An Open Culture

A company with 14,000 consultants in 23 countries with an attrition rate of

12%–much below an industry average 20%. The behind-the-scenes to this success

is a time-tested hiring and retention program. Being among the biggest

recruiters of engineers, TCS does not need extra effort to pull engineers to

itself. And being the oldest software development company with an image of doing

good quality engineering and software work, it manages to get "day 1"

in campus recruitment.

To ensure that it hires only the best of the lot, TCS has a rigorous

selection process. Senior employees of TCS visit only accredited institutions

and the candidates are screened through a written test for analytical and

logistical skills, a psychometric test, an interview and finally a technical

test. The first part done, comes the more important retention.

Among its policies to retain the quality engineers it hires, TCS has an

attractive flexitime package–telecommuting, half-day or ¾ day, on request.

Employees who sit late are dropped home and food paid for on such occasions;

this is besides free transport to and from locations difficult to access. It

also has subsidized canteens at its centers across India. Its new software

development facilities are equipped with recreational facilities, for instance

the one at Sholainallur, Tamil Nadu, has squash and tennis courts, and a

gymnasium. TCS’s attention to its employees is seen in its newly-designed

corporate office, and as VJ Rao, VP, TCS, claims, "There are also some

workplaces where you can’t overhear when your colleague sitting beside you is

conversing".

TCS’s compensation has seen dramatic changes over the past 3—4 years, and

is currently on par with the software industry. Rao says, "We’ve

increased the variable pay and also introduced a concept called economic value

added (EVA), which will bring in very large sums of money to the employee–an

answer to the ESOP. With a fairly large amount in the bank, it becomes difficult

to decide to leave." And to top this, TCS has bi-monthly appraisals,

project-end appraisals, annual appraisals and performance reward evaluations to

constants keep employees motivated.

Around 50-60% of the staff moving out of TCS shift to jobs abroad while some

leave to pursue further studies. Rao says, "Employees may join because of

the company’s image but they stay because of pay, continuous learning

opportunities and challenging assignments." These are plenty in TCS. Its

training scheme provides sabbaticals of up to two years at full salary to those

who pursue highly specialized courses. For instance, TCS currently has 12 of its

staff in IIT Chennai pursuing specialized CAD/CAM courses.

They are paid their full salaries, and their promotions and increments are

taken care of. It also has a full-fledged training center in Thiruvanthapuram

which can train 600 people at any given time. Through computer-based training,

staff can log on to from their terminals and go through distance learning. The

company insists that its employees go through a minimum of 20 days of training

every year. And for challenge, employees can work on different platforms and

varied technologies.

BK