What Makes a Great Workplace in 2024 : A Peek into Aspire Systems’ Work Culture

The new normal has certainly reshaped the dynamics of workplace culture, pushing organisations to rethink how they engage with their employees and adapt to the evolving needs of GenZ and millennials. It’s no longer just about technology; it's about building an environment that reflects values important to today’s workforce.  

Key values like trust, diversity and inclusion, work-life balance, and well-being are taking the spotlight. Companies are now focusing on creating a future workplace that blends the digital world with a strong sense of human connection and collaboration.  

Fintech, now more than ever! 

The tech world is moving at a rapid pace and a lot of consumers are embracing fintech services due to their convenience, efficiency, and innovative features. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated fintech adoption, as physical distancing measures necessitated remote access to financial services. Banks and financial institutions are striving to provide uninterrupted services while staying relevant.  

At Aspire Systems, we are leading the way in transforming banking with 360-degree offerings, which provide complete services, for front, middle, and back-office operations. We help financial institutions ‘Start the Bank,’ ‘Change the Bank,’ and ‘Run the Bank’ smoothly and efficiently. Our AI-driven solutions make app development, maintenance, and support easier for banks. By focusing on product engineering and agile methods, we help banks quickly launch new products and services. Aspire’s comprehensive service model ensures that banks of all sizes, including neobanks and challenger banks, meet the demands of digital transformation seamlessly. 

As an award-winning Temenos partner with a Center of Excellence, Aspire accelerates core banking modernisation and digital banking implementations. By combining our advanced cloud transformation, data analytics, and AI capabilities with Temenos and Finastra’s robust financial software, we deliver end-to-end banking transformation that enhances customer experiences and operational efficiencies. With Aspire, the future of banking is brighter and more efficient!  

Our global infrastructure and application monitoring, combined with data centre support services, provide banks with the operational resilience they need. Aspire’s AI/ML capabilities enhance everything from risk management and credit decisioning to customer experience and operational efficiency. With over 1.5 million person-hours of product development experience, we leverage our expertise to drive continuous improvements, reducing risks, enhancing security, and boosting the speed of digital rollouts for financial institutions globally. 

We provide tailored solutions in areas like fraud detection, payment transformation, and digital onboarding, especially for our large customer base in the US and UK. We ensure they stay competitive and compliant in the fast-evolving regulatory space.   

Leadership: The secret sauce for team success 

Great leadership is at the heart of any organisation’s success. When leaders set clear goals, it gives employees a solid sense of unified purpose, steers growth, fuels development, and sparks innovation.  And that’s exactly what we do at Aspire! We have transparent processes, defined roles and responsibilities, making it easier for our Aspirians to deliver the best results. Interestingly, we follow a democratic process. The management sets short-term organisational goals with inputs from Aspirians. Surveys are run globally to gather these inputs which have formed our next short-term goal of achieving USD 200 million in revenue with ten projects. This goal is eponymously called Mission 200.X and Aspirians take pride in working towards the goals that they helped set. 

Identifying future leaders is equally important for us. To help groom budding leaders and empower them to manage their responsibilities, we have the high-potential (hi-po) program which aims to enhance their potential and equip them to step up to the next level.  

Wellness at the workplace matters 

At Aspire, wellness of Aspirians is a top priority. We believe it makes them happier, healthier, and more productive. Hence, we strive to create a healthy, positive work environment with great physical and mental wellness programs, which empower our teams and equip them to perform better. Our well-equipped gym, indoor games court, and library are perfect examples of quick refreshment in the middle of a busy day. We have a dedicated Club, Oval Rings, which organises sports tournaments year-round. Aspirians can join sports teams such as basketball, volleyball, football, badminton, or indoor soccer. 

For those who need to de-stress, there is our Mind Spa to help. Employees can reach out to our in-house counselors to seek support for managing stress, fear, or feelings of uncertainty.  

Why behavioural incentives work? 

Behavioural incentives work! Let’s face it. We all love a little extra motivation! Whether it is a high-five for hitting a deadline or a pizza party for achieving a major milestone, these incentives make work fun and rewarding. People tend to stick with good habits when there’s recognition involved.  

Staying true to our philosophy of paying attention to our people, we have several initiatives that put Aspirians at the heart of everything we do. These initiatives enhance employees' connection with the organisation and their peers, resulting in better engagement and appreciation of the recognition of positive behaviour.  

Information sharing: To ensure our employees are abreast of what’s happening across the organisation, we hold quarterly All Hands Meetings, chaired by the senior management. These meetings are a blend of online and offline gatherings, to share company updates and introduce exciting initiatives. Similarly, we have the Ask Our Functions sessions where Aspirians get to interact with the heads of Functional Departments, and regular Townhalls where the heads of different departments share the latest news and developments with their teams. These sessions are very interactive, allowing our people to ask questions and get the answers they need.  

Nurturing a supportive environment: Aspire adopts a flexible, hybrid working model that helps everyone enjoy a better work-life balance. We also care about our employees’ careers supported by our ROADMAP initiative – standing for Recognition, Objective setting, Appraisal, and Development feedback. This initiative includes continuous feedback sessions and career development meetings to help guide employees on their professional journeys.  

Additionally, we offer a professional development program or PDP, where employees can pursue industry-specific certificate programs where Aspire covers up to of 80 per cent of the course fees. And if someone is interested in switching to another department, and has a great potential to thrive there, we’re all for it! At Aspire, we encourage growth without any bias, making it easier for our employees to find the right path.  

Diversity and inclusion:  At Aspire Systems, being a multicultural company, we firmly believe in creating that inclusive work environment where everyone is heard wherever they are on the globe. We have always been creating an environment that is conducive for our employees to aspire to achieve, irrespective of their race, gender, culture, religion, education and personality. Understanding the importance of a supportive culture of equity, Aspire has also designed several programs to support and empower women at work. 

Social events and team building: What’s work without fun! To add that fun element at work, we have dedicated cultural and sports wings at Aspire, called the Da Vinci and Oval Rings. These clubs are all about bringing people together through exciting initiatives like cultural activities and sports tournaments, from Christmas parties to Halloween celebrations and sports tournaments, all round the year. Our goal is to create a lively, dynamic workplace that caters to the diverse interests of our teams. And here’s the cherry on top: each business unit or team has a sponsored entertainment fund for quick getaways from work.  

Feedback sessions: Regular feedback sessions can help employees understand how their behaviours align with company goals. A strong connection makes it easier for them to share their thoughts and feelings. That’s where Amber comes in – our friendly chat partner, or as we like to call it, our Chief Listening Officer. Amber enables employees to voice their concerns, and share their feedback. This makes it easier for the leaders to understand how employees feel and solve their problems.  

Innovation: We encourage our employees to develop fresh ideas and think out-of-the-box. Whether it’s a creative problem-solving method or a serious suggestion to improve a particular project, they can always log on to our iGain portal, connect with peers and share their thoughts. To celebrate tech excellence, we regularly conduct ‘Tech Quest’, an innovative event designed for tech experts. It features several activities and games like quizzes, tech discussions, and insightful talks from industry leaders, making it a great space for learning and innovation.   

Rewards: At its core, a good rewards program celebrates hard work and achievements, making team members feel valued and appreciated. It could be as simple as thank-you notes or more special awards to recognise outstanding performance—it is all about the gestures that go a long way in boosting morale and innovation. We have Spot Awards such as Role Star and Star Gladiator that serve as instant recognition for one’s effort and Annual Awards such as Take Wings, Red Falcons and Sky Blazers. We also have awards to recognise technical and functional excellence of Aspirians globally.    

Final Thoughts 

In 2024 and beyond, a great workplace is one that puts people first, embraces inclusivity, and offers a flexible work environment. From offering mental health resources to encouraging growth and open communications, these workplaces understand what today’s talent needs. By staying in tune with changing expectations, they attract and keep the best people, building teams that are engaging, happy, and ready to drive success in the long run.   

By Prem Sundaravadanam, Vice President, Aspire Systems, UK. 

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