Bangalore, Oct. 30, 2006
Finishing schools for engg grads suggested
Business Line, The Hindu Group of Publications
How strong is the case for career oriented finishing schools? When you go through
these articles you can see how fresh graduates can greatly maximize their chances
of landing a good job by acquiring industry skills from a finishing school
Mr Madhavan Nambiar, Additional Secretary, Department of IT, Government of India,
suggested that there was a need for `finishing schools' for engineering graduates
in the country to make them more suitable for employment. These would add to the
quality of the talent pool ready for industry.
Global leadership
There is a need to expand capacity in colleges and evaluate them to check quality,
said Mr Vivek Mansingh, Country Manager, Dell India R&D centre. "The role of HR
is creating global leadership. Foreign universities should be allowed to set up
branches in India," he said.
"The HR and CEO fraternity must work together to educate the workforce about long-term
careers," he added. Likening the Indian IT industry to a railway station platform,
he said that the world was familiar with its attrition and job-hopping.
Organisations need to impress upon their employees the long-term view of career,
to prevent job-hopping, said Mr Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer
for MindTree Consulting.
HR practices
Mr Manish Sinha, Managing Director, Microsoft GTSC, said even good businesses fail
with bad HR practices. "HR is the voice of the CEO. They are a hand-and-glove combination.
Today's HR has to deliver revolutionary performance from employees," said Mr N.G.
Subramaniam, Vice-President, TCS. He also spoke of the academia-industry partnership
in accrediting students.
Mr Bagchi spoke of emotional infrastructure and the all-important need for communication
on a pervasive basis between the organisation and the employee. "Proximity of leadership,
which should be available on demand, is another important factor that will increase
loyalty. A shared vision, beyond a quarterly one, should be delivered."