National HRD Network, NHRDN Mumbai Chapter AND Welingkar Institute of Management had jointly organized a Conclave on “Emerging Human Requirements in the Manufacturing Sector“

“For any industry, successful retention of employees starts even before recruitment. The corporate leaders have to take stock of the aspirations of GenY and need to create an ecosystem that is attractive to them. It is important for companies to position their brands for creating a positive impact in the mindset of youth to attract them, create value for them in and outside the campus and also offer incentives beyond the salary. The manufacturing sector should look at how much it is really investing in this process and putting in effort to create a better connect with educational institutes. Every manger should be ready to take on the role of a teacher so that the innovations and new thought processes from the industries percolate down to youngsters .With India entering an era of double digit rate of growth, we really need to take on the challenge of providing suitably trained manpower to manage those numerous jobs in manufacturing sector.” Dr Uday Salunkhe, President- NHRDN Mumbai Chapter and Group Director-Welingkar institute of Management Development shared his thoughts in his welcome address at the conclave.

Manufacturing is a subject on our national agenda as its contribution to the GDP is expected to rise to 28% from the current 16%.It also employs nearly twice the number of people then the services sector. However due to our stringent land acquisition laws ,the  focus of  our industrial development  has shifted to 2-3 tier cities and this has thrown a different challenge for creating ‘employable’ manpower for manufacturing sector. The single largest and key challenge facing Indian Inc. is that of  the challenge of building scale- quickly- in terms of  manpower numbers having the right set of  knowledge ,skills and competency  requirements..As the industry is growing rapidly , there is need for populating the entry level pipeline- which can and is normally met through Campus Recruitment .The second challenge is in the ‘up skilling’ of existing employees- to prepare them for the emerging future roles that are likely to be more complex and demanding new set of competencies. Well rounded, experienced and rightly skilled talent is not available in large numbers and/or is very expensive. As India Inc. grapples with the supply and quality challenges, there is an urgent need for evolving and implementing innovative, cost effective and scalable HR strategies, processes and practices. The conclave was aimed at discussing the emerging trends, challenges and possible solutions in this sector.

”China which has the largest manufacturing base in the world is also likely to run short of trained manpower in the years to come. If that happens companies will have to move more towards, IT and Automation and our plants will get integrated with each other. Retaining of old employees by reskilling, supporting the new staff in its individual development and higher education, and A transparent appraisal system will become the need of the day “opined Mr. V.V.Paranjape, Director – Siemens in his inaugural address.

“While Lakhs of engineers graduate from Indian institutes every year, there is a shortage of a skilled manpower because 90% of these are found unemployable by the industry. China was able to take a quantum leap to become the number one in the world because it foresaw the opportunity and planned in advance by setting up engineering and vocational training schools to create the right workforce. India needs to develop its educational system, and its clear that industry cannot depend on government to do it for them. Government, Corporates and Institutes must work hand in hand for achieving the goal of becoming the next superpower in the world” contributed Mr Vivek Paranjape, Group President (HR)-Reliance shared his views in the Keynote address.

This set the ball rolling and the day’s business sessions saw informative discussions rolling out on a verity of subjects such as skilling a globalised workforce for the supply chain/delivery models, staffing firms and client partnership, supportive employee relations strategies, Improving retention levels and decreasing hiring pressures etc.conducted by  senior representatives from leading Corporates such as Tata, Birla, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance, Hindustan Lever, Siemens, Procter & Gamble, Adani Group, Voltas,Team Lease, Jindal Group, Maruti Udyog Ltd ;among others. The conclave was attended by a large number of Corporate HR Managers, Trainers, Staffing solution consultants, faculty and students of Welingkar Institute.
Look out for NHRDN’s next sessions on Banking & Financial  Sector on Saturday 24th September, Telecom / IT & IT Enabled Services  Sector on Saturday 15th October  2011, Pharmaceutical & Health Care Sector on Saturday 26th November  2011, Infrastructure Sector on Saturday 17th December  2011, Retail  Sector in January 2012, Hospitality & Tourism Sector in February 2012 and SME Sector in March 2012