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Tell us about how you got your start with Grafix Softech. What are your areas of operations and recruitment presently?
I got my start in creating Grafix, back in Hyderabad, India, my homeland. It is now one of the top e-business consulting and Internet marketing firms in the world, as we help our clients to design their websites for the greatest look and impact on the customer. We help with improving the number of clicks a site gets and maximize the value of every aspect of their sites. And when those sales are made, we provide the gateway for the payments, and we even provide mobile search and marketing services. In the past eight years, we expanded our operations to San Jose, Costa Rica and now we have well over 150 employees between the two sites.
What is your working environment like and your present employee strength?
I take great joy out of seeing happy employees, because they in turn will be productive employees. We have a casual attire policy in my offices for Grafix because that’s the kind of approach that keeps young people happy, and I tend to have young staffs due to the fact that they’re the computer generation and are always trying to be on the cutting edge of innovation and design. It’s silly to think that forcing someone to wear a tie makes them a better employee – I say give them the respect to make their own choices and they’ll feel like they’re valued and will work harder.
What are the basic standards and personality traits you look for in your employees?
You would like them to have relevant experience – particularly a mix of proficiency and creativity on computers for Grafix Softech. It also helps if they have a real passion for business and numbers since they have to get results. Overall, I’m happy to find energetic people who are happy to do their job at the highest possible level. And I believe in rewarding them for holding those standards. That way, everyone wins.
What are the career paths and promotional opportunities open to employees at your companies?
We take the time to ask every new hire about their own personal wishes for their life and career. We ask them to spell out their success in their minds and write it down and visualize it while also thinking about how they can contribute to the best overall organization. If you visualize it and express it, anything can come true. Look at my life – from the streets of New Delhi, India to owning a great corporation and striving to do even better. I believe that the best people will have opportunities open up for them no matter what they do and can stand out, so we reward them for their interests and passion with ever more responsibility and, of course, financial rewards.
What keeps your employees ticking and thinking in terms of the greater team good?
We ask employees in both locations to fill out surveys expressing the things they like most and least about working here. The goal is for an open, direct relationship between employees and management so that no one will brood over the things they don’t like, and so we can keep building on the things they do like. We also reward the best employees with titles, plaques, cash bonuses, and once a year even a vacation trip for employee of the year. That instills friendly competition and that’s always a great thing.
How do you identify your employee needs? What about their attrition rate?
The surveys help us stay on top of our employees’ needs at all times because they allow a direct and honest expression of their everyday lives and wishes. If you keep them happy and challenged and rewarded, the attrition rate will be greatly reduced. If anything, not only will they want to stay, but they’ll recruit the best people they know to join them and share in the happiness. In the end, everyone wins.