 "Beyond the hefty pay packet")
Sometime in 2009 former Bank of America - India CEO Vishwavir or ‘Vish’ Ahuja moved out of his plush Napean Sea Road home to the dusty town of Kolhapur in Maharashtra’s hinterland where Ratnakar Bank is headquartered. "Out went the memberships of The Chambers, The Belvedere, the Gymkhanas and tony clubs, and the S-class Mercedes," Ahuja, who drew a $1 million paycheque told Businessworld magazine, talking about his shift from the lofty world of high finance to running a quiet local bank catering largely to the rural, SME and agriculture segments.
If Ahuja is an exemplar of an established, tremendously successful professional wearing out the perks of a million dollar high flying job to find greater meaning in their work, there are now signs that India’s gen-x too is increasingly looking beyond the lure of money while choosing a career.
According to a recent Economic Times report, two 21 year olds from IIT Kanpur rejected crore plus packages from Oracle to opt for better roles that paid less. This demonstrates how in the trade-off between a satisfying job and a satisfying pay cheque many are opting for the former. "This just shows that not everyone is running after money. These students are mature; they know money does not reflect everything” a placement team member told the Economic Times.
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“These are children of liberalization; they surely look beyond salaries” says Manish Sabharwal, Co-founder and Chairman of TeamLease, a leading recruitment consultancy. “The IITs are now slowly becoming what Stanford once was” a fertile breeding ground for the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.
This trend of the monetary allure of a job taking a backseat to give way for other attributes like job satisfaction or work profile is increasingly visible these days. "Job profile and brand image of the company continue to rule the choice in comparison to salary package during placements” according to a Firstnaukri.com survey. “It is interesting to note that students are keener for a good job profile rather than a fat salary package”, the company’s Business Head Deepali Singh told the Indian Express earlier this year.
In fact fresh job seekers from premier schools like the Indian School of Business seem to be also opting to work for smaller set ups, rather than targeting the big names in pursuit of a good profile. For the first time, 30 out of 762 students passing out of ISB in April this year joined smaller companies in roles that gave them bigger responsibilities according to Business Today. What’s more, 21 opted out of the placement process altogether to start out on their own.
So what’s pushed this marked shift – from the Indian graduate focusing altogether on how much the ‘pay package’ will be, to giving more of a thrust on following one’s passion and interest? Are people getting more adventurous? Or is it a realization that money will eventually follow if you are doing something you are good at?
“While trends differ from sector to sector and market to market, in the current scheme of things people in senior management positions are thinking 10 times before changing a job purely for money. That’s because they are equally assessing the profile, growth opportunities, the group’s ethos etc. For out of college graduates, the role has taken precedence, even though money plays an important part. Graduates are opting for smaller companies because the learning curve is faster, the opportunities are bigger. Larger firms can be a bit run of the mill” says Siddharth Raisurana, Director at ABC Consultants.
A survey by ApnaCircle.com corroborates Surana’s assessment. According to its findings, over 50% of professionals surveyed switched their industry after their first job, and not just for more money. 34% complained of lack of growth and opportunity and 33% had either lost interest or realised their own potential. Only 28% did it for monetary reasons according to the Financial Express quoting findings from the survey.
That brings to the fore the challenges these changing dynamics pose to employers in a country where the fight for skills and fresh talent is already so intense. Top companies are increasingly having to re-strategize say experts and focus more and more on improving employee morale and look at new ways to inspire talent. “They are also having to spread their wings and look beyond the top 5 schools” says Surana.
“IT has moved to the next phase and destroyed the caste system of the MNCs who no longer enjoy the unfair advantage they once did in hiring. Neither do they enjoy the first right of refusal for top graduates in top schools. Kids are looking for everything today – money, role, trajectory, inspiration, excitement – and a lot of the small companies are offering that” says Sabharwal.
A 2012 McKinsey report titled ‘State of Human Capital’ lists aspects like leadership development, talent acquisition and retention, employee engagement, performance management etc much higher on the list of critical HR priorities than compensation benefits which ranked last. Demand for flexibility is also becoming a key according to the report which uses “paralysis” to describe the state of human capital departments today.
Evidently merely offering fat pay packages isn’t cutting ice anymore, companies and HR will soon need to recognize that.