ISSN No - RBS

Human Resource Management in IndianIndustries: Motivating Businesses toSustain Economic Development intothe FutureIn addition to the financial and physical resources an organisation has, it also needs an efficientlyfunctioning human work force. Motivational practices play a very important role in the development ofemployees and their efficiency in working, thus affecting the organisation as a whole. Furthermore,comprehensible perceptions of employees’ motivational needs are very hard to derive in a quickly evolvingeconomy such as in India. This is an area where understanding of the processes at work is very limitedand thus this research provides an important addition to the existing body of knowledge. This paperexplores current motivational practices that are being employed by Indian organisations with the aim ofassessing their readiness for the future motivational requirements of employees. It also focuses onidentifying the attributes that might play a major role in the development of novel management practices.The research is based upon interviews and questionnaires conducted with managers from themanufacturing, service, construction, banking and finance sectors in India. The results were analysed toproduce a clearer perspective on present and possible future management practices. Proposals weredeveloped from the results to assist organisations who seek to keep themselves ready for the futuremotivational needs of their workforce. This work will be of value to a wide range of organisations in Indiaas well as those involved in the global economy beyond India. The proposals will assist managers tobecome aware of changing employee needs and help them identify factors needing to be considered in theformulation of motivational business practices that will carry them forward well into the future.Keywords: Financial and physical resources, management practices and motivation.Venkat Bakthavatchaalam*Andrew Fox**Motivational practicesplay a very importantrole in the developmentof employees and theirefficiency in working,thus affecting theorganisation as a whole.1.0 INTRODUCTIONGlobalisation has clearly created ahuge difference in the socio-economicconditions of India. It has changedthe face value of the organisationswith a huge downpour of money,technology and know-how into thenation, which has resulted in developmentacross all domains of industry.Sectors such as manufacturing,services, construction, banking andfinance etc. have all benefited froman increasing pool of locally producedgraduates and an abundanceof cheap, but highly skilled labour(Hulton, et.al. 1999, Sen et.al. 1997,Smith 2007). These changes haveenabled the formation of a number ofglobal organisations in India andone of the essential questions needingto be answered is, how sustainableare the current managementpractices in these dynamic companiesand what are the vital componentsneeded to keep Indian organi-*Department of Engineering,University of Plymouth, UK,**Department of Engineering, University of Plymouth, UK[ 34 ] Rai Management Journal