Best recruitment strategies

1. BEST RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
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2. ACCENTURE:
Type
Founded
Headquarters
Public
(NYSE: ACN, ISIN: BMG1150G1116)
1989 as Andersen Consulting
Accenture Ltd. Hamilton, Bermuda (registered)
Key people
William (Bill) D. Green, Chief Executive Officer
Industry
Management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing
Revenue
▲ $19.7 billion (2007)
Net income
▲ $1.24 billion (2007)
Employees
About 178,000 (2008)
Slogan
Website
High performance. Delivered.
www.accenture.com
History: Formation and early years
Accenture originated as the consulting division of Arthur Andersen, which Arthur
Andersen and Clarence DeLany founded in 1913 as Andersen, DeLany & Co.
Accenture's origins are in a 1953 feasibility study for General Electric. GE asked
Arthur Andersen about the feasibility of automating payroll processing and
manufacturing at GE's Appliance Park facility near Louisville, Kentucky. Arthur
Andersen recommended installation of a UNIVAC I computer and printer, and GE
agreed, which is the start of what became the first-ever commercial computer in the
United States. Joe Glickauf was Arthur Andersen's project leader for the GE
engagement and was responsible for the payroll processing automation, launching
commercial data processing in the United States. Considered to be the father of
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3. computer consulting, Glickauf headed Arthur Andersen's Administrative Services
division for 12 years
Emergence of Accenture
On January 1, 2001 Andersen Consulting adopted its current name, "Accenture". The
word "Accenture" is derived from "Accent on the future". Although a marketing
consultancy was tasked with finding a new name for the company, the name
"Accenture" was chosen by an employee from the Oslo office named Kim Petersen,
as a result of an internal competition. Accenture felt that the name should represent its
will to be a global consulting leader and high performer, and also intended that the
name should not be offensive in any country in which Accenture operates. The choice
of name also means that the company appears closer towards the top of any
alphabetized lists, and retains the AC letter sequence of its previous identity.
It is also rumored that while the idea came from someone in the Oslo office, the
thought that started that idea came from the training regime that almost all new
employees to AC were put through, where many of the classes were called "Accent on
C", a reference to the C programming language.
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4. HR STRATEGIES
Accenture is the world's leading management consulting and technology services
company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients
to help them realize their visions and create tangible value. With deep industry
expertise, broad global resources and proven experience in consulting and
outsourcing, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, alliances and
technologies.
Great Place to Work for Women
Multinational companies face unique challenges in addressing the importance of
women in the workplace. Since they go to market globally and share people across
borders, they need to develop global leadership strategies to address the women‘s
issues in a complex organization, while allowing for customized implementation at
the local level. Accenture is one company that has learned how to successfully meet
these challenges. The company developed and implemented the Great Place to
Work for Women global strategy to create a culture in which all employees,
regardless of geography, can achieve their personal career aspirations. To ensure
the strategy‘s success, the company has implemented a variety of innovative people
management processes. These processes include metrics, such as geographic
scorecards, a Global Leadership Survey, Global People Survey, and performance
appraisals. It also includes programs such as career counseling, mentoring programs
for women, and events that foster networking and relationship building. Although the
initiative is managed globally, local offices focus on the diversity issues most relevant
to them. Accenture likens its approach to a spider web, with global leadership at the
center, linked to the operating groups and geographies in a complex set of
interrelationships. Managers share initiative results by unit and geography throughout
the company. In addition, in a unique approach for a professional services company,
Accenture has made flexibility an integral part of doing business. At Accenture, going
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5. part-time or working a modified workweek are not career limiting moves. All of these
efforts have resulted in increased success for women at Accenture.
History and Launch of the Initiative
The global initiative grew out of Accenture‘s US Diversity program, which was
created in 1994. The US Diversity umbrella includes nine programs, one of which is
the US Women‘s Initiatives program. Developed in 1995, it focuses on four areas:
1) External relationship building;
2) Building program awareness;
3) Customized mentoring programs
4) Work balance initiatives, such as the US Working Parent‘s Discussion database
and back-up dependent care.
The success of the US Diversity program paved the way for Accenture to expand its
diversity work to the United Kingdom in 1999, and then to the global level, where the
Great Place to Work for Women initiative was born. In 2000, Accenture Chairman
and CEO Joe Forehand specifically endorsed global women‘s initiatives as critical to
Accenture‘s ongoing success.
Accenture‘s Strategy
The Great Place to Work for Women initiative focuses on four key areas:
1. Provide global direction, vision, and coordination; customize and implement
locally.
2. Aggressively and proactively attract women to the organization.
3. Develop women over the course of their career lifecycles, and create an inclusive
work environment that maximizes commitment and retention.
4. Help women advance in the organization.
Detail on Global Strategy and Local Customization
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6. Accenture‘s global women‘s initiative operates worldwide in twelve geographic units
and five operating groups, and is accessible to all 75,000 employees. Key elements of
the global strategy, with examples of local customization, include:
1. Provide global direction, vision, and coordination; customize and
implement locally.
Accenture‘s initiative is co-sponsored by the company‘s Chairman and CEO, Joe W.
Forehand, and Gill Rider, Chief Leadership Officer and Managing Partner-Human
Resources, who also manages the program globally. Ms. Rider and her team provide
the direction and vision for the initiative and coordinate the global network of
women‘s initiative leaders in each of the company‘s operating groups and geographic
units. Using the global initiative as a template, each operating group and geogra phic
unit is responsible for creating a local action plan, which is reviewed twice yearly by
Accenture‘s Executive Committee.
Examples of Local Strategy Development and Oversight Approaches
Japan: In December 2001, all Accenture women in Japan were surveyed to determine
what needs women had. Based on the survey results, the women‘s initiatives team put
in place action plans that included increased access to mentoring opportunities,
improved welfare programs, quarterly meetings for women and men, and more
external events for networking. Japan has also created a confidential dialogue
database for all employees to use in discussing how Accenture can provide a better
place to work for women.
2.
Aggressively and proactively attract women to the organization. These efforts
begin at the campus level but also focus on experienced hires.
Global Strategy:
Establish strong relationships with colleges and universities by developing
and teaching courses, delivering presentations, serving on discussion panels,
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7. and participating in campus women‘s associations, such as the Society of
Women Engineers.
Create recruiting campaigns targeting both campus and experienced hires.
Profile Accenture‟s top female executives in the media and in the careers
section of accenture.com.
Anticipate, shape, and stay current on trends affecting women in the
workforce to put Accenture at the forefront of these issues, through
involvement in such forums as the World Economic Forum and Women
Future Main Event—an empowering daylong series of discussions among the
world's leading business and thought leaders exploring the topic of
leadership—sponsored by Accenture.
Examples of Local Customization:
United States: “Sisters Supporting Sisters Day” at Spellman College, a
historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia. Austria, Switzerland, and
Germany: Accenture sponsored the ―World Women Work‖ conference in
Berlin in February 2002, during which company leaders presented a research
study on executive women in Europe, entitled ―Women and Power.‖ Keynote
attendees included Federal Minister Dr. Christine Bergmann, leader of the
Federal German State of Schleswig-Holstein, as well as numerous
representatives from politics, science, and the media.
3.
Develop women over the course of their career lifecycles,
and create an inclusive work environment that maximizes
commitment and retention. Accenture works with women to proactively
address issues that may lead them to drop out of the workforce, move to different
parts of the company, or leave Accenture.
Global Strategy:
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8. Create,
support,
and
provide
opportunities
for
flexible
work
arrangements across multiple career levels. These flexible arrangements are
often innovative and have been a significant factor in the retention and
promotion of women. Opportunities are provided for part time, flextime, job
sharing, modified or compressed workweeks, telecommuting, and leaves of
absence. Innovations include:
o The 3, 4, 5 Schedule allows consultants to be away from the client site
for three nights, work four days at the client site, and spend the fifth
day either at the office, working from home, or off.
o The Part-time Partner Policy allows partners to work part time.
There are currently 14 partners on part-time schedules. In addition,
employees on part time schedules have been promoted to partner.
o Sponsor local women‟s development forums, which create a sense of
community and enable women to share ambitions and achievements in
an informal setting.
o Promote continuous learning opportunities through formal training
and on-the-job experiences.
o Leverage performance appraisals and partner selection/evaluation
criteria to emphasize the importance of employees and managers
becoming ―People Developers.‖ To be considered a successful ―People
Developer,‖ Accenture leaders must be able to work with a diverse
group of people, help their team members address work/life balance
issues, build an open and collaborative team, and understand how to
use the unique perspectives of a diverse workforce to the fullest extent
possible. Partners at Accenture are required to embrace diversity,
create an environment that is respectful and accepting, and be a leader
that others will want to emulate.
Examples of Local Customization:
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9. Working Parents‟ Discussion Databases are in place in several geographies.
This tool gives individuals the opportunity to exchange information, resources,
and stories about parenting in the interest of balancing the demands of
parenting with a career at Accenture.
“Career Pause”/Balanced Workforce Programme – This UK- and Irelandbased program allows managers who need greater work/life balance than that
typically afforded by the traditional ―up or out‖ consulting work style to take a
―career pause‖ of up to three years. This ―career pause‖ helps employees
continue to work at their current level without assuming the more intense
activities (selling/thought leadership, among others) required to reach partner
level. This pause can help employees facilitate the transition to parenting, cope
with elderly parent care, or deal with other family issues. When the ―pause‖ is
complete, the employee can resume the full scale of responsibilities needed to
advance to the next career level.
Accumulated Work Model – Developed in the Austria, Switzerland,
Germany region of Accenture, this model allows employees to work full time
for a mutually agreed upon reduced salary (70 to 90 percent of their full
salary). They can then take an extended leave, while still drawing on the
―saved up‖ portion of the salary (the 10 to 30 percent remaining).
Networking Forums – Accenture in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the
Netherlands pioneered monthly large group discussions for women facilitated
by three senior women and focused on defined themes. Norway created a
―women in technology‖ initiative that provides a forum for discussing the
challenges and benefits of working in a male-dominated environment. These
discussions also provide an arena for personal and professional growth.
Community of Interest Groups – Grassroots groups have come together to
provide support and information for and among their members. The groups
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10. develop around a particular topic of shared interest—for example, a
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Community of Interest Group.
4.
Help women advance in the organization. Efforts to move women
into leadership roles include:
Global Strategy:
Provide career counselors. Each Accenture employee is assigned a career
counselor who advises his/her assignee on career growth opportunities, areas
of development, and future career goals and objectives.
Create and implement the Visible Career Progression Model. Critical
information on what it takes to advance at Accenture, every step of the way, is
shared with each employee from day one at the company.
Institute the Global Leadership Development Seminar. The inaugural
seminar, led by Joe Forehand and members of the Executive and Management
Committees, was a three-day event designed to further train Accenture‘s topperforming women for senior leadership roles. The seminar is now being
delivered to a larger audience, which includes men, with guidelines in place to
ensure a diverse group of attendees.
Assign HR representatives/engagement schedulers to match staff with
appropriate projects based on relevant skill sets and experience. An employee
can initiate the staffing process by presenting her profile.
Examples of Local Customization:
Mentoring Program for Women – This program was developed in the US to
improve the advancement and retention of Accenture‘s experienced female
managers by pairing them with partner and associate partner mentors (male or
female) outside their direct reporting relationships. In 2001, the program was
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11. transitioned to the global operating groups and now has a presence around the
world.
Minority Mentoring Program – Originally launched in the US in 1996, this
program facilitates mentoring relationships with senior executives to improve
the retention and advancement of minorities—defined as individuals of
African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Native American
descent. Accenture‘s business units are responsible for customizing the
Minority Mentoring Program to their unique challenges and may make the
program more inclusive and expand eligibility where applicable.
Catalyst Award Criteria: Change Drivers
Accenture‘s approach also includes components that address the criteria Catalyst has
identified as necessary for a successful initiative.
1.
Integrate the Initiative with the Business Strategy. The Great Place to
Work for Women global initiative is part of one of three strategic priorities for
Accenture. Accenture has articulated a concise business case that links its
diversity efforts directly to its business strategy, as follows:
―We are an organization of ideas, and recognize that the best idea creation comes in
teams rich with diversity of opinion and perspective. It is imperative that Accenture
nurture and develop all top talent in order to achieve business objectives, lead in
innovation, and truly differentiate ourselves in the market. We believe that promoting
an inclusive work environment will:
Generate creativity and innovation
Increase productivity
Foster stronger employee commitment
Meet/exceed client expectations on diversity and gender issues
Reflect Accenture‘s stature and standing as an organization of ―best people‖
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12. 2.
Demonstrate the Commitment of Senior-Level Leadership. Great Place to
Work for Women is the only company-wide initiative sponsored by Chairman and
CEO Joe W. Forehand. The initiative is co-sponsored by Gill Rider, Chief Leadership
Officer and Managing Partner-Human Resources, who manages the program with the
Global Women‘s Initiative Team. Mr. Forehand asked members of his leadership
team, chairs of geographic units and chief executives of operating groups to spearhead
the initiative in their respective geographies and organizations. Ms. Rider led the
development of a formal leadership statement, which was sent to all employees to
formalize the role of leadership at Accenture. The leadership statement articulates,
―The sum of the whole is greater than its individual parts;‖ supporting a diverse work
environment is explicitly defined in the document.
3.
Effectively Communicate the Strategy. Programs and communications are
tailored for three target audiences: women at the consultant through senior manager
levels, all executives, and all women. Accenture communicates its commitment to the
initiative through a variety of channels, including a home page on Accenture‘s main
intranet portal. Any employee can access information about both global and local
women‘s activities via this portal. Other communication channels include the global
online newsletter Dialogue, the HR-focused online newsletter Horizons, orientation
programs for all new employees, and two-day new executive seminars for all newly
promoted managers.
4.
Create Accountability Systems.
Global Accountability
Business results are not the sole measure of success at Accenture. The chairs of each
of 12 geographic councils are accountable for progress on the Measures and Metrics
Package. This includes a detailed breakdown of headcount, recruitment, attrition,
performance, chargeability rates, and associate partner/partner promotions by gender,
level, business organization, and geographic region. These results are shared during
the quarterly updates presented at Management and Executive Committee meetings.
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13. Geography/Operating Unit Accountability: Geographic Scorecard
A scorecard is used to measure each geographic unit on a variety of metrics including
net revenue, sales growth, supply demand gap, etc. This scorecard has now been
expanded to measure the percentage of women at the senior manager, associate
partner, and partner levels.
Accountability through Performance Management
The Global Leadership Survey was designed to provide those in leadership roles
with a self-assessment tool and upward feedback for performance management
purposes. In order to advance, senior leaders must score well on the section of the
Global Leadership Survey that indicates a manager‘s ability to embrace diversity. In
the ―People Developer‖ section of the performance appraisal, both partners and
prospective partners are evaluated on their ability to successfully manage a diverse
workforce and develop their people. Because being a good ―People Developer‖ is a
core evaluation priority, poor performance in this area affects compensation.
5. Create Tools to Measure Progress. In addition to the quarterly review of
measures and metrics described above, Accenture has also instituted an annual
electronic Global People Survey that helps measure the success of the overall
initiative.
The Impact of the Initiative
Together, these efforts have resulted in increased success for women at Accenture.
The percentage of female partners has increased globally from 5.8 percent in 1994 to
10 percent in 2002. In 2002, women comprised 14.1 percent of all promotions to
partner globally and 19.0 percent of all promotions to partner in the United States.
Women currently comprise 17 percent of Accenture's Management Committee, the
company's senior leadership group. Furthermore, women represented 41.3 percent of
U.S. promotions in 2001, an increase since 1994 when women represented 31.3
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14. percent. Finally, in 2001, women of color represented 23.8 percent of U.S.
promotions, up from 10.5 percent in 1994.
Learning while working and earning
One of the key challenges faced by organizations in today‘s dynamic world is to keep
pace with changing technologies and systems. Further to this, it is vital that the
Intellectual Capital that differentiates one organization from the other is kept abreast
of these changes to retain a competitive advantage. Organizations these days are
investing heavily into skilling needs of employees by imparting training of various
kinds.
The concept of training as a serious business is underlined that it is not limited to inhouse organization efforts, but includes tie-ups as well. For instance Tesco Hindustan
Service Center‘s (HSC) ―Tesco Retail Certification programme‖. This is aimed at
developing knowledge of contemporary retail management issues among the
employees of Tesco HSC. The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore will provide
academic input and integrated retail management consulting will conduct workshops
to reinforce the learning.
Accenture - XLRI HR Academy
It is the first of its kind training academy dedicated to the human capital management
needs of the growing information technology and business process outsourcing
industries. This is a 24-month programme for recent university graduates who have
joined Accenture as trainees in the HR department. Trainees who complete the
programme will receive the ―Accenture and XLRI Certification in Human Capital
Management.‖ ―We also have a partnership with LIBA and run a two year PG
programme, a prerequisite for graduate engineers to join Maveric,‖ adds Ranga
Reddy,
CEO,
Maveric
Systems.
In fact most organizations organize two types of training programmes that can be
broadly classified as technical and non-technical. Yahoo offers programmes in 4 key
development arenas to hone technical, professional, life and leadership skills. ―We
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15. have internally designed a leadership programme ‗Leading Big‘ as well as a variety of
coaching, mentoring and executive development programmes in conjunction with
leading Indian Business Schools,‖ explains Phil Quigley, Manager, Talent
Development, Yahoo! India R&D.
Specifics
These courses are both instructor facilitated classroom courses and on the job (OJT)
delivered by a manager in the form of coaching. Kotak Mahindra does refresher
courses for the mandatory training for product knowledge and positioning, enhancing
selling skills, recruitment and selection, goal setting and train the trainer programmes.
At Perot Systems, employee training is done through ‗Perot Academy‘ that primarily
looks into technical and domain specific training, learning and development training,
soft skills, compliance and performance management programmes. Says Ashok
Waran, Senior VP, Perot Systems and Head, Perot Academy, ―These are of various
levels to best suit the needs of our associates. Depending on the participant profile and
nature of the programme, some are offered in classrooms, while some can be taken
through e-learning.‖
“my Learning”
Accenture uses an internet-based tool called ―myLearning‖, serving as a starting point
for employee‘s professional development. Infinite‘s mandate is that every employee
needs to complete 8 days of training in a year. ―Infinite has tied up with various
training institutes in line with its requirements and also invites external speakers or
industry experts to conduct special sessions on a regular basis,‖ says Prashanth L J,
AVP & Global Marketing Head, Infinite Computer Solutions. The Training and
Development activities at Infinite involve both the on-the-job as well as the classroom
training. As part of classroom training, we have the ―Hire-Train-Deploy‖ model
where individuals undergo extensive training for a couple of months on generic skill
sets. ―Our comprehensive training in Monsanto called ‗Building Excellence‘ aims at
enabling employees with skills and competencies required to compete,‖ says Ernest
Louis, HR Director, India Region.
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16. The training and capacity building at CRY provides opportunities to individuals to
realize their full potential. ―Experiential training on the other hand helps an individual
gain hands on experience. Employees get involved working in a specific area or a
project and learn the job better. In exploratory learning individuals explore their
current
personal
dissimilarities,‖
stances,
says
ideologies, values and iron out
Shehkar
Manelkar,
Director,
and
similarities and
HR
&
ADMIN.
Locations
Trainers first do the training in classrooms. Subsequently, the reporting managers
along with the trainers do on the job coaching (not training). This is the only
combination that works explains Arun Patil, Head - Sales Training & Management
Development, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual life insurance Company Ltd. Mumbai. At
Yahoo, teambuilding and specialty courses are also held in offsite locations like Goa,
Mumbai and Singapore. In fact sessions out of office have a positive effect, advocates
Pramod Jajoo, MD, Xora Software Systems Private Ltd. ―These sessions help in
bonding of the team and recognize each other's
strengths,‖
he added.
Most organizations use a combination of on the job training and classroom sessions.
Says Ravi Shankar, Director, Natural Search Internet Solutions; ―The Company‘s
target is to see to it that every employee is involved in training for at least two days
every quarter. The resource persons interact with the target group a week before the
session and elicit information on the areas that needs to be specifically addressed.‖
Classroom sessions are an effective method to introduce a new subject to a participant
while on the job training gives the learner the flexibility of exploring any facet of the
subject in depth at one's own pace and requirement. Team building types of
programmes as well as leadership that are generally outbound. ―We have a program
called ‗Triumph Through Teamwork‘ which is a two day residential programme
conducted in the outskirts, places like Banerghatta jungle resort in Bangalore or
Corbett
Park
for
Delhi
associates,‖
explains
Mr
Waran.
―CSR has been driving its training initiatives on both technical and behavioral front.
CSR engineers also attend trainings on other sites like for technical seminars given in
the
UK,‖
says
Saritha
Radhakrishnan
-
Manager
HR,
CSR.
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17. ―We also find outbound training to be very effective when it comes to building better
teams or enhancing the interpersonal skills and to empower people to face challenges
and increase their risk taking capability,‖ says G S Ramesh, Sr. VP - HR, Hyundai
Motor India Limited. Adds Shankar Narasimhan, Director - HR, Ajuba International,
―We have found that classroom training is highly effective when we have to transfer
knowledge. Various tools and methodologies such as, Computer Based Training,
instructor led workshops and intranet supplements this. We have our own in-house
intranet training portal called Skillworx.‖
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18. COGNIZANT
Type
Public (NASDAQ: CTSH)
Founded
1994
Headquarters
Teaneck, New Jersey
Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice chairman
Key people
FranciscoD'Souza, CEO
Chandra Sekaran, President and MD
Industry
IT Services
Revenue
2.14 Billion USD (Dec 2007)
Employees
55400(Dec 2007)
Slogan
Passion for building stronger businesses
www.cognizant.com
Website
History
Cognizant started in 1994, as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (by Sushant Gupta)
- the in-house technology development center for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation
(D&B) and its operating units. Initially a joint venture between Dun & Bradstreet
(76%) and Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (24%), it soon became a 100% subsidiary
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19. of D&B Corp. In 1996, the company became a division of the Cognizant Corporation,
after the split-up of Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.
In June 1998, Cognizant Corporation was again split into independent companies, and
Cognizant Technology Solutions was formed as a division of IMS Health, a provider
of information solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The same
year, the company completed its initial public offering and was listed on the
NASDAQ. In November 2002, IMS Health divested its majority interest in Cognizant
through a tax-free split-off.
Operations
Although it is headquartered in New Jersey, USA, most of Cognizant Technology
Solutions' employees are based in the city of Chennai, India. It also has offices in
Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune and Cochin and
development centres in Shanghai, China and Amsterdam. Cognizant has over 55,000
employees. It became the first company in the world to be certified for CMMI-Level5
per the latest model.[3]
Cognizant has aligned its businesses vertically and has clients in
Banking & Financial Services
Healthcare
Manufacturing & Logistics
Information,Media & Entertainment
Telecommunications
Insurance
Life Sciences
Retail
Hospitality
Technology
In addition to vertical focus, Cognizant also provides specialty technology services
through its horizontal expertise such as Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence,
CRM, ERP,ITIS,BPO etc
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20. Financial Health
Cognizant's revenue for the fourth quarter of year 2006 is up 65 per cent from $256.9
million for the corresponding quarter the previous year to $424.4 million, and the
company ended the year 2006 with $1.424 billion in revenue. During this quarter the
company added a net total of almost 4,500 employees and more than 50,000
employees in 2006 overall. The company has a debt free balance sheet. Its income has
seen a compounded 40% annual growth in the last few years. For the five years ended
Dec. 31, 2006, CTSH has grown its revenue by an average of 58.1% every year.
After the close of trading on November 16, 2006 Cognizant moved from the mid cap
S&P 400 to the S&P 500. On March 5th 2007 Cognizant became first American
company to ring the NASDAQ opening bell remotely, from the Company's Chennai,
India techno-complex.
HR STRATEGIES
Employee referral programmes at CTS.
They have this programme for the last four years, much before it became a buzzword
in the IT industry. Over the last two years they have been constantly fine tuning this
programme and They got excellent results because of this. It provided 40% of the
total number of people who joined us. The total number of people who joined us last
year was 1,500. The employee referral programme is therefore the single largest
source of employees for CTS. They obviously use head-hunters, consultants,
advertisements and they have unsolicited walk-ins also. And when it said fine tune, it
is not about money alone. The money has been more or less constant over the last 36
months. But they have seen the results of this programme increasing in terms of
percentage over the last three years. So with money being constant, and results
increasing, it means that something else is happening. And one of the biggest things
that are happening is communication. Communication within the organization across
all levels. And remember, all this is without diluting any standardized process. They
are a CMM Level 5 organization and recruitment process is as good as any customer
interaction or software development process. They are also ISO 9000 certified. This
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21. means basically that a referral doesn‘t entitle a person for a clean or an easy walk -in
to the organization. It means following exactly the same process that one would have
to follow if he were to come from any other source. So they maintain the process
integrity and I maintain my cost base, which I have not increased over the past 36
months. But I get increasingly larger and larger returns and that is why they are very
proud of our employee referral system.
CTS PREFERS FRESHERS
CTS goes for fresher, when a majority of software development companies are
going in only for experienced programmers
See, it is a very complex decision. But there are a couple of important things, like the
cost of the search. So you are talking of a person with three or four years experience.
What is my cost of search for this person? There are about 60,000 to 80,000 fresh
engineers coming out every year into the market and it is quite a big task to search
and find out whom you want and who wants you. So the cost of search is the first
parameter that they are looking at. Secondly, they are looking to leverage our internal
training capability. Having already invested in and built up an in-house training
center to train young science and engineering graduates into mature software
professionals, gives me another reason to move and look at the model from another
angle. Lastly, our experience is that software (and by 'software' here I mean coding,
programming, system analysis and design) is not a major 'rocket science' that has to
be gained obviously at someone else‘s cost.
They have done a lot of research into what makes good software professionals from
the technical side. There is a set of data coming out which says that if these things are
present, sooner or later, with the right kind of input, the context and the kind of work
he does, he will become a software professional. So why should I then take a long
and devious route to figuring out where that one unique individual is (which involves
the cost of search), when I am not using my current capability to train in- house. And
I have seen it work because clarity of thinking, data rationality ...if they are there,
within six to 12 months I have a very good software professional in my organization.
If you spend a couple of weeks in our organization you will find out why this model
works best for us. Depending upon how the context changes, they change our
21

22. system. It need not be the only model and there could be other models, which could
do equally well for other organizations. So someone who wants only people with
three to four years of experience, I hope has a business reason behind that. It is not to
say that this is a better model over that or this is better over that. In our business
scenario this works and therefore it is good for us.
SKILL SETS THAT CTS LOOKS FOR IN ITS POTENTIAL
EMPLOYEES
The principles, the fundamentals and its application are what they look for in a
candidate. Clarity of thinking, transparency in dealings (honesty) and the ability to
learn and learn continuously. It is a combination of ability, desire and attitude to
learning.
There's what they call ‗learning to learn'. I mean, in this fast-paced industry, change
itself is changing. Another aspect that they look for is, when you are learning a new
method are you able to focus and learn? It not only learning, but also stepping out of
the process to find out how you learn, whether you learn well by doing or by seeing
others do or by reading how to do. These are all different ways of learning and it is
important to know by which method they learn. Then they know by which way they
learn best. From my experience across industries and cultures, by the age of eighteen
this trait is either well established and one‘s preferences are concretized.
CTS calls work „Celebration‟
Like all good things in life, this did not come from one source; be it the
Communications department or from my CEO‘s brainwave at midnight. It comes
from experiencing fun in actually what they are doing.
You know this concept of soaking the rice. To make your dosa or idly, you soak the
rice before grinding it and then the batter is fermented after which only you get your
dosa or idly. Now what was happening over the last 36 or 48 months was that they
were getting soaked up in the fun atmosphere and then They realized through our
ability of ‗learning to learn‘ that what was happening over here was that they were
having fun. Then they went into how it happened. But it was not like - suddenly the
22

23. posters came out ‘Celebrate Work’ and they were having fun. That was just when
They decided to say to the world that for us fun and work are not two separate things
of the same continuum, but that they are part and parcel of each other. That is how it
happened.
Flow of information within CTS has added value
It has added the value by helping us make the transition. If this were not there, there
would be no transition. If they were a Y2K company still in 2001, They would have
all gone home, because this flow of information is core to the business. This flow of
information across all levels has added value to the organization and created openness
in sharing.
WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO IN-HOUSE TRAINING?
They say that every person should be trained for ten days in a year. Our total revenue
spent on training should not be less than 4% of the total turnover. That is a huge
amount of time and money. If there are transitions and if the context in which you
work, (the market, the environment) keep changing, what do you have to do? You
have to re-skill. What does it mean to re- skill an organization? You have to re-skill
individuals who are the final unit of analysis. Then you re-skill the team, the project
and the organization. This is not something that is done to make the annual report
look good or because it is good. They do it because it is core to the business. If they
don‘t train, they would be dead. It is as simple as that. I don‘t think they do anyone a
favor by training our people.
23

24. INFOSYS
Type
Founded
Headquarters
Public NASDAQ: INFY
BSE: 500209
July 2, 1981
Electronics City, Hosur Road, Bangalore, India
N. R. Narayana Murthy (Co-founder, Non Executive
Chairman and Chief Mentor)
Key people
Nandan Nilekani (Co-founder and Co-Chairman)
Kris Gopalakrishnan (Co-founder, CEO and MD)
S. D. Shibulal (Co-founder and COO)
Industry
Products
Software services
Finacle (a financial software package for the banking
industry)
Services
Information technology services and solutions
Revenue
▲ $3.1 billion (in FY 2006-07)
Employees
Slogan
Website
88,601 (As on December 31st, 2007)
Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values
www.infosys.com
INTRODUCTION
Infosys technology, a leading software company based in India, was voted as the best
employer in the country in many HR surveys in the recent years. The company is well
known for its employee friendly HR practices. Though Infosys has grown to become a
US $ 2 billion company by the year 2006, it has still retained the culture of a small
company. Infosys attracts the best talent from across the country and recruits
24

25. candidates by conducting one of the toughest selection process. Infosys was one of the
first companies to offer ESOPs to its employees. The company followed variable
compensation structure where the employees‘ compensation depended on the
performance of the individual, the team and the company. It also very tackles the
challenges faced by the company to retain its talented workforce.
THE HR PRACTICES
Most of the HR practices of Infosys are a result of the vision of its founders and the
culture that they have created over the years. The founder advocated simplicity and
maintained the culture of the company. The employees are encouraged to share the
learning experience. Infosys was the first company to provide the employees with
world class facilities for training and working. The company‘s head office at
Bangalore is located on a 70 acre campus with multi-cuisine food courts and
recreation facilities like swimming pools, a gym, and a golf course for employees.
Since its inception, till the early 1990s, Infosys recruited employees from
engineering colleges. The training imparted to them was largely informal and consist
of on the job training. In the early 1990s it experienced a shortfall of skilled
manpower in the organization due to which it could not realize its growth plan. The
company during that time developed the policy of recruiting personnel with generic
analytical skills and high learning potential and of
imparting them with specific skill required for the job offered in the company.
Infosys international business strategy revolves around 5 elements:
World-class operating model.
Focusing on human resources.
Providing managed software solutions.
Exploiting a well established off shore development model. Maintaining an
equitable client and business mix.
The company believes that in order to succeed in the competitive environment it is
necessary to recruit, train, and retain talented employees. Infosys aims at recruiting
25

26. the best available talent, training them according to the industry demands and
retaining them in a culture that promoted informal learning and free flow of ideas.
The career model that the Infosys created emphasizes on individual growth along with
organizational growth. The employees can identify their career path and the additional
skills they would have to obtain to move ahead in their career. Infosys identifies the
structural requirement of the people at different levels and creates a demand for the
roles. If the employees fulfill those demands they would inspire for that role. Infosys
adopts a role-based structure, which ensures an employee career growth through
different streams, customer interface stream, and domain consulting stream. In each of
the streams, the role of the employee is defined and for each role competencies have
been identified and created. Recruitment, training, performance appraisal and career
progression are carried out based on the roles.
RECRUITMENT
Infosys takes adequate steps to recruit people on the basis of various factors to
identify the right candidate. The following are the main factors that are considered
while recruiting new employees.
Learnability:
Infosys give more emphasis on learnability, it means the ability
generic knowledge from specific experiences and
to
derive
apply the same in new
situation.
Competency: I
Infosys give more importance to professional competence and
academic
excellence.
26

27. RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS:
Instep:
Infosys Edge
Infosys' IT consulting and software solutions address the mission-critical needs of
Fortune 500 corporations as well as emerging corporate leaders. Located across the
globe, Infosys handles a variety of exciting multi-million dollar projects for clients
including Adidas-Salomon AG, Apple Computer, J. Sainsbury PLC Group, Nortel
Networks, Salomon and Taylor Made and Toshiba Corporation through its pioneering
Global Delivery Model. Infosys offers a stimulating and challenging, yet informal and
campus-like work environment.
InStep - Venture, Discover, Achieve
InStep is an internship program for undergraduate, graduate and PhD students from
top academic institutions around the world. As part of the Infosys family, you are
given an opportunity to work on high-quality, customer-facing projects. While you
venture into new and emerging technologies and business opportunities, you will
discover your untapped potential and achieve the impossible.
Projects Unlimited
This program provides a platform for you to work on live technical and business
projects, ranging from application development to business consulting in Infosys'
offices worldwide.
Time Schedule Flexibility
InStep runs through the year, to suit academic calendars across the globe. The
internship assignment ranges from 8 - 24 weeks.
Global Exposure
InStep interns gain not only experience in the dynamic Information Technology
industry but also global exposure by working in a multi-cultural environment.
27

28. Interaction with Senior Management
Infosys' senior management is regarded as a pioneering synergy in the Indian IT
industry. Mr. Narayana Murthy (Chairman and Chief Mentor) and Mr. Nandan
Nilekani (Managing Director, President and CEO) were voted Fortune Asia's
Businessmen of the Year 2003.
As an InStep intern, you will get an opportunity to interact with top management
when initiated into the company.
Constant Support
A student mentor will help you settle into Infosys' international working environment,
while a project mentor will guide you through your internship assignment.
Benefits
You will receive a monthly stipend. The stipend is structured according to the cost of
living in the region that you are based in during your internship period. Infosys will
also pay for your airfare. Owing to our large infrastructure in India, we will also
provide accommodation in a fully furnished apartment, free food and cab
transportation within the city for students working from our offices in India. What's
more, you will also have an opportunity to experience India during the 'intern
excursion'.
Infosys offers internship to student from foreign universities, through a program
called Instep.
The duration of the Instep program was six weeks. Instep receives around 9,500
applications and chooses around 100 students as interns. The interns are from reputed
universities and business schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Carnegic
Mellon, Oxford, London Business School, Munich, Damstadt, INSEAD, and Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology.
The students are exposed to live projects during their internship with Infosys. The
students undertake a study on a wide range of topics like equity based compensation
in the HR department, the telecom industry in Europe, and new services that could be
offered there and other topics such as work ethics, working hours, and employee
motivation.
28

29. As a part of this program, Infosys conducts a seminar through which the interns are
given a basic idea about Indian culture, cuisine, working styles, etc. in order to guide
and help them during their internship, the interns were assigned to mentors who
guided them on project related activities.
Global Talent Program:
The Global Talent Program is Infosys universities level recruitment program outside
India. Trainees recruited under the program undergo a customized education and
training program in Mysore, where they are trained on technical skills, client facing
skills, and the global delivery model of Infosys. In 2006, 126 students from 85 US
universities are offered employment in Infosys. Infosys are also looking at UK and
other European countries besides Australia and China and planned to recruit 300
trainees from the US in 2007.
Campus Connect:
How many times have IT companies‘ employers complained about fresh recruits from
engineering colleges not being ―industry ready?‖ Enter Campus Connect (CC) to
bridge this gap!
Launched by Infosys in May 2004, CC is a unique academia-industry initiative to
―architect the education experience‖. Our goal is to build a sustainable partnership
with engineering education institutions in India and abroad for mutual benefit;
producing ―industry ready‖ recruits
Our objective in launching the CC programme is to enhance the quality and quantity
of the IT talent-pool; sustain the growth of the IT industry itself. We don‘t want to
increase the number of engineering colleges, or the number of graduates. We intend to
increase the employability of students. We want to have a consistent output,
irrespective of all variables involved. It doesn‘t matter where the college is located
(big city or remote town), the kind of faculty, or students. However the conditions
may be, with the help of our partners, we want to achieve a high-quality, constant
product.
29

30. As per predictions, by the year 2040, Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent will
have the maximum number of working professionals in the world! Doesn‘t this throw
up huge possibilities your way? Clearly we have a plethora of opportunities staring us
in the face. The future looks bright and promising…all we need to do is work towards
it.
Currently we have more than 300 engineering colleges under our wing, and the
numbers are growing steadily! As a part of the CC programme, we have launched this
portal. The portal will provide a digital platform for academia-industry interaction
anytime, and anywhere.
What do they do?
We align the college curriculum with the industry's requirements, and work with
educational bodies towards implementing it. We organize sem ina rs and training
sessions for the faculty to give them an industry perspective, enabling them to train
the students accordingly. We design industry-oriented topics, and provide the
courseware to students; we give them projects to do, and also provide sabbaticals for
the faculty. The Infosys courseware is published on our portal, to be viewed by
member colleges.
Foundation Programme (Generic)
We have a different approach when it comes to learning and teaching. The Foundation
Programme aligns technical competency to a student's individual needs. Our
methodology goes beyond teaching what is available in the books. It comprises reallife case studies, and insights into application of technology. These unique teaching
aids go a long way in ensuring that the students are ―industry ready.‖
Faculty Ennoblement Programme
The Faculty Enablement Programme introduces to the faculty the 9 generic courses,
CC teaching methodology, and prepares them to roll out the Foundation Programme
in their colleges. Through this programme we aim at a paradigm shift in the learning
and teaching methodology at an accelerated pace, to increase effectiveness. The way
the faculty train the students, assess them and put technology to use undergoes a
30

31. major change. It exposes faculty to the Infosys way of professional training and
sharing industry best practices.
Soft Skills Programme
We want students to acquire behavioral skills that will enable them to live by
principles. We believe that a person who has strong principles, and is trustworthy, is a
better team player than the others. This programme aims at grooming individuals into
excellent team players, who will have strong communication skills, and will adapt to
the corporate work culture easily.
Student Industrial Visit
A student- faculty group from different engineering disciplines visits one of the
Infosys DCs, and spend half a day there. The purpose of this visit is to demystify the
image that students would have on the working of IT business enterprise. The wellplanned event exposes them to corporate work culture, learning environment, Infosys
background, services offered to global customers, and learn about leading edge
technologies through short lectures.
SABBATICALS
CC sponsors sabbaticals for the faculty, involving them at Infosys' Development
Centres for 2-3 months. We want to expose the faculty to real-life customer project
experiences. This is very important, as the experience that the faculty gains here is
further transmitted to the students.
Deep Dive Technology: Train the Trainer Programme
It is a technical workshop for engineering college faculty, conducted at one of the
Infosys' campus. Train The Trainer (TTT) covers an assorted set of industry oriented
topics for a chosen focus area and latest trend of technologies in IT. It involves team
discussions and analysis of real life case studies/projects. TTT is the ideal setting for
faculty to interact with su bject matter experts, and impart the knowledge acquired to
their students.
31

32. KEEPING IN TOUCH!
• Conclave : The CC Conclave brings IT managers and college management on
the same platform to discuss the need and actions for academia-industry collaboration.
• Regional Meets: Regional meets are an attempt to bring all the partnering
colleges on the same platform with the CC team. In the meet we acknowledge
excellent performances by partner colleges, motivate other colleges in the region, etc
Contests
Aspirations 2020: We want to create an exciting and appealing learning environment
in the CC partner colleges through knowledge events . As a part of this initiative we
are conducting a series of contests, clubbed together as Aspirations 2020. It will include
an IT-related quiz, a paper presentation contest, and a ―distinguished engineer‖
contest (will involve problem solving, crisis management etc).
Campus Connect
In July 2004, Infosys launched the Campus Connect program that focuses on
grooming the students in engineering colleges and transforming them into industry
ready professionals. Infosys invested Rs.100 million in the program, and published its
in house courseware on its website. The program is aimed at reducing the burden of
training at Infosys, as the students of Campus Connect program would have some
amount of training imparted to them. The program also aims at solving issues such as
outdated courses that are taught in some of the engineering colleges and the absence
of industry orientation among the engineering colleges and students.
As a part of Campus Connect Program, Infosys launched a portal to connect students
and teachers of engineering colleges with the company. The portal contains
information and courseware related to IT industry that can be used by the students and
faculty. The portal also contains online tests to help students assess their capability.
Other Programme:
Infosys uses Recruitment Management system (RMS) developed by Blueshift, an
online solution provider based in Chennai, India. It has different modules for
32

33. candidates who applied directly, for employees‘ referrals, for staffing agencies which
submitted the profile of suitable candidate and for application submitted by campus
placement coordinators.
Candidates who are not selected can reapply after nine month. In 2005 -06, more than
14, 23,000 candidates applied to infosys for employment, of these 48,750 were
interviewed and 16,878 joined the company. Last year, the company had more than
1.3 million applicants for full-time position and hired only 1% of them.
Recruitment Procedure
Each year, out of the total recruitment infosys plans to hire 70% college graduates and
30% lateral workers. In the first quarter of 2006-07, 4,200 freshers were recruited
while lateral hires were at 2,140.
The Steps in recruitment procedure:
Sources:
The Company uses different sources like Campus Interviews, advertisements in
newspapers and from applications received through the company website.
Short listing of candidate:
Initially the candidates give the initial screening test based on their academic criteria
and experiences. Short listed candidate are called for a written test which comprises of
arithmetic reasoning, analytical thinking and English language skills. Candidates who
scored the cut off marks in the selection test are called for an interview.
Interview Stage:
The interview panel consists of personnel from HR department and technical
manager. During the interview a candidate‘s communication skills, presentation skills,
flexibility and aspiration level are tested.
33

34. TRANING NEW RECRUITS
Infosys conducts a 14.5 weeks technique training program for all new entrants. The
company spent around Rs.2, 00, 000 per year on training each new entrant. The new
recruits are trained at the Global Education Center (GEC) in Mysore, which has
world-class training facilities and the capacity to train more than 4500 employees at a
time.GEC,which was inaugurated in February 2005 is spread over 270 acres and was
the largest corporate training center in the world with 58 training rooms and 183
faculty rooms at that point of time. Other facilities at the GEC included the largest
gym in India, a cricket field a volley–ball court,22 tables tennis court, swimming
pool, six lane bowling alley, four screen digital auditorium, meditation hall, and a
library. Commenting on the training facility, fortune wrote,‖ Indeed, the $120mn
Infosys center, which opened last year, is an odd combination of Disney world, club
med, and a modern American university. It‘s enough to make you forget the poverty
outside and believe you‘re in a first world fairy tale‖
The new employees are trained on the culture and value system of Infosys and also on
technical and managerial skills. The first three days of training comprise of
orientation about the culture and values of Infosys, and about the company‘s
customers. This is followed by five weeks of foundation courses on programming,
systems development, and inter-personnel skills. In the following seven weeks, the
new entrants are trained on technology courses like C++, UNIX, and HTML.
The training program equips the new entrant for a challenging career in software and
comprises of generic conceptual courses, platform specific courses, a mini project,
and an end term project, which is designed in the form of real life projects. The new
entrants are also imparted training in communication skills, interpersonal skills,
customer interaction, management development, and quality systems.
Care is taken to ensure that the necessary technical skills are provided along with soft,
interpersonal and communication skills, and quality-related competencies. There is a
feedback mechanism to ensure continuous improvement in the training program.
34

35. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES
Infosys also conducts training programs for experienced employees. The company ha s
a competency system in place which takes into account individual‘s performance,
organizational priorities and feedback from the clients. According to the system,
every employee is to have a training plan based on the identified competencies. The
training interventions are organized in four areas-technical training, managerial and
skills training, domain training, and training on quality processes. Technical training
accounts for half of the total training efforts.
The E&R department conducts training courses which are mainly project-specific.
Most of the training is class-room based while the training through e-learning is
limited. Employees can nominate themselves for the training programs. For each of
the
streams
–project
management,
customer
interface,
technical,
program
management, and domain consulting, the behavioral and technical competencies
require to be outlined. Training is also imparted in other streams including quality
process training, personal effectiveness, and managerial development. Every quarter,
over 100 technical training courses are offered. The technical training is imparted for
eight days.
The quality process training is also conducted on a regular basis. For software
engineers, quality process training includes courses on configuration management,
defect prevention, and an introduction to CMM, for the programmer analysts, the
quality training comprised defect prevention training and an internal auditors training.
At the program manager level, the quality process training included implementing
CMM and statistical process control.
The need for the managerial development programs was assessed through the
performance appraisal process. During performances appraisal, the employees are
asked to choose, in consultation with their superior, areas in which they need training.
Then the required training is imparted and during the next appraisal the improvement
is tracked. The E&R department takes complete responsibility for imparting the
35

36. training to the employees. It also conducts research on emerging technologies and
designs the training programs according to the trends in the industry.
Infosys conducts over 160 middle level training programs. The training needs are
determined depending on the business needs. The management determined the
upcoming technology requirements and communicated these to the E&R department.
The senior executives of E&R and other departments decide on the content and
duration of the course. Another way of determining the training needs was during the
process of planning. At the planning meetings, expected projects are forecasted along
with the required skills to arrive at the training needs.
Apart from technical training, Infosys conducts several other training programs
including
soft
skills,
communication,
building
competency,
and
personal
effectiveness. Personnel effective training is imparted through the Infosys finishing
school, where employees are trained on business etiquette, business communication,
assertiveness skills, and customer skills for a period of eight days. A milestone
program-PRAVESH addresses the needs of the employees when they assume higher
positions in the organization. For employees schedule to travel abroad for the first
time, a program called ―first time traveler‖ is conducted, which aims at sensitizing the
employees to new cultures and workplace. The training is spread over six modules
and is conducted over a span of three days. It includes personal trait understanding,
culture and projects elements appreciation, customer interfacing, communication
skills, corporate etiquette, and social interfacing.
Another training program called ―chips‖ {cultural highlights and international
practices sensitization} is targeted at employees traveling to the US, EUROPE, and
the Far East countries. A one-day program, which is meant for employees traveling to
different countries. For employees who are to stay in another country for long time
periods; Infosys conducts language training. Infosys believes that all employees have
to ultimately serve the customer, and conducts a program called C-enabled, or
customer-enabled. This program helped the employees to interact with the customers
36

37. COMPENSATION POLICIES
Infosys compensates its human assets in three ways. Infosys adds learning value
through training and development and appraisal practices. Infosys adds emotional
value through initiatives directed towards supporting employees with their work and
personal needs, and we adds financial value through monetary compensation.
Although Infosys faces strong domestic and international competition for its human
assets, through enticing offers from competitors, the compensation level at Infosys
equals the average industry level for each country. It is neither above market nor
below the market level.
Infosys is one of the first Indian companies to offer stock option plans to their
employees. Currently Infosys offers three option plans that cover all Infosys
employees:
1994 Employees Stock Offer Plan:
Established in September 1994, the plan provides for the issuance of 6,000,000
warrants to eligible employees.
1998 Stock Option Plan:
Infosys 1998 Stock Option Plan provides for the grant of no statutory stock options
and incentive stock options to employees. A total of 1,600,000 equity shares are
currently reserved for issuance pursuant to the 1998 Plan. Unless terminated sooner,
the 1998 Plan w ill terminate automatically in January 2008. All options under the
1998 Plan w ill12 Please see Appendix C for description of one such scale.13 ―The
Lightening Spark,‖ Silicon Technology and Business Magazine, August 1998, 5051.9 be exercisable for ADSs represented by ADRs.
1999 Stock Option Plan:
The 1999 Plan provides for the issue of 6,600,000 equity shares to employees. A
compensation committee comprising a maximum of seven members administers the
1999 Plan. Options are be issued to employees at an exercise price not less than the
FairMarket Value. Under the 1999 Plan, options may also be issued to employees at
exercise prices that are less than Fair Market Value, only if specifically approved by
the members of Infosys in a general meeting.
37

38. In addition, such statutory benefits as pension, medical and leave, Infosys also offers
a loan program that employees find very attractive. Loans may be taken for pursuing
a degree program Such as an MBA, or to meet such personal needs as purchasing a
car or a house. The interest rate varies (4% for a car purchase and 0-4% for house
purchase). To date, almost all loans have been repaid.
How Infosys grooms its future leaders…
Great companies can neither be built nor their greatness sustained without great
leaders. A Reliance would not have been possible without a Dhirubhai, nor an Infosys
without a Murthy.
But on August 20, 2006, at the age of 60, when N R Narayana Murthy retires as the
company's chief mentor and chairman, Infosys Technologies Ltd is not really chewing
its nails anxiously.
A succession plan has long been put in place and the smooth transition of authority
and leadership ensured. Murthy will also continue as the non-executive chairman of
Infosys.
Of the seven original founders of Infosys, one of India's greatest corporate success
stories, only four will remain at the helm of affairs at the company from August 21:
Nandan Nilekani, S Gopalakrishnan, S D Shibulal, and K Dinesh. N S Raghavan
retired in 1999, while Ashok Arora had quit the firm much earlier, in 1989, to settle
down in the United States.
While Infosys continues to be in very good hands to take on any challenge, the IT
major has already identified a pool of 400 leaders who will steer it in the future.
Especially, since the founders of the company are in their early- or mid-fifties and due
for retirement at 60.
So how does Infosys groom its future leaders? The process is long-drawn, meticulous,
and in consonance with the company's stated vision: 'To be a globally respected
38

39. corporation that provides best-of-breed business solutions, leveraging technology,
delivered by best-in-class people.'
This is where the Infosys Leadership Institute at the company's Mysore campus comes
into the picture. The 162,000 square feet structure, built at the cost of Rs 41.1 crore
(Rs 411 million), is where the next generation of Infosys leaders is being primed.
Says S 'Kris' Gopalakrishnan, chief operating officer and deputy managing director,
Infosys: "The company has identified 400 'leaders' on the basis of several parameters:
their performance throughout their tenure with the company being a prime criterion
for selection."
Gopalakrishnan, who will take over as the company's President, COO and Joint MD,
on August 21, spoke to rediff.com at Infosys' Mysore campus during its 25th
anniversary celebrations.
"Great performance puts employees on the fast track to growth within the
organisation. As does their commitment to surpassing customer expectations, setting
standards in business and transactions, and being an paradigm for the industry and the
company," adds Gopalakrishnan.
"Creativity, devotion to being ethical and sincere in dealings, and the commitment to
strive relentlessly in pursuit of excellence are also major considerations while
identifying future leaders at Infosys," he points out.
The charismatic Narayana Murthy, speaking about his retirement, said: "I do feel sad,
but am happy too. It is a mixed feeling. It's like getting your daughter married: you are
sad that she is going away, but happy that there is someone younger -- and stronger -to take care of her."
"The company is now in the hands of the youngsters. It is necessary to recognise the
power of youth and to nurture it. We must respect youth and create opportunities for
them to participate in everything. Which is why at every function, we have the youth
participating. I am about the past. I am gone. They are the future," says Murthy.
39

40. "The pool of 400 leaders," says Gopalakrishnan, "that Infosys has identified is from
across the globe and does not comprise Indians alone. It is in keeping with the
company's multi-national, multi-cultural image where excellence is the most
important condition."
"There is a three-tier mentoring process at Infosys.
Tier-1 of the Infosys Management Council, which consists of the company's board of
directors, mentors Tier-2 leaders who in turn guide the Tier-3 group.
About 45 executives are a part of the company's Tier-1 of the management council.
And each of the leaders undergoes exhaustive and sustained training through the
company's personal development programme -- PDP.
Infosys training programmes are designed to enable company professionals enhance
their skill sets in tune with their respective roles," says Gopalakrishnan.
The management council is an advisory body that takes strategic decisions on the
company's businesses and was set up by N R Narayana Murthy, with the idea of
building an outfit that is built to last and is ably "geared to handle the uncertainties of
a global market, the high and lows of business cycles, and to power the company
towards strong growth in the future," says the Infosys COO.
When Murthy first set up the council, he found that the young go-getters in the
company were diffident to air their suggestions. It was then that the idea of an inhouse leadership institute was born. Encouragement from the top management has put
an end to the fears of transgressing the chain of command, and young Infoscions are
now urged to give vent to their creative talent and come up with their ideas and plans.
The faculty at the ILI has in a note spelt out the rationale behind the institute and
charted out the manner in which it operates.
The ILI was set up in 2001 to prepare Infosys to manage its exceptional growth; to
prepare its executives to handle the external and internal business environment; and
through 'thought leadership' create better customer value.
40

41. The leadership development programme at Infosys takes after similar processes
followed by many global mega corps. It has been refined to suit the particular needs
of Infosys and is termed as the 'nine pillars for leadership development in
Infosys.'These nine pillars form the backbone of the PDP and each leader can choose
from these pillars for personal development. "Depending upon the individual's need to
grow and the company's sensitivity to these needs, every (short-listed) individual is
groomed to lead the company in the future," Gopalakrishnan says.
The chosen few -- 400 of the 58,409 employees -- identified as 'high potential
Infoscions' undergo a three-year 'leadership journey' that includes training,
astonishing personal development programme, interacting with other participants,
understanding the company better and resolving real business issues.
The note prepared by the ILI faculty enumerates 'the nine pillars for leadership
development' as:
1. 360 degree feedback
This is the mechanism through which the company gathers data about an individual's
performance and abilities. This information is collected from coworkers, including
peers, subordinates, managers and customers. Personal development plans are
prepared on the basis of this feedback. Then, each of these individuals is assigned an
ILI faculty member to help prepare the PDP and to follow it.
2. Development assignments
Identified high potential Infoscions are trained at various functions of the company
through job rotations and cross-functional assignments. This helps employees to
acquire new leadership skills outside their own areas of expertise and experience.
3. Infosys Culture workshops
These workshops are designed to fortify the Infosys culture amongst the participants,
help instill better communication skills through sustained interaction amongst
themselves, and identify with the values and processes involved in leadership
development.
41

42. 4. Development relationships
This includes one-on-one interaction in actual on-the-job work climate and leads to
better sharing of knowledge and camaraderie amongst individuals. Mentoring forms
an integral part of this exercise.
5. Leadership skills training
The 'Leaders Teach Series' are workshops that the company's Tier-1 members,
including Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani (CEO and MD), hold to acclimatise
the next rung with leadership roles and to groom them through their own rich
experience.
6. Feedback intensive programmes
These are akin to 360 degree feedback, but based on formal and informal feedback
from employees that an individual interacts with.
7. Systemic process learning
This helps individuals to gain an overall view of the company and its diverse and
complex systems, business, operations and processes. It is a continuous process and
helps improve the individual and also the systems.
8. Action learning
This exercise constitutes solving real problems in real-time conditions, but as a team.
9. Community empathy
The company stresses the need to give back to society through involvement in various
developmental, educational and social causes. This programme helps nurture a social
conscience amongst its leaders.
"The last 25 years for Infosys have been successful. And we are ready for the future.
Yes, our growth rates will change, the business cycles will change, our ability to
influence the business environment will change, even our leaders will change.
42

43. SATYAM
Type
Founded
Headquarters
Public (NYSE: SAY)
(1987)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Ramalinga Raju , Founder & Chairman
Key people
Rama Raju, MD
Industry
Information Technology
Revenue
▲ 2.1 billion USD (2007)
Employees
Slogan
Website
49,200 (2007)
What Business Demands
http://satyam.com//
Satyam Computer Services Ltd. was founded by B.Ramalinga Raju in 1987;Satyam
means "truth" in Sanskrit. The company offers a variety of information technology
(IT) services spanning various industry sectors, and is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.
Satyam's network spans 57 countries across six continents. The company employs
54,000 IT professionals across development centers in India, the United States, the
United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia,
China, Japan,Egypt and Australia. It serves over 489 global companies, 156 of which
are Fortune 500 corporations. Satyam has strategic technology and marketing
43

44. alliances with over 50 companies. Apart from Hyderabad, it has development centers
in India at Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Delhi, Kolkata,
Bhubaneswar, and Visakhapatnam.
In October 2007, Satyam announced a collaboration with Cisco to enhance Health
Management Solutions. In November 2007, Satyam is announced as the official
Information Technology Services Provider for the FIFA World Cups to be held in
2010 and 2014. Satyam partnered with arvato systems to provide innovative solutions
for medium-sized enterprise market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Satyam has been ranked consistently in the top Employers list released by surveys
done by leading groups such as Business India. The company has massive expansion
plans to penetrate across the globe especially Europe. Satyam is poised to cross $2
billion in Annual Revenues for the year 2007-2008.
On Jan 21, 2008 Satyam announced the acquisition of a Illinois based boutique
consulting firm Bridge Strategy. This is yet another acquisition by Satyam after
Knowledge Dynamics and Citisoft. "Satyam has the largest overall ERP practice and
the heaviest commercial focus on packaged enterprise software" - Dana Stiffler,
Research Director, AMR Research, ―Indian Service Provider‘s ERP Practice Grow
up,‖ January 26, 2007.
Satyam is focusing its expertise around NGN transformation. The Company is
investing modestly in developing solutions assets in the areas in which it has chosen
to specialise. This is untypical; most offshore companies are poor at making this kind
of investment and keep margins high by focusing development around specific
projects in order to get an immediate payback. - Eirwen Nichols, Principal Analyst,
Ovum
On February 23, 2008 Satyam completed 20 years of existence. It is considered as
India's youngest software consulting company to exceed $2 billion in annual revenue.
The way they do it at Satyam
SATYAM Computer Services treats its employees as associates of the company. This
speaks a lot about its work culture. About 13,000 associates of Satyam are involved in
44

45. providing IT services to more than 300 customers across 45 countries. In such a big
organization, human resources (HR) practice plays a critical role, not only in the
decision-making process but also in employee welfare and development activities.
The company never wanted to be the best paymaster, but it wants to keep its
associates, customers and investors delighted.
Satyam broadly categories its focus area of responsibility and accountability into three
segments; associates, customers and investors. The vision of the company aims at
delighting these segments. Earlier it used to be satisfaction, but with the increasing
competition in providing cost-effective IT solutions, and the poaching of people, it
has become a major challenge for IT companies to retain employees. This trend
prompted software companies to design various attractive policies and incentives to
retain their staff. Satyam therefore adopted the strategy of winning the hearts of its
associates rather just confining them to the satisfaction level. Satyam's strategy is to
keep all its associates, customers and investors happy. Though the task is not easy, the
IT major has been pioneering with its HR practices that keep them happy.
Increasing salaries is not the right method to retain associates. No company can keep
its employees in its grip infinitely, and there is no end-point in this game. We strongly
believe that money alone cannot bring loyalty; hence our strategy is that while we
maintain competitive pay structures, our HR practices focus on emotional
involvement, on getting attached to the company. Satyam also provides stock options
to all employees even at the entry level. Moreover, performance-based stock options
and incentives are being given every year. These measures have been successful in
making our associates loyal to the organization. We encourage our associates to have
passion…delight with entrepreneurial skills. Our core value is entrepreneurship and
every Satyamite is a leader," A S Murty, the director and senior vice president of HR
at Satyam told IT People.
The company critically evaluates its functioning style in executing projects in time. It
aims to make the customers and associates happy at the same time. Within the
organization, each department also considers others as customers, and every project
leader is a business manager for his team. It has formulated an Associate Delight
45

46. Index (ADI) to measure key parameters such as performance, job satisfaction,
commitment towards the organization, etc., and it is linked to incentives. The higher
the ADI, the more will be the incentives. There is no cap on variable salary, and for
business leaders, there is no cap on incentives.
Recruitment process
Identifying the right candidate and retaining him is crucial for any company to
withstand global competition. Satyam follows two recruitment methods-at entry
and lateral levels.
For entry-level recruitment, it has tied up with about 70 reputed institutions in the
country. Usually this is done at the end of the examinations of engineering courses.
During the year, off-campus interviews are conducted.
1. Entry-level recruitment consists of an aptitude test, group discussion and
technical interview. Satyam believes that hard factors (revenue) and soft
factors (attitude) are both critical in assessing candidates.
2. After the recruitment process is over, candidates are placed in different
business units for about 10-12 weeks. Each unit has a HR wing and works in
a partnership model.
For lateral recruitments, interviews are conducted at two levels.
1. Usually, candidates having 2+ years of experience are considered for lateral
recruitment. During 2003-04, Satyam has recruited about 4,000 associates,
with 40 percent coming from entry-level recruitment. (Internal Search)
2. Of the total headcount, 30 percent of Satyamites are overseas at any point of
time.
3. Orientation: For those Satyamites who are about to travel abroad, an
orientation programme is organised to brief them about the country they are
going to visit. As part of this orientation, Satyamites will be briefed about the
culture, language and etiquette.
46

47. Help desk
In order to make its associates free of house-related work such as payment of utility
bills, reserving tickets for trains, etc-without any service charge-Satyam evolved the
Help Desk concept, which takes care of all house-related work at product cost only.
The objective of the Help Desk is to create an environment for associates to
concentrate totally on their projects. For those associates who have been transferred
from a different city or country, assistance is also provided to help them find school
admission for their children. For this, Satyam has also tied up with about six schools
in the city. Help Desk Satyam has eight centres in Hyderabad alone, apart from six in
Chennai, five in Bangalore, three in Pune and one at Bhubaneshwar. All these centers
are electronically connected.
The Samanvay concept aims at involving the families of associates in the learning
process on various issues such as health, personal finance, IT education, etc. Only the
parents and spouses of associates are allowed to participate in this scheme, which is
conducted once every two months. Satyam Learning Centre takes care of this and
coordinates the activities. It also conducts cultural and social entertainment
programmes for children of the associates.
Every year in early January, a Satyam Utsav is organised at all the centres where the
families of associates are involved.
Corporate social responsibility
When it comes to social responsibility, Satyam is at the forefront creating awareness
about health, education and environment activities. Satyamites and their spouses have
been actively taking part in such initiatives of the company. Every Satyamite
contributes Rs 20 per month to the Satyam Alambana Trust, and the company
contributes an equal amount. This trust mainly focuses on urban areas.
The Bairraju Trust is a personal foundation of the promoters, and focuses on rural
areas. It trains children below 15 years in IT with an aim at bridging the digital divide.
47

48. Other activities
Breaking from the routine is very important for everyone, particularly those who are
part of the creative think-tank of Satyam. In order to re-energize its associates, it
provides recreational and entertainment facilities at nominal charges at the Satyam
Technology Centre spread over 128 acres. Here cultural events are organized on every
occasion for every age group. The company also lends a hand to its associates for
their financial needs.
Leveraging its brand value, Satyam has been able to arrange finance facilities for its
associates at reduced interest rates. It has tied up with a few financial institutions,
shopping malls and retail companies for offering discounts on shopping. To keep up
the tempo and enthusiasm among associates, Satyam strongly believes in learning and
offers an opportunity for them to learn different technologies in various countries.
Earlier it was a matter of prestige for parents to say that their son/daughter was
working in the US. Now the more countries they travel to, the more pride for them.
As part of these initiatives, many associates working in maintenance have been
shifted to development and vice versa; associates also move from one package to
other. The best example is Murty himself. A B Tech from the regional engineering
college, Warangal, and M Tech (computer science) from the Indian Institute of
Sciences, Bangalore, he is now looking after the HR department after working on
hardcore technologies for about eight years.
Every Satyamite is a leader. To make Satyamites friendly to each other and create a
no-boss environment, Satyam follows a trendy practice of calling each otherirrespective of designation-by the first name. The company also follows an open door
policy. Every associate can directly access the chairman and e-mail him too. This has
broken the barriers of the hierarchy system and brought all Satyamites together. For
high-caliber young professionals, age is not a constraint for allocating major tasks
to them. "We have young professionals in their early thirties who are managing big
projects," Murty says. Telecommuting has been growing, and saves a lot of time and
stress for Satyamites. The company believes in virtual leadership, real-time leadership
and delegation of accountability. As part of this, every head of a business unit acts as
a chief executive officer, with great freedom to run his unit successfully.
48

49. Finally, at the end of the day, everyone needs relaxation from the day's hard work.
The company organizes yoga, meditation and other personality development classes
like the Art of Living for Satyamites.
49

50. TCS
Type
Founded
Headquarters
Public BSE: 532540, Public
1968
TCS House, Raveline Street, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
Ratan Tata, (Chairman of the Board, TATA Group)
Key people
S Ramadorai , (CEO & Managing Director)
Industry
Information Technology Consulting
Services
Information technology Services and Solutions
Revenue
▲ $4.3 billion (in FY 2006-07)
Employees
110,000 (As on Jan 31st, 2008)
Slogan
Experience certainty
Website
www.tcs.com
Tata Consultancy Services was established in the year 1968. It began as a division of
the Tata Group, Tata Computer Centre, whose main business was to provide computer
services to other group companies. However, the potential of computerization and
computer services was realized early on, and an electrical engineer from the Tata
Electric Companies, Fakir Chand Kohli, was brought in as the first General Manager.
Soon after, the company was named Tata Consultancy Services.
TCS's first software export project was undertaken in 1974 when it converted the
Hospital Information System from Burroughs Medium Systems COBOL to
50

51. Burroughs Small Systems COBOL. This project was carried out entirely in TCS
Mumbai on the ICL 1903 Computer. In 1980, TCS and a sister Tata firm accounted
for 63% of the Indian software industry exports, $4 million shared by 21 firms. In
1984, TCS set up an office in the Santacruz Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) –
Mumbai.
The early 1990s saw a tremendous surge in TCS's business, which also resulted in a
massive recruitment drive by the company. In early and mid-1990s, TCS re-invented
itself to become a software products company. In the late 1990s, to accelerate its
revenue growth, TCS decided to employ a three-pronged strategy – developing new
products with high revenue earning potential, tapping domestic and other fast growing
markets and focusing on inorganic growth through mergers & acquisitions. In late
1998, the company decided to concentrate on new revenue opportunities including
Y2K and Euro conversion. E-business was a major area of focus in the late 1990s.
TCS started a project aimed at eliminating illiteracy in India with a pilot project in
Andhra Pradesh. In 2001, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) commissioned the latest
64-bit zSeries eServer from IBM, thereby becoming the first organization in the
ASEAN and South Asia region to adopt the latest technology in mainframe
computing. In 2004, TCS became a public listed company. In fiscal 2006 the
Company's profit before taxes and exceptional items aggregated Rs.3,074.35 crore as
compared to Rs.2,308.65 crore in the previous fiscal 2005 - a growth of 33.17%.
Tata Research Development and Design Centre
The Tata Research Development and Design Centre was established in 1981. TRDDC
is today one of India‘s premier R&D centres in software engineering and process
engineering.
Research and development work at TRDDC is focused in different groups, each
specializing in a key area of work. Projects of an interdisciplinary nature are also
carried out. With expertise in process engineering, software engineering tools and
technologies, advanced techniques, and in systems engineering methodologies,
TRDDC provides solutions within TCS and for major clients. There is also an
ongoing effort to integrate the products into the Eclipse Integration Framework.
51

52. The process engineering group of TRDDC focuses on modeling and optimization of
industrial unit operations for steel and automotive sector.
In addition, TRDDC is also involved in the areas of language processing, formal
methods, and research on Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support.
On account of the ongoing diversification effort, the other centres situated in India
have also begun R&D facilities; the centre in Hyderabad is called Advanced
Technology Centre (ATC) carries out work on e-Security related issues and
bioinformatics.
Recently TRDDC celebrated its Silver Jubilee at its Headquarters in Pune in a
function presided by former president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and with the launch of
the Co-Innovation Network. Students of the winning schools of the TCS IT Wiz, Pune
were also invited. They included Aditya Ramani, Gautam Sondur, Gyanish Kakati
and Anshul Singhle.
TCS Innovation Labs
TCS currently has 19 labs spanning across 4 countries. Many of the labs are located in
India. The most recent lab however is the TCS Innovations Lab, located in
Peterborough, U.K. This new lab works as a central hub to the other 18 TCS
Innovation Labs, making use of the ideas and innovations created in those labs and
bringing them to one collaborative location.
Indian branches
Currently (2006), TCS has branches in the following Indian cities: Hyderabad,
Bhavnagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram,
Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur, Jamshedpur, Gandhinagar, Coimbatore, Kochi,
Gurgaon, NOIDA, Bhubaneswar, Nabadwip and Goa.
Global units
Africa: South Africa,Morocco
Asia (outside India): China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, UAE
Australia: Australia,
52

53. Europe: Denmark,
Finland,
France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United
Kingdom
North America: Canada, Mexico, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay
HR STRATEGIES:
TCS hires more from smaller cities.
India's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services on Monday said it will
hire up to 5,000 employees in northern region this fiscal and 70 per cent will come
from smaller cities.
"The company is set to hire 3,000 at trainee level and 2,000 positions will be filled
through lateral hiring in the northern region. We plan to hire over 70 per cent
candidates from tier II and tier III cities due to quality talent present in these places,
which we don't want to miss out on," Thomas Simon, vice-president, HR, TCS said.
The company believes that the knowledge base of these candidates is as strong as
their counterparts belonging to bigger cities. However, imparting training in areas of
language, soft skills and etiquette is essential to give them a finishing touch, he said.
The compensation and rewards for employees across centers would be similar, Simon
added.
Eligibility criterion for trainees would be a minimum 60 per cent score in all the
degrees attained. As for hiring experienced professionals, the cut-off has been kept at
50 per cent, Simon said.
The hiring would be taken up for positions based in the NCR region apart from
Lucknow. While experienced professional hiring would be done for pre-mapped
positions, the trainees would be sent to Thiruvananthapuram for initial training.
The company had earlier said it planned to ramp up head count by 32,000 across India
53

54. this fiscal. TCS has witnessed an attrition rate of 11.5 per cent overall, with 11 per
cent attrition rate in the IT services business and 16.7 per cent attrition rate in BPO in
the first quarter of current fiscal ended June 30.
"We managed to keep a check in the attrition figures this year," Simon added. The
total employee strength of the company was 94,902, from 67 nationalities at the end
of first quarter. There was a gross addition of 8,706 employees, of which 2,898 were
trainees and 4,795 experienced professionals in India and 1,013 employees in
overseas subsidiaries and branches in Q1.
The net addition in the quarter was 5,512 employees. The company is expanding the
talent pool beyond engineering students through its 'Ignite' programme aimed at
science graduates as well. TCS recently completed a seven-month on-the-job training
programme for science graduates.
It also plans to reinforce its new brand image though increased branding activities,
newsletters, blogs, campus portal and interacting with training and placement officers
and institutional heads of technical institutes through its existing forums 'Sparsh' and
'Sangam'.
54

55. WIPRO
Type
Founded
Headquarters
Key people
Public (NYSE: WIT)
1945 (Pre Independence)
Bangalore
Azim Premji, Chairman and Managing director
Industry
Information technology services
Revenue
▲$5.0 billion (2008) USD
Net income
▲$677 million (2007) USD
Employees
79,832+ (2007)
Slogan
Website
Applying Thought
www.wipro.com
Wipro Tech (NYSE: WIT) is an information technology service company established
in India in 1980. It is the global IT services arm of Wipro Limited (in operation since
1945, incorporated 1946). It is headquartered in Bangalore and is the third largest IT
services company in India. It has more than 79,832 employees as of December 2007,
including its business process outsourcing (BPO) arm which it acquired in 2002.[1]
55

56. Wipro Technologies has over 300 customers across U.S., Europe and Japan including
50 of the Fortune 500 companies. Some of its customers are Nortel, Boeing, BP,
Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Prudential, Seagate, Sony, HP, Windriver, Airbus,
Toshiba and Wal-Mart. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is part of its
TMT (technology media telecom) index testing.
With revenue in the excess of US $5 billion, Wipro is one of India's major IT
companies. It has dedicated development centers and offices across India, Europe,
North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The current Chairman, Managing
Director and majority stake owner is Azim Premji, who has headed the software and
hardware divisions since Wipro's inception.
HISTORY
Wipro was set up in 1945. Primarily an edible oil factory, the chief products were
Sunflower Vanaspati and 787 laundry soap (a by-product of the Vanaspati
operations). The company was called Western India vegetable Products Limited
(WIPRO) ; it had a minor presence in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. In the
1970s and 1980s, it began to expand and made forays into computing. In 1975, Wipro
marketed India's first homegrown PC.
Wipro was the sole representative for Sun Microsystems in India, before the Sun
liaison office was set up in India, in the early 1990s.
Wipro is the highest-ranked Indian IT provider by International Association of
Outsourcing Professionals.
Wipro and its success in handling outsourced information technology from US
businesses is detailed in Thomas L. Friedman's best-selling book The World Is Flat
and Steve Hamm's Bangalore Tiger. Wipro's offshore model is considered 'unique
among the larger players in the security consulting space' according to an independent
report by Forrester Research.
56

57. HR STRATEGIES
The unique HR practices at Wipro especially in terms of attracting and
retaining talent that set it apart from other companies. Considering the number of
spin-offs that have originated from Wipro, the environment in the company appears
to be particularly conducive to the entrepreneurial spirit.
Among several attributes is the fact that Wipro leaders develop a complete
business perspective early in their career.
Wipro leaders get early general managerial/CEO responsibility to get a good
rounding, and exposure to all aspects of the organization: finance (e.g. P&L),
operations (process, quality, cost etc.) and people perspective
This helps them develop the ability to see the big picture early in their careers. The
feeling of ownership is built through higher responsibilities early in the career. We
strongly believe that strong ownership feeling and multiple opportunities lead to a
passion
for
hard
work.
Our leadership development programmes play a major role in developing leaders.
We have several life-cycle leadership programmes like the
Early Leaders Programme
New Leaders Programme
Wipro Leaders Programme
Business Leaders Programme
Strategic Leaders Programme
Each being targeted at a particular stage in the life of a leader. Finally, it is the selfconfidence to stand up for one‘s view that builds entrepreneurial leaders.
Our 360-degree feedback process helps personal development and builds
confidence. Wipro is a meritocracy competing with some of the best people builds
57

58. tremendous confidence. I believe ESOPs are a good way of sharing wealth with
employees.
Azim Premji‟s View
Premji believes in creating teams of highly charged individuals to deliver superior
performance, investing significant time as a faculty in leadership development
programmes. He was the prime mover in making Wipro the first Indian company to
embrace Six Sigma, the first software services company in the world to achieve SEI
CMM Level 5 and the world‘s first organization to achieve PCMM Level 5. Premji
equates quality with integrity – both being non-negotiable. Premji shared his formula
for a successful company, and the way Wipro has developed entrepreneurial leaders
with
a
firm
commitment
to
the
company's
values.
Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established in 2001. Sustained
by his personal financial contributions, the aim of the Foundation is the
universalisation
of
elementary
education.
Wipro has been perhaps the most successful adapter among Indian corporate,
evolving with increasing success from soap and consumer care to computer hardware
and then onto software and services. The principal strength that has enabled Wipro to
make such successful moves are Values combined with a powerful vision can turbocharge a company to scale new heights and make it succeed beyond one‘s wildest
expectations. Add to that our ability to attract and retain the best talent and our
continuous pursuit of quality, and you have a high-performance organization that can
continuously re-invent itself and succeed.
Employee Ethics @ WIPRO
It is believed that values should be driven from the top. Wipro was perhaps the first
Indian company to articulate a set of Beliefs that guided our business conduct, way
back in the early 70s. Today, the four Core Values encapsulated in the Wipro Promise
58