(Indian IT Software and Services Industry US $ Billion)AT WHAT COST ?
"We are under pressure, we need to push the limits and need to work harder. Guys (including gals), let's make sure we work at least 14 hours a day for sometime."
This is a dialogue from a project manager which should be familiar to all who work in Software Industry in India. The pressure never reduces. Days don't become shorter than 14 hours ever. And in a city as unsafe as Banglore and Delhi, women IT employees are the ones who suffer because of such attitude of management.
In 2005, a female employee working in HP at night shift was raped and murdered. In what can be called an eye opening judgment, the Karnataka High Court gave its verdict against Som Mittal who was HP's CEO then, charging him of negligence under Shops and Establishment act.
People might argue, a meager sum of Rs. 1000 as fine for Mittal as a punishment for a human life? The argument is indeed valid. The punishment is hardly anything in all practicality. But an important underlying issue is that the court recognized this as a problem and decreed that it is indeed a partial responsibility on the part of top bosses.
Many Indian IT companies have what I call pathetic HR practices. And I say this as I have worked in this industry for more than a couple of years and seen it happening. People are forced to work for 12-14 hours a day regularly and sometimes even more. The weekends are virtually non-existent. Woman employees are pressurized to work till late nights and even stay over night in the name of imminent delivery of product.
I have seen some project managers who would peep into an employee's mail box and would comment on personal mails if they see any. A newly wed friend of mine asked for a transfer because her husband was in another city. And the answer she got from the manager was, "You got married is your problem, not mine. I won't let you get a transfer"
Foul language, accusations, loud yells at the subordinates - all this is not a scene in any manufacturing shop floor. These are the scenes in a posh, centrally air conditioned and neat office space in a software company.
Who's to blame in this situation? Employees who are not committed to their work? Project managers who are constantly under pressure to get results? Sloppy hiring practices from recruitment? Senior management?
I see the problem manifold.
1. Top management is too obsessed with profit margins. They are so greedy to grab a deal that to reduce the cost estimates in a proposal, they would literally put half the effort actually required. What does this translate into?
'I will give you only 10 person months even though I know that you will need 20. Motivate your team and make them put a little more effort', says the project manager to a team leader. A little more effort? You are asking the employees to work double time.
I have seen this happen when I was a Project Lead for a project.
2. The top bosses set impossible targets for all the departments. So what do you do? You hire more people. But when you are given a target of hiring almost 4000-5000 employees in a quarter, your recruitment practices become sloppy. The talent level of work-force is compromised. And then you expect a mechanical or a civil engineer to pick up the pace in software development in a month or two. Is this realistic?
3. Middle level managers and team leaders are in a non-enviable position. They are pressurized from the top and even if they empathize with the employees below them, they are helpless. But what they should do is resist the force from above and at least make an attempt to shield the employees beneath them.
My plea to all such companies,
Before it is too late, please wake up and implement employee friendly policies. Don't treat employees as machines or slaves. If you want to spend time on the golf course and five star hotels' swimming pools, give at least a little time for the employees to take their meals with their families once a day.
P.S.
I do not want to mention any company's name here and if someone wants to infer my previous company by other means, I am not responsible. I have tried my best to protect my previous company's identity in this post.
HP Boss Guilty: Article link at
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/hp-bpo-rape-case-exboss-guilty-of-negligence/
59537-3.html
Image Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/indian/infotech/
2001/software_bar.jpg
Posts
5 comments:
Bhavin..It was indeed a wonderful article...Hats off to you...
To add something, I recently joined one indian company and we the batch of 900 trainees were going thru rigorous training frm 8-30 AM to 8-30 PM and u wont believe but we were treated ,as u said,like machines or slaves and the attitude of some of the training staff was really very obscure and pathetic..but tht's how you are treated in India even after you have done MS from US and tht from one of the renowned Unis of the world..But after deploying on the project, i m getting what i m worth for and what I deserve..so no complaints now !!
To add to tht HP Lady employee murder incident, i guess there is not much HUman Life Value in India as compared to US or any other even tiny little countries...I can surely see that in Mumbai atleast..Beating of poor lower class Taximen and rickshaw drivers from UP-Bihar, beatings of hawkers and feriyas and Marathi v/s north indian fights wont take us to the INdia tht we have dreamt for..So keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best !!
Soham
Thanks Soham. You are right. Whatever is going on in Maharashatra, is absolutely ridiculous and bizarre.
A thought needs to be given to Mumbai incidents. As I'm already in Mumbai and having witnessed the public voices over these I think what's happened in last few weeks is kinda necessary step of eradication. And it's not just about North Indians they faced collateral damage in recent happenings. It was for Bangladesh as such, but later on the direction was changed to gain vote banks. It's such a pity here that people at top can drive common man crazy to earn votes. Well i had lots of discussion with my friends here north indians as well as marathis and even I belonged to the same school of thought as yours. But the discussions brought many facts to light which i cannot say openely.
Great article ! Very nice expression of delimma faced at different levels of management.. and ofcourse pathetic HR practices ! It just brought one question to my mind.. that if indians living in US wanna go back to India.. would they really get the best of family and professional satisfaction? Because of such pressing work-pressure and pervasive 'babugiri' even in so-called posh companies.. does it really pay to go back home in search of a better 'family life'?
I feel..this article and its implications are applicable to non-IT companies also. The problem is so prevalent that I can't think of even a single friend or relative who doesn't bear these kinda insolent conditions...its hightime employees unite and government should pass strict regulations about it. Profit at the cost of family/personal time can not be encouraged by ignoring this problem.
Hi. I am a student of NUJS, Kolkatta currently working at Breakthrough, Delhi. This post is most interestingly written which very sensitively deals with the most pertinent issue of violence caused to women due to high expectations and wxcess work hours which software company employees are expected to put in. And you have managed to put the issue in focus quite well. Even though your main focus has been to inform the high posts managers to be considerate towards their employees, it does bring out the violence which continues against women.
Well, I work on a youth oriented site called www.bellbajao.org and would love for you to blog on it. Posts like this one, which bring to the fore discussions and debates carrying on in the social media world around sensitive topics like Domestic Violence. This we do, on the Bell Bajao site as well, where we have a category called "Social Media Buzz" which houses blogs highlighting conversations from social networking sites, blogs and other websites.
Please visit the site and do write back to me at namratad2224@gmail.com about your thoughts on the campaign. And if you're interested, do blog on the site as well. And if you're a regular blogger, we'd be happy to put you on our blogroll and crosslink your blog page on our site.
Thanks and hoping to hear from you,
Namrata.
Post a Comment