Reinventing HR-line manager relationship

Conflicting priorities, old-fashioned protocols and mutual frustration can hamper relations between HR and line managers, to no one's benefit, finds a Hay Group research. The global research, based on 150 HR directors and 600 line managers, finds half of the line managers feel that HR teams are slow to respond, with many of them even stating that Google is a better source of information. Even higher numbers (76 per cent) consider that HR keeps information close to its chest.

The feeling is mutual. Seventy-one per cent of HR directors say line managers expect immediate responses to queries and are unforgiving if the process takes longer.

The survey finds that a majority of HR managers agree that empowering line managers to make autonomous people management decisions should be a key goal. The challenges like globalisation and budget constraint require that the power to act decisively on people management issues must be extended from the HR function to line managers. This will help HR directors retain oversight while enjoying freedom to realise their strategic ambitions.

Mobile data pricing

According to Deloitte report, The State of the Indian Mobile Consumer, more than 65 per cent of respondents say they are interested in dynamic pricing of calls and data as the latter is one of the main reasons for a bill shock among consumers. More than 60 per cent of the respondents say that there have been times when their bills have been higher than what they expected.  

Deloitte feels that operators need to embrace dynamic business management (smart pricing) to increase revenue and optimise network usage, in turn increasing customer satisfaction and capacity.

Multi-functional devices are driving exponential growth in data usage. Investment in mobile applications has also fuelled increasing app usage, says report.