HCL: Engagement for Real

It is always a pleasure to meet my students who have or are crossing the altars of their Alma-mater and are stepping into the corporate denizen. They have interesting experiences of their first encounter with the corporate world, which are mixed at times. One of my such students Malvika working as a management Trainee in HCL walked upto my office on Saturday. However what was just a courtesy call turned-out to be a very interesting first-hand account of the HCL famed 'Employee First, Customer Second' policy. Vinnet Nnayar the brain behind this mantra has re-defined the HR's way of functioning in HCL. Curious about its real worth and whether such statements are plain rhetoric or there is some amount of depth and reality in practice, I quizzed and probed her experiences as a fresh recruit in the company. Often the company's HR policy is defined by the way it treats it new recruits. Research suggests that maximum percentage of engagement happens at the on-boarding stage.

Malvika was gung-ho about her new company. She told me that in a place like NCR, where the safety of women is a major issue, the company's 6:30 p.m. closing policy comes as a huge relief. Her manager himself ensures that she is not working beyond the closing time and this is same for all employees. The company never short-changes with the safety of the employee especially women. She compared this to experience of one of her friends in a competing firm where they are made to stay up to 10 p.m. on many days and the company refuses to provide any cab facility for dropping the lady employee back. She has either to hitch-hike with her boss or arrange for her own transport. Ridiculous, I thought... As a management trainee she is not treated anyway inferior to her senior counterparts and is looked after well. The company's HR is a dedicated team dedicated to the holistic wellness of the employee. As a company HCL values its clients but makes sure that they value their people equally who create the winning experience for their clients.
Fascinating and more believable as this is a first-hand account. She had no reasons to lie to me and I had not told her that I shall put all this on my blog when she started narrating me her experience. That's what you call real engagement... No doubt, the best brand-ambassadors for a company are its own employees.