So where is the talent hiding?
Publishers lament the lack of skills when it comes to offshoring complex copy-editing to India. Some complain that even simpler, less complex copy-editing jobs are difficult to procure at the same level of proficiency that a US/UK-based counterpart can achieve. Service providers admit to the huge challenge of finding the right guy for the job, and more importantly keeping him there. The talent gap is evident… solutions are elusive! Apart from intensive on-the-job training provided by most service providers, other steps have been tried and proved useful, some of which include:
- Setting up training arm within the company to develop and absorb trained manpower
- Relocating onshore experts and trainers to provide training for their offshore employees.
In Chennai – the publishing offshoring hotspot, industry-academia affiliations are gaining traction and there is continuous effort to make academic training more relevant to the industry needs. Service providers are contributing with their inputs and obviously benefiting to a certain degree from greater interaction with the academia..
Various steps continue; however another common complaint by service providers is that trained employees are actively poached by (or lost to) competitors. Poaching may be a temporary respite for the hirer (poacher) but the problem remains… lack of an abundant talent pool to choose from! From a training perspective, copy-editing is a difficult skill to develop. The cycle time for achieving optimum levels of efficiency cannot be shortened beyond a point. Despite continuous and concentrated efforts by the Indian publishing offshoring industry, does the answer lie elsewhere? Will a model that involves and integrates cross-border outsourcing by Indian vendors provide a viable, sustainable solution… especially at a juncture when the industry is desperately seeking to move up the value chain?
Last 5 posts by Aradhana
- India: From a service hub to a potential market? - April 30th, 2010
- Satisfaction with outsourcing: Educational vs. STM publisher - March 10th, 2010
- The yin-yang of publishing outsourcing - November 12th, 2009
- The content-technology tussle - October 12th, 2009
- Small and niche - make a good fit - September 12th, 2009
