Article: Top 25 Best Workplaces in Asia: Encore Capital Group

Life @ Work

Top 25 Best Workplaces in Asia: Encore Capital Group

Encore has successfully inverted the pyramid of leadership by levelling the power structure in the organisation
Top 25 Best Workplaces in Asia: Encore Capital Group
 

Rank: 19

 

Headquarters: Mumbai, President & CEO: Kenneth A. Vecchione, No. of employees: 5,000

 

Encore Capital Group is an international specialty finance company with operations in eight countries.  The policies and procedures of the organization have been centered on the primary asset—people.

Ajit Singh, Vice President, HR, Encore India, says, “For us, the people who work with us are our biggest asset. We attribute our success to our employees. Being a Great Place to Work is a testimony to the pride that people have for the organization.

Encore has, in essence, successfully inverted the pyramid of leadership by levelling the power structure in the organization. The Account Managers (front line collection staff)  are actively engaged in leading their business.

“We instill the entrepreneurial instinct in each one of our employees, where the organization is only a platform for them to become a successful entrepreneur. They create disruptive rewards for themselves, for the company and for all the stakeholders,” says Manu Rikhye, Executive Vice President and Managing Director - Encore India.

The Company’s ability to remain in touch with employees as well as leadership’s dedication to employees is the reasons for its success. Despite growing at a break neck speed in the last few years, globally as well as in India, Encore has kept the feel of the company small and has leveraged that by establishing tremendous employee connections. “A Great Place to Work is a place where people feel motivated to come to work every day. They know that someone in the organization cares about their personal and professional well- being,” added Singh.

While Encore continues to learn from the best practices that other organizations follow, the company is very committed to finding ways to serve their unique needs best not only at an organizational level but at an individual level. For example, the company is very flexible about its compensation and benefits strategy and keeps in mind the individual needs.

Most organizations focus on functionally equipping people with certain competencies and skills, Encore has developed what they call, the Inside Out Leadership philosophy to help employees understand ‘their own self’ better and empower them to overcome any behavioural challenges. Leaders are taken on a path of self-discovery to help them become better people and hence better people managers. “We have tried to create an eco-system of leading change. That helps out in the larger engagement process as once you understand the triggers, you are more effective in your interactions with people,” said Rikhye.

Reinforcement accelerates change and hence the organization has built a multi-layered support system for the program. One of the layers is a very experienced mentor who is available not only to the C-suite but also to people further down the organization. The second layer comprises leaders who have been made Mentors and the participants get to choose who they want their mentors to be. The third level is the Sponsor who ensures that the organization is doing enough to support the individual on his journey at Encore. It is through these structures that the organization enables the individual to change the behaviour.

The Company’s philosophy of investing in its people has helped Encore develop a culture of trust, conscientiousness and commitment.  The inverted pyramid and inside out leadership philosophy differentiate Encore’s culture and have shaped the success of the organization.

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Topics: Life @ Work, #AsiasBestWorkplaces2015, #BestPractices, #HR Ready

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