Future HR Challenges for the technology business
Hemang Desai, 49, is an astute HR Professional, Busi- ness Success Coach, Orator, Leadership-Mentor and Strategic Thinker. A Post Graduate in Social Work, he has a PG Diploma each in Training & Development and Psychotherapy & Counselling. With more than 26 years of corporate experience in managing Strategic Business & HR interventions in some of the most esteemed organizations like ESSAR, RIL Group (Chairman’s Office), GSPC, Torrent, he has created a niche with his stellar success in blending strategy into execution for highly intellectual workforce.
In a conversation with Charulatha ,a correspondent in Siliconindia magazine. Hemang dis- cussed fostering continuous learning in tech amid rapid advancements and ensuring remote team collaboration, communication, and engagement in a tech-driven business.
How can individuals cultivate an environment of perpetual learning and adaptability in a tech company, given the swift pace of technological progress?
In a tech company, unlike other companies, business paradigm and horizon keep changing at an unimaginable speed, thereby affecting the whole talent landscape. Individuals, in order to stay relevant, will have to adopt their skill-sets, quite frequently, envisaging the future. What is relevant today may be obsolete tomorrow and hence constant learning and adaptability become the key differentiators between a successful and non-successful employee. These qualities are no longer just desirable but most essential traits for any individual to survive, sustain and be successful. CEOs, Business- Leaders & HR will have to weave their strategy and create the right processes / culture that fosters learning and growth within the organisations.
With the increasing trend of remote work, how do we ensure effective team collaboration, communication, and employee engagement in a technology-driven business?
In the post-covid scenario, the focus has quickly shifted from office-based working to focussed goal-orientation. Employees are seeking more flexibility, autonomy and clarity on how to execute the assigned tasks and employers have also adopted the new norm of non-physical attendance and performance of the employee. The customers / clients have been quite open and flexible about the modes and methodologies, as long as the products or services are delivered as per desired quality and within reasonable time. In order to manage, retain and engage, the current workforce, the people strategies have to be built around managing individual career aspirations. The job-profiles and tasks are required to be tailor-made without losing focus on business goals, customer requirements and team-cohesiveness. HR& Business Leaders will have to ensure constant communication across and within teams. Create cross-functional teams with clearly defined inter-dependability, linking it with results, recognition and rewards.
Diversity and inclusion are critical aspects of a thriving workplace. How do you plan to address and enhance diversity and inclusion within the tech talent pool?
In our organisation, we have always encouraged the diversity and inclusion and are essential part of our culture. We have recently introduced i-ELITE (Initiative for Enterprising Ladies’ @Ishan for Technocrats & Executives) and INDUCE (Ishan’s Novel Design to Unleash Creative Energies)to tap, involve and encourage the immense potential of our tech talent in the entire business value chain. We are also encouraging internal job movements and rotations for conventional and non conventional profiles.
"In the present day, tech industry is facing a severe talent pool scarcity. It essentially means the demand has far exceeded the supply"
Given the increasing demand for tech talent, how would we approach attracting and retaining top-tier professionals in a highly competitive job market?
In the present day, tech industry is facing a severe talent pool scarcity. It essentially means the demand has far exceeded the supply. The irony is that inspite of being in the most populous country like ours, getting a steady flow of desired talent is a huge challenge. This is primarily because the academia has not synced fully with the changing demand of the industry. As a result, a large amount of efforts are required from the industry to train, develop and nurture the required, At Ishan Technologies, like many other tech companies, we have adopted a multi-thronged approach. We have been recruiting from the campuses, government sponsored employment exchange camps, laterally through various references and also by advertising through social media and other platforms. Apart from the sourcing, we have also augmented our training with the launch of i-OPTICKS (Ishan’s Organisational Productivity, Training & Innovation Centre for Knowledge & Skills). Under the aegis of i-OPTICKS we have heavily emphasised on customised and on-demand trainings, in-house certifications courses around our products and services, futuristic skills and competencies envisaged, etc.
As technology evolves. How would we approach talent acquisition and development
to meet the changing demands of the industry
At our organisation, we are poised to grow exponentially and therefore are required to grow our employee strength by a whopping 250+% in the next 30 odd months’ time. At the same time a bigger challenge would be to ascertain these team members are channelized, engaged and optimised to their potential. The target therefore is enormous and challenges unlimited and opportunities abound. We have already initiated various programs, policies, processes which are both, scalable and sustainable. We have identified hipos (high-potentials) within our current employees and have been creating a fast-track growth path for them to meet the equally growing demand of competent and committed leaders. We have been laying equal emphasis on behavioural, managerial and soft skills along with tech skills in our learning strategy. In order to mitigate risks of such a large organisation, we have started integration process by Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) software across the organisation. We have been leveraging various online Learning Management platforms for training on various functional and operational skills.
In a conversation with Charulatha ,a correspondent in Siliconindia magazine. Hemang dis- cussed fostering continuous learning in tech amid rapid advancements and ensuring remote team collaboration, communication, and engagement in a tech-driven business.
Individuals, in order to stay relevant, will have to adopt their skill-sets, quite frequently, envisaging the future
How can individuals cultivate an environment of perpetual learning and adaptability in a tech company, given the swift pace of technological progress?
In a tech company, unlike other companies, business paradigm and horizon keep changing at an unimaginable speed, thereby affecting the whole talent landscape. Individuals, in order to stay relevant, will have to adopt their skill-sets, quite frequently, envisaging the future. What is relevant today may be obsolete tomorrow and hence constant learning and adaptability become the key differentiators between a successful and non-successful employee. These qualities are no longer just desirable but most essential traits for any individual to survive, sustain and be successful. CEOs, Business- Leaders & HR will have to weave their strategy and create the right processes / culture that fosters learning and growth within the organisations.
With the increasing trend of remote work, how do we ensure effective team collaboration, communication, and employee engagement in a technology-driven business?
In the post-covid scenario, the focus has quickly shifted from office-based working to focussed goal-orientation. Employees are seeking more flexibility, autonomy and clarity on how to execute the assigned tasks and employers have also adopted the new norm of non-physical attendance and performance of the employee. The customers / clients have been quite open and flexible about the modes and methodologies, as long as the products or services are delivered as per desired quality and within reasonable time. In order to manage, retain and engage, the current workforce, the people strategies have to be built around managing individual career aspirations. The job-profiles and tasks are required to be tailor-made without losing focus on business goals, customer requirements and team-cohesiveness. HR& Business Leaders will have to ensure constant communication across and within teams. Create cross-functional teams with clearly defined inter-dependability, linking it with results, recognition and rewards.
Diversity and inclusion are critical aspects of a thriving workplace. How do you plan to address and enhance diversity and inclusion within the tech talent pool?
In our organisation, we have always encouraged the diversity and inclusion and are essential part of our culture. We have recently introduced i-ELITE (Initiative for Enterprising Ladies’ @Ishan for Technocrats & Executives) and INDUCE (Ishan’s Novel Design to Unleash Creative Energies)to tap, involve and encourage the immense potential of our tech talent in the entire business value chain. We are also encouraging internal job movements and rotations for conventional and non conventional profiles.
"In the present day, tech industry is facing a severe talent pool scarcity. It essentially means the demand has far exceeded the supply"
Given the increasing demand for tech talent, how would we approach attracting and retaining top-tier professionals in a highly competitive job market?
In the present day, tech industry is facing a severe talent pool scarcity. It essentially means the demand has far exceeded the supply. The irony is that inspite of being in the most populous country like ours, getting a steady flow of desired talent is a huge challenge. This is primarily because the academia has not synced fully with the changing demand of the industry. As a result, a large amount of efforts are required from the industry to train, develop and nurture the required, At Ishan Technologies, like many other tech companies, we have adopted a multi-thronged approach. We have been recruiting from the campuses, government sponsored employment exchange camps, laterally through various references and also by advertising through social media and other platforms. Apart from the sourcing, we have also augmented our training with the launch of i-OPTICKS (Ishan’s Organisational Productivity, Training & Innovation Centre for Knowledge & Skills). Under the aegis of i-OPTICKS we have heavily emphasised on customised and on-demand trainings, in-house certifications courses around our products and services, futuristic skills and competencies envisaged, etc.
As technology evolves. How would we approach talent acquisition and development
to meet the changing demands of the industry
At our organisation, we are poised to grow exponentially and therefore are required to grow our employee strength by a whopping 250+% in the next 30 odd months’ time. At the same time a bigger challenge would be to ascertain these team members are channelized, engaged and optimised to their potential. The target therefore is enormous and challenges unlimited and opportunities abound. We have already initiated various programs, policies, processes which are both, scalable and sustainable. We have identified hipos (high-potentials) within our current employees and have been creating a fast-track growth path for them to meet the equally growing demand of competent and committed leaders. We have been laying equal emphasis on behavioural, managerial and soft skills along with tech skills in our learning strategy. In order to mitigate risks of such a large organisation, we have started integration process by Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) software across the organisation. We have been leveraging various online Learning Management platforms for training on various functional and operational skills.
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