Anonymous
13

Yes, there are companies that come to a mutual understanding and sign an anti-poaching agreement. However, from my experience, I have seen that one of the companies ends up breaking this rule by persuading an employee to resign and keeping them at home for a few months, while paying their salary, before they join the competitor. This behavior often stems from desperation.

We need to accept this reality.

I appreciate Reliance Industries for their approach. They consistently build Bench Strength. They were pioneers in India in exploring gas and converting it into Polymers. At that time, the required skills were not available in India, so they brought in expats. Simultaneously, they also focused on creating a bench strength by training engineers. Over time, they developed some of the best Polymer specialists globally. However, inevitably, these specialists were poached in the Middle East. Many Indian companies, including Videocon, ventured into gas exploration in other countries, notably in Africa and the Middle East. These Indian companies preferred working with Indians, and employees from Reliance were their top choice. Reliance was not concerned about poaching as they had a robust bench strength policy. Their engineer trainee scheme became renowned worldwide.

Poaching no longer concerns them. In fact, my company aggressively poaches from Reliance. However, this does not affect Reliance due to their strong bench strength policy. They even anticipate turnover.

This is how resilient institutions are built.

From United+States, San+Francisco
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Dear Mr. Snisonko,

Firstly my humble appreciation and acknowledgement to you Sir, a senior pro Snisonko whose views, not only me, but every reading member of CITEHR will fully endorse. The views expressed by him are to be etched in our minds as I can see his anguish of things drifting, and the virtual plea to do whatever we can to restore pride in the profession and to salvage lost ground.

I too have about 40 years or working experience of which nearly 25 of it has been in IT. I have seen changes in every aspect - technology to people. It was a "challenge" to understand what the technology people were speaking as most of it would seem "Greek and Latin."

I have been consciously keeping pace with the changes and have ensured that I keep my mind free and open to learning. That has helped me upgrade myself, at least of the technology movement front. I must admit that I have had the good fortune of working for companies where things were happening on all aspects - business, technology, people, branding and growth. HR which owes its birth to IR was getting more and more scientific and analytical - thanks to the technology influx.

While this was good, it sort of began to remove the human element slowly. The speed of technology development increased with the appearance of "internet" (about near twenty years ago) have contributed a lot for the changes that we now see.

Does human resource get the priority it’s worthy of?

Not always, not everywhere. Survival of the fittest’ might seem to be a merciless reality. But, it’s becoming all the more true in the current circumstances, where competency means everything. While the solutions providers and systems integrators in India have scaled up in both in terms of technologies and market reach, where do they stand when it comes to human resource management?

This question might be tough to answer, but one thing is certain. The results are clear signs of need for improvement. It’s very important to consider HR as something beyond just a drop in the bucket as it makes an organization ‘fit’ for growth.

The sheer volumes - business, people, transactions added with the dimension of geographic distances and the various divisions made in the ways HR has been split (Recruitment, C&B, L&D, HR Ops, HR Admin. HR Welfare etc., and the list goes one, with load of people in each of these areas, serving people flung across locations - domestic and abroad) makes it not only a "Frankenstein Monster," but has taken away the human element totally. Companies work to keep pace with the competition to enable investors earn bonus shares, dividends etc. To keep the wheel moving they pay "above the roof salaries" to their "producers" viz., Techies, and pay a much lesser salary for those who enable these functions moving smoothly calling HR as a support function. In the parlance to business HR and Admin are not money earners and so they are several rungs below and are not supposed to compare themselves with anyone - not techies but even Tech. Support people. The dividing lines are made, and so it's merely transactional. This is the scene in large multi-nationals, which however is different from SME (Small Medium Enterprises), where one gets more satisfaction in being and doing hands on HR. However the challenges are to manage and match - Branded companies, attracting the right talent for Recruitment, working on cutting edge technologies for Retention, big-fat Compensation, and all other +'s Plush Working Spaces, Food Courts, Snack Bars, Perks (non-existence Gym. HelathClub, Memberships to elite clubs, etc.). Weekend Bashes, Fully Paid Annual Excursions to exotic places. etc.

There's a lot to say, but I would only submit, "there is a lot to do as well."

It all begins right at the top.

The Promoter/CEO, has to make it a priority to treat each employee as an entrepreneur. Apart from trusting on his own skills, the Promoter/CEO should also have confidence on the potential of his employees. Concisely, treat every employee as a partner. He does not have to share the ownership with employees, but he can definitely co-share power. After all, each employee is a potential ambassador of the company.

The next thing that the Promoter/CEO, should do is to stop assuming that he/she knows everything, and so go on to appoint professionals who will run the business and on the top of this list should be HR. After doing this they should empower them sufficiently to enable them carry on the business of running a successful company. On technical aspects they consult tech. specialists, likewise on the people front they should "consult" HR which acts more in an advisory role.

On the other side, my humble request to HR folks would be "Hold your head high, do not fall for small favour and accept things just because it comes from the top. Know that you are responsible as you hold a trust worthy position, as the same time pelase remember you are meant for the "people" so your allegiance is more for them."

Some might think this is a pipe dream or just for theory, but I am a living example of having fulfilled my role in this the HR position with great dignity and respect. Some of them who were hired then today are "entrepreneurs" in their own right, and this gives me is the greatest pleasure today, for at that time I only hired a programmer" with potential and promise, but today it turns out that they have become leaders in their own right.

Believe in your abilities, be human as there is no power beyond a human and here is a Chinese quote to support what I said, "The fishes, though deep in the water, may be hooked; the birds, though high in the air, may be shot; but man's thoughts are out of our reach. The heavens may be measured, the earth may be surveyed; the heart of man only is not to be known to anyone except him.".

.

From India, Hyderabad
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I support Keshav Koragaonkar's appreciation of the piece written by Anonymous. Apart from factual instances, there are enough facts and references to support his contention, with which I fully agree.

I too, wish for more of such high-quality, in-depth inputs from our members. I learned quite a lot from this post.

Warm regards.

From India, Delhi
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Dear Venkat,

Anybody could seek a job in any kind of organization, and no law or external forces could control anyone to join any organization. If anyone is trying to restrict anyone to hinder anybody from joining any organization, it is a crime and a violation of human rights.

Nowadays, many young and moderately experienced engineers are quickly changing their jobs in the software and related industries, i.e., IT and ITES. Can anyone block someone from joining the same industry, terming it as a competitor's organization?

Please do not allow your thoughts and your company's (management's) thoughts to be unproductive. If you do anything of the sort, you will certainly be under legal scrutiny. It is a violation of human rights altogether.

From India, Pune
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Well, first analyze why your employees are moving to your competitors for salary, perks, facilities, or policies. Based on this analysis, take necessary actions. Additionally, engage with the employees who are considering leaving, discuss their reasons, and try to negotiate and convince them to stay with your company. You may also consider implementing contracts or bonds, but remember that employee satisfaction and welfare should always be the top priority.
From India, Lucknow
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Hello everyone,

This is a very good thread. Plenty of views have been exchanged. In my view, the following observations, expressed previously, stand out:

- Agreements do not provide any solution.
- Have a robust training program (or bench strength if the company could afford it).

V. Raghunathan

From India
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One person going to a competitor is not a challenge. But when it becomes repetitive, you need to really probe into the root cause analysis of it. I would suggest adopting a two-way strategy. Firstly, conduct an E-SAT survey to check various dimensions. Secondly, consider hiring an external agency to work on a benchmarking exercise in comparison to your competitors, analyzing both tangible and intangible benefits.

Through the E-Sat survey, you can understand the internal environment and develop an action plan to address priority issues. The benchmarking exercise will help identify gaps in terms of tangible and intangible benefits. By combining insights from these two reports, you can gain a clear idea for designing future strategies to retain the best talent. Additionally, you can introduce better measurability criteria to monitor ongoing performance effectively.

Remember, if you believe in yourself, change will happen. Best of luck.

Rahul Mehandiratta

From India, Faridabad
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Dear Anonymous, Really appreciate your suggestion, this can really help various employees who are working in such organisation following these companies unethical practices. Regards Megha
From India, Mumbai
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Dear All,

It was very informative and technically correct, but I have a suggestion which I once applied and got good results. If you want to retain your employees, all the things are okay, but you may talk to your competitor and reach a two-party agreement that none of them will ever hire the competitor's employee, as the competitor must also be facing some challenges of manpower turnover.

From India, Mumbai
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Dear Vishal, Please read all the messages; such agreements with competitors may be illegal in addition to being unethical.
From United Kingdom
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