News: Human capital a key driver for India’s $5 trillion economy target: Experts

Talent Management

Human capital a key driver for India’s $5 trillion economy target: Experts

Experts at the 12th CII HR Conclave say India has the potential to act upon the huge opportunities thrown by some of the global challenges due to its human capital.
Human capital a key driver for India’s $5 trillion economy target: Experts

India aims to tap its vast human capital to achieve its target of making itself a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

The growth of any business depends on the quality of human capital that it employs. "India is one of the fastest growing economies and has the potential to act upon the huge opportunities thrown by some of the global challenges," said Sanjay Behl, chairman, CII National Committee on leadership & HR and CEO & executive director, Greaves Electric Mobility, speaking at the 12th CII HR Conclave organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He explained that globally, the economic index is contracting and with countries like China fighting some of its own internal crises thus altering the geopolitical dynamics, India can benefit by increasing its market share. "It needs a new play book to seize the plethora of opportunities that has come,” he pointed out.

The pandemic has accelerated the reshaping of Indian business models and helped attract talented workforce creating geographical diversity.  

“People from countries like the UK and Singapore are working for Indian companies. The role of the gig economy is helping bridge the talent and income gaps. However, there is a need to create more depth and commitment towards the businesses that they are working for,” said Sudhir Sitapati, managing director, and CEO, Godrej Consumer Products at the conclave,‘HR RELEASE 2023- Evolve, Innovate,Inspire’.

‘People most valuable assets’

People-asset should be looked upon as the most valuable asset in any company, added Tarun Rai, executive director, Wunderman Thompson. “Instead of expecting employees to be loyal to the company, the companies need to be loyal to their workforce and give them an opportunity to grow. The employees can be loyal to their own careers,” he said.

According to Rai, post the pandemic, companies are looking at boosting their performance matrix and hybrid models of work. “The plan was already there for many companies; the pandemic just accelerated these models for them. It has only made us test out the technology and embrace change,” he said.

‘Need for new ways of measuring people productivity’

Rai also said that with the changing working culture, companies need to come out with new ways of measuring people productivity. "If the company looks at nurturing its human talent and gives them ample opportunity to grow then issues such as moonlighting do not arise," he said.

Rai added that Indians by nature are into multitasking and known for their agility. “That is when we can get global concepts to become fully operational from India,” he said.

The changing talent market

Speaking on the new talent market, Vishalli Dongrie, partner and head - people and change, KPMG India, said that the entire business operating models have changed. “The entire talent ecosystem has undergone a lot of change. Both the virtual and non-virtual ecosystem have been integrated with the organisation. From a plain and simple organisation structure to an overall agile structure, everyone is connected today which has created a drastic impact,” she added.

Gautam Ray, executive (HR & Admin), CESC Limited said that organisations are not working in isolation but in a societal ecosystem. “So, if there are changes in the society, there would be changes in the organisation as well,” he said.

Manoj Shikarkhane, CHRO, LTIMindtree stated that retaining talent with the right skill set has been a big challenge. “In the last two years on the technology front, the life cycle has been very short, thus creating the challenge of reskilling. And at the same time, the client’s expectation has gone up,” he pointed out.

Engaging GenZ talent

The biggest engaging factor for the new generation is their career, said Yogesh Patgaonkar, chief people officer, Persistent Systems. “There is a need to be more engaging and continuously engage with the workforce. There can be a policy change for moonlighting or taking up outside assignments as long as they are getting skilled and there is no conflict of interest,” he said.

New work paradigms

Speaking on the new work paradigms, Rajesh Padmanabhan, chairman, HONO, managing director (India), The EXCO Group and CEO, Talavvy spoke on the larger socio-economic factors that have led to these trends, and the workplace cultural shifts because of these trends. “Businesses are remodelled for creating sustainability in business. This will drive a change to create a winning workplace of the future,” he said.

The moonlighting challenge

Urvashi Singh, senior vice president HR, GENPACT, stated that the workforce could be driven by financial needs or reasons of passion towards moonlighting, but the company needs to understand if such an arrangement works in their favour. “If there is no conflict of interest then there could be a new pool of talent who is ready to work in such a format that gets opened up for the company,” she explained.

Venkatanarayanan R, president - HR & CHRO, Rane Group explained that the challenge of moonlighting arises because not everyone understands the concept of their service contract. “Not many companies would be comfortable with their employees having a double employment, plus if they are working from the office, they too may be stretching themselves working at two places,” he said.

Raul V Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University, said that moonlighting creates short term satisfaction for the workforce and the focus for companies should be on creating long term satisfaction for its workforce. “The companies should set HR policies which take care of their employees' work life balance,” he said.

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Topics: Talent Management, Employee Engagement, Employee Relations, Strategic HR, #FutureOfWork

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