India is a strategic location for global talent search: Citigroup hiring chief

Juan Manuel Cerda, MD and Global Head of Talent Acquisition & People Insights at Citigroup (Illustration by Suneesh Kalarickal)

US-based BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) major Citigroup is challenging itself in simplifying the processes it manage to make itself more efficient as it undergoes a transformation, Juan Manuel Cerda, MD and Global Head of Talent Acquisition & People Insights at Citigroup, told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview.

The investment group is going heavy when it comes to talent grooming – around 40 percent of its positions are filled internally. Further, it has adopted a hybrid work environment, depending on the job role.

So far in 2022, the company has filled approximately 15,000 roles and those volumes will continue. Despite the changing macroeconomic conditions, Cerda says Citi continues to face very high volumes of attraction and hiring in the organisation. “We continue to invest in several business lines,” he said.

Edited excerpts:

Q: Indian companies are now deliberating policies around ‘moonlighting’. How do you see the issue as an HR leader? What is Citi's stand on this topic?

A: We have our processes that govern such instances. An employee needs to get the organisation’s approval for any participating in activity outside his/her current job.

This is a policy we've had in place even pre-pandemic. And it has been put in place to manage conflicts of interest, and to protect the franchise. If there's anything specific to India, we're happy to follow up.

Q: How do you see India in terms of talent availability? What are some of the unique qualities you have seen among the Indian workforce?

A: India is a great market for us, from a business as well as talent perspective. If you look at the growth we've had in India, I think that's the best testament to our perception of the talent in India.

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When we look at the organisation right now, we see tremendous talent in terms of technology, engineering abilities, analytics, and operations. So, not only do we look for talent for our core Indian businesses, but India serves as a key strategic location for talent across the globe, too.

Q: Concerning upskilling and reskilling, please explain how Citigroup is preparing talent for the future and what role tech is playing in that.

A: The first thing we do to prepare ourselves for the future is to build a culture in the organisation. That is a culture of embracing change and accountability. That's the foundation.

The second is the new skills and talent we're bringing into the organisation. There are instances like some of our early career programmes, where we bring great talent from across the globe. We're also very proud of how we've been building an early career framework which provides talent for all business lines on a global basis.

For our existing employees, we have a comprehensive offering in terms of upskilling and reskilling. We have digital tools like the degree platform, for example, with curated content, where you have pathways depending on the role and expectations that are there. There are very specific business skills that take place as businesses themselves look at changing the needs of the organisation.

Q: You mentioned you're bringing in new skills. What are those skills?

A: If you think about engineering, for example, which helps problem-solving from different angles, you think about technology, and technological skills are evolving, as we speak. So, we're trying to identify talent from different places.

Sometimes we need to reskill internally. Similarly, for analytics, everything that has to do with data science and management is at the core of what we do. So, we're always procuring talent that comes from a data perspective, and then very strong operational management as well. This is going to allow us to deliver excellence, whether it is for clients or for operations.

Just to add here, in terms of talent management, 30-40 percent of our positions are filled internally. That's the sort of talent we groom and support. And this is consistent, globally.

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For the opportunities we manage, we have a very healthy pipeline of internal talent taking several positions in the organisation. At the same time, we bring new talent from outside.

I think of human capital in a rule of thirds. I think of my team as being built with one-third from internal promotions, a third from other roles within the organisation, so that you leverage that institutional knowledge, and the final third from the market, to ensure you are continuously bringing a different and fresh perspective and market knowledge to the team.

I would argue it allows for that diversity component we were discussing, and it enables continuous upskilling of the core of the team.

Q: How has the work culture evolved at Citigroup, post-pandemic? We have seen a lot of things, such as remote work, great resignations, etc. How is Citigroup dealing with that?

A: I would like to turn around the question a little bit because when I hear of great resignation, I think of a great opportunity. Because sitting in my chair, and being responsible for talent acquisition, it has provided me with an opportunity to engage with a very broad base of talent across the globe.

The growth we're seeing in Citi right now is tremendous. Remarkably, that growth is consistent across all of our regions, specifically in India. Yes, we're operating very differently. I think that a great value proposition and great clarity that we provide to the market is in what we describe as ‘How We Work.’ It's our approach to providing visibility on what is expected of you from a role-location perspective.

In our case, we think of a hybrid environment as an environment where the majority of our employees would fit in. That has served us very effectively, not only to provide flexibility to our current employees but also to attract talent which might not have been able to join the organisation in the past, if they had to be in the office five days a week.

Q: Is it role-specific or business-specific?

A: It’s role-specific. I would always start with a role because business comes after. One of the things we're trying to ensure is that we think of this as talent and human capital management, based on skill sets and requirements for the role. From there, we make the decisions, and we look at them consistently.

Q: How has been the attrition cycle? Were you able to manage it during the pandemic?

A: Attrition, as you might imagine, has been a very interesting market dynamic. During the last 2-3 years, you alluded to the great resignation, and I alluded to the great opportunity being on the other side of the equation.

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We've seen attrition growing if you go back and look at the end of 2020, but more in 2021. As we go into 2023, what I see from a global perspective, and I look at the industry and the market, is that I see attrition stabilising.

I say this because, probably, we have all gone through this process of looking at opportunities, our careers and our conditions, and I think the majority of that thinking has already taken place.

Q: With Jane Fraser as CEO, how are you focusing on the diversity inclusion agenda? What are the plans? Please share some numbers.

A: Jane has been a great sponsor of our talent strategy, and also of our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy. We look at an organisation as one that we all want to feel part of, we all want to belong to and inclusion is a great perspective.

One of the things we've implemented over time, and we were once again the first in the market to go with that level of clarity, was the representation goals we established. We looked at those two representation goals, from a gender perspective and equally from an ethnicity perspective. What we've been doing is achieving the goals we have set for ourselves.

Gender diversity has been a great success story for us. We've been looking at these representation targets, looking at what we describe as our Assistant Vice President (AVP) population and above, which is our officer population, and for that population, we've been growing the representation of our women colleagues.

Our goals, going into 2025, are expected to achieve 43.5 percent of our population on a global basis, so that we can make a difference.

The overall percentage of women is over 40 percent.

Q: What about the speculations around recession impacting Citigroup in terms of hiring and talent retention?

A: From my seat, we continue to face very high volumes of attraction to and hiring in the organisation and we continue to invest in several business lines.

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We're speaking about India as an example that we will continue to grow with very similar volumes. This year, we will have filled approximately 15,000 roles in the organisation and those volumes will continue.

Macroeconomic conditions are changing across the globe, and I think they are going to be reviewed. As always, we are just trying to ensure that we react as the market is reacting to different business lines.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]