5th annual NASSCOM HR summit kicks off

CHENNAI, INDIA: NASSCOM, the premier trade body and ‘voice’ of the Indian IT-BPO industry, today kicked off its 5th annual NASSCOM HR Summit 2008 in Chennai. The inaugural session was attended by C Chandramouli, IT secretary, Tamil Nadu.

More than 600 delegates have registered for the event and over 40 speakers representing over 350 IT, BPO and other companies will address the gathering.

The discussions and deliberations will focus on how the workforce within the industry can be managed during this period of maturity, consolidation and change and how the HR function can play the role of a change catalyst. The panel discussions and speaker presentations will also analytically look at the critical need for HR to move beyond recruitment and attrition issues, and evolve within the organization with a more meaningful role for itself.

The speakers will share insights on how HR can help build skill sets in niche services, develop leadership competencies and expand the pool of talent in companies.

NASSCOM also released the detailed findings of the NASSCOM-A.T Kearney study on ‘Location roadmap for IT- BPO growth: Assessment of 50 leading cities’ on the five locations in Tamil Nadu, namely Coimbatore, Chennai, Salem, Trichy and Madurai. According to the report, Chennai is a Leader location; Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai are Challenger locations, and Salem is a Follower.

Som Mittal, president, NASSCOM said, “We are delighted to present the fifth annual HR Summit and hope that discussions at this year’s Summit will be as stimulating for the industry. The Indian IT- BPO sector has been a frontrunner of economic development in select cities, providing employment to a large number of people and improving the overall quality of life and amenities like education and healthcare in these cities. The growth projections of the industry indicate that even existing seven existing centres will see significant growth, however would need proactive planning and meticulous execution to support this growth.”

“We see this report serving as a planning input for state governments, educational institutes, policy makers and local industry bodies when they look at means to attract investment into their regions. This is also an effort to reduce the pressures on the top seven cities and in turn balance growth provided the key stakeholders come together to overcome infrastructure, talent pool, education and other challenges. We, as an industry, are confident of our success and NASSCOM will continue to provide platforms for the industry to share best practices and collaborate.”

Lakshmi Narayanan, past Chairman NASSCOM and vice chairman, Cognizant, said, “Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of potential IT and BPO locations, including three in the “Challenger” segment. Apart from the other factors, the state’s growing IT and BPO potential in and beyond Chennai is also a result of the proactive support that the industry has received from the state government. To move to the next level, these locations will have to create the required pull to attract talent, strengthen infrastructure, improve the quality of life they can offer, and increase inclusivity to accommodate the demographic diversity that growth will accompany.”

This report will provide useful information on relative attractiveness to companies who are looking to enter or expand. The dispersion of IT centres will lead to balanced economic development and reduce economic disparity. Apart from partly balancing the pressure on the top tier locations, this would also add significantly to the stability of employees and reduce migration to large urban areas. The success of each of the centres would depend upon the speed and commitment with which the local city and state governments will work to fill up the gaps identified. We also hope that the government would support and encourage development of these areas by extension of the STPI/SEZ like tax benefits as there are few SEZ’s in these locations.

During the Summit, NASSCOM will also share updates on the various initiatives under way across the country, including the NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC), NAC-Tech, National Skills Registry and other education, skill-building and talent programs.