New Year's Day To Celebrate

Good news has preceded the new year's celebrations. According to a global study in which over 4,500 Indian employers were interviewed by recruitment firm, Manpower, hiring is on the upswing. Indian employers were more optimistic than their peers in 41 countries, says the study. This obviously will spread a cheer in campuses and in the hearts of Indians in general. After a decline in the last quarter of 2011 which can be endorsed by anyone who has wanted to change a job, this is looking like Santa's gift.

And this gets us back to the beginning. New hires mean expansion of old set-ups or the mushrooming of new divisions/ groups. For the human resource folks it will mean a fresh look at integrating people into their company philosophies and systems; gearing up the older employees to become ready to brace the change and then watching how the whole exercise takes shape.

Will the challenges for hiring this time round be any different? There has been time in the past couple of years during the slowdown to actually re-visit and study these processes and look at where the changes are required. Were such exercises conducted or were they shelved till required the next time? The answer will define the critical difference in how the new employees are absorbed this time round. As financial markets continue to be heartlessly indifferent, stability in the work place will remain central to the process of choice-making for the new recruits. How will the corporate put its best foot forward and attract the best candidates when suddenly everyone wants them?