Though the SME sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of Indian economy over the last five decades, they face a number of hiccups such as limited capital, unavailability of affordable highly skilled labor and the challenge of attracting and retaining talent by providing a professionally-driven organizational culture. Consequently, for the 30 million Indian SMEs employing 60 million people, an effective HR department has become more of a necessity than of opulence.

Customization at its Best

New Horizon, which goes by the tagline ‘Comprehensive HR Solutions from Recruitment to Retirement’, is a Mumbai based organization which has been instrumental in educating SME business owners on the importance of HR department through its extensive workshops. FalguniSheth (Founder &a pioneering HR Coach)has been highly influential in disrupting the business owners’ conservative stance - HR management system could only incur extra expenditure. Under her strong leadership, New Horizon is making its own mark in the industry by designing tailor

made solutions that befit the clients’ needs, which further under go a meticulous process of monitoring and refinement after implementation till it yields the intended results.“If a very good leave policy is designed and it's not getting the desired results in terms of discipline or work life balance of employees then some where there is a gap. We understand that, correct the step and reimplement it if needed,” asserts FalguniSheth, Founder, New Horizon.

New Horizon’s tailor-made solutions befit the clients’ needs further undergo a meticulous process of monitoring and refinement after implementation till it yields the intended results

The company de signs process and system covering entire life cycle of an employee right from selection process designing, employee induction, salary structure designing, defining role & responsibility, Company HR policy, retention policy, PMS plan and finally exit process. New Horizon’s customized module addresses the dire issues faced by SMEs including in efficacious recruitment processes, employee attrition, lack of time & leave discipline and inefficient employee assessment schemes among others.For instance, its 4C (Compensation, Clarity on job profile, Career path & Culture) approach for retention has

raised a clients’retention percentage from 50 to an impressive 92 over the duration of 6-9 months.

Accomplishments & What Lies Ahead

Encouraging its own employees to pursue post-graduation, the company gives them work from-home option and the flexibility to avail leaves for their studies & exams. A trend setter and a source of inspiration, New Horizon’s CSR activities has found employment for25 physically challenged people and it encourages more of its clients to employ at least one such person. To contribute back to society the company hires freshers and trains them with theory and practical knowledge plus on the job training.

New Horizon’s suggestion of hiring freshers and its ideal salary structure designing process has helped clients to save Rs.3crore on manpower cost so far. This in turn has fueled New Horizon’s growth threefold since inception and got it rated as one of the top 25 HR consulting companies in India. The company invests immense time in establishing productive relationships with clients and aims to increase its employee management count from 7000 to 10000 by this year. New Horizon is geared up to start its second batch of coaching the HR nuances to business owners to help grow methodically & cost-effectively, as the success of its first batch has given it tremendous confidence. Falguni first ebook on HR is all set to get published this year and she is also planning to be on panel of few associations that resolves routine employee issues and HR challenges faced by employers as well.