1 Sep, 2008, 0200 hrs IST,Arun Das Mahapatra,

India Inc looks for expats and NRIs

Canadian Carol Borghesi, had 26 years of experience in customer service before she was hired by mobile service provider Bharti Airtel, to work in India. Borghesi, who has also been through a senior position with British Telecom (BT), says she came to the country to be part of the action.

After working in Shanghai, Swedish national Marcus Wilhelm moved to Chennai as chief operation officer, Photon Infotech. Compared to China he says, India holds the edge when it comes to talent.

Many like Marcus and Borghesi have landed in the country to work. From a few hundred expats over the past five years, their numbers have increased manifold today. More importantly, several top expat executives have arrived recently, not only to oversee Indian operations, but also to build global teams.

Cisco relocated one of its top executives, chief globalisation officer William Elfrink, to India. The company has chosen India as the site for a globalisation centre. Boeing appointed Ian Thomas as vice president (international) and president of Boeing India. He leads the company’s enterprise-wide India team.

"The complaint is the college discriminated against the child by placing conditions on his enrolment that he was unable to comply with because of his religion. This case has the capacity to set a precedent that will have far reaching consequences," the family's solicitor Scott McDougall of Caxton Legal Centre told IANS Wednesday.

Other names include Brooks Entwistle, MD & CEO, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Trevor Bull, MD, Tata AIG Life Insurance, Rob Hennin, VP & country manager, India, American Express Bank, Phil Nelson , VP, Technology & back office operations, AOL India. The list goes on.

What is spurring companies to hire experienced expats? It is the demand for professionals with international experience combined with a shortage of top talent. India’s strategic importance alone is sometimes sufficient to attract executives. As more Indian companies go global and more global firms target India as a strategic growth market, India’s corporate sector is increasingly looking for people with global exposure, who can handle complex businesses that blend both domestic and international operations.

Recent estimates show that India needs over 1,000 CEOs across industries, many of them in new sectors such as special economic zones, aviation, airport management, media, communications, real estate and retail. Says Cisco’s Elfrink: "The country is more vibrant and adventurous in its pursuit of excellence than ever before, and our decision to locate our Globalisation Centre East in India definitely highlights the country’s growing importance in the world."

Among those who are also being tapped are several non-resident Indians (NRIs). Typically between 35 and 45 years of age, these returnees are armed with a more aggressive western outlook, ‘can-do’ attitude and exposure to working within foreign cultures. They are being given the opportunity to build a higher profile than they would, if they were to remain overseas, and view the India experience as a critical part of their resume.

Local technology firms increasingly see the benefits of bringing in returnees as a means to calibrate or even raise internal standards at home. Already, the number of foreign nationals working for top-tier Indian technology firms hovers around 3 per cent. Returnees also bring inside knowledge of global supply chains and vendors, and a large global network of clients.

India’s retail leadership are best warned to fortify their talent strategies in the face of an imminent shake-out. Not only does this call for the urgent placement of experienced business leadership across every line of business and function, it also requires the shortening of learning curves across all lines of the organisation.