Today, organizations are leveraging new technologies in areas such as learning and development, recognition, diversity, and inclusion. Nevertheless, the question remains: What is the most effective approach using AI-based technologies to enhance employee experiences and ensure equitable opportunities?

In an exclusive interview with People Matters, Shruti Tandon, Managing Director of People Enablement at Nagarro, explained how global organizations can leverage technology to enhance employee experiences with customised learning and development, enabling diversity & inclusion, and leadership development. 

Here are the edited excerpts: 

Can you provide an overview of how Nagarro is harnessing the power of technology by investing in and collaborating with various AI-based platforms to improve employee engagement? Could you share some specific examples or initiatives?

At Nagarro we strongly emphasize the importance of staying at the forefront of the evolving technology landscape, to enhance and personalize employee engagement for a seamless and highly customized employee experience. 

In an era where talent retention and productivity are critical, Nagarro has a vision for the enterprise of the future, driven by AI and data, which we call the ‘fluidic enterprise.’ For that, we have an AI-powered digital companion, ‘Ginger.’ It is an integrated solution within our Fluidic Enterprise AI suite that augments the organization's ability to be responsive, efficient, intimate, creative, and sustainable, leading to new success and resiliency. Project Ginger is meant to address how an indulgent company of the future will interact with its core asset, which is its employees. Ginger is meant to be a friendly face of the company to every employee of the company. You can ask Ginger any questions that you ask, and it will get back to you with answers that are personalised to your context. It also pushes personalised information to you in the form of guidance or nudges to help you improve your performance but also aligns you better with the culture of the organisation.

This cutting-edge platform serves as an all-encompassing workplace assistant, transforming how employees access information and manage their daily tasks. Additionally, it simplifies HR processes by customizing onboarding procedures for specific roles, leading to an improved overall employee experience and increased engagement.

Learning and Development (L&D) is critical to employee growth and retention. Could you elaborate on Nagarro's focus on providing personalized and hyper-personalized learning opportunities to upskill and reskill employees? 

Nagarro places a strong emphasis on Learning and Development (L&D) to drive employee growth and retention. In an era of employee experience revolution, our learning strategy has been immensely driven towards guiding people and giving more flexibility to individuals and their choices of learning, investing in better tooling that targets people more effectively in creating learning pathways based on their current skill and career paths and providing them much more personalised learning catalogues.

We have launched a diverse array of courses that present tailored learning paths for employees across both business and engineering roles. This strategic initiative empowers Nagarrians to cultivate expertise in AI, enabling them to adeptly navigate the ever-changing intersection of AI and business. Through data analytics and Gen AI technologies, we tailor learning paths to each employee's unique strengths, weaknesses, and career goals. This ensures that employees receive training aligned with their specific development journey, covering technical, leadership, and soft skills. We provide flexible learning formats, including e-learning, instructor-led training, and mentorship, allowing employees to choose the methods that suit them best.

Nagarro's use of Gen AI technologies like machine learning and predictive analytics to customize employee experiences is intriguing. How do these technologies enable the company to cater to the unique needs and preferences of individual employees? Could you provide an example of how these technologies have been used to tailor an employee's experience or provide them with more personalized development opportunities?

Gen-AI technologies, powered by advanced data analytics, empower organizations to cater to the individual needs of their employees. This is achieved by gaining a profound understanding of each employee's unique characteristics, performance history, and personal preferences, which in turn allows for the customization of employee experiences and the provision of highly personalized development opportunities.

At Nagarro, Ginger AI simplifies daily employee experiences by delivering hyper-personalized communication, facilitating the swift implementation of new processes, and harnessing intelligent data utilization. This, in effect, empowers the company to be highly responsive, efficient, and intimately connected with its workforce. Additionally, Ginger AI streamlines employee tasks by providing automated reminders, improving task completion rates. It also offers a comprehensive knowledge base accessible to employees at any time and from anywhere. With the ability to extract information from various isolated systems into a single platform, Nagarro gains valuable insights that support faster and more effective decision-making at the individual, project, and organizational levels.

For instance, Ginger proactively nudges employees to complete tasks on time and alerts managers to take action on project performance. By aggregating data on employee moods, Nagarro can implement relevant measures, adjust project management, or modify company policies to enhance the overall work environment and employee satisfaction.

Nagarro is a large organization with over 20,000 employees across 35 countries. How does Nagarro prioritize diversity and inclusion within the workplace, and what role does technology play in achieving these goals, especially concerning women in the workforce?

At Nagarro, we are deeply committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where individuals are celebrated beyond stereotypes or labels. Our mission “To make distance and difference irrelevant between intelligent people” is a testament to this belief. We actively work towards it by assembling diverse teams globally and empowering them to set their own diversity goals. We have set targets, aiming for 25 per cent women in leadership by 2024 and 33 per cent by 2030. These objectives are supported by dedicated programs such as 'Glass Window,' 'Glass Lens,' and 'Data-Driven Women.'

Technology plays a pivotal role in our journey towards these goals. We've implemented technology-driven recruitment and talent management solutions that eliminate bias in hiring processes, ensuring candidates are evaluated solely on merit. We've also expanded our Neurodiversity program from Austria to India, partnering with key organizations and witnessing the successful graduation of eight individuals from the autism spectrum.

Our commitment to sensitization extends to diversity training workshops and comprehensive initiatives for LGBT+ and people with disabilities (PWD) inclusion. We have planned various training programs and initiatives to raise awareness, fostering disability and inclusion. Our inclusion series is driven by our core value of care, including regular interventions to nurture inclusion. To measure our impact, we utilize the Gender Diversity Tracker, and our 'BiasBreakers' campaign engaged 30% of our workforce.

Nagarro has undertaken several key initiatives that have positively impacted the organization, particularly for women. Could you discuss some of these initiatives and their outcomes?

Nagarro is a pioneer in fostering a workplace that not only promotes diversity but also actively champions women's careers in the tech industry. In line with this commitment, we've implemented several women-centric initiatives aimed at retaining, attracting, and hiring top female talent. One of our flagship programs, 'Women in Leadership,' has set ambitious targets to reach 25 per cent of women in leadership positions by 2024 and an even more ambitious 33 per cent by 2030. We recognize that women in leadership roles are not only pivotal for diversity but also for infusing innovation and fresh perspectives into our organization.

To support this objective, we have built beautiful programs that enable ambitious women in Nagarro to express their entrepreneurial energy and creativity. These programs support women by providing resources, learning, and networking opportunities to help them succeed and thrive.

Additionally, we acknowledge the value of flexibility, particularly for female employees. Hence, we've launched a Permanent Work from Anywhere (WFA) program, enabling female employees across the country to relocate to different cities while continuing their work. Since March 2020, our company has been operating entirely remotely. Another noteworthy initiative is our 'Rejoyn' program, which plays a pivotal role in assisting women in re-entering the workforce after career breaks. This support is especially vital in light of the rapidly evolving technology landscape.