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Work Culture
Driven by innovation
BEA Systems Customer Support & Research Centre is proud
of its culture of innovation, which drives both delivery of technology and people
processes, says Vinutha V
BEA Systems Customer Support & Research Centre, the R&D
centre of BEA Systems Inc, was set up in Bangalore in October, 2003. Since then,
the staff strength has touched 135. The number will be doubled by March 2006.
In the current scenario, when finding quality talent is a challenge for every
organisation, the company is very particular about its recruitment process.
“The industry is under pressure in its search for talented people. We have
a rigorous recruitment process to ensure inducting people with the right aptitude
and domain skills,” says Abhi Errabelli, Head of Engineering at BEA Systems
Customer Support & Research Centre.
Of the total number of people joining the company about 35
percent have come through references. Since people are hired from different
places, the company has an exclusive relocation programme. “We help people,
who are based in a different location, by taking care of their entire relocation
process—from packaging to giving them a month’s brokerage and housing
loan deposits,” says Deepak Shetty, India HR Manager, BEA Systems Customer
Support & Research Centre.
Keeping employees motivated
To ensure that all new employees feel comfortable and fit
in easily, their managers help in familiarising them with the workplace and
job responsibilities. The company encourages its employees to have their say
through the Employee Club, where every employee is a member. It is also believed
that people are motivated if given the opportunity to work on different technologies
or domains, consequently every effort is made to give them challenging assignments.
Employees are allowed to work on different products and technologies. And it
is not for mere understanding of the subject but they are encouraged to study
in depth. “In fact, while hiring, people express their reason to join our
company as it allows them to work on cutting-edge technology in depth,”
adds Errabelli.
It is an innovation-driven organisation, both for delivering
technology and people processes. Under a forum called ‘Thinking Beyond’
employees can discuss and share different view-points, both on technical and
non-technical issues, concerning work or personal factors. Another initiative
is ‘Dev2Dev’, which is an annual programme designed to understand
cutting-edge technologies of different products. This programme is conducted
worldwide. In India, it is organised in different cities every year. In this
forum, developers, engineers and enterprise architects share related information.
It becomes an opportunity for employees to learn and know how end-users are
using their products.
The HR activities of the company run on PeopleSoft software.
It generates an automatic e-mail for employees completing 90 days in the company.
The purpose is to identify skill gaps and schedule training programmes accordingly.
Rewards and recognition programme
The company handsomely rewards its employees with monetary
awards ranging from $50 to $7,500 depending upon their performance. The engineers
form a part of the rewards and recognition programme to ensure transparency.
Other incentives such as gifts, certificates, dinner coupons and movie tickets
are given out from time-to-time to improve employee motivation. BEA Systems
recognises and encourages special interests and skills of employees, which are
different from their field of specialisation. Those who contribute in other
areas are given suitable rewards. Recently, Mihir Mohan, who was working on
the Weblogic Server contributed to the RFID domain. His work was recognised
by BEA Systems worldwide and he was awarded an iPod juke box.
BEA Systems offers medical insurance for their employees,
their spouses and parents. Additionally, each employee is insured for Rs 15
lakh. To pursue higher education employees are given an amount of $1,600 per
year. The BEA Foundation is a worldwide initiative that encourages employees
to participate in social welfare activities. Through this, employees can offer
their time, money and knowledge towards social causes. In Bangalore, many employees
are involved with e-governance initiatives and a school for the blind. Employee
satisfaction surveys are conducted every year globally. This is done by a third
party to ensure unbiased feedback. This survey is strictly confidential and
surveys employees’ opinion about the environment, performance, remuneration
and overall sentiment. The company also conducts exit interviews to improve
the overall functioning of the organisation.
vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com
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