Performance is valued and there are no minimum work-ex criteria for promotion to a particular level.
As
an outsider, I have had a chance to work with IT guys both in India and abroad
(US and UK). The key differences, that I saw, are as given below
1. Timings:
In western countries, there is nothing more strictly defined than the office
hours :). People do not come late and very rarely do they stay back after
office. Its not as if the office hours are monitored by anyone (like in Infy /
TCS) but still they do follow the code. In India, people generally creep into
offices. Reaching late is part of the routine. And then, to impress bosses (I
am not sure what other reasons are), people stay back till late. Staying back
is a norm and this generally helps the people get good reviews.
2. Productivity:
In western countries, productivity is generally higher as compared to Indian
Offices (there are official figures around this). Small things make a lot of
difference in this regard. For e.g., in US, people generally drink their tea /
coffee on their seats reading / replying to mails. In India, we have long
breaks for Tea / Coffee / Sutta. Meetings last only upto the scheduled time and
no longer unlike India where 30 minutes meeting regularly run upto 45-60
minutes. And yes, Lunch breaks are shorter. Strolls are not included in lunch
break timings. All in all, focus is on work and getting the work done quickly
is the first priority.
3. Processes:
In Indian IT industry, we love to make complex processes and follow them even
if they do not make any sense (because someone made a process n-years ago). And
then, there are SLAs for each unit under a process and people seldom try to
resolve issues ASAP. Usually, you'll have to wait, till almost the SLA is
reached, to get a response. I have seen people spend an entire day trying to
get access to certain area in office. While on projects, if the process has a
step which requires approval from someone in US / UK, the team wastes an entire
day (even if the approval is just a rubber stamp). In western countries, things
are a lot simpler. You can simply go and talk to the person, explain the
situation and get the work done much quicker. Its not as if there are no
processes in place there. But they realize that Processes are meant to make our
lives easier, and ensure error-free and quick execution, and if the processes
are failing on any of these criteria, they are willing to do what is logically
correct. We have a lot to learn and improve. We need to move away from process
centric execution and move towards people centric one.
4. Hierarchy: Almost all IT
companies in India have very hierarchical structure. There are so many
hierarchical level with some levels (leads and above) having almost no hands-on
work. Also, hierarchy is very strongly linked to the work-experience of a
resource. Even a phenomenal performer will not become Manager without 7-8 years
of experience (may be more). Also, people take a lot of pride in their position
and often treat others based on their title (e.g. Managers and above having
lunch with others at same level and not with members of immediate team). It is
slightly different in US and UK. For one, organizations are much flatter. Even
if two people have different title, it rarely shows in their day-to-day
interactions. Also, hierarchy has nothing to do with years of experience a
person has. You may find 50+ years guy working as SSE and a 30 something guy
working as MD (Managing Director). Performance is valued and there are no
minimum work-ex criteria for promotion to a particular level.
