|
COVER STORY
Innovative HR Practices by Organizations Across Different Sectors
-- Pallavi and Arvind Kumar Mishra
Companies are taking up people-related initiatives as there is a need to manage
human resources advantageously, so as not to lose the competitive edge in talent that they have
built. Innovative HR practices thus helps in building competencies and capabilities of the
workforce. In managing their human resources, companies have time and again focused on
values, invested in personnel, emphasized on meritocracy and consequently attaining excellence
in HR processes. Innovative HR practices by organizations can be witnessed in recruitment
and selection, rewards and recognition, motivation, cost-cutting, training, performance
appraisal, etc.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
MANAGEMENT
Key Practices
for Closing
the Management Skills Gap
-- Clinton O Longenecker
A managerial skills gap exists when a manager finds himself/herself in a position where
he/she does not have the requisite managerial knowledge or skills necessary to perform at a high
level. This skills gap is frequently exposed by rapid organizational change, structural
realignments, promotions and/or the addition of new responsibilities, all of which are common occurrences
in modern enterprises. This article chronicles the cost of the managerial skills gap and
provides the reader with a discussion of the causes and cures, based on a decade of research
with seasoned business leaders. To this end, organizations that operate with significant gaps in
the talents of their managers do so at their own risk for their long-term survival and success.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
EXIT INTERVIEW
Exit Interview : Need for a Novel Approach
-- P Udhayanan
The article focuses on studying the validity of the exit interviews in organizations. It
narrates the various consequences that the organizations face due to employee turnover. The
study undertaken in the article empirically reveals the lacunae in the exit interview process
by determining the actual reason for employees' quitting with the aid of exit interview
data collected from various organizations. The article also suggests a methodological approach
for the human resource practitioners to define and redefine the process of present exit
interview system to measure the actual reasons for employee turnover.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PERFORMANCE METRICS
The Need for High Performance Teams in Indian IT Industry
-- G P Sudhakar, Dr. Ayesha Farooq and Dr. Sanghamitra Patnaik
The IT industry is one among the growing industries, which uses teams for
project implementations. The existence of high performance teams in Indian IT firms such as
TCS, Wipro, Infosys and in global IT organizations such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems
are discussed in this article. The characteristics of high performance teams such as group
decision making, mutual trust, mutual respect, openness, organizational culture, and competencies
of team members are also explained.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ANGER MANAGEMENT
Anger Management
in Times
of Recession
-- G Ramesh
With mounting work pressure and layoffs during times of recession, anger among
the employees is on the rise. Anger is an extremely destructive emotion that affects
the professional as well as personal lives of employees. In such a situation, employees need
to learn how to control their anger. The management also needs to tackle it and show
sympathy towards such employees who are buckling under work pressure, supporting and
motivating them for better performance and help dispel their angry feelings.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Eustress
at Work
-- Sonit Dutta and H Ramananda Singh
Stress has become a part and parcel of human life affecting the health of both, the
employee and the organization. Though it is a negative consequence of modern living, it is not
necessarily bad in and of itself. There is also a positive side to stress, called eu-stress generating
healthy and constructive responses to stress. This article highlights the positive impact of stress in
our life and on the level of performance at work. It reveals that optimum level of stress is
required for the well-being of an individual and for the survival of an organization.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CSR
Building Corporate Social Responsibility : An HR Perspective
-- S Riasudeen and PT Srinivasan
Corporate Social Responsibility popularly known as CSR, is integrated in most
organization's strategic imperatives. With the growing importance of CSR in companies, Human
Resource (HR) professionals have to play a key role in initiating, developing and sustaining CSR
activities in the organization. HR professionals have to instill, nourish and stress the importance of
CSR activities to the employees and management of the organization to make it a reality. This
article delineates the increased importance of CSR in an organization and the HR leader's role
in formulating strategies towards this end by integrating and engaging the interest and needs
of all the parties concerned.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CASE STUDY
Employee Motivation and Retention Strategies at Microsoft Corporation
-- Barnali Chakraborty
This case study examines the employee motivation and retention strategies of the
US-based company, Microsoft Corporation. Since its inception, Microsoft was appreciated
for its employee-friendly Human Resource (HR) practices. However, during the late 1990s, as
the company started to grow rapidly in size, it lost the popular elements of its work
culture. Moreover, several racial discrimination lawsuits and antitrust proceedings affected
the company's corporate image and financial performance adversely. In the early 2000s, in order
to improve its profit margins, Microsoft started cutting several employee benefits,
which demotivated its employees. To boost the employee morale, in 2006, Steve Ballmer, the then
CEO of Microsoft, appointed Lisa Brummel as the Senior Vice-President of HR. She announced
a plan named `myMicrosoft', which included developing appropriate systems to
enhance communication between the employees and the HR department. She also made changes in
the company's performance review system, introduced several new employee benefits,
and designed new workplaces in an effort to attract and retain employees.
© 2010 ICMR. All Rights Reserved.
| 
