.
Across the globe, we are witnessing a paradigm shift in the way by which talent is sourced, trained, utilized, groomed, nurtured, and retained. This paradigm shift has been a long time coming, influenced to a large extent by the disruptive innovations of the 21st century. Some key catalysts that have accelerated this shift in the past few years are the globalization of markets across developed and emerging economies, a real-time connected and competitive world thanks to the advent of digital technologies, demographic shifts and skilled talent availability in fast growing economies (such as China and India), and intense competition to evolve and meet ever-changing customer needs.
Over the past century, we have seen economic revolutions powered by innovations in process, automation and technology. While the skills and capabilities of the talent pool have been an important contributor to these revolutions, it is at the front and center of the digital revolution. Never before have we had the opportunity to utilize ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ in a seamless manner across the globe; to collaborate, crowd source, innovate, and create new products, concepts, goods, and services. The incredible power of this new paradigm has already shown its initial impact in the IT services industry, where talent-led and technology-enabled innovations are transforming the business landscape across industry verticals. With talent having such a huge impact on the success and sustainability of businesses, it is critical to examine the structural and demographic shifts in demand and supply of talent globally. The current population mix in the emerging economies are a pointer in the shift of sources for global talent.
With their combined population base of 2.5 billion, and a constantly evolving education system, China and India are poised to become the leading providers of global talent. The population pyramids of these two countries reveal over 440 million people in the age group of 15-24 years, and 573 million people in the age group of 0-14 years. This represents a potential talent pool of over 1 billion people, and also an opportunity to dominate the talent marketplace for the next four to five decades. There are many social, economic, and political factors that are at play; but two factors that could potentially neutralize any obstacles are the continued liberalization of these two economies, and the willingness of the people to be highly mobile.
Another key factor to note here is the changing age profile of the talent pool in developed economies against the emerging markets. With the baby boomer generation nearing retirement in U.S., and the aging of workforces in Japan and some EU countries; the center of gravity of the future talent is swiftly shifting towards Gen Y and the Millennial generation. Here again, there is an inherent need to understand the values, virtues, and characteristics of these demographic profiles; in order to create a suitable talent strategy. The people in these new generations have grown up using mobiles, tablets, smartphones, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, etc.; and cannot imagine a world without these tools and technologies. The age-old processes of recruiting, developing, and retaining talent are quickly losing relevance, and need to evolve to the needs of this new generation.
As the world’s 2nd most valued IT Services company (Forbes), with operations in 44 countries, an employee pool of over 285,000 professionals from 118 nationalities around the globe, and $11.6 billion in FY13 revenues, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at the front and center of the digital revolution. The global nature of our operations and workforce enable us to provide innovative solutions to our customers, presenting us with a unique set of growth opportunities, which also comes with a set of unique challenges. By March 2014, TCS would have about 300,000 employees; 70 percent of whom will be under the age of 30. “From our point of view we believe the core strength of the company is people. And people with high intellect and who can be relevant individually. Each one of them can be relevant in the context of the problems that we're trying to help solve for our customers,” said TCS CEO and MD Natarajan Chandrasekaran in Business Today.
The need to understand and manage these new generations is critical to the sustainability of talent, and in turn the global enterprise. In 2013, TCS conducted a survey on India’s Millennial & post-Millennial generations, covering nearly 17,500 high school students across 14 Indian cities. This first such survey of an exclusive post-Millennial audience reveals that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social lives.
For example, the shift in behavior is evident from some of the key findings: 1 of 4 from this post-Millennial audience are online for 60 minutes per day, 1 in 4 use smartphones to connect online, and 41 percent prefer intra-messaging tools like Whatsapp and BBM. The enterprise of the future should prepare itself to use social collaboration tools similar to those that these new generations of talent are exposed to at such an early stage.
“At TCS, we have seen first-hand the value that embracing Generation Y attitudes and behaviors can bring. This approach began in India but it has proved so successful that it has been rolled out across our global organization. The future belongs to Generation Y and we believe these workers will bring a new wave of fresh ideas, energy and innovation into the industry. The most successful organizations in the next decade and beyond will therefore be those that can best adapt themselves to make the most of the ambition and enthusiasm that this new generation offers,” says TCS EVP and Head of Global Human Resources, Ajoyendra Mukherjee.
In 2012, TCS launched Knome, an internal social network inspired by Facebook and Twitter, because younger workers wanted it. This unique platform incorporates the concepts of gamification, badging, text mining, and crowdsourcing to provide cross-functional access, help employees participate meaningfully and engage in shared initiatives. This has facilitated collaboration on everything from designing valuable new software to, volunteering in the community. TCS also developed several apps that employees can use, including enterprise apps, productivity apps, and fitness apps. These initiatives have increased employee engagement and are reflected in TCS's attrition rate, one of the lowest in the industry at 10.9 percent.
Why is such a paradigm shift in treatment of talent and transformation of the enterprise important from a future economic outlook? Firstly, TCS’ mapping analysis of STEMconnector®’s ‘100 CEO Leaders in STEM’ publication revealed that the Top 5 Focus Areas for CEOs are Technology, Innovation, Women and Diversity, Economy, and Competitiveness. Essentially these CEOs, representing companies across 17 industry sectors with combined revenues of $3.27 trillion, employing over 7.59 million people globally are focused on technology-led innovation as a source of economic competitive advantage. Secondly, the TCS Innovation Forum 2013 (Emerging Technology Trends) revealed top emerging technology trends as Cloud technologies, “Consumerizaton” of IT in Enterprises, Mobile Strategy, Enterprise Transformations, and Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC).
TCS holds this premier, by-invite-only event annually in UK, USA, and Asia. It is held in the hub of innovation in each of these geographies and attracts thought leaders who are working along key innovation themes that challenge industry and society. Now layer this on top of our initial insights on the potential talent pool of 1 billion people with a younger age profile (1-24 years) in emerging markets like China and India, and the penetration of digital technologies amongst Millennial and post-Millennial generations in these markets. A clear picture emerges on how well positioned these markets are from a talent perspective to develop skills and capabilities to meet the needs of the future (social, political, economic, and cultural challenges aside).
In their 2012 publication Global Talent 2021, Oxford Economics take a close look at the demand-supply matches and mismatches around the world for a 10 year period from 2011 to 2021. This talent heat map below is a great summary and indicator of how the economic engines of nations around the world will keep in pace with the rate of their local talent availability. The report goes on to say “There is no ironclad rule mandating that areas like the Silicon Valley in the U.S. will be the only home of future innovation and job creation, as nations like China and India invest in industries ranging from life sciences to renewable energy and space exploration. In fact, eight of the top 10 countries likely to boast the largest talent surpluses a decade from now will be in the developing world, led by India, Indonesia, Colombia, and South Africa. Even though these countries are expected to experience robust economic growth, more skilled workers will be produced than job opportunities will appear.”
What emerges from the talent map and an analysis of the demand-supply ecosystem is a picture of skills gap, especially for the United States. Let us look at the state of talent the nation, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. The median salary for STEM jobs are on an average double of non-STEM jobs. STEM jobs are projected to grow 17 percent by 2018, and 71 percent of the new STEM jobs will be in computing. These computing jobs demand new skills: cloud computing, Big Data, cyber security and app development. However only 35.1 percent of students enrolled in STEM related fields are attaining degrees. Student enrollment and student achievement have been on the decline in the U.S.; with a mere 17 percent of 12th graders both proficient in and interested in STEM careers.
Computer Science is one of the highest paid college degrees, and computer programing jobs are growing twice the national average. From 2001-2011, Computer Science & Information Technology (IT) related jobs grew 92 percent faster than any other sector. By 2020, we will have at least 1,000,000 more jobs than students in Computer Science. For women and girls, the wage gap is much lower at 92 cents per dollar, versus 77 cents per dollar for all careers. Yet, less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in Computer Science; 9 out of 10 schools in U.S don’t even offer programming classes. In 36 of 50 states, Computer Science does not count towards high school graduation requirements in math or science.
In order to prepare our future generations of talent pool in the U.S. to make use of the job opportunities of the future, there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to drive policies at a state and federal level, transforming current education outcomes, and embedding corporate engagement in preparing our children and youth for careers. The business sector should proactively engage with educational institutions and agencies to inspire, attract, train, prepare, hire, groom, nurture, and retain its future talent. Efforts like STEMconnector®’s STEM Innovation Task Force (SIFT), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Education and Workforce Program, and the Chamber’s Education, Employment and Training Committee (EETC), and are illustrative examples of industry-led cross-sector collaboration efforts with a singular focus on the future of human capital.
Being a core member of these forums has given me a first-hand opportunity to see the passion of our industry, nonprofit and government leaders to shape the future of education, workforce and human capital of the nation.
So what are we doing about this as a key stakeholder in this ecosystem? TCS North America recognizes that its company’s future—and that the nation’s increasingly knowledge-driven economy—depends upon more Americans with STEM skills entering the workforce each year. By working with national partners and strategically engaging with community organizations that can multiply programmatic impact, TCS is working to improve employability of future STEM workers, creating new talent for the country, as a corporate community partner.
“The role of technology and innovation as a prime driver of U.S. growth in STEM was a powerful insight, verifying our prior outlook,” said Surya Kant, President, North America, UK & Europe, Tata Consultancy Services. “The commitment of the 100 CEOs and the cross-sector consensus shows how deeply they feel about the issue of educating our youth, and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. We need several corporate leaders to answer the call-to-action, identify existing best practices for in-school and out-of-school programs, and make the commitment to use their core competencies and resources to bridge the US STEM gap.”
TCS is putting thought leadership to address the national STEM challenge, by bringing together 30 organizations across sectors to collaborate through an executive round table on the 'Future of Computer Science in U.S.', a white paper titled 'The STEM Imperative for U.S.' presenting insights from STEMconnector®'s '100 CEO Leaders in STEM' publication. As the Founding Leadership Partner for US2020 and STEMconnector®’s Million Women Mentors, we commit the use of corporate volunteers for STEM mentoring as a means to attract, prepare, groom, and retain young talent to flourish in STEM careers. By leading the development of the online platforms for both these national initiatives, we are using our technology capabilities to support the engagement of over two million corporate volunteers as mentors over the next decade.
As a National Corporate Underwriter for NPower, we use the skill-based volunteerism of our employees to provide pro-bono IT services to non-profits across the country, and support skill development of at-risk youth and veterans for careers in Information Technology. Through our goIT student technology program, we are working with local organizations to teach Computer Science in high schools across America. Starting from two schools in 2009, this grassroots level effort—led by our employee volunteers—has expanded to over 35 school districts and covered over 7,000 students.
The future of talent and the global enterprise are inextricably interwoven. Mobility and adaptability will be key virtues for talent of the future, as enterprises continue to move away from a headquarter-based approach to creating more global hubs across multiple markets and countries. These global enterprises will have employees working and moving seamlessly across countries and cultures to create solutions that address both local and global business challenges. Enterprises will increasingly use analytics, big data, and internal networks to optimize their processes, deal with generational differences, and engage their employees in creating incredible outcomes for their customers. Powering these careers of the future will be critical capability platforms such as digital fluency, innovation excellence, social intelligence, cross cultural sensitivity, virtual collaboration, and managing a diverse workforce; that would be developed from a young age through a symbiotic effort between the education system and industry engagement. It is this pool of ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ that the global enterprise of the future will draw upon to fuel its innovation and growth.
Balaji Ganapathy is Head of Workforce Effectiveness, North America for Tata Consultancy Services.
Infographic data sources, in order of appearance: CIA World Factbook; CIA World Factbook; Oxford Economics, Global Talent 2021; Tata Consultancy Services.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition..
As the world’s 2nd most valued IT Services company (Forbes), with operations in 44 countries, an employee pool of over 285,000 professionals from 118 nationalities around the globe, and $11.6 billion in FY13 revenues, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at the front and center of the digital revolution. The global nature of our operations and workforce enable us to provide innovative solutions to our customers, presenting us with a unique set of growth opportunities, which also comes with a set of unique challenges. By March 2014, TCS would have about 300,000 employees; 70 percent of whom will be under the age of 30. “From our point of view we believe the core strength of the company is people. And people with high intellect and who can be relevant individually. Each one of them can be relevant in the context of the problems that we're trying to help solve for our customers,” said TCS CEO and MD Natarajan Chandrasekaran in Business Today.
The need to understand and manage these new generations is critical to the sustainability of talent, and in turn the global enterprise. In 2013, TCS conducted a survey on India’s Millennial & post-Millennial generations, covering nearly 17,500 high school students across 14 Indian cities. This first such survey of an exclusive post-Millennial audience reveals that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social lives.
For example, the shift in behavior is evident from some of the key findings: 1 of 4 from this post-Millennial audience are online for 60 minutes per day, 1 in 4 use smartphones to connect online, and 41 percent prefer intra-messaging tools like Whatsapp and BBM. The enterprise of the future should prepare itself to use social collaboration tools similar to those that these new generations of talent are exposed to at such an early stage.
“At TCS, we have seen first-hand the value that embracing Generation Y attitudes and behaviors can bring. This approach began in India but it has proved so successful that it has been rolled out across our global organization. The future belongs to Generation Y and we believe these workers will bring a new wave of fresh ideas, energy and innovation into the industry. The most successful organizations in the next decade and beyond will therefore be those that can best adapt themselves to make the most of the ambition and enthusiasm that this new generation offers,” says TCS EVP and Head of Global Human Resources, Ajoyendra Mukherjee.
In 2012, TCS launched Knome, an internal social network inspired by Facebook and Twitter, because younger workers wanted it. This unique platform incorporates the concepts of gamification, badging, text mining, and crowdsourcing to provide cross-functional access, help employees participate meaningfully and engage in shared initiatives. This has facilitated collaboration on everything from designing valuable new software to, volunteering in the community. TCS also developed several apps that employees can use, including enterprise apps, productivity apps, and fitness apps. These initiatives have increased employee engagement and are reflected in TCS's attrition rate, one of the lowest in the industry at 10.9 percent.
Why is such a paradigm shift in treatment of talent and transformation of the enterprise important from a future economic outlook? Firstly, TCS’ mapping analysis of STEMconnector®’s ‘100 CEO Leaders in STEM’ publication revealed that the Top 5 Focus Areas for CEOs are Technology, Innovation, Women and Diversity, Economy, and Competitiveness. Essentially these CEOs, representing companies across 17 industry sectors with combined revenues of $3.27 trillion, employing over 7.59 million people globally are focused on technology-led innovation as a source of economic competitive advantage. Secondly, the TCS Innovation Forum 2013 (Emerging Technology Trends) revealed top emerging technology trends as Cloud technologies, “Consumerizaton” of IT in Enterprises, Mobile Strategy, Enterprise Transformations, and Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC).
TCS holds this premier, by-invite-only event annually in UK, USA, and Asia. It is held in the hub of innovation in each of these geographies and attracts thought leaders who are working along key innovation themes that challenge industry and society. Now layer this on top of our initial insights on the potential talent pool of 1 billion people with a younger age profile (1-24 years) in emerging markets like China and India, and the penetration of digital technologies amongst Millennial and post-Millennial generations in these markets. A clear picture emerges on how well positioned these markets are from a talent perspective to develop skills and capabilities to meet the needs of the future (social, political, economic, and cultural challenges aside).
In their 2012 publication Global Talent 2021, Oxford Economics take a close look at the demand-supply matches and mismatches around the world for a 10 year period from 2011 to 2021. This talent heat map below is a great summary and indicator of how the economic engines of nations around the world will keep in pace with the rate of their local talent availability. The report goes on to say “There is no ironclad rule mandating that areas like the Silicon Valley in the U.S. will be the only home of future innovation and job creation, as nations like China and India invest in industries ranging from life sciences to renewable energy and space exploration. In fact, eight of the top 10 countries likely to boast the largest talent surpluses a decade from now will be in the developing world, led by India, Indonesia, Colombia, and South Africa. Even though these countries are expected to experience robust economic growth, more skilled workers will be produced than job opportunities will appear.”
What emerges from the talent map and an analysis of the demand-supply ecosystem is a picture of skills gap, especially for the United States. Let us look at the state of talent the nation, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. The median salary for STEM jobs are on an average double of non-STEM jobs. STEM jobs are projected to grow 17 percent by 2018, and 71 percent of the new STEM jobs will be in computing. These computing jobs demand new skills: cloud computing, Big Data, cyber security and app development. However only 35.1 percent of students enrolled in STEM related fields are attaining degrees. Student enrollment and student achievement have been on the decline in the U.S.; with a mere 17 percent of 12th graders both proficient in and interested in STEM careers.
Computer Science is one of the highest paid college degrees, and computer programing jobs are growing twice the national average. From 2001-2011, Computer Science & Information Technology (IT) related jobs grew 92 percent faster than any other sector. By 2020, we will have at least 1,000,000 more jobs than students in Computer Science. For women and girls, the wage gap is much lower at 92 cents per dollar, versus 77 cents per dollar for all careers. Yet, less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in Computer Science; 9 out of 10 schools in U.S don’t even offer programming classes. In 36 of 50 states, Computer Science does not count towards high school graduation requirements in math or science.
In order to prepare our future generations of talent pool in the U.S. to make use of the job opportunities of the future, there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to drive policies at a state and federal level, transforming current education outcomes, and embedding corporate engagement in preparing our children and youth for careers. The business sector should proactively engage with educational institutions and agencies to inspire, attract, train, prepare, hire, groom, nurture, and retain its future talent. Efforts like STEMconnector®’s STEM Innovation Task Force (SIFT), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Education and Workforce Program, and the Chamber’s Education, Employment and Training Committee (EETC), and are illustrative examples of industry-led cross-sector collaboration efforts with a singular focus on the future of human capital.
Being a core member of these forums has given me a first-hand opportunity to see the passion of our industry, nonprofit and government leaders to shape the future of education, workforce and human capital of the nation.
So what are we doing about this as a key stakeholder in this ecosystem? TCS North America recognizes that its company’s future—and that the nation’s increasingly knowledge-driven economy—depends upon more Americans with STEM skills entering the workforce each year. By working with national partners and strategically engaging with community organizations that can multiply programmatic impact, TCS is working to improve employability of future STEM workers, creating new talent for the country, as a corporate community partner.
“The role of technology and innovation as a prime driver of U.S. growth in STEM was a powerful insight, verifying our prior outlook,” said Surya Kant, President, North America, UK & Europe, Tata Consultancy Services. “The commitment of the 100 CEOs and the cross-sector consensus shows how deeply they feel about the issue of educating our youth, and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. We need several corporate leaders to answer the call-to-action, identify existing best practices for in-school and out-of-school programs, and make the commitment to use their core competencies and resources to bridge the US STEM gap.”
TCS is putting thought leadership to address the national STEM challenge, by bringing together 30 organizations across sectors to collaborate through an executive round table on the 'Future of Computer Science in U.S.', a white paper titled 'The STEM Imperative for U.S.' presenting insights from STEMconnector®'s '100 CEO Leaders in STEM' publication. As the Founding Leadership Partner for US2020 and STEMconnector®’s Million Women Mentors, we commit the use of corporate volunteers for STEM mentoring as a means to attract, prepare, groom, and retain young talent to flourish in STEM careers. By leading the development of the online platforms for both these national initiatives, we are using our technology capabilities to support the engagement of over two million corporate volunteers as mentors over the next decade.
As a National Corporate Underwriter for NPower, we use the skill-based volunteerism of our employees to provide pro-bono IT services to non-profits across the country, and support skill development of at-risk youth and veterans for careers in Information Technology. Through our goIT student technology program, we are working with local organizations to teach Computer Science in high schools across America. Starting from two schools in 2009, this grassroots level effort—led by our employee volunteers—has expanded to over 35 school districts and covered over 7,000 students.
The future of talent and the global enterprise are inextricably interwoven. Mobility and adaptability will be key virtues for talent of the future, as enterprises continue to move away from a headquarter-based approach to creating more global hubs across multiple markets and countries. These global enterprises will have employees working and moving seamlessly across countries and cultures to create solutions that address both local and global business challenges. Enterprises will increasingly use analytics, big data, and internal networks to optimize their processes, deal with generational differences, and engage their employees in creating incredible outcomes for their customers. Powering these careers of the future will be critical capability platforms such as digital fluency, innovation excellence, social intelligence, cross cultural sensitivity, virtual collaboration, and managing a diverse workforce; that would be developed from a young age through a symbiotic effort between the education system and industry engagement. It is this pool of ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ that the global enterprise of the future will draw upon to fuel its innovation and growth.
Balaji Ganapathy is Head of Workforce Effectiveness, North America for Tata Consultancy Services.
Infographic data sources, in order of appearance: CIA World Factbook; CIA World Factbook; Oxford Economics, Global Talent 2021; Tata Consultancy Services.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition..The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
a global affairs media network
Anytime, Anywhere Talent: The Future of the Global Enterprise
||||
January 11, 2014
Across the globe, we are witnessing a paradigm shift in the way by which talent is sourced, trained, utilized, groomed, nurtured, and retained. This paradigm shift has been a long time coming, influenced to a large extent by the disruptive innovations of the 21st century. Some key catalysts that have accelerated this shift in the past few years are the globalization of markets across developed and emerging economies, a real-time connected and competitive world thanks to the advent of digital technologies, demographic shifts and skilled talent availability in fast growing economies (such as China and India), and intense competition to evolve and meet ever-changing customer needs.
Over the past century, we have seen economic revolutions powered by innovations in process, automation and technology. While the skills and capabilities of the talent pool have been an important contributor to these revolutions, it is at the front and center of the digital revolution. Never before have we had the opportunity to utilize ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ in a seamless manner across the globe; to collaborate, crowd source, innovate, and create new products, concepts, goods, and services. The incredible power of this new paradigm has already shown its initial impact in the IT services industry, where talent-led and technology-enabled innovations are transforming the business landscape across industry verticals. With talent having such a huge impact on the success and sustainability of businesses, it is critical to examine the structural and demographic shifts in demand and supply of talent globally. The current population mix in the emerging economies are a pointer in the shift of sources for global talent.
With their combined population base of 2.5 billion, and a constantly evolving education system, China and India are poised to become the leading providers of global talent. The population pyramids of these two countries reveal over 440 million people in the age group of 15-24 years, and 573 million people in the age group of 0-14 years. This represents a potential talent pool of over 1 billion people, and also an opportunity to dominate the talent marketplace for the next four to five decades. There are many social, economic, and political factors that are at play; but two factors that could potentially neutralize any obstacles are the continued liberalization of these two economies, and the willingness of the people to be highly mobile.
Another key factor to note here is the changing age profile of the talent pool in developed economies against the emerging markets. With the baby boomer generation nearing retirement in U.S., and the aging of workforces in Japan and some EU countries; the center of gravity of the future talent is swiftly shifting towards Gen Y and the Millennial generation. Here again, there is an inherent need to understand the values, virtues, and characteristics of these demographic profiles; in order to create a suitable talent strategy. The people in these new generations have grown up using mobiles, tablets, smartphones, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, etc.; and cannot imagine a world without these tools and technologies. The age-old processes of recruiting, developing, and retaining talent are quickly losing relevance, and need to evolve to the needs of this new generation.
As the world’s 2nd most valued IT Services company (Forbes), with operations in 44 countries, an employee pool of over 285,000 professionals from 118 nationalities around the globe, and $11.6 billion in FY13 revenues, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at the front and center of the digital revolution. The global nature of our operations and workforce enable us to provide innovative solutions to our customers, presenting us with a unique set of growth opportunities, which also comes with a set of unique challenges. By March 2014, TCS would have about 300,000 employees; 70 percent of whom will be under the age of 30. “From our point of view we believe the core strength of the company is people. And people with high intellect and who can be relevant individually. Each one of them can be relevant in the context of the problems that we're trying to help solve for our customers,” said TCS CEO and MD Natarajan Chandrasekaran in Business Today.
The need to understand and manage these new generations is critical to the sustainability of talent, and in turn the global enterprise. In 2013, TCS conducted a survey on India’s Millennial & post-Millennial generations, covering nearly 17,500 high school students across 14 Indian cities. This first such survey of an exclusive post-Millennial audience reveals that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social lives.
For example, the shift in behavior is evident from some of the key findings: 1 of 4 from this post-Millennial audience are online for 60 minutes per day, 1 in 4 use smartphones to connect online, and 41 percent prefer intra-messaging tools like Whatsapp and BBM. The enterprise of the future should prepare itself to use social collaboration tools similar to those that these new generations of talent are exposed to at such an early stage.
“At TCS, we have seen first-hand the value that embracing Generation Y attitudes and behaviors can bring. This approach began in India but it has proved so successful that it has been rolled out across our global organization. The future belongs to Generation Y and we believe these workers will bring a new wave of fresh ideas, energy and innovation into the industry. The most successful organizations in the next decade and beyond will therefore be those that can best adapt themselves to make the most of the ambition and enthusiasm that this new generation offers,” says TCS EVP and Head of Global Human Resources, Ajoyendra Mukherjee.
In 2012, TCS launched Knome, an internal social network inspired by Facebook and Twitter, because younger workers wanted it. This unique platform incorporates the concepts of gamification, badging, text mining, and crowdsourcing to provide cross-functional access, help employees participate meaningfully and engage in shared initiatives. This has facilitated collaboration on everything from designing valuable new software to, volunteering in the community. TCS also developed several apps that employees can use, including enterprise apps, productivity apps, and fitness apps. These initiatives have increased employee engagement and are reflected in TCS's attrition rate, one of the lowest in the industry at 10.9 percent.
Why is such a paradigm shift in treatment of talent and transformation of the enterprise important from a future economic outlook? Firstly, TCS’ mapping analysis of STEMconnector®’s ‘100 CEO Leaders in STEM’ publication revealed that the Top 5 Focus Areas for CEOs are Technology, Innovation, Women and Diversity, Economy, and Competitiveness. Essentially these CEOs, representing companies across 17 industry sectors with combined revenues of $3.27 trillion, employing over 7.59 million people globally are focused on technology-led innovation as a source of economic competitive advantage. Secondly, the TCS Innovation Forum 2013 (Emerging Technology Trends) revealed top emerging technology trends as Cloud technologies, “Consumerizaton” of IT in Enterprises, Mobile Strategy, Enterprise Transformations, and Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC).
TCS holds this premier, by-invite-only event annually in UK, USA, and Asia. It is held in the hub of innovation in each of these geographies and attracts thought leaders who are working along key innovation themes that challenge industry and society. Now layer this on top of our initial insights on the potential talent pool of 1 billion people with a younger age profile (1-24 years) in emerging markets like China and India, and the penetration of digital technologies amongst Millennial and post-Millennial generations in these markets. A clear picture emerges on how well positioned these markets are from a talent perspective to develop skills and capabilities to meet the needs of the future (social, political, economic, and cultural challenges aside).
In their 2012 publication Global Talent 2021, Oxford Economics take a close look at the demand-supply matches and mismatches around the world for a 10 year period from 2011 to 2021. This talent heat map below is a great summary and indicator of how the economic engines of nations around the world will keep in pace with the rate of their local talent availability. The report goes on to say “There is no ironclad rule mandating that areas like the Silicon Valley in the U.S. will be the only home of future innovation and job creation, as nations like China and India invest in industries ranging from life sciences to renewable energy and space exploration. In fact, eight of the top 10 countries likely to boast the largest talent surpluses a decade from now will be in the developing world, led by India, Indonesia, Colombia, and South Africa. Even though these countries are expected to experience robust economic growth, more skilled workers will be produced than job opportunities will appear.”
What emerges from the talent map and an analysis of the demand-supply ecosystem is a picture of skills gap, especially for the United States. Let us look at the state of talent the nation, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. The median salary for STEM jobs are on an average double of non-STEM jobs. STEM jobs are projected to grow 17 percent by 2018, and 71 percent of the new STEM jobs will be in computing. These computing jobs demand new skills: cloud computing, Big Data, cyber security and app development. However only 35.1 percent of students enrolled in STEM related fields are attaining degrees. Student enrollment and student achievement have been on the decline in the U.S.; with a mere 17 percent of 12th graders both proficient in and interested in STEM careers.
Computer Science is one of the highest paid college degrees, and computer programing jobs are growing twice the national average. From 2001-2011, Computer Science & Information Technology (IT) related jobs grew 92 percent faster than any other sector. By 2020, we will have at least 1,000,000 more jobs than students in Computer Science. For women and girls, the wage gap is much lower at 92 cents per dollar, versus 77 cents per dollar for all careers. Yet, less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in Computer Science; 9 out of 10 schools in U.S don’t even offer programming classes. In 36 of 50 states, Computer Science does not count towards high school graduation requirements in math or science.
In order to prepare our future generations of talent pool in the U.S. to make use of the job opportunities of the future, there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to drive policies at a state and federal level, transforming current education outcomes, and embedding corporate engagement in preparing our children and youth for careers. The business sector should proactively engage with educational institutions and agencies to inspire, attract, train, prepare, hire, groom, nurture, and retain its future talent. Efforts like STEMconnector®’s STEM Innovation Task Force (SIFT), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Education and Workforce Program, and the Chamber’s Education, Employment and Training Committee (EETC), and are illustrative examples of industry-led cross-sector collaboration efforts with a singular focus on the future of human capital.
Being a core member of these forums has given me a first-hand opportunity to see the passion of our industry, nonprofit and government leaders to shape the future of education, workforce and human capital of the nation.
So what are we doing about this as a key stakeholder in this ecosystem? TCS North America recognizes that its company’s future—and that the nation’s increasingly knowledge-driven economy—depends upon more Americans with STEM skills entering the workforce each year. By working with national partners and strategically engaging with community organizations that can multiply programmatic impact, TCS is working to improve employability of future STEM workers, creating new talent for the country, as a corporate community partner.
“The role of technology and innovation as a prime driver of U.S. growth in STEM was a powerful insight, verifying our prior outlook,” said Surya Kant, President, North America, UK & Europe, Tata Consultancy Services. “The commitment of the 100 CEOs and the cross-sector consensus shows how deeply they feel about the issue of educating our youth, and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. We need several corporate leaders to answer the call-to-action, identify existing best practices for in-school and out-of-school programs, and make the commitment to use their core competencies and resources to bridge the US STEM gap.”
TCS is putting thought leadership to address the national STEM challenge, by bringing together 30 organizations across sectors to collaborate through an executive round table on the 'Future of Computer Science in U.S.', a white paper titled 'The STEM Imperative for U.S.' presenting insights from STEMconnector®'s '100 CEO Leaders in STEM' publication. As the Founding Leadership Partner for US2020 and STEMconnector®’s Million Women Mentors, we commit the use of corporate volunteers for STEM mentoring as a means to attract, prepare, groom, and retain young talent to flourish in STEM careers. By leading the development of the online platforms for both these national initiatives, we are using our technology capabilities to support the engagement of over two million corporate volunteers as mentors over the next decade.
As a National Corporate Underwriter for NPower, we use the skill-based volunteerism of our employees to provide pro-bono IT services to non-profits across the country, and support skill development of at-risk youth and veterans for careers in Information Technology. Through our goIT student technology program, we are working with local organizations to teach Computer Science in high schools across America. Starting from two schools in 2009, this grassroots level effort—led by our employee volunteers—has expanded to over 35 school districts and covered over 7,000 students.
The future of talent and the global enterprise are inextricably interwoven. Mobility and adaptability will be key virtues for talent of the future, as enterprises continue to move away from a headquarter-based approach to creating more global hubs across multiple markets and countries. These global enterprises will have employees working and moving seamlessly across countries and cultures to create solutions that address both local and global business challenges. Enterprises will increasingly use analytics, big data, and internal networks to optimize their processes, deal with generational differences, and engage their employees in creating incredible outcomes for their customers. Powering these careers of the future will be critical capability platforms such as digital fluency, innovation excellence, social intelligence, cross cultural sensitivity, virtual collaboration, and managing a diverse workforce; that would be developed from a young age through a symbiotic effort between the education system and industry engagement. It is this pool of ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ that the global enterprise of the future will draw upon to fuel its innovation and growth.
Balaji Ganapathy is Head of Workforce Effectiveness, North America for Tata Consultancy Services.
Infographic data sources, in order of appearance: CIA World Factbook; CIA World Factbook; Oxford Economics, Global Talent 2021; Tata Consultancy Services.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition..
As the world’s 2nd most valued IT Services company (Forbes), with operations in 44 countries, an employee pool of over 285,000 professionals from 118 nationalities around the globe, and $11.6 billion in FY13 revenues, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is at the front and center of the digital revolution. The global nature of our operations and workforce enable us to provide innovative solutions to our customers, presenting us with a unique set of growth opportunities, which also comes with a set of unique challenges. By March 2014, TCS would have about 300,000 employees; 70 percent of whom will be under the age of 30. “From our point of view we believe the core strength of the company is people. And people with high intellect and who can be relevant individually. Each one of them can be relevant in the context of the problems that we're trying to help solve for our customers,” said TCS CEO and MD Natarajan Chandrasekaran in Business Today.
The need to understand and manage these new generations is critical to the sustainability of talent, and in turn the global enterprise. In 2013, TCS conducted a survey on India’s Millennial & post-Millennial generations, covering nearly 17,500 high school students across 14 Indian cities. This first such survey of an exclusive post-Millennial audience reveals that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social lives.
For example, the shift in behavior is evident from some of the key findings: 1 of 4 from this post-Millennial audience are online for 60 minutes per day, 1 in 4 use smartphones to connect online, and 41 percent prefer intra-messaging tools like Whatsapp and BBM. The enterprise of the future should prepare itself to use social collaboration tools similar to those that these new generations of talent are exposed to at such an early stage.
“At TCS, we have seen first-hand the value that embracing Generation Y attitudes and behaviors can bring. This approach began in India but it has proved so successful that it has been rolled out across our global organization. The future belongs to Generation Y and we believe these workers will bring a new wave of fresh ideas, energy and innovation into the industry. The most successful organizations in the next decade and beyond will therefore be those that can best adapt themselves to make the most of the ambition and enthusiasm that this new generation offers,” says TCS EVP and Head of Global Human Resources, Ajoyendra Mukherjee.
In 2012, TCS launched Knome, an internal social network inspired by Facebook and Twitter, because younger workers wanted it. This unique platform incorporates the concepts of gamification, badging, text mining, and crowdsourcing to provide cross-functional access, help employees participate meaningfully and engage in shared initiatives. This has facilitated collaboration on everything from designing valuable new software to, volunteering in the community. TCS also developed several apps that employees can use, including enterprise apps, productivity apps, and fitness apps. These initiatives have increased employee engagement and are reflected in TCS's attrition rate, one of the lowest in the industry at 10.9 percent.
Why is such a paradigm shift in treatment of talent and transformation of the enterprise important from a future economic outlook? Firstly, TCS’ mapping analysis of STEMconnector®’s ‘100 CEO Leaders in STEM’ publication revealed that the Top 5 Focus Areas for CEOs are Technology, Innovation, Women and Diversity, Economy, and Competitiveness. Essentially these CEOs, representing companies across 17 industry sectors with combined revenues of $3.27 trillion, employing over 7.59 million people globally are focused on technology-led innovation as a source of economic competitive advantage. Secondly, the TCS Innovation Forum 2013 (Emerging Technology Trends) revealed top emerging technology trends as Cloud technologies, “Consumerizaton” of IT in Enterprises, Mobile Strategy, Enterprise Transformations, and Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC).
TCS holds this premier, by-invite-only event annually in UK, USA, and Asia. It is held in the hub of innovation in each of these geographies and attracts thought leaders who are working along key innovation themes that challenge industry and society. Now layer this on top of our initial insights on the potential talent pool of 1 billion people with a younger age profile (1-24 years) in emerging markets like China and India, and the penetration of digital technologies amongst Millennial and post-Millennial generations in these markets. A clear picture emerges on how well positioned these markets are from a talent perspective to develop skills and capabilities to meet the needs of the future (social, political, economic, and cultural challenges aside).
In their 2012 publication Global Talent 2021, Oxford Economics take a close look at the demand-supply matches and mismatches around the world for a 10 year period from 2011 to 2021. This talent heat map below is a great summary and indicator of how the economic engines of nations around the world will keep in pace with the rate of their local talent availability. The report goes on to say “There is no ironclad rule mandating that areas like the Silicon Valley in the U.S. will be the only home of future innovation and job creation, as nations like China and India invest in industries ranging from life sciences to renewable energy and space exploration. In fact, eight of the top 10 countries likely to boast the largest talent surpluses a decade from now will be in the developing world, led by India, Indonesia, Colombia, and South Africa. Even though these countries are expected to experience robust economic growth, more skilled workers will be produced than job opportunities will appear.”
What emerges from the talent map and an analysis of the demand-supply ecosystem is a picture of skills gap, especially for the United States. Let us look at the state of talent the nation, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. The median salary for STEM jobs are on an average double of non-STEM jobs. STEM jobs are projected to grow 17 percent by 2018, and 71 percent of the new STEM jobs will be in computing. These computing jobs demand new skills: cloud computing, Big Data, cyber security and app development. However only 35.1 percent of students enrolled in STEM related fields are attaining degrees. Student enrollment and student achievement have been on the decline in the U.S.; with a mere 17 percent of 12th graders both proficient in and interested in STEM careers.
Computer Science is one of the highest paid college degrees, and computer programing jobs are growing twice the national average. From 2001-2011, Computer Science & Information Technology (IT) related jobs grew 92 percent faster than any other sector. By 2020, we will have at least 1,000,000 more jobs than students in Computer Science. For women and girls, the wage gap is much lower at 92 cents per dollar, versus 77 cents per dollar for all careers. Yet, less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in Computer Science; 9 out of 10 schools in U.S don’t even offer programming classes. In 36 of 50 states, Computer Science does not count towards high school graduation requirements in math or science.
In order to prepare our future generations of talent pool in the U.S. to make use of the job opportunities of the future, there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to drive policies at a state and federal level, transforming current education outcomes, and embedding corporate engagement in preparing our children and youth for careers. The business sector should proactively engage with educational institutions and agencies to inspire, attract, train, prepare, hire, groom, nurture, and retain its future talent. Efforts like STEMconnector®’s STEM Innovation Task Force (SIFT), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Education and Workforce Program, and the Chamber’s Education, Employment and Training Committee (EETC), and are illustrative examples of industry-led cross-sector collaboration efforts with a singular focus on the future of human capital.
Being a core member of these forums has given me a first-hand opportunity to see the passion of our industry, nonprofit and government leaders to shape the future of education, workforce and human capital of the nation.
So what are we doing about this as a key stakeholder in this ecosystem? TCS North America recognizes that its company’s future—and that the nation’s increasingly knowledge-driven economy—depends upon more Americans with STEM skills entering the workforce each year. By working with national partners and strategically engaging with community organizations that can multiply programmatic impact, TCS is working to improve employability of future STEM workers, creating new talent for the country, as a corporate community partner.
“The role of technology and innovation as a prime driver of U.S. growth in STEM was a powerful insight, verifying our prior outlook,” said Surya Kant, President, North America, UK & Europe, Tata Consultancy Services. “The commitment of the 100 CEOs and the cross-sector consensus shows how deeply they feel about the issue of educating our youth, and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. We need several corporate leaders to answer the call-to-action, identify existing best practices for in-school and out-of-school programs, and make the commitment to use their core competencies and resources to bridge the US STEM gap.”
TCS is putting thought leadership to address the national STEM challenge, by bringing together 30 organizations across sectors to collaborate through an executive round table on the 'Future of Computer Science in U.S.', a white paper titled 'The STEM Imperative for U.S.' presenting insights from STEMconnector®'s '100 CEO Leaders in STEM' publication. As the Founding Leadership Partner for US2020 and STEMconnector®’s Million Women Mentors, we commit the use of corporate volunteers for STEM mentoring as a means to attract, prepare, groom, and retain young talent to flourish in STEM careers. By leading the development of the online platforms for both these national initiatives, we are using our technology capabilities to support the engagement of over two million corporate volunteers as mentors over the next decade.
As a National Corporate Underwriter for NPower, we use the skill-based volunteerism of our employees to provide pro-bono IT services to non-profits across the country, and support skill development of at-risk youth and veterans for careers in Information Technology. Through our goIT student technology program, we are working with local organizations to teach Computer Science in high schools across America. Starting from two schools in 2009, this grassroots level effort—led by our employee volunteers—has expanded to over 35 school districts and covered over 7,000 students.
The future of talent and the global enterprise are inextricably interwoven. Mobility and adaptability will be key virtues for talent of the future, as enterprises continue to move away from a headquarter-based approach to creating more global hubs across multiple markets and countries. These global enterprises will have employees working and moving seamlessly across countries and cultures to create solutions that address both local and global business challenges. Enterprises will increasingly use analytics, big data, and internal networks to optimize their processes, deal with generational differences, and engage their employees in creating incredible outcomes for their customers. Powering these careers of the future will be critical capability platforms such as digital fluency, innovation excellence, social intelligence, cross cultural sensitivity, virtual collaboration, and managing a diverse workforce; that would be developed from a young age through a symbiotic effort between the education system and industry engagement. It is this pool of ‘Anytime, Anywhere Talent’ that the global enterprise of the future will draw upon to fuel its innovation and growth.
Balaji Ganapathy is Head of Workforce Effectiveness, North America for Tata Consultancy Services.
Infographic data sources, in order of appearance: CIA World Factbook; CIA World Factbook; Oxford Economics, Global Talent 2021; Tata Consultancy Services.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition..The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
