The Hindu Business Line : Small IT firms cry foul over poaching by bigwigs

It is clear that all players, irrespective of size, follow similar HR practices and it would be unfair to pick some companies out (for)... `predatory' recruitment practices, says Nasscom.

Chennai , Oct. 30

DO unto others what you would have them to do unto you. That seems to be the plea coming from small and medium-sized IT software companies. An employee leaving for greener pastures is old hat in the IT industry. But that individuals are encouraged by future employers to walk out on their current ones is raising the hackles of smaller-sized employers.

Mr K.S. Sudhakar, CEO of Swathi Soft Solutions, says: "When I recruit someone, I need a relieving order from his current employer. I expect big IT companies to do the same when they recruit."

(Swathi Soft offers software solutions for knowledge management, sales management, and training.)

Also, he adds, "I expect an employee leaving the company to give me at least a month's notice." But isn't a month's salary, in lieu, also acceptable? Sure, agrees Mr Sudhakar. "But even that courtesy isn't extended to me by the company taking my employee away. Though a month's salary is negligible compared to the effort and time needed to find a replacement."

What is the kind of notice he gets from a departing employee? "An employee who left recently gave me a generous notice period of one hour. He said that his father was being transferred to Bangalore and hence the resignation. Since one whole family would not decide to move in one day, it was obvious he was lying. I could do nothing." Pursuing a legal case against the departing employee is not an option for obvious reasons.

Some think it is wise not to wrangle with departing employees for fear of reprisal.

Akmin Technologies is a software products company that offers Web-related software tools. Mr S. Prashanth, CEO and MD, says: "A disgruntled employee could well leak out secrets." Mr Prashanth struggles on, after his entire 15-member team has left and been replaced in the last 18 months.

Interestingly, such abrupt departures come from those with little experience, ranging from a few months to two years. Aren't folks with little experience easy to replace? Mr Prashanth disagrees. He cites a statement that the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University recently made: "Only a fifth of the 75,000 students passing out of our colleges are employable." (The Hindu, October 10, 2005.)

Mr Prashanth adds: "Most of those employable join top IT companies. The rest come to people like us. We spend between six months and a year training them. They need to learn the processes that go into making a product."

Interestingly, these are the very folks from whom Mr Prashanth commands a lot of loyalty while they stay. "Typically, they are the first in their family to have a regular job in the city, leave alone getting into the new economy. But when tempted with better offers, they succumb to pressure from future employers to breach earlier contracts."

Mr Ganesh Mandalam, CEO of Xerago - which offers customer management solutions in the Internet space - also has an anecdote. An employee with a few years' experience left in a way that left Mr Mandalam disappointed.

"After we reached a point when I bettered the new offer from a bigger company, the employee told me that he was `instructed' not to talk to me any more. He left without ensuring a transition."

Nasscom feels that it would be unfair to paint them all (big IT companies) the same colour. Mr Sunil Mehta, Vice-President, says: "We have had several meetings of HR practitioners in several cities in India. It is clear that all players, irrespective of size, follow similar HR practices and it would be unfair to pick some companies out (for)... `predatory' recruitment practices. We have worked hard with industry to craft best practices in HR and adhere to them, with varying degrees of success in different locations."

According to Nasscom estimates, SMEs contribute 10-15 per cent of total IT revenues countrywide and that figure could rise up to 60 per cent by 2008.

Significantly, in States such as Tamil Nadu, SMEs contribute about 55 per cent of IT revenues, as per figures from Software Technology Parks of India.

So, who will be responsible for the `enforceable contractual terms with employees' that Mr Prashanth and his ilk demand? He says, "The Government could play a role. So could Nasscom. If nothing, merely strong moral values of recruiters would help."

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