The Hindu Business Line : Vitality hiring — who gains and who doesn't?

Campus hiring was traditionally referred to as vitality hiring because that is what it was supposed to do for organisations — serve as a source of enduring talent. Over the years, many organisations have come to view campus recruiting merely as a cost-effective supply source. It is perhaps useful to take a hard look at what the recent record-breaking and eye-popping campus offers mean to employees and employers.

As the dust and the fizz settles down on the recent record-breaking and eye-popping campus offer that someone walked away with, it is perhaps useful to take a hard look at what all this means to employees and employers, to understand who gains and who doesn't?

Campus hiring was traditionally referred to as vitality hiring because that is what it was supposed to do for organisations — serve as a source of enduring talent, so important for the organisation to survive.

Much has changed in the last two decades. The number of campuses themselves have increased manifold, primarily because of the opportunity to meet the growing demand for "qualified" professionals.

A PYRAMID

The number of organisations wanting to hire on campus has also grown manifold, primarily because of its attractiveness as a viable supply source. Over time, a classic food-chain-like pyramid has evolved, with some sitting on top of the chain and dominating the game and some pushed to the bottom.

Under these circumstances, it is critical for every organisation to re-evaluate its staffing strategy and ask itself if vitality hiring is indeed a viable solution for them. If it is, they may even need to accept the reality of their new position in the chain, however humbling the experience might be. It is equally important for organisations to understand employee motives and decision-making processes so they are able to find the right match.

The Diagram captures the essence of what I am attempting to describe.

The great natural fit

Traditionally organisations looked at campus hiring purely as vitality hiring. They looked at campuses as sources of developing their future leadership pipeline.

This long-term orientation, therefore, influenced all actions around the programme — the high involvement selection process, the high-profile induction process, the long "settling in process", the careful exposure to workplace experiences to nurture them and so on.

Employees reciprocated in good measure by taking a long-term view to their careers and trusting the organisation to do the needful.

It was a great natural fit.

Does this happen today? Sure it does, though in smaller numbers, as a proportion to the overall. Where the employee believes he has been able to land his dream job and has the ability and support to manage temporary disappointments, he does settle down. Organisations do continue to build a leadership pipeline through this group of employees.

POTENTIAL EMPLOYEE DISAPPOINTMENT

Over years, many organisations have come to view campus hiring merely as a cost-effective supply source. For one, a campus provides access to a large pool of talent. It also gives them predictability.

Organisations in human-capital-intensive businesses also have huge cost compulsions. To manage costs, they ensure that the proportion of fresh hires as a percentage of their overall population is healthy.

(Typically, 70 per cent to 30 per cent). Many of these organisations are, however, not clear about what they will do with these young employees, especially if the young employees themselves cannot develop their skills and justify pay escalations over time.

On the other hand, employees who consider this their dream organisation and job have high and even unrealistic aspirations in terms of career development and growth. While organisations attempt to give employees a clear message about their limitations, employees are unable to understand and come to terms with it leading to a fair amount of disappointment.

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

What we described so far is relevant only to employees who pass out of campuses which have access to the so called "dream jobs".

There is a large population of educational institutions which are less fortunate.

They may not have a camp placement programme and even if they do, it may not be patronised by the "preferred employers". This, however, does not mean that their students do not have aspirations. They have the same "dream job" in mind. They, however, realise that they need to find a passport to their dream job — an organisation that they can rely on to build their CV and augment their employability.

Where the organisation is also clear that they are looking for a steady supply source and are not really looking for vitality hiring, the relationship works well.

It is a marriage of convenience. The organisation gets fair tenure at a low price and the employee gets the passport to his dream job.

POTENTIAL ORGANISATION DISAPPOINTMENT

This last group perhaps concerns me the most. These organisations want to use campus hiring for building vitality. They are willing to make the investment and have a fairly long-term orientation.

However, they fail quite miserably because they might end up with employees who use them only as passports to reach their dream jobs. They gain valuable experience but move on before they have made any significant contribution.

Many of these organisations are beginning to take stock of their campus programmes and examining ways of redefining their target group even as they make efforts to move up the chain themselves.

Staying on in this zone can lead to significant disappointment for the organisation. Worse, the organisation has to contend with a great amount of cynicism among its older employees, who see the futility of the entire process.

What, then, is the way out? Obviously, becoming a dream destination is not just a matter of having sound people processes. Young aspirants seldom have new insights into into, or even value for, these practices. The drivers on campus are only two — money and brand. If the first job does not offer it, employees will change as often as they need to, to satisfy this need.

Given this reality, organisations must assess their position in the food chain and quickly decide what their strategies need to be:

Be clear about why they are going to the campuses

Ensure that their value proposition is in line with this need

Ensure that they go to a target group that has appeal for the value proposition they are holding out.

In times like this, reading the Panchatantra may actually be a good place to start!

(The author is founder and CEO of totus consulting, a strategic HR consulting firm that designs and implements HR systems and process for organisations across diverse industries. He can be reached at ganesh@totusconsulting.com)

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