<div><strong>Meghana Kulkarni, Head, HR, DesignTech Systems</strong> Ltd, a leading CAD/CAM/CAE & PLM Solutions provider, had always wanted to work in HR. Despite 10 years of working in human resources she still finds it tough to fire people and does not like to be looked upon as an Agony Aunt! One of her tricks of retaining people is to promote people from within the organisation to leadership position. And she should know it, having started her career at the organisation over 10 years ago. At the moment, hiring may be on the hold, but when it starts again, Kulkarni wishes people would be honest about their education and work experience as it takes too long to cross-check all the references! Her advice to freshers? Don't have unrealistic expectations about salaries and work profiles. <br /><br /><em>Excerpts</em>:<br /><br /><strong>What made you choose HR as a profession?</strong><br />I have always been interested in HR and I am happy to be working in a profession that I not only enjoy but also aspired to be in. HR division is the backbone of a company. It is responsible for selecting the right people for the company, building a healthy and conducive working environment, effecting promotions through a holistic performance measurement system, rewarding and recognising the successes of employees, and ensuring that the team is motivated and well trained to carry out the tasks at hand with utmost perfection. These are the critical responsibilities that help in building a successful company. <br /><br /><strong>What has been the biggest achievement of your career?<br /></strong>After working with DesignTech for the past 10 years, I am now the HR head. I consider this to be one of my greatest achievements. My hard work has been recognised, appreciated and it has even paid off. It is very fulfilling and satisfying to see me heading an HR department in a progressive company like DesignTech. <br /><br /><strong>What have been the primary traits/qualities that have helped you attain your present position?<br /></strong>Some of the fundamental traits required to attain this position are patience, perseverance and a performance driven mindset. If you work hard with utmost honesty and integrity, then success will come your way sooner or later. One just has to hang in there and keep performing to the best of their abilities. <br /><br /><strong>What are the challenges you are facing in your organisation?<br /></strong>At present, one of the challenges that we are facing is keeping the team motivated. In the current market scenario where we are experiencing a slowdown in the industry pace and economic turmoil, it is very difficult to keep and maintain the high morale and zest of the employees as success is not equivalent to the efforts and hard work they are putting in. Success or results are just slipping away and hence to withstand this test of time, it is essential for the employees to not give up and continue working with the same levels of motivation and dedication without feeling dejected. <br /><br /><strong>What are the steps a company should take to develop and motivate future leaders?<br /></strong>There are several steps we undertake to ensure that our workforce is highly motivated and geared up to take larger challenges. Future leaders emerge when employees are equipped to take on and successfully carry out bigger responsibilities at higher roles. Corporate trainings, performance measurement and appreciation through rewards and recognition schemes including promotions and increments, career planning are some of the measures taken by us. Also, as a company, it is our policy to promote people from within the organisation. This gives them the confidence that if they are focussed and perform well, then they will grow with the organisation. <br /><br /><strong>What is your rate of attrition? How do you prevent it?<br /></strong>Our attrition rate is less than 10 per cent and it is much lower than the industry standards of 15-20 per cent. A good transparent, healthy and harmonious working environment, salaries that are at par with the industry standards, rewards and recognitions to the best performers, approachable higher management team, a feeling of being one with the company are some of the reasons we have low attrition rates. We also celebrate festivals together in the office, have in-house publication through the contributions from employees and take similar measures to promote a friendly work culture.<br /><br /><strong>What sets your company apart from other companies as far as work culture goes?<br /></strong>We have a transparent and open working culture. Our management team is very approachable and we believe in participative decision making which involves making the employees a part of decision making process and taking informed decisions. Besides that, we have cultivated a friendly culture within the companies through various HR and cultural initiatives that require employees ‘ participation and contributions to facilitate inter-departmental bonding, breaks silos, and help people to get to know each other on a personal level. <br /><br /><strong>What is the biggest challenge you face when selecting people?<br /></strong>Some people are not really honest in their job interviews and on their resumes. You really have to cross check and take necessary references from either their previous employer or college to understand if they actually have the relevant work experience and/or education as claimed by them. Other thing is, sometimes the freshers really have some unrealistic expectations about starting salary package and work profiles. We need to sit with them and clear out their misconceptions. <br /><br /><strong>How do you track employees' satisfaction or dissatisfaction in your company?<br /></strong>Besides the performance evaluation we also take feedback from the employees to understand if they have any apprehensions in terms of working environment, the infrastructure, the work culture etc. We request them to give their honest feedback and we are happy to say that we have always given due consideration to our employees' concerns and apprehensions and have addressed them by making the necessary changes wherever and whenever possible. <br /><br /><strong>How important is HR to the bottom line of a company?<br /></strong>Employee productivity depends on their state of mind and enthusiasm. HR Department creates working environment to facilitate this, builds bonding and passion amongst employees. This motivates them to contribute better and improve bottom line.<br /><br /><strong>How has the downturn affected HR?<br /></strong>We have been going slow on recruitments. Though we have a few vacancies, we have decided to stay put currently and not really go on a hiring spree despite the need because of the economic downturn and industry slowdown. By adding extra work force we cannot add additional burden on the company that is already tight pressed on finances. Thankfully we are not in that bad a position where we are cutting employees' salaries or are not paying dividend to the shareholders or and not paying the employee bonuses. We have been paying salaries and bonuses regularly but are just holding on recruiting to be on the safer side. <br /><br /><strong>How should HR be integrated with the core line of business?<br /></strong>Every company has one big goal and every department has an individual goal that is directed towards helping the company achieve the bigger goal. HR Department should form integral part of business planning and hence manpower planning process. This helps HR contribute proactively in achieving organisational goal.<br /><br /><strong>A recent survey has questioned HR's actual contribution in an organisation. Would you like to comment on it with particular reference to your organisation?<br /></strong>HR helps provide the right manpower, the working force to the company who can then take the company to higher levels. HR also ensures that the team has a good working environment, a harmonious working culture which includes the infrastructure, inter-personal and inter-departmental relationships; that the team is rightly motivated and trained to perform their work, etc are the factors that can make or break the company. The HR department is the roots of the company or a foundation upon which the company can be built. We don’t have any doubt about how HR contributes in the success of the organisation.<br /><br /><strong>If you could change three things about HR practices, what would they be?<br /></strong>The practices of HR which are difficult to carry out and I would rather not have to don them are:</div><ul><li>Terminate people - it is extremely painful and difficult to terminate people.</li><li>Become an agony aunt to whom people keep coming for counselling and to voice their problems including personal issues/disputes.</li><li>A lengthy process of tracking the work experience and education credibility of employees who have applied for a position in the company through references from the previous employer or educational institute.<br /> </li></ul>
