You build your organisation's good name inch-by-inch, day-by-day. Reputation cannot merely be a matter of mere coincidence, but is deliberately shaped, and adequately controlled with the participation of all members of the organisation using various avenues of communication. How, for instance, does a company engage with stakeholders, while at the same time managing expectations internally? While a significant aspect of The Best Companies To Work For In India focussed on employee perception, importance was also given to the perception of the labour market and industry environment.

Some companies do innovative things like renting a cruise ship and taking people away for a week. That's great, but when the company isn't doing well and when the 'market is down', people don't want such things; they are more interested in the basics, something to add to their motivation. The best companies to work for offer these basics, but they all have something unique- things that make employees feel that the company is thinking about them and values them; things that show employees that this is not just another company. The best companies to work for are not only places where employees trust the people they work for and enjoy the company of the people they are working with, but also places in which people can't wait to show up at work and make a difference; places that inspire them with a sense that the work is valuable and worth doing. They are companies whose former employees think back fondly on 'the good old days'.

The companies that have emerged the winners in The Best Companies To Work For In India are those whose strong market performance is reflected in sustained financial results and those committed to sharing the gains by sustained investments in the development of employees. They have effective people processes and policies that are tracked and measured, foster employee satisfaction and have a satisfied and supportive alumni that advocates the organisation and sets an example of an aspirational employer in the company's targeted labour market.

With these considerations in mind, we set off on our quest to identify the best companies to work for in India. The study focussed on seeking inputs regarding participating organisations on four areas and used proprietary Mercer tools to elicit information.

Employee Perception: Today, investments in employee-related plans and programmes must do more than satisfy employees. They must be able to provide a measurable return on investment. We used a survey tool based on extensive Mercer research in organisations across the world on the next generation of employee diagnostic instruments; this, besides seeking perception on parameters such as employee satisfaction and commitment, are also grounded in the direct factor impact on business success. This instrument elicited employee feedback on some of the critical aspects of organisational success such as communication, culture and alignment between organisational objectives, and individual aspirations. The instrument also sought feedback on two direct aspects reflective of people management practices in an organisation-hr processes and the hr function.

HR Processes and Policies: Mercer successfully completed a unique hr Transformation Survey across the Asian marketplace in 2003. The study showed that while traditionally concerned with the operational side, hr is increasingly expected to deliver results as a strategic partner by taking new steps to create value and drive change through hr transformation. The report stressed that the hr function of the future must be successful in four distinct roles: as a strategic business partner, change agent, employee champion and administrative expert. A comprehensive hr audit instrument was administered as part of the second phase of The Best Companies To Work For In India study to assess the degree of evolution of the hr processes in the participating companies.

Rule 1: Hygiene issues (such as a well-appointed food court at Infosys, left) and regular open-houses (an interactive session at HCL Comnet, right) matter

HR Metrics: The people management processes in organisations have been non-quantifiable, driven by perception and individual experiences to validate effectiveness and the success of its activities. Traditionally, there is no absolute measure of effectiveness; for instance, the effectiveness of a training plan is but a consolidation of the individual experiences. HR managers face comparison with number-driven functions such as sales and finance all the time. In the hr function, internal benchmarks are now prevalent as many hr managers have developed measures within individual companies. They have successfully provided quantifiable results in many defined circumstances. However, the success of an organisation is defined by its ability to grow beyond its existing boundaries and to keep in sync with boundaries defined by the market it operates in. It is, therefore, critical for companies to define quantified measures of success for its people management agenda. In this regard, an important aspect for consideration was the evaluation of the hr metrics and attrition levels of the participating companies. Indeed, attrition was considered relevant enough to be an independent parameter while arriving at the final list of companies.

Stakeholder Perception: The final aspect under consideration was based on the tenet that it is not enough for a company to manage its internal labour market, its employees. It is equally important for any organisation to be perceived by its environment as a great place to work. The perception of the stakeholders was elicited through a dipstick study focussed on seeking responses from five key constituents of the labour market of the company: new recruits, former employees, campuses, search firms and industry fora. This provided feedback from stakeholders and opinion makers who are not completely inculcated into the company culture and helped provide a unique perception of the company.

Rule 2: Fun (Salsa class in progress at Hughes, left) and freedom to interact with the senior management (Rama Raju, Satyam's MD with his team, right) matter too

A critical aspect of the methodology was that strong performance on any one of the above quadrants was not sufficient for a company to succeed in The Best Companies To Work For In India. Each of the quadrants had clearly defined weightages and balanced performance across the quadrants was essential for any organisation to succeed.

A Look At The Winners

A key highlight of the companies that have emerged in the top 10 of The Best Companies To Work For In India, 2004, is commitment towards investment in people development. All these companies have robust hr functions and policy-driven people management processes. hr management is no longer considered an art, the domain of a few experienced practitioners. It is slowly, but surely becoming a scientific activity supported by younger, leaner, hr functions with an increasing emphasis towards building specialist skills in managing sub-processes. The winners have dedicated professionals responsible for specialised activities like resourcing, compensation, training and development and the like. A key characteristic of the winner is that the sub-processes, although specialised, do not operate in isolation. In most of these companies the organisational objectives, both long and short term, drive the people management strategy and each process is integrated with the others. Some of the companies have actually brought in unique practices like using external review committees to vouch safe process integrity. The organisations represented in the list do not just pay "lip service" to concepts like transparency; they also ensure process awareness and treat their employees with the respect that professionals deserve. Some of our winners actually communicate compensation levels, to everyone in the company. Employees in these organisations do not need to depend on the company grapevine to know how much their contemporaries make, they just need to access their email. These companies also have detailed grievance resolution and consequence management mechanisms to deal with the discontent that this level of transparency is likely to result in. Another refreshing aspect that emerged is the degree of automation in the processes, a testament to companies using technology to reduce the administrative role of hr. There appears to be a clear movement towards people management becoming more consultative in organisations, and hr striking the right balance between its various roles.

Rule 3: At the end of the day, however, the quality of work (coders @ work at Patni, left) is as important as the quality of play (employees sweating it out at HDFC's gym, right)

The proof of the pudding lies, however, in the eating and thus, the feedback from the employee sample carried the highest weightage in our analysis. The companies represented in The Best Companies To Work For In India survived a tough filter on this aspect. A consistent theme across the winners is the degree of positivism expressed by employees on the company culture and the alignment between individual and organisational goals. Employees in these companies feel that they work in environments that foster teamwork, co-operation, respect for individuals and initiative. They also feel a strong sense of commitment and pride since their contribution is aligned to the organisation's purpose and rewarded and recognised by the employer. This feedback clearly indicates that the best companies to work for in India cater to the higher-level needs of employees.

One unique facet of this study was the perception of stakeholders on the company as a workplace. The constituents of this feedback group were either external to the company or were not completely inculcated into the company culture. Ratification of the company's success came from this medium. The companies that form a part of this list have managed to build employment brands that attract talent; they have been able to assimilate the talent into their way of working through seamless transition processes and have also managed to retain the goodwill of alumni. These companies manage and sustain their image with their stakeholders by regularly conveying focussed positive messages to a select audience.

In conclusion, it is important to appreciate the fact that no company is perfect. Some firms that offer the most progressive benefits only do it out of necessity because jobs are so demanding that they need to make their workplaces as attractive as possible or the industry that they operate in has demand-supply gaps in terms of talent. A 'one size fits all' approach cannot be followed; what might be supposedly right in one company could be utterly wrong in another setting. But what is common to The Best Companies To Work For In India is the fact that they have ensured that the repertoire of policies and practices actually impacts employees, that defined metrics track and measures success of processes, and that all stakeholder relations are appropriately managed to ensure a positive employer image.

Nitin Dheer is a senior consultant and Megha Sahni, a consultant at Mercer's New Delhi office and part of the Performance, Measurement and Rewards practice

HOW WE DID IT The methodology behind The Best Companies To Work For In India.

The Mercer Team: Nitin Dheer and Megha Sahni Four years ago, Business Today pioneered the concept of workplace surveys in India. Three editions of the survey down the line, we've tweaked the methodology some, changed partners, and pioneered what we believe is a process that will set the benchmark for all future qualitative surveys. The spectre of conflict of interest looms large over all qualitative surveys that involve domain expertise and, consequently, a research partner with the requisite proficiency. Business Today partners with premier consulting firms for expertise-based surveys such as this one. However, the same consulting firms work with the companies participating in the survey, very often in the same areas. That explains why The Best Companies To Work For In India, 2004, has three partners. Mercer Human Resource Consulting, an international hr consulting firm developed the methodology and arrived at the shortlist of companies. However, the entire front-end of the survey, and the data collection and aggregation was managed by international market research major TNS' Indian arm. The research firm presented summary reports for shortlisted companies on an anonymous basis to Mercer. The consulting firm presented a list of proposed rankings to Business Today that put names to numbers, and presented these to a jury that decided the final ranking. The eligibility criteria ensured a threshold level of complexity (read: workforce strength) and maturity (read: years in existence). Proprietary Mercer tools were applied to elicit responses on the various facets of the study. The initial contact with participating companies was established through a Company Overview questionnaire. The hr Head of the company was contacted as the next stage and a comprehensive hr audit tool was administered through which the facets of the human resource management policies and practices were elicited. An employee diagnostic tool "The Internal Employee Perception" questionnaire was administered in parallel, to a random sample of employees. The performance on this parameter was used as a filter to determine the shortlist of companies. Checkpoints on the effectiveness of the hr processes were brought in through the analysis of the hr metrics at various stages of the survey in order to bring in tangibility into the processes efficiency claims. The last phase of the study involved seeking feedback from the stakeholders of the company through questionnaires administered to new joiners, alumni, campuses, search firms and industry fora. As a final step, an independent jury ratified the winners of The Best Companies To Work For In India, 2004.