One must not underestimate the importance of communication for business efficiency
Creating and keeping open communica tion channels is important for a successful business operation, as it helps foster good rapport, loyalty and support. Yet, it was found in a survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Cvoter that about 83 per cent of the respondents acknowledged the need for good written communication as a key skill for performing a job. However, only about 60 per cent felt that their present employees had the desired skill. The survey showed that India Inc was facing a severe shortage of skilled manpower, and the undergraduates in the general stream of arts, commerce and science were not up to the mark.
"The employability quotient of undergraduates in India reveals that Gen Next falls short on soft skills and vocational training to take on the responsibilities of corporate sector management,” said the survey.
On the employability quotient of undergraduates in India, the survey found that only three out of 10 respondents were satisfied with their fresh recruits in the past one year. The fresh undergraduates lacked in many areas including reliability, integrity, self-motivation, self-discipline and empathy for other workers and management.
So, what can institutes do to see that their undergrads and postgrads come out communication savvy? They must put in place courses that teach certain important soft skills, says experts. The University of Madras has signed a MoU with Everonn Education Limited to offer soft skills courses to its university departments for the academic year 2010-11.
For those who simply want to improve their communication skills and thus make themselves more marketable to prospective employers, the Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad, popularly known by its acronym, MICA offers a Post-graduate Programme in Communications Management (PGPCM) as its flagship programme.
SIBM also offers a course in Communications Management as do a lot of other institutes