Wipro creates grade for faster promotions, hikes

Wipro has created a grade (band) to ensure its employees in the entry- and mid-level categories continue to grow by giving them speedier promotions and faster wage hikes.

It is in these segments that the attrition rate is higher. Wipro witnessed an attrition rate of around 17 per cent in the last quarter.

Even as the market awaits its results for the June quarter, the company is not willing to take any chance with its employees.

Wipro's employees are clubbed under five grades -- A, B, C, D and E -- based on experience and seniority.

While freshers come under the entry level band A, people of the rank of vice-presidents and above belong to the E-band.

Once a fresher completes one year, he is elevated to the B1-band. Employees of the rank of team leaders and similar positions, with over four years experience, mostly belong to the B2-band.

The Bangalore-headquartered company has split the B1 and B2 grades, meant for software professionals, to create another grade, B3.

This, it hopes, will help employees grow faster in the organisation.

The company took the initiative after it was found that employees in the B1-band were taking too long to be promoted to the B2-band. For this, many deserving employees had to wait long to get promotions.

Many deserving employees in the B1 and B2 grades have been promoted to the B3 grade, with salary rises. Few employees, requesting anonymity, said the rise is six to 14 per cent, depending on the years in the organisation.

B-band makes up about 70 per cent of Wipro's IT services employee strength of over 103,000.

Sourav Govil, senior vice-president and human resources head for Wipro Technologies, said the company had given selective hikes to employees taken in the new grade.

"We felt there is a big gap between the earlier B1 and B2 grades.

"The new grade (B3) has been created to ensure junior and middle level employees, who make up the largest chunk of our employee base and belong to these two (B1, B2) grades, find their career growth and promotional prospects more appealing."

Since Wipro is in a quiet period in the run-up to its first quarter results' announcement on July 23, it could not be ascertained how many have been absorbed into the new grade.

The selective hike and promotion comes on top of the annual hike of eight to nine per cent, effective from February 1.

As business picked up during the last two quarters, most Indian IT companies, including Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL, witnessed a surge in their attrition rate. To contain this, IT companies are resorting to various initiatives, including salary hikes and generous variable pay, among others.

For instance, senior officials in Infosys said the recent decision of the company to offer equity shares to its employees through the employees' welfare trust, had been well-accepted.

"Many of them who were on their way out have changed their minds," said sources in company's HR department. MphasiS also saw its attrition rate hovering around 26 per cent in the second quarter of 2010-11.

The company said it had given over 125 per cent variable pay to employees in the last two quarters.

TCS is understood to have given over 100 per cent variable pay in the last two quarters and intends to make it more generous in future.

Image: Azim Premji