Recently in Jaipur, while on an assignment, I met a local industrialist – a man well respected in business and community circles. Our conversation, as these things often do, drifted toward HR and the challenges industries face today.
At one point, he leaned in and said, “Sandip ji, it’s so difficult to find the right person for a job?”
I launched into my usual reasoning – that despite India’s vast population, organisations still struggle to find suitable talent. He shook his head firmly.
“No, no,” he said, “talent is not the problem. There is plenty of it. Degrees, certificates, technical skills… all available in abundance. The real problem is attitude.”
That word -attitude – hung in the air for a while.
I was reminded of something I had heard years ago: you can hire someone with the right attitude and train them for skills, but you cannot take the best-trained person and teach them attitude.
It struck me that in our obsession with résumés, skill sets, and...
