Here's how corporations are redeploying talented employees impacted by change to new roles and

productive businesses
Rohit Nautiyal April 07, 2014 Last Updated at 00:15 IST
Citing "changing market scenario and customer needs" both HCL
Infosystems and Wipro shut down their PC manufacturing businesses last
year. While the announcement to this effect was made at the fag end of
2013, insiders say the companies were preparing the ground for well over
a year. One may argue that their concern was not misplaced since both
the companies are listed entities and would have had to deal with the
aftermath of such an announcement on their share prices. But it is equally
possible that the two companies identified a new opportunity in the
imminent closure of a certain division: The opportunity to re-evaluate
workforce needs and redeploy talented employees impacted by the change to new roles within the company.
And that is precisely what the two companies seem to have done. Instead of letting go of employees who
were rendered jobless because of the closure of the PC division, the two have cobbled together a
redeployment plan, investing time and training dollars on people to help them take on new roles. But why
take the trouble? It is well documented that a firm's commitment to its employees' continued success not only
helps them to effectively navigate change, it also ensures high levels of engagement and positions a firm to
achieve its strategic goals while creating a powerful brand image.
As the experiences of Wipro and HCL and many other firms that we will document in this article will show,
such investments help achieve at least two things - one, by holding on to talented and high-potential
employees through the change, firms can meet the challenges presented by the growing shortage of high-skill
workers. Two, a new arrangement will likely ensure there is better alignment of business needs and talent
needs, critical to staying competitive, improving productivity and meeting strategic objectives.
It is no surprise that redeployment, the systematic migration of talent from a redundant role and business area
to a productive role and business area, is being seen as a strategic workforce management tool during a period
of remarkable volatility in business environments worldwide, wherein many organisations are facing great
pressures to rethink their business models and to align their workforces accordingly. But however compelling
the rationale for redeployment, the actual process of redeploying talent from one role to another requires
thoughtful planning and development in order to succeed.
Take time to plan and train
While the need to redeploy the workforce can arise in any company in any sector, it is of great importance to
the IT industry where work is largely project-based and layoffs are common. That apart, since the IT
landscape changes faster than anywhere else, the life cycle of businesses and skills is also getting shorter.
Now, a key consideration in redeployment is whether senior managers believe that the downturn in a
particular business is temporary or permanent. If it is seen as permanent, as in the case of HCL and Wipro,
the only alternative to large-scale lay-offs is to retrain high-potential employees to develop new lines of
http://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article...
1 of 4 4/7/2014 10:28 AM
business.
Whenever an internal restructuring similar to the one happening at HCL Infosystems takes place as a result of
exiting a loss-making or a low margin business, employees in pre-sales, account managers and function
experts appear first on the pink slip radar. Sales teams will have better redeployment prospects in other
businesses because they have established relationships with clients. Selling laptops is not radically different
from selling PCs. At HCL, HCL Career Development Centre, the training arm of the company, is working to
create new opportunities for people in the erstwhile PC division.
Five point programme
EXPERT TAKE: Ruchi Sinha, Assistant Professor of Business,
Organisational Behavior, ISB
CEOs need to keep five points in mind when rightsizing their
organisations in the wake of redundancies:
Plan: Any rightsizing effort must be planned in phases. Each phase must
be designed such that the core of the department remains intact while
the peripheral roles and duties transform. In planning for such efforts,
leaders need to make sure that there is adequate thought put into career
planning for new roles

1.
Assess: There is a need to identify redundant or out-dated roles, positions and functions. Leaders need
to clearly identify the knowledge, skills and abilities required going forward as well as the current state
of employee knowledge and skills. A thorough job analysis is required to understand the type of
training that will be needed to redeploy employees

2.
Train: Training is the best way to manage the transferability of skill sets and to manage the
employee's motivation to transfer into a new role. Cross-training programmes can act as incentives
and non-monetary recognition to motivate employees to transition into new roles.

3.
Manage perceptions: Special attention needs to be paid to procedural and informational justice. For
instance, the CEO must announce the strategy behind the reorganisation along with the rationale. The
career paths for the transitioning employees as well as those who will remain in the old positions must
be discussed by supervisors to reduce anxiety, uncertainty and detrimental rumours. Similarly,
assessment and training must be used as a signal to tell the employees that the organisation believes in
them and therefore is investing the necessary time and resources for their career development

4.
Create alternatives: Leaders need to explore creative ways to keep the employees engaged during
economic downtime, while still maintaining a committed workforce. Some such options include,
mandatory vacation days, compressed workweeks, voluntary sabbaticals and employee leasing to
strategic business partners, or even non-profit organisations.
5.
An IT expert explains the options before HCL: "If you are an IT company that relies only on the hardware
business, get ready for a big shift. Clients now prefer working with vendors on the OPEX model over the
CAPEX model. If HCL is genuinely interested in redeploying its workforce, it should reskill people
adequately in cloud services as that's where new opportunities are likely to be created. Other smaller players
are already getting cloud-ready."
http://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article...
2 of 4 4/7/2014 10:28 AM
The compulsions differ from industry to industry. The Raymond Group came face-to-face with a business
challenge in 2009. Its manufacturing facility in Thane, Maharashtra, was hit by productivity issues ascribed
largely to old and worn out machinery. The company decided to close the unit. The facility had a strength of
3,000 employees comprising machine operators and managers.
Needless to say, there was great disappointment when the announcement to close down was made, especially
among the workmen.
Raymond decided to make the option of redeployment available to all. A sizeable part of the workforce,
around 2500 workmen, opted out of the 'redeployment programme' right at the start. Of the 500 supervisors
and facility managers, 15 per cent chose to be redeployed. Because of its large manufacturing capacity,
Raymond was able to place these people at its other facilities within Maharashtra. Similar roles were offered
to the employees in the company's Jalgaon and Vapi facilities.
Since the job profiles were similar, there was no immediate or big need for training. The challenge for
Raymond, however, was to make the relocation of employees as convenient as possible. The HR department
gave a relocation allowance to employees who were redeployed. The expense incurred by employees while
shifting homes was also borne by the company. Employees got assistance while looking for accommodation in
their new job locations. Those who had small children were given a hand in getting school admission.
Today, Raymond has 22 manufacturing facilities across India and is well equipped to move people around, if
such a situation was to arise all over again. In fact, the company now has a documented redeployment policy
in place.
Last year, when Philips India decided to divest its Lifestyle Entertainment business (including home
speakers, DVD players and headphones), a large part of the team of around 80 employees working in that
business was redeployed in Hong Kong-based Woox Innovations. Some were absorbed in other businesses
across the Philips group companies. The company is proud that the transition was seamless and did not
involve any forced exits.
REDEPLOYMENT CHECK LIST
Redeployment policies should be carefully reviewed and carried through by managers trained to
implement them
Ensure employee appraisals are detailed and up to date so they present an accurate picture of their
skills and abilities
Short-listing should cover at-risk employees, giving priority to those seeking redeployment
Ensure there is sufficient training and trial period and suitable arrangements are in place for trial
periods
Firms must have liaison arrangements with HR experts/trainers to ensure at-risk employees are aware
of the resources available to them and of any benefits they may be entitled to if they do not seek
redeployment
If there is a legal challenge at any stage in the process, the employer must be able to demonstrate that
it gave due consideration to equal opportunity issues
Benefits
Key skills are retained and additional costs to recruit lost skills are avoided
Re-skilled staff displays greater engagement
Morale of existing employees is raised
http://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article...
3 of 4 4/7/2014 10:28 AM
Pitfalls
Too many changes in job description may foster a sense of instability and fear
Not many at-risk employees will opt for the programme and even if they opt they might depart after
receiving training
Investment in training may not yield desired results.
Globally, Philips has a strong focus on training not only for the purpose of workforce redeployment, but also
for future preparedness. In a diverse organisation, with businesses ranging from domestic appliances to
ultrasound equipment, there is little chance for redundancy of employees, especially if the organisation
promotes cross-sector, cross-functional career movement as a regular practice. So when Philips decided to
upgrade from traditional lamps to CFL, not only did it upgrade the machinery and manufacturing set up, the
entire workforce was trained to meet the new needs as well. The company has recently started a programme
called Fit 2 Grow for its HR function with the objective of making Philips India a more efficient and agile
organisation. While the core teams became smaller, the company saw this as an opportunity to use the talent
that had been freed up to create Centres of Excellence within HR. In doing so, not only was Philips able to
manage the redeployment cases well, it was able to promote these Centres of Excellence to work dedicatedly
on areas such as talent development and learning.
But the best of intentions are likely to go haywire if there is no forward-looking training programme in place.
It is evident that such a mammoth exercise as redeployment will take time to produce results. Companies like
Airtel claim they would redeploy all their employees if a Wipro- or HCL-like situation were to arise. Airtel
would put down a retraining window of two to three months to assign new jobs to people. Having said that,
100 per cent redeployment would mean that the resources were not optimally utilised in the first place. So it is
alright for a company to let go of some of its people, if and when the need arises, say experts. If a company
wants to avoid negative press at all cost, it might also offer reduced working hours with concomitant
reduction in pay to some employees. Creative redeployment of employees by encouraging them to take
sabbaticals on reduced salaries has also worked well in the past.
The article has been written with inputs from Krish Shankar, head, HR, Philips India; Amit Das, president &
CHRO, Reliance Communications; K Narayan, president, HR, Raymond; Anil K Gupta, Michael D Dingman
Chair and professor of Strategy, Globalisation & Entrepreneurship, Smith School of Business, The
University of Maryland; Chaitali Mukherjee, country manager, Right Management India; Sanchit Vir
Gogia, founder & CEO, Greyhound Knowledge Group; Ajay Shah, general manager, Teamlease; and Uday
Salunkhe, group director, Welingkar School of Management
http://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article...
4 of 4 4/7/2014 10:28 AM