Getting the Employee Experience Right

It’s been called the “Great Resignation”: record numbers of people are quitting their jobs or considering doing so, despite job insecurity due to the pandemic . They are voting with their feet – not only to advance their careers, but also for a better employee experience and a workplace with values that match their own.?

For employers, this means that career advancement and attractive salaries are no longer the only levers to attract and retain staff. To counteract attrition, they need to focus on building a loyal, motivated workforce by improving the employee experience.

We at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have experience of adapting people strategies to employees’ new priorities. We’ve been ranked at #1 for Europe by Top Employer – the tenth time?we’ve made the list – and I wanted to share some of our learnings here.

What kind of employee experience?

Since the start of the pandemic, many people have experienced and come to like new ways of working: no commuting, greater flexibility and more time to spend with family. It is therefore not surprising that roles lending themselves to homeworking have become significantly more popular .

Alongside this, there has been a change in what people expect from their employers: global research by public relations firm Edelman found that close to two-thirds of job changers in 2021 left their old employer because they wanted to work for a company whose corporate purpose and values reflect their own.

While values and lifestyle choices have moved up the scale, career advancement and compensation remain important – and this includes competitive wages, training and opportunities to gain promotion.??

Talent development remains key to employee engagement

At TCS, our focus is specifically on reskilling and upskilling staff. We need to ensure that they stay ahead of the curve – because doing so benefits everyone.

As a result, we have the lowest attrition rates in our industry . In the third quarter of 2021 alone, a third of open positions at TCS were filled through upskilling and cross-skilling. TCSers gained more than 100,000 in-depth skills to meet our customers’ demands.

But our world’s technological transformation must also be reflected in the learning of younger generations. That’s why exposing university students and graduates to teams working on innovation and digital transformation projects through the TCS Pace internship and Grow@TCS scheme is core to our workforce strategy. Together with other programmes, these initiatives have given us 38,000 specialists – or Contextual Masters – across the globe, whose expertise will help TCS grow in a range of business areas.

Employees care about sustainability, diversity and inclusion??

In their search for an employer that is morally aligned with them, jobseekers attach particular importance to social and environmental issues .?

At TCS, we feel very strongly about diversity and inclusion: we see our multicultural, diverse, global workforce as our greatest asset. We have employees from more than 150 countries working in Europe alone. There is scientific evidence that teams with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds are?better at solving problems,?because they provide a mix of perspectives .

We’ve made particular progress in boosting the number of women in our global workforce in recent years, which is now at more than 200,000, out of nearly 560,000 staff worldwide. In Europe specifically, women now account for 24% of our workforce, and we’re building on that progress with our young professional programmes.

Similarly, our strong commitment to sustainability both within TCS and in working with clients is not only core to our corporate culture, but also an important factor in attracting and retaining talent.

Shaping the employee experience

Creating a winning employee experience is not something that can be copied or created ad hoc. It has to be anchored in the corporate culture and evolve. But as the above examples show, sustained investment in developing talent, progressive workplace policies and strong values will all contribute to a vibrant working culture that can attract employees and keep them happy.

Independent certification - like our #1 ranking in Europe from Top Employer - will continue to be a key measurement for TCS as we strive to be among the best companies to work for.?