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A corporate citizen

Sanjiv Tandon, the head of BPO operations for Xansa India, lives and expounds the true spirit of corporate citizenship, says Sudipta Dev

Philanthropy might not be an uncommon trait among corporate leaders, but there are very few who have successfully managed to share their personal passion for social welfare in their organisation. The Noida centre head of Xansa India, Sanjiv Tandon, is among them. Tandon also heads the BPO operations of the company in India. For him, the greatest motivating factor is the strong sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that drives Xansa’s commitment to help create a thriving and prosperous society.

“I believe that participating in activities aimed at empowering the community at large makes sound business sense; it is also an integral part of good corporate citizenship. This commitment to the empowerment of the community is reflected in all our company’s CSR initiatives which are focussed on the eradication of homelessness, providing support to the youth, and fostering education,” says Tandon, insisting that at Xansa these efforts are taken very seriously.

It is not just about the company contributing money—employees themselves are involved in these activities. They have adopted a government school close to their office (at Harola in Noida) where almost 2,500 boys and girls study. In the last couple of years they have built infrastructure for the school and also furnished the computer lab. The Sankalp Welfare Society in Gurgaon runs a school for children of migrant workers. The company’s other initiatives include vocational training for boys aged 4 to 18, and aid to a school for blind children. “The ownership is at a senior level, and teams work according to their interest and location,” informs Tandon. Currently, 1,500 people are working at the Noida centre, and there are plans for a major expansion.

Before his stint at Xansa, Tandon was the delivery centre head of TCS’ Gurgaon facility. He joined the company following his MTech from IIT-Kanpur. “At that point of time I wanted to get into academia. I grew up in the JNU campus and thought of doing my PhD in the US; I cleared my GRE and also got admission there. Then the offer came from TCS, and I decided to stay,” recalls Tandon, adding, “TCS is a great company and I learnt a lot in the organisation. However, I wanted to go beyond the pure-play Indian model as I felt that the future was in being global. My second innings was therefore different. I was interested in getting into the BPO space, and Xansa offered a different global work culture, apart from exposure to both the IT and the BPO space.”

Like most MNCs, Xansa has the culture of openness, a flat hierarchy, and transparency. However, it has its own unique qualities. “If we look at most large MNCs, only 5 to 10 percent of their global top-level management is Indian. In our organisation it is almost 40 percent. By the end of this year it will be almost 50 percent. We are equal and well-represented,” informs Tandon. He points out that while Saurabh Srivastava, the executive chairman of Xansa India, sits on the main board, Tandon himself is on the operations board.

He elaborates, “Our vision for Xansa is to be an organisation focussed on clients, with a reputation for delivering significant value through innovative, cost-effective process and technology solutions. We aim to achieve a Top 3 position in each of our chosen sectors. This will be enabled by our delivery capability. We are recognised as a leader in business process outsourcing; we employ the best people and work in an open, innovative and results-oriented environment. All this should help us triple our profit within five years.”

Tandon considers his greatest strength his ability to learn new things from people. For him, major achievements as a professional have been the large upscaling of people resources in the company, convincing customers in Britain that Xansa is a viable option in India, building strengths on the ground, and delivering what customers expect. “As a result, by the end of this financial year, we will have grown three times. Our customers are happy and want to give us more assignments,” he notes.

In his spare time, Tandon loves reading and swimming. His reading interests are wide—ranging from economics to business management and even an occasional P G Wodehouse.

sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com