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Need For Interaction - Academia Vs Corporate Dr. Subhash Pande (India, 21/09/07)
Indian economy has been showing a steady growth day by day. Projections are being made for the future. Health awareness has been increasing among the common people. Media has been further propagating the importance of fitness. Health insurance sector has been flourishing. Foreign investments have been pouring in the Research and Development. Demand is on the rise for consumables clinical research. Bio-studies and biotech have been taking shape – all these aspects are clear indication of a very bright future for Industry and academia in India. Since majority of industries are “manpower based industry” we will require a good work force to meet the requirements in years to come. We do have quite a good number of colleges coming up in the last few years and many more are likely to come, but the question remains whether we have adequate skilled manpower to support the projected growth in different specialized areas viz. R & D, manufacturing, Planning, Quality Assurance, Marketing and Distribution, Clinical trials /Bio-studies, Data base, Statistical calculations etc. and finally to take care at the Regulatory front. Mushroom growth of institutions/colleges in different corners of the country will not be a solution to the emerging problems unless they think in this direction and gear themselves up to the changing requirements with the same pace as the industry has been growing now and will grow in future. Next area of concern is whether the degrees awarded by the institutions are also building the desired skills amongst the students? There had been debate and deliberations on Academic- Industry interactions and coordination at various forums but the progress has been very slow. Is there any agency to evaluate or carry out a survey as to ascertain:
The governing bodies for the Education in the country will have to appreciate and uniformly moderate the syllabus of the courses keeping in view the future needs of the world. On the other hand the industry will have to spell out their goals and plans to academics so that ready skilled manpower is available for industry to serve their purpose and needs. It needs to be understood that the time is the key now. Who so ever is first in the market walks away with the cake. For the next in line the share gradually declines. If the basic work is conducted in the academic institutions and industry save time on primary work and training of personnel –it will be easier to compete with other multinational giants and the chances of getting better share will be higher. The facility, knowledge base at the academics needs to be updated on priority to produce more skilled manpower suiting to the future requirements. COMMITMENTSThe progress of automation has been enhancing day by day. On one hand the aim is to replace the unskilled or semiskilled manpower in the processing. On the other hand the function of automation is to increase the efficiency of the skilled manpower. We have the example of IT industry before us and tip from there may be helpful in creating better career oriented academic atmosphere. Today the industry has been facing a challenge of recruiting right people, training the personnel as per the requirement of the job and then retaining the trained manpower for the desired period. Turn over in some functions is very high. Industry requires productive employees. Any employer would look forward to get the best output and best performance from the employee. To achieve the best, it demands commitment from the employee also. Performance is the function of skill one acquires through education and experience. The basic concepts remain the same and are applied to find the solutions to the problems. The quality of education has a major role to play through out the career. Lack of good practical hand, not referring to the standard text books, sub standard information through available guides are producing manpower with underdeveloped skills which is a matter of grave concern. Majority of the professional institutions have adopted different performance measuring tools for their employees, through which the targets are set for individuals well in advance and one has to work through out the year to achieve the agreed targets. Evaluations are done based on the achievements .The employee population is put under statistical calculations and a BELL SHAPE curve is prepared. The bell shape indicates that there could be four or five categories of employees in the organization Excellent, Good, Average, Below average, and Poor. Rewards to the individual depend on the category one falls in. It is expected that majority fall in Good and Average performance category .The high fliers who get excellent category repeatedly, reach the saturation point faster that leads to stress and frustrations. The requirement for manpower in bulk, at present is for “Good” and “Average” performers who continuously strive to achieve “Excellent” category through their knowledge, attitude, efficiency and hard work, sincerity and communication skills. . Academics should also work on building up these basic qualities into the students, since the students when appear for interview are also judged on these criteria as well apart from their basic skills. This can be achieved through counseling by different experts. In addition, the counseling can also be arranged for final year students at graduation and post graduation level to enable the students to make a choice about areas of their specialization for future depending upon their area of interest, personality, skills acquired, attitude and capability. Such help at the institutions at the right time will not let the pupil in the confused state while selecting their future profile. Based on the results they would try for the best suiting to their capabilities and will be successful in their respective careers. It has been observed that those in the job try to make frequent changes in early stages of their career. One should refrain from switching of assignments .The career depends on a number of factors such as one’s interest, working environment in the organization, perk and other amenities, role and responsibilities, future growth prospects, inter personnel relationships etc. Fulfillment of these basic issues should be considered while changing the job. Now a days money has become the only criteria for change of job. Other factors take a back seat while arriving at a decision. Sometimes people are seen changing their jobs for a very small/marginal gains in the package. . Frequent switchovers become a stigma or disqualification after sometime if the ground for change is not justifiable. One should consider his contribution to the existing job and he has been learning. At time’s patience pays of so as make him a skilled and experienced worker. The seniors in the organization observe the person’s capability and contribution and if the candidate is suitable for the job, the company invests for his/her further development. Such potential candidates are put on the fast growth track and are groomed to take future assignments. Therefore one should adjudge his/her utility to the organization and if the growth rate has been satisfying, one must stay on. The pioneer academic institutions, having produced leaders in all fields, should now take a lead for Industry. Academic interaction is to take a leap to produce self-motivated, committed and skilled manpower in true sense, in order to maintain the demand supply balance for future Indian economy and business requirements of the country. In a nutshell there is a need to set up a technical institution/university which may act as a finishing school for development of skilled manpower for the corporate sector. The latter should also come forward to extend financial as well as technical support for such an Institution spelling out their needs. ****************** |
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