Guidelines

Rewards Management Process

1- Jul 21

HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 1
 HCL Technologies Ltd. 2021. All rights reserved.

No part of the document may be copied, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, either electronically, mechanically, or otherwise without prior written permission.

Revision History

Version No. Date Prepared by / Approved by

1 25-May-2015 Ankita Rastogi/ Amrita Das

2 1-Jul-2018 Ritesh Kataria/ Amrita Das

3 1-Oct-2020 Ritesh Kataria/ Amrita Das

4 1Jul-2021 Ritesh Kataria/ Amrita Das

HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 2
 Guidelines
Rewards Management Process at HCL

Rewards Philosophy.…………….……….......................................................................................... 4

Performance Appraisal & Rewards Cycle …………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Reward Distribution Guidelines ………………..…………………………………………………………………………. 5

Reward Administration …........................................................................................................... 6

HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 3
 Guidelines for Rewards Management Process
In line with our compensation philosophy of recognizing behavior and performance, that contributes
to accelerated business growth and aggressively differentiating based on performance. The reward
design attempts to reinforce meritocratic culture and to provide a meaningful reward program
tailored by talent segment.

The Reward philosophy at HCL is to ensure that our compensation programs are competitive within
local markets where we compete to attract and retain high performers.
 HCL periodically benchmarks compensation with the companies into similar businesses and of
comparable size, by participating in or by commissioning surveys.
 All roles / skills at HCL are being reviewed based on market considerations and the compensation
level is derived. Employee’s compensation positioning is based on employee’s skills and ability to
do the role.
 The Pay for performance philosophy drives the annual salary increases i.e. higher increase for
higher performance and low or No increase for poor performance. All employees – regardless of
function or location – have the opportunity to influence their compensation through individual
performance

This document details out the guidelines that would be applicable to the Rewards Management
Process.
1. Performance appraisal & Reward cycle.
2. Reward Distribution Guidelines.
3. Rewards Administration

1. Performance Appraisal & Reward cycle

The Performance appraisal cycle is from April till March, uniform across functions and geographies.
Our reward cycle for E0-E3 employees is aligned to July and October for E4+ employees - across
functions and geographies (except where governed by local statutory norms). In alignment with our
philosophy of differentiating high performers significantly, the reward effective date will also be
advanced or delayed from July based on individual appraisal ratings of E0-E3 employees

Employees in positions at E0 - E3
 For employees who have completed their probation, performance appraisal cycle will be April
aligned and Reward Cycle will be aligned to July.
 All anniversary confirmation appraisal cycles remain unchanged with reward review date
effective from 1st day of subsequent quarter in which the probation or anniversary ends.
 Our intent is to significantly reward employees exhibiting higher performance; hence
performance rating will be a key determinant in the reward effective date. The reward
effective date for employees up to E3 band level will be dependent on the annual performance
rating for the respective performance year in review.

HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 4
  For employees rated either “Distinguished Performer” or “Exceptional Performer” (30% of
employees), the reward changes will be effective 1st July of the Rewards review cycle. In
addition, to higher quantum of CTC for performance, this also translates into higher cash
inflow in the hands of such employees.
 The reward effective date for employee’s rated “Good performance” or “Threshold
performance” would be effective 1st Oct of the Rewards review cycle. This ensures that
employees who are relatively contributing below role expectations, the role specific
benchmarks are applicable at a later date.

Employees in positions at E4 & Above

 For employees in E4 & above Career levels who have completed their probation period,
performance appraisal cycle will be April aligned and Reward cycle continues to be October
aligned. Employees who have completed more than a year with the organization, rewards will
be effective from 1st October.
 All anniversary confirmation appraisal cycles will have reward review date effective from 1st
day of subsequent quarter in which the probation or anniversary ends. In the next cycle they
will be aligned to the Annual Rewards cycle which continues to be October aligned.

Reward Management (Annual

Appraisal Alignment
comp cycle align)
Employees already aligned to Annual cycle/ Completed 1st year E0-E3 - Aligned to 1st Jul
Appraisal E4+ - Aligned to 1st Oct
Employees joined between 2nd Apr to 1st Jul of previous year Aligned to 1st Jul
Employees joined between 2nd Jul to 1st Oct of previous year Aligned to 1st Oct
Employees joined between 2nd Oct to 1st Jan of previous year Aligned to 1st Jan
Employees joined between 2nd Jan to 1st Apr of previous year Aligned to 1st Apr

Scenario I -Annual, will be aligned to comp cycle – Example- Considering the Rewards Review cycle as 2018-
19, any employee who has joined on or before 1st Apr’17 will be eligible for Annual Appraisal

All anniversary confirmation appraisal cycles remain unchanged with reward review date effective
from 01st day of subsequent quarter in which the probation or anniversary ends.

Probation Rewards Alignment

Probation less than 12 months Aligned to first day of next subsequent quarter on successful
completion of 12 months in the company
Probation period is 12 months Aligned to first day of next subsequent quarter on successful
completion of 12 months in the company
Probation period more than 12 Aligned to first day of next subsequent quarter on successful
months completion of probation period in the company

HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 5
 With the ongoing pandemic situation, there is a revision in compensation effective dates for
appraisal cycle 20-21.

Reward Management (Annual comp

Appraisal Alignment
cycle align)
Employees already aligned to Annual cycle/ Completed 1st year DP/EP-Aligned to 1st Oct 20
Appraisal (E0-E3) GP/TP-Aligned to 1st Jan 21
Employees already aligned to Annual cycle/ Completed 1st year
Aligned to 1st Jan 21
Appraisal (E4+)
Employees joined between 2nd Jan 19 to 1st Apr 19 of previous year Aligned to 1st Oct 20
Employees joined between 2nd Apr’19 to 1st Jul 19 of previous year Aligned to 1st Oct 20
Employees joined between 2nd Jul’19 to 1st Oct 19 of previous year Aligned to 1st Jan 21
Employees joined between 2nd Oct 19 to 1st Jan 20 of previous year Aligned to 1st Apr 21
Employees joined between 2nd Jan 20 to 1st Apr 20 of previous year Aligned to 1st Jul 21

2. Rewards Distribution Guidelines:

The Reward distribution will be based on Role, skills, Performance of the individual in the role
(defined by rating) and Gap to the Market (Market defined as the benchmarked compensation for
the role) with an objective to reduce gap between Market and Employee Compensation.

We plan to invest more proportion of the increment budget on high performers & people who
possess niche skill and have significant gap from the market benchmark by differentiating rewards
both in terms of quantum and timing.

3. Rewards Administration
The Compensation letters for all employees are dependent on various other processes and we
request your help on timely closure of the following interlinked activities:
 Appraisal closure as per the defined timelines
 KPP sign off for all E4+ employees across the globe
In order to institutionalize a culture of high performance and appropriately reward employee who
exhibit this behavior, improvement in appraisal rating for immediate last performance period will
enable additional earning opportunity for employees in the form of ‘Performance Improvement
Incentive’ with the current review period.
 Improvement in performance rating from Good / Threshold to Distinguished / Exceptional
Performance will entitle employee for a one-time payment equivalent to 3 months earning of
the last compensation review.
(*Not Applicable for E0 BSERV employees)

Other important Guidelines

 All employees who have initiated pre-separation before the release of revised compensation
increase letter will be ineligible for compensation increase.

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HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 6
 Legal Disclaimer
This Program First/iSuccess initiative from HCL (‘Company’) consisting of Performance management,
career management, rewards management, talent management and learning management.

1. May not address every question or every possible circumstance with respect to every
employee situation

2. Should be always read in conjunction with applicable laws of the jurisdiction, and the
respective employment contract (and other applicable employment policies and procedures)
pursuant to which an employee has been hired. In case of any conflict between this document
on one side and any applicable laws of the jurisdiction or employment contract on the other
side, the applicable laws of the jurisdiction or the applicable employment contract, will prevail.
Provided that to the extent there are no such conflicts, Program First/ iSuccess will apply to
every employee working for HCL.

3. Nothing in this Program First/iSuccess is designed to have a interfere with, restrain, or prevent
an employee from exercising statutory rights, wages, hours of work, collective bargaining or
other terms and conditions of employment, which are protected under law. HCL employees
have the right to engage in or refrain from such activities.

4. In the process of implementation of Program First/iSuccess, Company may receive different

types of information about the employee, including: 1) the information the employee chooses
to share (such as locational preference, target roles, etc.); 2) Information others share about
the employee (peers , managers and others); and 3) Other information the Company receives
about the employee (including additional related data or metadata) such as when the
employee looks at another employee timeline, post a referral or otherwise interact with the
Program First/iSuccess platform. Personal information of any employee that HCL obtains or
receives during this process will be held and used in accordance with applicable data privacy
laws and HCL’s policy in this regard. It will be treated confidentially and shared internally with
a limited number of people who have a need to know or who are responsible for dealing with
its implementation. This may, in some cases, include persons in other countries (including
India) where HCL does business or have a back office presence. The Company will store such
information/data for as long as the employee is employed with HCL and/ or the Company
reasonably requires access to such information.

5. Notwithstanding anything contained herein, the Company is authorized to share the

aforementioned data/information, in case the Company receives any specific direction/s for
sharing any data or information regarding an employee from any governmental or judicial or
quasi-judicial authority etc.

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HCL Technologies Ltd.-Confidential

Guidelines – Rewards Management Process 7