What should organisations prioritise as the new year beckons? With talent, culture and technology at the nexus of innovation and sustainable growth, what are some strategies that HR leaders can deploy?

To answer these burning questions and more, we get into an insightful conversation with Ajay Trehan, CEO and Founder of Authbridge. Ajay is an accomplished entrepreneur with over 25 years of expertise, and is renowned for establishing AuthBridge in 2005, which swiftly evolved into India's premier trust-enabling solutions provider. Under his leadership, AuthBridge transitioned into a tech-driven enterprise from a service-oriented one, offering impactful risk mitigation solutions to Fortune 500 companies through innovative platforms like AuthLead, WorkAttest, TruthScreen, and Student Services Bureau. 

In this interview, he shares his incredible learnings on identifying the right talent, driving employee engagement and satisfaction, enhancing the human part of HR when leveraging technology and more. 

In the context of emerging businesses, how do you see the interplay between talent, culture, and technology contributing to organisational growth and competitiveness?

Talent, culture, and technology - all these three aspects are critical for enabling a fertile ground for talent to thrive and fostering a culture that values innovation, collaboration, and adaptability. In a world with a consistent emphasis on remote/hybrid work arrangements as well as diversity, these factors play a quintessential role in enabling businesses to gear up for the future of work.

Ensuring the right talent fit is the key as it extends beyond individual skills and includes interpersonal dynamics and compatibility with the organisation's values. It starts with utilising targeted recruitment channels for candidate outreach, developing comprehensive screening processes, and leveraging technology, i.e. ATS and pre/post assessments, to enhance the screening process. Onboarding the right talent and giving them a good start right from the onset is crucial as they set a foundation for a more conducive culture that propels sustainable growth and helps garner a competitive edge. 

Implementing technology solutions that help automate repetitive tasks has a significant role in this context as they help HR teams focus on more strategic initiatives and help candidates fit seamlessly with the organisation's culture.

How do you align your talent acquisition strategies with your organisation's culture and future goals, and how does technology aid in attracting and identifying the right candidates?

With accelerated transformation and digitisation across the industry, organisations must focus on talent acquisition strategies during pre and post-onboarding. Identifying and hiring authentic talent while investing in their growth to acquire essential new-age skills and foster a positive organisational culture is a force to be reckoned with.

At AuthBridge, we have embraced this approach wholeheartedly. We have successfully eliminated paperwork throughout the entire candidate and employee lifecycle and invested in modern HR systems, improving employee experience and enabling our HR teams to concentrate on strategic initiatives.

Our emphasis on integration capabilities holds profound importance, allowing us to craft a seamless experience for our talent. Our HR systems facilitate easy document submission, digital signatures at various employment stages, self-paced digital learning solutions, and even digital verification during offboarding. As we look ahead, the integration of cutting-edge HR tech solutions is poised to significantly impact talent management initiatives across industries in the upcoming year.

How have you used technology to measure and analyse cultural dynamics within your organisation, and how have these insights influenced your strategies for enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction?

We've invested substantially in integrated HR technology solutions that elevate the employee experience from onboarding to alumni engagement. While adopting HRTech, we have carefully made calibrated decisions to preserve transparency and trust among our teams. These decisions have led to positive experiences while significantly impacting the overall quality of people's decisions.

Last year, our Learning Management System (LMS) was introduced to facilitate learning with easy accessibility, self-paced learning flexibility, and proactive nudges for professional development courses. Currently, we are in the process of implementing an HR system that provides employees with convenient access anytime, anywhere, incorporating intuitive workflows to encourage self-service adoption.

For seamless communication and cross-functional collaboration, we've embraced digital surveys as a periodic feedback mechanism. We're actively promoting digital platforms, including feedback channels that empower employees to voice their opinions and concerns. These digital communication tools enhance engagement and foster stronger connections and productive conversations among distributed teams.

Fast-growing organisations often require balancing personalised experiences and standardised processes. How do you use technology to achieve this equilibrium in HR practices? How do you ensure that technology enhances, rather than diminishes, the human aspect of HR?

Ensuring a focus on employee centricity and agility is crucial and challenging in today's workplace, primarily due to the emergence of a multigenerational workforce. With each employee possessing unique needs and preferences, the conventional one-size-fits-all approach has become obsolete. At AuthBridge, we understand the human aspect is essential for tailoring processes, including onboarding structures, training programs, and performance management, to individual requirements. Our HR teams collaborate closely with the business to attract and retain top talent, understand particular niches, and ensure personalisation at scale. Technology acts as an enabler in facilitating customised employee journeys, fostering seamless collaboration, and promoting cohesive teamwork.

In the context of prevailing macroeconomic conditions and the pivotal role of people operations, the human side of HR becomes paramount in cultivating a culture of agility and adaptability within the organisation. Striking a balance between technology and human involvement is key. Relying solely on technology can render processes mechanical, while excessive dependence on human intervention may compromise efficiency and productivity.

This holistic approach, i.e., the power of technology with the human aspect of HRs, is critical in empowering the workforce and the organisation to respond proactively and effectively to future disruptions and changes.

Looking ahead, how do you foresee the dynamic relationship between talent, culture, and technology evolving, and how are you preparing your organisation for these changes?

The right interplay of talent, culture, and technology will continue to shape the future of work, including ours. Investing in robust talent acquisition strategies, nurturing authentic talent, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce is the key.

At AuthBridge, we focus on cultivating a positive and inclusive culture crucial for employee engagement and productivity. Our efforts include promoting open team communication, continuous learning, and a work environment encouraging innovation and adaptability. Our ongoing initiatives to upskill/reskill our employees help them to thrive in a tech-driven environment.

Furthermore, we actively embrace cutting-edge solutions to stay at the forefront of technological advancements. Whether it's enhancing HR systems for streamlined processes or implementing advanced learning management systems, we ensure our technological infrastructure aligns with the evolving needs of the workforce.