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MUMBAI:
As the global economy eases, the recruitment and retention
of good employees will become a primary concern for the media
and entertainment sector.
Employees
with flexible or multiple skills (within different sectors
of media) as well as in-depth knowledge of each sector will
have a cutting edge. The rise of new media will also lead
to niche and entrepreneurial skills.
The
scope of convergence of two or more media into one entity
is gradually increasing. The changing complexion is evident
from the growth of podcasts to IPTV, Wi-Max and newspapers
with online editions. When the line separating the boundaries
of each media becomes invisible, media organisations and their
existing organisational structure are likely to undergo a
massive change, depending on the need of the hour.
The
quality of talent especially at the entry levels requires
much focus. What industry players can come together to do
is to help hone young talent by aligning with major media
schools and providing specialised courses sensitive to the
actual needs of the industry.
Furthermore, it is likely to help develop a better talent
pool from which new candidates can be recruited, thus reducing
the need for hiring people from other industries, particularly
for managerial, sales and administrative positions. Media
players could well afford to learn to
identify staff with a high potential and retain them.
Managing
emotionally-charged talent and keeping them engaged with the
overall organisation priorites requires that the talent management
initiatives are customised to individual employees, a KPMG
report said.
In an industry where the talent pool remains relatively small,
hiring from other industries is also being followed by many
media players. Whether it is such talent coming from other
industries or new hires from media schools or lateral hires
from competitors organisations, the companies who have met
with success in customising talent and retaining them over
a period of time have focused strongly on ensuring detailed
and customised induction programmes for new hires.
Active participation in supporting different media schools
and hiring from them is increasingly growing. The practice
is starting to pick up but more media houses can afford to
participate in it and make this a stronger custom by which
the right talent for the right job gets effectively recruited.
Many
of the top media players do have some kind of an HR Information
System in place although the extent to which their HR practices
are followed online or are standardised is still disparate.
Appraisals usually do not take place online.
The development of HR policies and practices leaves much to
be desired and it is likely to take sometime before the industry
can have a fully automated system in place for all their HR
functions and processes. There is a clear consensus among
media organisations on following a well-structured HR policy
framework and more importantly sharing that transparently
with employees.
The
talent management needs for the creative and sales teams have
proven to be very different with both working with completely
different career anchors and motivations. The nature of their
work being opposite ends of the spectrum, many of the HR departments
try to maintain a fine line between the creative vs. the sales
teams. Showing too much inclination towards any one team could
result in difficult situations. This is especially true while
dealing with a dynamic and spontaneous industry like media,
where creativity stems from thinking “out-of-the-box”.
The HR heads of media organisations are increasingly developing
talent management and retention programmes customised to the
varied orientations of different employee groups.
The
other issue regarding compensation in the M&E industry
is the compensation benchmarking issues. Barring a few specific
sectors like broadcasting, the M&E industry has still
not adopted formal benchmarking of compensation and benefits
which is a standard practice across other industries. By and
large, there is a general tendency to be hesitant about sharing
information, especially regarding compensation, so the salary
structure setting comes from a general understanding of the
industry and the informal ways of sharing information, the
KPMG report said.
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