The Hindu Business Line : Fashion, retail firms join hands to improve talent pool

THE human resources heads of top companies in the fashion and lifestyle retailing industry have come together to make a joint push for this sunrise sector in the country's best recruitment grounds.

Ten companies have joined hands to float HR Forum aimed at giving the fashion and retail sector a better exposure in the talent market, namely the leading business, management and fashion institutions.

The companies participating in the HR Forum include Arvind Brands, Madura Garments, Café Coffee Day, Indus League, ITC, Levi Strauss (India), Metro Cash & Carry, Proline India, Shoppers' Stop and Weekender.

The forum will act as a co-ordinating body showcasing the aspirations of the sector and the growth opportunities in it.

"We plan to make a joint pitch in some of the best schools at the time of summer placements to give fashion and lifestyle sector a better exposure, and then return individually for recruitments during the final placements," said Mr Hari Krishna, Executive Vice President (HR), Arvind Brands.

HR Forum has had two meetings and has put in place an e-group to take forward the best practices and share information in various areas such as recruitment processes, manpower resourcing and planning.

The forum plans to set up a retail training academy that could be used by companies sending their employees for training and short- or medium-term courses.

The fashion sector, in particular, is on the prowl for a wider talent pool as the companies hope for buoyancy in export business on account of removal of quota systems, and a pick-up in consumer spending on impulse purchases including clothing.

Mr Hari Krishna said that the sector provided stimulating challenges, especially in domains like supply chain and logistics management.

"This is a sector which deals with 50,000 SKUs at a time compared to 200 in FMCG, for instance," he said.

"Moreover, we are on a creation and expansion mode unlike some of the matured sectors which are on cost control mode."

He also said that his sector would try to gain from the lost sheen of yesteryears' hot favourites like FMCG.

However, compensation remains a big hurdle in the way of the fashion and retail sector attracting the right talent given its relatively smaller size and rather sensitive profit margins at the moment.

"We may have a problem in matching the compensation with other sectors, but institutions like IIM-A have a history of treading differently. Don't forget that a couple of batches in the past showed a marked preference for co-operatives and public sector undertakings," Mr Krishna said.