Very much hope Sikka will deliver results, Infy Co-chairman

Infosys Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan is hopeful that CEO Vishal Sikka would deliver results for the company and not think of leaving it because of losing high-profile talents.

Venkatesan stated this when asked if he sees Sikka turning things around for Infosys or turning his back on the company for failing to retain high-profile executives.

"Well I very much hope that it is the former (that Sikka  will turn things around), not the latter (that he will turn  his back on Infosys due to losing high-profile talents),"  Venkatesan told PTI here.

Market watchers are speculating over the stint of Sikka  at Infosys in the backdrop of as many as 11 executives  quitting the company after took charge, the latest  being Yusuf Bashir, who was leading the USD 500-million startup fund of software services for over two years.    

Talking about exits, Venkatesan said it was not a  matter of great surprise because the executives were highly desired in IT industry. But the company needed to make sure that it did not lose talent, and the best way to retain them was to allow them to grow.

"But when the industry is changing so fast, boss, if  people have an opportunity to become a CEO somewhere else and  become number 2 somewhere else, we cannot stop them," he added.

Nevertheless, Venkatesan said, he felt bad if any of good employee left the company because he was an emotional person.

"We had a few exits, and I am an emotional person  also. Every time a good employee leaves at any level, I feel  bad about it," he said.

Repying to a query, Venkatesan said all stakeholders,  including the founders and the promoters, will feel anxious due to cultural transition, which brings a sense of instability among them.

"I think the big challenge for all companies including us  is to manage the cultural transition - changing business  model, market and business strategies.

"During this shift,  there obviously is a sense of instability, and therefore  employees feel anxious. Investors may feel anxious. Certainly,  the people who built this company like the founders will feel  anxious," he said.      

Venkatesan said during the stints of N R Narayana Murthy  and Nandan Nilekani as the company heads, Infosys saw amazing  performances because there was a tremendous amount of  alignment between market, business model and culture.

"When market changes, you try to change your model; your  strategy. Then what happens is, you start bringing in new  people to fill gap in new areas like digital. They come in  with a different mindset and cultural orientation. They come  in at different composition levels etc, and this creates  stress in the system," he added.

Hence, it was the job of a board and senior management to manage transition. It was not about strategy, but managing  people, anxieties, emotions and relationships in the process,  Venkatesan said.