Simon Sinek, an American author and inspirational speaker, shares in his book 'Start with Why', how some brands and leaders think differently. They begin with 'why' instead of jumping straight to 'how'.

When it comes to setting up a Global Capability Centre (GCC) and driving a high-impact mandate, starting with a clear purpose is what truly sets the direction. Keeping that purpose in focus helps answer most of your questions, while the how, when, and where naturally fall into place.

Setting up a GCC is certainly a major organizational milestone. When you talk about a high-performing GCC, you need more than just a nice office space and a bunch of people seated on chairs. To realize the true business value, you need a clear objective, and a combination of skilled personnel and technology outlook, supported by strategic planning, which is possible only with experience and market intelligence.

Most critically, quality is key, at every step!

For creating a sustainable success story with this model, you need to answer some questions.

What's your talent approach?

The effectiveness of your GCC depends entirely on the capabilities of its team members and what they will eventually bring to the table in terms of skills and cultural nuances. Hence, the obvious step in your talent strategy is to determine exactly which types of skills and abilities you need. Whether you plan to target either core operations or focus on innovation and research and development. The approach mode is crucial.

After understanding your talent requirements seek candidates with more than just resume qualifications. Think about potential, mindset, and cultural fit. Work together with regional talent specialists to differentiate yourself within competitive markets. Talented candidates deserve reasons to remain with your organization. Provide meaningful work with clear career progression goals, while offering opportunities to showcase commitment and competence.

What are your core values that will bring global teams together?

The most thought through plans will fail when they lack supportive organizational culture. Your GCC needs to become an integral element of your organization. Your GCC must operate as if it is an inherent part of your organization.

Hence, you must foster clear communication between your organization's global and local teams. Celebrate shared wins. Build trust through transparency and collaboration. An inclusive organizational culture can substantially improve performance and people would love to stick around.

What is binding your tech focus together?

Technology is an enabler in every sense. You must set-up tools and infrastructure that runs smoothly and delivers at speed with scalability.

Our suggestion is to bring in the elements of flexibility, agility, and adaptability into play. Technology wise, your GCC needs to evolve to smoothly embed automation, analytics and AI whenever and wherever it needs. In this process you can even bring in a partner who can deliver and manage technology implementation for you, so that your teams don't get overwhelmed.

India, the GCC capital of the world

JLL, a global commercial real estate and investment management company, has shared in its report that the number of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India will exceed 2,500, up from the current count of 1,950. These GCCs, established by leading multinational corporations, are expected to occupy over 300 million square feet of space in the next 3 to 4 years. This growth will be driven by new entrants as well as expansion by existing players.

What began with captive centres and BPOs has matured into the establishment of Centres of Excellence (CoEs). Today, India has further evolved into a hub for transformation and innovation. India gives your GCC the best of both worlds; access to top talent and cost efficiency.

You can tap into an extensive, but exclusive pool of skilled professionals in tech, engineering, and analytics, all without compromising on quality or exploiting your budgets. It's also a thriving innovation hub. With a vibrant startup scene, strong IT services, and tech centres of excellence, you have everything you need to keep your GCC on the cutting edge.

Hence, as your business evolves, your GCC can experience the same growth trajectory. You can build future-ready teams that not only support your current goals, but also help drive long-term strategic growth.

Operations wise, India offers the best of digital infrastructure to help you work smarter. Automation, agile delivery, and cloud adoption are aspects that get embedded within your GCC's blueprint. When all this comes together, it works marvellously to boost efficiency and performance.

The JLL guidebook mentions a crucial point with regards to talent retention and stability, "When it comes to the high demand for talent, India has the solution. But this solution comes with a high attrition rate. You need an inclusive work culture that recruits and retains the best."

Ultimately, the core objective is to work around your goals and let you focus on the big global picture for your business.

It's a combination of factors, but strategic outlook matters

At the end of the day, building a high-performance GCC is about more than just execution. It's about being clear on the purpose and making sure everyone is aligned on what you're really trying to achieve.

Whether you're aiming to reduce costs, grow into new markets, or spark innovation, having a clear strategy helps you through every decision-making process. Right from the teams you build, to how you measure success. When everyone's on the same page, your GCC becomes more than a support function. It becomes a unified entity with your core.

With Enablr as your 'partner of choice', you can depend solely on us for your end-to-end talent and HR solutions and technology enablement strategy. Know more about our wide range of solutions to reach faster to the market without compromising on quality.