• HCL Infosystems stars in the survey, with the biggest performance jump • Fewer MNCs find a place in the top three categories • Growth opportunity was the most critical parameter of employee satisfaction, followed by work culture, job content, and others • Salary doesn't matter. Almost. It's seventh in the list of factors for joining a company, down from fifth last yearl Infosys high brand equity value remained unchanged for the fourth year in a row, and Wipro is back in the top five as one of the dream companies The Star Employers Indian IT's Star Employers The E-Sat Top Ten Home Sweet Home? Employee Satisfaction The 'HR Scores' Sizing Them Up The Best Brands The Wishlist The Power Of Retention/The Attrition Fever How They Stack Up On Parameters

Growth 2.0. That's how we chose to describe the year that has just gone by. The IT industry in fiscal 2004-05 was in growth mode: the industry grew by 33%, while exports (that's 65% of the total industry, including BPO) climbed 36%. And people (what our Best Employers Survey is all about), in IT software and services alone, grew then numbers at a CAGR of 23.6% over five ytears; while the industry headcount, including BPO, crossed the million mark.

People, as we all know, are an integral part of growth in any industry and IT is no different. It has been two years since the great depression and the stagnation and layoffs, and the hefty increments had disappeared-professionals were only too happy to trade in their increments for a secure job. But the worst is now over and the booming job market, increased hiring across levels, and the double-digit industry growth spell out the good times.

Our BES results this year indicate that the industry is in a phase of maturity and employee priorities are changing. Satisfaction parameters too have changed. Job security and stability are no longer key parameters. Employees across 32 companies considered issues like challenges at the workplace, flexibility and work-life balance, job content, and growth opportunity and career development as critical measures of satisfaction.

And the Winner is...?
Instead of ranking companies, we decided to put our best employers into five categories-Five Star, Four Star, Three Star, Two Star and One Star-this year. A low profile HCL Infosystems made it to the 'Five Star' category, thanks to very high employee satisfaction. The 2,000-plus company is a topper across satisfaction parameters-overall satisfaction, image, company culture, job content, training, appraisal, salary and people. In other words, the management was able to satisfy its employees on most counts. It giants TCS and Infosys also find places in this category. Interestingly all three companies is this category are Indian-owned.

Mumbai-based IT solutions-company Rolta, Cadence, Noida-based RMSI and Hexaware Technologies, which participated in the survey for the first time, find places in the second category. For both Rolta and RMSI, the overall jump has been quite dramatic. Both companies showed significant improvement in employee satisfaction levels this year.

The 1,000-plus Accel ICIM Frontline and IBM India, with over 23,000 employees, get 'Three Star' ratings. IBM India, with high standards of corporate governance and very high ratings on image, found itself placed high on the HR front.

The Indian behemoth Wipro is the star in our fifth category. Although HR challenges continue to increase for the company, Wipro showed class in terms of its HR policies and standards of corporate governance.

The Making of the Best
Well, what makes the best the best? Star employers in BES 2005 outperformed other companies virtually in all aspects. These companies surpassed other companies not only in terms of number of initiatives in place and innovative approaches to better employee management, but also in delivery and execution. The management in the Top 20 companies in a study had a clear vision; knew how to achieve it and communicated better with their employees. The Star were effective in bringing employees together for a successful journey.

Employee engagement is a very critical parameter of satisfaction, and our study goes to establish its truth. Gauge this-a significant number of companies that have made it to the top 20 in a study revealed high employee engagement. This is reflected in the high morale of employees in these organizations and the pride that these employees felt towards their association with the company. The statement 'Every morning I look forward to my day at work' generated tremendous response from our top 20 companies. While 92% of the employees in HCL Infosystems agreed strongly to the statement, it was 85% for Accel ICIM Frontline. The average was 70%. Clearly, the Star employers in a study tried to create great overall work experience to keep their employees happy. However, there seemed strong correlation between organization size and employee disconnect. While smaller and niche organizations showed far better employee engagement, larger ones like TCS, Infosys and Wipro fell behind in this category.

The Star never underestimate the power of dreams. Star employers realize that employee talent, creativity and innovation can be used to enhance business performance and making product and process improvements. Nearly 90% employees in our BES survey expressed strong or moderate support from the organization towards their ideas. Only 4%, on an average, felt that their organizations attached little importance to their opinions and ideas. The best organizations in our study also offered greater empowerment to employees in terms of the freedom to take decisions related to their work.

The best also understand the importance of human and interpersonal relations. Employees in our top 20 organizations emphasized much more on team orientation and support of colleagues than other companies. Relationships with senior management and the immediate supervisor reflected mentoring rather than hierarchy and authoritative levels. Employees tended to be more enthusiastic and confident about their managers. Statements such as 'My manager is always there when I need help or advice'; 'My manager genuinely cares about my professional and personal growth'; and 'I get regular and constructive feedback from my manager or supervisor' generated far better response from smaller organizations and those operating in specialized domains. HR management in the face of sheer size seems to be the biggest challenge for large IT organizations that had set new benchmarks for HR practices in the past.

Playing Catch Up
It's happening. The trend setters in the industry are falling behind in the race for best practices in HR, as smaller organization are catching up. Let's assess our parameters to do a reality check. Take training, for instance. HCL Infosystems, Rolta, CSC, in that order, top our chart on training while TCS and Infosys come in at Rank 5 and 8, respectively. Caveat: This represents satisfaction with training-not an actual ranking of quality of training.

Employees in companies like Rolta, Accel, RMSI expressed higher satisfaction with parameters like job content, appraisal, salary and people. If an organization like Cadence has beaten an Infosys and a Wipro on salary, it's only understandable as Cadence is not only a specialized player but also because professionals with EDA skills are rare and naturally command higher pay. Another reason why satisfaction levels could be declining in case of larger companies is probably the expectations that come from companies of such stature.

However, there's one area where the biggies remain unmatched. Brand equity. Infosys, TCS, IBM, Wipro and Sun, the top 5 in this category, are by far the biggest brand ambassadors of the IT industry and, clearly, organizations of our dreams.

Beyond the Right Pay Equation
Today, fewer organizations are claiming to be the highest paymasters, though many of them are strong there. That is because most understand that pay alone does not suffice any longer in retaining the best people. Most respondents to our survey gave strong weightage to factors like flexibility, work-life balance and growth, and overseas opportunities have gained importance as satisfaction parameters. At least 30% of the respondents in our survey have suggested that these are factors that they take into consideration while seeking employment. Organizations understand the need to strike the right balance and emphasize on fairness towards pay, rather than paying to be market leaders. Empowerment and freedom to take risks are integral facets and our best employers today know that.

Bhaswati Chakravorty