HR Professional - February/March 2009 - (Page 15) UPFRONT N E G O T I AT I N G | R E T I R E M E N T | I N D I A RECRUITING ©ENDOMOTION/BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM WORLD WATCH INDIAN CEO KILLED BY ANGRY EX-EMPLOYEES LALIT KISHORE CHOUDHARY, CEO OF GRAZIANO TRANSMISSIONI INDIA, AN ITALIAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY WITH OPERATIONS IN INDIA, FOUND HIMSELF ON THE WRONG SIDE OF AN ANGRY MOB OF EX-EMPLOYEES LAST SEPTEMBER. CHOUDHARY WAS KILLED AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY MORE THAN 60 FIRED WORKERS ARMED WITH STICKS AND IRON BARS, ACCORDING TO THE HINDUSTAN TIMES. MORE THAN 100 RAMPAGING WORKERS BARGED INTO THE FACTORY DEMANDING ANSWERS INTO THEIR DISMISSAL. WHEN CHOUDHARY TRIED TO PACIFY THE MOB, HE WAS ATTACKED AND KILLED IN WHAT POLICE SAY WAS AN “INCREDIBLY GORY ACT OF VIOLENCE.” POLICE HAVE CHARGED 63 FORMER WORKERS WITH MURDER. Aggressive negotiations sour employment relations Organizations competing for the best should go easy on “hard sell” tactics, according to a new study from the Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. Aggressive job negotiation tactics are often interpreted as mistreatment by potential recruits and can significantly decrease an employee’s long-term commitment to a company. Employers who negotiate aggressively often use tactics like slow response, bullying and so-called “exploding job offers” where an applicant receives an offer with a signing bonus that shrinks with each day the offer goes unsigned. The impact of aggressive negotiations transcends both good and bad job markets, according to the study. When jobs are plentiful, aggressive organizations lose potential hires because the applicants feel they are being unfairly pressured. In tighter markets, applicants might accept the job from the aggressive organization, but the effects of the hostility can linger for years. Source: Vanderbilt University PENSIONS R I S K M A NAGE M E N T T RU M P S R E T U R N S More than 75 per cent of senior finance executives across North America said they’ll focus on reducing risk in their defined benefit pension portfolios, rather than seek greater return on assets, according to the second CFO Research Services study conducted in conjunction with professional services firm Towers Perrin. “After the highs and lows of the past several years, we’re in an economic environment where being ready for storm conditions is the new normal,” said Monica McIntosh, Canadian leader of Towers Perrin’s asset consulting practice. “The study shows finance executives are reviewing their pension investment strategy from a broader enterprise risk perspective to avoid undesirable and unacceptable consequences in terms of funded positions and company costs.” When it comes to plan design, 45 per cent of respondents said that economic performance for financial markets was the biggest external contributor influencing plan design since 2000. Additional factors include competitors’ pension offerings (40%), changes in retirement program regulations (37%) and increased investor demand for profits and financial strength (18%). w w w.H RThought L ea der. c om F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 0 9 15 http://www.hrthoughtLeader.com
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