Lack of job-ready skills has impacted employability of management graduates. Dr Dhanya Pramod shares tips that can bridge the gap

The way businesses operate has highly evolved in the last decade and they continuously require operating in volatile and complex market scenarios. There is also the pressure on organisations to embrace emerging technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive results. Hence, they need employees who possess the right management and techno-functional skill set to steer the organisation in the right direction and keep it at the top of the game. They look for company-ready candidates who can start contributing to the workplace from day one without much on-the-job training or handholding.

However, an increasing number of employers are highlighting the gap between skills that management graduates have to offer and what is actually expected at the job. The lack of job-ready skills has adversely impacted the employability rate of management graduates. The employability rate of Indian management graduates has witnessed a drop of 3 per cent in 2018 from previous year. Around 60 per cent of these graduates are unemployable due to skill gap.

The management schools have realised that there is dire need to tailor their curriculum to accommodate the industry requirements and expectations. Today, several management schools have started offering new-age subjects and specialisations that can help students develop industry-relevant skills and make them more valuable to companies as soon as they pass out. Some of these subjects and specialisations are enumerated below:

• Data Science and Data Analytics

Businesses are driven by numbers and rely heavily on data. There is a growing demand for management professionals with data science background so that they can make informed data-driven business decisions. In fact, the demand for data science professionals in India has seen 400 per cent rise across various industry sectors in the last two years.

The data science and data analytics course helps students to develop competencies required to navigate through big data and business analytics. It gives practical exposure to various data tools like MapReduce, R, Hadoop and others. The data science skills picked up in this course can prove useful for students to provide customised solutions to organisations in banking, education, healthcare, retail, computer service, manufacturing and many other domains.

• IT Infrastructure Management

Information Technology (IT) has gained immense prominence in organisations. It can strengthen their technical foundation and boost operational efficiency. They need candidates who can plan, design, deploy and manage the robust network hardware and software devices in the company.

The IT Infrastructure Management course offers networks specific management and technological knowledge to students. It gives them first-hand insight into unified communications, enterprise-wide networks and next-generation intelligent network solutions.

• Software Solutions Management

In this digital age, companies are demanding software solutions that can automate their day-to-day processes, reduce human errors and increase their returns on investment. Right from finance, human resources and marketing to customer relationship management, compliance and supply chain, software solutions are required in every business function.

The Software Solutions Management course provides the student with adequate knowledge of integrating technology with management practices. It teaches them management information systems,requirements engineering, enterprise architecture, business intelligence concepts and technology management along with traditional modules such as marketing, finance and HRM.

• Systems

Candidates with both technical and managerial skills can be an added advantage to organisations. They understand how business processes work and which technological elements will make these processes better.

The Systems course helps students in understanding enterprise resource planning, process optimisation through Six Sigma, enterprise performance management and many other concepts that blend business process and technology.

• Information Security Management

As companies increase their IT footprint, it also makes them vulnerable to internal and external cyber risks. It becomes crucial to keep the information confidential, thwart potential threats, follow security protocols and manage incident occurrences.

The Information Security Management course imparts knowledge in understanding business processes, information workflow and possible risks. It equips students to formulate strategies that can keep information secure and provide appropriate IT solutions.

There is no doubt that workplace realities are reshaping management education. The management schools are becoming more responsive to the needs of the industry to stay relevant and enhance the capabilities of their students.

The writer is Director, Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology (SCIT)