Cognizant, a leading company (195th position in Fortune 500) with 680 jobs in Lithuania has been recognised as one of the best employers and received a Tоp Employer 2019 award. The division of Cognizant in Lithuania provides services for business optimisation and has also set up an IT service centre operating in banking, pension administration, insurance and other sectors.
A Top Employer certificate is issued after careful analysis and evaluation of a company’s performance in the areas of talent management and recruitment, workforce planning, the involvement of new employees, learning and development, performance management, leadership promotion, career planning, compensation and benefits, and the internal corporate culture. The survey consists of 100 questions concerning employee activities.
“We are part of a global company, and the Top Employer certificate is important proof that at our division in Lithuania we have created a positive working environment conducive to growth. We believe in the principle of lifelong learning, so we invest in our employees right from the first working day, providing them with an opportunity to develop their careers and gain new skills,” Edita Znutienė, HR director of Cognizant, said.
“When trying to attract more international players to Lithuania, real success stories that show that our country has the right conditions for a thriving and growing business are more helpful than anything else. The Cognizant BPO centre in Vilnius is one such success story we can mention to companies considering moving to Lithuania,” Laisvis Makulis, head of Business Services team at Invest Lithuania, said.
“Undoubtedly, the Top Employer 2019 certificate will help Cognizant to further attract and retain the best talents in the country, while for the company’s employees it will be official confirmation that they can be proud of working in one of the best companies in the country,” Laisvis Makulis added.
With 220 offices worldwide, the Cognizant Group has 274,000 employees. In Lithuania, the company currently employs about 680 people.
“We provide opportunities for each employee not only to improve and pursue a career but also to realise themselves as active individuals. The company promotes and contributes to various social initiatives and community projects for employees. The average age of our employees is 29, so it is especially gratifying that the younger generation is looking for opportunities to realize themselves in the professional field and want to be aware that their activities are important to society,” Edita Znutienė said.
Teaching to speak Swedish, Danish or Norwegian fluently
According to Edita Znutienė, the specifics of the company’s services and client geography require that the employees speak foreign languages. So if an employee does not yet know a language required for the job, the company will first invest in training. For five to six months, newly recruited employees learn the Scandinavian languages required for their future work according to a unique methodology.
“We pay employees their salaries during this period, despite the fact that they are not yet performing their functions directly. We invest not only in employee training but also in retaining our employees by continuously expanding long-term and short-term motivation programmes,” Edita Znutienė explained.
Incentives and conditions: from insurance to ‘days of trust’
Cognizant provides medical and life insurance to its employees, while some employees are motivated by additional contributions to third pillar pension funds. Support through payments is provided both for joyful and critical life situations, while fresh fruit is offered on a daily basis and there is a private bicycle fleet for employee use. The company grants up to eight ‘days of trust’ per year, when an employee can stay at home in case of health problems; it is sufficient to notify an immediate superior and no sick leave is required.
Employees create initiative groups voluntarily
“In addition, our company is unique in that it has several employee initiative groups called ‘committees’. They suggest how to improve the working environment and training, organise sports activities and carry out socially responsible initiatives – for example collecting donations for children with diabetes, or taking care of the children at the Gilė and Išlaužas day care centres, senior citizens, homeless pets, etc.”
Edita Znutienė said. According to Znutienė, these employee initiatives are one of the engines for improving the company’s performance. In addition, the activities of the committees serve those employees who want to become managers – they become a platform for testing themselves in a different area. By participating in committee activities they not only coordinate a particular project but can also gain management experience.
