Right Fit Online

The e-retail industry in the country is poised for a boom and online sales are expected to double to Rs 10, 000 crore over the next few years, as per estimates of Assocham and other industry bodies.  This in turn would create job opportunities for several lakh in diverse categories including sales and marketing, web designing and client servicing, amongst others.

However, given the rather dynamic nature of the online industry, with the entry of several new portals each week, along with the success rate often rather low, it does create HR-related challenges with regard to recruitment and retention of employees. HR managers also highlight that e-retailers pay greater attention to candidates who can deliver on the job rather than simply relying on educational qualifications while filling in a vacancy.

In addition, given the rapid growth opportunities in this sector, management graduates from leading B-schools with considerable prior work experience often make it to the top of e-retailers. Asim Handa, CEO India, Gi Group, a staffing and recruitment company, said, “Working in e-retail would suit professionals who enjoy working in a challenging atmosphere, coupled with the ability to get results that are beyond ordinary.”

Organisational hierarchy

E-retailers are often described as akin to startups, and while they offer enormous flexibility and avenues for growth, they also operate like their counterparts in brick and mortar via departments, including marketing, accounts, technology, and customer service, amongst others.

In addition, they also have a functional head and a hierarchy of juniors who report to them. HR professionals highlight that decision making in these companies tends to be much faster, given a rather flat organisational structure, and new entrants to this sector need to distinguish themselves with their ability to respond quickly to a dynamic business environment. 

For instance, e-retailers like Jabong and Yebhi have entered a number of product categories, and the top management consisting of head of marketing and finance have overall responsibility. However, they also offer roles at a junior level, right from executives specialising in a particular field right up to those with considerable experience, and they are expected to possess entrepreneurial skills.

Rajiv Srivatsa, COO and Co-founder, Urban Ladder, an online furniture retailer, said, “E-commerce is a rather dynamic industry and it requires top management to make quick decisions.”

Right man for right job

E-retailers when filling a vacancy often select based on a candidate’s past work experience and his ability to contribute to the organisation’s growth over the next few years, rather than simply relying on educational qualifications. And, as part of that process, they conduct aptitude tests and rigorous one-on-one interviews, coupled with suitable reference checks.  Praveen Sinha, Co-founder, Jabong.com, said, “We prefer candidates who have the ability and passion to drive growth.”

Striking a similar view, Nikhil Rungta, CBO, Yebhi.com, said, “We hire talent largely based on their ability to perform on the job. Also, as the bulk of our work involves web designing, and photography, we recruit without much attention to educational qualifications.”

Performance-based appraisals

No doubt, the work environment at online retailers is flexible, but the emphasis is also on exceeding goals set out. Apart from that, e-retailers are also working toward keeping their employees motivated via monetary and non-monetary benefits, in a bid to keep their attrition levels within reasonable levels.

For instance, Yebhi.com has a bottom-up approach - Chak de Appraisal – and each employee sets his own goals and the performance is reviewed at three levels- self assessment, manager and peer review.

They are not alone. Myshopbazzar.com has an incentive plan including stock options, while Aasheesh Mediratta, CEO, Fashionandyou.com, emphasises on a merit-based system.

Training

The customer service and delivery operations often require continous training and also need to be in tune with the best practises. That’s because most e-retailers are scaling-up their operations and require  their front-end staff to respond appropriately.

Jabong and Urban Ladder utilise in-house resources for training their team, and focus on improving both product knowledge, as well as ‘soft’ skills of an employee. HR managers also highlight that as this industry is still in the ramp up phase, e-retailers often also rely on employees trained in related service industries, in a bid to contain training costs.

Summing up, Spokesperson, Shopclues.com, said, “The challenge lies in hiring right talent, retaining them and upgrading their skills appropriately during this period.”