It has been more than a year since I discontinued with Infosys Technologies Limited. Even to this day, each moment of the two very special years spent at the Infosys Development Centres (DCs) flash before the mind's eye, as fresh as a blooming lily.
From the day I left home for the first time, with a heart full of exuberance, aspirations and apprehensions, to enter the Mysore DC as a trainee to the day I surrendered my identity card to the security guard at the main entrance of Mahindra City (Chennai SEZ) DC – I was grilled from 8 AM to 11 PM five days a week. As a trainee, I was smart enough to clear the Screening Test that shortlisted candidates for the 'Short Cycle' – which effectively meant that I was supposed to complete the designed training course in 6 weeks, for which most others were allowed to take 12 weeks. As a System Engineer, I was lucky enough to get good projects even during the economic slowdown. I worked as a Contractor – first for Fish4 and later for Bank of America.
As long as I was there, I could never take the time to realize that each day would count so decisively in forming the individual that I am today.
Today, after I have started playing the second innings of my formal student life, it's much easier to be objective in evaluating the time spent as a System Engineer. Here I recall a few values, ethics and principles which were an Infoscion's way of life.
- THE WORLD IS FLAT:
The genuinely world class auditorium at the multiplex that the Mysore DC is known for, was filled with the humming sound caused by the nervous murmuring of close to 1500 fresh engineering graduates. Right in front was the giant LCD screen that can help connect all the DCs worldwide, simultaneously, through Video Conferencing (VC). Above the screen were 7 huge clocks that covered the 7 major time zones on earth. As we allowed ourselves to get awed, a pleasantly heavy voice addressed us – "......At Infosys, it's a Flat World......"
Arun Nair, HR Manager for trainees at Mysore DC, meant that the organization provides a level playing field to all its employees, irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. To make this fact most visible, the Infosys code of conduct mandates each employee to address every other employee by his/her first name – 'The First Name Culture' in Infosys parlance. The move is to ease the organizational hierarchies that can otherwise cripple communication among – and thus effective functioning of the various levels.
It had hardly been 24 hours since this session. Most of us were still trying to cope up with the cultural clash of having to address senior personnel by their first names and not as 'Sir' or 'Ma'm'; when we received a communication from the DC HR team that Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy (NRN) would be addressing the trainees at the DC Amphitheatre. Needless to say that all of us went to hear him speak – the astounding fact was that there was pin-drop silence in the amphitheatre, where more than 5000 trainees and around another 1000 professionals had gathered. Nobody was instructed towards maintaining any specific disciplinary rule or code, but everyone stood up to greet the founder and Chief Mentor; allowed the eager trainees to move on first; shifted seats to make places for people who were still streaming in, even if it meant moving out of their comfort zones and sitting beside individuals whom they had never known; and yes-nobody munched chips or cookies. (I wish our elected representatives realized that they have a lot to learn from such personalities!)
After he had spoken for 15 minutes – as he had promised to do; Mr. Narayana Murthy called for an open house question-answer session. The first question was sought from a lady; and without a second thought I grabbed the chance. Here's a part of the conversation that followed:
ME: 'Good Afternoon, Sir...'
NRN: 'Good Afternoon, Madam! J How long have you been with Infosys?'
ME: 'Sir, I joined yesterday.'
NRN: 'Oh! Well....I see. You'll learn the ways of the organization soon. For the time being, let me tell you: To all Infoscions, I am Murthy – that should remind you of something you heard last afternoonJ, during the induction programme.'
I got the message. I should not have addressed him as 'Sir'.
What left me stunned was the fact that the person holding one of the highest chairs of the organization is meticulous enough to keep in mind the minute details of the training and the induction programme; and there's no way to realize that from the simplicity and humility of his being.
That's the way at Infosys. For all practical purposes, hierarchies are eased to the maximum possible extent; yet, all mistakes are pointed out – sharply and publicly, taking special care not to embarrass any individual.
- THE GLOBAL DELIVERY MODEL
Infosys is known in the industry for pioneering the Global Delivery Model (GDM). This ensures the distribution of both business and application process life-cycle activities and resources, ensuring their proper integration at the same time.
The sole idea is to provide a complete operational backup for every DC. Every Project account is simultaneously maintained at two DCs, so that, if, by any chance one DC faces an operational shutdown, the other DC can take up the work in its entirety. The model is also known as the 70-30 model, because 70% of the work is taken care of at the offshore DCs across India and 30% is handled at onsite.
This is facilitated through the robust process-orientation which allows the delivery of work solutions from multiple work locations. Software Developers at each DC can take up an unfinished work of any other DC, just by following the processes, clearly outlined using the ETVX (Entry-Task-Verification-Exit) paradigm. As an additional aid, the detailed descriptions of all such processes are stored in the central Knowledge Base – the K-shop (Knowledge Shop).
To ensure that the GDM can be implemented with less than minimal glitches as and when required, we – the employees, were required to take up tests that evaluated our basic knowledge and understanding of one or the other process, at regular intervals. This evaluation formed a part of the formal appraisal process.
GDM ensures that the client is not affected adversely in any situation and that the value for money is always provided.
- C-LIFE
C-LIFE summarizes the Infosys Value System.
C: Customer Focus
L: Leadership by Example
I: Integrity & Transparency
F: Fairness
E: Excellence in Execution
As an organization, Infosys works towards fostering excellence in relations with investors, employees and all stakeholders including the society.
It's certainly more than just difficult to sustain such a value system in an organization of 100000+ employees. Each individual is a separate entity while entering the organization - with a uniquely recognizable value system acquired over a period of close to 20+ years. Inducing a new set of values and ethics, at such a stage, where the organizational value system might even clash with the individual value system, is a challenge – to which a formal 'Code of Conduct' might not always be the right answer.
The trick that makes this work is giving each employee a feeling that the organization is his/her own.
Customer Focus is ensured by allowing every individual with adequate visibility to the client. Individuals working on a certain project for a certain client get the feeling of their work being important to the organization and the client – thus motivating them to perform their level best. Also, individual client ratings were an important consideration during the Infosys appraisal process.
In the presence of individuals like Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy (Murthy), Mr. Nandan Nilekani (Nandan), Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris) and Mr. Mohandas Pai (Mohan); Leadership by Example was a default phenomenon. Mr. Nilekani is not with Infosys anymore, but the confidence of the Indian Prime Minister and a greater part of the Indian populace in the success of the mission he has now undertaken, speaks volumes about his leadership. This culture percolates down to the lowest level. No senior expects a junior to take up any responsibility without demonstrating it himself/herself. Punctuality is honoured by everyone; but sought explicitly only by individuals who practice it. During my tenure, I never met an individual who preached without practising.
Individual Integrity is one of the key factors in the success and growth of a 100000+ employees' organization. Here again the policies of Practicing before preaching and giving due importance to individual contribution work wonders.
Fairness is not just a norm – at Infosys, it's a way of Life.
The robust and clear appraisal mechanism makes it easy to evaluate the work and/or the work product as the case may be, without evaluating the individual. This ensures that personal bias does not paralyse the appraisal process. Giving every individual his/her due is important to get his/her best efforts at work – this fact is recognized and honoured at Infosys.
For an Infoscion at work, Sky is the Limit. Excellence in Execution is quantified by ensuring that the best practices are followed at every minute stage of the process that leads to the making of the final work product. At Infosys, every contributor dares to aim for perfection, practically, settling for excellence. The deliverable thus produced, is of a superior quality.
- THE INVERTED 'M':
Special Care is taken to ensure that Team Spirit is maintained at all levels. For almost all practical purposes, an Infoscion's motto is: Not Me, but WE. The Inverted 'M' stands for 'W' – that makes ME, WE.
Apart from organizing team building activities at regular intervals at both the micro and the macro levels, initiatives are taken up to make the team members comfortable. Here are a few such initiatives that are taken up throughout the organization:
- MENTORSHIP ASSISTANCE: Whenever a fresher enters a project team, the usual response is awe – of everything being larger than life. Effectively, an individual is reduced to just a number – the employee number. To make sure that this doesn't frustrate the individual and/or adversely affect his psycho-somatic ability to put in best efforts at work, every fresh graduate is assigned a mentor – who is usually a senior member of the project team, for a certain period that differs for different individuals. The idea is to help the new comer to get acquainted with the ways of the organization; to make him/her aware of the expectations that the team would keep from him based on his skill set and performance during the training and making clear the channels of individual growth.
- KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER (KT) SESSIONS: KT Sessions are important for a number of reasons:
- No Resource can be allowed to become Inevitable. In case of an absence, the team or the client should not suffer the pangs of incomplete work.
- As an individual continues to work for a certain client, on a certain project, he/she does get a hold on both the technical and the business aspects of the project. But, at the same time the individual also gains seniority and is continuously monitored and appraised. A time would come when the same project will not be able to offer any new opportunities or challenge to the person. In such a situation, he/she would have to be shifted elsewhere, so that his/her personal growth is not hampered.
- No Resource can be allowed to become Inevitable. In case of an absence, the team or the client should not suffer the pangs of incomplete work.
During appraisals, the number and quality of KT Sessions taken up by an individual, is considered. A person giving KTs has higher rating than a person who just attends KTs. This move acts as a catalyst to effective Knowledge Sharing at the organizational level and also helps build strong and well-bonded teams.
Moving forward with the course of study, which will possibly lead me to a different organization, I wonder about the work culture of the new place. For reasons well discernable from the style of scribbling of this piece, I have chosen to retain and nurture the values that Infosys helped me inculcate. Hope it'll fit well wherever I go.
Till Then....Good Hope!
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