When the pandemic hit in early 2020, companies around the world were completely unprepared for what had hit them. People realized very soon that digital transformation and adoption of new technology was the only way you could function in ‘the new normal. In fact, a digital and personalized employee experience has now become one of the most essential ingredients to ensure business continuity. To further understand this, Financial Express Online spoke with Kiran Menon, CEO & Co-founder, Tydy, about the impact of the pandemic on how global companies have been digitally onboarding their employees. Excerpts:
What growth number has been seen in digital onboarding of employees since the country was hit by the Second Wave?
The State of Digital Onboarding report is based on an anonymised data set of 100,000+ employees. It is indicative of global trends and sentiments, with the first wave during Q1-Q2 (March-June) of 2020 which saw global hiring and onboarding numbers plummeting before rising exponentially in Q1 (Jan-March) of 2021, showing 200% growth month-on-month. This upward trend was observed through the month of April as well with no signs of slowing down in spite of the second wave hitting India. It indicates that companies have learnt and transformed rapidly by investing in technology that will future-proof their business.
What sectors are driving onboarding now? Do you see new sectors emerge?
Since the data collected from companies is anonymized and delinked in order to ensure data security, the report does not include information on specific sectors. However, the quantitative data indicates that industries like healthcare, FMCG, Financial Services, IT and Digital Transformation continued to onboard during the months of May, June and July 2020, when other industries were slowing down significantly. India in particular led from the front with 65% month-on-month growth in Q3 (July to Sept) of 2020.
It is clear that more and more companies are adopting remote, flex and hybrid models and are therefore looking at rapidly transforming their onboarding processes into a virtual one. The number of enquiries we got for a digital employee onboarding solution from across the world increased significantly during the time period covered in the report. This was a key indicator that organizations – from enterprises to small businesses to startups, are all seeking to automate, personalize and digitise their people processes. This is apparent from the fact that our revenues have grown by 300% in the last trailing twelve months (TTM).
What is the future of automated processes and virtual onboarding India? Which sector do you think will do well in digital onboarding?
Global brands like Cipla, Genpact, Asian Paints, Aptean etc., have all transitioned to virtual onboarding with Tydy in the last year. While automated and digitized systems and processes are going to become the norm across sectors, businesses are already seeing a rising need for personalization across the entire employee lifecycle, and at scale. That is going to become the holy grail for global enterprises.
Do you think digital onboarding will outlast the pandemic or will things revert to normal once Covid is over?
Reverting to the way things were is not an option. The benefits and the efficiencies that companies are seeing from digital onboarding and overall digital transformation are long-term. The ability to hire and onboard talent from anywhere in the world in a standardized manner, to pull together data from multiple applications and connect all the dots to make data-driven decisions about how best to retain your employees are all must-haves. If anything, companies are now looking at reducing operational overheads and improving the employee experience even more. There is an ongoing war for talent, and businesses are willing to invest a lot more into technology that will help them win it.
How is Tydy enabling the digital onboarding experience for employees across sectors in India?
Tydy enables personalized digital onboarding experiences for employees across the world. We help companies leverage the power of data for employee experience management from the first touch point, i.e. candidate marketing, all the way through new hire onboarding, transitions, offboarding, and alumni engagement.
Tydy automates onboarding processes such as documentation, data verification, compliance, background checks, asset allocation, and so on, saving businesses a significant amount of time and money. HR managers can focus on delivering a superior candidate/new hire/employee experience based on intelligent, data-driven insights.
The direct impact of creating personalized onboarding experiences right from the beginning is seen in the significant reduction in first-year attrition rates (by 65%) and reduced time to productivity. With Tydy, companies have seen 15X ROI and reduced time spent on employee onboarding from 2-2.5 hours to just 15 minutes per employee.
Can you share insights from the recent report launched by Tydy for Digital onboarding in India?
The State of Digital Onboarding report is the first quantitative analysis of its kind based on primary data as reported by enterprises representing FMCG, IT & Digital Transformation, Pharma, Manufacturing, Financial Services and Telecom sectors. The objective of the report was to conduct correlational research on the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on hiring and onboarding of new employees across various sectors from February 2020 to April 2021.
Some of the key observations are as follows:
Q1-Q2 2020 – There was a continuous 25% month-on-month decline in the onboarding process in March 2020 which was further dropped by 50% in May 2020.
Q3 2020 – This was the bounce back phase where there was a 65% month-on-month increase in digital employee onboarding numbers in August 2020
Q4 2020 – Onboarding numbers are seen to stabilize before dropping again slightly. Businesses remained optimistic and were seen to be planning ahead for 2021.
Q1 2021 – Digital onboarding takes off again with 200% month-on-month growth from Feb 2021 onwards.
With the vaccination process in place and with companies transitioning to virtual onboarding technology, we can safely presume that digital onboarding is going to rise higher than ever.
How has the pandemic impacted the job scenario in India?
There is no denying the fact that the pandemic led to significant layoffs across the country. These are unusual circumstances, and most of us were unprepared for them. The services sector in particular has been impacted negatively with hospitality and travel industries faltering.
That said, the industries we work with, especially IT and Digital Transformation, FMCG etc, saw a windfall. There is an increased demand for engineers and coders as companies are investing heavily into technology and digital transformation. So while there is a huge demand for certain roles, there is no doubt that there are many still struggling.
