IBM promotes entrepreneurial thinking among employees

IBM India is planning to make good use of the millennial culture and its habit of finding a different outlook at problems, and it could result in an internal culture transformation for the company.

For the last few years, the technology company has been rewarding and recognising employees having an entrepreneurial spark in them, and as the next step, would plan to focus on driving entrepreneurship among the workforce.

"The transformation has been an ongoing one, recently gathering momentum. Now, we want all employees to have in their DNA the ability to recreate and reimagine things for the benefit of our clients. The entrepreneurial thinking we are driving within IBMers is focused on responding quickly to clients' needs and having elements of design thinking," DP Singh, VP and head - HR, IBM India/South Asia, told ET.

Singh says that at every fourth desk across IBM workplaces, you would find an entrepreneur, adding that almost 20% of IBM’s workforce consists of millennials.

"We are looking at entrepreneurship among employees as a new way to find solutions to problems," said Singh.

It was in January this year that IBM rolled out the ACE programme, by which it aimed to bring together ways for appreciation, coaching and evaluation all within the same agile platform. Available to the workforce as mobile or desktop application, the programme is a part of IBM’s ongoing focus towards embedding a culture of instant feedback, and has resulted in higher performances and outcomes.

Another programme, called Checkpoint, is a performance measurement programme, which enables IBM employees to seek feedback from managers on goals and activities, which results in a continuous engagement.

"Checkpoint and Ace are part of our culture of giving and taking feedback. Listening becomes really important in this context, and we are driving awareness sessions on how listening better can drive stronger entrepreneurial skills," said Singh.

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