An interview with Mr. R. Vidyasagar, Head, Human Resources,i-flex solutions ltd

Tell us briefly about your company.

i-flex Solutions Limited is an IT solutions provider to the financial services industry worldwide through a comprehensive range of products and customised service offerings.

Our revenue is more or less equally spread across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

We develop products rather than just offering services. Today, our flagship product, FLEXCUBE has gained international recognition and has been ranked among the world's top two largest selling wholesale back-office banking systems.

We were also the first commercial banking solutions establishment to be assessed at SEI-CMM Level 4 in 1995. Our entire operations are process based leading to high quality solutions.

Presently, we have more than 2000 employees with eight Development Centres across Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai in India.

We have a sales and marketing presence in more than 20 countries and three wholly owned subsidiaries in USA, Europe and Singapore.

What are the upsides of working with your organisation?

We have designed and communicated our culture on three aspects- to create and nurture a culture of high performance, to continuously foster and support teamwork at all levels, and to make i-flex a great place to work in.

The environment at i-flex is challenging and informal, focussing on work life balance and the well-being of our employees. As we like to say - Life @ i-flex turns me on!

i-flexers have the opportunity to work with financial institutions across the globe, which exposes them to diverse cultures and business practices.

Could you share a few of your best practices with our readers?

In a knowledge intensive industry like ours and with global operations across the continents, it is important that we provide a continuous mechanism to share and learn from each other. Our unique `Knowledge Management' portal - `i-share' provides just that framework.

We also encourage and recognise such people. We have weekly knowledge web casts and `Thought Centres' which encourage ideas at all levels.

Our employee referral program - `i-connect' is a signature statement on being an employer of choice.

Through this channel, we've been able to induct almost one-fourth of our lateral hires into the organisation last year.

`interface' - our campus relations programme encourages young minds at campuses to work on new technologies that benefit us both.

Our mentorship programme helps new entrants understand and appreciate the work environment and also provides a framework to seek support from someone other than his supervisor on any issues that require attention.

How do you measure performance and what is your annual appraisal system like?

Our Performance Management System - iMPACT (i-flex Management of Performance and Career Tool) is a competency based system that supports a `high-performance' culture across the organisation. Organisational goals translated into business and individual goals are annually assessed.

How do you motivate your workforce?

As a product company, we have demonstrated a passion for developing and selling products.

Each employee takes pride in being part of an organisation that has developed a product that enables financial institutions around the world to provide better service to their customers.

Creating a product requires passion and patience. Our unique positioning as a company and our organisational culture has helped us in motivating our employees to achieve excellence.

Do you encourage lateral transfers?

Yes, we encourage intra-organisational / lateral transfers, as it helps infuse fresh thinking and encourages an exchange of ideas and experiences.

We have professionals involved in architecture, designing, developing, validating and testing of products.

There is often transfer of employees between these areas and across all our business divisions.

What are the avenues of growth in your company?

We have laid out a broad-based career-graph for the initial years and a well-defined career planning structure for middle to senior level employees.

Career progression does not have to be only vertical, it can be horizontal also.

For example, career progression of employees who have been with us for over 5 years is interspersed with horizontal movements such as movements from development to implementation to Customer Relationship Management and so on.

What qualities and attributes do you think personify a proficient HR professional?

Today's HR professional should have a complete understanding of the business and the industry, in which he operates.

He should be able to apply his professional learning, integrating HR initiatives with the overall business plan.

He has to constantly upgrade his knowledge and skills by regular reading and training on new concepts and paradigms in human resource development and management. They should also be technology - savvy.

A very important quality of a HR person is his ability to build effective relationships with employees at all levels in the organisation.

Talent management, change management processes and creating and sustaining a high performance culture etc require newer skill sets.

The HR professional of the new millennium will have to be able to blend all these and be a successful `Change Master' at all times.

SAMYUKTA KODA

samyukta.hyd@cxknetworks.com