Author: Ashish Rahane

KAIros on Campus: IIM Calcutta Edition

IIM Calcutta invited Sears India Chairman Srini Kandala to share his insights on the possibilities of AI and deep dive into key business use cases.

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

The Business Process Management (BPM) division serves Transformco associates and its members across various states of the US, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. BPM comprises of offline businesses that support Customer Service, Online, and delivery businesses. Global Command Center, Ecommerce Asset and Profit Protection, Procurement, and Merchant Operations are among the other support functions. The team uses platforms such as Salesforce, PeopleSoft, and 24X7 Chat to ensure member satisfaction and a positive shopping experience. BPM operates at an outstanding Net Promoter Score of 9, while delivering consistent SLAs and quality above 90%, year on year basis.

E-LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

E-LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The Segno suite of applications provides various platforms for e-learning and performance management of associates. This gamified learning platform not only allows for publishing of various types of e-learning courses, but also provides flexibility to organize instructor-led training courses. A goal-setting framework enables the leaders to define their business priorities and individuals to record their objectives and measure their results. Our personalized performance management tool leverages data visualization techniques to facilitate performance metric tracking for associates, technicians, agents, and managers. Business partners can drive various reward and recognition programs for the field associates while they progress in their individual KPI-based goals. Our coaching tool gives a platform for mangers to provide feedback on various topics and conduct coaching programs through close engagement of the associates and coaches. Various dashboards in the suite give insights to these programs. These tools are largely built on open source technologies and cloud-based services. The division continuously leverages these technologies to add new functions to serve broader goals of the business.

PAYROLL, WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATION, AND HR

PAYROLL, WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATION, AND HR

As a technology partner to Transformco, the division provides HR process automation solutions for Payroll and Benefits processing. There are fully automated business calendar-based workflows across Timekeeping systems, ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc), banks, benefit providers, and compliance vendors to enable secure, efficient, and accurate processing of payroll, benefits, and reporting. A cloud-based data pipeline across various tools enables Associates Master Data Management, Employee Self-Service, Workforce Analytics, Variable Pay System, and Talent Management System. Several custom-built solutions such as Case Management, Garnishment Processing, and Transaction Processing Center run on industry best practices. The division is continuously adapting cloud-based services and new products to reflect the need of business partners in the ever-evolving HR domain.

FINANCE AND REAL ESTATE

FINANCE AND REAL ESTATE

Financial systems serve the core financial functions and reporting for Transformco. These functions include Accounts Payables, Accounts Receivables, Retail Accounting and Financial Inventory, Procurement, Treasury, Tax Applications, and Financial Reporting. Real Estate Applications are responsible for the management of owned and leased properties and the maintenance of facilities. The Executive Information System (EIS) – which has over 30 applications – helps the executives to model, analyze, and interpret complex business scenarios, and also provides various insights to the business data.