Chapter – 5

Human Resource Department / Personal Department

ESSAR STEEL

5.1 Recruitment & Selection Process

 Recruitment Process

Essar Group conducts on campus and off campus recruitment drives through a series of
selection steps like written exam, GD and interview. Aspirants can enter into each step
only after qualifying the previous one. Thorough preparation is required to clear each of
these selection rounds as the competition level is very high.

 Selection Process

The three main steps included in the selection process of Essar Group are

1. Written Test
2. Group Discussion
3. Personal interview

1. Written Test
Written test is carried out through online method. There will be a total of 120 questions
which have to be answered with in 2 hours. The test will have questions from following
areas:

Quantitative Aptitude

Reasoning

English Language

Technical

2. Group Discussion

In this section a specific topic is given to a group of aspirants.  This group may contain
candidates who have cleared the first section. They will be provided with an industry
relevant topic and the candidates can share their ideas relevant to the topic. In this
section, the communication skill, personality, etc are evaluated.

3. Personal Interview

There will be two sections for Personal Interview

Technical Section

HR Section

In the technical section, the candidate is asked questions related to the topics they studied
in the qualifying degree. In the HR section the candidate can expect questions related to
the family background and other personal details related to the individual.

 Preparation Methods
In the online written exam there will be four main sections and the candidate should have
minimum cut off marks in each section to qualify. Practicing previous questions and
model question papers will help to face the exam with more confidence and it could also
help in sharpening the time management skills. Referring books on QA like Quantitative
Aptitude by R.S Agarwal will be much helpful for the purpose. Reasoning skills can also
be improved by referring books and through regular practice.

In English language section, the grammatical skills and vocabulary of the candidate is
tested. Knowledge in this area can be improved by reading newspapers and other related
journals.

Reading newspapers is the most effective method to get updated with the changing trends
of industry. Communication skills must be improved for better exchange of ideas with
others.

The candidate should face the interview panel with confidence and with out nervousness.
Preparation must be made to answer both technical as well as person related questions.
Answers should be precise and appropriate to the question.

5.2 Number of Employees

The company has more than 7000 employees currently working at various department.

5.3 Training Methodology / Approach

Essar has a very serious commitment to continuous training and development. Our world-
class Essar Learning Centre provides year-round training. We provide numerous
resources for self-assessment and development. Thus, a career with the Essar group offers
a unique opportunity to unlock your own potential and realize excellence .Continuous
opportunities for development and growth - that’s the firm commitment that Essar makes
to every single employee.

The Essar group is one of India’s largest spenders on continuous training, investing about
Rs. 1.4 crore (US$ 3 m) annually. Essar Learning Centre (ELC) at Hazira, Gujarat has
emerged as one of India’s foremost training facilities, training 2,000-odd people a year
through 7,000 man days of training. Being a dedicated facility, the ELC allows us to
design tailormade and flexible programmes, so that training at Essar is always relevant
and customized both to business needs and the needs of the individual. Our programmes
cover a wide range of technical, functional and behavioral training, from materials
management toe-commerce procurement to transformational leadership and
communication and negotiation skills. Our faculty includes the best of experts and
practicing managers. Since we believe in imparting managerial & behavioral training, we
also include a number of non-business modules like corporate etiquette or parenting
skills. The ELC also has extensive resources for self-development such as a business
library of books and audiovisual material. Thus, we support and encourage all Essar
employees to develop them to the fullest.

5.4 Employee Safety Mechanisms

Essar Steel, Hazira believes in Building a Sustainable Safety Culture through Process
Safety Management (PSM). Their journey started in December 2010 with a baseline
external audit performed by a third party, which was reconducted in September 2012,
November 2014, February 2015, March 2017 and February 2018.

Process Safety Management initiatives

After completing a series of initiatives relating to process safety including setting up an

online PSM portal, an online MOC (Management of Change) system, launching
company-wide PSM campaigns, screening of PSM films, and a mandatory 15-day on the
job safety training for both contractors and employees, process related incidents were
brought down to zero.

International Process Safety Workshop

An International Process Safety Workshop was organised at Essar Steel’s Hazira facility
on 29 and 30 November 2017 in collaboration with worldsteel and the Indian Steel
Association. More than 57 steel industry professionals from nine countries participated
and an action plan was drawn up for horizontal deployment across the steel industry to
prevent catastrophes, such as fire, explosion and gas releases.

5.5 Specific HR Policies

At the Essar Group, we believe that excellent individuals build excellent companies. And
by transforming each employee into a highly motivated, satisfied and productive team
member, we will create an outstanding organization. We also understand that each
individual has unique talents and expectations from the organization. Based on those
principles, human resources development at Essar is customized, flexible and well
planned.

Every Essar employee is meticulously selected and given the freedom to be innovative,
within a work culture that is non-bureaucratic and result-oriented. We work with
employees to develop personalized and flexible individual plans for career growth,
retention and compensation within a carefully structured work framework. Through
extensive career mapping, we offer a choice of career paths that could include job
rotations across functions and Group Companies. Essar's wide range of businesses and
exciting pace of growth presents a range of opportunities and exposure that only a few
others can match. The Group has a very serious commitment to continuous training and
development. Our Essar Learning Centre provides year-round training. Thus, a career
with Essar will offer you a unique opportunity to unlock your own potential and realize
excellence.

5.6 Performance Appraisal Process

Performance management system is the foundation of performance excellence in

organization and therefore it should be simple, straightforward, intuitive, aligned with
organizational goals and have flavors of organization values. The process must deal with
organization’s strategy, policy, and practices and establish performance expectations for
its employees. Such a system cannot be overly complicated, frustrating and should not be
viewed as a bureaucratic process forced by HR which adds little or no value to the
business. The size, scope, and complexity of organizations today can introduce
inaccuracies, biases into the performance management process. The design of the tool,
not accounting for the human nature, creates a high potential for inaccuracy. Lastly, the
process should be adapted to suit the needs and culture of your organization, not the other
way round.

5.7 Wages & Salary Administration

This is the report about that, how much Essar Steel employees get their salary by
their job position in the company.

Details are as follows :

 Job Title Salary per Head (Estimated *)
Accounting Manager Rs. 227k – Rs. 2m / yearly
Transportation Manager Rs. 427k – Rs.1m / yearly
Maintenance Manager Rs. 286k – Rs. 1m / yearly
Software Developer Rs. 176k – Rs. 920k / yearly
Sr. Operations Manager Rs. 622k – Rs. 2m / yearly
Sales Officer Rs. 312k – Rs. 807k / yearly
Sales Manager Rs. 328k – Rs. 1m / yearly
Quality Control Inspector Rs. 132k – Rs. 355k / yearly
Production Supervisor Rs. 118k – Rs. 504k / yearly
Production Manager Rs. 353k – Rs. 2m / yearly
Production Engineer Rs. 320k – Rs. 769k / yearly
Plant Maintenance Manager Rs. 248k – Rs. 845k / yearly
Vice President (VP) / Human Resources
Rs.2m – Rs. 5m / yearly
(HR)
Medical Officer Rs. 326k – Rs. 1m / yearly
Business Manager Rs. 628k – Rs. 2m / yearly
Assistant Marketing Manager Rs. 361k – Rs. 951k / yearly
Assistant General Manager (AGM) Rs. 1m – Rs. 3m / yearly

5.8 Grievance Handling Procedure

There are two Channels through which a Whistleblower can report an inappropriate
conduct/behavior :

1. Sending an e-mail to the authority

2. Posting a letter to Essar Steel Authority
The CIA receives the complaint and decides whether the complaint qualifies for further
investigation under the ESSAR STEEL Whistleblower Policy. If the CIA decides that the
complaint qualifies for investigation under the Whistleblower Policy, it selects the
members of the Investigation Team. The CIA may at its discretion appoint an external
agency to carry out the investigation.

The Investigation Team submits the Investigation Report to the CIA clearly indicating
their findings. If the CIA is satisfied with the findings of the Investigation Team, it takes
a decision based on whether the defendant(s) have been found guilty or not guilty and
accordingly in appropriate cases will recommend to the Audit Committee imposition of
penalties.

If the defendant(s) has been found not guilty, they are given a letter of exoneration from
charges leveled against them by the Whistleblower.

CIA informs the Whistleblower about the final outcome of the investigation, as well as
the action taken.

5.9 Strategic HRM

Human resource plays an expanded role under the strategic human resource approach. No
longer is human resource strategy a simply personnel management strategy with
operative employees driven by the overall corporate strategy.

The organisation implemented the following HR strategies :

1. Right Sizing Human Resources :

Manpower audit based on competence mapping in turn making the organisation right
sized.

2. Developing a Learning Culture through Continuous Learning :

People were exposed to latest technology and management technique through workshops,
discussions and technical session in each department.

3. Web based customer relationship management :

The organisation linked its manufacturing unit with each vital customer through net.

4. Introduction of open house :

The new techniques like ‘Open House’ system for employees to ventilate their problems
in a forum wherein present were superiors including the directors were introduced.

5. Organisation of executive leadership camp to develop corporate pride among the

employees :

The young executives in an organisation were taken into a hill station wherein they were
exposed to yoga, meditation and latest management techniques of team working etc., for
ten days.

6. Introduction of Willy Korf Innovation Award Scheme :

This scheme was to encourage the employees to generate new ideas in improving the
workplace productivity. In this process, employees were lending a contributory hand
towards management.

7. Regular training with a target of seven Mondays per employee :

It was made compulsory for each employee to undergo training at least for 7 days in a
year on different topics identified through training needs analysis.

8. Training programmes on areas of concern :

The major areas of concern were identified through—interaction with technical heads of
department and the training is imparted.

9. Special Programme :

Four-point programme to enhance shareholders’ value through capacity enhancement,

contribution enhancement, reduction in financial cost, enhancing the value of intangibles
were adopted as strategic steps toward achieving business performance.

5.10 Employee Feedback Mechanism

Feedback mechanism can help employees and the organization constantly get better at
what they do. Employee feedback is an integral part of the employee experience process
and a mechanism that will increasingly help employees get better at their job and for the
organization to develop a better workplace culture.

Continuous feedback is a process where an employee receives feedback on a timely basis.

Imagine an organization where employees are willing to get a feedback but managers are
not willing to spend any time to give the needed feedback. No points for guessing, the
lowered levels of employee motivation that it would bring.