Mercer wins impact award for reskilling initiative in India
Global human capital advisory firm Mercer has been recognised at the 2019 Optimas Awards, lauded for the firm’s efforts to grow and nurture its Indian workforce. The consultancy has been named the top firm in the Business Impact category.
To match growing but also changing demand for its services in India, Mercer devised its ‘Make in India’ programme, similar in principle to the government initiative. The programme focused on training and reskilling the firm’s existing talent pool to meet evolving client needs in the country.
Many advisory firms active in India are currently faced with a demanding and highly competitive market. Among the most prominent challenges being faced include a spike in demand for digital expertise and remarkably high expectations when it comes to quality, end-to-end solutions.
The natural reaction for many of these firms has been to invest in technological enhancements such as automation, or to recruit in substantial numbers. Others have chosen to invest in their own people to drive growth, training and reskilling their staff to handle a more expansive scope of services.
Mercer's Make in India programme was supported by Mercer’s international partner Global Operations Shared Services ANZ, and involved relocating a portion of Mercer’s global staff to the India practice, while simultaneously making them more versatile in the tasks that they perform.
The goal was not only to make the entire workforce familiar with digital operations, but also to minimise the distinctions between professional roles to generate more flexibility and agility in operations. The solution represents the sort of innovative approach that the firm advocates for the global market.
“Make in India totally aligns itself with where we want to see ourselves globally. The philosophy and strategy behind the program breaks the silos that we have been working in. It outlines setting up seamless streams of work to ensure minimum handoffs, oriented toward innovation to achieve best possible outcomes,” said Shane Kelly, Transformation and Specialist Manager at Mercer.
Mercer bagged the Gold Optimas Award for Business Impact, while the Silver Award went to media company Turner for a flagship hiring strategy. The Optimas Awards – an initiative by Workforce Magazine – recognise firms each year for their outstanding contribution to HR innovation across the globe.
