Human capital export: Why India must stop this exodus

India is known for being the home of spices which forms a major part of our exports and contributes to the GDP. But our exports also include yoga, movies, Indian dance and music forms, cuisine, clothing, and others. However, the most essential item that we forget listing in our exports is human capital.

A quick question here: What is the most common thing among global company giants such as Harman International, Nokia, Adobe, Global Foundries, NetApp, Cognizant, Conduent Inc, Microsoft, and Google? Apart from being the technology sector, these companies have CEOs from India. There are 14 global companies headed by Indian CEOs. These companies have made it to the top 50 technology companies in the world.

Indian human capital has always been the best in all spheres right from when the civilisation began. The question persists: Why aren’t we able to retain the great minds within our country? Why aren’t we creating space for them? What’s driving them out of our country? Global company or Global human capital?

A study conducted by Harvard Business Review in mid-2013 states India’s export contribution of fortune global 500 companies at 30%. Global human capital is important for the progress of the economy, all the more retaining the domestic human capital is equally essential. Starting from the basic two reasons for employees, firstly, the working hours are from 8 am to 5 pm in other countries.

Its very rare that someone is asked to do overtime, and if they are asked, they can easily deny without the fear of losing their job. Few companies also provide sick holidays without losing their salary just because they are in the hospital for a month. Secondly, financial status is not a defining factor on how a person is to be treated. Minute, yet relevant reasons for non-global human capital in India at middle and operational levels of management.

Top management of Indian companies fail to attract global heads because they are mainly headed and dominated by the family members of the board. India needs global human capital which does not fear nepotism and other constraints. Flipkart and Ola wouldn’t have existed if Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, and Bhavish Aggarwal wouldn’t have returned to India after the global experience.

The government has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore for start-up funding, but that would be irrelevant if we can’t maintain our human capital that forms the foundation of a company. India couldn’t retain an Indian economist and international academic Raghuram Rajan.

India needs to create an environment for wide opportunity and high incentives which were delivered to Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Pichai Sundararajan (CEO of Google Inc) and the likes.

A competitive and innovative environment, devoid of nepotism and other iniquitous practices, will also help India foray into founding companies like Google and Microsoft.

India is becoming a powerhouse of start-ups. Due to lack of mentorship, most of them fight a downhill battle. The government has taken initiatives by providing mentors and funds. T-hub, an initiative by Telangana government provides guidance for selected and potential start-ups.

Jagdish N Sheth is the professor of marketing at Goizueta Business School of Emory University. His co-written significant book has been “Tectonic Shift: The Geoeconomic Realignment of Globalizing Markets”. He previously stated that India will be a consumer-driven economy for the next two decades.

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India is also expected to become the third largest economy in the world. Its the people who create the wealth, and an effort should be made to retain our talent.

By M Chandra Shekar

(Shekar is an assistant professor at Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. Kumaran R and Harsha Sheelam also contributed to the column)

Source: DNA Money