IT Industry in Need of an HR Upgrade?
By Pankaj Maru
Mumbai, May 5, 2008

The IT industry is driven by well qualified tech and computer professionals. Unfortunately, the demand for technical personnel is not fulfilled by the existing supply. Moreover, the selection process of prospective candidates for specific jobs and projects from a talent pool, tests the skills of HR head, in terms of overall technical understanding and matching the candidate's profile with the job requirement.

According to Yeragaselvan Kumaraswamy, director of PGC Infotech and IT head of WIMB.com, "HR is still unorganized in nature and most of the time this department hires consultants while recruiting employees. Generally, HR heads do face pressure as the supply of work force is short of demand and this situation doesn't allow them to think for long term solutions or decisions. And, hence they do take immediate and short term decisions while hiring the candidates."

He states, "The IT industry needs HR staff with technical knowledge as it can ease out the recruitment process. Most companies still have HR staff from a non -IT background, which can affect the selection or scanning of candidates."

Further, Kumaraswamy raises a critical issue about technical knowledge of HR heads. "If HR staff is from technical background or possess basic understanding of technology, it will be more helpful to the company's technical department in getting right kind of candidates for the respective posts," he adds.

Ahmedabad-based Smita Sah, head (HR) of eInfochip holds a slightly different view about the necessity of technical knowledge among HR staff. Sah says, "Understanding of technical aspects is necessary for the HR. It's a plus point for the IT companies, if the HR is technically educated. But it's not a pre-requisite for HR personnel to be tech graduates."

However, Sah herself is an electronic engineering graduate and leads an HR team of 7 persons. "Most of my team members are from non-science stream, but we train them along with the technical staff to develop an understanding and knowledge about technology. We train to scan the candidates' profiles keeping in view key factors such as education, skills, project descriptions and candidates' role in previous company," she explains.

Sah also makes an interesting point here about personal aptitude and attitude. She says, "The HR staff should show the aptitude and attitude towards learning technology."

Sah's company uses Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), an in-house developed software solution, to maintain all records of candidates, interview results, and the feedback. "It aids in verifying candidate's profiles and also keeps a check over reverting back to rejected candidates again," she says.

Similarly, Kumaraswamy has deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the job portal -WIMB.com. "With the use of Burning Glass Technology, we try to scan the candidates profiles as per the past work experience details and other information, which helps the HR staff in taking better decisions about prospective candidates," he adds.

Talking of HRMS, Saba Software's managing director, Gaurav Mehra indicates, "HRMS vendors have focused on automating the transactions of the HR department, but the elements that are needed to effectively manage an organization's talent - performance reviews, goal setting, workforce planning, talent acquisition, compensation management, learning and development management, succession planning, compliance management - to date have largely existed in homegrown implementations, spreadsheets or paper forms within the four walls of the HR department."

Further, Mehra throws some insight on the future of the people processes and technology. "We need to look at a systematic framework and a unified solution, for meeting an organization's talent management needs. By embracing a unified platform that incorporates learning, performance and talent, and that integrates into existing HRMS systems, CIOs are able to consolidate multiple systems to gain system wide efficiencies."


Related Links:

HR Dilemma
Automating the Transactions of the HR Department