Human Resource departments in most organizations follow paths based on the objectives set by the company's vision, mission statements. Sometimes, these can be as dreary as the path itself. No challenges, no real concerns are for the mundane. Concern for employee satisfaction is the mantra at MindTree.

At MindTree it's 'People Function' and not a 'Human Resources' department. Prasad who heads this area says, "The words 'Human' and 'Resources' sometimes don't gel together. It's a kind of oxymoron here. You're saying 'Human' and you're saying 'Resources'. Resources are expendable but Humans are not. It's a function which caters to the needs and development of people which aims at attaining a certain goal."

Within days of MindTree's launch they gathered around to identify the critical aspects of an organization's foundations that needed to be tackled first. Importantly, what was the kind of company they were building? They found there were two key foundations of a software company. One was the financial part and the other, the people part.

Prasad considers his department's role as mere facilitators of the People Function. He believes in bringing more value to this function, by building in systems and processes and let the people own it. That's precisely what's been done. Forums have been created with employee participation and their ideas, facilitated and communicated across the organization. "We have an absolutely fantastic tool called 'The People Net' and it's owned by the people," says Prasad. Architecture was created where they put in news, features, rewards, programs and different things. The objectives and the transparency of the system ensures that all MindTree Minds know what's happening across the company.

Job aspirants into this 'Class Company' are heavily 'x-rayed' to detect a strong presence of the MindTree DNA traits. "People are mirrors of their internal emotions. They just give it off and all one needs to do is listen," explains Prasad who frequently criss-crosses the country's best institutions, 'head-hunting' at campus interviews. "We are extremely clear on those cultures we do not want. Such as things that do not work with the DNA of the company and its core values of CLASS (Care, Learning, Achieving, Sharing, Socially Responsible)."

At MindTree it's all People. No trace of chaff.