Organizations, especially tech companies, are finding it hard to source employees with relevant skills, as the COVID-led disruption drags on. Tech titan IBM is going beyond conventional ways to tap into the unrepresented workforce to close employment gaps. Obed Louissaint, Senior Vice President, Transformation and Culture at IBM, shares how the skills-based model of talent pipeline can widen employers' access to diverse talents.
Here are the edited excerpts of the interview.
Q. How do you manage a diverse portfolio of leading transformation and culture at a large company like IBM?
A. It's people and the culture of co-creation. Having people with the right skill sets is critical to help an organization succeed. Individuals who work together and co-create forge better partnerships and, in turn, deliver better outcomes.
Q. How do you see the current landscape of work with the new COVID variant upending our plans to return to the office?
A. We all looked at the year 2021 with great anticipation but the ongoing pandemic has continued to unsettle the established order of business dynamics. Having said that, the year demonstrated the real meaning of being adaptable, agile, and persevering, for both employers and employees. Businesses even prior to the pandemic were required to manage change and make decisions more quickly than ever before. In the accelerated world of work, corporations across industries today are forced even more to adjust, become nimble and embrace change faster than ever. The uncertainties have intensified those needs in order to meet shifting customer and employee needs.
Q. How has the tech industry looked at the opportunities and areas of growth amid this crisis?
This story is from the January 2022 edition of People Matters.
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This story is from the January 2022 edition of People Matters.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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