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The Industry Interface Cell of IIM Indore organized a talk on February 25, 2017 on ‘Leveraging Contract Labour: An Industrial Perspective’. The talk was conducted by Professor Srinath Jagannathan, Faculty, IIM Indore and an expert in the area of Industrial relations and labour laws. The talk witnessed participation from students, faculty members and eminent industrialists from Pithampur and Indore region.
During the talk, changes pertaining to labour law reforms were discussed in detail. Professor Jagannathan emphasized that wherever the degree of cooperation and competition is high, there should be strong relationship with the contractor and a detailed contract in place. Most industries view contractual labour as a cost minimization effort and ignore that they lead to significant value creation. He went on to discuss different industrial topologies that is systems driven, Integrative driven and goals centered. He iterated on how job descriptions should be created exhaustively even in case of contractual labour.
Professor Jagannathan reinforced learnings through a few prominent case studies. He said, ‘Always engage contractor with value creation framework. When relationship between management and contractor is not strong, industrial dispute can lead to industrial violence. This should be avoided at all cost since it not only affects the establishment, but the industry cluster as well.’
The talk was also graced by Mr. Shobit Jain, Labour Commissioner of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Jain talked about the recent measures taken with regard to Labour. Their efforts in digitizing the process of contracting Labour using mobile apps like m-Shram Seva and online portals were appreciated by the audience. Along with this, many Labour laws have been amended in 2014-15.
The three-hour long talk also revolved around critical issues like issues pertaining to quality, creativity, commitment, and attrition. It also addressed the best labour practices adopted in India and abroad and how the contractual labour can be utilized in a best possible manner to provide a competitive advantage to the organization.
Overall, the lecture was very fruitful for the interactive audience. The session concluded with Q&A.