Iryna Tkach is the Global Director of People Experience at SoftServe. After 15 years in the consulting industry, Tkach now leads a team inside SoftServe that runs global talent management, people experience, M&A and many other HR functions. At SoftServe, Tkach notes that career development aligns to the core mission statement of the organization, and in this conversation, Tkach spoke to us about why career development is so critical to SoftServe, and the specific strategy along with programs and practices SoftServe has implemented to enable their employees to grow and thrive in a changing world of work
The Edge of Work: What is your role, and what inspires you to do the work you do each day?
I have the privilege of leading our Global Talent Management team, a global and diverse group of talent and HR professionals at SoftServe. In addition to overseeing traditional talent management programs, our responsibilities encompass people experience, listening strategies, and various strategic HR initiatives, including HR support for M&A activities. What inspires me each day is the exceptional talent within my team and our broader HR team, our continuous learning and innovation culture and the historic roots of the company.
Joining the internal HR team after more than 15 years of consulting experience was initially a transition for me. However, I was looking forward to applying my experience to our internal HR consulting projects. It didn’t take long for me to discover that internal roles offer unique opportunities to make a meaningful impact and drive change. Leveraging continuity, contextual understanding and consistent stakeholder relationships, I found that internal roles enable you to effect change more directly and significantly.
The Edge of Work: Career development is a priority for many employees and organizations today. While this is not necessarily new, what is new about this, and why is it important to you and your team at SoftServe?
The importance of career development at SoftServe is embedded in our mission statement – To enable talented people to change the world. The only way we can “enable” talented people to change the world is through a strong commitment to consistently invest in their education, training, development, and growth.
Career development holds significance for us for several reasons:
- It directly impacts business performance, with companies that prioritize employee development more likely to surpass financial targets.
- It enhances employee engagement and retention.
- It plays a pivotal role in attracting top tech talent, positioning SoftServe as an employer of choice in the competitive landscape.
We view career development as steps our associates take on their journey to achieve their professional goals – from smaller goals, such as mastering a new skill, to bigger goals like certification or promotion. It’s all about the needs of our associates. Recognizing the diverse needs of our associates, we introduced a new approach in 2022. This approach proactively assesses learning needs each quarter, tailoring development initiatives to align with both business/client requirements and individual aspirations. Our approach evaluates learning needs at three levels — strategic, team, and individual — ensuring a comprehensive and balanced analysis.
The Edge of Work: What does career development mean at SoftServe, and how does this come to life either through strategies, policies, or programs?
At SoftServe, career development is more than just a buzzword—it’s a tangible commitment to empowering our associates to reach their full potential and achieve their professional aspirations. We deliver on this commitment through various strategies, policies, and programs designed to foster continuous learning and growth.
A great example would be our own SoftServe University – a corporate learning hub that provides professional learning solutions to our associates. Through SoftServe University our associates have access to learning opportunities in various directions: technology & development, business analysis & product management, project & program management, certifications (AWS, Google, Microsoft, ICA Agile etc.). The latest internal survey of SoftServe University showed that learning significantly impacts career progression – those SoftServians promoted in 2023 spent 42% more time on learning than those not promoted. In general, in 2023 our University offered 11,000+ unique learning solutions for company employees.
Additionally, we’ve developed a cutting-edge professional development platform known as People Excellence (PeEx). This innovative ecosystem allows us to unlock full potential of our associates by assessing their skills and work quality against a robust repository of job descriptions and competencies. Through PeEx, we’re able to identify talent gaps, tailor development plans, and provide personalized support to help our associates thrive in their careers.
SoftServe became a challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant report in November 2023. The report highlighted the company for its focus on talent management innovations. It stressed the fact that SoftServe had one of the best and most modern ways of developing talent among the vendors in the research. This a testament to our commitment to the continuous learning of our associates.
The Edge of Work: While career development is a priority, it’s not always easy to make this work for everyone. What are some of the challenges that you’ve seen organizations run into with effectively doing this well, and how can they overcome them?
As the famous expression goes, “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” A common challenge faced by many companies is the uneven distribution of opportunities for career development and professional growth among workforces.
To address this challenge, it’s crucial for organizations to prioritize inclusive career development programs that level the playing field for all employees. This involves implementing objective career frameworks and standards outlining clear pathways for advancement and ensure transparency in the promotion process.
At SoftServe, we’ve taken proactive steps to address these challenges by deploying various tools and initiatives aimed at promoting equitable career development:
- Detailed job standards and competencies: We’ve developed comprehensive job standards and identified key competencies for our technical roles within the organization. This allows associates to clearly understand the skills and experiences required to progress to the next level in their career.
- Diverse performance review teams: In addition to an associate’s direct manager, we involve a diverse team of technical experts in the performance review process. This ensures multiple perspectives are considered when evaluating an associate’s readiness for advancement, mitigating bias, and promoting fairness.
We also actively engage with our associates to understand their career aspirations and expectations. We leverage our diverse councils and resource groups, including the DEI Council, Employee Experience Council, and Veterans Community, Employee Resource Group for Women etc. to solicit feedback and provide support tailored to the unique needs of our workforce.
The Edge of Work: What role do people managers play in the career development of their employees?
Many, if not all, aspects of an employee’s journey with an organization depend on the role of people managers. I think you share this view, Al, as I know you are a passionate supporter of transforming the role of the manager for the current world of work. Especially your recent podcast on this topic impressed me a lot and I fully concur we need to rethink the role of people managers and make sure that helping the career development of employees is part of the definition of these new roles.
A good manager knows the different hopes and objectives of each team member by helping them have productive discussions about improving their skills and advancing their careers. By creating a culture of trust and honesty, managers enable employees to be in charge of their career choices while offering helpful advice and support along the way. In the end, it’s the employee who decides their career direction, but we all need some assistance and a positive example to show the way.
The Edge of Work: As a fast growing organization in the technology industry, Softserve has evolved and grown over the years. How has career development evolved at Softserve over the years to support this growth?
For the past 30 years, one of the main reasons people join and remain with SoftServe has been our Employee Value Proposition, which includes career development and growth. This commitment is evident in the various surveys we conduct, including candidate assessments, onboarding evaluations, and our quarterly employee satisfaction survey. Our robust practices surrounding career development, growth, and opportunities have significantly strengthened our employer brand. We firmly believe that career development is essential for providing a stellar employee experience and delivering outstanding results for our clients.
Our Talent Management team has been diligently working to understand, evolve, and enhance the employee experience at SoftServe, with a particular focus on measuring the satisfaction of our associates with their career development and progression. While we acknowledge our current strengths in this area, we remain committed to continuous improvement. In 2022, we initiated a project to gain deeper insights into what sets being a SoftServe employee apart and to cultivate a shared understanding of what it means to be a SoftServian from a career development and job satisfaction perspective.
This initiative led us to identify four key areas with the greatest potential impact on associate engagement at SoftServe, one of which was the opportunity for internal growth within the company. To address this, we launched NEXT – an internal marketplace where associates can explore and apply for projects or new job openings. NEXT has proven instrumental in aligning associates with rotation programs, stretch assignments, volunteering opportunities, and skill-building experiences that align with the evolving needs of our business.
The Edge of Work What is one habit, practice or action that you think all professionals should do so they can develop and manage their own career?
Never stop learning and never stop being curious – Microsoft’s principle of a shift from “know it all” to “learn it all” really resonates with me. I believe learning agility will become more and more important in the nearest future, regardless of your industry, expertise or professional background. The pace with which we would be able to learn, unlearn, and relearn will define our success in our careers and our lives as well.
The Edge of Work: What is one thing you’d like leaders to do differently so they can create a better workplace for their people?
Create a psychological safety for their people to be able to share their opinions, ideas, challenges. When people feel heard, they feel valued and develop a sense of belonging to their organization, resulting in higher engagement and productivity levels that foster innovation culture.
The Edge of Work: What does a better world of work look like to you?
I believe that the world of work has improved significantly over the last couple of years. We are witnessing increased flexibility, some progress towards skills-based working models, and a greater emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as sustainable working practices. However, there are still areas that require our focus and attention. Particularly, the rapid deployment of AI and its potential impact on jobs, the workforce, and society as a whole need to be addressed.