MANPOWER SHORTAGE

Getting talented manpower is a big issue for both vendors and solutions
providers. A good HR policy may help retain quality manpower, but SIs find it
more difficult than vendors.

HR policy is a must even for mid-size companies...

Just like the big vendors, even a mid-sized company should have a good HR
policy. Good HR policy combined with good working environment, good incentive
and good quality of work can help retain people.

Retaining good people is difficult...

Many engineers join small to mid-size companies to gain experience and then
look for companies, which will pay better salaries. In recent times, this
attrition rate has increased manifold. So it is becoming difficult to retain all
the good people, even after having good HR policy.

"A good HR policy with an appreciative incentive scheme, good quality of work and regular review of salaries would reduce attrition rate" Sushant Panda Executive Director, Lauren Information Technologies

Dearth is more on software development side...

The employee turnover is more in software development arena, as compared to
hardware engineers. The gap of salaries between a mid-size company and a big
company is not necessarily that wide for hardware engineers. Those engineers who
leave for a slight increase in salary may lose out in the long run.

Good incentive schemes help retain talents...

A good HR policy with an appreciative incentive scheme, good quality of
work, pleasant working environment and regular review of salaries would help
reduce attrition rate. If a person is important for any company, one of the best
ways to retain him is by giving him some authority in the organization. All
those who fail to keep their employees’ morale up, face problems of losing
them to the competition. And if they are not taken care of, the result could be
dangerous. Creating the right environment for the employee is the employer’s
job.

Big companies are job attractions...

SI loses people very often to their competition and vendors. People who leave
the company usually look for better prospects in terms of monetary benefits at a
bigger companies. At times, they also go the vendors who are associated with SIs.
But, this is not true for all employees. Not all good people aim to join big
companies. Some stick to small to mid-size companies as long as they get right
opportunities, recognition and monetary benefits.

Direct incentive should help...

Some vendors offer direct incentives to representatives of SI organizations.
This is a good practice. This will surely ease the additional cost that small to
mid size SIs may have to incur to retain an employee with monetary benefits.
After all, everyone looks at the pay package before choosing a job.

Process-driven companies get the right people...

A good HR process helps in recruiting the best. The recruitment should be
done by giving various tests and interviews as part of the appointment process.
90% of the workforce are freshers with no knowledge of what a vendor requires.
Since there is a genuine dearth of right people with practical knowledge, we
make them.

There is a dearth of good talent...

There are too many people with good qualifications but these have irrelevant
knowledge. These people have only 10% knowledge that can be put to practical
use. 90% is what we put in from our side. Qualifications do help us in measuring
the candidate’s capabilities. It also helps us to find out if they will be
intelligent enough to pick up what we will teach.

"SIs are poorly organized in executing big projects, which delays their completion on time, creating delays in paying their best employees" Anand Mehta Marketing Manager, DLink India

Poorly managed firms will face problems...

SI organizations usually face problem in getting and retaining good talents in
their respective fields. This happens because, small SIs fail to follow a good
HR policy. A well managed company will know how to take care of their employees.
Many SI organizations are poorly organized in executing big projects and hence
gets delayed in completing projects on time. This in turn creates delay in
getting the funds to pay their best employees. As long as you pay the employees
on time there aren’t many reason for anyone to leave.

Training is one of the helps vendors can provide...

As a policy we ensure that all our channel partners have technically
qualified people working with them. And for these we have extensive training
programs. We also give certification to all those who pass these training
sessions. These are deliberately conducted for a refundable fee during weekdays
so that only those who are serious about learning our technical expertise should
attend, taking time out of their working schedule.

Direct incentives do not help much...

Direct incentives to channel partners’ employees may to some extent help
small SIs in ensuring that their employees stay. But this method does not help
much. The best way to ensure that good employees don’t leave is by taking care
of their needs.

A clean HR policy ensures low attrition...

We ensure that every appointment is made after mapping the candidate’s
future. At the time of appointment, we ensure that the candidate is informed of
his growth in the company. Besides HR policies, a suitable working environment
with the best facilities is also needed.