Only 50% India Inc confident of hiring knowledge workers in next 12 months: Survey

Developing leadership skills for next phase of business growth key productivity challenge faced by corporates

While there are more than 20 million students across education institutions across India, companies may not satisfied with the skills that they possess. A study by human resources firm Randstad said that only 50% of India Inc is confident of recruiting knowledge workers in the next 12 months.

Several others have fared better. For instance, the confidence level is 68% in Singapore, 63% in Hong Kong, 57% in New Zealand, 55% in Malaysia, 53% in China. Only Australia came below India at 44%, among Asia Pacific countries.

Moorthy K Uppaluri, CEO, Randstad India and Sri Lanka said that companies have not been able to get the right talent due to the skill mismatch between the actual needs of the corporate and the skill of the candidates.

Further, he added that while new avenues of recruiting right talent through social media have been introduced, it has just become more complex to find the right candidate. This is because of the concerns about the accuracy of the information provided by these candidates on these portals.

The Randstad Workforce 360 survey also said that 49% of Corporate India says that developing leadership skills for the next phase of business growth is a key productivity challenge faced by their organization. This survey aims to provide an understanding of the HR Game Changers for 2014, through insights from around 500 HR leaders in India.

The survey showed that 49% of Indian employers believe the top productivity challenge faced by them in the year ahead would be developing leadership skills among employees to drive business growth. Other Asia Pacific nations like Singapore(52%), followed by Malaysia and New Zealand (49%), Hong Kong (48%), Australia (46%), China (41%) shared similar sentiments.

The biggest challenge that talent leaders face in Indian organizations is increasing Workforce performance and productivity which accounts for 19%. In other countries like China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand the productivity challenge accounts for 25% respectively, followed by Singapore (22%), Malaysia (17%).

Moorthy explained that HR and Business leaders should look at arresting brain-drain andcreate a culture to attract, develop and empower talent.This will automatically lead to increased productivity, business growth and career progression opportunities.

"Also, an optimum balance between leaders and knowledge workers is critical for sustained profitable growth,” he said.

Among other findings, the survey showed that 26% of Indian employers will undertake recruitment in temporary or contract basis to address talent scarcity in the next 5 years. Also, 34% of Indian employers feel that management's concern about employee productivity is the single biggest barrier to offering flexible work options. Malaysia tops this list with 48% followed by Hong Kong at 34%, Singapore 27%, Australia & New Zealand 26% and China records the lowest with 24%.

Having a woman leader is also key to success, according to the survey. About 43% of Indian organizations feel that women in leadership positions will be a critical success factor.