n Guest Column : PAGE 4

Zubin Zack, O. C. Tanner India

n Interview: PAGE 6
Sanchayan Paul, Vodafone India
VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016  www.content.timesjobs.com

The new world of

Total Rewards
Changing business dynamics have reformed the
Total Rewards program with an increased focus on aligning
it with the organisation’s business strategy

Find TimesJobs.com’s career articles, expert advice and tips @www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Jobs & Career section
 2

TimesJobs.com Study

Changing spectrum of
Total Rewards strategy
Organisations invest huge amount of money and resources on Total Rewards programs.
How does India Inc. implement this concept? TimesJobs study finds out interesting pointers
on how Indian firms view the concept, make it work on ground and perceive its future

N
Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com What are the key benefits of Which element is most
EARLY 43 per cent of the
surveyed organisations Total Rewards strategy? critical to building and
have a well-built Total executing a successful Total
Rewards strategy and for
Rewards strategy?
about 23 per cent it is in
the planning stage.
40%
Total Rewards, by definition, encompass 10%
not only compensation and benefits
but also the personal and professional 30% 15%
growth opportunities and a motivating
work environment. A Total Rewards
approach helps both employer and
employee to look beyond monetary
rewards and strategically evaluate the
20% 25%
value of non-monetary rewards.
A well-executed Total Rewards
10%
strategy helps in increasing employee
productivity and enhancing business
output.
Retaining high performers 50%
Engaging employees

Benefits and Attracting talent

opportunities Increasing business output

Retaining employees has been stated as Implementing the Alignment with business objectives

the key benefit of Total Rewards strategy
by nearly 40 per cent of the surveyed
organisations. Since Total Rewards caters
to all the essential requirements of an
employee, it is claimed to be a powerful
employee retention tool.
Another 30 per cent felt that it helps
in engaging employees, about 20 per
cent said it helps in attracting potential
talent and rest 10 per cent cited that
the biggest advantage of Total Rewards
is that it helps in increasing business
output.
program
For nearly 50 per cent organisations the
most important aspect while executing
Total Rewards strategy is aligning it with
business objectives.
Another 25 per cent feel that effective
communication at various stages of
implementing the program are crucial to
its success.
However, the critical issue here is that
most organisations don’t understand
Effective communication
Inputs from employees/HR
/business leaders
Understand generational or other
demographic differences
that communication is a two-way process
and often neglect the importance of
listening to the employee voice.
This is one of the key reasons which
results in failure of the Total Rewards
program.

VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016

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The loopholes
Nearly 40 per cent organisations stated
lack of awareness/communication about
Total Rewards as the biggest barrier in
effective implementation of the program,
followed by lack of support from leaders.
Total Rewards need effective
management to suit business goal and
employee needs and thus leadership
support is imperative for the success of
the program.
Nearly 25 per cent of the survey
respondents also felt that budget
constraints possess a big challenge in
execution of the Total Rewards strategy.
What is the key barrier to
effective implementation of
Total Rewards strategy?
10%
25%
25%
40%
Lack of awareness
Lack of support from leaders
Budget constraints
Cultural barriers
Total Rewards priority
2016-17
For nearly 45 per cent organisations
employee engagement and retention
will be the biggest Total Rewards priority
in 2016-17, followed by aligning the
Total Rewards program with the overall
business strategy.
About 30 per cent organisations are
looking at improving the Total Rewards
alignment with business strategies
and 15 per cent wants to improve
its suitability for the increasing set
of diverse workers. In fact, another
TimesJobs study revealed that nearly
87 per cent employees prefer a
customised compensation structure
3
What is your Total Rewards
EXPERT
priority for 2016?
SPEAK
% 45
Improve employee
engagement and retention
An effective Total Rewards strategy
creates a competitive advantage
for the organisation. A successful
Improve alignment
30% with business rewards strategy has to justify
return on investment (ROI). The
strategies
money spent should get maximum
returns in terms of relevance to the
Improve suitability for
diverse workforce 15% different priorities of employees,
organisation level, or regions. The
10% measure of success has to focus
on contribution of each aspect
Improve talent attraction
of rewards on business outcome,
rather than launch of variety of
and organisations need to take that
programs to create a feel-good
into account while designing the Total
factor for program administrators.
Rewards and benefits package.
The success of the strategy is
The study further revealed that Baby heavily dependent on a robust and
Boomers, owing to their proximity to consistent communications plan.
retirement, give more importance to
post- retirement benefits after the Vipin Arora,
Compensation Director,
in-hand salary in their compensation
and benefits package. Gen X, on the Asia-Pacific, Honeywell International
India Pvt Ltd
other hand, prefers other benefits such
as flexible work arrangements and more
work-life balance.
This generation is typically at a stage
where they are supporting either
ageing parents or growing children, or For us changing workforce
demographics and evolving
both. Finally, Gen Y gives almost equal
preference to retirement, medical and employee lifestyle, means
other benefits. All these influencers need shaping a diverse, future
to be factored in while designing a Total fit workforce through Total
Rewards strategy. Rewards. Our approach ensures
Conclusion
external customer focus, internal
segmentation and differentiated
The survey results suggest there is
rewards. We have built a benefits
portfolio that delivers employee
an increased focus on Total Rewards
care, helps build an inclusive work
program now. There have been
environment while ensuring the
considerable changes in the Total
right return on investment. We are
Rewards landscape and it is evolving
committed to offering holistic Total
continuously. India Inc. requires a holistic
Rewards by giving more ‘power’
approach for effective and efficient
in the hands of the employees
implementation of the program. The
through a bouquet of flexible work
results also point out some critical
arrangements, called ‘V-Flex’.
areas where the organisations need to
improve their efforts. The primary one Sanchayan Paul,
among them is, creating an effective Head of Performance, Rewards &
two-way communication channel with Recognition, Vodafone India Ltd.
the employees who are the ultimate
beneficiaries of a company’s Total
Rewards program.
VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016
www.content.timesjobs.com

Guest column: Total Rewards program
The new differentiators in
Total Rewards program
T
Zubin Zack
OTAL Rewards are
understood globally as a
holistic program to nurture
employees. Everything
from the organisation that
can benefit an employee; comes under
the purview of Total Rewards including
salary, emoluments, training, recognition,
leaves etc. While employees are attracted
to employers because of competitive
salaries, profits and employer branding, it
is the Total Rewards program (comprising
of talent management, recognition &
company culture) that are now being
used to attract and retain talent.
Delving further, the Total Rewards
strategies are a set of recognitions that
allow a company to recognise, praise and
commend hardworking employees with
the aim of sustaining a motivated and
engaged workforce.
Total Rewards come in all shapes and
sizes. Through these methods, employers
hope to align personal and professional
goals of their employees with those of
the business while ensuring employees’
overall job satisfaction. Companies who
offer such rewards often attract talented,
hardworking individuals.
Today, finding dedicated individuals
is a relentless struggle for companies.
Employers are faced with an initial
challenge of attracting such individuals
and later to keep them satisfied with
their role and loyal to the company. In
recent studies, employees have exhibited
a preference for organisations that invest
in developing employee skills while
offering opportunities for learning and
growth. They are drawn to employers
who wish to nurture their existent
abilities and add value to their life skills.
Apart from employee retention, Total
Rewards also impact talent management,
which takes a holistic approach to
hiring, training and retaining employees.
Implementing Total Rewards schemes
through talent management allows a
4
“IN TODAY’S CUT-
THROAT COMPETITION,
TOTAL REWARDS ARE AN
EMPLOYEE PROGRAM
THAT NO ORGANISATION
CAN AFFORD TO MISS ON”
company to adequately reward talented
employees. This means that talented
individuals are praised when it is due and
they become aware of their significance
in the company. This motivates the
individual, which on a broader scale
can lead to individual’s increased
productivity and also contribute to the
business results.
Furthermore, the Total Rewards programs
often encourages other employees to
emulate the hardworking individuals.
Recognising and showing appreciation
to a dedicated individual sets a standard
for the peers. To ensure a greater reach
of Total Rewards program, the leadership
also needs to be involved in its strategy.
This is the second new differentiator of
the Total Rewards program. By including
employee bonding sessions - say annual
events, world-class awards, rewards and
appreciation strategies - an organisation
can inspire more employees to achieve
greater success.
Today businesses are seeking out greater
resourses to ensure that their employees
stay happier and feel looked after.
With diversified HR policies - including
customised work timelines, work from
home, flexi hours etc - employers are
making the workplace experience more
holistic. From Fortune 500 companies
to innovative startups, managements
have been increasingly utilising HR
2.0 measures to increase engagement
among employees and build a
ubiquitous brand. These engagement
activities, benefits, communication
strategies etc. along with leadership
actions go a long way in projecting
a positive company culture where
employees love to come to work.
Saying that, employing a robust Total
Rewards program comes with its set of
challenges as well. The management
needs to skillfully access the need,
relevance, worth and focus of such a
program to have the desired effect.
A deftly managed and well thought
out Total Rewards program offers the
organisation a chance to woo star
employees and also keep a tab on the
business’ health.
In conclusion, it is safe to allude that
the Total Rewards program is a method
to align business focus to employee
master plan and achieve superior results
that better the business aim. The Total
Rewards program also ensures that the
employees respect their responsibilities
and help build up an enviable brand that
the stakeholders are
proud of.
The author is Director
& Chief Recognition
Strategist,
O. C. Tanner India
VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016
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War of Talent 2.0 HR Meet 2016, Chennai
How to win the war for talent 2.0
Experts call out for improved industry-academia relationship for talent to
meet the expectations of the organisations
T
TimesJobs.com Bureau
HE war for talent in the
country has entered
another phase and the
winning formula will require
organisations to proactively
help institutions to produce employable
candidates, said experts at a TimesJobs.
com conclave in Chennai recently.
‘War for Talent 2.0: HR Meet 2016’ held in
association with Jaya Educational Trust
saw the participation of HR leaders and
experts from academia. The experts also
answered audience questions.
Here are excerpts from this discussion:
n David Raj, EVP & Chief HR Officer, CSS
Corp: “Today, IT and ITeS companies are
moving from headcount and project-
based models to outcome-based models.
So, you need talent who can produce
a solution. We (organisations) need to
create solution-oriented talent. There is
a myth that we need to produce digital-
oriented talent. That is not the case. We
need a strategy to manage the digital
age population.”
n Saravanaprasad Balasubramanian,
AVP- Talent Acquisition & Global
Mobilisation, Quadrant 4: “The major issue
5
is that educational institutions are failing
to understand the gap. They look at you
(companies) only from the placement
angle. But slowly, they are not realising
that if you don’t train the talent, they will
go down the drain.”
EXPERTS UNANIMOUSLY
AGREED THAT REAL LIFE
WORK EXPOSURE IS MUST
FOR STUDENTS DURING
THEIR TRAININGS BEFORE
THEY STEP OUT TO LOOK
FOR JOBS
n Prof A Kanagaraj, Chairman, Jaya
Educational Trust: “Real talent will
come when students at engineering
colleges work while they learn instead
of spending time only in lectures.
They should not make students work
after they learn. We should introduce
practical-oriented student training.”
n Dhanabalan RK, Vice President-
Human Resources, Maveric Systems: “The
industry expects institutes to churn out
candidates they need but they too have
to work much more closely and put in
lot more efforts within campuses in case
they want to see talent that will meet
their needs. Corporates have to put a
stake on the ground and create much
stronger inroads into campuses.”
n Dr Murali Padmanabhan, SVP
and India Head-Talent Management,
VirtusaPolaris: “There will always be
competition for talent, even if the supply
is in excess or supply is short. Since
India is an aspirational economy, there
is a mad scramble for jobs. Children are
forced to pick science, engineering or
medicine irrespective of what the child
really enjoys. Parents have to let their
child work in areas they enjoy.”
n Shekar Arora, Ombudsman, Ashok
Leyland and ED-HR & Strategy, Hinduja
Foundries: “If any company says it is
struggling to retain talent, it has already
lost the war for talent. You cannot retain
the talent by paying more money.
The war for talent has to be fought
internally. You have to enable, engage
and empower talent. But this war is good
for the organisation and for talent. It is
always the threatened immune system
which fights the threat and emerges
stronger than before.”
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Interview: Sanchayan Paul
Head of Performance, Rewards & Recognition, Vodafone India
‘Forward thinking organisations
articulate Total Rewards as coherent deal’
How are Total Rewards impacting
the hiring and talent management
landscape in organisations?
The concepts of ‘work’ and ‘reward’ have
changed significantly over the last two
decades. Today’s workforce is more
diverse, not just from a demographics
perspective, but also by behavioural and
psychographic segmentation. Now talent
moves or stays, not for higher ‘Rewards’
alone. The Employer Value Proposition
(EVP) or the complete employer-
employee ‘deal’ is under discussion
and negotiation. Organisations have
to perform a tricky balancing act to
attract, retain and engage employees.
Career advancement opportunities, trust
and confidence in senior leadership,
professional development opportunities,
work-related stress, challenging work,
relationship with supervisor etc. are all
being viewed as ‘Total Rewards’.
What are the trends, opportunities
and challenges in the Total Rewards
sphere?
A number of broad Total Rewards
trends are emerging now which aim to
address shifting business and workforce
dynamics. The future will be about
treating employees as consumers and
delivering tangible employee experience.
It is about getting lean i.e. delivering
more with less.
It shall no more be about rewarding
a little bit to everyone, but more
differentiated pay for performance and
pay for critical skills.
Business, HR & Rewards teams will have
to take note of social media trends and
pick signals while separating the noise.
The focus shall be on making the most
of communication and technology to
share with employees about the overall
‘deal’ or EVP, letting them know what
they earn and explaining how they can
maximise their earnings and build wealth
for themselves.
6
“OUR SOCIAL AND TALENT
MANAGERS REGULARLY
PROMOTE EXCHANGE
OF IDEAS BETWEEN
MEMBERS IN THE TALENT
COMMUNITY”
How do you align Total Rewards
Strategy to Talent Strategy?
Forward thinking organisations see
value in defining and articulating Total
Rewards as a coherent deal. They keep
Total Rewards relevant by segmenting
and aligning them with organisational
and employee needs. Organisations like
us are making efforts to understand the
requirements and level of contribution /
performance required from employees.
Total Rewards strategy addresses our
Talent Strategy in the following areas:
n New / emerging talent segments
n Critical skills /pivotal roles
n Talent / skills attraction / retention
n High potentials & performers
What are the do’s and don’ts of
creating successful Total Rewards
strategy?
A successful Total Rewards strategy flows
from business context and is linked to
other processes like performance & po-
tential assessments, talent management
and organisation effectiveness. You must
have a broad understanding of different
employee segments and their needs.
Then, try to personalise and simplify it.
Is there a gap between how employees
see Total Rewards v/s what the
company offers?
The best organisations are quickly
closing the gap. Employees would
need to be seen as consumers. Yet,
there will always be a gap as consumer
expectations are a moving target and
your organisational response will go
through a filter of business realities,
statutory regulations and budgets.
Please share your best practices.
At Vodafone, we are continuously
strengthening organisational vitality.
Performance dialogue is a continuous
affair between the line manager and
the employee, thus enabling high
performance on a bed-rock of Total
Rewards processes.
For us, changing employee
demographics and evolving lifestyle
means shaping a diverse, future fit
workforce through Total Rewards. Our
approach ensures external customer
focus, internal segmentation and
differentiated rewards. We have built a
benefits portfolio that delivers employee
care, helps build an inclusive work
environment while ensuring the right
return on investment. We are committed
to offer holistic Total Rewards by
empowering employees through flexible
work arrangements called ‘V-Flex’.
‘V-Flex’ options are crafted to support
employees through the key junctures
in their lives e.g. need to invest in self,
taking care of children, their education,
illness in family, etc. and thus empower
them both personally and professionally.
(As told to Neha Singh Verma)
VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016
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8th Mega HR Conclave 2016, New Delhi
‘HR processes must change with
evolving business scenarios’
T
TimesJobs.com Bureau
HE Delhi Management
Association (DMA) and Indus
Business Academy (IBA)
organised the 8th Mega HR
Conclave on June 9, 2016 at
The Royal Plaza, New Delhi. The theme of
this one day conclave was ‘Transforming
HR: Preparing for Tomorrow’. TimesJobs
facilitated the event as the online
knowledge partner.
The conclave began with the lighting
of ceremonial lamp followed by the
welcome address and conclave overview
by Dr Veena Swarup, Director – HR,
Engineers India Limited & Conclave
Director-8th Mega HR Conclave.
This event was graced by esteemed
speakers from the HR fraternity including
HR veterans and heads from corporate
houses such as TATA Communications,
Fortis Healthcare Limited, HR Anexi Pvt.
Ltd., JK Organisation, Deloitte Consulting,
Central Warehousing Corporation,
Mckinsey & Company, LANCO Infratech
Limited, Anand Automotives Ltd.,
Innodata, IBM Global Services, SAP, HCL
Technologies and PeopleStrong etc.
The conclave was covered in four
sessions. First session was the inaugural
one where in the keynote address was
delivered by Mr Subodh Bharagava,
Chairman, TATA Communications. He
7
shared about the transforming function
of HR, social and community choices
made by the organisations, emergence
of networks, leadership at all levels. He
also emphasised on the importance of
communication within an organisation.
Guest of Honour Mr Bhavdeep
Singh, CEO, Fortis Healthcare Limited
emphasised that it is an age of
partnership, where it is important
for the HR to be a partner with the
business segment. He talked about the
implications of technological shift and
requirement of open office environment.
He also shared the innovations that have
been done at Fortis - such as having a
Doctor as HR Head-Recruitment.
The chief guest, Dr Subhash Chandra
Khuntia, Secretary, MHRD, Govt. of
India shared his experiences and the
importance of HR in the workplace. He
outlined ‘keeping people motivated’
as one of the biggest challenges in the
organisations.
Second session was about ‘New Trends
in Organisational Culture’. It was
moderated by Mr Suvojoy Sengupta,
Partner, Mckinsey & Company. The
panelists included Mr Ashish Arora,
Founder & Managing Director, HR Anexi,
Mr JS Kaushal, Director-Personnel,
Central Warehousing Corporation, Mr
A Thiru, President-HR, JK Organisation
(EZ), Ms Sonali Dua, Global Clients
Relationship Leader, Deloitte Consulting.
The pointers of this session were –
global human capital trends for 2016,
values based leadership, employee on-
boarding, crony socialism, use of social
media in employer branding, shared
functions and adaptable organisations.
Third session was focussed on ‘Building
Capability: Challenges & Solutions’. It
was chaired by Mr Deepak Bharara ,
CHRO, Lanco Infratech Limited. Other
distinguished speakers were Ms Pooja
Malik, Vice President - HR, Anand
Automotives Limited, Ms Nasreen Khan,
Director, Catalysts India & Mr Ajay Bhatia,
Vice President – HR, Innodata.
This session discussed on building the
apt competencies and the panelists were
of the view that asking simple questions
of what, why and how gives relevant
answers. They added that it is important
to assign responsibility for taking actions
on the decided strategies and action
plans. The highlight of the discussion
was when panelists shared some real
life experiences on capacity building
mechanisms.
The event concluded with the final
session on ‘HR Analytics & Big Data’. Mr
Prasheel Pardhe, Corp. Group HR COE-
Talent, HCL Technologies Ltd. moderated
the session. Other panelists included
Mr Deepak Malhotra, Talent & Change
Service Area Leader, IBM, Mr Prakash
Rao, Vice President & Head, mpHRO,
PeopleStrong HR Services, Ms Suparna
Pal, Director Technology Integration,
Deloitte Consulting, Ms Anila Nair,
Sr HCM Presales Specialist, Solution
Architecture & Advisor SAP Success
Factors.
The last session discussed one of the
emerging areas in HR - the HR Analytics.
The panelists touched upon the basics
of Human Capital Analytics and that
the environment was now conducive
for it. They detailed on the Descriptive,
Prescriptive and Predictive Analytics in
HR domain. This session saw multiple
queries from the audience.
VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 7 I JULY 2016
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 8

TESTIMONIALS
The latest edition of Code Gladiators
broke all its existing records. Here is a
glimpse of what the sponsors had to say
about the event.

We believe, unless we are on
platforms such as TechGig
we won’t have access to the
right kind of talent. We can go
to job boards and work with
social media sites, but I don’t
think you get access to the best
coders unless you participate
in these events. From a talent
acquisition perspective, I think
it’s important to participate in
these contests if you want to
reach out and attract the best of
the talent.
Rajeev Menon,
Director HR of Cognizant
TechGig Code Gladiators
is a fantastic initiative to
inculcate the spirit of healthy
competition among all the
programmers we have across
the country. Competitions such
as this build enthusiasm and
zeal, and it is a matter of huge
pride to be able to compete at
a national level. Talent exists
in pockets but it is hidden –
getting that talent to the surface
is just tremendous. TechGig,
through Code Gladiators,
has given our associates an
opportunity to don their best
coding hats and compete with
the best in the nation.
Partha Ghosh,
AVP of Sears India
The magnitude of this event is huge. India
has a large number of developers, but
being able to get them together, making
them excited, keeping them engaged and
finally picking the cream from that is
amazing”.
Anthony Thomas, CIO GGO of GE Digital
Code Gladiators is a unique contest in
the coding world. The fact that the event
entered into Limcabook of records for
being India’s largest coding contest,
makes it a most desirable contest for tech
community. It is definitely a great platform
for networking with industry peers too.
Swaminathan T V,
Executive Regional CIO, South Asia, GE Digital
It’s amazing to see the buzz around TGCG.
Seeing these coders sitting together
and coding is an amazing scenario. For
a technical company like Here it is an
extremely important that we have the
brightest minds with us to crack problems,
and the platform TG is the ideal platform
we have to attract those top talents of the
country. There is no lack of talent, but the
problem is how do we reach out to those
talent pools – TG gives us that platform.
We are able to directly interact with these
top coders and attract these top talents.
TG helps out reach out to the technical
minds, it will be a win win situation for a
company like us and those talents who are
looking for a company like us.
Subhendu Roy,
Engineering Manager, Here Maps
Code Gladiators is undoubtedly
an excellent platform designed to
test and showcase the tech skills
of India’s talent - We have been
particularly impressed with how
this event has scaled – in terms of
participants, submissions, languages,
themes, geographic spread and
diversity. Based on our great
experience last year, we decided to
sponsor Code Gladiators 2016 and
so I expect this relationship to get
both deeper and wider in the future
as we expect continuous innovation
on this platform.”
Anil Apte, Director, IRIS Software
Two words come to mind –we are
proud and inspired by TGCG -I am
super proud to see the kind of talent
that exists among the developer
community in India today, and super
inspired by the idea these youngsters
have about building apps on top of
real world services, that can help
others. TechGig was able to reach out
to thousands of programmers and
get them exposed to our location
based technologies. We were inspired
to see them using MapmyIndiaAPIs
to build apps for Smarter Cities,
Improving Knowldege, and Making
life fun.
Rohan Verma,
Executive Director, MapmyIndia

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