Focus On… Innovation!

Putting Employees First What kind of company would put employees first and customers second? What kind of executive would consider employees more important than managers? These are some of the innovative views of Vineet Nayar, Chief Executive Officer of HCL Technologies. Located near New Delhi, India, HCL employs 30,000 people in the competitive information technology outsourcing business. Employee empowerment comes first with Nayar. He is a strong believer that effective teamwork and motivated employees build a great company. He trusts employees so much that management evaluation is put in their hands. Every employee rates not only his or her own boss but also any three other managers in the company. Employees fill out an 18-item questionnaire and the results are posted online where all employees and managers can review them.

Putting Employees First (cont’d) Another innovation in employee empowerment is the employee “ticket.” Whenever employees see a problem or want managers to take some action, they can immediately fill out an electronic form. The issue can be as simple as a problem with the menu in the cafeteria or as major as a product defect. The “ticket” is immediately routed to a manager who becomes responsible for the solution. And when is the solution satisfactory? Not until the employee who filed the original form is satisfied. A public question-and-answer space is provided on the company's intranet, where any employee can post a question and receive a reply from management. Again, all questions and answers can be reviewed by every employee. Over 400 questions are posted each month. Managers are actually rewarded by the number of employee tickets and questions submitted—the more, the better. HCL managers receive regular training in how to be effective in an empowered work environment. Key courses are negotiation skills and expectation management—how to meet the expectations of employees.

Putting Employees First (cont’d) The results of the company's employee empowerment program have been outstanding. Employee retention rates have doubled in an industry where highly skilled employees change jobs regularly to increase their pay. At the same time, sales, profits, and the company's stock price are climbing. “I want to be the company that gives superior service to my employees compared to everybody else,” Nayar says.

THINK CRITICALLY Do you agree or disagree with Vineet Nayar's management philosophy? Why or why not? Would you like to work as a manager in that type of company? Why or why not? How do you believe customers feel about Nayar's views that employees are first and customers are second?