Hiring is Hard Work!!

So say even the legendary leaders of GE and L&T!!

Last week, I had listened to a podcast -by Jack Welch- that making hiring mistakes are universal ! Here is a link to the transcribed edition of the Guru's admissions. Anyways-here is a summary of some of the reasons- despite his 60 yrs of experience- as 'we were just so tired of interviewing when there was real work to be done.'

- the impulse to hire a person who was too good to be true:
-rushing to hire a person because he possesses your missing pieces
-going for the familiar. Same college, social background, whatever.
-hiring a candidate who seen it all, or even,

-hiring a candidate who's smart and capable but just too lacking in emotional intelligence, or EQ,"

Elsewhere today, I read about Larsen & Toubro (L&T) grappling with the issue of succession planning. Me thinks if itsn't a little too late-perhaps about 10-15 years late?? The country's largest engineering and construction company -one of the first professionally run companies-somewhere in the way-focussed on 'seniority and age'(so much so-that at one point of time- the average age of executives went upto 57yrs!). As a result, many middle and trained management professionals were 'sitting ducks' for other competitors to hire them in senior management roles!

(The problem is compounded-as it hasnt been able to attract too many youngsters too in the last decade!)

It is therefore quite apt & contemporary that the Hyderabad chapter of Executive Recruiters Association is embarking on some attempts to unravel the mysteries /challenges that the booming Indian industry has been facing- especially in the areas of talent acquisitions and management.

ERA Hyderabad is having a series of 'power meetings' involving Business leaders, HR and recruiting fraternity -across industries to deliberate on the 'pain points' each one of them is facing. Concerns emerging out of a weeklong series of such 'industry specific' meetings will be analysed-and it is hoped that ERA shares possible & viable solutions at its National convention on September 5th in Hyderabad!

Am eager to learn about the best practices..and to see if the bar can be raised!!

Collaboration with multiple Recruitment firms

The popularity of linkedin never ceases to amaze me. Hardly twenty fours have gone by, since I included a message mentioning current status of my profile that reads "collaboration with multiple recruitment firms" I have been a recipient of many a well wisher!!

Let me try and elaborate-below is an effort that I am trying to cultivate:

Well, I was just off a teleconference call earlier in the day -with some of my Asia Pac affiliates from NPA, the worldwide recruiting network that I belong to! This time, it was an effort among partners specialising in IT-and we had participation from Philippines, Korea, Taipei, Hong Kong, China -apart from India!

It didn't take us long to understand the impact of the influence of the mighty US! All of us traded notes on the kind of assignments we have-and very interestingly, while all of us had HOT candidates who could be exported from our respective countries, we realised there were not clients interested in 'importing' expats for the key positions..with the exception of China!

Our Chinese partner was eager to mention that some of his clients-especially in the Banking and Financial services sector- were looking out for topnotch professionals from anypart of the world! The Banks, especially, have recently received licenses to launch new products and services, and so are ramping up their IT operations! And for senior management professionals, despite candidates from Singapore and Hong Kong, there was scope for more..and expats were welcome!!

I know its only a distinct possibility-but looking at a media report predicting tougher days for recruiters, I hastened to pull out some of the opportunities from my mailbox -on to my blog today:

-Oil & Gas professionals for Saudi .

-Mining Engineers & Geologists for New Zealand.

-Semiconductor and Water Fab professionals for Australia .

A quick round up with a couple of ERA members in Hyderabad- and presto, they seem to conducting manhunts for various levels-across function-and industries.

Did I hear some one say-" None of us" are as good as "all of us" or even "some of us"?

I rest my case for collaboration!

Slow down in hiring...temporarily?

At times I wish -what I said didn't come true!

But as the article in Outlook Business, which carries a 'slow pedalling hiring' quote of mine highlights-the trend is actually unmistake-able! The table -CMIE source- shows a bunch of IT/ITES companies decelerating-and perhaps -there is an effect on the hiring cycle!





The article mentions the slow and cautious approached of companies to battle it- managing the 'bench', holding back offers from campuses, renegotiating of rates with vendors, et al.


It is ironical though..to see a correlation between the oil prices & the weakening of the rupee -could arrest the decline in hiring? I quote..

"The good news for IT/ITES vendors is the fall in the value of the rupee against the greenback. After appreciating sharply last year, the rupee-dollar rate is down to 42-43 levels. This is a huge relief for the IT/ITES industry, as every 1 percentage point fall in the rupee impacts profit margins by 300-450 basis points, depending on the business model," says Kaustubh Dhavse, Deputy Director, Frost & Sullivan.

It is too eerie to think that there could be a connection of some market players ..involved in the sub prime crisis-would they be responsible for the rising oil prices?

As on date, the India story stands to be threatened-galloping inflation, oil prices, stock market beginning to tank, real estate projects being delayed, airlines getting crippled..would the saving propensity of the Indian- bail out the economy? Who knows, the weakening rupee could inspire exporters... IE/ITES industry will bounce back? And, with that hiring will happen in hordes once again....