HR Strides in Automation Industry

An interview with Mr. Rajam Sridharan who is heading the HR function at Yokogawa India Limited.

Mr. Rajam Sridharan Yokogawa India Limited

Q. How can HR practice motivate automation professionals whose job is known for either extended working hours on the field or being mundane in the IT front.

Conventional wisdom, proven practices, seldom followed- i.e, job rotation. When it does not happen within a company, the individual achieves it by looking beyond the company, not necessarily attaining the motivation levels sought. Further, the automation engineer must have a feel of the process he is designing the controls, else, boredom is a guaranteed result.

Q. Re-skilling is not as easy in automation industry as it is in the IT industry. But the need of the hour calls for this. Your thoughts.

It is imperative for organizations to realize this fact and look for changes in technology and areas which will shape up tomorrows solutions. We have arrived till here with the existing set of technologies. But the rate of change henceforth is going to be higher. Like wireless, networked computers and the related re-skilling which is done in IT, re-skilling is certainly pertinent in IA and cannot be avoided even if it’s tough.

Q. Is there a dearth of professionals in the ‘Automation + IT’ front.

Absolutely, when you add an adjective quality to professionals. But the industry is trying to cope with this through necessary training and other value-adds to its employees. As the industry is evolving and holds lot of promises, we can successfully come out of the limitation very soon.

Q. What is the next big technology which will make a wave in India, for which there will be a demand in the next few years.

Wireless would be here, bulky multi-loop proprietary controller will become a thing of past. Smart local on the loop controller with excellent networked intelligence would be the work horse. Human operators will of course continue to interface with the plant as they do now, with more and more sophisticated gadgets.