The Secret of Corporate Happiness

Greetings Cybage! How’s Pune’s coolest crowd doing today? The verdict is out, Cybagians rock the most. Some of the big people there asked me why do Cybagians always look so happy? I said “Its simple, we have a secret recipe to happiness! All the new Cybagians don’t know the secret yet and all the old timers they have forgotten about it. Don’t expect me to tell you, I never reveal secrets.” So who then can share Cybage’s secret to happiness?

There was a king who wouldn’t have minded sharing the secret, but unfortunately the king died. He died centuries ago after waging a long war with his neighbor. But his untimely demise led to the coronation of this brilliant prince. Mega facilities were held. People came from far to catch a glimpse of their new king. Now the tradition required a black eagle to be released into freedom symbolizing the beginning of a new era. The ritual also required the king to issue 3 new decrees by which he will rule.

So the king looked around for inspiration and his eyes rested on his eagle that had just emerged from the cage in preparation of his maiden flight. Mesmerized by the majestic size of this eagle spreading his huge wings in full glory the king issued his first decree. “I shall spread the wings of my kingdom’s prosperity”. Amidst thundering applause the bird took off up into the high sky ascending higher. While everybody looked up in fascination, the king issued his second decree. “I want my subjects to look up to the throne for justice and parity to all.” As the crowd roared the bird went soaring far near the mountains that separated the kingdom from the enemy state. The picture perfect sight of the black eagle against the blue sky filled the king’s heart with a deep sense of peace and he declared, I shall make peace with my neighbors.

And the king promptly followed up his promises and he opened his treasury for his needy subjects. He started holding assemblies daily to deliver justice. And he ended the long war by signing the peace treaty with his neighbor. You see the king had discovered 3 secret ingredients of his kingdom’s happiness; prosperity, parity and peace. Now you all know where our Cybage stole its secret recipe from.

Prosperity!! Many early Cybagians were needy freshers. Cybage helped them prosper and they gave back a lot more. There have been so many organizational accolades over the years including our recent top 100 prestigious rankings by both global services and IAOP and the opening of two new offices in the year 2011 at Atlanta and Austin has added to it.

Parity!! Parity means equality. See, the connection you all and we all have here, or at the ‘meet the CXO’ sessions back in Cybage; there exists a respect for parity which is institutionalized at Cybage. No wonder Dataquest IDC, ranked your Cybage amongst the top 20 IT employers once again in the HR category. In fact our parity quest goes way beyond. Toady our CSR initiatives Cybage Asha and Khushboo stand as a pillar of support for many needy students and poor villagers.

Peace!! Peace in Cybage is asserted by its sparkling infrastructure right in the heart of the city and yet away from hustle bustle. There is a soothing feeling of calm when one walks into Cybage every day and looks at all those stress free faces against the cool water fountains; sometimes, even during peak hours. So cool, that the world’s leading analyst firm Gartner bestowed upon your Cybage the status of the 5 coolest vendors of the year 2011.

Yess!! We are one very happy company today. However, I must admit; reluctantly, that there are many other happy Indian IT companies too. So here is cheers to coming of age of our industry; we all have graduated from a prince to a king. Story over!! Happy ending! The only problem is; endings are never happy. Everybody wants to hear that happily ever part. So we have no choice but to go back to our king and check the happy ending forever part of this story.

In the beginning everyone in the kingdom rejoiced. Then something terrible took place. The easy access to treasury money led to demotivation of hard working people. The resulting disparities led to distrust amongst subjects. The king started spending many hours to sort out the many growing disputes. Still, disillusioned the subjects started migrating out of the kingdom. The neighboring king, sensing the brewing unrest withdrew the peace treaty and started preparing for invasion. Now our king did not have the treasury, time or focus to prepare for the war. It was a collapse on all the fronts of prosperity parity and peace. What a tragic end. Sounds familiar?? This is the timeless story of many kingdoms.

First you have public sector to spread prosperity. This is followed by talented people finding it extremely difficult to succeed; and the resulting disparity leading to clogging of the judiciary. And if everything was peaceful our Anna Hazare wouldn’t be holding peace agitations!! Would he be??

So is our industry also headed in the same direction?? Slowing global economy; leading to diminishing returns on prosperity. Fewer growth opportunities leading to a power struggle. Big companies and their politics replaced parities and no peace of mind as frustrated employees searched one job after another. Is it the beginning of the end, of our happy Indian IT story? Fortunately kahani abhi baaki hai mere doston!! (there is more to the story my friends!) This is a CEO’s speech it cannot have a sloppy end right?? So let’s turn back to our brilliant king and see if he can rescue all of us.

Stressed and sleepless the king often stared listlessly into the horizon searching for answers. One day he saw his eagle flying far away and if the bird got him into this mess; it must also have the clues to get him out of this. Immediately he mounted his horse and chased the eagle. By evening, his pursuit led him to the top of the mountain behind which the bird had disappeared. The enemy territory lay ahead. As he hastily rode his horse the sudden jerk shattered the fallacy of his first decree. You see, he had never travelled this far yet his focus on the flying eagle did not let him feel tired. Sitting on the throne and fancying prosperity as wide as the eagle’s wings flew, it was not by sitting but by running after his focus that he could cover the entire breadth of the kingdom. His subjects never needed the free treasury; all they needed was a well-defined focus behind which they could run to create wealth.

So do we have a corporate lesson here? You bet we do! We all want prosperity. So let’s not just sit, let’s run! Insaan ki kabiliyat focus ke peeche bhaagne, kamayabi prosperity toh apne aap aajayegi (A human being’s ability lies in him chasing focus; success and prosperity will come to him on its own). Your Cybage lives by this principle. Proof?! In the last 3-4 months every single IT company that I know has put a complete full stop to employee financial growth. It is the great ability of each and every one present over here today, to encourage your Cybage to add a new thank you incentive component to everyone’s package.

Now let’s run back to our king. Now the king himself looked back from the mountains towards his kingdom and what he saw took his breath away. There were thousands of birds flying below him all size, shapes and colors breathing life into the background pasture of lakes, rivers, valleys; a sight far more spectacular then that lonesome black eagle against a dull sky. And the second myth came crumbling down. It’s okay to look upto the heaven to usher parity but, execution requires looking down. Justice can never be issued from a pedestal. The king needed to disguise and go down to the commoner’s life to understand their problems.

Do we have a lesson again? Of course we do!! We all want parity so let’s just stop wasting time searching for it in the heavens. An organization needs to look down at its operational pulse. Build frameworks that can allow the employers to run behind their focus without stumbling. Your Cybage has perfected on such framework we call it ExcelShore. We call it primary differentiator and the world agrees. Last year while competing with India’ s Fortune 100 companies the likes of Reliance Tata and Infosys your Cybage hands down won the most mature workforce practices award.

Now let’s get back to our king one last time. Now doubly pleased, the king peeped over the mountain in search of his bird. And what does he see? A battlefield. Soldiers fighting; swords, blood, spears, bleeding bodies, amputated bodies, ghastly sights; then there is a tree on which sat his eagle with a completely peaceful expression unaffected by the surrounding battle. The king understood. Peace doesn’t usher in by imagining a distant utopian scenery. Peace only comes when one can stay peaceful amidst battles so necessary to secure your kingdom.

Lesson? Perhaps the most important one for this evening. We all want peace in this world so let’s not live in an imaginary world and live in the real world. Medieval times or the 21st century, there are going to be battles. We will win some and loose some. Winning is not going to come our way by running away. Ironically, peace only comes when we realize we cannot run away from the battle field. And you know what? Your Cybage got that most right. I am the living proof for this. If Cybage was not at peace; 17 years of being in the thick cut throat battlefield of this Indian IT Industry, your CEO wouldn’t be able to stand in front of you every year with the same relaxed smile.

That is why my friends, we are a very happy company. For somehow we have understood that prosperity, parity and peace are ingredients of corporate happiness and do not come by sitting, looking up and dreaming. For, the true secret is there is no secret!! All that happiness needs is simple running in the real world with eyes on the ground. And when does happiness turn into ecstasy? When you have the good fortune and the blessing of having a team that does better than running; it dances. Their feet dance to other music beats and heart dancing to Cybage’s beats. So here are salutations to all the kings and queens of Cybage for who my soul beats, as they have made the Cybage kingdom so proud!! Thank you.