Despite a reviving brand image, attrition continues to haunt Mahindra Satyam. The company is working on a two-way formula ? recruitment and retention ? to contain the attrition levels which is currently at 25%.
The company is looking at better utilisation and leadership roles for younger leaders. In all, the company is planning to have a net addition of about 6,000-7,000 people in the next fiscal from a total of 28,832 people this quarter. It hopes to complete the journey of transformation by 2012 and compete for its targeted space among the peer group of IT companies. Besides, it has put on hold the merger process with the parent company, Tech Mahindra. Speaking to FE, T Hari, chief marketing officer and chief people officer, said the company is working to become a employee-friendly company with better brand initiatives. ?We have framed two strategies ? greater opportunities for younger leaders and offering the right-of-refusal for the younger team who can visualise a better growth path for the company,? he said. The younger team that would make a difference in the decision making process will stand for faster growth with greater roles of responsibility, he added. Incidentally, the company also announced the appointment of a new CFO Vasant Krishnan. He comes on board of Mahindra Satyam in place of S Durgashankar, who is relocating to Mahindra & Mahindra.
?The current rate of 25% is still worrisome for the company and a lot has to be achieved,? he said. ?We do understand that there are challenges on the supply and retention side. However, attrition is now stabilising or reducing,? he said adding that the company is on the path to brand transformation. On the wage hikes, he said that on-site wage hike was at 3.1% and for Indian staff, it was 15%. Overall, the average hike at Mahindra Satyam was at 12.5%. On a cash kitty of Rs 3,048 crore in this quarter, up from Rs 2,996 crore in Q2FY11, Hari said, ?We have no planned acquisitions ahead. However, we are continuing to explore acquisition targets and are awaiting niche players for being complimentary to our growth,? he added.
?Our journey for transformation started way back on June 20, 2009, and hopefully, by June 19, 2012, we can see the effect of our transformation processes. The operating metrices can be better or even better than the peer group,? CP, Gurnani, CEO, told the media.
On the clientele, the company has 217 active clients and have added four new clients this quarter. ?We are contesting large deals and there is a definite uptake in the deal flow,? he said adding that there are two new clients from the insurance and manufacturing segment. The three new deals bagged recently ranges between $15-$20 million for a period of three to five years.
Meanwhile, Mahindra Satyam has put on hold its planned merger with parent company, Tech Mahindra due to the ongoing probe into the Satyam accounting fraud, CP Gurnani, CEO, said. ?With bankers and the investigating agencies cautioning on the merger, we are putting on hold the merger process,? Vineet Nayyar, chairman said. However, the company may restart the process by mid of this calender year if there is a go-ahead signal from the board. While the legal challenge with Upaid is resolved for $70 million, the issue with the SEC is more or less resolved.