In a scale-driven and brand-obsessed IT services market, iGate has proved that there is space for a mid-tier, niche operator with well-rounded people policies.
In an industry that is almost obsessed with adding thousands of employees every quarter to sustain its white-hot growth, iGate, a NASDAQ-listed IT services and BPO company that has quietly found its way into this listing for the first time, is focussing on value of output, rather than hours billed, making it something of a novelty.
We began as typical body-shopping business and now focus on driving transaction-based contracts," says Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGate. "Yes, we want to grow from 6,000 people today to 25,000 in a few years, but that will not be the linear growth followed by the industry," says iGate's HR Head Srinivas Kandula.
Part of the attraction of working for an emerging company like iGate stems from the fact that it is giving techies an option beyond the Big Boys. "Lots of people don't want to be employee #80,001; here, they get more opportunities to learn about new businesses and work in customerfacing roles," says Mohan Sekar, Head (Delivery), iGate. This, obviously, is a big draw for employees who get to develop a more well-rounded view of their industry than in other IT companies.
"Unlike most large offshore-centric companies, middle and junior managers have much more contact with clients and this increases the attraction of working with us," says Jagadish Iyengar, Associate Vice President, iGate.
The relative lack of scale has worked well for iGate, since it has allowed its top management to build a personal connection with employees across the board, thus, enhancing the sense of belonging among iGators. "We want people to be able to walk into our offices and discuss any problem," says Sekar. For instance, an iGator with around five years of experience can be visible all the way to the top management, including Sekar and perhaps even Murthy.
According to Kandula, the firm organises regular "town hall" meetings for all its employees where employees are encouraged to use the forum to address grievances and make suggestions on their unit or any other business unit. While Murthy attends these meetings around twice a quarter, Sekar usually attends them once a month. "Attention of top management is much higher in a company like iGate and this helps inculcate a sense of belonging among employees who often feel left out in large organisations," says Iyengar.
But despite this, iGate still has to compete for the same people as its (larger) peers and, thus, has had to find other unique methods to try and attract and retain people. "We are among the few IT companies to offer a lucrative restricted stock exchange plan to meritorious employees," says Kandula.
This, too, makes iGate an attractive employer. "iGate is a company in the midst of a turnaround and there is exponential growth potential for the company and its stock. Few companies can lay claim to this," says Iyengar. "We want our employees to be part of our growth strategy over the next few years," says Sekar.
However, several employees BT spoke to say that iGate could be a more generous paymaster. "We will need to relook at areas such as compensation and benefits," says Kandula. But iGate is clearly looking at the longer term and is hoping that the prospect of a stock option windfall over the longer term will offset the perceived lower pay. "Our RSUs (restricted stock units) are strictly quality-based; we don't expect many employees to cash in on their rewards just now, since there is so much potential in the company," boasts Kandula, adding "The fact that a sizeable chunk (30 per cent) of our recruitment takes place through referrals proves that employees find us an attractive place to work in."
With employable talent at a premium, iGate has had to extend a full suite of employee benefits to keep its employees happy. These include flexi-hours, working from home (depending on the job role) and paternity leave. It also hosts "Thank God its Monday" every week to help employees cope with post-weekend blues. Every quarter, employees are taken on retreats near Bangalore and spend time not just on critical business development, but also on any significant personal issues. "We invite top management to these events so that our employees can spend time with them away from the workplace," says Kandula.
But despite these measures, mid-tier companies such as iGate still remain at a disadvantage visa-vis the Big Boys of Indian IT when it comes to recruiting junior and fresh executives, since a strong brand plays a key role in attracting the best talent. "iGate has massive hurdles on campuses where the larger companies, by virtue of being there on Day Zero, effectively get first right of refusal on the best talent," says Gautam Sinha, CEO, TVA Infotech, a Bangalore-based HR consultancy.
Tier I players like Infosys and Cognizant hire 500 to 1,000 people on Day Zero itself, making it much harder for others to get a look-in. "Entry level talent is definitely an area of concern, but we have made progress in the last couple of years, but believe there is plenty of talent that doesn't want to get lost in a large company," says Kandula. More About