Oct 24 2014 : The Times of India (Bangalore)

Companies all for family

days

An HR director received a call late one evening from a harried parent of one of the
employees. The question: What is going on in the office that my daughter is working so
late? This was a wake-up call for this organization. Not many families understand the
job profile of their working daughters or spouses which is leading to some unease. To
address this issue many companies are now opening their doors to the families of their
employees to quell needless apprehensions and promote better understanding.
At the `Bring Your Parents to Work Day' event, Vinita Gera's parents and in-laws
glowed with pride. While my father-in-law had a better sense of what I was doing, the
event helped my mother-in-law understand my job profile better -that it was a
responsible role, one I was passionate about and it was not just another job, says
Gera, senior director of an engineering division at BMC Software India.
We invite family members of shop-floor employees, especially women, at the time
of on-boarding and show them around the premises.This instills a lot of confidence in
families and also helps us in retaining them, says VikasThapa, VP-HR, Cummins Group
in India.The company has launched this initiative as a pilot at its `megasite' (housing
eight factories) at Phaltan, near Pune.
At Marico Kaya, a wellness chain, 80% of the workforce comprises women from
diverse backgrounds. It is common for our HR teams to interact with spouses or

parents, since they are worried about allowing their wife or child to work. One-on-one
interactions are conducted if required, explains RuhiePande, VP and head, HR &
training at Marico Kaya. For ongoing contact, relevant phone numbers, including that of
HR personnel, are provided to parents and counselling is available for both employees
and their families.
PwC India is currently exploring the option of familymeeting events at its offices,
where spouses of women employees will get an opportunity to interact with others,
including spouses of their most successful women employees. We expect this initiative
will reduce any apprehension that families may have as regards our work culture,
clients, or even work related travel, says Mark Driscoll, human capital leader at PwC,
India.
On `family day', Deutsche Bank-India throws open its office doors. We have seen
employees and their families click photographs at their work stations. Children like to sit
at their parent's desk and understand what their parents accomplish on a day-to-day
basis, says a spokesperson.
It has a positive impact even for India Inc. We've witnessed multiple instances
where an employee got significant breakthrough offers, yet their parents counselled
them to stay back. Parents clearly felt that the careers and lives of their children are in
safe hands, says ShashankBhushan, senior director-human resources, BMC Software,
India.
Such

interactions

also

help

parents

understand

clearly

what

their

child

does.According to a global study recently released by LinkedIn, a professional

networking platform, 60% of professionals surveyed believed that their parents have
valuable advice to offer, but are not sharing enough of it. In the Indian context, 52% of
parents felt that they have skills and knowledge, such as time management or problem
solving that could benefit their child's career but have not shared it. A drastic change in
the work environment was the reason most parents (nearly 40%) cited for their

hesitancy in sharing their experience, skill and knowledge with their children. LinkedIn
has dedicated November 6 as a `Bring in Your Parents Day', with the theme this year
being `gratitude'. It also reaches out to other companies and encourages them to open
their doors.
Such interaction helps bridge the generational gap when it comes to the world of
work. It seems like there are a lot of untapped opportunities for parents to share their
skills and knowledge yet, one in three parents did not understand what exactly their
child does for a living, says DeepaSapatnekar, head corporate communications at
LinkedIn (India & HK).
At Google, `bring your parents to work' is a global initiative and the Hyderabad
campus has hosted parents.We have a young workforce which works on new and
exciting products and technology. Yet very few have parents who fully understand what
their children do. This initiative helps Googlers to share a slice of their work-life with
their families, says SharadGoyal, head of people operations, Google (India).

Companies bond with new talent using multiyear packages

Reeba Zachariah & Yogita Rao, TNN | Nov 3, 2014, 12.17PM IST

Taking in probationers with stipends and subsequently absorbing them, retention bonuses at
the end of the contract periods and funding candidates' higher education, are by now regular
carrots used to retain talent.

MUMBAI: With the adage "love your job, not your employer" gaining traction with every
generation of fresh recruits, the job market too is using innovative tools to woo young blood
for a "long-term relationship".
Taking in probationers with stipends and subsequently absorbing them, retention bonuses
at the end of the contract periods and funding candidates' higher education, are by now
regular carrots used to retain talent.
This placement season, companies have added a new item to the bouquet: Freshers are
being offered salaries in ascending instalments over 3-4 years. That is, they are being
offered handsome fixed packages spread across years instead of the usual annual offer.
For instance, Urvi Palat, an electrical engineering student of the Sardar Patel College of
Engineering, Mumbai, bagged a four-year package. "It covers assured performance bonuses
that is divided evenly in the first two years and increases thereafter," Patel says.

Some 20 other students of the institute have been offered fixed 3-4-year packages by three
companies including data cruncher Mu-Sigma and business solutions
provider EXL Analytics.

"The offer looks attractive to many, but for a few who wish to pursue higher studies tend to
disapprove such offers where the incentives come only after a couple of years in service,"
said Sardar Patel college training & placement officer Rahul Dahatonde.
The new approach to recruitment reflects the dramatic change in the job scenario in Asia's
third-largest economy where youngsters are switching jobs more frequently. A recent survey
by a global recruitment agency revealed that over half the employees in India feel changing
jobs helps boost careers.
Mu Sigma COO Ambiga Dhiraj feels that the growth in the tech industry has put "young
minds" into the habit of thinking of short term gains over long term learning and career
growth. "In our perspective, multi-year fixed packages help build an environment where
compensation is not the driving factor for performance. Rather, it is elements such as
learning and team work."
The new wooing techniques are more in vogue among new-age companies, including those
in the e-commerce arena. Ashu Malhotra, HR head at online fashion retailer Jabong, says a
war for talent in the e-commerce space is behind the new trend.
While the arrangement itself resembles the inflexible employment bonds that curtailed
career opportunities, companies loathe the comparison. They say that the fixed multi-year
packages are innovative, lucrative and employee-friendly, much unlike bonds.