Work Culture

The 3000 Mastekeers

From finding employee value proposition to defining values, people processes to HR initiatives, meeting challenging times to fulfilling corporate social responsibility, Mastek has a clear charter on all policies. By Renuka Vembu

It is their unique value proposition that gives them a distinct advantage as well as acts as the differentiator. Their shared ideals, aspirations and practices aligned to the corporate values help them create this culture where employees are given space to experiment and ample opportunities to contribute. They are recognized and rewarded for results and have fun along the way, while making some deep meaning relationships and friends that last a lifetime.

Founding stones

The three cornerstones of Mastek’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) are—contributing through high impact roles, personal and professional development and friends at work. Kalpana Jayshankar, HR Head, Mastek, asserted:

• Contributing through high impact roles—Mastekeer’s immensely enjoy the challenge and learning in the work they do; whether it is working on end-to-end solutions, mission critical projects across multiple technology platforms or with cutting-edge technologies. There is also a strong sense of pride that whatever we do, we do with excellence and make a valuable difference. Mastekeers also endorse that we have a very open culture. Their opinions do count and our culture encourages high levels of initiative and empowerment of both individuals and teams.
• Personal and professional development—Mastek works in partnership with its people as much as with its customers. Employees appreciate holistic development that the company offers them, both personal and professional. They also imbibe and endorse the strong ethics, values and higher goals that the company stands for.
• Friends at work—The friendly workplace coupled with great teamwork makes for a winning combination. The company has an active alumni base of over 700 ex-Mastekeers who still treasure and maintain their relationship with the company.

People processes

The HR practices of Mastek focus on high employee engagement and commitment. They keep the flow of communication alive through channels like internal feedback, Buzz @ Mastek, Quarterly meets, Town halls, Web chats, etc. They have an innate ability to architect high impact people processes like employee driven, opportunity-based, anytime promotions, organizational excellence initiatives driven through collaboration of Cross Functional Teams (CFTs), holistic performance management and development system.

In over two and half decades, the company has evolved from four to over 3000 employees. The company’s values have been deeply ingrained in and espoused by its workforce. Its seven core values are open atmosphere, outstanding teamwork, respect for the individual, pride in work, long-term relationship, customer intimacy and commitment to results.

HR initiatives

Jayshankar mentioned, “The emphasis of Mastek’s innovative HR practices is on creating valuable assets for the company in terms of talent, skills, leadership, and ensuring the all-round development of the Mastekeers. Our HR initiatives aim at building high levels of empowerment and commitment amongst employees while ensuring their engagement and alignment to organization goals and aspirations.”

Towards these goals, some of their innovative HR practices are:

• The annual run time—a fun event organized with family
• The quarterly meeting with “The Buzz with Leadership”
• Promotions on request throughout the year
• A comprehensive goal driven Performance Management System
• Capability-building framework
• Recognition and innovative awards
• People process scorecards (to reflect people health of teams)
• Buzz at Mastek

The Spirit of Mastek Award

• Mastek Foundation—A ‘Informed Giving’ program
• Mastekeers magazine
• Mastekeers united (Sports @ Mastek)
• Once a Mastekeer, Always a Mastekeer (Mastek Alumni)

Sourcing the talents

The organization first looks for available talent internally. The process is streamlined and structured. All appointments, whether from internal or external source, are made on the basis of individual suitability and merit. Resource Management Group (RMG) creates the Manpower Forecast Plan based on inputs from various units and functions. A Manpower Requisition Form (MRF) is submitted by the manager with the manpower requirement and after approval of respective authority, is sent to the RMG. RMG reviews all MRFs raised and matches the internal resources with required skill-sets and makes a recommendation. And after a series of procedures, if the resource is found suitable, he is allocated to the role.

When the required skill set is not available internally, external channels are used to source resumes. A buddy referral scheme is also in place which encourages Mastekeers to submit the resumes of their friends. A number of checks and other verification procedures are also undertaken, which include background verification, medical check-up, series of aptitude and technical test on the basis of their experience.

There is also an established Candidate Relationship Management process in place to take care of hires after they are handed their offer letters till the time they join the Mastek family. On the day of joining, they are handed over to the HR for other joining formalities. As Jayshankar puts it, ‘Mastek’s recruitment process is not just about hiring. It is about adding a member to the family with a backdrop of set of policies, procedures and systems.’

They have a detailed and effective corporate induction program that spans two to five days, based on the experience level of recruited employee. For their campus recruits, they also have an outbound induction program called ‘Pravesh’ that supports the transition of newcomers to Mastek’s culture.

Nurturing leaders and mentors

They have an integrated Learning and Development cell which focuses on all aspects of learning and development. It ensures that the overall individual needs are met, and that they do not restrict it to only learning on technical, behavioral or functional aspects. Mastek’s learning and training efforts fall under one umbrella and is in the form of an integrated online training calendar and registration system.

Jayshankar added, “To increase the learning avenues, we have also introduced an innovative intervention called the Bite Sized Courses. Since employees find it tough to take-out time for their learning needs, we introduced the concept of short duration courses in the form of appetizers and Deep Dives. They are designed as small sessions and help employees build awareness and amass skills.”

In addition to the above, they have recently launched an e-learning initiative (eDGe). This enables Mastekeers to access and undergo a wide variety of self-paced online training programs and certifications.

Employee evaluation, growth

The organization has an effective PMS policy in place which measures employee performance as set against KRAs, capabilities and the entire team performance. Performance assessments are done annually with a focussed mid-year development feedback session. Employees are also provided with inputs regarding their performance and the quality of output on completion of an assignment. These periodic feedbacks help employees improve their levels, increase their scope and better the chances of growth.

Jayshankar opined that Mastek has defined clear career paths for various technical and functional career streams. Career paths, roles and associated skill sets are clearly defined for every stream—development, project management, solution architecture, technical architecture and testing. They also have trained people managers in career counselling skills who in turn help their team members take ownership for their careers and make better choices based on their skills and objectives.

Challenging the challenges

While employees strive to attain maximum productivity, businesses in this downturn are calling for innovative people management and processes. Mastek has introduced Virtual Bench where employees have chosen to continue as an employee of Mastek at lesser salaries while the organization is investing in training and development of these employees. They are well-equipped to meet the business requirements when the situation changes and business picks up. All the employees are also being trained on the insurance domain where the organization aspires to be a thought leader.

CSR

Some of their steps towards social engagement include Mastek Foundation and corporate governance. Mastek Foundation—a unique ‘Informed Giving’ program inspires global communities and institutions associated with social and developmental issues to make a difference through informed giving and responsible receiving. ‘Contribution’ is one of the driving principles of Mastek and the foundation encourages Mastekeers to contribute to the community. A online portal http://www.indiavolunteerportal.org/ has been created to educate Mastekeers about volunteering opportunities in the community.

Jayshankar elaborated that the foundation encourages people to contribute to social causes through a payroll giving program whereby they can donate directly to a cause of their choice by opting to have a certain amount deducted each month from their salaries and/or through partnership with a host of NGOs. It provides them with the information they need, and helps NGOs to become more efficient, transparent and accountable by helping them inculcate best practices in governance.

Their Corporate Governance programs are aimed at protecting the shareholders’ rights, the interests of stakeholders, promoting ethical behaviour and ensuring transparency. One of the new initiatives they have embarked upon is setting up a Governance Committee by the board of directors to deal exclusively with governance matters. Its primary role is to draft and review new policies such as the Whistle Blower Policy and codes of conduct for directors and senior management. A corporate governance report is issued every quarter.

renuka.vembu@expressindia.com