Given India's crucial position as the world's talent nation and the government's intense focus on digitising the country, the Centre must invest heavily in employer branding.
To realise its goal of digitising the entire country, the government will need to hire as many technologists as possible from India and other countries. They have no choice but to invest in employer branding in order to increase their attractiveness as an employer because the majority of their talent will be high-tech engineers and fewer administrative workers.
Also, it is difficult to find engineers with expertise in the coding of blockchain, robots, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, and the internet of things due to the scarcity of this skill pool and numerous businesses worldwide are competing for it. So it is necessary to make the investment at the right place and at the right time.
Moreover, in order to acquire such talent, the government will have to compete with top high-tech firms such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. As a result, it has little choice but to focus on developing its employer value proposition.
Other important elements that will influence the government to increase its spending on employer branding include:
To Build Awareness
Because the government will never be able to match the salaries of the private sector, they can create an attractive talent pool through employer branding.
Cyber Security Needs
Cybersecurity will become increasingly important as wars become more digital. In the future, the country with the highest level of digital transformation and technological prowess will have the majority of economic power. Therefore, the need for such talent will only grow over the next few years as the government establishes specialised IT or cyber cells in each ministry.
Attracting Foreign Investment
Given its wealth of technology, India is the poster child for digitization. For investments to flow into India, our nation must be seen as the leader in digital technology. All industries, from manufacturing to supply chains to insurance, benefit greatly from the proper application of technology to deliver high-quality goods and services more quickly. We have a reputation to uphold, so it is the responsibility of the government to maintain the momentum the nation has built up in the post-pandemic world. The key to making India a superpower would be hiring technologists and creating tech hubs or museums showing futuristic work and prototypes sponsored by the government.
To Make Defence Stronger
To safeguard the security of the nation as it reaches its pinnacle of power, India must strengthen its military and weaponry. We must always be protected online. Consequently, we need specialised skills to make such extremely expensive weaponry and machinery.
Final Thoughts
Currently, government organisations wanting to diversify their talent pools are caught between cutting-edge potential and old prejudices. Creating and promoting the employer brand is the best way to take advantage of opportunities, dispel misconceptions, raise awareness, and ultimately recruit more top talent.
In order to establish and promote itself as an employer of choice, it is therefore expected that the government will set aside some funding for employer branding. It has now become a necessity rather than an option.
Amandeep Kaur is the founder and CEO of Phoenix TalentX Branding.
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