The Hindu Business Line : HAL unveils schemes to retain employees

The sops
Company doing something about retention and rewards.
Trainees become GMs a full decade before their seniors.
Managers get part of divisional profits.

Bangalore , April 10

An attractive staff compensation, feel-good allowances, fast-track promotions: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd says it has started putting its best "people" foot forward with this and more.

HAL's icing on the HR cake — unheard of in PSEs — is for everyone, from the management trainees, technicians to loyal seniors.

At the core of it is the engineering and management talent that is scarce in the aerospace world. While HAL picks its staff carefully and exposes them to best technologies, it admittedly must watch its flock every time a GE, a Honeywell or a Rolls-Royce lands in Bangalore, or fellow PSEs like NTPC hire.

So, under an employee-friendly scheme pushed by the CEO, Mr Ashok Baweja, the 20-something management trainee can have interest-free car loan, conveyance allowance, company-leased house — once exclusive to 40-plus managers.

Mr Sanjeev Sahi, Director (Personnel) of the Rs 5,500-crore HAL, said, "We are not in a compensation race but we are becoming increasingly aware that we should do something about retention and rewards."

In 2005, it hired a record 350 management trainees in 60 days. They now move up after three years, "so that they become GMs a full decade before their seniors could dream of."

In the last five years, 350 young officers exited HAL. This is small for a 30,000-strong company with 6,500 officers, yet "it hurts as we have invested much in their training," Mr Sahi told Business Line.

Lean management and rewards plans shower palpable cash benefits on all. Managers get part of divisional profits - easily two months' basic pay or Rs 30,000-40,000.

As non-tangibles, officers get half sponsorship for a technical or business course and 75 full sponsorships to IITs, IIMs and even to Cranford.

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