INNOVATIVE HR PRACTICES COMPANY Hughes Software Systems HR Practices 1. Managers give S a!

Awar"s# for individual and team achievements to their teams when they excel or do something outstanding. These are usually given during the quarterly staff meetings where all employees participate and this is followed by a party. 2. There are A ua$ Achie%eme t Awar" under four categories: Most Initiatives est !ustomer "rientation est Team #or$er Most Innovative. Managers send nominations every year and a tas$ force of senior managers pic$s the winners. %. There are Presi"e tia$ Awar"s for o%era$$ e&ce$$e ce . These are given annually and are in four categories: &ngineering usiness 'evelopment (on)&ngineering &ngineering*!ustomer +upport. ,. There is an award for 'est Peo!$e a " Pro(ect Ma agers - given to two best managers and leaders each year. .opular /wards provide very powerful peer recognition. This is very credible and most satisfying. The winners are then put in special roles e.g. the winner of 0 est 1eader2 award is the one who conducts the session on leadership in the development program for managers. The person chosen as the 0 est Mentor2 leads the implementation of the mentoring program.

3. &mployees who show capability- initiative and interest are appointed to wor$ and lead in several cross)functional tas$forces from time to time. 4. E)greeti gs ha%e *ee o!eratio a$ is HSS through the i tra et to se " a!!reciatio to other em!$oyees. +pecial cards suited to the 5++ environment are available. This is a god way of recogni6ing and appreciating others- especially for those who find face to face appreciation somewhat uncomfortable. 7. 8ecently 5++ organi6ed a painting competition for the children of 5++ employees. This special even brought froth the talent and creativity of the participating children. The (ew 9ear cards for 2::1 have been made using eight of the best paintings selected in this painting competition. /ll the 72 paintings will be displayed at the 5++ $ids ;allery at ;urgaon and angalore. This has helped 5++ to build a more family li$e environment. The way we have empowered our line managers needs to be mentioned first in this regard. #e have provided them with 58 tools- technologiesonline tools etc.- which give them an edge over their counterparts in other organi6ations. /t the clic$ of a button- a manager can loo$ at the database of his*her own people- trac$ history of development- incrementspromotions- stoc$ options etc. They are also given the rating and ran$ing tools. They could recommend changes and training needs and they could

CISCO

Mi " Tree Co su$ti g

draw upon the resources available. Technology is deployed in a very effective way. "nce in three to four wee$s- we call up our employees and give them information as to what is happening. #henever there is a pro<ect win or a customer delivery- we ring the bell in the company to inform everybody. #e have the !&"=s snapshots which is released once in two wee$s- the in) house maga6ine- meet the 0Mind Tree Minds2 >the way we call our employees?- where the computer selects some names at random and they meet the senior people to get the right perspective of what they are doingwhy they should do it- etc- and to ma$e sure that there is enough interaction. /ll these things enhance communication- security- sense of belonging and commitment towards the organi6ation. #e strongly believe in @softer s$ills= such as wor$ing in teams- inter) personals s$ills- communication s$ills- creative thin$ing- entrepreneurial s$ills etc. I am not sure if they are unique- but we have a policy li$e @58 8each out=. &very 58 member is assigned a department. 5e*+he wor$s with the department very closely not only to proactively enable employees perform but also to partner with the business and influence business processes and policies. Aew more would be the @!ustomer !ontact .rogramme=. "nce a monthall senior managers reach out to customers to get a first hand feel and feedbac$ from them. #e conduct &mployee +atisfaction +urveys- have departmental strategic matrices developed to wor$ on employees feedbac$- etc.

Air Te$

'IR+A ,M

S-'E. SYSTEMS

#e encourage Two)way communication. #e have something called B etween CsB. "nce in six months- the M' and the 58 head go to all the branch offices. The M' tal$s about the business and request the peopleDs involvement in fulfilling the organi6ationDs dreams. 58 head tal$s about the new 58 policies and then there is an open discussion. &mployees can express themselves on whatever issues they have with regard to wor$. If there are sensitive issues- which they donDt want to discuss openly- they can write and give those without their names. The question is read- and the answer given. The paper on which the question is written- is destroyed then and there- to ma$e sure that nobody tries to trace the handwriting of the person or in anyway recogni6e him*her. /s I stood at the security to clear the entry procedure- a smiling security person gave me an envelope and a guest card and as$ed me to enter the reception area. / letter personally addressed to me by a representative in 58 on behalf of 58' !hief - it went on to explain that considering the importance of my visit the customary practice of entering entering my details in the register has been waived. It also informed me that the ;uest 8elations /ssistant /ssistant at the reception of have coffee*tea*soft drin$ at my wish. There was the assurance that nobody nobody would be made to wait in the reception for more than ten minutes. I was greeted by a representative from 58 and led to the meeting room. &very candidate called into +ubex house for a scheduled interview is given

a welcome letter. 5e*she doesnDt have to go through the rigmarole of entering the details in the security register- thus being forced to reveal the identity in public though he*she might not want to do so. This ma$es a very very significant difference in the way the company is perceived. /lsoat the end of the interview the person >whether recruited or not? is given a memento for the time they have ta$en for it. /ny person to whom we ma$e an offer is given a welcome letter from the +ubex culture club. The culture club has a clear)cut mandate- and that is to bring about integration among all the +ubexians. &ven before the person <oins- he*she is entitled for a dinner with one person >family? at "beroi. 5e*she is informed in advance about his*her mentor- a small bouquet is given at the reception on the day of <oining- there is an informal +ubex culture club welcome where he*she is introduced to the fellow +ubexians so that they relate well with him*her. There is also the +ubex wal$ througha power point presentation which consumes about one and a half hours where every facility in the organi6ation is mentioned- li$e for e.g. ) office timing- canteen- transport etc etc- so that by the time he hits lunch on the first day- he is almost in the organi6ation .#e also have the practice of the mentor ta$ing the mentee out for lunch the first or second day. /s soon as we decide to recruit a person- we also decide on his mentor. The mentor will not be the senior +ubexian >his group head? but will be someone senior from the same division who understand the nature of the wor$ of the new person. The new employee is informed in advance as to who his mentor is. /s I had already mentioned- once the person <oins- the first or second day mentor ta$es mentee out for lunch. Thereafter on a regular basis- at least once a month- mentor ta$es mentee out for lunch. It is in the course of the discussions during these lunch meetings that he understands how the mentee is progressing. "ther than this they also meet up whenever required. This again is done in a very- very structured manner. This process of mentoring will be on for a certain period of time depending on the level of the person. If it were a fresher it would be <ust one year. 5owever- for new recruits with a few years of experience- the time duration will be less. I would say there are lots of 58 policies of +ubex- which are worth highlighting. O e is our /ee$ the Pu$se meet. /s per the program every +ubexian will have to meet up his senior +ubexian- >not the immediate manager- but the manager who is one level above?. This happens once in six months. This is basically for the senior +ubexian to feel the pulse of the <unior- to $now whether he is doing well or not- whether he is en<oying his <ob or not- where are the areas where he needs support etc. &ven our house co ce!t is interesting and plays a crucial role in $eeping people together. &ach and every +ubexian belongs to one of the four houses and every year the constituency and the names of the houses change. 'uring house meetings everyone meets up and it integrates people across various levels- functions and locations.

Phi$i!s Software

"Aeel the .ulseB program. The managers might possibly miss a schedule >happens once in a blue moon? but our Managing 'irector always ma$es it a point to strictly follow the schedule. +o our people wal$ the tal$E. especially people at the top management level. +o itDs only natural that the others follow them. 58 .olicies The first one that needs to be mentioned is the "ream !ro(ect. 'ream

Ce ter

pro<ects allow every employee to pursue a pro<ect of their own interest in the technical area. They invest time while the company given them resources and encouragement.5owever- the pro<ect has to help .hilips in some way or the other. It has to be relevant for what .hilips is pursuing. #e also have a s!o sorshi! !rogram for higher stu"ies. "ur employees can <oin a .Tech program or an M+ program or even pursue a .h.'. "ur !ompany will fund them right up to 1::F of the cost. "nce an employee completes % years with .hilips +oftware- angalore- we will consider him*her for an i ter atio a$ assig me t withi Phi$i!s . Aurther any employee who completes 1G months experience can see$ transfer from within the company- from one technology to the other- one product division to another. #e facilitate such a (o* rotatio systematically. In our cafeteria- we also provide a "iet mea$ section to interested employees and it is well appreciated. #e have well furnished bedrooms for those people who stay bac$ late in office wor$ing. /nother brilliant concept practiced is the .hilips Ye$$ow !ages0 It is an internal networ$- which connects people across all our offices worldwide. It is very easy for one to locate people who are $nown for particular domain $nowledge or a s$ill or talent. /ny employee- who needs to learn about a sub<ect- can get connected to the sub<ect expert through the yellow .ages. .hilips is probably one of the few organi6ations which has an offsite three) day 1eadership program for all its managers.

#e remind our managers that they would be measured as much by their deliverables as by their practice of the company values. These values are : 1et us delight our customers 1et us Halue .eople as greatest resource 1et us deliver Iuality and &xcellence in all our actions 1et us achieve .remium return on equity 1et us encourage entrepreneurial behavior at all levels #e have a commu ity i %o$%eme t team. The team is entirely manned by young professionals. / budget is given and they decide how to use the money. There is no interference from any senior managers. #e also believe that charity begins at home 0 1e ha%e a gree team2 which mo itors e %iro me ta$ re$ate" issues so far as it relates to the organi6ation. 9oung professionals are involved in this. Thus we ensure that environmental concerns are not <ust spo$en about but we actually do something about it. #e follow a g$o*a$ a!!raisa$ system2 which totally involves the employee in the whole performance management process. .lanning- goal) setting- wor$ review- coaching and developmental appraisal are part of this process chain

There is some com!u$sory trai i g that e%ery a!!raiser a " the a!!raise" go through *efore the a!!raisa$ . #e have one full day training program for managers who do the appraisal. It is mandatory . If the manager doesn=t go through it- the company holds the right to not let him do the appraisal. This training is not a once in a lifetime affair. &very year before the appraisal- the training is given. A ha$f)"ay trai i g is gi%e to the a!!raise" !erso e$ to ma$e them aware of the nitty gritties of the appraisal program. They are reminded about the importance of doing home wor$- receiving and sending feedbac$ and reflecting on the feedbac$ in the right way.

These sorts of training programs prepare people to see appraisals as development processes rather than as a <udgmental process. #e have plenty of rewar" !rograms. #e closely watch people who contribute towards product quality- process quality- internal trainers who train colleagues- people who bring best practices from outside and implement if here and so on. They are rewarded and as you $now rewards are inspiring and infectious. +oon after a person <oins our organi6ation >within one- one and a half months?- the 58 managers are expected by training- to sit with every new employee and start capturing what he or she li$es best in the organi6ationwe ta$e inputs about matters regarding say- if he or she has the power to change what would he or she change in the organi6ation and where do they thin$ they can contribute a lot more than what is presently done and so on.This feedbac$ is carried to the management team of the organi6ation and the employees are given the opportunity in terms of their interest in technology and outside of technology- into more suitable platforms. &very four months we conduct an employee survey where all our employees provide inputs on the health of the wor$place. This survey enables us to identify how strongly the person feels about the organi6ationand how strong is the person=s clarity of his*her existence in the organi6ation. It also enables us to see the person=s own ability to identify with the vision of the organi6ation- and whether he thin$s the organi6ation listens to what he has to say. 5e also reveals whether he feels that his supervisor ta$es interest in his*her development- has he*she received any word of praise from the boss for a good <ob done and so on. This proves to be an eye opener for the managers as well. 1e ha%e the HR re%iew i the !$a i g cyc$e - which is a rigorous process involving everyone- right upto the head of the organi6ation. #e do succession planning for individuals wherein we identify the best talents J the top ten people. #e also identify our bottom ten people- who are as$ed to pull up their soc$s and improve- failing which they will have to leave. #e carry out this exercise every quarter and this enables us to be well informed about our people asset.

1i!ro Tech o$ogies

#e have a program- which is $nown as wi gs withi 3) an internal <ob posting system. This wor$s well- as our people can apply for <obs in other departments and they do not have to inform their supervisors about it. If selected they can move out and nobody can stop them. This gives people the feeling that they are not buttonholed into a particular type of <ob. "ur !&" Mr./6im .rem<i spends % to , hours with every new group of employees- briefing them about our promises- values and beliefs.