FIRST FRIEND AT INFY
Life has to move on. I have been in Infosys for the past month and have enjoyed every second of it. I have many memories to share, and one of them is how I met my new best friend Sunny GS here at Infy.
It was the first day and our induction program had taken a much awaited break. Sitting in the second row of the auditorium, I could see a guy with loads of hair, Dhoni style in front of me. He had asked questions in every session uptil then and was making his presence felt by answering questions posed to us by the presenters. I leaned forward and tried to see what he had written in his book, and he instinctively turned around.
It was the first day and our induction program had taken a much awaited break. Sitting in the second row of the auditorium, I could see a guy with loads of hair, Dhoni style in front of me. He had asked questions in every session uptil then and was making his presence felt by answering questions posed to us by the presenters. I leaned forward and tried to see what he had written in his book, and he instinctively turned around.
"Uh, hi", I smiled, a little embarrassed, "I'm from Hyderabad". "Hi.", he said, "I'm Sunny, from Mumbai. Which college?"
"It's a pretty embarrassing place and thankfully banished outside the ouskirts. I hope no one ever gets to know I'm from there. How about you anyway?", I said hoping it sounded funny.
Well, he appreciated the attempt and said, "I've just left XCS in Mumbai."
(XCS is a IT consulting company with more than $ 2 billion in revenue - the only home-grown IT co larger than Infy. Some of you can guess which company it is.)
"I see.. how long have you been working there?", I asked. "Ten months.", he said. "Well, THAT baby got delivered late."
"Yeah, well, I'm happy about it anyway". Saying this, he produced a letter from his bag and handed it over to me.
Reading this letter I realised that there are indeed people in this world who live YOUR dreams. I have always wanted to do something vengeful to a tyrant boss .. and the naukri.com ads on TV captured that in a heart-rending manner. Sunny did just that with this letter (this is authentic but edited to exclude names of those involved) :
From: sunny@xcs.com
Date: 14-Aug-2006 19:40
Subject: Serious concerns regarding XCS eLearning
To: xxxxx@xcs.com
Hello Mr.XXXXX,
This is Sunny from eLearning practice, XCS Thane.
I have an impression on XCS's view on its employees. I think, if it is billable XCS will ask its Engineer employees to do road cleaning also.
This will be my last attempt to help the desperate engineers of eLearning. Let me first describe the eLearning practice of XCS, Thane. eLearning in XCS has wide scope for engineers. Engineers will be having lots and lots of career options here.
I would like to list down some of those.
1) Graphical Designer
2) Instructional Designer
3) Data Entry Operator
4) Screen Capturing COE
5) Uploading and Downloading Expert
6) Voice Recording Artist (This option is open for only ladies but voice editing can be done by males also)
*Actually there will be specialized people available for profiles 1 and 2. But still why XCS wants Engineers to do this job? *Working in profiles 3, 4, 5 and 6 is real hell and it happens only in XCS.
Other than this there are some other options which will be available to very few people (May be around 10-15 % of current strength)
1) Customization of Learning Management System (Very few projects will be there in this.) 2) Flash Action scripting (Copy and paste of already developed code)
3) PL (Most of our seniors reached this stage very early. But it will not be that easy for the people who are joining after us because of the increase in total strength)
4) Internal Java projects (products) - In XCS, people call it as Research and Development (R&D)
*Actually there will be specialized people available for profiles 1 and 2. But still why XCS wants Engineers to do this job? *Working in profiles 3, 4, 5 and 6 is real hell and it happens only in XCS.
Other than this there are some other options which will be available to very few people (May be around 10-15 % of current strength)
1) Customization of Learning Management System (Very few projects will be there in this.) 2) Flash Action scripting (Copy and paste of already developed code)
3) PL (Most of our seniors reached this stage very early. But it will not be that easy for the people who are joining after us because of the increase in total strength)
4) Internal Java projects (products) - In XCS, people call it as Research and Development (R&D)
Now let me tell about me and my experience in XCS eLearning -
I worked for XCS for around 10 months. I spent 2 months for training and from last 8 months, I am working in eLearning practice. Finally I am leaving this company and joining Infosys as fresher. By doing this, I will be losing 10 months of experience but still I prefer to join Infosys as fresher rather than staying in XCS eLearning.
The reasons for this decision of mine are following,
1) The work in eLearning is not giving any value addition to my knowledge. I am sure that it is highly impossible to get other job by showing XCS eLearning experience.
2)The work environment which is almost like school with special and new rules stated by Dr. Maverick Sowhat, The Global Head of eLearning XCS.
3) Dictatorship of Dr. Maverick Sowhat
4) And finally, some words told by Dr. Maverick in the floor meeting to everyone that "If you don't like the job, you can resign. But if you want to be in XCS, you have to be in eLearning". This will be applicable for those who have more than 2 years of experience in XCS eLearning. This tells about the respect we are getting from the company as well as from higher management.
Also I would like to tell something about Dr. Maverick Sowhat.
1) She compels everyone to call her by madam because she expects respect from other people but she never respects any other people.
2) Shouting at other people in office shows her level of professionalism.
I worked for XCS for around 10 months. I spent 2 months for training and from last 8 months, I am working in eLearning practice. Finally I am leaving this company and joining Infosys as fresher. By doing this, I will be losing 10 months of experience but still I prefer to join Infosys as fresher rather than staying in XCS eLearning.
The reasons for this decision of mine are following,
1) The work in eLearning is not giving any value addition to my knowledge. I am sure that it is highly impossible to get other job by showing XCS eLearning experience.
2)The work environment which is almost like school with special and new rules stated by Dr. Maverick Sowhat, The Global Head of eLearning XCS.
3) Dictatorship of Dr. Maverick Sowhat
4) And finally, some words told by Dr. Maverick in the floor meeting to everyone that "If you don't like the job, you can resign. But if you want to be in XCS, you have to be in eLearning". This will be applicable for those who have more than 2 years of experience in XCS eLearning. This tells about the respect we are getting from the company as well as from higher management.
Also I would like to tell something about Dr. Maverick Sowhat.
1) She compels everyone to call her by madam because she expects respect from other people but she never respects any other people.
2) Shouting at other people in office shows her level of professionalism.
3) Interfering with others personal matters unnecessarily.
4) Enforcing new rules and regulations shows that she is still in college professor mentality and this act is spoiling the work environment up to greater extent.
5) If someone opposes her act, she will take it personally and affects the appraisal. This is one of the major problems with her.
6) Lack of technical knowledge (ex. If we explain the design and draft GUI of any application, Instead of commenting about the functionalities of the application, she will comment about the matters like size of buttons, fonts and colors used)
Also I gave my resignation 14 days back and I have asked her to start the separation process by that time. In spite of my formal intimation, formal reminders and personal requests, she didn't start the process yet.
These things might be already known to you. I know that you people cannot do anything more than giving a diplomatic answer to these kinds of problems. But still I request you to look at this, if you have time. If you don't take actions on these, I'm sure the XCS eLearning people will start quitting one by one.
No more I am concerned about this as I will not be the part of this organization anymore. But I want some action for the sufferings I got from XCS. For that I have decided to avoid buying or using XAXA products and also I will discourage my friends and relatives on buying or using XAXA products.
Few last words - XCS cannot achieve Global Top 10 even after my retirement if it doesn't pay attention to the employee satisfaction.
5) If someone opposes her act, she will take it personally and affects the appraisal. This is one of the major problems with her.
6) Lack of technical knowledge (ex. If we explain the design and draft GUI of any application, Instead of commenting about the functionalities of the application, she will comment about the matters like size of buttons, fonts and colors used)
Also I gave my resignation 14 days back and I have asked her to start the separation process by that time. In spite of my formal intimation, formal reminders and personal requests, she didn't start the process yet.
These things might be already known to you. I know that you people cannot do anything more than giving a diplomatic answer to these kinds of problems. But still I request you to look at this, if you have time. If you don't take actions on these, I'm sure the XCS eLearning people will start quitting one by one.
No more I am concerned about this as I will not be the part of this organization anymore. But I want some action for the sufferings I got from XCS. For that I have decided to avoid buying or using XAXA products and also I will discourage my friends and relatives on buying or using XAXA products.
Few last words - XCS cannot achieve Global Top 10 even after my retirement if it doesn't pay attention to the employee satisfaction.
Regards,
----------------------------------------------------
Sunny G S ,
Xaxa Consultancy Services Limited,
Tantra Park -(STPI) ,
Pokharan Road,
Opp HRD Voltas Center,
Subash Nagar,
Thane, Maharashtra India - 400601
Cell:- +919xxxxxxxxx
Mailto: sunny.gs@xcs.com
Mailto: sunny.gs@xcs.com
Website: http://www.xcs.com/
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I folded the letter in a hurry as the break was up, the crowd of freshers teemed back into the auditorium. Our next presenter dimmed the lights to start her slideshow. I couldn't help giggling at the thought of "Uploading and Downloading expert". I guessed correctly - this place was going to be fun.
(Due acknowledgements to a really cool guy called 'Sunny' here- your hairstyle rocks dude.)