SUMMER TRAINING REPORT SUBMITTED TOWARDS THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF POST GRADUATE DEGREE IN

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

EVOLVING HR ISSUESIN

PANTALOON RETAIL INDIALtd.

SUBMITTED BY:SHIKHA SINGH

MBA-IB (2007-2009)Roll No. : AI802007 / C79

INDUSTRY GUIDE FACULTY GUIDEMr. ANKIT ASTHANA Dr. RAJU VOLETI / ASSISTANT MANAGER Mr. ARUN SACHERCORPORATE PLANNING FACULTYPANTALOON RETAIL AIBS.INDIA Ltd.

AMITY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL, NOIDAAMITY UNIVERSITY – UTTAR PRADESH

Company Certificate

(LETTER HEAD of the Company )

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

This is to certify that _____________________, a student of Amity International Business School, Noida, undertook a project on “___________________” at ________________________from __________to _____________.

Ms./Mr.________________ has successfully completed the project under the guidance of Mr./Ms.____________________. She/He is a sincere and hard-working student with pleasant manners.

We wish all success in her/him future endeavours.

Signature with date(Name)(Designation)(Company Name)

2

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN

This is to certify that Ms.SHIKHA SINGH, a student of Post Graduate

Degree in MBA-IB, Amity International Business School, Noida has

worked in PANTALOONS, under the able guidance and supervision Of

Mr ANKIT ASTHANA, designation: ASST MANGER-CORPORATE

PLANNNG Company: PANTALOONS

The period for which she was on training was for 8 weeks, starting

from20th May to 20th July’08. This Summer Internship report has the

requisite standard for the partial fulfillment the Post Graduate Degree in

International Business. To the best of our, knowledge no part of this

report has been reproduced from any other report and the contents are

based on original research

Signature Signature(Faculty Guide) (Student)

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide

Mr. ANKIT ASTHANA, ASST. MANAGER-

CORPORATE PLANNING, PANTALOONS

RETAIL( INDIA) LIMITED, for his able guidance,

continuous support and cooperation throughout my

project, without which the present work would not

have been possible.

I would also like to thank the entire team of

PANTALOONS RETAIL ( INDIA) LIMITED, for

the constant support and help in the successful

completion of my project.

Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide Dr. RAJU

VOLETI/ Mr. ARUN SACHER of my institute, for

their continued guidance and invaluable

encouragement.

Signature(Student)

4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Research Based

Chapter No. Subject Page No.

Ch.# 1.0 Executive Summary………………….6-7

Ch.# 2.0 Research Methodology………………8-10

1.1 Objective…………. 9

1.2 Hypothesis…………………… 9

1.3 Research Design……………… 9

1.4 Scope of the Study…………….10

1.5 Limitations…………………….10

Ch.# 3.0 Critical Review of Literature……….. 11-14

Ch.# 4.0 Company Profile …………………….15-21

4.1 Industry Profile………………..22-25

4.2 Swot Analysis………………….26

Ch.# 5.0 Findings & Analysis………………….27-45

Ch.# 6.0 Recommendations……………………46-54

Ch.# 70 Bibliography………………………….55

Ch.#8.0 Case Study ……………………...…...56-61

Ch# 9.0 synopsis of the project ………………62-65

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the hottest sectors of India’s booming economy, HR concerns are key business

issues and good human capital management is a business necessity.

For many companies in highly competitive sectors, a lack of talented workers

constitutes a “make-or-break” HR issue, which makes the value of good HR

management readily apparent to top executives. The profession, as a result, is gaining

both respect and attention—the kind that comes from being on the hot seat. Faced

with growth at record levels in some industries and skyrocketing attrition, HR

professionals say they’re spending upward of 80 percent of their time on recruitment.

Some of the evolving HR issues in India are, creating a high-performance culture.

Retaining talent. Recruiting, linking training with performance. Compensating

knowledge workers. Building interpersonal relationships/managing conflict.

The objective of my summer training is to make observation and conduct interviews

of sales representatives and DMs of three pantaloons stores, viz Gurgaon, , Rohini, &

Noida, determine their motivation level, training need analysis & team building

efforts.

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RESEARCH

METHODOLGY

8

OBJECTIVE

The objective of my project is to measure the evolving HR issues in the Pantaloons

store. The HR issues and challenges faced by user organizations overall and by HR

service function.

Satisfaction with current HR service provision, The HR initiatives planned by

organizations overall and within each of talent management, payroll services,

benefits administration, recruiting & resourcing, and training & learning services.

Attitudes towards use of HR analytics and HR analytics initiatives. Current and

planned usage of external HR services overall and by HR service type.

HYPOTHESIS

1. ALL THE EMPLOYYES ARE SATISFIED.

2. TRAINING POVIDED TO THE STAFF IS BEST.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Primary and secondary data source

Experience gained during on the job training.

Comments from human resource department.

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10

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

My scope of this study is limited to the activities of human resource department of

PANTALOONS and specially focused on the motivational level , analyzing the

training need of sales representatives.

LIMITATIONS

The time factor was the limitation in get to know more of other activities

which are in synchronization of training.

To know the workings of HR-Operations department which would include

employee joining, Salary, various other compensation, employee satisfaction

Employee appraisal.

The understanding of the workings of HR- Operations would have completed

a fair knowhow about the whole gamut of activities carried out in a HR

department as a whole in a corporate.

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CRITICAL

REVIEW OF

LITRATURE

12

CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

To understand the problem and get its appropriate solution I had gone through many

books news articles and journals. The problem could be understood when one can

understand the macro environment.

HR’s Rising Star in India-“he hottest sectors of India’s booming economy, HR

concerns are key business issues and good human capital management is a business

necessity”Robert.J.Grossman

Human resource management is directly related to the overall performance of the

organization

Identifying and planning for training can be linked to many corporate processes-

Dereks Stockley.

Team Building / Employee Empowerment / Employee Involvement

“Employee involvement, teams, and employee empowerment enable people to make

decisions about their work. This employee involvement, teambuilding approach, and

employee empowerment increases loyalty and fosters ownership.”-Ron Zemke

“Without effective learning, organization are unable to improve their performance and

retain their competitive positions against organizations that do learn”-Vaheed Z

Ubaidulla

13

Many companies have started focusing on hiring right candidate for right job and to

cater to this need they have approached specialist of the industry, which is the human

resource people. Many organizations are going for complete revamp of activities and

organizational restructuring in order to spear head the manpower requirement through

a special department called the human resource department. According to market

experts, there is a prediction made that in the coming two years every company which

will have 100 employees will require a human resource specialist to handle all the

human resource activity of that particular organization.

Human resource management is directly related to the overall performance of the

organization.

Identifying and planning for training can be linked to many corporate processes.

The level of intense activity continues in most organizations. In Pantaloons managers

and team leaders find themselves working hard on a myriad of activities. However,

effort can be wasted if it is expended in a vacuum. Here, each activity is treated as a

separate action, its intended impact on the organization is never lost.

Many important initiatives are undertaken by organizations. These include

In Pantaloons the first step is to keep all programs and initiatives aligned to a

framework of increased performance. This ensures that each activity complements the

others occurring at the same time.

The relationship between internal and external factors is also important.

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Within the performance framework, the second step is to achieve the best outcome

from each employee. Improvements and achievements can be made in all areas, even

the traditional ones such as training:

The sources of training need provide a diversity and complexity of training

requirements.

To be at best practice level, it is important to manage and coordinate the training

necessary to satisfy, in priority order, all of the needs shown. All personnel involved

in training are skilled and effective. All the training is dovetail into performance

improvement efforts.

The training effort is at an optimum level when every area is addressed. The

importance of training in performance management is clearly shown by the similarity

of the two diagrams. Training is an important foundation of success.

Recruitment/selection is another traditional HR area. The best possible

recruitment/selection processes should be in place.

After training and recruitment/selection, the third and final traditional area to

highlight is salary administration.

The Human Resources (HR) function provides significant support and advice to line

management at Pantaloons. The attraction, preservation and

development of high caliber people are a source of competitive advantage for their

business

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COMPANY

PROFILE

16

PANTALOON RETAIL (INDIA) LIMITED

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple

retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer marker.  

Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 5 million square feet

of retail space, has over 450 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 18,000

people.

The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets,  Big

Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain,

blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like

choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls.

Some of its other formats include, Depot, Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky,

Fashion Station, all, Top 10,

Bazaar and Star and Sitara. The company also operates an online portal,

futurebazaar.com.

A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home

Town, a large-format home solutions store, Collection, selling home furniture

products and E-Zone focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment

Pantaloon Retail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year 2007

by the US-based National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Emerging Market

Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona.

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group

catering to the entire Indian consumption space.

Future Group is India’s leading business group that caters to the entire Indian

consumption space. Led by Mr. Kishore Biyani, the Future Group operates through

six verticals: Retail, Capital, Brands, Space, Media and Logistics.

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Apart from Pantaloon Retail, the group’s presence in the retail space is

complemented by group companies, Indus League Clothing, which owns leading

apparel brands like Indigo Nation, Scullers and Urban Yoga, and Galaxy

Entertainment Limited that operates Bowling Co, Sports Bar, F123 and Brew Bar.

The group’s joint venture partners include French retailer ETAM group, US-based

stationary products retailer, Staples and UK-based Lee Cooper. Group Company,

Planet Retail, owns and operates the franchisee of international brands like Marks

& Spencer, Next, Debenhams and Guess in India. The group’s Indian joint

venture partners include, Manipal Healthcare, Talwalkar’s, Blue Foods and Liberty

Shoes

Future Capital Holdings, the group’s financial arm, focuses on asset management

and consumer credit. It manages assets worth over $1 billion that are being

invested in developing retail real estate and consumer-related brands and hotels.

The group has launched a consumer credit and financial supermarket format,

Future Money and soon plans to offer insurance products through a joint venture

with Italian insurance major, Generali.

The group is currently developing over 50 malls and consumption centers across

the country and has formed a joint venture company focusing on mall management

with Singapore-based CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest property companies.

Future Group’s vision is to, “deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time to Every

Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner.” The group considers

‘Indian-ness’ as a core value and its corporate credo is - Rewrite rules, Retain

values.

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Group Websites:

← Futurebazaar.com

← Futuregroup.in

← Kshitijfund.com

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PANTALOONS

Celebrate the Fresh Look, Fresh Feel & Fresh Attitude at Pantaloons Fresh

Fashion!

Fashion is all about the now. Why, then should people not see a fresh look every

time they walk into a Pantaloons store? That is the thought behind 'Fresh Fashion'.

An idea that has captured the imagination of young India. With a focus on the

youth of today, Pantaloons offers trendy and hip fashion that defines the hopes and

aspirations of this demography.

Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stands out as a fashion trendsetter, on the lines of how

fashion is followed internationally. The ‘look’ and ‘what’s in’ today for the season

is sacrosanct.

Pantaloons take its promise of 'fresh fashion' very seriously making available to its

customers the latest in fashion every week!

All Pantaloons stores reflect the new ideology -- Fresh Feeling, Fresh Attitude,

Fresh Fashion. The stores offer fresh collections and are visually stimulating

thanks to appealing interiors and attractive product display!

The first Pantaloons were opened in Gariahat in 1997. Over the years, it has

undergone several transitions. When it was first launched, this store mostly sold

external brands. Gradually, it started retailing a mix of external brands while at the

same time introduced its own private brands. Initially positioned as a family store,

it

20

finally veered towards becoming a fashion store with an emphasis on 'youth' and

clear focus on ‘fresh fashion’.

Today, the fashion store extends to almost all the major cities across the country.  A

pantaloon has established its Presence with stores not just in the metros, but also in

small towns.

Pantaloons stores have a wide variety of categories like casual wear, ethnic wear,

formalwear, party wear and sportswear for Men, Women and Kids.

Corporate doctrine ‘Rewrite Rules, Retain Values’

Over the years, the company has accelerated growth through its ability to lead

change. A number of its pioneering concepts have now emerged as industry

standards. For instance, the company integrated backwards into garment

manufacturing even as it expanded its retail presence at the front end, well before

any other Indian retail company attempted this. It was the first to introduce the

concept of the retail departmental store for the entire family through Pantaloons in

1997. The company was the first to launch a hypermarket in India with Big Bazaar,

a large discount store that it

Commissioned in Kolkata in October 2001. And the company introduced the

country to the Food Bazaar, a unique 'bazaar' within a hypermarket, which was

launched in July 2002 in Mumbai. Embracing its leadership value, the company

launched aLL in July 2005 in Mumbai, making it the first retailer in India to open a

fashion store for plus size men and women.

Today pantaloons is the fastest growing retail company in India. The number of

stores is going to increase many folds year on year along with the new formats

coming up.

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Pantaloon is an invitation to join a place where there are no boundaries to what you

can achieve. It means never having to stop asking questions; it means never having

to stop raising the bar. It is an opportunity to take risks, and it is this passion that

makes dreams a reality.

PANTALOONS quotes “Come enter a world where we

promise you good days and bad days, but never a

dull moment”

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COMPANY AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2007:

W National Retail Federation Awards

International Retailer for the Year 2007 – Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.The

National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association with

over 1.4 million members in the US and across the world. Some of the past

winners of the award include Metro AG (Germany), Carrefour (France), Zara

(Spain), Boticario (Brazil) and Ito Yokado (Japan). The award was presented at

the Retail’s Big Show held in January 2007 in New York.

World Retail Congress Awards

Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 – Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd

The inaugural World Retail Congress held in Barcelona, Spain in March

2007 attracted over one thousand retail professionals from over sixty

countries. The awards were decided by a multinational

Hewitt Best Employers 2007

Best Employers in India (Rank 14th) – Pantaloon Retail (India) LtdGrand

Jury. Winners in other categories included Inditex, Mall of Emirates, Marks

& Spencer and IKEA. Leading human resources consultancy, Hewitt

Associates conducts an annual survey of the best employers in India, as part

of its global initiative. It is based on CEO interview, People Practices

Inventory and Employee Opinion Surveys. Pantaloon Retail became the

only retailer to feature among the twenty-five best employers in India.

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PC World Indian Website Awards

Best Indian Website In The ShoppingPC World, a leading consumer

technology magazine selected the best Indian websites in various categories

based on use of technology for delivering solutions, information being

presented in an intuitive and concise manner and overall experience aided

by design. Category - Futurebazaar.com.

Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands Platinum Awards

Trusted Brands Platinum Award (Supermarket Category) – Big Bazaar

The Reader’s Digest awards are based on surveys done among consumers

by independent research agency, Nielsen Media Research. This is the

second consecutive time Big Bazaar has won this award.

2006:

Retail Asia Pacific Top 500 Awards

Asia Pacific Best of the Best Retailers – Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd

Best Retailer in India – Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd

← The Retail Asia publication in association with EuroMonitor and KPMG

honours the best retailers in 14 countries across the Asia Pacific region. The

awards were presented in Singapore in October, 2006.

AsiamoneyAwards

Best Managed Company in India (Mid-cap) – Pantaloon retail (India) Ltd.

←The Asiamoney publication conducts a poll among fund manages and

investors and does a quantitative analysis of financial performance to select

best managed companies in Asian countries.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

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Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Services) – Kishore Biyani.

←Considered to be one of the most prestigious business awards in India, a jury

comprising leading names in Indian business selected the winners based on

courage, creativity, passion, endurance and vision.

←

CNBC Indian Business Leaders Awards

The First Generation Entrepreneur of the Year – Kishore Biyani

←Organized by CNBC-TV18, the twelve awardees in various categories are

decided by a high profile jury, along with research partners - The University

of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Development Dimensions

International (DDI) and AC Neilson ORG MARG.

Lakshmipat Singhania – IIM Lucknow National Leadership Awards

Young Business Leader – Kishore Biyani

← The award recognizes and honors individuals who have contributed

consistently to the betterment of our country through their pursuit of

excellence. The awards were presented in New Delhi by the Prime Minister

Dr. Manmohan Singh in December, 2006.

Images Retail Awards

Best Value Retail Store – Big Bazaar

Best Retail Destination – Big Bazaar

Best Food & Grocery Store – Food Bazaar

Retail Face of the Year – Kishore Biyani

The IRA awards are decided through a nationwide consumer & industry poll and

nominations followed by performance assessment by team of analysts and jury.

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Readers’ Digest Awards

Platinum Trusted Brand Award - Big Bazaar.

The Reader’s Digest awards are based on surveys done among consumers

by independent research agency, Nielsen Media Research.

CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards

Most Preferred Large Food & Grocery Supermarket – Big Bazaar

← Conducted in association with AC Nielsen-ORG Marg across 21 major

cities, nearly 10,000 consumers were asked to choose their most preferred

brands.

Reid & Taylor Awards for Retail Excellence

Retail Entrepreneur of the Year – Kishore Biyani

SWOT ANALYSIS

26

STRENGTHS

The major strength of PANTALOONS is its HR department and its own

employees.

It has access to all the sources of recruitment and the name of future group

plays a big role in attracting large pool application.

WEAKNESS

The major weakness which I would consider is that proper training is not

imparted to the employees

OPPORTUNITY

The opportunity which lies with them is that with so much experienced

staff they can go high in future.

THREATS

There is no such threat to the workings of Hr department but of course

there poses a threat for pantaloons stores with so many retail outlets

popping up.

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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

My findings are based on the two months on the job training at PANTALOONS.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of my study is to gauge the motivation level, analyze the training need

of sales representatives of three pantaloons store, viz, Gurgaon,, Rohini, and Noida,

and to make observation on various HR issues evolving in the store, to examines the

various HR processes that are concerned with attracting managing, motivating and

developing employees for the benefit of the organization. Through the findings a co-

coordinated approach could be developed to understand how a staff can be leaded to

confidence. Confidence leads to trust. Trust provides the foundation for a positive

cultural environment, which in turn provides the driving force.

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METHOD ADOPTED

The method adopted in assessing motivation level and analyzing training need of

sales representatives was qualitative ,recommendations are based upon my personal

observation and unstructured interview conducted on the sales representatives of

pantaloons store.

Population: Customer Service Representatives.

Sampling Method: Simple Sampling

Sample Size: 50

Method Used: Unstructured Interview

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QUESTIONAIRE & ANALYSIS

Assessing Motivation level, Training need & Team Building Efforts

A) Motivation Level

1. Do you enjoy working on difficult tasks & goals?

Yes

No.

2. Do you provide new suggestions & ideas?

Yes

No

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3. Do you hesitate to make decisions?

Yes

No.

4. Do you strive to exceed the performance/targets.?

Yes

No

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5. Are you afraid of making mistakes?

Yes

No.

6. Do you ensure that things are done as per schedule & plan?

Yes

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No

B) Team building efforts

1. Do you work in collaboration with other colleagues?

Yes

No

2. Is there anybody around when you need help?

Yes

34

No

3. The team has enough freedom to decide its way of working?

Yes

No

4. When you need some help, no one is available?

Yes

No

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5. Do you think there is a lack of resources (human/stock) required by the

team member support each other when required?

Yes

No

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ANALYSIS

37

In the current scenario clothing and accessories accounts for 39% of the total

organized retail in India. Following it Food and Grocery with the market share

of 11%. Footwear Industry and Consumer electronics are on 3rd position in the

percentage of organized share which reads as 9% for both of them.

PANTALOONS GURGAON

As far as my observation and its understanding goes in this competitive

environment people are the key differentiators and if a store fails to develop and

retain the good lot than it is the store’s irrecoupable loss, I have observe that in the

frenzy of achieving sales and making profits store has totally forgotten about the

people who are instrument in achieving it, one could not easily afford to overlook

the frustration and resentment of the employees(sales associates & team leaders).I

have observed that they have develop a deep rooted feeling of distrust and anger 

towards the management, because they are made to feel that they are not needed by

the store ,they need the store, may be that is true but the company who have

humility ,introspection ,leadership, etc as a core value cannot be expected to

demonstrate such ‘don’t care’ attitude and then we are worried about attrition, I

have interacted with more than half the employees and they all are set to leave the

store as soon as they will get the opportunity ,if the store is so conscious about cost

cutting then it should care about the employees because if the store is planning to

invest a substantial amount in the employees training [which it is not doing in

practice],rewards(again not doing properly),then it will all go in vain because the

employees are not willing to stay and are ready to leave.

I have interacted and observed that every employee, not singling any one

out are so much demotivated, discouraged, and with low morale that they

have lost interest, commitment and association is something out of sight in

them.

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Employees are not respected how a store can expect them to respect when

they themselves are not regarded properly

They are not even given basic training like fabric-knowledge,

communication, etiquette, stress handling, fire fighting.

Nobody of them knows how to use fire extinguisher, which is so imperative.

There is hardly anything more frustrating than working hard, meeting/exceeding

expectations & discovering that it doesn’t matter to your company that is what the

impression of the store  which an employees holds and which is suppose to bring

maximum sale for the region.

Majority of them feels that there is no scope of development and opportunity

in the store they feel stagnant, how can we expect them to feel motivated, they

express their willingness to learn more, they don’t know

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SOP

INWARD/OUTWARD

SAP

COMPUTERS

CASHERING (EXCEPT 2 0R 3)

LPC…..then how can they feel well cared for, the older employees felt demotivated

because of lack of recognition, they all are suffering acutely of low morale.

Another most important observation I made that the store lack transparency,

employees don’t know why they are not been promoted and why other person is been

promoted despite of the fact they are old and efficient, another reason for lack of

motivation.

If the store is thinking of staying ahead in the competition than it need to seriously

consider the reward, recognition and employees development policies in order to

retain and attract skilled and efficient employee

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PANTALOONS ROHINI

Pantaloons Rohini has the privilege of having bunch of most hard working

girls as their sales representatives, but when it comes to recognition very few

have the art of recogninsing and maintaining talent, and am afraid that at

rohini anybody is aware of this and if aware then they are not working in a

proper direction.

Any kind of training defeats it purpose if it does not bring the needed/desired

change and same has happened in case of the rohini staff. They need

training, in such a form that can be easily comprehended and internalize by

them. They felt the need of it and see training as an opportunity to grow and

learn more.

Interaction with the employees, asking about their well being can make a

difference, management should try to use such method to motivate, they are

not asking much just such small gestures which shows that they are well

cared and very much needed.

Management needs to do something about the fun zone soon, employees

needs a place where they can relax and talk freely, I observed their

discomfort during the tea break where they had to sit on the floor and have

tea since back office is their it causes lots of hindrance to them as well as to

the person who is going to the back office.

Management needs to maintain a transparency, what I felt & observed that

there is a communication gap exists.

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staff requires a certain level of discipline

Initiatives are taken by the store, have conducted training in customer

services, sap, gsd & lpc.Doctor visits the store for checkup of the employees

that is really commendable .fashion show for the staff has also been

organized by the store.

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PANTALOONS NOIDA

There is no proper grooming standard at pantaloons noida store.

Staff requires a degree of discipline in the store.

They also felt and required training in various areas like

1. fabric knowledge

2. sop

3. sap

4. fire fighting

5. etiquette training

6. stock inward/outward.

Requires informal interaction and fun activities in the store.

staff needs fun activities to happen in stores where they can have the

opportunity to relax and enjoy

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OBSERVATIONS

Major observation of the Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited are as follows:

Role of HR is parochial: I have observed that the responsibilities & power of

the HR executive is very much parochial in the stores, they are viewed by the

staff (employees) as somebody who prepare their salaries or who keeps their

leave applications and misplaced it at the same time. But this is really a

deplorable condition; we have greatly overlooked the paramountcy of HR who

is suppose to be the ridge between the management & the employees,

suppose to know their people & people look up to him/her as somebody with

whom they share their worries and problems

No fruitful interaction: Interaction with the employees, asking about their well

being can make a difference, management should try to use such method to

motivate, they are not asking much just such small gestures which shows that

they are well cared and very much needed.

Training is required in various areas (felt & needed):sales staff requires and

feels the need of training so that they can perform better, following are the

areas where

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Training is required :SAP,LPC,ETIQUETTETRANING,FIRE

FIGHTING,FABRIC KNOWELEDGE,VM,STOCK INWARD &

OUTWARD.

Code of conduct: is the another important area where the staff lags, they need

to understand the importance of behaviors a lifestyle store employees needs to

demonstrate both amongst themselves as well as with the customer.

Team building exercises needs to be conducted: employees lack team spirit,

which in turn results in poor coordination, such kind of behaviors by the

employees results in demotivation and discontent

Timely recognition: Appreciation if delayed, is denied, timeliness is the key to

success, if we want to keep our employees happy, motivation is the key to it, it

is not necessary that every time we need to reward our employees

humongouly, but small appreciation in form of pat on their back is enough to

keep them going, it takes nothing but a little effort from the side of

management, but we tend to take obvious things for granted.

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Need of transparency: stores lack transparency; employees don’t know why

one employee is chosen over another for the reward / recognitions, what is

expected out of them and what kind of the behavior they need to put on.

Stress busting activities needs to be conducted: the job of the sales

representative’s demands time and great deal of efforts which causes stress

and tired employees can not be expected to be active and smiling.

Clarity of roles & expectation: employees are not clear about their roles ,what

is expected out of them, even the TL’s are doing the same thing as a team

member.

Communication gap: there is a communication gap exists ,there is no proper

flow of information related to any issues, and this is quite surprising because

this hampers the progress, create confusion and ensue frustration.

Need to train ASMs’ & DMs’ in Team Management

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RECOMMENDATION

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RECOMMENDATION

I have made my recommendation on the basis of observation & unstructured

interview conducted on sales representatives.

HR cum Counselor: the sales staff needs the emotional support at their work

place, they need someone who could listen to their problem and provide

solution to it.

Empower the HR at store level, review their performance on monthly basis: in

order to improve the condition of the work force , the HR at store level are

required to be empowered because they are quite limited in their approach

Provide training: in order to enhance the performance of the sales staff,

company needs to train the staff, and provide follow up on training which are

held, following are the areas which requires attention,

Fabric knowledge

SOP

SAP

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Etiquette (code of conduct)

Communication

Fire fighting

LPC

Team building initiative needs to be taken: the sales representatives are need to

be taught that they are a team and targets can be achieved only if they will work

in coordination and organized way.

HR should be provided with separate corner/room, so that employees without

any inhibition can go & share their problems/queries with the HR.

Management needs to maintain a transparency, what I felt & observed that

there is a communication gap between the various levels, if there is some

information which an employee had to follow most of the time, most of them

remain unaware.

Training needs a follow up which is very necessary to check whether the

employee is doing what he/she has learnt and how much training has helped

them to perform better.

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PANTALOONS GURGAON

RECOMMENDATION

We are incapable of leaving our emotions at home so they are operational

even at work, we need to take care of this fact and have to make employees

feel that they are RESPECTED, IMPORTANT and CARED by the

store(please avoid making them feel unimportant and disposable even if that is

the fact).BIGGEST REASON FOR DEMOTIVATION AND UNREST

Most of the employees feel stagnant, so measures can be taken to get rid of

this      ‘stagnation’ through training, which they do need in the areas such

as

Fire fighting

Fabric knowledge

Team building exercises and activities needs to be done so that sense of

ownership which they lack can be inculcated.

Stress handling and stress busting activities such as keeping games in fun

zone, taking the staff for picnic or organizing the party at the end of the

month provide the employees an opportunity to enjoy ,relax and interact

informally with each other and the management this will foster emotional

bonding.

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SAP/SOP

INWARD/OUTWARD

VM

ETIQUETTE

Training needs a follow up so after training they needs to be observed to see whether

they have learned anything and if they have learned will they are able to put it into

practice.

Refreshment(eatable and hygienic) & at right time can be provided during

straight shifts, sales periods such small gestures will definitely do wonders

and make them feel ‘cared for

Timely recognition for work (employee of the month was not given on time

so lost its worth), team recognition and rewards needs to be done more to

foster the team spirit.

Certain level of transparency needs to be maintained, why a

certain person is rewarded, what makes him\her apart etc.so

that they are cleared about how to improve and do better this

will create sense of fairness.

For development we can increase their responsibility(especially

of the TLs’

Employees should get a timely weekly off which they are not

getting and which is the other reason for their frustration and

resentment.

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Need to create a gender balance this will maintain the interest and

the work can be well divided like girls cannot stay for night shift

then they can do the morning shift for their counterparts.

Employees needs to be given proper day off after they had done a straight shift which

they are not getting lately and because of which their health has suffered we all know

a healthy and fit sales rep can perform better than a tired and burned out employee.

We need to foster environment of trust and compassion and that can only be done

when employees are made to feel important and needed, when they will get the

opportunity to grow and develop as a person then only they can be involve and

perform better they needs to be respected and treated fairly . 

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PANTALOONS ROHINI

RECOMMENDATION I recommend training should be given in areas like

SOP

SAP

VM

FIRE FIGHTINING

GROOMING

FABRIC KNOWELEDGE

TEAM BUILDING (INCLUDING DM’S)

It is very imperative in order to retain the employees especially the talented one,

training will psychological make them involve and improve ,will reduce the

feeling of stagnancy and monotony which has developed in them. Each training

needs a follow up (it is must to follow up), to monitor the difference in the

performance and needs to be repeated after 6mths.

Managements need to listen to the employees, try to understand the situation

objectively without holding any preconceive notions against the employee. ,

it will boost their morale and motivate them as well.

Management can make most out of the Saturday meeting it could made a

platform for learning , platform where employees can express themselves

freely ,it could be made interesting if enough interest and zeal will be shown

by the management which is not there and employees hates Saturday

meeting.

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Management needs to foster team spirit amongst the employees, needs to

promote & recognize team effort.

Management should have a positive attitude towards the employees, if they

will not try to understand their staff points of view, then it will further create

a problem for the store only, so management should avoid taunting and

pointing out the mistake this will only humiliate the employee & it will reap

discontent & demoralized staff, there are better ways to make things done

that too amicably, negative approach can do much harm & it should be kept

in mind.

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PANTALOONS NOIDA

Grooming standards should be improved.

Team building initiative needs to be taken: the sales representatives are need

to be taught that they are a team and targets can be achieved only if they will

work in coordination and organized way.

Employees need to trained in areas likes

SOP

SAP

VM

FIRE FIGHTINING

GROOMING

FABRIC KNOWELEDGE

TEAM BUILDING.

Fun activities should be conducted so that employees can enjoy and have fun.

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BIBLOGRAPHY

Udai Pareek, Organizational Behavior Processes, 1992.

Paul and Faith Pigors, “The Incident Process-Learning by Doing”

Udai Pareek, Training Instruments for HRD.

Human Capital, Punita Malhotra.

Best Practices in Customer Service by Ron Zemke, John.A Woods.

Human resource management-ROBBINS

REFERENCES

The websites which I had visited to enrich my content of

report were as follows:

www.e-HResources.com

www.panatloons.com

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CASE STUDY

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COMMON GROUNDRESOLVING

EMPLOYMENT DISAGREEMENTS.

INTRODUCTION

The Pantaloon Family of Companies has exceptionally productive

and creative

workforces. Our 100,000 plus employees are our most valuable

asset and have helped establish the Johnson & Johnson Family of

Companies as a leader in the health care field.

In any company, there are occasions when differences arise on

matters relating to an individual’s employment. Employees should

not have to face these issues alone. The Pantaloon Family of

Companies offers employees innovative internal procedures for

resolving employee relations concerns fairly, quickly and as

amicably as possible. We refer to this program for resolving issues

as “Common Ground.” Common Ground offers employees three

comprehensive steps for resolving issues or disagreements. These

are: Open Door, Facilitation and Mediation

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OPEN DOOR

The employee is encouraged to resolve the problem whenever

possible by engaging in discussions directly with his or her

supervisor, or the supervisor’s supervisor. The employee may also

discuss the matter with Human Resources professionals at his or her

operating company. Human Resources will promote open dialogue,

make every effort to maintain a confidential environment when an

investigation is necessary, will review the issues, and work with both

parties to resolve them amicably and fairly.

FACILITATIONIf the issue is not resolved, facilitation is the next step. The

facilitator works to open up lines of communication and identify

creative solutions.

MEDIATION

The third step toward resolving the issue is Mediation, which is an

informal dispute resolution process conducted by a neutral third

party, the mediator.

The mediator helps open up the lines of communication and assists

the parties in attempting to reach a mutual and voluntary resolution

of their dispute by identifying the issues, the strengths and

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weaknesses of their respective positions, and exploring possible

bases for agreement. Mediation is a fair, straightforward and cost-

effective method for examining and resolving disputes, offering

many advantages for all involved parties. Mediation is non-binding.

If the mediation is not successful, the issue can be brought to court.

Most types of issues

may be raised in Open Door and Facilitation. Only claims that could

be asserted in court are

referred to Mediation if not resolved in the earlier steps. Because

Mediation has proven highly

successful in the majority of cases, it is generally the dispute

resolution process of choice. It

offers the following advantages.

Provides the opportunity for both sides to explain their

positions.

Gives both sides the benefit of a neutral, third party

perspective.

Helps separate emotional issues from factual issues.

Promotes discussion of fair, creative solutions.

Helps people work problems out themselves.

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Is relatively quick.

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IMPACT OF COMMON GROUND ON

EMPLOYMENT

The program does not establish any terms of employment. It

provides a procedure for attempting to resolve employment related

disputes. It does not create a contract of employment, express or

implied, for any period of time or guarantee that employment will

end only under certain conditions. The program does not alter or

modify the “at will” employment relationship between an employee

and the Company at which he or she is employed. By participating

in the Common Ground Program, an employee will not lose or

compromise any

substantive rights he or she has. The Program will not impair the

right of the Company to make decisions regarding an employee’s

compensation, benefits or continued employment.

COMMON GROUND PROGRAM EFFECTIVE

DATE

The program is the exclusive means for attempting to resolve

employment disputes between employees and their operating

Company, including disputes for legally protected rights such as

freedom from unlawful discrimination, retaliation, or harassment. If

an employee accepts or continue employment with his or her

operating Company after the program went into effect, he or she

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agrees to process all employment related legal claims against the

Company through this Program.

CHANGE OR REVOCATION

The Common Ground program may be changed or discontinued at

any time. Any claim

submitted to Mediation under the program before the effective date

of any modification or

discontinuance of the program shall continue to be resolved through

the Program as it existed

before modification or discontinuance.

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PROJECT

SYNOPSIS

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PROJECT SYNOPSIS

EVOLVING HR ISSUES IN PANTALOON INDIA RETAIL Ltd.

Student’s Name: SHIKHA SINGHIndustry Guide: Mr. ANKIT ASTHANAFaculty Guide: Dr. RAJU VOLETI

.

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The summer internship project undertaken by me at Pantaloon Retail ltd.was in

purview of the objectives which I had defined in my summer internship proposal,

which are as follows:

To understand the working of Human resource department in a Company

which is oriented towards understanding & Development of Human

behavior

To get to Know about an Organization which is Largely involved into

training and development activities e.g.(soft skill training, management

development programme etc.)

To understand the concept of sourcing of problems faced by

employees in the organization

Finally to get to know how a store operates. And how do employees work.

Overall to have a fair idea about the standards of corporate world and the

ethics by which they abide by their functions.

As my summer training proceeded ahead and in due course of time I was an

active part of operation of store in the HR department. Handling all the

activities ,I came to know the basics on which the HR department functions

and operates in a corporate culture.

There were various sources used for training of employees starting from basic

manners to deep routed knowledge.

In my analysis I found out evolving HR issues in the Pantaloons store. The HR

issues and challenges faced by user organizations overall and by HR service

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function. Satisfaction with current HR service provision, The HR initiatives

planned by organizations overall and within each of talent management, payroll

services, benefits administration, recruiting & resourcing, and training & learning

services. Attitudes towards use of HR analytics and HR analytics initiatives.

Current and planned usage of external HR services overall and by HR service type.

My industry guide Mr. ANKIT ASTHANA, a dynamic personality was

always a inspiration for me to work hard in achieving my learning objective

during my on the job Internship period. It was his helping hand and enriched

experience which guided me to do my work and complete this project. I will

always remember his humble nature, being deputed at such a responsible and

high post he never denied to help me whenever I approached him for any

difficulties which I faced during my internship and while drafting my project

report. He was the person who spear headed all my activities and all credit of

my work goes to him .It was an enriching and wonderful experience to work

under such a brilliant and multi facet personality. Overall it was really a

learning an enriching experience which has added a new chapter of success in

my professional career.

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