Work Culture

Role reversal

The choice of cross-functional roles keeps employee morale and interest high at Tejas Networks. It also gives them a holistic perspective of the company's operations, writes Vinutha V.

When Tejas Networks, an optical networking solution provider was set up in 2000, it focussed on building a team. Currently, it employs about 205 people and aims to add another 45 by end 2005. For a product company, it is challenging to keep motivation levels high. Sanjay Nayak, Chief Executive Officer of Tejas Networks says, “We aim to offer good career growth, encourage teamwork and allow our employees to be a part of an entrepreneurial company.”

Employee referrals are the best

As a start-up company, Tejas encourages hiring employees with an entrepreneurial mindset willing to work in various divisions. This criteria becomes very important as they should be willing to take up challenging work in different areas of pre-sales, hardware and customer support. In addition, it looks for people with a strong academic growth, problem-solving capabilities and the ability to work as a part of a team. According to the company, such requirements are easily met through the employee referral system. Says, Maryann Joseph, Senior Manager-HR, “People currently working with us would know the company’s requirements well and would be conscious in referring others. This helps us in getting people with the right talent and attitude. Last year, out of the total number of recruits, about 50 percent of people hired were through internal referrals.” Cash rewards and grand prizes are devoted to such activities. Soon after their entry into the company, employees undergo a mentorship programme. New recruits gain domain knowledge from seniors, who have a wealth of experience in various domains such as embedded design, VLSI, board design and sales. Currently, training is confined to technology aspects and a programme on soft skills is to be started soon. Being a small team at this point of time, no structural training format has been chalked out.

Workforce Profile

Educational Qualifications
Qualification	Percentage of Employees
BE/BTech	60 percent
MTech/MBA/MS	25 percent
PhD	3 percent
Others	12 percent

A fair and transparent system

The first step to achieving a high-level of motivation is through a highly customer-oriented company, feels Nayak. Higher the transparency, higher the motivational levels, he says. Tejas encourages people to voice their opinion in major decisions taken by the company. To share the company’s vision, strategies, challenges, growth plans and product details, all employees gather at the ‘All Hands Meeting’. This is held every four to six weeks. Whenever a new customer is entered into the list, it’s a ‘Pizza Party’ time for Tejas employees. Since keeping people motivated in a product company is highly challenging, Tejas offers ‘Dual Ladder’, a career development programme. Typically, in a product company, the role is confined to an IT-related career path. But at Tejas, employees can grow (in terms of roles) on par with management in all the aspects without compromising on benefits. They are free to choose any ro-le— management or technical. For instance, when an employee at the entry-level is promoted, the option is open at both the ends—as either a staff en-gineer under technical ladder or a manager in the management category. Flexi-bility is given to switch over to different work areas such as pre-sales and customer support.

Ashutosh Kulshreshtha, Senior Manager of Tejas Networks says, “Despite a research background, we can became a part of pre-sales group and interact with customers and improve employee satisfaction. A large measure of autonomy in taking up different roles is encouraging.” Amit Agrawal, Lead Engineer of Tejas says that people find the workplace enjoyable and motivating. Once in a while the company arranges for ‘Offsite’—a day out to spend time in resorts and trekking. “Above all, we offer a transparency in procedures, which motivates our employees. The pay for performance and stock options also help our employees to keep motivation levels high,” adds Nayak.

vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com