1. INFOSYS: Trim Score 116

That Infosys should emerge as the best employer in the software industry is

no surprise. As far as its human resources environment is concerned, reality

pretty much matches up to the hype, more so to the extent that the company now

has a larger number of hygienics than motivators. Motivators become hygienics

when employees begin to take certain facilities for granted. And the fact that

Infosys performs well on hygienics like work climate, training and interpersonal

relationships is an indication of strength.

However, there are causes for concern, the most important of which is the

fact that Infosys' employees today have just one motivator–compensation and HR

services (which includes perks etc) and they rate the company’s performance as

"below average" on this. Infosys salaries are not high. To make up for

this, the company has traditionally given large salary hikes. But hikes have

been severely affected the current downturn and this is reflecting in the

company’s TRI*M grid. A tight job market for the moment ensures that attrition

levels will remain low, but this is an area that the company will need to look

into in a few months.

A couple of surprises here: Infosys' employees are not very excited by

overseas opportunities though a substantial part of the company’s business has

come from on-site projects. Also, though employees are very happy with the

company’s image, the management seems not to be leveraging this factor enough.

Interestingly, Infosys' employees rate the technology they work on as

"average" and are not in the least motivated by it.

But the really big surprise–Infosys' employees say facilities offered by

the company (ranging from things like IT infrastructure and project execution

procedures to campus and recreational facilities etc) are average, while

employees of far more spartan offices expressed greater satisfaction on this

count! There can be only two explanations for this–either it’s a case of the

more you have, the more you want; or crucial things like high-speed Net access

are of far greater importance to employees than gyms and golf!

2. IBM Global Services: Trim Score 97

Motivators generally reflect two things–what employees have and are overtly

happy about, and what they don’t have but would dearly like. IBM performs well

in two of its three motivators–facilities/support/tools/resources and

interpersonal relationships. But what IBM employees would also like is greater

clarity on and simplified policies and procedures. They complain of long and

cumbersome rules that affect both efficiency and motivation.

Also, there are some interesting and unexpected results here: IBM employees

think the company’s image in India is far below average. But that does not

deter them from staying on in the company because what they are really looking

at is IBM’s image worldwide. IBM was exceptional in two other respects–employees

rated salaries as "below average" but said this did not affect

motivation levels significantly. It was also the only company rated far above

"average" in its employee stock options plan. But an area of concern

is that on the whole, employees rate the company only "average" on job

content and career development opportunities.

2. Tata Infotech: Trim Score 97

It is the only company where employees consider long-term overseas

opportunities a "hygiene factor". What’s more, they rate the company’s

performance on this as above average. In fact, employees rate Tata Infotech’s

performance on almost all motivators as "average". But the reason it

is up there at number two is that it rated very highly by employees on all

hygiene factors–performance management systems, job content and career

development and policies and procedures. Good performance on hygienics is a

healthy sign. However, signs of trouble show up in some important respects.

Across all the Top 20 companies, employees have rated work culture in their

companies as above average or "far above average". Tata Infotech is

among the few companies where employees are not happy on this count. As also on

two crucial issues–technology they work on and the training they receive.

2. ZENSAR: Trim Score 97

Now this was a surprise. Ranked 18th by revenue among software companies last

year, Zensar Technologies is Pune-based and no one has ever thought of it in

relation to HR practices. And yet, here it is, tied for second place with IBM

and Tata Infotech. Some of this has to do with location–a company of its size

(over 1,100 software professionals) in a non-metro like Pune has a lot of brand

value among employees. Also, much like Tata Infotech, while Zensar is rated

average on its motivators, it ranks high because of a fairly large number of

hygiene factors on which it performs well. For instance, employees take

technology as a given and are extremely happy on that count. They also rate the

company’s training initiatives as "above average". Compensation is,

of course, rated "average", but Zensar is one of the few companies

today that revises salaries twice a year. The norm these days is annual

appraisals and Zensar scores a lot on this count. Its performance management

system has actually emerged as an attribute that the company can save on.

However, the company’s trouble-spot at the moment is policies and

procedures, which is a significant motivator but is rated "average by

employees". Other areas of concern are communications and facilities.

5. WIPRO: Trim Score 95

It is interesting how in some important respects, employees at Wipro come

across as an antithesis to those at Infosys. The only motivator among Wipro

employees is the technology they get to work on and the company is rated

"far above average" on this. Compensation emerged as a hygiene factor

and though it was rated "average", it had no effect on employee

commitment.

Many elements of employee satisfaction emerged as hygiene factors at Wipro–facilities,

job content and career development and work climate (rated "average"

or "below average") and organization culture–which was rated

"far above average". Though it emerged as a saver, employees were also

extremely happy with training and development programs in the company.

Interesting thing–nothing at Wipro was rated "far below average".

But the area of concern is "average" or "below performance"

ratings on a long list of issues–communications, overseas opportunities,

performance management sytems and ESOPs. And finally, while employees don’t

say the company’s image is important to them (rated "above

average"), its actual affect on employee motivation is extremely high. As

such, this is an area the company should be paying attention to in the near

future. Also, staffers indicated that the company should be paying more

attention to communications within the company.