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A predicted ‘talent crunch' has resulted in a 65 per cent sparsity in finding highly qualified people in india inc. with no sign of abatement in sight, experts give lynn lobo some advice to face the adversity in hand

By Lynn Lobo

India Inc has transformed into a volatile ground for breeding talent with the amplification of the demand-supply gap, thus making it a perennial challenge for HR managers in the days to come. As indicated by Randstad India's latest global Workmonitor Survey 2012, Indian employers will have trouble finding highly qualified people and this trend is set to continue for the next three years. This revelation has come as an eye-opener, as in order to run the game here on, the challenge of a talent crunch will be amongst the foremost snags.

Increase in demand for talent:

"As corporates expand their footprints, this will lead to an increase in demand for the right talent across verticals. Also, with the entry of MNCs, the demand for different skills is increasing," says Suhas Kadlaskar, director, corporate affairs, HR and IT, Mercedes-Benz India.

"Today, organisations are looking for talent in a traditional way, which is by limiting the talent pool and not being ready to experiment with the new ‘definition' of talent or address the aspirations of the modern-day worker. Industries are still highly concentrated in a few geographies/cities, and organisations are not leveraging technology/automation enough. Education and training systems are only catering requirements for a few industrial sectors with certain industries being more attractive for job seekers. There is a high churn of talent from industry to industry and organisation to organisation as employees perceive their employers as unable in providing meaningful career and engagement. This leads to a loss of accumulated enterprise knowledge," opines Sreekanth K Arimanithaya, VP & chief of HR, Britannia Industries.

"As a result of globalisation, every firm, irrespective of the industry it operates in, has witnessed business alterations. This has disturbed the harmony between the demand and supply of talent. Increased competition has engulfed the companies in the race of winning the war of talent as possessing the best talent is the heart of success in the future. The increasing demand for talented and skilled personnel is also correlated with the rapid economic growth and industrialisation in India. Also, the technological advancements have accelerated the market shifts, which in turn have driven the companies to seek highly qualified professionals with enhanced skills," believes YPS Kanwar, CPO, Trident Limited while showing concerns about the widening gap between the availability and demand for talent.

Ways to swell the talent pool levels in India Inc:

The focus on training and education needs to rise. In India, three quarters of employers invest sufficiently in (additional) training and education. The same proportions of employees say their employer offers sufficient career opportunities.

"We must also look at tying up with educational institutions from where we can hire immediately deployable manpower. We must also invest in a robust process of talent management and development for building the competencies of an internal workforce for making them future-ready. Industries should conduct dialogues with educational systems to increase the employability of students. Vocational up-skilling based on industry requirements should be done extensively," suggests Vinod Nair, head - HR operations, Mahindra Finance in order to narrow this gap.

Are we prepared to stomach the demand-supply gap challenge clout?

With much optimism, Anand Talwar, sr.VP – talent management, ITC Infotech affirms, "Yes, India Inc is definitely well-prepared to tackle the challenges of the talent-crunch head-on. However, this is an uphill battle, and not one that can be won easily or resolved quickly. To counter the challenges of a shrinking talent pool, companies and HR teams need to innovate and evolve continuously."

Conclusively, if the talent is not effectively managed and successfully deployed, it will not only result in dissatisfaction and disengagement of one's employees, but also hamper the overall business performance. So, to bridge the demand-supply gap and prime oneself for the envisaged talent crunch, the HR managers must put their talent management tools to effective use, thereby ensuring greater employee engagement.

Give us your suggestions on ways to combat the talent crunch in India Inc