CHAPTER-I 1.

1 INTRODUCTION:

Recruitment and Selection Process of Insurance Companies PREFACE People are a companys most important assets. They can make or break the fortunes of a business. In todays highly competitive business environment placing the right people in the right position is very critical for the success of any organization. The recruitment and selection decision is of prime importance as it is the vehicle for obtaining the best possible person-to-job fit that will, contribute significantly towards the Company's effectiveness. It is also becoming increasingly important, as the Company evolves and changes, that new recruits show a willingness to learn, adaptability and ability to work as part of a team. The Recruitment & Selection procedure ensures that these criteria are addressed In this project I have studied Recruitment and Selection process of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and attempted to provide some ways so as to make recruitment more effective and to reduce the cost of hiring an employee.

I am privileged to be one of the students who got an opportunity to do my training with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. My involvement in the project has been very

challenging and has provided me a platform to leverage my potential in the most constructive way. ICICI Prudential Life insurance is one of India's leading financial institutions offering complete financial solutions that encompass every sphere of life. In a short span of time,ICICI has set an example by having a steady and confident journey to growth and success. During the period I have studied deeply the process of hiring in ICICI Prudential Life insurance and did a SWOT analysis of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance to find out the existing shortcomings and potential threats and thereby recommended suggestions. This project however is an attempt to share as best as possible my experience in corporate world with all my colleagues and my faculty. I would be delighted to receive readers comments which maybe valuable lessons for my future projects.

1.2: HYPOTHESIS:

The report is on the basis of fallowing hypothesis:

The HR Practices being employed by the organization are contributing towards its growth. The employees working in the organization are satisfied with the HR

H R Practices includes :

Recruitment

Selection

Planning

Training and development

Performance Appraisal

Payroll system

Retirement Benefits

Incentive System

1.3 METHODOLOGY:

DATA COLLECTION METHODS Both primary and secondary sources of data are used to collect the information. SECONDRY DATA has been collected through published data. Published data is available in books, magazines, reports, bulletins and in various sites on net. The PRIMARY DATA is collected of the HR Managers of different life Insurance companies in Private sector. A survey was conducted keeping in view the objective of the study. The questionnaire is consisted of both open ended and close ended questions.

1.4 REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Recruitment and selection is one of the most generally discussed inthe study of Human Resource. The literature on Recruitment andSelection is not quite vast.To gain a deeper understanding about the phenomenon of highattrition and its cause, literature particularly journals, reference bookswere studied in detail. The various websites were also helpful in gaininga large view of attrition among employees and the ways to reduce suchhigh rate.The findings would not have been realistic without the feedback of employees of ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE. For this the employees feedback was sought.

1.5 SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTHS : ICICI PRUDENTIAL is the largest private player in the insurance industry in India, with a market share of around 36% amongst the private players. ICICI PRUDENTIAL has deposited a paid up capital of Rs. 925 crores with IRDA as a caution deposit, the highest amongst all the life insurance companies in India whereas LIC has deposited only 60 crores so far. ICICI PRUDENTIAL is the first life insurance company to offer ECS debit facility. ICICI PRUDENTIAL is the first company to introduce unit linked life insurance and pension products. Presently the maximum numbers of ranges are under ULIP like life insurance, investment as well as pension plans. Its Venture funds management co. Ltd is Indias largest venture capital company. Brand equity of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Rigorous Pre-Hiring assessment tests to understand aptitude and personality of candidates. Proper reference checks to ensure that only bonafide candidates are appointed. Adequate number of channel partners to generate footfalls for each location. Footfall MIS being maintained at each branch locally by Admin.

 WEAKNESSES Industry in nascent stage. Rural areas still not covered. Not very well known among the Indian population. Lack of credibility in the public because ICICI being a private player. Premiums are high as compared to its competitors. Very few branches in the country. Pre assessment tests are costly. Lengthy pre-offer formalities. Huge employee turnover.

OPPORTUNITIES Liberalization of Indian economy. As the industry is growing the whole market is virgin. Campus recruitments have huge potential for fulfilling manpower requirements cost effectively. Tie up with recruitment agencies on supplying fixed number of footfalls week on week. Develop exclusive contract with channel partners to meet the manpower requirements. Make blue form brief and to the point. Reduce turn around time of making an offer.

 THREATS The Govt. players will become aggressive thus growth is going to be tough. Entry of other new players is not ruled out. Apprehension towards ICICI PRUDENTIAL being a private life insurance company. We expect the industry to rationalize in future that is mergers and acquisitions will happen which will impact the industry and ICICI PRUDENTIAL fortunes. Increasing number of private players in insurance sector creates ample choices, frequent and easy mobility for employees. Same channel partners are handling all insurance companies. This leads to same pool of candidates being circulated to all partners. Increasing spill over as a candidate has more than one offer at the time of making a job shift. As the insurance industry is small, senior level candidates hesitate to meet HR of other companies for the fear of grapevine.

1.6 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY: OBJECTIVES

1. To study the recruitment and selection policy of ICICI Prudential. 2. To find out suitable candidates for the post of advisor. 3. To study about the competitors of ICICI Prudential.

SCOPE OF MY STUDY This study is very significant in a sense that I examine to focus throughout an practical application that all the managers need to deal with there HR relations and responsibilities. This study is designed to provide accurate and authorative information in regard to the subject matter covered. These are interesting time for HR Managers.

1.7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In todays rapidly changing business environment, organizations have to respond quickly to requirements for people. The Financial market has been witnessing growth which is manifold for last few years. Many private players have entered the economy thereby increasing the level of competition. In the competitive scenario it has become a challenge for each company to adopt practices that would help the organization stand out in the market. The competitiveness of a company of an organization is measured through the quality of products and services offered to customers that are unique from others. Thus the best services offered to the consumers are result of the genius brains working behind them. Human Resource Management in this regard has become an important function in any organization. All practices of marketing and finances can be easily emulated but the capability, the skills and talent of a person cannot be emulated. Hence, it is important to have a well-defined recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to get the best fits for the vacant positions. Selecting the wrong candidate or rejecting the right candidate could turn out to be costly mistakes for the organization. Therefore a recruitment practice in an organization must be effective and efficient in attracting the best manpower.

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Coverage The extent and limitation With largest number of life insurance policies in force in the world, insurance happens to be a mega opportunity in India. Its business is growing at 15-20% annually and presently is of the order of Rs. 450m. Together with banking sector it adds about 7% to the GDP. Like the case of BPOs, Insurance sector too faces the problem of attrition. Thus, recruitment is an ongoing process carried through out the year. The project is based on the study of recruitment process. The various recommendations suggested have been the result of the study. The idea is to generate ways of dealing with high attrition and making hiring process manageable and efficient.

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CHAPTER-II DEFINITION & MEANING OF INSURANCE

2.1 DEFINITION OF INSURANCE: A contract (policy) in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.

MEANING OF INSURANCE: Insurance means a promise of compensation for any potential future losses. It facilitates financial protection against by reimbursing losses during crisis.

There are different insurance companies that offer wide range of insurance options and an insurance purchaser can select as per own convenience and preference. Several insurances provide comprehensive coverage with affordable premiums. Premiums are periodical payment and different insurers offer diverse premium options.

The periodical insurance premiums are calculated according to the total insurance amount. Mainly insurance is used as an effective tool of risk management as quantified risks of different volumes can be insured.

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2.2 INTRODUCTION OF INSURANCE INDUSTRIES

Overview The story of insurance is probably as old as the story of mankind. The same instinct that prompts modern businessmen today to secure themselves against loss and disaster existed in primitive men also. They too sought to avert the evil consequences of fire and flood and loss of life and were willing to make some sort of sacrifice in order to achieve security. Though the concept of insurance is largely a development of the recent past, particularly after the industrial era past few centuries yet its beginnings date back almost 6000 years. The first two decades of the twentieth century saw lot of growth in insurance business. From 44 companies with total business-in-force as Rs.22.44 crore, it rose
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to 176 companies with total business-in-force as Rs.298 crore in 1938. The Insurance Act 1938 was the first legislation governing not only life insurance but also non-life insurance to provide strict state control over insurance business.

Some of the important milestones in the life insurance business in India are:

1818: Oriental Life Insurance Company, the first life insurance company on Indian soil started functioning.

1870: Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society, the first Indian life insurance company started its business.

1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act enacted as the first statute to regulate the life insurance business.

1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act enacted to enable the government to collect statistical information about both life and nonlife insurance businesses.

1938: Earlier legislation consolidated and amended to by the Insurance Act with the objective of protecting the interests of the insuring public.

1956: 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies are taken over by the central government and nationalized. LIC formed by an Act of Parliament, viz. LIC Act, 1956, with a capital contribution of Rs. 5 crore from the Government of India.

The General insurance business in India, on the other hand, can trace its roots to the Triton Insurance Company Ltd., the first general insurance company established in the year 1850 in Calcutta by the British.
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Some of the important milestones in the general insurance in India are:

1907: The Indian Mercantile Insurance Ltd. set up, the first company to transact all classes of general insurance business.

1957: General Insurance Council, a wing of the Insurance Association of India, frames a code of conduct for ensuring fair conduct and sound business practices.

1968: The Insurance Act amended to regulate investments and set minimum solvency margins and the Tariff Advisory Committee set up.

1972: The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 nationalised the general insurance business in India with effect from 1st January 1973.

With largest number of life insurance policies in force in the world, Insurance happens to be a mega opportunity in India. Its a business growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually and presently is of the order of Rs 450 billion. Together with banking services, it adds about 7 per cent to the countrys GDP. Gross premium collection is nearly 2 per cent of GDP and funds available with LIC for investments are 8 per cent of GDP. Yet, nearly 80 per cent of Indian population is without life insurance cover while health insurance and non-life insurance continues to be below international standards. And this part of the population is also subject to weak social security and pension systems with hardly any old age income security. This itself is an indicator that growth potential for the insurance sector is immense.
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A well-developed and evolved insurance sector is needed for economic development as it provides long term funds for infrastructure development and at the same time strengthens the risk taking ability. It is estimated that over the next ten years India would require investments of the order of one trillion US dollar. The Insurance sector, to some extent, can enable investments in infrastructure development to sustain economic growth of the country. India has come a full circle from being an open competitive market to nationalization and back to a liberalized market again. Tracing the developments in the Indian insurance sector reveals the 360 degree turn witnessed over a period of almost two centuries. Present Scenario The Government of India liberalized the insurance sector in March 2000 with the passage of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Bill, lifting all entry restrictions for private players and allowing foreign players to enter the market with some limits on direct foreign ownership. The opening up of the sector is likely to lead to greater spread and deepening of insurance in India and this may also include restructuring and revitalizing of the public sector companies. In the private sector 14 life insurance and 8 general insurance companies have been registered. A host of private Insurance companies operating in both life and non-life segments have started selling their insurance policies.

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Life Insurance Market The Life Insurance market in India is an underdeveloped market that was only tapped by the state owned LIC till the entry of private insurers. The penetration of life insurance products was 19 percent of the total 400 million of the insurable population. The state owned LIC sold insurance as a tax instrument, not as a product giving protection. Most customers were under- insured with no flexibility or transparency in the products. With the entry of the private insurers the rules of the game have changed. The 12 private insurers in the life insurance market have already grabbed nearly 9 percent of the market in terms of premium income. The new business premiums of the 12 private players has tripled to Rs 1000 crore in year 2002- 03. Innovative products, smart marketing and aggressive distribution. That's the triple whammy combination that has enabled fledgling private insurance companies to sign up Indian customers faster than anyone ever expected. Indians, who have always seen life insurance as a tax saving device, are now suddenly turning to the private sector and snapping up the new innovative products on offer. The private insurers also seem to be scoring big in other ways- they are persuading people to take out bigger policies. Buoyed by their quicker than expected success, nearly all private insurers are fast- forwarding the second phase of their expansion plans.

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 Major Insurance Players Licenses have been issued for the following companies*ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited *HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited *Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited *TATA AIG Life Insurance Company Limited *Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited *SBI Cardiff Life Insurance Company Limited *ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Limited *Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited *MetLife Life Insurance Company Limited *Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited *AMP Sanmar Life Insurance Company Limited *Sahara India Life Insurance Limited *Sri Ram Life Insurance Limited

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2.3 INTRODUCTION OF ICICI PRUDENTIAL

Company Profile ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a premier financial powerhouse and Prudential plc, a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI was established in 1955 to lend money for industrial development. Today, it has diversified into retail banking and is the largest private bank in the country. Prudential plc was established in 1848 and is presently the largest life insurance company in UK. ICICI Prudential is currently the No. 1 private life insurer in the country. For the financial year ended March 31, 2005, the company garnered Rs 1584 crore of new business premium for a total sum assured of Rs 13,780 crore and wrote nearly 615,000 policies. The Company recognizes that the driving force for gaining sustainable competitive advantage in this business is superior customer experience and investment behind the brand. The Company aims to achieve this by striving to provide world class service levels through constant innovation in products, distribution channels and technology based delivery. The Company has already taken significant steps to achieve this goal. India's Number One private life insurer, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank-one of India's foremost financial services companies-and Prudential plc- a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Total capital
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infusion stands at Rs. 23.72 billion, with ICICI Bank holding a stake of 74% and Prudential plc holding 26%. ICICI Prudential was the first life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch ratings. For three years in a row, ICICI Prudential has been voted as India's Most Trusted Private Life Insurer, by The Economic Times - AC Nielsen ORG Marg survey of 'Most Trusted Brands'. As we grow our distribution, product range and customer base, we continue to tirelessly uphold our commitment to deliver world-class financial solutions to customers all over India. ICICI Prudential's capital stands at Rs. 23.72 billion with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2007, the company garnered Rs. 987 crore of weighted retail + group new business premiums and wrote over 450,000 retail policies in the period. The company has assets held to the tune of over Rs. 18,400 crore. Distribution Channels: ICICI Prudential has one of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India. It has a strong presence across India with over 680 branches and over 235,000 advisors. The company has over 23 bancassurnace partners, having tie-ups with ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Bank of India, Lord Krishna Bank, Idukki District Co-operative Bank, Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank, Shamrao Vithal Co-op Bank, Ernakulam Bank, 9 Bank of India sponsored Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Sangli Urban Co-operative Bank, Baramati Co-operative Bank, Ballia Kshetriya Gramin Bank, The Haryana State Cooperative Bank and Imphal Urban Cooperative Bank Limited.

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2.4 PROMOTERS OF ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE:

ICICI Bank ICICI Bank Ltd is India's largest private sector bank and the second largest bank in the country with consolidated total assets of over US$ 100 billion as of March 31, 2010. ICICI Banks subsidiaries include Indias leading private sector insurance companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual funds and private equity firms. ICICI Banks presence currently spans 19 countries, including India. Prudential Plc Established in London in 1848, Prudential plc is an international retail financial services group with significant operations in Asia, the US and the UK serving around 25 million customers, policyholder and unit holders worldwide. The company has 290 billion of assets under management and it is one of the best capitalised insurers in the world with an Insurance Groups Directive (IGD) capital surplus estimated at 3.4 billion (at 31 December 2009). Prudential is a leading life insurer in Asia with a presence in 12 markets and have the top three position in seven key locations of Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam.

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2.5 REWARDS & RECOGNITION:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has been conferred the Insurance Company of the Year Award 2011 and Company of the Year Award 2011 Life Insurance at The Indian Insurance Awards 2011 instituted by the reputed insurance journal of India Insurance Review, in association with Celent, a research and consulting firm. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has been awarded the prestigious award for the Best Leading Private Player Life Insurance 2011 at the CNBC TV18 Best Bank and Financial Institution Awards for FY11. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance was awarded the ICWAI National Award for Excellence in Cost Management 2010 under the Private sectorService (Large) category at ICWAI annual event. India's Most Customer Responsive Insurance Company. AGC Networks Economic Times, Customer Responsiveness Awards, 2010 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has won the first runner up award for the Best Defect Elimination in Service & Transaction category at Asian Six Sigma Excellence Summit 2009. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance won the award for the Best Life InsurerRunner up at the Outlook Money & NDTV Profit Awards 2008
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 RECOGNITIONS: ICICI Prudential Life was recognized as the most trusted brand amongst private life insurers in the Economic Times-Most Trusted Brand survey 2008. IMM Award for Excellence, Institute of Marketing & Management. Organisation with Innovative HR Practices, Indira Group of Institutes. Organisation with Innovative HR Practices, Asia-Pacific H R Congress Awards for HR Excellence.

2.6 PRODUCTS: Products Insurance Solutions For Individuals ICICI Prudential Life Insurance offers a range of innovative, customer-centric products that meet the needs of customers at every life stage. Its products can be enhanced with up to 4 riders, to create a customized solution for each policy holder. Savings Solutions Saven Protect is a traditional endowment savings plan that offers life protection along with adequate returns. CashBak is an anticipated endowment policy ideal for meeting milestone expenses like a childs marriage, expenses for a childs higher education or purchase of an asset. LifeTimeSuper offer customers the flexibility and control to customize the policy to meet the changing needs at different life stages. Each offer 4 fund options Preserver, Protector, Balancer and Maximiser. LifeLink Super is a single premium Unit Linked Insurance Plan which combines life insurance cover with the opportunity to stay invested in the stock market.
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 Premier Life Gold is a limited premium paying plan that offers customers life insurance cover till the age of 75. InvestShield Life New is a unit linked plan that provides premium guarantee on the invested premiums and ensures that the customer receives only the benefits of fund appreciation without any of the risks of depreciation. InvestShield Cashbak is a unit linked plan that provides premium guarantee on the invested premiums along with flexible liquidity options.

Protection Solutions LifeGuard is a protection plan, which offers life cover at very low cost. It is available in 3 options level term assurance, level term assurance with return of premium and single premium. HomeAssure is a mortgage reducing term assurance plan designed specifically to help customers cover their home loans in a simple and costeffective manner. Child Plans SmartKid education plans provide guaranteed educational benefits to a child along with life insurance cover for the parent who purchases the policy. The policy is designed to provide money at important milestones in the childs life. SmartKid plans are also available in unit-linked form both single premium and regular premium.

Education Insurance Plans

Education insurance under the SmartKid brand provides guaranteed educational benefits to a child along with life insurance cover for the parent who purchases the policy. The policy is designed to provide money at important milestones in the child's life. SmartKid plans are also available in unit-linked form - both single premium and regular premium

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 Retirement Solutions ForeverLife is a retirement product targeted at individuals in their thirties. Market-linked retirement products LifeTime Super Pension is a regular premium market-linked pension plan. Golden Years: is a limited premium paying retirement solution that offers tax benefits up to Rs 100,000 u/s 80C, with flexibility in both the accumulation and payout stages.

Health Solution Health Assure and Health Assure Plus: Health Assure is a regular premium plan which provides long term cover against 6 critical illnesses by providing policyholder with financial assistance, irrespective of the actual medical expenses. Health Assure Plus offers the added advantage of an equivalent life insurance cover Cancer Care: is a regular premium plan that pays cash benefit on the diagnosis as well as at different stages in the treatment of various cancer conditions. Diabetes Care and Diabetes Care Plus: 1st ever critical illness insurance cover for diabetics. Hospital Care: Hospital Care offers a Cashless hospitalization facility in more then 3000 network hospitals Crisis Cover : is a 360-degree product that will provide long-term coverage against 35 critical illnesses, total and permanent disability, and death

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 Group Insurance Solutions ICICI Prudential also offers Group Insurance Solutions for companies seeking to enhance benefits to their employees. ICICI Pru Group Gratuity Plan: ICICI Prus group gratuity plan helps employers fund their statutory gratuity obligation in a scientific manner. The plan can also be customized to structure schemes that can provide benefits beyond the statutory obligations. ICICI Pru Group Superannuation Plan: ICICI Pru offers a flexible defined contribution superannuation scheme to provide a retirement kitty for each member of the group. Employees have the option of choosing from various annuity options or opting for a partial commutation of the annuity at the time of retirement. ICICI Pru Group Term Plan: ICICI Prus flexible group term solution helps provide affordable cover to members of a group. The cover could be uniform or based on designation/rank or a multiple of salary. The benefit under the policy is paid to the beneficiary nominated by the member on his/her death.

Flexible Rider Options ICICI Pru Life offers flexible riders, which can be added to the basic policy at a marginal cost, depending on the specific needs of the customer.

Accident Benefit: If death occurs as the result of an accident during the

term of the policy, the beneficiary receives an additional amount equal to the rider sum assured under the policy. If the death occurs while traveling in an authorized mass transport vehicle, the beneficiary will be entitled to twice the sum assured as additional benefit. Accident & Disability Benefit: This rider option pays 10% the sum assured under the rider every year till next 10 years on Accidental Permanent Disability of 2 Organs.

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 Critical Illness Benefit: protects the insured against financial loss in the
event of 9 specified critical illnesses. Benefits are payable to the insured for medical expenses prior to death. Income Benefit: This rider pays the 10% of the sum assured to the nominee every year, till maturity, in the event of the death of the life assured. It is available on SmarKid, SecurePlus and CashPlus Waiver of Premium: In case of total and permanent disability due to an accident, the premiums are waived till maturity. This rider is available with SecurePlus and CashPlus. Choice of Six Investment Options :- ICICI prudential offers you the opportunity of selecting between investment options to match your investment priorities.

1) Protector:An Investment Option with investment indebt and money market instruments.

2) Maximiser :An investment option with investment in equity and equity related instruments.

3) Balancer :An investment option with investment in a mix of equity and debt oriented instruments.

4) Preserver :An investment option with investment in low-risk instruments like cash and call money markets. 5) Flexi Growth:- New Fund (NFO) launched in March 2007, Long term returns from an equity portfolio lare,mid and small cap companies.

6) Flexi balanced:Balance of capital appreciation and stable returns from an equity (large,mid & small cap companies) & debt portfolio.

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2.7

VISION & VALUES OF ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE:

Their vision is to make ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company the dominant new insurer in the life insurance industry. This they hope to achieve through their commitment to excellence, focus on service, speed and innovation, and leveraging our technological expertise. The success of the organisation will be founded on its strong focus on values and clarity of purpose. These include: VISION: To be the dominant Life, Health and Pensions player built on trust by world-class people and service.This they hope to achieve by:

Understanding the needs of customers and offering them superior products and service Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently and conveniently Developing and implementing superior risk management and investment strategies to offer sustainable and stable returns to their policyholders Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for their employees And above all, building transparency in all their dealings

VALUES: Every member of the ICICI Prudential team is committed to 5 core values: Integrity, Customer First, Boundaryless, Ownership, and Passion. These values shine forth in all they do, and have become the keystones of their success. Each of the values describe what the company stands for, the qualities of the people and the way they work. They do believe that they are on the threshold of an exciting new opportunity, where they can play a significant role in redefining and reshaping the sector. Given the quality of their parentage and the commitment of their team, there are no limits to their growth.
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2.8

GROWTH OF ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE:

ICICI Prudential Life has retained its leadership position over the past nine years, in the Indian private life insurance sector. Some of the factors that distinguish us from other players in the market are: Assets held are over 57,000 crores as on March 31, 2010. Total capital stands at Rs. 4,780 crores (as of March 31, 2010) with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. Posted a growth of 8% (April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010) for garnering total received premium (new business + renewal) of Rs 16,532 crores as against Rs 15,356 crores in FY2009. Underwritten over 10 million policies since inception.

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2.9 BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

The ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited Board comprises reputed people from the finance industry both from India and abroad. Mr. K. V. Kamath, Chairman Mr. Mark Norbom Mrs. Kalpana Morparia Mrs. Kevin Holmgren Mr. M. P. Modi Mr. R. Narayanan Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director

MANAGEMENT TEAM: Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO Mr. N.S.Kanan, Executive Director Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, Executive Director Ms. Anita Pai, EVP Customer Service & Technology Mr. Azim Mithani, Chief Actuary Mr. Puneet Nanda, Chief Investments Officer

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CHAPTER III RECRUITMENT

3.1 DEFINITION & MEANING OF RECRUITMENT: Recruitment is defined as, a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient workforce. Edwin B. Flippo defined recruitment as the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. MEANING OF RECRUITMENT:

The art of choosing men is not nearly so difficult as the art of enabling
those one has chosen to attain their full worth.Recruitment is the process by which organizations locate and attract individuals to fill job vacancies. Most organizations have a continuing need to recruit new employees to replace those who leave or are promoted in order to acquire new skills and promote organizational growth. Recruitment follows HR planning and goes hand in hand with selection process by which organizations evaluate the suitability of candidates. With successful recruiting to create a sizeable pool of candidates, even the most accurate selection system is of little use Recruiting begins when a vacancy occurs and the recruiter receives authorization to fill it. The next step is careful examination of the job and enumeration of skills,
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abilities and experience needed to perform the job successfully. Recruitment is a linking function-joining together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. It is a joining process in that it tries to bring together job seekers and employer with a view to encourage the former to apply for a job with the latter. In order to attract people for the jobs, the organization must communicate the position in such a way that job seekers respond. To be cost effective, the recruitment process should attract qualified applicants and provide enough information for unqualified persons to self-select themselves out. Thus, the recruitment process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected. Other steps follow:

Creating an applicant pool using internal or external methods Evaluate candidates via selection Convince the candidate And finally make an offer
Recruitment represents the first contact that a company makes with potential employees. It is through recruitment that many individuals will come to know a company, and eventually decide whether they wish to work for it. A well-planned and well-managed recruiting effort will result in high-quality applicants, whereas, a haphazard and piecemeal effort will result in mediocre ones. High-quality employees cannot be selected when better candidates do not know of job openings, are not interested in working for the company and do not apply. The recruitment process should inform qualified individuals about employment opportunities,
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create a positive image of the company, provide enough information about the jobs so that applicants can make comparisons with their qualifications and interests, and generate enthusiasm among the best candidates so that they will apply for the vacant positions. The negative consequences of a poor recruitment process speak volumes about its role in an organization. The failure to generate an adequate number of reasonably qualified applicants can prove costly in several ways. It can greatly complicate the selection process and may result in lowering of selection standards. The poor quality of selection means extra cost on training and supervision. Furthermore, when recruitment fails to meet the organizational needs for talent, a typical response is to raise entry-level pay scales. This can distort traditional wage and salary relationships in the organization, resulting in avoidable consequences. Thus, the effectiveness of a recruitment process can play a major role in determining the resources that must be expended on other HR activities and their ultimate success. Scope: To define the process and flow of activities while recruiting, selecting and appointing personnel on the permanent rolls of an organization. ACTIVITY FLOW The organization philosophy should be kept in mind while formulating the recruitment procedure.The HR department would set the recruitment norms for the organization. However, the onus of effective implementation and compliance with the process rests with the heads of the respective functions and departments who are involved in the recruitment and selection process.

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The process is aimed at defining the series of activities that needs to be performed by different persons involved in the process of recruitment, the checks and control measures to be adopted and information that has to be captured. Recruitment and Selection is conducted by: HR & Branch Manager Functional Head

RECRUITMENT PLANNING Recruitment planning on the basis of budget The manpower planning process for the year would commence with the companys budgeting activity. The respective Functional heads would submit the manpower requirements of their respective functions/ departments to the board of Directors as part of the annual business plan after detailed discussion with the head of human Resource Function along with detailed notes in support of the projected numbers assumptions regarding the direct and indirect salary costs for each position. A copy of the duly approved manpower plan would be forwarded by the HR department for their further actions during the course of the year. The annual budget would specify the manpower requirement of the entire organization, at different levels, in various functions/departments, at different geographical locations and the timing of the individual requirements. It would also specify the requirement budget, which is the cost allotted towards the recruitment of the budgeted staff and the
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replacement of the existing employees. The manpower plan would also clearly indicate the exact time at which the incumbent should be on board in such a way that the Regional HR has adequate notice for the time lapses involved in sourcing any other activities. The Regional HRs would undertake the planning activity and necessary preparations in advance of the anticipated requirements, as monthly and quarterly activities on the basis of the approved budget, estimated separations and replacements therefore. The vacancies sought to be filled or being filled shall always be within the approved annual manpower budget and no recruitment process shall be initiated without the formal concurrence of the Head of the Regional HR under any circumstance. Head of the Regional HR shall also have the responsibility to monitor the appointments being considered at any point of time with specific respect to the duly approved manpower budgets. Job Analysis:

Before determining who to attract and select, it is essential that the organization has a clear idea about what the job requires and the attributes of the person who will best meet these requirements. Traditionally, job or role descriptions and person specifications have been devised to enable the organization to do this. Job or role descriptions detail information about the job purpose, its position during the recruitment and selection process to determine whether they meet these requirements.

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 Structure of the Hiring Team:

To know the structure of this recruitment team can also be very important for an organization. Better structure, leads to best results. Outsourcing:

The recruitment process can be contracted out partly or wholly to an external organization. This outsourcing may be for a specific vacancy, such as the use of a recruitment agency to recruit for the company to make the advisor base. Different parts of the recruitment process may be outsourced; for example using corporate agents; telesales, read and place job advertisements, or for short listing the profiles or for reference check.This may mean that the agency can provide a quicker, better and even cheaper service than the organization can provide itself. Improved service levels may also result from the service level agreement agreed between the organization and the corporate agents. Human Resource Management Information Systems (HRMIS) in Recruitment:

Depending on the qualification of the advisors provided by them, HRMIS can help at every step of the recruitment and selection process such as: Recording job requirements, through on-line job descriptions and person specifications; Recording previous job advertisements, which may then be modified for the current vacancy;

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 Producing information for the job package, such as standard letters regarding the application processes etc; Linking to advisor based information, if the Internet is used for recruitment and the receipt of applications; Producing letters and information for candidates regarding the selection process, such as invitations to attend interviews etc; Record selection process results; Producing contracts of employment for the successful candidate; Recording the successful candidates personal and job information for future use during employment; Recording information about applicants and the process for monitoring purposes. The use of a HRM during the recruitment and selection process can speed up the process and free resources. For example, depending on the type of package used, it may be possible to enter a candidates details once and this information can then be used to generate all other documentation and information. If the use of a HRM is linked to online recruitment and applications, the process may be streamlined still further.

The implementation of a HRM can be costly, both in terms of purchasing the software, but also in training staff to operate the new system.

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 SOURCING OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES: Selection of Sources Regional HR would tap various sources/channels for getting the right candidate. Depending on the nature of the position/grade, volumes of recruitment and any other relevant factors, the Regional HR would use any one multiple sources such as: Existing database (active application data bank); Employee referral as per any company scheme that may be approved from time to time; Advertisement in the internet / newspapers / magazines / companys sites /job sites or any other media; Placement Agencies (particularly for positions of Managers and above); Headhunting firms particularly for senior positions, specialist positions and critical positions; Direct recruitment from campuses/academic institutes; Job websites and Any other appropriate sources. The norms for using any of the sources are not water tight. Number of positions, criticality of positions and the urgency of the positions, confidentiality requirements, relative efficacy and cost considerations would play a role in the choice of the appropriate sourcing mechanism.

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 ADVERTISEMENTS All recruitment advertisements (in any form and any medium) shall always conform to the KLI compliance norms and would not be released by any department or branch without the approval of the VP-HR. depending on the specifics of each position for which recruitment advertisements are to be released, Regional HR may obtain assistance from the companys marketing department and/or any external advertising agencies for the preparation of the contents. Key features of the positions as notified by the Functional Heads would normally form a part of the advertisement text. The media for releasing advertisement would depend on the level of the position being considered and the urgency of the requirement. The advertisement mode that could be broadly specified as newspapers (local or mainline depending on requirements), internet sites and business magazines. Placement Agencies/Headhunting Agencies Depending upon the vacancies, fresher fitting different description listed above may be recruited from time to time, from academic institutes of appropriate standards/reputation/grade, in the requisite numbers and at the compensation/stipend amounts to be formally approved of the VP-HR. Plans for such recruitment need specific special approval of VP-HR. norms regarding the identification of the appropriate institutes, constitution of the selection panels, timings of the recruitment, number of candidates to be recruited into different positions, choice of the appropriate selection process

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and the tools thereof shall be decided by the Head of the Regional HR in consultation with the VP-HR, depending on the specific features of the position. Screening the candidates First level screening The Candidates would be screened by the HR Manager/Branch Manager for the respective locations. Screening would be on the basis of the profile of the candidate and the departmental requirements. This assessment will be with respect to: a. The general profile of the candidate, b. Personality fit of the candidate into the profile, c. Aptitude/attitude of the candidate, d. Motives of the person to join the company and whether focus is in the short term or is a long term player, e. Basic skill level on our set of requirements, say numerically ability, networking ability, etc f. Establish the annual guaranteed cash compensation of the individual and check whether the person would fit into the system. g. Explain the role of Sales manager to the applicant and check the acceptance of the candidate for the same. In case of need, the Regional HR may take a Tele interview of the candidate for further assessment process.

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 Second Level Screening Aptitude Test: If the first assessment is positive, the candidates will give the aptitude test, once such test is selected approved by the company. The scoring, interpretation and the generation of interview probes from that test will also be done at this time. People who qualify the minimum criteria on this test will be put up on to the Functional Head (VPs in case of HO) for functional assessment and suitability into the role. Tied Agency Sales Manager candidates short listed by the BM have will then take sales Aptitude test, once such a test is finalized. For the final selection, the regional Manager (Business Heads for HO) will meet the candidates short listed by the branch manager/VP. The chart specifying the Minimum approval level for each level of recruitment is specified below: Category Branch Manager/Chief Manager CSE/ADVISORS BIC BM/CM SM Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No Yes Area Manager/AVP/VP Business Managing Heads Director

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3.2 PURPOSE & 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. Recruitment is the process which links the employers with the employees. Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost. Help increase the success rate of selection process by decreasing number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants. Help reduce the probability that job applicants once recruited and selected will leave the organization only after a short period of time. Meet the organizations legal and social obligations regarding the composition of its workforce. Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate candidates. Increase organization and individual effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants

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3.3 PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT: The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organisations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows: Identifying the vacancy: The recruitment process begins with the human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company. These contain: Posts to be filled Number of persons Duties to be performed Qualifications required Preparing the job description and person specification. Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees (Advertising etc). Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee. Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates. Conducting the interview and decision making

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3.4 SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT:

Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment.

SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

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 Internal Sources:Persons who are already working in an organization constitute the internal sources.Retrenched employees,retired employees, dependents of deceased employees may also constitute the internal sources. Whenever any vacancy arises, someone from within the organization is upgraded, transferred, promoted or even demoted. 1. TRANSFERS: The employees are transferred from one department to another according to their efficiency and experience. 2. PROMOTIONS: The employees are promoted from one department to another with more benefits and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience. 3. Others are UPGRADING & DEMOTION of present employees according to their performance.

4. RETIRED & RETRENCHED EMPLOYEES : may also be recruited once again in case of shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. Recruitment such people save time and costs of the organisations as the people are already aware of the organisational culture and the policies and procedures.

5. The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled employees are also done by many companies so that the members of the family do not become dependent on the mercy of others.
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 External Sources External sources lie outside an organization. Here the organization can have the services of : (a) Employees working in other organizations; (b) Jobs aspirants registered with employment exchanges; (c) Students from reputed educational institutions; (d) Candidates referred by unions, friends, relatives and existing employees; (e) Candidates forwarded by search firms and contractors; (f) Candidates responding to the advertisements, issued by the organization; and (g) Unsolicited applications/ walk-ins.

1. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS: Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are a widely used source of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is that it has a wide reach.

2. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES: Various management institutes, engineering colleges, medical Colleges etc. are a good source of recruiting well qualified executives, engineers, medical staff etc. They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source is known as Campus Recruitment.

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3. PLACEMENT AGENCIES: Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment functions on behalf of client companies by charging a fee. These agencies are particularly suitable for recruitment of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)

4.EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES: Government establishes public employment exchanges throughout the country. These exchanges provide job information to job seekers and help employers in identifying suitable candidates.

5. LABOUR CONTRACTORS: Manual workers can be recruited through contractors who maintain close contacts with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour for construction jobs.

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6. UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS: Many job seekers visit the office of well-known companies on their own. Such callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But can help in creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates for the organisation.

7. EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS: Many organisations have structured system where the current employees of the organisation can refer their friends and relatives for some position in their organisation. Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often aware of the suitability of candidates. Management can inquire these leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are formal agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates recommended by the trade union.

8. RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE: Unskilled workers may be recruited at the factory gate these may be employed whenever a permanent worker is absent. More efficient among these may be recruited to fill permanent vacancies.

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 Merits and Demerits of Recruiting people from Within Merits Demerits

1)Economical:

The

cost

of 1)Limited

Choice:

The

recruiting internal candidates is minimal. No expenses are

organization is forced to select candidates from a limited pool. It may have to sacrifice quality and settle down for less

incurred on advertising. 2)Suitable: The organization can pick the right candidates having

qualified candidates.

the requisite skills. The candidate 2)Inbreeding: It discourages entry can choose a right vacancy where their talents can be fully utilized. 3) Reliable: The organization has the knowledge about suitability of a candidate for a position. Known devils are better than unknown angels! 4) Satisfying: A policy of preferring people from within offers regular promotional avenues for for talented people, available outside an organization. Existing employees may fail to behave in innovative necessary ways and inject to

dynamism

enterprise activities. 3)Inefficiency: Promotions based on length of service rather than merit, may prove to be a blessing for inefficient

employees. It motivates them to work hard and earn promotions.

candidate. They do not work hard and prove their worth.

They will work with loyalty 4) Bone of contention: Recruitment commitment and enthusiasm. from within may lead to

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infighting

among

employees

aspiring for limited, higher level positions in an organization. As years roll by, the race for premium positions may end up in a bitter race.

The merits and demerits of recruiting candidates from outside an organization may be stated thus: Merits and Demerits of External sources of Recruitment Merits Demerits

Wide Choice: The organization Expenses: Hiring costs could go has the freedom to select up substantially. Tapping

candidates from a large pool. multifarious sources of recruitment Persons with requisite is not an easy task either. Time consuming: It takes time to

qualifications could be picked up.

Infection of fresh blood: People advertise, screen, to test and test with special skills and knowledge and to select suitable employees. could be hired to stir up the Where suitable ones are not

existing employees and pave the available, the process has to be way for innovative ways of repeated. De-motivating:
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working.

Existing

Motivational force: It helps in employees

who

have

put

in

motivating internal employees to considerable service may resist the work hard and compete with process of filling up vacancies external candidates while seeking from outside. The feeling that their career growth. Such a competitive services have not been recognized atmosphere would help an by the organization, forces then to

employee to work to the best of his work with less enthusiasm and abilities. motivation.

Long term benefits: Talented Uncertainty: There is no guarantee people could join the ranks, new that the organization, ultimately ideas could find a meaningful will be able to hire the services of competitive suitable candidates. It may end up

expression,

atmosphere would compel people hiring someone who does not fit to give out their best and earn and who may not be able to adjust rewards, etc. in the new setup.

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3.5 FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT:

External Factors Affecting Recruitment The external forces are the forces which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The major external forces are: 1. SUPPLY AND DEMAND: The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special training and development programs.
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2. LABOUR MARKET: Employment conditions in the community where the organization is located will influence the recruiting efforts of the organization. If there is surplus of manpower at the time of recruitment, even informal attempts at the time of recruiting like notice boards display of the requisition or announcement in the meeting etc will attract more than enough applicants. 3. IMAGE / GOODWILL Image of the employer can work as a potential constraint for recruitment. An organization with positive image and goodwill as an employer finds it easier to attract and retain employees than an organization with negative image. Image of a company is based on what organization does and affected by industry. For example finance was taken up by fresher MBAs when many finance companies were coming up. 4. POLITICAL-SOCIAL- LEGAL ENVIRONMENT: Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have direct impact on recruitment practices. For example, Government of India has introduced legislation for reservation in employment for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, physically handicapped etc. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best performers. If the candidate cant meet criteria stipulated by the union but union regulations can restrict recruitment sources.

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5. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: One of the factors that influence the availability of applicants is the growth of the economy (whether economy is growing or not and its rate). When the company is not creating new jobs, there is often oversupply of qualified labour which in turn leads to unemployment. 6. COMPETITORS: The recruitment policies of the competitors also effect the recruitment function of the organisations. To face the competition, many a times the organisations have to change their recruitment policies according to the policies being followed by the competitors.

Internal Factors Affecting Recruitment The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the organisation are: 1. RECRUITMENT POLICY The recruitment policy of an organisation specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

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 FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization. Recruitment costs and financial implications. 2. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING: Effective human resource planning helps in determining the gaps present in the existing manpower of the organization. It also helps in determining the number of employees to be recruited and what qualification they must possess. 3. SIZE OF THE FIRM: The size of the firm is an important factor in recruitment process. If the organization is planning to increase its operations and expand its business, it will think of hiring more personnel, which will handle its operations. 4. COST: Recruitment incur cost to the employer, therefore, organizations try to employ that source of recruitment which will bear a lower cost of recruitment to the organization for each candidate. 5.GROWTH AND EXPANSION: Organization will employ or think of employing more personnel if it is expanding its operations.
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3.6 TYPES OF RECRUITMENT:

The organisations differ in terms of their size, business, processes and practices. A few decisions by the recruitment professionals can affect the productivity and efficiency of the organisation. Organisations adopt different forms of recruitment practices according to the specific needs of the organisation. The organisations can choose from the centralized or decentralized forms of recruitment, explained below: CENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT The recruitment practices of an organisation are centralized when the HR / recruitment department at the head office performs all functions of recruitment. Recruitment decisions for all the business verticals and departments of an organisation are carried out by the one central HR (or recruitment) department. Centralized from of recruitment is commonly seen in government organisations.

DECENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT Decentralized recruitment practices are most commonly seen in the case of conglomerates operating in different and diverse business areas. With diverse and geographically spread business areas and offices, it becomes important to understand the needs of each department and frame the recruitment policies and procedures accordingly. Each department carries out its own recruitment. Choice between the two will depend upon management philosophy and needs of particular organization. In some cases combination of both is used. Lower level staffs as well as top level executives are recruited in a decentralized manner.
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 CENTRALISED V/s DECENTRALISED RECRUITMENT Recruitment practices vary from one organization to another. Some organizations like commercial banks resort to centralized recruitment while some organizations like the Indian Railway resort to decentralized recruitment practices. Personnel department at the central office performs all the functions of recruitment in case of centralised recruitment and personnel departments at unit level/zonal level perform all the functions of recruitment concerning to the jobs of the respective unit or zone. MERITS OF CENTRALISED RECRUITMENT Average cost of recruitment per candidate/unit should be relatively less due to economies of scale. It would have more expertise available to it. It can ensure broad uniformity among human resources of various units/zones in respect of education, skill, knowledge, talent, etc. It would generally be above malpractices, abuse of powers, favouritism, bias, etc. It would facilitate interchangeability of staff among various units/zones. It enables the line managers of various units and zones to concentrate on their operational activities by relieving them from the recruiting functions. It enables the organization to have centralised selection procedure, promotional and transfer procedure, etc. It ensures the most effective and suitable placement to candidates. It enables centralised training programmes which further brings uniformity and minimizes average cost of staff.
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 MERITS OF DECENTRALISED RECRUITMENT

The unit concerned concentrates only on those sources/places wherein normally gets the suitable candidates. As such the cost of recruitment would be relatively less. The unit gets most suitable candidates as it is well aware of the requirements of the job regarding culture, traditional, family background aspects, local factors, social factors, etc. Units can recruit candidates as and when they are required without any delay. The units would enjoy freedom in finding out, developing the sources, in selecting and employing the techniques to stimulate the candidates. The unit would relatively enjoy advantage about the availability of information, control and feedback and various functions/processes of recruitment. The unit would enjoy better familiarity and control over the employees it recruits rather than on employees selected by the central recruitment agency.

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3.7 STRATEGIES OF RECRUITMENT: Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals. The level of performance of and organisation depends on the effectiveness of its recruitment function. Organisations have developed and follow recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their organisation and to utilize their resources optimally. A successful recruitment strategy should be well planned and practical to attract more and good talent to apply in the organisation. For formulating an effective and successful recruitment strategy, the strategy should cover the following elements: Identifying and prioritizing jobs Requirements keep arising at various levels in every organisation; it is almost a never-ending process. It is impossible to fill all the positions immediately. Therefore, there is a need to identify the positions requiring immediate attention and action. To maintain the quality of the recruitment activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies whether to focus on all vacancies equally or focusing on key jobs first. Candidates to target The recruitment process can be effective only if the organisation completely understands the requirements of the type of candidates that are required and will be beneficial for the organisation. This covers the following parameters as well:

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 Performance level required: Different strategies are required for focusing on hiring high performers and average performers. Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to what is the experience level required by the organisation. The candidates experience can range from being a fresher to experienced senior professionals. Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the target candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different industry, unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.

Sources of recruitment The strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of recruitment. Which are the sources to be used and focused for the recruitment purposes for various positions. Employee referral is one of the most effective sources of recruitment. Trained recruiters The recruitment professionals conducting the interviews and the other recruitment activities should be well-trained and experienced to conduct the activities. They should also be aware of the major parameters and skills (e.g.: behavioural, technical etc.) to focus while interviewing and selecting a candidate.

How to evaluate the candidates? The various parameters and the ways to judge them i.e. the entire recruitment process should be planned in advance. Like the rounds of technical interviews, HR interviews, written tests, psychometric tests etc.

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3.8 METHODS OF RECRUITMENT

The following are the most commonly used methods of recruiting people. INTERNAL METHODS: 1. Promotions and Transfers: This is a method of filling vacancies from within through transfers and promotions. A transfer is a lateral movement within the same grade, from one job to another. It may lead to changes in duties and responsibilities, working conditions, etc., but not necessarily salary. Promotion, on the other hand, involves movement of

employee from a lower level position to a higher level position accompanied by (usually) changes in duties, responsibilities, status and value. Organisations

generally prepare badli lists or a central pool of persons from which vacancies can be filled for manual jobs. Such persons are usually passed on to various

departments, depending on internal requirements. If a person remains on such rolls for 240 days or more, he gets the status of a permanent employee as per the Industrial Disputes Act and is therefore entitled to all relevant benefits, including provident fund, gratuity, retrenchment compensation. 2. Job Posting: Job posting is another way of hiring people from within. In this method, the organisation publicises job opening on bulletin boards, electronic method and similar outlets. One of the important advantages of this method is that it offers a chance to highly qualified applicants working within the company to look for growth opportunities within the company to look for growth opportunities within the company without looking for greener pastures outside.
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3. Employee Referrals: Employee referral means using personal contacts to locate job opportunities. It is a recommendation from a current employee regarding a job applicant. The logic behind employee referral is that it takes one to know one. Employees working in the organization, in this case, are encouraged to recommend the names of their friends, working in other organizations for a possible vacancy in the near future. In fact, this has become a popular way of recruiting people in the highly competitive Information Technology industry nowadays. Companies offer rich rewards also to employees whose recommendations are accepted after the routine screening and examining process is over and job offers extended to the suggested candidates. As a goodwill gestures, companies also consider the names

recommended by unions from time to time.

External (direct) Methods 1) Campus Recruitment : It is a method of recruiting by visiting and participating in college campuses and their placement centres. Here the recruiters visit reputed educational institutions such as IITs, IIMs, colleges and universities with a view to pick up job aspirants having requisite technical or professional skills. Job seekers are provided

information about the jobs and the recruiters, in turn, get a snapshot of job seekers through constant interchange of information with respective institutions. A preliminary screening is done within the campus and the short listed students are then subjected to the remainder of the selection process. In view of the growing demand for young managers, most reputed organizations (such as Hindustan Lever Ltd., Proctor & Cable, Citibank, State Bank of India, Tata and
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Birla group companies) visit IIMs and IITs regularly and even sponsor certain popular campus activities with a view to earn goodwill in the job market. Advantages of this method include: the placement centre helps locate applicants and provides resumes to organizations; applicants can be prescreened; applicants will not have to be lured away from a current job and lower salary expectations. On the negative front, campus recruiting means hiring people with little or no work experience. The organizations will have to offer some kind of training to the applicants, almost immediately after hiring. It demands careful advance planning, looking into the placement weeks of various institutions in different parts of the country. Further, campus recruiting can be costly for organizations situated in another city (airfare, boarding and lodging expenses of recruiters, site visit of applicants if allowed, etc.).If campus recruitment is used, steps should be taken by human resource department to ensure that recruiters are knowledgeable concerning the jobs that are to be filled and the organizations and understand and employ effective interviewing skills.

Guidelines for campus recruiting: companies using college campuses as recruitment source should consider the following guidelines:

Identify the potential candidates early: The earlier that candidate with top potential can be identified, the more likely the organization will be in a position to attract them.

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 Employ various means to attract candidates: These may include providing research grants; consulting opportunities to faculty members, funding university infrastructural requirements, internships to students, etc. in the long run these will enhance the prestige of the company in the eyes of potential job seekers. Use effective recruitment material: Attractive brochures, films, computer diskettes, followed by enthusiastic and effective presentations by company officials, correspondence with placement offices in respective campus in a friendly way will help in booting the company image in the eyes of the applicants. The company must provide detailed information about the characteristics of entry level positions, especially those that have had a major positive impact on prior applicants decisions to join the company. Offer training to campus interviews: Its better to devote more time and resources to train on campus interviewers to answer specific job related questions of applicants. Come out with a competitive offer: Keep the key job attributes that influence the decisions of applicants such as promotional avenues, challenging assignments, long term income potential, etc., while talking to candidates.

Indirect methods:1)Advertisements:These include advertisements in newspapers; trade, professional and technical journals; radio and television; etc. in recent times, this medium has become just as colourful, lively and imaginative as consumer advertising. The ads generally give a
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brief outline of the job responsibilities, compensation package, prospects in organizations, etc. this method is appropriate when (a) the organization intends to reach a large target group and (b) the organizations wants a fairly good number of talented people who are geographically spread out. To apply for advertised vacancies lets briefly examine the wide variety of alternatives available to a company - as far as ads are concerned: Newspaper Ads: Here it is easy to place job ads without much of a lead time. It has flexibility in terms of information and can conveniently target a specific geographic location. On the negative side, newspaper ads tend to attract only those who are actively seeking employment at that point of time, while some of the best candidates who are well paid and challenged by their current jobs may not be aware of such openings. As a result, the company may be bombarded with applications from a large number of candidates who are marginally qualified for the job adding to its administrative burden. To maintain secrecy for various reasons (avoiding the rush, sending signals to competitors, cutting down expenses involved in responding to any individual who applies, etc.), large companies with a national reputation may also go in for blind-box ads in newspapers, especially for filling lower level positions. In a blind-box ad there is no identification of the advertising organization. Job aspirants are asked to respond to a post office box number or to an employment firm that is acting as an agent between the job seekers and the organization. Television and radio ads: These ads are more likely to each individual who are not actively seeking employment; they are more likely to stand out distinctly, they help the organization to target the audience more
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selectively and they offer considerable scope for designing ads creatively. However, these ads are expensive. Also, because the

television or radio is simply seen or heard, potential candidates may have a tough time remembering the details, making application difficult. Third Party Methods: Private Employment Search Firms:As search firm is a private employment agency that maintains computerized lists of qualified applicants and supplies these to employers willing to hire people from the list for a fee. Firms like Arthur Anderson, Boble and Hewitt, ABC consultants, SB Billimoria, KPMG; Ferguson Associates offers specialized employment-related services to corporate houses for a fee, especially for top and middle level executive vacancies. AT the lower end, a number of search firms operate providing multifarious services to both recruiters and the recruitees.

Employment Exchanges:AS a statutory requirement, companies are also expected to notify (wherever the Employment Exchanges Act, 1959, applies) their vacancies through the respective Employment Exchanges, created all over India for helping unemployed youth, displaced persons, ex-military personnel, physically handicapped, etc. AS per the Act all employers are supposed to notify the vacancies arising in their establishments form time to time with certain exemptions to the prescribed employment exchanges before they are filled. The Act covers all establishments in public sector and nonagricultural establishments employing 25 or more workers in the private sector. However, in view of the practical difficulties involved in
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implementing the provisions of the Act (such as filing a quarterly return in respect of their staff strength, vacancies and shortages, returns showing occupational distribution of their employees, etc.) many organizations have successfully fought court battles when they were asked to pick up candidates from among those sponsored by the employment exchanges.

Gate Hiring and Contractors:Gate hiring (where job seekers, generally blue collar employees, present themselves at the factory gate and offer their services on a daily basis), hiring through contractors, recruiting through word-of-mouth publicity are still in use despite the many possibilities for their misuse in the small scale sector in India.

Unsolicited Applicants / Walk-ins:Companies generally receive unsolicited applications from job seekers at various points of time; the number of such applications depends on economic conditions, the image of the company and the job seekers perception of the types of jobs that might be available etc. Such applications are generally kept in a data bank and whenever a suitable vacancy arises, the company would intimate the candidates to apply through a formal channel. One important problem with this method is that job seekers generally apply to number of organizations and when they are actually required by the organizations, either they are already employed in other organizations or are not simply interested in the position.

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 Alternatives to Recruitment:Since recruitment and selection costs are high (search process, interviewing agency fee, etc.) firms these days are trying to look at alternatives to recruitment especially when market demand for firms products and services is sluggish. Moreover, once employees are placed on the payroll, it may be extremely difficult to remove them if their performance is marginal. Some of the options in this regard may be listed thus:

Evaluation of Alternative Sources Companies have to evaluate the sources of recruiting carefully looking at cost, time, flexibility, quality and other criteria before earmarking funds for the recruitment process. They cannot afford to fill all their vacancies through a particular source. To facilitate the decision making process in this regard, companies rely on the following:

Time lapse data: They show the time lag between the dates of requisition for manpower supply from a department to the actual date of filling the vacancies in that department. For example, a companys past experience may indicate that the average number of days from application to interview is 10, from interview to offer is 7, from offer to acceptance is 10 and from acceptance to report for work is 15. Therefore, if the company starts the recruitment and selection process now it would require 42 days before the new employee joins its ranks. Armed with this

information, the length of the time needed for alternative sources of recruitment can be ascertained before pinning hopes on a particular source that meets the recruitment objectives of the company.
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Yield ratios: These ratios indicate the number of leads / contacts needed to generate a given number of hires at a point at time. For example, if a company needs 10 management trainees in the next six months, it has to monitor past yield ratios in order to find out the number of candidates to be contacted for this purpose. On the basis of past experience, to continue the same example, the company finds that to hire 10 trainees, it has to extend 20 offers. If the interviewto-offer is 3:2, then 30 interviews must be conducted. If the invitees to interview ratios are 4:3 then, as many as 40 candidates must be invited. Lastly, if contacts or leads needed to identify suitable trainees to invite are in 5:1 ratio, then 200 contacts are made.

Surveys and studies: Surveys may also be conducted to find out the suitability of a particular source for certain positions. For example, as pointed out previously, employee referral has emerged as popular way of hiring people in the Information Technology industry in recent times in India. Correlation studies could also be carried out to find out the relationship between different organizational positions. Before finally identifying the sources of recruitment, the human resource managers must also look into the cost or hiring a candidate. The cost per hire can be found out by dividing the recruitment cost by the number of candidates hired.

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3.9 RECRUITMENT POLICY OF A COMPANY: In todays rapidly changing business environment, a well defined recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its human resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to have a clear and concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right candidate at the right place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment policy is the first step in the efficient hiring process. A clear and concise recruitment policy helps ensure a sound recruitment process. It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY: The general recruitment policies and terms of the organization Recruitment services of consultants Recruitment of temporary employees Unique recruitment situations The selection process The job descriptions The terms and conditions of the employment

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 A recruitment policy of an organisation should be such that: It should focus on recruiting the best potential people. To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with dignity and respect. Unbiased policy. To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential. Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection. Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization needs. Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process. Defining the competent authority to approve each selection. Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and employment relationship. Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs. FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization. Recruitment costs and financial implications.

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3.10 RECENT TRENDS IN RECRUITMENT

The following trends are being seen in recruitment: OUTSOURCING: In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organisations for their services. Advantages of outsourcing are: Company need not plan for human resources much in advance. Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage Turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable resumes/candidates. Company can save a lot of its resources and time POACHING/RAIDING Buying talent (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being followed by the organisations today. Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed company in the same or different
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industry; the organisation might be a competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate. But it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the firm. E-RECRUITMENT: Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E- recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements. Advantages of recruitment are: Low cost. No intermediaries Reduction in time for recruitment. Recruitment of right type of people. Efficiency of recruitment process.

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3.11 RECRUITMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Recruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems, Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment. The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management system are explained below: Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes. Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire. Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate and reliable processing of applications from various applications.

Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate the various links like the application system on the official website of the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment, the final decision making to the main recruitment process.

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 Recruitment management system maintains an automated active database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes. Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated and interactive interface between the online application system, the recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.

Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI. Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire recruitment process.

The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and improving the recruitment processes.

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3.12 CORPORATE MISSION, OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND TACTICS (MOST): Corporations have started linking their Mission, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics (MOST) to the functions of recruitment and selection. The economic liberalizations and consequent competition through quality and services necessitated the companies to search for and attract competent human resources. Corporations focusing on new business development will have to seek entrepreneurial abilities, companies planning to withdraw from diversifications must look for pragmatists and companies chasing growth alliances should employ people comfortable in different cultural backgrounds. Above all, companies must hire for the future, anticipating jobs that may not be in existence yet. Recruitment managers must focus for attitudes and approaches that fit the corporate goals and culture.

RELATION WITH OTHER ACTIVITIES

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CHAPTER IV SELECTION

4.1 DEFINITION & MEANING OF SELECTION: To select mean to choose. Selection is the process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organisation. The basic purpose is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of qualified candidates. MEANING OF SELECTION: The size of the labour market, the image of the company, the place of posting, the nature of job, the compensation package and a host of other factors influence the manner of aspirants are likely to respond to the recruiting efforts of the company. Through the process of recruitment the company tries to locate prospective employees and encourages them to apply for vacancies at various levels. Recruiting, thus, provides a pool of applicants for selection.

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4.2 PURPOSE & IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION

Employee selection is important as it is the process of recruiting and hiring employees who have the necessary qualifications to perform the jobs in an organization. Selecting the right employee is hampered in many situations by the available applicant pool (applicants available with the necessary skills) or a geographical location (the company is located in a remote area). Therefore, some companies take these things into consideration when recruiting efforts are initiated and selecting the best in class applicant may be the company's biggest challenge. The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would meet the requirements of the job in an organisation best, to find out which job applicant will be successful, if hired. To meet this goal, the company obtains and assesses information about the applicants in terms of age, qualifications, skills, experience, etc. the needs of the job are matched with the profile of candidates. The most suitable person is then picked up after eliminating the unsuitable applicants through successive stages of selection process. How well an employee is matched to a job is very important because it is directly affects the amount and quality of employees work. Any mismatched in this regard can cost an organisation a great deal of money, time and trouble, especially, in terms of training and operating costs. In course of time, the employee may find the job distasteful and leave in frustration. He may even circulate hot news and juicy bits of negative information about the company, causing incalculable harm to the company in the long run. Effective election, therefore, demands constant monitoring of the fit between people the job.

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4.3 SELECTION PROCESS STEPS IN SELECTION PROCESS: Selection is usually a series of hurdles or steps. Each one must be successfully before the cleared applicant

proceeds to the next one. The time and

emphasis place on each step will definitely vary from one organisation to another and indeed, from job to job within the same organisation. The sequence of steps may also vary from job to job and organisation to organisation. For example some organisations may give more importance to testing while others give more emphasis to interviews and reference checks. Similarly a single brief selection interview might be enough for applicants for lower level positions, while applicants for managerial jobs might be interviewed by a number of people.

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1.Reception : A company is known by the people it employs. In order to attract people with talents, skills and experience a company has to create a favourable impression on the applicants right from the stage of reception. Whoever meets the applicant initially should be tactful and able to extend help in a friendly and courteous way. Employment possibilities must be presented honestly and clearly. If no jobs are available at that point of time, the applicant may be asked to call back the personnel department after some time.

2.Screening Interview A preliminary interview is generally planned by large organisations to cut the cost of selection by allowing only eligible candidates to go through the further stages in selection. A junior executive from the Personnel Department may elicit responses from the applicants on important items determining the suitability of an applicant for a job such as age, education, experience, pay expectations, aptitude, location, choice etc. this courtesy interview as it is often called helps the department screen out obvious misfits. If the department finds the candidate suitable, a prescribed application form is given to the applicants to fill and submit.

3.Application Blank Application blank or form is one of the most common methods used to collect information on the various aspects of the applicants academic, social, demographic, work related background and references. It is a brief history sheet of employees background, usually containing the following things:
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 Personal data (address, sex, telephone number) Marital data Educational data Employment Experience Extra-curricular activities References and Recommendations Usefulness of Application Blank or Form Application blank is highly useful selection tool, in that way it serves three important purposes: It introduces the candidate to the company in a formal way. It helps the company to have a cross-comparison of the applicants; the company can screen and reject candidates if they fail to meet the eligibility criteria at this stage itself. It can serve as a basis to initiate a dialogue in the interview. 4.Selection Testing: In this section let examine the selection test or the employment test that attempts to asses intelligence, abilities, personality trait, performance simulation tests including work sampling and the tests administered at assessment centresfollowed by a discussion about the polygraph test, graphology and integrity test. A test is a standardized, objective measure of a persons behaviour, performance or attitude. It is standardised because the way the tests is carried out, the environment in which the test is administered and the way the individual scores are calculatedare uniformly applied. It is objective in that it tries to measure individual differences in a scientific way giving very little room for individual bias and
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interpretation. Over the years employment tests have not only gained importance but also a certain amount of inevitability in employment decisions. Since they try to objectively determine how well an applicant meets the job requirement, most companies do not hesitate to invest their time and money in selection testing in a big way. Some of the commonly used employment tests are: Intelligence tests Aptitude tests Personality tests Achievement tests Miscellaneous tests such as graphology, polygraphy and honesty tests.

5.Selection Interview: Interview is the oral examination of candidates for employment. This is the most essential step in the selection process. In this step the interviewer matches the information obtained about the candidates through various means to the job requirements and to the information obtained through his own observations during the interview. Interview gives the recruiter an opportunity To size up the candidate personally; To ask question that are not covered in the tests; To make judgments on candidates enthusiasm and intelligence; To assess subjective aspects of the candidate facial expressions, appearance, nervousness and so forth; To give facts to the candidates regarding the company, its policies, etc. and promote goodwill towards the company.
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6. Medical examination: Certain jobs require physical qualities like clear vision, perfect hearing, unusual stamina, tolerance of hard working conditions, clear tone, etc. Medical examination reveals whether or not a candidate possesses these qualities. 7. Reference Checks Once the interview and medical examination of the candidate is over, the personnel department will engage in checking references. Candidates are required to give the names of 2 or 3 references in their application forms. These references may be from the individuals who are familiar with the candidates academic achievements or from the applicants previous employer, who is well versed with the applicants job performance and sometimes from the co-workers. In case the reference check is from the previous employer, information in the following areas may be obtained. A good reference check, when used sincerely, will fetch useful and reliable information to the organization. 8. Hiring decision: The line manager has to make the final decision now whether to select or reject a candidate after soliciting the required information through different techniques discussed earlier.A careless decision of rejecting a candidate would impair the morale of the people and they suspect the selection procedure and the very basis of selection in a particular organization. After taking the final decision, the organization has to intimate this decision to the successful as well as unsuccessful candidates. The organization sends the appointment order to the successful candidates either immediately or after sometime depending upon its time schedule.

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4.4 METHODS OF SELECTION: SELECTION METHODS This section looks at the process of selecting candidates. A variety of methods are available and consideration needs to be given as to which are suitable for a particular post. The methods described here are: On-line screening and short listing Technical Tests Interviews Psychometric testing Ability and aptitude tests Personality profiling ON-LINE SCREENING AND SHORTLISTING: Initial screening of applications is usually based on an assessment of a candidates experience and qualifications against the jobs requirements. Online systems are now available which can filter applications automatically. An on-line selection facility screens applications against set criteria through key word searches. It may also provide a scoring mechanism. The use of on-line screening may be a useful way of filtering quickly through a huge volume of applications or sorting applications, if there are a number of jobs that have been advertised at the same time.Some organizations that use this approach have had to develop long application forms in order to ensure that the candidate includes all appropriate information in sufficient detail. Other organizations only use this approach as a first step in attempting to select candidates and then go through the applications again manually to double check that all appropriate applications have been selected.
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 TECHNICAL TESTS: One of the important and most commonly used methods in the Insurance industry is the use of logical test to judge the accuracy and presence of mind of the candidate. INTERVIEWS: Interviews are almost always used at some point in the process. The interview process is formed through identification of the key requirements of the job and a list of questions is drawn up. A panel of interviewers works through each set of questions with each candidate and scores them on their answers. At the end of the interview process the overall scores are considered and the best candidate chosen. If additional selection methods are chosen this is fed into the overall process at the end and again the best-fit candidate is offered the appointment. Even where the interview is structured, this does not mean that follow up questions cannot be asked. PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING A range of attributes are best tested through psychometric testing. This term is often confusing but in essence, means that a mental measure is used. Therefore, psychometric testing covers ability tests, aptitude testing and personality profiling. Proper psychometric testing can only be carried out by appropriately qualified staff. It is essential that applicants are offered feedback on their performance and that applicants understand how the test information is used during decision-making processes. Personality tests are usually considered in conjunction with other information, as the results can be unreliable. Ability tests can also be used in this way, but many organizations use cut-off marks so that all candidates who achieve less than a certain mark are rejected while the rest progress to the next stage.
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 ABILITY AND APTITUDE TESTS The term ability tests is used broadly and in this context will encompass aptitude tests too. Ability tests may cover a range of areas including: General intelligence. Verbal ability. Numerical ability. Spatial ability. Clerical ability. Diagrammatical ability. Mechanical ability. Sensory and motor abilities.

PERSONALITY PROFILE An individual's personality may affect their suitability for some posts. However, personality profiling does not have a right or wrong answer and individuals may be sifted through identifying particular behaviors that are better suited to the job than others. It is therefore important for those undertaking the selection process to be clear on the characteristics required to perform well in the job.

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4.5 BARRIERS OF EFFECTIVE SELECTION:

The main objective of selection is to hire people having competence and commitment. This objective is often defeated because of certain barriers. The impediments which check effectiveness of selection are perception, fairness, validity, reliability, and pressure.

PERCEPTION: Our inability to understand others accurately is probably the most fundamental barrier to selecting right candidate. Selection demands an individual or a group to assess and compare the respective competencies of others, with the aim of choosing the right persons for the jobs. But our views are highly personalized. We all perceive the world differently. Our limited perceptual ability is obviously a stumbling block to the objective and rational selection of people. FAIRNESS: Fairness in selection requires that no individual should be discriminated against on the basis of religion, region, race or gender. But the low number of women and other less privileged sections of society in the middle and senior management positions and open discrimination on the basis of age in job advertisements and in the selection process would suggest that all the efforts to minimize inequity have not been very effective.

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 VALIDITY: Validity, as explained earlier, is a test that helps predict job performance of an incumbent. A test that has been validated can differentiate between the employees who can perform well and those who will not. However, a validated test does not predict job success accurately. It can only increase possibility of success.

RELIABILITY: A reliable method is one which will produce consistent results when repeated in similar situations. Like a validated test, a reliable test may fall to predict job performance with precision.

PRESSURE: Pressure is brought on the selectors by politicians, bureaucrats, relatives, friends, and peers to select particular candidate. Candidates selected because of compulsions are obviously not the right ones. Appointments to public sector undertakings generally take place under such pressure.

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4.6 RECRUITMENT vs SELECTION Difference Between Recruitment And Selection: Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between the two are: 1. Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts. 2. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation. 3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates. 4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests. 5. There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment WHEREAS selection results in a contract of service between the employer and the selected employee.

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CHAPTER-V 5.1 FINDINGS

The aged advisors (31 40years) is able to sell more policy than the younger (19 30years) advisors.

Recruitment is done throughout the year more during the months of May-June and Oct-Nov. Huge investment of time. Huge recruitment cost.

ICICI PRUDENTIAL has become a brand in 3-4 decades due to which new
insurance companies are facing trouble in capturing market share.

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5.2 CONCLUSION
After collection of data, analysis and interpretations were made on which conclusion is drawn: Insurance is confronted with high attrition rate. Therefore it makes recruitment a critical function in the organization. In order to grow and sustain in the competitive environment it is important for ICICI PRUDENTIAL to continuously develop and bring out innovations in all it activities. It is only when organization is recognized for its quality that it can build a stability with its customers, employees. Thus an organization must be able to stand out in the crowd. The first step in this direction is to ensure competitive people come in the organization. Therefore recruitment and selection in this regard becomes an important function. The organization must constantly improvise in its recruitment and selection process so that it is able to attract best in the industry in order to serve the best. Thus the organization must look out for methods that can enable it to adopt best recruitment and selection practices.

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5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTION

Compress the "white space" in hiring process. Tie up with more & more consultants from multiple segments.

Know what has to judged in candidates. Reduce the pre offer formalities.

One size doesnt fits all. Blend technology into every aspect of your recruiting and hiring process.

ICICI PRUDENTIAL should Build and manage candidate pool as a precious resource. Create winning impression even on those who are not selected

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5.4 LEARNINGS
Every endeavor undertaken to accomplish challenging goals, can only be successful under the experienced and encouraging guidance. In brief all learnings of this project are summarized as under:

Understanding of person and profile fit. Convince people about the job profile and to sell the job to the prospective candidate;

Following up with the candidates during the entire selection process; Learned to convince candidates about the offer rolled out and making them accept the offer through effective communication;

Learning about salary fitments. Communicating with the corporate; Performance appraisals, its various types, implications and significance; Handling queries received from various quarters; Managing HR department in the absence of HR manager; Reply to official mails; Prioritize issues according to their importance; Field work exposure to tap candidates that further strengthened the learning.

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5.5 QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: . DESIGNATION: . COMPANY: . Q1. Minimum educational qualification for a candidate? 1) 10 th 2) 12th 3) Graduation Q2. Basic criteria for success of an advisor RANKWISE? 1) 1)Age above 25 2)Married 3)Graduate 4)living in the same city for more than 5 yrs Q3. Which age group advisor working best? 1)19-30 yrs 2)31-40yrs

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Q4. Different ways of recruitment of candidate in ICICI PRU. Rankwise? 1)Through internal contest 2)Walk in interview 3)Marketing technique 4)Through summer trainees Q5.Give rank according to you for segmentation of advisor? 1)Businessman 2)serviceman(pvt) Q6. Give rank for different ways to promote business for employee? 1)Additional commission & salary 2)Club membership 3)Offering free insurance Q7.Does high fee of licensing has negative effect on advisors recruitment? 1. Yes 2. No

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
During the preparation of project I took the help of various sources which are as follows: Books: Emerging trends in insurance industry Author: PRATAP.G.SUBRAMANYAM -

Competency-Based Recruitment and Selection R.S SHAH

Internet: - www.google.com - www.iciciprulife.com/ipru/memberlogin - www.linkedin.com/company/icici-prudential-life-insurance-company-limited

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