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“Everything
is an employee-driven effort at Rainbow, where HR just plays a support
function facilitating the employees’ wishes,” says Rajesh
Pathak, the assistant human resource manager of Rainbow Information
Technologies (RIT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Rainbow
Technologies Inc. The company is a leading provider of services
and solutions for securing e-commerce and the Internet.
Its
offerings are broadly categorised into anti-piracy solutions for
software licensing, Internet-based software distribution, PKI-based
security solutions, secure Web server and VPN acceleration boards;
USB-based authentication tokens; and voice, data and satellite security
systems. In the software licensing and protection network and link
security area, the company offers Sentinel Keys and SentinelLM product
lines. As part of its server security and acceleration offerings
it provides the CryptoSwift HSM product. Client security and authentication
offerings include iKey USB tokens. The NetSwift iGate is targeted
at secure Web access-instant private Web.
 What
is noteworthy is the customer focus which forms the core value of
RIT. So much so that Deepak Prasad, the country director of Indian
operations, identifies it as the reason behind the success of the
organisation. Starting as a mere sales office, RIT has grown by
almost five times since its inception. And that is not all—RIT
has also acquired a strategic position in the global business of
Rainbow Inc, having been chosen to set up the only offshore software
development centre and core engineering unit of the parent company.
Besides this, RIT also has a separate tech-support centre which
acts as a hub for all the APAC offices of Rainbow. “We started
in 1997 with five people; presently we are 100. Though the number
might not sound very impressive compared to other players, what
has been important is the growth we have been able to achieve in
this span of time,” says Prasad.
Challenges
within
According
to Pathak, since RIT is a product company, the issues are also different
as compared to a project-based company. This means that the HR-related
issues are also different. “While in the project-based structure
there is always uncertainty about the new project or technology,
in a product company the goals are already pre-defined, which puts
an individual at ease. Also, what can be of concern to the project
manager is attrition, as the leaving of an individual will not mean
just a loss in terms of a person, but also the extra effort to train
a new one and help him understand the whole project. There is also
doubt whether he will be able to come up to the expected level,”
says Pathak. Rainbow itself has been successful in lowering attrition
rates. From an employee sustenance period of eight months, the company
now has an average stay of two-and-half years; last year, only two
people left RIT.
Induction
Getting
into Rainbow is not easy. Since the company is positioning itself
as an end-to-end IT security solutions provider, with a wide spectrum
of offerings ranging from anti-piracy software to Internet security
solutions, this gets reflected in its selection of candidates. Being
a product company, Rainbow makes sure that whoever joins them can
gel well with the organisation. “There is a lot of brainstorming
which goes into selecting an individual. Besides the five to six
rounds of interviews, there is also constant effort to determine
how well the individual will gel with the company. As with any new
candidate, you have to invest time and money,” says Pathak.
If selected, the individual then goes through an induction programme
which helps to familiarise him with the company’s core values,
product offerings and services. (It is understood that RIT will
soon be inviting candidates to take psychometric tests.)
Training
Training
is an ongoing process at Rainbow. Considering the kind of importance
which the Indian subsidiary holds, RIT makes an extra effort to
train newcomers in every aspect of their products. The company might
not require fancy qualifications while recruiting an individual,
but it makes sure it spends the right amount of time with the person,
helping him to become well-versed with security issues. RIT also
provides specific training about PKI and cryptography.
 Though
the initial training might be of two weeks, there is a lot more
product and technology-specific training which keeps on happening.
On an average, there is close to four-five months of training. According
to Pathak, the company also makes sure that equal attention is given
to soft skills training which has become essential in today’s
world. “Every year, March to July, we have daily training sessions
in the morning; these are more of employee-driven efforts wherein
individuals take classes on their own in the subject which they
have expertise in.”
Recently,
RIT asked an outside agency to conduct an employee-satisfaction
survey. Improving employees’ communication and inter-cultural
skills is also on the agenda. “We realised that since the business
was growing, much better communication skills were needed to not
only interact with our colleagues in other countries, but also with
our international customers,” Pathak explains. Now RIT is toying
with the idea of starting courses in French and Chinese for its
employees.
Appraisals
Appraisals
are a monthly affair at Rainbow. While earlier the company used
to have yearly appraisals, starting this year they have gone in
for monthly appraisals. This is more of an employee-driven initiative.
In one of their brainstorming sessions with employees, the company
found out that they themselves wanted to increase the frequency
of the appraisal. Reason? Not only did it help them understand their
own potential, it also indirectly impacted the organisation’s
growth. Now every month every person sets his own goal, and his
performance is assessed at the end of every month. This helps him
identify gaps early, which he can work on. The company will soon
be going in for 360-degree appraisals, with some degree already
on for the top management. “We believe that one needs a certain
level of maturity to take criticism, and that’s why we have
first started it for the top two layers of management,” says
Prasad. The company’s HRD mantra: ‘Your development is
organisational development.’
Close-knit
work culture
Ever
since it started, the company has followed a close-knit work culture
policy. This means that not only does the top management take the
initiative to establish close relationships with their colleagues,
but they also reach out so that there is no hierarchical wall which
comes in between them and other employees.
That’s
what the company tries to do at the family level too. Besides arranging
for regular meetings with the family members, RIT also involves
the family of an employee in his success. “In case an individual
has done well, we try to thank his family members for helping him
achieve that success,” says Prasad.
Rainbow’s
other core values are teamwork, integrity and continuous value-addition.
In all this, the top managers make sure they set an example first.
Unless they lead, they know others won’t follow.
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