Neglecting employee welfare and making do with cheap, unskilled labour will cost parks dear.By Pankaj Joshi
Promoteres of parks in India have always neglected personnel management.
Employee related factors like job specification, job qualification, hiring procedure, retention efforts, and career-building are as good as ignored. No thought is given to using employees to leverage park recall and increase the number of repeat visitors.
But how long can this happy state of affairs continue? The business of amusement parks is growing. Projections are healthy, even if the state of most of the parks today is otherwise. Overseas, in the face of an ever-tightening labour market, amusement facilities are relying on unique perks and recognition programs to keep their employees happy.
So what is preventing this from being duplicated in India?
Attitude
The main obstacle is the attitude of both employers and employees. As far as employers go, hardly anyone sees this as a job which people would want to stick on with. Most employers are content with getting through a busy season. During the lean season, they consider employees a nuisance and so are very happy with temporary employees. Rarely does an employer demand attitude, knowledge and teachability from an employee.
The employees complement this attitude. A look at the industry's current position reveals that more than three-fourths of employees belong to the unskilled category. Some in-depth study would be rewarding. For starters, the industry has never been projected as one that could attract skilled people. Technical manpower is an exception. But for most people, a park attendant would be somewhere between a guard and a sweeper. This is a highly unattractive job profile.
Nor does this profession pay enough to do the skilled lot justice. In India, parks are most often located some miles away from urban areas. Hence employers and government officials find it convenient to employ mostly local people.
This translates into:
a low level of education of the average employee
commensurate remuneration (average Rs 1,500, experts estimate).
This means that, in practical terms, there is a high demand for managerial skill at the supervisory and middle executive level. But the low pay mentality extends here and scales remain low. The remuneration is hence considered inadequate. This is especially so in the wake of a lot of high-paying jobs that have been created in the fields of software, media and public relations in the last two years.Life in the comfort zone
The present situation is convenient right now, primarily because the industry demands of sophistication and grace among employees are not yet so starkly visible. At the same time a large reservoir of unskilled labour is available. But such a personnel policy will harm the park's interests in the long run. Training and discipline among employees are vital for a park's image. Friendly and courteous park personnel can substantially increase return traffic. No one would like to frequent locations manned by uncouth attendants. As a visitor put it, "I would never want to visit a park with my family again where I find the guards ganging up and staring at the female visitors."
This may be an extreme case. But the fact remains that the lack of refinement in employees' conduct is bound to cost many a park dearly.
Also, the industry never made an effort to build up its image. This might have been justifiable in the light of the subdued industry climate in the last year or so. What is disturbing is that the industry does not have any intention in the foreseeable future to promote itself as a good employment opportunity.
In markets like the USA, the problem is different. Talent is available. Retaining it is tough. Employers face a generation with an entirely different work ethos and motivation levers that are not yet clear. Money, fun, opportunity and responsibility are good, but as surveys have found out, the basic ingredients of caring and respect are better motivators.
Time for reality
This neglect will show up in the next two years when the industry's brand-building battle is likely to intensify. Suddenly the advantage of a good staff will become apparent, and so will their shortage. Then a scramble is likely to ensue, which will create problems in the short run because orienting the talent available to the job specifications will be difficult.
Companies with any pretensions to foresight will have planned out their employee retention and performance systems long before that. The rest might end up in Alice in Wonderland, "running as hard as they can just to stay in place."