Talent is crucial in the age of services industry

From Accenture’s standpoint, a talent brand is a culmination of various market drivers, which help us to build and rethink our talent and HR strategy. They could be internal as well as external. Internally, it could be about what is happening inside the organization such as how it is reshaping itself and programs it is fostering for key deliverables. Externally, it is about how candidate experiences change, the expectations they have from their prospective employer and the shifting technology trends that the company is facing. Of course, when you look at the India context, it is more about how you address new ways of growth in continuous volatility.

When we look at creating a talent brand, we look at various work streams such as the positioning and visibility of the employee value proposition, talent sourcing needs, career management and value proposition for specialized skills. The talent brand must be effective such that it is clear in the market. Accenture has a clear talent management strategy that caters to the various talent segments across the organization. Competency-based processes such as engagement and training, innovation into employee engagement and retention practices are some of the levers with which Accenture builds its talent brand.

Traditionally, India has focused on consumer branding much more than talent branding. One is addressing your consumer marketplace branding based on your positioning and consumer base, while the other looks at building the organization/consumer branding, focusing on the supply side of branding. The primary driver of the outflow in the supply market will be the talent brand. Hence, talent branding becomes an important quotient for us to drive.

Both the talent brand and the consumer brand are important components that need to be driven in conjunction. They are slightly different because of what they address. It is not possible to have two different messaging in two different segments due to the accessibility of information in this age of the knowledge-based industry with knowledge-based workers. There has to be a commonality between them. One can’t be the No. 1 employer of choice and not be present in the consumer brand segment.

In our company, the Accenture Way is the embedded methodology of communicating our brand. It constitutes of how we look at our credentials, how we manage the image of Accenture as an employer of choice on campus, how we manage that for experienced hires, the way we manage diverse talent in the landscape that we hire and how we strengthen and deliver excellence by talking about a common culture. The Accenture core values helps build consistency across different locations—the way we create, communicate and practice—that is a measurable solution for us. The other measurable solutions that would help engage employees with the brand are enhancing client centricity and create a higher accountability by having competency-based assessments and practices, creating a culture of transparency by having the competency and creating a culture of inclusion in our diverse workforce.

The culture of inclusion should be made part of the talent development of leaders and supervisors as ultimately the leaders are the people who touch employees. How the leader behaves translates on the ground is what an employee perceives Accenture to be.

The ownership of a talent brand program should be jointly held by the Business and HR. If either the Business or the HR alone own it, then the translation of the strategy would be difficult. Our Human Capital Strategy is done in conjunction with the Business and HR translates that into action plan.

The next couple of decades would be the rise of the services workforce and the services industry would dominate the global landscape. The composition of the industry, unlike FMCG, finance etc, is talent. So, while India has focused on building various consumer brands, talent branding is an area that companies in India need to focus more as the services industry continues to grow.

As told to Anu Babu Kurian