Ruing over the lack of skilled manpower, human resource (HR) professionals said, during a management conference, that more interface between educational institutions and industry should take place. Organised by St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies (SKIPS), Ahmedabad, the conference focused on 'Adding Lasting Value in Uncertain Times...through Human Capital Leadership'.
"While many engineers are passing out, in terms of employability, skilled man power is still lacking. There is a need for more interface between educational institutions and the industry. While such an interface does take place, more efforts in this end is needed," said AP Singh, senior vice president (HR), Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
Speakers at the conference were also of the opinion that if HR management is done in an effective manner with a human face, a company can maintain its growth rate even during the time of economic crisis. "Open-minded education system with all-inclusive approach is a must for creation of human capital for the future. Further, proper support should be extended to ensure skill-building among the entire work force of the country," said Yatindra R Sharma, joint managing director, KHS Machinery Pvt Ltd and vice-chairman, CII, Gujarat.
Raising a question that should HR management be considered as human resources management or human relationship management, Bhooshan Naik, general manager, works, Pharmalab India, said, "Most of the companies considers workforce as a short-term resources and adopts hire and fire policy accordingly. But this does not work in long term, as a new employee requires longer gestation period. If hiring is done with a long-term perspective, the company can gain maximum benefit during the boom time and during the recession, there are certain options for constructive use of the manpower, which, in turn, ultimately proves beneficial to the company."
Meanwhile, Singh added, "In HR functioning, reactive approach succeeds sometimes, but one should always go for pro-active approach, as it works for long time and can be of great help in turbulent times.”
