Saturday, July 24, 2010
IT industry & HR strategy : circa 2010
Last month, the company released newspaper advertisements wooing back former Infoscions through what it has called a "green channel" approach, promising a smooth and hassle-free re-entry. (Incidentally, earlier this year Mphasis, the HP-owned IT services company, launched a similar initiative called "Homecoming" to attract its ex-staffers.) "We believe that the Infosys experience lasts beyond one career step, and there is value to both the individual and organization through a second innings," says Nandita Gurjar, senior vice president and group head, human resources, at Infosy.
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"All the noise over iRace is because, in effect, we have told the employees that growth will be slower, promotions will be restricted, there will be lower salary hikes and fewer onsite assignments. But employees need to be aware that the days of 50%-plus growth rate for the industry are over and that this is the new reality," says Gurjar.
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The economic downturn saw customers slashing their IT budgets and also becoming more demanding of their IT vendors. Cost optimization became the new mantra. This meant that IT vendors, in turn, have had to run their operations more tightly. With employee costs accounting for the biggest chunk (around 60%) of an IT company's total costs, much of the onus has naturally fallen on the HR teams
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If they want to remain ahead in the game, they have to become more relevant to their customers. "The offerings are getting increasingly commoditized, and we can ensure stickiness with our customers only by having a deep understanding of their organization and impacting their bottom line," says Pratik Kumar, corporate vice president, human resources at Wipro Technologies. "In order to do this we need to have a domain and solutions led consulting approach. This requires a different level of skill-set and understanding."
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According to Wipro's Kumar, with the basic model for creating a large number of warriors and troops in place at most of the Indian IT companies, the differentiator for organizations now will be prime talent. "Prime talent does not mean senior talent. It means people who are relevant to the organization," he says. "There is a now a need and expectation from organizations that employees will invest in learning new competencies and skills." Eighteen months ago, Wipro made it mandatory for employees to take certification tests in order to be eligible for further promotions.
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"Companies will now move away from being the best employer for all employees to being a better employer for better performers. You cannot have the same policy for everyone.
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Srinivasan of IIM-B sees another challenge. Pointing to the 2002 recession, she notes that IT organizations tend to treat employees as "assets" during the growth phase and as "cost" during a slowdown. Many of the internal measures taken during the downturn are quickly forgotten once the external environment improves
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Link :
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4496
-----------------------------------------
"All the noise over iRace is because, in effect, we have told the employees that growth will be slower, promotions will be restricted, there will be lower salary hikes and fewer onsite assignments. But employees need to be aware that the days of 50%-plus growth rate for the industry are over and that this is the new reality," says Gurjar.
------------------------------------------------
The economic downturn saw customers slashing their IT budgets and also becoming more demanding of their IT vendors. Cost optimization became the new mantra. This meant that IT vendors, in turn, have had to run their operations more tightly. With employee costs accounting for the biggest chunk (around 60%) of an IT company's total costs, much of the onus has naturally fallen on the HR teams
--------------------------------------------------------
If they want to remain ahead in the game, they have to become more relevant to their customers. "The offerings are getting increasingly commoditized, and we can ensure stickiness with our customers only by having a deep understanding of their organization and impacting their bottom line," says Pratik Kumar, corporate vice president, human resources at Wipro Technologies. "In order to do this we need to have a domain and solutions led consulting approach. This requires a different level of skill-set and understanding."
---------------------------------------------------------
According to Wipro's Kumar, with the basic model for creating a large number of warriors and troops in place at most of the Indian IT companies, the differentiator for organizations now will be prime talent. "Prime talent does not mean senior talent. It means people who are relevant to the organization," he says. "There is a now a need and expectation from organizations that employees will invest in learning new competencies and skills." Eighteen months ago, Wipro made it mandatory for employees to take certification tests in order to be eligible for further promotions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Companies will now move away from being the best employer for all employees to being a better employer for better performers. You cannot have the same policy for everyone.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Srinivasan of IIM-B sees another challenge. Pointing to the 2002 recession, she notes that IT organizations tend to treat employees as "assets" during the growth phase and as "cost" during a slowdown. Many of the internal measures taken during the downturn are quickly forgotten once the external environment improves
-------------------------------------------------
Link :
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4496
