Wooing talent

When one is a soon-to-be graduate of a university, they rush around from place to place, website to website, seminar to seminar, and people to people, to figure out a career path. Someone graduating with a degree in chemical engineering will look at prospects in the chemical engineering industry. Someone graduating with a degree in accountancy will look at audit firms for instance.

Yet, the nature of globalisation and an emphasis on cross-disciplinary learning in top-notch academic institutions demand that both recruiters and prospective employees look at jobs from a much broader perspective. Gone are the days, especially in societies which have prioritised the service industry, where your degree or a high GPA will guarantee you a job. And here is where Bangladesh, a country on an unsteady, yet rapid path to development, may want to focus on.

In Bangladesh, private firms tend to put immense emphasis on managing human resources. That is, we prioritise transaction processing and the administration of basic human resource processes such as personnel administration, time management, payroll, etc. However, the growing integration of technology-based solutions to managing workers along with the government's enhanced ICT programmes across the national landscape, requires a more comprehensive, if not a totally different, approach towards acquiring the best talents. One such approach, adapted by many of the top firms in service industries across global economic powers, tends to be talent management systems.

Talent management system or talent acquisition focuses on providing tactical assistance to firms in accomplishing long-term organisational goals with respect to human capital. This form of recruitment procedure has a particular emphasis on measuring the performance of workers in relation to the goal of management, and correlating processes of recruiting with advanced systems of constant on-the-job learning and career development schemes. In simpler words, prospective employees are not necessarily treated as "ready" individuals to tackle work, rather the focus remains on ensuring that employees being recruited by organisations have the qualities of being adaptable and a constant learner. Thus, the ability of engaging in cross-disciplinary learning is a key feature which firms are increasingly looking for.

To put it into perspective, while looking through job boards in Toronto, I came across a common theme in all the big firms in various industries. Firms are increasingly looking for solutions analysts or data scientists, from the banking sector to the mining industry. Students with backgrounds, ranging from economics to engineering, are all encouraged to apply. But what is the catch? Well, the prerequisite is in the vicinity of people's skills, such as past experience of working in groups, presentation proficiencies, or, more importantly, programming languages. So, a banker in the modern world does not necessarily have to come from a finance background, rather one willing and able to learn the processes of banking, with a strong foundation in cross-disciplinary learning.

In Bangladesh, where firms see human resources as a crucial department within their organisations, the growth of talent acquisition firms should be encouraged. Such firms should focus on extracting workers, based on soft skills, especially to infuse fresh talent in our archaic and bureaucratic organisational structures in the service sectors. People's learning and development, wherein workers are treated as students capable of adapting and engaging in newer, fresher and more innovative working processes, will ultimately contribute towards increased productivity. That much has been proven by statistics.

From the side of educators, rather than dividing students along the lines of science versus non-science degree, making ICT a mandatory portion of secondary education across schools seems like a good step to strengthen the active learning base for students. Focusing more on improving the ability of students to interact, talk, engage, present and provide innovative solutions to the unique challenges facing the country, through specific courses, is another way of boosting the creation of talents, rather than mere robots.

Some may argue that Bangladesh is not ready to focus on talent acquisition yet. But in all honesty, we should be. If Digital Bangladesh is a dream to be realised, and if we are truly on the path to accomplishing Vision 2021, then the biggest resource we should be focusing on is people. English-medium schools in our country, for example, are well poised to do this. Instead of making question-paper-solving a routine part of a Grade 12 student's O Level preparation, why not have weekly lessons on programming languages or second language training sessions for students which will be of much greater benefit in the long run? If engineering students in BUET are motivated to do a mandatory six-month internship with a firm of their choice, it will make them more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. To leave academia to classrooms, that too inactive academia, will ultimately stagnate our human resources.

The modern world is characterised by a fascinating relationship between the education sector, the private industry and the state. Each has its own role. Given the changing nature of the modern world and the deeper integration of technology into our daily lives, societies are preparing themselves to reshape the way in which we do work and prioritise innovation. The private sector has a big role to play in all this. If talent acquisition management is to truly flourish in the country, a leading role has to be taken by entrepreneurs in instituting these philosophies across the aisle.

Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed is a student of economics and international relations at the University of Toronto. Email: aftab.ahmed@mail.utoronto.ca