ET BureauAutomation, though already visible, could be a game changer that can impact the dynamics of the employment ecosystem, says Peter Hamilton, regional director for APAC and member of the board at global recruitment outsourcing and talent management major KellyOCG. In an interview to ET, Hamilton talks of hiring challenges, skilling issues, succession planning and India’s growing gig economy. Edited excerpts:
How is succession planning in a professional organisation different from a family-run business?
Succession planning is not different for professional or family-run businesses. For both, the right process and rigour are needed. When hiring successors, companies should start listing out the psychographic and aptitude skills needed to be successful in managerial roles. Globally, succession plans are now based on assessing the contributions that individuals can make to strategic roles and not just technical ones.
What are the discerning HR trends in India? How is the concept of flexi jobs taking off?
The shared model or gig economy is on the rise in India largely fuelled by startups in Internet and technology space. Increasingly, some of the established firms in India now realise that the conventional hire-to-retire processes and singular focus on permanent employees are obsolete. They are looking to bring in external workers like freelancers, temporary staff, service providers, alumni, consultants and online talent communities into their workforce mix.
Workforce mix helps companies access specialist skills and scale according to business cycles. As firms realise this, they are no longer resistant. IT, shared service centres and startups are the biggest adopters of contingent hiring. The Workforce Agility Barometer Study by KellyOCG shows that 56% of companies in India have more than 20% of their workforce as contingent workers comprising the workforce mix mentioned earlier. More important, 71% of organisations here expect the percentage of their contingent workforce to grow over the next two years, which is the highest percentage in the APAC region.
How does KellyOCG help firms reskill people or hire those with right skills?
KellyOCG works with 80 partners in India for recruitment process and contingent workforce outsourcing services. We help them assess and test talent for latest hot skills like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics. These suppliers advise the talent pool to reskill or upskill based on the market demands. For example, we are helping a large virtualisation firm and a global chip-maker in India to hire talent with hard-to-get skills.
Do hiring solutions differ between a startup and an established conglomerate?
Globally, KellyOCG offers talent advisory to build strategic capabilities, analytics, and workforce planning. Under talent advisory, we provide governance, oversight and performance control of existing workforce programmes as well as new talent attraction strategies. We also design talent supply chain management strategies. Both these services are largely aimed at established firms and large startups that have achieved scale. In India, we are launching our talent advisory services shortly.
How is the Indian market looking?
We have tripled our headcount over the last two years and are excited by the opportunity for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), managed services provider and talent advisory services.
RPO particularly is of interest to us as it continues to grow significantly in the Indian market. Over the last five years, we have engaged with more than nine managed service provider programmes across big labels and 12 RPO programmes, largely enterprise wise. The focus verticals for us in India are IT, ITeS and captive technology centres of global companies.
How is succession planning in a professional organisation different from a family-run business?
Succession planning is not different for professional or family-run businesses. For both, the right process and rigour are needed. When hiring successors, companies should start listing out the psychographic and aptitude skills needed to be successful in managerial roles. Globally, succession plans are now based on assessing the contributions that individuals can make to strategic roles and not just technical ones.
What are the discerning HR trends in India? How is the concept of flexi jobs taking off?
The shared model or gig economy is on the rise in India largely fuelled by startups in Internet and technology space. Increasingly, some of the established firms in India now realise that the conventional hire-to-retire processes and singular focus on permanent employees are obsolete. They are looking to bring in external workers like freelancers, temporary staff, service providers, alumni, consultants and online talent communities into their workforce mix.
Workforce mix helps companies access specialist skills and scale according to business cycles. As firms realise this, they are no longer resistant. IT, shared service centres and startups are the biggest adopters of contingent hiring. The Workforce Agility Barometer Study by KellyOCG shows that 56% of companies in India have more than 20% of their workforce as contingent workers comprising the workforce mix mentioned earlier. More important, 71% of organisations here expect the percentage of their contingent workforce to grow over the next two years, which is the highest percentage in the APAC region.
How does KellyOCG help firms reskill people or hire those with right skills?
KellyOCG works with 80 partners in India for recruitment process and contingent workforce outsourcing services. We help them assess and test talent for latest hot skills like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics. These suppliers advise the talent pool to reskill or upskill based on the market demands. For example, we are helping a large virtualisation firm and a global chip-maker in India to hire talent with hard-to-get skills.
Do hiring solutions differ between a startup and an established conglomerate?
Globally, KellyOCG offers talent advisory to build strategic capabilities, analytics, and workforce planning. Under talent advisory, we provide governance, oversight and performance control of existing workforce programmes as well as new talent attraction strategies. We also design talent supply chain management strategies. Both these services are largely aimed at established firms and large startups that have achieved scale. In India, we are launching our talent advisory services shortly.
How is the Indian market looking?
We have tripled our headcount over the last two years and are excited by the opportunity for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), managed services provider and talent advisory services.
RPO particularly is of interest to us as it continues to grow significantly in the Indian market. Over the last five years, we have engaged with more than nine managed service provider programmes across big labels and 12 RPO programmes, largely enterprise wise. The focus verticals for us in India are IT, ITeS and captive technology centres of global companies.
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