US-based IT services business Cognizant, which has important presence in India, launched a returnship programme for technologies experts hunting to restart careers. This will be a 12-week paid expertise for talented technologies experts hunting to resume their careers, soon after a break.
Cognizant believes that a break in a professional’s profession can give an chance to reflect, obtain locations of concentrate, and return stronger to the next phase of qualified journey with a renewed sense of objective. Many such talented experts hunting to return to the workforce are girls, and Cognizant’s inaugural cohort contains girls taking on engineering management roles in the digital engineering practice, it stated.
Rajesh Nambiar, chairman and MD, Cognizant India, stated: “At Cognizant, we view diversity as a source of innovation and creativity that are key to our ability to execute successfully and consistently. For us, unlocking the potential of diversity of thought is not just about having people with different backgrounds and experiences on our team, but also about respecting and providing a fillip to each individual’s inherent potential through an environment that mentors talent without biases. Notably, diversity and inclusion (D&I) saw the second-highest score improvement across categories in our 2020 engagement survey.”
The programme is focused on supplying returners with a supportive atmosphere and access to instruction, upskilling, mentorship and other sources. These experts will work with cutting-edge technologies via the programme, and will subsequently be deemed for complete-time positions at Cognizant. The programme is an revolutionary way to get diverse talent in the door, irrespective of when their final qualified part was.
The business stated it has formed a number of affinity groups, led by talented staff across the organization. Each of these groups engages internally with staff and externally with clientele, and operates with a concentrate on 3 pillars such as attract, employ and engage. All of Cognizant’s affinity groups are open to all staff.
In addition to utilising their private external networks to attract candidates, Cognizant’s affinity groups also enable diverse talent, after on board, turn into engaged in the company’s communities, which enable make a sense of belonging.
“We are implementing a new process to ensure interviews represent a more diverse composition of candidates, and that interview panels are diverse as well. Women professionals form around 38% of our overall workforce in India and nearly 45%t of our workforce in Tier-II cities. We have established female hiring and retention goals for company leaders, which are part of the formal annual performance ratings process,” it stated.