When soldiers tackle a corporate battlefield
By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia   |   Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 13:40 IST   |    40 Comments
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When soldiers tackle a corporate battlefield
Bangalore: Who wouldn't like to hire a man who is highly disciplined, professional in man management and effective in strategizing and planning? It's these positive attitudes and abilities that are seen in military personnel, make them favourable to the corporate world. The Indian corporate sector is witnessing a new trend in appointing former defence officers in middle and top level management positions. With the rigorous training with the forces, these officers bring with them a rich management experience, a focused approach and a natural discipline. The organizational abilities of defence personnel especially in strategic planning make them a better choice for the top posts in the corporate sector. According to the details provided by the Indian Ministry of Defence, there are approximately 60,000 army personnel retiring every year out of which 3,000 are officers, most of them in their mid-50s. A good number of these retired defence officials are enrolling for MBA and other business related studies which would add more value to their skills obtained as military personnel in pursuit of a managerial job. The retired defence personnel are appointed in diverse profiles like sales, marketing, supply chain, operations, logistics, human resource and administration. Corporate giants like Citigroup, ICICI Bank, L&T, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra Satyam, RIL, Bartronics and many others have hired defense personnel in many of their projects. The most recent batch from Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon have received over 85 percent placements. Officers were placed in attractive packages ranging between 14-24 lakhs. Many ex-servicemen take up corporate executive protection as their career after retirement. Being a corporate bodyguard has great pay rates and good benefit packages. There are many private institutions providing management courses for ex-servicemen. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore has also started a training program for officers of the armed forces in management skills to help them find employment in the private sector. The Confederation of Indian Industry has also come up with a number of programs to get this huge talent pool incorporated to the corporate sector. The government also has various institutions such as the Directorate General of Resettlement to help ex-servicemen to find training and reemployment. As it is the joint responsibility of the central and state governments, they have set up different agencies like Ex-Servicemen Welfare Wing, Departments of Sainik Welfare and Zila Sainik Welfare Officers which introduce verity of schemes for the welfare of ex-servicemen. The resettlement programmes include degree/diploma course in business administration, personnel management, hotel management and tourism, human resource training and development etc. The other management courses include security management, export/import management, marketing/sales management, tourism and travel agency management course etc. Computer Courses such as C & Unix, MS Window, FoxPro, Oracle and HRD have been introduced. Having said that, we should also understand the fact that all is not well with the low-ranking military personnel. The jawans who served the country with utmost loyalty and dedication are forced to guard the gates of the rich as watchmen. The government should take up more proactive steps to save the jawans from this pitiable condition and to enable them to secure a respectable career after the military life. At the same time, the corporate world should stretch their corporate social responsibility arm to include the low-category ex-servicemen, give them adequate training and to place them in decent roles so that their dignity is well preserved.

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