Parvathi karthik

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
13
Integrated Framework of
HR and Business Processes
is the key driver for a
Strong Engaged Workforce

Integrated Framework of HR and Business Processes
is the key driver for a Strong Engaged Workforce
2013
2
ABSTRACT
We are a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, part of a group company which is
India‘s Largest industrial conglomerate, with a total employee strength of 276,196 professionals and
revenues at $ 11.6 billion and profit after tax at $ 2.6 billion as on Q4.
Our global diverse workforce, operates across 42 countries worldwide, representing 118 nationalities,
Women representing 32% of our workforce and 70% Gen Y
We have a utilization of 72.2% and an attrition of 10.6%. We have hired 69,728 professionals in FY 13 to
support business growth and we continue to forecast a healthy growth in the workforce numbers.
This paper explores the facets of the Talent Management System designed to effectively manage and
support performance and results in a dynamic and ever changing environment characterized by rapid
growth, mobility, global diverse culture, changing technology and a Gen Y
The paper focuses on
The specific processes based on the integrated functioning of the HR metrics and the way it is
taken up for action and implementation so as to give an experience of certainty to our end
customers.
The case studies to illustrate the integrated talent management approach
Explore initiatives and further course of action to bridge the gaps in the existing ecosystem

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3
Introduction
OUR ORGANIZATION is in the business of software development, IT services, Consulting and BPO.
The business processes defined for meeting customer requirements include Sales, Project and Program
Management, Delivery Management and Support Processes.
Since people are the raw material for the company, the core HR processes of Talent Acquisition
(Recruitment), Talent Management (Training and Competency Development, Performance Management
and Career Development) and Resource Management (Staffing) are vital enablers for the Business
Process.
What are some of the Key Perceived Behavioral Characteristics and Outcomes exhibited by an
Organization which has an engaged workforce?
Productivity and Customer Satisfaction
The engaged workforce will be committed to perform and motivated at work which will directly translate to
attributes at work such as being result driven, customer focused thereby meeting deliverables and
achieving customer satisfaction and repeat business
Continual improvement in key delivery metrics and improvements in the Customer satisfaction index will
be evident
Healthy People Metrics
In an organization where the workforce is engaged the attrition will be low and there will be focused
initiatives in support of workforce development practices
Participatory Culture
An engaged workforce will be interested to involve themselves in Organizational Initiatives and support
the overall focus areas of the company. The organization is perceived as vibrant and alive if there is an
Engagement in the workforce.
Agility and Adaptability to Organizational Changes are lag measures which are indicative of an Engaged
workforce

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4
A highly productive organization with Healthy People metrics and a participatory culture
achieving Customer Satisfaction and Continual Improvement in Metrics are Attributes of an
organization which is an Industry Leader demonstrating Growth and Profitability Quarter on
Quarter ,Year on Year
This paper will illustrate with examples how the Integration of HR and Business Processes has actually
demonstrated the perceived benefits of an Engaged Workforce with the help of two case studies and
examples
CASE STUDY 1: HEALTHY PEOPLE METRICS – INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT: SIX SIGMA VEHICLE
Workforce Engagement prevails when there is an adherence to Operating Level Agreements linking HR
processes with Business Process eliminating unnecessary follow-ups and beurocracy. To support the
effectiveness of the overall framework we have a Process Excellence Group which champions and
mentors improvement projects on OLA and SLA compliance. One such project which was very successful
in the above context was the Six Sigma Project to reduce the Cycle time of Recruitment
The business process , Project Planning requires the the Project Manager or Project Leader details out
the Resource Plan and the Ramp up plan for the project or account based on the project proposal or
statement of work [SOW].The timely allocation of the resources in the right mix is a key determinant for
the project’s success.
The HR process of Staffing and Talent Acquisition is pivotal in servicing these requirements

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Fig 1: Process Flowchart of the Staffing Process
BUSINESS PROCESS
BUSINESS PROCESS
Linked to Payroll System

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6
Fig 1 illustrates the process flow chart of the Staffing Process integrated with the Business process of
Project Planning. The workflow described is completely digitized and driven through tools that are
integrated into organizations Enterprise Wide Application called Ultimatix.
The Service Level Agreements for each stakeholder of the workflow are in built in the design of the
Resource Allocation tools. This enables the seamless flow of requirements from the Hiring Managers in
the Business to the HR Managers in the Allocation group.
The workflow has an inbuilt redirection to the External Hiring Process (Recruitment) if it is not possible to
staff the position within the time specified from the resources in the internal pool. The request is then
pushed to Talent Acquisition group for external hiring. The recruitment process from sourcing to
candidate evaluation and offer is tracked in the same system and upon joining the associate receives his
employee number and the request is then closed by the Resource Management Group. The generation of
the employee number is automatically updated in the Payroll processing System of the company.
In order to ensure the effective functioning of the framework we employ the knowledge of problem solving
tools and expertise of Six Sigma Black Belts., Six Sigma is a powerful methodology for bringing
improvements to strengthen the Integration of HR and Business Processes
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
AxisTitle
Count of Aging Open Requirements
BEFORE AFTER DEFECT PREVENTION
Fig 2: The BEFORE and AFTER trend of Open Aging Resource Requirements [Apr – 11 to Sept -12]

2013
7
The business processes with respect to timely billing was improved by the six sigma project to improve
the cycle time for recruitment. The project executed was on reducing the cycle time of recruitment -
measured as elapsed time from request pushed to Joining. The initial baseline was 99 days [May 2011].
The focus was on reducing the time to offer a candidate.
This time to hire value was then studied for the sub – process steps and the interim SLAs were defined
for the recruitment sub-processes. Delay in offer was analyzed by Pareto to arrive at the vital few and
then a fishbone to drill down to the root causes. Discussions with business hiring managers and panelists
enabled solutioning to overcome the identified pain areas. Prioritization of solutions using Criteria Based
Matrix was performed to select the best solutions for implementation. The identified solutions were
prioritized and piloted.
The solutions included
technology enabled solutions such as same time video chat based interviews to address the
concern of cross location interviews
Development of new modules in the recruitment system to automate manual process e.g. the
excel based evaluation sheets for quick real time upload.
Re-definition of sub process SLAs with internal stakeholders.
Infrastructure improvisations to facilitate the reduction in the waiting time of the candidate.
Focused sessions with the candidates to discuss the components of the salary and facilitate
discussions with the business for role clarity if needed
Customized measurements and dashboards to track critical dependencies
Best Practice adoption program to ensure quick learning
Branch wise governance reviews for issue handling
Agile Processes for evaluation within Business Units
The project resulted in the time to offer reducing by 23 days.
QUANTIFIED BENEFITS TO THE BUSINESS
The computed soft savings to the company were 18 million USD. The project was also awarded the Best
Process Improvement Project award in the Q3 2012 for the demonstrated improvements and the benefits
accrued

2013
8
CASE STUDY 2: HEALTHY PEOPLE METRICS - INFANT ATTRITON ANALYSIS
An organization with a strong engaged workforce will have a healthy trend with respect to attrition. In this
case study we look at the specific measure of Infant Attrition. An associate leaving the company within
the first year of joining is considered as Infant Attrition. Infant attrition has shown a reducing trend over
the last three years. This has been achieved by following a three step Integrated engagement process
involving Business and HR
Proactive Engagement with the associate
Proactive Engagement is performed through the first one year where the associate is guided on different
processes and tools of the company through a system called the My Integration portal.
The portal also sends out regular surveys to the associate to measure his satisfaction levels and track his
progress at regular milestones in the first one year
The survey results are published on a quarterly basis to the Business Unit HR so that corrective actions
can be planned
Supportive Engagement with the Associate
PROPEL and PEEP sessions: These sessions are conducted to engage with the workforce and build a
camaraderie and team synergy. The sessions are customized and championed by a team of Propellers
who are trained on People Practices. PEEP is the Proactive Employee Engagement Program targeted to
interact and address the happiness quotient and integration levels of the associate. This is a one on one
session and is scheduled with a senior associate from the Business who is not the reporting authority for
the associate. It is also a form of mentoring.
Reactive Engagement with the associate
Reactive Engagement is performed by addressing his reported concerns and grievances.
Every project has a dedicated HR SPOC for supporting the requests of the associates. OUR
ORGANIZATION has a grievance handling mechanism where any associate can raise a concern to HR
and it is dealt with the required level of confidentiality and care.
OUR ORGANIZATION has a detailed exit interview process which is carried out by the HR for the
business unit. The interview is conducted to understand the concerns of the associate who has decided
to move on.

2013
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The interview enables the HR to understand the dynamics and recognize patters observed in exit
How is the Infant Attrition analyzed and controlled?
Pareto Analysis for Infant Attrition is carried out at a Business Unit Level. The vital few reasons are
identified and addressed.
Example. In the Infant attrition analysis carried out at Chennai it was observed that one of the main
reasons for the exit was the number of instances where the Back Ground Check turned negative.
As a corrective measure the BGC process was analyzed and corrective measures were taken
Documentation required for performing the above checks were collected before evaluation
process
Pre-BGC process was introduced for certain checks were there was reasonable doubt of the
report turning negative
Vendor SLAs were monitored rigorously and taken as an input for review and contract renewal
Tool enhancements to facilitate online submission of BGC documentation was introduced
Fake company lists were updated real time and made available for ready reference
Approval process was introduced to onboard a candidate whose BGC process was pending after
joining
As a result of these additional checks the results achieved were as shown

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Fig 3: Infant Attrition Analysis
EXAMPLE 1: The link of HR PROCESSES with PRODUCTIVITY and PROFITABILITY
Another example of the Integration of HR and Business process is the tracking and driving of the
employee utilization metric. All associates of OUR ORGANIZATION are tagged to a Work order number
which is indicative of the “allocated “ status of the associate. The associates who are unallocated are
under the custody of the Resource Management Group.
We have integrated the allocated status to the calculation of the deployment index which is linked to the
payroll under the quarterly variable compensation.
Thus if an associate who is not allocated for 6 months of the year will have a lower deployment index
which will impact his compensation to that extent. This ensures that there is a driver to be allocated and
that the business profits of quarterly variable compensation are justifiably apportioned to the associates
Negative BGC reduced by 43% and Infant Attrition has
reduced by 10%
BGC Negatives
2011
2013

2013
11
While this Integration of Allocation to the Compensation creates a PUSH on the Associate to ensure
Utilization. The organization supports the same initiative to create a PULL major ways
Support through Competency Development using ICALMS [ integrated Competency
Development and Learning Management System]
The Competency development of associates is one of the key drivers to bring the Engagement of
workforce
Initiatives to support the ongoing learning requirements of all associates are supported by the business in
terms of identifying the learning needs and mandating a 7 person day of learning every half year
sponsored by the project.
Every business unit has a dedicated Competency Development Manager and Learning Officers who
identify the learning needs of associates in the unit and arrange for classroom trainings or external
programs
The upgraded competency is fed into the Integrated Competency and Learning Management
System [ ICALMS] from where the Resource Management Group is able to pick the best fit for
future roles
The performance of all the associates is role based, every associate once allocated is assigned a role
and the role templates have defined goals in the system. Thus the performance standardization and role
parity are systemically controlled.
In addition to the goals defined in the goal template we have the project specific goals defined by the
project leader. Appraisal cycles are bi-annual and the performance is strictly controlled by system driven
deadlines. The dates are not flexible and the elapse of the deadline could result in the defaulted rating for
the associate.
Leadership Development Program
High Performers in the organization are identified in discussion with the Account Heads and
Managers and shortlisted for Management and Leadership Development Programs
Succession Planning is integrated with this exercise so that the trained Leaders are deployed to
higher roles as and when the need arises
.
EXAMPLE 2 : PARTICIPATORY CULTURE

2013
12
Need to address the expectations of Gen Y
We have identified that the presence of social media is a way of life for the Gen Y community. OUR
ORGANIZATION has launched a social networking platform called the KNOME which is designed on
WEB 2.0 and is the medium where views and ideas are expressed freely and is the thread of integration
between the Gen X and Gen Y
This platform has
Events
Discussions
Polls
Media Threads
Challenges and Quizzes
Questions and Discussions
Blogs
An adaptation of KNOME is the platform called CAMPUS COMMUNE where we leverage the support of
the Business to effectively engage with the student community. The ability to reach out to 50,000 students
across the country with a portal such as Campus Commune is a message in itself on how technology
rules the minds of the Gen Y. Several contests have been hosted on this platform such as the Code vita –
National Level coding competition and Mobeel – Mobility contest. These contests enable us to gain a
mindshare with the campus community and also identify the best talent pool for our organization based
on the big data analysis and behavioral patterns
Associate Satisfaction in our Organisation is measured using a survey called PULSE. Pulse
results have shown a 0.8% increase from FY-11 to FY 12 and the Engagement Index has increased
by 0.8% from FY -11 to FY-12
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
The critical success factor enabling the integration is the Organization’s structure and robust,
rigorous and time tested Documentation of the Quality Management System and the Quality Audit
Effectiveness
Our Organizational framework consists of business verticals, the horizontals and the practices and the
Support groups and enabling functions. Our processes are the backbone on which the entire organization

2013
13
is functioning. The processes are classified as delivery processes and support processes and together
make up the Integrated Quality Management System
The HR procedures manual has the detailed procedures to Attract, Recruit, Manage and Retain Talent in
the company. The framework consists of the All processes are digitized and are tightly integrated into the
Enterprise wise IQMS. IQMS is the standard against which the internal audit of the company is performed
and the adequacy verified during external ISO audit and CMM assessments
The audit function has a mechanism to raise Escalation reports [NCER] in a Business Process audit on
gaps observed in Support processes. Thus there is a continuous validation of the effectives
The HR function is aligned to the Business Unit as well as to the Geographical region
This ensures
Penetration of the HR function with one- one rapport with each project within a business unit
Understanding of the grass root level challenges so as to address the pain areas and enable
change
Quality
Policy
Procedures and Process
Documents
Standards Guidelines and Templates
Fig 4: IQMS Documentation Structure

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LESSONS LEARNT
Need for Technology Enablement
Every process described and documented in our Quality Management System is also digitized. The
technology enablement is understood as a mandatory requirement for any process.
The next step in this is the enablement is BYOD [Bring Your Own Device] where we have also started
enabling several of our application on mobile devices
Need for Macro Measurement Systems and Account Initiatives
While the Integration of the Business and HR processes is addressed by measurement defined along the
Balanced Scorecard. OUR ORGANIZATION has also learnt that the real pulse lies in the one-one
connect with each project. The cascaded BSC ensures that there are shared goals and the initiatives are
inherently supported with collaborative team work .However the Endeavour of each HR professional of
the unit and the region is to focus on Initiatives which bring a culture of Participation and Engagement.
Some of these initiatives are
People Plus : A program for the middle level management [ Team Leads , Project Leads and
Project Managers ] The workshop orients the participants on various aspects of team
management and HR processes.
3C: Communicate . Connect and Collaborate. A team building Initiative
DAWN : Initiative towards Leadership Development of Women Leaders
HIPO: High Potential tracking is an initiative which we have to build the Leadership capability of
our associates
GEMS : The Rewards and Recognition program called GEMS and this ensures that associates
who have demonstrated exemplary contribution over and above the call of duty for sustained
periods of time are rewarded by the company with GEMS points under various categories
FIT FOR LIFE: The fitness initiative to build a culture of work and play and encourage all the
associates to lead a healthy lifestyle
CHALLENGE

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15
The road ahead is still challenge prone as the market continues to be very dynamic and the shelf life of
any technology is not more than 3 years.
Getting quality talent with the right mix and suited to the role with the necessary domain exposure is a
challenge
The road ahead has initiatives designed to address the Upskilling and Reskilling of associates and
arriving at more effective competency development and assessment mechanisms using Gamification
techniques
Conclusion
The backbone of any organization is its workforce and having the right framework supported by tools,
structure and processes enables the Engagement of the Workforce.
The associate engagement has a push and pull factor and Business and HR functions have to continually
collaborate and measure process performance in innovative manner to maintain the balance on both
sides to achieve the associate satisfaction and customer objectives
An engaged workforce is the fertile soil for the Organization to grow and retain Industry Leadership.
About the Author
Parvathi Karthik is the Head of Lateral Onboarding for OUR ORGANIZATION India and the Process
Excellence Lead for the Talent Acquisition Group of HR in OUR ORGANIZATION. She is a Six Sigma
Black Belt.

2013
16
With 15 years of professional experience she has essayed different roles in Project Delivery, Quality
Assurance, Quality Audit and HR working with teams across locations in India and their onsite
counterparts. She is a post graduate in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.
She lives in Chennai.
In her current role she is responsible for the complete post offer life cycle of a candidate until completion
of one year in the organization. She mentors and drives process improvement projects targeted at
improving the operational efficiencies and reduction of cycle time in core HR processes using six sigma
and structured problem solving methodologies and manages the Competency Development Program for
the HR associates of Talent Acquisition Group of OUR ORGANIZATION
References
1. TCS Press Release Quarterly Results April 17
th
2013
2. Project Management Report Q3-2011
3. Project Management Report Q1-2013
4. Six Sigma Project Report Oct 2012
5. Ultimatix IQMS Documentation
GLOSSARY
1. HIPO: High Performer
2. ICALMS : Integrated Competency and Learning Management System
3. IQMS : Integrated Quality Management System
4. NCER : Non Conformance Escalation Report
5. OLA : Operating Level Agreement
6. PEEP : Proactive Employee Engagement Program
7. RMG : Resource Management Group
8. SLA :Service Level Agreement
9. WON: Work Order Number

Parvathi karthik

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