Talent Crunch: Infrastructure growth has lead to an acute shortage of managers

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A Global Hub For Human Talent

India Inc is all dressed for the infrastructure ball, but is suddenly discovering that there aren't enough suitable boys to escort it to the dance. Everybody and his uncle are bullish on India. Several hundred thousand crores of rupees have been earmarked for investment in the country's infrastructure sector. On the anvil are many more new roads and highways, ports, airports, Export Processing Zones, Special Economic Zones, railway corridors, etc. They present a huge political and logistics challenge. Now, a new variable has entered the equation: there aren't enough project managers around to handle all these projects. Estimates of manpower shortage in the industry vary from a few hundreds to several thousands. This obviously means that there are huge opportunities for talented and ambitious veterans, freshers and wannabes alike. "The shortage of manpower in the construction and infrastructure sector is a result of the manner in which the industry has developed in India," says Arun Mahapatra, Managing Partner, India, Heidrick & Struggles, a leading executive search firm. Big ticket infrastructure projects were, till recently, almost exclusively a public sector monopoly. When these projects were opened up to private companies, they poached experience project managers-who hold the key to the successful implementation of any project-from PSUs and soon used up the entire gene pool. But the supply pipeline wasn't equipped to handle the exponential growth in demand. Result: the current shortage.

The peculiarities of the profession ensure that this gap will not be filled in a hurry. A project manager is essentially a team leader who plans, directs and oversees implementation of projects (See FAQs). A civil engineering degree is sine qua non for this profession and a management degree helps, but the major part of a good project manager's skill sets is experiential. He has to lead diverse teams, co-ordinate between various and-sometimes antagonistic-vendors and contractors, manage local political and social equations and ensure that the supply and logistics chains remain well-oiled. Unfortunately, no institution can teach these skills. According to a spokesperson for the Human Resource Department at Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC), a leading erection, procurement and construction (EPC) company: "Project managers need to spend time understanding and learning the practical aspects of the construction business and simultaneously learn people and relationship management skills vis-à-vis owners, vendors, sub-contractors and allied agencies."

"There is a shortage of good project managers right now," says G.V. Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK Industries, which recently won the bid to modernise the Mumbai airport. Not surprisingly, many companies are bringing in non-resident Indians (NRIs) and expatriates to manage their project in India. "Lots of expats are coming in at the project manager level," says Venkat Shastry, Partner, Stanton Chase International, another leading executive search firm. "This trend will continue for the next 3-5 years; the demand-supply mismatch will balance out only after that," adds P.P. Sukumaran, President, Organisation Development and Total Quality Management at GMR Group, which had bagged the contract to upgrade the Delhi airport.

Skill Search: GVK Industries' Reddy

This shortage of skilled manpower and the import of expat managers are naturally pushing salaries up. Says P.K. Gandhi, President, hr and Administration, Punj Lloyd: "Huge opportunities are opening up in the infrastructure sector. This is leading to a lot of movement within the industry; and this, in turn, is pushing up salaries. But you can still attract and retain talent if you pay your managers well, give them a fair opportunity to grow and treat them with respect." He adds that Punj Lloyd has not faced any shortage of manpower. E. Sudhir Reddy, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Limited, another large player in this sector, concurs with Gandhi. "I haven't faced any significant manpower crunch yet," he says. "If at all, the real shortage is in the blue collar, migratory labour, category. Earlier, we used to get masons from Bihar and rod-benders from Kerala. But with activity picking up in these states, this kind of labour is now difficult to come by."

Typically, project managers are mid-senior to senior professionals with at least 15 years of experience. The nuts and bolts of individual projects are usually handled by Resident Construction Managers (RCMs), who are a rung below, and report to, project managers. And depending on skills and track record, RCMs are promoted to project managers after 5-7 years on the job. Says Gandhi: "A young engineering graduate can join as a graduate engineer trainee and over a period of time, can go on to senior management positions. The best example I can think of is V.K. Kaushik, who joined Punj Lloyd as a graduate engineer trainee and rose gradually to his current position of Joint Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer."

Gaurav Aggarwal: It's all about demand for talent

Financial rewards and career progression are all very fine, but a career as a project manager offers some other rewards as well. Most Indian companies now operate around the globe, so top performers are often sent abroad for assignments that can last up to two to three years. Punj Lloyd, Larsen & Toubro (which declined to talk to Business Today for this report as its top brass is preparing for its annual general meeting), Tata Projects and HCC all have sizeable projects abroad and new recruits can expect to be posted there (subject to meeting performance standards) within a reasonable period of time.

L&T Managing Director A.M. Naik had told Business Today a few months ago that most fresh engineers were opting for the information technology industry, leaving companies such as his high and dry in the recruitment market. But now, with salaries heading north, and faster growth opportunities becoming the order of the day even in EPC companies, engineers may well be tempted back to the legacy industries that have fallen out of fashion. And when they do, the recruitment cycle will have turned a full 360 degrees.

-additional reporting by Shaleen Agrawal and E. Kumar Sharma

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Help, Tarun!

I am a 37-year-old Area Sales Manager with a diagnostics equipment manufacturing company. I also hold a PG diploma in HR and have over 14 years' experience. I am now planning to do an MBA (correspondence) to improve my salary and future prospects. Please advise whether this is the right decision at my age.

Some companies do have a policy of giving salary hikes for additional relevant qualifications. If this is the case in your company, an MBA would be an advantage. It will also enhance your job prospects, albeit not as much as a full-time MBA. However, at your age a full-time MBA may not be possible. On another note, you are in a sector that is set for growth.

I'm a 23-year-old Executive (Operations) with a housing finance company for the last one year. I did my PG in commerce and am currently pursuing MBA (Finance) on a part-time basis. My ultimate aim is to go abroad. Many people now tell me that a full-time MBA is better. I'm currently in the first semester, so should I opt out of it right away?

At your age and stage of career, I would agree that a full-time MBA course is a much better option. You could continue the current course, till you get admission into a good B-school. That way you will have this course in case things don't work out.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner, US practice) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055..

A Global Hub For Human Talent
Indian institutes are beeping furiously on the global recruitment radar.

Gaurav Aggarwal: It's all about demand for talent

Manan Ahuja's two minutes of fame actually lasted about 48 hours. This Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) alum (Class of 2006) had landed a London-based job with Barclay's Bank for what was then a record offer of $185,000 (Rs 83,25,000). Two days later came the news that the same bank had offered $193,000 (Rs 86,85,000) to Gaurav Aggarwal, who passed out of IIM, Bangalore this year. "I think these indicate an acceptance of top-rung Indian talent in the global workplace," says Aggarwal. Adds Y.L.R Moorthi, Chairperson (Placements) at IIM-B: "What is now happening is only a logical conclusion of the search for talent globally." So has India finally become a global HR hub. Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, among others, seem to think so. "The numbers speak for themselves," says Vikash Daga, Consultant, McKinsey & Co, a big recruiter from Indian campuses.

-Rahul Sachitanand