#524: Rajan Gupta's Guide to Building a Resilient Workforce

"In a competitive market, talent acquisition faces challenges of scarcity and skill gaps. Beyond recruitment, success hinges on cultivating a positive work culture and prioritizing employee satisfaction."

Meet Rajan Gupta, Head of Talent Acquisition at Lakshya Digital and Keywords Studios India. With a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Operations and a Certificate in HR Management, Rajan is a seasoned professional in technical and non-technical recruitment, gaming recruitment, stakeholder management, and talent retention strategies. Demonstrating leadership in HR, change management, and internal job postings, he brings extensive experience in performance appraisal, leadership skills, program planning, and applicant tracking systems. Join us for a brief insight into Rajan's rich educational journey and professional background

In this episode, Rajan Gupta delves into the intricate art of navigating talent acquisition. From conquering talent scarcity and skill gaps to embracing the transformative shifts in the digital realm, Rajan provides actionable strategies. The discussion covers the evolving importance of work culture, candidate experience, and the crossroads of HR and marketing. Job seekers also gain valuable insights, making this episode a treasure trove for HR professionals seeking career growth and mastery in talent acquisition.

Episode Highlight

• Managing global teams in a competitive market poses unique challenges.
• Proven strategies for attracting and retaining top talent across diverse companies.
• Identifying key skills and competencies desired by employers for various roles.
• Notable changes observed in recruitment practices, with insights into future trends.

Follow Rajan Gupta  on Linkedin

Produced by: Priya Bhatt

Podcast Host: ipshita sharma

About Springworks:

Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organisation building tools and products to simplify recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:

SpringVerify— B2B verification platform

EngageWith— employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company culture

Trivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-building

SpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, and

SpringRecruit — a forever-free applicant tracking system.

Springworks prides itself on being an organisation focused on employee well-being and workplace culture, leading to a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor for the 200+ employee strength company.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Shape of Work, a podcast series by Springworks. My name is Anoop and I am your host. Each week, we'll be talking to top people managers across the world on the future of work and how it's shaping our workplace. So sit back and get ready to find out more from these movers and shakers, as we have a no-holes bar. Anything goes. Conversation with them about their journey, their insights, their thoughts, most importantly, their ideas and vision for the workplace of the future. Join in on the conversation, leave a comment and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Good evening everyone. So today we have Rajan Gupta with us, who is the head and in charge of talent acquisition with Keywords Studios. Hi, rajan, how are you?

Speaker 3: 0:41

I'm fine, ipshita, thank you. How are you doing today?

Speaker 2: 0:44

I'm good too, thank you. Thank you so much for joining our call today. Since you have so much experience already under your hat, can you please walk us through your journey?

Speaker 3: 0:53

Sure Ipshita. So, as you know, my name is Rajan. I have like close to 13 years of experience. So if you talk about my experience, my journey began over the 13 years ago. So particularly I've been passionate for my talent development and the global recruitment which I had. So it's all been global recruitment which I've been handling from the past 13 years. So, with the background in technology and recent experience in gaming, now I have major experience in creating teams for the IT particularly. So my experience you know being particularly, you know, creating from scratch, devising innovative recruitment strategies.

Speaker 3: 1:33

So I work for various companies, you know, starting from a past. So I've worked within foot free services. My clients were Dell, emc, American Express, sabre, ragsby. So these are my major clients which I handled in my past experiences. So that was a consulting background which I had. So my recent experience is completely into a different domain. It's a gaming domain, you know, which being pretty booming nowadays. So here, you know, my role is diversified into the corporate recruitment where I've been handling a team, and particularly into the gaming sector, like we've been. So let me walk through my current company. So Keyboard Studios is particularly a gaming service provider. So they have almost a thousand people walking all across the globe and I particularly had the talent acquisition for their India division. So I create the teams. I particularly responsible for managing their complete localization, the FQA department, so complete the QA and the localization where all the project managers and also I've been particularly handling at the moment.

Speaker 2: 2:44

Awesome yeah.

Speaker 3: 2:45

So this is my major experience.

Speaker 2: 2:47

That's great Handling. A global team must be coming with a lot of challenges as well. So what challenges have you seen facing in today's competitive market in recruitment field?

Speaker 3: 3:00

So I think, in this market nowadays, you know the talent acquisition professionals faced a lot of challenges. You know, nowadays, I think what I feel is a talent scarcity increasing of the company because you know, in the market now, people being offering to work from home, the hybrid culture, you know it's a, it's a need, it creates a lot of competitions. You know the changing world dynamics.

Speaker 3: 3:22

As I mentioned the skill gaps, I think this is one of the major, I would say, challenge. So when I say talent scarcity, you know so this is like a demand for skill professionals. So I what I feel, you know the increasing demand and the availability of the skill professionals. The pool is very limited nowadays, right, so it definitely makes for us to find those qualified candidates for our certain roles. It's not about us, but yes, so this is one of the major ideas, the challenge and yes. So, when I talked about the skill gaps, yes, the rapid advancements in technology which particularly create results and skill gaps, making it difficult to find candidates with the latest and the most relevant skills for our emerging roles. And yes, one of the other I would say is the employee retention, Employee retention nowadays people being joining an organization and then leaving it and a very quick span of time.

Speaker 3: 4:19

We usually say, like candidates are majorly responsible, but I think we need to understand about the work culture as well as the candidate experience as well. So securing those top talent is only half the battle, what I feed, so retaining those talent is equally important. So we need to create those work-life balances, what culture the company is adapting for the employees. So all these things I think we can take it into the consideration as well.

Speaker 2: 4:45

Definitely. You raised a great point there that it is company's duty as well to retain the talent. From your experience in so many different companies, can you tell us any effective strategies that you employed for attracting and retaining the top talent?

Speaker 3: 5:01

So I think, as I mentioned, I've worked with the global team, so my major experience was into the America staffing. So I worked with complete to the US staffing in the IT domain. So I managed those global talent acquisition. So, creating those unique strategies. So first thing is because when I said the global, so I required a strong tailored strategy because most of the team been working in different region, different part of the country as well.

Speaker 3: 5:28

So, handling those diversions and cultures. So I think the culture, sensitivity and awareness is something which I built. So I build those. I acknowledge and respect their culture variations in each recruiting location, so we need to understand and respect their times as well. So this is one of the major strategy because the talent is all over the pool, so few of the team members are located in different time zones, so we have to maintain those things. So I create those team where my recruiters been responsible for the different, different segments. So when I said these, so if we have a position available, so I know my team is responsible for that location. So this is one of those culture, sensitivity and all.

Speaker 3: 6:13

And yes, global employee branding is a major part as well. So I build those strategies where employee branding is a major part for the organization to grow in the market. What I feel. So creating those 10 global employer brand that highlights company values, mission and commitment to diversity. So whenever employee work with the organization, we need to create those testimonials, need to showcase those things of the LinkedIn so the people come to understand what kind of culture these companies are adapting and is it a good fit for our career or not. So all these things, I think the language proficiency, the global talent pool, all these things I have done.

Speaker 2: 6:52

Right and I really believe that hearing first hand employee accounts are a great way to showcase what kind of culture we have and promote the employee advocacy. That's a great way to go. And, in your experience in recruitment field, what skills and competencies do you think are particularly sought after by employers in today's world? If there could be some skills and some competencies, that could be. We can keep them against all the roles that we have open. What are those major skills that employers are looking for?

Speaker 3: 7:25

The major skill. I guess nowadays it's a complete data-driven thing now. So I think the I would say the world is booming nowadays into the data analytics space. And also when we talk about the data analytics, we don't need to forget about the artificial intelligence nowadays. So the future of talent acquisition is expected to be undergo several transformation changes, like AI is one of the major who I think AI will play more a prominent role in automating those repetitive tasks such as resume screening and all. When you talk about and also I think data analytics is one of those cybersecurity career, let me talk especially about the gaming. When I say the gaming, gaming is booming.

Speaker 3: 8:09

During the COVID time, major of the market was shut down, so only the pharmaceutical and the gaming domain was on the booming part. In the gaming, I would say the candidates looking forward to make their career in the gaming space. What they need to do, they need to apply for those bachelor's degree in animation, someone in the game design. So nowadays people are. You won't believe when I said women in gaming now. So earlier very limited women were in the market. Now everyone is aware of the justice of women being applying for this domain as well and the ratio has been moved from 4% to, I think, 9%. Nowadays in India, people they've been applying for their careers as well, like game artists, game development engineers, so I think these things definitely will help to make their career as well. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:06

Yeah, definitely, and I think I wanted to know can you share any instances where you had to change your recruitment strategy due to unexpected circumstances Like these days we find? So the talent industry is ever developing and dynamic. It keeps on changing every year. Either there's a recession or sometimes there is a boom. So any strategy that you deployed to deal with such kind of things?

Speaker 3: 9:33

So I think when I was working for my previous organization called Dine Pro. So at the time, as I mentioned, my previous experience was into the global, where I've been handling the clients as well. So there was a time when we were in the midst of recruiting for a critical project. So I had a critical project at the time with Cisco and unexpectedly the client decided to change the project specifications. At the time they completely changed the project specifications. We've been working from the past two weeks on that particular roles to get the talent. They were like close to 65 positions we were handling for them. So that when they changed the project specifications, there's been a sudden shift in the skills and expertise required for the roles and we were actually hiring.

Speaker 3: 10:16

So instead of continuing with those initial recruitment plan, I actually, you know, particularly pivot that strategy and I initiated those rapid reassessment of the project, new requirement and I collaborated with the hiring managers what are their needs, why they have devised their specifications so simultaneously, you know, I reach out to the existing talent pool as well and conducting those targeted searches for my professionals with the newly specified skills as well.

Speaker 3: 10:45

So by expedite those, these processes, you know. So we were able to create the pool again in a very quick span of time. We had close to not 100% hires but, yes, close to 40 hires we have made in a very quick span of time. So that means you know, for example, we have positions in the market and we do not have. We do not have positions in the market, but talent should have that pool available. You know they have to do the passive recruiting as well. When we had a sudden change, we know, you know this is now what they've been looking. So we had that pool available and we started calling those people and make available for the project at that time.

Speaker 2: 11:24

That's, I think, a great strategy. People in the HR domain have to be quick on their you know thoughts and changing strategies, what is working, what is not. They have to be really quick in their actions.

Speaker 3: 11:35

Exactly, you know so in my current organization, to you know, the last year gaming industry was not that being performing well. So we know, at time, you know, you know like in the middle of thing, we definitely going to get the positions. So we were already creating those plans. You know, like after four months, if we have this position, so we should have that certain pool available. So we created those internship for our company. We done the recruitment drives, virtual drives, you know, all across the globe we went to Jaipur, we went to Delhi and of course you know the development conferences we held and we get the great talent from that market and now we've been utilizing those talent and, yes, it's a win-win situation for my team as well, you know, achieving those 100% target.

Speaker 2: 12:18

Now, Right, definitely. And seeing that there are, like so many candidates in the market currently Giving an advice to them, what would you say? Are there any common mistakes or misconceptions that candidates should be aware during their application and interview process?

Speaker 3: 12:35

So I think you know yes, majority of the people you know so. For example, for a position you know, for example, a talent acquisition manager role open in the market, you will observe, you know, 300 applications are sitting on a table and we have to identify only one profile and a hiring manager. I don't think he or she has a time to look all those resumes. So what matters for us, you know, for a hiring manager, is how a resume look like. First thing, you know what exactly the candidate has mentioned about their experience in the resume. So I think the major sending a generic resume for every application you know. So we have to tell this is the common mistake I'm talking about. Everyone is creating those generic resumes and sending all so they never read out the job description, to be honest, right, so we have it in a very detailed way, emphasizing our relevant skills and experiences, why we think we are a good fit for this position. We should send our cover letter as well. So, which is, I feel, when I switch from a global to India market, cover letter is something which is very limited in India. People are not recognizing the importance of cover letter sending to the hiring managers. So, along with the resume. They should create their cover letter as well, why they think they are a good fit for the position and mention about their experience, the journey related to the job description. It will definitely get a win situation for them.

Speaker 3: 14:02

Another mistake I would say not researching the company before an interview. They go with the interview. The candidates think whatever they ask, we will answer, but they should research about the company, what they do, before applying. Does it going to be a great hit for my career or not? Because each domain is different. If I am an IT person, I am a talent acquisition person working in the IT domain. I may not be a fit for a pharmaceutical company, so candidates should understand my experience before applying. Another mistake lasts thank you note, which I have observed majorly. People never send to the hiring manager I interviewed. So a warm thank you note from a candidate to the hiring manager should be there so they understand this person, value that role and value our time as well, so which is periodically missing in India market as of now. So these are the major things. I think they can overcome and they can apply.

Speaker 2: 15:09

Definitely. I also feel that dropping a note about how they are more relevant to this role, what kind of work they have done, etc. Just sets them apart, so that will definitely be helpful in the application and the interview process. And I wanted to ask in today's digital age, how do you leverage social media platforms for recruitment purposes and what impact has it had on your sourcing strategies?

Speaker 3: 15:33

So, yes, social media. I think social media is a game changer for the recruitment. So people being I would say people particularly utilizing the applicant tracking system majorly depending on the way they move for them, will not work because nowadays every company has a license or different job board license, so the talent is same everywhere. What makes you different in recruiting is who adapt to smart technology, the social media. So when we say social media, people talk about LinkedIn. Just LinkedIn is rather the major social media platform where we can get the resources. So, before social media, I would say a talent acquisition person, they need to create those effective communication with the candidate, whatever be the pool available, whether we have a job for them or not. We have to make connections with them on LinkedIn. We need to send a note to them. This is what I have gone through the job, your profile, and it looks like a good fit for my position. Might be today or future, so we can create those connections via LinkedIn. And when you talk about social media, people do search on Twitter. Twitter is also good for recruiting as well.

Speaker 3: 16:55

The GitHub for the IT, I think I would say for the IT recruiters. They can go with the GitHub as well, it's a lot of software talent people. They put their profiles on GitHub as well. I actually train my people on Google more, so I would say lot of talent is available on Google, so they should understand how to use Google X-ray searches. So Google X-ray searches after LinkedIn, I think Google X-ray searches can do wonders. If someone understands about the importance of Google X-ray searches, they can easily find the talent from Google as well, because an IT person they always put their portfolios on Google and you can easily identify them.

Speaker 2: 17:42

So, yes, social media plays a major role in recruitment, and with the help of artificial intelligence nowadays, so it will definitely help talent acquisition people in the future as well, yeah, and you mentioned you were earlier in the consulting field and now you're in the gaming field, so recruitment has evolved a lot from when you joined this field and to now. What changes have you seen from the time that you joined up until now and what more changes do you foresee in the coming future regarding talent acquisition?

Speaker 3: 18:18

So, as I mentioned before, so future of talent acquisition is evolving. So when I was working in the consulting firm, so there was a kind of my client is not aware of who I am, so I've been working for my company, for their clients, being working as an account manager for them. I handled not directly, but yes, I've worked with the top companies like American Express, federal Reserve Bank of New York, I've worked for Gartner these companies.

Speaker 3: 18:48

So when you work with those companies, you understand their stacks and all. So now when I moved to a global company called Keyword Studios, of course it's a gaming domain. So, yes, the market is very different. Right here we. So the corporate is something which we know, our company first thing. We know when we have the open positions coming up. Okay, we can easily create the pool.

Speaker 3: 19:14

So a lot of things been involving from the organizational perspective. I did my research about the gaming, I did my research about what kind of roles they actually open, so we created those pools. Earlier it was not available because we are not aware. Whenever we have a new client we have to change our strategy for the new positions. But in the corporate sector we are aware of our company, their domain, so we can easily find out the talent, easily create the passive recruitment for the upcoming positions as well. So I think that's a major change. But I feel now, but still a gaming domain, finding those profiles on a daily basis is kind of a challenge. But yes, to overcome those challenges, we create those internship plans, we create those recruitment drives so that we can create, increase our visibility in the market and company candidates should know about us, who we are and why they want to work with us. So adapting these challenges, these policies, so somehow good. I think a career boom for me as well.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Great and before we wrap up this call, I wanted to ask there will be lots of HR professionals who are going to listen to this podcast, so do you have any words of advice, words of wisdom for them? You have frozen up to the head position of a global firm, so anybody who wants to follow a similar career path how should they upskill themselves? What certain things they should keep on track, what things they should follow to rise up the hierarchy and become leaders in HR domain?

Speaker 3: 20:55

Yeah. So entering the HR domain of first thing, if you might be an HR person so I have heard from a lot of people does not have a career. They move to HR. It's a myth in India. So what I feel, being a HR if you need to make a career in HR, the person we have to adapt the empathy towards our company, towards our candidates as well, because they are the people who are looking out for a job and we easily, whenever they're approaching us for a job, we easily ignore them, we particularly ignoring them. We don't need to do that. We need to create that empathy where we are particularly in touch with those people. Might be today, might be future. We are forwarding the resumes to different, you would say network as well. So effective communication, I would say, is one of the major factor to enter in HR.

Speaker 3: 21:52

Yes, it will definitely gonna help in future. You know, understanding about the behaviors of the people. So HR is all about people and culture. When you understand the people, you understand their culture as well. Yes, it's a great domain. We always want people to join HR, yes. So people with a great communication skills, yes, wanted to learn more. They can easily come into the HR field.

Speaker 2: 22:19

Great. How would you suggest that they move up the ladder? Be manager, be head of a company? What other skills they should learn that they are able to move up the ladder?

Speaker 3: 22:33

Nowadays, I think, being in HR in the organization, definitely we need to work as a smart HR nowadays. So a lot of data being available, we really need to move to the dynamic side. We should understand about the data analytics. Hr should be aware of how they can. I think we need to know more about the Excel skills as well. Being in HR, you should know about their Excel data analytics.

Speaker 3: 23:02

You would say the Power BI nowadays is booming, so a person in HR with Power BI experience is something they can easily get the good organization as well as the good money in the market as well. So a lot of skills workable is one of workdays, one of the applicant tracking system. It's basically an HRMS. If someone get that exposure to research about workday, understand about the workday at CM, if you are able to get the certification, obviously you will again let up your career for future as well. So an HR should aware of about all these ETS, the smart ETS. Nowadays, I would say and rest. We need to have those marketing kind of the marketing managers, what they do, they know how to make those employer branding posters on LinkedIn and we should need to have that knowledge as well nowadays. So that's not only about a talent acquisition person. He's only doing the talent acquisition work. He has to perform other duties as well for the HRB.

Speaker 2: 24:08

Right, correct. Definitely, a person should try to imbibe as many qualities as they can, and learning is always there, so learn as much as you can.

Speaker 3: 24:18

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: 24:20

That was all from our side. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing these insights. These will definitely be helpful for our learners.

Speaker 3: 24:28

Yeah, thank you so much, epshita. Pleasure to all of you. Thank you, love you viel coach.