A cutting-edge tech culture and sheer fun put HSS in the employers' big league.

By Seema Shukla

It is a series of dusty, pot-holed, and bumpy roads that take you to Plot 31, Sector 18, Electronic City, Gurgaon. In fact, it's hardly the place you expect to find a world-class software company. Surprise, surprise: in between the sparsely populated buildings and the ubiquitous roadside boiled eggs and tea stalls you find one building, one more, and then another, and finally still another with Hughes Software Systems (HSS) written on them. The company has been in the Electronic City less than a decade, and although it may not have been able to do anything about the roads, it hasn't let that impact its business. Sure, it may not have the cadence the Infosys name has, and its turnover, at Rs 120.75 crore for the year ended March, 2000, and Rs 86 crore for the half of the year ended September, 2000, may not compare well with that company's. Sure, it may not have the history of a HCL or a Wipro. But since its inception in 1992, the company has grown and how. It employs a total of 1,300 people now, has created 215 rupee millionaires, and has identified a worldwide niche for itself in the telecommunications software market. The niche seems a successful one too: the Hughes Software Systems' stock (issue price: Rs 630) quotes at Rs 884.40 today (December 15).

Flexibility Rules

At 9:30 every morning the scene outside the gate opening on to the main building reminds you of what college used to be like. Alighting from numerous buses coming from all directions, small groups of casually clad young men and women converge at the gate. There is noise and laughter; cups of coffee in hand, some are huddled in quiet corners for a quick smoke before they start the day. A few others are gathered on the lawns outside the circular canteen downing their hot parathas and chai, getting the chill of a December morning out of their systems. And some others are gathered outside the e-errands helpdesk, an e-mail based concierge service outsourced to a third party. Train reservations, passport enquiries... there is a rush of people following up on their requests. There is even one request for advice on a honeymoon budget and destination that has the helpdesk girls blushing and giggling. Others have reached the roof of the building in search of some morning sun (it also happens to be the favourite point for courting couples in the company). But, as is typical of any software company, there are not as many girls as the boys would like in the company.

Gradually, everyone disappears into the building; there is no haste in their steps. In one corner is a brood of just-out-of-college types, looking slightly better washed than the rest and carrying a distinctive bottle-green bag. My guide catches me looking at them curiously. ''They're the Oasis guys,'' he says. ''Freshers going through their orientation.'' The orientation period is more than a 'get to know the company' affair. In fact, one fresher explains to me, it is more like a 'baptism by fire'. In the eight-week orientation, each engineer expresses his (or her) desire for the type of project he (she) wishes to work on. All are made to work on a sample project; and their performance in the project determines where they are placed in the company. Says 21-year-old Sameer Arun Gadre, who was awarded the best project award in his Oasis Batch: ''The project helps you and the company know what you are good at.''

Not that getting into one project means you are stuck with it even if you do not like it. As every senior manager in the company takes pains to articulate: ''we let people do what they want.'' The internal job postings programme allows engineers to opt for any project they want at any point of time. The underlying logic? If they want to do something different, it is better they do it within the confines of the company rather than look outside. Suman Saraf, Technical Leader and a HSS-veteran of three years, is at present working on the Hughes-Armillaire communications project. The project has a dedicated development facility in the company's newest building. And each employee on the project gets a separate id card. This long-term project is ultimately expected to have 120 people on board. It's not the first project Saraf has worked on and if he stays on in Hughes it will probably not be his last. Even now he is informally helping out on a couple of other projects. As he says: ''If I can make the time I can look in on other projects.'' Saraf makes the time by camping out in the office at night. He is candid enough to admit that if he wanted to he could probably get all his official work done in a nine-to-six timeframe, but he prefers to tool around the office. In fact, Saraf is the moving spirit behind the company's Linux Support Group. The group has 10-12 engineers who have set up a free Linux helpline.

The first thing that hits you inside the building is the relaxed and cheerful nature of the place. In the corridors, you keep hearing loud greetings as people run into others they know. Boxes and crates can be found dumped here and there. Not that this suggests an untidy environment; on the contrary it is more like a very 'lived in' one. Move to the workstations though and you can clearly sense that work is getting done. Apart from the odd discussion happening here and there, and the one group hotly debating something as they chew on lollipops, you find engineers, many with headphones in place, tapping away at their keyboards. Yet, one thing that stands out across levels and buildings: the place is somewhat empty. By the top floor of the third building I visit, it becomes an obsession to find a floor with a full house.

That doesn't happen till I reach the canteen lawns and encounter a swarm of engineers. There's a tent on the lawns with a huge line of employees patiently waiting outside. It's a free eye camp set up by Bausch & Lomb-part of the company's 'Health Week' initiative. That's the reason for the empty workstations; most people have been busy getting their eyes checked. Each week has a different theme: the next week's one is IPR (Intellectual Property Rights).

Employees can afford to spend the morning getting their eyes checked. As Vikas Sabharwal, a software engineer, who has been with the company for four years points out: ''Work hours are very flexible. Work pressure is also not too much. We are given independence; in return we meet our deadlines.'' One thing common to the engineers is the fact that they all speak their minds. It doesn't matter that a management 'mole' is with me, listening to what they say. The feedback is good, just the occasional grouse when it comes to salary and stock options.

With an average growth rate of 70 per cent and an attrition rate of 20 per cent, Hughes is what they call a perpetually new company, with a different breed of employees. The company describes the pool it hires from as Generation X workers: 21-27 year old people who are highly aware, self-centred, opinionated, cynical, ambitious, and mobile. Not given to loyalty, nearly two-thirds of them stay in one company for less than a year. Manoranjan Mohapatra, chief operating officer of the company and one of the first three engineers to be hired by Anil Sharma, the first CEO of HSS, explains the change: ''When I graduated from engineering and campus recruitments were happening, I remember putting on my best shirt and appearing for an interview. Today, when we go to campuses, students literally have their feet up on the table and their demands listed.'' And that is where they see the challenge. Says the company's Vice-President and Head of hr Aadesh Goyal, who has been with HSS the past eight-and-a-half years: ''When we started, we were just 50; those were the good old days-everyone knew everyone else. Today, suddenly we are bigger. Out of 1,300 people, I know around 300. The most important issue is to get new people to feel a part of the company.''

C E O  B Y T E S

Q. The software engineer is getting younger, more irreverent, and more aggressive. How has that influenced you as an employer?  a. You are right. I probably skew the average age here today. The kids coming out of school are much better prepared to tackle the industry, they have a lot of practical knowledge, and they have done a lot of reading on their own. The irreverence is bothersome, but it is also a phenomenon of the existing supply and demand situation. A lot of my focus is on people issues; these are the need of the hour. Today, even those not very good can get a job; those who are halfway decent make a huge salary; it is a Cinderella-like situation. It cannot last. We have to start making people more productive. How do you attract and retain your workforce?  With the type of work and the overall package. We are a cutting edge technology company offering good money. Today employees feel that if some other company in the industry is doing a particular thing, their company should also be doing it. It is a good expectation. I, as an employee, would probably have the same expectation. But I have to run a business and balance things. Is the manpower issue the reason for the company's shift towards products? The shift to products is by design. If you look at successful it companies worldwide, there are more successful product companies. That does not mean there are no successful service companies. Look at the Big Five audit firms. They employ thousands of people earning several hundred dollars per hour. But can everyone do that? Being in the software industry, how is it to live under the shadow of Infosys?  We give credit to Infosys on many grounds. But we have a lot of firsts to our credit also. They have been around longer than us. Our vision is to be the most admired company soon.

More

Issue Contents  Write to us   Subscriptions   Syndication 

INDIA TODAY |  INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY
TEENS TODAY | NEWS HOME | MUSIC TODAY | ART TODAY | CARE TODAY

© Living Media India Ltd