India Inc doles out perks, awards and even hikes

KOLKATA: Salary cuts and layoffs may still be the easy way out for companies bogged down by short-term fears, but an increasing number of employers are investing in the present to hedge the future.

Firms such as Maruti Suzuki, Max India Group, Dabur, LG Electronics, Ceat and Wockhardt Hospitals are initiating innovative employee reward and recognition schemes, announcing perks for talented kin, and going ahead with annual increments hoping that happy employees won���t jump ship once the economy improves and poachers get back on their feet.

���A slowdown is the best time when companies can differentiate themselves as caring organisations. A great talent pool always holds the key and needs to be groomed and developed all the time,��� says Max India Group director (HR) P Dwarkanath.

Max plans to revamp its rewards and recognition scheme and dole out hefty performance bonuses this year.
Eight companies, in sectors ranging from oil and gas to FMCG, recently asked consulting major KPMG to draw up special incentive schemes tailor-made for the times. ���Quite a few companies have even agreed to increase their annual increment kitty to motivate employees and increase productivity levels,��� says Ganesh Shermon, KPMG partner and head (human capital practice).



In February, LG Electronics gave a special 150% ���teamwork��� bonus to employees who completed two years in the organisation. It has also announced cash awards of Rs 1.5 lakh for employee kin gifted in music and painting.

���Indians are highly emotional and such special treatment in tough times like these will certainly increase loyalty. Ultimately, their productivity levels will go up. Driven by such HR initiatives, we saw an unprecedented 24% sales growth between January to March,��� says LG Electronics India director (HR) YV Verma.

Maruti Suzuki and Dabur are taking it as business as usual by going ahead with variable payouts, bonuses and performance appraisals.

According to SY Siddiqui, HR director of Maruti Suzuki India, the company will identify the top 20% of talent pool in April and invest ���substantially on their development���. ���We plan to recruit 250-odd people for our R&D team by 2010 as scheduled,��� he says.

Dabur is also looking at doling out stock options to top performers this year, says HR head A Sudhakar.

On a broader level, HR heads of these companies think that such schemes have a direct contribution in increasing productivity, as they make employees, otherwise bombarded with bad news from across sectors, feel secure.

���It is vital to reduce employee insecurity and increase their morale,��� says Ceat head (HR) Rahul Ghatak said.

���It���s also the ideal time to develop talent skill. We are undertaking such initiatives in association with our partner Harvard Medical International,��� according to Wockhardt Hospitals CEO Vishal Bali. His company joins Dr Reddy���s Labs and RPG Retail which have decided not to cut down on their investments on reward initiatives this year.

���It is equally vital to improve employee���s personal and professional life in tough times through initiatives focused around work-life balance, multi-skill development and non-monetary rewards and benefits,��� RPG Retail���s HR head Nihar Ranjan Ghosh sums it up.