2 Infosys Technologies

8/8/2019 2 Infosys Technologies

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Infosys Technologies Ltd: The Best Employer in India?

Infosys- started by seven Kannadiga engineers under the leadership of the iconic N.R.

Narayana Murthy in 1981 is the most valuable IT services company in Asia. It has

grown its turnover from less then Rs. 15 crore in 1993 to Rs. 26,00 crore in the year

ended March 2002. Thats a staggering 173 times in nine years. In the last 3 years, its

turnover has been growing at 72.3 per cent a year and profits at an even faster pace, at

more than 81 per cent. And on the way to all these mind-boggling numbers, it has been

declared Indias most admired company and the countrys best employer year after year

and won every corporate governance and business ethics award in India and Asia. The

50-acre Infosys city Rs. 424 crore campus can seat 6500 people in its 1.3 million sq.feet

of constructed space (24 buildings in all) has nearly 14 Km of power cabling, 22 Km of

optical fibre and jelly filled cabling and, among other things, three ATMs. The longest

video wall in Asia; an ice cream stall that serves 20 different flavours and; three Food

Courts serving North Indian, South Indian and Chinese cuisine; a food world store; aDominos outlet, a counter for home cooked food- in addition to recreation, tennis, golf,

billiards, swimming, sauna, Jacuzzi, jogging tracks, etc. Now the question is what drives

a company like Infosys and how does it consistently deliver excellent results in good

and bad times? How it is able to keep the best brains in the country happy and smiling?

(The attrition rate is a low 7.6 per cent although it is not the best pay master in the

country) and, more importantly, how it is able to predict the outcomes well in advance

and even meet the targets with clock-work precision?

SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

The answer lies in what every Infoscion would love to call systems and processes

dictating everything you do in the organization. According to Nandan Nilekani, CEO,

there has to be a process for everything, no matter how small. Everything needs to be

measured, made repeatable, de-risked and if possible, automated. The idea is that if

your processes are right and you get every member of the company to follow them

strictly, you will never run into any nasty surprises, you dont need individual geniuses to

reach excellence the process will take care of it. Before the beginning of any projects

apart from the budget, the team is decided and a role assigned to each member. The

competencies needed are also listed and a full training schedule devised for the team.

The systems record every movement of the employee while at work, how many hoursspent on a specific task, total time spent by the team on the assigned job, etc. Thus top

managers know at the click of a mouse exactly what to bid for new projects, taking the

past experience of time spent, costs involved on projects of similar nature earlier.

Project managers know the status of their work at any given point of time and initiate

mid-course corrections if something is not going as per schedule. The employees have

their future sketched. And what you have is a nimble, flexible, efficient company that


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delivers 100 percent each and every time. The meticulous planning has brutally excised

any possibility of nasty surprises and created the comfort of total predictability.

PRIDE IN THE COMPANY

Dependability, predictability, sustainability, consistency, reliability call it what you will,but that is what Infosys wants and thats what most of the Infoscions are proud of.

Employees take pride in doing things right, just like what the top management has been

preaching all along. The value system built by management of breaking walls between

people, paying taxes, not bribing any one, remaining honest, delivering results

sincerely, showing utmost respect for assigned duties, sharing wealth with all

employees, transparency in all communications, etc. all these years has stood the test

of time and helped employees build their own careers on the basis of their own skills

and competencies. Even in the midst of all the bloodbath in the IT sector, Infosys firmly

announced that it would not sack anyone. In 2001, the companys bench grew to

several thousand engineers but the company didnt budge. And this is what everyInfoscion is proud of being part of a glorious management team that lives by its own

firm principles and honest intentions.

INFOSYS LIVES BY ITS PRINCIPLES

Take Sembis own experience. In September 2001, he was working as a projectmanager at a clients site in Brighton, U.K. Two days after 9/11, while walking to office,he was heckled by four construction workers. One of them told his American friend thatI was from the same community as the terrorists who destroyed the Twin Towers. It wasfrightening, he recalls.

Immediately, Sembi spoke to his HR people in Bangalore and a strong message went tothe client tat Infosys was sensitive about racial discrimination. The catcalling subsidedbut Sembli was still scared, since his wife was pregnant and Asians were beingroutinely targeted. So in November, Infosys transferred Sembli to Bangalore, noquestions asked. And this was no routine transfer. Remember, this was the time whenpeople in his field were being sacked or benched (asked to hang around becausethere was no enough work to go around) without notice or warning.

Many others have had similar epiphanic moments. Sonu Joseph, who was working at atelecom clients site in the US in 2001, would see people being sacked every day.

People were being handed pink slips and asked to leave the same evening. Obviously,I thought itll happen to me sooner or later, she recalls. It didnt. she was brought backto Bangalore and continued working for the same client. Neither did it happened to hercolleagues, even though telecom was the worst-hit sector, where IT spends weredrastically slashed and getting new business was virtually impossible.

The story is the same even when Infosys was forced to dismantle large divisions.Geetha Kannan, an Infoscion since 1993, was part of an elite group that worked for e-


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qualifications. Every employee receives an average 47 hours of training and the

company spends around 5 per cent of revenues on employee education, training and

research. The training covers software development, managerial skills, soft skills,

leadership and domain specific inputs. About 300 full time and part time faculty

members impart training (through more than 100 classrooms) to Infoscions from time to

time. The training opportunities are available to even those employees on the bench.

Senior management takes an active interest and also participates in all training efforts in

one form or the other. The HR department does everything to find out exactly the

needs, aspirations and career goals of each employee before structuring the

compensation package consisting of competitive pay, incentives, attractive loans, stock

options, etc.

A 360-degree appraisal is carried out, to ensure objectivity of assessment before

promoting an employee to a higher level. The work life at Infosys is tailored around the

personal lives of the employees, not the other way round. All possible facilities are

available on-site to all employees. The company, an extension of the family, takes care

of every individuals need, from seeing an employee, through a close, relatives illness

to celebrating special occasions together. A number of social events are organized

regularly where both the employees and their families participate. The gymnasiums,

basket ball courts, tennis courts, swimming pool, jogging track, etc. are all here to relax,

but only after working hours. Work is serious business and everyone is advised to report

by 9.00 am sharp. And everything is monitored, every employee constantly

benchmarked against best of breed. Every one of the employees is watched through

pitiless, utterly impersonal systems and processes. Where uniformity, consistency,

quality and efficiency are the buzz words and people perform by clock-work. There is atime frame to finish everything, from your task to your lunch. A time to go to the gym

and a specified period to acquire new skills assigned for your next job. Infosys, thus

combines the best of both worlds: mixing FW Taylors time and motion studies with

principles of Human Relations in order to deliver excellent results. Narayana Murthys

motto is to turn Infosys into a company by the people, for the people and of the people.

Box 18.2

WHY EMPLOYEES LOVE INFOSYS?

y It is a communication intensive company. Important organizational information (businessgoals, organizational performance, position in market place, etc) is communicated to eachand every employee. Employee feedback is highly valued; any issue that employees believeneeds to be discussed, is not just those considered relevant by senior managers.

y Hitting is objective, transparent and merit-based.

y It offers incentives and rewards comparable to the best in the world. There is a holisticapproach to life and perks are tuned to employee aspirations and competency levels. Everyattempt is made to enrich the work as well as family life of employee(s).


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y Talent is recognized, nurtured and rewarded. Opportunities one thrown open to all, not justto a select few.

y Everyone is treated with respect, made a part owner of the company and given anopportunity to expand his or her unique skills and competencies. There is equal opportunityfor all.

y The workplace is aesthetically pleasing and employee friendly. Facilities such as trainingcenter, conference rooms, green areas, ATMs, travel desks are readily provided to all.

y The company is willing share what it is doing or what it wants to do with employees. It iswilling to learn from others including research organizations, competitors and academicinstitutions. Feedback from employees is encouraged at all levels.

y The company believes in building a class-less open work environment. Without status wallshierarchical boundaries and territorial restrictions.

y Transparency, people Oriented policies, and a culture of knowledge sharing make thecompany a great place to work for.

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2 Infosys Technologies