INTRODUCTION

According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of

searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to

apply for jobs in the organisation”.

A few definitions of recruitment are:

A process of finding and attracting capable applicants for

employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought

and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a

pool of applications from which new employees are selected.

It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the

requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective

measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to

facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.

The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the

selection process.

Importance of recruitment

Attract and encourage more and more candidates to apply in the

organisation.

Create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best

candidates for the organisation.

Determine present and future requirements of the organization in

conjunction with its personnel planning and job analysis

activities.

Help increase the success rate of selection process by decreasing

number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

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This project has been taken up to evaluate the effectiveness of SAP

recruitment process of L&T Infotech and suggest techniques to

further enhance the process. It also aims at analyzing and

comparing the existing sources which have a major role to play in

the recruitment process. The time constraint and knowledge

constraint have limited me from exploring the recruitment process

followed in the IT Industry. Overall the project will be able to help

the organization to tell whether the recruitment process has been

effective and efficient enough to fulfill the requirement .

The scope and objective of the project was to have an in-depth

understanding of the recruitment process followed in L&T Infotech.

The areas covered in the project include:

Recruitment and Selection

Buddy referral System

METHODOLOGY FOLLOWED

The basic idea was to start the project by firstly getting an in-depth

knowledge of the recruitment process and identifying the positives

and the negatives and later on analyzing the data to suggest proper

changes.

For the initial 40 days I was on the job of understanding the entire

process by handling the job of Vendor Management. Later on in the

project I started collecting data and then analyzing it to find what all

were the positives and what all were the negatives. The data

collected was from January 2007 to April 2007. The data was

collected from the Resumer software, the tracker sheet maintained

for the consultants and the record of the offers made in a particular

month.

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Industry Overview

When asked by reporters what IT stood for, India's the then Prime

Minister A.B. Vajpayee responded “India's tomorrow”. India is proud

of its software industry. Moreover, in 1999, more than 203 of

Fortune companies outsourced their software requirements to India.

India's biggest advantage over other nations is the fact that India

possesses the world’s second largest pool of scientific manpower,

which is also English speaking. Coupled with the fact that the quality

of Indian software is extremely good with relatively low cost, it

provides India a very good opportunity in the world market.

A buoyant Indian IT and ITES sector, including the domestic and

exports segment is growing at an estimated 28 per cent in the

financial year 2006-07, offering unlimited opportunities to the

aspirants, Wipro Corporation Chairman Azim Premji said.

Total revenue for the sector is expected to exceed US $48 billion,

nearly a ten-fold increase over the revenue of $4.8 billion, reported

in 97-98.

Premji said as a proportion of national GDP, the revenue of Indian

technology sector has grown from 1.2 per cent in 1997-98 to an

estimated 5.4 per cent in FY06-07.

The domestic market is also picking up and its total size is expected

to cross USD 15.9 billion in 2006-07, a growth of 21 per cent over

the previous year.

As we look forward, India continues to enjoy an unmatched

superiority as an offshore destination for IT and ITES services. The

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success of IT has now spread to other industries including

Biotechnology, Auto ancillaries and Pharmaceutical industries.

Another worrisome aspect is the continued dependence of the IT

companies on the routine applications development and

maintenance (ADM) tasks and their inability to scale up significantly

to the higher billing and more complex tasks in areas like logistics,

retail, automobiles and aerospace.

Says Sid Pai, partner TPI International (a global advisory firm),

”Sustaining top line growth will be a challenge.” Adds Kiran Karnik,

president, Nasscom “Margins will be down 1% to 2%. M&A activity

will also be impacted with valuations coming down.”

Some studies estimate the share of Indian players to be 50%. While

demand is there, the fact is that there is a limit to how much you

can grow with routine services. Adding to the problems is the fact

that billing rates are flat and companies do not have the capability

to deliver the much talked about high value tasks.

While there is lot of room for the IT companies to grow which in

effect could ensure top line grows at rates witnessed in the past that

is upwards of 30% it is the large players who will have to evaluate

their options. Says Karnik, “I don’t see a reason why top line could

be impacted. Though there could be constraints in managing the

growth. For instance, the industry could find it difficult to get the

right kind of talent.”

Apart from the shortage of skilled manpower, another issue is the

increase in wages which will impact profitability. Says Vikram Bapat,

associate director, Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC), “Wages have

been increasing at about 12-15% a year. I see a combination of

factors including wages, minimum alternate tax, fringe benefit tax

on ESOPs, sluggishness in the US economy and the strengthening

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rupee together denting operating margins.”

Typically, for every 1% fluctuation in foreign currency against the

Rupee there is a 0.4% impact on operating margins. Says a CFO of

IT major, companies usually takes forward cover for one or two

quarters to take care of currency fluctuations. Though if the rupee

continues to remain strong, as is anticipated, there will be a

squeeze on margins. A large exposure to the US market makes the

companies more vulnerable to currency fluctuations. To overcome

the hurdles on the growth path companies now have little choice

but to accelerate growth in new markets and new services.

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PROFILE OF L&T INFOTECH

Corporate Profile

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited (Estd. 1997), a 100 percent

subsidiary of the multifaceted and diversified US$ 2.8 billion Larsen

& Toubro Limited, offers comprehensive, end-to-end software

solutions and services. Leveraging the heritage and domain

expertise of the parent company, its services encompass a broad

technology spectrum, catering to leading international companies

across the globe

A Range of Products & Services

Committed to a focused business approach, L&T Infotech offers its

services across a wide spectrum of technologies to include:

Focus Areas

Offshore outsourcing of Application Maintenance as well as

Application Development

ERP-II implementations, upgrades, rollouts, production support,

maintenance and enhancement

Integration of systems within and across enterprises

Industry Solutions

Manufacturing, Banking & Securities, Insurance, Utilities,

Communication & Embedded Systems

Services

Package Implementation & Support, Application Development &

Maintenance, Enterprise Application Integration, Data Warehousing

& Business Intelligence, Infrastructure Management Services,

Strategy Consulting, & Value Added Services

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Delivering Total Solutions

With its wide-ranging technical expertise and experience, L&T

Infotech offers flexible engagement models for involvement in all or

any of the phases; from the inception stage of identifying the

problem space for the customer and recommending the appropriate

solution to the execution and deployment of the solution. It offers

structured methodologies and frameworks for a faster time-to-

market

Drawing upon its resource pool of business and technology experts,

L&T Infotech consultants offer customized solutions for a range of

services like architecting, integrating, developing and maintaining

the system. These flexible, tailored solutions provide onsite or

offshore execution or a combination of both.

Commitment to Quality

With an unswerving commitment to quality, L&T Infotech's well-

defined quality policy for technological and managerial processes

has helped to establish the company's quality credentials through

objective assessments:

Among the first few software entities in India to be awarded the

ISO 9001:2000 certification

CMM-related processes conforming to SEI-CMM Level-5 guidelines

Assessed at PCMM Level 5, ver-2.0 across Bangalore, Chennai,

and Mysore

Innovating for Excellence

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L&T Infotech has set up a dedicated Center of Excellence (CoE) to

adapt cutting edge technologies for business solutions. Identifying

and researching on generic as well as specific technologies, the CoE

team focuses on initiatives aimed at assimilating and disseminating

knowledge from different technology areas to the various delivery

groups within the organization.

Alliances

The Center of Excellence works towards identifying leading

companies in the varied technological space to create new

partnerships and alliances in niche as well as general areas.

L&T Infotech has alliances with:

EAI Solutions: Web Methods, TIBCO, IBM (MQ-Series), Microsoft

(BizTalk)

Business Intelligence: Informatica, Business Objects, Oracle,

Computer Associates

CRM: Siebel, Oracle, SAP, People Soft, Computer Associates,

SCM, i2, SAP

Collaborative Product Commerce: Matrix One, SAP/ PLM

Enterprise Application Systems: SAP, Oracle, People Soft, JD

Edwards.

Technology Solutions: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun

Microsystems, HP, Computer Associates.

Our People - Our Strength

A world-wide network of more than 4000 vibrant, well-focused

professionals, from leading academic institutions, play a critical role

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in L&T Infotech's successful implementation of the key business and

technological needs of its customers. Besides 14 international

offices and six software development centers in India, the company

has a Proximity Development Center in the US.

A Wide Area Network connects the development centers in India

with business offices in the US, Europe and Japan, through a

combination of high-speed satellite and terrestrial links that can be

extended to the client premises at a short notice.

VISION

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited shall be:

A globally benchmarked solution provider

A preferred partner, through creation of high value for customers

An enriching workplace for employees to excel through

innovation & teamwork committed to delivering high fidelity

services and solutions, Time Tested institutionalized processes,

with a firm belief that quality is a cost-saver

L&T Infotech Differentiators

1. Right Size Partner

L&T Infotech is an agile and a flexible outfit.

L&T Infotech leverages its financial stability and simultaneously

inherits its long-term sustainability from the parent company.

2. Customer-Sensitive

At L&T Infotech, we understand the “user-perspective” better than

anyone else does.

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3. Program Management

L&T Infotech has a deep project and risk management expertise

that is inherited from its parent company and continues to build on

this superior legacy.

4. Best Practices

L&T Infotech has acquired the best practices and business

processes in the chosen domains.

5. Valuable Assets

L&T Infotech’s Human Resources principles and philosophy are built

on the foundation that our employees are our greatest strength. We

attract some of the best talent owing to

L&T brand name, and retain them through innovative HR policies.

Over 4000 consultants including 300+ Domain specialists Industry

benchmarked HR Practices. L&T is a “Preferred Employer” for many

career driven professionals. Top 1% of Indian engineering

graduates choose Larsen & Toubro as their employer.

6. Strategic Alliances

L&T Infotech has alliances with:

o EAI Solutions: Web Methods, TIBCO, IBM (MQ-Series), Microsoft

(Biz Talk)

o Business Intelligence: Informatica, Business Objects, Oracle,

and Computer Associates

o CRM: Siebel, Oracle, SAP, People Soft, Computer Associates

o SCM: i2, SAP, JD Edwards

o Collaborative Product Commerce: Matrix One, SAP/ PLM

o Enterprise Application Systems: SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, and

People Soft

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o Technology Solutions: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun

Microsystems, HP, Computer Associates

7. Center of Excellence

Center of Excellence focuses on the improvement in the technology,

tools, and methodologies employed in L&T Infotech with the intent

to improve software quality, increase productivity and gain a

competitive edge for L&T Infotech.

8. Domain Expertise

Vertical Focus – Manufacturing, Utilities, Financial Services

(Insurance, Securities, Banking) and Telecom

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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

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The Problem

In today’s organizations recruitment has become one of the major

HR functions. But the question generally raised in any organization

is that “is the recruitment process being followed in the organization

the best in the industry which is helping the organization in meeting

the requirement in time?” forces the HR department to derive

techniques to prove to the organization that the process followed in

the organization is the best in the industry and the various sources

are helping them in meeting the requirement. For this purpose the

HR department has to evaluate the recruitment process on a whole

at all the stages and finally needs to compare the various sources.

Genesis: SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system,

provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost

accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants,

and archived documents. The R/3 system runs on a number of

platforms including Windows 2000 and uses the client/server model.

L&T Infotech has a very stringent requirement and the criteria set

for the candidates is to assure that the organization gets in

employees who are the best in the industry. Thus the recruitment

process plays a major role in helping the organization gaining that

extra edge in this competitive world where human resource is the

only differentiating factor.

Rationale: L&T Infotech is a rapidly growing organization. The

demand for its products and services is increasing at a very high

rate. With this increase the number of employees needed to keep

the momentum going is also increasing. So to cope up with the

rapid growth in business the recruitment process has to be the best

in the industry and if it is not then it has to rectified according to the

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changing needs. The recruitment at L&T Infotech SAP SBU is done

for two categories

Laterals

Functional Trainees (FTR)

The process followed is nearly the same except for the criteria set

for both is different and the sources to meet both the requirements

is also different. For example for FTR the work experience is not

necessary and also FTR recruitment is done through consultancies

while the laterals is entirely dependent on the consultancies. So the

project would concentrate on comparing the various sources

through which recruitment is done.

Benefits: Evaluating the recruitment process will :

give a detailed feedback about the recruitment process as a

whole

test the various sources which help in the recruitment process

help in identifying the areas which need immediate attention

Problem Formulation

As mentioned above this project aims at evaluating the

effectiveness of the SAP recruitment process. This project will give a

descriptive comparison between the various sources of recruitment.

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Literature Survey

Introduction Human Resource Management

Human resources management is a specialty within the broader

field of management that focuses on managing employees. Human

resource management consists of a framework of activities and

practices that support and develop a motivated workforce while at

the same time complying with legislation and regulations that

govern the employer/employee relationship.

"Human resources management refers to the management of

people in an organization."

– Human Resources Management in Canada by Dessler.

"The design of formal systems in an organization to ensure the

effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish

organizational goals."

– Human Resources Management by Mathis and Jackson.

Importance of good Human Resources Management:

Good human resources management directly contributes to

organizational effectiveness. From high rates of turnover to

unresolved conflicts between staff members, poorly managed staff

can be very costly to an organization both in terms of productivity

and actual dollars. Conversely, we intuitively know that competent

employees who are happy with their work and their workplace are

more productive and make great contributions to organizations and

the people they serve, and are likely to stay with the organization

longer (research supports this).

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The purpose of good human resources management is to:

Create meaningful jobs that link to the organization's mission

Maintain the right mix of people with the knowledge, skills, and

abilities to accomplish the work of the organization

Provide a structure that helps employees be effective at their

work

Provide fair and consistent treatment of employees

Nurture an organizational culture that supports and motivates

staff

Create a positive work environment

Help retain effective staff members

Help staff and the organization manage change

Human Resources Management related to other

management tasks

Every organization begins with a mission or reason for being that

guides the activities of the organization. Based on the mission,

many organizations develop a strategic plan to guide the work of

the organization for a period of two to three years. On an annual

basis, the strategic plan of the organization is expressed in the

annual operating plan and annual budget. However, your

organization can have great strategic and operational plans and all

the money it needs, and still fail to achieve result because of

'people' issues. A good human resources management framework

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and practices are also part of the solid foundation for organizational

success.

Guiding factors of Human Resources Management

practices in an organization:

First and foremost, human resources management practices and

activities must comply with all legislation and regulations that

govern the employer/employee relationship. All voluntary/non-profit

organizations from the largest organization to an organization with

just one paid employee are responsible for complying with

employment legislation and regulations.

Secondly, good human resources management practices are based

on human resources policies, which establish the parameters for fair

and consistent decision making on people issues and reflect good

workplace practices. The HRVS section on HR Policies and Procedures

provides examples of different human resources policies. The

policies that are developed for each organization should reflect the

values and ethics of the organization as well as its culture.

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The typical Human Resources Management practices

and activities

Human resources management is usually organized into broad

management practices or tasks with their associated activities.

These include:

Human resources

practice

Human resources

activity

Staffing

Meeting your staff

requirements

Job Analysis

Job Design

Job Descriptions

Recruitment

Selection

Orientation

Training and Development

Developing effective staff Training

Employee

Development

Compensation and Benefits

Establishing fair

compensation

Job Evaluation

Compensation Plan

Benefits

Retirement Plans

People Management

Building effective

employer/employee

relationships

Work Plans

Supervision

Performance

Management

Recognition

Conflict resolution

Discipline

Termination

Day-to-Day

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HR Administration

Workplace Management

Creating a good place to

work

Work-life Balance

Health and Safety

Diversity

The human resources management practices adopted by an

organization should be tailored to reflect the size of the

organization.

Example: When establishing pay, a good human resources

management practice is to base pay on factors such as level of

responsibility and experiences as well as the principles of fairness,

equity, and transparency (staff should know what factors are used in

the decision making process). In a small organization, this may

mean that a very simple look at the skills and experience required

to do one job relative to another will be used to set pay. In a larger

more complex organization a full job evaluation process, which

assigns value to various components of each job, would be used.

Getting started

Many voluntary/non-profit organizations have no framework for their

human resources management. There is little structure and no

consistent approach to the human resources management decisions

that are made. For organizations without formalized human

resources practices the following are usual priorities:

Ensure that management understands and complies with all

legislation related to employment

Develop human resources policies that comply with legislation

and reflect the priorities of your organization

Develop written job descriptions for each job in the organization

and

Establish a reporting structure.

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Once these key pieces are in place, you can establish a human

resources framework, which consists of the tasks, and activities that

will become part of the way people are managed in your

organization. In doing this, it is important to remember that all the

human resources management practices are interrelated and begin

with a good job description.

Good human resources management requires a thoughtful, planned

approach. Your investment of time in developing and implementing

a supportive human resources management framework should

result in:

Staff with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve

organizational goals;

Staff who understand what is expected of them and how their

work contributes to the mission of the organization;

Employees who are committed to the goals of the organization;

A work environment which brings out the best in your employees;

Employees who are continuously learning;

Employees who understand and respect the diverse nature of the

organization: its staff, clients and the communities it works in;

and

A work environment that is safe and healthy.

HR in L&T Infotech

The HR department in L&T Infotech is divided into corporate HR and

Central HR. The function of Corporate HR is to frame the policies

and guidelines while the function of Central HR is to look after all HR

administration of a particular center. Thus the central HR

implements these policies and guidelines. The corporate HR is

located in Powai (Gate No : 5) while the central HR is located in

various development centers like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore etc.

At L&T Infotech, people are their greatest pride and resource. Their

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focus lies in bringing aboard some of the finest professionals in the

software industry and providing them with opportunities that match

their drive and ability. With one of the lowest attrition rates in the

industry, L&T Infotech's people-force is inspired, committed, and

thoroughly professional. If you have what it takes to become an

integral part of an organization that's built and driven by people,

then you are the person they are looking for. Simply access the "We

Need You" section to post your resume on their site. It could be your

first step towards getting closer to an organization full of self-driven

people.And closer to becoming a part of the collective people-

energy that's L&T Infotech- "A software force that's driving

relationships globally." At L&T Infotech you are faced with a

challenging Work Environment that is shared by a highly motivated

group of over 4000 people who choose L&T Infotech because they

believe that it's all happening here. They provide:

Opportunities for Entrepreneurship

Freedom to inspire ideas and be inspired

In-house training programs for personal and professional growth

Infinite access to the latest technologies

Opportunities to take on leadership roles early in your career

Freedom to experiment and be innovative

HR polices that are aimed to strike a balance between work and

personal welfare

L&T Infotech, a PCMM Level 5 company, has a successful

competency-based HR system. Recruitment, training, job rotation,

succession planning and promotions-all are defined by competency

mapping. Competencies are enhanced through training and job

rotation. All people who have gone through job rotation undergo a

transformation and get a broader perspective of the company. For

instance, a person lacking in negotiation skills might be put in the

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sales or purchase department for a year to hone his skills in the

area.

L&T has been rated amongst the top 5 preferred employers for the

class of 2005 by AC Nielsen

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HR DEPARTMENT HEIRARCHY

HR ACTIVITIES IN L&T INFOTECH

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Mentoring

Here in L&T Infotech they have two types of mentoring taking place

at different levels. Firstly they have a mentor for each module viz

(ABAP, BASIS, MM, PM, PP) etc. Each module will have one mentor

and some modules that are similar in functions are clubbed together

with one mentor. The role of the mentor is to take care of his

Mentee with regards to any help or guidance required by the

Mentee.

The other type of mentoring is done for People Capability Maturity

Model (PCMM). Here each PCMM trainee is attached to a mentor for

2-3 months where the mentee develops certain skills and this is

attached to a contractual agreement.

Career Planning

The company conducts career workshops. Their policy for career

planning is a well thought out, planned process. Aim is to develop

and prepare people for higher responsibilities. It assists them by

identifying various roles they could undertake and skills they may

need to develop in order to do full justice to their new role within the

organization. At L&T Infotech, they place People first. In this

knowledge industry, they empower their employees with the

strength of knowledge and create a 'climate' that is conducive to

learning and personal and professional growth. They are a People

driven organization that helps it's employees gain a level of freedom

that provides security, satisfaction and, most importantly, a sense of

professional fulfillment.

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Induction

The new entrants - Fresher as well as experienced persons joining

the organization, across all levels, attends Induction programs

individually and/or as groups. The objective is to begin the process

of integration of the incumbent with the organization and ensure

smooth entry into the organization.

This consists of inputs on the following:

Company Values, Business Philosophy

Corporate Culture

Work Culture

Quality Process

Project Management

Information on Business and Future Plans

Information on Organization Structure

Systems and Policies

Performance Appraisal

Emphasis on building lasting Relationships & Team

Effectiveness

Team Development Workshops aimed at enhancing intra-team

cohesion

They believe that it helps the goal accomplishment when people are

able to relate with one another and build lasting relationships &

sense of belonging to the organization. They believe that it’s the

teams of committed people who eventually deliver results. Intra-

group cohesion in terms of shared understanding of goals and

objectives, co-operation, and collaboration is given a priority.

Reward and Recognition Systems

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They believe that their people are their greatest assets and that

they are not just employees but strategic partners in their journey

to achieve organizational objectives. In furtherance of their stated

philosophy, their well-developed policies help us to recognize

performance at work.

Recognizing Individuals and Teams

They understand the crucial role recognition plays in motivating

employees to demonstrate superior performance. There are many

ways in which they acknowledge and appreciate good performance -

from a sincere sharing of an ‘I Appreciate’ Note for a specific job

well done to granting honors through an established formal

‘Employee Award Plans’. So if you're an achiever with a passion for

setting and attaining goals, you'll find many opportunities for being

recognized at L&T Infotech. The ‘Employee Motivation’ Plan at L&T

Infotech is another success story – a unique experiment to empower

their line managers to recognize and give spot rewards to

individuals and team in pursuit of excellence.

Recognizing Collective Excellence

In addition to the above, they have mechanisms to recognize

collective excellence at an organization level, on an annual basis.

One such initiative is their ‘CE’s Award for Best Managed Project’.

The award recognizes excellence in the management of projects

and encourages a competitive spirit amongst the Business Units to

achieve better performance through higher standards in project

management.

To encourages and foster the growth of a customer-oriented culture

in the organization and within a business unit in particular, the

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‘Rolling Trophy for the SBU with Best Customer Orientation’ has

been institutionalized. This award encourages a competitive spirit

amongst the business units to achieve better performance through

higher standards in customer service.

Work culture (Competency based HR)

L&T Infotech is one of the sixteen

companies in the world to get the PCMM

level 5 certification. For an organisation,

which takes great pride in its rich HR culture, it is not surprising that

many of L&T Infotech’s centres in India have achieved the coveted

PCMM level 5 certification. Incidentally, L&T Infotech is among the

16 companies in the world that have earned this batch of

recognition. The company got the award thanks to its people

processes and practices and a dynamic HR team which actively

spearheads all people-centric activities.

The company currently has a workforce of more than 4,000

professionals. L&T has always been focused on HR. The

organisation believes that there are four major pillars of HR—

acquiring talent, enabling talent, grooming talent and building ‘the

culture’. Competency-based HR is the essence of good HR. “It is the

dream of all HR people that everything in the organisation be linked

through the competency matrix. Competency for every role is well

defined (technical as well as behavioral), even at the time of

recruitment and succession planning. Adding that once people are

shown a particular career path, they should be equipped with the

skills to reach that particular position. And enhancing competencies

enables this. Competency development is at PCMM level 3. The HR

vision of the organisation is to maximize ‘Sigma motivation’ and the

organisation believes that implementing the PCMM model in letter

and spirit will help it achieve that.

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Experience Profile

L&T Infotech, a PCMM Level 5 company, has a successful

competency-based HR system. Recruitment, training, job rotation,

succession planning and promotions-all are defined by competency

mapping. Competencies are enhanced through training and job

rotation. All people who have gone through job rotation undergo a

transformation and get a broader perspective of the company. For

instance, a person lacking in negotiation skills might be put in the

sales or purchase department for a year to hone his skills in the

area.

In no two organisations can competency frameworks be the same, it

will vary over time even in one organisation. It is not timeless, it is

contextual. "We call it the DNA of success…it is what makes star

performers work in a particular way. Isolate the DNA and make it

available to ten others. When the company started competency

mapping the whole process took eight months for six roles and two

variations. Eventually, 16-18 profiles were worked out. The company

uses People Soft for competency mapping. Behavioural

competencies do not change every month. Two appraisals are done

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subsequently… every project-end for skills, and annual for

behavioural competencies.

The company acknowledges that there was resistance from the line

people, but when the numbers started flowing they sat up. Every

quarter, an SBU-based skills portfolio is published. It has been a very

rewarding experience. As far as training and development is

concerned, instead of asking people to attend classes, they

themselves get pulled to the classes. Introduction of competency

mapping has also involved introducing skill appraisals in

performance appraisals. This has also led to training people on how

to assess subordinates on competencies. "The best human

resources development is when people in the line department do

HR. Where the HR department is the enabler, the line people see

the advantage and drive us." Competency-based HR makes this

almost-utopian dream attainable.

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SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT FOR PROCURING

KNOWLEDGE WORKERS

1. BUDDY REFERRAL SYSTEM

Objective:

To encourage L&T Infoknight’s to refer suitable candidates for

the specified posts.

To encourage them to refer the kind of employees they wish

to work with.

To create an environment of healthy competition where each

work with their friends for mutual all-round enhancement.

To reward L&T Infoknight’s in appreciation of their efforts if

their referred candidate joins L&T Infotech.

To motivate all by making them a partner in the strategic

activities of the organization.

The category in which the referred

candidate joins L&T INFOTECH

Equivalent

Grade

Reward

Amount

Associate Software Engineer/Software

Engineer A-1-0/A-1-1 Rs.15000

Sr. Software Engineer/Project Leader A-1-2/A-1-3 Rs.20000

Project Manager and Above B and Above Rs.25000

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These rewards tend to increase with the criticality of the module

and goes up to 30,000; 40,000; 50,000 Rs respectively.

L&T Infoknight’s will receive the reward only if:

The candidates referred by him/her are selected for the post

advertised.

Both the referee and the referred candidate are on the rolls of L&T

Infotech three months after the date of joining of the referred

candidate, as the reward payment is made after duration of three

months.

However, as a special case, Rs. 5000/- will be paid in advance which

will be credited to the referee’s salary account once the referred

person joins.

Candidate referred should not have either applied to or been

referred to HR in the past six months directly or through any

employee/ agency etc.

 

Selection of ex-employees who have resigned in the past 18 months

will not attract any monetary reward.

 

In case the same resume is received from different sources, date

and time of the receipt of the resume will be considered, and the

person who has sent the resume first will be considered for the

reward.

 

The reward amount is taxable as per the provision of Income Tax

act.

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All the expenses incurred in obtaining the resume and in forwarding

it to the HR would be born by the referee.

 

Buddy Referral Form' will have to be filled and submitted by the

referee in order to become eligible for the reward. The referee

would be eligible for the reward only if the referred candidates

mention his/her name as reference in their application form.

2. CAREERS:

L&T Infotech has its own website called careers@lntinfotech.com.

This enables candidates to apply and upload their CV’s online. The

candidates can view the various job openings along with the

profiles. This is the direct source for information for candidates who

desire to work with the company.

3. EXTERNAL JOBSITES:

Apart from the L&T Infotech website, various CV’s are also

downloaded from external jobsites by the recruiters in the SAP

department. The jobsites are one of the biggest cost components in

the entire recruitment process. Recruiters also post the job opening

advertisement on these jobsites and mass mail the advertisement

to the candidates who have posted their resume on these sites.

Jobsites include the following

www.naukri.com

www.monster.com

www.timesjob.com

www.jobsahead.com

4. JOB FAIRS:

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The concept of a job fair is to bring those interested in finding a job

into those companies who are searching for applicants. L&T Infotech

use Job fairs to attract talent in their organization. Job fairs are open

forum where they can exhibit the best their companies have to offer

so that job seekers can make informed choices. Generally HR

professional from various SBU’s go to the Job fair to represent their

SBU and collect the resume of their respective domain to process it

further. Then the resumes are given to the recruiters to work upon.

5. CONSULTANTS:

One of the recent practices of sourcing candidates which L&T has

adopted is through Placement Consultants. Consultants usually

shortlists candidates and conduct preliminary interview thus saving

lot of time for HR department and enabling them to recruit the best

talent available. The Fees which L&T Infotech pays to these

consultants is approximately 8% to 14% of the CTC given to the

candidates which were referred by them (subject to the candidate

working with the company for a minimum of six months).

Name of the consultant include the following

ABC consultant

Manpower consultant

Proton consultant and many more

6. RESUMER:

This is Company’s Database, which consists of all candidate s who

had applied earlier for different job vacancies, some of which were

selected and few others who were not selected because their

profiles did not match the job profile back then, or those who were

working on different technology, or those who did not have relevant

work experience but this database could prove to be rich resource

for sourcing of candidates for some future vacancies.

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7. ADVERTISEMENTS THROUGH NEWSPAPER:

The oldest and most popular method having maximum reach is

through advertisements in the daily newspapers. Ads regarding

various job vacancies are placed in newspapers along with

information like Position, Number of vacancies, skills required,

educational qualifications, location and job code with email address

where candidates can apply.

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

The recruitment process in L&T Infotech SAP SBU starts with the

resource manager of different modules sending in their

requirements to the recruiting managers also stating as to what the

prerequisites are which the candidate must have. The resource

manager then allocates a panel which would be available to help the

recruitment team in evaluating the candidate as in conducting

interviews to evaluate the technical skills of the candidates. This

involves the co-ordination of the following 3 teams:

The Database Management team

The Recruiters team

The Offer team

The Database Management Team

The database management team consists of people who have to

check the following details:

o Candidate’s Full Name

o DOB

o Current Location

o Contact Details

o Current Employer

o Education

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o Work Experience

There are different sources through which a resume can reach the

database management team, the different sources are:

o Consultancy agency

o Direct

o Job posting

o Buddy referral scheme

Incase of CVs that come from consultancy agencies the details of

the candidate is maintained with the help of a tracker sheet. Then

once this is done they proceed further with the first duplicity check

and if found then the status is changed to “Already in database’’

after this the second round of duplicity check is done with the help

of ‘Resumer’ which is a software that maintains the record of all the

CVs. The ‘Resumer’ software compares the Email id of the CV with

the already existing CVs in the database now here if a CV is found

duplicate then again the status is changed to Already in database in

the tracker sheet and then the CVs that were new would be sent to

the respective recruiters for different modules for the further

process of recruitment and would be added to the database as well

with a status as “Not referred ’’. A weekly status update is

maintained which is sent to the different consultancy agencies to

keep them informed as to what is the status of the CVs sent by

them.

The Recruiters

The different status given by the various recruiters could be:

Screen reject

Short listed

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This is the initial stage of screening where the recruiters on the

basis of the resumes shortlist a candidate if it matches the

prerequisites like the experience criteria etc set by the different

resource managers else the CV is screen rejected The process could

be summarized as:

The CV comes in the recruiter’s inbox.

He conducts an HR screening. Here the recruiter with the help of

the CV shortlists the candidate or rejects the candidate. Once

through with this, candidates who get short listed are then

scheduled for the 1st round of interviews which is a telephonic

discussion round which is taken by the panel members where in the

basic technical aptitude of the candidate as well as communication

skills of the candidate is checked . If a candidate clears the first

round of interview the panel member assigns certain grade (1-10)

on the basis of the discussion, while if a candidate is rejected then

the status is sent to the database management team as “ 1st

Interview Reject ’’. Once a candidate is selected he is then

scheduled for the second round of interview which is technical but

has to be in person, this has now become mandatory as earlier

when second round could also be a telephonic round if the

candidate was from some other city where there was no L&T office

many problems were found like the candidate faking the interview

etc. After clearing the second round of interview an HR interview is

conducted where the candidate and the panel discuss the various

issues relating to pay etc. It also helps in knowing as to whether the

candidate is suitable for the job or not, for ex for the post of sales

where in a person has to deal with different clients it is not possible

to recruit a person with poor communication skills with excellent

technical knowledge.

The Offer Team

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Once the candidate is selected all the details are then passed on to

the Powai development center where the REX sheet is filled. Here

REX stands for Relevant Experience and Qualification.

After the preparation of the REX sheet the offer is closed.

If the candidate has accepted the offer then the candidate is asked

to submit relevant documents on the date of joining and a final

verification of the documents are done by the Central HR on the

Date of Joining

.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN L&T INFOTECH

37

Database Management Team

Receive the Resume

Check for Duplicity

Move them in Respective Folder

(Module wise)

Entry in Resumer

Recruiters

Screening

Interview I

Offer Team

Check and verify theNecessary Documents

Creation of REX(Relevant Experience)

Send Papers to Corporate Office

Interview II

HR Interview

Document Checklist & Employment Verification

Issue the Appointment Letter / Joining follow-up & Formalities

RECRUITMENT PROCESS FLOW CHART

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1st Int / Technical Screening

Yes

Recruiter’s Inbox

Screening

ValidateResume

Mail Candidate / Consultant & Update Resumer

1st IntClear ?

No

Mail Candidate / Consultant & Update Resumer

No

Yes

2nd Int / TECH Interview

Select?

C

Mail Candidate/Consultant & Update Resumer

Yes

No

Personal Int / HR Int

2nd IntClear ?

Mail Candidate/Consultant &Update Resumer

No

Yes

Document Checking &Reference Checklist

C

Documents sent to Offer Team

PROCESS AFTER SELECTION

Once the candidate is selected the preparation of REX is done which

helps in the generation of the salary card. After the salary card is

generated the soft copy is sent to the candidate as the soft copy of

the offer letter.

Candidate may either:

Accept the offer

Ask for the offer to be revised

Reject the offer

In case of offer acceptance the candidate is asked to go for a

medical examination and is asked for a probable date as to when

the candidate could join the organization. After this the hard copy of

the offer letter is prepared and dispatched.

This is followed by the candidate’s joining formalities like PS Number

generation, induction etc.

When a candidate asks for the offer to be revised, it is done only

incase of deserving candidates and this can be done for maximum

two times. After the offer has been revised the new offer is sent to

the candidate and if he accepts the offer then the same process is

followed as in case of acceptance while if the candidate rejects the

offer then it is taken as an offer decline case and the entire folder of

the candidate is sent to the concerned person who is responsible for

maintaining the data regarding offer rejection.

The candidates rejecting the offer right away are considered as offer

decline case and the folder is sent to the concerned person

immediately so that the database could be updated.

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PROCESS AFTER SELECTION

40

EFFECTIVENESS OF CONSULTANTS V/S OTHER SOURCES

OF RECRUITMENT

The analysis is done department wise and it is done on the basis of

data for the last four months i.e from January 2007 to April 2007.

The analysis is focused on:

Total number of CVs received

CVs received from the consultancies and the other sources

Short listed CVs from consultancies

Number of selected candidates v/s Number of CVs Short listed

(Consultancies) / Hit Ratio

TOTAL NUMBER OF CVs RECEIVED:

TABLE – 1

MONTH STATUS

No. of Duplicate

CVs Screen Rejected CVsTotal CVs Received

JANUARY 428 863 1568

FEBRUARY 378 548 1006

MARCH 772 418 2563

APRIL 1331 404 3014

TOTAL 2909 2233 8151

Ratios:

Ratio (duplicate CVs : CVs

Received)1:3

Ratio (screen reject : CVs

Received)1:4

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There are different sources through which CVs come for screening,

some of them are:

Consultancies

Direct CVs sent by the Candidates

CV’s from the Job Sites

Buddy referral scheme

Due to unavailability of data the CVs that come from consultancies

will be clubbed in one while the CVs other than that would be

considered as ‘CVs from Other Sources’. The total number of CVs

received were sufficient in terms of numbers i.e. quantity but were

not that good in terms of quality.

The consultancies send in CVs on a per day basis and few

consultancies send in CVs in huge numbers but the striking fact

here is that the huge number is not helping the cause since most of

the CVs sent come out to be Duplicate CVs which were already in

the database.

The very fact that consultancies are paid a handsome amount for

their services is not a guarantee of them doing a good job. Many a

times it is found that even after telling them what the basic

minimum criteria for selection is, the consultancies forward the CVs

of candidates who do not fulfill the basic minimum criteria.

The consultancies on a weekly basis are informed about what are

the requirements of the organization as in which modules have an

urgent requirement and what are the basic minimum qualification in

terms of education and work experience the organization is looking

for, still a lot of CVs that are received are not meeting the criteria.

Majority of the CVs received come out to be duplicates which are

updated as ‘Already in Database’ and most of the remaining CVs

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come out to be ‘Screen Reject’ because they do not fulfill the

minimum requirement. The data submitted proves this.

TOTAL NUMBER OF FAKED CVs RECEIVED:

TABLE – 2

Ratio:

Ratio (Fake candidates:CVs

Received)1:270

One of the striking facts that can be seen is that consultancies are

not taking the burden of screening the CVs at least once because of

which “Fake CVs” are also received this could be seen in the data

submitted along with the report. At times the identification of the

fake CVs is at a very late stage like in the final round of interview

which leads to a wastage of money as well as time behind

interviewing the fake candidate.

The idea behind employing consultancies for the job, was to save

time by getting in a huge number of quality CVs which would not be

needing any initial screening, but this is not what is really

happening, the actual scenario is that the CVs still require a lot of

time for its initial screening.

MONTH STATUS

Fake Candidates Total CVs Received

JANUARY 7 1568

FEBRUARY 3 1006

MARCH 8 2563

APRIL 12 3014

TOTAL 30 8151

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CVs RECEIVED FROM THE CONSULTANCIES AND THE

OTHER SOURCES

TABLE-3

MONTH

CVs from

Consultancies

CVs Received from other

sources

Total CVs

Received

JANUARY 1141 427 1568

FEBRUARY 745 261 1006

MARCH 1859 704 2563

APRIL 2580 434 3014

Total 6325 1826 8151

Ratio:

Ratio (Consultant:Total Received) 1:2(1.3)

Ratio (Other Sources:Total Received) 1:5(4.5)

The organization in the past five months has relied mostly on the

CVs from consultancies. The only reason was the belief of the

organization that it would help the organization to save time and the

employees who were earlier employed for the initial screening of the

CV could utilize their time doing something that could add value to

the organization. The other reason was that the organization

believed that the CVs would be better in terms of quality. Due to

this the other sources like the CVs that come directly from

candidates, CVs from Job Sites and the CVs that come through

Buddy referral scheme were not given much importance in the past

four months.

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CVs RECEIVED V/S CVs SELECTED

TABLE – 4

MONTH STATUS

CVs Received from other

sources

Selected Candidates(other

sources)

Total CVs

Received

JAN 427 68 1568

FEB 261 37 1006

MAR 704 46 2563

APR 434 28 3014

Total 1826 179 8151

MONTH   STATUS  

CVs Received from

Consultancies

Selected

Candidates(consultancies)

Total CVs

Received

JAN 1141 1 1568

FEB 745 30 1006

MAR 1859 12 2563

APR 2580 25 3014

Total 6325 68 8151

Ratio:

The only time that the CVs from other sources are screened is when

the organization has a requirement that can not be met only with

the help of CVs from Consultancies.

consultanci

es

other

sources

Ratio (selected:Received) 1:93 1:10

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The situation demands that the consultancies work with more

responsibility and pay attention to the quality aspect needed by the

organization. They should see to it that they not only send in CVs in

great numbers but also CVs should be of good quality which could

be short listed at least for the first round of interviews.

The numbers above in the table give a clear indication that the

consultants are not keeping up with the expected level of

performance as compared to the other sources like the Job Sites,

Walk Ins etc which have very high conversion rates.

The “Buddy Referral Scheme” is in its very nascent stage and needs

to be encouraged because most of the times it has been seen that a

good performer brings with him a good performer.

SHORTLISTED CVs FROM CONSULTANCIES:

TABLE-5

MONTH      

  Short listed CVs

CVs Received from

Consultancies Total CVs Received

JANUARY 265 1141 1568

FEBRUAR

Y 187 745 1006

MARCH 574 1859 2563

APRIL 634 2580 3014

Total 1660 6325 8151

Ratio:

The CVs that are received from the consultancies are first of all

checked for duplicity and the CVs that were already in the database

consultanci

es

Ratio (Shortlisted:Received) 1:4

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are updated as “Already in the Database”, after this the fresh CVs

Are sent for screening to the respective recruiters for the different

modules.

The CVs found satisfactory which fulfill the minimum criteria get

shortlisted and are then scheduled for interviews. The data above

shows that the maximum numbers of CV’s get sorted out in the

initial stage of screening because of which the number of

candidates that are interviewed are less and thus the number goes

on decreasing after each stage, this needs a definite attention

immediately.

HIT RATIO

TABLE-6

MONTH

Selected

Candidates(consultan

cies)

Shortlisted

CVs

CVs Received from

Consultancies

Total CVs

Received

JANUARY 1 265 1141 1568

FEBRUARY 30 187 745 1006

MARCH 12 574 1859 2563

APRIL 25 634 2580 3014

Total 68 1660 6325 8151

Ratio

The total number of candidates that come through consultancies is

a good number but the hit ratio is an area of concern which in turn

leads to a huge wastage of resource which is invested in following

up the recruitment process. The selected candidate referred here

includes both the candidates who join the organization and the

candidates who decline the offer. The idea behind considering the

consultanci

es

Ratio (Selected:Shortlisted) 1:25

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joined as well as the decline cases was to focus on the candidates

who really are good and do get through the entire recruitment

process.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The recruitment team needs to pool in a lot of candidates, as the hit

ratio in the company is very low. Hence the company must seek

ways to increase the access for the job sites which would help the

recruiters to have simultaneous login. Another way of doing this

could be, to be in constant touch with the consultancies by meeting

them on a regular basis to keep them updated about the

requirements. Then it is the job of the consultancies and recruiters

to screen the CV’s such that there should be a 50% chance of the

candidate making it.

The organization could also concentrate on working with the top 10

consultancies on a priority basis which have been performing well

for the last four months. This could help in encouraging the

consultancies to work even harder and perform even better which

would help in raising the Hit Ratio considerably.

The analysis part clearly shows that the consultancies have a very

poor hit ratio and so a lot of attention needs to be paid on this

source, on which the organization heavily depends on. The

maximum number of CV’s come from consultancies while the

number of candidates that get selected is a matter of concern. So

may be along with the consultancies its time to pay more attention

towards the other sources like the job sites to get in CVs more in

number and better in quality, for this the organization may hire

more employees especially to do the job. This would help the

organization in meeting the requirements with a slight increase in

the expense

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The “Buddy Referral Scheme” is in its very nascent stage and needs

to be encouraged because most of the times it has been seen that a

good performer brings with him a good performer.

One more change that could be brought is that after the second

round of technical interview the REX should be prepared and given

to the HR person while he/she interviews the candidate so that the

HR person can try and negotiate the salary of the candidate then

and there itself, thus reducing the recruitment lead time. This not

only reduces the lead time but also sees to it that the candidate is

tied to the organization as there is a good possibility that the

candidate might decline the offer if he gets a better offer from

another company.

One of the major problems that could be seen was the unavailability

of the panel to conduct the interviews. Most of the times it happens

that the panel which is allocated by the mentor is not available and

so its not possible for the recruiters to schedule the interviews which

adds on to the pressure. For this proper coordination between the

recruitment team and the mentors is needed, so that whenever the

interviews are scheduled the panel stays free to conduct the

interviews. This would help in reducing the time needed for the

entire process.

The organization needs to take care of the decline cases. The

decline cases are too high which in turn leads to a significant

amount of wastage of resources like time, money etc. The

management needs to take some initiatives as to how these decline

cases could be reduced. For this the motivation in the employees of

the organization would be quite a help. So proper training and

grievance handling programs must be held in small intervals.

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Finally the management needs to understand that the SAP market in

India is in its nascent stage and therefore the pool of candidates is

not that huge and the candidates pursuing SAP as a career are less

in numbers. So it would be a great idea to evaluate the initial

criteria as per the requirement. For example the qualification

needed must be adjustable and the work experience needed by the

candidate to fulfill the initial criteria should also be reduced. This

would help in getting in more candidates who because of the tough

criteria set by the organization are unable to get short listed.

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CONCLUSION

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a

variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing

needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire

employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best

employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with

performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management

practices conform to various regulations.

In Software industry more than in any other, HR has a very strong

champion's role to play. HR has to lead from the front. This will

mean that all important employee touch points need to be owned

and managed by HR. HR has to serve as the watch dog in ensuring

that the demands placed on employees are balanced and fair and

reasonable and do not compromise their interests. If HR does not

play this role or is not seen as playing this role, employees may be

forced to look elsewhere.

The main objective behind my study was to find whether the

Recruitment process of Larsen & Toubro Infotech is giving the

desired results and what the possible constraints are. The study

reveals some serious constraints some of which the management is

already looking into. The management is finding ways and means to

make the employees feel proud of themselves and the organisation.

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L&T Infotech imparts one of the best training for SAP modules as

compared to other companies in the industry. Since it incurs heavy

expenses in training there is an additional pressure to retain its

employees. The attrition rate in L&T Infotech is about 15-20%. They

impart continuous knowledge by conducting various training

programs. Special IT training is given to Non IT people so that they

are aware of the basics, which would help them, do their work in the

best way.

The company is average in terms of offering compensation. This is

one reason why the number of offer decline is high. The company

follows a compensation system where in they have a Fixed and a

Variable component, where in the Fixed component as the name

suggests is fixed according to his Grade and Designation and his

Variable component is given a range wherein it could not exceed a

given amount. This is also based on the grade, designation and his

performance appraisal review.

The work culture in L&T Infotech is something to be proud of. The

company practices a culture where in each of the employees refer

to other with their first name. The superiors are also called by their

first name. This helps the employees remove that fear of talking to

their seniors. The best thing noticed during my training period was

that the vision and mission of the company is passed on to the

entire L&T Group of companies either through video conferencing or

directly the CMD coming down and personally addressing the

employees.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Journals:

HRM Review

Human Capital, Vol 9, No. 3 August 2005

Human Capital,Vol 10, No. 10 March 2007

Business World

Business Today

ICFAI Journal

Websites:

www.lntinfotech.com

www.hrsolutionsinc.com

www.workforce.com

www.employment-studies.co.uk

www.citehr.com

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