The Hindu Business Line : Soft skills gap wide in financial services

CHENNAI: KPMG on Friday released a report titled 'Global Skills for Graduates in Financial Services,' focusing on the global skills gap in the UK and Indian financial services industry. The report, which has been brought out in partnership with the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), was released at a seminar on 'Skills for Business - Trained and Motivated Teams, Creating a Professional and Successful Business Environme nt.' Speaking at the release, Mr Ian Gomes, Chairman (New & Emerging Markets), KPMG (UK), said: "The recruitment of the right talent in the financial services industry is a big issue in the UK and India. Our report shows that graduates gain theoretical knowle dge but lack practical, job-related skills." He added that there is a soft skills gap that needs immediate attention. "The findings of our report will be used to inform joint curriculum projects in the UK and India to help institutions address this issue." According to KPMG, the industry operates in an evolving and competitive environment, as a result of which financial institutions need to respond quickly to the growing demand for new products and services. "This can only be done if the employee skills are upgraded sufficiently to meet new and growing demand. Many companies looking at expanding their global operations are already experiencing a talent gap because fresh graduates generally lack skills in the areas of communication, creativity and corporate thinking." The UKIERI, launched in April 2006, has identified the development of skills for the financial services sector as a priority within its Professional and Technical Skills vertical. KPMG has partnered with the UKIERI to encourage quality training within graduate professionals. According to the report, 58 per cent of Indian organisations experience difficulties in recruiting the right people with the right skills. This is mainly because most companies hire people directly for sales operations as opposed to the backend work, where the chances of learning on the job skills are higher. "This recruitment pattern, therefore, calls for the education institutions in India to improve their job-related skills." The essential soft skills required by graduate employees joining global financial and business services in the UK and India include teamwork, communication, client relationship management, customer services, business awareness, problem solving and achiev ement orientation skills. For the purpose of the report, a series of interviews were conducted a total of 32 organisations, 19 in India and 13 in the UK.

D. Murali
C. Ramesh

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