Enhancing
skills of the working population is
vital and significant
Dr. K. Balasubramanian, Thought Leader/Transformation Coach, www.visionunlimited.in
Work force development has traditionally been found
in two forms: place-based strategies that attempt to address the needs of
people living in a particular neighbourhood, or sector-based strategies that
focus on matching workers' skills to needs in an industry already present in
the region.
Skill building can be viewed as a mechanism to
improve the effectiveness and contribution of labour to the overall
production. It is as an important component
to push the production possibility cutting edge outward and to take growth rate
of the economy to a higher path. Skill
building could also be seen as an instrument to empower the individual and
improve his/her social acceptance or value.
A vibrant manufacturing, especially, Small and
Medium Enterprises sector can play a key role in creating jobs and high
economic growth. It has the potential to
provide employment for the remarkably large labour force that is still working
in agriculture. Achieving and sustaining
such growth and higher employment will require a boost in industrial and
services growth, spurred by SMEs.
Today, many high-income countries are restructuring
their human resource development strategies. In the face of increasingly aggressive
international competition, these countries are setting up lifelong learning
systems as an essential national policy for maintaining their global
competitive advantage.
Skills based education is tarnished by multiple
access barriers like limited infrastructure facilities, quality of training,
rigid entry requirements, lack of financial support, and negative perceptions.
These limitations exist more for the disadvantaged, especially women and rural
communities. Developing our human resources reservoir that not only feeds to
the domestic market but also the global workforce and labour crisis is the
urgent growth imperative. Indian workforce needs to be trained across the four
levels, from White Collar to the Rust Collar workers linking them to job
opportunities and market certainties.
The skills challenge doubles up for us with a bulge
young working age group population. Often referred to as the ‘Demographic
Dividend’, the skills v/s jobs requirement divergence often leads to
economically inactive working age group people. While this impacts the economy
and the particularly the growth of the domestic industry, it is a huge social
and civil risk. Examples of growing unrest, for example the red belt or the
increasing revolution are a wakeup call.
It is further more challenging to bridge the huge
skills demand – supply gaps. Sadly, careers springing from skills are a matter
of chance for majority and not a well thought choice. Other challenges in
implementation like shortage of trained trainers and teachers, mismatch in the
curriculum and industry expectation and a lack of global recognition of
certification as such.
The recent ‘Make in India’ scheme surely calls for a
significant contribution from the SME sector. Nevertheless the SME sector organizations
in India have a huge shortage of skilled manpower. At the same time the
organizations also have not taken any steps to upgrade the skills of their
human sources and the efforts from their side are not good enough.
The Indian work force lack in technology front, communication
and digital communication. A study reveals that in the northern part of the
country only 42% of the organizations focus on enhancement of skill of their
workforce. The study also states that 20% of the workmen are unskilled and 21%
of the workforce got themselves trained after taking up a job.
It is worrying to note from the study that 61% of
the organizations state that the skill development and enhancement in a
structured manner and a specific plan for the same is never complete and
possible due to non-cooperation from the employees which are the road blocks to
productivity and profitability.
The study also reveals stunning information that 41%
of the financial services organizations, 39% of the trading organizations make
use of the latest communication technology and telecommunication facilities.
85% of such organizations could reduce their working capital expenses significantly
and 80% of the organizations stated that they could save a lot of time which
has resulted in efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.
If Indian companies have to compete globally, skill
development, continuous improvement among the workforce is inevitable or else
the SMEs would perish automatically despite many plans on the paper at the
Government level.