Management teams can be separated by distance and time. Today, many management teams are dispersed across a country or around the world but work collaboratively on a daily basis. Although these teams often cross national boundaries, they almost never cross organizational boundaries. The team members collaborate on a regular basis by means of audio conferences or video conferences about the achievement of corporate goals and objectives. 6. Action Teams- Action teams also can work virtually. Such teams offer immediate responses, often to emergency situations. They cross distance and organizational boundaries. These teams are formed during emergencies and when quick decision has to be made.

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.Managing virtual teams Today it isn't uncommon for companies to have as many as 50 percent of their employees working on virtual teams due to globalization or expansion by their own company. So it is necessary to manage virtual teams but the problem is that too many companies treat their virtual teams the same way they treat teams that share the same physical locations but these teams need to be managed in a different way and the main challenges that are faced by the companies are : Lack of clear goals, direction, or priorities Because it is tougher to communicate with and inform team members who are geographically dispersed, it is often difficult to keep all team members focused on the same goals, especially over time. Lack of clear roles among team members In virtual teams, it is especially important for team members to clearly understand their individual roles and how their work impacts other team members. Lack of cooperation and trust Because there is a lack of face-to-face contact inherent in virtual teamwork, the process of establishing trust and relationships that lead to group cooperation can be very arduous. Over time, this lack of collaboration can lead to a lack of trust amongst team members. Lack of engagement With virtual teams, people can easily become bored and "check out" because there is a lack of dynamic face-to-face interaction and because there are more distractions. These challenges or pitfalls can be met by taking some actions which can be as follows:I. Focus on people issues. Essentially, successful teaming depends largely on the effective interaction of team members. Virtual teams need to compensate for the inherent lack of human contact by supporting team spirit, trust, and productivity. This can be dealt with by taking following steps:

Develop a team web page where virtual team members can share information and get to know one another.

Create ways for team members to interact and communicate informally. Use realtime communication tools like Instant Messaging or social media sites such as

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Facebook or Twitter to create a virtual water cooler of sorts that allows people on virtual teams to communicate more spontaneously.

Build a collective online "resource bank" to share information and experiences. Find ways to "spotlight" team members. Send electronic newsletters or updates to the team. Create ways to virtually celebrate successes as a team. Partner team members at different locations on projects and rotate these periodically.

II.

No trust, no team. Task-based trust is one of the factors that differentiated top performing teams. In virtual teams trust seems to develop more readily at the task level than at the interpersonal level. There are four warning signs that trust is in low supply in virtual teams: team members do not refer to themselves as "we" they do not appear to know one another very well they are openly negative; they do not regard others as credible.

Actions that can be taken:

Make sure teams meet face-to-face at least once early on in the team's formation. Spend some part of the meeting focused on building relationships and learning about team members' capabilities.

Be sure team members feel empowered to make and act on decisions. Because virtual leaders do not have "face time" with team members to check in, leaders are more likely to micromanage team members without realizing it.

Help people manage conflicts, not avoid them. Conflict is likely to be ignored or may escalate quickly in a virtual setting. Therefore, leaders need to more proactively manage conflict.

The team leader should model and reinforce these positive behaviours. Watch out for performance peaks. While virtual teams who have been working together for more than three years tend to be more successful than teams working

III.

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together for less time, many virtual teams face a performance peak around the one-year mark. After that, performance tends to level off or even decline.

Clearly define team roles and accountabilities to minimize frustration and misunderstandings that can damage morale and derail productivity.

Review and refine team processes regularly. Periodically examine the level of team performance. Collect feedback from various stakeholders to assess the team's performance.

Based on the outcomes, identify barriers to high performance, as well as steps that can be taken to overcome these barriers.

IV.

Virtual team leadership matters. Leadership is the factor most important to the success of virtual teams. To overcome the limitations of distance and to be fully effective, team leaders in a virtual environment must be especially sensitive to interpersonal communication and cultural factors. To overcome the limitations of distance and to be fully effective, team leaders in a virtual environment must be especially sensitive to interpersonal communication and cultural factors. Organizations can avoid this performance barrier by selecting team leaders who not only have the necessary technical skills but also have the soft skills required to effectively lead in a virtual environment. If you're a team leader, it's not easy to learn that you may be the cause of your team's poor performance. But there are many ways to improve your performance and get your team back on track. Some of them are as follows:

Set clear goals and direction and revisit these as priorities shift. Engage team members in the development of team strategy. Provide time for team building through periodic face-to-face meetings. Provide timely feedback to team members. Be responsive and accessible. Emphasize common interests and values and reinforce cooperation and trust. Create a system to easily integrate new team members. Teach the importance of conflict resolution. Celebrate team achievements and successes

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Six Critical Success Factors

Seven factors affect the probability of a virtual teams success:

1. Human Resource Policies- Human resource policies should support working virtually. Systems must be integrated and aligned to recognize, support, and reward the people who work in and lead virtual teams. a. Career-Development Systems-Team leaders can help to support virtual team members by providing career opportunities and assignments that are comparable to those in traditional team settings. Applying promotion and career-development policies and actions fairly to people who work in virtual settings helps to reinforce the perception that working virtually is an accepted career option. Virtual team members often mention that they fear that they will be looked over for promotional opportunities because they are not seen every day. This fear is not unfounded. Managers who lose visual and verbal proximity to their employees often put up the strongest resistance to alternative work and team arrangement. Virtual team leaders must ensure that the members of virtual teams have the same career-development opportunities as the members of traditional teams. b. Rewarding Cross-Boundary Work and Results- Organizational reward and recognition systems often favor individual and functional work. Virtual team members, however, frequently operate in a cross-functional and/or cross-organizational environment. Changes must be made in the ways in which people are recognized and rewarded. Leaders must develop performance objectives for team members that include working cross boundaries and sharing information to support virtual teamwork. Providing Resources and Support for Working Virtually. Create and support policies that provide your team with technical support for working remotely. All team members should have equal and immediate access to electronic communication and collaboration technology, training, and technical support. Many virtual team leaders set a standard for technology and make certain that everyone has access to the same hardware, intranet and Internet connections, and applications. They ask the information systems group to assist in the implementation.
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2. Training and On-the-Job Education and Development-Formal training in using technology is vital for success. In addition to a formal training curriculum, make certain that the team members have access to continual on-line training and technical support. Ask your training department about the feasibility of creating and implementing these types of systems. Learning how to use technology is not enough to guarantee success. Team leaders should make certain that they get the training and support they need to be adept at facilitating meetings using technical and nontechnical methods. Training in facilitation skills should be an integral part of a development curriculum for team leaders and team members. Provide training and support for your team in working collaboratively across organizational, cultural, and functional boundaries. Many organizations provide direct consulting support and training to virtual teams in this area. 3. Standard Organizational and Team Processes- Consider developing and implementing standard team processes. The use of standard processes reduces the time needed for team startup and may eliminate the need for unnecessary reinvention of operating practices each time a team is chartered. Practices need to be flexible, however, to promote adaptation to a particular virtual teams situation. Common standard technical processes, especially for parallel, project, or network teams include Team charters Project planning Documentation Reporting Controlling 4. Electronic Collaboration and Communication Technology-As a virtual team leader, they need to select electronic collaboration and communication technology that meets the needs of your team. You also will need to ensure that the organization is ready to support your technical needs. Introducing the electronic communication and collaboration technology needed for virtual teamwork, such as desktop video conferencing or groupware 5. Organizational Culture- Organizational culture includes norms regarding the free flow of information, shared leadership, and cross-boundary collaboration.
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Help to create organizational norms and values that focus on collaboration, respecting and working with people from all cultures, keeping criticism constructive, and sharing information. The organizations culture sets the standard for how virtual team members work together. An adaptive, technologically advanced, and nonhierarchical organization is more likely to succeed with virtual teams than is a highly structured, control-oriented organization. The success of virtual teams is related to how the organization fosters or impedes trust between itself and its external partners. 6. Team-Member Competencies-The people who work as virtual team members have to develop their own competencies. First, virtual teamwork is not for everyone. Serving on a virtual team may seem too transitory for some individuals who need face-to-face interaction and stability in a work environment. Without the structure of a co-located setting and day-to-day contact with team members, they may feel lonely or left out. All members of traditional and virtual teams need solid grounding in their respective disciplines. However, virtual team members need new competencies. Team leaders can help to facilitate competence development by working with team members to create learning plans that use training and on-the-job assignments. The definitions of team member competencies will vary, depending on the teams type, mission, and composition. There is, however, a relatively stable set of six critical competencies: a. b. c. Project-management techniques Networking across functional, hierarchical, and organizational boundaries Using electronic communication and collaboration technologies effectively d. e. f. Setting personal boundaries and managing time Working across cultural and functional boundaries Using interpersonal awareness

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AT BLUE STAR
Does Bluestar have any virtual team in their organisation? Bluestar does not maintain virtual teams in their daily operations but sometimes the top management comes together momentary to deal with a certain problem or to make any changes regarding policy or structural changes in the organization. Currently bluestar has management virtual team in which is dealing with the change in performance appraisal system. What measures is bluestar taking for the smooth functioning of virtual team? Smooth functioning of virtual team is ensured by proper communication between the team members via different modes of communication like, mobile phones, e-mails, video conferencing etc. Their current virtual team which is working on changing the performance appraisal policy has the top management including the HR head. Communication between the team members takes place on a regular basis and meetings are also arranged according to the time available and the importance of the meeting.

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SUCCESSION PLANNING
Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company. Succession planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available.

Models of succession planning

1. Succession planning by position - management driven

Incumbent identifies the individual(s) who are in their view best qualified to move into the position in the short term (say within 1 year); the medium term (within 2 years) or the longer term (3-5 years);

The incumbent may also identify their perception of the development needs of the candidates they have named;

Sometimes the organisation decides that the succession plan is a strictly confidential document; consequently the only people who are aware of the succession plan are those who develop it. Even when there is some awareness that a succession plan exists, frequently the people on the succession list are not told that they are, unless the company decides to create "fast track" programs for these individuals. Sometimes the information is leaked informally, however employees are rarely consulted or asked to participate in the process; and

Following the development of the succession plan, there may or may not be specific development for the individuals who made the list. Sometimes the incumbent will take a special interest in one individual who has been identified as a potential successor, and will develop a mentor/protegee relationship, in which the incumbent coaches and guides the person who has been identified for their role.

Advantages of this approach:

This is the simplest model; based on the assumption that the best person to identify who would be able to do the job is the person who is currently doing it;

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The most common reason why organisations use this model is that it is often the approach the CEO is most comfortable with. He/she is able to scan the list and see if there are any positions which have no identified successors (thus identifying succession gaps in the organisation); and is able to look at which names tend to arise most frequently; providing a snapshot of those who are generally perceived to be the "stars"; and

This approach is the least costly and the quickest; and does not require a high level of organisational commitment. It serves the purpose of ensuring at a minimum that managers are thinking about succession issues; and are aware that succession planning is partly their responsibility.

Disadvantages/risks:

High risk of encouraging corporate "cloning". This can have serious business and EEO implications. The incumbent (who may have a fairly narrow perspective of the world) tends to identify individuals who are most like him/her in terms of educational background, experience, and personality style. Unconsciously, they may be also looking for someone of the same gender, socio-economic status, and family situation (indeed some will even acknowledge that they believe these to be relevant to the ability to do the job; although such biases often "go underground" and the managers know better than to openly acknowledge that these are their belief systems!);

Problematic in large organisations in which the incumbent in the position does not know employees across the organisation. The identified successors tend to be people the incumbent works with, and candidates from other areas are not considered; and

Risk that the person identified does not aspire to the promotional positions they have been identified for.

2. Creating succession planning "pools"

In this model, high potential candidates are identified within the organisation as the senior managers of the future;

They are usually selected by a task force of senior managers (often with the assistance of Human Resources) who set aside a day or more to go through a list
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of all employees above a certain level and assess which individuals should be identified as high potential. To facilitate decision making, they will often agree on some criteria by which to select the individuals, and may have the person's most recent performance appraisal as an additional resource;

In some cases, candidates may be further narrowed down through an assessment centre process or through an interview/evaluation process; and

Once the pool has been identified, those who make the list will generally receive some special attention. How much attention will depend on the organisation's willingness to make a financial commitment to the program. Often the Human Resource Department puts together a "fast track" program in which they assist the person to develop an individual development plan. They may provide some group training; they may institute a mentoring program, and identify certain training programs these people should attend.

Advantages of this approach:

This type of approach tends to be somewhat fairer because more managers are involved in the selection of the people who are identified for the High Potential program; thus providing some checks to offset bias. However for this to be effective it is essential that the committee undertaking the selection is itself both diverse and open to organisational diversity. It also tends to be fairer because some criteria for selection of high potentials are usually applied; and

This approach is also more likely to recognise the value of providing broad background for the high potential employees rather than a single functional stream of experience.

Disadvantages/risks:

In large organisations the majority of employees may not be well known to the task force members, and their view of the person may be influenced by the level of visibility the person has in the organisation (which of course can be limited by the type of work they do and even their relationship with their manager). As a result, talented employees who do not have a high profile may be overlooked all together; and

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An even more insidious problem is the effect on employee morale of having such a program for those who are sometimes called "the anointed ones". In many organisations, it is widely known which employees have been identified as highpotentials, the other non-identified employees can be severely discouraged and demoralised. Some organisations have discovered that the backlash from a highpotential program offsets any benefits it may have. Some organisations discontinue their high potential/fast track programs for this reason.

3. Top-down/bottom-up succession planning This model is based on the current and expected future needs of the organisation, as well as on ongoing two-way communication with employees. It has the greatest potential to be able to deliver improved outcomes for women. This process involves:

Senior management as a group determines what competencies are required to enable a person to take on the key roles, for example, at a middle or senior management level, considering organisational requirements for "the manager/employee of the future". Certain criteria for progression are determined as across-the-board requirements for development, for example, education levels, organisational cross training, participation in management training;

All employees at a pre-determined level are provided with the information developed by Senior Management via a session about succession planning and career development. This session outlines clearly the requirements for progression in the organisation. This enables staff to determine whether or not they are interested in progression; and to self-identify if they wish to be involved in a program which will help them to meet the criteria for development and progression;

Employees who signal their interest in progression then participate in a workshop in which they are given guidance and led through such processes as: a) using 360 degree feedback to determine their strengths and weaknesses particularly relating to management skills, b) developing their own individual development plan and reviewing it with other appropriate people, c) learning how to take responsibility for their own career growth, and d) considering what would be good "next

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moves" for them to make in their careers. Assessment centres could also be used as part of the workshops;

The results of the 360 degree feedback, as well as the individual development plans, and possible "next moves" would be maintained by a manager on a human resource information system. Each person's file would be updated annually or more frequently;

A report on each of the people participating in the development program would be generated annually. This report would provide input for any senior level succession planning taking place. Thus senior management would be able to get a snapshot of how many people aspire to progression, and what progress they are making in working through organisational requirements; and

Employees who initially opted not to participate in the development program are able to change their mind at any time and join the development program.

See Succession Planning Pilot Process for a suggested strategy to implement this succession planning model. Advantages of this approach:

Because the program leans so much on employee self-selection, there is less likely to be conflict with EO principles and thus ensure that a broader group of people participate;

The program serves to empower employees; to help them feel that they have some control over their careers and are not at the mercy of others;

The across-the-board criteria for progression ensure that there is less chance to "work the system" (e.g. to wire jobs for favoured applicants); and

The process is transparent. There need be no secrets or hidden agendas. This engenders a higher level of trust.

Disadvantages/risks: Three things are pre-requisite for the success of this program: Strong across-theboard support at the most senior levels of the organisation, consistency in application, and follow-through. A program like this should not be introduced if there is not a

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strong commitment to its continuation. At a minimum, two years would be required in order to see significant results and a changing culture. To ensure that gender equity outcomes are enhanced, it is also important in this process to:

Have consistency and uniformity in the process of job analysis, definition of competencies and in performance evaluation processes;

Ensure that high-potential women are identified and that managers are proactive in this process (see the description of the Motorola plan below); and

Have diversity or equal employment outcomes included in the performance indicators of management, for example, retention of women or number of women included on the succession plan.

STRATEGIES
The first step for an organization is to identify its core strategy, which may not be the same across the whole company. Do you tend to buy or build? Look not just at whether people tend to be promoted from within (building) or hired from outside (buying). Also review the firm's modes of adding new systems or functions. Are they bought from outside or built inside? Then assess the advantages of each: Hiring from outside can bring in new technologies not available inside, as well as new ideas and ways of doing things. Companies that always promote and develop existing employees can become very insular. But the down side is that acquiring new talent can be extremely expensive. By going internal, you save money, enhance employee engagement and morale, and gain ample time to get to know promotion candidates quite well. Another good preparation step is to evaluate the organization's approach to two goals: Is it primarily results-oriented, mostly focused on organizational culture, or is there a good balance between the two? Finally, there are five strategies for effective succession planning.

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1. Measure for the three C` s of fitness

Continuously measure of potential future leaders on the basis of their competence, connection, and culture. How strong are their business and planning skills? How well do they connect with other people? And how closely, and with how much passion, do they model the organization's chosen culture? Competence and connection are both crucial. 2. Implement tools for development. Magic in the mix is a set of tools for developing those chosen as future leaders. There are three--job experience, coaching, and formal learning. Job experience is not what's on the employee's rsum when he or she was hired, but the job rotations, projects, and special assignments that the individual is given once in the company. Coaching should be done by as many different managers as possible, and top management participation in coaching key candidates is crucial. Formal learning involves identifying personal attributes that the company wants in its leaders--usually soft skills--and bringing high potentials together periodically to learn them. Candidates also use these sessions to network with one another.

3. Involve talent in the planning. Candidates should be interviewed periodically about what they would choose as their next job, what they feel they learned most from the past job, and other wishes.

4. Cast a wider net--in a bigger ocean. Developing a small coterie of candidates to eventually fill a handful of key jobs can be short-sighted. Dig deeper, select more potential leaders, and don't pigeonhole them. See how each develops and how the business changes, keeping each in mind for any one of several possible slots.

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5. Focus on the future. The talent you need today isn't the same as you'll need in 5 years, so develop both flexibility and vision. Imagine coming business developments and then seek the talent that may be needed for the changes.

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AT BLUESTAR
Which model of Succession Planning do you use? Bluestar uses creating Succession Planning pools. What are your succession planning strategies? Bluestar has created a Leadership Development Program through which they identify high performing employees who can replace a key position. Except for the top management, nobody is informed about the selected employees. The employees are watched for their behavioural skills & monitored for their performance. They are given certain responsibilities to analyse their managerial & decision-making skills. Certain training, if required, is imparted. Finally, when the need arises, the employee is promoted to the position.

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ETHICAL ISSUES IN CAREER & SUCCESSION PLANNING

Ethical issues in talent management and succession planning
Succession planning as part of talent management is not finding crown prince or preselection. It is the action taken to ensure that qualified professional people are available as needed It is about building an executive and professional cadre of excellence. While planning for succession, an HR manager needs to remember that Ethics and values in selection at senior levels changes culture throughout the organization. The HR manager needs to follow an ethical approach as the decision to select a particular person for a particular position is going to have a long term impact on the organizations integrity, culture and reputation. The HR managers must ensure that by their actions they portray a strong ethical behaviour in turn help in retaining the workers trust and faith in the organization. Aspects like fairness, confidentiality, honesty, in dealing with people, openness, transparency of processes of evaluation and selection are immensely important. Apart from that, treating people with dignity and respect helps the employees self-esteem. A clear message should be sent across the organization through the HR managers actions that Individuals are accountable for their own careers and the good performers will always find higher responsibilities, important roles and better benefits in the organization. At the same time, it should be conveyed to all the employees that the management will not shuffle around their poor performers. Poor performers will be dealt with using a plan of action to improve or to choose another career

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Q 1.

The pressure of hiring someone who has been recommended by a friend, someone from your family or a top executive?

The HR executives have faced this situation sometime during their career. They don`t hire the employees because they came through reference but they select them on the basis of their qualifications. But at times they have to surrender to the pressure if the recommendation comes from a top management

Q 2.

Poaching/head hunting candidates from competitors for key management positions

It happens very often and it can have a negative impression of the company in the market.

Q 3.

What measures do you take to carry out an ethical and un-biased succession planning?

There is a structured process for measuring talent. A committee of 5 members is set up for succession planning which includes top management, functional head and HR head. As there is a team of 5 different members from different department the chances are of unethical and biased decision dont arise.

Q 4.

Internal candidates who are competent (Knowledge Skills, Abilities) and eligible for promotion are overlooked and external candidates are sought for key management positions.

It is not applicable and the company gives preference to the internal employees first.

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CONCLUSION
Highly demanding business environment makes it imperative for the organizations to build competence in the form of superior intellectual capital. It is agreed by almost all CEOs of big companies that it is the human resource - a talented one - that can provide them competitiveness in the long run. It has become the duty and responsibility of the new age HR managers who are now termed as Human Capital Stewarts to manage the human capital as well as the knowledge capital and become not only a HR manager but also a knowledge facilitator. So it is the duty of the HR department to nurture a brigade of talented workforce, which can win them the war in the business field. The talent has to be spotted, carefully nurtured and most importantly preserved. Right person for the right job - is the new mantra.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.icims.com/content/company/whitepapers/evolving_talent_trends. asp http://www.sergaygroup.com/Smart-Talk/Talent-Management.html http://www.tony-miller.com/talent_management.asp http://www.ddiworld.com/DDIWorld/media/whitepapers/ninebestpracticetalentmanagement_wp_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf http://www.icims.com/content/company/whitepapers/evolving_talent_trends. asp http://www.humanresourcespeople.com/profiles/blogs/talent-management Succession Planning Insights & Experiences- V. V. Ramani

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