Aon Hewitt's 7th Annual Rewards Conference
Performance and Pay –
The Changing Curve
Q. What are the three top expectations that business leaders have from HR?
A. My expectations from HR are huge. I think, it is the most fundamental role, more than the CFO
or any functional head. I would ask them to do a few things:
1. Take risks with people. HR in India is far too conventional or docile or risk averse. We
are a country of a billion and we still complain of skill shortages. Let's examine how the IT-BPO solved this
problem. We setup training centers, universities, residential centers, etc. Industries can't say it has skill
shortages because it can always train people. But, HR very often stops you from hiring people from all dimensions,
demographics and different backgrounds. They hire people like us. You must be a graduate from a specific set of
colleges, etc. Those are meaningless yardsticks in a country of the demographic range as India. The fact still
remains that 5 to 6 hundred million people live in the villages. There are enormously capable people in these
places doing enormously amazing things! Look at healthcare, microfinance and other industries which have sprung up
in these places. We must embrace them.
2. Help build cultures. HR must build strong tangible cultures. Cultures that help define
strategy, performance and help to build an institution for the long-term.
3. Focus on middle managers becoming great leaders. Our middle management talent isn't as good
as it needs to be. They are not as innovative, they are not taught how to lead and they are thrown into situations
where they have to manage a lot of people without necessarily getting the background and the training for it. This
then, consequently, starts tying the organization down.
4. Stop focusing on cost in the short-term. All innovation will die in order to save that last
500 rupees in the cost. Too often we pay total lip service to the saying that 'people are our greatest asset'.
Actually people are our greatest asset as long as they come at the cheapest cost. That's the mantra we follow and
this must change.
Q. In an industry plagued by high attrition rates, Genpact has managed to achieve high employee
retention. What according to you are the key differentiators of Genpact's EVP?
A. We are very proud of the fact that we have managed to solve some of the attrition problems
that plague many companies. We haven't solved it completely. It is still too high but yes, I think we are
significantly better than most. This has been done by taking two approaches. One is a six sigma data-driven
approach. We have tried to understand why people leave, where they go once they leave, what kind of work they like
to do or not do, the demographics of the people who leave and the demographics of the people who stay. We then
framed our hiring around this data and created programs which allow people to fulfill their ambitions. A lot of our
people were leaving for higher education so we decided to create educational programs at work. Employees can get
degrees from reputed institutes like IIMs, etc. while they work with us. We help them pay tuition fees, etc. We
have 8,000 people enrolled in this program currently.
We also think about hiring, i.e. where we hire from and who is comfortable moving to different locations.
Alongside that, we recognize that, people work for vision, people work for a leader. The biggest cause of attrition
is a bad manager. We have understood this and tried to build a performance of culture, openness and fairness.
Depoliticize. Our aim is to create an apolitical system which allows people to feel that they have a voice in the
system, that they are being treated fairly, and that they will be looked after in the long run. Almost all of our
senior leaders have been with us for over a decade. They work as a team and the bonds between the teams are
enormously strong at this time. If one is going to spend 8 to 10 hours a day at work, he/she needs to like the
environment they work in. So we try to create that environment for people. It is not just about salary.
Performance and pay and benefits need to be linked together. So we created an environment where people have
power, they can take decisions, they are treated fairly and they work very well with each other in a culture which
allows them to be entrepreneurial. That mix really holds people and we have found it to be successful.
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