‘People: The Most Difficult Resource To Attract’

Shifts in technology are creating a dynamic industrial practice when it comes to talent search. Yannick Binvel, president, global Industrial markets at Korn Ferry, the largest industrial practice in the world, in conversation with Clifford Alvares, explains how industrial shifts are changing the workplace and why growth for industry is slower in India compared to China.

Excerpts:

Trends show fewer opportunities due to advancements in technology. How do you see this shaping the industrial workplace?
Thirty years ago the first disruption was seen in industry when we went through what the Japanese called Kaizen (activities to ensure continuous improvement in business). Everybody said it would impact jobs because productivity increased. But technology applied to industry creates a similar situation. Some jobs will be transformed, some will disappear but some will be created. 3D printing will take away some jobs, but somebody will have to run the 3D printing machines. Looking with the eyes of today about what will happen, this can be scary. But looking with the eyes of tomorrow, more opportunities in industry will arise.

Who is growing faster in industrial consulting, India or China?
China tends to grow faster because decisions are made quickly. When they decide to invest, they invest. And they speed up processes. India still has systemic controls. As a consequence, growth for industry is slower than in China. Now with the new government, the pace of growth will accelerate.

What are the challenges faced by HR in large industrial organisations due to shifts in technology?
The challenge that our clients face today is to ensure their businesses are sustainable, and they can deploy their workforce according to the strategy decided. The resource that is more difficult to attract and develop is people. Capital you can find when you have a good business case. We are seeing in the market the arrival of the digital and IT-connected young generation. This generation is very different from other generations, and companies sometimes can have even four generations of workforce. Companies have to lead these generations separately because each is expecting something different.

How has industrial practice expanded globally and in India?
Industrial practice covers several segments such as defence, civil aviation, airports, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics, and industrial manufacturing products. We try to organise ourselves by sectors because we want specialists in the industry. This business is more than $400 million globally, where 50 per cent is search, while the other half is advisory, that is, people consulting. Our mission is to help clients to execute their strategy through people; this is where we are different from the rest.

We have been in India for 20 years. In the first four, we were a general firm. For the last 16, we started specialising. We have five industrial consultants, and we work in 12 cities, not just the metros. People in this practice have been with us for an average of seven years, which gives us a unique strength.

From 16 people in 2001, today Korn Ferry has 300 people in India. There is no sector that we have not covered. When companies talk to us about our experience and expertise, we can really talk about all industries. We have done all kinds of searches in India. We are adding two partners in the next three months.

There seems to be a talent shortage in India, at the same time there are many graduating every year. Isn’t there a dichotomy?
India is a very populous country, but clients say that when they want to find the right people, it is very difficult. I don’t think there is a shortage of talent, but more about what the talent wants to do. And for the companies, knowing how to attract those talents.

You can think about filling the job with someone. But it is not about quantity. Everybody is not capable of doing everything everywhere. This is also about not only experience, but other things come into play, how adapted to the culture, to the leader, to the values of the company, what have you demonstrated before, what kind of potential. This is the dimension in which we are capable of bringing some good information to clients.

I know many Indians working abroad. The way they integrate and adapt to the culture is comparable to the locals. Indians in Silicon Valley contribute massively to the development of companies. Talent is exchangeable and mobile between countries as soon as they adapt to the environment where they will be working. What may be different is leadership. And this goes with the development of companies and maturity.

When we see the number of MBAs and PhDs graduating from India and compare them with those graduating abroad, we can bet that a large portion of leadership roles in the coming 25 years will be held by Indians.

What is the way forward for the industrial workplace?
I would like to refer to an advertisement that GE made in North America that GE is a digital company. They were in direct competition with Apple and Google. We are facing this situation because of technology companies. We were facing something similar 10-15 years ago from banks. We have to restore the image of the industry, the mission of people working in agriculture, which is to feed people, or industrial goods, which is to produce products, which will help people.

There is as much interest in working in industrial companies as working with technology companies. But those working in technology will create so much value in industrial practice and to the people working here that it will create a massively different working environment in industries.