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Revisiting Talent Management Practices in A Pandemic Driven Vuca Environment - A Qualitative Investigation in The Indian It Industry
Revisiting Talent Management Practices in A Pandemic Driven Vuca Environment - A Qualitative Investigation in The Indian It Industry
Revisiting Talent Management Practices in A Pandemic Driven Vuca Environment - A Qualitative Investigation in The Indian It Industry
Abstract
Organisations across the globe have been operating in a landscape which is volatile, uncertain complex and ambiguous (VUCA). The
notion of “VUCA” was introduced by the United States Army way back in 1980’s to describe the unpredictable environment that resulted
from the end of cold war and it has been staying with us since then. The acronym has been used time and again by organisations and
business leaders to describe the dynamic business landscape that may have resulted from various crisis situations such as Global
Financial Crisis in 2008-2009, Demonetisation, BREXIT. The most recent example of VUCA has been the spread of Coronavirus (COVID
19) pandemic. Organisations and employees at global and domestic levels are experiencing highest levels of uncertainty due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of which is unprecedented. There are several VUCA factors that have emerged due to the spread of
COVID 19. This has created deep implications for strategic business leaders across the world. The prime goal for any organisation in the
present scenario is survival, well-being and effective management of the human workforce. Therefore, Human Resources, the one that
revolves around managing people and workplace environment plays an important role in this pandemic era. In the process, talent
management is considered to be of prime importance as many organisations are struggling to implement effective talent management
practices to sustain through the current environment. This study presents insights into the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry
in the context of a pandemic driven landscape. While the outbreak of COVID pandemic in the year 2020 has led to the rest of the
industries crippling, business for tech industry has been steady. Therefore, this generates a need to understand the talent management
practices that have been adopted by the sector which has enabled the organisations in the industry to thrive through such challenging
times. It is a qualitative investigation accomplished with the help of in-depth interviews of senior HR professionals across the IT sector.
The literature in the paper has been enriched with different types of studies. The findings are based on data gathered from above sources
(primary and secondary). The research makes an attempt to identify the talent management practices that have been undertaken in the
IT industry to combat the pandemic driven VUCA factors, incorporated in a framework for future reference.
Keywords: VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), Pandemic, COVID-19, Talent Management Practices, Information
Technology (IT) Industry.
© 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.07.170
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study workforce. Therefore, Human Resources plays an important role
The acronym VUCA that stands for Volatilty, Uncertainty, in this pandemic era. This has forced organisations and industry
Complexity and Ambiguity has been used extensively by business segments across geographies to revamp their HR strategies to be
circles to represent the rapidly and constantly changing business able to sustain through VUCA times. In the process, talent
environment. This phenomenon originated in the past during the management is considered to be of prime importance as many
era of cold war and has been prevalent since then. Forecasts organisations are struggling to implement effective talent
suggest that VUCA is going to stay with us in the future as well. management practices to sustain through the current
There are different sets of VUCA factors that have been impacting environment.
economies of the world as well as different industries in India.
This study presents insights into the Indian Information
One such classic example is the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic.
Technology (IT) Industry in the context of a pandemic landscape.
It is the greatest global health challenge the world has faced.
While the outbreak of COVID pandemic in the year 2020 has led
The global economy has gone for a toss amidst the COVID-19 to the rest of the industries struggling, business for tech industry
pandemic. Similarly, Indian economy is witnessing its steepest has been steady. A report by India Brand Equity Foundation
downturn since independence. India is operating in a highly (2018) indicates that the Indian IT Industry is one of the fastest
unstable environment due to the pandemic. The nationwide growing industries in India and has played a major role in
lockdown has triggered several other VUCA factors impacting the increasing India’s visibility in the global market.
Indian economy. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
The sector contributed around 7.7% to India’s GDP in the
conducted a snap poll of 200 CEOs across India of which 52% of
previous year. Therefore, this generates a need to understand
the respondent CEOs have anticipated job losses in their
that even though the IT industry is also operating in a pandemic
respective sectors. They have also anticipated a fall in revenues
driven VUCA landscape, what are the talent management
by approximately 10% and a dip in profits by 5%. Other
practices that have been adopted by the sector which has
challenges that have been triggered by the pandemic are
enabled the organisations in the industry to thrive through such
business continuity, low employee motivation, working remotely,
challenging times and how this can be helpful to other industries.
layoffs etc.
The prime goal for any organisation in the present scenario is
survival, well-being and effective management of the human
To identify the above on a deeper level, smaller sample sizes teams to take up various upskilling sessions. Based on the
were accumulated through semi-structured interviews over sessions attended, employees are assigned projects to give
telephone. The primary data-based study comprised of senior real time exposure
Human Resource (HR) professionals from organisations across • Cross functional exposure - In order to keep the motivation
the IT Industry. 50 HR professionals from the IT industry were levels high in teams with reduced workload, employees are
approached based on their experience in the industry and roles given cross functional exposure. Eg: L&D employee is given
in their respective organisations, participation in IT related upskilling sessions on understanding HR compliances so
conferences, explicit knowledge on forums, presence on social that this person starts managing compliance related issues
media (such as LinkedIn) and such related factors. The list as well
included Senior Vice President HR, Vice President HR, Associate • Employee life cycle has gone virtual – organization has
Vice President HR, General Manager HR etc. Emails were written come up with strategies such as rolling out online testes,
to prospective participants. From those who responded conducting virtual interviews including a creative online
affirmatively, 10 participants were chosen on the basis of onboarding
purposive sampling. The interview sessions with the
respondents gave authors the opportunity to get detailed Talent Management practices that have been undertaken by
responses. Respondent B1’s organization are up skilling, virtual L&D
program, cross function training and exposure, virtual employee
Semi-structured questionnaire had questions pertaining to their life cycle from on boarding to exit.
employee strength, current roles and responsibilities of the
participants and talent management practices adopted by their
Respondent B2
respective organisations to counter the current pandemic
scenario which were reviewed by experts (academicians and Respondent B2 is a senior HR professional at Senior VP level
industry experts) to ensure reliability. The recommendations with one of the leading IT companies having an employee
made by them were appreciated and incorporated. The study is strength of more than 50,000. Talent Management practices
restricted to organisations operating in the Indian IT sector described by the respondent are:
having an employee strength more than 1000. Each interview • Our organization is trying to create a centralized
lasted approximately 25–30 minutes. To maintain originality and environment (Central ERP) where one can find detailed
authenticity, all interviews were recorded. profiles of all employees across the organization. This will
For the purpose of data analysis, the interviews were transcribed be helpful for driving engaging discussions with clients. Eg:
by the author. All the recorded interviews were then compared while pitching to clients, sales team will have access to
with written transcripts. During the process, several talent available resources within the firm which can actually solve
management practices adopted by these organisations emerged. client requirements
These were further clustered on the basis of the information • We have devised creative employee engagement strategies
received. Finally, a framework was established defining the such as interactive virtual team meetings, wherein
relative priority of the identified talent management practices in employees are told to give a tour of their house/introduce
the IT Industry. their family including celebrations such as birthdays,
anniversaries or show your talent (painting, music etc)
DISCUSSION • Constant communication from senior leadership of the firm
This section presents key themes that emerged in the study. about managing home office as well as supporting the
Discussion will be accompanied by respondents’ answers in family by doing daily chores is helping employees connect
quotes. with the new working environment
Talent Management practices identified after interviewing
Talent Management practices undertaken by IT Respondent B2 are creation of a central ERP for driving engaging
organisations in India to sustain through a pandemic driven client discussion, creative employee engagement strategies,
VUCA environment constant communication by senior leadership.
The following theme relates to exploration of Talent
Management practices undertaken by IT organisations in India to Respondent B3
combat the pandemic driven VUCA environment.
Respondent B3 is a senior HR professional at VP level from one
These practices were identified through responses given by of the leading IT companies having employee strength of more
senior HR professionals (Head HR, Senior Vice President HR, Vice than 1000. Responses of the respondent have been summarised
President HR, Associate Vice President HR etc.) of select IT below:
organisations having employee strength of more than 1000. The
respondents have been denoted with B1, B2, till B10 to maintain • The whole lifecycle of employees is digital from on boarding
confidentiality of data. The respondents had requested not to to exit. Although this has been in place for quite some time
quote their identity and the names of their respective in our organisation but have been piggy banking and
organizations. A summary of responses from respondents B1 to making the right use of these digital platforms for engaging
B10 has been described below: with the workforce in the current scenario. Eg: We have an
application on cloud which can be downloaded on the
Respondent B1 mobile and once this application gets downloaded they can
Respondent B1 is a senior HR professional at AVP level with one see what is going on in the organisation, there is also a help
of the leading IT companies having employee strength of more desk tool embedded in that (like a chatbot), they can put up
than 10,000. Talent Management strategies being practiced in their general queries which gets redirected to the
the current scenario by the respondent’s organisation are as concerned person at the help desk etc
follows : • From the health and safety stand point which is of
paramount importance in this new normal we have opened
• Providing up skilling platforms to employees – The up a COVID helpline for all employees. We have a tie up
organization has recently started with a virtual L&D with a telemedicine organisation. The access to this app is
platform which can be downloaded as an app and is user free for all our employees and they can take up to seven
friendly. Eg: . Eg: Managers encourage their respective consultations a month on diseases that are general in
Respondent B9 Respondent 10
Respondent B9 is the Vice President HR with a leading IT Respondent 10 is the Head of HR for a tech giant with employee
company having an employee strength more than 15000. Her strength more than 2000. The talent management practices
responses are as follows: undertaken by the individual’s organization are as follows:
• We have gone completely virtual. We have been trying to • We have encouraged our employees to work from
communicate, engage and connect with our employees at an home. For existing employees promotions will continue
optimal levels as too much nudging is annoying when you but no salary increments will be introduced for now.
have deliverables at hand. We are slowly gradually giving Also, we will continue hiring for new joiners; no offers
them nuggets to pick on things that are entertainment will be deferred.
related, fitness related, things that are enabling them to • The organization also plans to launch a dedicated
learn. business unit focused on Microsoft’s business
• Also, we are keeping track of the whereabouts of our application. The organization is utilizing this time to
employees at most of the times and if there is any help or strengthen it’s internal efficiencies and reduce
support they require. Other simple things have been doing dependencies on outsourcing. In this way, we can
the rounds such as managers give them as much schedule prepare ourselves for the future and use it to our
eg: during these times when they have calls, company advantage.
allows for adequate time so that employees who are on
their own or who have to cook food etc. can take out that Talent Management practices identified are creative
much time for themselves compensation policies, strengthening internal efficiencies and
acquiring talent.
• Virtual games for employee engagement are rolled out on a
weekly basis especially on Fridays.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Therefore, employee engagement, development and motivation
along with constant communication are practices identified from
the above conversation.
Figure 1: Framework showing sustainable talent management practices that have been undertaken by organisations operating
across Indian IT sectors that have enabled them to sustain through a pandemic driven VUCA Environment
The above framework has been derived on the basis of responses their individual challenges. This implies that while these
given by individual participants that have been discussed at practices can be implemented by specific organizations, it
length in the earlier section on “Discussions” might not have an industry wide impact to counter current
situations.
The framework is divided into two categories: The framework suggested above can act as a base model for
1) High Priority Talent Management Practices – This other industries that have been struggling to sustain through this
category denotes those talent management practices that period of global crisis.
came up as common practices in the responses given by
interviewed professionals. This implies that these practices CONCLUSION AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
were implemented by multiple organizations to sustain Indian business economy is operating in a pandemic driven
through a pandemic environment. VUCA landscape. There are several VUCA challenges that have
2) Low Priority Talent Management Practices - This emerged in this era impacting many organisations and
category denotes those talent management practices that industries. While the outbreak of COVID pandemic in the year
were only implemented by certain organizations to counter 2020 has led to the rest of the industries crippling, business for
tech industry has been steady. Organisations across the 9. Sabherwal,S.(2013,October 31).India Has Always Existed In
technology sector in India have implemented creative talent A VUCA World: R Gopalakrishnan. Retrieved from
management practices that has helped them sustain and provide https://www. exchange4media.com/marketing/india-has-
a competitive edge in this rapidly changing pandemic always-existed-in-a-vuca-worldr-
environment. The work has takeaways for academicians, gopalakrishnan_53297.html
researchers and most importantly corporate professionals and 10. Vakil, A. (2020, April). Coronavirus Impact: India’s IT sector
strategic business leaders. The Talent Management framework in focus as forecast for deal activity cut. Bloomberg.
suggested in this study can serve as a base model for Retrieved from
organisations in other industries that have been facing similar https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/coronavirus-
VUCA conditions and have been struggling to sustain through impact-indias-it-sector-in-focus-as-forecast-for-deal-
this period of global crisis. The industrial and academic activity-cut#
researchers can further deep dive in to the study by applying
quantitative techniques. They can investigate the impact of talent
management practices on various VUCA factors and understand
the relationship between the two which will in turn, facilitate HR
managers to recommend best practices for their organisations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Manav Rachna International
Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana for its
continuous support.
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