Professional Documents
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Study of Human Resource Challenges at E-Commerce Industry: Submitted By: (Group 2)
Study of Human Resource Challenges at E-Commerce Industry: Submitted By: (Group 2)
Submitted by:(Group 2)
ASHNA MALIK
ARPIT NARULA
TRISHA JAIN
PARTH JOSHI
SEBASTIAN THOMAS
HIMANSHU BAJAJ
a
Table of Content
Topic
Preface
Acknowledgement
Chapter - 1 Introduction 5
Chapter - 3 Methodology 15
Chapter - 5 Conclusion 22
References 23
Appendix 24
b
PREFACE
The project deals with the significance of various Human Resource challenges in the E-
commerce industry. We availed the opportunity to interact with officials and register their
perspectives and behavior towards various aspects of their organization. We planned a visit
to the organization in consent with the authorized officials to conduct our interaction
ambiance and tradition of work space, etc. The report deals with the holistic analysis and
approach towards the significance of HR Department in E-commerce industry. This was our
opportunity to understand application of the Managing People and Perspective concepts and
performance appraisal processes for lower level and middle level employees.
c
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi for providing us the
opportunity of working on this project. It has enabled us to gain immense knowledge on how
various concepts on how the HR department works in an organization. We would like to express
a special gratitude to our mentor, Dr. Anupriya Singh, whose contribution in stimulating
suggestions and encouragement helped us to coordinate our industry live project especially in
writing this report. The knowledge and guidance imparted by her made this project a more
organized and learning activity for us. Furthermore, we would also like to acknowledge with much
appreciation the HR Managers, Line Managers and employees of both the e-commerce
organizations’ for giving their valuable time and patiently discussing our queries about Amazon
and Big Basket working environment and enlightening us a lot more about the Human Resource
4
Chapter – 1
Introduction
“1. Introduction to the study
Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and
selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these
transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can
also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.
Whereas e-business refers to all aspects of operating an online business, ecommerce refers
specifically to the transaction of goods and services.
The history of ecommerce begins with the first ever online sale: on the August 11, 1994 a man
sold a CD by the band Sting to his friend through his website Net Market, an American retail
platform. This is the first example of a consumer purchasing a product from a business through
the World Wide Web—or “ecommerce” as we commonly know it today.
Since then, ecommerce has evolved to make products easier to discover and purchase through
online retailers and marketplaces. Independent freelancers, small businesses, and large
corporations have all benefited from ecommerce, which enables them to sell their goods and
services at a scale that was not possible with traditional offline retail.
Global retail ecommerce sales are projected to reach $27 trillion by 2020.”
“There are four main types of ecommerce models that can describe almost every transaction that
takes place between consumers and businesses.
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1. Business to Consumer (B2C):
When a business sells a good or service to an individual consumer (e.g. You buy a pair of shoes
from an online retailer).
Examples of Ecommerce
E-commerce can take on a variety of forms involving different transactional relationships
between businesses and consumers, as well as different objects being exchanged as part of these
transactions.
1.Retail:
The sale of a product by a business directly to a customer without any intermediary.
2. Wholesale:
The sale of products in bulk, often to a retailer that then sells them directly to consumers.
3. Dropshipping:
The sale of a product, which is manufactured and shipped to the consumer by a third
party.
4. Crowdfunding:
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The collection of money from consumers in advance of a product being available in order
to raise the start-up capital necessary to bring it to market.
5. Subscription:
The automatic recurring purchase of a product or service on a regular basis until the
subscriber chooses to cancel.
6. Physical products:
Any tangible good that requires inventory to be replenished and orders to be physically
shipped to customers as sales are made.
7. Digital products:
Downloadable digital goods, templates, and courses, or media that must be purchased for
consumption or licensed for use.
8. Services:
A skill or set of skills provided in exchange for compensation. The service provider’s
time can be purchased for a fee.”
AMAZON
Amazon is the largest e-commerce marketplace and cloud computing platform in the world as
measured by revenue and market capitalization. Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos on July
5, 1994, and started as an online bookstore but later diversified to
sell video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/streaming, so
ftware, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also
owns a publishing arm, Amazon Publishing, a film and television studio, Amazon Studios,
produces consumer electronics lines including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV,
and Echo devices, and is the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services
(IaaS and PaaS) through its AWS subsidiary. Amazon has separate retail websites for some
countries and also offers international shipping of some of its products to certain other countries.
100 million people subscribe to Amazon Prime.”
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“Amazon has adopted several practices that show its changed direction in terms of HR
management. Its attitude towards under-performing employees has changed. Microsoft has been
more open to embrace diversity practices. Amazon is lagging in behind in terms of being as open
and diverse. In terms of gender and ethnic diversity too Amazon is still an under-
performer. However, its step towards supporting its under-performing employees could mean
that Amazon is ready to take next steps towards managing diversity and other aspects of HR.
Such cultures and cultural norms inside the organizations become a source of dissatisfaction for
employees leaving them feeling demoralized. If Amazon employees do not remain long with it,
then it is mainly because of the ruthless culture and management practices. However, it seems
pressure from external and internal sources has worked. While it cannot be called a giant step,
still Amazon may have taken the first step towards managing its employees better.
Rather than using the rank and yank system, Amazon has invested in performance
improvement plans that are going to help it better manage its under-performing employees.
Rather than throwing them out, Amazon is now helping them perform with a new training
program called Pivot. However, this could be an attempt to manage it employees and its
reputation. As an employer, Amazon has been known for maintaining an environment that favors
only the best performers.”
8
BIG BASKET
“Bigbasket (Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited) is India’s largest online food and grocery
store. With over 18,000 products and over a 1000 brands in our catalogue you will find everything
you are looking for. Right from fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Rice and Dals, Spices and Seasonings
to Packaged products, Beverages, Personal care products, Meats – we have it all.
Choose from a wide range of options in every category, exclusively handpicked to help you find
the best quality available at the lowest prices. Select a time slot for delivery and your order will be
delivered right to your doorstep, anywhere in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai,
Delhi, Noida, Mysore, Coimbatore, Vijayawada-Guntur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar,
Lucknow-Kanpur, Gurgaon, Vadodara, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Nagpur, Patna, Indore and
Chandigarh Tricity You can pay online using your debit / credit card or by cash / sodexo on
delivery.
Bigbasket allows you to walk away from the drudgery of grocery shopping and welcome an easy
relaxed way of browsing and shopping for groceries. Discover new products and shop for all your
food and grocery needs from the comfort of your home or office. No more getting stuck in traffic
jams, paying for parking, standing in long queues and carrying heavy bags – get everything you
need, when you need, right at your doorstep. Food shopping online is now easy as every product
on your monthly shopping list, is now available online at bigbasket.com, India’s best online
grocery store.”
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Chapter – 2
Literature Review
1) The comparative importance of human resource management practices
in the context of business to business (B2B) electronic commerce
Damien Power (2004)
This study examines the relationship between how people are managed, and the
effectiveness of business to business (B2B) e-commerce implementations. The human resource
management variables used to test this relationship are training, employee involvement and
participatory culture. In order to check the relationship between HRM and the effectiveness in the
e-commerce implementation certain questions needs to be answered such as:
Can certain practices for the management of human resources be found to be common to
organizations active in the use of B2B enabling technologies?
Are organizations reporting that use of B2B technologies have led to specific
improvements in performance also more likely to be involved in particular human
resource management practices?
To what degree can specific HRM practices explain variance in levels of performance
attributable to the use of B2B technologies?
The research methodology consists of survey using a questionnaire and chi-square test and
ANOVA tests were used to compare the response. The research was constructed on the following
elements and variables
Training
(1) training participation: all relevant staff have participated in information
sessions/training programs; and
(2) training: percentage of budget: approximate percentage of total expenditure allocated
to training/employee development.
Employee involvement
(1) extent of involvement during planning and implementation of: senior management;
(2) extent of involvement during planning and implementation of: middle management;
(3) extent of involvement during planning and implementation of: front line management;
(4) extent of involvement during planning and implementation of: general staff.
Participative culture
(1) when we develop our plans, policies and objectives we incorporate customer
requirements, supplier capabilities and the needs of other stakeholders;
(2) senior managers actively encourage change and implement a culture of trust,
involvement and commitment in moving toward implementation;
(3) champion(s) of change are effectively used to drive change in this organization;
at this organization we pro-actively pursue continuous improvement rather
than reacting to crisis.
(4) ideas from production operators are actively used in assisting management; and
(5) Our company has effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes.
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Contribution to business outcomes:
(1) improved customer satisfaction;
(2) reduced finished goods inventory;
(3) reduced WIP;
(4) reduced raw materials inventory;
(5) improved product traceability;
(6) improved stock accuracy;
(7) reduced time required for annual stock takes;
(8) increased productivity;
(9) improved service quality;
(10) improved product quality;
(11) increased flexibility;
(12) increased sales;
(13) increased net profit;
(14) reduced cycle times;
(15) improved cash flow;
(16) reduction in claims; and
(17) Reduced cost.
The e Commerce sector has seen unprecedented growth in 2014. The growth was driven by rapid
technology adoption led by the increasing use of devices such as smartphones and tablets, and
access to the internet through broadband, 3G, etc, which led to an increased online consumer base.
Furthermore, favoured demographics and a growing internet user base helped aid this growth. In
terms of highlights, the growth shown by homegrown players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal and
the huge investor interest around these companies displayed the immense potential of the market.
With the entry of e Commerce behemoths such as Amazon and Alibaba, the competition is
expected to further intensify. Both these international players come with deep pockets and the
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patience to drive the Indian e Commerce market. Also, their strong domain knowledge and best
practices from their international experience give them an additional edge.
According to this research paper, The following are the HR practices that can be adopted especially
in the E-commerce industry in India to work in a more efficient and effective manner.
to improve effectiveness and efficiency in terms of service delivery, cost reduction and
value-added services, HR departments came under pressure to harness technology that
was becoming cheaper and more powerful.
computerized human resource information system consists of a fully integrated,
organization wide network of HR-related data, information, services, databases, tools and
transactions. Technology has only recently developed in a way that enables e-HRM to
make its mark, especially the introduction of corporate intranets and web-enabled HRIS.
The nature of the development path, however, varies considerably from organization to
organization.
EHRM tools such as intranet, extranet, HR portals; integrated HR suite software is rarely
used, however according to expert's judgment if they are used, they would have a positive
effect on HRM output
the diffusion patterns of eight information technologies that are transforming HR service-
delivery in North America and Europe: HR functional applications, integrated HR suites,
IVR systems, HR intranets, employee and manager self-service applications, HR
extranets, and HR portals. Companies in the 21st century can be broadly said to have
adopted at least one of the above mentioned eHRM technologies.
to make strategic changes within the human resource function, HR professionals must
still deliver good HR services to their stakeholders who include employees and managers.
One of the most important fundamental principles in managing human resources is
fostering the employment relationship so that employees may feel an attachment to their
work and contribute willingly to the success of the organization.
Hence it was concluded in the study, (1) Employees prefer e commerce organization than
traditional organizations. (2) HR policies are more flexible in e commerce companies. (3)
Knowledge of latest software technologies play an important role while recruitment in e-commerce
organizations.
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3) Recruiting the ‘right’ talent has emerged as one of the top challenges which HR has to
face in their daily operations. Fierce competition, limited pool of qualified candidates and
at times inability to offer a competitive salary are some of the top recruitment constraints.
Apart from this, inadequate branding and risk associated make these enterprises less
attractive vis-a-vis more established, big organizations. However, there has been a small
perception shift- highly qualified and experienced people are now willingly taking up
senior positions in such enterprises- their profiles are exciting and offering them diverse
roles and responsibilities with a good benefits package. Despite this positive shift, HR
managers still struggle to create a strong layer of middle managers, especially in the
urban set up where competition is fierce.
BIG GROUPS
Applicants are attracted towards reputed names and want to work with BIG GROUPS so it
becomes a challenge for startups and other mid level companies. Applicants feel that in small
companies there is less job security so they go for BIG GROUPS. Reputed names are a big
attraction for candidates.
SALARY EXPECTATIONS
Applicants have very high salary expectations which becomes a challenge for the HRs. Applicants
wants a higher package which is sometimes not possible for the company to provide. It becomes
very difficult for the HRs to hire applicants which are in their financial range.
Job value: Each job is assigned a pay grade, based on the job description and
the analysis of industry pay rates for similar jobs. Additional consideration
may be given for jobs with hard to find skills and/or the job’s overall value to
achieving the goals of the department.
Individual value: The value that the individual applicant brings to the job
based on their relevant skills and experience. Less skilled and experienced
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applicants should be paid lower in the range, while more skilled and
experienced applicants would be paid higher in the range, though not always
above the mid-point or at the max.
Internal equity: A review of salaries of current employees in similar positions
will be completed to ensure internal equity.
To succeed in current scenario, organizations need to have a pool of skilled labour. Big
organizations are making concerted efforts to assess and upskill their talent by roping in expert
external vendors to assess and deliver various training programs. However, relying on external
vendors is not always feasible mainly owing to budget constraints. Therefore, they are mostly
conducting on-the-job or in-house training programs which might or might not be that effective.
So despite realizing the need to roll-out specific skill based programs, HR at times, feels
constrained to take that up.
SKILLS
It is difficult for the HRs to find candidates with appropriate skill sets. It is difficult to find
candidates with certain attributes such as –
Self Motivation
Leadership
Positive Attitude
Ownership qualities
The main issue that HRs face today is the attitude problem as candidates have a different attitude
that is required in an organization.
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Chapter – 3
Methodology
3.1 Objective
Identifying the broader HR practices and challenges in the E-commerce Industry.
Employee perception regarding recruitment, training and development of the organization.
3.2 Methods of Research
having a general interaction with managers at the organization and some research papers were
reviewed some of which have already been mentioned and finally an interview schedule for the
2. Descriptive Research: It was done by carrying out various depth-interviews with the HR
Managers and with the Line Managers. Also we also made a questionnaire and around 15
➢ Secondary Data: The main sources for the collection of secondary data for the study were
the company website, research papers. Frequently asked questions on the website were also
➢ Primary Data:
15
3.4 Literature review and Data analysis:
Finally, we did analysis of our secondary data which were the research papers and found out
some key variables that affect organization culture and make an interview schedule. analysed
our primary data collected from the interview and tried to relate them with behaviour of
employees in the organization drawing out conclusions and suggestions for the organization.
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Chapter – 4
Data Analysis and Interpretation
AMAZON:
RECRUITMENT – with Amazon, the hiring approach is slow, methodical and intense.
The background work done to acquire the right and the best fit is quite complicated and
intense. While carrying out the recruitment and selection drive the focus is not only on the
technical terms, but also on other factors such as will the person be able to fit in the culture
along with the job role? will he be Promotable?, can they handle the stress and work load
that many amazon job profile comes with?
The main recruitment process involves the job technicalities. The job description followed
by the selection process emphasizes on the basic knowledge of statistics, the machine
learning. The tasks are mostly based on descriptive analysis. The computer skills and
software language such as R, SAS, SPSS, Excel and Querying language such as Hive, Pig,
SQL play an integral role. So the main HR practice and recruitment efficiency for Amazon
depends on its efficiency in defining its job descriptions with clarity and accuracy.
SELECTION – the selection-based JR practices involve a thorough in depth testing of the
candidate’s knowledge to find the best fit.
The selection process involves 1 online coding round via hackerearth or hackerrank, 1
telephonic round. These two are optional and are held on for some specific core technical
profiles. Also 4 on-site technical interviews covering the past projects, experiences etc are
conducted.
The hiring is totally dependable on the requirements with this year amazon expanding in
india will be indulging in a lot of fresher and lateral hiring
TRAINING - Orientation program, 2 day boot camp session, courses about amazon
systems, quizzes are highly indulged in.
Employees are upgraded with advanced technological training.
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Amazon organizes 2 day Bootcamp Sessions for the SDE position of any level.
In Bootcamp, well acquainted SDE folks walk the new joiners through the Amazon internal
tools and Services available.
In terms of grasping the information in 2 Days is a big challenge. Therefore, SDEs
generally learn the working of tools while using those tools by themselves.
For career advancement and growth opportunities - Amazon gives you advantages of
both a big company and a startup. You are involved in the working of your project in every
stage from design, code and test. Your inputs to a project are properly heard and reflected
into the project.
For PFW and HR policies dealing with this - The minimum time for an employee to
complete in Amazon to be eligible for an IJP(internal job posting) is 6 months. Job rotation
and job flexibility is also emphasized on in the HR practice.
While it cannot be called a giant step, still Amazon may have taken the first step towards
managing its employees better.
Rather than using the rank and yank system, Amazon has invested in performance
improvement plans that are going to help it better manage its under-performing employees.
Rather than throwing them out, Amazon is now helping them perform with a new training
program called Pivot. However, this could be an attempt to manage it employees and its
reputation. As an employer, Amazon has been known for maintaining an environment that
favours only the best performers.
Pivot is actually a retraining program that is aimed to provide struggling employees with a
lifeline before they decide to quit. The program assigns such employees to inside
counselling and in-house career counsellors who assist them manage their jobs and career
better. This can be considered a wise step by Amazon for pressure is sometimes higher than
the customers can imagine inside the technological companies. Their task is not
straightforward and so the employees need support to manage the rest affairs. Apart from it,
18
Amazon has also focused on improving HR management by using cloud-based services to
better its HR management capabilities.
BIG BASKET:
RECRUITMENT – being an operations and marketing based organization, it has an
approach that targets millennials and tech savvy audience and hence uses social
media and internet challenges very actively.
SELECTION - Campus recruitment drive, hiring for both technical and management
professionals.
TRAINING – for this off job, on job, apprenticeship, internships, experiential,
vestibule etc.
To keep up with the dynamics od this industry the HR practice of Big Basket has a
full on hands on and aggressive approach.
It gives the employees the flexibility and freedom to design and adapt the job roles
and create the roles according to themselves.
Big Basket prides itself in solving customer problems in the most efficient and
elegant ways. Everything we do is guided by our core culture and values. Big basket
is mix of fresh young blood and experienced seasoned players. This is what makes
the combination so solid and the culture so balanced. Its a great place to work.
CHALLENGES - Since Big Basket is a new player in the market, we are aligning
our HR policies with the strategies of business.
Currently the HR policies are more focussed to expand their business in the market,
challenges related to HR or employees are not considered much.
19
Employee Perception
20
Amazon is lagging in behind in terms of being as open and diverse. In terms of gender
and ethnic diversity too Amazon is still an under-performer.
The challenges for Hr management include the high turnover rate and the desperate
need for retention of the employees. The focus has to be on keeping the employees
happy and satisfied to retain them longer.
The problem with the management styles of Amazon has been that while it is a well-
known company, it is stiff in terms of setting performance standards. This often leads
to employee disengagement. Hence this is also a challenge for the Hr department to
engage, motive and retain their employees.
BIG BASKET:
Big Basket.com is an online grocery start up organisation. Majority of these employees are
designated as warehouse employees or delivery boys who comes from outside the city, generally
from northern and eastern part of India or people from near-by villages. These employees have a
limited expectation from their job such a safe and hygienic workplace, clean drinking water and
timely salary. The average salary for these employees is Rs.11000 which makes it difficult for
them to survive and save money for their family. Hence, they switch over to rivals even for a hike
of Rs.500 to Rs.1000. Hence the attrition among this level of employees is the highest.
In order to manage the retention of these blue-collar employees, Big Basket has come up with a
free housing and accommodation facility. In that case, these employees would be saving a big
amount from their salary which they can send to their family. These housing facilities would be
near to their workplace which reduces their daily transpiration cost too leading to further avenue
for savings.
Recruitment – vague in terms of job description as the job role do not align with the job
description in a very clear, accurate manner.
The JD is not very centric to one job role. There is a play of job rotation in the
organization
The selection process is medium level relevant and accurate. The focus right now is on
hiring people from outside rather than promotions from within.
This is due to the specific technical requirements of software languages like R and
Python for marketing and operations profile of the organization.
Big basket being a comparatively new and smaller company gives more exposure.
The salary and compensation seemed to be quite satisfactory
The training of Big Basket is though actively catered to by the Hr practice of he
organization, but it is very job/ task specific and not for enhancing the soft skills or
growth opportunities of the employees.
Big basket is still going on in the phase of the new learning experience
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Chapter – 5
From the analysis of the responses of the HR managers, Line managers and the employees of the
two organizations, and information from company websites, we were able to draw certain
conclusions. Big Basket is a much newer organization as compared to Amazon, it lays a lot of
emphasis on its employees in the sense that they provide good monetary incentives, effective and
relevant training which is refreshed from time to time which is not the case in Amazon, where
although there is training provided to the employees but it not found very effective according to
the employees. In Amazon, the job profiles offered to the employees are much more precise as
compared to Big Basket, where profiles are found vague by the employees. According to the
employees, the HR functions are not so efficient when it comes to handling issues related to
employees which is not the case in Amazon.
Some of the broader HR challenges in the e-commerce industry that could be identified from the
analysis are:
Project focus: One of them problem in the e-commerce industry is that incentives for the
managers are provided on the basis of the projects, due to which, the focus of the
managers is more towards the projects rather than other managerial functions which are
very important for the overall betterment of the organization.
Technological changes: Technology plays an important part in the e-commerce industry
because of its high involvement in all the functions of the organizations. This makes it
important for the organizations to hire such people who are well aware of the changes in
the technological environment and are able to cope up with it.
Problems in designing the training programs: Because of the dynamic nature of the e-
commerce industry, one training program doesn’t fit all the functions and it is also
necessary to refresh and redesign the training program at regular intervals which again
has to be according to the changing environment, this poses lots of problems for the HR
department of these organizations.
Apart from the above, HR department also has the responsibility to deal with the attrition
rates which can be quite high especially in some functions which require high technical
skills.
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References
1. https://spiritofhr.wordpress.com/tag/bigbasket-com/
2. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.peoplematters.in/amp-talent-management-alibabas-
investment-in-bigbasket-talent-implications-17380
3. https://www.cheshnotes.com/2017/02/hr-management-at-amazon-need-for-employee-
satisfaction/
4. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/is-something-wrong-with-amazon-s-low-retention-hr-strategy
5. https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-revamps-hr-strategies-to-aid-underperforming-
employees/434526/
6. https://www.ignite.digital/ecommerce-recruitment-drastically-changed/
7. http://shodh.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/4082/1/rachna%20gaur%20s
ynopsis.pdf
8. https://www.ignite.digital/ecommerce-recruitment-drastically-changed/
9. https://spiritofhr.wordpress.com/tag/bigbasket-com/
10. https://www.cheshnotes.com/2017/02/hr-management-at-amazon-need-for-employee-
satisfaction/
11. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/is-something-wrong-with-amazon-s-low-retention-hr-strategy
12. https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-revamps-hr-strategies-to-aid-underperforming-
employees/434526/
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Appendix
Interview schedule for HR Manager
Technical Skills:
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4) On an average how many people do you hire externally every year? And
how many internally?
It entirely depends on the requirement. As Amazon is expanding in India, this year, we would hire a
lot. (Probably around 300 SDE's). I unfortunately do not have numbers to support this and this is just
an approximation.
SDE-1's are typically between 0-4 years of work experience.
I feel they might hire around 100-150 freshers and 250-300 laterals.
5) What are the various employee career advancement initiatives taken by your
organisation?
Amazon gives you advantages of both a big company and a startup. You are involved in the working
of your project in every stage from design , code and test. Your inputs to a project are properly heard
and reflected into the project.
Amazon organises 2 day Bootcamp Sessions for the SDE position of any level.
In Bootcamp, well acquainted SDE folks walk the new joiners through the Amazon internal tools and
Services available.
In terms of grasping the information in 2 Days is a big challenge. Therefore, SDEs generally learn the
working of tools while using those tools by themselves.
8) How often do you reskill or upskill the employees and on what basis do you
select the employees ?
This is done on a regular basis, employees have to upgrade themselves with the latest
technologies. It is mandatory for all employees.
9) How is the career path of an individual in your organisation planned and
what is the process for the same?
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The minimum time for you to complete in Amazon to be eligible for an IJP(internal job posting) is 6
months! If there's a requirement, we also release postings for the same position in a different
process(you also can move from a national to an international process or vice versa). One best thing,
I'd say is you can move to any role across the company, no matter if you're a CSA, just two things:
Wait for the right time(job role) and bang that post(clear the rounds). It doesn't take much time for you
to grow, coz the managers are pretty much supportive! They try their best to see you in the role that
YOU want to work for some day and also show you accurate career paths!
10) Do you think that the HR policies and practices of your organisation
are aligned with the strategies of the business? If yes, then is it stagnant or
how often do you change them?
The company has grown a lot in the past few years, and that means a lot of processes and organisational
structure is not in place to handle the growth. There are a lot of new HR processes are evolving to
handle the larger base. Because of the “many hats”, you’ll encounter people that aren’t qualified to
wear those hats. This is both a pain point and an opportunity.
11) Are there any issues which you are facing currently in the
organisation related to HR or employees?
Performance evaluations and reviews (including which metrics are chosen and how they are
measured, especially soft leadership skills which are easily falsified today)
Promotions (especially avoiding favoritism based on falsified data)
Performance improvement plans (especially PIPs based on falsified data)
Transfers (including avoiding abusers blocking transfers)
3.Do you guys have a competency framework available in your organisation for every role?
What are some important competencies that you look for in prospective candidates?
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Bigbasket thrives on out of the box thinking and relentless pursuit of excellence. Not to mention
the thrill of building products that millions use on a daily basis and using cutting edge technology
to make the products customers love.
4.On an average how many people do you hire externally every year? And how many
internally?
It totally depends upon requirements. There are not any fixed numbers, it varies as we are
expanding day by day.
5.What are the various employee career advancement initiatives taken by your organisation?
The best part about being in bigbasket to employees is that they could create a role for themselves.
They get the opportunity to do things they have never done, perform tasks they have never
performed. And the bi-product of each of these tasks is excellent learning.
6.To adapt to the dynamic environment and changing technology, what initiatives do you take
to train and develop the employees?
We provide various online training sessions as well as numerous seminars are also conducted
frequently to keep our employees equipped with latest technologies.
8.How often do you reskill or upskill the employees and on what basis do you select the
employees ?
9.How is the career path of an individual in your organisation planned and what is the process
for the same?
We pride ourselves in solving customer problems in the most efficient and elegant ways.
Everything we do is guided by our core culture and values. Bigbasket is mix of fresh young blood
and experienced seasoned players. This is what makes the combination so solid and the culture so
balanced. Its a great place to work.
10.Do you think that the HR policies and practices of your organisation are aligned with
the strategies of the business? If yes, then is it stagnant or how often do you change them?
Since Big Basket is a new player in the market, we are aligning our HR policies with the strategies
of business.
11.Are there any issues which you are facing currently in the organisation related to HR or
employees?
Currently we are more focussed to expand our business in the market, challenges related to HR or
employees are not considered much.
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(BIG BASKET)
1. How do you manage your team? How do you assign tasks to the employees?
I manage my team by indulging with them towards the project and taking regular feedbacks and
updates on what they are doing and if any problems occur then how to handle them. Tasks are
assigned according to their skills and knowledge but willingness also plays a huge role in this
decision. Every team member should be happy with the work assigned because then only they give
their 100% to the organization.
Induction is very crucial for any new employee because induction sets a base for them and they
get to know about the culture, structure and values of the company. They can get themselves
acquainted with the code of conduct of the organization.
3. How do you decide when to train the employees and how do you design the
training? Employee specific or role specific?
Well mostly I believe in on the job training methods, an employee can only learn in practical form,
that is what I believe. Employees should be trained regularly because they can lose touch with the
modules, but in the organization it happens on a quarterly or on 6 months basis. The modules are
designed according to the job profile of the employees but it also depends on the maturity level
and time in the organization.
First of all, employees will not need motivation if the work is what they like. Also the
compensation plan should have an aspect of performance based pay. Money has always been the
key motivator for an employee. Second is always recognition in the organization, so I believe in
appreciating my employees in front of my seniors for their good work. Thus the employee knows
that I will fight for him and he also gains recognition in the eyes of the seniors.
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At entry level jobs attrition is too much because the employee doesn’t feel like he belongs in the
organization. A new employee comes with some dreams to an organization and they feel betrayed
when those are not fulfilled. The employee should feel valued in the organization.
There are many systems in place for that in the organization, ratings are given to employees at the
end of every year on the basis of past year’s work and goals they achieved. Also if an employee is
going above and beyond to what he needs to do then he is also given the performance incentives.
(2)
1. I manage my team by making sure that they are involved in their work so that they are
always on their toes. Tasks are generally assigned according to the potential of the team
members and according to the area that they are supposed to handle regarding a project.
2. Induction and orientation are helpful in the way that it helps the employee to get to know
about the organization culture, ways of working, the structure, etc. It also ensures that the
newcomer is comfortable getting into a new work place.
3. Employees are trained on a continuous basis. These trainings are refreshed every 6
months or a year depending on the attrition rate of that particular function. Trainings are
provided for the particular product or services offered because if this is not done then
employees might not have complete idea regarding them. The training for new employees
is generally role specific, however, it is sometimes tweaked for the employee in terms of
duration and things like that.
4. There are incentive systems on quarterly, semi annually and annual basis for motivating
the employees. Apart from that there is a system of recognition on the spot, where a
certificate is provided for doing the work in an excellent way, this is signed by the head
of the function. And, the employees are continuously appreciating the employees in front
of the bosses and ensuring that the employee knows about it.
5. Generally at entry level jobs, employees don’t feel engaged in the organization, so it is
made sure that the employee knows that his worked is being looked upon. And to make
them comfortable they are assigned buddies who help them with their problems and help
them do their work on a daily basis.
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6. Employee are given certain KPIs and there are semi annual and annual reviews with the
supervisor and further their supervisors, the review is done keeping in mind the KPIs. So
on the basis of these reviews, feedback is given regarding the work to the employee.
(AMAZON)
How do u manage your team? How do you assign tasks to the employees?
I keep my team members continuously involved in the project that is being worked upon, also I
am open to any feedback from all my team members so that if there’s more ideas that can come
in. Tasks are mostly assigned according to the skill and knowledge of a particular employee but
the relationship between the team members also plays a role In the same.
Inductions and orientation and very helpful for the employees because it provides them with the
overall basic information about how the work is done in the company, the resources available and
whom to look to in case of a problem etc. It makes them more comfortable and helps them in the
initial phase of the job.
How do you decide when to train the employees and how do you design the training? Employee
specific or role specific?
Training is conducted when an employee is hired, these programs are generally designed in a way
that help in coping with the challenges that an employee can possible face with the kind of work
that he is required to do. Generally, training is according to the role of the employee, however, if
we feel that there is a need to provide some additional training based on the specific employee,
then that is also conducted.
There are certain components in the compensation for motivating the employees such as bonus,
increments (quarterly, annual). Apart from this, it is made sure that employees doing good work
receive recognition in the organization.
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How do u manage the problems at entry level jobs?
There are quarterly and annual business reviews where each employee is held accountable for
various parameters. There’s also organizational level reviews and the top and bottom performers
are presented to the board of managers.
(2)
1. How do you manage your team? How do you assign tasks to the employees?
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1-2 years
2-5 years
More than 5 years
1. Compensation/ salaries given in the organization in line with the e-commerce industry?
Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied
2. How are the HR practices and challenges in other industries you have worked for
different from that of the e-commerce industry?
High
Medium
Low
3. Do you think the training given is appropriate and adequate for coping up with the dynamic
nature of the e-commerce industry?
Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied
4. Did the job description align with your job task (in the past as well in the present)?
Yes
Partially Yes
No
5. Do you think the selection process was relevant to the industry requirements and job profile you
applied for?
Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied
6. Where did you get to know about the job position vacancy?
Relatives/ Family/ Friends
Employee – Reference
Internet/ Social Media
Newspaper advertisement
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Others
7. If through newspaper article, website, reference – how precise and attractive was the ad?
High
Medium
Low
9 .If PFW - how much according to you does the company stand for PFW as its policy
states? (growth and promotion opportunities)
High
Medium
Low
10. Has the HR department been able to fully address the issues that you have faced in the
organization?
Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied
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