Consulting Network » Appraisal http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:39:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Recession and the Big 4 – How are they dealing with it ? http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/recession-and-big-4-how-are-they-dealing-with-it/835/?utm_source=subscriber&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/recession-and-big-4-how-are-they-dealing-with-it/835/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 06:08:37 +0000 Mohit http://consultingnetwork.co.in/?p=835 Recession has affected almost all of the industries in India. Big 4 firms  despite their might have been having a tough time dealing with the recession.

One chain of thought argues that big 4 firms should, to some extent, be sheltered from the current crisis. Their type of client, the large private and public multinational company, will invariably have a legal requirement for an audit. This type of client is usually large enough to withstand economic downturns so audit fees from such companies should, in general, remain stable.

However, a large chunk of the revenue for the big 4 firms come from the non audit services such as risk advisory, transaction advisory etc. On one hand transaction advisory services are facing a major crisis since the number of transactions in the Indian markets have gone down significantly, on the other hand, other advisory services under the risk advisory/business advisory umbrella are not selling, since most of the client are postponing their decision to hire big 4’s or for that matter any consulting firm for such services. Many of these services are being considered a luxury  by prospective clients in these recessionary times.

PwC has been affected even further due to their alleged involvement in the Satyam scandal, many of the PwC clients are reportedly seeking services of other big 4 biggies, Deloitte and KPMG are speculated to have grabbed a number of PwC clients.

Most of the big 4 firms have frozen or deferred hiring and are adopting a “wait-and-watch” policy.

However, there is always an opportunity in adversity, from a human resource prospective, the recession provides big 4 firms an opportunity to build their brand equity and tackle high attrition problem by supporting their employees in these tough times and passing on the least amount of pain on them. Employee oriented moves during recessionary times could help big 4 firms to build their brand and attract quality talent in the long run.  However, how big 4 firms respond to the human resource aspect in this recession will only become clear in the coming months.

Most of the Big 4 firms have stepped up their business development activities and are aggressively pursing prospective clients. These may be classified as challenging times for the big 4 firms, but at the same time recession is forcing many big 4 employees to hone their existing skills and acquire new skills.

To summarize, there is unrest in the sea, and how will the big fish respond? This question will only be answered in time.

Views presented in this article are those of the author and author alone and in no way reflect the views of the author’s employer or any connected parties.

You can reach the author on mohit.kant@consultingnetwork.co.in or contactus@consultingnetwork.co.in


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]]> http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/recession-and-big-4-how-are-they-dealing-with-it/835/feed/ 0 India Inc doles out perks, awards and even hikes/Increments and Appraisals 2009 in India http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/india-inc-doles-out-perks-awards-and-even-hikes1234/598/?utm_source=subscriber&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/india-inc-doles-out-perks-awards-and-even-hikes1234/598/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:59:31 +0000 Knowledge Seeker http://consultingnetwork.co.in/?p=598 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.

Source: Economic Times


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