Going by the average age of the population, India is one of the youngest countries. Though it has a potentially large young workforce, skill levels in the manufacturing sector are lower than desired.
According to a report presented at the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, 19.1 million people are employed directly or indirectly in the automobile industry alone.
Given the stringent quality norms required to be successful in global markets, the workforce in this sector requires a high degree of knowledge and skills.
Current scenario
Not just in the automobile industry, but across the manufacturing sector, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of skilled and semi-skilled workforce.
Our current educational framework has contributed little towards improving this situation. Due to a scarcity of skilled personnel, manufacturing firms are increasingly finding it difficult to replace their ageing workforce. This situation has resulted in an enormous void in their current structure.
When it comes to shop floor and assembly-line employees, there is a huge skill gap in the areas of welding, moulding and fitting. Even candidates with training from Industrial Training Institutes are not on par with industry needs.
The existing vocational training institutions have to be upgraded and additional ones started. According to a report by the National Skill Development Corporation, attrition rate of contract labour in the manufacturing sector is as high as 30–40 percent.
Outsourced training
Offering vocational training programmes as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative does not have any impact on the business of a company; nor does it add any value to the trainees. Moreover, as they are largely outsourced, such programmes lack focus and quality. Studies show that only 36% of the companies in India conduct in-house training, in contrast to 86% in Germany, 85% in China, 52% in Russia, and 51% in Brazil and Mexico.
This scenario is however slowly changing in manufacturing companies. Companies have started taking a different approach in providing dedicated vocational training to rural youth.
Custom-trained
Training is now pursued in-house as a strategic initiative of the Human Resource Department. Such vocational programmes help in creating custom-trained candidates, who are industry-ready and the ideal resource for the company. These programmes are now designed to meet the company’s long-term plans and therefore, come at a significant initial cost. The investment required for an organisation to build a conducive and effective programme can cost anywhere between Rs. 10 and 15 million.
Trainees work closely with trainers, who are mostly senior employees of the company. The training methods offer an opportunity for an employer to understand the trainee’s areas of interest closely. In addition to trainers, senior workmen mentor small groups of trainees. These mentors constantly look for behavioural flaws and nip them early.
Absorbing talent through the vocational training route helps in building a long-term relationship between the organisation and the employee. It helps the company communicate its core values and philosophy to the next-generation employees, with the help of senior employees.
Over the last few years, most of the manufacturing firms have focussed on vocational training programmes to strengthen their business hiring strategy. Typically, such programmes are aimed at youngsters who have completed their tenth year of schooling. A strict screening process, which includes written and skill tests, interviews, medical checks and background verification, ensures that students with potential and promise gain access to the course.
In a typical manufacturing company, the courses are spread over a period of three years; the programme provides these youngsters with technical training and a knowledge of basic engineering and advanced production technology.
In fact, some of these firms empanel global experts to directly train the potential talent.
(J ayashankar Jayaraman is Director HR at ELGi Equipments Limited. )
