NEW DELHI, INDIA: NASSCOM the premier trade body and the "voice" of the Indian IT industry, today released findings of its annual survey - 'Exciting Emerging Companies to work for', along with the ranking of top 15 emerging companies in the IT-BPO sector in India.

This is the second edition of the survey which has been conducted in partnership with Right Management India.  The companies are:

1. HeroITES
2. Corbus (India) Pvt. Ltd
3. AgreeYa Solutions India Pvt. Ltd
4. Nagarro Software Pvt. Ltd
5. R Systems International Ltd
6.Synygy India Pvt. Ltd
7. Acclaris Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd
8. Infogain India (P) Ltd
9. Hytech Professionals India Pvt. Ltd
10. Nucleus Software Exports Ltd
11. Sopra India Pvt. Ltd
12. Cactus Communications Pvt. Ltd
13. Interglobe Technologies Pvt. Ltd
14. H5 Asia Pacific Pvt. Ltd
15. Saba Software India Pvt. Ltd

Recognising the performance, proliferation and increasing importance of emerging companies within the IT-BPO ecosystem, NASSCOM has been actively tracking their evolution and growth. In the last three years, around 371 start-ups have become operational in the products arena.

Emerging companies are sought after by career seekers for their close knit, non-hierarchical work environment, culture of innovation and commitment to employee empowerment. The focused approach of the these companies makes them the perfect platform for nurturing specialised talent and building cross functional skills.

The objective of this survey therefore, was to identify the best small and medium sized IT-BPO companies to work for. This survey aims to provide participating companies with insights on their employees' perceptions on the work environment, work culture and degree of satisfaction and examine the robustness of their HR systems and processes. At an industry level this survey will help companies to learn best practices from their peers and enhance the overall employer branding of this segment.

Commenting on the rankings and survey findings, Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM said: "The emerging companies segment is a critical part of the Indian IT-BPO industry, and has been attracting high quality talent on account of the exciting and interesting growth opportunities and work culture it offers. This annual survey is an effort to benchmark this segment of the industry and create standards, and best practices. It is an effort to profile the performance of this segment and emphasise the high benchmarks set by the emerging companies in India with regards to workplace practices and systems. We congratulate the top 15 companies, and hope that organisations in this segment will find this survey useful and interesting".

Commenting on the Exciting Emerging Companies to Work for survey findings, Ms. Anita Belani, Country Head, India, Right Management said: "In the current economic context, the need to closely monitor employee perception and to institutionalise it by having robust People systems and processes is extremely important. The Top 15 Companies are doing just this and they are doing it more effectively than the rest of the companies. There is a lot that the IT-BPO SME sector can learn from the Top 15 Exciting Emerging Companies to Work For'08! We celebrate the successful achievement of this purpose and hope that the participant organizations would derive similar benefits from it. Right Management would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Top 15 Companies in the Exciting Emerging Companies Survey '08."

Key analysis
* Employees across participant organizations believe that the following are the most critical considerations for them at their workplace:
o Open and Caring Relationship with their Supervisors: team members can express their ideas freely.
o Personal Recognition: Appreciate and recognize individuals contribution in all areas.
o The existence and communication of Career Growth Options: informed about all career growth options.
o Trainings for Current and Future roles: Trained and prepared for handling current responbsibilities and taking up new responsibilities as well.
o Open Relationship with Colleagues.

* Career Development: There is a significant difference between the career development scores of the Top 15 companies and rest of the companies with those sharing career development plans with the employees scoring higher on the excitement index as compared to companies which don't.

* Fairness and Equity: Employees of small companies (having strength less than 100) have better perception of their workplace with regards to fairness & equity.

* Rewards and Recognitions: The difference between the scores of the Top 15 companies and the rest of the companies is the maximum in this dimension. The main reason being the fairness and transparency of the processes adopted by the Top 15 companies while deciding on the benefit schemes for its employees.

* Work Environment: The survey highlights organizations which are smaller in size have been able to meet their employees' expectations on work environment better than mid-sized organizations.

* Work Satisfaction: Interestingly the survey revealed that companies' investment in physical work environment condition does not seem to have any correlation with their Excitement Index. The key differentiators included in this dimension are enjoyment in working alongside a colleagues, culture of learning and fun while working.

* HR Systems and Processes in the Top 15 Companies are significantly better than the Rest of the Companies and that is the main distinguishing factor in the Excitement Index of the Exciting Emerging Companies 2008.