Even as the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a seismic shift in how, when, and where we work, organizations in India have been keen to adopt new leading-edge workforce technologies. But they have not been successful in implementing them rapidly, according to a survey.
The KellyOCG’s 2021 Workforce Agility Report showed that 55 percent of India’s workforce lacks the skills to adopt new technologies at a pace.
About 50 percent of executives in India said their organization is too slow to adopt technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and automation.
However, 49 percent of executives in India said their organization is adopting new talent management technologies.
While business leaders in India said they would continue to offer hybrid work models and remote work opportunities to cater to the changing needs of employees who are balancing priorities at work and at home, the survey indicated that employees are struggling to adjust to working remotely.
About 66 percent of executives in India said their organization will adopt a hybrid model. However, 57 percent also said that remote work is mostly a disadvantage for their organization.
“The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in India have forced employers to move towards remote work, and a hybrid work model will likely be the way forward,” said Pete Hamilton, vice president, and regional director, Asia-Pacific, at KellyOCG, in a statement.
“Organisations are still apprehensive about adopting the changing dynamics and thus a shift in both mindset and strategy is required. It’s clear that business leaders have been trying to implement various policies to help employees, but full execution is needed to reap the intended benefits,” Hamilton added.
The survey included more than 1,000 senior executives across 13 countries.
More than half (59 percent) of executives said their businesses will adopt a hybrid working model post-pandemic, yet one in four believe their leaders lack the skills to manage the workforce they want to build.
Only a minority of organizations are using leading-edge technologies to respond to critical issues around workforce planning and management, including monitoring productivity and efficiency (44 percent), managing a remote workforce (38 percent), and predicting skills requirements (32 percent).
The majority (55 percent) reported that talent from underrepresented groups has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic — but fewer than half (43 percent) said they are executing a fully developed diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for their full-time staff, and only 19 percent have one for contingent labor.
