We aim to hire more women and focus on bringing women back to work: Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte

Q- Talk about the latest trends in the HR industry? How are the recruiters enhancing the quality of recruitment?

The domain of talent analytics is growing rapidly, offering new opportunities to better hire, manage, retain, and optimize the workforce. Sophisticated data interpretation methods also help analyze, predict, and help improve performance. 

There is a new field of recruitment that is online and using AI in video interviews and scenarios, there is a better way that recruitment is being handled. Better quality, reliability and the candidate gets a whole new experience. As AI and other advanced technologies permeate the workplace, skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving gain in importance. Leading companies are recognizing that these technologies are most effective when they complement humans, not replace them.

Another new trend is the emerging part time specialists, called the Gig Workers. They do not want to be attached to any firm, they are free lancers and wish to have a certain independence. All this is new as new norms of engagement and recruitment of such experts will be needed. While the Gig Economy isn’t a new concept altogether, organizations need to be progressively geared towards tapping ‘open talent’. The learning curve extends to sourcing, engaging, managing, and recognizing those working on ‘gigs’.

Q- I have always heard most of the HR’s complaining about millennials joining and a difficulty to cope with them. They have minor but very basic issues like not even getting an email body correct. So, what kind of talents do Indian Companies need right now? 

At Deloitte, over 80% of our talent are millennials and we are proud of the stellar results they achieve. It’s all about tailoring your approach to address the talent you’re targeting. 

A 21st century career is one that is a series of developmental experiences, each offering a person the opportunity to acquire new skills, perspectives, and judgment. 

We need talent that’s brimming with the spirit of innovation, adaptable to rapid change, exhibits a firm resolve and resilience, displays a culture of inclusion and collaboration, and importantly, is client- and result-focused.

As far as the ‘basic issues’ go, a bit of coaching goes a long way. We make it interesting at Deloitte, by periodically sending our professionals useful writing tips and phrases used in the professional sphere. We promote good grooming practices through an engaging, Yammer-based selfie contest, and the results are very encouraging. 

In short – a curious mind, energy, initiative and passion is what we look for. Skills and educational background are table stakes.

Q- Let’s us give our readers a quick hack – Your cheat code- What are two quick tips to ace an interview?

1.Be prepared- be enthusiastic:  Take time to research the company that you are applying for and the person who is likely to interview you. Review your Resume and decide upon the things you want to highlight. There will be certain common questions in most interviews, so take time beforehand and put your thoughts together. Highlight the work that you’re proud of. Interviewers may also test your observation skills and ask you questions like, ‘What are the top three adjectives you’d use for this organization, based on what you’ve seen of the office.’

2.Be honest – be energetic.  There is a witty quote that goes, ‘Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.’ That stands true for interviews. Your responses should be sincere, even if it means admitting that you don’t know something. Your willingness to learn and adapt is what’s important. Lastly, be energetic. A lot of people can read more into your handshake!!

Q- What are your best HR Policies that you use to keep your employees motivated?

While we constantly work towards introducing talent friendly policies, there are two that I would like to highlight:

•Our maternity coaching program facilitates a smooth transition for would-be mothers into their maternity leave, as well a seamless reintegration in the workplace, at the end of it. It guides expectant mothers with nutrition, emotional well-being and fitness related information. Going over and beyond, it also extends coaching to the spouse, as well as the reporting manager, so that they are equipped to support the mother, in their own capacity. The facility is provided to spouses of our male professionals too. We strive to ensure mothers proceeding on maternity receive all the care. Food is served at their tables. Small things make a big difference to a mother to be!

•Our recognition and rewards program is a powerful way of engaging with our people. We also have an engaging internal social media platform and allows year-round appreciation. Appreciated colleagues feature on the Home Page feed of the website and mobile app, which allows others to ‘Like’ or ‘Comment’.  Appreciated professionals receive reward points, redeemable against a host of experiences like theme parks, spa or camping, and on several e-commerce websites.

Q- What are your plans for Talent Acquisition strategy for 2018?

We believe that we need a combination of campus hiring and lateral hiring. Our aim is to make sure that we are inclusive in our hiring. While we go to the top business schools, we will also make sure we hire at the other business schools. We are also looking at hiring humanities instead of hiring just the usual engineers and CA grads. 

In all of what we do, we will make inclusion and diversity as our hiring compass. We are also partial to hiring from across cities that are not represented in our firm.  We also aim to hire more women in the work force and focus on bringing more women back to work.

Q-Do tell us about the Corporate Culture of Deloitte as an Insider and how does it different from other corporate?

Our mantra is to ‘Create an impact that matters.’ Being performance-oriented is crucial to make a positive impact on clients and the society at large. But what differentiates us is that we’re also very welcoming as an organization. 

Three words says it all – we connect, develop and care for our people. We do all that we can to impact our society positively and equity and fairness are core to our being. We do our best to assimilate everyone who joins us into our culture, while encouraging them to enhance it with their unique touch. We rely on building an apprenticeship culture which has been our mainstay over the years. We have leaders in the firm who began their careers in Deloitte and have risen to strategic leadership positions. You don’t need me to give you this ‘inside information.’ It reflects in all our professionals.

Q-What are the number of employees you want to hire by 2020 and what are the mediums you use to hire them?

We rely on building an apprenticeship culture which has been our mainstay over the years. We have leaders in the firm who began their careers in Deloitte and have risen to strategic leadership positions. We will continue to stay invested in campuses. Our data also shows that people who join through referrals have a high retention rate. Referrals will be one of the main contributors. Social media connects well with the millennials. Added to the above channels we have a strong Alumni Network and we welcome boomerangs. One message that we leave our alumni with that they are ‘colleagues for life”, we find it interesting that we have quite a few boomerangs who come join us back!

We are also focused on bringing women back to work through a focused program.

Q-What kind of employee engagement activity Deloitte do?

There are many activities that keep our talent engaged. We’re big on holistic wellness, and a lot of our initiatives revolve around promoting physical and mental well-being.

But I consider Deloitte’s ‘Impact Day’ to be the ‘Everest’ of our engagement activities. This is a dedicated day for Deloitte professionals to offer skills-based volunteering to not-for-profit organizations, sharing knowledge and expertise to create a meaningful impact in the community. 2017 was the 15th year of the initiative. Apart from providing our professionals with a platform to invest their passion for social change into meaningful opportunities, it gives them a chance to demonstrate and grow their abilities and employ creative problem solving that is directly applicable to their jobs.

Q- Tell something unique rule about your organization which is only started by Deloitte?

We were the first to start the 6.5 month maternity and started a mass career customisation. One can customise one’s career to one’s need. So, part time working, flexibility and working as gig workers are part of the way we work.