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."

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