The Dynamics of High Caliber

At every point in an organizational life span the functional points remain

constant, namely people, product and image. It is not in dispute that brilliant

employees have created high-level opportunities for companies and turned such

companies into household names. In the same analysis some companies have got

into a quagmire and disappeared due to substandard or mediocre level people or

brilliant professionals diving into uncharted territories beyond their

competencies. Whilst it is easy to quantify such a cycle for a product company,

or a manufacturing company it becomes an onerous challenge for software services

companies where identification of top-flight talent can be daunting. If we go

back to the basics, certain questions loom ahead like huge amber lights. This

could be classified under the following heads:

• Types of Sales and technical staff

• Sources of recruitment

• Qualification level

• Male/Female

• Preferred Age

• How does one read and understand a resume

• Incentives

• Salary level 

In the software services segment the experimentation of sales

and technical staff have been the maximum. The issues to consider is a success

mix which can be attributed to the organizational culture and values and the

service level that it provides to customers and the geographical reach.

When it comes to the source of brainpower, the answer is

fairly simple. You can either grow them or you can grab them. A wise policy

would be to have a blend of homegrown and a correct number of lateral hires

joining in. The eternal debate continues on what should be a minimum standard in

the educational qualification of a software candidate. The common denominator

that is accepted is the ever-changing dynamics of the technological advancements

and the growth factor, all of which leads to the obsolescence issue. When an

employee gets obsolete the option is to push him to a corner or decide to

replace him.

Organizations tend to get wooly over gender issues trying to

formulate an internal strategy that appears politically correct. In the coming

years it would be common to find a 70:30 ration of Male to Female in the

software services industry with 10% of the top slots in management and

architecture being occupied by females. A lot of research has been done on the

burn rate of a software specialist. An organizational age level of 30 years in

the software services segment is healthy to maintain the push pull equilibrium.

It is always wiser to invest ones time, money and energy in recruiting talent

and should be given the same importance as investing in technology purchase or

acquisition. The key word is due diligence, which would reduce the revolving

door concept and can easily be turned into a turning leaf model. (In the turning

leaf model, the leaves change colors and reemerges into full bloom in a cyclical

period).

Again in the software services segment of the industry

incentives will play a key role in hiring and retaining competencies especially

in an ever-evolving market place. Compensation has always been a contentious

issue. The best answer in terms of compensation structuring is to first

understand the capacity of the organization in terms of absorbing human capital,

and having a mechanism to measure performance and reward performance and keep

all this in a standard transparent umbrella.

In the final analysis the software services segment will have

to grapple with a high demand in work being outsourced with a very demanding and

knowledgeable client base with an equally demanding workforce. What is therefore

needed is the moral courage within the organization and holding on to values

that our dear to the organization.

Joseph P Abraham



The author is director and senior vice-president at Satyam Computer Services