One Year Since Employee 2020: Synechron’s Engaging Employees in a Competitive Job Market

Synechron Inc., a leading Digital Consulting firm for financial services, announced its commitment to increasing engagement and positive employer experiences as Synechron passes the halfway mark through to its Employee 2020 employer promise.

The Employee 2020 initiative marked Synechron’s commitment to building human capital management and organizational development programs that reinforce five key areas: ambition, empowerment, responsibility, innovation, and a limitless drive for excellence. Ultimately, nearly half of HR leaders cite employee retention and turnover as their top workforce challenge, followed by recruitment and corporate culture management, and 78% of HR leaders are more concerned about the talent shortage today than they were a year ago. With the competition for talent rising, Synechron is taking steps to create opportunities for a new generation of employees.

To create an environment that encourages Ambition, Synechron has focused on three key areas: Leadership programs, Skills-based trainings and Reward & Recognition initiatives. Over the last year, the company has launched a new, global Executive Leadership Forum bringing together the top-most management to set corporate and regional strategies; launched a NextGen Leadership Forum to recognize and reward top talent in business, support and emerging technology roles and an intensive; and created an innovative Java Full Stack Fast Track training program to upskill developers – with over 100+ trained in the newest technologies like Angular, React, Big Data, and more.

As a private company that continues to invest in R&D and Innovation, Synechron hosted local and global Hackathons, supporting collaboration and innovation across regions, with 192 participants across 66 teams and five winning teams across the globe. Synechron also has expanded its infrastructure and expert teams with three new Financial Innovation Labs (FinLabs) opened in 2018 in Paris, Serbia, and Singapore as well as an update to its Amsterdam FinLab. Synechron’s Singapore FinLab was recognized by Fintech Singapore as one of the top 28 in the region and most recently, drove Synechron’s global Wealth Tech Accelerator and training program.

To Empower our 8,000+ strong employees and embrace a people-driven culture, Synechron has inaugurated Women/Gender Networks across the US and UK, providing training, mentorship, and reinforcement of diversity & inclusion (D&I) priorities. Key initiatives have included a social awareness campaign for Women in Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), participation in WomenHack Hackathons and recruitment events, a global sponsorship with Girls in Tech and industry initiatives such as Women in Tech and Women in Blockchain roundtables. Additionally, Synechron has launched new communities in the UK for well-being, LGBTQ affinity, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Moreover, given that building an employee onboarding program improves new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%, Synechron has created a new global induction framework to transition smoothly into the business and assimilate into the company culture.

As a Responsible organization, Synechron has put in place programs to give back formally to the communities where we live and work. A new CSR framework focused around key areas such as health & wellness, sustainability, and social causes has been put in place. With 89% of workers at companies that support well-being initiatives more likely to recommend their company as a good place to work, Synechron has implemented new social and wellness programs such as stand-up and cycle desks, Peloton bikes, and monthly well-being events, including yoga and SoulCycle sessions. Sustainable initiatives include establishing a Sustainable Finance Center of Excellence (COE) in Amsterdam, implementing a zero-food waste and recycling initiative in Amsterdam, and a establishing a partnership with Reforest’Action in Paris to plant trees for every client project win, with a commitment to plant at least 2000 trees in 2019.

Supporting our ambitious employees with a Limitless Drive for Excellence has resulted in many rewards and recognitions. Over 400 employees globally were nominated for Synechron’s internal Surpass Awards in the last year, with 300 winners across the globe. Synechron also conducted over 720+ trainings across the US, UK, India and the UAE in 2018. Trainings included areas such as Java, DevOps, AI and Data Science, Project Management, Soft Skills, and other areas, with employees receiving certifications in CSM, Cloud Computing, Pega, Java, Microsoft, and more. Synechron also has participated in external training programs, such as Generation Success Speed Mentoring and partnerships with Westminster University for mentoring underprivileged students and Singapore Polytechnic to develop Blockchain courses to encourage innovation amongst students to support the future workforce.

John Gaunt, Chief Human Resources Officer at Synechron stated, “A recent study found that 92% of employees said positive workforce experiences mattered the most to them, while 66% said being valued and recognized came was the most important aspect of employment. This is why it is so important to create a commitment to current and prospective employees. I am proud of what we have achieved since the launch of Employee 2020 and look forward to continuing to provide new opportunities in the next year and to transform into a futuristic organization.”

Faisal Husain, Co-founder and CEO at Synechron stated, “People are the most important part of our business. I am glad to see new opportunities extended to our remarkable team of Synechronites. This is especially significant, to keep Synechron as a great place to work, and is why we have been recognized with two consecutive Business Intelligence Best Places to Work Awards for 2018 and 2019, and the Silicon Review Best Place to Work Award in 2018 Award. This is all because of the limitless opportunities and innovation we provide our employees locally and globally and will continue to expand upon in the next year.”

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