4 C: An Approach for Effective People Management in an Offshore Software Development Center

Global in-house development centers of multinational companies (MNCs) typically develop products and work on R&D projects. The ability to attract and more importantly retain talented employees is a critical success factor for these centers. In India, this is a challenge as the market for software engineering talent is characterized by high attrition rates. Since the impact of attrition is higher for global in-house centers than it is for companies providing professional services, it is essential for any in-house development center to control attrition as far as possible. In addition, in India, software engineering professionals have high expectations from MNCs, especially in the area of people management. We outline our 4 C approach for effective people management to help global in-house centers of MNCs address these challenges, and become employers of choice for software engineering talent in India. 4 C stands for culture, career, content, and compensation. Details of how the approach was implemented at the global in-house center of Siemens, a German MNC, are presented. In addition, several results of the approach are presented.