'India Beckons'

A recent article in Businessweek reports that there are as many as 1,000 foreigners holding senior positions in India. This number was less than 150 in 2005 and is expected to double by 2009. India Beckons!

Reliance Life Sciences has 15 expatriates, of which several hold senior positions. 7 of the 8 top officials at Cisco Systems' Globalization Center in India are expatriates. Consulting giant Accenture has nearly 100 expatriates in India. India's newly acquired magnetism on the global stage is pulling in foreigners. What's more, the article goes on to quote international search firm Egon Zehnder's research, which shows that 50% of senior management searches are now targeted at non-Indians in the quest to get 'the best person for the job', especially in niche areas like infrastructure, aviation, retail, and life sciences where talent is short. Contracts are typically for three to five years. Some of these salaries are two to three times higher than their Indian counterparts, but the domain expertise they bring justifies the disparities.

So what unique career opportunities are available for expatriates in India? Why are foreigners more willing to move to India now than earlier?

Rachna Patel, country resource manager, global services delivery, LogicaCMG, India believes that the focus of the west towards India and other relatively low cost markets is the primary factor responsible for this change. “It is only natural that multinational companies would like to leverage western experience in the AsiaPac region. Large companies are finding this region a virtually untapped market with great potential and are falling over themselves to get a footprint here,” she opines. Patel feels that like any new offshoring/outsourcing enterprise, this one too has a steep initial learning curve when it comes to process, policy and methodology and will become easier when people who have experience in these areas are part of the new enterprise and can lead by example. “Given that, more and more companies are looking to this region to grow, more job opportunities exist making it attractive for foreigners to leverage their experience profitably in India. It's all about getting more exposure or being a global citizen – if it's lucrative enough!” she asserts.

Pankaj Shankar, global head, HR and RMG, Infogain Corporation agrees. “India is a hot destination these days and executives are arriving in ever-increasing numbers to ride the wave of good times and good business prospects. India firms are developing new lines of work and contemporary business practices and they are open to hiring qualified expatriates for full-time work or in consulting roles. Many of these organizations offer roles of significance that are appealing to expatriates. An increasing number of international firms and nonprofit organizations are also conducting business in India now. Although they hire most of their staff members locally, many retain a small number of expatriate staff and intermittent consultants. These organizations are often willing to hire qualified expatriates living in India instead of recruiting talent offshore,” he maintains.

Talking of new businesses, SDD Global Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mysore, is a one-of-its-kind, high-end legal process outsourcing and legal services KPO company managed by a U.S. law firm. In the legal services outsourcing industry, there is heavy demand for expatriates. SDD Global and many other companies are aggressively recruiting Western-licensed attorneys to train Indian attorneys, in order to meet the huge demand for high-end, low-cost, high-quality legal work on a global scale. Says Russell Smith, President and Chairman of SDD Global Solutions Pvt. Ltd., “U.S. attorneys who think like I do are jumping at the chance to come to India. We want to be part of the positive, paradigm shift in the way legal services are delivered in the West. This will be a monumental, history-making development. It will help Western economies as well as Indians. It will contribute to a better, more equitable world, in which artificial barriers across countries and continents do not hold back the most efficient and enthusiastic people from performing the work that they do best.”

Scores of foreigners like Smith feel that in India, they have a front-row seat before a world in transition, where the so-called third world is becoming the first world.”

Kwan Chee Sun, CFO of Scope International, holds a similar opinion. Says he, “Currently Asia's economy is basically powered by the twin engines of growth – India and China. Every OECD company would like to inform its shareholders that it has a part in the India and China's growth success story. With that focus, comes the expatriate manager. As I see it, India is a great exporter of talent to the world – just look at the number of CEOs of global companies that are of Indian origin! Working in India provides an excellent learning opportunity for expatriates. The Indian experience will definitely be a plus point on one's CV.”

The vast cultural difference, however, can be quite daunting to a foreigner. And that's where the role of HR comes in . Companies are accepting that an in-depth analysis of the candidate's ability to adapt to different circumstances, ability to understand and deal with issues arising out of customs and traditions, cope with bureaucratic red tape, patience under duress and most important, maturity and a can do attitude can be crucial to any expat assignment. “If HR does not properly gauge these things before selecting a senior candidate the operation and the processes are likely to break down – sometimes without conscious intent and the whole investment goes down the drain!”

Human resource practitioners are increasingly paying attention to matching aptitude and experience to job needs while selecting employees for expatriation. As Shankar says, “While hiring an expatriate, the main emphasis is on personal development, management need, and pure transfer of know-how. But multinationals are also increasingly taking several other factors into account before sending staff on a foreign assignment. the biggest challenge for HR is finding the right intercultural and interpersonal skills, and whether a person is a good representative for the company overseas. It has to be considered whether a person will be able to assimilate within a new culture, and if he or she has a willingness to deal with change,” he shares.

An expatriate assignment may range anywhere from six months to two years with a possible extension of a year. Why not longer? Answers Patel, “It's an expensive business to hire expats on long term. The general mode is to have them on board for a year or so and then have them appoint a local successor to continue in the role. The thing with India is that you either hate it or you love it, there is no middle ground! So, if they like India, it's difficult to get them to leave and if they don't then they can't wait till their term is up! In fact, we have had expats that have loved India so much that they looked for jobs locally that would allow them to continue in India.”

The real challenges come up right in the beginning of the assignment. As expected, there are several minor and major adjustments to make. Indian firms normally work 5½ – 6 days per week and grant fewer paid vacation days than offered by most U.S. and European companies. And then there are the larger issues, like adjusting to a new culture and a different work ethos. “It's natural for different countries to have different business cultures. Accommodating them all, in a single cosmopolitan setup, might prove difficult. For instance, while some new businesses have moved away from life-long employment and stable work forces, most Indian firms have no tradition of hiring consultants or employing individuals who know that they will live in India for just 2-5 years,” says Shankar. “In addition, although English is often the official language of the workplace, it is not the informal language; workers without knowledge of Hindi can feel somewhat isolated in their daily work. There are issues like licensing. Some fields, including medicine and law, are not easily open to expatriates due to specific constraints and licensing issues,” he adds.

Patel feels that most cultural clashes arise due to miscommunication and ignorance of local customs, values, traditions and beliefs – and that is what the cultural training programs should address. Her advice: Companies should assign a local buddy to all new expat roles, to be a mediator, translator and advisor, so that most issues may be circumvented – professionally and otherwise. Expats who are taking on new roles can then begin conversing with their buddies before actually arriving in India so that there is some familiarity between them.

Russell, however, has a different point of view. “Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask, because I like India so much, but honestly I don't see any big transition challenges, once the expatriate learns simple ground rules. As for me, I like India so much that whereas I used to visit India once a year, now I visit the U.S. once a year. Even after all this time, I still find India interesting and exotic, and people in India seem to feel the same way about expats like me!”

According to him, any culture clashes can be easily addressed with some simple instructions. Such as 'there are no real rules about who goes into a traffic intersection first – just go by the size of the vehicle.' Or, 'don't get too offended if you're in a crowd and someone shoves you.' Or 'men should not touch women they don't know,' and 'men who hold hands with men are not necessarily gay!' “Yes, there are vast and even fundamental cultural differences between India and the West, but that's part of the excitement of being here. Learning a few simple principles of etiquette is enough to get by,” he states.

But not everyone finds that easy to do on their own. Shankar points out that HR can play a very vital role in dealing with the cross-cultural issues, by designing and putting in place adequate policies and procedures to ensure that cultural sentiments are not violated. “Simple things like using a language that everybody understands, is very important. To keep multicultural staff happy, one needs to be sensitive to different customs and traditions. While giving each one a day off on their respective festivals or national holidays might get complicated, some flexibility in the leave policy can help. Even better, a small-scale them party celebrating the occasion could help them feel more at home. Once the potential problems are dealt with, enjoy the diversity!” he offers.

And the diversity can work magic, if all the ingredients are mixed up in the right proportions. At SDD Global, though the vast majority of the company's employees are Indian, the work culture is Western-oriented, to suit Western clients... professional, but much more relaxed than the U.S. law firms. “We have enough people so that there is no need for ridiculous hours, which are very common for young lawyers in New York. We might be the only legal services company with a meditation room, and a 'movie of the week', which we all gather to watch and discuss on Friday afternoons. Combine all of that with the great weather and friendly people and one realizes that life here is good.”

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