After Infosys founder and former CEO and chairman, NR Narayana Murthy revealed in July that he regretted quitting the firm in 2014, much has been said about how he should be back at the firm as chairman-emeritus and chief mentor. While TV Mohandas Pai had earlier said that Infosys should bring Murthy back as chairman emeritus, his thoughts have now been echoed by former chief financial officer of Infosys V Balakrishnan.
Balakrishnan also said that Murthy, after coming back, could reconstitute the board. "I think it will be a good idea for the board to immediately invite Mr Murthy as Chairman-Emeritus and Chief Mentor... He should also take the lead in re-constituting the board to create a long-term, sustainable governance framework," he told the Press Trust of India.
He explained that the board of Infosys needs to have a balance amid the much-talked-about conflict between the firm's founders and the board. Balakrishnan also said that despite the conflict, the board should "shed its ego" and reach out to Murthy and the other founders and work in sync with them keeping the company's interest a priority.
"The friction between founders and the current board is impacting the company and is not good for its stakeholders. With Infosys stock languishing for almost three years without much upside is brutal to its shareholders," he explained.
"As a person coming from outside, he can take a fresh look at all the governance-related issues of last three years and bring it to its logical conclusions."
Earlier Pai had explained that Murthy's return to Infosys would improve the brand and also assure its investors regarding the firm's position and working.
"My personal view is Narayana Murthy should come back as Chairman Emeritus," he told PTI in an interview. "As Chairman Emeritus, people can look up to him to give his views...these are (views on) governance, nothing to do with management, strategy and all that. May be Murthy should come back as Chairman Emeritus, where he has no operational responsibility."
Murthy, earlier, had said that he wishes he had stayed on with Infosys and should have listened to his colleagues and other co-founders when they advised him to stay back.
"Generally, I find that I am a very emotional person. A lot of my decisions are based on idealism and probably, I should have listened to them," he told CNBC TV18. "A lot of my founder colleagues told me not to leave Infosys in 2014, to stay a few years."
While he said that he regretted leaving the IT giant, he did clarify that he does not really miss being on the campus on a daily basis.
Vishal Sikka valuing his team a tad more?
Considering numerous executives have left the brand in the last few months, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka seems to be valuing his team a tad more than usual these days, which was evident from his recent tweet.
Congratulating mergers and acquisitions head Deepak Padaki for his 25-year stint with the firm, Sikka tweeted: "Congrats & thanks Deepak! 9200 days of awesomeness! And you always bring your best to *each* day. Amazing journey of an amazing leader..."
Padaki joined Infosys in 1992 and was appointed as the M&A head in 2016.
Meanwhile, Sikka has previously said that the recent high-level exits were not a cause for concern and said that the exits were "far lower" when compared to other companies. When CNBCTV asked Sikka if he was worried about the attrition rate at Infosys, he said: "Not at all. This is a complete nonsensical myth that has been propagated in some parts," reported PTI.
"It happens in every company. We actually did an analysis, both in terms of our own past as well as in terms of the other companies in our industry. And there are far more executives who have left every other company that we could think of," he added.
Along with the recent exits, Sikka's longevity with the company too has been questioned and many have said that he may leave after losing such high profile talents.
