How To Foster a People-Centred Workplace Culture

This article was first published in HR.com HCM Excellence APAC & Middle East January 2023, Vol. 5 . No 01

Apex Group is evidence that get HR matters right, and the sky is the limit for your growth potential in India - in the last three years, the company’s presence in India has tripled in size. But underestimate the importance of HR and recruitment at your peril.

Here, we share the lessons we have learned, and offer the benefit of our experience, insights and advice on overcoming HR challenges and seizing opportunities to scale up an international business in India, including opening new offices and attracting the industry’s top talent.

India should never be an “offshore” afterthought

We founded our business in India in 2008, to offer our clients an efficient and flexible approach to financial services, underpinned by best-in-class technology platforms, adapted to meet the specific requirements of each individual client. We have tripled the headcount of our business in India since the start of the pandemic, recently reaching a milestone of 3,000 employees with local offices in Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai. We also have a compelling product offering for our Indian clients with an addition of Gift IFSC to our locations. This growth is a mixture of organic hiring and recruitment, and acquisitions.

India has shown itself to be a resilient and adaptable market, and we see huge opportunity for growth both domestically in India created by a thriving and expanding private equity and venture capital sector, and in connecting Indian capital to other international financial centres. However, for us – and indeed any international business seeking Indian growth - India cannot be considered an “offshore” centre – to ensure success, it must be considered a key strategic location for delivering high quality client service. As a result, this prevents India operations from becoming isolated or dislocated from your business’ global operations and processes. Instead, they should be fully integrated into global structures and help service clients whether they are in India or Indonesia or Ireland. For example, at Apex Group, some of our key operations global heads sit in India and run a global model from here, clearly understanding the perspective from India.

Operational and HR collaboration is essential

Both operational and client-facing business leaders in India, must work very closely with my colleagues in the global HR team to ensure the allocation of the right resources and people in the best locations to deliver on our strategic objectives on a global scale. During the pandemic, and in the current macro-economic environment, it is more crucial than ever to have a shared sense of the issues at hand and work collaboratively with managers and the HR team to put forward solutions to any challenges a business may face.

Leaders should encourage close collaboration with the local HR and Talent acquisition teams to ensure the business is able to respond with agility to any recruitment and staffing requirements, ultimately achieve your business goals.

Attracting top talent in a competitive hiring market

Global businesses operating and growing in India can set themselves apart as an employer of choice, by emphasising the development and promotion opportunities they can offer Indian employees. One very special initiative which Apex has introduced is the JUMP global mobility program which enables employees from our Indian office to explore new countries and cultures through short-term assignments and long-term secondments to various global locations.

The global talent market, and especially in India, has become more competitive than ever before. Companies need to embrace new ways of thinking about how they grow headcount and fill critical roles.

Overcoming post-pandemic challenges 

As we transition out of the pandemic restrictions in India, hybrid working, and flexibility have become a key focus for both managers and employees. The ability to work flexibly is an intrinsic part of a business’ employee value proposition when attracting the brightest and the best to work in their business.

Apex Group’s approach to return to office has been well received by employees and clients alike – with adaptable working policies to help colleagues to balance their personal responsibilities while still excelling professionally and delivering exceptional service to our clients. One area where Apex Group has been able to differentiate itself in the Indian market is our understanding that proximity and travel time to office is extremely important for employees. It is insights like this which will enable your company to stand out from a crowd of competitors – Apex Group’s peers only have one or two hub offices in India, in contrast to our strategy of creating six offices (with more to come) in Indian cities, closer to where our current and future employees live in an “office near you” approach.

Retaining talent is a top people priority

You’ve attracted, recruited and hired great people…what next? It is important to understand that in a fast-growth ever-changing environment, the retention of your people through continued recognition is extremely important. All employees want to feel valued and empowered in their roles and careers. At Apex, we’ve introduced a number of employee recognition initiatives to thank our people in India for their hard work, to ensure they know it is appreciated and to reward them for their loyalty, dedication and achievements.

Furthermore, growth businesses in India should take seriously their responsibility to set an example and to drive greater equity, diversity and inclusion in the financial services industry. This is a key “people priority” for us globally. Earlier this year, we launched the Women’s Accelerator Program, a global initiative with participants from our India office, to help elevate female talent, and give participants the tools and skills to advance professionally and reach their full potential.