Annette Barnabas

Business Analysis Associate Director

India

Annette Barnabas lives in Tamil Nadu, India, where she was born, raised and studied for a degree in electronics and communication engineering before moving into Systems Management. She finally completed her studies by attaining a PhD in HR. After education, she worked as a teaching faculty member in various colleges for about 20 years, combining this with occasional consulting work. She has been with NTT DATA since June 2021 and currently works as a business analysis associate director. Annette is married with two children and at the weekends, in addition to spending time reading, she gets involved with social and church activities to help promote spiritual and moral education for children.

Bringing joy and energy to life and work.

Tell us about an interesting project

I am passionate about promoting diversity in the workplace, and I am really proud of working on one such project that helps to facilitate that initiative. It was a pilot project about reducing the working week to 4 days for eligible employees, initially in the US BPO, but it has also recently been rolled out in the Philippines recently. The goals were to not only promote diversity by allowing employees more flexibility to manage home commitments, but also to increase productivity and reduce absenteeism. We conducted a survey to take the pulse of the employees about reducing the working week, and it was supported and endorsed by almost everyone in the pilot. It has been live since November 2022, and we hope to bring this initiative to India so that we can also enjoy the benefits of a four-day workweek.

Describe a regular working day

I am responsible for several deliverables in the Delivery Analytics team, including marketing and people analytics, and tracking cost optimization initiatives for the BPO. As well as that, I've also recently been heavily involved with DEI initiatives. Having said that, I work fully remote and visit the office occasionally to take part in client and team engagements. I connect with leaders in India, the US and the UK every day, juggling different time zones. What I like about working from home is that I can manage my time really efficiently. Mostly I start work in the afternoons which leaves my mornings free for family obligations. In essence, I can plan my own day based on business deliverables and commitments and have a flexible work life and lifestyle. In terms of my team, we stay in touch socially by having daily set-up calls and monthly ‘coffee hours' where work topics are off the menu.

Why do you like to work at NTT DATA?

There are several reasons why I like working at NTT DATA. From a personal perspective, I love the idea that you are fully supported as an employee. For example, I have always had a mentor who I can go to for support and advice. At the same time, we are encouraged to be autonomous in our thinking and approach to work. So, I can take decisions for myself and plan my own development without being micro-managed. Another positive point is that NTT DATA has a strong social responsibility ethic. This means that community projects are supported, such as speaking at events and giving people the opportunity to learn from me and my company. I am a strong advocate of continuous learning, so having the opportunity to connect with students in the community and see them grow gives me enormous joy.