EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, to develop and
sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. These companies aimed to take advantage of the
relatively low cost of technically competent labour in India as compared to the US and
developed countries in Europe.
Recruitment Process:

Microsoft conducts 4 to 5 rounds to select the fresher’s as SDE in their organisation:

Online Round, Onsite Round, Technical Round 1,Technical Round 2,Technical Round 3 (System
Design Round), Technical-cum-HR round.

For trainees, Microsoft India conducted a training program named Leap Engineer Acceleration
Program (LEAP) which imparted technical and personal skills required to carry out the job.

They believe training can be more than formal instruction, and our training philosophy focuses
on providing the right learning, at the right time, in the right way. Opportunities include:

Personalized, integrated, and relevant views of all learning opportunities on Microsoft Learning
and LinkedIn Learning, In-the-classroom learning and sharing with learner boards, On-the-job
“stretch” opportunities for advancement, Frequent promotion opportunities, Coaching on career
development through ongoing manager connections.

Customized manager training to enhance coaching and mentoring skills.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:

Performance management, women empowerment, work life balance, wellness and safety.

HR policies aimed to maximize the value of human capital in achieving business growth by
focusing on talent acquisition and development, management development, leadership
development, and management of evolution of the Microsoft culture.
 MICROSOFT:
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters
in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer
software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. Its best known
software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft
Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge Web browsers. Its flagship hardware products
are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface line up of touch screen personal
computers. As of 2016, it is the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of
the world's most valuable companies. The word "Microsoft" is a portmanteau of
"microcomputer" and "software". Microsoft is ranked No. 30 in the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings
of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, to develop and
sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating
system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by Microsoft Windows. The company's
1986 initial public offering (IPO), and subsequent rise in its share price, created three billionaires
and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees.

Right from its humble beginning in 1975, Microsoft had been an innovator in computer software
and related services. Its product portfolio included the Windows series of operating system
software for clients and servers, the office productivity suite - MS Office, business applications
software, games, and software for mobile phones and handheld devices...

MICROSOFT INDIA HR APPROACH:

Managing human resources in the IT sector has been a challenge for most companies that
have set up operations in India.

These companies aimed to take advantage of the relatively low cost of technically competent
labour in India as compared to the US and developed countries in Europe. There was a huge
demand for skilled personnel in this sector, but companies confronted by a lack of sufficient
numbers of skilled personnel to meet the demand
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION:

Microsoft India recruited both fresh graduates from academic campuses and experienced
professionals in the IT industry. For campus recruitments, included written tests and several
rounds of personal interviews
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Microsoft conducts 4 to 5 rounds to select the fresher’s as SDE in their organisation:
 Online Round
 Onsite Round
 Technical Round 1
 Technical Round 2
 Technical Round 3 (System Design Round)
 Technical-cum-HR round

ONLINE ROUND:
The Co Cube or the online coding round consists of 5 to six competitive coding questions with a
time limit running between1 hour to1 hour 30 minutes. The questions level varies consisting of
questions from domains of Arrays, String, Single Linked List, Double Linked List etc.

ONSITE ROUND:

The group fly round or the onsite round consists of a written coding contest. Questions are
provided and time span of 10 to 15 minutes are given to solve it and another 20 minutes are
provided to explain the approach to the mentor, under whose supervision one is assigned to do
the task. One should be well versed with the domains of competitive coding, data structure and
algorithms to clear the round. Few problems asked are:
 Implementation of Deep Copy
 k most frequent words from a file ok (or most frequent) numbers in a stream

TECHNICAL ROUND:

These consist of face to face rounds with the interviewer and to pass through these round one
should have good knowledge regarding the facts mentioned in the CV. The questions are
generally asked from the projects, internships or training mentioned in the CV. Following this
one should be well known with the course related subjects like Data Structure, Algorithms,
Operating System, Networking, Database Management etc. So, basically, the interview tests
whether everything mentioned in the CV is full proof and the interviewee is having in-depth
knowledge regarding the subjects dealt during the course of engineering. Students can also be
expected to write codes in the interview. The final technical round consists of System Designing
where questions from various domains can be asked like Cloud computing, Microsoft Azure,
Dropbox and various Microsoft technology driven engines.

Technical-cum HR Round:
This round deals less with the technical questions but more with the HR questions like:
 Where do you see yourself in next 5 years, 15 years and 25 years?
  Questions on family background.
 Strengths and Weaknesses.
 Questions on the facts mentioned in the CV.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:

For trainees, Microsoft India conducted a training program named Leap Engineer Acceleration
Program (LEAP) which imparted technical and personal skills required to carry out the job.

To support growth mindset culture and meet the learning needs of employees around the world,
They offer a diverse range of learning and development opportunities. They believe training can
be more than formal instruction, and training philosophy focuses on providing the right learning,
at the right time, in the right way. Opportunities include:

 Personalized, integrated, and relevant views of all learning opportunities on Microsoft

Learning and LinkedIn Learning.

 In-the-classroom learning and sharing with learner boards.

 On-the-job “stretch” opportunities for advancement.

 Frequent promotion opportunities.

 Coaching on career development through ongoing manager connections.

 Customized manager training to enhance coaching and mentoring skills.

 New employee orientation covering a range of topics including company values, culture,
and Standards of Business Conduct.

Career management:

Microsoft India provided both vertical and lateral growth prospects for its employees in all the
six business units present in India.

Flexible work timings:

Microsoft India followed a flexible work timings policy for its employees. A flexi-time policy
enabled the employees to work according to their convenience liberating them from rigid work
timings.
 Employee Retention at Microsoft Global Technical Support Center (MSGTSC)
For employee retention, Microsoft India initiated various programs particularly in MSGSTC,
Bangalore, where work was carried out around the clock (24 X 7) in order to provide technical
support services to its customers in different nations and time zones.

HR MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:

Compensation and Benefits:

Microsoft India provided offered compensation packages on par or higher than the industry
standards based on the technical skills and experience of the candidates. Employee benefits were
standardised across employees.

Performance management:

Microsoft India followed a candid process while evaluating the performance of employees and
regarding their compensation packages. The process was transparent so as to enable employees
to identify their performance levels and have a clear idea of what was required in terms of
performance in order to reach to the next level

Women empowerment:

Microsoft India conducted special recruitment drives exclusively for women in line with the
overall IT industry's aim of raising the female-male ratio in the workforce.

Work life balance:

In 2007, Microsoft India launched a program called 'Bring Your Child To Work' in a move to
improve work-life balance among its employees.

Wellness and safety:

Microsoft is committed to supporting our employees’ well-being with comprehensive benefits to

help employees maximize their physical, financial, and social wellness. In addition, our
Occupational Health and Safety program integrates appropriate practices into our operations and
works for continual improvement in employee health and safety. As part of this commitment:

 Professionals assess the safety risks of work activities and engage with workers and
management to implement safe work practices, hazard controls, and training to minimize safety
risks.
 New and existing workspaces are periodically assessed to ensure they are constructed
with sound design-for-safety principles and that controls are implemented effectively.

 Microsoft involves employees and managers in Health and Safety Committees specific to
our datacenters, retail operations, and office locations where required.

Forster diversity and inclusion:

They work better together because of our differences, not despite them.

They believe that they best serve everyone on the planet and enrich own culture through the
diverse skills, experiences, and backgrounds that each of them brings to the company.
How they build trust:

 They provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees.

 They do not discriminate based on age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave,
gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national
origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion,
sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable
laws, regulations and ordinances.

 They are committed to hiring people with disabilities and provide reasonable
accommodations to qualified employees.

 They examine unconscious biases and take steps to create an inclusive culture that makes
every employee feel welcome.

Contribute to safer and productive work places:

They maintain a work environment that empowers everyone to do their best work.

A safe workplace inspires trust and allows all to contribute and succeed. Discrimination,
harassment, and unsafe working conditions diminish what we can achieve together.
How they build trust:

 They treat others with respect and do not tolerate harassment or discrimination.

 They integrate sound safety and health practices into our operations and comply with
workplace safety regulations.
 They resolve problems respectfully, and never resort to acts or threats of violence.

 They do not work under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

They make good decisions for teams, work, and for Microsoft.

Avoid conflicts of interest:

Conflicts of interest can arise when the personal relationships or financial interests overlap with
job responsibilities. If they don’t navigate potential conflicts of interest carefully, these situations
can impact the decisions they make, erode trust within teams, and harm the Company’s
reputation.

How they build trust:

 They act in the best interests of Microsoft.

 They avoid situations where a personal relationship or financial interest in another

company might influence how they make decisions in our jobs.

 They understand that a conflict of interest can exist even if they are convinced that their
decisions will not be affected by the outside relationship.

 When conflicts of interest arise, they disclose them and get advice or approval.

Before taking on outside work, they ensure that the work does not harm Microsoft’s business
interests or break any employee agreements they have signed

Respecting human rights:

Their Global Human Rights Statement, and participation as a signatory to the UN Global
Compact, demonstrate the commitment to respecting the following human rights covenants and
declarations:

 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

HR METRIX FOLLOWED BY MICROSOFT INDIA:

In Microsoft India, metrics were developed to track and define the effectiveness of the HR
function. Microsoft India HR policies aimed to maximize the value of human capital in
achieving business growth by focusing on talent acquisition and development, management
development, leadership development, and management of evolution of the Microsoft culture.

CONCLUSION:

Though Microsoft India's HR practices received accolades from many quarters, the 'Best
Employer Survey 2008' released by Dataquest said that overall employee satisfaction at
Microsoft India was below the industry average in India.