'There are significant benefits to importing talent'

IN CONVERSATION

Tim Ringo is the global leader of IBM's Human Capital Management consulting practice, with responsibility for over 2,000 staff around the world whose main focus is the transformation of HR and learning within clients' organisations. He joined IBM after 16 years at Accenture, where he was part of the executive leadership team of the human performance service line, and globally responsible for workforce transformation strategy solutions. Ringo, in this e-mail interview to Rajiv Shirali, outlines his views on the entry of global talent into India and its implications for HR management practices.

What benefits do you see resulting from the entry of global talent into India?

In a few recent surveys I've seen, 40-45 per cent of major Indian companies are looking to other parts of the world for senior management talent.

A few years ago, this demand could be filled mostly within the country, but this is clearly changing for two reasons: a building scarcity of skilled resources due to increasing volume of business activity; and ineffective talent acquisition and retention, leading to exceptional levels of attrition. This is creating significant inefficiencies in effectively utilising the scarce talent pool in India.

There are significant benefits to importing talent. First, this creates an opportunity to import global best practices that can be passed on to Indian managers, allowing them to build their skills, creating a more globalised view of best business management practices.

Second, this on-the-job skilling of local Indian managers is a rapid and fairly cost effective way to increase the talent pool in India as these new skills and practices are cascaded throughout the economy.

Lastly, because the imported talent is self-selecting, it is usually made up of people who are open to new ways of doing things. They will take what they learn in India, back to the West and this helps make talent more effective in an increasingly globalised workforce.

Do you see this lasting only until Indian managers develop the necessary skill sets, or will it endure?

Past experience shows that this is likely to be a temporary phenomenon. Take, for example, Eastern Europe in the early 1990's. There was a major influx of Western Europeans and Americans into Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia (as it was known then).

Within a few years the vast majority of this imported talent returned to the US and Western Europe, leaving behind a transformed business environment and talent pool in those countries, who are greatly benefitting from this talent influx 15 years ago.

What do you see as the implications of this trend for HR policies and practices in India?

HR needs to completely re-think how they operate, both tactically and strategically. Indian HR directors need to focus on the entire human capital lifecycle, such as performance management, learning and collaboration, workforce management, and not just on recruitment and throwing more money at sign-on packages. India is not constrained in terms of capital for business activity, but it is talent constrained.

How has IBM responded to such situations in other emerging markets"" and in India?

IBM has operated in the current emerging markets since the beginning of the 20th century, and therefore has decades of local experience in managing local talent in emerging economies.

This gives us a distinct competitive advantage as we know the local talent markets very well. We also take our own medicine, looking at human capital and talent management as a corporate priority. For example, IBM's Chief HR Officer is on the board of IBM and reports to IBM's CEO, Sam Palmisano.

Ideally, how should Indian companies handle such situations?

CEOs of Indian companies need to recognise that human capital and talent management needs to be one of their top priorities and responsibilities.

It cannot be delegated to HR completely, as HR directors need top-level support to drive through strategic human capital and talent management initiatives, or growth will be constrained.