Q1. How do you find new employees?

A. More than 200,000 professionals, Engineers, Cas, MBAs and Graduates, are in touch with TMI Network for Career Advisory services. So whenever any of them seeks a change, they often enquire about the opportunities within the TMI Group and become our best employees. Hence, our primary source of talent is through networking, candidate referrals and employee referrals. This is supplemented by our advertisements in the job boards and newspapers.

Q2. What kind of people do you like to hire?

A. In every organisation there is a tussle as to which is more important - loyalty or performance. At TMI Group, we believe that employees must perform and also be loyal. The loyalty however, should be to excellence, to one's profession and to our customers. More importantly, we clearly value performance over loyalty. We believe that it is employee's responsibility to perform and it is our responsibility to retain performers.

Q3. What trades and skills are required to perform in the TMI Group?

A. When it comes to selecting employees, we clearly look for performers. Two simple words "motivated and enthusiastic" tells about the mindset required to excel. People with high energy levels,open to learning and honest , logical thinkers with an ability to be a critic of their own work would flourish in the TMI Group.

Q4. How would a typical day be at TMI Group?

A. Usually, every employee at TMI is not a "time watcher," words like 9 to 5 are "unheard of" in TMI Group. The Group believes that every employee shall come into the office with a bit of tension to accomplish and go home without any tension. A typical day at TMI Group would mean spending a lot of time with customers or working on a customer centric solution. Employees are expected to set their own agenda when they come to work in the morning including making a "Things To Do" List. Each employee works on a computerised network, hence can organise his work schedule using the computer. As of now, employees spend minimal time on large meetings. Emphasis is on working in small teams and hence one would spend a lot of time with the peer group. It is also typical for many employees to feel that the work is incomplete when they leave home because there is always more work left undone at the end of each day. So, employees are expected to stretch and therefore, they exceed time. The exit time varies from employee to employee, some work till 7.00 pm, some till 10.00 pm. In short, each employee makes his or her own time schedule, far beyond the call of duty.

Q5. How is the performance measured at the TMI Group?

A. Currently, the TMI Group is moving into a KRA model of Performance Assessment. In the past, KRAs were not well defined, which we believe is not conducive to building a transparent organisation. Each employee is expected to work with his supervisor to finalise the KRAs while daily reviews are common to measure the task. Performance reviews with employees are encouraged to be done at least once a quarter. Also, Annual Incentives are based on performance reviews and are conducted to finalise increments/promotions.

Q6. What are the opportunities for Career Advancement?

A. Career advancement is not a given in TMI Group. Each employee must earn his/her growth based on performance with superior knowledge. There are opportunities for lateral movements from Sales to Marketing, from one Business Group to another. Being a flat organisation, the number of levels are very few. So, Career Advancement is more likely to happen through cross-functional, cross-SBU movements. Hence, each employee is not only expected to know his current job, but is also required to operate at one level higher than what he is paid for. This will help him or her to migrate to the higher level of responsibility seamlessly.

Q7. Does the organisation support for on-going training for the associates?

A. Yes, we do. But the way we do it is different. Training is not decided by the supervisor or by the HR Manager. Training is decided by the employee in consultation with his superiors and HR Manager. The Group's philosophy is that the training must be driven by the employee and the Group can only provide resources. In addition, we also have a lot of On-line Training Programmes conducted in-house. Employees sometimes sacrifice their weekends to participate in these training programmes.

Q8. In what ways has the TMI been successful so far?

A. TMI Group has been a pioneer in areas such as RPO, Recruitment Advertising, Knowledge Management, E-Learning, Web Learning, Web-based assessments etc. In fact, if we are measured by the variety of products and services that we have successfully deployed, then we could consider ourselves as super-successful organisation. But what we have accomplished till date is miniscule compared to our potential. Therefore, our emphasis now is to consolidate on a few products and service lines, where we can be the top 3 in India and in South East and Middle East Asia.

Q9. What according to you is the greatest challenge facing TMI Group?

A. Our greatest challenge is complacency, since we are pioneers in India in many fields, there is a tendency to be laidback. Therefore, we need to continuously evolve and benchmark us against global standards. The next major challenge is that we are a micro-organisation. Everybody has to pull their weight, everybody has to work as a team.

Q10. How much time does the recruitment process takes?

A. We expect to close the complete process within 2 - 4 weeks from the time you submit the basic information.

Q11. Will I be informed even if I am not selected?

A.Yes. We believe that the candidates must get the feedback on their suitability. It is our belief that they "are not rejected candidates" because they can be suitable for some other positions in future. Our communication of non-suitability must not be treated as a rejection, but more as a feedback.

Q12. What if I want to leave?

A. As a caring organisation, we always feel disappointed when employees want to leave. At the same time, as a Career Advisory Group, we appreciate that employees may want to move on to greener pastures. We have two expectations from employees who want to leave:

They must leave with dignity and leave as per the terms mentioned in the appointment letter. For example we consider notice period as sacrosanct. We ask employees to give sufficient notice so that we can find a replacement.

Our expectation from employees is that they serve at least 2 years with the organisation before seeking a change unless the parting is on account of extraordinary reasons. Two years is a good time to know each other and to contribute. That is why we have a special deal. Anyone wishing to leave us after two years of productive contribution can appoint TMI Network as their Career Consultant and seek the next employer through us.

Q13. What key benefits are guaranteed if I work with you?

A. If you stay +2 years or more, your learning and exposure will be way beyond your expectations. See the messages given by our few ex-employees.

If you stay for 2 or more years, you can ask India's leading Consulting organisation -TMI Network to be your career advisor, who will assist in finding your next employer.

Q14. What about compensation?

A. We offer competitive and fair compensation based on the premise that "teams win" and "individuals don't."

And "performances and not loyalties drive compensation." The fixed pay is nowhere near what MNC's pay, but is much more than what companies of our size pay.

If compensation and life-style are your key motivators, we will not fit your bill.

Q15. What about peer group?