EBMO's can drive crucial policy on skills and social protection to foster sustainable and inclusive growth of the economy
Opening remarks at the CII – EFI National Conference on Industrial Relations ‘Transforming Workforce Ecosystem for Sustainable & Inclusive Growth’ by Satoshi Sasaki, Deputy Director, ILO DWT/CO-New Delhi
14 December 2023
I am honoured to be here with you today to inaugurate the CII – EFI National Conference on Industrial Relations. Both CII and EFI are leading Employer and Business member organisations in India, which have consistently promoted good employment and industrial relations practices. Today’s conference is once again a testament to this fact.
The ILO has closely collaborated with EFI over many years, which has resulted in many activities that have directly contributed to sustainable and inclusive growth. More specifically, we have worked together in fostering and promoting good industrial relations. Let me share one example. Covid-19 pandemic brought about a revolution in work life. It was a crisis that required us to reposition and rethink every aspect of work life. There was much to be done for survival in the context of protecting people and protecting employment. As you all know, the ILO is firmly founded on social dialogue as being the means to achieve social justice. The ILO moved swiftly to collaborate with its constituents. Initially, we formulated a set of guidelines for the enterprise-level Covid-19 task forces. The guidelines were intended to provide guidance for a post-lockdown phase in which workplaces would gradually return to operations in the absence of a vaccine having been developed. We are happy to say that EFI was one of the first EBMOs in South Asia to adopt these guidelines.
At the International Labour Conference in 2021, the ILO adopted “A Global Call to Action for a Human-Centred Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The call-to-action had two sets of agreed actions. The first covered measures to achieve a job-rich recovery that substantially strengthens workers and social protections and supports sustainable enterprises. The second referred to a set of actions which needed to support a national human-centred pandemic recovery strategy. Promoting bi-partite Social Dialogue was identified as one of the means to ensure a job-rich recovery.
Consequently, the ILO invited EFI to collaborate and assist in collating twelve case studies that would showcase how workplace cooperation within an enterprise could harness fruitful results for employees and the employer. The one strong message that ran through the fabric of the case studies was that businesses that consider their employees as an appreciating asset performed far better than those businesses that treat their employees as a cost to be trimmed and adjusted with fluctuations in their sales and profits.
In the post-COVID context, let me share with you the ideas as to how Employer and Business member organisations can contribute towards transforming the workforce ecosystem towards sustainable and inclusive development. Firstly, EBMOs must take the lead on skills and provide guidance to policymakers. There is a huge mismatch between the skill set required by the industry and that possessed by a majority of the workforce. This gap is further widening with the rapid changes in technology and business operations. Bridging this skill gap is essential to boost productivity. It will be critical to strengthen partnerships with institutions engaged in skill development to guide the design of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses and for its periodic revision in line with industry requirements. Developing local skills based on skill anticipation for local or regional economic development needs to be promoted. Secondly, EBMOs must take an active part in social protection. India is a model country for South Asia with a number of social security schemes. A recent study was undertaken by ILO in relation to ESIS. The findings revealed that there was a lot of opportunity for improvements in administering the benefits and the creation of awareness. These are issues which EBMOs may think of pursuing through advocacy. In addition, with the inclusion of gig and platform workers under the new social protection code, the EBMOs will have to play an important role with other stakeholders. EBMOs need to respond to the reality of the changing work arrangement models with the digital transformation of work. Here again, EBMOs have the opportunity to step in with guidance and direction.
My final comment on inclusive growth. We need to promote shared growth to achieve inclusive growth. A culture that would recognise one’s performance as having an impact on the performance of his/her colleagues - in other words, standing up and helping each other to rise up together. These values are much needed to develop the ‘soft skills’ that the world of work desperately needs today. Daniel Goleman, in his book ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’ refers to a new yardstick that employers need to use in hiring employees. He says: “The rules of work are changing. We are being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are or by our training and expertise, but also by how we handle ourselves and each other…. The new measures take for granted having enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs: It focuses more on personal qualities such as initiative and empathy, adaptability, and persuasiveness”.
With this, I wish you all a very productive conference!
The ILO has closely collaborated with EFI over many years, which has resulted in many activities that have directly contributed to sustainable and inclusive growth. More specifically, we have worked together in fostering and promoting good industrial relations. Let me share one example. Covid-19 pandemic brought about a revolution in work life. It was a crisis that required us to reposition and rethink every aspect of work life. There was much to be done for survival in the context of protecting people and protecting employment. As you all know, the ILO is firmly founded on social dialogue as being the means to achieve social justice. The ILO moved swiftly to collaborate with its constituents. Initially, we formulated a set of guidelines for the enterprise-level Covid-19 task forces. The guidelines were intended to provide guidance for a post-lockdown phase in which workplaces would gradually return to operations in the absence of a vaccine having been developed. We are happy to say that EFI was one of the first EBMOs in South Asia to adopt these guidelines.
At the International Labour Conference in 2021, the ILO adopted “A Global Call to Action for a Human-Centred Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The call-to-action had two sets of agreed actions. The first covered measures to achieve a job-rich recovery that substantially strengthens workers and social protections and supports sustainable enterprises. The second referred to a set of actions which needed to support a national human-centred pandemic recovery strategy. Promoting bi-partite Social Dialogue was identified as one of the means to ensure a job-rich recovery.
Consequently, the ILO invited EFI to collaborate and assist in collating twelve case studies that would showcase how workplace cooperation within an enterprise could harness fruitful results for employees and the employer. The one strong message that ran through the fabric of the case studies was that businesses that consider their employees as an appreciating asset performed far better than those businesses that treat their employees as a cost to be trimmed and adjusted with fluctuations in their sales and profits.
In the post-COVID context, let me share with you the ideas as to how Employer and Business member organisations can contribute towards transforming the workforce ecosystem towards sustainable and inclusive development. Firstly, EBMOs must take the lead on skills and provide guidance to policymakers. There is a huge mismatch between the skill set required by the industry and that possessed by a majority of the workforce. This gap is further widening with the rapid changes in technology and business operations. Bridging this skill gap is essential to boost productivity. It will be critical to strengthen partnerships with institutions engaged in skill development to guide the design of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses and for its periodic revision in line with industry requirements. Developing local skills based on skill anticipation for local or regional economic development needs to be promoted. Secondly, EBMOs must take an active part in social protection. India is a model country for South Asia with a number of social security schemes. A recent study was undertaken by ILO in relation to ESIS. The findings revealed that there was a lot of opportunity for improvements in administering the benefits and the creation of awareness. These are issues which EBMOs may think of pursuing through advocacy. In addition, with the inclusion of gig and platform workers under the new social protection code, the EBMOs will have to play an important role with other stakeholders. EBMOs need to respond to the reality of the changing work arrangement models with the digital transformation of work. Here again, EBMOs have the opportunity to step in with guidance and direction.
My final comment on inclusive growth. We need to promote shared growth to achieve inclusive growth. A culture that would recognise one’s performance as having an impact on the performance of his/her colleagues - in other words, standing up and helping each other to rise up together. These values are much needed to develop the ‘soft skills’ that the world of work desperately needs today. Daniel Goleman, in his book ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’ refers to a new yardstick that employers need to use in hiring employees. He says: “The rules of work are changing. We are being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are or by our training and expertise, but also by how we handle ourselves and each other…. The new measures take for granted having enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs: It focuses more on personal qualities such as initiative and empathy, adaptability, and persuasiveness”.
With this, I wish you all a very productive conference!