There is an Oliver Twist in most of us which is forever asking for more. Earlier, employees were happy with a Puja bonus and a holiday home in Digha, which they got a chance to use once every two years. Later, the holiday homes proved too humble (and difficult to manage). The replacement was higher salaries and higher bonuses. Now all that is taken for granted. If you want to retain your best employees, you must give more — much more.

This is particularly true in the information technology (IT) industry where attrition rates are very high. Infosys made waves a few years ago with its Bangalore campus. It has a food court, a gymnasium, snooker tables, a mini golf course and what have you. But today, all that is not enough.

“Think of Herzberg’s two-factor theory,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant D. Singh. “You have the hygiene factors such as salary which are considered givens. They do not give positive satisfaction but there is dissatisfaction if they are inadequate. And then you have motivators which give positive satisfaction.”

What’s alarming for companies is that the hygiene factors are multiplying. The motivators (like recognition and personal growth) are far more difficult to augment. If you give a pat on the back once too often, it stops working. Says Singh: “If you receive a best employee certificate the sixth year running, it doesn’t mean as much as the first did.”

Forward-looking IT companies are going that extra mile to keep their staff happy. Particularly in their new campuses. HCL, which has just flagged off a technology hub in Noida, has endowed it with state-of-the-art amenities and employee facilities.

Hexaware, which is setting up a campus in Chennai (to be launched any day now), says it has looked at what others have to offer. It is going a step further. Its range of amenities includes eco-friendly buildings, concierge services and a beauty parlour (see box).

“I believe a good work environment for employees helps improve productivity and also addresses the challenge of reducing attrition,” says Hexaware founder and chairman Atul Nishar. “Additionally, it proves to be a motivation, resulting in employee satisfaction which in turn results in better client satisfaction.”

Nishar and Hexaware have gone beyond satisfaction. “For me, work is fun,” says Nishar. “I feel that you must wake up in the morning and want to come to work. It should be a pleasure and not a duty or a responsibility.” If you talk to the folks in the company, you will find that he has managed to inculcate this ethos to an extent. Though there is attrition — after a point, you can’t stop ambitious people from job hopping — there is a clear sense of regret amongst the people who have left. “Job satisfaction today means much more than it once did,” adds Nishar.

Singh says that companies like Hexaware — which are thinking holistically about their employees — will be the ones that will thrive in the future. But he has a word of caution. “Having fun is something that you cannot graft on an organisation,” explains Singh. “It must come from the heart.”

When the dotcom boom was at its height, several companies had appointed fun officers; their job was to ensure that employees enjoyed themselves. Many of them just organised picnics and tail-the-donkey competitions. When the hard times came, fun officers faded away.

It’s not exactly the best of times in the IT industry, reeling under a rising rupee and increased competition. But they are still enjoying themselves at Hexaware, though it too has been affected by the downturn. “Having fun is in our DNA,” says Nishar. Oliver Twist would have enjoyed himself here.

Hygiene factors

State-of-the-art gymnasium

Multi-cuisine food courts

ATMs

Medical facilities with a doctor-on-call

Auditorium

One building dedicated to an in-house training university

Guest accommodation with 50 suites

New initiatives

Multipurpose sports fields for cricket, hockey, football and other athletic activities

Swimming pool

Shopping mall

Amphitheatre to accommodate more than 3,000 people for special functions

Special babycare centre

Beauty parlour

Concierge services

Certified green campus

Covered parking for all vehicles

(Source: Hexaware Technologies. This is a list of facilities that will be available at its new campus in Chennai )