A PROJECT REPORT ON TALENT MANAGEMENT AT INFOSYS:

In Partial fulfillment of Post Graduate Diploma in Management

(Full Time Programme)

Prepared

By

Alok R. Dubey

(Roll No-08)

Batch (2008-10)

Parul Institute of Management

PO Limda, TA:Waghodia

Dist: Vadodara, Gujarat-391760

(Approved by AICTE, MHRD, and Govt. Of India, New Delhi)

(JANUARY 2010)

PREFACE:-

As the part of the course curriculum, P.G.D.M students are required to prepare GRAND PROJECT. The objective behind preparing this report is to relate the management subjects taught in the classroom to their practical application.

The preparation of this report is based on bifurcation of Talent Management application at Infosys as a whole i.e. for Recruitment, Compensation, Staffing, Industrial Relations, Administration, Payroll, Performance Appraisal & Evaluation by collecting different materials required from different sources i.e. Primary and Secondary data.

My work in this project is, therefore a humble attempt towards the practical exposure of corporate culture.

Inspite of my best efforts, there may be some errors of omissions, which may please be excused.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:-

I, Alok R. Dubey pursuing in P.G.D.M at Parul Institute of Management is very thankful to Shri N.K. Kapoor, our Director and Prof. Sameer Rohadia who has given me the chance to make complete study on Talent Management at Infosys.

Declaration

The Grand project is the study “Change management with respect of people perspective”. This is the property of institute and use of this report without prior permission of the institute will be considered illegal and actionable.

We hope that this project will be beneficial for the Organization.

Name: - Alok R. Dubey

Place: - PIM, Vadodara

INDEX:

SR NO. / TOPICS COVERED / PAGE N0.
1. / SYNOPSIS: Objectives
Sample Units
Data Collection Tools / 7-8
2. / RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Area Of Coverage
Scope Of The Study / 9
3. / INTRODUCTION OF COMPANY SELECTED FOR PROJECT / 10-11
4. / VISION OF THE COMPANY / 12
5. / MISSION OF THE COMPANY / 13
6. / MANAGEMENT OF INFOSYS / 14
7. / HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT IN INFOSYS / 15
8. / TALENT MANAGEMENT AT INFOSYS / 16-17
9. / IMPROVING WORKFORCE EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH INTEGRATED TALENT MANAGEMENT:(4 PHASES) / 18-25
10. / WHAT DOES TALENT SEEKS AT INFOSYS / 26
11. / RECRUITMENT PROCESS OF INFOSYS USING TALENT MANAGEMENT / 27
12. / SELECTION PROCESS AT INFOSYS / 28
13. / TRAINING PROCESS OF INFOSYS USING TALENT MANAGEMENT / 29-30
14. / PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AT INFOSYS / 31
15. / PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AT INFOSYS / 32
16. / PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES OF INFOSYS / 33-35
17. / INCENTIVE PAYMENT SCHEME / 36-37
18. / SALARY ADMINISTRATION / 38-39
19. / COMPOSITION OF SALARY / 40-41
20. / RETENTION STRATEGY OF INFOSYS USING TALENT MANAGEMENT / 42
21. / QUESTIONNAIRE / 43-47
22. / RECOMMENDATION / 48
23. / CONCLUSION / 49
24. / BIBILOGRAPHY / 50
  1. SYNOPSIS:-

Objectives:-

  1. To know what exactly the Talent Management stands for Infosys.
  2. To compare the theoretical views of talent Management with that of practical aspects. This objective focuses on how Infosys is applying Talent Management in order to recruit, compensate, appraise and retain their employees by satisfying their needs.
  3. To examine how the work structure and functions of HR is designed at Infosys.
  4. Whether the Talent Management has helped Infosys or not to cope up with economical slowdown in India without going for lay-off.
  5. To learn workforce planning with the help of Talent Management.
  6. To place the right people with the right skills into the right jobs, a common definition of talent management, is the basic people management challenge in organizations and how Infosys is dealing with that.
  7. To know how the management of talent is really working for the internal development of human capital.
  8. The performance evaluation systems, 360 degree feedback programs, executive coaching, etc. – were all common in the 1950s but were not effective enough. How talent management has made that more effective.
  9. Talent management is not an end in itself. It is not about developing employees or creating succession plans but also itsimportant task of helping the organization achieve its overall objectives.
  10. In the business world, that objective is to make money.

Sample Units:-

  1. This report has been based on both primary and secondary information. This entire report has been based on the availability of primary and secondary data.
  2. Most of the data has been collected from primary sources and data has also been collected from internet sources, service rules, journals and some exclusive reports.

Data Collection Tools:-

  1. Website of Infosys i.e.
  2. Journals
  3. Other exclusive reports
  4. Service rule booklet.
  5. Face to face conversation with employees as well.

  1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:-

My approach to study, Talent Management was based on both primary and secondary information.

a)Area & Coverage: - All the information gathered is applicable to Indian context only and also it is applicable to Infosys.

b)Scope of the study: - Talent management concept, the subject itself has the wide scope in current organization scenario. In earlier times i.e. in 1970’s this concept was not given emphasis and also was not considered important as well. However, in the emerging era, it has got substantial momentum to explore.

Moreover, this study has been conducted with a focus to learn the subject in depth and enhance the ability to analyze the inferences in organization.

  1. INTRODUCTION OF THE INDUSTRY SELECTED FOR PROJECT:-

Infosys was established in 1981, Infosys is a NASDAQ listed global consulting and IT services company with more than 105,000 employees. From a capital of US$ 250, have grown to become a US$ 4 billion company with a market capitalization of approximately US$ 27 billion.

In their journey of over 28 years, we have catalyzed some of the major changes that have led to India's emergence as the global destination for software services talent.

Infosys pioneered the Global Delivery Model and became the first IT Company from India to be listed on NASDAQ.

Infosys’s employee stock options program created some of India's first salaried millionaires.

Milestones of Infosys:-

  1. In 2008Infosys crossed the revenue of US$ $ 4.18 billion. Employees grow to over 90,000+.
  2. Reports Q4 revenue of US$ 1,142 million.
  3. In2007 Infosys crossed revenues of US$ 3 billion. Employees grow to over 70,000+.
  4. Kris Gopalakrishnan, COO, takes over as CEO. Nandan M. Nilekani is appointed Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors.
  5. Opens new subsidiary in Latin America.
  6. Reports Q2 revenue of over US$ 1billion.
  7. In2006 Infosys celebrated 25 years. Revenues cross US$ 2 billion. Employees grow to 50,000+.
  8. N. R. Narayana Murthy retires from the services of the company on turning 60. The Board of Directors appoints him as an Additional Director. He continues as Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys.
  9. In2005 Records the largest international equity offering of US$ 1 billion from India.
  10. Selected to the Global MAKE Hall of Fame.
  11. In2004 Revenues reach US$ 1 billion.
  12. Infosys Consulting Inc. was launched.

  1. VISION OF INFOSYS:-

1)To help our clients meet their goals through our people, services and solutions

2)Infosys Technologies is willing to take a leading role in shaping the future agenda of its partner communities, as part of its role as a strategic partner at the World Economic Forum at Davos.

3) An exclusive CEO panel discussion was conducted by the company to look at the world one expects to see during the year 2020.

4)The discussion centered on managing uncertainty in a rapidly changing world and addressing five global themes that Infosys predicts will shape our future:

a)Environment and Energy,

b)Healthcare,

c)Education,

d) Economic Inclusiveness,

e) Ethical Governance by discussing potential future scenarios between 2009 and 2020.

  1. MISSION OF INFOSYS:-

1)Infosys International Inc. is dedicated to providing the people, services and solutions their clients need to meet their information technology challenges and business goals.

2)Work to understand the needs and requirements of their clients before proposing a solution.

3)Develop responsive proposals that provide cost-effective solutions to their clients needs.

4)Deploying the right mix of people and products to deliver value-added services and solutions to their clients

5)Follow-up on the quality of their services and solutions to their clients.

6)Appreciating the trust that their clients put in us as they work with them to improve their business and information technology.

7)Aiming at consistently meeting or exceeding our customer's expectations for product and service quality and performance.

8)Ensuring on time delivery.

9)Ensuring continual human resource development.

10)Continually improving their productivity.

  1. MANAGEMENT OF INFOSYS:-

1)Infosys was one of the first companies to offer ESOPs to its employees.

2)The company’s management is following variable compensation structure where the employees' compensation depended on the performance of individual, the team and the company.

3)The management of INFOSYS is following the best practices in human resource management.

4)The management is mainly concentrating on the challenges faced by the company to retain its talented workforce.

5)Management has typical training process in which newly hired candidates are required to go through an intensive 14 week training program.

6)Although all the freshers or newly hired experienced employees required to undergo training every year, some of the chosen employees are trained at the Infosys Leadership Institute to take on higher responsibilities in the company i.e. to make them a part of management itself.

  1. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT IN INFOSYS:-

1)Most of the HR practices of Infosysare result of the vision of its founders and the culture that they had created over the years.

2)The founders advocated simplicity and maintained the culture of a small company.

3)The employees are continuously encouraged to share their learning experiences.

4)Infosys technology is a leading software company based in India, voted as the best employer in the country in many HR surveys in the recent years.

5)The company is well known for its employee friendly HR practices.

6)Infosys is also a consulting and software services organization, which is including its human resources on its Balance Sheet to affirm their asset value.

7)Mr. Mohandas Pai, the Chief Financial Officer of Infosys, provides a rationale for this practice.

8)Infosys’s human resources department is representing the collective expertise, innovation, leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in the employees of an organization.

9)Infosys’s human resource department is based on the belief that intangible assets i.e. effectiveness and efficiency of their employees is a crucial tool to for their investors for evaluating market-worthiness of Infosys as employees efficiency is constantly leading to the integrated development of Infosys.

  1. TALENT MANAGEMENT AT INFOSYS:-

1)Infosys considers the war for talent as on going process.

2)Hence Infosys is making talent management a top priority - by creating and continuously refining their employee value proposition, and source and develop
talentsystematically.

3)Infosys id using big-ticket salaries, stock options and perks like concierge services, flexible schedules, sabbaticals, mortgage payments, even an interesting career path and fun environment utilizing their talent management strategy.

4)Infosys has a rock band that plays at their amphitheatre and at outside concerts.

5)Organisations have started initiatives like workshop and seminars for employees.

6)Film clubs that hold screenings every month.

7)Knowledge sharing forums.

8)Job referral programmes such as Frito Lays’ ‘Bring a Friend to Work’.

9)The firm of the future has an opportunity to be the nexus of communities of practice that attract the best human capital, and to create an environment in which they build superior knowledge assets.

10)This can give it a competitive edge vis-à-vis the talent market, both internal and external

11)Infosys has consistently been rated as one of the most respected companies and sought-after employer

12)While its rapid growth and stellar performance is part of the reason for this perception, its differentiator is clearly its ethical, caring reputation

13)From the image of its leader, to the many stories that surround the company (e.g. how the income tax officials accept tax returns from the company without even checking them) contributes to this image.

14)Tatas or Wipro also enjoy an ethical image, but it’s Infosys that scores a top-of-mind association on this parameter.

15)The learning is clear – it is not just sufficient being principled; one must be seen to be principled by the concerned publics.

Moreover, there are four basic issues on which Infosys is emphasizing more which are as follows:-

  1. IMPROVING WORKFORCE EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH INTEGRATED TALENT MANAGEMENT:
  1. Alignment of Talent Management with Business Strategy and to overcome the problem of limited business development and competitive advantage because of limited availability of Talent.

Infosys believes that the organization who wan t to strengthen their ability to attract and retain employees at all levels to meet the needs of organic and inorganic growth need to have an integrated approach towards Talent Management.

This would not only offer sustainable competitive advantage but also operational benefits like 50% reduced time to productivity, developing targeted capabilities and Talent mobility across the organization.

Integrated Talent Management is lot more than yet another HR Process.

TALENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS:

The talent management process is divided into 3 phases via; Strategy, Process and Systems.

Talent Management Strategy: Holistic alignment of business driving integration of talent processes through unified competency model and enabled by cost-effective Technology.

HR Dashboard: Metrics to track effectiveness of HR initiatives and efficiency of processes.

Workforce Capability Improvement: Improving workforce capability through structured programs withgovernance frameworks. Identify high potential.

 High impact Talent Management opportunities to driveBusiness Strategy, Map high level HR functionalities and Prioritize into a short/medium/long term HR roadmap.

Integrated Talent Management: Competency based HR Framework, Competency definition, Integration ofHR Processes through a backbone of Roles and Competencies.

Visioning and Implementing proves improvement: Best practices based HR Process improvement, definition and implementation.

HR Systems effectiveness: Partner in HR automation initiatives to recommend process improvements, thusenhancing the effectiveness of the system.

HR- IT Alignment: Enhance IT effectiveness through HR-IT Roadmap, develop Business Case andprioritizing IT initiatives based on business needs.

HR Service Delivery improvement: Designing self service and HR Portals.

  1. Most often Infosys found clients struggling with poor results from Talent Management initiatives; be it an investment in technology or a new process.

Some clients facea dilemma of choosing between multiple Talent Managementinitiatives, where as others find it difficult to manage changebecause multiple Talent Management initiatives are kicked

Off at the same time & have interdependencies.

Success of Talent Management initiatives is highly dependent on

the clarity of Talent Strategy.

Strategy Integration means that talent Management should be looked holistically and not as “Performance Management Strategy”, or “Learning Strategy”.

Organizations need to draw out an integrated roadmap, and then act on initiatives that give biggest bang for the buck, based on the appetite for change.

This will benefit them in the long run because though they might implement one initiative at a time, the broad alignment withbusiness strategy is already in place.

Infosys has developed a process for clarifying Talent Strategy.

Progress can be monitored against the Talent Management

Scorecard, Metrics and the strategic roadmap distilled out of the

Talent Strategy.

Our findings and the suggested actions areconsistent with global HR best practices models, and thosecharacteristics that are most valued by employees.

One of the world's largest grocery retailers, with more than 140

Stores and about 24,000 associates faced the challenge of

managingthe market place and competitors.

It then decided to focus ondeveloping a long-term integrated HR strategy to leverage theirtalent to get a competitive edge.

Infosys helped the client indeveloping a 3 year strategy roadmap to align its strategy, and helpedto sequence out process, metrics, and technology requirements.

  1. How to overcome the problem if implemented various Talent Management processes are unable to improve workforce effectiveness?

The answer of this question is given by Infosys as:

Though Talent Management processes can be rolled out sequentially, the bedrock of these competencies must be created upfront.

A simple, yet exhaustive, competency framework providesthe common thread to integrate processes effectively.

For example, if organizations look at talent planning and only took inputs from recruitment, they will miss on large talent pool within theorganization that can be ready for promotion.

Infosys has helped a Utilities company with more than $12 Billion inrevenues and 12000+ employees to identify and map competenciesto roles in alignment with the corporate talent strategy.

They alsodevised a workforce capabilities program.

This resulted in betterresource utilization based on competencies, and laid the foundationof leadership development across hierarchy.

Infosys' HCM Consulting has developed a HR Process AssessmentTool, by leveraging upon Infosys' experience as a Consultant and aPractitioner; and its expertise on best practices.

They leveraged thetool for the world's largest oilfield service company with 25,000+employees, operating from 730+locations across 100+ countries, toconduct a comprehensive process assessment across various TalentManagement areas.

This was followed by identification ofintegration needs and improvement opportunities using the bestpractices framework.

  1. Technology is the critical success factor for rolling out any Talent Management initiatives.

Infosys, with its vast implementation experience with multiple packages, understands that one size doesn't fit all.

Infosys understand the need to leverage the current investments in technology and also the need to have technology support to roll out Talent Management initiatives.

Infosys have helped companies optimize technology investments by integrating existing technologies and implementing new ones.

Technology integration supports deployment of integrated processes, e.g. managers can look at performance data during succession planning or implementing pay for performance.

Technology also provides the means to generate meaningful metrics that cut across processes, for e.g. looking at the performance of an employee over a period of one year v/s their recruitment rating to assess effectiveness of recruitment.

Infosys also offers a platform based solution that offers subscription based pricing.

One of Infosys clients in the CPG industry, with over 45000 employees and operations across the world, was facing a situation where HR.