Article: Top 10 MNCs in Asia-Rank 7: Microsoft

Life @ Work

Top 10 MNCs in Asia-Rank 7: Microsoft

Microsoft has made hiring the best and the brightest a key strategic imperative
Top 10 MNCs in Asia-Rank 7: Microsoft
 

Fast Facts

 

CEO: Satya Nadella, Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, No. of employees: 128,076

 

Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker by revenue, was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. The software behemoth is no stranger to Great Place To Work Lists and the reason for this is a culture that blends collaboration and engagement with empowerment and accountability. Rohit Thakur, Head of Human Resources, Microsoft India, says, “At Microsoft, we are driven by an expansive vision to help people realize their own potential. We do this by creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses to empower people across the globe. To further this vision and enable our people and business to make an impact, we take great pride in having been able to create a vibrant organizational culture that facilitates innovation and excellence.”

A hub of truly world-class talent, Microsoft has made hiring the best and the brightest a key strategic imperative. Apart from looking at the industry, colleges and other newer sources such as social media channels, Microsoft has a strong campus program to hire key talent for both India and Redmond, as well as comprehensive onboarding programs such as MACH and Foundry to facilitate a seamless onboarding experience for new and potential hires. The employees are empowered to achieve more by way of flexible working policies that allow them to work from anywhere. Their workplace philosophy leverages mobile infrastructure to offer employees the flexibility to work in the most optimal and comfortable way.

The flexible working environment affords employees a healthy and much-needed balance between their work and personal life. Services such as the Concierge Desk at the Hyderabad office take care of the employees’ daily needs such as paying bills, collecting forms and booking movie tickets. At Microsoft, employees are provided with a comprehensive career development framework, which includes tools and guidance to explore opportunities for professional growth and development. The company also offers an extensive training portfolio of employee, management and leadership training to our employees, which covers both professional and functional skills. In addition, each employee is encouraged to plan for his/her long-term growth and development. Critical aspects to growth and development include regular feedback, which helps us improve, build capabilities, as well as explore, discover and release hidden potential.

At Microsoft, the ecosystem involves a reliance across different business units, functional workgroups, and geographically distributed teams, among others and hence collaboration and teamwork are vital to the way that we function. To help drive this, there are a number of innovative platforms and resources to ensure that employees across teams and geographies can engage with each other more effectively, and collaborate better. 

These include annual platforms such as Microsoft General Exchange (MGX), which brings together up to 15,000 employees worldwide at the start of the financial year. This event provides an opportunity for employees around the world to connect with the global leadership team, including CEO Satya Nadella. At MGX, employees hear more about the company’s vision, business strategies, key challenges and upcoming technology innovations, which helps employees align with the overall company perspective and focus for the year.

Microsoft Services Global Delivery uses radio to connect with all employees in the organization, as well as to facilitate a deeper connect with leadership. In addition to featuring conversations with leaders, the channel also plays great music, and engages listeners through contests and other activities.

Microsoft has also created unique spaces to foster greater collaboration among teams in the workplace. For instance, the Collab Lab is a dedicated facility at the Hyderabad campus to facilitate enhanced collaboration between business units. The Lab provides employees a unifying space to brainstorm, design, prototype, and develop new solutions, and has been very successful in bringing teams together to innovate.

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Topics: Life @ Work, #AsiasBestWorkplaces2015, #BestPractices

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