Are You A Specialist? Because Generalists Are Just Too Many!

In today’s competitive world, organisations don’t settle for generalist any more, they need specialists. 

By Tony Mira

If you’ve been a jack of all trades all these years, then it’s time you don that‘specialist’ hat; because generalists are just too many. While businesses thrive on a healthy mix of generalists and specialists, organisations now value expertise. Business intellectuals keep “domain expertise” their focal point to achieve positive business outcomes because specialization has become a durable source of benefit in today’s competitive business environment.

While multitasking has always been a sought after skill by organisations, the change in the workplace requirement has given rise to the need for a focused talent requirement.

As recruiting has ramped up across the world, firms have begun to realise that there is a significant shortage of specialised talent. Needless to say innovation and transformational initiatives that redefine a company’s competitive position comes from employees with deeper and specialised skill sets.

The Indian workplace, on the other hand, is constantly evolving and organisations these days are moving from a vertically integrated model to a more specialised model, giving rise to the need for a specialised talent force.

Labelled as the world’s most preferred outsourcing destination, the talent requirement in India is treading on a niche path. With specialised services being outsourced to India, there is a significant need for specialised talent that caters to the rising specialised requirements, across verticals.

According to industry body, Nasscom, domain experts are in high demand, specifically in the healthcare and retail sector. They are the growth drivers for India’s BPM market, which has grown from providing support services into offering end-to-end hybrid services. Narrowing this trend down to the healthcare BPM sector, medical coding is the most sought-after specialised requirement. Organisations are therefore on the search for the best coders. While there are abundant opportunities for medical coders in India, the numbers of experts are very limited. The same extends to different organisations for different services.

With this being the industry standard and the current employment scenario, organisations are in search for the best talent. The next question undoubtedly is – ‘what is expected from a specialist?’ In India, educational institutions have grown from offering common courses that may or may not have relevance to the industry, to offering industry-relevant training and education. They have realised the need to prepare candidates to face the industry. But what is still yet to evolve is the‘campus to corporate connect’. When employers look for a talent to suit their organisational requirement, they look for someone to fit in a particular job role. This is even critical with organisations such as Ajuba, which operates in a specialised vertical.

With the shortage of specialised talent that is high in demand, organisations are now prepared to go beyond merely recruiting candidates but to invest in training these candidates to fit specific roles.

To mitigate the woes in the process of preparing these specialists, institutions and organisations must recognise the fact that the campus to corporate transition is more than just recruitment. Organisations should be prepared to invest in campuses to mould specific talent and in turn, campuses must be willing to invest in corporates to prepare industry relevant students. Organisations need to develop strategies that give institutions access to skills. With proper preparation, organisations can add value to their business by addressing different facets of their business gamut. This includes core competency certifications by organisations and setting up training centres within campuses. Successful outcomes of approaching this initiative pro actively include – skill development at a more fundamental level and addressing industry needs, while preparing a candidate’s career path at the initial stage. These being the trends, 2014 will indeed witness a rise in recruiting such talent and India should be ready to cater to this rising demand of a specialised talent force.

The author is the founder and group CEO Ajuba Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

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