Sharad Verma Joins Iris

Iris is a culturally rich company and it shows in the way it cares for its people. Even though the company has close to 2000 employees, of whom 1200 are in India, the founders know many on a first name basis. The company cares not just for its employees but also for their families: this shows in simple, palatable ways such as birthdays and anniversaries celebrations that are not performed mechanically like in many other companies. This ‘personalization’ is the DNA of Iris. The challenge is how to continue growing, while retaining this trait.

We looked at the entire employee lifecycle starting from the 1st recruitment call, their 1st day at Iris, their interaction with their manager, their 1st facilities experience and so forth. We identified 25 touch points and associated a score with each of them, something like a Net Promoter Score. The idea was to gauge whether the experience was positive, negative or neutral as well as better understand what is working and what needs to change.

This is important because business goals can only be achieved with people. It is therefore important to understand how to unleash the creative function of the employees, so that they, in turn, can expand the client portfolio that they have. It is important for HR to understand the whole picture along with the business value otherwise it only adds value from a functional perspective. My belief has always been business values first and function next. I am excited to be part of this journey and taking it to the next level, while preserving our company’s unique DNA. That is what gets me excited and out of bed!

“The engine of Iris is small teams made up of dedicated people.”– Sharad Verma, VP and CHRO, Iris