It’s been three years since I was given this opportunity to wear the Intuit badge. What an amazing learning journey it has been! My connection and bond towards Intuit’s mission have only become stronger in these three years. I am writing this with the same excitement that I had when I wrote Part II and Part I of ‘I am in Love with Intuit’. Now, let’s talk about what’s been cooking lately that made me write Part III.

“Time out, guys! This meeting isn’t going anywhere, let’s take a break.” Said, Jennifer who was attending the meeting virtually through video conference. Pete, Heath and I looked at each other and acknowledged with our head nods that taking a break was a great idea. Especially, with my office feeling like 100+ degrees inside, after a “passionate debate” for the last hour, to define a set of principles that would help lead us to a critical decision. These types of “passionate” conversations are a daily part of how we positively challenge each other at Intuit, to ensure that we are making the right decisions for our employees, customers, partners & shareholders. After an hour of debate not leading to the desired outcomes, the timing to take a break couldn’t have been better. “Now, check your inboxes y’all, there’s some exciting news for us!”, it’s Jennifer again. And, the email made our day! All of us Hi-Fived with excitement. (Snapshot of the message below). We couldn’t have asked for better news than this!

Our excitement was not because we won an award, it’s obviously very encouraging! But, the reason for our collective excitement is for a reason much bigger. This is about what we stand for as a company, our values, and our inspiring mission – “Powering Prosperity Around the World”, that all of us at Intuit strives to deliver EVERY SINGLE DAY.

According to the 2018 Distressed Community Index provided by the Economic Innovation Group, 50 Million Americans live in distressed zip codes/communities, which is very shocking. That’s almost 1 out of every 6 Americans.

At the same time, in parallel, there’s a major challenge that is threatening the U.S BPO industry. Employee attrition in North American BPO sites range between 80% to 120% annualized and is a barrier to delivering great customer experiences.

In collaboration with our partners, Sykes & Concentrix, we identified two distressed communities in the U.S through an extensive selection process and established new customer service centers. The results were inspiring. These struggling communities gained access to several hundred jobs that changed the trajectory of these communities while our partners were able to retain their talent and improve retention rates by becoming the employer of choice in these communities. And, our customers?? Well, they were thrilled with the experience that was delivered out of these sites. Solving a business problem by making the world better, how cool is that!!! This just added a whole new meaning to the work we do and the sense of contentment is so awesome.

I have a personal connection to distressed communities. 10 years back, I moved from Bangalore (India), a city of 12 Million to Conway (Arkansas), a small town with 50,000 people. In the three years that I lived there, beyond making some life long friends, I had the opportunity to experience some distressed communities around Conway and how $12/hour jobs can transform lives & the entire community.

It’s impossible to imagine what individuals in these distressed communities go through if you haven’t been to one. Their struggles, the brain drain & the “SORRY WE’RE CLOSED. OUT OF BUSINESS” sign that hangs in every other shop in the deserted downtown area of the town is a sight that will make you believe that you are in a different country. These two pictures from my recent visit to one of the distressed communities do not do justice in articulating the opportunity that exists in these communities.

My emotional connection to these communities during my days in Conway AR had sparked a passion towards contributing more to the distressed communities. And, when you work for a company like Intuit that expects a big part of your job to be focused on what you are passionate about, what else can you ask for. I LOVE INTUIT!!!

About the Author: For more information, contact Balakarthik Venkataramanan at vbkarthik123@gmail.com. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balakarthikv