The infrastructure sectors will need to double their workforce in the next 10 years. But as the unorganised contractor community, which has sprung up after a steep decline in civil engineers, has become the most important pool for recruiters, skill enhancement will be key, writes Rumjhum Chatterjee.
The human capital challenge in the infrastructure seÂcÂtor is real, acute and daunting. Human capital manaÂgeÂment is about acqÂuiring talent in the riÂght numbers and of the desired quality. It is also about retaiÂning talent and about having an engaged team at every location.
But that would be true of an organisation in any sector.Why then is the story in the infrastructure sector any different? Why is it a challenge? Let's start at the very beginning, then the talent war.
Take a look at how the construction industry is mapped in the report titled “Human Resources and Skill Management in Building Construction Industry and Real Estate Services” prepared by IMaCS in 2008 for National Skill Development Council.
It is estimated that about 3.3 crore people are employed in the construction sector, 70 percent (2.3 crore) of whom are in the infrastructure space.The increÂmental human resource requirement in this sector betÂween 2008 and 2022 is expected to be about 4.7 crore.On the face of it, the numbers are intimidating, but let's probe a little further and look at the skill mix that is required and the various challenges that come with managing them.
As of today, a significant proportion of the workforce (82 percent) is unskilled and is involved in the core opeÂraÂtions at construction sites.Only 10 percent are skilled workers and the rest comprises technicians, foremen, etc. We have gained several insights regarding this taÂlent pool while managing the talent acquisition process for our infrastructure organisation. But first, some backÂground:
-The skill mix in our organisation is as in the following pie chart:
– More than half our employees are located at project sites.These are currently spread across the country (and some overseas) in 60 locations.The size of each team in these project offices varies from three to 115. Most of the project employees join directly at the site location and need to be inducted, oriented, traiÂned and groomed at the place where they join.
-More than 90 percent of all new recruits over the last two years have been engineers.Although engiÂneers account for approximately 55 percent of the employee population, they constitute approximately 90 percent of hires each year due to high attrition.The larger share of attrition is from the project locations.
-The screening process is both rigorous and tedious as finding quality resources is a challenge.This is compÂouÂnded by the fact that offer drops (not joining after accepting the offer) is as high as 20 percent.
-Only as much as 10 percent of project office staff is willing to relocate to a different site after the compÂletion of the project at the site where they joined.It may be significant to note that even these 10 percent re-locations usually happen within a state and in a few cases, within the region.No doubt this transÂlates into unavoidable 'letting-go' of people who wouÂld otherwise have been gainfully engaged in a proÂÂject at a different location.
– Interestingly, the number of people who re-join after a gap of a few months or a year is on the rise.
So, is attrition the problem? Is finding good quality resources the issue? Honestly, both are and the two are related.
The current shortage of experienced civil engineers should be no surprise, given the fact that 20-25 years ago, most engineering students opted to specialise in streams other than Civil IT, Mechanical, Chemical eaving only a small pool in the civil engineering stream.This was an understandable job-following trend.Many civil engineers even changed course and took on assignments in sectors that used little of their core skills but paid them well.Ironically, decades later, when the jobs are swelling in the infrastructure and conÂstruction industries, there are not enough experienced civil engineers.
Civil engineering has been a somewhat 'closed' discipline.The construction and infrastructure sectors have predominantly been managed by the government till recently.Given the government's recruitment norms, on the one hand it may be unreasonable to expect that engineers from other streams would have strayed into civil engineering jobs.On the other, it would be even more unreasonable to expect that the sector would accÂept engineers from streams other than civil, or non-engineers.What this dearth did, however, is spawn a breed of 'contractors' who carried out construction actiÂvities for the government entities or for a handful of priÂvate developers.This community has served as a haven for the civil engineers but has remained a larÂgely unorgaÂnised sector.Demand has been so huge that numbers more than quality has always gained precedence.UnforÂtuÂÂnately, the infrastructure sector whether in the pubÂlic or private domain needs to fill its requirements from this pool of talent that has not yet fully learned to be quality conscious.
That then leaves a small number of well qualified, quality conscious, hard-working and managerially comÂpetent civil engineering professionals.With the Indian infrastructure sector becoming an attractive destination for international engineering services comÂpanies, there is no doubt that all these companies will have little choÂice other than to dip their hands into the same talent pool that the domestic market is any way fighting for.
Small wonder, then, why immobility, offer drops and attrition are common in infrastructure and conÂstÂruÂction companies.
With advancement in the levels of sophisticated mechaÂnisation in this industry, the requirement will be for fewer people of a substantially higher calibre of techÂnical expertise. Where will this come from?
Can companies train and retain? Is there time? Is it affordable? Who benefits if employees are not loyal? Can companies create a culture that motivates its people to stay on? Can managerial skills be developed and retained? Do employees on project sites desire them? Can non-engineers and engineers other than civil engineers be deployed after due training? Who will train? Are there well documented and accepted standards for skills to be developed for this industry?
If the infrastructure sector is indeed considered to be the fuel for growth and what will build the nation of tomorrow, it is time that the government, industry and academia come together and draw up immediate plans for enhancing the talent pool through 'skilling', certifying and regulating training institutes so that the urgent needs of the sector are met….and sustained.
The author is the Managing Director and Head—Human Capital at Feedback Infrastructure Services Pvt Ltd.
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