NetApp India21 Jun 2010, 0023 hrs IST,Devina Sengupta,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: vikram shah us united states relevant executive president netapp india internal communications department information storage products ; employees india

bangalore Profile: Information Storage Products; Employees: 1042

Location: Bangalore; Founded in India: 1992

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:4.51; Voluntary turnover: 5.95%

Set foot into NetApp India's headquarters in Bangalore and chances are ping-pong balls would be whizzing past your head, football passes glide through cubicles,

this is a place definitely not for those who consider their work-life as part of a calibrated approach.

Yet, this is also a zone where people rarely complain about pay and not getting a fair share of profits. That is because employees here enjoy a large degree of flexibility and feel involved in decisions that impact them.

For one, there are no boss-isms here, as long as employees realise the value of certain codes of conduct, like candor and responsibility, which if belittled, would mean bailing themselves out from the firm with immediate effect. Employees interact with the firm's India President Vikram Shah almost every Friday over the religiously conducted beer bash.

They have 'buddies' assigned to them right from Day One, a senior who acts as their guide at the workplace. Even if one wants to go for training programmes to the company's Sunnyvale headquarters in the US, their proposals are immediately met with

an "aye", since according to Shah, "We all have single votes and there is no micromanagement. All have to work in collaboration."

Another positive clearly is the absence of monitoring systems at NetApp. Here, bosses never breathe down one's neck. That makes trust and integrity the pillars of the company. This is obvious when one gets to know that almost 605 of the employees who were asked to leave during the global financial meltdown, were reabsorbed this year.

Such values are obviously cherished in the organisation and lead to more inputs and results, which in turn increases the business. And during appraisals, the firm leaves no stone unturned. Ravishankar, a NetApp employee, vouched for it saying, "It is a 360-degree appraisal and we have to appraise our bosses too." Nominating employees and appreciating those who have gone beyond the stipulated directives is also a common practice.

But really, this is what takes the cake, their intranet Great Place to Work web page! This provides a centralised location for all of the programmes that support their being a great place to work and is kept current with frequent updates.

Employees can read about survey results from the 2009 Great Place to Work benchmark findings, as well as articles displaying unique applications of their products, benefit updates, upcoming events and discount services. More importantly, there is a link on the Great Place to Work web page for NetApp employees to comment and ask questions.

These are then received by the Internal Communications Department, which either provides a response or forwards it to the relevant executive for a solution. The answer is then posted on the intranet. Way to go!

American Express21 Jun 2010, 0118 hrs IST,Bhanu Pande,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: vp, human resources vp , human resources vp shivani rajpal research international professional consultant for the job professional consultant pradeep kapur mnc kapur india

human resources gm #xx# vp gayatri varma financial services ; asia servicing asia amex

american express Profile: Financial Services; Employees: 5,200

Location: Gurgaon; Founded in India: 2006

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:1.33; Voluntary turnover: 15.00%

“Children come to see what it's like to work with mom and dad. On that day, special food stalls and games are set up to ensure that the day was a memorable and fun-filled experience for them," says Shivani Rajpal, GRE-

Finance, American Express. "My son was so excited after that day, he couldn't stop talking about what he had learnt. He can't wait to come back!"

When employees sing praises about their workplace, it validates what the top management would have you believe, ‘We care for our employees’. For Gayatri Varma, VP, Human Resources, American Express, a happier workforce gets much more than coveted productivity and professional payoffs that most companies yearn for. It has an emotional pay-off for employees and reassurance for the management.

"Engaged premium talent will attract more such talent," she beams. And Amex hasn't left anything to chance to ensure just that. After all, being in the service industry, the company is all about people. "So we have no choice but to build a people-centric culture," says Pradeep Kapur, GM & VP, Asia Servicing, American Express.

As part of its major initiatives, 'healthy living' has been an all-inclusive mantra for Amex that goes beyond basic employee healthcare. "Caring for our employees is not just about providing reactive support though hospitalisation cover for self and family, but more about proactive well-being", contends Kapur. "More importantly, their emotional well-being," he adds.

And the financial powerhouse has been driving action around this theme by launching a slew of initiatives last year that witnessed a record number of employees participating. Leaders within Amex, who drive such initiative, usually walk the talk. Kapur, who was chosen as a key sponsor to drive 'quit smoking' initiative actually quit smoking himself before he began his work.

Amex, over the last few years, has been working to building a Gen Next workplace as its 'ecosystem for the future', which is young, vibrant and diverse in the true sense. Today, American Express in India comprises 43% women; overall, 46% of its employees are Gen Y; 75% of new hires are Gen Y and 92% of its leaders belong to the Gen X. It is this eclectic mix of people that Varma hopes would lead the company into the future.

"Cognizance of the diversity in our Gen Next workforce makes it imperative for us to focus on making Amex a place that harnesses their unique potential," says Varma. "Hence, it is of utmost importance for us that we continue to create a vibrant and stimulating environment for our dynamic workforce."

So much so, the company roped in a professional research firm, Research International, to help it study its Gen Next workforce's needs and aspirations better. While many companies do casual assessment of their employees' needs and desires internally, Amex is one of the few that has brought in a professional consultant for the job.

Gender diversity being another big agenda at Amex, women in the workforce has been given special focus. Launched in India in 2007, WIN (Women's Interest Network) seeks to build an in-house community that supports women in the workplace through idea sharing, networking and development forum. The company

leverages WIN to provide offerings big time. These include sessions on parenting, healthcare, caregiver experiences, financial planning, etc.

The MNC has also been instilling pride among its people through CSR activities. Good Citizenship is serious business at Amex. “The mission of our Good Citizenship programme is to bring to life the Amex values of good corporate citizenship by supporting diverse communities in ways that enhance the company’s reputation with employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders," comes Varma's sharp repartee.

NTPC: People Power21 Jun 2010, 0013 hrs IST,Moinak Mitra,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: talent shrivastav senior assistant

officer ntpc new delhi india general manager of the plant executive energy draughtsman director

chairman Profile: Energy; Employees: 24,708

Location: New Delhi; Founded in India: 1975

Gender Ratio (F/M); 1:8.11; Voluntary turnover: 0.12%

Equity takes on a whole new meaning when a plant operator blooms into an officer. At NTPC, such stories abound and VK Sikka's is no exception. Sikka signed up with the public sector power behemoth in 1981 as a

draughtsman in the engineering wing.

Today, the 50-year-old sits at NTPC's 1.5 lakh sq.ft. corporate headquarters in the heart of New Delhi as a senior assistant engineer-a career progression that clearly transcends the iron-clad boundary wall separating executives from others in most organisations.

The Rs 49,478.86-crore power major employs about 25,000 die-hard loyalists, who take pride in the 35-year-old brand and its empowerment attributes. Call it branding through inspiration-setting up power stations in record time, lighting every fourth bulb in the country, manpower productivity et al. That may explain the ultra-low 0.9% attrition and the highly efficient 0.82 man-to-megawatt ratio. "In 3-5 years, we'll get it down to 0.5," resolves RC Shrivastav, Director (HR).

The legion of loyalists is unending as the average stay per employee tots up to 24 years. Interestingly, the company's 22 townships are a major draw. "These are fully-equipped townships with schools, hospitals, swimming pools, auditoriums, stadia and the works, which are owned and maintained by the company," informs Shrivastav.

As a matter of strategy, NTPC shuns from lateral hiring at middle and senior levels. Also, it prefers to recruit "action-oriented" people over those who are "articulate". For Shrivastav, hiring from "the high strata" is a strict no-no as "satisfaction levels of these people are higher and it can lead to integration woes". Clearly, with 95,000 applicants for 450 positions this year, the organisation is neither missing A-graders from B-Schools

nor the elite club with stars in their eyes.

So far as policies go, along with the Right to Information, NTPC regularly uploads them on the company intranet and strives to create a transparent culture. And to blur the line between executives and non-executives further, it has a quality circle at the plant level with a well laid out worker participation forum-the core of the quality circle is the plant council comprising workmen reps and people from the management, presided over by the general manager of the plant.

While the quality circle looks at productivity and safety issues at the plant level, it ensures a fair share of blue and white collar participation. Similarly, there are councils at the regional as well as the corporate level.

While the company is now developing a pipeline of leaders for key leadership positions with its homegrown Leadership Assessment and Development System (LEADS), it has also come up with a system of rewarding exemplary ideas from within. The Idea Portal of NTPC (IPoN) and NTPC Open Competition for Executive Talent (NOCET) are sterling examples.

While IPoN deals with in-house suggestions on productivity improvement, NOCET is more focused, wherein the chairman and directors throw up theme/s for the year, for which innovative solutions are sought from employees' teams. The best get to cash in.

Though the company hires 1,200-1,500 executives and about 500 workmen each year, the numbers seem to nosedive significantly in the coming years with growing automation and outsourcing at the lower end of the business chain.

But the company remains uncompromising in attracting people with the right mindset to its plants and offices-those who can sink in to the working style of a public sector company and yet be highly productive. And since most of the plant locations are at remote places, the gender ratio would seem a bit warped at 1:18. But then, at the executive cadre, NTPC is now dealing with that

disparity too with more women coming in to functional roles.

In its 35th year, NTPC has done well to climb up the charts and sit at number seven in our rankings. Transparent policies, strategic recruitment and concerted welfare measures, have enabled the watt-maker to give that power to its people.

PayPal India

21 Jun 2010, 0008 hrs IST,Hema Malini Venkatraman,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: vp vaidyanathan us united states the global hr chief taj mahal san diego raj sundaresan qutb minar paypal india mnc jayanthi vaidyanathan ipads india hr director global product development global hr ebay dianne mills

arya bhatt Profile: e-commerce; Employees; 419

Location: Chennai; Founded in India: 2006

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:3.6; Voluntary turnover: 0.48%

The Global HR Chief Dianne Mills paid the perfect compliment to folks at PayPal India office. She was so impressed by the energy and the spirit of Chennai office that she wished the atmosphere could be "bottled

and sprinkled to the rest of the organisation".

Five years after its decision to expand its global footprint, PayPal seems to have acclimatised itself to "The India Way". Little wonder then that each floor of the six-level PayPal facility has rooms named after monuments, rivers, national parks, musical instruments and great heroes.

Taj Mahal is the biggest conference room in PayPal where bookings have to be done a month in advance. So meetings could be scheduled in either Brah-maputra, Ganges,

Qutb Minar, Belur, Arya Bhatt, War Room or Ve-danthangal. Ofcourse the Indian milieu doesn't mean the MNC way of life has been shunned - ergonomically-designed workstations, gyms, gaming rooms, funky interiors, beanbags, chat rooms, lounges or breakout zones are just basic hygiene factors here.

While the organisation celebrates even small successes, there is a conscious drive to be perceived as a technology firm. "We emphasise on technologists, not engineers. Our effort is to nurture them in all areas. Even in quality analysis, we would not like to confine it to testers," says PayPal HR Director Jayanthi Vaidyanathan.

PayPal, which is a part of eBay, believes in empowering technologists, especially women. There is a dedicated group named 'eBay Women in Technology.' While internal reward programmes, like PAT or PayPal Appreciates Talent have been a success, there is a constant attempt to promote technologists.

Recently, 200 performers were at San Diego in the US to be part of a four-day tech summit. They were treated to a host of experiences and gifts that included cruises and iPads. "We draw our inspiration from the passion, pride and commitment that our people bring here. While our purpose, values and behaviours lay a strong foundation for our culture, our people add the magic mix to the whole entity," notes Vaidyanathan.

Interestingly, 50% of the technology work to the parent organisation is done out of Chennai. The employees' average age is 27-28 years and the PayPal workforce constitutes 25% women. To motivate technologists, there are patent awards too that reward innovative talent.

Of the 1,600-plus strong PayPal team, some are either full-time associ-ates (FTA) or non-FTAs. But it has always been about giving the unified employee experience, says Vaidyanathan.

Spearheading a high energy HR team, she says, "We enable people to go beyond the scope of their work. HR no longer remains a support function. It is a business function. We are constantly experimenting on how to turn the role of a HR person more strategic," she says.

PayPalians believe in working hard and partying harder. "Sometimes in our Pulse and other feedback forums, our employees tell us that we are celebrating way too much. How often do you hear that from your employees? We do take celebrating pretty seriously at PayPal. Just as much as we set high bars for our people, we also believe in ensuring fun, not just in the journey to achieving those goals but once those are achieved as well," Vaidyanathan elaborates.

Pro-employee policies and the general bonhomie have ensured attrition well under a manageable 10%-it is now in the 8% region. "Focus externally on the customer and internally on the people and business will follow; I learn so much when I see people and talk to them one-on-one. They really motivate me!" says VP Raj Sundaresan, a member

of the Global Product Development team at PayPal.

Ajuba Solutions India21 Jun 2010, 0001 hrs IST,Hema Malini Venkatraman,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: world health day tnt shankar narasimhan seraphiel president narasimhan melt kpmg information security awards india hr healthcare revenue cycle management employees finance head finance devendra saharia chennai best compliant team auditor , best compliant team ajuba solutions india

ajuba Profile: Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management

Employees: 1612; Location: Chennai

Founded in India: 2000

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:1.41; Voluntary turnover: 23.45%

The 23.45% attrition at Ajuba, a Chennai-based healthcare BPO may be in line with industry norms.

But those who stay back, get more than their due. With "inspired people, inspired results" as its central theme, the company works continuously at keeping its rank-and-

file motivated.

Named 'Ajuba' after the Hindi word for 'wonder', the company tries to live by its credo of "working wonders for our clients and employees". Given the heightened volatility of the ITeS sector, Ajuba's proactive employee policies make it contrarian. Last year, bourses wilted and many BPOs downed shutters in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. But Ajuba continued its employee evaluation process unfazed.

"In fact, it has a twice-a-year appraisal cycle with one annual increment," says Shankar Narasimhan, HR and Finance head of the company. After stints with KPMG and TNT, he now heads a 20-member HR team responsible for keeping Ajuba's 1800 strong workforce happy and enthused.

One of the ways this is done is by establishing an absolute meritocracy. "The best employees get the best compensation. As far as benchmarks are concerned, Ajuba is at the top quartile of the industry," says Narasimhan, adding that 15%-25% of the compensation is variable pay.

"We reward or penalise according to performance," he adds. A fact endorsed by Ajuba president Devendra Saharia, who believes merit should be the single plank for rewarding performance. "Jobs executed well, leave little room for politics," he says. "We treat our people like our customers. It is a trust-based relationship and we have been completely transparent. Improving the quality of work-life for our people has always been our endeavour."

Employee concern is not a relatively recent development either. Realising that a healthy employee is a happy employee, one of Ajuba's first and most prominent initiatives is Svasth, a five year old corporate wellness programme that has upped the trust quotient between employee and management.

There have also been attempts to engage with the workforce in newer ways to fit the MELT (meritocracy, excellence, learning, trust) framework, junk art, unique Ganesha competition, the in-house band, Seraphiel, yoga at work, soup and salad bars on World Health Day, doctors on call and of course Svasth, to name just a few.

Since women comprise almost half the staff, the company has taken a lead in certain proactive measures designed for the fair sex. The company trains women in the art of self-defence. And then there's the women's lounge; a special area in all the three facilities for pregnant or unwell women.

With performance, comes recognition. The company handholds selected candidates right from day one. Initiatives like the Information Security Awards recognise employees who share information on security-related responsibilities within the organisation, Best Auditor, Best Compliant Team, are prime examples.

From about 150-odd people at the dawn of the millennium to its current size, Ajuba has

come a long way. Size and scale matter but 'creating wonder' for its employees matters almost as much.

SAS Institute India20 Jun 2010, 1756 hrs IST,Dibeyendu Ganguly,ET Bureau

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sudipta sensrinivas raosas institute indiasas institutesas india

psychologistmumbai

indiahr headceo and managing director

bandraBusiness Analytics

Mumbai; Employees: 108

in india: 1996

Ratio (F/M): 1:5.75; Voluntary turnover: 13.89%

an old building in one of South Mumbai's most pleasant neighbourhoods, the office of SAS Institute India seems large spacious, until you realise the company employs 108 people.

A quick count of the workstations and it’s evident the place can't possibly accommodate more than 60. It looks roomy only because there are less than 30 people in the middle of the afternoon. Where is everyone?

On any given day, it turns out, less than half of SAS Institute's people turn up at work. Some of them are travelling, some are at the office of a local client and quite a few are working from home. Everyone is connected to the office through wireless internet access, which means they can access any data they need and web-conference with their colleagues and bosses whenever they need to.

For those who do need to come to office for face-to-face meetings, SAS has a 'hot seating' system, whereby people are allocated a seat for the day. "If you live in Bandra and the client is in the same area, we see no reason why you should commute all the way to office," says CEO and managing director Sudipta Sen.

It's policies like these that make SAS Institute, the new entrant into the list this year, a great place to work. SAS India markets high-end analytic software, which means its employees are highly qualified, high-aspiration people and Sen believes they deserve to be fully empowered. "SAS worldwide has consciously avoided the worker-supervisor-manager syndrome, where people are constantly monitored. We only monitor their final output," he says.

You might think this makes for a stress-free work environment, but that's not actually the case. For those who need help, SAS offers pro-fessional help through counselling. Those who avail of it, and quite a few have, are assured of complete confidentiality.

"Stress can hap-pen for reasons outside of work," says HR head Srinivas Rao. "It could be because of personal problems or simply because of the strains of living in the city. I remember quite a few of our people were traumatised by the terror attack on Mumbai and used the services of the psychologist."

Worldwide, SAS Institute offers help and encourages employees who wish to adopt children and SAS India has recently introduced this best practice in its own office. One employee has so far adopted a child and four more have started the process.

Another service that's steadily gaining ground is the free concierge service through which employees can book tickets for movies, plays, concerts or even a seat at a busy restaurant. "We want our people to spend quality time with friends and family. But left to themselves, people are too busy and just don't get time to book tickets. Hence, the importance of this service," says Sen.

Google India Pvt Ltd21 Jun 2010, 0148 hrs IST,Devina Sengupta,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: technical programme manager technical manager shailesh rao search online navneet singh manoj varghese manoj managing director karan ahuja jagjit chawla india

hr specialist google india pvt ltd google india google bangalore apac hr director

advertising #xx# online employees Profile: Online Search, Online Advertising & Online

Employees: 1,259; Location: Bangalore

Founded in India: 1998

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:0.99; Voluntary turnover: 30%

It was an accidental misspelling that got Google its name but that's where the accidents end at the Google headquarters in RMZ Infinity, Bangalore. "Any good place to work is no accident," says Manoj Varghese, the APAC HR director. "And it's not just about beanbags."

Googlers work hard at making their workplace rock. At a time when break-out spots and recreational zones have started to become almost de rigueur, Googlers have taken it one step further: to the washrooms!

That explains the quaint "learning in the loo" concept where employees write about innovations, strategies and best practices on the inside of washroom doors. "It is one place where everyone reads. So why not?" argues Varghese. Innovation isn't just limited to product development and patenting; employees apply the 'I' mantra to their workplace too.

The gates of Google are open for just a few, thanks to a rigorous seven-step recruitment process that ensures the right cultural fit. The company even creates competitions to attract the best brains from top Indian colleges. For the lucky ones who make it, the Google experience awaits.

Part of that unique culture is spending at least 20% of their working time thinking about the next big thing and 10% in coming up with completely outlandish ideas. "It is a humbling experience being a Googler. Your ego goes for a toss because you are surrounded by the best," says Jagjit Chawla, technical programme manager, who has been working with the firm for the past three years.

Egalitarian policies allow concepts like peer bonus where one Googler recognises the

efforts of the other by giving him/her bonuses in the form of vouchers paid for by the company. "We, however, have never seen policies getting abused and this includes selecting your own list of holidays in the year," contends Navneet Singh, technical manager.

And the people-friendly policies seem to resonate well with the employees too. For Karan Ahuja, a HR specialist at Google, the flexible working hours and the belief that the firm will take care of the rest has spurred him to even accept multiple transfers in three years.

It seems that the company has added a touch of goofy Googleness to every process, and it works. The long recruitment ensures that newbies, aptly named Nooglers, are brought into the fold of the company after stepping inside Google land, if desk and cubicle are the norm, the welcome party on the day of joining is a bonus.

Add to that the unusually long buddy system, it goes on for three years at Google compared to the six-month convention that other companies adhere to, and the transition from Noogler to Googler and beyond is not just velvet-smooth but also rock solid.

But here's the icing on the cake. While mentors continue to do their own math, one can even opt for self-promotion. That is, if the key result areas set by the individual are met. Though it's obviously heartening to see the absence of micromanagement, hunting for candidates with the right attitude and aptitude called Googliness, is no mean task. To quote Manoj Varghese again, "Any good place to work is no accident."

Looking for anything called Googliness can never be easy. Therefore when Shailesh Rao , Managing Director, Google India says that finding the talent pool is difficult, you are inclined to believe him. Because in Google,it takes more than few policies to get the innovators in one thread.

What makes Google one of the best places to work for?

You cannot pinpoint at one thing that makes Google one of the best places to work for. It is a combination of values and operating principles to make the work more enjoyable and encourage innovations. Commitment towards finding talented people is not solely based on ranks and marks, but on the inclusion of those who have a sense of mission and derive immense satisfaction from their work.

How do you ensure that there is a cultural fit amongst the employees?

Every employee at Google has this trait called Googliness. This means that they think beyond academics and are passionate about other activities like sports, NGO work and are able to chart their own growth. They are self-motivated. The new joinees called Nooglers come from diverse backgrounds and have the skill sets with a realisation to learn, which prevents any kind of micromamagement.

What are the challenges that you face despite all the best practices?

We are not a traditional manufacturing company and hence do not have any large outlets. The challenge is to grow despite competition, launch new products and find a talent pool, train them, which itself is a very lengthy process.

MakeMyTrip (India)21 Jun 2010, 0043 hrs IST,Moinak Mitra,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: west delhi vp of retail #xx# b2b senior manager sachin bhatia rohit hasteer ravi prakash tyagi rajesh magow person communication and meetings ngo seva mandir mountain view kuwait airways kuwait keyur joshi kalra #xx# co. kalra #xx# co . india hr holiday packages employees head google facebook devika khosla delhi deep kalra data entry operator community manager chief products officer chief products chief cfo ceo bus

amit somani american express admin head

aditya saraswat Profile: Airline tickets, Hotels,Bus and Rail ticket, Holiday Packages

Employees: 674; Location: Gurgaon; Founded in india: 2000

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:2.55; Voluntary turnover: 23.89%

The trademark red-yellow-blue segues into the walls, halls and overalls. From basement up level three,

prominent MakeMyTrip colours exude energy, passion and an unparalleled sense of achievement among 650-odd people tripping over travel across 40,000 square feet in glitzy Gurgaon's Udyog Vihar.

For in ten years flat, their travel portal makemytrip.com finds itself right on top of the heap with nearly half of India's online travel and hotel bookings. And that's not all. Founder and CEO Deep Kalra and co-founders Sachin Bhatia, Keyur Joshi and Rajesh Magow envisioned a young workplace where merit was the key to unlock all customer needs in travel.

From zero to Rs 2,500 crore, Kalra & Co. has indeed made the proverbial Cassandra crossing-all, in a decade-with some fresh, loyal talent and "practical" processes that propped them up to number two in our rankings.

Take the case of the 35-year-old Rohit Hasteer, head of HR at MakeMyTrip. He signed up in 2007 after illustrious runs at Telcordia, Aviva and Citi Financial to kickstart a full-fledged suite of HR functions at the then 350-strong MakeMyTrip. "Today, we are about 800 people across 21 offices countrywide, with a strong sense of empowerment at every level," he says.

Hasteer is not saying that for effect. This is the longest he has served in any organisation and takes pride in the trust quotient within his group. "When I joined the company, my only agenda was to make HR approachable....today, we have gained the employees' trust," he smiles, explaining how his 12-member HR team doesn't just sit in a corner room but strategically spread out to every floor in the office and the rest of the country to mingle with the workforce.

The immense sense of empowerment at MakeMyTrip is drawing in top talent by the droves. For one, Amit Somani, the company's Chief Products Officer, has no hang-ups

about leaving Google to join MakeMyTrip.

"Google is a global company that offers few opportunities to make world-class products for Indian users as every product development is geared to satisfy Mountain View's (Google headquarters) global quest....but here the quality of leadership spawns tremendous opportunities," he says, in a din from the knights of Kalra's round-table in the innards of his ground floor Gurgaon office.

After all, Rohit Hasteer, Rajesh Magow-Co-founder & CFO, Mohit Gupta-Chief Marketing Officer and Amit Saberwal-Sr. VP of Retail & B2B, unanimously raise concern about the health of Somani's child, who wasn't keeping quite well. It's this concern that echoes through the walls of the organisation as is evident when the company took a hit in March to waive off the effect of fringe benefit tax on its employees.

"We didn't want our people to have a problem in their cashflows and so coughed up around Rs 25 lakh to neutralize the tax burden," points out Hasteer.

Even as the round-table banter touches upon how every salary slip sports the 'Happy Customers Made This Possible' one-liner and the company's overall customer-orientation that has seen 50% repeat business over the last 12 months, a palpable sense of camaraderie and community scythes through the air. For starters, the Facebook MakeMyTrip community page attracts 42,000 members.

And Community Manager Devika Khosla is playing her part in other ventures too, again, bearing the customer in mind. "We give our domestic air passengers the opportunity to redeem their carbon footprint by donating

anything from Rs 26 to Rs 284 to plant saplings, for which we've tied up with NGO Seva Mandir," says the 35-year-old former content head of the portal.

Khosla has been around at MakeMyTrip for seven-and-a-half years-long enough to add the prefix 'responsible' to its list of loyal travelers. "At MakeMyTrip, the entire team is empowered to take decisions and there is no micromanaging," she emphasizes.

Even the admin head Ravi Prakash Tyagi senses the strong air of empowerment. Being with the company for five years, he's a regular at external conferences where he gets to meet his comrades from the trade. The 32-year-old also vouches for the company's peer-to-peer recognition system, where peers normally pen down a couple of lines on the direction shown by their other peers.

But empowerment can perhaps be best understood by analyzing the curious case of Aditya Saraswat, who has spent a decade at MakeMyTrip. "I joined the company straight out of college when it didn't have a name and stuck around despite offers from American

Express and Kuwait Airways," says the buzzer-happy quizzie, who signed up as a data entry operator.

Today, he's a senior manager in charge of online hotel operations, whose job is not only to design the hotel booking engine but to get a team in place, interact with the payment gateways and allow users to book hotels online. A couple of months back, he was also given charge of the car, rail and bus verticals of the portal.

For Rohit Hasteer, flexibility is the name of the game. While a serious effort is on at bridging the gender divide at senior levels, Hasteer claims that the company has a policy in place for women to work out of their homes.

Besides, Gurgaon to Noida or West Delhi can be quite a stretch. So the company has gone the extra mile setting up 10-seater business centers in Noida and Pitampura (West Delhi) where employees who go the distance (literally) take turns to sit in on a weekly basis.

Proactive policies galore and with the average age in the company sitting at a sweet 26, the 41-year-old Deep Kalra and his founder buddies would do well to turn the clock back for themselves.

Intel Technologies India21 Jun 2010, 0037 hrs IST,Devina Sengupta,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: south asia hr director south asia praveen vishakantaiah organisational health survey new intel technologies india intel india innovation intel india intel information technology ; information technology india ceo best bangalore

anish

Profile: Information Technology; Employees: 2,430

Location; Bangalore; Founded in India: 1988

Gender Ratio (F/M):1:3.99; Voluntary turnover: 4.4%

Intel Inside is not just a cold technology-driven statement of purpose. At least, not for the rank and file at Intel, aptly dubbed Intellites. Intel Inside is something that drives them through avenues that have

little to do with microprocessors and clock speeds.

For instance, painting the walls of a school in the neigbourhood. Or, enrolling for cooking classes. "It is about having fun while you work, which is practiced universally throughout the organisation," says R Anish, the company's South Asia HR director.

Intel has also tried to ingrain a culture of being open and direct. It is very serious about having an open-door policy and reaching out to seniors is the norm. Coupled with periodic feedback mechanisms, this keeps every Intellite on the ball. Take the Organisational Health Survey (OHS), for instance.

It is administered across Intel globally to get employee feedback on aspects, such as business process, employee development, direction and performance management. Based on employee feedback, organisational task forces are formed at different sites to identify root causes that concern employees and develop action plans.

Even during the slowdown when employees of other firms whined about having their leaders locked up in the proverbial ivory tower, at Intel, two-way communication was par for the course. Employees knew where they stood and how the company was faring.

A transparent system is also a boon for any new recruit. An average Intellite claims to go out of his way to make a fresher feel welcome. Call it baptism by hire, a sense of warmth and camaraderie is instilled at the workplace from Day Zero.

The absence of walled cubicles and department heads sharing their workspace with interns is not surprising considering Intel's egalitarian work culture. The company also has its New Orientation Programme Targeting to bring the best on board. For Intel, every intern is an asset.

"Interns are a pipeline for our future hiring and the quality parameters are set right at the start," Anish adds. Speed mentoring is done to ensure that every employee gets the chance to interact with the heads of the company and put forth his/her views.

For managers, there is Anubhava, a programme where they share their Best Known

Methods every quarter. CAIR, aka Careers At Intel Realised, provides a platform where an employee is given all the resources, tools and support required to work on areas they are passionate about.

Besides, each year, the number of innovation disclosures filed and accepted at the chip major is on the increase. So the Intel India Innovation Award was developed to recognise contributors who have achieved technical/non-technical excellence through innovation, by going beyond operational excellence.

A new award, the Project/Tape-out Bonus, was designed by Intel India in 2007, in order to proactively motivate employees to deliver exceptionally by creating stronger line-of-sight between results and rewards. This is a pre-decided award, clearly associated with key project milestones that are to be accomplished. A host of other employee-friendly measures ensure that what lies Inside Intel is a livewire, friendly and open place to work.

Working on motherboards and chipsets at Intel is not reserved for the bespectacled genius whose life is dedicated to his lab. Instead, it is for those who have a

zest for things besides work and given an opportunity, wouldn't mind working on motherboards either. Praveen Vishakantaiah , CEO of Intel India, on the right work-life blend that makes the chipmaker tick.

What are the main tenets that make Intel one of the best places to work for?

An egalitarian approach towards work is one of the main things that makes the work atmosphere at Intel one of the better places to work in. No differentiation is done between the senior managers and the junior employees and all are put on the same platform. Even when it comes to something as common as flying all our employees business class and just because someone is a CEO, does not mean that he gets special privileges. There are days when the vegetable cart is brought into the campus, so employees including me, can buy vegetables on our way home, saving us from our wives’ wrath!

How does the company ensure that the employees push the technological envelope?

The employee has to feel excited about the work that he is doing and every step is taken to make sure that there is on-the-job innovation done. Innovation is encouraged at every step and whether providing them with new architecture or R&D. Employees are allowed to submit their ideas and spend considerable quality time on innovation.

By what methods is a two-way communication implemented at Intel?

At Intel, transparency and communication are part of their core beliefs. Every employee

gets stock options and the junior employees can even get the value of the money directly, an option that even the seniors do not have in the company. From newsletters where there are guest editors and competitions on the best employee article to sessions held on R&D, every measure is taken to implement an open door policy.

How is it possible to make sure that all are sewn in the same thread of goals and values without micromanaging them?

There is no need to micromanage the employees because the key goals are set keeping in mind so that everyone relates to them. There is an alignment in the goal-setting and all work towardsit.

Marriott Hotels India21 Jun 2010, 0130 hrs IST,Arati Menon Carroll,ET Bureau Save  Print   EMail   Share  Comment Text:

Topics: young manager willard marriott rajeev menon pakistan mumbai menon marriott way marriott india marriott hotels india marriott manager at courtyard maldives malaysia j . w . marriott jr . j india gayatri suri ceo

area vice president Profile: Hospitality; Employees: 2,433

Location: Mumbai; Founded in India: 1927

Gender Ratio (F/M): 1:9.01; Voluntary turnover: 27.37%

Why does Marriott make it to every survey of the world's best companies to work for? Is it because they respectfully call their employees "associates"? Is it because J.W. Marriott Jr., the CEO, makes it a point to visit some 250 hotels a year and meet with employees down the line?

It is because senior executives like Rajeev Menon, Area Vice President, India, Malaysia, Maldives and Pakistan, make it a point to not just greet every employee when they walk into a hotel but also give them a little pat on their back? "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back" - this was what J Willard Marriott said many decades ago. The company still swears by that tenet.

"We might have a legacy to fall back on but we have to make sure we remain relevant to our employees on a daily basis," says Menon, "While our competitors are business-focused, we are associate-focused; we believe the business will take care of itself."

The company's employee policy, he says, rests on three main legs: an open-door policy, empowerment and fairness. "The door to the boss' room is always open for us," says Gayatri Suri, a young manager at Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai.

Every hotel has an integrity hotline that allows employees to call anonymously with grievances. "We have worked hard at creating a culture where there is a level of confidence that your voice will be heard," says Menon. Marriott is also probably the only hotel which has a daily newspaper, called the Daily Packet. The Daily Packet is a communication tool for all employees, a quick snapshot of business as well as special events and associate excellence recognition for the day.

There is also a genuine belief that at Marriott every employee has a fair shot at greatness. Just imagine what it is like to be a concierge at a hotel in Mumbai, India, and find out that you've been selected from among employees across 3,200 hotels worldwide to fly business class to your company's corporate headquarters, be greeted on a red carpet with applause from your colleagues, have lunch with the top executive team and be taken on a VIP tour of Washington, D.C. That's what happened last year at Marriott's annual ceremony and celebration to honour its top associates.

For this reason and more, turnover at Marriott India is generally 8-10% lower than the industry average. Archana Shah has worked with the company for eight years and has seen several of her colleagues quit, only to return a couple of years later.

"They just don't find the same culture anywhere else," she says. A large part of that culture, she says, is about having fun. "In the hospitality industry, we tend to work while everyone is having fun, but we try and make sure working at the Marriott is just as enjoyable," says Menon.

In the spirit of that statement is the annual Associate Appreciation Week, seven days of making sure every associate in every hotel around the world is shown a good time. By the end of this calendar year, Marriott will add four more properties to its portfolio in India. The pace of growth for Marriott India has been rather intense. But, according to Menon, the focus on people issues will not, and cannot, waver. It's the 'Marriott Way'.