Lessons in Organization Building
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A product company with marquee clients and strong products in Web Content Management and Healthcare finds itself unable to scale up and grow beyond a certain point. They participate in the NASSCOM mentoring program, and what follows is a story of how a team of individuals helped Srishti Software realize its true potential. We spoke to Mr. Ajay Sharma, CEO, Srishti Software, who said, “If any other emerging company gets a chance to be a part of a similar program, I would tell them to jump to it and do it!”
Srishti Software has been continually evolving since its founding in 1997. Initially started as complete software services provider, in 2002 the company made a conscious decision to become a product company specializing in a few key areas. Today Srishti offers 2 products, Kreatio – a product for web content management, and Paras, a healthcare information management system. Though performing reasonably well for a company in the product space, the promoters and management team had cause for worry – Srishti had reached a turnover of around USD 1 million, but were unable to move beyond that, even over the next 3-4 years. That is when they decided to opt for the NASSCOM mentorship program and get an external, objective perspective on what their next move should be.
The mentoring team got to work right away. Over one year, 10 panel meetings and numerous one-on-ones, the team identified the key challenges that Srishti was facing and worked with the company on how to address these. Two main problem areas were identified – organizational building and scaling, and branding and marketing, with the focus being on the former.
“At Srishti, all decision-making was centered around the promoters and family members. Good senior people were being recruited for key roles but we were unable to retain them,” admits Mr. Ajay Sharma, CEO, Srishti Software. “The management was unable to provide proper guidance in terms of expectations and roles. Impatient to scale up fast, the new recruits were not given sufficient time to settle down and find their groove.”
Hence, the mentors decided to focus most of their discussion around this problem and help Srishti boost scalability. Meetings revolved around how to manage people recruited into senior roles – how much to push them and how much slack to give them. “I was very impatient and wanted results immediately,” remarks Sharma self-deprecatingly. “The mentors made me realize that any effort needs time to ripen and bear fruit – I had to give the new employees at least six months to settle down, understand the company and start performing.”
At each meeting with the mentoring team, alongside analysis and recommendations, action items were set, and the progress made was tracked from one session to the next. This was so effective that in a short time, Srishti was able to fill all senior positions in every functional and business area. Currently, only major decisions and investments decisions are referred to the promoters, while empowered senior leaders are responsible for all organizational decisions.
A second area where Srishti received guidance was in branding and communication, since it was felt that there was considerable inconsistency in communication of the offerings. The mentors recommended that all collateral and material be revamped completely in order to present a unified brand image of the company, both internally and externally.
“The meetings were useful in themselves, but the mentoring team took this a step further,” remarks Sharma. “They organized meetings for us with subject matter experts who helped us with marketing and branding issues. A lot of value addition happened in these particular areas.”
Has the mentoring program brought Srishti any benefits? Definitely – Srishti has seen a marked improvement in ability to retain senior talent and to guide them into becoming high performers. Consequently, Srishti’s revenue has tripled this year and profit has jumped 250%. But the biggest benefit has taken the form of something more qualitative. “There are not too many people within the organization who can tell the top management or a promoter that they are doing something wrong. The mentoring team functioned as an external guide, counseling us and setting our feet on the right path towards growth,” points out Sharma. “If any other emerging company gets a chance to be a part of a similar program, I would tell them to jump to it and do it!”
Contributed by Kritika Srinivasan, Prayag Consulting for the NASSCOM EMERGE newsletter.
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Comments
Fantastic write up on mentoring of SME co. In fact it is the biggest advantage of Nasscom membership where small organizations take the help of peers who act as volunteers and mentors to give an OUT OF BOX perspective and help survuval and growth…..
Such help is worth million dollar value …more of us should take advantage
A great success story for NASSCOM Emerge initiative and the mentoring program. The effort of the mentors is commendable and is priceless.
I wish this mentoring program can be implemented pan-India.
Abhishek
Hi,
It is true that such mentoring works. In fact I do this individually as a consultant. I am basically a chrtered Accountant and After 3 decades of exp in corporates, I started my own consulting – offering CFO/CEO advisory services. The main aim is to help companies grow.
Please let me know if I can be of any help.
REgds,
J Krishna Prasad
98402 94444