Directors' report (Contd.)

21. Human resources management

Employees are our vital and most valuable assets. We have created a favorable work environment that encourages innovation and meritocracy. We have also set up a scalable recruitment and human resources management process, which enables us to attract and retain high-caliber employees. We added 15,321 (net) and 32,247 (gross) employees this year, taking our total strength to 1,08,009 from 92,688 at the end of the previous year. We added 17,024 (net) and 43,120 (gross) employees this year, taking the total strength of the Infosys group to 1,30,820 from 1,13,796 at the end of the previous year. Our attrition rate stands at 17.0% compared to 13.4% for the previous year. Over the last year, we received 8,29,800 applications from prospective employees and we continue to remain an employer of choice in the industry.

22. Education & Research

Continuous education of our employees is of prime significance for us. We believe that this is necessary not only for our own sustainability and growth as an organization but also for enabling the professional development of our employees. In addition to the six month residential foundation program that we conduct for every fresh engineer who joins us, we also lay significant emphasis on the continuous education of our employees. The foundation program is designed to aid students in effectively transitioning from the academic world to the corporate world as qualified professionals.

During the financial year, the total training provided for Infoscions was over 1.5 million person days. During the year, we launched several novel programs to help enhance the business competency of our employees, in addition to introducing new programs aligned to evolving business needs.

We have made significant progress with the Campus Connect program aimed at building a robust industry-academia partnership. We deepened our relationship with several engineering institutions across India through the co-creation of several new electives introduced into their curricula. During the financial year, we engaged with 1,040 faculty members who in turn trained 33,000 students. With this the total number of faculty covered under the program is 5,600 and the number of students trained is 1,20,000 from 530 engineering institutions. The program has received international accolades such as the Corporate University Xchange Award for Excellence and Innovation for the year 2011. As part of SPARK, an Infosys program to expose students from high schools and universities to the world of IT and raise their aspirations, we engaged with over 1,75,000 students during the financial year. From its launch a little over two years ago, the program has reached out to over 2,80,000 students.

Our internationally acclaimed Knowledge Management program won the Global MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) award for the seventh time, the Asian MAKE award for the eighth time, and the India MAKE award for the sixth time during the financial year.

Our researchers published their articles and white papers in prestigious journals and conferences as well as in books and invited chapters in reputed publications.

23. Infosys Leadership Institute

The Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI) was established with the aim of developing world-class corporate leaders. The institute helps to identify potential candidates and earmarks them for the training required to take on key leadership positions within the Company. The ILI's Tier Leadership development hopes to produce and mould business leaders of tomorrow. The institute aims to be a globally recognized institution with a focus on training leaders capable of tackling current and future business challenges. The work done by the ILI helps not only in the identification of leaders but also in the nurturing of a leadership mindset and culture across the organization.

Over the last year, ILI has engaged in several activities to support and grow our group of high potential 'tier leaders' as well as advance the field of leadership development. The institute rolled out the Leadership Journey Series Assessment and conducted assessment feedback sessions as well as helped leaders plan and execute their personal development plans. It also developed structured roadmaps guiding development around the seven key Infosys leadership dimensions, as well as key initiatives such as Creating Client Value.

In 2010-11, ILI showcased thought leadership through collaborations with leading researchers from India and abroad, 12 conference presentations, one peer-reviewed journal article, several keynote presentations and most importantly, the release of the book, Leadership @ Infosys, which combines research and practice perspectives to capture the essence of what it means to excel as a leader at Infosys.

24. Sustainability initiatives

Sustainability is a commitment for us to align our strategy in all aspects of our business with our stakeholders in various dimensions such as economic, social and environment. Our focus areas are embodied in the following themes – social contract, resource intensity and green innovation – and are articulated in our Sustainability Policy. Social contracts are our implicit responsibility to the larger society, to factor in social and environmental aspects as important dimensions of our business. Resource intensity is about doing more with less resources – energy, water or material. Green innovation is about leveraging the opportunity for business leadership through sustainability.

The Infosys Sustainability Executive Council (ISEC) oversees the planning and progress of all our sustainability initiatives.

As part of our sustainability journey, many of our business units are pursuing innovation in green technologies and many of these have been implemented as solutions for our clients. Some of them are :

• iSustain : An enterprise carbon energy and resource management tool with sustainability reporting and performance management capabilities.
• InGreen Energy Management : Enables enterprises to reduce energy usage through automated tracking and identification of consumption patterns; opportunities for changes and reduction, reporting and analysis. It has helped us save energy usage and costs to the tune of 20%.
• InGreen Personal Carbon Calculator : Helps organizations create awareness among employees and measure their daily carbon footprint.
• iSmart : An intelligent power strip that can not only supply power from an electrical source to devices connected to it in enterprise environments, but also monitor their energy consumption level on a continuous basis.
• Integrated Real time Campus Management System (iRCMS) : An enterprise monitoring system that tracks and allows efficient energy management and prolong the life of energy equipment through surveillance. iRCMS helps enterprises with their manpower savings by allowing the facilities and business managers to take informed decisions based on consumption and demand related parameters of energy thereby helping buildings and real estates go green and sustainable.

This fiscal year, our Green Initiatives and the Voice of Youth teams successfully implemented several campaigns and initiatives for creating awareness and influencing our employees and stakeholders in reducing their carbon footprint. Some of the key employee-driven activities have been :

• Earth Hour : The global drive of WWF which led to 3,136 units (over 3.1 MWh) of electrical equipment load turned off during one hour across nine DC-locations in India.
• Infosys Megawatt Challenge : The Infosys Megawatt Challenge was launched at our U.S. offices to reward employees who brought about a reduction in their energy consumption over a period of six months and a positive outreach at their local communities.
• COP16 : Representation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) held at Cancun as a member on the delegation from World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

As part of our commitment to social contracts, several of our employee-driven clubs and groups are actively involved in building an equitable society. Some of the significant programs this fiscal year have been :

• Notebook Drive : This initiative targets students of government schools who are not in a position to afford notebooks and stationery to pursue their academics. The NBD provides them stationery typically required by the beneficiaries for one academic year. We now reach out to 45,000 children in 400 schools and distribute more than 1,72,000 notebooks. More than 4,000 Infoscions worldwide are actively involved in organizing donation campaigns, purchasing notebooks, managing the logistics, and overseeing the distribution of school kits.
• SPARK : This program offers a learning environment that helps students realize their potential and assess their industry preparedness. The program partners with academic institutions to enhance talent pool as well as meet the demands of the IT industry. Launched in August 2008, SPARK is managed by 2,400 Infosys volunteers across development centers. This year it has benefitted more than 1,75,000 students, 1,450 institutions and 6,200 faculty members.
• Karnataka flood relief : Infosys always responds to a humanitarian crisis by volunteering and pledging support. In October 2009, the northern districts of Karnataka were severely affected by floods after torrential rainfall. It claimed hundreds of lives and rendered millions of villagers homeless. Our employees joined hands to rebuild villages and undertake a mass housing project. Infoscions, together with the Board of Directors and the Infosys Foundation, contributed 30 crore towards relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Under the auspices of the state government's 'Aasare' scheme, we partnered with local NGOs to construct homes across 18 villages. The ongoing housing project serves as a model for sustainable development.

For more details on our sustainability initiatives, visit www.infosys.com