Employee Referral Program

Introduction
1.1 About the Company Mahindra Satyam
Mahindra Satyam is leading global information, communications and technology (ICT) company and a part of the US $15.4 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India.

Mahindra Satyam is powered by a pool of talented IT and consulting professionals across enterprise solutions, client relationship management, business intelligence, business process quality, operations management, engineering solutions, digital convergence, product lifecycle management, and infrastructure management services, among other capabilities.

Its development and delivery centers in the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Hungary, Egypt, UAE, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia serve numerous clients, including several Fortune 500 companies.

Companys Vision - To be the worlds most valued ICT Company Companys Values
Customer First: We respond to customers speedily, courteously and effectively Good Corporate Citizenship: We seek long-term success for all stakeholders without compromising on ethics or transparency Individual Dignity: We value the individual, uphold the right to express disagreement, and respect the time and efforts of others. Nurture fairness, trust and respect Professionalism: We impart freedom and the opportunity to excel and to grow; support innovation and well-reasoned risk taking, demanding performance

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Quality focus: We make quality a value driver in our work, our products and our interactions. We believe in the 'First Time Right' approach in delivery

Mahindra Satyam - Executive Management Team

Chairman Vineet Nayyar

CEO C.P.Gurnani

CTO A S Murthy

President Atul Kunwar

CFO Vasant Krishnan

Sr. Vice President Vijayanand Vadrevu

CMO & CPO Hari Thalapalli

COO Rakesh Soni

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Some of their Alliances

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Mahindra Satyam enables companies to employ Information Technology to realize their business strategies, explore new opportunities, grow competencies and forge closer ties with their customers. Working closely with the customers as partners, they deliver and implement innovative software solutions across a number of technology platforms. Some of the innovative IT and consulting services provided by Satyam that transform the businesses and make a difference include: BI and PM Business Value enhancement B2B/EDI Context, Process, UX Management Cloud Computing Digital Convergence Enterprise architecture and Enterprise Mobility Green and sustainability solutions Infrastructure and management services Integrated Engineering solutions Microsoft solutions Operations Management Oracle Solutions Product and application testing Product lifecycle management Platform Solutions SAP solutions Spend management solutions

Leveraging deep expertise across key industries, Mahindra Satyam serves 370+ customers in 39 countries across six continents. Some of its customers include four of the top 10 in Electronics and Electrical Equipment, two of the worlds largest Beverage companies, three of the top 10 in Aerospace & Defense, two of the top five in Chemicals. Among other industries it serves we have Automotive industry, Banking and financial

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services, Energy utilities, healthcare and life sciences, Insurance, Media and Entertainment, Retail and CPG, Travel, logistics and infrastructure, Public services, Semiconductor, Technology, Telecom and others.

Alliances:
The depth and breadth of the solution offerings is enabled by strategic alliances with technology vendors and system integrators who have been their partners to deliver industry-best end-to-end solutions to the customers. While the alliance partner provides the software application, Satyam offers professional services including business process consulting, systems integration, custom application development, content development and other consulting and implementation expertise. Some major alliances include: HP Microsoft Oracle IBM Pegasystems Inc. SAP Siemens Carnegie Mellon ISB iRise Computer Associates International, Inc.

MERGER OF TECH MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA SATYAM On March 21st, 2012, The Boards of Directors of Tech Mahindra Limited (Tech Mahindra) and Satyam Computer Services Limited, (Mahindra Satyam), in their respective meetings, approved a proposal to merge Mahindra Satyam with Tech Mahindra along with certain wholly owned subsidiaries of Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra. On a pro-forma basis, the Mahindra Group will own 26.3% in the combined entity, British Telecom will own 12.8%, 10.4% will be held as treasury stock, 34.4% to

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be held by the public shareholders of Mahindra Satyam and the balance 16.1% will be held by the public shareholders of Tech Mahindra. The merger will result in the creation of a new offshore services leader with revenues of approximately US$2.4bn in revenues, approximately 75,000+strong work force and 350+ active clients (including Fortune Global 500 companies), across 54 countries. The joint entity will have a unified go -tomarket strategy with deep competencies and a balanced mix of revenues from Telecom, Manufacturing, Technology, Media & Entertainment, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Retail and Healthcare. Revenues will be well balanced with a diversified global footprint that would boast of contribution from Americas at 42%, Europe at 35% and Emerging Markets at 23%. The combined entity will leverage Tech Mahindras expertise in Mobility, System Integration, and delivery of large transformations and to better penetrate the opportunity presented by Mahindra Satyams diverse set of clients across multiple verticals. Likewise Mahindra Satyams expertise in Enterprise Solutions will enable a more complete value proposition to be delivered to Tech Mahindras clients. The combination will benefit from operational synergies, economies of scale, sourcing benefits and standardization of business processes.

1.2 About the Project

The project scope is confined to the Employee Referral program at Mahindra Satyam also known as B-Channel program (Short for B channel). It deals with the understanding of the complete procedure and policy guidelines of the B channel program. It also evaluates the various promotional schemes implemented by the B channel program from time to time to improve the number of referrals. Later on, the Mahindra Satyams B channel program is compared with the employee referral programs of other IT firms Accenture and IBM in order to assess what is missing and make suitable recommendations to improve the process.

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Mahindra Satyams B-Channel Details:

Eligibility 1. All associates of Mahindra Satyam can refer a candidate for recruitment. 2. Referral payment will be made towards the eligible associates for vacancies between Band S and Band I (Excluding vacancies on contract, Ia or in the capacity of a trainee). 3. All fulltime associates (including associates of direct contract basis) at Band I2 and lower are eligible for receiving payments for referred candidates. Exclusions An associate may refer as many applicants as desired. However, the associate will not be eligible for a referral amount in the following circumstances: 1. Referring associate or referred associate is a sub contract employee.

2. HR, for HR will not be eligible under provisions mentioned herein the policy.

3. Referred candidate has been employed with Mahindra Satyam anytime during the previous 12 Months.

4. If the associate has referred a member of his immediate family. (For the purposes of this policy, Mahindra Satyam defines immediate family as spouse and children)

5. If the resume forwarded has already been received by the organization from another source within the last 6 months

6. The referred candidate is found to be a BG Red as per the Background Check policy

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7. An associate referring a candidate should not be on the selection panel for the position for which the referred candidate is being considered for, at any stage. Referral Amount Associate Referral fee for candidates referred for positions in India ---

Minimum Maximum

Rs. 15,000 Rs. 50,000

In addition to this, additional rewards are given after achieving different levels in referral fees and joining.

While referral fee and bonus is payable at end of 3 months, subject to both the referring associate and the referred being in the system, Add-on rewards will be will be given 30 days after all referred candidates have joined.

Associate Referral fee for candidates referred for positions in the USA ---

Minimum Maximum

USD 750+eMall points USD 1500

Associate Referral fee for candidates referred for positions in Europe ---

Minimum Maximum

USD 750+eMall points USD 1500

Associate Referral fee for candidates referred for positions in Australia & New Zealand

Minimum Maximum

USD 500 USD 1000

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Associate Referral fee for candidates referred for positions in Canada, Singapore and other countries ---

Minimum Maximum

USD 250 USD 750

Associate Referral Fee for bi lingual candidates in Japan ---

Minimum Maximum

USD 1000 USD 2000

Approval Authority Head B-Channel

Payment Process
1. The associate and the referred candidate should be employed with the organization on the date that the referral fee has become due.

2. In the instance where the referring associate is serving the notice period with the company, he/she will be eligible for the referral fee as part of the final settlement as long as the above condition is met.

3. An associate referring a candidate will be paid as per the policy of the country that the candidate has been selected for in the currency of the country that the referring associate resides.

4. All referral fees are subject to applicable tax deductions.

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5. The referral fee is payable after the referred associate completes 3 months in the organization. The payment will be included in the first payroll that is triggered immediately following the referred associates completion of 3 months.

6. For the purposes of payment of referral fee, inter-unit and intra-unit movements will have no impact.

7. The validity of a referral profile is 6 months. A profile will automatically be delinked if on the completion of 6 months no action is taken on the same. Referral fee is not payable against delinked profiles. A delinked profile can be re-linked by sending a mail request for the same to the referral supervisor at [email protected]

Referral fees Promotional schemes and Events

The referral fee payable to Associates can be varied from the referral amounts as mentioned above in case of a special scheme / recruitment event being carried out as part of the B-Channel Promotion Campaign. The variation in the referral fee for schemes maybe in cash or kind depending on the campaign requirements the same will be decided upon at the discretion of the Head - B-Channel.

Procedure
1. Associate - The Associate uploads the referral C.V. in E-Support and generates a Referral
/ Applicant ID.

2. B-Channel - The B-Channel on receipt of the resumes initiates the recruitment process
provided the resumes match the Job description. As per the policy, the referral fee will be advised depending on the eligibility on a monthly basis.

3. SSCL Payroll Initiates payment to the associates based on the referral advice provided.

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Treatment of special cases

1. Conflict in source of a profile:

In cases of a conflict in the origin source [vendors, direct applicant, job sites etc] of a profile, the benefit of the conflict will be given to the Associate if he is able to support his claim with relevant mail proofs.

The decision regarding a conflict in source of a profile will lie with the Head - BChannel and will vary from case to case depending on the merits of the same.

2. In case of conflict among Associates regarding source of the referral:

Referral fee is payable to the Associate against whose Referral ID the offer to the candidate has been released. In case of further conflict on the issue, benefit of doubt will be given to the Associate who is able to provide mail proofs against the referral.

The decision regarding a conflict among Associates will lie with the Head - BChannel and will vary from case to case depending on the merits of the same.

In case of any further conflict in any of the above cases, the final decision will lie with the Head Sourcing.

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1.3 Problem formulation

The above mentioned procedure and policies are followed by Mahindra Satyam to implement its Employee Referral program. The operational part of the employee referral works in the following way: The B Channel team receives the profile of a referral through E-support, Mahindra Satyams Online Portal. This profile and the basic details are verified through a phone call and after the verification; the profile is forwarded to the respective recruiters based on the primary skill of the referral. The recruiter would then shortlist the profile based on the current requirement. The B channel team is continuously in touch with the recruiters to find out the status of the referrals. The B channel team gives timely feedback to the referees about their referrals whether they are shortlisted, rejected, not reachable, selected etc. Once a referral is offered the job and joins the organization, the B channel team approves the referral payment to the referee if all the eligibility terms are fulfilled. Apart from this, the B channel program also implements promotional schemes and events giving away non monetary benefits to the associates. In an endeavor to encourage the employees to refer more candidates, the B channel program has come up with a new initiative in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2011-12. A campaign was launched that gave an opportunity for the employees to win attractive rewards. This was an additional incentive given to the employees apart from the monetary benefits they acquire through referrals. A varied range of awards that included Mp3 players, SLR cameras, Holiday trips, gift vouchers and other exciting prizes were given away as a part of this campaign. Titles like Buddy of the month were also given every month for people referring high quality candidates. One of the special features of this campaign included motivating its employees to refer more lady candidates as a special award was announced for Highest Lady Referrals. The campaign also saw another novel idea called the Newest Joinee Referring which rewarded the newest joinee in Mahindra Satyam who

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can successfully refer a buddy. This award was won by one of the new hires who joined Mahindra Satyam on 10-Jan-2012 for referring his buddy who also got into the organization in the same quarter. These kind of promotional schemes have been in implementation on a regular basis. The success of these schemes in motivating the employees to refer more people needs to be evaluated. If these schemes are really serving the purpose to improve more referrals, more such promotional events can be implemented. In order to evaluate the schemes success, a comparative analysis was done between the referral data of the third quarter where no scheme was implemented and the fourth quarter where the scheme was implemented of the financial year 2011-12. The comparison was based on the following parameters: Inflow of profiles, Jobs offered, Payments made and the Satisfaction of the employees. These parameters were analyzed in order to evaluate the success of the scheme. After the evaluation, suitable recommendations were made about further implementation of such schemes. Later, the referral programs of two IT giants Accenture and IBM were studied in detail and compared to the B channel program of Mahindra Satyam. Based on this comparative analysis and the secondary research done for the project, suitable recommendations were given to improve the number and quality of the referrals.

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1.4 Scope of the Project

The scope of the project is limited to making suitable recommendations to improve the number of referrals and quality of referrals through B Channel. For this purpose, an extensive study of Recruitment, Various sources of recruitment and employee referrals was carried out. A deep understanding of the B Channel program was acquired and some comparative analysis was done internally and externally to the program. Internally, the referrals between two quarters were analyzed and externally, the program was compared with other referral programs in the industry. The scope of the project includes the referral programs implemented by an organization but it is more specific to the IT industry. The primary research data included effectiveness of B-Channel and its reach to each and every associate. This project is limited to Mahindra Satyams referral data. The secondary research data was included in the form of understanding the concept of recruitments, sources of recruitment and Employee referral programs all over the world.

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2 Secondary Research
2.1 Recruitment
The main objective of recruitment process is to obtain the number and quality of employees that can be selected in order to help the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. With the same objective, recruitment helps in creating a pool of prospective employees for the organization so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. Recruitment acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers and ensures the placement of right candidate at the right place at the right time.

1. Identify the vacancy. 2. Prepare job description and person specification. 3. Advertising the vacancy. 4. Managing the response. 5. Short-listing. 6. Arrange Interviews. 7. Conducting Interview and Decision Making. Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower sources. It involves the creation of a pool of available human resources from which the organization can draw when it needs additional employees. Recruiting is the process of attracting applicants with certain skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics to job

vacancies in an organization. According to Denerley and Plumblay (1969), recruitment is concerned with both engaging the required number of people, and measuring their quality. It is not only a matter of satisfying a companys needs, it is also an activity which influences the shape of the companys future. The need for recruitment may arise out of:

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(i) vacancies due to promotion, transfer, termination, retirement, permanent disability, or death; (ii) creation of vacancies due to business expansion, diversification, growth, and so on.

2.1.1 Recruitment function

The function of recruitment is to locate the sources of manpower to meet job requirements and specification. Recruitment forms the first stage in the process which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of the candidate. Effective supply of varied categories of candidates for filling the jobs will depend upon several factors such as the state of labor market, reputation of the enterprise and allied factors. The internal factors include wage and salary policies, the age composition of existing working force, promotion and retirement policies, turnover rates and the kind of personnel required. External determinants of recruitment are cultural, economic and legal factors. Recruitment has been regarded as the most important function of personnel administration. Unless the right type of people is hired, even the best plans, organization charts and control systems will be of no avail. A company cannot prosper, grow, or even survive without adequate human resources. Need for trained manpower in recent years has created a pressure on some organizations to establish an efficient recruitment function.

2.1.2 Recruitment Purpose

The general purpose of recruitment is to provide a pool of potentially qualified candidates to meet organizational need. Its specific purposes are to: Determine the present and future requirements of the organization in

conjunction with the personnel planning and job analysis activities. Increase the pool of job candidates with minimum cost. Help increase the success rate of the selection process by reducing the number of under qualified or overqualified job applicants.

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Help reduce the probability that job applicants, once recruited and selected, will leave the organization only after a short period of time. Meet the organizations legal and social obligations regarding the composition of its workforce. Start identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate candidates. Increase organizational and individual effectiveness in the short and long term. Evaluate the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants.

2.1.3 Recruitment Policy

Recruitment policy may involve a commitment to broad principles such as filling vacancies with the best qualified individuals. It may embrace several issues such as extent of promotion from within, attitudes groups, of enterprise in recruiting its old

employees,

handicaps, minority

women employees, part-time employees,

friends and relatives of present employees. It may also involve the organization system to be developed for implementing recruitment programme and procedures. A well

considered and pre-planned recruitment policy, based on corporate goals, study of environment and the corporate needs, may avoid hasty or ill-considered decisions and may go a long way to man the organization with the right type of personnel. A good recruitment policy must contain the following elements: Organizations objectives - both short term and long term. Identification of the recruitment needs. Preferred sources of recruitment. Criteria of selection and preferences. The cost of recruitment and financial implications of the same.

A recruitment policy in its broadest sense involves a commitment by the employer to Recruitment to

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(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

Find the best qualified persons for each job; Retain the best and most promising of those hired; Offer promising opportunities for life-time working careers; Provide programmes and facilities for personal growth on the job.

2.1.4 Recruitment Process

To be successful, the recruitment process must follow a number of steps. These are: 1. Defining the job 2. Establishing the person profile 3. Making the vacancy known 4. Receiving and documenting applications 5. Designing and using the application form 6. Selecting 7. Notification and final checks 8. Induction.

2.1.5 Sources of Manpower supply

Once the job analysis is completed and the job specification or behavioural competencies are identified, the next stage is to consider how to attract people who meet the requirements. A key decision is about whether to recruit internally or externally. Before an organization actively begins recruiting applicants, it should have knowledge of the sources of supply and methods of tapping them. The sources of supply do not remain constant but vary from time to time. The sources of supply of manpower can be divided into two groups internal and external sources. Internal sources relate to the existing working force of an enterprise while external sources relate to the employment

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exchanges, colleges, institutes, and universities. The particular sources and means by which workers are recruited vary greatly. It depends upon management policy, the types of jobs involved, the supply of labor relative to demand, and labor market. In deciding which recruitment source to use, consider (a) the nature and size of the company; (b) the level of vacancies to be filled up; (c) the number of vacancies to be filled up; (d) budget allocation; and (e) the time period to fill the vacancy.

Sources of Recruitment
INTERNAL Transfers Promotions Upgrading Demotions Retired Employees Retrenched Employees Dependents and relatives of deceased employees EXTERNAL Press Advertisements Educational Institutes Placement Agencies Employment Exchanges Labor Contractors Unsolicited Applicants Employee Referrals/ Recommendations Recruitment at factory gate

Internal Sources: Internal sources are the most obvious sources. These include personnel already on the pay-roll of an organization, i.e., its present working force. Whenever any vacancy occurs, somebody from within the organization is upgraded, transferred, promoted or sometimes demoted. Internal recruitment seeks applicants for position from among those who are currently employed. The use of internal search, on the whole, has some merits:

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1. 2.

It improves the morale of employees. The employer is in a better position to evaluate those presently employed than outside candidates.

3.

It promotes loyalty among the employees, for it gives them a sense of job security and opportunities for advancement.

4. 5.

It is less expensive and job openings can be filled more quickly. Internal candidates are more familiar with organizational policies and practices, and thus require less orientation and training.

However, this system suffers from certain defects as well. 1. It often leads to inbreeding, and discourages new blood from entering an organization. 2. There are possibilities that internal sources may dry up, and it may be difficult to find the requisite personnel from within an organization. 3. As promotion is based on seniority, the danger is that really capable hands may not be chosen. Internal recruitment can lead to problems, however, when a position becomes vacant, many employees may be considered for that slot. The likes and dislikes of the

management may also play an important role in the selection of personnel. Usually, internal sources can be used effectively if the number of vacancies is not very large, adequate employee records are maintained, and employees have prepared themselves for promotions. Because internal methods are often not sufficient to supply a suitable pool of applicants, most organizations make use of external sources to attract potential recruits. External recruitment brings in individuals from outside.

External Sources: Among the external sources are included the employment agencies, educational and technical institutes, casual labor, trade unions, application files and other sources.

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External sources provide the requisite type of personnel for an organization, having skill, training and education up to the required standard. Since persons are recruited from a large market, the best selection can be made without any distinction of caste, sex or creed. However, this system suffers from what is called the brain drain. The

advantages of internal recruitment are basically the disadvantages of external recruitment. Labor market considerations are very important in external search. A labor market is a geographic area within which workers seek employment and employers recruit workers. It is the place where the forces of supply and demand interact. A labor market tends to be unstructured for the most part; it is unorganized. The procedures by which a company recruits workers and the methods by which workers go about obtaining jobs are highly variable. Lack of labor mobility is still another characteristic of a labor market. One important reason for lack of mobility is that the average working man possesses quite

incomplete and inaccurate knowledge of job opportunities in his labor market. Wage rate data are not generally made public. A labor market is characterised by a great diversity of wage rates for the same occupations. This variation in wages for the same kind of work is caused by many factors. Principal ones are differences among the employers in their ability to pay productivity, and management attitude towards wage rates. Certain nonwage factors, Recruitment such as greater job security, may still attract and hold the employees. An organization must decide whether to recruit employees internally or

externally. External recruitment is limited primarily to entry-level jobs. Jobs above the entry level are usually filled with current employees through promotions. Promotional opportunities lead to reduced turnover, increased job satisfaction, and better job performance.

2.1.6 Methods and Techniques of Recruitment

While recruitment sources indicate when human resources may be procured, the recruitment methods and techniques deal with how these sources should be tapped. Dunn and Stephens follow a three-tier classification of recruitment method - direct, indirect and third party. Direct Methods:

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The most frequently used direct method is at schools, colleges, management institutes and university departments. Usually, this type of recruiting is performed in co-operation with placement bureaus of educational institutions providing assistance in attracting students, arranging interviews, and making available space and students resumes. The organizations have definite advantages through campus recruitment. First, the cost is low; second, they can arrange interviews at short notice; third, they can meet the teaching faculty; fourth, it gives them an opportunity to sell the organization to a large student community seeking campus recruitment. In addition to managerial and supervisory

positions, several organizations use travelling recruiters to recruit skilled and semiskilled employees from vocational schools and industrial training institutes. Other direct

Sometimes, even unskilled workers are also attracted by this method.

methods include sending recruiters to establish exhibits at job fairs, using mobile camps to visit shopping centers in rural areas and places where unemployed may be contacted. Indirect Methods: The most frequently used indirect method or technique of recruitment is advertisement in publications such as newspapers, magazines and trade journals as well as technical and professional journals. The choice of media, place and timing of the advertisements and appeals to the reader, all determine the efficacy of advertisements. A useful advertisement has to give a brief summary of the job; a summary of the organization covering product/service, size, type of industry, profitability, expansion programs; and an offer of compensation package. A good advertisement has to be specific, clear-cut, reader-friendly and appealing. Ambiguously worded and broad based advertisements may generate a lot of irrelevant applications which would, by necessity, increase the cost of processing them. In preparing an advertisement, therefore, lot of care has to be taken to ensure that self-selection takes place among applicants. In other words, people meeting specific requirements should think of responding to advertisement. A carefully worded sound advertisement can help in building the image of the organization. The advertisements should indicate information about the organization and the job

providing opportunity to the potential candidates to contact the recruitment office in confidence. Other indirect methods include advertising in the radio and television.

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Another method of advertising frequently used is a notice-board placed at the gates of the company. Third-party Methods: The most frequently used third-party methods are agencies. Public public and private employment

employment exchanges have been largely concerned with factory

workers and clerical jobs. They also provide help in recruiting professional employees. Private agencies provide consultancy services and10 Key HR Practices charge a fee. They are usually specialized for different categories of operatives, office workers, salesman, supervisory and management personnel. Other third-party methods include the use of trade unions. Internet Recruiting: Internet recruiting is an emerging field and therefore relatively few companies have gathered substantive data at this point. Companies are successfully attracting a high proportion on-line resumes, even for non-technical positions, because increasing numbers of job seekers are turning to the internet. Job seekers are turning to the internet because it simplifies the process of searching and applying for a position. The internet is playing a more important role in recruitment. It advertises jobs and serves as a place to locate job applicants. Websites can provide internet users with information on the type of work the company is involved in and the job opportunities that are available. Interested parties can respond by email. This has the advantage of a quick turnaround time and reduces the amount of paperwork that would normally be associated with written job

applications. Further, the internet allows an organization to reach a larger and broader range of applicants than traditional methods. Internet recruiting is cheaper due to: 1. Reduced direct costs of newspaper advertisements, job fairs and head hunter fees 2. Reduced mailing costs

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3. Reduced workload for the HR department. The majority of companies involved in active internet recruiting believe that it helps them to attract better quality applicants, given that internet users tend to be better educated and obviously more computer literate than non-users.

2.1.7 Assessment and improving of Recruiting

The recruitment activity is supposed to attract the right people at the right time. It is concerned with attracting those whose personalities, interests, and preferences will most likely to be matched by the organization and who have the skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform adequately. Many companies think that attracting and keeping staff is mainly a monetary factor. Rewards and benefits are the two basic factors that attract individuals to work for a company and these come in two forms: (i) tangible (for e.g. monetary), and (ii) intangible (for e.g. training, career paths, working environment). However, in the recruitment

process, people usually place too much emphasis on the issue of salary, forgetting sometimes that it is more important to find the right candidate for the job and that the process begins with using the correct hiring methods. Recruitment practices vary from one organization to another. Some organizations resort to centralized recruitment and some others to decentralized recruitment. Both the systems have their merits and

demerits. Hence, the management has to weigh both the merits and demerits of each system before taking a final decision about centralizing or decentralizing the

recruitment. Apart from looking at qualifications and experience, other personality traits like eagerness to learn and adapt, independence and creativity are just as

important. Besides having a logical and analytical mind, they have to be willing to try and not to be afraid of failure. Normally organizations do not face difficulty in finding adequate employees for manual, clerical, sales, and general run types of work. But they often do have a problem in obtaining the professional and managerial require. talent they

The growing complexity and sophistication of technology has meant that

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increasing numbers of professionals and managers are needed to run our modern enterprises. The long-run solution to the shortage of personnel in these fields is for private

organizations, government, and society in general to initiate programs that will channel more young men and women into these fields and to give more financial support to students and educational institutions. In the short run, the organization faced with a shortage of qualified talent must resort to an aggressive recruiting effort through such techniques as advertising, campus recruitment, and contacts with

management consulting firms. Manpower managers must constantly review and improve methods of recruitment and sources of manpower supply. Any method or source which is highly effective at present may prove to be quite ineffective later on in view of changed situations. However, most managers fail to develop a long-range recruiting program through careful assessment. A sound recruitment program necessitates appraisal of each source and each technique from the standpoint of the relative qualities of the personnel it has provided. For each major category of jobs, the present personnel can be evaluated in terms of job success. The evaluation procedure consists of assessing the existing

employees in terms of their job success, determining the sources existing from which good and poor employees come from and that of the method used. Manpower managers should also attempt to improve their recruitment system. The results

assessment or problems faced during the recruitment process may themselves indicate the need for the improvement of the program. A method to improve recruiting is to look at the enterprise as a candidate would and taking appropriate measures to improve its image. Further, recruitment activity should be integrated with the human resource plans of the organization.

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2.2 Employee Referral Program

Employee referral is an internal scheme employed by the organization to identify potential and capable candidates through their employees social networks. This scheme encourages the employees to come forward and involve themselves in the recruitment process of the organization, and most importantly makes them feel that they are part of the company. As a reward, the employee gets Referral Bonus and any other rewards depending from company to company. Recruiting employees through Employee referral is widely acknowledged as being the most cost effective and efficient method to recruit new talent.

"Employee referrals are the single best way to find more top peopleat least 50 percent of the people you hire should come from this group." Lou Adler, author of Hire with Your Head.

A strong referral program turns every employee a recruiter for the organization. But running such a program takes time, manpower and a budget. At many large sized organizations there are dedicated teams to run employee referral program.

2.2.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of ERP Advantages

1. Cost Effective The scheme allows the employee to refer selected candidates for recruitment, only those who they think are suitable to the requirements. This is because of different reasons belongingness with the organization, risk associated with new recruits, etc. 2. High Quality Candidates Employee referral program provides the employer with a source of passive candidates - those workers who are not job hunters. This

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tends to generate a pool of high quality candidates. The quality of candidates coming through employee referrals is high due to another reason. The employees screen and refer only those candidates who they think are good, after all his or her reputation is also on the line with every person he refers. 3. Specialized Positions Employee referrals also help in filling highly specialized positions that would be difficult to fill through conventional channels. Employees tend to have associations with others in their profession, which gives them access to specialized or rare talent. 4. Fit for the organization The one-to-one direct relationship between the candidate and the employee and the exchange of knowledge that takes place between them allows the candidate to understand the companys core values, its nature of work and what is expected out of employees in the organization. So the candidate when applies for the job does so after complete understanding of what is expected out of him and whether he can deliver the goods or not. 5. Other Advantages By hiring people who already get along, itll give a head start in building good team chemistry. Employees would feel that they are a part of the organization when their input is taken into consideration and their contribution is recognized. Candidates hired through referrals tend to stay longer than other employees One study found that retention rate for referrals is 25% better than other channels.

Disadvantages
1. Over Dependence Over reliance on employee referrals can lead to under representation of certain groups in job applicant pool. This would in turn affect the diversity of the company work force.

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2. Lawsuits Some of the competitors would retaliate against the organization for stealing their happily employed workers through referral programs and may file lawsuits because for any organization Human resources are very critical. 3. Lack of Diversity As the employees social network is limited and confined to some particular group; this method would not help in creating a diversified talent pool. 4. Diversion Actively referring candidates increases and employees workload and may be detrimental to their main responsibilities. Adding to it, the companys productivity would be affected.

2.3 Building and Implementing a Referral Network

The first step in building a referral network is to Build a Reputation for the company.

2.3.1 Building Reputation

The reputation of the company plays a huge factor in recruitment. Many reputed companies do not have the need to advertise for openings. Their reputation as a great place to work precedes them and they frequently get unsolicited resumes. In case the organization is not getting their share of those resumes, its important to make it a part of the recruitment strategy to raise awareness about the organization. One way to do this is by approaching people through media i.e. by being in the news for good reasons. In case the organization is not making news through its business, their executives can become known as experts by making themselves available to reporters looking for experts to quote in articles about industry trends.

2.3.2 Building the Referral Network

A large number of job hunters land opportunities through networking with friends and family. Publicizing job openings with the people who know the organizations business

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best employees, customers and vendors, is very beneficial for the organization as it helps in getting candidates who are more qualified and have a low turnover rate. At the bottom line, the cost to the company is also lesser compared to other channels of recruitment. Reaching out to the employees - Employees are the main essence of a referral program. The most efficient and cost effective way to recruit is through Employee referrals. As they have a vested interest in the company, they are unlikely to refer an unfit or less qualified person. In order to gauge the full potential of this network, the main step is to reach out to the employees. There should be proper communication between the employees and recruitment team. They should be well informed about the various benefits they would get out of the referral program and also how beneficial it is for the company, which would make them feel that they are contributing for the companys growth.

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3 Primary Research
3.1 B-Channel (Creating Awareness)
Leading Multinational Companies, IT Giants and Most recruiting leaders would acknowledge, at least intuitively, that hires sourced through an employee referral will stay longer, perform better and cost less. Thats the easy part. We know its the right thing to do. The difficult part is creating an environment where a strong employeereferral strategy delivers sustainable bottom-line business results. Our approach was a focused one: build upon an engaged workforce, leverage strong leadership support, build awareness, educate employees, and effectively execute on the referrals received.

3.2

Evaluation of Promotional Schemes at Mahindra Satyam

Apart from a comparative analysis with other firms, the promotional schemes at Mahindra Satyam were also studied in depth. In an endeavor to encourage the employees to refer more candidates, the B Channel program has come up with a new initiative in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2011-12. A campaign was launched that gave an opportunity for the employees to win attractive rewards. This was an additional incentive given to the employees apart from the monetary benefits they acquire through referrals. A varied range of awards that included Mp3 players, SLR cameras, Holiday trips, gift vouchers and other exciting prizes were given away as a part of this campaign. Titles like Buddy of the month were also given every month for people referring high quality candidates. One of the special features of this campaign included motivating its employees to refer more lady candidates as a special award was announced for Highest Lady Referrals. The campaign also saw another novel idea called the Newest Joinee Referring which rewarded the newest joinee in Mahindra Satyam who can successfully refer a buddy. This award was won by one of our new hires who joined Mahindra Satyam on 10-Jan-2012 for referring his buddy who also got into the organization in the same

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quarter. The referral data of this quarter was compared with the referral data of the previous quarter in order to evaluate the success of the scheme. This study aims at comparing the performance of the quarter (Apr12-June12) in which the campaign was run to the previous quarters (Jan12-Mar12) performance. The comparison was based on the following parameters: Inflow of profiles, Jobs offered and the Satisfaction of the employees. Based on the comparisons, we can assess how the campaign affected the performance of B channel program. Our objective is to compare the number of profiles that we received in both the chosen quarters and sort them in the following manner: Quality of profiles Skill wise Experience

Inflow of Profiles Quality of Profiles

1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Not Reachable Rejected Offered JFM OND

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From the inflow we can clearly see that the quality of the profiles has improved in the JFM quarter where the scheme was implemented. The offered profiles went up while the rejected profiles came down.

Inflow of Profiles Skill wise

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 OND JFM

In almost every skill the incoming profiles have seen an increase. Skills like ADMS, Oracle and testing have seen a major improvement.

Inflow of Profiles Experience wise

1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2 to 4 4 to 6 6 to 10 >10

OND JFM

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We can clearly see a great rise in the incoming profiles in the 2-4 years experience range as well as 6-10 years experience range. Our objective is also to compare the number of profiles that we received in both the chosen quarters and sort them in the following manner:

Jobs Offered Skill wise

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 OND JFM

The Last quarter saw a huge increase in the number of jobs offered in each and every skill.

Jobs Offered Experience wise

80 60 40 20 0 2 to 4 4 to 6 >6 OND JFM

Comparatively there is a phenomenal increase in the jobs offered for candidates with 6 yrs of experience and above.

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Jobs Offered Offshore/Onsite

60

50

40 OND JFM 20

30

10

0 Offshore Onsite

Hiring has been phenomenal offshore as there are very limited opportunities abroad.

Offered Vs Joined
450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 OND Offered Joined JFM

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3.3 Ad Creation & Promotion

Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive associates to referrer more and more candidates. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. In Mahindra Satyam, we usually send Ads to associates email ids. All ads published through a common mail id named as Communication. There are two commonly used Ad formats in Mahindra Satyam. 1. Opportunity Ad 2. Walk-in Ad Opportunity Ad: In general, we publish the Ads as and when we have an immediate requirement and this serves the purpose of the recruiter in closing his current open requirements. Associates can directly deal with the corresponding recruiters. When there is any requirement for any recruiter. He directly sends the information to the B-Channel team. There is a specific format in which each and every recruiter should share the details for the Ad

Walk-in Ad: Walk-in Ads generally published when there are any interviews happening during any weekend. When there is huge demand for any skill, recruiter will approach B-Channel team to publish below Ad with few details. As this is a for a weekend drive, we need to

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know the venue for the interviews and job location too. So, every recruiter will have to fill in couple of additional details along with the general Ad details (Like publishing Ad for an Opportunity) Once we have all details in place, we will prepare Ad template, contains all the details which have been shared by the respective recruiters. Final draft will share it with the recruiters for their consent. If there are any changes/ modifications need to be done, respective recruiter will change/ modify and give his consent. Upon receipt of the consent from recruiter, we will flash the Ad through communication mailers to associates across globe.

Ad template contains, basic data shared by the recruiter and some other pre-requisites. Along with the job description, venue we have to include the process how to refer your buddy and have to provide all necessary details in the template. Below are some examples.

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<

In spite of all these efforts, still associates come up with different set of questions. We need to address each and every query from the associates. Most of them will have questions related to the status of the profiles which they have shared earlier. We need to check with respective resource manager on the status of the profile and need to share it with the associate. Below are some predefined templates; we have to use them to prepare the final draft.

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Below is the sample Ad template used to publish requirement for an Opportunity

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Below is the sample Ad template for Weekend Drive, this is called Walk-in template.

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B-Channel Approvals:
Before publishing an Ad, there are few things to be taken into consideration. We need to get some prior approvals. Once we have necessary approvals in place, we need to update the same in the internal tool or portal. This is called signoff approval. Signoff is a manpower requisition number, which denotes or defines the number of associates required to hire for a vacancy. Each signoff valid till certain period of time, and it will be automatically closed or abandoned once it gets expired. Every recruitment lead or resource manager will have a head. His approval is mandate to update and approve the signoffs in tool - {https://satyamuniverse.satyam.com/}

Once we log into the eSupport, we can see set of planets for different groups. All approval requests will be under the head, named Transaction World.

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How to Approve Signoff number:

Steps / Path: eSupport

Transaction World

Circle Desk

Resume Management

Hot Job List

Check the boxes to Approve

Submit

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3.4 B-Channel Helpdesk

Being responsive to those who refer and the referrals they submit are critical features that drive program loyalty, participation, and engagement.

Rapid response to a referral is critical a lack of responsiveness to employee referrals is the #1 program killer. The best programs set a target of getting feedback to the referrer and the referred individual within 48 72 hours of submission

Expedited interviewing some firms make a commitment to decide whether to interview/not interview all referrals within a week. Others make a more narrow commitment, which is to actually schedule an interview with all A quality employee referral candidates within a week of receiving their referral

Referrals must be tagged and the processing expedited in the best programs, all referral applications are tagged in order to measure program effectiveness. In addition, the tagged referrals are given a priority for processing (i.e. fast tracked). This is necessary in order to ensure that both the employee and the referred individual feel like they are special

On the spot screening consider developing a process where resumes collected at the referral desk undergo instant screening followed by instant feedback to the employee and the candidate

Communicating with employees and applicants

High-performing referral programs require frequent and effective communications. Personalize and target your communications broad communications addressed to all employees almost always produce disappointing results. Instead,

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develop customized or personalized promotions and campaigns. Periodically push relevant job openings that require referrals only to the narrow list of appropriate employees Provide periodic employee notifications after a referral is made employees are almost always nervous about whether their referrals were any good and what is going to happen to their colleague. The best practice is to electronically notify employees immediately when their referral is accepted / rejected, if the candidate is invited for an interview and when the candidate is finally hired or rejected. Provide periodic feedback to applicants prospects that have been referred are also frequently nervous about their chances. At the very least they should be electronically notified that there referral has been received and accepted. These notifications can also include an overview of what they can expect, including the steps in the process, frequently asked questions, and the likely timeframe before any decision is made. Develop and use referral champions a powerful way to inspire employees to refer is to use senior leaders as referral champions. These executive champions should participate in communications and help to explain to employees the importance to the business of the positions being recruited for. Consider a follow-up meeting after a great referral after a great referral, schedule a follow-up meeting with the person. Goals include to hand-deliver the bonus, to thank them (and their manager), to identify and then learn from their approach, and to ask them if they know any other stars Provide direct feedback to employees on weak referrals make sure that you provide feedback to individual employees who make weak referrals, so that they know what they did wrong and how to improve.

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Technology support
Globalization of referrals and the requirement for fast processing of applications mandate that programs use the latest in technology, which in this field advances by leaps and bounds. Allow employees to submit using multiple platforms provide your employees with multiple options for submitting referrals (web, email). Providing multiple options can make it easier for busy employees to make referrals 24/7, while they are on the run. Application website flexibility the referral website should offer regular and expedited options. Online assessment tools develop and offer online assessment tools so that the skills of referral candidates can be quickly assessed. Also consider another option of offering tools that allow the prospects to self-assess themselves before they agree to become a referral. Online interview scheduling develop a website that allows referrals who have been chosen for interviews to self-scheduling their own interview times A website that allows employees to track the progress of their referrals an internal site can allow employees to continually track the progress of their referrals as well as their accumulated bonuses

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B-Channel Questionnaire
1. Are you aware of what B-Channel is? Yes No

2. Are you aware of the B-Channel policies? Yes No

3. Have you made any referrals on B-Channel? Yes No

4. What is the mode adapted for your initial referrals? Uploading profile against Job Code Profile sent directly to Recruiter Profile shared with Reporting Manager Profile shared with colleague

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5. Are you aware of current openings in the organization? Yes No

6. How do you get to know about the current open positions? Communication mail Information from Project Manager Information from Recruiter Information from Colleague

7. How frequently do you receive updates on current open positions? Daily Twice in a Week Weekly Once in 15 Days

8. Were you aware of the process of uploading the CVs aptly? Yes No

9. Was the above process user friendly? Yes No

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10. Do you receive regular updates on B-Channel policy up gradation? Yes No

11. Do you receive any acknowledgement on the profile uploaded? Yes No

12. Do you get timely updates with respect to the profile status? Yes No

13. Are you informed about the candidate status post selection? Yes No

14. Are you informed about the candidates joining status? Yes No

15. Are you communicated about the payout cycle required for making the B-Channel payments? Yes No

16. Suggestions and recommendation ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------

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4.2

Analysis

1. Are you aware of what B-Channel is?

Awareness of B-Channel

4%

Yes

No

96%

Analysis:
Almost, 96% of associates were well versed with the name B-Channel and its meaning. There are close to 5% where, they are young graduates just completed their education and started their careers. They are keen to know what is all about B-Channel.

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2. Are you aware of the B-Channel policies?

Awareness on B-Channel Policies

30%

Yes

70%

No

Analysis:
70% of associates were aware of B-Channel policies. We have power-on policy where we can find all the companies policies including B-Channel policies. After this study we asked each and every associate to go through the power-on policy for further details.

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3. Have you made any referrals on B-Channel?

Referrals from Associates

34%

Yes 66% No

Analysis:
We have 66% of associates referred their buddies and this percentage needs to be increased from organization stand point. Once we have more number of associates refers their buddies we can reduce the recruitment cost to the company.

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4. What is the mode adapted for your initial referrals?

Mode adapted to refer profile to B-Channel

Uploading Profile in eSupport

16%

23%

Profile sent to Recruiter

39%

22%

Profile shared with Reporting Manager

Profile shared with Colleague

Analysis:
There are different sources where an associate can actually submit the profile. But, as per the process each and every profile should be uploaded in the tool. As we see only 23% of associates uploading their profile in the tool. This percentage should be increased in order to process the incentive to the associate. Till date, most of the associates share profiles directly to their reporting managers, known colleagues and recruiters. This should come down and we should educate all associates to upload their referral profiles in eSupport.

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5. Are you aware of current openings in the organization?

Awareness of Current Open Positions

33%

Yes

No 67%

Analysis:
This is one of the most important questions for any associate. First they should know the current open requirements across the organization. Once, they identify any opportunity, and then it will be easy for an associate to approach B-Channel and can get regular updates on the status of the profile still the position closed. As you can see there are 67% of associates knows what are the current open positions in the organization. This is a very good sign and better if it touches 70-75% mark.

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6. How do you get to know about the current open positions?

Source of Information

Communication Mail 8% 13% 7% Info from Project Manager

72%

Info from Recruiter

Info from Colleague

Analysis:
This also considered being one of the important questions. As how they came to know about the current requirements in the organization, what is the source? We can see from above chart, which shows 72% of associates came to know through internal communication mail. So, Ads are more important source to capture the profiles. Next through few recruiters, this may also depend upon the relationship. So, regular mail updates play very important role to capture the referral market.

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7. How frequently do you receive updates on current open positions?

Updates on Current Open Positions

Daily 21% 19% Twice in a Week

21%

Weekly

39%

Once in 15 Days

Analysis:
Frequency is also an important aspect coming to current open requirements. Though associates come across some requirements, but, by the time they know there is an open position, next day it may be fulfilled. There are 39% of associates are getting weekly updates and 19% daily. So, timely refreshing jobs and updating regularly to the associates is very critical.

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8. Were you aware of the process of uploading the CVs aptly?

Process Awareness

40%

60%

Yes No

Analysis:
60% of associates were aware of B-Channel process. This need to be improved and organization should take up some steps in order to improve this percentage.

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9. Was the above process user friendly?

Process User-Friendly

19%

Yes No 81%

Analysis:
Again, this is purely depends upon tool (what we called eSupport) where, each and every associate upload their profiles. It is our responsibility to provide them a user friendly system to upload profiles. There are 81% associates satisfied with the process and performance of the tool. This is a very good sign. Better, if we can increase this percentage

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10. Do you receive regular updates on B-Channel policy up gradation?

Information on Policy Updates

33%

Yes 67% No

Analysis:
Regular updates on change in policy should be taken to each and every associate. As you see there is 67% population receives regular updates and this need to be 100%. The only reason being, any policy should be well known and understand by an employee in an organization. This percentage should improve a lot.

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11. Do you receive any acknowledgement on the profile uploaded?

Acknowledgement on Profile Received

19%

Yes No 81%

Analysis:
As our system is a tool driven system, as and when any profile updated / uploaded there will be an auto generated mail as an acknowledgement to the associate. This will be the proof for that associate. There is 81% currently but, it should be increased to 100%

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12. Do you get timely updates with respect to the profile status?

Timely Updates on Profile Status

33%

Yes 67% No

Analysis:
Feedback mechanism is very crucial for employee referral program. Else there will be lot of dissatisfaction among the internal associates on the referrals made. Here we can see there are 67% of people receive timely updates on their referral status. This percentage need to be improved.

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13. Are you informed about the candidate status post selection?

Timely Updates on Post-Selection Status

41%

Yes

59%

No

Analysis:
As we already discussed how feedback mechanism is very crucial for employee referral program. Here, this is for post selection of a candidate. There is only 59% of people receive timely updates on their referral status. This percentage need to be improved a lot.

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14. Are you informed about the candidates joining status?

Updates on Joining Status

37%

Yes

63%

No

Analysis:
As and when any referral candidate joins the system, as per the tool there will be an auto generated mail will reaches the associates mail box. Though, there is a mechanism, it is better a formal communication from the recruiter would definitely delight the associate who referred the candidate.

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15. Are you communicated about the payout cycle required for making the B-Channel payments?

Updates on Payment & Payout Cycle

13% Yes

No 87%

Analysis:
Of course, reward system is a kind of motivation. But, we should communicate the associates on the updates on Payment and Pay cycle. In this area, we are almost there at 87% and needs a bit improvement and this should touch 90-95%.

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Findings
The Employee Referral Program is responsive. Employees know what it takes to succeed at a company, and they understand its culture, so they tend to refer appropriate candidates. They know others with similar skills, such as former coworkers, schoolmates, members of networking groups, and friends. Hard-to-fill positions those are essential to the organization. So, all employees are encouraged to make employee referrals, regardless of position. Referral programs save significant recruitment costs for the organization. Professionals recruited through referrals tend to stay longer with the organization as they are already acquainted with the situation within the organization. They get more quickly absorbed, both culturally and socially.

Below are some of the key Observations:

Quality Resources Data shows that referral candidates can be five times more likely to get hired than other candidates. This is because educated employees know that their role is to seek out individuals with superior skills and experience. Performance New hires from well-designed referral programs produce the highest on-the-job performance of any recruiting source. In addition, referral newhires have significantly higher retention rates than hires from other sources. Candidates are a Better Fit Well-designed referral programs produce a high percentage of candidates that fit the culture. This is because your employees know your corporate culture and they are able to screen out those who are a weak fit. This means that hiring managers waste less time on candidates with the right skills but the wrong fit.

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Reduces Management Time These programs generate fewer weak applicants, managers have to spend less time interviewing weak candidates and sorting through less-than-optimal resumes. And because of the quality of the candidates, managers are generally highly satisfied with requirements filled through the ERP.

Low Termination Rates Because employees add a layer of skill prescreening and fit assessment, some referral programs have data that prove that referral hires have as much as a 350% reduced chance of having to be fired.

Improves Employee Retention A referral program that involves a large percentage of your employees will likely increase the retention rates of your current employees. This is because your employees will need to learn more about the practices that make your firm great in order to sell potential referral prospects. This increased understanding and knowledge will help build their pride and their loyalty as current employees because they are reminded why their firm is superior and why they should stay. Widespread learning about the companys strong points may also serve to strengthen the corporate culture.

Increase Productivity Higher quality hires mean that new hires get up to speed faster. In addition, because many employees will mentor, guide, and assist the individuals who they have referred, often the time to productivity will be even faster.

Added Diversity Well-designed referral programs have no negative diversity impacts, and targeted ones with an emphasis on diversity can actually increase diversity.

A Morale Indicator If employees dont like a firm or their boss, they will not refer others for a job. As a result, employee referral rates closely mirror employee morale, so managers and HR can use referral rates as an indication of good or bad morale in a function or unit.

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Recommendations
Suitable rewards and encouragement are a must to motivate existing employees to refer candidates. This also increases the momentum of referrals from employees. Human resources professionals should ensure that the resumes of referred candidates are given priority so that follow-ups are not delayed. Make it easy for existing employees to refer candidates. Circulate an updated list of vacancies regularly. More importantly, ensure that employees are paid their rewards in a timely manner and without the need for them to remind you.

Below are some recommendations that referral quality and volume:

Create a Target Pool (Data Base) Do not spam all employees with referral requests. Instead, develop a targeted pool of referrers (a referral database) that can be proactively searched in order to identify and approach the small number of individual employees who have a high likelihood of knowing individuals with the required skills and experience for a particular job. Proactively Approach Employees Hired from Target Firms - If your hiring managers are specifically seeking employees from desirable target firms, proactively approach your employees who earlier used to work there. Referral Events Periodic open houses, video conferences, special events and open forums can aid in highlighting your program and its current needs. Recruiters can be present to provide training, accept spot referrals, to do instant assessments, and even to offer rewards for exceptional names. Guarantees an Interview to Top Prospects By providing top performers and top referrers with the opportunity to guarantee an interview for anyone who they refer, you dramatically reduce their fear that their candidate wont even qualify

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for an interview. Removing this fear of rejection by both the referring employee and the potential candidate you can dramatically increase the number and the quality of your referrals. Develop a powerful slogan Although most referral programs have a slogan, very few of them are compelling, memorable, and drive action. The best program slogans are pretested to ensure that they provide the maximum impact. Examples include A players know other A players, Help us catch a rising star, You recommend we hire, etc. Improve your job descriptions At some point in every referral relationship, the prospect will want to see the actual job description. Work with Compensation to ensure that the position descriptions are written in such a way that they actually excite potential referrals. Also compare your job descriptions for an open position to the competitors in order to ensure that yours are more compelling. Do-it-for-the-team should be the primary motivator - Instill in your employees that the primary reason that they should refer people is because the team wins when it has the best players. It is a superior motivator over monetary rewards, because it turns referrals into an opportunity to provide their teammates and themselves with the very best coworkers. Offer a hard to hire bonus supplement for hard-to-fill key or hot jobs, offer a higher kick-up bonus or contest prize for a brief period of time. In some cases, hiring managers are willing to pay this bump up bonus A Thank-You Note - A personalized note or call from a senior executive thanking the employee who made a high-impact referral is cheap but powerful.

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Satisfaction of the employees I. Quotes from successful referrals

Thanks for organizing the show and motivating us to refer more candidates to Mahindra Satyam. I have collected my gift voucher worth of Rs 5000 and that was a pleasant surprise for me and am happy about it. I sincerely appreciate the effort of B Channel team and Helpdesk buddy team for all their efforts :)

-- Dinesh Jayaram

I am happy that I have referred my friends and they got selected and got placed in various positions. Buddy channel gave me an opportunity to refer my close friends in their respective domains. B-channel mails helped me to go through this referring process.

--Raghunandan Karanam

B channel brings to provide good opportunities to people who are looking for jobs.

-- Sreenivasa Rao

Helping friends to be with us

-- Nagaraj

II.

Quotes from New Joinees

It was an overall nice and good experience

--Aravinda

Good Process

--Mandir Kumar

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Conclusion
The campaign was very successful which was apparent from the results it produced. The number of referrals received in this quarter has gone up significantly to 4180 when compared to the previous quarter which produced only 1531 referrals. The quality of the referrals also perked up which is evident from the fact that the offers made have gone up by 41% and the number of candidates joining has increased by 50% in this quarter when compared to the previous quarter. Apart from this, the satisfaction of the employees also improved because of the additional awards and rewards they received. The more satisfied the employees are, the more they connect to the referral program and the more they are motivated in bringing quality hires into the organization. The figures concerning the profiles and the quotes from various winners are listed below:

Category\Month No of Profiles Offered Joined

Apr'12 1400 132 66

May'12 1400 131 98

Jun'12 1380 156 93

From the analysis, it can clearly be stated that the promotional scheme run by B channel was a huge success and improved the number and quality of referrals. More such schemes can be run from time to time to keep the employees motivated. To improve the employee referral program, the first thing to know is wh y dont employees refer? According to some renowned HR leaders, Three-Fourth of the people do not know anyone suitable for that position Half of them are afraid of the consequences of referring a bad candidate Around a quarter of them feel the process is too much complicated.

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Case Study
Employee Referral Program: B-Channel Process at Mahindra Satyam
One of the associates Mr. Ravinder referred a candidate Mr. Anil for the position Developer, Oracle Applications. Ravinder got to know about the requirement through a communication mailer from communications team. As per the process he should upload Anils profile into the system i.e., in the tool eSupport, Mahindra Satyam. Due, to a technical glitch in the tool he is unable to upload Anils profile in the system. He tried his best to enter the details prior to the Interview. He asked his friend Anil to attend the interview by giving following details to the recruiter, Source Associate Referral, Associate Name and GID. Next day, Anil gone through the interview process with the above details mentioned on his profile and got selected. Later, the concerned recruiter discussed with Anil and finalized the offer. As per the process recruiter need a reference number (Candidate ID or Applicant ID A unique number defines the source of the profile) for Anil to release the offer. As he got the source of the profile which been mentioned on the top of the resume, he communicated with Ravinder for Applicant ID to release the offer and also, the reason behind not uploading the profile before the interview process. Later he got the details from Ravinder and offer has been released to Anil. Couple of months later, Anil joined the organization. Policy says, after completion of 3 months from the time of joining, associate will get the referral payment. In this case, after 3 months from the date of joining of Anil, Ravinder informed that he would not be eligible for the referral payment. Reason being, profile uploaded in the tool after the technical interview. What best can we do in order to have associate delight? How do you address and analyze this case to close it as per the policy? What is the solution for this case, where the associate has to get his referral bonus?

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Observations from the case:

Associate referred a candidate for a developer position and asked to go for an interview without uploading the profile. Candidate attended for the interview and has been selected, offered and joined. After 3 months from the date of joining of the candidate, associate expected to get his referral bonus. Later he realized, he is not eligible for the referral bonus as he uploaded the profile after the date of interview. He approached Help Desk for his referral payment as he had a problem with the tool while uploading the profile.

Understanding & Analysis:

Associate Referral Policy Date of uploading the profile in the tool should be prior to the Date of Interview (Profiles directly coming from business without uploading into the tool will not be entertained) As per the policy, associates will not be eligible for payment of referral bonus, if he/she uploads a profile after the date of interview. But, in this case associate had some technical issues uploading the profile. So, he gave his details to the candidate and asked him to write it on the top of the resume. Based on those details, recruiter contacted the source of the profile captured required information to release the offer. Later, candidate has been on boarded.

Solution:
Well, here in this case associate is not eligible for the referral payment. But, we have to consider the fact that, he had some technical issues and have communicated the same with the recruiter about the same. So, first we need to take consent from recruiter. We should ask details about the offered candidate, date of interview and offer release details from the recruiter. Also we need to check the source of the profile.

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Based on the details furnished by the recruiter, we have to check with him on the date of interview and date of posting the profile and reasons for mismatch in the dates. On confirmation with concerned recruiter, we should ask for any mail proofs that took place between the associate and the recruiter. Still if we are not convinced, as this is during a weekend drive and candidate clearly mentioned the referral details on the resume. If, we can get the hard copy of the same then, with some approvals we can close this case. Final option available with us is to check the hard copy of the profile at the time of interview and confirm the source of the profile. If there is no hard copy then we should go for the approval request for the referral payment from the Head, B-Channel who is the approving authority. Here in this case, we have all the details from the recruiter. Mail copies, hard copy of the resume etc. we have collected necessary information from the recruiter, associate and the candidate. A business case has been prepared for approval request from Head, B-Channel and processed the payment for Ravinder. In order to encounter this kind of situations in future, few recommendations have been made to update the B-Channel policy.

Associate Referral (B-Channel) Policy Update

Associate referral Date of uploading the profile in the tool should be prior to the Date of Interview (profiles directly coming from business without uploading into the tool will not be entertained) Note: For referrals coming into walk in drives the name of the referrer (Associate) & GID has to be mentioned on IOF (Interview Observation Form).

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Article
Employee Referrals: The Cost-Effective Way to Recruit
One of the surveys found that 54% of the companies had problems attracting employees with critical skills, despite the high unemployment rate and 37% having trouble hiring top-performing employees. You can overcome the shortage of top performing employees when you create a work culture that inspires great employee referrals. Here is what works to garner employee referrals and the actions that will submarine your employee referrals. Human resources professionals are increasingly using employee referral schemes as a cost-effective way to recruit professionals without the need to spend on advertising costs or placement agency fees. In fact, they are now putting as much emphasis on employee referrals as on other recruitment methods. Under employee referral schemes, existing employees are encouraged to bring in new professionals, and they are suitably rewarded if the person they refer is recruited. As such, employee referral systems provide win-win situations for employees, too, as they not only earn cash incentives but also get a chance to share the workplace with friends or former colleagues.

Employee Referrals: Critical Component in Identifying Good Talent

Employee referrals are a critical component in your efforts to obtain the best potential employees. Employee referrals provide better than average candidates because employees know your company culture and have an idea about what employees work successfully in your organization. Employee referrals also reflect on the referring employee who wants to be positively regarded in your organization. According to Dr. John Sullivan, "Many recruiting managers with woefully underperforming programs think they have great programs and are somewhat shocked when they learn that, on average across all industries, 1:3 hires come from employee referral and that it is no longer uncommon for more than half of all external hires to come from

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employee referral in organizations with leading talent management functions...If your organization doesnt have an ERP, or has one that produces less than 30% of all external hires," examine your referral program to determine why you experience poor results. Human resources professionals have been successfully recruiting good quality talent through employee referral programs, especially in sectors with shortages of prospects with adequate skills. While referral programs bring quick-turnover advantages and drastically reduce the cost of recruiting new talent, they should be used in combination with other recruitment methods to balance the quality of talent entering the organization.

Employee Referral Programs: Drawbacks

Employee referral programs do have a few drawbacks, though. For one, they run the risk of limiting diversity of talent within an organization. Often, referred candidates belong to the same field and come with the same skills or qualifications as those who refer them. Also, sometimes there may be greater bonds between the referrals and those who refer them than between the referrals and the organization. The possibility of new recruits distracting their friends from their duties cannot be ignored with recruitment through referral schemes. Finally, organizations are woefully incompetent at providing feedback to the referring employee for referrals. Undermining their efforts, too, is the speed at which employee referrals are acknowledged and reviewed. The most important factor in employee referrals is swift candidate evaluation and feedback to the referring employee. Encouraging employee referrals and successful employee referral programs are a win for organizations that gain qualified employees, a win for employees who get to work with qualified coworkers, and a win for referring employees who benefit from the recognition, or in some cases, the financial incentives of their employee referral program. Employee involvement is a key to an effective employee selection process.

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Article Three Men and Their IT Journey

Three Men and Their IT Journey Mahindra Satyam has turned around and is now merging with Tech Mahindra. But the next leg of the journey could be far tougher.

Vineet Nayyar, vice-chairman of Tech Mahindra, says he remembers "the moment" like it was yesterday. On 7 January 2009, he was in his office at the Pune headquarters of Tech Mahindra when an investment banker called up and insisted that he switch on his television set immediately. News was breaking of Satyam Computer Services founder Byrraju Ramalinga Raju's resignation and his self-confessed Rs 7,800 crore fraud in the company's accounts. Even as he watched the events unfold, an idea began germinating in Nayyar's mind. Weeks later, at a dinner with Mahindra Group vice-chairman Anand Mahindra at the corporate headquarters in Worli, Mumbai, Nayyar broached the idea of making a bid for Satyam. "Anand laughed. And his first reaction was, Vineet, did you have one too many (drinks) tonight?'" It was, after all, a tainted organisation embroiled in a legal tangle with an uncertain future and inflated accounts. However, Nayyar recalls, in less than 10

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minutes Anand was not only on board, but began asking some tough questions, already planning a strategy. Some deft moves and calculated risks later, the Mahindra group bagged Satyam in April 2009 through a government-coordinated sale for a price tag of Rs 1,757 crore giving it a 31 per cent stake and renamed it Mahindra Satyam. "We knew that Satyam had real business, real clients... and expertise in certain areas, though nobody knew to what extent the numbers were incorrect," says C.P. Gurnani, managing director and chief executive officer of Mahindra Satyam. In fiscal 2011-12, following an excruciating integration exercise and restatement of accounts that shrank Satyam to about half its size, the company reported it was in the black with a net profit of Rs 1,306 crore. Soon enough, M&M announced a merger of the two listed firms at two shares of Tech Mahindra for every 17 shares of Mahindra Satyam.

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The combined entity will more than double Tech Mahindra's revenues of Rs 5,488 crore to Rs 11,884 crore ($2.3 billion at current rates), making it the fifth largest IT services company in India behind the $10.17-billion TCS, $7-billion Infosys, $5.9-billion Wipro (IT business) and the $4.1-billion HCL Technologies. Mind you, this pecking order excludes the $6.8 billion Cognizant Technology Solutions which, though headquartered in New Jersey, US, has about 75 per cent of its employees in India. The new entity likely to be named either Mahindra IT Services or Mahindra Consultancy Services - will employ 75,000 people in 84 countries and have cash reserves of Rs 3,300 crore. But what kind of an entity will it be? Will it have the wherewithal to overtake any of the Top 5, or will it remain the leader of the second rung that includes the $1-billion iGatePatni, the $384-million MindTree and the $310-million Hexaware, among others? To start with, parent M&M expects Mahindra IT (let's call it that for the moment) to double its size in three years. That is reasonable, considering Indian IT's big three TCS, Infosys and Wipro have grown nine times since 2003. But only just. The global economic scenario has been prickly since the great US banking crash of 200708. While it has always managed to stage a recovery within two years of a crash since 1945, the economy is struggling even four years after the recession this time around. In such a macroeconomic scenario, the IT services pie has remained stagnant at around $850 billion for the past three years. This year, too, it is expected to either remain flat or grow at a tepid 2-odd per cent. Where does that leave Mahindra IT? "While the established model will continue to be there, the next wave of growth will come from developing innovative solutions," says Anand Mahindra. What It's Up Against: The CEO of a rival IT major says, "...doubling a company in three years in the current environment is not tough, it is impossible. The Indian IT industry will grow this year by 10 per cent. Mahindras have done a good job of turning around Satyam... but the targets they have are not realistic." A report released in June by Macquarie Equities Research on Indian IT services says "sub-par growth" in US and world GDP is expected to be over 1224 months. The report, Trouble in Paradise, adds: "This, coupled with the structural pain

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that we are seeing in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) vertical, implies that visibility on double-digit top-line growth for Indian IT vendors is cloudy. PE multiples (will) remain below historical averages seen in 2003-08."

Such a scenario means Mahindra IT's growth will have to largely come from displacing an incumbent rather than getting a bigger share of growth. "In the past 6-7 years, we grew the revenue 10 times at Tech Mahindra. From a single client, British Telecom (BT), Tech Mahindra today has 130 clients across the globe," says Nayyar. "From just IT services, we now provide everything in telecom. There is not a single telecom project for which we do not get RFP (request for proposal). We compete with IBM, Huawei and TCS and win against the best." Mahindra IT needs to outpace its peers. But historically Tech Mahindra, a smaller company compared to the Top 5, has grown slower than its peers. Its 7-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.6 per cent is slower than the fast-growing Cognizant's 39.8 per cent, HP-owned MphasiS's 29.7 per cent and HCL Tech's 28.6 per cent. Its growth is only slightly better than the far larger TCS, Infosys and Wipro's 7-year CAGR of 24.2 per cent, 24.2 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively. The combined entity has a 7-year CAGR of 41.9 per cent, which while being even higher than Cognizant's, includes several years of what are believed to be Satyam's inflated numbers under Raju.

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The M&A Route: With all its peers nearly as aggressive as it is, Mahindra IT may need to take the inorganic route of mergers and acquisitions. Remember, besides the Rs 3,300 crore postmerger cash pile, the group has parked 204 million treasury shares of the combined entity (equivalent to 10.4 per cent equity) in a trust to be used in the event of an M&A opportunity. M&As, though, require a lot more than just cash. They need vision, guts and risk-taking ability. All the moneybags of Indian IT have so far displayed none of these traits, with the exception of minor acquisitions off and on. The leader, TCS, currently sits on a cash pile of Rs 6,780 crore, Infosys on Rs 20,072 crore and Wipro on Rs 7,767 crore. Even HCL has cash reserves of Rs 2,371 crore. Infosys's recently appointed chairman, K.V. Kamath, is goading its management into making some bold acquisitions to accelerate growth. You can argue that so far the IT majors did not need M&As to grow. Their organic growth was itself proving tough to handle. A large acquisition and its painful integration would have been another headache. But the pause in the global economy may necessitate some courageous steps. "Over the past two months, global macroeconomic conditions have not showed any signs of improvement... clients of Indian IT companies will rein in their tech spending for FY2013. It is prudent to tone down the bullish demand stance until more clarity emerges," notes the Macquarie report. Fortunately for Mahindra IT, in recent times, M&M has gone on a buying spree around the world and has set up a core group that examines global M&A opportunities. It can always bank upon the parent to pull off a bold acquisition. Strength in Unity: The combination's biggest advantage lies in the operational synergies it will derive from economies of scale, standard processes and elimination of duplicate departments. The size of the combined balance sheet will also make it eligible to bid for large sourcing contracts that require a strong balance sheet as a pre-condition to bidding. One way to leverage the combined entity is by cross-selling more services to the existing client base

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(most IT firms report 95 to 99 per cent of revenues from repeat business). Sujit Baksi, president of corporate affairs and business services of the group, says the joint go to market strategy' of the sales teams is already yielding results. For instance, in security services, capabilities and competence existed in Tech Mahindra and these solutions have now been cross-sold to enterprise customers of Mahindra Satyam. Similarly, the ERP (enterprise resource planning) and business intelligence solutions of Satyam have been sold to Tech Mahindra's telecom customers AT&T and BT. Its existing clientele mainly comprises of legacy businesses such as enterprise business solutions and infrastructure engineering solutions. Gurnani says they have identified five key horizontals for growth: networks, mobility, analytics, cloud and security (NMACS). These are emerging areas. For instance, in cloud computing where even large organisations collaborate with specialist firms, "we will compete and co-opt other players," says Gurnani.

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"The combined firm has deep strengths in manufacturing, telecom and engineering services, which they can leverage to deliver innovative solutions," says Hansa Iyengar, senior analyst with Ovum, an outsourcing and offshoring research and advisory firm. "Over-dependence on developed markets is a cause for concern, but in Latin America, China, Japan, West Asia and India, they can grow faster." Even while the effort is on to reduce over-dependence on certain clients and geographies, Vikram Nair who heads the European operations (about $1 billion of the company's $2.3 billion revenues, including the $450 million BT account) says M&M group's presence in a large number of areas is very helpful. "We eat our own dog food, before we deploy it to our customers," he says. Karthikeyan Natarajan, who heads the company's engineering services division, says he is well placed to leverage the defence offsets opportunity: "For most of the aerospace, engineering, aviation and defence companies, the first port of call in the Indian market is M&M." A Future in Verticals... But as Mahindra IT embarks on the growth journey, it is set to encounter some serious headwinds. The fiercest of them would be in its core area of strength: telecom. The combined entity will still earn 47 per cent of its revenues from the vertical, which itself is facing a slowdown. Mahindra IT's second strongest vertical Manufacturing, which contributes 17 per cent to the combined revenues, has also suffered the most since the US and European recession as industrial activity came to a standstill. The company's telecom growth will also depend on how its re-tendering for its top client BT fares. The process is likely to be completed this year. Though it has retained its market share in projects negotiated so far, BT's driving a hard bargain for discounts that could hit margins. "We note that Tech Mahindra's margins (gross) have already fallen sharply by 1,100 bps since March 2009 and will see further downward resets post the retendering... albeit a weak currency will offset some of these headwinds," notes an Emkay Research report. "Operation metrics (were) weak with revenue from Top 5 and Top 10 clients declining by 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) each (Top 2-5 client revenues were flat q-o-q ). Discussions with (company) management indicate revenue growth at a

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major North American telco was also tepid, impacted by the lower number of billing days," it adds. The world's biggest industry vertical for IT outsourcing happens to be BFSI, with a share of 35 per cent of the $850 billion industry. Analysts point out that Satyam is an also-ran in the crucial BFSI vertical, though it works with eight of the top wholesale bank brands, four of the top 10 retail companies and three of the Top 5 credit card issuers. Most large players such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro earn between a quarter to a third of their revenues from this segment, whereas Mahindra IT gets a mere 11 per cent. Its BFSI revenues total $200 million against Infosys's $2.8 billion. Rivals say they have not encountered Mahindra Satyam in any major BFSI deal in the recent past. "There are no quick fixes, but I am confident that we will grow faster in this market," says Gurnani (see interview on pages 32-33).

"We Want To Double Revenues"

Chander Prakash Gurnani, who will be the CEO of the new merged entity, spoke to BW about the integration process and the future plans for the firm. Excerpts:

What are your aspirations for the new merged entity? Once the complete merger process is through, the new company will have around $2.3 billion in revenues, around 75,000 employees, marquee customers and a strong portfolio of solutions.This is a merger of equals. Over the past seven years, if you take the cumulative rate of growth of Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam together, we have grown above all our peers. Our ambition is to double the revenues to $5 billion by 2015. Given the current market conditions, doubling revenues in three years will be challenging. But we have a strategy in place. Globally, we are one of the largest players in telecom. Mahindra Satyam brings

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world-class expertise in enterprise solutions, manufacturing and engineering solutions. In areas such as big data, mobility, platform-based business process outsourcing, security and engineering services, we want to be among the Top 5 brands in the world, and we will achieve this through competency building and innovation. We want to grow our share of revenues coming from the BFSI segment. What have been the integration challenges? We have been engaged for three years... being part of M&M Group. Over the past couple of quarters, we have closely examined and worked on how to pull this off in a smooth and seamless manner, with little impact on associates (employees) and none on customers. We have set up a team to jointly work on this, so that we take best practices from each company and incorporate them into the new entity. All the restructuring that was required to be done at Satyam has already been done. Facilities have been consolidated, accounting and revenue recognition processes streamlined to the highest standards of the M&M Group. Except for a handful of people, that too in shared services such as accounting and facilities management, there will be no impact on the bulk of our associates, and even there, most of them will be redeployed. We are a growing company looking to attract and retain the best of talent. The message I want to underscore is that there is a new old kid on the block with a proven track record, and we are hungry for growth. One big hope is an expected $22-37 billion outsourcing opportunity arising out of the US Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, popularly known as Obamacare for the backing the Bill got from the US President. However, with just 3 per cent of Mahindra IT's revenues coming from the healthcare and lifesciences verticals, the company's experience in the sector is limited and may be a constraint in grabbing contracts. The business will depend on whether the US allows health records of citizens to be stored or processed outside its boundaries. Gurnani says the company has invested aggressively in building platform-based and IPled solutions. "The proof of our strategy will be in the execution over the next few years," he says confidently.

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Innovation: The Next Wave Mahindra IT will also have to cope with a serious mid-life crisis in Indian IT. Clearly, Version 1 of Indian IT comprising large offshore centres doing low-end technology work has become a commodity business facing tremendous competition and cost pressure from emerging economies. It will continue to make money and still be reasonably profitable, but it will not bring in complex technology contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Hence, in setting his expectations from the combined entity, Anand Mahindra has made his intentions very clear: Mahindra IT must innovate far more than its rivals. The group has made a small beginning in that direction by setting up two kinds of funds. First, an internal fund for intrapreneurship'. Manish Mehta, chief vertical solutions officer of Mahindra Satyam, says the company has no specified corpus for now, but it will be augmented on an ongoing basis. It aims to encourage employees who wish to set up their own company, to continue to be part of the group, by providing them funding, mentoring and market opportunities. The group expects this to be a key tool in attrition reduction. The second fund is an external focused' one. It has a corpus of $50 million. It was set up by Mahindra Satyam in February 2012 with SBI Holdings (part of the Softbank Investment Group of Japan), and will invest in promising information and communications technology companies. Though various proposals are being examined in this connection, an investment is still to be finalised. Project Symphony: By itself, the merged entity will kick off with one major advantage: there is practically no overlap in the businesses of Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam. While Tech Mahindra earned 96 per cent of its revenues from telecom, Mahindra Satyam was focused on manufacturing, BFSI, healthcare, engineering services, media and entertainment. Even in terms of size, it is a merger of near equals (Tech Mahindra's revenues add up to $1.1 billion and Mahindra Satyam's to $1.2 billion).

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However, there are integration challenges though the company wants to downplay them. The 40,000 Tech Mahindra employees are relatively better paid, compared to the 34,000 employees of Mahindra Satyam. Perks ranging from on-site allowances to the number of days of leave differ. A Tech Mahindra employee says, "After spending a specified period abroad, when one returns to India, one gets a $1,800 allowance, which is being done away with. We have had this for years. Why should we give it up now?" Sujitha Karnad, who currently heads HR for Tech Mahindra, says that since there was a long courtship before the marriage, the companies are addressing all these concerns. "In any union, there will be some friction. Our effort is to minimise, if not completely eliminate, it. We have adopted a greater degree of transparency and enhanced communication." The integration process internally called Project Symphony is drawing up a blue book of best practices from both companies. Senior vice-president Mahesh Nagaraj, who is leading the integration effort, says the concerns are being addressed through surveys and feedback mechanisms. Aniruddha Bhosale, research analyst at Deutsche Bank's Securities division, in a report says that the new company is trading at a discount of 45 per cent to HCL Technologies, the No. 4 player. "...the valuation discount will narrow. While for Tech Mahindra shareholders, the merger will be earnings per share-dilutive initially, it entails long-term positives." As the merger takes shape, the combined entity finds itself in a delicate stage of its evolution. And while it tackles the growth and profitability challenges, the management will have to keep an eye on the legal tangle it continues to face owing to the Satyam fraud. The Income Tax Department, for instance, has slapped a Rs 616-crore claim against Satyam (with the matter in court, the interest amount keeps rising). The Raju family claims Satyam owes them Rs 1,230 crore (total dues, with penal interest, according to Raju's lawyer Niranjan Reddy, are over Rs 2,000 crore). IL&FS Engineering (formerly Maytas Engineering) has sought Rs 650 crore towards money it says had been lent to Satyam when Raju was the chairman. Mahindra Satyam, on its part, is claiming Rs 275 crore from the previous management and its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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Meanwhile, the group has had some success with international claims. Mahindra Satyam paid $125 million to settle a class action suit in the US and another $70 million to settle UK-based Upaid Systems' claims for allegedly providing wrong documents resulting in it losing a patents case. The trick is in ensuring challenges do not bog down Mahindra IT's Top 3 men who have embarked on the journey of a lifetime. For Gurnani, a chemical engineer by training, it's time to get the integration chemistry right.

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REFERENCES
http://www.mahindrasatyam.com/news/documents/Tech-Mahindra-andMahindra-Satyam-Merger-Announced.pdf http://www.nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IITMADRAS/Management_Science_I/slides/4_2s.pdf http://www.websukat.com/smu-books/human-resource-management/4recruitment-and-selection.pdf http://recruitment.naukrihub.com/sources-of-recruitment.html www.ere.net www.hrworld.com www.citehr.com www.mahindrasatyam.com www.monster.com www.naukri.com www.timesjobs.com

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