HCL Technologies starts operation, introduces Employees First, Customers Second

Last June 14, I witnessed the formal opening of HCL Technologies Ltd., the leading provider of global IT services, as it unveiled its Global Delivery Center for business process outsourcing services in the country.

Initially, employing 400 professionals in their offices in Quezon Ave., Quezon City, HCL technologies will deliver high value added transactions services such F&A, SCM and domain oriented industry specific processes.

According to HCL Technologies Global Operations head Raghavan Rangarajan, the company chose the country because of its time zone advantage, the pool of talent available and the growing prominence as a strong BPO services hub.

Vice President and Human Resource head Subrat Chakravarty said that HCL Technologies is committed to hiring and developing local talent following the management approach as espoused in Vineet Nayar’s Employees First, Customers Second (EFCS) book.  He subscribed to Nayar’s teachings that value creation happens when employees interface with clients and this value, when is delivered to clients, brings profit to the business.

I was personally intrigued by Nayar's pronouncements because this is the first time I heard of a company the puts first its employees before client satisfaction.  During the interviewed, Chakravarty introduced Nayar’s book that has been around since 2005.  Chakravarty largely attributes HCL Technologies’ success – business growth from 600 million to 4 billion and taunted as the fastest business growth in India – to EFCS.

Results of my initial on-line research showed that EFCS is a book based on “a first person CEO’s account” of Nayar that details the transformation of HCL Technologies.  He described his leadership theories as “turn(ing) conventional management on its head”. Admittedly, he said that “placing customer satisfaction second may be an alarming thought for some” but he is also confident enough to say that “once you’ve read this book you may have a very different view.”

I, for one, am very curious and interested to delve more to what Nayar have to say.  I would really like to get hold of his book, prove the worth of this management strategy and learn a thing or two.

So, what do you think?
Reader, please share if you know more about “Employees First, Customers Second”.

First posted on June 15, 2012.