This is a Great Time to Correct Compensation Without Layoffs: Sreekanth Arimanithaya, EY GDS

Sreekanth K Arimanithaya, Global Talent and Enablement Leader at EY GDS, offers insights into how they navigated the post-pandemic talent market with digital tools and data science. Also discusses how to tackle moonlighting and the recent layoffs.

2022 was a year of recovery post-pandemic. What challenges did EY Global Delivery Services face, and how did you overcome them?

2022 accelerated many changes across industries. We incorporated multiple new technologies for virtual collaboration in a hybrid model.

Secondly, many organisations witnessed phenomenal growth, leading to a war for talent. EY GDS handled this well by managing the entire recruitment cycle virtually, from candidate screening and interviews to onboarding. It was particularly challenging because of the unprecedented hiring volumes.

Thirdly, the employee mindset changed drastically. Employees moved back to their homes and started focusing more on their families, relationships, and lives beyond work.

Personalising interviews without being face-to-face, dual employment, and moonlighting have also emerged as challenges. Some organisations have come to terms with these new-generation trends. If organisations do not provide fulfilling opportunities, employees tend to look for alternative platforms or dual employment. It’s time to get employees interested in more than just their daily tasks by giving them chances to grow and letting them follow their passions.

Also read: Rebuild, Realign, Revamp: Organisations Recouped After the Pandemic To Reshape 2023

Can you also share the challenges specific to EY GDS? Did you revamp some strategies to address those?

We changed how we hire people by leveraging digital technologies like video interviewing and biometrics and adopting a gamified method for employee selection. Using digital tools and data science reduced our cost of hiring. Also, we could attract many applicants because of the improved candidate experience. We also revamped the way we onboard our people by incorporating technology. Then we redefined the entire employee experience, given that everyone had started working virtually. 

Also, we redefined our employee philosophy and how we engage our people. We introduced a wellness platform and many other tech-based wellness initiatives because we found very high employee stress levels. We launched initiatives to help people define their purpose and prioritise non-monetary benefits like learning opportunities. These initiatives also fostered a focus on social equity.

Our investment in these intangibles has yielded positive results. We prioritised upskilling and holistic growth for our employees, leading to improved hiring quality and reduced costs. These efforts also garnered better employee opinion survey results and attracted a more diverse pool of candidates.

Nearly 200 career returnees—mostly women—were inducted. I recall giving a speech to a sizable group of women in Kerala who joined us as career returnees. We also invested in their training. We hired veterans, people with disabilities, and people from the LGBTQ+ community.

We took 2022 as the year of opportunity to redefine the way we hire, onboard, engage, and develop our employees and build our culture.

Also read: Here’s Why Diversity, Equality, Inclusion Is A Must-Have In Your Employer Branding Efforts

Personalising interviews without being face-to-face, dual employment, and moonlighting have also emerged as challenges. Some organisations have come to terms with these new-generation trends. If organisations do not provide fulfilling opportunities, employees tend to look for alternative platforms or dual employment. It’s time to get employees interested in more than just their daily tasks by giving them chances to grow and letting them follow their passions.

You mentioned your cost of hiring coming down. Could you share some numbers on it?

Our cost of hiring decreased using digital technology. We introduced many sourcing tools and channels. Back then, there was high attrition among recruiters. We could retain our recruiters because they enjoyed working with EY GDS, and we reimagined the entire recruitment process using digital technology and data science. Also, we could hire new, passionate recruiting leaders. Our candidate satisfaction scores are also high, even among candidates who have not joined us.

Could you talk about the HR tech innovations at EY GDS?

We have leveraged data science. For example, we implemented technology that predicts if a potential candidate will join after receiving the offer. Sometimes candidates have three to four offers in hand. To make the hiring process more stable, we use predictive analytics.

We also moved from blind sourcing to informed sourcing. We have implemented a tool and conducted an extensive exercise to normalise the verbiage in the job descriptions to ensure that they are gender-neutral.

We are also using data science to ensure pay parity. We use specialised algorithms to eliminate market biases, especially those related to compensating female employees. We do not ask about compensation when employees join. It does not matter what their salary was earlier. We give them what they deserve as successful candidates today. We have reimagined end-to-end HR tasks with digital technology, gamification, AI, and data science.

With most organisations looking to hire data science professionals, have you experienced talent shortages in this case?

Earlier, the economy was focused on scarcity. For instance, if there are a hundred Python professionals in Bangalore, every organisation will want them. This, here, is scarcity. But I believe strongly that, as a leader, my job is to create abundance. How do you do that? Consider an example of testing jobs. Traditionally, organisations hire for engineering skills. We started hiring non-engineers because there are three problems in the Indian marketplace today. I call them the three ‘U’s – unemployment, underemployment, and unequal employment.

We have implemented a gig programme in Kerala. We selected women who had a good aptitude, trained them, and gave them jobs. We strongly believe creating abundance is the only way to make your place in the market and give back to society. For us, skilling is our corporate social responsibility.

Of course, we undertake several other CSR initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. We do a lot of work with the Adivasi community too. But one of our chief programmes is skilling. Through skilling, we can certainly create sustainable economic changes in the organisation.

Also read: EY GDS’ Assessment Strategy Goes Beyond Just Recruitment; Sreesukhi Sudarshan Explains How

There is also a conversation on ESG goals. Can you talk more about the ESG part of the EY GDS?

EY GDS has a long-standing commitment to ESG, including carbon neutrality. The pandemic-induced reduction in travel helped us encourage behavioural changes among our employees. We also adopted a school in Cochin and taught children the importance of saving energy, resulting in significant reductions in electricity consumption. Our efforts to plant trees also included working with others to plant trees with medicinal value.

Many employees express their desire to do more. But when the rubber meets the road, they do not show initiative. So how do you incentivize them? How do you coach them and steer them in the right direction? These are things we are testing. It may not solve 100% of the problem. But it would be a success even if I engaged 5 to 10% of my employees better.

You mentioned EY GDS not being in favour of moonlighting. Why so?

Moonlighting has two extremes. Some gig work is acceptable if the employees have obtained permission from the company. The other extreme is where employees work for the competition simultaneously as full-time employees. Is that acceptable? It has a lot of consequences, especially regarding data privacy. For us, we have a zero-tolerance policy towards the latter.

So how do you strike a balance between the two extremes? This is what we are debating, although we do not have a permanent, perfect solution. We are introducing internal gigs, where we aim to publish some projects internally. Those who have the bandwidth can work on these projects, allowing them to apply their skills. We are giving employees internal, cross-functional tasks and more time to help out on other teams. And we recognise and reward them so that our people do not seek work outside the organisation.

Also read: How ‘Moonlighting’ Has Split the Business of Managing People Right Down the Middle

Can you mention some outcomes of this experiment?

We are piloting a test programme in one of our service lines. We plan to put some programmes up for grabs. Those interested can bid on these projects. Our team will coach the volunteers if the project is not within their core domain. For example, if a recruiter wants to work on a data science project, we offer mentoring so they are well-equipped. On completion, employees are rewarded.

Also, many employees express their desire to do more. But when the rubber meets the road, they do not show initiative. So how do you incentivize them? How do you coach them and steer them in the right direction? These are things we are testing. It may not solve 100% of the problem. But it would be a success even if I engaged 5 to 10% of my employees better.

There is an economic slowdown. Layoffs are happening. What would be the impact on the talent landscape?

Employees need to be mentally prepared to face the ups and downs of the industry. The question is, how do you create resilience? My advice is to reskill, and cross-skill. The right attitude to build a career is to be open and adaptable. For instance, an employee must not be so rigid that if she is a tax professional, she cannot be a technology person. We also encourage our people to network with professionals across the organisation. We have an excellent alumni network. If an opportunity arises, we hire them back.

Be resilient, and think positively. It is very important to have the right mindset and digital skill set. You must be agile. You must be fungible. You must be fluid to move between competencies and domains.

What is your hiring intent for the year?

Last year, the cost of labour shot up. There is an opportunity to correct it. I don’t hide it. I told my recruitment team to tighten the offers. If we made the most of offers in the higher compensation grid this year, we are now trying to do it in the lower compensation grid. We feel this is a great time to correct compensation without layoffs. We aim to increase our hiring numbers compared to last year. It has not significantly dropped as our business is robust. The reduction in hiring has been around 10 to 15%.

What is your gender diversity ratio?

We are currently close to 47%. We are also changing the way we hire managers. The aim is to change the definition of skills and talent. We have learned a lot through data science. One of the technologies called Modern Hire is where the candidate can self-schedule interviews. We are experimenting this year so that we are well-prepared for the next wave.

About the author: Sreekanth has close to 30 years of experience across service and manufacturing industries. In his role as EY Global Talent Leader, Sreekanth leads the re-imagination efforts to better integrate the talent ecosystem to drive effective business synergy.