3 minute read 2 Aug 2022
Great resignation

GCCs are bridging the talent gap amidst the great resignation

Authors
Arindam Sen

EY India Global Business Services & Operations Partner

Seasoned technology executive with rich experience in digital transformation. Leader in setting up GCCs. Enjoys playing badminton, drums and composing electronic music.

Kunal Ghatak

Partner, Business Consulting, EY India, Global Business Services

Kunal has 18 years of experience in shared services and outsourcing strategy. He has helped multinational companies set up and optimise capability centers across the globe.

3 minute read 2 Aug 2022

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Find out how Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are acting as a catalyst of change in the talent landscape. 

In brief

  • 74% of the participants in the EY GCC Pulse 2021 survey believe, that GCCs are acting as the global hub for digital skills and innovation.
  • GCCs are working their way towards the 3Cs of talent - capability, cost and value creation by focusing on rewards, professional growth and experience.

A global talent crunch and shortage of new age digital skills have widened the talent demand-supply gap. Globally, the talent shortage has tripled over the last 10 years. 74 percent1 of employers in the United States struggle to find right fit talent.

The war for talent

Global Capability Centers (GCCs) have observed a seismic shift in the services supported. As per the EY GCC Pulse survey 2021, 74% of the participants believe, that GCCs are acting as the global hub for digital skills and innovation. While GCCs in the early 2000s primarily delivered transactional activities such as IT helpdesk and customer support services, the focus now has moved towards high-end services around emerging technologies, IP creation and innovation. This shift has also added to the talent crunch, as the demand for people with the right skills is higher, than the supply.

These trends are forcing global organizations to set up scalable capability centers to bridge the talent gap. As per HRD Ministry’s AISHE report, India hosts more than 5,0002 engineering and technology institutes with an average of 1.5 million2 students graduating every year, thus providing a large talent pool for the capability centers. The digital skillset of the India is also increasing, with the advent of the start-up ecosystem which promotes the reskilling and upskilling of employees, and academia’s with courses focusing on data, AI-ML and others. 

Reimagining talent value realization

As talent continues to be a competitive lever, the need of the hour is for organizations to shift their value proposition closer to the actual expectations of talent. Key themes of focus in the EY GCC Pulse survey 20213 were war for talent, future of work, and growing digital. About 76% of survey participants believe that they need to improve their ability to attract and retain talent. 

An employee value proposition is built on various pillars ranging from organization brand to rewards and benefits, based on the foundations of business strategy and organization values and culture. GCCs are working towards the 3 Cs of talent: capability, cost and value creation by focusing on three key pillars rewards, professional growth, and engagement and experience. 

GCCs are building capability in-house through talent reskilling and upskilling programs to meet changing global needs. Organizations are investing in building fit-for-future leaders who can drive transformation and become a lever for growth in the organization.

To attract the right fit talent, rewards and benefits have become emotional-quotient led and at par with global firms. GCCs are creating a competitive and attractive rewards structure with a focus on new-age benefits such as ESOPs, LTIs, staggered bonus and flexibility to choose to align with the needs of employees. A german automobile research and development center in India has even linked its reward structure with parts of the vehicle to establish a stronger connect with the brand. 

Organizations are looking to align their culture to the changing needs of the ecosystem. To successfully enable a hybrid work culture, GCCs are focusing on building skills such as collaboration, team building, agility, creativity, and empathy along with digital competencies. Organizations are shifting their experience proposition from “need to work” to “want to work” by providing employees with the platform, tools and encouragement to pursue passion projects. 

Thoughts for reimagining GCCs 

GCCs have strengthened their role and are becoming strategic business partners to the parent organization. In order to continue on this agenda, it is important to revamp the value proposition offered to employees by relooking at the total rewards structure, providing reskilling and upskilling opportunities to employees, leveraging the academia ecosystem and enabling all of this through a hybrid supported work culture.

Summary

GCCs have been quickly making their way towards being strategic business partner to parent organizations. By focusing on building crucial skills such as collaboration, agility and team building, the GCC agenda continues to shape the employee experience in a holistic manner.

About this article

Authors
Arindam Sen

EY India Global Business Services & Operations Partner

Seasoned technology executive with rich experience in digital transformation. Leader in setting up GCCs. Enjoys playing badminton, drums and composing electronic music.

Kunal Ghatak

Partner, Business Consulting, EY India, Global Business Services

Kunal has 18 years of experience in shared services and outsourcing strategy. He has helped multinational companies set up and optimise capability centers across the globe.