BANGALORE: Feedback from employees can help a growing tech company shape its human resource management policies. Both can benefit from it.

ITC Infotech, which is four years old, earned $ 50 million last year, and with a current headcount of about 1,000 staff members, is an example of how feedback from employee helps. The company takes nurturing employee skills seriously, says Anand Talwar, Vice President-Talent Management.

"Most companies in our sector offer employee stock options as rewards and bonuses, but their real value keeps changing with market fluctuations, so we thought of a deferred income plan to reward employees who have stayed long enough with us,'' he explains.

If an employee has stayed on for three years, he or she gets `x' times the basic salary as reward. As in customer loyalty programmes, one can accumulate points.

A staffer can also earn a bonus through employee referral recruitments, provided the new recruit sticks on and is good enough.

At the individual level, every new staffer is encouraged to design his or her own "career management framework," building upon personal skill sets and learning to overcome any weak points.

"We help them draw up a `My Career Plan,' and it is here that our career mentoring policy comes in. Senior staffers are identified to mentor small groups of juniors and freshers, helping them acquire technical or other skills.

Sometimes, a young staffer is even encouraged to switch career tracks depending on his or her aptitude.

IT Infotech has a large Learning Centre where the learning process continues even after the induction period, Namrata Gill, Senior Manager (Management Development), says. The place closely resembles a college campus, and learning covers both technical and "life skills," she says.

While most such HR (human resource) initiatives have come from employee feedback, it is not all work and no play on what used to be ITC's cigarette factory in Cox Town, deep in the cantonment area.

Their own non-governmental organisation, supported by the staff members who also volunteer their time, is called Milan.

After the tsunami disaster last year, the team rushed with material to the affected areas, and with the help of the local administration, saw to it that timely help reached victims. Another initiative is to coach students in smaller colleges in and around Bangalore and bring them on a par with technology graduates from well-known institutions.

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