Pre-requisites for realty professionals
The real estate and construction industry is one the fastest growing and dynamic industries in the country. The sector has witnessed quite a metamorphosis over the last decade and is today one of the largest contributors to India's economic growth.
WITH THE level of increasing urban population, there is heightened demand for both residential and commercial properties and infrastructure development. Large level of real estate and construction projects are being planned to meet this demand and determine the way we live and work within the built environment. There are numerous avenues available within the entire gamut of land, real estate, construction and associated environment fields; however the awareness levels of the kind of opportunities available are much lower in India, as compared to developed economies. There is much more to real estate than just brokerage services and construction development as opposed to popular public belief.Several choices are available for individuals to pursue a career in real estate across the property lifecycle (PLC). The PLC initiates with land surveying, where professionals can have a wide array of experience in fields such as geomatics, environment and rural land surveying. Town and country planning requires a comprehensive approach to situational assessment, an area where there is tremendous potential given that over 7,000 vacancies exist only within Government departments. The built environment engages architects and designers, structural engineers, civil engineers, construction project and quality control managers, building and quantity surveyors. Another huge opportunity is for real estate valuation that has untapped potential. The real estate finance industry needs trained property professionals to carry out land and property valuations consistently and accurately for multiple purposes such as bank lending and financial reporting.Also, as the nature of real estate projects becomes complex and with growing emphasis on energy efficiency and green buildings, facilities management as a practice area will acquire tremendous importance. This discipline within the realty space already has a projected market size of approximately USD 6 billion by 2012. So, while there is no denying that huge and varied opportunities exist, realty markets continues to face a lack of quality talent which primarily stems from the absence of specialised education, training and courses. Barring a few disciplines such as Civil Engineering, Town Planning and Architecture, the current educational set up in the country does not provide any tailored or focused curriculum which addresses the specific requirements of the real estate and construction sector. This scenario is quite evident from the fact that over 81% of the workforce employed is comprised of individuals who have either cleared and not-cleared their 10th grade matriculation examinations, which is the barest minimum of educational requirements in the country. Those qualifying from ITI and other vocational courses constitute 13-14% of the workforce distribution, while only a mere 2% have acquired engineering qualifications or diploma or equivalent certifications. Across levels - be it for project managers, engineers, supervisors or project conceptualisation professionals, there are umpteen skill shortages. The most common of these human resource constraints is the lack of knowledge and understanding that these professionals possess within their practice areas. So while on the one hand, the construction boom is stimulating the demand for an increased workforce, the sector has earned a notorious reputation of being unable to attract new entrants and talent to the market. This has adversely affected the industry's long-term skills development. Therefore, there is a growing need to attract graduate and apprentice level recruits who possess the required skill-set to sustain the burgeoning growth in the infrastructure and housing markets. In fact, the inability of companies to recruit new professionals has slowed down the growth of the sector in various cities in the country, with projects on a minimum average being delayed by 6-12 months. A side effect of this skill shortage has also resulted in an increase in salaries and benefits in many companies to those professionals who have stayed on with their employers. While such a trend has addressed the issue of attrition to some extent, it does not look to improve the knowledge base of its practioners and equip them with the understanding and knowledge of best practices, technologies, policies and procedures that are prevalent in international markets and shaping property markets worldwide. Skills shortages of this nature need to be addressed at national level through effective manpower planning and the development of strategies for adult education and vocational training. While an organization may suffer from a skills shortage as a result of poor recruitment and employee retention policies, the most common deterrent is the inadequate provision of training and employee development opportunities. This sets the precedent for an effective educational framework to be established in the country, which caters specifically to real estate and construction, given the growing importance of this sector in the country. Training institutes and courses should be utilised to enhance professional skills, cross train workers, and inform and train semi-skilled professionals and fresh recruits. To achieve such an outcome it is also imperative for companies to collaborate with the Government and focus their attention on effective learning outcomes, such as e-learning and short term training and education philosophies. These by far are the best solutions to bridge the skills shortage and gain competitive advantage in the industry. RICS India is cognisant of the huge skills shortage in Indian real estate and construction, which puts enormous pressure on existing professionals to gear up and deliver their services to this fast growing sector. Recognising the unique challenges of the Indian market including a vacuum of higher education for real estate and related fields, RICS India has launched specialised learning programmes which focus on skills development for professionals who will be employed in the sector and who are looking at real estate as a 'career of choice' and bring them at par with international counterparts. Through the newly launched courses in valuations and quantity surveying, RICS is offering distance e-learning which provides professionals flexibility to learn and acquire an understanding on their practice areas through self-paced learning which suits their personal learning styles and work schedules. These e-learning courses are not merely a reproduction of classroom training materials which have been converted for viewing on a PC. This is a specially designed curriculum to provide knowledge based on international best practices with relevance and applicability in the Indian market.
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
Not finding what you are looking for? Search here.
