SUCCESSION PLANNING AT TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES

FACULTY GUIDE: Submitted by:ARUN SEKHRI Minita Gupta(HRF010)

Jains chereath(HRF038)

Prachi Tandon(HRF 051)

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Acknowledgement

This is to acknowledge the quality help that was provided by the Institute-ITM and the related faculty in successfully completing the HRP project on “SUCCESSION PLANNING at TCS”. We are highly obliged and thankful to the faculty, PROF.ARUN SEKHRI for all her patient guidance and help in successfully completing the project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1. Succession Planning..............................................................4 - MINITA

2. History of TCS……………..................................................5 - MINITA

3. TCS SUCCESSION PLANNING.........................................6- MINITA

4. Management of high potential talent………………………..9- MINITA

5. Employee Life Cycle………………………………………11- MINITA

6. Document life cycle………………………………………..16- MINITA

7. Process adopted by HR in TCS…………………………….19- PRACHI

8. Training feedback…………………………………………22- PRACHI

9. Multi rater feedback……………………………………….30- PRACHI

10. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM …………..31- PRACHI

10. Applicant evaluation……………………………………….42- JAINS

11. Talent Review………………………………………………43- JAINS

12. Job Rotation ………………………………………………..46- JAINS

13. Conclusion…………………………………………………..47- JAINS

14. Workforce Plan(EXAMPLE)………………………………..48- JAINS

15. References……………………………………………………53

SUCCESSION PLANNING

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Organization does succession planning in order to ensure an organization's continued success, you need to determine who will eventually replace employees currently in key positions. The Plan Successions business process in Human Resources enables you to identify candidates for key positions, anticipate organizational bottlenecks, and develop multiple career paths for individuals who are ready for promotion. To implement the Plan Successions business process:

• Perform the prerequisite tasks.

• Create the succession plans.

• Build the succession trees.

Once the succession trees are in place, we can review career summaries, monitor the progress of key employees, track changes to key positions, and make adjustments to successions plans as the requirements of the organization change over time.

Integration and Prerequisite

Integration

The Plan Successions business process integrates with:

• The Manage Competencies business process in Human Resources.

• The Plan Careers business process in Human Resources.

• The Manage Positions business process in Human Resources.

• PeopleSoft Enterprise Talent Acquisition Manager.

Prerequisite

The following tasks should be performed before setting up the Plan Successions business process in Human Resources:

• Set up HRMS core data.

• Set up Human Resources job data.

• (optional) Set up competencies.

• (optional) Set up career plans.

• Define key positions.

• Identify potential candidates.

ABOUT TCS

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Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) software services and consulting company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology and business process outsourcing services. It is part of one of India's largest and oldest conglomerates, the group TATA. TCS is proud of their heritage as part of the Tata Group, founded by Jamsedtji Tata in 1868 and one of India’s most respected institutions today.

TCS Mission: To providing excellence: to help customers achieve their business objectives by

providing innovative, best-in-class consulting, IT solutions and services, and to actively engage all stakeholders in a productive, collaborative, and mutually beneficial relationship. TCS also provides product and industrial engineering services, as well as strategic consulting and project management. The company is controlled by textiles and manufacturing conglomerate Tata Group.

TCS Vision: To be one of the top 10 global companies by the year 2010.

TCS values – integrity, leading change, excellence, respect for the individual, and fostering an

environment of learning and sharing – will get us there.

Company history

In the early 1970s, Tata Consultancy Services started exporting its services. TCS's first international order came from Burroughs, one of the first business computer manufacturers. In 1981, TCS set up India's first software research and development centre, the Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC). The first client-dedicated offshore development centre was set up for Compaq In 1989; TCS delivered an electronic depository and trading system called SECOM for SIS SegaInterSettle, Switzerland. It was by far the most complex project undertaken by an Indian IT company.

In the early 1990s, the Indian IT outsourcing industry grew tremendously due to the Y2K bug and the launch of a unified European currency, Euro. TCS pioneered the factory model for Y2K conversion and developed software tools which automated the conversion process and enabled third-party developers and clients to make use of it.

In 1999, TCS saw outsourcing opportunity in E-Commerce and related solutions and set up its E-Business division with ten people. By 2004, E-Business was contributing half a billion dollars (US) to TCS. On 9 August 2004, TCS became a publicly listed company, much later than its rivals Infosys, Wipro and Satyam.

During 2004, TCS ventured into a new area for an Indian IT services company - Bioinformatics. In 2008, the company went through an internal restructuring exercise that executives claim would bring about agility to the organization

TCS SUCCESSION PLANNING

Succession planning at strategic and tactical levels is carried out for key positions as identified

by the Leadership team, based on role criticality to business and organizational growth. Unit

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heads identify, assess and groom a talent pool of successors through mechanisms such as

iCALMS, Sales Leadership Pool, LDPs and the recently piloted High Potential management

program.

Pages used to create Career Plan, Path & Succession Plans

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Succession planning at the operational level is practiced through the identification and grooming

of back up Project Leaders (PLs) for all projects. TCS new organization structure encompasses

succession planning wherein each operating unit has a Deputy Head being groomed to take the

lead in the future.

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MANAGEMENT OF HIGH POTENTIAL TALENT

In a large and extended duration program, knowledge transition is a necessity. It is required

when a new person joins the team and need to quickly come to speed. In almost all the cases, a

handover – takeover process will be followed, where an existing or outgoing associate inducts

the new consultant on the project specific knowledge or expertise.

The most effective step in this expertise transition consists of On-the-Job transition and Playback

session.

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Meeting with unit Heads

Identification of High Potential Associates

Identification of units

Organizational Initiatives Assigned

Preparation and Deployment of IDPs

Periodic Progress Review

Action on outcome of meetingTracking to closure, Updating Profiles, Rewarding Exemplary Performance

Coordinate with L&D for closure

Metrics Review Feedback

Recognition by Senior Management

Phase 1

Phase-2

Expertise transition

TCS knowledge retention methodology plays a crucial role for succession planning. Knowledge

succession will be managed through an Employee Life Cycle and Document Life Cycle. During

each step in the Employee Life Cycle, processes and procedures will be put in place to ensure

Avery company-specific and process-specific knowledge will be retained independent of an

employee. This plan also ensures that a complete knowledge management strategy will be in

place to manage knowledge sharing in the Document Life Cycle

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Knowledge retention methodology

Employee Life Cycle

The process of succession planning in TCS is divided into three categories:

1) Candidates- Candidate pool2) Avery account employed- TCS employee assigned to avery account3) Ex- avery account employee- TCS employee who is scheduled to transfer out of Avery

Account or TCS Employee Who is scheduled to leave TCS

CANDIDATE

TCS provide the candidates with certain tasks which the employee need to attain in order to gain knowledge and also in order to retain the knowledge which can further help in succession planning. The table below shows the tasks assigned to the candidates along with the recommendations from their superiors:1) Maintain detailed job descriptions for all positions in Avery account 2) Create update procedures to maintain job description documents3) Create reporting plan to monitor employee turnover and mitigation plan to re-deploy

to Avery account in short turnaround time4) Create retention plan to address turnover

Candidate Pool

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Description Action Status Comments

Maintain detailed job descriptions for all positions in Avery account

Inventory all positions for Avery account

Complete Need to have job descriptions in central storage location

Create job descriptions for all positions

Complete Need to have job descriptions in central storage location

Avery approves draft job descriptions

Complete

Create update procedures to maintain job description documents

Create update procedures to maintain job description documents

Open Chandra (Overall owner of procedures) -

TCS Process Managers will update

Create reporting plan to monitor employee turnover and mitigation plan to re-deploy to Avery account in short turnaround time

Create reporting plan to monitor employee turnover in Avery account

Open Chandra (procedures) TCS Process Managers will update.

Create mitigation plan (e.g. bench resources and training plan for bench resources) to re-deploy to Avery account in short turnaround time

Open Chandra (Owner) - Planning on bench resources, back-up training this all needs to be documented.

Create retention plan to address turnover

Create retention plan to address turnover

Open Chandra (Owner) – Needs to be documented.

AVERY ACCOUNT EMPLOYEE

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TCS provide the employees the task of Avery account employee .The knowledge they need to have of these employees is on during Induction period and on day to day tasks. The table below shows the tasks assigned to the candidates along with the recommendations from their superiors:During Induction Period:

1. Create policies/ procedures to bring new employees onboard- During Induction Training

- Avery Induction Training

- Job Specific Training

On day to day basis the employees need to acquire knowledge on:

1) Update level-3 procedures, if there are any changes to the procedure then they must follow document change control procedure

2) Add “Tribal Knowledge” to the level 3 procedure when appropriate3) Create or update FAQ based on actual questions brought by the team

A. TCS Employee Assigned to Avery Account

1. Induction

Description Action Status Comments

Create process/procedure to bring new employees onboard. Document must include the following details:

a. Objective of each training module (AP, AR, GA, FA) For job specific training

b. Sequence of training

c. Format of training 1. Classroom

2. Computer

3. DVD Video4. One-on-One

d. Specific inventory of all training materials

Create Process/Procedure for TCS Induction Training:

- Document which formats of training will be used and when they will be used.

- List of all training material

- Success criteria to pass the training – (for example, new hire will take test after each training module)

Open TBD

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Description Action Status Comments

used for each module and the author and version/date of each item

e. Success criteria to pass training (e.g. exams)

f. Avery background training and cultural awareness training

2. Live

Description Action Status Comments

Communication and Training to the employee when there are updates to the Level-3 procedures and FAQs.

Develop process to ensure that employees receive updates when Level-3 procedure are taking place (e.g. Periodic audit by Team Lead/Team Manager/Avery). Document who will be responsible for the updates.

Open TBD

EX-AVERY ACCOUNT EMPLOYEE

TCS asks the employees to get aware about Ex-Avery account employee who is scheduled to transfer out of Avery account or the employees scheduled to leave TCS with the help of exit interviews. The table below shows the tasks assigned to the candidates along with the recommendations from their superiors:

1. Create procedures for employees who are scheduled to transition out of Avery team to transfer responsibility and knowledge

2. Create checklist to ensure responsibility has been taken over before an employee exit. Checklist should be tailored based on employee level (i.e. Team Member, Team Lead and Team Manager).

A. TCS Employee scheduled to Transfer Out of Avery Account (Exit Transition)

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Description Action Status Comments

Create procedures for employees who are scheduled to transition out of Avery team to transfer responsibility and knowledge

Create procedure for responsibility transfer and knowledge transfer. Document who will be responsible for the updates and what the review process would be.

Open TBD

Create checklist to ensure responsibility has been taken over before an employee exit. Checklist should be tailored based on employee level (i.e. Team Member, Team Lead and Team Manager).

- Employee requisition request for new team member

- Notification procedure to Avery

- Handoff procedure of responsibility before exit date

- Exit interview to help develop retention strategy

- Access rights to any systems are revoked

Create checklist to ensure responsibility has been taken over before an employee exit

Open TCS

DOCUMENT LIFE CYCLEDocument life cycle is divided into four categories:

1. Administration2. Creation3. Collaboration/Storage4. Update/ Maintenance 1. ADMINISTRATION

Employees need to pursue knowledge and accomplish their tasks which are being checked by the superior person.

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1) Designate Knowledge Manager in TCS to be in charge of all documents (e.g. Level 3 Procedure, Policy, IT related, HR related and etc.) used in Avery and document role and responsibility of the Knowledge Manager

2) Document knowledge sharing requirements between Avery/TCS Tool to be used in long term. Folder structure- Access rights and maintenance

Description Action Status Comments

Designate Knowledge Manager in TCS to be in charge of all documents (e.g. Level 3 Procedure, Policy, IT related, HR related and etc.) used in Avery and document role and responsibility of the Knowledge Manager

Designate Knowledge Manager Open Deloitte will frame. TCS to identify resource.

Determine and document roles and responsibilities for Knowledge Manager

Open Deloitte will frame. TCS to identify resource.

Document knowledge sharing requirements between Avery/TCS

- Tool to be used in long term

- Folder structure- Access rights and

maintenance

Create Knowledge Sharing requirements document

Open Deloitte will frame.

2. CREATION

Under creation again employees are assigned with some tasks, checked by their superiors1. Create list of documents to be created by go-live date2. Create new document creation procedure. The procedure should include the following:

- Approval process to create new document- Quality assurance process of the content 3. Create document publishing procedure. The procedure should include the following:

- Approval process to publish

Description Action Status Comments

Create list of documents to be created by go-live date

Create checklist of documents to be created by go-live date.

Open Get list of documents from TCS/Avery for inventory. Deloitte will

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Description Action Status Comments

frame checklist once we receive list of documents.

Create new document creation procedure. The procedure should include the following:

- Approval process to create new document

- Quality assurance process of the content

Create new document creation procedure Open Deloitte will frame

Create document publishing procedure. The procedure should include the following:

- Approval process to publish

Create document publishing procedure Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS/Avery to assign document approvers.

3. UPDATE/ MAINTENANCE

Under this employees are assigned with some tasks, checked by their superiors. The tasks are like:

1) Schedule periodic review of documents on the site to archive obsolete documents2) Create document change control procedure. The procedure should include

- TCS internal approval process to initiate change request- Process to obtain Avery approval- Quality assurance process as a checkpoint in any change process

3) Notification process of changed process to all affected party

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4) Include ‘Tribal knowledge’ to the Level-3 procedures when appropriate5) Update FAQs based on actual questions brought by the team6) Schedule periodic audit of access rights to ensure only current Avery account employees

have access to the site - At least every month

Description Action Status Comments

Schedule periodic review of documents on the site to archive obsolete documents

- At least every 3 months

Schedule periodic review of documents on the site to archive obsolete documents

Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS/Avery to assign document approvers.

Create document change control procedure. The procedure should include

- TCS internal approval process to initiate change request

- Process to obtain Avery approval

- Quality assurance process as a checkpoint in any change process

- Notification process of changed process to

Create document change control procedure

Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS/Avery to assign document approvers.

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Description Action Status Comments

all affected partyInclude ‘Tribal knowledge’ to the Level-3 procedures when appropriate

Develop process to verify updates to ‘Tribal knowledge’ are documented. Document who will be responsible for the updates and what the review process would be.

Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS/Avery to assign document approvers.

Update FAQs based on actual questions brought by the team

Develop process to update FAQs on an ongoing basis. Document who will be responsible for the updates and what the review process would be.

Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS/Avery to assign document approvers.

Schedule periodic audit of access rights to ensure only current Avery account employees have access to the site

- At least every month

Schedule periodic audit of access rights to ensure only current Avery account employees have access to the site

Open Deloitte will frame. We will need TCS to assign an individual responsible for doing the audit of access rights.

PROCESS ADOPTED BY HR FOR CHECKING THE REQUIRED SKILLS

SUCCESSION PLANNING

HR of the organisation after doing the need analysis of the post and seeing the need for succession planning takes an initiative where they during the period of six months when the need is actually identified check the skills and performance of the desired candidate with different process like through performance appraisal, performance during training, during job rotation, interview, talent review form.

FUNCTIONAL DIAGRAM

Diagrammatic representation of the process is described below.

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Description of the steps

Succession plan would be made for all critical positions in the organization as an output of SAP Succession Planning transaction. Each critical position will have at least two to three persons identified who can take up the responsibility. All field HR managers along with PC/CC heads will prepare a list of critical positions in their respective areas based on the following criteria:

Positions which cannot lie vacant at any given time or vacancy of such positions will have a considerable impact on the performance of the concerned unit.

Positions which cannot be easily managed by available resources Positions which demand special expertise and skills (a talent which is not easily available

outside)

A list of prerequisite qualifications for those critical positions in consultation with the respective heads would also be prepared. These prerequisites would be inherited from the jobs assigned to the position and the additional qualifications entered for that position. Succession planning would also take into account performance and potential ratings – the performance and potential ratings would also be used in qualification catalog. Discussions/decisions on succession planning at the time of Talent review inform of recommendations for a job by superior.

After finalization of the qualification requirements for the critical position, the best fit list of potential successors (from the same or other organizational unit). Views on potential successors may also be taken from the current set of appraisee. Once potential successors have been

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Identification of Critical Positions

Identification of Critical Positions

List of Potential Successors

Rotation recommendationYears of experience in job /jobs Performance rating 3 & abovePotential rating 3 & aboveEducational qualification

Rotation recommendationYears of experience in job /jobs Performance rating 3 & abovePotential rating 3 & aboveEducational qualification

Performance rating 4 & abovePotential rating 4 & aboveRecommendation on fitness for

job cluster Years of experience in job /jobsEducational qualification

Performance rating 4 & abovePotential rating 4 & aboveRecommendation on fitness for

job cluster Years of experience in job /jobsEducational qualification

From the Same Impact Level

From the Next Impact Level Potential in IT0024

Potential in IT0024

Succession Planning

Succession Planning

identified, the succession plan would be prepared and would be considered as final after it is thoroughly vetted by all IL1 executives including MD and DMDs.

The final succession position will enter into the system into ‘Potential’ in infotype 0024 for a person. Whenever the finalized list of successors is required the succession planning transaction (PPSP) would be run with the check mark only on ‘Potential’.

Now, since appraisal and their ratings of their performance plays an important role in deciding the career plans and succession plans of an employee. We need to understand the process of performance appraisal and development plans on the basis of which the ratings of an employee are decided. Also the process of planning starts in the TCS from the stage of training, at the time of succession planning HR evaluates the performance of an employee starting from the interview either personal or telephonic held at the time of recruitment to the training feedback which the employees receive during their training programme to the performance appraisal, Individual development plan and lastly performance during job rotation. Hence, I will be first discussing the whole individual process and the criteria of evaluation done in TCS

1. TRAINING FEEDBACK

Training feedback takes place at the time of completion of business event.

Prerequisites

The training back form will be filled in by the Training administrator only after completion of the ‘Follow-up’ process

The training feedback form should be filled in for active employees in SAP

Description of the steps

Training feedback is given by the attendee for 13 attributes. This feedback is given after completion of the training. The training feedback is based a uniform 5 point scale for all the 13 attributes. In addition the training feedback appraisal would involve rating of the instructors. The appraisal would also require feedback in text about three questions related to training. This

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feedback form will not be online. It will be filled up by the training coordinator based on the filled up hard copy of the form. This is to ensure faster and total completion of the training feedback.

2. TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Sequential organization of functions and activities is described as process. The process adherence respective to this module is.

.

Prerequisites

The follow up process for the attendee is complete Training feedback form has been filled in by the training administrator

Description of the steps

In addition to the training feedback, an additional form is filled to assess the training effectiveness. In this feedback the employee fills in the areas where he would apply the learning from the training. This would be after completion of the follow up process of the training program. The training coordinator would monitor the status of this program. The head of the department also appraises on the effectiveness of the training administered to the employee.

The transfer of learning form would have three steps, which are as follows:

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Transfer of learning form Part A

Transfer of learning form Part A

Follow-up Evaluation

Follow-up Evaluation

Follow-up Evaluation

Follow-up Evaluation

Attendee fills on paper and entered in system by training administrator

Attendee fills in after 3 months

Superior fills after attendee

Report on transfer of

learning

Report on transfer of

learning

Superior fills after attendee

Transfer of learning form – Part A:

Attendee commits himself to tasks to be taken up by him after attending the training program which he will fulfill at his work place. This is filled in by the attendee in paper and entered in the system by the training administrator.

Transfer of Learning - Part A:

PNO: Name:

Prog. Code : Start data: End Date:

Thank you for your participation in this programme. We do hope that you are going away from this programme with some new insights and skills that may be of use in your workplace. To help you in successfully transferring your learning, we request to to complete this questionnaire and to discuss your responses with your superior after returning to work.

Q1. What are the most important learnings you are taking with you from this programme?

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a.

b.

c.

Q2. How do you propose to apply these learnings in your workplace?

a.

b.

c.

Q3. What support would you require from your departmental superior for successful transfer of learning in your workplace?

a.

b.

c.

Q4. To what extent did you use the knowledge and / or skills prior to attending this programme?

a. Not at all or never / rarely b. To a small extent c. To a moderate extent

d. To a great extent e. to a very great extent e. Not Applicable

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Q5. To what extent did you receive the assistance necessary in preparing you for this programme.

a. Not at all or never / rarely b. To a small extent c. To a moderate extent

d. To a great extent e. to a very great extent e. Not Applicable

Q6. To what extent has the content of this programme accurately reflected what happens on the job?

a. Not at all or never / rarely b. To a small extent c. To a moderate extend

d. To a great extent e. to a very great extent e. Not Applicable

Follow-up Evaluation by Attendee

After three months from the date of end of training a workflow would be triggered. Follow up evaluation – Participant appraisal from will be sent to attendee the attendee would fill in the appraisal related to the transfer of learning from the training program.

Follow up Evaluation –Superior appraisal from will be simultaneously sent to superior also.

After completion of both the forms intimation will be sent to training Administrator in the form of SAP mail.

Follow up Evaluation: Questionnaire (Participant)

Programme: __________________

Programme Code: __________________

Programme Type: __________________

Participant: __________________

P.No. __________________

Department: __________________

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Scale for Question 1 - 5

Not at all or never / rarely

To a small extent

To a moderate extent

To a great extent

To a very great extent

Not

Applicable

1 2 3 4 5 NA

1. Please tick ( ) the appropriate box Use of Skills1 2 3 4 5 NA

1. To what extent have you had the opportunity to use the knowledge and / or skills presented in this programme.

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2. To what extent have you actually used the knowledge and /or skills presented in this programme after completing the programme?

Confidence in Ability to Perform

To what extent has your confidence in using the knowledge and / or skills increased as a result of this programme

Barriers and enablers of transfer

To what extent have you had access to the necessary resources (e.g. equipment and information) to apply the knowledge and / or skills on your job?

To what extent have you received help through coaching and / on feedback, with applying the knowledge and / or skills on the job?

Impact Measures

As a result of this programme, my performance on the programme objectives has changed by

As a result of this programme, my overall performance has changed by

Follow-up Evaluation by Superior

Follow up Evaluation: Questionnaire (Superior)

Programme: __________________

Programme Code: __________________

Programme Type: __________________

Participant: __________________

P.No. __________________

Department: __________________

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Scale for Question: 1 - 8

Not at all or never / rarely

To a small extent

To a moderate extent

To a great extent

To a very great extent

Not

Applicable

1 2 3 4 5 NA

Please tick ( ) the appropriate box

Use of Skills 1 2 3 4 5 NA

1. To what extent did s/he use the knowledge and / or skills prior to attending this programme

2. To what extent has s/he had the opportunity to use the knowledge and / or skills presented in this programme.

3. To what extent has s/he actually used the knowledge and /or skills presented in this programme after completing the programme?

Confidence in Ability to Perform

4. To what extent has her / his confidence in using the knowledge and / or skills increased as a result of this programme

Barriers and Enablers of Transfer

5. To what extent did s/he receive the assistance necessary in preparing for this programme?

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6. To what extent has the content of this programme accurately reflected what happens on the job?

7. To what extent has s/he had access to the necessary resources (e.g. equipment and information) to apply the knowledge and / or skills on the job?

8. To what extent has s/he received help through coaching and / on feedback, with applying the knowledge and / or skills on the job?

Impact Measures

9. As a result of this programme, her/his performance on the programme objectives has changed by

______%

10. As a result of this programme, her/his overall job performance has changed by ______%

Based on the appraisal a summary report is run to evaluate each training events in terms of utilization, objective, design, delivery and impact.

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1. MULTI RATER FEEDBACKSequential organization of functions and activities is described as process. The process adherence respective to this module is explained in the following.

DescriptionThis is an anonymous 360 degree feedback for an employee. This is given by the customers, peers, subordinate and superior of a person on various attributes. MRF appraisal consists of rating for 3-4 attributes on 13 managerial competencies. There is also an ‘others’ – attribute on which rating is given. The scale used is a five point scale. After rating of the persons by the selected subordinates, customer, supplier and superior, a report is prepared giving the average rating for each attribute for subordinates, customer, peer and superior

Prerequisites

The employee initiating the MRF process has be an active employee and a user in SAP with the required authorizations

Description of the steps

The process of MRF would have the following steps:

Initiation of the MRF by the administrator Notification sent to appraisee to select the set of appraisers Selection of Appraiser by Appraisee

– Selection of subordinates – appraisee - Selection of maximum of 8 persons – Selection of peers - appraisee - Selection of maximum of 8 persons – Selection of customers - Selection of maximum of 8 persons – Selection of superior – maximum of 2 superiors

Finalization of Appraisee– A report would give a list of appraisers and appraisees indicating the load for each

employee– This would downloaded into a spreadsheet and adjustments made manually to

optimize the load for each employee – The adjusted spreadsheet would be used to trigger workflows to the appraisers by

the workflow administrator Completion of the appraisal form by all the appraisers within a set time frame Report for the appraisee giving the average ratings on each of the appraisal criteria for

each category of the appraisers - subordinates, customer, peer and superior.

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20 Days

2. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Sequential organization of functions and activities is described as process. The process adherence respective to this module is explained in the following.

This is a multi stage appraisal based on Objective setting and evaluation. The process flow for the Annual Performance Evaluation is given in the following figure

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Identification of KRA & Targets

Identification of KRA & Targets

Self

March

Performance contracting

Discussion & approval of

KRA & Targets

Discussion & approval of

KRA & Targets

Appraiser

April

Change proposal by appraisee

(if any)

Change proposal by appraisee

(if any)Self

October

KRA addition/ deletion/

modification

KRA addition/ deletion/

modification

Appraiser

Mid year review

Self evaluation

Self evaluation

Self

April

Superior evaluation

Superior evaluation

Appraiser

April

End year review & feedback

Talent ReviewTalent Review

TR committee

May

Feedback & appraisee’s comment

Feedback & appraisee’s comment

Appraiser

June

Appraiser

October

Evidence recording

Evidence recording

Appraiser

This appraisal would have the instruction steps visible to the appraisers and appraisee for facilitating the process

Diagrammatic representation of the process is described below.

DESCRIPTION

Performance management system is based on a multi stage appraisal based on Objective setting and evaluation. This appraisal would have the instruction steps visible to the appraisers and appraisee for facilitating the process

The PMS process would start with a mail to be sent to all HRS / PMS administrator for starting & preparing PMS process on 1st March through the PMS workflow. After this Intimation/communication thorough SAP Mail on 15th March to all employees to start the appraisal

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Identification of KRA & Targets

Identification of KRA & Targets

Self

March

Performance contracting

Discussion & approval of

KRA & Targets

Discussion & approval of

KRA & Targets

Appraiser

AprilChange

proposal by appraisee

(if any)

Change proposal by appraisee

(if any)Self

October

KRA addition/ deletion/

modification

KRA addition/ deletion/

modification

Appraiser

Mid year review

Self evaluation

Self evaluation

Self

April

Superior evaluation

Superior evaluation

Appraiser

April

End year review & feedback

Talent ReviewTalent Review

TR committee

May

Feedback & appraisee’s comment

Feedback & appraisee’s comment

Appraiser

June

Appraiser

October

Evidence recording

Evidence recording

Appraiser

Eligibility for appraisal

Doctors will be eligible for “PMS for Medical Professionals” appraisal formOfficers other than Doctors will be eligible for General PMS appraisal form

Officers’ eligibility criteria:

Officers in GT, ST, ET cadre, who complete one year on or after 1st October, during the appraisal period

Other officers who join on or after 1st October, during the appraisal period Officers who were eligible for performance appraisal, last year Retired officers Resigned officers Death cases

Officers not eligible:

Officers on contract Absconding

PrerequisitesActive employee in SAP system as on the appraisal start date

Description of the steps

Performance ContractingIn the performance contracting, appraisee will enter his ‘Key Result Areas’ at the beginning of the year. The appraisee also sets his targets for each KRA, ‘targets with units of measure’. These are based on the Balance Score Card for the Department.

The performance contacting, self and superior evaluation has broad sections. In the first section, the employee enters this KRA. This is depicted in the table below

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Rea KRA Targets with UoM

Criticality Action Measure

Initiatives

Finance 1 Reduction by 5 %

2Customer 1Internal Business Process

1 Index on Qualitative grid

23

People Development

1

2Special Projects 1

2

This section would have the appraisal criteria group as the “Area”:

Finance Customer Internal Business Processes People Development Special Projects

Under each of these appraisal criteria groups, there will be single appraisal criteria. This criterion will allow entering the KRA. The appraisee will also be able to add additional rows for appraisal criteria to record more KRA under each area. An Enhancement would be used to add elements for the appraisal criteria.

The column ‘Targets with Units of Measurement´ would be a new column with a note. In this note the employee would enter the reference of the qualitative grid document.

This appraisal form stays with the Solid line superior for Evidence recording from 30th April to 31st Aug

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Activity Responsibility Timeline

Mail reminder to HRS / PMS administrator for starting & preparing PMS process

PMS administrator

1st March

PMS administrator starts the process by sending guidelines & makes available the appraisal form for eligible employees (medial & non medical). Intimation/communication thorough SAP Mail. Appraiser name is defaulted (based on OM)

PMS administrator

15th

March

Officer fills the KRA, targets (with unit of measure) and marks criticality of KRA in terms of High/ Normal, Key thrust/Measure. Officer can also change the appraiser. (Status: Performance Contracting by self completed)

Appraisee 7th April

Superior calls the officer for Performance Contracting (KRA & target setting) discussion

Offline 30th April

Superior can add/ delete / modify KRA or Target, criticality of KRA. (Status : Performance Contracting done)

Solid line superior

30th April

Mid Year Review

In this process the appraisal is again sent to the employee for recording “Achievements and Constraints”. An officer also reviews his KRA & targets. The appraisee may add additional KRA or request his superior to delete / change his KRA communicating outside SAP system. This is then sent to his superior for mid year review. This process enables superior to add additional, change KRAs, if required and record “Evidence/Comments” against KRAs in a separate note

Activity Responsibility Timeline

Mid year review process starts by sending the appraisal form back to the appraisee. (Status : for mid year review to officer)

Automated 1st Sept

Appraisee may add KRA, update progress against KRA target in the achievement column & sends the form to superior. [Other changes proposed in KRA or target will be send by officer to superior by e-mail or in hard copy for mid year review discussion]

Appraisee 10th Sept

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(Status ; for mid year review to superior)

Superior calls appraisee for a mid year review discussion. Superior can change KRAs or targets, mark a KRA as “No More relevant” in the weightage/ criticality column. Records comments against KRA & targets in Evidence/ Comments column. (Status : Mid year review completed)

Solid line superior

15th Oct

Appraisal form stays with the superior for Evidence recording Solid line superior

15th Oct to 14tht

March

End Year Appraisal

The Achievements and constraints would also be a new column with a note and would allow the appraiser to fill in his achievements and constraints for each KRA. The “Criticality” column would have a scale with two values High / Normal.

The “KRA Ratings” column would have 4 point scale and a note. The scale for rating would be:

Not attempted Partially Achieved Achieved Exceeded

Self Evaluation

The appraisee will initiate the year end appraisal by self evaluation. Appraisee will record achievements / constraints (max 3 line for a KRA) against each KRA. The employee would also enter as text, other areas of contribution. His appraiser would enter comments in another note on other areas of contribution by the appraisee. The employee also has to state whether he wants to continue in same job. This would be recorded by the employee in a Yes / No scale

In case the employee selects ‘No’ from the scale, then the employee should be able to select from a list of jobs, the job he would like to move to. This list of job should have a structure search and would also show all the positions which are related to a particular job. This would also have a note to record the justification / details for the job preference.

Link for Qualification will be there in appraisal for view of IDP Formal & On the job assignment status.

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On the job assignment identified during PDP & Status will not be there in the appraisal form

Any Specific area of contribution in improvement activities, task force assignments, etc beyond of your normal work

Comment by superior on other areas of contribution

Do you want to continue in same job? Yes / NoIf No then select job cluster from list Selection from JOB catalogueJustification / details to clarify the preference suggested

Activity Responsibility Timeline

End year review process start by sending the appraisal form back to appraisee. (Status : for end year review to officer)

Central Administrator

15th

March

Appraisee updates achievement/constraints, other areas of contribution. Appraisee can record his likes/ preferences for job/s (Max 2) for rotation with justification. Appraisee can change status of PDP-on the job assignments. (Status : for end year review to superior)

Appraisee 1st April

Superior Evaluation

In the end year review appraiser gives ratings and enters his comments to support the ratings. In addition, the appraiser also recommends the Performance Category and Potential Category. All the scale description would have definitions to facilitate the appraiser to evaluate the appraisee. These definitions should be available in the appraisal form.

The performance ratings and potential ratings would be on a five point scale as given in the section on configurable items

In case the recommendation is for a High or Very High Potential, the superior will substantiate high potential rating with fitness to job/s. There would be appraisal criteria from which a list of jobs can be selected through a structure search of job to job and job to position relationship.

There would be an appraisal criteria group for development recommendations. This would contain the following appraisal criteria:

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Rotation recommendation – “Yes / No” scale Fitness to Job cluster/ Job for Rotation – selection from a list of jobs through a structure

search offering job to job and job to position relationship

Mentoring required – “Yes / No” scale Counseling required – Yes / No scale Job Enrichment /enlargement required – Yes / No scale with, a provision to enter text.

These development recommendations will not be visible to the employee.The appraiser also enters brief comments in a note on the following areas

Overall performance Areas of Strength Opportunities for Improvement (Evidences which are behavioral and are not directly

linked to a particular KRA could be recorded here during the year at any point of time ) Improvements observed during the year

The opportunities for improvement would be made available to the officer during PDP.

After the appraiser completes the feedback, the appraisal form would be sent to the employee for his comments. The employee enters the feedback and closes the appraisal process.

Activity Responsibility Timeline

Appraiser calls the appraisee for performance evaluation dialogue & discusses his achievements, constraints, performance, aspiration referring evidences , achievements, other achievements, on the job assignments, effort put in by officer during the year, difficulty level etc

Offline Manual 15th April

Appraiser records during end year evaluation records :-

Performance & potential rating and records his comments in evidence/comments column. Development recommendations in terms of Rotation required, Mentoring required, Counseling required, Job enrichment/enlargement required. In case of rotation recommendation, fitness to job/s. Comment briefly on officer’s overall performance & major contribution. (Status : Pre Talent Review appraisal done)

Solid line superior

15th April May

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3. APPLICANT EVALUATION

Sequential organization of functions and activities is described as process. Diagrammatic representation of the process is described below.

Prerequisites

The applicant assessment process would be undertaken for applicants who would be called for written / telephonic / functional interview

Description of the steps

Functional Interview Assessment

All applicants would be rated through an appraisal. This appraisal would be filled in by the field HR. For convenience of recording the applicant assessment discussion, a print of the appraisal form would be taken in a specified format.

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Print of Report for applicants

Print of Report for applicants

Assessment of the applicants on report printout

Assessment of the applicants on report printout

Entry of assessment into applicant appraisal

Entry of assessment into applicant appraisal

Print of Report for telephonic interview applicants

Print of Report for telephonic interview applicants

Assessment of the applicants on report printout

Assessment of the applicants on report printout

Entry of assessment into telephonic interview applicant appraisal

Entry of assessment into telephonic interview applicant appraisal

Functional Interview Assessment

Telephonic Interview Assessment

Entry of assessment into written test assessment appraisal

Entry of assessment into written test assessment appraisal

Written Test Assessment

This print of the formatted list of applicants would be a custom report (Applicant Assessment Report). This report would have the list of applicant names for a specific advertisement with blank fields available for manually filling in ratings for various appraisal criteria. The applicants who would be selected for this report would have the Applicant Action ‘call for interview’ against them. The selection criteria for this report would be based on Advertisement number, position, date, Applicant Group, Applicant Range, Applicant number, Organizational unit, Applicant Status

This form would be used to fill up the applicant appraisal in SAP. In this appraisal form, the applicant would be rated on the following assessment scale (Applicant Assessment).

1: Poor 2: Fair 3: Average 4: Good 5: Outstanding

In addition to rating the applicant, text would be entered up to a maximum of 4 lines. The final recommendation of the applicant would also be kept in the appraisal – these would be in a scale: Selected, Rejected and In Panel.

When the applicant assessment form is completed on paper, the details recorded would be entered into the appraisal - Applicant Assessment Form. This appraisal would have the following criteria:

Appraisal Criteria Rating Scale

Functional Knowledge Applicant Assessment Scale

Functional Orientation Applicant Assessment Scale

Remarks Text

Individual Managerial Assessment Score Applicant Assessment Scale

Individual functional assessment score Applicant Assessment Scale

Panels final assessment score Applicant Assessment Scale

Recommendation Selected / Rejected / Panel

This appraisal could be saved by the Field HR and then completed when the data entry is complete and final. The appraisal form cannot be changed after completion status.

Once the applicant appraisal is complete the Applicant Assessment Report would also display the ratings as entered in the Appraisal - Applicant Assessment Form.

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For changing the status of applicant, the filtered data would be taken from a report giving the details of the applicant appraisal, applicant wise. Based on this information the next applicant action would be done.

Telephonic Interview Assessment Form

Telephonic interview is used for initial screening the external applicants before the final interview. Telephonic interview would be done for applicants for external applicants and applicant group 3,4,5,6 and 7. Telephonic interview would be done for applicants in applicant action ‘Invite Applicant’ activity – ‘Telephonic Appointment Interview’.

To facilitate this process, a print of the appraisal form would be taken with the names of applicants in a specified format for which the action has be done ‘Invite Applicant’ activity – ‘Telephonic Appointment Interview’. This print of the formatted list of applicants would be a custom report (Telephonic Interview Assessment Report).

This report would have the list of applicant names for a specific advertisement with blank fields available for manually filling in text format comments / key observations. The status of candidates who have not cleared telephonic interview would be changed from ‘In Process’ to ‘Reject’

On completion of the telephonic interview the blank text fields in the Telephonic Interview Assessment Report would be filled. This would be used for entering data into an appraisal (Telephonic Interview Assessment). This appraisal form would have a text field

Once the appraisal is complete the Telephonic Interview Assessment Report would also display the values entered in the Telephonic Interview Assessment Appraisal. For changing the status of applicant in the SAP HR Recruitment, the filtered data would be taken from a report giving the details of the applicant appraisal, applicant wise.

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4. TALENT REVIEW

Review by Field –HR:

For this process a report is being developed which generates a report and based on the selection work flow triggers to the officer for filling comments and finally closing the form.

Field HR have a facility to download list of officer from his area with Appraisal Document No & Performance & Potential Rating & STATUS of appraisal forms (Status; Pre Talent Review Status or Post Talent Review Status etc.) Download facility could be used again & again to know the current status. They check while downloading Year of appraisal from appraisal validity date. If there is no field HR for a particular OU or Position (person), for all such cases, central HR are authorized to download and again trigger the form to officers. There is a transaction by which workflow can be triggered for the last phase ie. Evaluatee’s Comment. Trigger should not sent the form to officer if FLAG in excel / internal table is checked.

Once triggered there should be default time limit for reminder & closer of this phase inbuilt. When appraisal form is accessed by the officer the same criteria access authority should be there to officer. Field HR would generate officer’s details in standard format (reports) to facilitate Talent Review committee discussion.

The next part of the processes involves discussion with a panel of reviewers (Talent Review Committee) based on Impact level of the appraise.A specific report for IL2 executives for Talent Review Discussion by central HR administrator.

Eg. Talent Review committee for an impact level in a particular organizational unit:

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In this case Talent Review committee comprises of Chief, Head IL3, Head B IL3, Head C IL3

Here the recommended performance category, potential ratings, job rotation recommendation & suggested job/job cluster for rotation, fitness to job/s for high potentials (potential ratings 4 or 5) are discussed & finalized. This process also involves fitting the employees in a normal curve. The proportion of the employees in each rating is finalized and compared with the actual. Based on the discussions, the appraisee’s performance ratings are changed and again compared at various Impact levels and org units to achieve normalization. Post Talent Review superior will change/ correct the officers’ ratings or other recommendations i.e. job rotation, job fitness (for potential rating 4 & 5), training (if any) which is decided during talent review.HRS section will generate PC / CC/ Dept wise summary sheet of ratings to monitor the deviation form approved guidelines for rating spread. This summary sheet with deviation analysis is sent to DMD for approval. If not approved, then the appraisal is sent back to field HR for correction.

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Activity Responsibility Timeline

Field HR would be generating report for Talent Review & organize Talent Review discussion to finalize performance ratings, potential ratings, rotation recommendations, fitness to job/s for high potential (4 &5)officers

Offline 15th May

Talent review output will be recorded in the appraisal by the superior in terms of changes in performance rating, potential ratings, development recommendations, job fitness, comment briefly on overall performance, area of strength, OFI (Status :Talent Review done, sent for appraisee’s comments)

Solid line superior

15th May

Once appraisal form is sent to the appraisee for his comments, all authority to change / modify the appraisal form by the superior or field HR will be seized. Henceforth any change in the appraisal ratings could be done only by Central Compensation Administrator if desired.

Evaluatee’s Comment

Post Talent review superior calls the appraisee for feedback on his performance, potential, strength & OFIs and ratings. After feedback the appraisal form is sent to the appraisee for his comments. The appraisee also enters his comments and the appraisal is completed.

Activity Responsibility Timeline

Appraisee fills up comments. (Status: closure of appraisal) Appraisee 20th May

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5. JOB ROTATION

PrerequisitesRecommendations of an employee for job rotation

Description of the stepsEmployee job rotation process is undertaken for rotation within the same profit center / cost center and rotation across functional areas. This process would be supported by a list of three reports.These reports are:

List of employees recommended for job rotation within the same profit center / cost center

List of employees recommended for job rotation across functions List of positions assigned to a job / job cluster which are vacant

The job rotation process would first get a list of employees who are recommended for rotation within the same profit center / cost center. This report would contain employee details which will include personnel number, personnel area/sub area, position, organizational unit, employee subgroup, age, experience in current job, total experience, performance and potential rating and person’s job preference, and job rotation recommendation by superior.

This would also be used in conjunction with the report for list of positions assigned to a job / job cluster which are vacant. These two reports would be generated together giving a clear view of the rotation possibility of a person from an existing position to a vacant position

Similarly for a report would be run to get a list of employees recommended for job rotation across functions. This would be similar to the report for within the same profit center / cost center. The details of these reports are given the ‘Functional Specifications Document’.

Job rotation discussion would be based on this report and the finalized decision would be used to transfer employees to vacant positions / rotation positions.

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6. CONCLUSION

Based on all above process TCS finally do the succession planning process. TCS does the succession planning just before the six months from requirement. During those six months TCS analyze the skills required for the post with the skills existing in TCS through all the above process.

I am hereby showing the tables where TCS had done the succession planning to give an idea on how they decide the skills then check the existing gap prevailing with the successor.

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7. Workforce Plan

S.No Resource Name/New Request

Position Planned Release Date

Replacement Required (Y/N)

Required by Date

Skills

Required

Competency Level

1 Delivery Manager 31-DEC-2008 N Project Management, Process Management, Telecom knowledge, Business knowledge

E3

2 Project Leader 31-DEC-2008 N Project Management, Process Management, Telecom knowledge, Business knowledge

E3

3 Module Lead - Testing

31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Preparation of Test plans/ test strategy, team management, Testing tools

E2

4 Module Lead – Environment

31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, UNIX, Oracle

E2

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Support DB, MQ Series, PL/SQL, XML, Oracle 9i, Team Management

5 Module Lead -Design

31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, Presentation Skills, Designing Tools, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Team 6Management

E2

6 Module Lead – Development

31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Team Management

E2

7 Tester 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

8 Tester 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

9 Developer 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on

E1

48

WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

10 Designer 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, Presentation Skills, Designing Tools, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

11 Developer 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

12 Developer 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

13 Tester 10-Nov-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Testing skills, Test Tools

E1

14 Tester 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Testing skills,

E1

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Test Tools

15 Developer 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i

E1

16 Tester 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Testing skills, Test Tools

E1

17 Tester 31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Testing skills, Test Tools

E1

18 Environment Support

31-DEC-2008 N Telecom, UNIX, Oracle DB, MQ Series, PL/SQL, XML, Oracle 9i

E1

Succession Plan

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Key Position

Name Planned Release Date

Successor Available Date

Skills Required Gaps in Skills (Y/N)

PL 31-DEC-2008 Project management skills, Process Management, PL/SQL, Telecom knowledge, Business knowledge

N

DP 31-DEC-2008 DP Awareness N

Environment Support

31-DEC-2008 Telecom, UNIX, Oracle DB, MQ Series, PL/SQL, XML, Oracle 9i, Team Management

N

Design 31-DEC-2008 Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, Presentation Skills, Designing Tools, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Team Management

N

Development Lead

31-DEC-2008 Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Team Management

N

Test Lead 31-DEC-2008 Telecom, Functional Knowledge on WLR, PL/SQL, XML, JAVA, Oracle 9i, Preparation of Test plans/ test strategy, team management, Testing tools

N

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Succession Training Plan (NA)

Key position

Skill Name Training Start Date

Training End Date

REFERENCES

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MRS. JIBIE- HR, IN THANEMR. ASHWINI HIMANSHUWWW.TCS.COM

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PROJECT ON SUCCESSION PLANNING

COMPANY: WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED TO:

PROF. ARUN SEKHRI

SUBMITTED BY:

DEBANTI LAHIRI (55)

SAYANI MAHAPATRA (20)

LIPSITA BADAJENA (27)

Date: 30-03-2010

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INDEX

Company Overview…………………………………...3

Core Principles (SAYANI)...…………………………3

TRP at Wipro (SAYANI)…………………………….4

Key Elements of SP (SAYANI)………………………7

Steps of SP (DEBANTI)………………………………8

PMS as a Tool of SP (DEBANTI)……………………11

Azim Premji Intends to Improve (DEBANTI)……...12

Premji’s Framework (SAYANI)……………………...13

Retention Strategy for SP (LIPSITA)………………..15

Aligining Leadership and SP (LIPSITA)…………….16

Women in Wipro (LIPSITA)…………………………18

Sample Forms (LIPSITA)…………………………….20

Shortcomings of SP (DEBANTI)……………………..22

Recommendations (DEBANTI)……………………….23

Case Study (LIPSITA-DEBANTI-SAYANI)…………24

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COMPANY OVERVIEW

Wipro Technologies Limited is a giant information technology services corporation headquartered in Bangalore, India. According to the 2008–09 revenue, Wipro is the third largest IT services company in India and employs more than 98,391 people worldwide as of 2009. It has interests varying from information technology, consumer care, lighting, engineering and healthcare businesses. Azim Premji is the Chairman of the board.

CORE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING SUCCESSION PLANNING AT WIPRO

(Sayani)

1. Leaders really do matter in managing/driving accountability, results, culture.

2. Performance is what counts top performers over high potentials (the “what” & “how” both count).

3. Today’s top performing leaders aren’t necessarily tomorrow’s best performers. Even our best leaders can fall behind or derail.

4. Talent is an enterprise resource. Only willingness to share talent makes the system work.

5. A broad set of experience & assignments is the best classroom yet a balanced approach is still necessary for development.

6. Its incumbent upon today’s “top-100” to leave a legacy of future talent. Current leaders must teach, mentor, & role model others on what it takes to succeed.

7. Invest in the best and focus on the rest.

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TALENT REVIEW PLANNING (TRP) AT WIPRO

(Sayani)

Succession planning is an essential part of corporate strategy in most IT organizations including Wipro. While the design of the succession chart looks good on paper, it has often been found that the planning process fails to meet requirements at the time of filling a key position that has just been vacated. It is not an easy task dealing with the ever-changing equations of the leadership pipeline. According to a report by US-based business research firm Cutting Edge, while many companies have succession plans, very few follow through with the rigorous implementation required. In fact, 70 percent of succession plans fail due to bad execution.

Succession planning has to ensure that the right people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time. It can be done in three ways: role-based, individual-based and team-based. The first is about identifying key positions, the second focuses upon key people, and the last involves replacing a section of people or resources.

Reviewing Talent

One of the challenges in Wipro is planning for HR needs. It is essential to adopt a disciplined approach to match HR resources with the anticipated needs of the organization. This includes aligning the succession planning process with business strategy. “The purpose of the talent review is to figure out the talent required to implement the business strategy and constantly strengthen the talent pool. The talent review and planning process helps us identify talent for emerging roles in the organization,” says Bijay Sahoo, vice-president (talent engagement and development) and head of HR, Wipro Technologies. Commitment from the top management is another key factor for ensuring the success of succession planning. Sahoo reveals that in Wipro, the chairman (Azim Premji) and vice-chairman and CEO (Vivek Paul) give enormous importance and their personal time for talent review and planning, and personally supervise the development and implementation of the talent plan for key roles.

According to Sahoo, the other essential factors are: (a) accountability, as the succession planning programme requires ownership at all levels in the organization. Each manager should be responsible for assessing and developing the talent in his or her team. (b) Constant attention, as it can be tempting to overlook the need for succession planning in the face of more immediate needs.

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Planning the Process

The bench strength of current and future leaders gives a competitive edge to organizations like Wipro. At Wipro, the succession planning programme is called Talent Review and Planning (TRP), and it is the most critical part of the organization’s leadership building and talent management process. “Once our business strategy for the year is finalised, we identify the critical roles to execute it. We review the talent available for those roles internally as well as externally. We plan for the succession of existing critical roles, including that of the CEO, and identify employees who are ready to take over the roles immediately and over the next 1-2 or 2-3 years,” informs Sahoo. He adds that the company does developmental planning for each identified internal candidate in terms of job rotation, training, coaching and performance counselling. They also keep track of potential external candidates, and establish touch points for attracting them at the appropriate time.

The respective SBU heads and the SBU HR heads do the TRP for the top three levels of their business. This contributes to the TRP at the Wipro Technologies level, where the chairman and vice-chairman, along with the HR head, get involved in talent planning for the top three levels. Next is the implementation of the talent strategies by developing and reviewing the action plan.

Clear Focus

It is a known fact that while most managements are interested in developing a pool of successors for key positions, they find it a difficult task to ensure the success of their efforts. Succession planning can get very complicated. Organizations must therefore have a clear focus.

Wipro has quarterly talent engagement and development (TED) reviews, and action points of each SBU and vertical are tracked. “We also track the number of senior positions that are filled internally, which gives an indication of the success of the program. At the macro level, the retention figure also reflects the effectiveness of the succession planning program, since one of the objectives of the program is to help employees realize their career aspirations and thus retain them in the organization. Systematic succession planning does generate leadership talent, and an organization can measure its effectiveness by looking at the leadership talent it has created and provided to the industry. Wipro is one of the top companies when it comes to creating top-class leaders in the IT industry. “Many of our ex-employees are heading successful IT companies,” says Sahoo with apparent pride.

The Training Difference

Organizations are less vulnerable to leadership crises when there’s a shadow group of successors who are able and available to step into their shoes. Training plays a key role in succession planning. It is imperative to strategise, design and implement programmes to train future leaders.

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Wipro has its lifecycle leadership development programmes, which are synchronised with the roles employees play at different stages of their corporate life. These include the New Leaders Programme, Wipro Leaders Programme, Business Leaders Programme and Strategic Leaders Programme for different leadership positions that an employee will assume in the organization.

Just-In-Time Succession

Then there’s just-in-time succession which is followed in many of the organizations in today’s time including Wipro, which maps existing competencies of the staff to fill an important position. Succession planning software uses competency analysis which lets companies understand the demand side of the equation with what their staffs have to offer. Succession planning is not merely an issue of a position; one can plan for two or three years, but by that time the to-be-successor may have already left the organization; consequently it is not relevant. Instead of looking at a job to fill, organizations should profile it in terms of competencies – this understanding has led Wipro to go to the data bank, and find whose competency profile matches the job on a regular basis. The key to this is competency development across the organization; Wipro is doing succession planning through competency development.

Whatever be the methodology, measuring the effectiveness of a succession planning programme is critical to every organization, irrespective of its size. After all, it is more than just the passing of power and responsibility—it is about survival and continuity.

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KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING AT WIPRO

(Sayani)

1. Assessment of Key Positions:

• What are the competencies and experiences needed to qualify for each key position?

2. Identification of Key Talent:

• Typically people at the top two levels of the organization and high potential employees one level below.

• Identified by their management’s assessment of their performance and potential for advancement.

3. Assessment of Key Talent:

• For each person on the radar screen, primary development needs are identified focusing on what they need in order to be ready for the next level.

4. Generation of Development Plans:

• A development plan is prepared for how it will help the person develop over the next year.

5. Development Monitoring & Review:

• An annual or semi-annual succession planning review is held to review progress of key talent and to refresh or revise their development plan.

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STEPS FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING

(Debanti)

Succession Planning is required both for the short term as well as for the long term. For short term succession planning, the organization must be ready with details such as:

Who needs immediate replacements? Whose professional career demands relocation?

Who would like to choose other volunteer options?

Whereas, for the long term succession planning the details required are,

Who is completing his term this year? Who have the skills to replace this position?

Who has necessary skills and is ready for a larger or a different role?

Succession planning is not about finalizing the CEO only; it is to facilitate the organization to be ready with the answers to all the above-mentioned questions. In order to provide the benefits of succession planning all across the organization, here is the bottom up approach to succession planning.

To begin with the organization must identify key positions for each department. The next step is to decide upon current and future competencies required for their smooth functioning. One needs to even visualize the expected vacancies. After preparing these details, HR department with the help of line managers needs to initiate the process of assessment and evaluation to identify Hi-Pos (Employees with high potential) in each of the departments. Once the list of Hi-Pos is ready based upon the results of their assessment/evaluation, HR department in concurrence with line managers should do the profiling for each individual to ensure selection of the right person for the right position. Now that the list of potential successors for each department is ready there is a need for assessing the individual's competency and skill set required for the position for which he/she is listed. Accordingly, individual development plans need to be prepared. To bridge the competency and skill gaps organizations must plan for appropriate training. Apart from training, job rotation and simulation workshops can provide valuable insights to the successor about his/her future role. The entire process may take a few years and a good amount of money to groom an individual to reach at this stage - but it is worth the investment. It will ensure the regular supply of leaders at different levels, ready to take charge.

Like any other activity, follow-up is a must to ensure the success of the entire plan discussed above. Just handing over the baton to the successor does not complete the job; organization must assist with leadership transition and development. In order to fulfill its responsibilities, organization must develop and implement coaching and mentoring programs periodically. Also a plan for on going evaluation must be in place. This will help in monitoring the progress of succession candidates. This model is successfully implemented by Wipro India's leading IT

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company. It is called Talent Review and Planning and is headed by none other than Mr. Azim Premji, the Chairman himself.

Now the question which arises while identifying High-Position is: should the organization look at the current performance or assess the future potential. Well, both are important and one can not substitute the other. Current performance is not the sole predictor of future success; future potential is a sign of prospective results Hi-Pos can deliver. Since, performance is an assessment of Hi-Po's past business and the performance review results; it identifies mainly the areas of low performance/weakness. This builds a poor image of the employee and the organization in turn gets minimal level of performance from High-Position leading to wasted resources, low morale, unsatisfactory performance, and higher degrees of employee turnover. As against it, potential is an assessment of willingness to perform and learn from successes & failures, his/her open-mindedness, and sense of personal accountability. While deciding the performance and the potential mix the organization should keep in mind the industry, job profile, tenure, and learning curve of the employee. Organization must be ready with various permutation and combinations of performance and potential depending upon the above-mentioned factors.

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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM : A TOOL FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING

(Debanti)

At Wipro, the Succession Planning Program is called Talent Review and Planning (TRP), Wipro conducts regular quarterly Talent Engagement and Development (TED) reviews, and action plans of each SBU and vertical are reviewed and a talent pool of the suitable identified candidates is prepared. Succession planning is ensuring the right people in the right place at the right time. It is a part of HR planning for the organization and involves finding the right people to take higher responsibilities in the organization. The success of the organization is largely dependent on the quality of its human resources and leaders of the organizations. Succession planning is proactive in nature and results in the creation of a talent pool of candidates with the required potential and competencies who can take the high positions in future and help in the growth of the organization. Succession planning is being practiced since a long time now and has become an indispensable part of corporate strategy in most of the organizations. One of the best approaches to succession planning is "PERFORMANCE BASED SUCCESSION PLANNING".

HR planning for the probable future needs is a challenge for the HR managers and the

performance review can help tremendously to attain this challenge. Performance appraisal process (like performance reviews and competency assessment) and succession planning together can help to strategically identify and develop the required talent pool.

Apart from the various other factors, succession planning is based on: The positions for which the planning is being done The current and past performance levels of the employees

o Performance rating

o Competency mapping

Whether the selected employees have managed to improve since their last review or not

The growth potential and the attitude of the employees.

Their ability to meet the changing and increased level of standards and measurements set by the management.

Succession planning is a complicated process and requires time and ongoing effort. Therefore, performance appraisal and review process helps to judge the knowledge, skills, attitude, competencies and potential of the employees and finding the mentoring and coaching requirements if any and thus identifying the right candidates for taking future responsibilities i.e. Succession Planning. Therefore, performance based succession planning helps in creating a required talent pool of employees for the future needs of the organization. 

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AZIM PREMJI INTENDS TO IMPROVE ON SUCCESSION PROCESS

(Debanti)

The Wipro Chairman, Mr Azim Premji, is set to take his flagship company, Wipro, to new heights. This much is obvious, after the company made several recent acquisitions. He has plans to open BPOs in other places across India like Vizag, Mysore, Kolkata and Chennai. He also wants to open a BPO and an integrated centre in software development in Bucharest, to service clients in Germany and France.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Azim Premji said, "I think we have demonstrated in the last 8-9 months about the number and the frequency of acquisitions we've done. But what people have not realised is how much homework we have done before making these acquisitions, and I still feel we should be doing more."

He continues by saying that in the next six months,” Everyone in Wipro will know that they are smart risk-takers and he thinks this will lead to "more innovations and not to more inorganic growth, because we are not looking at acquisitions as a growth strategy, but we are looking at it as expertise building."

He is one of the few CEOs to have a succession plan in place that may or may not include his own sons. But it is the process that gets reviewed every year by the board and he's hoping to fine-tune it.

As per the chairman, succession planning is fundamental to people's business. WIPRO has a very structured process at the board level. Succession planning extends to the top 75 people in the organization, in terms of who is ready presently and who will be ready in the next 2-3 years and who is a potential after five years from present. This is a regular process, which goes on all the time. So, he said that even his successor has been identified in the organization.

When asked about his strategies on attrition check he said that although WIPRO has been able to tackle it but not to their satisfaction — attrition control is never to one's satisfaction. They would like to have attrition, which is below 10 per cent, and whereas WIPRO is running at about 12-13 per cent rate of voluntary attrition. Azim Premji thinks that at the end of the day, it is leadership and the most important investment that one can make to have people continue with the organization and have people enjoy continue there, is to see that the supervisor is a good person as a supervisor.

PREMJI FRAMES SUCCESSION PLAN(Sayani)

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Wipro Chairman Azim H. Premji, 59, has drawn up a succession plan. Premji, who is ranked among the top 25 billionaires in the world, has an 84 per cent stake in the company. Over the years he has transformed the then fledgling 2-million hydrogenated cooking fat company to a $1.76-billion IT services giant.

There is no prescribed retirement age for the chairman at Wipro. The tenure is decided by the nomination and corporate governance committee of the board that comprises external directors.

According to Premji, "There is a lot of talent within Wipro Corporation. Typically, we identify at least two potential successors," he had said. Wipro has a "powerful" succession plan in place for the top 10 per cent and bottom 10 per cent of employees, those who have put in five years and those who are critical for the company. "And that includes the chairman's job."

There is speculation that Premji may adopt more of a mentoring role over the next few years. But those familiar with the punishing work schedule of Premji--often among the first to report for work--say this was unlikely in the near to medium term.

Industry officials say that framing a succession plan in Wipro is only in tune with best global practises. In an interview with Economic Times Mr Premji has thrown light on the following things:

Succession Planning and Globalization at Wipro:

According to Ajim Premji, “the most acid test to globalisation is how much of your top management, senior leadership is local, not just the soldiers. Any fool can do that. We have been moving well on that. Our experience is in certain conservative countries, local talent is more accepted. ” Therefore Wipro always focuses on hiring local talent to make their global presence successful. The global head of sales and operations is an American lady in Wipro. The global head of consulting and global head of telecom Mr Mark Fleming is also an American. The head of Europe is an Englishman. The same way, the head of China is Chinese, the head of Japan is Japanese. Wipro is systematically trying to induct talent which can rise quickly. Wipro, being a process oriented company, follows a structured process for succession planning as well which includes even a chairman’s job. It’s reviewed by the board in depth in terms of strategy once a year and some reviewed by the board between two to three times in the year. It’s based on the best person for that particular job. Therefore when Premji’s son joined the organization, had to join at the sub-general manager level, not as a Vice President. He has now become a general manager as he has gained experience with time. He entered on merits. The company went through the whole process of due diligence and getting interviewed by all the board members to remove the bias. He represents ownership in a way, so that in absence of his father he can take the charge of the position. That doesn’t mean he necessarily has to be an active CEO of the company. At an appropriate stage he can be an active member of the board representing ownership.

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As Premji rightl;y said, “People are critical in this business, it’s not customers. Customers can be serviced by travel. All CEOs today travel 100-150 nights a year that’s part of the hazard of being in this job, part of the requirements of this job.” In Wipro, a joint CEO structure has been followed, which is called co-CEO system, as the company believes that if people have worked as a team, it ensures that there is no politics building among the employees or among the participants,. A CEO for Wipro’s operations, because of the mass of employees ebbing in India, should have an Indian face to have a very high Indian familiarity. That is the probable reason for experimenting with Vivek Paul, so that the management comes to know the pros and cons.

Wipro always looks within the organization to place right people at the top. It’s only when there is a vacuum within that it looks forward to the talent pool available outside, as it feels that for a position like that, cultural continuity of the organization is very important.

It has an advantage to position at least one of the CEOs in USA- this understanding has helped Wipro to put their SBU heads at the respective head offices. So the healthcare head is based in Boston, energy and utilities head is based in London. The manufacturing head is based now in California. All these units are roughly a little under billion dollars which represents 40% of Wipro’s revenues. Therefore company finds the idea of putting the CEOs abroad a successful one since those SBUs represent half of their businesses.

RETENTION STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION PLANNING (Lipsita)

What makes Employees Stick to Wipro:

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• The company’s brand image

• Compensation package

• Role and position

• Quality of colleagues

• Scope for growth and professional development

Causes of high attrition rate in IT Industry:

1. Anxieties and apprehensions arising from

• Restructuring, movements, change of boss, change of tasks and responsibilities

• Marginalization, power politics

• Mergers and acquisitions

2. Better opportunities outside3. Although most people tell HR they are leaving for more money or a better opportunity,

88% change jobs because of negative factors in their current workplace, ranging from sub-par people management to toxic culture.

Wipro believes in making the Internal Forces work for Retention:

ALIGNING LEADERSHIP & SUCCESSION PLANNING

(Lipsita)

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Wipro’s top management demonstrated the vision to develop leaders from within.

Azim Premji inherited his father’s cooking oil business in 1966. When he repositioned it into an IT services organization, he did not aim to just build a business; he set out to build an organization for sustainable success. For companies to build an institution they need to rely on its people and they need to focus on nurturing and developing talent. The company built the foundation of talent and leadership identification back in the seventies and today these practices are a norm across industries.

For Wipro, the foundation is built using the group’s vision and goals and a reflection on what individual and collective behavior will help the organization achieve these goals. These are revised regularly to keep the group tuned to the changes in its business model and its customer base. Critical roles are then identified within the organization to achieve those business objectives.

Today at Wipro the process of continuous learning has become sustainable and not people or team dependant. It is a way of life for the group. Today, the leadership and succession planning consists of a systematic 4-step process that is designed to align the organizational leadership and its skills with core corporate strategy and goals.

At the outset, there is an articulation of the company’s central beliefs, values & strategic vision, followed by a clear definition of what collective behavior will help achieve the vision in a manner compatible to the core values. These demonstrated behaviors will ensure Wipro’s success and also determine areas where it needs to build internally using outside support to achieve its goals. This also evolves as its business context changes and its customer expectations evolve. So those behaviors are tuned regularly to ensure that it is aligned to its business and customers.

The next crucial step is to identify critical roles within the organization and create a process to ensure solid succession planning for those roles. This helps HR in identifying the talent pool needed for critical roles and the type of training interventions required at each level.

The third step in the process is to decide on the ‘build vs acquire’ dilemma. Given Wipro’s scale, the decision is normally tilted towards building capability internally, but the company regularly brings in talent from the outside which creates an opportunity to getting on board unique skills not available internally and also creates an opportunity to learn from other companies. The blend is important and allows it to be more porous and open to new ideas and fresh thinking.

Finally, Wipro has a very robust process called the Talent Review and Planning exercise that is conducted annually. In this process all employees with managerial roles, approximately 12,000 globally, undergo a 360 degree assessment of their capabilities based on individual and collective behavior that the organization has identified as key qualities for a leader. This is reviewed by senior management which helps in determining key people and leadership potential. Typically, senior management reviews around 400 managers as part of this exercise to identify candidates for key organizational and leadership roles.

This complete process helps Wipro in assessing its leadership bench as well as assessing key organizational capabilities. It does a lot of analysis with the data it receives from different sources.

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In terms of career development, there is a clear linkage with opportunities for progression and growth for those in the talent pool. Employees from the talent pool are entrusted with bigger roles and critical assignments. The company always wills to demonstrate its trust in the ability of these people by giving them key breaks. There is an underlying organizational philosophy, if the individual is 60% ready for the role and the pointers are showing favorably, Wipro will give the individual the break. Typically 9 out of 10 would succeed.

For senior roles the company has created a program to facilitate the process of being aware of senior role openings across the group and also show interest in them in a much more confidential and sensitive manner. While underlining the complexity involved at more senior levels, Wipro realized that at senior levels a normal job opening process would not work, because people who have been in the system for long and are in senior roles will wonder why should I apply for an internal job as somebody already knows my capabilities and experience. But still Wipro tries to capture their interest in a particular opening. It creates a simplified and fast track process for these senior roles where they can show interest in senior openings and the process has a different and more premium feel to it.

In terms of internal succession planning and training, people identified in the leadership talent pool have access to leadership development programs — both in-house and global programs. Global programs are consortium programs with other organizations that create an opportunity to learn and expand one’s thinking as well as establish networks. In terms of compensation, differentiation is based on performance and role, which is across the board and not only for people identified as part of the leadership pool.

Finally people identified in the talent pool also have the opportunity to participate in strategic review meetings.

WOMEN IN WIPRO(Lipsita)

Generally, companies and people have a mental block about women in top positions. This could be either in reporting to them or working with them as team members. And it's also perceived that women need a higher degree of support in their work-life balance. At Wipro, none of these factors have become issues either while recruiting or during succession planning. This is the reason why some of the key roles at Wipro are played by women.

The glass ceiling has been conquered here. An inch neither given nor taken away because you are a woman and an equal opportunity to work your way right to the top.

A look at some of the Wipro family's top women:

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JAYASHREE Joglekar, Nagamani Murthy, Mythily Ramesh and Veena Padmanabhan- Wipro has put its deserving women where they belong, right at the top.

What makes Wipro one of the few companies (IT or non-IT) to have at least four women heading its various divisions?

One reason why Veena Padmanabhan, Manager, Talent Engagement and Development, Wipro Technologies, chose the company after graduating from XLRI was because the company never beat the drums about its women-friendly practices. It was part of the system, nothing to shout about from the rooftops.

Another influencing factor was that Wipro was not an individual-driven company. No one personality ever rules at Wipro which is refreshing for its employees.

Talking about women-friendly practices, Veena says even during her initial days in Delhi, her peers in the sales and support function never remonstrated about any bias. Not one inch was given or taken away because of the gender factor.

Discrimination, either positive or negative, does not exist in the company's HR dictionary. But, of course, some concessions are made, like travel rescheduling, tie-up with a crèche or extended maternity leave, wherever required.

Talking about the macro issues of the subject, there are challenges for a woman at a higher level in the industry which is true across the world. Wipro or India is not an exception. Not that life's easier at Wipro, but women employees get a lot of support from the senior management at Wipro which makes all the difference. Flexibility in work culture is what all these women vouch for.

Mythily Ramesh, Vice-President and Business Head, 01markets, a division of Wipro Infotech, who was a founding member of the 01markets team and has been a Wiproiite for the last 14 years. She is of the opinion that, it's pure performance that has got her to the top. She ascribes her success to the culture prevailing in the company. While it's true that any service industry has more women than a traditional manufacturing set-up, Mythily feels in her case it's more to do with the culture of Wipro. At Wipro, the rule is you deliver and you succeed, nothing else matters."

With 20 per cent women in its people set-up, Wipro goes beyond women-friendly practices. This figure is a fair representation of the talent that is available for employment.

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SAMPLE FORMS (Lipsita)

Succession Plan Summary

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Executive Development Plan

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Plans for Selected Talent

SHORTCOMINGS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING (Debanti)

Although Wipro has implemented the best of practices in designing its succession planning but there are still some drawbacks in the system. The reasons are as follows:

Exceptional leader at helm- Although WIPRO has the most charismatic leader in the

country as its head, but the people following him could not meet up to the standards of being his successor.

Succession planning- Most of the senior people give me an impression that their growth

into a role or their passing on the baton was never planned. Most of the time progressions are rewards for previous job well done rather than ability to execute the new assignment. Last but not the least who after Azim Premji.

HR loosing imagination- The strategies developed by HR has failed to meet the industry

standards. The policies prevailing in the company, the compensation needs to be reviewed in order to prevent the increasing attrition rate at WIPRO.

Weak entry level training program- While TCS and Infosys have dedicated centers for

training their entry level employees, WIPRO still needs to implement some changes in their training techniques to meet its competitors.

High stock ownership of Azim Premji- This also creates a hindrance in the process of

effective succession planning. As per many employees, this somehow affects their

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belongingness to the company. Possible reason may be that they feel that instead of the company gaining any competitive advantage only the chairman of the company is benefitting.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(Debanti)

Succession planning should be done in such a manner that backup is always ready and the company does not face severe problems in the absence of eminent personalities

HR should be more proactive in reviewing the policies and practices in the organization .This can be used as a retention strategy which in turn helps in succession planning

Training sessions should be more aligned to organization goals to make the employees more competitive

Emphasis on ESOP should be more

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A Long Term Succession Planning (A Case Study)

Premji Junior joining the Company (Combined Contribution-Lipsita-Sayani-Debanti)

It was in early 2006 that Rishad Premji first got an inkling that his life was about to change. Rishad, who was fresh out of Harvard Business School, received an interview call asking him to appear before the governance committee of Wipro. For the 31-year-old, the timing was a bit sudden, he was barely a few months into his job at strategy consultants Bain & Company’s

London office.

So far, his father Azim Premji, one of India’s richest men, had resisted all attempts at bringing his family into the company. Wipro was a professionally managed company and Mr Premji did not want any talk of nepotism tarring that reputation.

Rishad had to face up to three industry stalwarts: Ashok Ganguly, a former chairman of HLL, N Vaghul, non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank and PM Sinha, a former CEO of Pepsico’s South Asia operations. As independent directors on the board of Wipro, one of the India’s best-known software firms, the three gentlemen had an onerous duty to perform. They had to see if Rishad, the son of the man who controlled more than 80% stake in the company, was fit enough to join his dad’s company.

Several months later, on June 5 this year, Wipro’s communications office put out a terse two-line press release that simply stated that Rishad “will be joining Wipro at a level commensurate with his background and experience”. Since then, the company has blocked all attempts to discuss the issue. Even a request for his photograph was found inappropriate by the company. That the Premji family zealously guards its privacy is evident from Rishad’s response to an email from ET: “Thank you for your email and interest. I am sorry, but I will not be able to talk to you. I am

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really excited about the prospects of joining Wipro....” All that a senior Wipro employee and Mr Premji’s direct reportee is willing to say is that “Rishad is a good addition to the company”.

Despite the obvious reluctance inside Wipro to share the specifics of Rishad’s unobtrusive entry into the company, there’s one simple reason why the story is significant: it signals a marked change in the way family-owned businesses in the country deal with generational transitions. By no means is it the only such example. Yet many promoters, even those with professional boards, still approach the task of inducting a sibling or a family member into a publicly listed company, with considerable diffidence.

In contrast, the transparent manner in which the Wipro board, consisting of six independent directors and chairman Premji, has dealt with the issue does stand out. So far, the fact that the Wipro board had stepped in to put in place a process to manage Rishad’s entry into the company has remained under wraps. It has therefore given rise to constant rumours, which started ever since Vivek Paul, Wipro’s last CEO, quit in June 2005. It had been widely speculated then that Rishad would join Wipro soon.

The speculation refused to die down when Premji did not look for another CEO. Instead he chose to run Wipro like a federation with presidents in charge of each business division. Wipro, which has all along refuted claims that Premji’s successor will be one of his sons, kept the news of Rishad’s entry tightly under wraps.

Only Premji’s direct reports who include people like CFO Suresh Senapathy and HR head Pratik Kumar knew about it. According to some Wipro insiders, the company was forced to release a statement earlier this month because the news had already leaked out. Later that day, in a telecon with journalists, Kumar insisted that this wasn’t a succession plan and that Rishad was joining Wipro as an employee.

None of this would have happened if Premji had his way. The patriarch apparently had agonised over the enormous conflict in his mind about inducting a family member into the company. Perhaps the fact that he had packed his board with some of the finest names in the business in the end helped.

“One of the key responsibilities of independent directors is to help the company look at issues with a fresh set of eyes, from a fresh perspective. They help the company see if the decision-making can stand the test of outside scrutiny and acceptance without having any kind of bias or getting clouded by internal decision making process,” says Sridar Iyengar, president, The Indus Entrepreneurs and former chairman and CEO of KPMG, India.

Sources close to the family say that it took enormous persuasion from influential members of the board, like Professor Jagdish Sheth and Dr Ganguly, who headed the governance and remuneration committee, to convince Premji that there was nothing illegal or unethical about bringing a family member into the company. He was told that there were several examples of companies, all over the world where there was a proper process to induct family members in a transparent manner.

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They also told him that the lines were blurring between professional CEOs and family members, especially since these days, they were fully qualified and highly educated in the best business schools in the world. Finally, Vivek Paul’s somewhat unexpected exit provided the independent directors enough ammunition to influence the chairman’s mind. After Paul left, there was intense speculation within Wipro about Rishad being made the CEO.

Sources close to the board say that the board told Premji that one way to quell the constant speculation about the succession issue was to actually take it head on. Go through a formal process of evaluating Rishad, and if he was capable give him a role commensurate with his experience and skills. If Rishad was interested in coming back to the country, it made sense for the board if he fitted into Wipro. In these days of talent shortage, why allow him to work in another place if he was competent? And to check whether Rishad was fit enough, the governance committee took on the mantle of interviewing Rishad.

Sources close to the board say that the governance committee met Rishad in a formal interview and later an informal session was set up with the entire board. They looked closely at his education, experience and leadership qualities. Dr Ganguly & Co were impressed with what they found. Not only was he talented and personable, Rishad was also well-trained. He seemed to have natural leadership qualities and a good understanding of marketing and finance. What’s more, the family wealth had done little to affect his sense of balance and proportion.

After the session, the governance committee recommended that Rishad be inducted into the company — as a business manager in the banking and financial services vertical, which last year earned $500 million in revenue. His salary would also be fixed according to the company scales.

On April 19, 2007, board of directors of Wipro met to approve the company’s annual results for 2006-07. Wipro had done particularly well that year; revenues had grown by 41% to touch Rs 15,000 crore. But it wasn’t business as usual in this meeting. On that day Mr Premji, also sought the board’s approval for bringing Rishad into the company. For now, all eyes are on the July 18 AGM, where after seeking shareholders’ approval, which is a statutory requirement because Rishad is related to a director, he will formally join Wipro.

Wipro continues to play down the importance of Rishad joining the company. Says a senior Wipro manager, “Someday he is going to inherit his father’s wealth, but for now there is no succession plan.” According to him, the arrangement is similar to Wal-Mart, where the Walton family is part of the management, but has left the running of the company to a professional CEO.

For the time being, father and son will occupy different offices. While Premji sits in the Wipro corporate office at Sarjapur, Rishad will, in all likelihood, have an office in Wipro’s Electronic City campus.

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THANK YOU

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