This blog is entirely inspired by my blogging guru Gautam Ghosh’s posting trying to list out Small and Medium Management Consulting Firms in India - disregarding that some of them are potential competition to him-catering to the SME (small & medium enterprises) if they aren’t already :-)! Most people do not realise the SMEs account for almost 90% of industrial units in India and 40% of value addition in the manufacturing sector. They contribute 35% to India’s merchandise exports. I recall remember reading that this sector-also employs a huge amount of workforce & rarely gets the visibility of being the most among integral players in India’s economic growth story. There are more than 350 clusters in India- eg electric fans in Calcutta, sewing machines in Ludhiana, stationery diesel engines in Rajkot ( these come first to my mind, as I was a Shriram group employee before my recruiter avataar!!), Jalandhar sports goods, Coimbatore agricultural pumps, Gurgaon auto courtesy Maruti, Tiruppur for textiles….etc! Most of these firms-are run by technocrats-and operate from tight financial budgets-that they really do not have the luxury to afford full time HR professionals- and it is here the consulting fraternity can certainly add value. Indian SME are amongst the most dominant recruiters the BRIC countries - considering the increasing IT spend! Incidentally, a few months ago, I attended a meeting hosted by ICICI and IBM -to launch a project of IFC (World Bank group) SME Toolkit .The SME Toolkit India offers a wide range of how-to articles, business forms, free business software, online training, self-assessment exercises, quizzes, and resources to help entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers in India to start, finance, formalize, and grow their businesses. As a recruiter, I am convinced some of the SMEs can tap into innovative ways of hiring -retired professionals who want to have a more relaxed number of hours. Imagine the wealth of experience-even at say 20hrs a week ? -temporary or small term projects to design and implement special initiatives-utilising some flexitime employees -working closely with MBA/Engineering colleges and get interns to handle short-term projects. In a podcast I recently heard, there are a lot of SMEs in US -who have tapped the opportunity of engaging ‘interim’ managers (’rightsized’ from ironically large corporates-even as they were looking for new employment opportunities -which aren’t easy to come by-considering the slow down!)-and it has been a win-win for all concerned. With increasing attention from banks, MNC rating organisations , and SEBI approved SME exchange SEBI approved stock exchnage , we could be seeing a lot more SME’s going global?? Are we consultants..guilty for looking at the low lying fruit-and blissfully unaware of the burgeoning potential of the perhaps the largest SME market in the world ( considering companies in China are largely driven by government??) GG, cheer up- what we are looking at -is only the tip of the iceberg. The market is simply much bigger than what all of us can probably do justice to!! By the way, here is another link of SME consultants..though extending beyond HR and placements HR and placements , lol.
From the monthly archives:
June 2008
What’s up??
“What’s up?? Don’t see you in person these days?”, asked Ravi-when he met me an hour back. Ravi and I live in the same neighbourhood-and played tennis every morning -not too long ago! We usually compare notes, on each others progress occasionally-and I keep pinging him (rather used to, as I reflect now, ..) for some good candidate he could refer for my mandates.( I could see we haven’t exchanged any correspondence almost for a year now!)” Are you doing any other business?” I laughed at it, and since I could see Ravi being summoned for his haircut, crisply summarised my progress report; 1. “Have been trying to change my business model as a recruiter. Some of my time is now paid for -by some clients-as a retainer-and so I have to upgrade my offerings. More research. More networking. 2. Have recently become an affiliate of a worldwide recruiting network …and so trying to figure out what ‘international partners want’!! And yes, have made three trips abroad in the last 3 months..Nashville, Sydney and London…cutting into my regular work. 3. ie continue slogging on the usual ‘contingent search assignments’-for that has been my bread and butter for the last 15years. Guess, I shall need to clone myself into three different guys in order to do all these equally successfully” Hmm, for an instant -I felt good I could highlight some of the work that has kept me busy. I have always been accused of being too verbose. Coming to think of it, there are a couple of other things that have been taking up my time: 1.Implement the ‘application tracking system ” -and now, after 8 months, realise the data migration has created another issue..most of the resumes may not be relevant -if Options truly changed its business model *!&&! 2. Searching for technological solutions- that could help collaboration among recruitment firms -that could enable us to leverage technology and the combined reach of all the members in the ‘closed user group”. It is reassuring that both the associations NPA and ERA, that I am part of, are thinking of building online platforms..and perhaps provide solutions to aid sharing of mandates, some hot candidates-and maybe -even a job portal. However, once my haircut got underway, a scary thought just flashed…What am I trying to do? Change a business model? Based on the emerging trends?? Btw..what are the trends ??In the last few months, I shudder to see all the predictions of pundits going wrong about different economic indicators : 1. Barrel prices of oil shooting up -and seeming to go higher every week!! 2. dollar vs rupee -did I hear some one say it would be 35? Its going the other way… 3. Inflation in India touching 11% from something around 7% -and even this doesn’t include the impact of rising oil?? Would not each have an impact on the way companies manage their business? Certainly it should effect their hiring ?? Am I being foolish to invest in a future -which even economists are failing to comprehend? Do I instead decide to keep plucking the low lying fruit..till it lasts? Am I missing the wood for the trees…. I look forward to comments from my usual offline pals…
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More Options for Returning Nationals in future ??
According to a survey conducted by the Association of Executive Search Consultants , the demand for expat senior executives is likely to come down in the coming ten years !! The prediction is that within 10 years, high-cost international expatriates will largely be superseded by locals, returning nationals and regional expatriates in filling senior executive roles. Personally, I will like to believe that this will happen faster -perhaps in the next 5yrs itself ;-)! 1. Traditionally, the market for expats grew as the major emerging economies developed, and MNCs entered new market-in a bid to lauch their products /services. And most companies found it easier to second senior management staff to make the foray into the new territory-and set expectations related to the culture -performance issues etc. 2. Most of these expat assignments were typically short term -about 18 months, by which time, internal resources could be identified and could then take over from the expats. 3. It takes a different personality type- perhaps with a lot of local flavour, to ramp up operations in short period- handle ambiguity, work thru chaos and churn that a lot of business operations would need to experience as growing. It is imperative that as a company scales up, a local /regional person with a readymade network hits the ground running! 4. There is an increasing trend in customising Compensation and Benefits packages-more focussed towards the local terms and conditions-and there may not be a compelling reason for expats to move, when compared to those of say, Indian origin -who are working abroad having family roots here in India! 5. I cannot resist bringing in the aspect of demographics! The period 2008 to 2015 will see the baby boomer generation retiring in the Western countries, thereby -creating a vacuum of middle and senior management talent in the parent companies of MNCs. Will the war for talent see new trends coming up- is anybody’s guess. I shall be glad to know about what you think!!
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Outsourcing & increasing jobs in the US!!
During the last week, it was interesting to read the comments on the effect of leading statesmen on the role of outsourcing and its effect on jobs in the US. India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath asserted that Indian investments in the United States in the last two years had created more jobs in the US that American investment in India has , by pointing out: -American exports to India went up by over 70 per cent last year indicating healthy economies in developing countries mean greater markets. -Indian growth is domestic market driven by increased consumption. Outlining his vision for a strong US economy, the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that US must invest in the research and innovation to create jobs and industries, for eg, -in a renewable energy policy that ends addiction on foreign oil, provides real, long- term relief from high gas prices and high fuel costs, and builds a green economy. - by rebuilding schools, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure that needs repair. The latter statement was a surprise- especially since a few months ago, Mr Obama was touted to be anti-outsourcing-and expected to promote protectionism by building walls!! Personally, I think there has to be a radical change in the view regarding the cap of immigrants. which, the Rand report issued by an American Association of Advancement of Science highlights,“ rather than protecting jobs, could lead to reduced investment and employment at US’ !! The recent reduction in skilled immigrant visas (H1-B) has the potential to reduce the inflow of foreign science and engineering workers; and curtailing the supply of these scientists and engineers can lead US firms to outsource more research and development works to foreign countries and locate new facilities overseas. One thing globalisation will enable- thanks perhaps to technology- is ‘free trade’-and it is imperative for all of us-be it countries, corporates -or individuals, change the way we have thought in the past!!
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Walkin interviews this weekend - Saturday / Sunday - June 7th / 8th 2008 [07&08/06/08]
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