Case study:Singhania and partner

Introduction:Singhania & Partners is a full-service national law firm, a successful international corporate and commercial litigation, arbitration and intellectual property law practice. In my opinion, Singhania & partners should be to strengthen the trust of employees, because it is an essential prerequisite for all real commercial success.

The Discussion on Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. HR Practices
Human resources practices mean the methods that are adopted to conduct various employment actions (Mayhew, 2012). As one of the largest law firms in India, Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., has unique features in its HR practices.
Besides the regular HR work, the HR practices of Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. has three features in its HR practices: open door policy, all merits based career growth and stress free environment.
Firstly, the company conducts open door policy. There is open house every two weeks on which small presentations on different topics are organized, offer opportunities for employees training. The lawyers at all levels are encouraged to make the presentation. Combined with bi-weekly open house and weekly senior management meeting, the company is open to hear different opinions and suggestions. What’s more, with the open door policy of the company, any employee is accessible to senior management for discussions.
Secondly, the career growth of the employees is all merits based. The company does not rely on annual performance reviews for performance evaluation. The performance of employees is evaluated whenever needed. For example, an employee of new arrival gets his salary raised by 50% before his first pay day since his employability is appreciated by the leaderships. The salary and benefit are high in the industry, so are the year-end bonuses.
Thirdly, Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., is attempting to establish a stress free environment for its employees. Emphasizing on the importance of its employees’ family life, the company conducts human-based management. The company organizes annual firm retreats for relaxations. The company does not make its lawyers overwork by reducing their workload. By this means, the employees can work under a less stressed working environment.
In conclusion, the HR practice of Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. is to attract and retain talents by slack management with generous welfare and free style.

Evaluate the Adequacy of the Firm‘s HR Practices by Using PCMM
HR practices adopted by Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. had been effective and adequate during the initial stage when the company is fast developing without competition from foreign firms. However, when the foreign law firms enter India, this type of HR practice is no more adequate. In following, the Adequacy of its HR practices will be evaluated in details.
The People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) is a tool which assists researchers to identify the critical HR issues in the organization (Curtis, Miller and Hefley, 2008). The figure below, Figure 1, will illustrate the People CMM Maturity Levels.

Figure 1: People CMM Maturity Levels.

Source: IQMS Team, 2012

From the figure above, it is apparent that the PCMM model has five maturity levels, each of them has a layer as the base for a further improvement.
Initial Level ― the typical feature of initial level is inconsistent working style, responsibility vacancy and staff emotional deviation. Due the different working styles inside the organization, the organization is in deeply disorder. Few parts of the process are strictly defined. Since Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., has its consistent HR policies, the company is not at this level.
Managed Level ― at this level, the staff is overloaded by work, the working environment is complicated, performance objectives is not identified, the feedback is vague, the relative knowledge and skills are insufficient and communication is not smooth. Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. is known for its stress free environment, so this level is not where the firm is situated.
Defined Level ― at this level, the leaderships have conception of HR management and believe that the talent is the core of corporate competitiveness. The HR management activities are centered with employees’ capacity and achievements. It is apparent that Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., is at this level since the leaderships have realized the importance of the work force and have built HR systems based on merits.
Predictable Level ― the leaderships improve the HR issues to the strategic position. All levels of the managements offer measurable management and effective authorization. What's more, the organizational achievements can be predicated. Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., has not reached predictable level since there is no effective authorization in this firm.
Optimizing Level ― the leaderships believe HR issue is an everlasting issue and is self-denial. The leaderships have perception of continuous improvement and innovation. Reformation is a daily activity inside the organization. These features are not what Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. possesses at present.
Due the analysis above, the Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. is at the Defined level for its HR practices.

The Improvement Measurement to Improve PCMM Level
If the organization, Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., wishes to improve its PCMM level, it needs to achieve it through measured and empowered practices.
Firstly, the HR practices should be measured instead of at will. At present the career growth of the employees is all merit based. However, the evaluation of performance is based on the personal opinion of the leaderships. As a result, there is much arbitrariness involved in. The as-and-when- needed basis does not fit the complicated industrial environment and large enterprise. One of the biggest adverse impacts is that the result is not predictable. For example, one employee, Seth, left the company without any advance notice. So, the measured practices are need to implanted in the HR system of Mohothra and Singhania Law Co.
Secondly, the power should be transferred to lower level by empowerment. Since Mohothra and Singhania Law Co., reaches defined level, the organization has the conditions for empowerment. With its excellent employees, efficient work method, effective workflow and active cultural atmosphere, the firm is ready to go further with its HR practices. But the staff needs sufficient empowerment and self-management as to reach a high PCMM level.
In conclusion, Mohothra and Singhania Law Co. needs to implant measured and empowered practices as to reach a high HR management level.

References

Mayhew R., 2012, HR Policy & Practices [online]. Available from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6701631_hr-policy-practices.html [Accessed Aug 2012]

Curtis B., Miller A. S. and Hefley E. W., 2008, People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) Version 2.0 [online]. Available from: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/01mm001.cfm [Accessed 2008]

IQMS Team, 2012, People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) [online]. Available from: http://www.iqmsglobal.com/people_cmm.html [Accessed 2012]