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HR Challenges When the Post-Liberalization Kids Head to Work
The year was 1991. Sapna, a housewife, watched the news on Doordarshan, the only national television channel, and felt a pang of insecurity about the future of her family. The then Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, had announced breakthrough economic reforms, following a severe balance of payments crisis, when the government came precariously close to default. To further complicate matters, the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, and later of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, had led to intense political instability which crushed international investor confidence on the economy. In order to resuscitate the economy, the government had to sell 67 tons of gold to IMF to fund a bailout as well as promise economic restructuring. Sapna’s husband worked as a production manager with Tata Steel. Like most households of the time which were on a single income, they worried about the existing political and economic turmoil around them. What could this crisis and subsequent reforms bring? Would their job remain tomorrow or the foreign investors would take it over? Will they make the same amount of money to sustain their family as they do today? Interesting, the coming years answered these questions and put the worries to rest. By creating new industries, new employment and new markets, the reforms were achieving the economic transformation they had aimed for. Socially too, India was seeing the rise of a buoyant middle class – educated, self assured and with a high disposable income. Rising employment, fading social inequalities, entry of a large female workforce and interest in a high level of education were some of the social outcomes of the reforms. However, what the pioneers of the reforms may not have accounted for was that behind these fast economic and social changes, the cultural fabric of the country too was undergoing a slow and lasting change. The mindset of Indians was metamorphosing for the first time since Independence! Like Sapna, the average Indian born and brought up in the pre-liberalization era had grown accustomed to resource deprivation, curbs, and even distrust. Socialist policies, nationalization, license raj, lack of jobs, Forex limits, rationing, wars and emergencies – this generation had seen it all. Liberalization however was changing it all. The year is 2020. Shalini wakes up to her alarm set on her iPhone. Rubbing her eyes, she gets up and switches off the air-conditioning. After her morning gym, she gets ready and drives herself to work – a fashion house where she is a trainee photographer. Shalini is an average urban Indian – born and raised in the post liberalization era. She and her contemporaries have seen India from a very different lens as their parents – progressive, modern and booming with opportunities! This new breed of Indians has never seen deprivation. They have seen luxuries as necessities and are no longer dependent on the traditional industries for their livelihood. They are a talent mine indeed; their minds are sharper than their predecessors, with a clear thought process and articulate communication. They have immense exposure to what’s happening around them in the world, and are opinionated. They are socially networked, they manage their time and finances much better and are physically fitter than all the past generations. The entry of this new generation into India’s workforce spells new challenges for the HR managers for tomorrow. The biggest question that arises is – what will motivate this generation of ‘have-it-all’s to join and perform at work? How does an organization recruit and retain a Shalini, who pursues fashion photography for passion and not for any of the traditional motivators like money or job security? Their talents can be tapped only by providing them work that enthuse them, that kindles their passion, even at times when it involves mundane parts to it. So where will HR source people to do mundane yet critical roles from? Furthermore, as individual employees, these post-liberalization children will also pave way for greater work-life balance policies in the Indian corporate. They are conscious about spreading their ambitions across various facets of life apart from professional growth, which includes personal development, physical fitness, social, environmental and for some, even spiritual. HR will need to make room for these through policy changes like sabbaticals for study, travelling or family, greater involvement in corporate-social responsibility, and access to personal learning tools. The challenge doesn’t stop at just recruiting this generation. As managers, they will be totally different animals from the managers of today. To support them, HR managers will need to come out of their comfort zones and become active business partners. Unless they understand the business environment thoroughly, they will not be able to connect with this new generation of people. This is because the post-liberalization kids are an informed, demanding as well as self-sufficient lot. As managers, they will be clear about who to recruit. With their wide network and savvy technical skills, they can source the right talent for their teams. They will be articulate enough to appraise them fairly without HR support. They will be highly informed about the laws of the land and how it will impact their dealings with the labour. The next generation of line managers can render pure HR managers redundant, if HR does not begin to pro-actively add value to their business as well. Yet another challenge HR will face in handling the post-liberalization kids at work will be cultural in nature. For one, they will have to merge the individual work styles of the new and the old, find synergies and draw out the best. For another, the cultural challenge will also be organizational. Acceptance will need to be embedded in the culture of the organization, as it opens up to people from different walks of life, different and special abilities, different orientations and so on. Children of the post liberalization era have seen far fewer discrimination and oppression as their parents. Medical science, technology and social awareness together have enabled people with special abilities to join mainstream education and work. Differences of caste, religion and class are also fading in urban India. This will surely reflect in organizations too through an open, accommodating culture at work. These are just some of the changes and challenges anticipated today that post liberalization kids will pose as individual employees, managers and co-workers. Only time will tell their real depth and breadth. From Sapna to Shalini, the mindset, values and goals of an average Indian have certainly undergone a sea change. No wonder then, the challenges they pose as potential employees will be vastly different. The excitement will be in seeing the innovative solutions HR draws to deal with these challenges in times to come and how that transforms the HR as a function. Now that, of course, is another discussion!
Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com). Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in November, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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