Two years is what it took Anamika Lakra, 26, to move from being just another fresher with no prior work experience to playing a strategic role at Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab (HTSL), headquartered in Bangalore. Designated HR Partner in its core aerospace business unit, she provides strategic inputs on talent management and employee engagement in her unit.
Then, there's Vikram J. Arora. Fresh out of college, he joined HTSL three years prior to Lakra. An aerospace engineer, he undertook a management programme at the University of Washington, US, in 2003, with part funding from the company and is now working as Senior Consultant (Strategy Planning), HTSL. "We take a high level of risk on people with potential," says Shrikant Lonikar, Global Director (Organisation Development & HR), HTSL.
The company's Talent Strategy (internally called T-Strat) is clear that merit will be rewarded. So, what's new? "We have clearly defined who gets what; we identify star performers and treat them differently to underscore their value to the organisation," says Lonikar. All the "star performers" are given key positions and challenging roles that offer huge exposure and learning opportunities.
About 20-30 per cent of HTSL employees at every level and team are identified as star performers they receive higher compensation and access to greater opportunities, skill development and competency building programmes. "The company started working on these initiatives early last year, but formally launched them only in January this year," says Uday Tulapurkar, Head (Talent Engagement), HTSL. Quite recent, one might say.
But then, the company sees itself as a relatively young organisation. Though it was formed in 1994, its take off and employee ramp up really began from 2004 onwards.
Its headcount more than quadrupled from 1,200 in 2003 to about 5,500 now and it is adding an average of 100 employees every month. "At HTSL, we offer people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to not just work on diverse technologies but also to move into different areas," says Krishna Mikkilineni, the 48-year-old Managing Director of the company, which began as an offshore software development facility for Honeywell businesses worldwide in the areas of aerospace and automation control solutions.
Today, it calls itself "a centre of excellence that nurtures multiple skills (in mechanical, electronics, electrical, computer science, industrial and aerospace engineering) in multiple areas of work (real time systems, control systems and reliability engineering, among others) and multiple technologies (J2EE, .NET, C#, etc)".
Those who have been with the organisation for long vouch for it. Sapna Venkatesh, who joined HTSL (then called Honeywell India Software Operations) in India in 2000, says: "This is a diversified workplace and you have people working on avionics, sensors and controls, automated control systems and other areas. You are given the opportunity of working where you want. This allows every employee to design his or her own career."
Venkatesh now manages the Electronic Design Automation Team that forms a support team for hardware design in aerospace. The company obviously realises the importance of the HR function. Says Lonikar: "We will not get the best people to work for us unless we are the best company to work for." Result: it has systematically tried to do things that will keep employees excited. "We focus on keeping our employees happy and engaged in a motivational environment," he adds.
HTSL's institutionalised twoway communications system between top management and team leaders on the one hand and line employees on the other is a critical cog in this wheel. At the MD's Session (held once or twice a month), Mikkilineni interacts with all the new employees joining the company. Then, Lonikar holds monthly meets (called HR Connect) to communicate new practices and policies to the employees.
And finally, multiple forums offer employees face time with their team leaders to discuss operational and personal issues that crop up in the course of their work. More About