Infosys to focus on learning services

Infosys Technologies Limited, the Bangalore-based consulting, IT services and business process management company, is leveraging its human resource (HR) development strategies to bring new business into its fold, said company's chief executive officer and managing director S Gopalakrishnan (Kris).

Infosys already has in place a learning practice within the company, which it hived off into a separate business around six months ago to help its clients implement it in educational programmes in their organisations.

"The learning practice is now available to our clients as a value-added, packaged or as a consultancy service. We are very keen to grow in this business as we believe it to be quite relevant," Kris said, while delivering his keynote address at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'s 'Value Creation Through HR' conclave held in Hyderabad on Thursday.

"HR is positioned to create value across an organisation and make it future ready. Infosys always believed in the power of HR as it plays an important role in global talent search programmes, work ethic practices and employee engagement, besides reducing hierarchy that exists in many an organisation.

Around 30,000 employees were added last year across its global operations, which were selected through a million applications. However, there is still a significant shortfall and a need to develop a pipeline of talent pool. To tackle this, the company had initiated a Campus Connect programme in 2004 across 490 colleges in India and a few institutes in Malaysia and China through which 22,000 have befitted so far," he said.

Stating that around 80 per cent of the company's operational value is based on intangible assets (HR, intellectual property, internal and external assets), Kris said the average asset value of an employee at Infosys stood at Rs 1.08 crore (Rs 10.8 million), from last year's Rs 80 lakh.

Meanwhile, Infosys is in the process of setting up its new SEZ campus on 440 acre at Pocharam on the outskirts of Hyderabad, work on which is expected to start in a couple of months.

"We have already received the necessary SEZ approvals. The first phase of the project would accommodate around 5,000 employees," Kris said, while refusing to spell out further details. Infosys currently employs 11,000 people at its Gachibowli campus in the city.