Seeking to cash in on the opportunity presented by the global downturn, human resource consultancies are making a beeline to offer new services and products to help companies tackle the crisis situation.

Most companies facing the challenges thrown up by the economic slowdown are mainly focussing on recruitment, employee policies and compensation to reduce costs and manage their resources and are seeking help from HR experts. Global HR consultancy Mercer has launched a new product, Mercer India Monitor, which would help firms manage human resource-related challenges in the present economic scenario. "The service will give members quarterly information on issues like changes in HR budget, staff turnover, headcount growth and planning, changes to benefits and incentive plans etc.," Mercer India Business Leader (Information Product Solutions) Gangapriya Chakraverti told PTI.

Another HR consulting giant Hewitt Associates said it was being approached by many companies for solutions to improve employee efficiencies in the wake of the downturn. "Employers are asking consultants what are the practices for redundancies, something that has not happened in India in the past. More firms are discussing with us opportunities and solutions for improving employee performance and efficiency, while there are also questions on the level of benefits," Hewitt Associates Market Manager (India and Middle East) Vishal Pandit said.

Further, global consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) stated in a recent survey that most Indian companies are gearing up for tough times and uncertainty in the economic climate has made employers cautious about their plans for managing the human resource. "In the wake of the financial crisis, we are looking at providing to our clients a sustainable people costs management solution to help them manage their people costs efficiently," PwC India leader (People and Change practice) Sankar Ramamurthy said.

Moreover, Hewitt Associates had launched a new initiative, Business Performance Improvement (BPI), for companies struggling with rapid growth in their business and wanted to replicate existing structure in new markets. "We started to bring into our business some new skills, combining our traditional human capital subject matter with some new business analysis capabilities. Through this, we hope to help clients identify very specific opportunities to drive their performance higher," Pandit added.

Further, the new product launched by Mercer would provide companies with constant updates and market intelligence on key HR issues and initiatives. It would also help its clients interact and network within the fraternity and discuss issues of common interest and have access to information and intellectual capital at affordable prices.