Date:20/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/20/stories/2005032001640200.htm

Back `Succession, pay issues bother Indian corporates'

Anna Peter

Mumbai , March 19

IN the current corporate scenario, many Indian companies find matters such as succession to top jobs and deciding their `values' troubling issues.

According to Mr Arvind Pandit, Country Manager, HayDirect, some of the trends noticed in India were that employers did not know what to pay employees and sought advice in matters regarding salaries, compensation and industry-wide data on the same.

Companies were unclear about the `worth' of each job in an organisation.

Another issue is `managing talent'. Companies found issues such as succession to top jobs and developing talent for key jobs difficult to evaluate. Mr Pandit said: "Knowing where you are and what you want and how to reach your goal requires ongoing intervention and coaching."

The Hay Group, a global human resources management and consultancy firm, helps corporates evaluate jobs, ensure a certain standardisation of jobs within an organisation, and offers benchmarking services in terms of compensation.

Mr Pandit added that the growing trend of mergers and acquisitions in the Indian petroleum and manufacturing sectors would translate into more opportunities for his firm.

Worldwide, the Hay Group plans to double the size of its company in the next three years by entering relatively new markets such as India, China and Russia.

It provides advice on all aspects of a company's development.

For instance, in the 1990s, IBM asked Hay to help the company turn around. Mr William H. Tredwell, Managing Director, Hay Resources Direct, said: "While some experts said the company, which had diverse functions, should be divided into little bits, we decided that here was a team of people that needed to fit better." So the company worked with the top 250 executives, or leaders, to determine factors such as emotional intelligence, how to develop further leadership capacities and create an environment that would be conducive to such growth.

From a mainly hardware manufacturer, IBM has now transformed itself into a services firm.

More than 10 years on IBM continued to be a client and, according to Mr Tredwell, "Our success can be measured by the longevity of our relationships".

Mr Pandit added that the company had rated high in terms of brand recall among Indian businesses. For Mr Tredwell, India offered "limitless potential".

The company is now unveiling diagnostic instruments and solutions and online products for the Indian market. It is also providing accreditation services that will help companies train people within their ranks to design products and create intervention programmes.

Hay has clients such as IBM, Caterpillar and Novartis, who have used these surveys to guide and drive their initiatives to enhance leadership development.