More change is going to come, but nothing is more important than people

At our debut HFS OneOffice™ Digital Symposium, HFS CEO Phil Fersht joined Tiger Tyagarajan, President and CEO of Genpact, for a candid Digi-side Chat to discuss the future of managed services and the remarkable resilience within India. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, Tiger even made a surprise announcement about one of Genpact’s latest humanitarian initiatives.

We’ve witnessed a rapid acceleration of digital initiatives over the last year, but more change is coming

It’s likely that the COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime, and it’s caused irreversible global change in every aspect of human life. Tiger believes that the IT and business services industry is indicative of the world we live in. As in the rest of the world, the industry’s pace of change rapidly accelerated in the last year—a trend that’s likely to continue. In fact, when Phil asked Tiger for his prediction for the next 18 months, he simply quipped:

“The best way to describe the future is that more change is going to come.”
—Tiger Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact

In the last 18 months, numerous countries experienced pandemic-related lockdowns and an immeasurable number of businesses closed. For a provider like Genpact, with operations in more than 25 countries and 50 cities, the lockdowns and business closures posed endless challenges. While discussing the severity of the devastating situation in India—a cause HFS donated proceeds from the HFS Symposium to – Tiger explained that Genpact has a considerable footprint in India; the lockdowns significantly impacted its operations.

Exhibit 1: Phil chats with Tiger

Source: HFS Digital Symposium, June 8-9, 2021

The sobering thought caused a moment of reflection for Tiger and the wider Genpact team, in which they realized the importance of their services to citizens globally. They understood that if companies like Genpact couldn’t operate, it was possible that everyday services would cease to function; for example, an individual in the US might lose the ability to buy groceries with their credit card. In response, Tiger explained the importance of resilience and agility for modern enterprises, regulators, and governments. Providing an example, he told us that India adjusted its archaic telecoms laws in response to the pandemic, allowing a more flexible hybrid approach to work in the future.

While business operations are important, nothing is more important than people

While acknowledging the business implications of the tragedy that’s unfolded in the last 18 months, Tigerexpressed his view that positivity can come from adversity. For example, emissions are down globally, and there is greater societal acceptance for remote working—something that presents a great opportunity in India for further rapid transformation. Sitting on the sideline and watching change occur simply isn’t Tiger’s style, especially in such a difficult time. So, in response to the events unfolding in India, Genpact recently announced the launch of its Rise program.

Genpact’s Rise program will help members of families impacted by COVID-19 reskill and re-enter the workplace. It will provide members with an immersion training program lasting several months for a specific role. Tiger told us that currently, around 100,000 people are in the project, and enrollment is increasing. He also explained that 35,000 people, a large percentage of which are women, had enrolled in data science courses. Data science is an exciting space that should offer plenty of employment opportunities in the future. Finally, Tiger outlined his three critical dimensions of learning. He hopes all members of the Rise program will achieve these goals, which he believes are essential for growth and success: understand your domain, understand relevant digital technologies and, crucially, understand the data.

“As long as we are on a journey of learning and navigating change, while importantly helping clients navigate that change while capturing opportunities, there is no more exciting time to be in.”
—Tiger Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact

The Bottom Line: We’ve experienced monumental change since the pandemic began. More change is coming, but one constant remains—your people.

If we look back in recent history, we will struggle to find a time with such intense change—and we don’t predict that the rate of change will halt any time soon. Tiger’s simple sentiment that “more change is going to come” is certainly food for thought; however, businesses must know that their people are their most important asset. Genpact’s Rise program is just one example of a firm’s extreme commitment to its workforce, and it’s an example that every other enterprise should follow.

Watch the Phil Fersht/Tiger Tyagarajan Digi-side Chat

You can read other POVs and a comprehensive ebook about the Symposium, plus watch video highlights of the two-day event, here.