VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

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the technical skills for the mid-level managers. What attracts people at mid-level? Even when the hiring of mid-level ma
VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

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The Hurdles in Hiring Mid-level Managers & How to Overcome Them

Even when the hiring of mid-level managers is on a constant rise at India Inc., the daunting challenges of getting the right managerial and leadership skills at mid-level remains a big question mark, reveals an exhaustive study done jointly by TimesJobs-Laksh HR.

Sukriti Yaduwanshi, TimesJobs Bureau

Mid-level managers act as the means of uniting the organisational hierarchy. How to hire a mid-level manager has been the biggest question mark. A TimesJobs-Laksh HR joint study shows that there has been a gradual increase in the hiring of mid-level managers in comparison to the last two years. According to the data, 40 per cent of the employers feel that hiring for this level of managers has increased, 32 per cent feel that it has decreased and 28 per cent feel it has remained unchanged. Which key skills are required by mid-level managers? Mid-level managers are the

operational engine of an organisation. They are the ones who can make or break a project. So how does a firm ensure they have the skills necessary to keep the wheels moving? A mid-level manager’s importance lies in the way he brings these plans to life. About 32 per cent organisations say that the people management skills are most important for a mid-level manager. For 26 per cent

organisations, communication skills play an important role. Nearly 40 per cent organisations prefer leadership skills and mere 2 per cent focus on the technical skills for the mid-level managers. What attracts people at mid-level?

VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

3 Mid-level management job profile offers a plethora of opportunities and hence, it is one of the most sought after jobs. As per the TimesJobs-Laksh HR study, 32 per cent professionals are attracted towards this managerial berth for better career opportunities. About 44 per cent are there for challenging work profile and 12 per cent opt this profile for the sake of money. Only 8 per cent are allured by the designation and 4 per cent by the perks and other benefits. members and the top management members. Nearly 68 per cent organisations have experienced the skill gap in the mid-level management and only 32 per cent have been able to bridge the required skill gap internally or externally. There has been a marginal change in the skill gap over the past three years. For some organisations, the skill gap has reduced, whereas, for some it has unfortunately increased. According to our Engagement of employees at this level plays an important survey, the skill gap has widened for almost 44 per cent role. Hiring for this level requires effective engagement of the organisations. It has diminished for 32 per cent and to retain the trained and skilled mid-level staff. Nearly has remained unchanged for the 24 per cent institutions. 40 per cent organisations feel a challenging work profile engages people at the mid-level, shows the study. About 2 per cent feel money matters while 40 per cent say rewards & recognition is important. Almost for 20 per cent employers, giving more authority to mid-level managers helps in engaging them better.

Bridging the skill gap in mid-level managers

Possessing the necessary skill set required for this profile is probably the most important criterion while hiring mid-level managers. But at the same time, it is also the biggest challenge. Surveys show that about 72 per cent find the leadership skills in their mid-level managers to be poor. Around 20 per cent rate the domain skills of their mid-level managers as unsatisfactory and almost 8 per cent organisations find it difficult to fulfil the salary expectations. Due to the gravity of their positions, midlevel managers carry the extra pressure of struggling to find the balance between expectations of their team

You may hire them well and engage them better but unless you empower the mid-level managers, you will not be able to hold them for long. Mid-level management is a critical position and hence it creates pressure on the employees. By empowering these managers, organisations can offer a holistic solution to strengthen this crucial level. Here’s how you can do it: In-house training: Nearly 36 per cent India Inc. employers are focusing on providing in-house training for growth & development of mid-level managers. VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

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Job rotation: This is the focus for nearly 32 per cent India Inc. employers. It helps create exiting opportunities for mid-level managers by offering them exposure to other departments and work profile. This helps break the monotony and offers them an opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding to take up bigger roles. Virtual training programs: In the digital world, about 30 percent organisations plan to give mid-level managers virtual training programs for better understanding. Specialised courses: Nearly 2 per cent organisations hire new skills – the primary reason for which organisations tend to look externally.

Hiring: internally or externally? For any organisation, the biggest dilemma is to opt for internal or external hiring for the mid-level managers. Since there are more demands with limited calibre, it is always wiser to focus on grooming managers and leaders within the organisation.

hiring, 36 per cent are banking on employee referrals and 20 per cent trust online job portals. There can be numerous reasons for a company to decide the option of hiring internally or externally. About 36 per cent organisations hire externally to get a new perspective and 50 per cent choose this to have a handful set of new skills.

The TimesJobs-Laksh HR study shows that for mid-level management hiring, not many companies are focusing on succession planning/internal recruitment. Instead, 24 per cent are looking externally (but within the industry) to fill up mid-level vacancies and 20 per cent organisations say they tend to look externally since they need new skills sets. For external

Hiring within the organisation is a cost-effective method. Around 27 per cent companies hire within the institution as it’s economical for them. About 64 per cent organisations hire internally to retain and engage the employee and nearly 9 per cent opt for this because the person might be well versed with working ambience and culture of the organisation.

Mid-level hiring trend: TimesJobs RecruiteX Mid-level professionals dominated the hiring trend across industries from Jan-Jun 2017. Experienced professional with 5-15 years were in demand the most during the period, showed TimesJobs RecruiteX data. According to the data, IT/telecom, BFSI, manufacturing, retail and automobiles are among the top sectors witnessing an upward trend in hiring mid-level managers. In the IT segment, 45 per cent of the total jobs were at mid-management during Jan-Jun 2017. Recruitments were aimed at acquiring people for specialised and niche roles, for business expansion and innovations. Business management, business intelligence, marketing and core tech functions were the most desired competencies sought at this level. VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

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Middle management is new senior management despite her best efforts, resulting However, before letting them take over, we need to make sure in mutual disconnect between organisation and the employee. that apart from strong execution and people management And that is why we are skills, they are also having the increasingly seeing the situation following three qualities so that where organisation are finding it they can be effective: tough to get capable mid-level managers (almost three-fourths Self-Learners – People But in the last decade or so, as per the TimesJobs-Laksh HR constantly learning whether with the incessant march of through Coursera/Edx/MOOC technology (SMAC, IOT and now, survey), even though they are or blogs, experiential learning, looking everywhere to get the FANG), strategy is increasingly being destroyed in the field and best talent. And talent is looking etc. They should also actively for challenges that they are not encourage their charges to non-stop innovation is the only develop themselves similarly. getting. way to survive. Traditionally mid-level management has been the operational engine of the organisation – where strategy from the top is translated to action on the ground and feedback is translated back up.

And to add to that, a lot of the traditional work of a mid-level manager - like supervision, audit, customer interaction, etc, has been automated or much more data driven. So being there on the ground is no longer as important.

That is because today the smartest strategies are being made in the field, on a realtime basis, using tons of data and your manager there must innovate on her own or at the very least, strongly recommend a course of action as needed.

Innovators - People trying new solutions or approaches, whether technical, regulatory or design. This is far more important where innovation is often ahead of regulation, like Bitcoin.

Visionaries – If they find a solution which is working and So, we will increasingly see a Thus, the traditional go getter, blurring of lines between middle is ahead of the market, do they strong on execution mid-level understand its possibilities? Can managers are finding that their and top management, and they think and drive it to the typical strengths are not enough organisations will need people able to operate at a level or two scale that is possible, especially to keep them on the top of with digitisation? performance charts. The result is, above their pay-grade, then empower them to drive the the traditional middle Manager - Ankur Agrawal organisation to the next level. is no longer to add the value Founder, Laksh HR that the organisation needs

VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

Event Report

TimesJobs Conversations The Raintree Hotel, Annasalai, Chennai

Talent crunch and the industry-academia perspective

W

ar for Talent is one the most vexing issues of present times, where employers are threatened by the shrinking talent pool and employees are struggling to fulfil their personal career aspirations. To delve deeper and understand different perspectives, TimesJobs recently hosted a panel discussion in Chennai with top shots from HR fraternity titled ‘War for Talent 2.0: HR Meet’. Excerpts from the discussion -

Swaminathan M S, General Manager-HR & Org, Saipem Our organistaion does engineering and related works solely. We require people who have very strong concepts and that talent pool is shrinking. With time, the investment from government in education segment has gone down. The academia too needs to focus on students getting hands-on learning in coordination with the industry.

V Viswanathan, National Campus Manager, Sobhana Jaya Madhavan, Associate Vice Engineering, Wipro Ltd. President - Organizational Excellence and At the business end, profit growth is becoming Head HR, Newgen KnowledgeWorks difficult. This is the underline of many employeremployee aspects today. Also, challenges of automation, thrust on localisation of talent and changing client demands are adding to this pressure. All this translates into demand for better skills from new joinee.

Roy Joseph, VP-HR, MRF Ltd We often read reports about the Indian talent being unemployable. In a country which has a large number of trained graduates passing out every year, why is that only a fraction of them are employable? There are many reasons like academia is caught in a mindset and curriculum is very old. These need to change first.

Krithivasan S, Lead- India Campus Hiring, VirtusaPolaris The most common challenge faced with fresh graduates is the lack of communication skills. We do check if the person in question can communicate well or not. Also there is a definite digital divide between the industry and the academia and it’s a rising concern.

The root cause of most problems is that we don’t

encourage critical thinking in children. And then suddenly we expect them to have out-of-box ideas. That is a major paradox. The change needs to happen at the family level and society level first and then at the institutional level.

Soundarajan K, VP HR, TVS Logistics Services Ltd While we talk about various aspects of talent crunch and we agree that often finding the right talent is the key issue, there is one different aspect too. That of ‘how you deal with the talent after you onboard them’ - this is another prominent issue.

Dr V Radhakrishnan, Principal, KSR Engineering College There are a lot of expectations from academia. The industry expects that students should be taught about latest technologies but institutions are often chasing the pre-set academic curriculum and have less time to accommodate all such expectations.

VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

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VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com

Paternity leaves are ‘off-limits’ for India Inc. employees What is your marital status? 10% Unmarried

30%

79% male employees

say their organisation does not make men feel comfortable taking paternity leave, reveals a survey of nearly 1135 male employees of India Inc.by JobBuzz, a company rating platform powered by TimesJobs.

Married, no children

35%

35%

Have you ever taken paternity leaves?

We both work part time and split child care between us

30%

Yes

15%

We both work full time; our children are looked after in nursery/child minder/school/family/friends

20%

No

I work full time; my partner works part time

85%

I work full time; my partner cares for our children full time

45%

If yes, how long did you take the time off? 65%

1 day to one week

30%

Between 1-2 weeks

5%

Upto a month

0%

More than a month

Was this time off provided by your company (policy) as part of the paternity leave plan? 15%

No (I took unpaid leaves)

30%

Yes

55%

No (I took paid leaves)

Did you take any form of additional paternity leave or shared paternity leave to care for your child? 5%

Married, having two children

Married, having one child

Of those,who are married here is how they split childcare 5%

25%

If you took extra leave of some sort, how would you rate your experience? 35%

Yes

95%

60%

No

5% Do you think taking paternity leaves is a risk to your career? No

35% Yes

Average Good

If yes, why do you think it is a threat to your job? 45%

15%

85%

Poor

20%

Employer will see it as lack of commitment to work May lose chance to get promoted May hamper my social statues (among friends/family/colleagues)

Infographics by Konika Mehra

VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 7 I JULy 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com