RANK 3: Wipro The Big Leap

Wipro will probably celebrate. After a fairly dismal performance last year

for a company in its league, it made a big jump up the rankings–from number 8

to number 3. And there’s one reason–it improved internal HR processes and

indicators. This is the only company among the Top 5 where the HR Score (that

comes from company indicators) is higher than the Employee Score (which comes

from employee responses).

Effects of Recession Reduction in perks: 100% Increase in work load: 85.7% Reduction in tour entitlement: 85.7% Strengths Good performance on attrition and retention Training focus remains high Peer satisfaction looks up Weaknesses Comparatively low perks and benefits Fewer Wiproites name it their dream company Overall satisfaction low for a Top 5 company Staff most satisfied with... Company image and technology Training and development Staff least satisfied with... Interpersonal relationships, compensation Performance appraisal system

Some of this was driven by damage control after 280 people were laid off

under the company’s "Bottom 5%" policy, which led to a significant

fall in morale. Now, Wipro says the severance policy is only selectively

practiced, non-performers are given two years to pull up their socks, and

outplacement is attempted as a last recourse. Also, the company has some fairly

intricate HR processes that includes a 360-degree survey for identifying what

the company calls "Wipro Leaders"; a talent review and planning

process that identifies top 10% of the talent, and the "talent at

risk".

This year’s figures for the company, however, are a mixture of good news

and bad. The good news–it came second only to Infosys in the ‘Preferred

Company’ rankings, with 6.8% of all respondents voting for it as their dream

company. The bad news–that’s down from 12.5% last year. The good news–50%

of its own employees voted for it as their dream company. The bad news–that’s

down from 79% last year. Among those Wiproites who didn’t vote for their own

company, 21.4% preferred Microsoft and 17.9% said Sun Microsystems.

However, attrition and retention improved, average tenure was slightly above

the industry average at 3.4 years and training ratings went up (ranked 4th).

Overall satisfaction levels were still not too high (rank 7th), though employee

perception of peer satisfaction was higher (ranked 4th). Relationship management–both

within and without–has traditionally been Wipro’s strength. That took a

beating last year, looked up somewhat this year, but numbers show that there may

still be some way to go.