HCl TECHNologIES

HCl Technologies
7th floor
68 King William Street
London EC4N 7DZ
Telephone: 020 7105 8600
Email: [email protected]
www.hcltech.com

vertical markets including banking, insurance, around integrated service offerings to solve
Pay and Benefits retail, aerospace, media and entertainment, business problems. “It’s our blue ocean strategy,”
Training and Development
healthcare, automotive, semiconductors, life says Sawhney. “We have established true end-
Career Development
Working Conditions sciences and telecommunications. HCL is to-end service offerings, solving customers’
Company Culture unique in its ability to source operations almost problems rather than just offering services.”
anywhere across the globe and the breadth of HCL is an ‘Employee First’ organisation,
Facts and Figures its outsourcing capabilities. launching internal initiatives designed to give
Total Staff: 3,500 in the UK (60,000 worldwide)
locations: London, with network of offices in 26 countries
employees more personal responsibility for
Sector: Global IT services About the Organisation its service offerings and a voice with senior
annual Turnover: US$2.2 billion, from HCL Group’s US$5 billion Since moving into IT services, HCL has focused management. HCL’s enlightened approach to
on technology and R&D outsourcing. While employee development focuses on giving people
it realised offshore models may provide whatever they need to succeed, be it a virtual
profitability, sustainability could only be assistant or talent transformation sabbaticals;
secured if the right talent and operations could expert guidance or fast-track growth; inner
Biggest Plus be developed for clients across the globe. The peace or democratic empowerment.
HCL’s egalitarian principles of its ‘Employee First’ philosophy combined with trust, transparency company has a strategy to create a sustainable At HCL ‘a five-fold path to individual
and flexibility revenue stream by offering the right outsourcing enlightenment’ ensures that employees are
location for any client – replacing offshore given support, knowledge, recognition, em-
Greatest Challenge outsourcing with the right shore, set against powerment and transformation to excel pro-
To deliver fiscal improvements year-on-year while providing excellent customer satisfaction for a philosophy of ‘the employee comes first’. fessionally and contribute to HCL’s growth.
lower cost and striving for carbon-neutral status Delivery centres have been opened in Poland, HCL’s Employee First approach is the basis
Brazil and Finland, the former a multilingual for case studies at Harvard Business School and
Summary centre supporting 14 languages. London Business School.
Part of the US$5 billion (£3 billion) HCL Group, HCL Technologies of India is a US$2.2 billion “Transformation is the basic agenda,”
(£1.33 billion) global IT services company, providing software-led IT solutions, business process says Rajeev Sawhney, president of HCL Europe. Company Culture
outsourcing (BPO) and remote infrastructure management (RIM) services. HCL currently employs “Enabling transformation in employees leads The Employee First strategy is unique in enabling
some 60,000 professionals worldwide, including 3,500 in the UK. It makes use of an extensive to value creation for all stakeholders.” To drive employees to provide ‘360-degree feedback’ on
offshore infrastructure and a global network of offices in 26 countries, to deliver solutions across profitability, HCL continues to position itself their superiors, and it is possible to effect positive »

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changes and for any employee to raise issues entrepreneurship and the flexibility in the system.
with Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies. If someone has an idea – to improve a process, “If someone has an idea – to
“There are three key attributes which for example – the ethos is ‘go for it’. And people improve a process, for example

HCl TECHNologIES
drive our behaviour and policies, namely trust, do,” says Govil. This melds with the overarching – the ethos is ‘go for it’. and
transparency and flexibility,” says Rajiv Govil, initiative that ‘the employee comes first’. people do”
director, HR Europe. “Emphasising these HCL acquired the consultancy group Axon
attributes are the egalitarian principles on which in a surprise move in December 2008, with other rajiv govil, director, Hr Europe
the company is run. All benefits apply equally to deals in the pipeline. “It’s an ongoing process,”
all employees at all levels. says Govil. Axon’s entrepreneurial employee
“For people with ambition who want to culture is similar to that already existing at HCL.
take the initiative and deliver something, HCL Employee engagement is one key ob-
is the place to be. There is encouragement at jective for HR, given that employees work in
all levels to be proactive in skills and there are different locations across 26 countries, and this
continual efforts to achieve higher excellence. is achieved through corporate-level initiatives Qualifications are important within HCL. from HCL. RIM is a service offering pioneered
“A major attraction is the spirit of and regional customised programmes. Some 20% of staff have achieved postgraduate by HCL that allows multi-location, multi-facility
qualifications (such as an MBA, MSc and infrastructure management to be handled not
MTech) and 60% are graduates. just centrally but remotely. HCL is a one-stop
shop IT partner to its clients, with flexibility a
“The opportunity to work with Innovation and Creativity key attribute.
the best-of-breed in the industry HCL is at the heart of developing industry
in a collaborative atmosphere standard technology. Today the mantra running Pay and Benefits
brings out the best in you” through the company is that ‘customers want HCL recognises that it operates in a competitive
“After 11 years in industry and quitting a more for a lesser price’, and the only way to market and must offer attractive packages to
good job in one of the world’s top technology service this is through innovation and creativity. its staff. “Our remuneration packages range
companies, going back to university for a degree That HCL has been successful is proof of how from better-than-average graduate salaries
in management studies is a tough decision. innovation happens here. (starting at approximately £26,000) up to six-
Picking the next employer was even tougher. An internal blog initiated by the CEO figure sums for professionals with a range of
called ‘U&I’ addresses all 60,000 employees global responsibilities,” says Govil.
“I joined HCL under the GEM – Global Executive and enables them to raise any issue – and “We offer a relatively simple formula of
Management – programme, which sets out Nayar, in return, also asks employees, “How do two components – fixed salary and bonus. Our
to build HCL’s next generation leadership. I we build innovation?” performance bonus structure runs from July to
was soon participating in multi-million dollar HCL gained the (world’s) first BS15000 June in line with the company’s financial year,
deals and experienced the passion and energy certification for a customer-dedicated offshore the bonus being paid in October. Recently, for
of HCL-ites. The opportunity to work with the development centre. BS7799 security accredi- our sales staff, we moved to offering quarterly
best-of-breed in the industry in a collaborative tation has been achieved, as well as COPC, performance bonus payments, strengthened the
atmosphere brings out the best in you. On- the most coveted certification in the customer sales organisation by doubling its size, and have
the-job training was supplemented by two- service provider industry. HCL has also been now increased it by 30% to grow the business
week corporate training where you are not only awarded AS9100 certification, the de facto aggressively and penetrate new markets.”
made familiar with the organisation but you quality standard for the demanding aerospace The company takes pride in its egalitarian
also meet your peers from across the world.” industry, and ISO13485:2003 quality standard principles. Generous BUPA medical and
applicable to the design, development and travel insurance are offered to employees and
manu Sharma, business manager for telecom manufacture of medical devices. dependants. Other benefits include stakeholder
media and entertainment, with HCl for more HCL innovation can be found in almost and money purchase pension schemes.
than a year any industry. Some 35% of car electronics and “The global company is listed on the
the software behind the latest dashboards come Indian Stock Exchange and our stock option »

88 BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2010 www.britainstopemployers.co.uk 89

 Corporate Social Responsibility be given free high-school education. The vision
HCl is an ‘Employee First’ HCL has appointed a senior executive in charge of the VidyaGyan scholarships is to build future
organisation, launching internal of CSR. It continues to focus on good corporate leaders from rural India using education as a tool

HCl TECHNologIES
initiatives designed to give governance in line with local and global to bridge the rural-urban divide. The programme
employees more personal standards. Its primary objective is to create and brings potentially high-achieving students onto
responsibility for its service adhere to a corporate culture of conscience a par with their urban counterparts.
offerings and a voice with senior and consciousness, integrity, transparency Govil also points to the per capita footprint
management and accountability for the efficient and ethical (PCF), which is expected to decrease while per
conduct of business. capita income (PCI) increases. “PCI is increasing
Given its global operations, HCL has a alongside increasing revenues and employee
presence in nations where education is not as growth; we are global and service customers
easily available to everyone as it is in the West. where they are located – all of which means
HCL operates foundations run by the chairman’s (international) travelling is unavoidable,” says
plan applies to 20% of our global population,” assesses capability and competence, showing office to remedy this need. Recently Shiv Nadar, Govil. “So we use video conferencing judiciously.
says Govil. The plan is open to new staff at gaps and learning needs, defining career goals founder of HCL, launched a social initiative, “The intention is to have mechanisms in place
certain levels and returns will depend on the and leading to internal job opportunities. ‘VidyaGyan’, in India where the brightest students to measure continuously to ensure PCF reduces.
company’s performance. Long-term service Meanwhile, the new US$3m Eagles’ Nest from hundreds of villages in Uttar Pradesh, would The goal is to achieve carbonneutral status.”
awards are offered for five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 programme provides the 400 sales staff with a
years’ service and can take the form of a letter bird’s eye view of HCL.
from the CEO and president, mementos and gift Three groups are targeted for training:
vouchers, among others. sales and marketing; project/service delivery; “Joining HCL has offered me
The company leased car policy was and corporate functions. HCL provides an continual opportunities to
discontinued several years ago and has since average of 11 training days a year for each expand on what I can do”
been replaced with an allowance, wherever it is employee. Just over half (53%) of the training “I believe that HCL is an equal opportunity
justified by the role’s demands. Flexible support focuses on technical skills, 30% on soft skills and employer offering training to all its employees.
is offered to all sales and corporate staff with the rest is divided between management/quality Through its learning management system and
everyone receiving a laptop and BlackBerry. and engineering skills. day-to-day activities it enables formal and
“There is a family feel to this company,” While HCL continues to offer a structured informal learning. And with its online learning
Govil says. “People can work from home approach to training, there is now a fresh (iLearn) and training programmes, it has provided
depending on project demands, client needs focus upon on-the-job training. “Staff can now me with flexibility in where and when I learn.
and managers’ discretion, while flexible working enhance their roles and capabilities by moving
arrangements are also available.” from project to project, assimilating actionable “Working with HCL has given me opportunities
experience of real environments,” says Govil. to explore variety, learning, teamwork and
Career Development Management training is handled by growth. Joining HCL has offered me continual
Training is delivered through a mix of on- the T2iD team – Talent transformation entre- opportunities to expand on what I can do. It has
site, classroom training at an offshore centre, preneurship development – which provides a given me an opportunity to challenge myself with
computer-based methods and employee-driven competency-based development programme interesting work focused on delivering innovation
self-initiatives. The emphasis is on self-managing for new and developing managers. and proven solutions. It has nurtured me into an
training and development, with employees For example, the FLAME (First leap in individual who can help customers become high-
sharing responsibility. HCL has doubled the achieving managerial excellence) programme performance businesses.”
number of courses on offer and introduced the is designed to develop and groom first-time
US$10m iLearn e-learning system. managers by giving them critical competencies anup Prakash Udayan, strategic relationship
Career Power is a self-managed tool required for a successful managerial role. manager for aero & defence in Europe, with
which employees use to manage their careers. FLAME aims to groom HCL’s next generation HCl for five years
Rolled out in summer 2008, the system of corporate leaders.

90 BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2010 www.britainstopemployers.co.uk 91