See GCCs as growth drivers for companies

Much has been written about the success of Global Capability (earlier Captive) Centres in India and a few other countries known for the availability of trained human resource. The GCCs have helped shape the growth and success of multinational companies across industry verticals. But are all GCCs successful? What can be done to ensure their growth and success?

GCCs done well are a key growth driver for any MNC, but GCCs done poorly can drain resources and reputation. What are some of the key success factors for any GCC?

As a start, the term ‘captive’ needs to go, as terms like Global Innovation Centre (GIC), Global Insourcing Centre (GIC), Global Capability Centre (GCC), or Global Business Services (GBS) have long replaced it. And it’s not just rechristening; the basic character and the underlying mindset have changed since the first set of GIC/GCCs made their presence known in India 25 or 30 years ago. What started off as a ‘cost arbitrage’ play has now become a thriving hub of top-notch talent and leading-edge innovation. So much so that companies can no longer have an ‘us vs. them’ attitude but need to be inclusive of GCCs.

Secondly, it is important to have strong corporate sponsorship right at the top. A strong sponsorship is vital for the success of GCCs and to sustain their consistent growth. Executive leadership changes can often make or break GCCs, and many wind up operations in the absence of strong sponsorship.

Thirdly, it is important to choose the appropriate skills and capabilities to be delivered out of the GCCs to ensure their consistent growth and success. If a skill set required by the MNC is not core to the GCC’s capabilities and is better served by external outsourced vendors, then it needs to be outsourced. Otherwise, it stagnates the growth of the GCCs.

Fourthly, GCC must have a global leadership present them, i.e., the senior leadership in the GCCs should be part of the overall leadership team of the MNC. This ensures that the GCCs are not just cost centres but centres of leadership that are responsible for the integrated strategic priorities of the whole organisation.

Lastly, the importance of career growth and opportunities for GCC employees cannot be undermined. GCC HR will do well to note that Gen Z employees prefer mobility geographically, vertically, and horizontally. The reason sometimes the GCCs lose talent to the IT/ITES organisations is because of the better international mobility and leadership opportunities with diversified exposure that the latter offer.

Traditionally, GCCs have remained focused on technology, operations, and contact centres, thus curtailing the mobility of their employees across groups. Except for the client-facing roles, there is no reason why other core roles cannot be based in the GCCs. The more successful we are in bringing a multitude of roles to the GCCs, the more career paths will open for the employees, enabling the best of talent to offer the best of services to the organisation. Many times, the growth of GCCs is downplayed to ensure that the employees of the parent organisation do not see it as a loss of opportunity for them. But a thriving GCC means opportunity for anyone to move to the GCCs and gather
global experience, which is key to the success of any professional today.

The GCCs, while a separate legal entity due to statutory requirements, need to be an integral part of the same organisation in spirit and thought, in strategies and execution, in growth and mobility, to ensure their success. With 25 or 30 years of existence, GCCs have enough learnings to utilise and leapfrog to the successful phase without having to go through each of the past struggles all over again. Done right, GCCs are in for exciting days, adding tremendous value to their organisations.

(The writer is the managing director of an international commercial banking services provider.)