Domain Human Resource Management

Name of the Case: A WOW Career Experience for our Talent

Introduction

Tata Steel has always been a pioneer for employee friendly HR policies and processes for over a century of operations. The
company recognizes that its people are the primary source of its competitiveness. The company strives to be an employer
of choice by attracting the best talent and ensuring a vibrant workforce.
Background for Case

The organization has been fore-runner in bringing in ground-breaking HR practices throughout history, most of which at
that time were unheard or unthought of. A glimpse of some initiatives of the organization are listed below some of which
in due course of time were enforced by legal mandate:
Introduced in ENFORCED
AREA LEGAL MEASURES
TATA STEEL By LAW
Eight hour working day 1912 1948 Factories Act
Free Medical Aid 1915 1948 Employees State Insurance Act
Formation of Works Committee for
handling Complaints, service 1919 1947 Industrial Disputes Act
conditions and grievances
Leave with pay 1920 1948 Factories Act
Workers’ Provident fund scheme 1920 1952 Employees, Provident Fund
Workmen’s’ Accident Compensation
1920 1924 Workman’s Compensation Act
Scheme
Technical Institute for training of
Apprentices, Craftsmen and 1921 1961 Apprentices Act
Engineering graduates
Maternity Benefit 1928 1946 Maternity Benefit Act
Profit sharing bonus 1934 1965 Bonus Act
Retiring Gratuity 1937 1972 Payment of Gratuity Act
Study Leave 1945
Life cover scheme 1978
Encashment of sick leave 1980
Pension scheme in addition to
1989 1995 EPS
statutory scheme
Medical Separation scheme 1990 -
Incentive for higher education 1990 -
However, we understand that what works in the past, may not be relevant in the future and In line with our goal to
become employer of choice across industries we have taken many steps in the recent to attract and retain best of the
talent
Given the industry that we operate in, some notable HR interventions which have been unique in the recent times include,
but not limited to:
5 Days’ Work Week – First in the manufacturing sector, addressing the needs of millennials
Flexi-Working Hours for White-Collared Employees
Work-From-Home policy for White-Collared Employees
Maternity & Adoption Benefit – Introduced before the 26 weeks’ leave was mandated by Law, extendable to an additional
one month leave, additional privilege leave up to 15 days every year, cash benefit for adoption
Satellite Office Operation – One of the few cos. to offer location agnostic roles to address personal needs of employees
“Raahat” Menstrual Leave – The first company to introduce in the large-scale segment
Take 2 – Mainstreaming women on a career break
Gender Transition Benefit for Transgenders

Figure 1.1: Recent HR Interventions at Tata Steel

Problem Statement/Challenges Faced

Tata Steel is seeing a rapid change in the workforce with the influx of diverse millennials who are brewing in fresh ideas
and innovation. The organization strives to remain contemporary while retaining the rich legacy of a century with future-
ready HR practices. We envision to Unleash Collective Possibilities of People. To achieve this vision, it is utmost necessary
that we as an organization provide an Enriching Career Experience; or as we like to quote, “a WOW Career Experience” to
our people.

Know Our Talent Flow Our Talent Grow Our Talent

• Career Conversation – To enable
career discussion with managers
• Career Maps – to show next step in
career
• Potential Assessment &
Segmentation
• Action Learning Projects &
Stretch Assignments – For cross
functional exposure
• Talent Exchange Program – With
in TIS Group companies
• Job Rotation – Planned rotations
• Internal Recruitment: Open and
transparent process where in every position is
advertised internally and interested officer
can apply and take part in process

Understanding the employee Providing resources & platforms for Providing development opportunities
aspirations & systematically map talent enhancing exposure for career advancement

While there have been HR interventions from the company in the form of Career Framework (listed above), which focuses
on managing employee aspirations and helping them seek enriching career experiences with career maps and horizontal
learning exposures, there have been challenges (discussed below) which needs to be addressed.
1. What is the right talent for me? While Tata Steel currently recruits from an empanelled list of premier colleges for
its campus recruitment. However, it has also been observed that there are experienced professional hires from
Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges who are also performing exceptionally well in the organization. What we observe that
technology is going to disrupt this traditional approach of recruitment. The challenge is how to proactively identify
the new engagement models for talent.
2. A “WOW” Pre-Recruitment Experience: The organization wants to provide an enriching career experience to its
talent right from the pre-recruitment phase. We aspire to differentiate ourselves in the recruitment experience we
provide and be an Employer of Choice for potential talent, be it in campus or in the talent market.
3. Talent Mobility: Given the industry that Tata Steel is in and the locations that we operate out of, internal talent
mobility is a major challenge esp. in Raw Material/OMQ locations (Noamundi, Jharia, West Bokaro etc.) or
Kalinganagar. These locations enable employees to have the most enriching learning experience. However, the
challenge is to increase the attractiveness of these locations in the career journey the talent. Currently, many
 people do not prefer to relocate to such locations and as a result, the company loses out on good as well as diverse
talent in the process.
4. Career Growth/Movement – Vertical vs Lateral: Tata Steel has a flatter organization structure in the white-collar
category with only 6 levels in the hierarchy. While the positive result out of such a structure is the low power
distance between top management and entry level, it also poses a challenge of addressing the career growth needs
of the employees. Since promotion to a higher level is based on vacancy, it throws the challenge of limited vertical
career opportunities. Another challenge is to provide clarity to our talent in terms of their potential career
progression within the organization.

Critical Case Questions

Keeping in mind of the context that the organization operates in and the challenges discussed above, we are looking at
analysis to the following questions:

1. What are the disruptive models for identifying and engaging talent that we should consider?
2. What should be the strategy for transition from an “Employer of Choice” to “Dream Company to Work For”? What
aspects should definitely be ensured for the enriching learning experience of new joiners?
3. How do we effectively address the employee need of career progression and organization need of mobility across
locations and provide an enriching career experience to our talent? What are the emerging career models to
engage with the workforce of future that we should consider.

Please note that we aspire to remain pioneers in HR practices and interventions and be a future-ready organization, while
providing a WOW Career Experience to our Talent. We encourage out-of-the box, yet practical inputs and ideas for the
challenges discussed and their follow-up questions.