Building Strong Culture and Changing Leadership Role Are Paving the Way for Hybrid Work Model – BCG NASSCOM Future of Work Report

Chennai—The disruption caused by the pandemic has graduated from the recent sudden shift to fully remote work, to now a hybrid work model. Today, more than 70% of employees prefer hybrid work while correspondingly, a similar sentiment has been expressed by both IT companies as well as tech service buyers. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have today launched the report, titled 'Shaping the Future of Work in India's Tech Industry’ which highlights the challenges that the new work paradigm is likely to bring, as well as the key areas that leadership must address to promote flexible working options in the post-pandemic era.

Indian tech companies have already started adopting new work models which vary from completely remote to a combination of remote and on-site to completely on-site. While traditional companies are focused on accurate execution, technology organizations are fluid and modular. As per the report findings over 80% of the IT companies and GCCs are most likely to adopt a hybrid work model as compared to rest of the industry segments. Also, the scale and nature of the business have evolved as key drivers, defining the structure of a future hybrid organization.

“The pandemic has widespread ramifications on businesses across the globe, impacting the way they interact and operate. organizations have faced some of the major shifts, with remote/hybrid being the most distinct one”, said Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM. "As we are on our way to normalcy, organizations should analyze the behavior and choices of their employees and offer them the best of both offline and online working experiences. They should take a holistic approach and take into consideration the new working models and trends while designing the future of work structure”.

Commenting on the Future of Work, Nitin Chandalia, Managing Director and Partner, BCG India, said, “The Tech industry is at the cusp of innovation, and industry is experimenting with unique and innovative solutions to create a Workplace of the Future. The last couple of years have exposed organisations to newer working models that not only open the doors to newer talent pools but also improve talent retention and increase operational resilience. The future model of work is not binary, and many variations are possible across a continuum. Organizations must create their own version of this future model as a critical component of a differentiated employee value proposition.”

The future course

In a bid to attract and retain highly skilled talent which is spread across geographies, organizations are not just looking at remote work models but also are planning to change their geographical footprint and shift the focus to Tier 2/3 towns. Companies are adopting newer models of work which includes a higher adoption of pay on-demand models (gig workers/free-lancers), to increasing traction on tapping & retaining diverse talent pools.

With the transition to a new work model, organizational structure is expected to undergo some changes to make the work more collaborative and engaging for employees. Depending on the nature of the organization for both Fluid and Modular platform organizations, this will include a creativity-driven focus to unlock employee potential, and Efficiency-driven focus to improve organizational efficiency and adaptability.

Job requirements across workforce personas are also key to determine best-fit hybrid models for organizations. This will range from pattern-based professionals which include Accounts processing and HR processing, to Flexible professionals (Digital marketing, web application development) and Stewards (Database administration, network security etc.). The role of managers is expected to change in the new work setup. Organizations will further be expected to utilize digital ways of social intimacy for coaching and feedback sessions as well as setting up random peer catchups. A hybrid working model demands putting trust and giving employees autonomy over the work that they do, and managers need to increasingly encourage an overall ecosystem of transparency and freedom.

As companies begin to call employees back to work, they must now build their value proposition around three fundamental pillars; developing newer talent pool with domain specific skills to execute ER&D projects (niche skill sets, lower attrition, rapid upskilling), supporting variability in contractual agreements and capacity delivered (forecasting, quick ramp-ups, gig economy) resilient operations, and a strong brand (geographical spread, BCP, robustness of remote infra). Organisations will also need to strengthen the chain of culture by incorporating more trust-based and embedded culture to retain and attract newer talent.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

About NASSCOM

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM®) is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the Tech industry in India and comprises over 3000-member companies. Our membership spans across the entire spectrum of the industry from startups to multinationals and from products to services, Global Capability Centres to Engineering firms. Guided by India's vision to become a leading digital economy globally, NASSCOM focuses on accelerating the pace of transformation of the industry to emerge as the preferred enablers for global digital transformation. Our strategic imperatives are to reskill and upskill India's IT workforce to ensure that talent is future-ready in terms of new-age skills, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities - both international and domestic, drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the industry narrative with focus on Talent, Trust and Innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity.