Wipro decided to get People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) certification after an internal HR meeting in 1996, where company officials discussed the possibility of becoming a ‘HR No 1’ company. In December 1996, Corporate, Executive VP, Human Resources, Dilip Ranjekar (Dilip), and Ranjan Acharya (Ranjan) VP – Corporate, Human Resources Development, went to the US to conduct an in-depth analysis on the best global HR practices. During the next three years, Wipro officials spent a substantial amount of time and resources to understand the practices followed by global companies. They studied HR policies of various companies such as AT&T, GE, Tandem and British Telecom for the purpose. By 1999, Wipro developed a ‘competency dictionary,’ wherein it identified 24 competency areas spread across the five levels of PCMM. The behavioral issues for each level were identified and the procedures to address them were also clearly defined. In September 1999, Wipro took up a study to identify HR areas, where it was weak and conducted an initial gap analysis for level 2.1 Around 137 employees including managers and process owners were covered in groups of 10 and 20 for this purpose. The management realized that the organization already had excellent processes in place even before PCMM. For instance, Wipro was one of the first companies in India to implement practices such as 360° feedback and employee training and development programs for upgradation of skills. All the training needs of employees (to help them fit the PCMM certification standards) were taken care of by the in-house training department at Wipro. Every new recruit in the company was put through a well-structured induction/training program, which covered all aspects of software development skills required. To meet the ever-changing training requirements of its employees, Wipro rolled out e-learning initiatives for all. The ‘training on demand’ service helped employees to take proactive decisions regarding their training needs. These steps enabled the company to meet the requirements of the PCMM level 2. Having successfully implemented the process areas for level 2, Wipro began to integrate Key Process Areas (KPA) for level 3. The company focused on the career development path, which consisted of several levels. The first stage in the career path was ‘Team Member.’ Employees having less than one year of work experience were made team members for the first few projects. Their primary task was to gain experience with various tools and software development while developing programs. After this stage, employees moved on to become ‘Module Leaders,’ where they interacted with customers in addition to developing software and leading the team. Wipro decided to offer its module leaders, careers in consulting or in business development. If an employee chose a technical career, he became the Project Manager, and was made responsible for setting standards for a project, building customer relationships and providing technical assistance for his team. He was also in charge of developing of a good work culture and environment for his team, besides interacting with other internal departments. Project managers became Technical Managers, managing multiple projects and relating to customers, people and business. Successful technical managers could head Wipro’s strategic business units (SBUs). Wipro employees were allowed to alter their career path midway to suit their core competencies. The opportunity to shift to either functional or technical specialization eventually was dependent on the employee’s interest and expertise. Wipro also appointed an external agency to conduct the yearly ‘Employee Perception Survey’ to know employee perception and help management understand the requirements for high employee morale. The management ensured that the outcome of the survey was implemented to motivate, empower and recognize the employee’s performance. After integrating the career development of employees with its strategic HR policies, Wipro concentrated on integrating key process areas of the PCMM level 4. One of the important features for achieving PCMM level 4 was the organization’s ability to mentor leadership qualities in employees and empower them to take decisions which would result in the capability management in the organization. Wipro recognized the need to groom employees and develop leadership qualities and started the Wipro Leaders Program. The program had various options such as Entry Leaders Program, Wipro Leaders Program, Business Leaders Program and Strategic Leaders Program that were designed to enable employees face challenges in their career path. The Entry Leaders Program was for employees who were at entry level positions in the company, Wipro Leaders Program was for employees who were already team leaders, Business Leaders Program addressed the leadership qualities in business leaders and the Strategic leaders Program was for Strategic leaders. According to Ranjan, at Wipro, leadership grooming was not a just matter of intention but it was a process of continuous support. The company followed an integrated approach towards selecting and grooming leadership qualities in employees. For all the above programs, the company sought to develop the competencies of the employees through training, coaching, exposure, delegation of authority, counseling and value clarification. While selecting the employees for the programs, Wipro set certain parameters. The company tested not only the employees’ IQ and technical knowledge but also potential leadership competencies. The company delegated enough responsibilities to the employee to prove his leadership abilities and groom his people skills. These initiatives filled in the gaps for reaching the PCMM level 4. To reach PCMM level 5, Wipro began putting in place measures to further streamline its manpower planning and HR policies. To meet the ‘Continuous Capability Improvement’ KPA, Wipro made a resource commitment of 5% of its overall manpower costs towards employee training. The management identified 24 competency areas over the 5 levels and the behaviors at each level and procedure to address such behavioral issues. Wipro went through 20 KPAs, which had around 6 observations per practice. According to company sources, there were over 400 practices, which covered around 6,000 employees. On an average, it was reported that there were around 7 observations per practice. Top Management took care of looking into minute aspects of the processes so that they could derive value. The most critical aspect of the exercise was fixing the gaps identified by the gap analysis. The management formed taskforces for this purpose. That consisted of line managers as well as personnel from corporate HR. Wipro also had an assessment team consisting of 7 line managers, 3 HR staff and 2 quality staff. In December 2001, Wipro achieved the PCMM level 5 certification for which over 100 people had worked over 2 years.

1. What is the nature of potential contribution that PCMM could make to companies like Wipro who are competing globally and dependent critically on export business? 2. Explain the methodology employed by Wipro in implementing the PCMM model and integrating it with its operations. How far do you think the existing infrastructure facilitated speedy and successful introduction?