The overall HCL vision of “employees first, customer second” stands on the belief that if you have the right talent and ensure that your talent is engaged, it will reflect in their service delivery which will automatically result in a satisfied customer. Our focus has always been to ensure that we connect with our people provide them an engaging environment where they are most satisfied in what they do every day. Especially in a business like ours, the employees’ engagement with the product is critical as it will reflect in the manner in which our product reaches the ultimate customer.

The primary HR priorities for HCL Infosystems has been to attract talent, build a leadership pipeline, change management and create a culture of high performance.

Attracting the right talent is critical in the backdrop of the highly innovative and rapidly evolving industry that we operate in. If we are to take advantage of the new opportunities emerging in the technology space, we need to have ready talent to exploit those opportunities. The introduction of cloud computing, big data etc which allows talent to operate and work effectively from remote locations has introduced a new equation has redefined the role of talent as well as encouraged talent mobility. Thus the focus on attracting the right talent has become ever more critical in this new system.

Build the leadership pipeline is another core priority to meet the future needs of the business. For this, we have instituted specialized development centers for leadership development at all levels. Anyone who moves into

Change management is the third HR priority for HCL Infosystems to cope with the constant changes in the technology space. Innovation in technology is fast paced, and new products and systems are being introduced every day. Every new introduction brings in a change in the way talent is required to react and behave, thus making change management a key priority.

The market demands HCL Infosystems to compete on a global platform and the constant need to perform at superior levels needs focus on creating a culture of high performance. Our aim is to enable each individual to understand the essence of a high performance culture to drive business growth in the new market.

For HCL Infosytem, these priorities have surely seen a change in its context over the last few years with the changing market demands.

As CEO, I spend about 20-25% of my time in talent-related activities which is primarily spent on interviewing top leadership team members as well as participating actively in the development centers. At HCL, the leadership team comprises of 50% people who are home grown while 50% are hired from outside. If I compare the time spend on talent-activities by CEOs of companies in developed economies versus those in emerging economies, the amount of time spent is much less. This is primarily because of the markets here are fast paced and we operate in a high-action marketplace. Since the talent movements and business scenario is more dynamic in emerging economies, it is critical for the CEO pay more attention to the talent agenda.

For HCL, the critical talent challenge has been to attract and engage the right talent as talent is a core contributor to the business outcome. While I do not have any numbers or analysis to show a direct correlation between a company’s attention to people activities and its bottom line, I can safely say it must be so. This takes us back to our core belief that connects the people strategy to the business strategy at HCL – that is, an engaged employee will always give hundred percent in delivering the service thus resulting in a satisfied customer.