Infosys is a global leader in
consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services. The company
enables clients in more than 50 countries to outperform competition and stay
ahead of the innovation curve. With $8.83b in Q1 FY16 revenues and 179,000-plus
employees, it is helping enterprises renew themselves while also creating new
avenues to generate value, reveals Richard Lobo, head HR, Infosys in an
interview with Shishir
Parasher.
How would you describe Infosys’
DNA/corporate culture?
Our company strategy is built around renewing our existing areas of business and process, while finding new avenues for growth and value. We call this `new and renew’ strategy. At the core of it is an embrace of innovation to deliver existing services better, at the same time enabling the organisation to look at new ways of doing business. The foundation for our strategy is our culture of learning and innovation. Learning has been one of the core values at Infosys since its inception and we have continuously built on that to build the enterprises of tomorrow. We are focused on building and instilling values in every single employee. The investment that we do at our entry level and continuous training is our view on the future. More than anything else, it is the people that will make the difference in building a sustainable enterprise.
How do you plan to welcome digital natives?
Our hiring strategy is simple: we hire the best people and encourage them to make their dreams a reality. We are looking for individuals with good learning and communication skills, with focus on technology. We constantly seek smart, talented and self-motivated people with an entrepreneurial approach. We provide them with an incredibly supportive environment and like-minded colleagues where they can hone their creative ideas. Today’s workforce consists largely of young employees willing to embrace flexibility and change. In large organisations like Infosys, the average employee age is around 28 and millennials (people born between 1977 and 1997) account for almost 90 per cent of the workforce. The people practices that attract and retain this workforce need to be markedly different from those used in the past. These practices also need to constantly evolve to keep pace with new ideas and trends.
Are you aware of digital natives' aspirations, needs and desires? How you plan to tackle these issues?
This workforce realises that merely moving up the hierarchy is not enough. What keeps a career vibrant and relevant are the experiences that employees gain through different on-the-job opportunities for learning and career building and we are constantly innovating to ensure that we have an engaged workforce. Various initiatives are planned to retain and engage this workforce and this requires the creation of an organisational culture that fosters fun and a less formal atmosphere. It must be one that is open to change, flexible with a focus on sharing, and innovation through dialogue. We believe that Infosys’ longevity will depend on how well we build on our peoples’ resources and how we can keep them motivated. The requirements of this generation are very different from the Gen X workforce. They look for career advancement and require a strong understanding of the company’s vision and a platform for constant two-way communication with the senior management. Our internal communication platforms – blogs, Yammer, InfyBubble, email and intranet – facilitate this two-way communication to build a constant feedback loop. Millennials view work as a key part of life, not a separate activity that needs to be planned for or balanced. Nowadays, we see several examples of compartments breaking down. For example, people want to include their friends at work to learn skills together as well as have a larger purpose. Moreover, they would want all of this together in a seamless way. This is what drives satisfaction and engagement for them. Organisations will see individuals taking more responsibility for their career and would keep their formal skills up to date without necessarily relying on the company. This would mean greater demand for challenging assignments as well as willingness to migrate to learning assignments and companies, if the existing workplace fails to fulfill their goals. `Am I continuing to learn and grow?’ is a question that resonates with employees of all ages, not only with the youth. The way your organisation helps them get the answer to this simple yet intriguing question, will be the reason why they remain engaged with you.
How prepared are the millennials when it comes to taking leadership roles? What is it that organisations need to do?
In order to succeed, organisations need to create frontline leaders, who can collaborate, act decisively, seize opportunities, and respond quickly to changes. Given the composition of their employees, companies are increasingly looking at the huge, diverse millennial population to fulfill these requirements. Therefore, enabling the young workforce to take up higher responsibilities in a seamless manner is going to be a key competitive advantage. The first action that companies have to take is continuous investment in building business acumen and market skills among its potential leaders. The second key area to build on is the emotional leap that an individual needs to become a leader. While millennials may be willing and interested in taking on more responsibilities, they may need to build a few integral competencies that would hold them in good stead for the next few years and equip them for the new role. The third area that organisations have to focus on is to allow individuals to fail without letting this impact their long-term careers in the company. The fourth area to focus on is the power of networks. Networks can accelerate learning and amplify individual capabilities. Today, we can view an individual’s network as a combination of business and work, making multiple linkages possible simultaneously. One of the ways to assess if an individual is ready for a leadership role is to gauge the reach and influence of her network. The fifth is mentoring and coaching. It is not always possible to provide individual coaching for a large group of people. One of the things companies need to accept is that there are different ways of mentoring or coaching your young workforce. As organisations hire more millenials, it is up to the organisation and its leadership to truly utilise the best qualities of this generation for growth. The confidence displayed in accepting leadership roles, the ability to make effective decisions, the unwavering focus on aligning themselves and their teams with organisational strategy, the use of technology to solve problems, and finally, the building of a network of people who want to work together, will all work in their favour. Organisations need to tap into the potential contained within this new generation of young leaders and equip them with all the required tools needed to grow and succeed. In the process, they will help the organisation succeed as well.
How open is Infosys to reverse mentoring and how cautious are you when using this tool of learning?
We don’t believe that learning is unidirectional or hierarchical. Every individual has the potential to learn as well as the potential to teach and we have actively encouraged this across the company. Hence, we have not seen the need to have in place things like reverse mentoring, etc. that ties down or restricts the scope to learn.
Our company strategy is built around renewing our existing areas of business and process, while finding new avenues for growth and value. We call this `new and renew’ strategy. At the core of it is an embrace of innovation to deliver existing services better, at the same time enabling the organisation to look at new ways of doing business. The foundation for our strategy is our culture of learning and innovation. Learning has been one of the core values at Infosys since its inception and we have continuously built on that to build the enterprises of tomorrow. We are focused on building and instilling values in every single employee. The investment that we do at our entry level and continuous training is our view on the future. More than anything else, it is the people that will make the difference in building a sustainable enterprise.
How do you plan to welcome digital natives?
Our hiring strategy is simple: we hire the best people and encourage them to make their dreams a reality. We are looking for individuals with good learning and communication skills, with focus on technology. We constantly seek smart, talented and self-motivated people with an entrepreneurial approach. We provide them with an incredibly supportive environment and like-minded colleagues where they can hone their creative ideas. Today’s workforce consists largely of young employees willing to embrace flexibility and change. In large organisations like Infosys, the average employee age is around 28 and millennials (people born between 1977 and 1997) account for almost 90 per cent of the workforce. The people practices that attract and retain this workforce need to be markedly different from those used in the past. These practices also need to constantly evolve to keep pace with new ideas and trends.
Are you aware of digital natives' aspirations, needs and desires? How you plan to tackle these issues?
This workforce realises that merely moving up the hierarchy is not enough. What keeps a career vibrant and relevant are the experiences that employees gain through different on-the-job opportunities for learning and career building and we are constantly innovating to ensure that we have an engaged workforce. Various initiatives are planned to retain and engage this workforce and this requires the creation of an organisational culture that fosters fun and a less formal atmosphere. It must be one that is open to change, flexible with a focus on sharing, and innovation through dialogue. We believe that Infosys’ longevity will depend on how well we build on our peoples’ resources and how we can keep them motivated. The requirements of this generation are very different from the Gen X workforce. They look for career advancement and require a strong understanding of the company’s vision and a platform for constant two-way communication with the senior management. Our internal communication platforms – blogs, Yammer, InfyBubble, email and intranet – facilitate this two-way communication to build a constant feedback loop. Millennials view work as a key part of life, not a separate activity that needs to be planned for or balanced. Nowadays, we see several examples of compartments breaking down. For example, people want to include their friends at work to learn skills together as well as have a larger purpose. Moreover, they would want all of this together in a seamless way. This is what drives satisfaction and engagement for them. Organisations will see individuals taking more responsibility for their career and would keep their formal skills up to date without necessarily relying on the company. This would mean greater demand for challenging assignments as well as willingness to migrate to learning assignments and companies, if the existing workplace fails to fulfill their goals. `Am I continuing to learn and grow?’ is a question that resonates with employees of all ages, not only with the youth. The way your organisation helps them get the answer to this simple yet intriguing question, will be the reason why they remain engaged with you.
How prepared are the millennials when it comes to taking leadership roles? What is it that organisations need to do?
In order to succeed, organisations need to create frontline leaders, who can collaborate, act decisively, seize opportunities, and respond quickly to changes. Given the composition of their employees, companies are increasingly looking at the huge, diverse millennial population to fulfill these requirements. Therefore, enabling the young workforce to take up higher responsibilities in a seamless manner is going to be a key competitive advantage. The first action that companies have to take is continuous investment in building business acumen and market skills among its potential leaders. The second key area to build on is the emotional leap that an individual needs to become a leader. While millennials may be willing and interested in taking on more responsibilities, they may need to build a few integral competencies that would hold them in good stead for the next few years and equip them for the new role. The third area that organisations have to focus on is to allow individuals to fail without letting this impact their long-term careers in the company. The fourth area to focus on is the power of networks. Networks can accelerate learning and amplify individual capabilities. Today, we can view an individual’s network as a combination of business and work, making multiple linkages possible simultaneously. One of the ways to assess if an individual is ready for a leadership role is to gauge the reach and influence of her network. The fifth is mentoring and coaching. It is not always possible to provide individual coaching for a large group of people. One of the things companies need to accept is that there are different ways of mentoring or coaching your young workforce. As organisations hire more millenials, it is up to the organisation and its leadership to truly utilise the best qualities of this generation for growth. The confidence displayed in accepting leadership roles, the ability to make effective decisions, the unwavering focus on aligning themselves and their teams with organisational strategy, the use of technology to solve problems, and finally, the building of a network of people who want to work together, will all work in their favour. Organisations need to tap into the potential contained within this new generation of young leaders and equip them with all the required tools needed to grow and succeed. In the process, they will help the organisation succeed as well.
How open is Infosys to reverse mentoring and how cautious are you when using this tool of learning?
We don’t believe that learning is unidirectional or hierarchical. Every individual has the potential to learn as well as the potential to teach and we have actively encouraged this across the company. Hence, we have not seen the need to have in place things like reverse mentoring, etc. that ties down or restricts the scope to learn.
Source | Financial Chronical | 7 September 2015
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