How To Attract Tech Talent in India as a Non-IT Company: An Interview with Yashwant Mahadik

Research shows that top tech talent tends to gravitate toward working at information technology companies and IT startups. So how can manufacturing and non-IT companies attract these valued employees?

"The best advice for attracting and retaining talent is to try to create the talent supply, rather than try to work on your branding," said Yashwant Mahadik, president of global HR at Lupin, a multinational drug manufacturer headquartered in Mumbai.

Trying to create a unique value proposition through advertising isn't likely to attract data scientists and the like, said Mahadik. "What you are you are. What is pharma industry is pharma industry. People are intelligent enough to understand that."

Instead, companies should look for ways to build such talent from within their existing staffs. For instance, "look at the software engineers already working in your IT function and get them trained in data sciences and retain them," he said.

In a freewheeling conversation with SHRM India, Mahadik shared tips on building and retaining talent, creating diversity and more. Here are edited excerpts:

SHRM: India’s pharmaceutical industry is expected to triple in size to $130 billion by 2030 (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1894918). To achieve this growth, what are the key challenges from a people perspective?

Mahadik: Talent is a challenge even today, not just in the future.

Pharmaceuticals is an industry where you need very specialized, trained, skilled talent in chemistry, biochemistry, process engineering…all of the above. You just can't put a fresh graduate on the job.

The number of people doing BSc in Chemistry, Bachelor of Pharmacy, MSc in Chemistry and Master of Pharmacy used to be very high, because those were the primary jobs that were available. But after the advent of information technology, the shift has happened toward people wanting to do engineering.

Whatever is the sunrise industry, talent starts preferring that, and for the past 20 years in India the sunrise has been IT. But now it's plateauing. There are some fantastic steps taken by the government, such as the skill development councils, which have come about because of the National Skill Development Mission of our prime minister. After five years, we're going to see the benefits of that. These things take time.

SHRM: If you were prime minister for a day, what would you do to fix the talent problem?

Mahadik: I would continue with the good initiatives that are going on, but one system that I would like to transform is at the core education level, which has not changed for decades. The curriculums, the way people are being educated and assessed, the kind of infrastructure that is available in colleges — that is contributing to the talent shortages.

For example, we are a country with one of the lowest ratios of doctors to population. But we are so slow in the way we have approached our higher medical education that people are going to Ukraine and China to become doctors and come back to India. What is the issue? These are matters which I am sure are more complex than what meets the eye, but things have to be done.

SHRM: What strategies have helped you retain talent?

Mahadik: What has really helped us is investing in people, in their growth and development. There are so many MSc (degree holders) who join us and who aspire to complete a doctorate. We sponsor their PhDs and allow them to finish their degree while they are working for us. And some who take a full-time sabbatical are asked to come back.

Second is the amount of focus we have brought on wellness and healthcare benefits. All those unique initiatives which Lupin really took a lead on have helped.

SHRM: Lupin is committed to increasing employee diversity. How is that working in your manufacturing setup?

Mahadik: It has been met with tremendous success. First of all, the mindset has been broken that when it comes to sales, manufacturing or factories, women can't or don't want to do it. There are so many women who want to do it and our policy is very clear: we don't do things for a tick mark - it has to be merit based. However, making an extra effort for sourcing profiles of women who can work in a factory has started happening. From being less than a percentage of women employees in manufacturing for us, today we are almost at 3%.

SHRM: What new technologies are you excited about, particularly those that support the people function?

Mahadik: We have a full digital transformation program that is in advanced stage of completion. Right now, a lot of artificial intelligence is getting embedded and chatbots are being tested, which is very exciting. Technology is taking over low value-added work, which frees up time for people to do work that creates more value, such as being present in strategy meetings, spending more time on performance dialogues and career conversations.

One thing I am particularly excited about is learning and development technology. The entire immersive learning of augmented reality and virtual reality - AR-VR - is going to be a game changer. The same will apply to talent acquisition.

SHRM: As you look ahead, what else are you excited about?

Mahadik: I've trained myself over the years to never look at problems and concerns as pitfalls. I look at them as opportunities, and there are many fresh opportunities. Within that context, a lot of our priorities from last year remain, such as our focus on culture building, talent building and transformation. And one of the biggest areas of focus is how to improve the effectiveness of learning and skill building by using technology.

SHRM: You are a photography buff. What has photography taught you that helps in your work?

Mahadik: One thing it has taught me is patience, especially since I'm a wildlife photographer. If you are lucky enough when photographing wildlife, you can create an image without waiting for more than three minutes. I've often had to wait for 6, 7, 8 hours. When that moment comes, you get less than 3 seconds to compose and create your image.

You don't control the subject, the background, the foreground or the light. You don't control anything, but you are focused on creating a stunning image. That's my personality, which has been shaped to not worry about things you don't control, but be patient and work towards creating something stunning.

Yashwant Mahadik

President - Global HR

Lupin

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