Indian HR good at Cuddling and Poor in Chopping…
I recently attended a debate in an MBA College on, “Responding to Economic Slow down”.
Speaker after speaker was stressing that Indian companies should not hesitate to lay off /retrench/down size/rationalise manpower.
They also went on saying that HR in India can only add numbers but is not trained to reduce manpower in times of need.Some even went to the extent of arguing that HR is too scared to handle any backlash.Some speakers opined that HR in India is too soft and in their heart of hearts would not like to send any one home.The “Pink Slippers”expressed that the HR in India should learn from western HR practices where the manpower can be chopped on a weekend.
The opposite camp vehemently opposed them by saying that in India , there is no proper social security system or unemployment insurance. They added that those employees losing jobs will be on the roads with families as they can not get alternate jobs easily during these days….
Some of them quoted figures of labour cost in percentage terms as very low in India and hence energy should be spent on reducing other costs than employee costs alone.
Quoting example of aviation industry , a speaker opined that instead of stopping salaries , management and government should focus on cost of aviation fuel as it accounts for much higher cost.
As a moderator of the discussion,I got confused as I could see merits in both the sides of argument….
As I was wondering what to say, the tea break was announced to my great solace.rescuing me……
Recent Comments