Running with Giants

Nasscoms Exciting Emerging Companies to Work for
survey was initiated to find out the best employers among small- and
medium-sized IT/BPO companies.

The survey unveiled several best practices being adopted by the
participating companies. However, employee retention emerged to be one of the
biggest concerns for emerging companies, as employees are attracted toward brand
names. Says Pankaj Shankar, global head, HR, Infogain, "Though it is not a
defined law for the IT industry, but big companies can definitely attract the
younger generation by the brand name."

According to Sonali Singh, general manager, HR, e4e India,
"There is a shortage of skilled talent and everyone feels the crunch,
especially the emerging companies because of lack of branding."

One of the ways to boost employee morale is to empower them.
Says Gagan Jyot, head, HR, RMSI, "A high employee morale is indicative of a
great work culture. At RMSI, we believe in empowering our people and nurturing
their talents." "Emerging companies face a lot of issues in attracting
talent, as the first thing to talented people is name identification, which most
emerging companies dont carry," says Damnish Kumar, MD and head, HR,
Hytech Professionals.

Training initiatives have played a major role in the retention
of employees. Rakesh Arora, global business head, HRD, AgreeYa, says, "AgreeYa
believes in developing its own resources and talent pool and recruits 10% of its
total strength from campus every year. The trainees are then put through
rigorous classroom and on-the-job trainings."

According to Shankar Narasimhan, director, HR and Finance, Ajuba,
"We have a participative HR culture. We believe in the power of employee
involvement".

Nasscoms Emerging Companies Survey 2007, commissioned to HR consultancy Grow Talent, surveyed employers and employees in over 100 small and mid-size IT/BPO companies. It spanned an online employee survey, an HR diagnostic study, an industry panel run-through, and final analysis. Nasscom released the detailed survey to Dataquest by special arrangement. For more details contact Avinash Raghava (avinash@nasscom.in).

Says Krishna Reddy, head, HR, ValueLabs, "We retain the
human touch. We believe that if work has to be involving, it has to be fun. We
believe that the desire to excel should come from within. We go out of our way
to help employees with their personal lives too."

Constant and effective communication is an important factor in
the success of any organization. According to Iti Kumar, AVP, HR Operations,
GlobalLogic, "The biggest strength of the organization is its openness and
transparency. The entire management believes in walking the talk and even if any
policy is rolled out, it is first shared with employees and their feedback is
sought before a final version is rolled out for execution."

A good overlap between the employers of choice in the DQ-IDC
Best Employers Survey and Nasscoms study shows that companies such as
vCustomer, e4e, Ajuba, and RMSI are involved in certain practices that even
large companies can adopt.

Compiled by Sandeep
Sharma

Unique from Within

Corbus, a wholly owned subsidiary of Soin International LLC, is a leader in
global outsourcing, with high focus on IT and supply chain services. Corbus
ensures an adaptable and flexible business model to help its customers develop
and achieve cost-effective, key strategic initiatives.

According to GS Ahluwalia, VP and head, HR, Corbus, "The
challenge to attract and retain talent has taken on a monstrous size. But, it
can be summed up in one line, Challenged supply lines. While most
companies struggle on this front, to get to our pick of the employees, we have
internalized our strategy to respond to this mammoth challenge." Corbus
recruits heavily through employee referrals, besides hiring through campus,
which is 30% of the total recruitment. Currently, Corbus has an attrition rate
of 15%.

Corbus plans its recruitment strategy for long term rather than
just in time deliveries. Ahluwalia says, "We also dont fall in the
trap of large brands and size issues, but focus on educating the candidate on
our niche and opportunity. Its not the brand on the outside, but the brand
from the inside that we compete against with the large organizations."

The opportunities at work and work environment are recognized as
unique differentiators by Corbus. The three most important factors that have
been a guiding light for Corbus are individualization of employee relationships,
HR best practices, and preserving the unique work culture. Corbus has
fostered a culture as a simple strategy to retain their people that provides
each of them the space and freedom to accomplish their personal best. Corbus
encourages diversity and looks for people from different nationalities, having
the urge to learn and improve.

Marching Ahead

RMSI is a CMMi Level 5 assessed and ISO 9001:2000 certified company. RMSI
provides comprehensive geospatial and software services to clients across the
globe, in sectors like lands and property, wireless telecommunication, disaster
management, insurance, agriculture, and natural resources.

The factors that have contributed to the good showing of the
company include employee satisfaction in most areas, including perks and the
appraisal system. Recognition of efforts also kept the company from losing its
employees to other software development houses and companies. Policies and
procedures was one area that got a clear thumbs-up from employees.

Attracting talent with the right combination of skill-sets is
the biggest challenge for an emerging enterprise like RMSI. RMSI often hires
fresh graduates and grooms them within the organization as they are not able to
get experienced people from outside. The current policy is to train people
in-house and focus on campus recruitment. Most of the recruitments in RMSI are
from referrals. Campus hiring is 20% of lateral hiring.

One of the focus areas for RMSI over the last one-year has been
talent management and career progression through its dual career progression
plan. Last year RMSI also focused its efforts on leadership development.

Although the attrition rate is approximately 13%, the number of
employees grew by 20% in FY 06-07. The current headcount is 1,245, a 26%
growth from April 2007.

Creating an Open Culture

HyTech Professionals India is an ISO 9001:2000 software engineering services
company that delivers services in software development, testing, and consulting.

Freedom to speak, open culture and management connectivity with
every individual in the company are the three top factors that contributed to
the good showing of the company," says Damnish Kumar, head, HR. Apart from
the above-mentioned factors, career growth, mentorship and training programs,
awards and recognition, and anonymous surveys are some of the factors that have
contributed to the good showing of the company.

In FY 06-07, the company witnessed a 205% increase in
employee strength. HyTech has also maintained a 0% attrition rate at project
leader/manger level for the last one year, and this is a major success for any
company. The attrition rate was 3% in April 2007, which increased to 9% in June
2007, and then came down to 0% in October 2007.

Retaining talented employees is quite a challenging job for an
emerging company. According to Damnish Kumar, "It is important for emerging
companies to do benchmarking of compensation and rewards from time to time. This
is an important factor in retaining employees."

HyTech plans training programs for performers to promote them to
the next level and share challenging work with them. HyTech also provides a good
learning platform to freshers; they maintain a 1:10 campus hiring to lateral
hiring ratio.

Grooming Talent

Founded in 1996, Nagarro is a full life cycle software product and application
development company that has expertise in domains like ISVs, manufacturing, and
pharmaceuticals. Nagarro provides services in product engineering, application
development, application integration, quality assurance, verification, and
validation.

Nagarro gives all the credit for its good showing to innovative
HR processes, industry-leading training programs and a stimulating work
environment. It is more difficult for an emerging company to establish a unique
and recognizable brand in order to be able to attract and retain talent.
According to Manmohan Gupta, CTO and HR Head "At Nagarro, we have created a
unique identity of being focused on executing challenging technology projects
and innovative product engineering assignments." The management is on a
constant lookout for grooming their internal talent to take on positions of
greater responsibility, much earlier in their careers. The effort is always to
create a unique and challenging work environment by taking technically
challenging projects.

Nagarro has invested heavily in putting together employee
development initiatives, rigorous training along with an accelerated growth
program in order to identify and mentor employees for upcoming leadership
positions.

At Nagarro, 65% of employees are freshers and one in every three
lateral hire is through employee reference. Nagarro also has an association with
a premier engineering coaching institute. The management at Nagarro identifies
students preparing for their entrance exams and who can be their potential
employees. These identified students are then provided guidance and support
throughout their academic life, with an assurance that they would join the
company and serve it for a mutually agreed period.

All above factors contribute to the good showing of the company
that is evident from the fact that the attrition is as low as 7% at Nagarro.

Automation is the Key

vCustomer is an end-to-end business solutions provider, which provides
high-quality, multi-channel customer support services that help grow sales,
increase customer satisfaction, and build customer loyalty.

Complete automation of all processes, organizational development
in terms of skill enhancement, continuous learning, and growth opportunities are
some of the factors that have contributed to the good showing of the company.

All the processes and departments are automated and linked to a
Central Performance Management Center to drive internal process efficiencies.
The company provides e-learning packages to employees for language,
communication as well as process specific training. According to Navin Joshua,
head, HR, vCustomer, "There is a transparent, self-paced learning program
that ensures standardization of content and delivery."

Besides focusing on process-centric training, the company also
provides behavioral and skill enhancement training at an average of 92 hours per
employee, per quarter. The company has formed a culture of continuous learning
by constructing new age methodologies and concepts for professional development.

The BPO has developed new growth opportunities that prepare
employees to emerge as successful future leaders and managers. The company has a
dedicated Employee Relations cell whose main motto is to make vCustomer a fun
place. Regular engagements and events are conducted throughout the year to boost
employee morale and keep them engaged.

Majority of the positions in vCustomer are filled through
internal job postings.

All the above factors have contributed to the retention of
employees.

Driven to Retain Talent

e4e is a global business services company, offering world-class industry
solutions in three vertical marketshigh technology, consumer finance, and
healthcare. e4e delivers a broad spectrum of service solutions in the areas of
transaction processing, customer and technical support, application and
infrastructure management, and testing and quality assurance.

This ranking is a testimony to the commitment and the investment
that e4e makes in attracting, engaging and retaining the best talent. The key
competencies required for each level are identified through an exhaustive
competency mapping exercise and used for hiring, training and development,
performance management, and succession planning. All new hires undergo training
on the core competencies for their respective positions.

There is a progressive plan for training. This year, the focus
has been on learning and development initiatives. It began with the Young Turks
Program for the first level of leaders, which aimed at grooming high potential
associates for leadership positions. The Corporate Captains Program was for the
middle and senior level managers. The Commanders-in-chief program for the top
management, which was a one-on-one executive mentoring program.

The total number of employees remained the same, at 3,500, for
the period between March and September 2007, as no recruitment was done during
this period.

Speaking on retention, Sonali Singh says, "Retention is
much easier in an emerging company, because as the organization grows, it also
creates tremendous opportunities for the associates to grow."

The attrition rate of the company stands at 22%, and the companys
ratio of campus hire to lateral hire is 70:30.

Employee is the King

Synygy India is an enterprise product development and IT consulting company,
which deals with sales performance management solutions.

Synygy has invested in developing an open and performance-driven
culture through their quarterly performance evaluation system, which provides a
continuous feedback mechanism. According to Parag A Wadhone, manager, HR,
"Our core values guide all our actions and hence we believe that employees
need to grow professionally and personally, only then will Synygy grow. Synygy
has a very successful mentoring program that helps in providing meaningful work
to all employees and is centered on creating an excellent working relationship
between manager and employee."

Synygy has an attrition rate of 12% and the biggest challenge is
to retain existing employees and attract new ones. According to Wadhone,
"Hiring is the biggest challenge for an emerging organization, as large
companies have an extensive training program. Emerging companies want to hire
smart talent that already have basic skills and can contribute from day one. In
terms of retention, the biggest challenge is that emerging companies are
generally flatter in hierarchy and the title growth is slower." In Synygy,
campus hire is 25 % of total hire.

Between March 2007 and September 2007, the employee number has
grown at the rate of 22%.

A Caring Culture

Ajuba is a leading next generation healthcare BPO, offering a consultative,
end-to-end revenue cycle management solution to physicians, hospitals, and for
outsourcing.

Continuous training and development, trust and credibility, and
a caring culture have contributed to the good showing. According to Shankar
Narasimhan, director, HR and Finance, "Our HR friendly policies have been
designed with a view to create an environment where every individual feels
valued for the contribution she makes toward the success of the company."

In line with the companys motto "Invest in People,
Invest in Process", the company has more than twenty in-house workshops and
programs that run for employees at all levels, annually.

Employees are kept informed on any decision that may affect
their working environment and are frequently consulted for inputs and
suggestions before formulating any proposed changes. This has created a sense of
belonging, appreciation, and trust among Ajubas employees. Ajuba is among the
top quartile in the industry with respect to compensation and benefits.

Ajuba has hired 25% through campus recruitment this year. The
annual attrition rates are 15% for non-voice and 30% for voice processes.

Investing in People

Mindlogicx Infotech is an R&D-based technology development company that
provides IT consulting and end-to-end solutions in e-Governance, tele-education
and recruitment process outsourcing.

Factors contributing to the good showing of the company are
continuous monitoring of growth path and career design, genuine recognition for
excellence, and participative project management. Every staff undergoes
evaluations conducted in a scientific manner and efforts of an employee are
rewarded in all forms. There is continuous monitoring of the knowledge factor
of every staff member. There is space for people to evolve and the open door
policy is followed in every aspect. Mindlogicx follows the three Ts as its core
principles, ie, transparency, training and technology.

Transparency retains and enhances enthusiasm and commitment of
the team. Quantitative and qualitative information about all the operations are
communicated to the team members.

The training at Mindlogicx focuses on three areas, viz,
cognitive, presentational and social skills. To achieve this goal, the company
invests time, money and effort in creating adequate training resources and a
learning culture.

The company has employed computerized workflow management and
resource management systems with the help of its in-house development team that
builds and implements software solutions to manage various departments and their
process in the organization.

Understanding Aspirations

A leading global software company that provides banking and financial services
spanning across solutions in the areas of core banking, retail and corporate
banking, credit cards, cash management, relationship banking, financial CRM,
analytics among others.

The market is highly competitive and challenges are many for an
emerging company. Today, people are more concerned about the brand and are more
demanding. Compared to a large company, brand positioning for an emerging
company is very competitive. It has to establish itself as an organization and
that requires substantial investments. Also, in comparison to an emerging
company, a large company finds it easier to provide flexibility, scope for
benefits, and facilities. Despite the challenges, Nucleus has faired well.

Factors that have contributed to the good showing are training
and development, career management, effective communication, HR policies and
processes, climate surveys, benchmarking and recreational activities.

The companys focus is on learning and development and the
employees aspirations are taken seriously. According to Ravi Verma, head, HR,
"We have formed a career planning and development mechanism which typically
includes capturing employees aspirations and creating individual career
plans."

At Nucleus, the attrition rate is nearly 20%. Campus recruitment
is 15%. Employee strength has grown at the rate of 33% in FY 06-07.

Employees as Ambassadors

Infogain is an IT software and consulting company and provider of CRM,
integration and business intelligence solutions and services.

People are strongly attracted toward brand value and this
becomes a major hurdle in retaining employees for an emerging company.
"Though its not a defined law for the IT industry, big companies can
definitely attract, especially the younger generation, by merely their brand.
Wherein we need to showcase better work environment, good salaries and good
branding. In our case, thankfully, our employees are the best ambassadors for
us," says Pankaj Shankar, global head, HR, Infogain.

The current attrition rate in Infogain is approximately 19% and
to cope with this problem, a high quality intake with checks and balances are
imposed at various levels in the hiring process. The ratio of campus hire to
lateral hire is 30:70. Apart from high quality intake with checks and balance,
the other factors that contributed to the good showing are the blend of a good,
open and friendly working environment; evaluation of human quotient and
performance by studying the mindsets and current IT trends; and a strong
training focus and complete employee integration program.

The Human Touch

ValueLabs specializes in the delivery of dual-shore services in the areas of off-shore software product development, QA/testing, and KPO. the company was set up in 1997 with a vision to deliver value to clients worldwide using an effective global delivery model.

The major challenge SMEs face is that they cannot offer very high salaries to top-notch professionals. In such a scenario, the type of workforce SMEs should look at are those with a strong desire to perform and achieve. Professional skills can be nurtured and achievements can win them the highest rewards. With that in mind, 20% of the workforce at ValueLabs is selected from campuses.

Campared to larger organizations, SMEs have a lot to offer in terms of growth and recognition. SMEs should work for developing a sense of ownership among its employees

Attrition rate at ValueLabs has been traditionally low when compared to the industry averaqge of 5.5% in the year 2006, at 6% in September 2007. The percentage attrition has never crossed single digits in the 10 year history of the company. According to Reddy, "We retain the human touch. We believe that if work has to be involving, it has to be fun. We have a measure called the "Fun-Index" that measures the fun a team is having on the job. We do not believe in external pressures and targets. We believe that the desire to excel should come from within."

The employee strength grew at the rate of 82% in FY'06-07.

Building Relations

Barry-Wehmiller International Resources (BWIR) is part of the consulting group
of Barry-Wehmiller Companies, a diversified company founded in 1885. BWIR
provide three core servicesEnterprise Solutions, Information Technologies,
and Engineering Services.

As an emerging enterprise, managing aspirations of employees and
enabling the employees to adopt to the culture of the company are the two
biggest challenges for BWIR," says Jothiprakash S, head, Human Resources.

In BWIR, the employees are called associates. Jothiprakash says,
"The factors that contributed to the good showing of the company are the
Bob Chapmans vision, belief in the basic things, doing them right, and the
power of being small."

Bob Chapman is the group chairman of the company, and according
to his vision "its the people who make the difference in the business.
Treat people superbly and compensate them fairly".

A large company can compensate its employees by paying high
salaries, but a small company can compensate the same in terms of building
intimate relationship with their employees. BWIR launches an annual survey, the
"Associate Satisfaction Index", and the action is taken on the basis
of the results of the survey.

The ratio of campus hire to lateral hire is 1:10 and the
attrition rate has come down to 14% from 22% in the last two years. The number
of employees has grown at the rate of 16% in FY 06-07.

Walking the Talk

Founded in 1998, GlobalLogic is a global product development company that
partners with emerging and established technology companies. GlobalLogic
provides full product development lifecycle services to start-ups, emerging, and
established technology companies.

Building confidence among the management is one of the biggest
challenges for an emerging company. Since they are not "Brands",
selling the organizations vision can be a challenge.

At GlobalLogic, there are plenty of platforms available to
employees where they can interact with senior management and raise any question
related to the company, its policies, and growth. According to Iti Kumar,
assistant VP, HR Operations, GlobalLogic, "The biggest strength of the
organization is its openness and transparency. The entire management believes in
walking the talk, and even if a policy is rolled out, its first shared with
employees, and their feedback is sought before a final version is rolled out for
execution."

Flexible work schedules and employee engagement practices that
bring fun at work are some factors contributing to the success of the company.

In FY 06-07, employees at GlobalLogic at the rate of 136%.
The ratio of campus hire to lateral hire is 1:9, and the attrition rate is 18%.

Striving for Excellence

AgreeYa Solutions is a leading consulting, technology and business-outsourcing
firm, which is focused on deploying technology and business solutions for
clients globally.

I-CARE, which stands for integrity, commitment, advocacy,
respect and excellence, is the integral foundation of AgreeYa. AgreeYa believes
that people are its most valuable assets. According to Rakesh Arora, global
business head, HRD, "AgreeYa strives for excellence by developing
innovative initiatives such as RADAR (recruitment, audits, development,
appreciations and respect), which foster continual improvements through
effective benchmarks in all our HR processes and procedures."

AgreeYa has over 350 employees worldwide. The total number of
AgreeYa employees in India in March 2007 was 96, which grew to 115 in September
2007. The attrition rate stands between 10-20% on annual basis.

The company adopts a highly discerning recruitment process to
select the best talent. "AgreeYa believes in developing its own resources
and talent pool and recruits 10% of its total strength from campus every year.
The trainees are put through rigorous classroom and on the job training,"
says Arora. The strategy of AgreeYa is to ensure the development of highly
competent professionals at all levels in the organization while nurturing the
employees individual ambitions and desires for career growth.