Good day, Nandhini Sankaran. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Umm, I started, uh, doing my MBA in, uh, SSN institution School of Management. Then I got an opportunity to work as an intern and Ivy mobility solutions private limited. So educational side is I've done my de, uh, Btech it, uh, in solar College of technology and uh, MBA and assessment School of Management and marketing and H.

And that my schooling in Green Park institution.

Thanks for sharing that!

Happy.

OK. So performance management, I worked in an IT institution, it is into an FMCG industry. So here it starts, starts with the goal setting process. So for an employee in which skill set or what experience and what is their goal for a particular year that compares to the career development plan of an employee plus the management or the project goal. So based on that, we will align five to six goals.

Great to hear that, Professor Nandhini. Let's move forward. Could you explain how you've effectively managed performance management systems in your past roles?

That will be uploaded in the HRMS tool or the tool which we manage the PMS. So every quarter, uh, there will be review in the goal setting process and eventually it will be reviewed, uh, by their reporting managers and the head of the function at the end of the, uh, annual cycle.

Uh, that will be an HR calibration, uh, myself, HR will sit with the respective manager and review each and every ratings and goals and we will prepare for the promotions and competition hike. So that is how we will, uh, prepare for a PMS. In case of any queries in between, uh, the quarter or the review, we will address it and close it up by following up with the respective team.

Understood. Can you provide an example of a specific challenge you faced while managing performance reviews and how you resolved it?

Yeah, because people, for example, one team employee. I mean thought that their rating will be 4 out of five or in higher standard because they're they're self evaluation for every employee will be higher. Whatever they have done, they will think that is the best. But the performance review has to be happen not in every quarter because at the end of the quarter or the at the end of the half yearly review or at the end of the annual review when you.

Comment and say the feedback is continuously 5 point that you need to improve. Employee will not accept it. They will think that they have done the job better or good because they will think that their feedback will come out very well. But even if it's a small project outcome or a small achievement they have done during their work, that has to be noticed, that has to be recognized once the.

Project or the work is completed. That feedback will help them to motivate and work beyond their expectation and it should be very consistent. The pattern should should not be followed that only if the PMS is initiated. If the PMS review process has been implemented then you should go and give the feedback or explanation is not a good idea that I faced during an hour. Connect with the employee because they will not accept all the feedback at one time stating that this has to be improved when?

Been informed in prior level they would have improved and the quarter feedback will be much satisfied and it will make them to improve in certain areas which they explained prior as well by the manager. So this is the.

Outcome or the bad experience that I felt that this has to be improved from the manager side and the management side.

Yeah.

Yeah.

and motivating them effectively. Let's move on. Could you walk me through your understanding and experience in handling compensation and benefits strategies?

Yeah. Uh, compensation strategies more are like, uh, marketing idea, say example for a position, say example, if you are into an EC department, you are a professor, assistant professor. Uh, the VIT institute is different than the other educational institute. So we have to set the criteria. Uh, VIT falls in which section whether it is in separate university or it is in government aided or it is.

So we need to categorize the institution and categorize the department then categorize the experience and the title. Based on this compensation we can extract the external parity meaning the other institution which falls like same as VIT, the same department and experience level. What they're providing the compensation can be taken as a data and also you have to take the internal parity meaning the same level of experience what the other people in VIT they are getting it.

So if they have done PhD or a double master degree, what is their benefit of compensation? Whether that is a difference in the percentage that tactically analyzed it. So both the external and internal parity has to be compared while you are presenting a CTC package to one of the employees. Say example if my external parity is 10,00,000 for an assistant professor with a PhD qualification, then the. Internal parity is more like 8,00,000. Then you have to find a median.

Range and you have to analyze the to and fro consequences and you have to find out a median range of compensation that is aligned for an internal parity that also helps them for the career composition if they move out from the VIT university. That is the best strategy that I use for the compensation, right. And benefit part, yes, for all IT employees, we provide them insurance kind of thing. For the educational side, you can provide a benefit strategy of any training.

Satisfaction is done from the educational side for the UH, representing any of the department. Then you can provide the uh training cost that help the uh career development of self-employed, it's benefited. And also the management side, the professor has been upgraded for an uh, better coaching strategies for the student.

Challenges in compensation is like, uh, the data, the data is the one we face challenges because, uh, the composition is a very sensitive data and the numbers you cannot go and you just check, check in ChatGPT or the, uh, Google, but you have to do some analysis, some random, uh, background analysis that helps the data to be very perfect. Uh, maybe it's not perfect to 100%, but somehow at most level you will reach it and also, uh.

I see, Professor Nandhini. You’ve highlighted how you balance external and internal parity while setting compensation packages and incorporate career development benefits effectively. Could you share an example of a situation where you faced challenges in aligning these, and how you approached resolving it?

Internal data should be aligned based on the performance compensation we have given a previous year. So the data is the main thing uh that we require for a compensation site to be derived. 1 number for any title or an experience.

Yes.

foundation for effective compensation decisions. Now, let’s discuss your approach to fostering employee relations and engagement in an organization. Can you elaborate on that?

The employees or the team every month just to have a random conversation whether if it is going everything well mentally and whether their career path is in alignment with the what they wanted to achieve and any struggles or any feedback they need to give to the HR team or the management so that we can just implement the strategy while we have a connect with the management side. So the frequent employer engagement connect will help.

Yeah, because employees might be working day-to-day on their projects and day-to-day on their deadlines as well. But they would have faced some personnel as well as the professional side. So we need to just connect with.

Employees based on any engagement activities like rewards and recognition because not only the student but the employees should have the winning or the competitive authority so that they can also parallelly provide reciprocate the goodness or the coaching and the training to the next level to the student as well. So it is like a win win situation. So these are the engagement activities of the strategy that helps the teachers or the employees to do good.

As to implement many strategies and improve many of the goals or the plan from our it. So that is one thing and frequent connect with the.

I appreciate your detailed explanation of fostering employee engagement. Your emphasis on frequent connection, recognition, and alignment seems thoughtful. Could you share a specific instance where an engagement strategy you implemented had a notable impact on morale or productivity?

For the last six years, when I worked in my first company, there is no rewards and recognition. Even the verbal recognition is not done. That made me realize that people are not motivated. Whatever task they have done, they came to the stage that no rewards or recognition will be done from the company side. So that I heard from the employee connect. So I implemented the R&R. The one thing.

Why the arrender has been passed from the management side is the budget because it's a mid startup company. So I planned a minimal, uh, startup, uh, uh, I mean minimal budgeting plan for the R&R. Uh, we have implemented through a tool. Uh, the manager has to nominate one of the employees every month and they have to present a plan what they have done, the achievement that has to be reviewed by the panel, uh, say example for AEC department, if any of the professor has been nominated from the head of the department.

I'm HOD for a award that has to be reviewed from the other Hods and the management side as well and the HR so that based on the voting plan the award will be given. So this we done every month and it was very successful and people got motivated at least they should be a nomination list, their name should come. So this eventually we have taken into the next level like quarterly awards and CEO kind of award, innovation award if.

Fresh new onboarding onboarded to the company or the educational institution. They have to do some performance freshly onboarded award so.

Many things we have introduced, uh, based on the budgeting plan. So that, uh, R&R implement strategy done from my end is the big achievement, IE so we see so far and that helps the employee and management in a positive way.

It sounds like you successfully transformed the organizational culture by introducing a robust Rewards and Recognition program in a cost-effective manner. Scaling it from monthly to quarterly awards and including innovative categories, like onboarding awards, seems to have had a significant morale boost. Now, let’s discuss your ability to use data to inform decisions, spot trends, and measure impact. Could you share an example of how you have applied data analytics in your role?

Hello.

Hi, Professor Nandhini. Could you share an example where you used data analytics to make informed decisions, spot trends, or measure impact in your role?

Yeah, data analytics is uh, uh, very important because, uh, uh, the HR side work on the implementation or any kind of a strategy, we just go ahead and check the data. So I usually.

What are the plan we have? Did any project new implementing stage strategy we have done and what is the attendance percentage? What is the PMS percentage? How many head count in different departments, whether they are able to manage each and every student or the employees in different projects they work. So these type of data analytics that I prepare as a dashboard that is an automation dashboard based on the numbers we have provided, it will automatically design and give you an. Conclusion. So based on that you can just present it and implement the strategies based on.

Design A dashboard every month to understand what the new hiring has brought and what are the numbers of the investment we have done for the new hires who have exited from the organization.

That accordingly does not alone in the onboarding or employee engagement or in the PMS, we can implement it in different domain as well.

I see. It seems you effectively leverage automated dashboards to monitor key metrics like hiring costs, exit rates, performance reviews, and department workload. Could you share an instance where the insights from your dashboard led to a significant strategic decision or improvement?

Yeah, umm, the one I just presented the head count, uh, the compliance and, uh, different department wise head counts. It is helpful for the management to decide which part of the project or which department has the minimum or maximum number of separation so that we can look into that project and particular department and we can take action accordingly stating that this department.

has higher separation rates and requires immediate attention, perhaps addressing workload, management, or engagement issues. That’s a thoughtful use of data to identify and tackle problem areas. Let’s move toward understanding your knowledge of employment regulations and best practices in educational institutions. Can you explain your experience in ensuring compliance and implementing these in your previous roles?

Yes, hello.

Hello, Professor Nandhini. Could you describe your experience in ensuring compliance with employment regulations and implementing best practices in educational institutions?

Yeah. So best compliance practices is like the forms, whenever the student onboarded into our educational institution, all the data should be very perfectly managed. We should have a list that once they onboarded all the educational certificates, the agreements, everything has to be signed perfectly and you have to keep for a student one. And for the employee who were on boarded as a professor, they have to submit all their documentation that has to be a separate.

And also for the college and institution, educational institution, what are the required documents, the aggregated the certifications or any board certificate, everything has to be updated and it should be upgraded for the complaints to sign off the ISO certification.

Yeah.

Could you share an instance where you encountered a compliance challenge and how you addressed it effectively?

Yeah, the requirements and the evidence has to be very perfectly kept. Every requirement is is being initiated. We should not work on when the external auditor comes and ask you for an evidence. We should have to go and check and have to get the sign and prepare a document. It will be very difficult and it will be very challenges. So you should have a prepared, pre prepared list that when a student or when an employee or when an educational has been upgraded to the next.

So do you set up the documents has to be placed and it has to be physical and, uh, soft copies as well, so that it will be very easy for you to, uh, update the, uh, evidences when an external audit ask for your data or doc.

Document.

Got it.

Umm, I have learned, uh, the human resources skill is more like a people connect. So whatever you connect with the people, you get an idea or a data and you implement a strategy that I learned in an SSC School of Management. I got an opportunity to work as an intern. So in intern I just, uh, exploded different domains, uh, like employee engagement, uh, talent acquisition and performance management, payroll compliance side and everything. So that helped me to explore. In.

Lastly, let’s address your academic qualifications. Could you elaborate on how your MBA in HR and Marketing from SSN School of Management has contributed to your expertise and capabilities as an HR professional?

Online data and explore practically so that I can implement in the project or the task. So that is the one thing I learned. Marketing helped me even if I'm doing an HR job, how to market our campaign, the department, HR department or the management or the company. So that idea I got it from the marketing side and I implemented in HRS.

It’s clear that your MBA provided you with a strong foundation in both people strategy and practical implementation, along with marketing insights to enhance HR branding. That concludes my evaluation. Thank you for your detailed responses, Professor Nandhini. You showcased expertise in critical HR areas and explained your strategies well. If you feel we missed discussing any key aspect, let me know.

No, I've covered everything and thank you for your time and communication with your end.

Professor Sankaran, I see your academic background includes an MBA with a specialization in HR and Marketing from SSN School of Management, complemented by a strong industry focus reflected in your achievements. Let's delve deeper into your contributions and how they enrich pedagogy. One of your accomplishments highlights implementing an onboarding plan for workplace integration. Could you elaborate on how you translated the learning outcomes from this experience into a conceptual framework that could guide a classroom discussion?

Yeah, so onboarding I learned in MBA, I just said it's a bookish data that I just provided mine. So when a new hire onboarded, it should be a, a strategical plan for at least 30 to 90 days. So I planned that a pre assimilation plan for each and every title or a designation they onboarded. So once they sign all the background check and forms, they will be, uh, into an assimilation plan. They will have a.

And what are the polys and processes will be explained by the body. And as an hour I will just conduct an induction program, introduce the different departments and what are the policy and procedures or the leave policies we have that will be explained. And every 306090 we will have a connect with the employee so that in case of any concerns or anything that will be addressed. This helps in their performance, their career development plan and also we can control the early exit.

30 days Connect with the Buddy program that will be a buddy who helped to explore the educational institutions or the company or the culture.

Thank you, Professor Sankaran. I appreciate the elaboration. Your structured onboarding plan, particularly with the use of a buddy program and phased check-ins, is quite engaging. How would you simplify this process into a teaching module for students, ensuring they understand not only the operational aspects but also the strategic importance of onboarding in employee retention and performance enhancement?

Yeah, it's very important because, uh, my main thing will be, uh, in a management or educational institution is like the cost. So if a professor resigns from a department and, uh, seek for a summer opportunity, there is some problem that we haven't addressed the concern. So we need to have a connect with the employee to understand why that professor is seeking for any help from our end, which can be resolved. If it's a parcel, then it's fine. Uh, if it is.

Anything relates to the managements or the company side we should address and at least we should have a feedback or a connect so that they problem resolves at that time or else this this will become a big one and they will descend from the organization and we cannot able to retain the employee at the urge of the exit. So this will help to reduce the cost that we again have to go undergo for a new employment life cycle starting from screening the resume, conducting and training and also to understand the.

Sure. And bringing back to the vibe of the student. So this all takes some cost of time and cost. So this will be like 5 to 10 minutes that we connect with the employees, existing employees so that we can address the issue and we can sort it out this retention and the early exit priority.

We will just give a example as a case study. If the retention is done from the next existing employee, what will be the benefits from the cost perspective, what will be the cycle? And in case of it is not, then what will be the consequences? That will be the strategy. I'll explain.

Understood, Professor Sankaran. Your point about early interventions to address potential retention risks resonates, especially in the context of mitigating organizational costs. To prepare students for real-world applications of such strategies, how would you illustrate the balance between the financial implications and the human aspects of retention during a lecture or case study session?

Thank you, Professor Sankaran. Using a case study approach to juxtapose retention benefits against the consequences of attrition is a compelling method to engage students in understanding this dynamic. I’ll note this approach as a strong example of bridging academic concepts with practical, impactful learning.

Uh, what will be the role, uh, and whom do I report And, uh, what will be the compensation? Because this is different from IT to education side. So do I just want to understand that?

Our scheduled time for the interview is now up. Before we conclude, do you have any questions related to the role or the company?

The role is for an HR Executive. You would be responsible for key HR functions such as performance management, handling compensation and benefits, employee engagement, and ensuring statutory compliance. While it's not specified whom you will directly report to, HR roles in such institutions typically work closely with either the HR Head, the Dean of Administration, or equivalent leadership teams. Regarding compensation, no specific figure is provided in the job details. However, it's worth noting that compensation structures in academic institutions tend to balance financial benefits with intangible perks such as work-life balance, job security, and opportunities for personal and professional development. If compensation specifics are vital to your decision, you should directly address it during later discussions with the hiring team. For this role, having expertise in both HR processes and aligning your approach to the values and frameworks of an academic setting will be key. Does this address most of what you're seeking?

Yeah. Thank you.

Yeah, As I mentioned before, uh, I will just work on the data like external parity and internal parity as well. Uh, external parity like the VIT institute fall under which category and which department and which title we are referring Based on their experience and the qualification, we'll just derive a data from an Excel parity side and from internal parity, we will arrive at a meeting and then we will finalize the compensation.

You're welcome. Let's continue with the interview. Could you share how you would approach creating a compensation and benefits strategy tailored to attract and retain top talent within an educational institution's ecosystem?

It is a one time data. I can, uh, just once you work on the, uh, base level of data, then you can add the title and experience wise and you can update the numbers whoever is onboarded. So it is a one time data that you work on the basic framework that will be a consistency that you can just use the data and upgrade it to, uh, uh, derive A compensation strategy. So that will be in consistency level and will be good for a framework to be understandable.

That makes sense—balancing external and internal parity is essential. How would you ensure scalability and consistency of this strategy, especially as you manage different levels of faculty and staff across various departments?

So.

How would you ensure that this compensation framework aligns with the broader goals of fostering employee engagement and retention, while also complying with labor laws and regulations?

Compensation strategies like a number that you can have a derivation from your end that you should not that will be a very sensitive data so that you should not misplace or give a higher level of competition or a lower level of compensation that what actually the employees needed. So this will help to derive the strategy like we have some numbers we have to work on the upgraded level and updation based on the situation and we need to understand and.

And just take the data from here and we can work on conversation between the employee and the management. This is just the number we have in our hands, but we can have a conversation or negotiation to understand and derive from the conclusion.

Got it, so a balance between structured data and open communication with employees ensures fairness and alignment with expectations. One final question on this—can you provide an example where you successfully navigated compliance with labor laws or regulations in a similar context?

Yeah, Uh, because, uh, labor laws like bonus, statutory bonus, PFESA, everything has to be planned accordingly. So if you have a structured data, uh yeah, CDC structure that will help to understand the parity as well as well as the as per the labor laws and regulation, we should provide the ESI PF and any kind of a bonus that this budget and limit, uh, if the CTC allows. So we should have a structured data, we should understand the.

Side as well and we have to implement both in the one framework that will help for us to derive a final number for any professor or any employee onboarded.