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Thursday, September 9, 2010

India Inc upbeat on recruitment

The majority of employers in the country anticipate the creation of new jobs in the coming months of this year, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Painting a robust hiring scenario in the country, a survey by global staffing firm Manpower showed that employers are planning to hire at a robust pace this year.

Manpower's employment outlook survey stated that globally, India is the most optimistic in terms of recruitment intentions for the fourth quarter, after China and Taiwan.

"The job market remains robust in India as a result of strong domestic growth and recovery in key global markets. But employers in other countries are reporting strong hiring forecasts as well," Manpower India managing director Sanjay Pandit said.



India's net employment outlook — an indicator of employers' hiring intentions — stood at 38% on a seasonally-adjusted basis for the next three months. For the third quarter, the outlook stood a little higher at 41%, the Manpower survey stated. "Employers began recruiting at a steady pace in the first half of 2010 and confidence levels were high. The findings indicate sustainable new job opportunities in remainder of the year and job seekers can look forward to a favourable hiring environment," Info Edge senior vice-president, corporate communications Sumeet Singh said



From: The Economic Times

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Indian firms' hiring plans stay strong

Indian companies' hiring intention for the next three months has weakened compared with the current quarter but remains strong over the year-ago period, says a survey by consulting firm Manpower.

India’s net employment outlook (NEO), which indicates hiring intentions, stood at 38% for the October-December 2010 period, a marginal decline from 41% recorded by the previous quarterly survey for the third quarter of 2010.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, that covered almost 5,400 employers in the country, also revealed that hiring intention has improved 8% compared with the fourth quarter last year, when the economy was still recovering.

“The job market remains robust in India as a result of strong domestic growth and recovery in key global markets,” said Manpower India MD Sanjay Pandit.

Sectors where companies are likely to see strong recruitment include public administration & education followed by services besides finance, insurance and real estate. Employers in sectors such as transportation, utilities and wholesale & retail trade are less likely to create jobs in the coming months.

In terms of regions, employers in the South have strong hiring plans with NEO of 41% for the coming quarter, while those in North have an outlook of 37%, followed by East (36%) and West (32%). NEO is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to rise, minus the percentage expecting to see a decline in employment at their location in the next quarter. It also takes into consideration the seasonal adjustments in employment.

The global survey revealed that hiring intentions in the entire Asian region is stronger as compared to the past few quarters. India that has been top of charts in terms of employers’ hiring plans in the past two years, has slipped to the third position behind China and Taiwan.

But increase in hiring intent in other APAC countries is good news for Indian job seekers, said Mr Pandit. “We have seen a surge in cross-border opportunities for job seekers from key global markets. Once you combine strong domestic hiring along with improved international opportunities, we see one of the best scenarios that Indian job seekers could have imagined,” he said.

With NEO of 47%, China has the brightest hiring outlook, followed by Taiwan at 40%. Of the 36 countries surveyed, 28 nations showed positive hiring trend for the next three months. Employers in Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain and Ireland reported the weakest hiring plans.


From: The Economic Times

Sunday, September 5, 2010

India Inc vies for multi-generation workforce to get maximum output

Things were different in our times,” is a favourite line of any generation while disapproving any trait of the younger generation. Often dismissed as light-hearted banter, such talk can, however, reflect a real concern in the corporate world.

Four or more generations, with different approaches, value systems and thought processes are sometimes thrown in together, posing a challenge for companies to get them to work in unison and maximise output.

For instance, how does a 20-something sales manager engage the members of his team who can range from 23 to 58 years? Besides, a new generation, Gen Y, born post-1990, will soon start entering the corporate world, calling for managerial skills that require tuning in to their world.

Companies are working at strategies to handle multi-generation teams, from encouraging diversity to actively eliminating biases. Persistent Systems, a Pune-based outsourced product development company, frequently sensitises employees about the company’s goals, gives senior staffers the freedom to choose roles, uses social networking tools for communication and conducts informal sessions to foster bonding.

“For the first time, we are seeing a sizeable number of 45+ year-olds in the industry while the number of young people is growing simultaneously,” says chief operating officer Nitin Kulkarni.

This is a challenge for the IT industry in particular, which is still maturing in India, he adds. “Things are changing fast. We find there is something like a generation gap between every batch of freshers, from one year to the next.” Kulkarni says the key is to accept that each generation has unique strengths and create a framework to harness them.

“When you have a team between ages 20 and 50, the boss’ job is to ensure that juniors and seniors respect each other for strengths like enthusiasm and experience, and he respects both,” says Devendra Chawla, head of the private brands business at Future Group.

Traditionally, a span of 20 years was considered to be a generation gap. But with rapid developments in various fields and social changes, the span has reduced to 10 or even five years in some cases. Demographers have divided generations into Traditionalists (born after 1950), Baby Boomers (post-1960), Gen-Xers (post-1970) and Millennials (post-1980). Each of these generations is so different from its preceding one that it actually precipitates a culture shift.

Most managers believe encouraging bonding between employees can help reduce this divide. At Peerless Mutual Fund, forums are organised for employees to come together and discuss non-work ideas, says CEO and MD Akshay Gupta.

Companies need to eliminate characteristic biases and deal with each person on merit, he says. “That is a habit we try to inculcate in our employees, to remove any generation differences,” says Gupta.

At Bajaj Electricals, too, employee bonding is taken seriously. “Everyone’s contribution is important and the leader should acknowledge that. We need to make people feel they are wanted, energise and empower them with knowledge,” says executive director R Ramakrishnan.

He points to a youngster, on the sidelines of a product launch, saying that he was brought there despite not having any specific role assigned. “I brought him here so he understands how events are organised. These are small things, but help the leader in building his team,” he says.

Fujitsu Consulting India (FCIL), an IT consulting company, has devised two programmes to work around generational differences.

In the “role-based” programme, the right people are appointed to leadership positions, which they would otherwise have occupied in two-three years, says head, human capital management, Anagha Wankar. Here, employees are groomed to handle people older and more experienced than they are.

As part of the “employee manager” programme, senior team members, apart from performing their regular roles, act as guides to other members across teams and help identify potential leaders, she says.

FCIL also allows experienced professionals who don’t want expanded roles to continue doing what they are, while giving them senior designations so their image is not hampered.

For multinational companies, though, this doesn’t appear to be much of an issue. “Coming from the US, we were not accustomed to age-based hiring, so the issue of how to handle multi-generational teams was already taken care of in our hiring policies,” says Chetan Shah, chief operating officer, Synygy India.

“As companies go global, the multi-generation challenge will cease to be a challenge,” he says. But in this rapidly globalising world, even MNCs cannot deny the truth in what Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric (GE), once said: “Any company trying to compete... must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee.” This is as true for India Inc as it was for GE.


From: The Economic Times

Friday, September 3, 2010

59% professionals may quit jobs due to lack of promotion: Survey

A majority of Indian professionals are likely to quit their jobs this year due to lack of promotional avenues despite good work results and a lack of communication and involvement by their top managements, according to a survey .

For 59 per cent of respondents, finding that the next rung in the career ladder is a no-show was the top "get me out of here" factor, a survey by Regus, revealed.

Lack of communication and involvement by top management was the other big reason for most professionals to quit their existing jobs, 50 per cent of respondents said.

Another 30 per cent said that they would leave a company which lacked 'vision'.

The job market in India is likely to get crowded after the summer vacation as Indian professionals may quit their existing jobs unless they are promoted, it said.

Over 15,000 business respondents from the Regus global contacts database were interviewed during the February-March 2010 period and the survey was managed and administered by Marketing UK, an independent organisation, Regus said in a press release issued here.

Regus ia a leading global provider of innovative workspace solutions.

Regus' Country Head, Madhusudan Thakur, said "as workers pack up their swim-suits and towels after the holidays, they are more likely to dwell on the pros and cons of the job that is waiting for them at home."

According to reports, one of the effects of the economic recovery taking shape presently is that many more employees have started quitting their jobs and looking around for new ones, Thakur said.

"Businesses that are not providing all the trimmings may be heading for a brain-drain of their best talent," he added.

As the economy perks up, employees will flock to businesses that promise them better conditions and not necessarily the biggest wage, he said.

The survey also asked workers what companies could do to avoid a brain-drain of their best talents.

Aside from a pay-rise, in India, 42 per cent of the respondents said that flexible work timings are increasingly becoming important for them. They declared that the ability to flex their work-hours was top of their wish-list.

Other factors that make professionals leave their jobs are bosses who take credit for their (professionals') work and shabby premises. A fifth of respondents would also leave if their commute was too long or administrative support was lacking (20 per cent), the Regus survey said.


From: The Economic Times