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Perk Wise

Plush environs, gyms and mom's rooms---technology companies in Bangalore are out to make their employees more relaxed and productive. India Today Principal Correspondent Stephen David takes a look.

Four-month-old Tritha couldn't have been more at home with her working mother. And vice-versa. Sunk into a bright bean bag with the little one cradled in her lap, Madhuri Aravind, 24, smiles as Rikha Scarry's Best Picture Dictionary catches her eye on the colourful rack of books in front of her. Life sometimes can be too good to be true. A giant, green plastic frog below the stack of books stares back at her with a knowing look about it. As if to say it has sensed that feeling of picture-perfectness between
mother and child before.

In fact it has. Between other moms and other babies. In these very environs. For much as they may make it seem like the Aravinds' own room in the comfort of their home, this is a public playroom. A public Mom's Room if you like. Where mummies working with MindTree Consulting and their children spend time
together between working hours. And it's just one of the things that makes working with the Bangalore-based e-services and networking major easier for those like Aravind.

'The workplace is as important as the home, explains MindTree Chairman Ashok Soota.You have to give your workers an ambience of informality. And purpose. So besides the Mom+s Room, the company has bright digitally, enhanced paintings made by spastics splashed all across its work stations in the 80,000 sq ft facility. Everytime Sanjay Gaikwad, 30, manager, information systems, looks up from his desk and sees the bright office, he is reminded of the spastic children. "It makes me feel good." That, it seems, is the bottom line in a growing number of infotech offices in Bangalore today. With professionals spending more and more time at work, these companies are trying innovative ways to make them feel more at peace. Cafeterias with clean, homely food, gyms to easnds, piped music playing in the background, even live performances by bands once in a while' there are a
number of options being offered. All aimed at making the office-goer more relaxed, energetic+and more productive.

It's a logic that is perhaps best justified on the sprawling campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd. While a pall of despondency hangs over the infotech industry in general, employees of this software major are still a driven lot. As any of its 4,354 engineers would testify, it+s something that the air in Infosys City does to them. The company has spent nearly Rs 350 crore to make sure its 11.5 lakh sq ft premises is a fun-loving workplace. Lush greenery with landscaped gardens, a mini-golf course'putt-putt as Infoscions call it' basketball and tennis courts, billiards and snooker pools, a swimming arcade, and four food courts have given the employees a wide range of alternatives to choose from to take a break from their otherwise sedentary style of functioning. The greenery in articular is a big draw+the employees take long walks or just peddle their tensions away on the many Hercules MTX cycles that are found on the campus. Although the campus often looks like an American university set-up with girls and boys mixing freely, 3 pm to 5 pm is -ladies time- at the gym. Some orthodoxy. Compared to an industry average of 8 per cent women, Infosys's women force number 15 per cent of the 7,500-odd work force. "Our human assets are very
important and we have to make provisions for all facilities to keep them fresh and enthusiastic," says Infosys Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy.

At Phoenix Global Solutions, another tech-heavy firm in Bangalore, the effort is to beat the proverbial Monday morning blues. Far from dragging themselves back to a week of work, employees here look forward to the Sakkat Somawaras or Great Mondays when it+s chill-out medley time. It+s all play and no work as free-wheeling music sessions bring out the best+and worst+of talents in the Phoenix family. The fun olic, employees vouch, ensures an energetic and productive week ahead.

Similar notes of vibrancy ring in the International Technology Park (itp) at Whitefield as well. A joint venture by a Singapore-led consortium, the Tatas and the Karnataka Government, the park plays host to top musicians every Friday afternoon, besides a quarterly music session called Moonlighting@techpark. Last year+s edition of moonlighting showcased a live performance by Tania, one of Singapore+s leading retro bands. Food at itp is
varied: from lamb chops to Chinese Stir fry to Lebanese Shawarma. As itp Chief Executive Officer Chan Kah Hoe explains, people from various cultures and countries work at the park, so the idea is to provide a comfortable transnational mix whether it is with respect to music or the food that is served in the cafeteria.

Today, an office can no longer be considered just a business working space. It is the second living space of its occupants,- maintains Philips Innovation ceo Bob Hoekstra. The seven-storey, 1.58 lakh sq ft premises of the company, a subsidiary of Philips Semiconductors International, on Old Madras Road, has incorporated the thought in its building design as well. The extensive use of glass, veneer surfaces, steel, perforated metal sheets, granite, marble and carpets is complemented by a specific theme for each floor pertaining to issues like health, culture and so on. One floor is exclusively devoted to housing a cafeteria, a medical room, an atm and a gym. Despite the conducive working environment, the firm encourages
employees to work light as the day wears out and spend more time with their families.

Such sensibilities, the companies believe, will hold them in good stead. And they do have a point. As Gartner Inc, a research and management consulting firm, points out, disillusionment, not recession, is the biggest threat that Asia's business face in the coming quarter. More and more Asian businesses, it says, are falling prey to such disillusionment following the Infotech Chief
Technology Officer John Azariah, -the need to keep intellectual assets in good shape is all important-. So whether it is Healthscribe, India's largest medical transcription company, organising fun events on its production floors, call centre Customer Asset ensuring that a top management employee
provides company and entertainment to those on the night shift or telecom software firm Subex Systems hosting dinners for its employees' parents, the basic objective is to keep the workers+ spirits up.

It also helps them to bond better with their colleagues and their company. As Radhika Madhavan, public relations director at image advisory Brand.com, observes: -The friendly environment helps check attrition levels too.- MindTree, for instance, claims its attrition rate is only half the industry average of 34 per cent. And this in turn is doing good to the company. In other words, employee morale has a direct bearing on the company profits.
And it is paying off. Enough, at least, for nasscom to predict a comfortable jump for the Indian infotech industry in the the coming year despite the global downturn

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