Work From Home eliminates 'important learnings from colleagues, seniors', says TCS CEO

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) K Krithivasan on Tuesday (February 20) highlighted the limitations of remote work, especially in terms of professional development and organisational culture.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF), Krithivasan pinpointed a notable issue faced by TCS during the remote work phase — the absence of collaboration and camaraderie typically fostered through office interactions.

He said, “When people are working remotely and things are getting to normal, our associates continue to work from home. What we missed is collaboration. At least within TCS, we value collaboration and camaraderie a lot, and that was missing.”

Krithivasan also touched upon the importance of imparting company values to new associates, especially those who had not set foot in the office, “We keep saying values are very important to us. How do we impart the value to associates who have not even come to the office once?”

Further, he underscored the significance of learning through observation and emulation in professional growth, stating, “The most important learning came from seeing how the mentors and the seniors behaved in a given situation and getting to know what is the best way to handle a given client situation.”

In response to Bhan’s question about a middle ground, Krithivasan emphasised the importance of being present in the office, “We believe what TCS stands for, what we all value we want to give to our customers; it is important for associates to be there every day.”

Regarding Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work-a-week idea, Krithivasan said, “Don’t get me in trouble.” Murthy had said youngsters should work 70 hours a week if India wants to compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the last two to three decades.

Krithivasan concluded by highlighting the sentiment among customers, with a vast majority expressing a desire to return to the office, “Almost 100% for customers. They are all keen on getting their workforce back to work, back to the office every day.”