It is all about placing the right
people in the right seats in the bus!
A new recruitment & onboarding platform launched
In a significant step forward in L&T’s transformation journey, Corporate HR launched a new, integrated, digital, AI & ML enabled recruitment & onboarding platform, powered by PeopleStrong. It aims to essentially get the right people on the bus, get the wrong ones off and place the right people in the right seats, as famously quoted by Jim Collins, in his book, ‘Good to Great.’
“It is an end-to-end platform that straddles the entire process from recruitment to onboarding and everything in between,” shared Dr C Jayakumar (CJK), Executive Vice President & Head – Corporate Human Resources, L&T, at the launch of the platform. “It picks up resumes from the various channels, shortlists & stack ranks them through AI & ML, has intelligent workflows to move the resumes across L&T’s various businesses, is integrated with communication platforms like MS Teams & ZOOM and carries the process to its logical end of onboarding.”
A CUT ABOVE THE REST
Perhaps, from an L&T perspective, one of the standout advantages of the platform is that it enables the company to capitalize the power of its data bank, “which is now visible and accessible to L&T’s 650+ HR professionals across geographies that helps multiple ICs to leverage the database while, at the same time, prevents multiple recruiters to chase the same talent,” remarked CJK, referring to his colleagues who at an average process some 100,000 applications annually and make 8,000+ offers.
Developmental work on the platform began in April 2021 with a scan of the available platforms in the market and honing down on the PeopleStrong platform as the one most appropriate for L&T’s internal environment and best fit with the company’s culture, ethos, and character. “A specially formed steering committee of senior HR leaders analysed the platform and developed the process map,” shared DGM – HR, Abdul Wahab, who drove the initiative at ground level. “The entire process from concept & system design to implementation took just 3 months,” he shares enthusiastically, visibly proud of his team’s success.
The platform enables cross negotiations, saves enormous amount of time, effort & resources, and offers the huge benefits of analytics for “our sourcing strategy, process improvements, monitoring, placing accountability and enhancing the employer brand,” summed up CJK. “In essence, it enhances the experience of all the stakeholders, the recruiter, the hiring managers and, most importantly, the candidates.”
TO WIN THE WAR OF TALENT
“The concepts of work, the worker and the workplace have been redefined over the past 18 months or so,” observed Sandeep Chaudhary, Managing Director, People Strong. “The role of talent acquisition too has changed into a strategic business and more tangible one responsible for driving business growth and improving ROI.” This puts perspective to Whole Time Director & Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings), M V Satish’s assertion that “to win the war of talent, it is imperative to recruit the right people at the right time,” increasing the importance of ‘time to hire’ considering that projects are time-bound, with increasing stress on timely execution & delivery.
“Today, it is market of candidates,” cautioned Sandeep, pointing out the need to improve candidate experience for successful recruitment, citing a PWC report that stated that 49% of hiring failed due to a poor recruitment process. He opined that it was critical to increase the catchment areas as top talent was becoming increasingly industry agnostic and the importance of evangelizing the employer brand for greater traction with talent.
Looking within, MVS emphasized the need for a platform to enable easy, hassle-free cross-pollination of talent within the organization and for increased opportunities to encourage, grow and nurture good inhouse talent.
“Success could, at times, become a barrier to growth with a tendency to hang on to what has been successful in the past,” warned M V N Rao, Head – HR, L&T Hydrocarbon, in his closing remarks at the virtual event, “but happily this new platform represents a new way of thinking, a fresh approach to more efficient recruitment & onboarding in the hands of an enlightened bunch of HR professionals,” he said, echoing Sandeep’s reminder that the long-term success of the platform depends almost entirely on efficient implementation.