Meeting our resilient and purpose-driven team of Bengaluru Service Centre

After a break of two years due to the global pandemic, international travel has resumed, and I’ve been taking full advantage of it to reconnect in person with our services centre teams in the Philippines and India. Last month I visited our Manila centre and this month I was in Bengaluru, India.

The ANZ Bengaluru Service Centre was one of the first global capability centres (GCCs) set up in India around 30 years ago and is strongly regarded in the market. The centre has more than 7000 employees who not only support ANZ’s operations teams across the world but also provide technology support to the bank.

During the pandemic, the centre played a significant role ensuring service to our customers wasn’t disrupted due to COVID while, at the same time, successfully pivoting its on-site operating model to transition the team to be able to work from home productively in line with local government restrictions.

Now restrictions have been lifted, I was able to spend time with our operations, enablement and technology teams face to face. I was impressed to see how they are embracing being back in the office again to collaborate, brainstorm and problem solve to get better outcomes more quickly and drive momentum for the businesses they support.

As India accounts for 45 percent of GCCs worldwide, I was also keen to connect with some key players in the market and understand more about the business challenges and trends resulting from the changes facing the industry as a whole post-COVID.

Through speaking with business leaders and visiting innovation centres and 5G labs, I learned the role of GCCs in India is shifting. While their value in delivering cost and labour arbitrage continues to be important, pursuing new opportunities in the innovation, data and digital capability space is where businesses will be able to optimise their performance and improve their services delivery strength.

?It was incredibly energising spending time with our Bengaluru teams. I was inspired by how committed they are to delivering what matters and investing in their personal learning to keep their skills relevant and keep innovating

At ANZ, our culture is made up of our shared system of behaviours, values, assumptions, and beliefs. We believe in the inherent strength of a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive workforce. ?I was fortunate to spend time with the centre’s Diversity and Inclusion Network leads and members of the community and hear some of their personal experiences of working at and interacting with ANZ. It was inspirational to hear how teams consider and leverage the unique strengths and capabilities of each individual they are working with to succeed together.

Another highlight of my trip was visiting the Hegdenagar Urdu Medium government school that the centre is supporting as a part of their corporate social responsibility program in partnership with India’s leading property developer Embassy Group.

It helps close the gap for Bangalore’s underprivileged children by providing better infrastructure and facilities to the government schools we support. With more than 17 classrooms and new buildings including teachers’ rooms, a multi-purpose hall, library, computer lab, and toilet blocks as well as rainwater harvesting and solar power, enrolments have increased 30 per cent. After successfully developing two schools it is now working on the third government school in Thanisandra.

The warm welcome by the children with handmade bouquets touched my heart and interacting with them took me back to my school days as I enjoyed their energy and enthusiasm.

This project is an example of our focus on connecting with and investing significantly in the communities in which we operate to shape a world where people and communities thrive.

I have so many great memories of my visit to Bengaluru and came away confident that our resilient and purpose-driven team in Bengaluru is well positioned to adapt and grow to keep contributing to the bank we’re building for the future.