A clear focus on succession planning and leadership, a unique career architecture and a closely aligned training and development program are three keys that have enabled Infosys to attract, develop and retain talent, according to its local head of HR.
Training and development is the most important element of talent management within the company, and Infosys Australia & New Zealand’s HR business manager Venkat Ramaseshan said this is mapped not only to the needs of clients and internal business strategy, but also to the career path for employees and changes in the industry.
Infosys has an education and research group which is separate to the HR function, and he said this group ensures that there is real rigour put into planning training.
“Training is also a kind of recognition in our industry, and is very motivating for our people. In addition to basic training and reskilling, it is critical for us to look ahead to see what new technologies are emerging and ensuring that our people are across the latest techniques that our clients will need,” he said.
“If we have a really outstanding performer who has excellent relationships with clients, for example, we might invest in some higher cost training to make sure that he is across the latest in cloud technologies.”
“We also see great results in talent acquisition. For example, here in Australia, our success rate in accepted offers is well above 90 per cent”
Another key to talent management within the company is its career architecture, and Ramaseshan said there are clearly defined promotion paths for every type of job in the company.
“As a business and technology consulting services company, our people are our product, so talent management and career development is a big focus at Infosys,” he said.
A strong focus on leadership and succession planning is the third key to talent management within the business, according to Ramaseshan.
The Infosys Leadership Institute is tasked with identifying high potential performers in the business who are capable of arriving at the “destination jobs” (such as CFO or managing partner of consulting) within key timeframes.
“Each of these leadership tiers gets customised development to ensure that we have the right candidates to fill our critical roles at each level. It is a very data-driven process,” he said.
The business has enjoyed a number of outcomes as a result, according to Ramaseshan, who said it is able to create new service offerings very quickly. “I think that is because our capability is mapped so closely to business needs,” he said.
“We also see great results in talent acquisition. For example, here in Australia, our success rate in accepted offers is well above 90 per cent.”
Ramaseshan also said that talent management is not the job of HR within Infosys. “It is very much a shared partnership between the business and the executives, with HR as the facilitator,” he said.
“All people leaders in our business have a significant component of their KPIs around talent management. HR should keep the business objectives top of mind, and remember that HR can’t do it alone.”
