Employee connect crucial to build culture esp for freshers: Rishad Premji

Says the top challenge that the IT industry is facing right now is talent. The companies who win the war on talent, win the game

Hybrid workforces are here to stay, especially for the Indian IT services industry, as companies can work remotely, but creating a stronger connect with employees will be key, said Rishad Premji, chairman Wipro.

“Many companies across different industries are experimenting with it (the hybrid work place), but I think fundamentally it is important that people do come back and all of our people come back some times. So that's the fundamental premise that we're working with,” he said st Microsoft’s flagship event Future Ready.

He said that creating a connect is crucial as it helps to build culture, and people connect for culture because organisations grow when people gossip about the organization. “It's incredibly critical for that to happen. And it doesn't happen in this transactional medium of being virtual. The other thing, I think it's incredibly important for us, for innovation and for idea exchange and for idea generation,” he added.

This connect is especially required for the new recruits that the companies have been onboarding during the pandemic. “We had over 60,000 new employees join us in the last 18 months, who've never walked into a Wipro office, who are probably only engaging with their manager and maybe a few other people. And so all they know of the companies, they get a paycheck from the company and they engage with one or two leads. That's their understanding of Wipro. And so it's incredibly important that we connect with these folks,” he explained.

The other crucial aspect of the hybrid workforce and rapidly evolving digital landscape is finding the right talent. Premji said that the number one challenge that the industry is facing right now is talent. The companies who win the war on talent, win the game.

“There is such a huge mismatch today between demand and just availability of supply. There's an effort being put at an organization level where we are spending an inordinate amount of time and money trying to re-skill. and up-skill people at an industry level we're spending an enormous amount of time. We are also doing this at an industry level where we're looking to re-skill 2 million of the 4 million people who today are employed by the industry,” said Premji.

Rekha Menon, chairperson Accenture India stated that the demand for tech talent is eight times of what is available. However, whenever the issue of skilling surfaces everyone is focused on digital skills or tech skills, many overlook the need for soft skills which have become the focal point of the hybrid workforce.