BANGALORE: In his second farewell speech at Infosys, executive chairman N R Narayana Murthy highlighted the negatives of the company as well as the positives. Speaking at the 33 annual general meeting (AGM) here, Murthy said the company had lost direction in some core values.
“I have always believed that fairness, transparency, meritocracy, accountability and leadership by example are key to the success of any company. Somehow, the company had diluted its focus on meritocracy and accountability in the last decade,” he said.
Explicit that he was assigned ‘mandates’ to fulfil in the company, he said that he had successfully completed his task at the company.
On recent media reports on top level exits, he said, “A small number of them left since they had higher aspirations and their aspirations could not be fulfilled in Infosys. I can say confidently that this company has gone out of its way to retain high performers and has retained them,” he said.
He also informed shareholders that the company would soon start a fast-track career programme for high performers. He also tried to quell the confusion in the minds of the employees created following the frequent top-level exits. “The company had reduced promotions to internal people at lower levels and was hiring outsiders at higher salaries. This led to low morale and higher attrition among our people,” he acknowledged.
Justifying the entry of his son Rohan into the company, Murthy said, “I knew I needed somebody by my side who’s intelligent, smart and new to the industry to the point where he/she would not accept status quo. This was my charge to Rohan; to bring fresh new perspectives from his world, to think from the left field, to not accept status quo and only focus on how Infosys can use technology to differentiate itself in the marketplace.”
Murthy will continue as non-executive chairman till October 10 and later on as chairman emeritus.