Article: Job-ready employee pipeline: Address the challenge of right induction

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Job-ready employee pipeline: Address the challenge of right induction

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Creating a steady pipeline of job-ready employees capable of being productive first day, first hour has emerged as an urgent imperative. Read on to know how to create a job-ready pipeline that can address the challenges of an induction program.
Job-ready employee pipeline: Address the challenge of right induction

India has a population of over 1.2 billion and almost half of which is already eligible to work, and yet there are so many jobs which remain unfilled in the absence of right candidate. According to a survey, Talent Shortage Survey, among the 42,000 employers surveyed globally, 40% are experiencing difficulties in filling roles. Further, the report mentioned that 48% of Indian employers said to experience challenges in filling job vacancies due to talent shortages. A similar report, India Skill Report 2017 indicated that only 4% of 18-21 years of age bracket are employable. And only 39% people are employable between 22-25 years.  

These reports signify the prerequisite of training and inducting the new hires at the entry level to impart wide-ranging knowledge, skills and the right attitude to make them job ready. Successful induction and on-boarding of new hires is thus highly critical to assimilate them into the workforce. However, according to a survey by Korn Ferry, 90% of executives said retaining new hires was an issue in their company with turnover rates of 10-25% within the first six months alone.  Some of the challenges that an Induction program fails to address:

  • Unclear expectations

  • Coordination between new hires and managers

  • Assimilating into the culture

Reinventing HR processes and acquiring and retaining quality talent is precarious to address the imbalance created in hiring and retaining the talent.

One of the ways to solve this two-fold challenge can be aligning the training function with a strategic partner. For example, a leading Indian bank partnered with Manipal Global to launch a nationwide initiative to attract graduates from all disciplines to take up a career in banking. The academy introduced an intensive one-year residential program to provide functional and practical knowledge on all aspects of banking to the selected candidates and deliver job-ready bankers who could be productive ‘first day, the first hour.’ The students are also acquainted with the ethos and work ethics of the bank as a part of the program. On successful completion of the program, the students are awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance by Manipal University and absorbed by the bank in a managerial position.

Partnering strategically with an external university or association or an external partner will allow businesses to leverage the benefits of constant stream of job-ready employees, improving competitiveness by hiring trained professionals that are ready to deliver from day one, helps improve competitiveness, shift from high-cost model to a variable cost model as organizations can focus their funds and resources on developing their core competencies to deliver high-quality products and services.

While selecting a partner, make sure the training program includes the following three components: 

Intensive training 

The training program should be knowledge-intensive covering all aspects of the industry as well as attitude and skills development. Innovative pedagogical methods such as games, role play, field visits, discussions, movies and research projects should be used to impart specialized multi-functional knowledge and skills. 

Real-life industry experience

The program should provide real-life industry experience to candidates which can be fulfilled by creating a simulated learning environment. Candidates can be exposed to different roles in this ecosystem to get a feel for the real-life working experience. Such experiential and creative tools vivify the sessions and help participants discover skills that can be further honed to benefit the organization. 

Practical experience 

Internships at organization headquarters and branch locations offering a full range of real work challenges. Working in different roles will help candidates develop a multitude of transferable skills such as interpersonal skills and teamwork. By providing the experience of prospective career paths in banking, an internship allows candidates explore and evaluate potential careers. Internships can help students align career choices with their interests, personality traits, and skills which positively impacts productivity.

Access to a steady stream of job-ready employees will help build human capital that can prove to be a game-changer in the current economic environment. In this war of talent, aligning training function with a strategic external partner presents an opportunity, which if handled correctly, can help organizations become agile and efficiently operate in a global environment.

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Topics: Learning & Development, #FutureTalent

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