Challenges of Human Resources Management In Garment Diligence

Garment diligence is one of the oldest industries in India; the Indian garment diligence has been a main contributor to the growth of the Indian economy and a significant source of employment in the small, medium as well as large scale sectors. Indeed, after the agriculture sector the garment sector is the second largest source of employment covering over 35 million people in India. On the global front, India is the world’s third-largest producer of cotton and second-largest producer of cotton yarns and garments. The garment sector is also one of the largest foreign exchange earners and much has also been written about its potential to scale to new heights in the today’s globalized economy.

Indian garment diligence is in a place to create optimistic and significant contribution towards achieving the esteemed aim of ‘inclusive’ development [6]. Indian garment diligence needs being spirited and cost efficient by civilizing its productivity, product diversification and ornamental operational scale. The up gradation of workers’ ability is must with the acceptance of state-of-the art construction technology and total quality control. The administration has recognized four imperative segments within the technical garment diligence for instant concentration and development. These are Medi-tech, Geo-tech, Agro-tech, and Pro-tech, as recognized by the National Mission on Technical garments, with a market size of US $12-15 billion by 2012 [7]. Garments are one of the most significant categories of exports; it mostly comprising percent of the total value of products sold out of the country (Ministry of Commerce, 2004). The enormous preponderance of garment firms in country is foreign-owned (Yamagata, 2006; Rodgers, 2006; Kolben, 2004; Ministry of Commerce, 2004). The fast development of the garment manufacturing has depended on FDI (foreign direct investment). In some cases, garment firms represent a joint venture with Cambodian investors, but most firms are entirely foreign-owned. For example, a recent study found that 95 percent of garment firms are foreign-owned and only 5 percent are joint ventures with Cambodian partners (Yamagata, 2006). Nearly all of the foreign investment in the garment sector comes from other Asian economies in the region: Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Korea, and Singapore (Yagamata, 2006).

Due to a variety of historical factors the garment diligence in India faces numerous predicaments, such as being a fragmented diligence, being seriously buffeted by variety of not so supportive Government Policies, low productivity, and so on. It is significant to note that while the diligence has been trying to tackle age old and chronic predicament areas, newer and more pressing concerns have arisen, namely, increased domestic competition, competition from global players, the high investment cost of state of the art production facilities, to name a few, all of which must be effectively dealt with while maintaining a long term perspective. As a result, the garment diligence can no longer ignore the urgency of committing to higher productivity standards on the one hand and technological up-gradation on the other hand in order to remain competitive and attain world class standards of quality.

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Given this back drop, the role of Human Resource Management function in the garment sector has been one that has supported the functioning of an diligence operating under archaic processes, practices and systems within a difficult or at worst an un-supportive economic environment. The main thrust in people management has been in deployment of Personnel and Administrative policies and practices combined with the liberal use of the rules and regulations of Industrial Relations and labour laws for maintenance and containment. Today, the very people practices that saw the garment diligence through its variety of trials and tribulations in its earlier days have become inadequate to meet the new business imperatives. The mind set and related people practices have not quite changed with the times, resulting in a drag. The maintenance approach to HR management must transform to one that anticipates and accepts change to come up with solutions that drive business results. Reactivity needs to be replaced by pro-activity. Narrow width perspectives must give way to broad band mind set on the people management front to meet the challenges of a complex market environment. Past people practices focused on labor management, payroll, administration and industrial safety. The majority of training and development was centered on development of functional and technical skills, be it for the labor force or for the supervisory and managerial levels. The training deliverables were – improve operational aspects such as cost reduction, cycle time reduction, throughput improvement, productivity improvement and so on. However, people concerns are required to be tackled from a broader or strategic perspective rather than from merely operational considerations. Some of the challenges faced by the HR function are:

• Competence-based development for creating a pipeline of future managers.

• Succession planning for business continuity.

• Development of business savvy leaders for creating innovative solutions to meet tomorrow’s business needs.

• Creation of a high-performance and future-proof organization.

Post liberalization, the performance of the garment diligence as a whole, did not demonstrate any significant change or generate any buzz in the marketplace unlike the new diligence sectors like IT and IT enabled industries, the internet and telecommunication sector, the insurance and banking sectors or for that matter the FMCG and consumer durables sector. As a result the majority of financial resources got channeled into the new economy sectors, leaving the old economy, brick and mortar industries, including the garment diligence high and dry. Likewise, the high-flying new age sectors attracted and recruited the best talent. Given this scenario, the garment sector is faced with a unique challenge on the people front–that of attracting and retaining talent.

To undertake concerns of the garment diligence has made considerable development by investing in transformation of design, production and finishing facilities. Concomitantly, the diligence is also addressing areas that were not front burner concerns a decade ago, such as investments in trend forecasting services and techniques, systems for tracking customer satisfaction, adapting to a host of Quality Management systems that cover not just the product quality but also impinge on corporate social responsibility and accountability, to name a few focus areas.

REFERENCES:

2. Yamagata, Tatsufumi (2006). “The garment diligence in Cambodia: its role in poverty reduction through export-oriented development,” Discussion Paper No. 62, Institute of Developing Economies, Chiba, Japan. 3. Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen (2006). “Globalization, labour markets, and gender inequity: consultant on Cambodia study.” Mimeo. RAS-01-060. Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Initiative, Colombo: UNDP. 4. Kolben, Kevin (2004). “Trade, monitoring, and the ILO: working to improve conditions in Cambodia’s garment factories.” Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal, 7:79-107. 5. https://humanedgeconsulting.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/hr-challenges-in-the-garment-sector/ 6. Kothari, D.D. (2008), “Rupee-Value appreciation–Calculating the Crisis”, Modern Garments, Vol.3 No.1, February - March, pp. 26-29.

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7. Ministry of Garments, Government of India (2010), Annual Report 2009-10, New Delhi.