𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬.

𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

India is often described as a country facing a “𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.”
But inside organisations, the reality looks 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬—𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.
What’s missing is 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Across industries, companies hire aggressively and still struggle with 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The challenge isn’t access to people. It’s how people are 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 to contribute meaningfully.

The breakdown usually follows a familiar pattern. Roles are designed too narrowly. New hires remain 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 6–12 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. Training is delivered, but rarely applied to real work. High-potential employees stay stuck in static roles. When capability isn’t aligned with work, 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐞—𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. Without redesigning work, organisations only add complexity: rising payroll costs without proportional output, extra supervision layers, frustrated employees, and 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

High-performance organisations think 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲. They focus on workforce design, not just recruitment. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 are intentional. Apprenticeships and work-integrated learning align skills directly with tasks. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞—𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜.

For India’s 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 to become an 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐧𝐞, skills must be matched to meaningful work and learning must be 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥. People must be treated as 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭.
It needs 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬.