GCC · Leadership · 6 min read
Why new GCCs should hire their leaders before their teams
The first leadership hires shape everyone hired after them. Here is a phased plan for new capability centres in India.
By Ahanwin Global Partners · [Publish date]
India’s Global Capability Centre boom is still accelerating. Business Today reported that GCC hiring in India is projected at about 5.1 lakh jobs in 2026, around 3.4 times the 2021 level, with Tier 2 cities growing fastest.
With that much hiring ahead, it is tempting to start with volume: engineers, analysts, operations teams. But the order in which a new centre hires matters more than the speed.
The first ten hires shape the next thousand
Leaders decide how teams are structured, what good looks like, and who gets hired next. A centre that hires teams first and leaders later often has to redo its structure, its hiring bar and sometimes its culture.
A four-phase plan
- Leadership core. Site leader, plus finance, HR and technology heads.
- Hiring engine. An in-house talent team with scorecards and an employer brand.
- Managers. Engineering, product and operations managers hired against the leaders’ plan.
- Scale. Volume hiring led by your own team.
Plan for the notice period
Senior candidates in India often serve 60 to 90 day notice periods, and counter-offers are common. Build that time into your launch plan, and stay in touch with every accepted candidate until their first day.
Hire the people who will make the hiring decisions first. Everything else follows from them.