I was just looking at a graph of top economically performing nations. Ten years ago, India was not on the top ten list. Now it is. Japan on the other hand took a huge economic dive in 2014. I’m not sure what happened, but I read that people in Japan were spending a lot less, and also getting older. Personally, I’m glad that I’m not getting older! China’s growth was astounding despite all of the economic and banking problems they have. I’m not sure how much longer they can keep growing now that there is heavy competition for investments in West Africa which is now the new “place to be” as far as business is concerned.
India’s economy is growing, but their people skills are shrinking
Every time I visit India I am amazed at all the new buildings that were not there a year or two previously. I am also amazed at all of the new cars that have replaced the 1940’s style British Ambassador style sedans which looked so old school (but are great in accidents since the metal is so thick.) However, every time I call India I am also amazed at how pathetically hopeless their phone etiquette is. People are so inept they cannot announce their personal or business name when answering a business call at an office. Additionally, secretaries routinely put you on hold without permission only to be disconnected if you ask them a trick question such as, “what city are you in?” Simple questions requiring a kindergarten education are too difficult for most of India’s staff. So, I believe the solution is training. But, small and even large businesses don’t want to bother with much if any training. So, what is the solution?
Government training
The government of India takes great price in their economic growth and why shouldn’t they. But, imagine how much faster they would grow if they could eliminate some of the stupid behavior that goes on in businesses. High turnover, incompetent phone etiquette, and disorganized management top the list. What if the government could have schools to teach people how to check people’s work, answer the phone, answer basic questions, and stick to a job for more than three months? The entire nation would be turned around! Additionally, if the government would systematically test people from time to time to see how good their work skills are then workers could be given a formal written assessment which could be shared with all employers. I feel that workers that jump from job to job should also be penalized in their government score sheet as job hopping makes it very hard for upper management to run a company.
India’s professional future
Maybe India will one day turn around and learn phone etiquette. But, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Even the big companies hire incompetent secretaries and receptionists. If the best companies who have overseas investors can’t get it right, how will smaller businesses? Perhaps foreigners need to go to India and create some competition. In America, we have twenty nationalities (in large numbers) living under one government. We all compete against each other. Having some competition in India would do their country good. Maybe one day!