Coping with skill shortage
THE advancement in technology has thrown open a plethora of new and exciting career options in almost every field. However, skilled people to fill these positions are few and far between. Skill shortage in staff is a serious problem confronting many companies today. Lack of an adequate talent pool and shortage of skills - both technical and managerial - can limit or even bring down the productivity of an organisation in the short-term, and jeopardise its growth and development prospects in the long run. Shortage of competent, skilled labour may be due to a number of complex factors - like faulty educational system that does not take industry needs into consideration, resulting in a mismatch between industry requirements and educational preparation; the glitter of overseas employment and big bucks resulting in brain-drain; lack of information; poor training facilities; and, quite often, an ever-changing technology.
How do companies cope with skill shortage?
Training of employees: Training is a good way to upgrade skills of existing staff in order to boost productivity. It is possible to easily overcome skill shortage in non-technical staff (Eg: sales, marketing and clerical) through training, even if workers are deficient in skills upon entry. On the other hand, it is far more difficult to recompense technical skill shortage in personnel, as they need to posses minimum level of competency at the time of taking up the job.
Hiring experts may prove an expensive option. Staff who have some but not all of the required skills can be employed at lower salaries and the surplus amount can be invested in a tailored training programme to impart the skills they lack. As any expert would tell you, the cost of training up new employees is generally not as high as paying for someone with the complete skill set. Many companies ensure that employees at all levels of the organisation have been exposed to various forms of training, whether internal or external, as a means of correcting skill deficiencies. Seminars, classroom sessions, workshops, demonstrations or on-job training can improve workers' knowledge and help them achieve some degree of competency in the required skills. Training can also be used to improve `managerial skills' needed by technical personnel in areas like supervision, man management, interpersonal skills, planning, problem solving, decision-making and teamwork.
Internship programmes: Many corporate houses recruit students from universities and reputed institutes as interns, industrial trainees or apprentices. The advantage here is that the companies get an opportunity to evaluate the candidates' potential first hand. Such candidates generally posses a fair amount of competency, or at least a theoretical grasp of the required skills and can easily be trained and moulded in line with the company's requirements. The practice also helps fill any short-term dearth in skilled labour supply.
Recruiting new talent: Training can be a time-consuming option, and it may not generally have an immediate impact on productivity. When the need for skilled labour is immediate and pressing, companies often resort to hiring people tailor- made for their requirements, from the market. The idea is to recruit people who can get on with the job immediately, without any need for training and preparation. Then again, when the problem has more to do with the mindset and attitude of the people, training can provide little relief. Companies resort to advertising jobs, head hunting, campus interviews, employee referral programmes or even job fairs to tap talent and get them on their rolls.
Temporary vacancies: Many companies have a tough time finding adequately skilled personnel for temporary positions. It would be a good idea for HR executives to maintain good relationship with recruiting agencies, so that when the need arises they can get the candidate of their choice. Other companies prefer to allocate specific assignments to freelancers, who outsource the tasks for them. Job out-sourcing has become pretty common. It is an effective and economical way to get skill-specific jobs done professionally. The advantage of outsourcing jobs is that it helps the company remain lean and mean even while allowing it greater flexibility. Technology has made it possible for companies to outsource jobs to places and countries where cheap, skilled labour is available.
BINDU SRIDHAR
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