So far we have visited three companies: Keane, Evalueserve and HCL. Each one of them was very interesting and a learning experience. Here are some key takeaways. Keane presented their pyramid model for employee growth, retention and planning. The structure and incentives that they have put in place for this is something that they hope will give them an edge in the market place. Their approach encourages managers to find ways to mentor and champion each employee’s future. With the bottom of the pyramid being frequently replenished, this should keep them constantly in sync with market demands. The Evalueserve visit helped us understand the term KPO . In addition to inventing that term, they have developed some best practices around identifying, recruiting and managing a highly skilled workforce comprised of doctors, lawyers and engineers. Just like the IT industry created the CIO and CTO, the KPO industry will create a new role like a chief research officer. The HCL visit also followed the same pattern of putting people first. They have made investments in platforms like iGain and intrepreneurship allows them to get more out of their employees. These initiatives remind me of Google. Just as Google uses its 20% time and intranet for transparency, HCL uses iGain for improving project performance and create new IP through its intrepreneruship initiative. Their business model of linking project payment to performance (the case of Boeing’s Dreamliner) was very interesting.