 "Manish Sabharwal")
The gap between temporary and permanent workers will disappear as regulations evolve, Manish Sabharwal tells Rajarshi Bhattacharjee
Companies across the world are gearing up to create virtual talent pools in order to keep pace with the unpredictable business and economic scenario. Where do white-collar temporary (temp) workers come into this picture?
In the relentless march of technology for talent (e-mail, video conference, con call, VPNs, the internet etc) all talent pools are practically virtual. Also, the increase in economic volatility means that the view of employment has shifted from lifetime contract or to a taxicab relationship that is short, intimate and intense. This means that not only do they take a more dynamic view of their current talent pool but are forced to take a global view of their future people supply chain. White collar temporary workers are an important part of this puzzle; they help companies handle peak loads while keeping the fixed costs manageable.
When the economy takes a dip, temporary hiring in organisations goes up. But the slowdown reflects a different picture in the developed nations this time. How has the slowdown affected temporary hiring in India?
Temporary hiring is always a spring on the way up and a shock absorber on the way down. The global picture this time has been somewhat different because the financial crisis that began in 2008 is still playing itself out. India has many problems but our domestic consumption focus means that temporary hiring has held up; the fastest growing segments of the economy are jobs in sales, customer service and logistics. This is reflected not only in our daily open positions (holding strong at 6,000 vs 2,000 at the peak of the crisis in 2008) but our 25 per cent annual growth in revenues every year for the last three years.
Beyond IT companies, how do other sectors like manufacturing, retail, hospitality, telecom etc, practice temporary hiring as a cost effective HR tool in a volatile Indian market?
The biggest difference between service and manufacturing is that service companies cannot inventory their product. This creates a challenge in peak load handling because retail and hospitality sectors have very clustered demand (certain times of the day, week, year). Companies with clustered demand struggle with balancing high touch customer service that has high employment with the need to make its fixed costs variable. Furthermore, the profile of the Indian market means that fixed costs can increase substantially if you choose to service the long tail of consumption in cities beyond the metros. Again, handling this long tail is often a driver of temporary staffing. Temp staffing offers companies the chance to variabilise their fixed costs, expand their footprint in low demand areas that need sporadic servicing, and handle peak loads.
As one of the leading temporary staffing companies in India, how do you optimise the supply side of temporary hiring? Also, how do you leverage technology to this end?
It is impossible to run a large temporary staffing company without massive investments in technology. We are on the 11th baseline version of our Associate Life Cycle System and we have four quarterly sub-releases during every year. We communicate with our clients - both employers and employees - with varying frequency (weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly) through a number of mediums (email, portals, SMS, etc) driven by a variety of inbound and outbound triggers. We use technology to keep track of sales, manage operations, handle customers, keep track of compliance, pay salaries, and for client reconciliation. We have organised our operations and technology around MIICRRA model (migration, input, invoice, collection, release, reconciliation and audit).
What are the best practices in controlling the quality of temporary staff hires?
The best practices for controlling quality are different in temporary and permanent hires. A robust people supply chain consists of well-defined jobs roles, career paths, assessments, proxies for filtering, tight performance management, complete regulatory compliance, workplace safety, and a healthy work environment. Temporary staffing allows employers to take employees for a test drive. The companies that make the most of this, however, view this pool as a robust pipeline that improves their odds of getting talent right rather than short-term relationships.
The Indian Staffing Federation has recently indicated that about 79 per cent of workers in the temporary hiring industry fall in the 21-30 years age group. But to address the demand for skilled professionals, you need to rope in temporary workers who are experi-enced. How do you bridge the gap?
Temporary staffing is currently not viewed as a lifestyle choice but it is a bridge to full employment (more than 50 per cent of the workers in the organised temporary staffing industry find a permanent job within a year). As India's labour market matures and options increase, many individuals will view the flexibility of project and temporary work as a fit with their life goals. As that happens, a number of experienced people will enter the pool. But we have to recognise the broader problems of India's skill emergency; the gap of skill can only be bridged by a massive public policy intervention for 'matching', 'repair' and 'prepare'.
Given the growing demand for temporary workers, is the average stint of a worker going up? Are salary, perquisites and performance rewards still a concern in this domain?
I don't think we have many 'permanent temps' in the organised Indian staffing industry yet. India is a rapidly evolving economy that is short of talent. Our average salary is now Rs 14,000 per month (up from Rs 7,000 five years ago). We are among the largest payers of Provident Fund and ESI in the country. Of course, only 1 per cent of the temporary workers in India (estimated at 128 million people) are in the organised staffing sector. As regulations evolve, the gap between temporary and permanent workers will vanish. It already has in the minds of most policy makers and employees.
