The Indian economy grew at its slowest pace in a decade in 2012-13. From a high of above 9% GDP growth rate, we are now struggling to maintain a 5% growth. Factor in the global crisis looming around, including the unrest in Syria, US economy on a quantitative easing support, sovereign debt crisis, back home a volatile market, the tumbling rupee, current account deficit which is dangerously close to breaching the safe zone, negative sentiments all around, a pending election leading to policy paralysis, high inflation leading to tight monetary policy , fluctuating Industrial output, things don’t seem too exciting for Indian Economy in the coming few months.
A look into the findings of the ‘State of the Urban Youth, India 2012: Employment, Livelihoods, Skills,’ a report published by IRIS Knowledge Foundation in collaboration with UN-HABITAT states that the population in the age-group of 15-34 increased from 353 million in 2001 to 430 million in 2011. Current predictions suggest a steady increase in the youth population to 464 million by 2021. By 2020, India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64 per cent of its population in the working age group. This is an exciting set of data. With the West, Japan and even China aging, this demographic potential offers India and its economy an unprecedented edge that economists believe could add a significant 2 per cent to the GDP growth rate.
But most of these populations were born in the post liberalization era, who have grown up during a period when India was slowly but resiliently moving from a developing third world economy to being one of the fastest growing countries. Having been a part of a fast growing economy, they come with clear ambition and high aspiration. In an economic cycle where organization are frequently tempering with their organization structure, in order to have a flatter structure, to control cost and improve accountability and productivity, when natural attrition has gone down to single digit and retrenchment is happening on a periodic basis, managing the ambition of the young workforce, nurturing their aspiration and keeping them engaged is going to be a huge challenge for corporate India. But considering this is the work force that is going to take things ahead, it is a challenge worth taking for organizations in general and Human Resources Dept. in particular.
A study done by a leading Indian MNC consisting of past, present and future potential employees presents an interesting picture. While for the older generation location, compensation used to be an important issue, for the present and future generation job security, recognition, good leadership, innovation and Individual capability development are the factors that matter.
Training & Development: Good organizations and visionary leaders use economic slowdown period to train their manpower. This serves dual purpose of keeping the employee engaged as well as it helps in honing his existing skill set or acquiring a new one. Since the younger generation shows immense flexibility to learning training through a proper Individual Development Plan will work wonders as this would help the employee to evaluate his strengths and areas of improvement and also work as a tool to monitor continuous development.
Vertical Growth: Job rotation is another way to keep away the boredom and giving suitable employees an opportunity to grow vertically. And the first step to job rotation must be a robust talent management practice, where competency must be evaluated vis-à-vis performance, role expectation and job enhancement. Many a times we make the cardinal mistake of doing Job rotation just for the sake of the practice. The younger work force is completely aware of its capability and aspiration and hence it must be administered judiciously, where there is ample learning available for the employee.
Good Leadership: “Most of the employees leave their managers and not the organization”. This is a fact. The Millennial employees enjoy working with capable managers who have sound knowledge, impeccable integrity, who walk the talk and have leadership traits. They dither working with self centered and insecure managers, from whom they know they can’t learn much. As a best-practice, organizations must use slow down period to provide training and development to the managers to help them effectively manage multiple generations of workers. Those that fail to do so will experience tensions between individuals with different communication styles and expectations, leading to reduced engagement and higher turnover.
Transparent & Effective Communication: Communication plays a very important role in keeping employees motivated and engaged. In has been noticed during when organizations go through tough period, lots of rumors spread like wildfire, often leading to creating insecurities and confusion among employees. Hence it is imperative to open all channels of transparent communication. The top management must put high focus on continuous communication with team members. In an age of information overflow, the best practice is to share honest information with employees. This helps in building trust and keeps the employee motivated.
Recognition: Gen Y employees are used to a culture of instant gratification. They want to grow fast and feel the need to be recognized for their effort. They tend to get de-motivated quickly when their efforts are not noticed. Hence when giving horizontal growth becomes a difficult proposition organizations must ensure a robust recognition mechanism is in place. This involves low cost and works as a motivational factor for the employees.
In a world where fluctuating economic cycle is a reality, it is important for Organization and Human Resources Team to build its fundaments of engagement on a strong foundation and not press the panic button and commit hara-kiri at the slightest change in macro/micro economic environment. The investment it does on developing and keeping performing resources engaged during a slow down goes a long way in defining its performance, culture and value proposition when market condition improves.
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