Satyam revamps workforce

Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth largest IT business and services provider, has reorganised its workforce to create almost 4,000 leadership positions - 8 per cent of its 50,000-odd workforce.

The figure, which roughly translates into a leader for every 12 employees, is estimated to be at least 15-20 per cent more than at most organisations.

The company's plan, according to Shailesh Shah, the chief strategy officer, is to keep the figure between 8-9 per cent.

He asserted that the new structure, which aids "leadership and innovation", will help Satyam quickly and successfully expand its footprint to address the $7-8 trillion global delivery market (of which the IT-BPO services market is estimated to be around $700-900 billion), and tackle other IT majors like IBM, EDS, Capgemini, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies.

Around 50 per cent of these 4,000 leaders are directly responsible for meeting the revenue targets of the $2-billion IT company, which has completed two decades.

Leaders at Satyam handle average deal sizes of around $8 million (around Rs 34 crore).

The remaining 50 per cent comprise experts and those responsible for creating assets (consulting, marketing, strategy, etc).

Each individual is the leader of his or her own business, responsible for its performance.

Leaders define goals, set strategy, allocate resources and manage operations for their units.

The radical leadership model was designed to "break down the barriers of hierarchy, empower people and distribute leadership," Shah said, adding that the distributed-leadership framework has led to increased sense of ownership and flattened decision cycle times while simultaneously reducing attrition.

"This helps knowledge retention and, in turn, increase customer confidence. Every business is continually measured on a five-point performance scale, which correlates each leader's use of resources."

Towards this end, the company has invested in the Satyam School of Leadership, too.

"Given our business model, a lot of work is collaborative in nature. There is an overlap when it comes to service lines and verticals for which leaders need to work with each other on deals. Under the guidance of our founder and chairman, Ramalinga Raju, we have been working on this model for the last 18-20 months and the process will continue," Shah said.

The move to create a leadership pipeline dovetails directly into Satyam's growth plans and could have a significant revenue impact over the next one-two years, said Alok Shende, head (IT & telecom), Ovum India.

Another analyst, however, cautioned that firms go through cycles of centralisation and decentralisation. "People joining the workforce look for quick progression. This step should definitely help. However, firms generally veer towards reducing the span of control over employees. This leadership structure may unwittingly increase the span of control," he said.

Incidentally, to keep with the structural change and capture its new business interests, the company has also changed its tagline to