The Hindu Business Line : By word of mouth...

For a group whose focus is to make customers 100 per cent referenceable, 100 per cent employee referenceability might seem like a natural extension. But, in the area of software services and BPO, in which the CSS Group focuses, 100 per cent employee referenceability is ambitious.

P.S. Rao, recently appointed HR Head at the Group, admitted as much, but spelt out, to eWorld, what it would take to progress on that journey. Rao has led HR practices in Information Technology, Manufacturing and Engineering industries. His earlier employers include Philips, the Murugappa Group and Karma Information Technologies. He has about 35 years of experience.

Excerpts from the conversation:

We were surprised at the 100 per cent employee referenceability...

Today, each of the Group companies at CSS (CSS - in software; ReadyTestGo - in software testing; and SlashSupport - in tech support) has reached critical mass and is poised for growth. We are targeting 100 per cent growth in the next 12-18 months.

Having reached critical mass, it is time to look at the synergies within the CSS Group and to see what are the common things that one can go with - be it processes, systems, sales pitches, purchase orders. We are also moving into a stage of adding more and more common customers across the Group companies. While each of the companies would retain their differentiation and niche offerings, we are looking at integration based on the synergies, wherever relevant.

We have heard that your employees cross over to other specialities within the group. That is, not only from BPO to software, which is common, but also from software to BPO. Your thoughts?

We offer long-term and multiple career path(s) and as a result, we believe that our employees stay longer here.

Just to illustrate this point, we have had professionals here who entered the group with a stint at SlashSupport, stayed there for a couple of years and then moved into RTG and later into software development at CSS Inc. There have also been instances of people having moved from Software development at CSS to Project Management at SlashSupport as part of their career growth.

It will be ideal for me to take people from inside and grow them within the group because the behavioural capabilities would be in line with the values of the group. We are looking at a structured process to make this (career move) happen within the CSS Group and to institutionalise the career growth process.

What role does HR play in the group?

The HR focus in the group will be in three areas:

Employee Care: HR line managers take care of personal issues of employees — both as individuals and as a team. They are our `employee care managers,'they have the pulse of the team and the individuals. These managers help in counselling, performance-related initiatives, career development and in creating a unique work culture. And this is a continuous and ongoing process at CSS. Mitigation of grievance is made easier by this team. This initiative, I believe, will help build a positive and bonding relationship among our employees, as we move into the next stage of growth, and in creating a culture of our own.

Recruitment Process: Recruitment will be a big challenge for us this year and hence a key focus area. Thirty to forty per cent of recruitment in the IT industry is with freshers. Hence, there is a need for the industry to work with educational institutions to make sure that educational training is relevant to the needs of the industry. We are looking at tie-ups and have already started work with certain educational institutions indicating to them our expectations. With increased interaction with these institutions, I believe that the training period for freshers could come down.

Training and Development: At CSS, the focus to-date has been on Technology training. In future, our focus will additionally be on behavioural training and leadership training. We would look to match individual and organisational capabilities. Going forward, there will be significant investment into training and development at CSS.

What is the attrition rate across the group?

We believe that attrition at CSS (including SlashSupport) is lower than industry standards because there are opportunities for career growth and to work on a range of technology and tech applications (i.e., the number of software platforms). Career growth is the most important criterion for any employee, followed by technology challenge and `freedom to work'. Managing these three areas is critical, from an attrition point of view.

We understand that nearly 25 per cent of employees coming in are through referrals from existing employees. That is rather high by industry standards...

Referral helps in team bonding and greater acceptability within the team and the company. The very fact that employees are willing to look into the market is a good sign for the company. In addition to being cost-effective, employee referrals have helped us have access to the right skill sets and team formation and bonding have become easier. And this has had a positive impact on attrition as well.

Isn't it increasingly true that immediate supervisors of employees know their wards well and are best placed to evaluate individuals? How does HR contribute here?

No appraisal can be fully objective. It is the senior management team that looks into the summary of the appraisals and identifies the high-potential employees. And this again is a continuous exercise. During appraisals, we look at KRAs (Key Responsibility Areas), the potential of the employee and future competence capabilities. A key aspect that we look at is the capability of the employees to take up challenges beyond one's stated responsibilities. Using appraisals for performance improvement and career growth is important from an HR point of view. HR plays a key role in converting appraisals into career management and career development plans.

In addition to attrition amongst technology and BPO industries, HR people are in demand too. How is attrition among HR specialists?

Good recruiters are in great demand but in short supply.

An average recruiter does two recruitments per month. A good recruiter is likely to do 50-100 recruitments per month. Good HR folks know where to look for what kind of candidates and also to match the talent availability with the company requirements.

The good news is that a number of institutions are now starting specialised courses on HR. And also a number of line managers are now willing to come into HR functions.

You talked about training. How do you impart lessons at the senior management level?

Adult learning is not based on teaching. It is based on 3As — Appeal, Applicability and Actionability. That is, a senior person needs to feel that a new idea appeals to him, that it is applicable to his line of work and that he can actually take some action to implement it. What we are passing on to the senior leaders are the 3As.

We hear of temporary staffing all the time. But in few instances do software services companies actually hire temporary staffers. After all, if they want as many people as they can recruit and are willing to train them, where is the question of temporary staff?

Sometimes there is value in temp staffing. We have just started temp staffing at CSS. Where requirement is urgent (i.e., where a customer wants to start projects as soon as is possible), we use temp staffing. Some of them could become permanent over a period of time.

bharatk@thehindu.co.in

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