FCS harnesses effective HR processes to improve efficiency

Date: February 27, 2004

Employing effective and progressive HR measures, Noida-based FCS Software Solutions Ltd has managed to substantially reduce the non-billed time of its human capital. The company is working to make it near negligible by the end of the next financial year.

FCS has accomplished this feat with the help of sound HR practices coupled with "Digital Workplace", a powerful and innovative office automation tool that helps arrest non-billed hours and streamlines the workflow.

According to Mr Dalip Kumar, Managing Director, FCS Software Solutions Ltd: "With change being the constant factor in today's global enterprises, we can only grow if we are cost-effective. In such a scenario, our HR practices should leave no scope of miscalculations, whether it is the data related to employee welfare or training or project deployment. This is primarily because employees are the foundation of a growth-oriented enterprise like ours."

Integrating all the FCS functions, Digital Workplace provides the management with complete access to information like daily timesheets, leaves, future pipeline, project staffing plan and skills inventory. It also generates various analyses and reports, such as the number of "first time right delivery", change management, and per-person bug-report analysis after each project delivery. Quick management access to such detailed analyses has shown results in the form of a substantial rise in the "first time right delivery".

Says Mr Vineet Narang, Vice President (Strategic Planning and Business Development) at FCS: "Our application streamlines work processes through a complete automated workflow system. This ensures a very high satisfaction level of both internal and external clients. Digital Workplace is an ideal tool for self-assessment and a transparent performance-based appraisal system that offers tremendous benefits in the long run, both for the organization and the employees."

An optimum blend of HR, sales, project management, and knowledge management, Digital Workplace contains a database inventory as part of its HR module that helps map prospective employees within specific domains. Based on the requirement generated from the project management module, the HR just needs to negotiate the compensation package before taking the resource aboard. This ensures almost no bench-time as requirements get generated only when the "resource non-availability alarm" is triggered.

Shaping transparent management processes, Digital Workplace gives employees complete access to pertinent information like their daily-task allocation, work progress and critical project timelines. The application automatically sends alerts to all members of the team about these timelines as per the defined escalation process. The Project Tracking Module of the application helps project managers (PMs) in tracking, enhancing, and streamlining workflow while saving on non-billed hours. The application contains centralized project management, along with project and resource information repository accessible at all times from anywhere.

Digital Workplace facilitates a better project monitoring by the clients too. It makes it possible for them to track the exact status of their project on a real time basis, along with the requisite information on the resources working on their projects. "The direct communication channel thus established with the project team has translated into mutual trust and long-term commitments," Says Mr Narang.

FCS has constantly benchmarked its practices with the best in the world and innovated, adapted and implemented practices that bring greater alignment of organizational objectives to individual goals. The feedback mechanism in Digital Workplace allows the project managers and the project leaders to attend to individual issues of team members without delay. A rich knowledge repository keeps track of all these issues and their potential solutions for future reference. It helps reduce the rate of attrition and builds a fun, healthy workplace.

About FCS Software Solutions Ltd

FCS Software Solutions Limited is a KPMG-certified ISO 9001 IT solutions company with a clear roadmap to CMM SEI Model 5. It has its development center at Noida (near Delhi, India) and offices in California and New Jersey (USA). The company also has ready-to-be-deployed similar size development facility at Gurgaon (near Delhi, India). FCS is in its 10th year of successful operations.

FCS provides IT services to US and India-based companies. It is currently servicing more than 65 clients, 11 of which are fortune 500 corporations. It provides services in business applications, E-learning and Digital Content, and Product Engineering Services. The software product companies can use the services of FCS from building to launching their product. FCS works in Java, .NET, Oracle, MS SQL Server, Open Source Code solutions around Linux, Apache, and MySQL. FCS provides a voice and web-based 24X7 Technical Support services to the end-users of its clients' services and products.