We are honored to be included in the Merchant Payments Ecosystem‘s POSitivity Magazine for their Diversity & Inclusion Sessions. MPE interviewed key experts to better understand new HR trends facing the payments community, including our very own Chief Commercial Officer, Vinay Shiriwastaw.
He spoke with MPE about building success with a culturally and geographically diverse workforce like DisputeHelp. The full issue featuring Vinay can be downloaded as pdf here. DisputeHelp will also be exhibiting at MPE Berlin March 12-14, 2024.
MPE: How to bridge the digital skills gap with a diverse workforce future-proofing growth and innovation?
Vinay: As an executive you have to dedicate time to soft-recruiting — i.e. recruiting before you actually need talent. By constantly networking and engaging with diverse communities you can stay connected to a high quality recruitment pool with the skills that you need to stay innovative.
What are the most common barriers to creating a more diverse workforce? How can they be overcome?
The most common barrier is finding the right talent. You have your requirements — the skillsets or experience you need — but that has to align with what’s actually out there. Once you’re familiar with that talent pool, then you can recruit people based on your D&I goals.
Why is your culture critical to achieving success?
We built upon the culture of our founders, because it resonates with our clients and partners. Determination, innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset drove our founders to build the organization we have today. Sharing that cultural affinity with our clients, partners, and staff helps us drive them — and ourselves — to success.
How do you invest in ongoing employee development to create an inspiring culture that motivates and retains talent?
It’s a four-point strategy: Communicate, Educate, Invest, and Reward. Our number-one leadership priority is communication. We want our leadership and our associates to be transparent in everything we do to educate all stakeholders and get their buy-in. We then follow-up by rewarding our people for making those initiatives happen.
What are the biggest challenges payment companies face with a hybrid workplace?
Digitally transmitting our energy and enthusiasm for what we do across the hybrid global workspace is the biggest challenge. Maintaining a cohesive culture and keeping priorities aligned globally without traditional face-to-face relationships puts us in uncharted territory.
How do you see AI fitting into the role of Learning & Development practitioners?
AI has both active and passive use cases. AI data aggregation can be used to passively enhance initiatives and resources that L&D creates. L&D can also identify and distribute specific AI tools that actively contribute to other work streams such as Operations or Sales.