Preparing for talent crisis

Preparing for talent=20 crisis

To=20 tap the growing market of financial services outsourcing, the = country will=20 have to revamp its educational system. =

MURTHY B S

LOOKS like we have arrived, as an IT services = superpower=20 of the globe. Never has India had the edge in the game of = services, it was=20 more onsite all these years along with offshore. Now the route is = clear it=20 is offshoring India. We are a emerging powerhouse of service = economy. The=20 western markets have few options left, except India, the only = other=20 competing place looks like eastern Europe, which although looks = promising,=20 still has a long way to go in terms of domain, maturity and = language=20 skills.

We are comfortable as far as the numbers related to = engineering graduates output, what about the other domains? We = currently=20 talk about a host of financial services work to be outsourced from = India.=20 Some of the key services are like equity research, derivatives = related=20 research, forex, statistical analysis, bio informatics, life = sciences=20 research etc, these are only a few that I have mentioned more are = being=20 added to the list by the day.

Where is the supply of = professionals=20 for these key domains going to come from? We have absolutely weak=20 education and training infrastructure as far as the financial = services=20 area is concerned.

The basic BA/Bcom/BBM/Bsc graduation = offered in=20 most of the universities in India have not changed in the last 20 = years.=20 The premier alumni=92s output all put together will be minuscule = as compared=20 to the demand. India needs a strong second or third line of chain = of=20 institutions across India who train our graduates and post = graduates on=20 the contemporary skills in financial services and bio=20 informatics.

Corporate sector=92s apathy
The most = promising=20 sector like education has always been neglected. Surprisingly even = after=20 we see lakhs of Indian students fly out every year for want of=20 professional education by paying hefty fees in US dollar or = british=20 pounds. I was told that these students pay as high as $15,000 per = year as=20 tuition fees in those countries apart from the living costs and = there is=20 absolutely no guarantee on the job placements at the end of the=20 session.

In fact India should have been the education = destination=20 for the entire Asian student community seeking global professional = education both at graduation and also the post graduation=20 levels.

Large corporate groups like the Tatas, Birlas, = Reliances,=20 have rarely shown interest in building education facilities, = deemed=20 universities or a chain of Institutions. Surprisingly they have = not seen=20 this as a viable business model for the long run. They normally = end up=20 supporting one or two premier institutions like the IIMs, TISS=20 etc.

Part of their own internal requirements would have = been=20 comfortably met with these output of students coming from their=20 institutions.

Good campuses with reasonably decent track = record of=20 good faculty and infrastructure will be overcrowded with more and = more=20 companies returning back disappointed without any successful = hires. After=20 months of planning and multiple visits, some corporates do not = even get a=20 single acceptance for their offers in the campus.

Vice=20 chancellors as CEOs
Universities across India should look = forward=20 to add up these new age skills in their current curriculum as fast = as=20 possible. Looking at the kind of the potential we are currently = sitting=20 on, I am sure we will be world=92s financial, accounting, HRM, and = insurance=20 back office.

On an average we may need something like over = half a=20 million of these people in the next 2-3 years itself, the current = output,=20 although it gives out big numbers has failed to cater to the = requirement.=20 Most of the organisations have their own training systems. We need = a=20 robust university education system to make this wave a long term = one.=20 Remember the IT services boom we had was a direct result of the = large=20 number of engineering institutions across India.

Here is a = god sent=20 opportunity for the current vice-chancellor=92s and senior = faculties of=20 various universities in India.

They need to work just like = CEOs of=20 any corporate entity. We see a number of Deans and VCs from abroad = coming=20 down to India to attract the student community to join their = respective=20 universities. They incidentally can be of our best ambassadors to=20 represent present India since they were the key people who have = made the=20 current success happen.

Very few private Institutions have = realised=20 this, ICFAI, Symbiosis, MDI, IIPM are a few who have set courses = on these=20 skills. The numbers are still very low to fuel a boom time in the = services=20 sector.

Root of the problem
The root of the issue = goes=20 back to the US and UK itself, one need not have to be a graduate = or a=20 certificate holder to make a decent living. The college dropout = rates are=20 alarmingly very high. The respective countries have simply failed = to make=20 up their people look and take up new areas for career = growth.

USA=20 has miserably failed to make its people look at technical careers, = the=20 number of Americans joining technical education has dropped more = than 30=20 per cent in the last decade. The number is going down to US=20 administration=92s horror.

MNCs in India always look for = candidates=20 coming from key institutions, the same rule does not hold good in = US or UK=20 as any organisation just cannot afford to be choosy as far as the=20 graduation and certification is concerned. They will be happy if = the=20 candidate is able to deliver well. If you look at the emerging = talent=20 shortage in the USA as of now is shocking.

Temporarily the=20 shortfall is met with foreign students who take up jobs, as more = and more=20 economies get better, the tendency of the students to get back to = their=20 respective countries is also there. Earlier a lot of western = European=20 students used to stay back in US after their studies, now most of = them=20 feel they have better opportunities back home. We are witnessing a = similar=20 trend here too, but the numbers of people coming back soon after = post=20 graduation is relative less.

We will also see more and more = certifying agencies setting business in india fuelled by the = influx of=20 global corporations setting up outsourcing centers in India. The=20 fundamental problem is with the entire supply, starting from = institutions=20 that churn out PGs to the lack of industry domain knowledge with = the=20 people who fix up the curriculum for these institutes. For us to = reach=20 that magical position of world=92s back office, the existing or = projected=20 educational output is just not enough. Needs a major overhaul of = the=20 entire professional education system.

It is unfortunate = that a=20 number of large contracts have been lost In the recent times on = the voice=20 business in the ITES areas because of service delivery = issues.
The=20 primary issues here is big attrition rates with which it has = become=20 increasingly difficult for players to set and build standard = service=20 delivery capabilities.

With some of the ITES players = experiencing=20 over 50 per cent attrition, the chances of business and contract = renewals=20 with existing clients itself looks doubtful, whereas the players = who has=20 been able to smartly retain and retrain will benefit hugely and = get better=20 pricing for their services. Staring from 2002 onwards, when most = of the=20 world=92s largest financial powerhouses started looking at India = for=20 strategic investment in back office and also software support, = India Inc=20 had its chances of becoming the financial and software services = superpower=20 status. With the likes of Amex, Citigroup, ANZ, Worldbank, ING, = Goldman=20 Sacchs, ABN Amro setting up their backoffices, builds enough = competencies=20 over the next few years that we will be global leaders in one more = category like financial services.

Partnerships that work =
We need to do what BEST (Building Engineering & = Science=20 Talent) an Private-Public Partnership in USA has been doing for = the last=20 three years in promoting science and technical education model to = build=20 our non technical/domain based educational system. BEST has been = highly=20 successful in creating a working partnership across USA. BEST is=20 projecting a shortfall of over six million technical graduates = from the=20 current scenario. BEST top team is one of the best and comprises = of the=20 best names from corporate America and academicians.

Indian = lobby=20 bodies like NASSCOM or MAIT are definitely active on the business = side,=20 They perhaps need to give more time towards building a top line=20 professional non-engg, industry domain trained Human Resources = Supply=20 Chain so that we do not end up like the present USA situation. We = need to=20 build a system where industry-entrepreneur partnership will decide = on the=20 content and the process. This could be our first major step in = marching=20 towards India becoming =93World's Back Office=94 in the years to=20 come.

The author is CEO, Human Capital Consulting = Private=20 Limited.
E-mail:=20 murthy@humancapital.co.in


	Deccan Herald, = Wednesday, March=20 10, 2004