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Overview
"Rumor is that Vineet Nayar has invented a whole new way of configuring and managing an enterprise. I think there's more than a grain of truth to that. I'm on the verge of the verge of declaring that Mr. Nayar could be the next Peter Drucker." Author of In Search of Excellence" "Employees are the heart and soul of every company. Vineet Nayar's book tells the story of how management can step out of the way to let employees lead---and to let engagement and productivity soar." CEO, Zappos.com" "By putting employees first and leveraging the power of social technology, Nayar and his colleagues have created an organization that encourages extraordinary contribution from everyone, every day. If you doubt that it's possible to turn the pyramid upside down---or wonder whether it's really necessary---I urge you to read this thoughtful and timely book!" "Visiting Professor of Strategic and International Management, London Business School, and author of The Future of Management" "Vineet Nayar has a revolutionary idea---that business relationships are personal relationships, and that a successful company will understand and integrate that philosophy. Nayar's notions of 'trust, transparency, and the romance of tomorrow' will rejuvenate the corporate soul." CEO, MTV" "Vineet Nayar's new book describes his innovative and practical approach to kindling a fire in employees and moving the social energy of an organization forward. With the methods described in this book, Nayar enabled his Generation Y 'transformers' to realize their potential faster, increased the capacity of the organization to create value for its customers, and built his company into a world leader." Coauthor of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" "This book offers an abundance of advice for business leaders looking to transform their organizations by changing the culture. Nayar's lesson---that even a 'revolution' in corporate culture is really just a series of small, achievable steps---will be invaluable for both the new manager and the accomplished business leader." Group Chairman, Li & Fung Group" "When Vineet Nayar took the helm of HCL Technologies (HCLT) in 2005, the company's legacy of success was threatened by global shifts in the IT services market that left HCLT struggling to keep up with its bigger the rivals. Five years later, the company had become one of the fastest-growing IT services partners on the planet, world renowned for its radical management practices." "What did HCLT do to effect such a transformation? As Nayar describes it in this refreshing first-person narrative, the secret to the company's success was to put employees first---especially those working in the "value zone," described as the interface between the customer and HCLT. To do so, the company did not institute any employee-satisfaction programs, understake any massive restructurengs, or pursue any major technology initiatives. Instead, it employed a number of relatively simple catalysts that produced big (and often unexpected) results." Nayar candidly admits that he did not have a grand plan when he started out, and that these phases became clear to him only after the transformation, but argues that any of these ideas and practices---"the world's most modern management," according to Fortune---may be successfully adopted by any company in any industry anywhere in the world, with similar results.
Synopsis
One small idea can ignite a revolution just as a single matchstick can start a fire.
One such idea—putting employees first and customers second—sparked a revolution at HCL Technologies, the IT services giant.
In this candid and personal account, Vineet Nayar—HCLT’s celebrated CEO—recounts how he defied the conventional wisdom that companies must put customers first, then turned the hierarchical pyramid upside down by making management accountable to the employees, and not the other way around.
By doing so, Nayar fired the imagination of both employees and customers and set HCLT on a journey of transformation that has made it one of the fastest-growing and profitable global IT services companies and, according to BusinessWeek, one of the twenty most influential companies in the world.
Chapter by chapter, Nayar recounts the exciting journey of how he and his team implemented the employee first philosophy by:
• Creating a sense of urgency by enabling the employees to see the truth of the company’s current state as well as feel the “romance” of its possible future state
• Creating a culture of trust by pushing the envelope of transparency in communication and information sharing
• Inverting the organizational hierarchy by making the management and the enabling functions accountable to the employee in the value zone
• Unlocking the potential of the employees by fostering an entrepreneurial mind-set, decentralizing decision making, and transferring the ownership of “change” to the employee in the value zone
Refreshingly honest and practical, this book offers valuable insights for managers seeking to realize their aspirations to grow faster and become self-propelled engines of change.