Catalin Badescu, Capgemini: “Jobs are transforming, and the employees have to embrace the change”

“We are a people business. Our business is made by people. We are working on a hybrid model, focus on the wellbeing. Gen AI popped up quite fast, and it’s changing faster and faster our environment. We have to focus, first of all, to adapt our own employees. They have to understand that their jobs are transforming. It’s not about losing their jobs. They have to embrace the change.

As a company, we have also to evolve. Also, our clients are different. Okay, they have different jobs, different expectations. They got used with what they have. They want something more. If someone, you know, started the boom of Gen AI, they also want that. They want to be in the game. It’s not about savings. It’s not necessarily about cost. It’s about being more efficient. And of course, we have at the same time to think about our own employees,” Catalin Badescu, BSV Romania Head, Capgemini said at Romanian Business Services Forum organized by Outsourcing Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“The way we are talking with them, the way we interact with them. Okay, even in the office space. We have to be more often next to them. We have to give them even tools to say their own opinion and share their feedback.

And we need to act. This is what happened because of the pandemic. People are reacting completely different. They are more emotional, more sensitive. And they want closeness. They want someone to tell them, okay, it’s certain, it’s not uncertain. So, I think it’s a big job for us and some big shoes to fill in the incoming future.

I think first of all we have to be a role model for our employees. Not even when I mentioned earlier. I sit in the open space. When I go to the office I don’t have a desk. I want to be close to all people.

Whenever I have a break like 10 minutes I just get up and I go to a new project. And I have a chat with my colleagues. I’m asking them how they are feeling.

And I want to help others. We have a lot of experience as leaders. And we need to start sharing more what we learn with our own employees. How someone can follow you if you are not an open individual.

You have to be very transparent. We have to advise our people about the choices they are making. And that’s the only way to follow us. And we have to adapt to that change. In the past maybe people were not that open to discuss in Romania. We had a different system. But now it’s more open. And people actually say what they feel. We just have to listen.”