Demand For Multi-Tasking Employees Growing In This Sector: Kristyl Pais Bhesania, Senior VP HR, TATA AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd
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Kristyl Pais Bhesania, Senior Vice President Human Resources, TATA AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd talks to BW Businessworld and shares her views in detail on the job trends in the life insurance sector and the kind of talent that is sought out in this sector. Edited Excerpts
Tell us a few anecdotes about the work culture in TATA AIA? How do you help employees to utilise their full potential?
At Tata AIA, we have an employee first approach. We believe in the culture of continuous training and equal opportunity for all our employees. Some of the interesting initiative that we have is our structured e-learning program called ‘Gurucool’ for employees to access and enhance their skills.
We realised that there are people in the organization, especially in the operation and support functions – which are more of an individual role, who have not been promoted for about 6 to 10 years. This may be because there is not specific defined role where they can be promoted. To help them overcome stagnation in their careers we came up with the ‘Speed program’ to fast-track their career within 6 months. The participants get a mini MBA degree from Symbiosis college or a LOMA certificate after they clear the program. We realised that such initiatives ensure that the employees work with more focus and interest because they we able to evolve into far more confident individuals.
We also have a ‘Home coming’ program where ex-employees are welcomed with a lot of excitement back into the system if they opt for it. Such initiatives have helped us bring the overall attrition rate from 85 percent to 16 percent in a matter of 6 years.
‘Star Awards’ is another initiative at Tata AIA offers instant recognition where we present employees with a star recognising any effort/ initiative that the employee has taken at work.
What are the hiring trends in the industry? How do you keep employee morale high?
In the talent centric economy companies are desperate to get the best talent, hence recruitment has emerged as one of the top priorities to stay ahead of the competition by constantly looking for innovative strategy to fulfil the talent acquisition goals. With clear sign of demand for skills in BFSI sector, the current hiring trend focuses on quality of hire and speed of hiring, as it directly or indirectly impacts the success of the organisation.
New challenges in this sector call for newer responsibilities which demand not only multi-skilled but also multi-tasking individuals and there is a growing demand for special roles like digital marketing, direct marketing, strategic management, analytics, risk management etc.
Social media and Technology is driving huge increase in automation in the hiring process and the application of technology solutions is showing improved efficiency of process. With use of data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine leaning, lead indicators of performance can be obtained and error in hiring reduced. 80 percent of job seekers use social media to find new jobs and similarly 90 percent recruiter use social medial like LinkedIn, Naukri.com, Facebook career page etc.
Disproportionate variable performance compensation is a key trend to attracting and hiring top talent.
Creation of news skills through innovative tie-ups with institutes is a trend to hire front line employee,for example TATA AIA is hiring through the Young Pioneer Programmefrom Manipal Global Institute.
Both organisations and individuals are becoming more comfortable with part-time association (as consultant or part time employment) example Tata AIA has been hiring part time medical underwriters.
Referral Hiring has been contributing significantly and it’s a growing trend as employees actas brand ambassador and refer candidates which is quicker, cheaper and more reliable. Apart from Home-coming Initiative , diversity hiring has been a new trend in the Industry.
How do you keep employee morale high?
Factors that motivate the workforce to achieve the Company’s Vision and sustained high performance are (1) Compensation and Benefits (2) Career Progression (3) Rewards and Recognition and TATA AIA Life has been awarded ‘AON Best Employers – India: 2017’ – for the second consecutive year.
The Company has engaged AON Hewitt to define parameters that constitute Employee Engagement. The average score of the engagement drivers is 85 percent. The key parameters identified for workforce satisfaction and engagement are (1) Code of Conduct (2) Co-workers 3) Health and Wellness 4) Customer Focus.
Rewards and Recognition: Tata AIA Life has an established comprehensive R&R program called “Celebrate Success”. The R&R framework rewards individual and team accomplishments over three periods - monthly, quarterly and annually for unique and innovative ideas, exemplary performance initiatives and leadership. The Caring Manager Awards have been introduced to recognize managers who exhibit exceptional qualities in coaching, mentoring, recognizing, caring for and developing employees. A personalized card from the supervisor is sent especially to family members of the winners and winners also receive congratulatory SMS.
Health and wellbeing: Initiatives such as eye camps, blood tests, meditation camp, etc. are periodically conducted in the office premises by leading health service providers. Workforce health factors are measured via employee engagement drivers. The company has adopted a women safety policy to ensure a secure working environment for women employees.
Workforce Compensation / Incentives: The Company’s compensation philosophy of “Total Rewards” has developed over the last 3-4 years to provide for a differentiated approach basis merit and market conditions. It includes both financial and non-financial elements.
Developing a leadership pipeline and building capability across the organization are key pillars of the HR strategy roadmap. The areas of focus for developing the L&D system emerge from the Organization, Department & the Individual needs.
Building and developing the leadership capability forms a strategic imperative towards delivering business results ensuring best-in-class talent is at the helm of business. Identifying top talent through “Talent Talk” an assessment process, facilitating developmental plans, aligning their career and growth paths to the opportunities available within the organization is the key focus of the talent management frame work. We have a robust “Good Club Conclave” for all our top talent which is a best practise and is instrumental in talent retention.
How to make technology more relevant to bridge the skill gap in different professionals?
Training employees through well-defined online training modules helps employees take up these courses at their convenience while they manage their work efficiently. Providing effective training to employees corresponds to improvement in their skill-set and boosts overall performance. Employees with a target-based job e.g. sales teams can witness a huge improvement in their numbers, as effective training increases employee satisfaction and confidence making it a preferable place to work for them.
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