Plush offices, cafeterias, office parties, gyms, swimming pools, meditation and yoga sessions, family outings...global pickups and drops that was how the evolution of HR management in India began beyond basic personnel management to catch up with global benchmarks. It was IT biggies such as Infosys and Wipro who began a revolution in the 1980s by redefining HR management in the corporate echelons of India.

In the last 10 years, human resource management has also evolved along with the industry. Today, newer standards are being set every day with employees taking center-stage in this great Indian IT saga. Interestingly, what was considered revolutionary till about two years back has been relegated to what is commonly referred to as 'hygiene factors' today. And these hygiene factors (read multi-cuisine cafeterias, gymnasiums, meditation sessions and so on) are necessary but no longer sufficient conditions for satisfaction among employees.

COVER STORY Employees Satisfaction The Company HR Scores 'I Love It Here' 'I Wish I Were There': Top Brands How the Top 20 Stack Up

Infosys, for example, offers recreation facilities run by an employee welfare trust. On offer are gymnasiums, swimming pools, aerobics, yoga and meditation centers, billiards and snooker pools, shuttle, volleyball, basketball, tennis, table tennis and squash. Some of the larger campuses also boast of cricket and football grounds. The recently launched Mysore campus will soon have a bowling alley, a multiplex and an auditorium with seating for 1,300. The multiplex will have three theatres, with 150 seats each. But, despite these hygiene factors that have improved over the years, Infosys still features far below on the employee satisfaction index, as our survey revealed yet again.

There is an overall decline in the satisfaction levels as well, according to our survey results. One look at each of the companies in the industry, and not just the survey, would reveal that managements and HR professionals are leaving no stone unturned to offer the best to the employees. However, there seems to be no clear formula that is working. The reason could have a lot to do with the kind of people challenges that the IT industry is facing. 

The Leaders
The top ten names look quite familiar except that we have Aztechsoft (both as a participant as well as a Top 20 company), Accel Frontline as a new entrant and Wipro Technologies in the Top 10 after two years. TCS takes the lead this year with RMSI in second place, beating HCL Infosystems and Infosys at first and second ranks respectively, vis-á-vis last year.

The remaining ten may not be as familiar, for we have six new entrants this year-Kanbay, Cybage Software, Nucleus, Flextronics, Geometric and Sierra Atlantic. 

The results have thrown up some key indicators. More than 50% of the companies that made it to the Top 20 this year are niche players. Take for example Induslogic and Aztecsoft. The two are among the Top 10 star employers and both specialize in outsourced product engineering. Employees in these companies get to work on high-end technology and hardcore product development and that's the primary differentiator with the likes of Infosys and Wipro. Cadence is another good example of a niche player not just making it to the Top 5, but also holding on to its place over the last three years. While RMSI is usually not placed in the same league as an Infosys, TCS or Wipro, it is a well-recognized and respected name in the GIS space. The same trend holds true for Nucleus, Geometric, Sierra Atlantic and Flextronics.

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