Talent management key for 72% of global capability centres: NASSCOM-KPMG report

Talent management is a key priority for over 72% of Global Capability Centre (GCC) leaders, as per the findings of a joint study by NASSCOM and KPMG titled 'GCCs in India: Building resilience for sustainable growth'.

Their key talent-related considerations include talent availability, capability and employability, attracting and retaining talent, growing need for leadership talent, and maintaining cost arbitrage.

GCCs work as a hub for knowledge transfer and collaboration within the organisation. They help exchange best practices, insights, and innovative ideas across different business units to fuel continuous learning.

According to the report, GCCs leverage innovative workforce strategy models such as hire-build-scale, borrow-augment and co-create to achieve near-, medium-, as well as long-term goals.

"Over the last few years, we have witnessed a remarkable growth of GCCs in India with several factors are driving its growth. As GCCs continue their growth trajectory, moving up the maturity curve, with factors such as blurring geographic borders, and technology disruptions, these centres are constantly scanning the dynamic risk landscape and adapting to successfully navigate through," said Srikanth Srinivasan, Vice President, NASSCOM.

The GCC ecosystem in India, which has emerged as a key driver of growth and innovation, is fueled by the rapid adoption of emerging technologies, with 70% of CEOs stating GenAI as their top investment priority, the report found.

Despite 96% of tech leaders expressing confidence in their company's tech function to explore emerging technologies, only 38% report having leadership buy-in, it added.

The report also found that over 55% of leaders emphasise the importance of navigating regulations for smooth operations and 81% of respondents state transfer pricing as the top regulatory priority for GCCs in India followed by SEZ/STPI regulations and labour laws.

"India as a nation, is gearing up to attract many more global players to establish and scale their GCCs over the next 3-5 years. As these GCCs continue to build, innovate and scale, adopting new operating models influenced by the emerging technologies, they are also equipping themselves to navigate through a dynamic risk landscape and hence further fortifying the resilience of this model," said Shalini Pillay, India Leader – Global Capability Centre, KPMG in India.

India accounts for nearly half of all GCCs globally, the report noted, with 89% of GCCs increasing footprint in India and over 1,580 such entities operating in the country (as of FY23).