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 At
Patni Computer Systems (PCS), every one of its 4,654 members is
considered a key employee, irrespective of their designation. PCS
is a company which believes in investing heavily in their employees.
A global IT solutions and consultancy provider, with an established
tradition of delivering high quality, reliable, cost-effective software
services, PCS is ranked among the top software exporters in India.
PCS services its clients through 18 international offices and six
state-of-the-art development centres in India. An ISO 9001 company,
it has been assessed at SEI-CMM Level 5.
The
mission statement of the company is in keeping with their HR initiatives.
The company seeks to maximise the value of their services to the
customer by solving customer problems, maintaining globally comparable
productivity, providing world-class quality and continually upgrading
technology. They also aim at developing a competent and prosperous
workforce by stressing growth from within and providing competitive
remuneration.
“The
training delivery organisation is separated from HR. However, the
inputs for training come from HR. We have a comprehensive approval
program. In the first year an employee would probably go through
four appraisals,” says Milind Jadhav, vice president, Human
Resources. These would include appraisals at the time of induction,
confirmation, followed by one by the manager who has trained the
employee and finally an annual appraisal. He further states, “The
HR team is dedicated towards this appraisal process, which follows
a highly defined methodology.” The extensive in-house training
program not only ensures that all the people are ready to perform,
but gives the company the ability to rapidly develop deep expertise
“Two
major HR initiatives which we have recently launched are People
Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) and PeopleSoft,” says Jadhav.
The P-CMM is a roadmap for implementing workforce practices that
continuously improve the capability of an organisation’s workforce.
Each progressive level of P-CMM produces a unique transformation
in the organisation’s culture by equipping it with more powerful
practices for attracting, developing, organising, motivating and
retaining its workforce.
“We
are in the process of developing an online recruiting system on
our intranet. When we receive resumes, each individual resume is
given a specific ID, and is then assigned to an owner within the
HR department. This system would allow the manager to look into
the database to see if the individual fits their requirements. This
helps the manager to hire with minimal intervention from other departments,”
notes Jadhav. He adds, “Another unique feature of our intranet
is `CEO online’, wherein we will create the chairman’s
page on the intranet. Employees will be able to access this page
to view anything previously said or respond to anything said by
him.”
 “The
work environment is very informal, PCS is like one huge family.
It is this family sort of culture which holds people together,”
stresses Jadhav, adding, “The company is responsive to the
needs of its employees irrespective of their level of seniority.”
Jadhav feels that this is reflected in the fact that most employees
have been working with PCS for several years. The company has provided
them with the opportunity to grow, mature and evolve as individuals.
This factor is also responsible for the attrition rate of the company.
“Currently attrition rate is 12 percent across the board. Even
whilst facing our worst times it has not exceeded 20 percent,”
he points out.
In
their endeavour to understand the needs of their employees, PCS
annually conducts Employee Expectation Surveys. “I believe
in this rather than satisfaction surveys because it is difficult
to judge employee satisfaction when one does not know employee expectation,”
says Jadhav. Climate surveys are also conducted every alternate
year to understand the health of the organisation from the employees’
view point.
“People
go all out to make you feel comfortable, to guide you and you are
immediately inducted into the team. You realise how linked the organisation’s
mission is to people,” says Jane Krishnan, manager corporate
communications, whilst recounting her experience.
“My
experience over the last 20 years in various companies has made
me realise that the value systems and ethics practised at PCS are
what most people would like to see,” says Jadav. Elaborating,
he says honesty, integrity, excellence and a deep sense of pride
in working for PCS are what characterise the employees.
Jadhav
emphasises that PCS stands by its statements. “We show through
our deeds our commitment towards our employees,” he says. He
cites the example of several companies who withdrew offers in wake
of the IT slowdown. “PCS, however has not withdrawn any offers.
235 people have joined from campuses as promised. We may not be
a very highly publicised name but we continue to attract and retain
people,” comes the addition.
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People
