An interview with Ms RS Vishnu Priya, Chief HR Manager, Lawrence Associates Ltd, Chennai.

Tell us something about the company.

Lawrence & Associates (India) Pvt.Ltd is a USA based software solution development and consulting organisation specialising in financial services, bankcard transactions, telecommunications and insurance payment systems. LAI recently set up its first Technology Center at Tidel Park, Chennai and has since opened its offices at London, UK and Sydney. Our clients include several Fortune 500 companies like MasterCard International, IBM, Excel Telecommunications, Maritz Corporation, Citi Corp, Verizon International, Austin Information Systems (AIS), Mosley Constructions etc. In addition to providing consultancy services, the Technology Center at Chennai also undertakes civil engineering projects for its overseas clients.

What is the philosophy behind the establishment of your concern?

We strongly believe in providing a value proposition to international customers and keep the nation's pride in the global market with focused business objective in "knowledge based it industry". LAI seeks to provide worldwide IT solutions for clients utilising the vast pool of Indian IT professionals.

At what levels do you actively recruit professionals? And what kind of training is imparted to the employees?

Based on the project and business needs, we recruit qualified software professionals in the middle and senior level. We follow a well-defined training programme for junior level employees on domain technology. These training programs are called "Competency Development Programs". Being an ISO certified organisation, we have an annual training calendar, covering technical, soft skills and international cultural business orientation programs.

We do follow internal certification programs like QMS - Certified Programmer, Certified Tester, PMPs and other competency certifications. We undertake various initiatives to train our teams to transform knowledge into practical applications.

These include:

Interacting with leading institutes of technology and business schools

Setting up a team of academically oriented professionals in its central technology office for research on various technologies

Using the services of senior consultants for leadership and motivational training

What kind of candidates do you look for? We look for candidates with positive attitude and high energy levels and strong fundamentals in the required fields. LAI is always expanding its profile and deliverables but is predominantly engaged in delivery of application and project services and end-to-end software product development. Our consultants are capable of working on any part of the "Systems Development Life Cycle".

What kind of a paymaster is Lawrence and Associates? Being one of the fastest growing SMB International IT Company, we follow the `Smart Package' compensation and benefits administration. Typically, a premier performer can design his package based on his contributions.

What kind of career growth can one expect here?

The annual talent appreciation programme of the company will help the competent professional to create a career path, decide his career progression with developmental plans which include, international opportunities, project management positions etc. The current team comprises of over 125 enterprising professionals and is poised for rapid growth.

What kind of work environment do you have?

We are informally institutionalised with a high degree of professional discipline, high customer orientation with a transparent, participatory work culture. We believe that the only way to improve our support in the client base and surpass our competitors is to implement the clients' suggestions and experience gathered via various means like surveys, case studies, business analysis and use it to improve and enhance our current services and offerings.

What kind of retention policies do you have in place?

We had to face this challenge about a year back. To address the issue we obtained periodical market reports and analysed them. The senior management and the CEO addressed the potential migrants and emphasised the relative advantages of being with the company. They mainly focussed on growth aspects of the professionals and the individual space for every one.

How effective are your internal communication systems to record employee satisfaction or discontent? How often do you review your HR policies and amend them as required? We use the periodical "Dip Stick' Survey, Best Suggestion Award, Employee of the month award and the Open House forum which keeps the employee close to the organisation.

The Global Newsletter works as a strong communication and interactive tool for the employees to bring out their hidden skills. During the monthly meetings, we have a learning session on the industry best practice sharing, for process improvement. This really helps the company to review the HR and employee related policies.

What are the avenues of growth in your company?

These areas include international assignments, the techno commercial business development and new account relationship opportunities.

LAI is poised to become an international IT solution provider with Branch Offices in 10 major cities located in every continent with more than 250 IT professionals located in LAI's Technology Center in Chennai. LAI plans to enter into joint ventures with clients to build, support and share in the profits of software products and services.

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

We generally

Create a friendly work environment and have a participatory decision-making process

Believe in annual goal setting exercise

As committed professionals we have career counselling programs for all walk- in and fresh software professionals

Recognise employees' contribution through spot Excellency award and achievement based team celebration.

The employees are constantly motivated to join the achievers club.

We make endeavours to create an atmosphere that nourishes knowledge and talent

These efforts make the employees committed to the corporation and enable them to grow with the organisation.

Freedom at work and a fun work culture makes everyone want to be a part of this growing team. These practices have significantly helped us retain our employees in this dynamic market place.

We maintain a negligible attrition rate that speaks more about our best practices and work culture than anything else.

PAROMITA PAIN

paromita_pain@yahoo.com