It’s like the first day at school for your child. Only, your child is a grown-up and it’s her first day in a new company. The company, Sierra Atlantic Software Services, sends invites to parents of new employees for ‘Orientation Day’. What’s the deal? “In our society, parents are a big influence on decision making. We think it is good for them to know the kind of organisation their children work for,” says Sarath Sura, managing director of the Hyderabad-based enterprise IT applications developer.

This insight came from campus recruitments, where parents would stay with their children right till results were announced. “Besides, parents can sometimes ask why their child is not joining a bigger ITeS company. This way they go back with some reassurance,” says Sarath.

So, what is in store for recruits ? For one, it’s a growing company that offers a flexible platform. It allows employees who have been working in one discipline to move to another one. That gives them a shot at all-round growth. And this doesn’t just mean moving someone from one software platform to another. It also means jumping functions. For example, Uday Chander, who is currently director (people function) was previously in the sales and delivery functions.

Sierra also gives its employees a fair degree of empo-werment. It is able to achieve this by assigning a value — gross profit margin or GPM — to its key projects. The basket of parameters for calculating GPM of a project includes, for example, the rate it charges the customer. Another para-meter is resources, which include the level and competency of engineers on the project, and the milestones the project needs to achieve. As long as the project’s designated score stays within the GPM, there is no interference.

While comparisons with bigger players in its sector are natural, Sarath believes this very factor helps Sierra. Given its middling employee strength, about 1,000, it can afford to be less hierarchical, more flexible and it can provide faster avenues for growth. Sure, it cuts both ways. But for now, Sierra’s story is moving in the right direction.