Employee First - HCL Technologies

The first such articulation in the IT industry—is at the core of our efforts to provide our employees a work environment and culture they take pride in. HCL is committed to provide all its employees the same experience that we promise to external customers—by being proactive and responsive, and through technology and process innovation.

Our HR initiatives strive to provide excellent human resources leadership and expertise to the organization, as also to attract and retain a workforce that is diverse, inclusive and committed to creating quality customer service. At the core of our Employee First philosophy is the concept of talent transformation—recognition and enablement of competencies, as opposed to roles in skilling employees in necessary technical, business and behavioral areas.

The five-fold path [Support, Knowledge, Recognition, Empowerment, and Transformation]. Is about empowering and engaging employees in a unique environment of creating trust through transparency and an inverted organizational structure. It gives employees whatever they need to succeed through various unique initiatives like Career Power, Employee First Councils and ilearn that nurture leaders and give employees the freedom to chart their career path.

In accordance with these tenets, many initiatives have been introduced at HCL to keep the employee first culture alive:

• A smart service desk, where employees can raise a ticket on an internal service provider that is SLA-bound. Functions like admin, finance and training have been enabled to serve the employee
• A CEO Connect through U & I, where the CEO is personally available to every employee in the organization. He tours every location and holds multiple interactive sessions with discussions and Q&As. This is complemented by a fully functional President’s blog
• An Employee First Governing Council, comprising Function Heads who hold Town Hall Meetings and collectively address all employee questions and issues
• 360 Feedback , where employees have the option to rate their managers and the feedback and rating is made public across the organization
• Career Power – We are not prescriptive in the choices employees make. Based on the informed choices that they make, individual career development plans are drawn up which are supported by the company. In an attempt to build this culture in the way we function, HCL has a comprehensive online career portal.

Talent transformationis designed to build behavior based competencies in individuals the world is now not just talking about HCL’s Employee First but also adapting to the model. Our thought leadership through initiatives like Inverting the pyramid where top management is answerable to people below (through Employee Connect portals, Ticket system, etc.); Destroying the office of the CEO – moving away from Center of Command to Group dynamics which nurtures leadership at grass roots; and Open 360 appraisals – where employees can provide feedback on any manager and the results are published in the open in a Portal, is beginning to see the light.

Services - HCL Technologies

HCL provides services across the following business lines -

• Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) - offering services in Hardware, Embedded, Mechanical and Software Product Engineering.
• Enterprise Transformation Services (ETS) - offering services in the areas of Independent Verification and Validation, Process Transformation, Data Management, Integration Services, Architecture Services, Disruptive Technology Services, IT Strategy, and Change Management.
• Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) - division of HCL Technologies Limited has delivery offices across India, UK and USA
• Enterprise Application Services (EAS) - focuses on areas like in ERP, SCM, CRM, HCM, EPM, BI and Middleware. This group is now part of HCL AXON, subsidiary of HCL Technologies, formed after HCL Tech acquired Axon Group plc. for £440m cash offer in 2008.

About - HCL Technolgies

HCL is a global technology enterprise and a name to reckon with, in the industry. The passion of its founder and the entrepreneurial zeal of its employees have made its Information Technology and Software services arm, HCL Technologies [HCLT], a leading provider of business transformation, enterprise & custom applications, infrastructure management, business process outsourcing, and engineering services. Leveraging its extensive global offshore infrastructure and network of offices in 26 countries, HCLT delivers solutions across a wide range of verticals such as financial services, manufacturing, consumer services, public services and healthcare. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of ‘Employees First, Customers Second’ which empowers its 83,076 transformers to create real value for over 500 forward looking customers, seeking to shift paradigms and transform the way business is being done.

When HCLT commenced its transformation journey based on the foundation of ‘Employees First’ in 2005, disruptive technologies and new business models were beginning to impact the industry. HCLT had already anticipated the shift from ‘employer driven’ to ‘employee driven’ market conditions. Today, the impact of this unique management philosophy is being recognized and praised worldwide for empowering employees to become the drivers of growth. HCL has also become one of the fastest-growing IT services companies in the world.

“Employees First, Customers Second – Turning Conventional Management Upside Down” – a business book authored by the CEO Vineet Nayar encapsulating HCLT’s transformation journey from 2005, was launched in June 2010. Already a massive bestseller in key markets, the book has won accolades from leading management thinkers and CEOs such as Tom Peters, Gary Hamel, Tony Hsieh, Judy McGrath, and Victor Fung. Covered by leading media groups around the world, the book has already been translated into five languages – French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese, and over 50 Employees First, Customers Second [EFCS] workshops for clients and partner organizations have been conducted in the USA, UK and APAC regions.