M&M plans to set up an alumni network whereby the company will seek references from its former employees to hire candidates. | |
| The Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) HR thinktank is planning to reach out to employees who have retired from the organisation and ask them to refer candidates who can be hired by the company. |
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| Currently, though, this concept is at the "drawing board" stage and the larger modalities of implementing this human resources (HR) idea are still being worked out. |
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| Says Rajeev Dubey, president (HR & Corporate Services) and member of the group management board: "We are planning to set up an alumni network, but it's still in the exploratory phase. These alumni would be asked to refer people who can be hired in the organisation, and it would be complement the employee referral programmes that we have in our organisation." |
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| The move is aimed at reducing the costs incurred in hiring candidates since candidates can now be sourced through the company's own ex-employees. And such a cost advantage will further boost the company's low-cost HR operation. |
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| In fact, M&M may also target former employees "� who quit the company and joined other organisations "� for references. However, the company is working out the ethical issues surrounding such a move. |
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| Already in its 2005 annual report, the company talks of a drop in personnel cost as a percentage of sales. Accordingly, there has been a drop from 8.40 per cent to 6.97 per cent. |
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| Moreover, an initiative such as forming an alumni network also enables the company in forging a stronger bond with its alumni. |
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| The other advantage is that the new employees will assimilate faster into the company's culture since they were referred by the company's own alumni. |
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| Although the specific modes of targeting the company's past employees has not been firmed-up, some ideas doing the rounds in the corporate corridors include sending mailers to its alumni and inviting them for a dinner to communicate the company's action-plan. |
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| In fact, the HR function of Mahindra & Mahindra has been taking up many such pro-active efforts to add value to the business. For instance, in the past the company had created 'shadow boards' and used them as a platform for developing talent, and work on live problems and come out with out-of -the-box solutions. |
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| "The members of these boards are typically young people who are under 35 years of age," adds Dubey. |
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| The HR thinktank has also been facilitating synergies across business and locations. For instance, the company seeks to create a world class R&D facility in Chennai. |
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| Accordingly, the company has created cross-functional teams, by pooling in different skills in different locations. "The HR department acts as the catalyst in such endeavours," reasons Dubey. |
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