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Executive chairman applauds "wonderful things" done at Infy since his return; in letter to staffers asks teams to "think big and act boldly", to enable growth momentum top continue
Under a year of him as executive chairman, Infosys, has had "stellar" performance, N R Narayana Murthy said of his second innings at the top in an email to employees.
He said it was "extremely important" for Infosys to maintain this growth momentum in FY15.
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In FY14, the Bangalore-based information technology (IT) services major posted 11.5 per cent growth in revenue, nearly double of the previous year. In view of this, Murthy said, Infosys had a little over 20,000 promotions, two compensation reviews in nine months and zero variability of salaries at the entry level. On the back of this improved growth, the company also paid 100 per cent variable salary for employees with highest ratings.
"I applaud all the wonderful things that we have been able to do together over the past four quarters, and the foundation we have laid for the year ahead," Murthy said in his letter. "In FY 15, it is extremely important that we sustain this."
Murthy, who returned to the Bangalore-based company in June 2013, has undertaken several initiatives to bring Infosys back to sector-leading growth but the earlier bellwether status still eludes the company. Among other things, Murthy has remained focused on costs, sales and delivery. While cost optimisation has started to reflect in the operating profit margins, Murthy has said the other measures would take between nine and 36 months to start yielding results.
Additionally, Murthy said, Infosys had adopted a "simple formula" to ensure it sustained the growth momentum that has returned to the company over the past two quarters, after nearly two years of muted performance.
The formula, as shared by Murthy in his letter, is to "chase more opportunities, increase the size of those opportunities, improve win rates and improve demand fulfilment". He added it was essential to "attract, enable, empower and retain" talent.
Achievers needed
For this, among other measures, the company has made changes to its green card application policies and extended the period of stay abroad for achievers.
"That is why (to attract and retain talent) we have introduced a fast track stream and a tech stream to provide a compelling career path to top performers and nurture tech talent," Murthy said. "We have already seen a jump in job applications to Infosys by 140 per cent last year and we need to continue this endeavour to attract high quality talent."
He said Infosys is renewing effort to train and mentor teams, to deliver effective results, improve agility and sharpen accountability. The company will also increase focus on differentiation through service innovation, technical solutions such as automation and articulating business value in proposals.
Such endeavour will help in improved sales effectiveness and augmented delivery effectiveness, he said.
"These efforts will take time to yield tangible results. But, if we work together, we can achieve all that we set our minds to," Murthy said.
"We must perform and we must grow. This is crucial for us to be able to invest for the long term, to be respected and retain the goodwill of our clients and investors."
He concluded the letter by saying it was time for the company to "think big and act boldly".
