By Dr Roger Newman, UK head of manufacturing and digital convergence relationship management at Mahindra Satyam

At many of the leading offshore, outsourcing companies the problem is not one of access to raw talent, we have quality IT graduates in abundance, the challenge is in converting that raw talent into somebody who can shine in any global IT organisation.

Over the past few years companies in India have invested heavily in training and HR processes. In our company there is a recognition that the ability to convert raw talent into ‘stars’ is a real competitive advantage. For example our Leadership school has world class facilities and trainers; recently I was showing off these facilities to a customer and he was amazed to see our staff training to work on his account, going through a business simulation game using his industry and his specific processes as part of the simulation. In many ways we are able to train staff better than our customers because of the investments made and the low cost base we operate in.

However for all these facilities and processes we are still not where we need to be in terms of talent management. In fact there is a growing realization that to take things to the next level we have to overcome more subtle, human barriers.

To really develop your ‘stars’ of the future you need people who will spend time mentoring them. Having a mentoring programme is not enough, you need your top managers to give up quality time, not easy at the best of times. You also need to give people broad experience and opportunity. If you have a potential star in your division it is difficult to give them up to another division to let them get broader experience. It is amazing how selfish I become when it comes to talent!

In India there is also a cultural tendency to be fairly hierarchical and demonstrate loyalty up and down the chain of command. There are many benefits from a service delivery perspective but can make it difficult to fast track people through the organisation. This has to be recognized and dealt with.

So, the outsourcing talent management race is very much on. Great strides have been made and there is a realistic assessment of the barriers still to be overcome. The prize will go to those companies that stick with it in the long run.