HR speak: Be disciplined, don't leave Satyam!

If you are an employee of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., chances are, you might be feeling disillusioned and confused about your career move at this point. We chatted up with a few Satyam employees and this is what they revealed.

So, what do you do in a time like this? We ask career experts Varda Pendse, Director, Cerebrus Consulting, Mumbai, and Ravi Chhabria, IndiaRecruit for advice.

According to Varda, in the current scenario, it is understandable feel cheated. "It is always easy to jump ship or to take decision in a hurry," she says, "but I suggest that you should believe in your skills. This is NOT a time to shift. Believe in your organisation."

But, does this have anything to do with the recession, we ask?

It's bad enough that there is the recession going on now, but according to Varda, even if it weren't, her advice would have been the same. "Remember, you are the employee. The Satyam scam was 99.99 per cent not in your control. And with the government stepping in now, steps are being made to create stability," she says.

If you are still not convinced and wondering what to do, we ask Varda and Ravi to deconstruct the scenerio for you.

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If you stay, the positive side:

• You learn tremendously from an organisation going through a crisis situation. This learning is NOT available in the books.
• In the future, your market value will not change. In fact, it just will get better because companies looking to hire, will always look at your value to the organisation in the time of crisis.
• Since Satyam is a listed company after all, the name of SATYAM will always prevail. A new board will take over.

If you stay, the negative side:

• The company could collapse. "Even if the company collapses, your career will not be hampered in any way," says Ravi. "So, unless you are asked to leave, stick around."
• The top rung 200 employees will have a tough time. Expect designation changes and pay cuts.

If you leave, the positive side:

"In the IT sector, jobs are limited, but not non-existent. Infosys has announced that they are going to start hiring very soon. So, job market is not as bad," says Ravi.

If you leave, the negative side:

• Expect a pay cut. "We cannot generalise how much of a pay cut you should be willing to accept right now. With the current recession, the salaries will be corrected. So, obviously, you cannot quote a huge hike from your current salary," says Ravi. "Why should you leave if your MD is accused of fraud? The new chairman Deepak Parikh, is good. He has revived so many companies. Things will take time to get back to normal, but if I would be working for Satyam now, I would stay," smiles Ravi. And if you're sill worried, "enroll yourself in an Art of Living program," laughs Varda, "It will help calm you down, not to mention, discipline you as well."