I feel liberated: TV Mohandas Pai

TV Mohandas Pai, one of the two board members who announced their resignations on Friday (K Dinesh was the other), says his decision was well thought out rather than sudden, though it did coincide with founder chairman N R Narayana Murthy’s exit. Not one to dispute that Murthy favoured him during his 17 years in the company, Pai, the company’s director - human resources, says he has done much to deserve the patronage. Excerpts from an interview to DNA:

You say the decision to quit is not  sudden and that you’ve been thinking about it for nine months now. That coincides with the time you came out with the Irace policy, for which you have drawn much flak. Did that make you think about quitting?
Nine months back, I started discussing with Narayana Murthy (chairman and chief mentor at Infosys Technologies) but it had nothing to do with Irace. Look, I’m a fighter. I always fight and defend. So that’s got nothing to do with it.

Do you still defend Irace?
Irace has been good for the company. Ask anybody now, they will tell how good it is. Last year, employees got a big hike because of it. They are getting promotion —- 11,000 promotions are coming up this year. All this wouldn’t have happened because we didn’t have structure.
 

Irace eventually had to be toned down. Was that a setback for you?
What were the challenges with Irace? We came out with a structure in which 2,000-2,500 people were not found suitable in the rank they were in. They went and protested. They went on the social media and bad-mouthed everybody.

They sent mails to their managers. Some of the managers panicked. When you do a large-scale change, they’ll always push back. You have to stand firm and say yes, this is it. At that time, the market boomed. Attrition went up. It all coincided with the market booming so we had to hire more people. Now Irace is part of our DNA.

Today, attrition is high at 17%...
This 17% is for the last twelve months (LTM). That means 5,400 people left in the first quarter, 4,300 in the second, 3,300 in the third and 3,500 in the fourth. So it has stabilised.

Was the seat getting hot for you with all these things coming at the same time?
Look, I handle HR, education, Finacle business and BPO. I faced much worse as a CFO. The seat was never too hot.

This is the most challenging time on HR front for the industry. Do you think you are deserting the ship when you are needed the most?
No, I don’t think I am deserting the ship. What I am doing is to make room for a new generation of leaders to come in and take their place in the sun after having created the structure and background for them to succeed.

Are you timing your exit with Murthy’s exit? Many say you would be vulnerable without his protective hand over you…
What is this vulnerability? Vulnerability is there for a person who wants position and power. I don’t want any of that. What more can I get? Become a CEO? That’s not my aspiration. In the last 17 years (with Infosys), I always had the option to leave the company at any point in time and I can do well anywhere I go. That confidence I have got. Yes, Murthy was there and whenever there was sharp division in the company, Murthy took my side because it was a right decision. Murthy never took my side because he liked me, but because I had the right argument Murthy is not a person who is swayed by emotion. He suffers no fools. Vulnerability exists when there is patronage and you are not good.

Did you feel like the odd one out on the Infosys board because you were a non-founder?
I’m a non-founder. Sometimes this rankles in my mind. The fact is these (seven) people founded this company. The fact is that I joined in 1994 (Infosys was founded in 1981) and the fact is that they are a very close-knit group. The fact is that they all think and work together. They have their own sub-culture. The fact is that I am an outsider, but I have been treated very well. I had differences with them, but it was never something that was irreconcilable or anything that was so out of the way. Because we always thrashed it out.
 

As an outsider, did you ever feel that there was only this much that you could grow? You said that after 2006 (when you joined the board) you haven’t got a promotion?
Yeah, in the sense that there is seniority in Murthy’s mind and Murthy is a strong person. Would he offer me the CEO’s position before the founder members? I don’t think he would have because he is very loyal to the founders. But is it something that I wanted? I didn’t want that so much that I would go and tell him that. If I had gone and told him that I want this position and if you don’t give that to me I will go like Phaneesh Murthy did (long time ago), then it would have been a different situation.

Today, I feel liberated. When I think about it, I feel I have got my life back. My life belonged to Infosys for 17 years and with emotional attachment it was difficult for me to get away. Now Murthy is going, but I have got my life back because so long as Murthy was there, even if I wanted to leave, if he requested me and said Mohan I don’t want you to leave, I couldn’t have said no to him. Let there be no doubt that he favoured. I have done well.

This June-end, I’ll be a free bird. I can fly where I want, whereas others will be CEOs. They will have to manage this company. They will have to take quarterly calls and they have to go through the whole drill.