Only 23% of the management talent employable; MBA grads score low on communication skills, India’s first comprehensive study on MBA talent pool unveiled

India’s first comprehensive study on MBA talent pool unveiled

Bangalore, February 9, 2007: MeritTrac Services, India’s Largest Skills Assessment Company recently unveiled India’s first-ever comprehensive study on the MBA talent pool conducted by its analytics team. The study was compiled from a sample of 800+ MBA graduates across 6 major cities. Each candidate was tested on Verbal, Quantitative and Mental application abilities as well as four Group Interaction attributes – articulation, grammar, assertiveness and confidence.

The study places in a factual context the skills gap in the mushrooming B-school marketplace voiced by experts on many occasions and platforms past two years. That, the growth in the number of B-schools and the number of graduates they churn out has not translated into increased employable pool for India Inc. to hire from. The study also reveals that each city is characterized by a distinct style of performance and there is no single predictor of success in the tests across the cities sampled. On the geographical-divide in terms of the performance of the MBA talent pool, Mumbai tops the charts as the best city to hire an MBA from due to its flashes of brilliance. Interestingly Kolkata emerges as the next best place to hire from due to its consistent performance across tests. Delhi was conspicuous by its indifferent performance; Hyderabad rallied towards the end to occupy a spot of merit while Bangalore and Chennai truly fell short of expectations but maintain the competitive edge owing to the quantum of the talent pool available.

The MBA talent pool report is aimed at mapping and bringing forth the dynamics of the quality and availability of the MBA talent pool and will aid corporates in their talent acquisition strategy by helping them identify locations and regions with specific sub-skill sets in management. The sample selection, administering and analysis were done using the best statistical and market research tools/methodologies available. This is the fourth such report from the MeritTrac Intelligence and analytics team.

Commenting on the study and its key findings, Madan Padaki, Co-founder & Director, MeritTrac Services, said, ”As much as it presents a picture of challenge, the concern areas highlighted by the report can be addressed effectively. This has always been MeritTrac’s objective while presenting these reports. It is about raising the early alarm. Just to point out one such area - on plain abilities performance, almost 56% of the management talent pool is employable and if combined with communication skills it drops to 23%. Communication skills are an area that can effectively be addressed, as tools for the same are available. We hope the report serves as an eye-opener for India Inc., which is in dire need of more managers than ever before.”

ABOUT MERITTRAC:

MeritTrac is India's Largest Skills Assessment Company having assessed over 1 million candidates for over 150 customers. Neither a Placement/recruitment firm nor a training agency, it is a neutral organization that provides quantitative inputs on the talent pool and helps in measuring competencies for specific roles. MeritTrac currently tests 60,000 candidates monthly across IT, BPO, BFSI, Retail, Engineering & Education verticals. Its clientele include ABB, Accenture, Adobe, Allianz Cornhill, Computer Associates, Flextronics, GE, Google, GRO, HP, HSBC Software, IBM, FirstSource, ICICI Prudential, Intel, iSoft, Kyocera, Logica CMG, Microsoft, MindTree consulting, Misys, SAP, SAIC, Satyam, TESCO, UTI Bank, Verizon etc. MeritTrac also partners with state governments of Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa and West Bengal and academic institutions like Bharathiar University and VTU. Based out of Bangalore, MeritTrac has 250+ fulltime employees and 1000+ part-time certified test administrators on its rolls. MeritTrac has offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata and Coimbatore. MeritTrac operates in the USA & Mauritius through business partners. MeritTrac is an investee company of a fund advised by HSBC Private Equity. Further details visit www.merittrac.com