Saturday, February 10, 2007
Retailers go to town for local talent
Economic Times - 10th Feb, 2006
Retailers are diving deep into rural pockets to hire the army of lieutenants required to man the shop floor. As organised retail widens its reach with each passing day, players are casting their net wide and inventing new recruitment ideas to come up with the numbers.
Though there are no clear-cut numbers yet, what is fairly certain is that the manpower requirement in the near future will be 'humungous'.
On an average, at least 250 people are needed to man a 50,000 sq ft format , while a minimum of 10 are required for a next-door supermarket. Now consider this: Reliance Retail plans to sit on 100 million sq ft of space by 2010-11. The Future Group expects to close this fiscal with a headcount of 30,000 and is looking to double the number next year.
While the supply of manpower for back-end operations and managerial functions is being fed by diverse industry sectors, companies are going hyper-local to hire the foot soldiers.
Though hiring entry-level staff may seem easy, there is scarcity of talent in the areas of customer focus and sophistication needs apart from the enormous scaling up requirements. Also, the skills required differ from format to format.
Future Group's HR head Sanjay Jog says, "We largely hire local population for our stores as they understand the language and customer preferences. For instance, for our stores in Mangalore, we hired 800 people locally." The group is also tapping the North-East region for talent for its operations in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. "There is English-speaking talent available in the NE region, which has limited job opportunities. We have hired about 150 from the region and we hope to scale it up," he adds.
According to Headhunters India CEO Krish Lakshmikanth, "Retailers will have go into interior towns to source talent. Raising entry-level salaries and poaching will impact cost structures for companies. We also see trends like employees managing more square feet of space and getting incentivised for the same."
Retailers are also sourcing talent from unconventional avenues like the Livelihood Advancement Business Schools (LABS) run by Dr Reddy's Foundation. These schools essentially train high-school students from poor rural families in a variety of employable skills. Clearly, retail is fast catching up at the LABS campus with nearly 1,000 people getting jobs in the last two years.
"We have been training people in customer relations and sales for the last five years. With retail picking up in the country, our students are in great demand," said Stanley Jones, a DRF official. McDonald's has recruited 150 from Hyderabad while Big Bazaar has hired 200 over the last three years and Reliance Fresh has recruited 120.
"The main success of the programme is its scalability. Companies want people in large numbers at entry levels. We can give them employees in large numbers," he adds. Players like Pizza Hut, Domino's, Food World, Shoppers' Stop, Metro Cash 'n' Carry, FabMall, Subiksha have hired from these schools.
While some HR trackers feel that there would be a big-ticket churn from call centre graveyard shifts to malls, many feel the high salaries could prove an entry barrier. Retail industry players say that they are getting enquiries from some middle-level call centre employees looking for career shifts.
"Call centre employees with their customer focus and English speaking skills may fit the bill at high-end retail formats like luxury goods, electronic appliances, music, books, apparel and mobile handsets. We saw a similar shift in the early call centre industry days when people moved from the hospitality and hotel industry in a big way," says an HR industry observer.
Though there are no clear-cut numbers yet, what is fairly certain is that the manpower requirement in the near future will be 'humungous'.
On an average, at least 250 people are needed to man a 50,000 sq ft format , while a minimum of 10 are required for a next-door supermarket. Now consider this: Reliance Retail plans to sit on 100 million sq ft of space by 2010-11. The Future Group expects to close this fiscal with a headcount of 30,000 and is looking to double the number next year.
While the supply of manpower for back-end operations and managerial functions is being fed by diverse industry sectors, companies are going hyper-local to hire the foot soldiers.
Though hiring entry-level staff may seem easy, there is scarcity of talent in the areas of customer focus and sophistication needs apart from the enormous scaling up requirements. Also, the skills required differ from format to format.
Future Group's HR head Sanjay Jog says, "We largely hire local population for our stores as they understand the language and customer preferences. For instance, for our stores in Mangalore, we hired 800 people locally." The group is also tapping the North-East region for talent for its operations in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. "There is English-speaking talent available in the NE region, which has limited job opportunities. We have hired about 150 from the region and we hope to scale it up," he adds.
According to Headhunters India CEO Krish Lakshmikanth, "Retailers will have go into interior towns to source talent. Raising entry-level salaries and poaching will impact cost structures for companies. We also see trends like employees managing more square feet of space and getting incentivised for the same."
Retailers are also sourcing talent from unconventional avenues like the Livelihood Advancement Business Schools (LABS) run by Dr Reddy's Foundation. These schools essentially train high-school students from poor rural families in a variety of employable skills. Clearly, retail is fast catching up at the LABS campus with nearly 1,000 people getting jobs in the last two years.
"We have been training people in customer relations and sales for the last five years. With retail picking up in the country, our students are in great demand," said Stanley Jones, a DRF official. McDonald's has recruited 150 from Hyderabad while Big Bazaar has hired 200 over the last three years and Reliance Fresh has recruited 120.
"The main success of the programme is its scalability. Companies want people in large numbers at entry levels. We can give them employees in large numbers," he adds. Players like Pizza Hut, Domino's, Food World, Shoppers' Stop, Metro Cash 'n' Carry, FabMall, Subiksha have hired from these schools.
While some HR trackers feel that there would be a big-ticket churn from call centre graveyard shifts to malls, many feel the high salaries could prove an entry barrier. Retail industry players say that they are getting enquiries from some middle-level call centre employees looking for career shifts.
"Call centre employees with their customer focus and English speaking skills may fit the bill at high-end retail formats like luxury goods, electronic appliances, music, books, apparel and mobile handsets. We saw a similar shift in the early call centre industry days when people moved from the hospitality and hotel industry in a big way," says an HR industry observer.
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