How ARISE Is Making Life Better For African American Employees at TCS
When you join a community, you want to know that you’re going to be getting more than a koozie and a drawstring bag out of it. Depending on who you are, you might join a community to make new friends, learn a new skill, discuss a certain topic, or support a certain cause. But when you join the ARISE community at TaTa Consultancy Services, you can expect to do all of the above.
The ARISE community at TaTa Consultancy Services (TCS) is an African American employee resource group whose members work, socialize, interact, and grow with one another on a variety of levels. In order to get a better look at ARISE and all the benefits associated with being a member, we interviewed a few members of the group and even hosted a virtual event alongside members where prospects were invited to learn more about the community.
After the virtual event and all the interviews were conducted, one thing that was emphasized repeatedly within the community was the sense of family that ARISE members felt. Interestingly enough, we found that this sense of family led to all sorts of other benefits for members such as an easier onboarding process for new hires, a stronger sense of community and belonging, and a flourishing system of resources for members to grow themselves with.
An Easier, Warmer Welcome
Joining a new company is never easy, especially if it’s your first job out of college. Throw in being a minority and your path gets even more complicated. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a group of people who have similar backgrounds as you that you could rely on and ask questions? People who may have gone through similar hurdles and experiences as you?
Well, that’s exactly what ARISE provides, and exactly why TCS introduces it to new hires early on.
Although TCS makes sure every single new hire has the right resources necessary for an easy and seamless onboarding process, the ARISE community offers an extra lever for those new hires to lean on. Plus, sometimes specific questions and inquiries can be better answered by the same people who may have experienced those specific scenarios themselves.
A Stronger Sense of Belonging
In college, we had sports clubs, greek organizations, academic groups, and a plethora of other avenues to help us feel welcome and like we belonged. In the professional world, employee resource groups have taken the role of these collegiate communities which employees can use to feel more a part of the company they work for.
In our conversations with members of the ARISE group at TCS, every single employee reiterated one phrase over and over again – “ it’s like a family.” They spoke about how their relationships with one another felt incredibly natural and close. As if they had known one another their whole lives.
Here is what Adele Ruffin had to say about her expectations coming into the company and how they were pleasantly fulfilled.
When you know you belong somewhere, like your welcome, it makes it that much easier to succeed and be your best self. But when the same group that gives you that sense of belonging also has a system of resources deliberately intended to help you grow, your ability to achieve greatness triples, if not doubles.
Resources to Help You Grow
Now that ARISE has helped you get onboarded to the company and allowed you to establish a sense of belonging and friendship with colleagues, it’s time for the community to assist you in growing yourself professionally.
One of the most valuable aspects of being involved with ARISE is the access you have to other employees that you might not normally come across in your typical day-to-day at the company. These fellow members could belong to different departments who you could discuss new opportunities with or they could be superiors or executives who you get a chance to impress.
This open-door environment is perhaps one of the biggest contributing factors to growing within a company. You can only get so much from reading a job description. When you’re actually able to meet someone who is responsible for a particular role, have lunch with them, get mentored by them, or just introduce yourself, you increase both your understanding of that role and your chances of one day fulfilling that role.
Regardless of what your career path is, building significant relationships in a group like ARISE will contribute to the proliferation of your professional life in one way or another.
Outside Looking In
As the WayUp interviewer covering the deep dive into the ARISE program, I did not come away from my interaction with the group unaffected. Having spent hours conversing with members like Jamar, Brianna, Bridget, and Joe, cracking jokes, talking about what drives them and the group, and coming to understand them not only as individuals but as a community as well, really made me see the big picture.
In its simplest form, ARISE was created to help African Americans at TCS win. The beautiful cycle that’s occurring at ARISE starts with someone making the most of the program, using all the resources that are available to them to boost their life personally and professionally, and then paying it forward to the next new member.
Will you be the next new member to reap the benefits of this incredible program? Browse current openings at TCS and start the cycle to greatness! More
