The Hindu Business Line : `Market changes put pressure on employer-staff relations'

CATACLYSMIC changes in both the market for products and services and the labour market, coupled with the severe competition that businesses are facing, are transforming the traditional relationship between employers and employees, said Mr Ganesh Chella, CEO, Totus Consulting, delivering the inaugural BL Club lecture at the Department of Management Studies, St. Joseph's College of Engineering.

Elaborating on his theme, `the new employee arrangement and career development,' Mr Chella said that the old order in organisations, which existed a decade ago, was built on reciprocity, long-term commitment, internal promotion and development and concern for equality, which led to policies and practices to protect employees from outside pressure. However, this has given way to the new order, where, Mr Chella said, responsibility for careers rest with employees.

Describing the symptoms of the new deal, Mr Chella said it was characterised by bonds and service agreements, hiring of talent a year in advance, hiring for specific roles, shortened training periods, static entry-level pay, intermediaries in staffing, pay for performance from day one and concern about the work-life balance. "This trend has come to stay the world over," he emphasised.

Ten years ago, he told the attentive MBA aspirants of the college, people were not hired for specific jobs. However, in the new order, employees came with a very high cost so were being hired for specific roles. As a consequence, the high attrition rates that companies across industries are facing, is the symptom and not the problem. "The problem is to do with employees' serious concern about career development in the new arrangement," he said.

Mr Chella outlined five golden rules for the students to succeed in the new deal. Dubbing it as OPQR & S, he said O indicates personal ownership, P stands for progress over promotions, Q for quantity of tenure, R for respect for wisdom and S for skills over education.

Employees now will have to be responsible themselves for their growth, learning and development. Organisations can only provide the opportunity, framework and feedback. He urged students to focus on progress over promotions, where the former meant learning new skills, being employable, and handling more complex tasks. To build a career, it was important to spend time in an organisation rather than flitting from job to job. Also, education without skills is irrelevant. "It's like a passport without a visa," said Mr Chella, drawing an analogy.

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