‘Job scene not as gloomy as it looks’

Economic slowdown notwithstanding, the job scenario in the country is not as gloomy as made out to be, says Rajeev Dubey, President of Employers Federation of India (which, according to him, is a ‘trade union of job givers.’)

Indian economy is passing through difficult times of course, but the situation is not that bad, Dubey feels. “The doom-and-gloom sayers are taking an extreme view of the current difficulties,” Dubey, who is President, Group HR, corporate services and after-market, at Mahindra & Mahindra, told Business Line.

“Unfortunately, often analysts and commentators are taking bi-polar positions on Indian economy — it’s either very positive or very negative.”

Lay-offs

Asked about mass lay-offs at many companies, Dubey said lay-off is not a good long-term strategy. It sends out a wrong signal about the company, damages employee morale, and drains trained human capital. “Moreover, lay-off is expensive too,” he points out. Redeploying the human capital and putting to use ‘pent-up infrastructure’ are some of the alternatives to lay-off.

A senior HR professional, who is also the President of the National Human Resources Development Network, Dubey feels HR should become a strategic business process of a company. “HR should be an integral part of the business strategy,” he said. He, however, notes that the HR scene in India had undergone a sea change ever since the economic liberalisation in the 1990s.

He belies that the culture of an organisation deeply impacts the quality of its human capital. “A culture of respect, empowerment, excitement and sense of purpose pervading in the ‘labour eco-system’ of a company will definitely improve productivity and lead to sustained business performance,” he said. The saying that employees usually left bad managers rather than bad companies was largely true and underscores the need for better human-relations capabilities in senior managers.

Communication is extremely important, too. “Communication within the organisation is like blood circulation in the human body,” he said. Dubey thinks that the ‘employability’ of most fresh graduates (with management, engineering or any other degree) in India is very low, and hence a lot of effort and time needs to be spent to get them fit into an organisation. A heavy dose of technical, cultural and behaviour training needed to be given to them.

“When you hire a manager, what do you look at most?”

“Skill and will,” Dueby said. “Who the person is — his view of the world, his aspirations and value system — are very important.” Technical competence was just one part; and, the capacity for good inter-personal relations was crucial for team work.

Good managers should be able to motivate the workforce and excite them about a ‘powerful common purpose.’ “The manager should invite you to be a fellow traveller,” he stresses. “The labour eco-system should be competitive, yet fair and inclusive so that the best of the worker can come out.”

basheer.kpm@thehindu.co.in