The Hindu Business Line : A world-class Indian team

Training in the relevant professions could also include general communication, English speaking and other cultural aspects relevant to serving a global customer base.

According to a report that one read recently, only 5 lakh of the three million students graduating every year are likely to be employable in a world-class company. The reasons cited were not lack of inherent abilities or competencies, but factors such as cultural aspects, communication skills and proficiency in English — shortcomings that are not that difficult to fix.

I then started wondering what it would take for a significant proportion of our 400-plus million workforce to become world-class professionals in their chosen area of work — whether they were plumbers, nurses, teachers, farm workers or knowledge workers. I realised then that figuring out what needs to be done is not that difficult — the crux of the problem is in executing it on an all-India scale.

To explore what it takes to be a world-class professional, I thought I could draw upon my own experience in attempting to be a musician.

Right from childhood, I had a passion for instruments — I got my first guitar when I was 10 and then went on to collect a harmonium, mridangam, keyboard and even a violin. Completely self-taught, I could spend hours engrossed in making music. But I would constantly be reminded of the fact that something was wrong when members of my family would gently close the door and leave the room whenever I started playing! I had made a choice to be a musician and I had the passion for it; but these, though necessary, were not enough to make me a world-class musician.

Now that I have temporarily shifted to the US for a few years, I capitalised on the opportunity to actually learn the piano from a young Taiwanese pianist. Starting from the basics, I have had to learn the rigour of the western system of music notation, the precision of using a specific finger for a particular note rather than the free flow I would use earlier. I had to face the frustrations of training my hands to develop a mind of their own in interpreting the notes, going against the natural tendency of my left hand to follow the right.

The whole experience has been painfully delightful! And I have had to discipline myself to a rigorous practice schedule of at least 45 minutes every day that I'm at home. I can see that, to be a world-class pianist, I need to follow the systems and methods of playing the piano and use the right tools — in this case the sheet of music and the rigorous discipline.

While I'm nowhere near world class, I think I know the path to getting there.

Going forward

I don't see too much of a difference between the process of being a world-class musician and a world-class professional in any other discipline. The first step, obviously, is for people to make a choice and be passionate about their choice of profession and have the aspiration to excel at it. Having lived in the US for more than a year now, I am amazed at how people in the various walks of life are happy with the choices they have made and take pride in their workmanship. Irrespective of their profession — whether it's a plumber, a checkout person in a supermarket or a salesperson — they seem to bring a high level of professionalism to their jobs. This is an attitude that we could do well in emulating.

The next step is in training — learning the systems, methods and tools. My earlier column on making the high school system more vocation-focused addresses this issue partially, but we will need institutions to train/re-train our people to make them more professional and productive. In most developed countries, many trades and professions require certification — whether an electrician, a mechanic, an insurance adjuster or a tour guide.

Introducing a system of compulsory licensing and certification across various job categories, together with the necessary training and certification bodies, is probably the best mechanism to raise the level of proficiency and competence. This could be followed by the discipline of apprenticeship to gain mastery. In India, professions such as chartered accountancy and law already follow this method.

Imagine a situation where a farm labourer is put through a course to become an agricultural professional, or a construction worker is trained to become a professional. Look at the impact it could have on their self-worth and confidence, their aspirations and their productivity levels.

A good real-life example is the recent work done by Illumine, a transformation design lab that we work with for an oil major. One of the biggest challenges for the oil company was that its gas station attendants did not have the confidence and self-esteem to interact with customers.

With the help of Illumine, the company conducted a one-day training programme designed to improve the quality of interaction between attendants and customers. The programme, piloted in five cities, was hugely successful. The company now plans to cover all its one lakh gas station attendants under the programme.

Training holds the key

Training in the relevant professions could also include general communication, English speaking and other cultural aspects relevant to serving a global customer base. This could be in the IT/BPO segments as well as in hospitality, healthcare, tourism and similar industries that need to have a global outlook. Training technology has evolved sufficiently to allow students to gain proficiency in these facets in an accelerated manner.

The next step is training people to work well, in the context of an organisation. Given that most fields of activity involve working in an organisation, the training could cover the principles of organisation, the structures and systems, practices and protocols of interaction, and so on.

How will we scale such an initiative? How will we organise and staff it? How will we fund it? These are tough problems, but not impossible to solve. The solution lies in public-private partnerships. Many industries suffer from low levels of productivity and lack of qualified professionals. Any investment by industry associations can be paid for by productivity increases.

The focus of existing government institutions and programmes can be changed to meet this need. The hundreds of colleges that focus on liberal arts education can start offering more vocational courses.

We will make progress when we create the right vision and demonstrate that it works. Missions and programmes that raise people's aspirations and their ability to accomplish their dreams are what we need as a country. These will create winning situations for individuals and for the country as a whole, and take us closer to our goal of creating a world-class team of 400 million Indians.

(The author is CEO, Mastek Group. He can be contacted at sudhakarr@mastek.com)

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