Seeking to cash in on the opportunity presented by the global downturn,Human Resource consultancies are making a beeline to offer new services andproducts to help companies tackle the crisis situation.

Most companies facing the challenges thrown up by the economic slowdown aremainly focussing on recruitment, employee policies and compensation to reducecosts 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 presenteconomic scenario.

"The service will give members quarterly information on issues likechanges in HR budget, staff turnover, headcount growth and planning, changes tobenefits and incentive plans etc.," Mercer India Business Leader(Information Product Solutions) Gangapriya Chakraverti said.

Another HR consulting giant Hewitt Associates said it was being approached bymany companies for solutions to improve employee efficiencies in the wake ofthe downturn.

"Employers are asking consultants what are the practices for redundancies,something that has not happened in India in the past. More firms are discussingwith us opportunities and solutions for improving employee performance andefficiency, 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 recentsurvey that most Indian companies are gearing up for tough times anduncertainty in the economic climate has made employers cautious about theirplans for managing the human resource.

"In the wake of the financial crisis, we are looking at providing to ourclients a sustainable people costs management solution to help them managetheir people costs efficiently," PwC India leader (People and Changepractice) Sankar Ramamurthy said.

Moreover, Hewitt Associates had launched a new initiative, Business PerformanceImprovement (BPI), for companies struggling with rapid growth in their businessand wanted to replicate existing structure in new markets.

"We started to bring into our business some new skills, combining ourtraditional human capital subject matter with some new business analysiscapabilities. Through this, we hope to help clients identify very specificopportunities to drive their performance higher," Mr. Pandit added.