HR News: 22 May, 2017

1.

Indian Army to redesign HR policy for increased inclusivity

Army chief stressed on the need to push modernisation and inclusive HR policies during the recently concluded Army Commanders’ Conference.

Keeping in mind the rapid societal changes and the increasing pressures of socio-economic aspirations, the Indian Army has decided to recalibrate its HR policy during the recently held six-day long Army Commanders’ Conference that concluded on April 22.

During the deliberations, important issues having HR policy ramifications were discussed wherein it was agreed upon that there is an impetus to evolve a more pragmatic HR plan. It is because even though the core values of the Army haven’t changed, rapid societal changes and discernible impact of socio-economic aspirations on the Army have created a need to re-look into the existing policies.

In addition, the Army, unlike most government departments has a highly pyramidal structure, which results in over 50 per cent personnel not being promoted despite being highly competent. This necessitates optimum utilisation of this pool of competent personnel.

2.

PwC’s run for a millennial workforce takes it to court: Older workers complain

Older workers complain that in order to attract and maintain the ‘millennials,’ PwC intentionally screens out individuals aged 40 and older.

Organisations these days are dedicatedly keen on attracting more millennials, as this brings them various business benefits and a sense of pride to have a more youthful workforce. However, at a time when businesses are focussing efforts on having more diverse workforces, is age an important factor that is being surpassed?

Most organisations nowadays are actively seeking more millennials than GenYers, especially for entry-level roles. This trend has recently been questioned by two gentlemen—one 53 years old and the other 47— whose applications for entry-level associate positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers were rejected.

The consulting firm promotes itself as the ‘’place to work for millennials,” who have taken jobs and internships with the accounting giant in droves. The firm annually recruits thousands of newly-minted college graduates. However, this aggressive pursuit of youth is now the focus of a class-action suit for the firm.

3.

Flipkart gets a new CEO: Only for a day

As part of a special initiative, Padmini Pagadala, an associate director at Flipkart, was the acting CEO and worked closely with Kalyan Krishnamurthy on April 25.

As Flipkart celebrates 'Big10' marking its ten years of existence, the company just concluded an ingenious competition—‘CEO of the Day’—for its employees. The contest gave the staff a chance to spearhead India’s largest e-commerce company for one day. Padmini Pagadala, who is an associate director at Flipkart, won the competition and accompanied the CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy in his workday, yesterday.
As 'CEO of the Day', Pagadala enjoyed the opportunity to take stock of the business, attend key stakeholder meetings and hand out action points, with Krishnamurthy. She shares how the day started with having breakfast with Krishnamurthy and getting to know him better, followed by some power-packed meetings.
“It has been a spectacular day. Before each of the meetings Kalyan would brief me on the agenda and seek my opinions on the matter, which not only made me feel important but also gave me a huge exposure on the categories side of the business. As I come from a supply chain background, these meetings exposed me to a more holistic view of business,” Pagadala says.