THE WAR FOR TALENT IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAnup K Singh, PhD

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Motivator

Motivator

THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The HEI as a knowledge enterprise A knowledge enterprise requires high end skills An academic requires subject mastery, highly developed facilitation

skills, and sophisticated research expertise Sufficient exposure to the industry is highly desirable The gestation period for the development of a knowledge worker in

general and of an academic in particular is quite high There is a premium for college education. However, the premium of

doctoral education is minimal The Government HEIs have quotas for the weaker sections of the

society where there is talent crunch The capacity of the higher education sector to pay academics is quite

restricted Talent in the higher education sector is migrating from the developing

world to the developed world

WHAT CONSTITUTES TALENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Qualified faculty (Especially in terms of research and publications)

Global exposure Sufficiency of faculty Internationally comparable faculty Faculty at senior levels Faculty who can develop students as per the needs of the

industry

INDIAN FACULTY TALENT SCENARIO Higher education is still not regarded as a prestigious and valued

profession Quantity is galore, while quality is scarce Demand of faculty is galloping in comparison to supply Faculty lack global competencies in research and publications fields About 40% to 50% shortage in Associate Professor and Professor

categories State Government institutions have slowed hiring faculty Many positions are vacant in the govt. HEIs owing to the quota system Hardly any faculty management in the government HEIs Compensation in central and state governments sets the best trend for

private section HEIs. Private HEIs do not have resources to pay higher salary or they do not want to pay

Private HEIs often tend to compete on infrastructure or on non-faculty drivers

NORMS FOR FACULTY STRENGTH

Faculty student ratio 1: 12 to 1: 15 at PG 1: 15 to 1: 20 at UG Best practice 1:10

Junior senior faculty ratio 1:2:4 to 1:2:6 Best practice 1:2:3

WHY PROFESSORS ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND

Long gestation time Expectations are more, while incentives are less (There

is hardly any significant difference between the compensation of Associate and full Professor in the UGC system)

Central HEIs, on an average, pay them 25%-50% more to them. In addition, they have more professorial positions. Therefore, they shift over there

IS THERE FACULTY HUNT?

Most institutions pay lip service to faculty and their development

Faculty jobs are available for money Contract faculty are preferred by many institutions Irregular and contract faculty sometimes pay money

under table to their employers Governments are hiring a large number of faculty on

contract Faculty are unionised and the issue of accountability is

sidelined

THE EXTENT OF FACULTY SHORTAGE

50% at professor level 40% at associate professor level 10% to 20% at assistant professor level In terms of number, 3.8 lac is faculty shortage. It may

go up by 1.3 ml in 2030

WHY TALENT SHORTAGE

Exponential growth of higher education institutions Competition for talent from the industry is fierce and

difficult to fight Strong entry barriers for professionals from the industry Lack of competitive salary and learning opportunities Slow recruitment in the government HEIs Shortage of institutions providing PhD education and

research training It takes around a decade to develop a good academician Global knowledge and research competencies are hardly

available

INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES

Strategic positioning of the institution Faculty talent management as a part of institutional

strategy Search faculty nationally, continuously and aggressively Learning, research opportunity, and industry exposure Creating a community of learners, achievers and

institution builders Performance based compensation and reward system

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE STRATEGIES

Brand (Reputation) your institution or prove Establish yourself as a faculty driven institution Grow your own timber Break the job (Use doctoral students, post-doctoral students,

research associates, reducing administrative load, etc.) Use internal academic pipeline (Masters and doctoral students,

research associates, etc.) Increase retirement age “Up-or-out” a no-no Develop, develop, develop Mission-motivation-measurement-monetary reward cycle Look for global talent Be flexible and creative in identifying an recruiting faculty

Determining

Competencies & Standards

Compensation & Reward

Management

Recruitment

Performance

Management

Learning and Development

TALENT MANAGEMENT CYCLE

DETERMININGCOMPETENCIES & STANDARDS

Qualifications (Masters, PhD, Grades) International exposure Teaching Experience Teaching and facilitation competencies Publications and patents Research projects and consultancies Student development

COMPENSATION AND REWARD MANAGEMENT

Basic compensation Perks (12% CPF + Medical coverage + Consulting +

Development allowances + National and international conferences + LTC + Loans)

Reward for publications Reward for patents Reward for outstanding services Modern gadgets

RECRUITMENT

Print advertisement Website advertisement Portals Advertisement in

professional magazines Head hunters International

advertisement Social media (Linkedin) Peer recommendations Conferences

Regular position Contract position Visiting faculty Mentoring faculty

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Long term professional development programmes Short term professional development programmes Facilitation skills development programmes Distinguished lecture Membership of national and international professional bodies Mentoring intervention Feedback on teaching and research Conferences/seminars/conclave Internal seminars Learning culture development Individual development programme Team teaching and research Local networking Development allowances

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Peer review as well as superior review Assessment of performance in three broad areas –

teaching, service and research Quantification of performance Performance planning and mid-term review Link between performance and reward Link between performance and development feedback Comparison and ranking of faculty Inclusion of teaching rating, impact factor and other

indices in performance management Continuous education about performance Review and revision of PMS from time to time

CULTURE OF LEARNING, EMPOWERMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT

Regular seminars, research sharing, collective decision making and discussion on various teaching and assessment activities

Encouraging new initiatives and innovation in teaching and research

Engagement of faculty in various curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities

Empowering faculty to take academic decisions and reducing their non-academic workload

Rewarding and recognising high performers and excluding poor performers