How Infosys turns staff in to LEADERS

NEW DELHI: The spirit of professional growth keeps Infosys at the forefront of the fast-changing IT industry. This is quite evident in the fact that the company lays emphasis on its leadership development programmes designed to create leaders of tomorrow.

1.What is the vision behind Infosys leadership programme?

One of the areas for improvement was the need to have a structured way of developing leaders. So, the vision behind the leadership institute is to create leaders of tomorrow.

Our programmes focus on nurturing leaders with a global perspective. We groom leaders and provide them the opportunity to shape the future of Infosys. Every year, we groom about 700-800 employees.

2.How do you identify the leaders in your organisation?

There is no specific mechanism by which we identify leaders. We invite application from employees at middle and senior level management to undergo the leadership programmes.

We also have a leadership competency department which evaluates these applications on the basis of these nine leadership competencies and selects employees for different set of programmes.

3.Can you throw light on your grooming process and the stages that the participants go through after being selected?

Leadership is a continuous process. This is because leadership is all about mastering yourself at some level.

Infosys leadership modules cover all sorts of programmes where employees are taught how to manage teams, negotiating, handling conflicts and cultural diversity.

We have ‘Leaders Teach’ series where leaders actually share their experiences in particular area. Also, we invite speakers to discuss team strategies, share their experiences and involve teams in group activities.

4.How do you measure the success of these programmes?

For every leader we develop a leadership index which is the ranking or the rating that he has been given on a five point scale against each competency. We measure each leader’s score at the year end and draw analysis.

5.How is your leadership programme different from  other IT majors Wipro and Satyam?

Our aim is to ensure the proper execution of such programmes to groom potential leaders.

We have a leadership index which measures how you have achieved and what you have achieved. So our programmes rate each competency. Also, our leadership development is not time-bound. It runs parallel in our day to day functioning.

That is where Infosys makes a difference. We also emphasise that to develop a good leader, no one else can develop him, but himself. Only you as a person can develop yourself.

We provide the frameworks and the support mechanisms, but the responsibility for development needs to taken by each leader. The definition of leadership that we have is that a leader must go above and beyond expectations.

6.What are the typical challenges that you have faced?

The challenge is to get everyone spend an adequate time on development.

To keep telling people to further develop is quite a challenge. This is where rating competencies help and we discuss with employees about the skills they have developed and areas of improvement.

7.What do you think should be the role of a leader in tough time ?

In any situation, a leader should be able to bring in a lot of positive energy. A leader is someone who raises the confidence of employees and makes them believe that working in this team is a great experience.

Employees get motivated when they feel they are adding value to themselves and the organisation. Also, one of the most important qualities of a leader is to listen.