There is more stability at Infosys now than there had been a few years ago. At the same time, the IT industry is witnessing several changes, including a major push in digital technology. Hence, the focus has turned to reskilling, retraining existing employees, and tweaking compensation to align with new industry standards. In an interaction with BusinessLine, Infosys’ Executive Vice-President and Group Head-Human Resources, Krish Shankar shares the company’s strategy to peg down attrition levels, retain top talent, and provide opportunities for the employees to grow their skill sets. Excerpts:
How has Infosys’ HR policy evolved over the years, considering the fact that there is more focus on digital offerings now?
The digital business contributes about 30 per cent of our total revenues, and is growing at a rate of 25-30 per cent. There is a lot of technology which is at play as far as our policy is concerned. There are four elements to our strategy — driving digital, re-energising our core, reskilling, and building local talent. We want to make sure that people get a career that never stands still. That is also the promise we make to our employees.
Obviously, employees need more reskilling now than before because of the technological changes...
We have created a roadmap for skilling our employees. We have created a set of 32 key skills at which they should be adept. Those who are successful get a ‘skill tag’, which shows their expertise at one or even more of the skills. We have also created a framework for agile careers for employees’ growth. Based on different skills and capabilities, they can choose what they want. For example, we have created a programme called ‘power programmer’. Those who are successful are perhaps the best we have. They also get rewarded; for example, their benefits are doubled. Then there are bridge programmes, which allow an employee to move into newer roles, like consulting, and in turn we reward them with better salaries. So, for every new skill they acquire, they are rewarded.
So, does that mean there has been a shift in the strategy?
We have moved to a new performance management system called iCount. Earlier, we had a relative ranking system, but now it is based on an individual’s absolute performance. It focusses more on giving feedback. There was a feeling that we have to get our performance system in tune with what the employees want and what is relevant for the business. Any system that is put in place should enable employees to improve their performance. This has allowed employees to get feedback from others. If, for example, I have done a project where three other people were involved, I can seek immediate feedback from them.
Is there any programme to train future leaders at Infosys?
We are training a set of people who will take leadership positions in the company over a period of time. We identify 50-60 people and make them go through individual training. This includes a stint at Stanford University as well. At the lower level, we train about 25,000 fresh graduates every year at our Mysore Development Centre who go through a six-month training and then are deployed to other centres.
Higher attrition levels must surely be an area of concern?
Attrition is quite cyclical. We have had low attrition earlier, but last year, it went up on rising demand. Around this time, employees leave for further education. I think overall, our focus is on how to create an environment for people to grow. We pride ourselves as a company where growth and career development are a priority. But attrition has been more at the lower levels, especially in the last 3-5 years period.
Some employees have claimed on review site Glassdoor that the salaries have not kept pace with the current industry standards...
We are competitive as far as the IT industry is concerned. But there are different parts to that. We have competitors who may pay more but have a disadvantage in terms of lack of career growth. We are trying to ensure our focus is on the early-career growth and we are strengthening that.
What are the changes in the new stock option plan that you have rolled out recently?
The feedback we got was that we should increase the penetration of stock options and link the company’s performance to shareholder growth. So instead of merely having a stock option which will vest automatically, we have linked it with performance and total shareholder return. The idea is to ensure that as a company we keep the value of the shareholders in mind. As we grow, they will also get rewarded.
The middle managers at several IT companies are seen as dispensable. So, is it possible to do away with their role altogether?
The role of the managers keeps changing, but they are needed because they connect people. One major aspect of our HR policy is to that we try to make our managers perform better. We have a tool called ‘MaQ’ or manager quotient where each of the managers gets feedback. They are tested on parameters like how innovative they are, whether they are able to inspire their individual teams, coach their colleagues properly, and on the execution of projects.