"Planning To Hire Around 3000 - 4000 People Across Technical/ Non-Technical Roles," BYJU's
Having played a crucial role in shaping brand BYJU’S, his contribution has been instrumental in the company’s growth. Pravin Prakash, Chief People Officer, BYJU’S is one of those iconic names that will always be carved in bold letters while talking about the journey of BYJU's. Today, Prakash has been caught by BW People into having candid conversations and spill the beans with regards to new hiring strategies and talent management techniques for the year 2022. Lets delve deep into the conversation.
In the past year, we have experienced a transformation in the way we work, connect, and even operate on a daily basis. Covid-19 has significantly disrupted the education sector in India, transforming the way students learn and teachers teach. Being a digital-first company, we were able to smoothly transition from an offline mode to working online.
Coming to edtech, we have been fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance. The pandemic has created a demand in the edtech segment and we are witnessing the birth of newer roles based on skills and specialty. On the other hand, many permanent remote roles have also come into existence. An example of this would be the “one-to-one” and “one-to-many” online teaching model, which has empowered aspiring teachers to start their careers online and has given them access to students from the comfort of their homes. I believe that the golden age of teachers is back. India has the potential to create teachers for the whole world just like we have created software engineers. Today, with technology as an enabler, everyone who aspires to become a teacher can become one. I see a lot happening in the teaching and pedagogy space.
2. What are your top talent priorities for the upcoming year?
At BYJU’S, we are always on the lookout for the right talent. We look for people who are enthusiastic about their work and want to make a difference in students' learning outcomes. We are a millennial-driven organization with an average employee age of 23-24 years, across various departments. We're recruiting across departments for both technical and non-technical positions, and we want to keep engaging with the untapped potential of a young and inquisitive generation.
We are looking at harnessing the global talent pool by actively looking at hiring a diverse set of candidates in the UK, US, and India. By assembling a powerful team of high-calibre individuals, we aim to make technology transparent for the user and harness it in a way that tech-enabled education can reach the largest number of people. Additionally, by creating new jobs we are creating an exciting and fulfilling environment for Machine Learning and AI professionals, both experienced as well as new graduates. Our focus is not just about creating a faster or better system, but also creating genuine intellectual property and cutting-edge research that can disrupt and keep us ahead of the curve.
From a hiring standpoint, we have around 12,000 plus employees and we plan to hire around 3000 - 4000 people across technical/ non-technical roles for both mid-level and top management positions in the next 6 months. We are looking at onboarding software engineers who are keen on building their careers in developing solutions that will transform the way people learn from their early years to professional skills. We also aim to bring folks from the IITs and NITs into content development and academic innovation roles.
3. How is BYJU’S attracting the new set of talent especially the millennials or Gen Z?
As mentioned earlier, we are a millennial-driven organization with the majority of our workforce being young, dynamic, and passionate millennials with an average age of 23-24 across departments. If you see the high-level traits of millennials or GenZ, they are digital natives, highly collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial. And if you compare it with BYJU’S, these are exactly the values on which our culture is based.
Our culture of intrapreneurship, open feedback, being the biggest edtech digital brand, and culture driven by passion and purpose is a testimonial of how well we have adopted and welcomed changes at par with the workforce. While the journey is not over, we are spending conscious efforts around gen Z and continuously evolving our ecosystem which is inclusive for the growth and goals of genZ.
Each and every BYJUite is unified by the mission to positively impact the learning journeys of students across the globe. Owing to the strong purpose, the teams have created a positive environment within BYJU’S and picture a promising image of the organization cultivating solid communication, alignment, and collaboration.
4. What new policies have BYJU’S introduced for employees to increase the retention rate?
Employees are at the core of what we do, and we value every BYJUite. We believe in fostering an environment in which they feel physically and emotionally healthy, safe, and supported.
At a policy level, we have introduced new employee-friendly policies and updated the existing ones. The recently announced employee leave policy is a massive upgrade where both employees and trainees will be able to operate flexibly with the accommodations for Period Leaves and Child Care Leaves. This new policy is a significant step in prioritizing employee happiness, work-life balance, flexibility, and workplace sensitivity. We have further strengthened our insurance policy with a variety of parameters to include parents, parents-in-law, siblings, and same-gender partners. This tailor-made insurance policy is also aligned with an app for enhancing employees’ experience - unlimited free doctor consultations, fitness sessions, mindfulness sessions, and many more.
To ensure our employees are at ease with their new working format, we have weaved in a holistic employee wellness program into our existing initiatives. We launched the 'BYJU'S Let's Talk' initiative - a 24X7 one-on-one online counseling platform. We also conducted workshops on mind management, guided meditation, Zumba, yoga and hosted multiple events, workshops, fun contests, LIVE sessions, and more. Through activities that gave employees a sense of a virtual “chai time” session, we have tried to establish a steady communication channel. This has helped employees stay motivated, positive, feel aligned and engaged with the company's vision.
5. What are the induction and training programs arranged for up-skilling the digital-savvy generation?
For new joiners during the COVID times, a remote working scenario is probably not how they envisioned their first day at a new office would look like. However, at BYJU’S we have seen new joiners across different departments show great resolution. As an organization we have taken measures to ensure that right from their onboarding process to their training is seamlessly carried out online. From communicating about the onboarding process on a day-to-day basis till the joining date, inviting the candidates to brainstorming sessions, to an engaging virtual induction program, followed by an interesting ice-breaking session, we ensure that the virtual onboarding process is not mundane for our employees. While they might be missing out on the hustle and bustle of a new office, we have made sure that our communication channels remain open and are giving our new joiners step-by-step instructions to help them settle in.
We have adopted a hybrid model of onboarding to integrate employees seamlessly into the system and also provide them with necessary skilling and training as per the job requirement. Managers at BYJU’S use collaborative tools to aid effective teamwork and come up with better solutions. Interesting target-based challenges have been introduced for BYJUites so that they can work together as a team even while they are working remotely. ‘The Battle of the Best Contest’ for our Business Development team has been a great example for us in terms of how one can bring out the most without making it monotonous. Videos are created with top performers of the month where they share tips and tricks that helped them be ace performers. These videos serve as a great learning tool for the rest of the team members with numerous takeaways and secrets shared by people from their field. Regular communication mailers and Whatsapp creatives are shared to help BYJUites learn on the go with 2-5 minute easy reads. Tip of the week for managers and Learning Nuggets are a few examples of communication outreach. We also conduct monthly learning-based workshops over Zoom that focus on self-development like the art of working smarter in a team, building better rapport at work, effective communication, etc., where experts from the industry share insights on relevant topics.
We have observed high engagement and interest from BYJUites during such sessions. These activities have helped us nurture the team's strength and ensure professional development while they are working remotely.
6. What is BYJU’S diversity strategy?
The key to maintaining diversity is the gender balance amongst the core leadership and the founding team. If a company has a good representation of women since inception and in strong leadership positions, the balance is usually in place throughout the organisation. And at BYJU’S we have been lucky to have women representation in our founding team which we believe is our key strength and differentiator as well.
At BYJU’S, we have 33% woman representation on the board, 50% representation on the top management, and 40% representation of women overall, across levels. There is no doubt that gender diversity in an organisation aids innovation and we must all work towards creating equal and viable opportunities for women across different sectors. Fostering a culture of mentorship is equally important at BYJU’S. Finding a support system within the organisation is key, and it is only by creating the right environment for mentors to guide and hone the talent of a young workforce can they realise their full potential. For women, it is critical that they have strong women role models to look up to and grow in a way that they need not ask for a seat at the table, but truly deserve it.
Beyond gender, at BYJU'S we are driven by a millennial workforce, and we encourage our employees to experiment, fail and make corrections. For us, individuals matter and we focus on the skill of the employees and believe in investing time and energy in equipping them. In fact, most of our leaders, across different verticals, have grown with the organization. Intrapreneurship is a highly celebrated quality at BYJU’S which goes beyond diversity.
Big changes start with small steps, and we are taking a step every day to create a more equal, inclusive, and diverse workplace for our BYJUites.
7. We have been talking a lot about the future of work and the workplace since the pandemic, but how do you see the future of talent shaping up to be? Any policies or techniques you would like to throw light upon?
The pandemic has affected every industry and the Indian job market has witnessed a complete metamorphosis in the last few months. While some job descriptions have continued as is, a couple of roles have been altered with shifting demands. With remote working in play, the jobs of tomorrow will be talent-driven, location agnostic, and tailor-made basis skill and specialty.
Integration of technology in learning has brought a mindset shift in favor of online learning. With this acceptance, a host of employment opportunities has opened up in the edtech sector. At BYJU’S, we are scaling up across functions and are looking at expanding teams across various departments i.e technology, product, gaming, research, animation, content creation, video making, curriculum development, and many more. Additionally, the pandemic has brought back the most ‘essential and critical’ profession in the spotlight i.e. teaching. With online learning becoming more mainstream, multiple opportunities have opened up today for aspiring teachers as well.
Overall, the future of employment looks exciting. With remote working in play, the jobs of tomorrow will be talent-driven, location agnostic, and tailor-made based on the skills and specialty and we at BYJU’S are looking forward to passionate and talented individuals joining us in this journey.
