Always do your best. Always do the right thing. Always give back to the community.
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
Ranked 2nd: Small/Medium Companies
Headquarters: Shelton
Industry: Technology
Website: www.saisystems.com
Twitter: SaisystemsTech
Top executives: Ramesh Wadhwani, CEO
Always do your best. Always do the right thing. Always give back to the community.
These were the values that Manoj Wadhwani’s parents instilled in him and his two sisters in childhood, and he discovered them anew when he started working for the family technology company, Saisystems International.
“It was interesting to reflect on how we got to where we are,” Wadhwani said of the company, which has 45 employees at its Shelton headquarters. “The same values that my sisters and I grew up with, that our parents taught, were basically the same values with which the company was run.”
Immigrants from Pune, India, Ramesh and Sunita Wadhwani founded the company in 1987 as a mail-order distributor of computer hardware. By the new millennium, Saisystems had pivoted to offering technology services in health care and other sectors and opened an overseas division in Pune. Manoj Wadhwani joined his parents’ company in 1999 and now serves as president of Saisystems Health.
For Tina Gjuraj, Saisystems’ HR coordinator, the company’s emphasis on mission is inspiring and helps make it a great place to work.
“The values truly resonate within the office, they’ve become everyday terms for us,” Gjuraj said. “It shows in our work behaviors as well as outside of the workplace as well.”
The fact that two of the core principles are described with Sanskrit terms — dharma for “doing the right thing” and seva for “service” — is no obstacle to their adoption by workers, she added.
“These are human values, these are not necessarily Indian values,” Manoj Wadhwani said. “The concepts are universal.”
Employees earn cash awards and recognition for actions that reflect on the company’s values, winning bracelets and getting featured in the company’s internal communications. Community service also gets prioritized with monthly volunteer projects and visits by staff to local schools to teach financial literacy. In addition, the company’s anniversary date, Oct. 17, is set aside as a day of community service at all locations.
Another core principle, unity, helps bring the staff together at a higher level than simple teamwork, Wadhwani said.
“It’s unity in thought, word, mind and deed; making sure teams are unified in focus, goals, approach and communication,” he said.
The company’s strong record on retention of skilled workers reflects the positive impact of a values-based workplace, Wadhwani said. Nearly 35% of the growing firm’s staff have served for five years or more, he said.
“We walk the talk, caring for employees,” Wadhwani said. “It is evident in every decision we make.”
