In Since the inception of the theory of organisational structure and behaviour, management gurus have relentlessly worked upon the hypothesis that could aid and assist young managers to learn new things to scale up fast. This involves planning, training, development, taking new responsibilities and initiatives.
Many people think that to be groomed as a leader, one must need to understand the dynamics of the profession in a well established set up where processes and scope are well defined. It is also true that there is limited opportunity to put such learnings into practices at these places.
The consensus shared by most of the IT managers suggests that while working with large corporates reduced the risk factor initially, its the young enterprises that nurture the aspirations of an individual by giving him new roles and responsibilities. Considering the various challenges involved in moving up the hierarchal ladder and learn things out of the box in a traditional setup, it seems wise decision for many IT Managers to prefer working for smaller firms. This would help them involved in multiple projects which will provide new experience and enhance their competency.
Think Big
In the complex business environment, success follows those employees who are ready to take on challenging roles, which gives them the opportunity to grow in terms of technical, managerial and humanitarian expertise. A big picture focus, process understanding, adoption and refinement and networking are sufficient for one to successfully manage challenges in a bigger organisation, while in a small organisation, one needs to think and act like an entrepreneur and constantly be on the toes to look out for new opportunities in all the areas, shares Tarun Gugnani, Head of Engineering, CustomerXPs Software, who shifted from a large organisation to a nimble and smaller one.
While one may need to forego the fortune of having a good salary package, convenient working environment and steady growth opportunities in a traditional set up, its the job role and responsibilities that drive the aspirations to work in a startup or a new organisation.
Whats more, there have also been many instances where new firms have helped managers in becoming successful and established entrepreneurs. I am happier now because I can put my learnings to use and lead from the front and I am proud to be making a difference, Gugnani adds.
Having said that, one need not forget that success also depends upon individual skills, appetite for success and how innovative one wants to be in life? I guess its more to do with passion. I would rather prefer to work with a team of two passionate people than doing mundane things in an organised set up, says Vishal Bisht, an IT manager turned CEO of Marksman Technologies.
Look for Quality of Experience (QOE)
There is no point working as a small fish in big pond after a while. After gaining certain experience, if you fulfil the job criteria, even a bigger organisation should be fine to hire you at a desired position, says Tanu Kaur, Senior HR Consultant, SPPN. And once you enter the organisation, your career graph might have a slope directly proportional to your performance.
Consider a case where one individual is working as a delivery manager in a large firm and another individual is working as CIO in a smaller firm. Now assume both have the same experience and similar qualifications. Suppose there is a third large firm that needs a CIO; then, it will probably give more weightage to an individual who is already working as the CIO.
Smaller firms typically dont have many senior positions or managerial roles. Also, it has been observed that people in smaller firms, especially at managerial levels, stick on for a longer period than larger firms. Therefore, moving up the hierarchy chain is a little difficult, and many times, it is very predictable that who will be the next in line boss, says Jatinder Aggarwaal, Project Manager, HCL Technologies.
Additionally, it is also not very difficult to move up the ladder in small firms, as every person from the top to the bottom knows you and your work, and whenever an opportunity comes by, it is very easy to put yourself forward. Whereas, in large firms, you are working as a hidden employee, which would result in some key members of the management not knowing you. More so, in terms of job security, the recession has taught us that its at the large corporates where employees are more vulnerable to job loss rather than small and medium firms.
Also, for an IT manager who can come up with new ways of doing things, a smaller firm is certainly the best way to take ideas to the board. However, in a large setup, even finding out whom to suggest ideas to, can literally be a dogfight.
The other side
Nevertheless, the journey to the top is full of challenges even in smaller firms. First of all, there are no well defined systems and procedures, and therefore, work is more manual and people are more dependent on you, unlike in larger firms. Also, in smaller firms, one has to play multiple roles, including that of sales, presale, engagement management, account management, programme management, people management, admin etc, while in larger firms, almost all of these are well defined roles.
Since large organisations have a good amount of IT budget that can be used to buy and manage latest IT technology, it has some negative sides as well. Also, as each person has a defined role in his area, i.e. network manager is looking after only the network, a security person can only work for the security, its very difficult for a person to gain knowledge of other areas in this kind of environment. On the other hand, despite providing immense opportunities, small organisations have a limited budget for IT, which sometimes stops them to accept new technology.
Another critical factor is the budget and limited resources (i.e. men, machine etc). As the resources in small level enterprises are limited, a person needs to be involved in almost all sorts of IT activities. This helps them to learn more on every type of trouble shooting, which is not at all possible in a large firm.
Factors to consider
Before trying hands at a new venture, especially on their first job, it is advisable that an IT manager should consider the financial stability of the company, the role, customer portfolio and the growth opportunities. According to the experts, the probability of having these is much higher in medium and large organisations. Also, there are certain other benefits that may follow in bigger organisations. You get much more exposure and there are immense opportunities for learning and growth. For a smaller firm, an IT manager should be capable of managing work using limited resources. At times, there is lack of processes, which lands you into an adhoc working environment. Another factor where the impact is limited is the growth opportunities, which is because of a smaller pyramid. This results in lesser opportunities for your resources and you, leading to lesser motivation and higher attrition. Job security is also one of the challenges that might be there.
There are people who complain about benefits and perks being quite less or non-existent in a small setup. While beneficial packages like insurance, vacation time leaves may not be as ample with smaller employers, this same group may have more flexibility when it comes to other perks such as flexible work schedules or working at home, observes Deborah S. Hildebrand, Columnist, Career Advise. However at times, it may be the opposite as well. I started my career with a smaller organisation and had
Softwareopportunities to learn and apply the learning there as well. However, when I moved to a bigger organisation, I realised that the opportunities, the learnings, the challenges and the risks were of a higher magnitude than those in smaller organisations, says Chirag Srivastva, Head, Mobility Centre of Excellence, CSC, India So, I had to spend some effort in getting new capabilities to address the new challenges. The learning curve was smaller because of access to a lot of resources to help you learn and perform, and the organisations growth model that sets you up for success, he adds.
The IT industry is more of a people oriented industry. The most important resource that you have are people. So, people management realted issues form the basis- be it client, senior management or the team. For any manager, being a good leader is very important. With regard to the IT industry, the motivating factors would be self passion to excel and work closely with the cusotmers, besides building new acquaintances. A manager should be a good team player, should be pro-active and innovative, adds Srivastva.
More importantly, to make yourself dependable even in the best of times, one needs to be aligned with the companys processes, culture and ethics, and should be able to set the right expectations and manage expectations of all the stake holders to grow as a leader of tomorrow. After all, its not the pond, its the quality of fish that matters in a longer term.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day its all about handling ambiguity, ability to transform the business with limited resources, meet deadlines in all circumstance. It is equally important to have good energy, enthusiasm, passion, perseverance in the growth journey. Is is always recommended to be leading the team while working along with them which would help the organization meet its goals. This will also enable the individual to build the self esteem. Smaller firm will always push you to the forefront which may not be the case in large firms.
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