‘Post-reforms, IT, insurance cos have changed hiring, training patterns’

‘Post-reforms, IT, insurance cos have changed hiring, training patterns’

WHAT would be the biggest challenge in HR in the coming years, and what has India Inc learnt from its post-reforms experience? Anil Sachdev, chairman and MD of Right Management (formerly Grow Talent), addresses these issues in a conversation with Shreya Biswas. Excerpts:
What could be some of the big challenges companies will face in managing HR in the coming years?
There are two to three issues that need to be addressed immediately. First, the manufacturing sector needs to correct the salary differentials between blue collar workers and the white collar workforce. One of the fallouts of this was the recent clash in Gurgaon (Honda Motors). If this is not corrected, they could see the problem aggravating and unionism could gain ground. Training employees in managing community interface would also be of utmost importance, or else we could see incidents like Nandigram recurring. Effective CSR initiatives would play a major role in preventing such situations.
Since the reforms were introduced in 1991, a lot have changed in the way companies operate. And their handling of people too. Which sector has benefitted the most from this transition?
A major change has been in the IT, ITeS sector. Initially, the industry hired people and provided technical training. That changed in the past three years and the companies have become more creative in order to nurture and retain people. They realised that it’s not a factory and focussed on career planning. They have started meeting the education needs of the individuals, apart from becoming more flexible and started providing online training.
Besides this, insurance and banking sector has also become sensitive in the last 5-6 years and are stressing on the importance of customer interface to its employees. Just being polite doesn’t get good business, you need to understand the requirements of your clients. This leads them to introduce six sigma across functions and also learning cross-functional skills to upgrade productivity. In fact, ICICI was one of the first to introduce it.
Companies that are targeting rural markets are hiring locals and offering jobs to 10th and 12th passouts and training them. Would that suffice for relatively senior positions which require greater level of expertise and more comprehensive training?
This is a tricky situation as it’s tough for companies to find individuals who can be flexible enough. They would be hiring from co-operatives like National Dairy Development Board and corporations that have a tradition of rural marketing. For the urban youth, this is a chance to add to their CVs and hence, accept rural postings. This could definitely give them an edge over others as rural India is where the potential is, now. Besides, this is a great marketing opportunity for finishing schools to groom the rural youth and make them more employable.
Have companies begun investing a lot in career transition during M&As or reducing headcount? What is the size of the market globally and in India?
Globally, it’s a huge market, close to $3 billion, of which Right Management would be $300 million. In India, although this has just started and is close to $0.5 million, there’s a huge potential. That’s why we started tapping it three years back.