Gayani Ratnayake

“Could I move to the Netherlands?” “Absolutely, we’d love to have you.” And with that, I moved to the Netherlands. I have been with Capgemini for 17 years, started as a campus hire, moved into our transformation consulting practice, oversaw our Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) in Toronto, moved to the Netherlands to work for their design center, wanted to start a family so I moved back to Toronto, and am now the lead of our Emerging Talent Pathways programs. My network has really helped me get the future that I want. They’ve been super supportive. I’ve had amazing managers in my time here at Capgemini that have encouraged me to take risks, to take on new roles, to expand roles that I’m doing, and that’s really helped me build the career that I’m proud to have had over the last 17 years.

Tell me about your career journey at Capgemini.

I’ve been with Capgemini for 17 years. I started as a campus hire and I moved into our transformation consulting practice. I also saw our Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) in Toronto and basically begged them to take me, which they did. After working with them, I moved to the Netherlands to work as part of the design centers, and then when I had my first child I moved back [to Toronto] and I worked internally with our people supply chain practice.

That sounds like a lot of career mobility. Tell us about your move to the Netherlands.

I was supporting an event through the Accelerated Solutions Environment. I met with the Dutch team that was also there and I made a great network of individuals that worked there, and I asked the VP just for fun, “Could I move to the Netherlands?” And she was like, “Absolutely, we’d love to have you.” So I basically emailed her and I said, “I’m really serious.” And she said to come over. So I worked with my network to make that happen for myself.

After two years in the Netherlands, my husband and I said we’d love to start a family, and we wanted to do that closer to home where we have our family. So we decided to come back to Toronto to start a family.

How did Capgemini support you through that life change?

When we moved back from the Netherlands and had our first baby, I was traveling quite a bit with the ASE and I said to my practice staffing partner at the time, I really didn’t want to travel anymore because I wanted to be home, to be with my baby. She offered me a position with the people supply chain, and she said there’s an opportunity to develop their communication strategy. I interviewed with the team, and I’ve been with them for the last five years.

What is your role today?

Today I lead the Emerging Talent Pathways, which focuses on bringing non-traditional talent into Capgemini and supporting their careers once they join our company.

Tell me more about Emerging Talent Pathways.

There are a couple of programs that we have. We have the START program, which is about early careers, and it’s about getting individuals that might not have taken a traditional pathway through school. So not having done a four-year technical degree and not having gone to a fancy university, but they still have the skills acquired through either a bootcamp or an associate degree. And we try to bring them into Capgemini, give them the support and training they need to develop their careers.

The second program is our Career Comeback, or returnship program. That’s getting people that left their careers for whatever reason, either elder care, childcare, and they want to make a return into the workforce. We support them by bringing them in, providing them with training and mentorship to help ensure they are successful in returning to work.

Why is it important that Capgemini has programs like this, this Emerging Talent Pathways?

It’s important because we need to diversify our talent pools. Both programs are really focused on bringing more women and underrepresented minorities into Capgemini.

Tell me about your involvement with our Employee Resource Groups.

I am one of the national co-leads for Women@Capgemini Americas. I started as a member, then led an event stream for a year and, after that, the leadership team suggested I take on a national leadership role. And I have been a national co-lead for two years now.

What advice would you give to a new colleague on joining an ERG?

I think ERGs provide a great network of support of connections; a lot of my career success has been through the people that I’ve known and the network connections that I have made. So my ability to go to the Netherlands was based on who I knew. I think when people join our company, it’s super important to have a network of people outside of the teams that you might be working on. So, you might have a close-knit group of people doing a project, but the ERGs really expand who you get to know outside of just your project team.

And finally, how is Capgemini helping you get the future you want?

Oh, that’s a good one. Capgemini has helped me get the future that I want by enabling me to work with amazing people. I think the people at our company are just incredible. They’re super talented, they’re open, they want to make connections and they want to help. So my network has really helped me get the future that I want. They’ve been super supportive. I’ve had amazing managers in my time here at Capgemini that have encouraged me to take risks, to take on new roles, to expand roles that I’m doing, and that’s really helped me build the career that I’m proud to have had over the last 17 years here.