The Hindu Business Line : Talent crisis, the biggest challenge

Mid-management talent crisis is found across all sectors. The crunch started with the IT and ITeS sectors. The bad news is that they are yet to fill the gaps. Joining them in the rat race are other emerging sectors such as infrastructure, retail and BFSI. In fact, acquisition of talent in the 8-10 years' experience category has been named the single biggest challenge for these sectors in the next two years. In a short chat with Business Line, Nirupama VG, Associate Director, TeamLease Services, explains why HR managers in these sectors are in a tizzy over talent.TeamLease Services Pvt. Ltd is India's largest staffing company with more than 46,000 temp employees and operates in four HR areas: temping, payrolling, perm staffing and BPO staffing services.

TeamLease has 19 offices across India and posted a turnover of around Rs 440 crore last year.

IT/ITeS: Though all industries are impacted, the problem is huge in the BPO and IT sectors, mainly because of the numbers needed. Some BPOs have reacted to the situation wrongly by promoting `undeserving candidates' to higher levels. They fear losing them if they do not do so. This may serve a short-term goal, but in the long run, is bound to impact the organisation.

This way, Ms Nirupama feels, you are only treating the symptom, not the disease in the system. In the long-term this will create a conflict in the minds of juniors who have seen an `undeserving peer' being promoted and frustration in some seniors because the employee is not competitive enough. This leads to more attrition thus adding fuel to the crisis already brewing in the industry. Unless a person is trained in team management and leadership skills, it's better not to promote the associate into a team leader. Intensive training is the only answer to the problem, she says.

According to her, IT has managed to overcome this problem with recruitment of talent from abroad. You see a lot of Indians returning home to take up mid-management jobs. But companies need to remember that IT employees in India are different from IT employees in the US, warns Ms Nirupama.

While Indian companies and employees place great value on people management skills, American companies stress more on technical skills. So make sure you are getting the right kind people, or else you are sure to lose them soon, she feels.

Retail: There is a huge demand but so far retail has been able to swim against the tide mainly because of complementary sectors that have contributed to the talent pool, like FMCG, consumer durables, banking and insurance. Though suitability is an issue here, the sector has managed to overcome the crisis so far.

But the problem will intensify as the numbers game start when all the retail biggies will get into the field. Mall management is a big recruitment area where expats and NRIs are being hired. The entire West Asia has become a big talent hunting ground for all recruiters. These guys are very good at FMCG and perishables management.

Engineering and infrastructure: The boom in auto, ancillary and infrastructure has thrown up new mid-level jobs for airport managers, lobby managers, designers, site engineers, etc. What these industries ought to realise is that they can no longer function as they have traditionally been doing. They have to look at long-term incentives like employee stock options and other benefits like travel abroad. Engineering is especially vulnerable to preying by the IT sector. If you don't initiate some new age compensation benefits, then your mid-management will soon disappear, according to Nirupama.

BFSI: The crisis here is not as bad it is in other sectors. She cites two main reasons for this: one because PSU banks and insurance companies are a treasure house for headhunters where readymade talent exists. Also because traditionally, finance professionals do not jump jobs as often as other professionals do.

Sectors Manpower required by 2008: ITES: 4 million, IT: 2 million, Retail: 1 million, BFSI: 1 million, Telecom: 1 million.

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