When C. Deepak Kumar, systems architect, Philips Semiconductors, was sent to the Philips headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands, for training, he took along his wife and one-year-old daughter. The company had arranged accommodation for the family, but the Philips general manager, who Kumar was reporting to, was extremely apologetic: the apartment was on the third floor and there was no lift; how would the family cope with a small child? Kumar, who put in several years at the Defence Research Development Organisation before joining Philips Software Centre (PSC), was touched by all this concern. "The Dutch are really warm people," says Kumar. "Any country that I travel to, I know there will be someone from Philips to pick me up at the airport." This is one company where the employees actually get the red carpet welcome they expect.

"This whole business (software) is about people, so if this industry has to go on, then people have to be nurtured," says CEO Bob Hoekstra, who took charge of the 330-people strong centre in April 1999. Since then the software centre has grown to 1,000 employees. Six divisions of Philips, ranging from consumer electronics to semiconductors, send work to this centre.

But Hoekstra's interest is not limited to amassing armies of code writers; he wants the centre in India to design and discover features that can help Philips stay ahead in the electronics business. This is not philanthrophic intent; the Indian centre's maturity is directly linked to Philips' competitive edge in the consumer electronics and semiconductor business. The software content in consumer electronics is on the rise, and outside Eindhoven, India is the largest software base for Philips. For example, about 80% of software for DVD recorders are designed out of India. The complete software development and system integration for Philips' audio juke box, which is now ready for a launch, was done right here in Bangalore.

But there is a lot of ground to cover before the Bangalore centre gets into product designing. It starts with the attitude of people. "The style of working here is - you give me the specifications and I will do a great job of delivering on that," says Hoekstra. "They (the employees) don't want to think on their own." Plus, employees don't want to spend too much time on working on one domain, which means they lack technical depth. It is a culture that Hoekstra is trying hard to change through constant coaching and training. For example, employees are being encouraged to come up with new ideas and research.

The software centre has put together a team of patent search engineers, which encourages employees to come up with new ideas that can be patented. Every employee gets Rs 5,000 for sending an idea to head office and $750 when it is filed for a patent. So far more than 1,400 ideas have been filed and in the last two years 12 patents were granted. "A lot of great ideas start off sounding stupid. In fact, if it isn't stupid, it probably isn't innovative. And we are trying to get people to think in that direction," says Hoekstra.

CEOSPEAK Bob Hoekstra What kind of an organisation are you trying to build here? Philips has always rewarded innovation and we would like our engineers here to think on their own. The IT scene in India is overheated; people here have jobs, not careers. To build a career in technology, one must have technical depth. Everybody here wants to work on the latest technologies; but they don't want to spend much time on it, people move from project to project. When I joined Philips, my roommate was a guy who had spent 30 years working on the same subject. I want to bring the same passion for technology here in India. How challenging is it for you to work with a different culture? One thing that really perplexes me is that people here don't always say what is on their mind. For example people here find it difficult to say no, and I find that when they say 'yes', it doesn't mean that they have understood everything, it only means 'message received'. That is something I am working hard to change.

But while there are a lot of expectations from employees, it is not at the cost of their personal life. The Hoekstras often entertain employees at their home and go out of their way to make spouses and kids feel comfortable. "It is not unusual to see Bob and his wife running around with our kids in the garden at these parties" says Anil Nayak, manager (corporate communications).

In fact, a lot of emphasis is laid on striking an ideal work-life balance at Philips. Team leaders are given specific instructions to discourage employees from working on weekends. The company keeps a close watch on the number of hours that each employee logs in; if an employee puts in too many hours at work, he is pulled up. "That is because people here don't know how to say 'no'. As a result they end up committing to more than what they can deliver. Not only does it add to too much stress, but they also end up doing a poor job," says Hoekstra.

The company also helps people to find what they would like doing and work their way into that role. For example, Deepak Shetty started off in systems administration. "I did that for a long time and when I wanted to join the group working on TV technologies, I was accepted. I have stayed there ever since," he says.

The employees are again fortunate that the initial team that went to Eindhoven for training has been able to deliver on its commitment. "Because of them we get to work on digital TV technologies, DVD players, set-top boxes and video decoders," says Shetty. The excitement of working on latest technologies coupled with a young and enthusiastic team makes the place vibrant.

Since many employees have been around from the time the centre was set up, the bonds are strong. Little wonder then that 70-80% vacancies get filled by employee referrals. Last year two divisions - consumer communications and digital networks - were closed. About 70 jobs were lost, but the centre decided that no one would be sacked.

The company offered to retrain all employees and absorb them in other divisions. Though some chose to leave, about 40 employees were re-trained and absorbed.

"My closest friends work in this place," says Subhadra Devi L., project manager (Upmarket TV), who joined Philips fresh out of college seven years ago. She was part of the first batch of employees who received their training in Eindhoven, and then later came and started the software group. But what made her stay back for so long? "Honestly speaking, I keep telling myself that I must look for a job six months down the line, but those six months never end."