'Talent deficit' may hit Indian firms

'Talent deficit' may hit Indian firms

By siliconindia news bureau
Sunday,23 August 2009

Bangalore: After showcasing their talents to the world all these years, companies in India could face a huge 'talent deficit' in the coming years, says a report by Deloitte, a global consultancy firm. As per the report, the reason for this scarcity is that the country is not producing enough people equipped with the right skills required for the globalized environment.
The report titled, 'New India Manager' states that new talent management model in companies will have to shift in outlook. The report suggests that paradigm of 'scarcity of jobs' should convert to 'scarcity of talent'. "Unless a fundamental shift occurs in the educational system, it will continue to produce degree holders who will lack skills to operate in a corporate environment," said Manish Agrawal, Vice President (Strategy and Innovation) at Deloitte.

Agrawal has authored a study on the evolution of the Indian manager from the pre-liberalization period till now. The report stated that globalization, has helped Indian managers to develop their competencies and a global outlook that has unleashed a lot of creativity and innovation in the domestic industry. "However not many managers in the country have required soft skills, like communication abilities for operating in a global environment among others. We need to build such skill sets to enhance our talent pools," Agrawal said.

The Deloitte report stated that it remains to be seen as to what extent the country would be able to enhance the competency level of its young population to make them employable. This is also a challenge which the Indian policymakers would have to deal with in the years to come, it added. According to Agrawal, if the shift is made now it will take five to 10 years to generate a good quantity of employable talent.

Other than the upgrade of skills, the challenges which managers have to face going forward include retention of existing talent in the company, support learning and development of employees. Moreover, there is a growing talent gap in the developed world as well, which will continue to target Indian managers. In the years to come U.S., Europe and Japan are going to see an ageing population and a reduction in available talent and workforce. The report revealed that there was already an increasing recognition of the quality of Indian managers and there is every chance of this trend accelerating further.