Sanjeev Satgainya

Kathmandu:

Competition is revving in every field today, not only between organisations but also among workers. Every organisation wants to build up a strong workforce. Companies set up with excellent resources — human, technical and infrastructure always top in the market. One of the most accountable resources no doubt is effective manpower and pinpointing what makes an effective team in an organisation is tricky business.

Who make a wonderful workforce — people who have experience in specific fields and possess a history of working in different organisations or fresh candidates who lack experience but have zeal, flair and motivation to accept the challenges?

Conventional management system emphasises on building an experienced workforce. Those with a good experience of five to six years are very well-exposed to several aspects of business are thought to be better than freshers. There is also the possibility that despite having experience, employees might lack zeal that the fresh candidates bring with them.

“It depends. Both ways are applicable. It depends on the job profile also and there might be sometimes more pros of recruiting experienced workforce than freshers,” shares Prajwol Bhattarai, sales manager, Nepal Overseas Marketing Company.

Most companies in their vacancy announcements look for candidates experienced in specific fields. This clearly shows that experienced people outclass others. “Of course, there are several benefits to hire experienced recruits as they don’t have to be groomed the way the freshers have to be but where would the freshers gather experience until they get an opportunity to work somewhere,” shares Sushant, who after his Master’s has been busy attending interviews at several organisations.

But this does not happen every time. “If the candidate shows his potential which is up to the mark then he can be definitely recruited. There is always a possibility of training and grooming candidates to shape them up according to company requirements,” shares Bharat Rijal, branch manager, Agriculture Development Bank, Ram Shah Path.

If the newly hired recruits have to be given jobs immediately and have to be assigned heavy job profiles then experienced people will cope up with the situations better than fresh ones. But there are other views as well.

Anjay Bahadur Shah, executive director, Seti Cigarette Factory, says, “Most importantly it depends on at what level you are hiring new employees. In officer levels, usually I prefer fresh people.” “Fresh candidates can always be trained. It also depends on the organisations. If the organisation plans to run orientation programmes for new people, it can always be beneficial for the learners as well as the organisation. But if the post is vacant for higher level or in decision-making level then experienced candidates must be preferred, he adds.”

It is also thought that in terms of enthusiasm, fresh youngsters show more

zeal. “It might happen but this cannot be generalised,” says Shah, adding, “We have to look at the history of that employee in previous organisations as well. If the person is well-groomed and motivated to perform any sort of job, he definitely would do in another organisation as well.”Sometimes, cost effectiveness is also taken into consideration while recruiting. Freshers can be paid a lot lesser than experienced candidates. “This does

happen but for this only a company cannot compromise in overall output and there is always a room for negotiation as well,” clarifies Anil Bajracharya, human resource officer, Population Service International, Nepal.

He adds, “I would say it is 50-50 when we have to hire people. In technical fields, say doctors, we have to have experienced people because we cannot compromise with the health issues and we have to be very careful. Otherwise, in other levels, it is okay to hire freshers as well. There is always a possibility of grooming them according to the need of the company.”Still the traditional notion that experienced people make a wonderful workforce is prevalent, it tends to keep fresh candidates at bay. Kishore, still hunting for a proper job even after graduation, says, “I wonder, everyone wants an experienced candidate and I have only one experience that is of job hunting. Why don’t companies rely on fresh candidates?”