Financial Technologies follows Best Practices in HRCategory: Jobs & Careers
Article added by: Madhavan Varadharajan
HR at Financial Technologies: The Driving Force
HR at Financial Technologies is the core engine integrating and driving the Financial Technologies Group Companies to “Build a technology company focused on IPR creation in the financial securities industry by harvesting intellectual capital.“
The HR Vision:
To Source, Nurture and Retain industry-leading Human Capital in order to enable Financial Technologies to become a Global Corporation and a World-Class Organization
Focus for the Year
•Build Pride in the organization and Respect, Trust, and Camaraderie amongst employees
•Endorse a Performance-driven culture by being PERFECT (Proactive, Entrepreneurial, Responsive, Focused, Enthusiastic, Customer-oriented, and Team-oriented)
•Be perceived as a Great Place to Work and become the Employer of Choice by 2008
Hiring the Best: The Right Person for the Right Job
The employee strength in Financial Technologies and its Group Companies has grown significantly - from 246 employees in 2004 to 1451 employees in 2007, which in effect is a growth of 6 times in a span of 2.5 years.
In light of this rapid growth, the Company’s focus is not to compromise on the quality of the talent we hire. Hence, in order to recruit right, last year Financial Technologies conducted Campus Recruitment programs across 35 premier Management/Technical institutes. At these institutes, the 50-top class trainees were thoroughly screened and then hired, with the objective of bringing in fresh, innovative insights into the business.
In addition, Financial Technologies maintains and taps into varied avenues for sourcing Human Capital, such as placement consultants, applicant databases, employee referrals, job portals, and campus recruitments.
A wholesome employee referral policy ensures that the right quality of dependable manpower is recommended to the Company. The employer and employee both stand to gain from this policy, which offers attractive bonuses to employees for suitable candidates referred by them.
The potential recruits are put through a comprehensive, stringent and discerning selection procedure that comprises aptitude, technical, and psychometric testing coupled with a series of technical and personal interviews, to ensure that only the best are hired.
A Robust Orientation Program: Induction
At Financial Technologies all new recruits – freshers and lateral hires are taken through a 3-day induction program, in the course of which they are familiarized with all the key processes, policies and people of the Company. On day 1, the Directors share the vision of the company with the new hires This is immediately followed by a 2-day soft skills training program aimed at enhancing communication and interpersonal skills and grooming the fresh recruits into the corporate culture of the Company.
Modernizing Performance Assessment Methodologies: The Performance Management System (PMS)
Recently, the performance appraisal process at Financial Technologies has undergone a sea change, with the introduction of an objective, quarterly performance assessment matrix, in place of the earlier annual appraisal process.
The Introduction of the Organizational Growth Commitment Plan (OGC)
The initiation of this plan has helped in:
•Capture of performance data of employees on a quarterly basis, thereby acting as a systematic, objective, periodic performance assessment tool for the final annual appraisals.
•Review of the entire the appraisal process - the performance which up till now was based on the data available, observed and perceived at the end of the year is now recorded, maintained, and updated regularly, every quarter.
•Fostering an environment of creativity and innovation and encouraged competencies like drive for results, team work, and planning and organizing amongst the employees.
In addition, Financial Technologies has introduced a bell curve concept, which classifies/identifies the top, mediocre, and not-so-effective performers. This kind of segregation aids the HR function in activities like succession planning and career progression for the employees and also in the formulation of relevant training and development programs to improve overall performance.
Ongoing Training and Development:
Over the last year, the Company has conducted 181 training programs, which included 67 technical, 97 Non-technical and 17 soft skills programs. The total number of hours of training delivered was 18,890. Financial Technologies retains 181 trainers with 49 external trainers and 152 internal trainers.
New Training Initiatives
•Post appraisal, a separate focused T & D cell has been formed, with the objective of equipping the Human Capital to meet the business needs of the organization.
•Training needs have been complied based on the data gathered from the Performance 1st A tech, Non tech and soft skills program was rolled out on July 1, 2007, the first of many more to come. The programs were conducted by skilled group of external and internal trainers.
•Outdoor training programs at locations like Lonavala will be soon initiated.
•Comprehensive training budgets and training man-days have been defined for all members.
OD Interventions
•On May 5, 2007, HR organized an executive retreat for the senior level employees of the Company. This retreat proved to be very successful as it brought all the leaders from the various Group companies on the same platform, where they could formulate the future strategy of the Company through active thought sharing, and communication.
•Extracurricular activities such as “Cultural Day”, family picnics, sports and outings are regularly organized to promote a feeling of oneness amongst the employees and inculcate a sense of belonging towards the Financial Technologies family.
•The annual Navratri celebrations were once again grand, with a huge party where all employees could partake in the festivities together.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
Financial Technologies is consciously striving towards being an equal opportunity employer and the Company is proud to announce that the percentage of women employees in the group stands at 20.5%.
Compensation Benchmarking:
•A benchmarking survey has been carried out and implemented at Financial Technologies to bring our compensation levels at par with industry standards. In fact, with the salary revision that took place after the appraisals has put the compensation structure at Financial Technologies significantly above industry standards.
•The compensation structure has also undergone a change with the introduction of a variable pay component. This was done to ensure that the employees remain motivated in their desire to continually excel. The incentive offered for this is an option of over a 100 % disbursement of the variable salary to all excellent performers. This initiative also ensures that employee efforts are in sync with the organization’s vision.
•There has been a conscious attempt to actively involve the Heads of Departments in the complete appraisal process - right from the ratings to the disbursement of the appraisal letters. These measures are carried out with a view to cut across the levels of hierarchy and make HODs more approachable to the team, whereby they can communicate the exact expectations to each employee and motivate the team towards set goals.
Reward and Recognition Programs
•Financial Technologies HR has won the IMT B School Employer Branding Award for “Best HR Strategy in line with business” conferred by Indiatimes.
•The Group HR Head was invited to the Asia-Pacific HRM Congress where he addressed the audience on “Transforming organizations through HR innovation and leadership.”
•Our Group HR Head was also invited to HR Infotech held at Pune on the 25th of May, 20 07 to deliver a talk on “Talent transformation and personality development.”
E-HR Initiatives: Greater automation and a hassle-free experience for employees
In order to deliver improved processes that do not impact the productivity of employees, HR has implemented a range of E-HR solutions. One such solution is Folklore HRIS, a comprehensive Human Resource Information System that enables:
•The consolidation and updation of employee data by providing easy to use interfaces. This data is available to all consumers like employees, team leaders, and HR administrators.
•Paperless HR processes through a number of process automation tools, many of which will go live soon - such as E- Training, E- Leave, E- Attendance, E-payroll, E-Database, E-Hire.
Treating every Employee as our Customer: 24x7 HR Services
For the convenience of our employees, we have a separate e-mail id called HR4U, which provides 24x7 HR services to all employees. Any employee wishing to bring a suggestion, complaint or a matter of general interest to the notice of the HR Department can use this id and easily communicate with Group HR.
All e-mails received on this id are acknowledged within one working day, and where any action is to be taken on the same, the estimated time required for the action is given in the acknowledgement.
New HR Initiatives: Culture Building and Systems Development
In order to keep abreast of employee feedback and to make constructive use of it, HR at Financial Technologies has initiated a series of global best practices like:
•Initiated a survey on “Great Places to Work”, which will also involve a review of our existing policies and processes by is external agencies. These measures will help us map to our goal of being ranked amongst the Top-25 places to work .
•Initiated the benchmarking and redefining of HR procedures, policies and practices.
•Aiming to shortly deliver the comprehensive E–HR solutions on the Company’s Intranet.
•Kicking off White Paper contests, Fun@work, knowledge sharing articles/sessions as regular, focused activities, starting July 1, 2007.
•Improving employee interactions through fun events /movies, to be organized once a quarter.
•Putting into place location-specific HR teams to provide HR services across all locations/offices.
•Fostering the spirit of continuous learning by sponsoring deserving employees for higher studies.
Policies and Procedures to Enhance Employee Wellbeing
The company believes that happy employees are productive employees. The policy of the 5-day working and alternate Saturday off for the non-technical and technical departments respectively, helps the employees maintain a healthy work- life balance.
With a view to extending support to the families of employees, the company has taken up an insurance policy that covers dependent parents, over and above providing the regular coverage like maternity and coverage for spouse and children. In addition, there is also coverage of term life insurance, and in the event of any unfortunate incident, there is accident insurance policy coverage and a gratuity policy. The company also provides executive health check ups and emergency medical assistance to the employees.
Financial Technologies places a huge emphasis on professionalism both in terms of work and conduct. In this context, the attire policy helps employees to communicate the right image of the company across industry.
Creating Wealth for Employees
Financial Technologies has a beneficial ESOP scheme in place, whereby ESOPS are extended to all employees based on certain parameters like loyalty and performance.
The Company believes in creating wealth for its employees, because the Company regards the employees as the true wealth of the organization.
To sum up Financial Technologies long-term HR commitment, it is building and maintaining a performance-oriented work culture through learning, empowerment, innovation, team work and transparency.
For further information, contact:
Jacqueline Patel
VP - Corporate Communications
Financial Technologies (India) Ltd.
Mobile No.: +91 98675 69941
jacqueline.patel@ftindia.com
Posted By: Madhavan Varadharajan
Web: http://www.mcxindia.com
Contact: e-mail
| About the Author: |
| About Financial Technologies
Financial Technologies (BSE: FINTECH, NSE: FINANTECH), is India's leading software product enterprise focused on developing mission-critical Straight -Through-Processing (STP) solutions. Financial Technologies has developed proven transaction automation technologies for Equities, Forex, Commodities and bonds markets. Deriving strength from its exhaustive library of product IPRs, Financial Technologies has set-up robust market-place platforms offering sophisticated 'exchange operations' and 'shared services' on high-end technology infrastructure.
Further, the Company has promoted MCX (www.mcxindia.com), India’s No. 1 multi commodity derivatives exchange; DGCX (www.dgcx.ae), the first international commodity derivatives market in the Middle East and IBS Forex (www.ibsfx.com), inter-bank foreign exchange platform. Other key exchange ventures include NSEL (www.nseap.com), SNX and GBOT Mauritius.
The Group has also incubated four technology ventures – NBHC (www.nbhcindia.com), TickerPlant Infovending (www.tickerplantindia.com), atom technologies (www.atomtech.in) and Riskraft Consulting (www.riskraft.com) – that support overall ecosystem development of financial marketplaces. |
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