Inspiring a 38,000 people-strong global organization is no mean feat. Creating a robust and resilient culture across teams spread across twelve countries is a complex task and yet that is what Global CEO, Bharat Rao, has achieved at Startek, a global customer experience solutions provider proud to be recognized by Comparably as Best Company for Global Culture in 2023.
Bharat took the helm at Startek in 2022 and immediately recognized a need to reimagine what the Startek brand stood for and reestablish a sense of pride and belonging among associates.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we had moved a large percentage of our teams to work-at-home positions and had done a great job of safeguarding the well-being of our people while also ensuring that our clients and their customers continued to receive the high level of service they expect from Startek” said Bharat Rao, CEO Startek. “But we had moved at a rapid pace to implement work from home and, like many organizations, in that transition, we had lost a little of the spark that engaged our people when they were coming on to a site every day. When you’re not meeting by the coffee machine or grabbing lunch together, it’s easy for communication to become very focused on work tasks and you can lose a little of the human interaction that is so valuable.”
Embedding the Power of Human Connection
As a customer experience solutions provider delivering support services on behalf of the world’s leading brands every day, Startek understands just how vital the human connection is. While technology can solve many problems, there are times when only the human connection will do and that idea is baked into the Startek mission statement: “To effectively combine people, technology and data to deliver customer experience excellence for leading brands, creating value for our customers, opportunity for our people and profitable growth for our shareholders.”.
The award-winning Startek culture is built on four values – Delight Customers, Take Responsibility, Champion Innovation, Work Together. “Our Values unite us, creating a shared set of behaviors that are common to all associates across Startek regardless of region or role. They work together to guide our decision-making and shape the experience of our associates,” noted Rao.
Rolled out in early 2023 alongside a new look and feel for the Startek brand, the Startek Values signaled a new phase in the organization’s story. This marked a renewed focus on the Startek culture and saw associates across the globe taking time to explore what the values meant to them.
Each value is defined by behaviors that associates are encouraged to embody in their day-to-day work:
- Delight customers – We build unique solutions around the needs of our clients and their customers.
- Take responsibility – We are a reliable and trustworthy partner.
- Champion innovation – We look at the world differently to find innovative solutions.
- Work together – We believe that collaboration makes us stronger and delivers better outcomes.
Learn more about the Startek Values.
Leading from the Front
Defining the Values was just the start. “To imbed the values across our global business, ensuring we live and breathe them across the organization, it is essential that our senior leaders are seen to promote and uphold the values themselves,” shared Rao. “Our company culture permeates from the top of the organization down through our teams to associates at all levels within the company. In this way, we demonstrate the behaviors we hope to see and the behaviors that will be rewarded.”
Rewarding Living the Values
To empower associates and ensure they feel connected to the wider business community, Bharat implemented monthly town halls both at a corporate and regional level. The town halls give associates the opportunity to hear about developments across the business, learn about other regions, understand the priorities, ask senior leaders questions and celebrate successes. Each month the efforts of associates are recognized through the Impact Players Awards, which consider the ways in which associates have lived the Startek Values is part of the award process.
Promoting a Diverse, Global Community
Associates are central to the Startek mission of combining people, technology and data to deliver customer experience excellence for leading brands. As a global organization with 38,000 people in 12 countries, teams are made up of groups of people from many different backgrounds with rich and varied experiences.
In a global organization creating a level playing field where all associates are recognized is essential. The Startek Value Work Together is built on the principle that diverse teams create better outcomes. By promoting this idea across the business, minority groups are encouraged to share their opinions and seek out opportunities to play an active role in driving the Startek business forward.
