Employees stay invested, if firms stay invested in them

Deloitte is built on the foundation of ‘respect for each other’, the one that encourages and acknowledges viewpoints. Our people come up with great ideas to deliver superior value to the clients, says SV Nathan, chief talent officer, Deloitte India, in an interview with Ritwik Mukherjee. We encourage their viewpoints and, at times, differences of opinion as well because we all are striving towards a common goal, he added. Excerpts:

People say HR drives business profitability too. What’s your take?

Progressive HR practices have positive impact on business profitability as culture and engagement are key drivers of profitability. An engaged employee’s productivity is twice as much as an on-the-rolls employee. When it comes to meeting heightened talent needs, top HR organisations are increasingly learning to leverage part-time and contingent work force and increasing the profitability. Also, strategic planning focused on hiring the right talent at the right time, reducing downtime and making people productive quickly is the key to contributing to the bottomline.

The cost of replacing a knowledge worker is almost a year’s pay, these days. So, if we retain the best, we save money. Today organisations are looking at talent that ‘hits the ground running’, and few ways to do this is by introducing pre-hire development programmes, defining hiring standards, and focusing on internship programmes, thereby lowering the hiring mistakes.

How do you hire and groom talent?

Our talent acquisition strategy is aligned to the core values and purposes. So, though our hiring strategy differs from functions and career levels, the standards remain the same. There are the basic testing processes – which include aptitude tests, communication ability and the case study methods – before they come to the interview stage. After that interviews are conducted to assess the technical knowledge and a culture fit.

Leadership hiring is best done through referrals to a large extent because essentially people prefer to do business with people whom they know, like, and trust. At mid-management levels, the approach is to do targeted hiring from the market. At a junior level, the approach is to ‘catch them young’ at campuses and build leaders of tomorrow. We like our hires to grow with us and offer careers and not jobs. Our development strategy is based on three Es – education, experience and exposure. This coupled with customised programmes form a crucial part of nurturing talent.

What’s your current headcount and hiring plans in the near future?

Over 30,000 professionals are there in Deloitte India. We keep our eyes open for good talent. Hiring will continue at 10-15 per cent each year to allow for business needs and addressing growth.

In a large organisation one comes across conflicts of various nature. How do you handle or manage them?

Deloitte is built on the foundation of ‘respect for each other’, the one that encourages and acknowledges viewpoints. Our people come up with great ideas to deliver superior value to the clients. We encourage their viewpoints and, at times, differences of opinion as well; because we all are striving towards a common goal.

As for any other critical issues, differences of opinion should be viewed as normal when professionals are exercising their judgment on difficult matters. We believe in fostering a culture of timely consultation to identify and resolve these difficult issues. Conflicts are addressed through open discussions.

How do you keep updating and fine-tuning skills as technology keeps changing pretty fast?

Yes, digital technology coupled with demographic upheavals is forcing organisations to constantly update and fine-tune skills. At Deloitte, cross-skilling and upskilling are two most important pillars of our learning strategy. This is done through two planes – online learning and ‘learning on the job’ through coaching and training. People are encouraged to pursue a field of their interest and strengths, and we provide enablers on an ongoing basis. There is also a value that we place on those who are up-to-date with the requisite skills by assigning them prime jobs. This in itself propels people to stay up-to-date.

Do you agree that industrial relations has taken a back seat in India?

No, I think Indian HR/IR managers are handling things better, also there is ample awareness and realisation within the workmen community. Today’s workforce have better understanding of the country labour legislations and business imperatives. They also link their expectations with the growth of the company. At the same time the external environment is also very volatile and there are lots of external influences on the workforce. We believe in proactive industrial relations and have hence taken series of precautions to maintain harmonious industrial relations within the units.

How you formulate your appraisal policy? What are the growth opportunities that an employee gets?

We believe our people own their careers and our appraisal process is also based on this principle. We believe in learning for growth. Hence, growth opportunities have a direct correlation to the will to learn and upgrade. The Deloitte network is spread across over several countries offering a variety of services and roles – which leads to an ocean of opportunities across the organisation.

The job openings across the network are published and people are encouraged to apply. Also professionals are urged to pursue cross-functional, and global opportunities, which offer unlimited avenues for learning. Deloitte is one of the pioneers in moving away from the bell-curve and our appraisal process focusses on constant conversations and periodic feedback. We are building a strength-based culture, which focusses more on what people are strong at and less to do with what does not play to their strengths. We focus more on performance and less on management of that performance.

Employees often complain that loyalty doesn’t pay any longer. What’s your take?

Employees stay invested, if organisation stays invested in them. If we demonstrate value, care, and create an environment where exploration and learning is encouraged, it translates to commitment and there by loyalty. We are committed to let people grow and make them stay longer.

What are your employee retention strategies?

Our retention strategy is based on the three pillars –connect, develop and care. We focus on leadership connect with the workforce through structured and informal communication on the growth plans, direction of the firm, and how it helps their career, as the first pillar. Staying invested by truly developing the individual as a person and offering a well-rounded engaging experience is the second pillar and this has been our main stay. Demonstrating genuine care and appreciation is the third pillar. We use rewards and recognition to distinguish our performers. The one on recognition is key to us as this helps us focus on the key aspect of an individual – the need to fee valued.

Why not share with us some important and interesting HR initiatives that you have introduced in the company?

Over the last two years we have introduced some key initiatives to keep up with the changing times especially targeted towards millennials. We have introduced a performance management system, which moves away from traditional rating system i.e. from annual rating, and introduced a system that is strength-based, future focused, and involved frequent conversations.

We have invested heavily in ‘wellness and care’. A happy and healthy employee is one who will produce healthy and happy results. We value diversity – not just gender. We have also invested in a detailed study of our culture to define a culture road map for the organization. More importantly we are focused on well-being by enhanced maternity benefits of six and a half months leave, providing year-end holidays, encouraging flexi place, and flexi time.

ritwikmukherjee@mydigitalfc.com