Analyzing Strategies Of Countries For Attracting Talented Professionals

Reverse Brain Drain and Global Hunt for Talent

Task 1 –

Academic essay

You are required to effectively research the topic given in the assignment brief above to produce an academic essay on the topic below:

Critically analyse the effectiveness of strategies adopted by TWO (2) countries of your choice to attract talented professionals.

The essay must demonstrate critical reading and writing, using a range of sources to demonstrate your research skills (which should be correctly referenced).

Furthermore, the essay must be well presented, making use of appropriate structure to support arguments so that meaning is conveyed effectively. The recommended word count for this task is 1400 words, excluding the reference list.

In preparation for the essay, it is suggested that you make use of a concept map and also a project plan to outline your intentions to plan and manage the project. Please note: This will be expected as evidence for Task 2 below.

Task 2 –

Portfolio of professional practice

You are required to submit a portfolio demonstrating reflection of the skills that you have accumulated and exercised in Task 1. You must consider the skills that you have developed and used and the extent to which they need further development. Self-reflection and honesty are critical to this task. The portfolio must include the following aspects and the recommended word count is 1600 words:

a) A concept map, outlining the interrelated dimensions forming structure to your research.

b) A project/research plan outlining your plan to manage Task 1 – consider time allocated to research, evaluation and synthesis, and writing up. Clearly outline intended activities, time allocated and deadlines imposed for completion of the academic essay.

c) A reflective journal, outlining your experiences whilst following your project plan to produce the academic essay – consider what skills you used, how they were used and if this was effective use. You should also consider where you perhaps encountered problems and explain how you overcame them as part of the project management process.

d) A skills audit – list the skills you feel you would need/like to develop further and consider how you might achieve this, taking into account your individual learning style.

During the last part of the previous century, the brain drain was becoming one of the greatest problems for the emerging economies, as they were losing human resource to more developed countries, as they were able to provide better monetary rewards for the talented individuals. There was also the problem of the unemployment for the less skilled or the ones who were skilled in less sought after trades. But the brain drain was truly alarming for the developing countries as their effort of becoming more economically stable was becoming more and more difficult with the native talent leaving the country so that they could be used by some developed country that were more able support their needs and wants. The situation changed, as the new century gave the developing countries a new perspective that emphasized on the loss of talent and the effects that were being caused by said loss (Anderson, 1993). So, the countries that were developing put in place some policies and benefits to the talented individuals that were willing to come to work in their home country and help the country in the process by providing them with the skills that were developed in the foreign developed countries. This is the process of reverse brain drain.

India’s Vision of Brain Gain and its Economic Growth

Reverse mind channel is a type of cerebrum channel where human capital moves backward from a more created nation to a less created nation that is growing quickly. These vagrants may gather funds, otherwise called settlements, and create aptitudes abroad that can be utilized as a part of their nation of origin.

Cerebrum channel can happen when researchers, engineers, or other scholarly elites relocate to a more created nation to learn in its colleges, perform research, or increase working background in ranges where training and job opportunities are constrained in their nation of origin. These experts then come back to their nation of origin following quite a long while of experience to begin a related business, educate in a college, or work for a multi-national in their nation of origin. Their arrival is this “Converse Mind Channel “The event of converse mind deplete for the most part relies on upon the condition of the nation’s improvement, furthermore procedures and arranging over a drawn out stretch of time to switch the relocation. Nations that are alluring to returning intellectuals will actually create relocation approaches to pull in outside scholastics and experts. This would likewise require these nations to build up a domain which will give remunerating chances to the individuals who have accomplished the learning and abilities from abroad.

Previously, a number of the settlers from creating nations worked and live for all time in created nations; in any case, the late financial development that has been happening back in their nations of origin – and the trouble of achieving long haul work visas – has brought on a number of the outsiders to return home.

India and Malaysia are two countries that were most affected by the brain drain in the 1990s, as the dot com boom lured the IT professionals to the countries that were developed by fuelling their hopes of better education and job opportunity. But in the 2010s while the developing countries like India and Malaysia are going through the economic growth the developed countries’ economies have slow growing and struggling in many cases. So the same process is happening in reverse in a way to draw the talented professionals back to their home countries. The opportunities for the professionals are growing more rapidly in the developing countries than in the developed ones and thus the professionals with the talents that they have honed while working in the foreign countries are being used for the development of the developing countries (Chopra, 1986). This is the process that is called global hunt for talent. As the professionals of the own countries are being ignored in the favour of non residents who have better grasp of the skills that are necessary to succeed in the different professions.

Foreign Direct Investment in India

In the case of India the current Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi dubbed this process of reverse brain drain as brain gain. This is consistent with his vision of the make in India where the development of the country reduces the process of importing goods from the foreign countries in favour of producing the goods in their own country. This helps in the development of the country and industrial development is always the indicator of the country’s economic condition. It is further emphasised by the shift in the share markets of the countries like India, Malaysia. In India, the sensex has been appreciated by 310 % in the last five years, whereas the Dow Jones industrial index, which is equivalent to sensex in the US, has been appreciated by only 62 percent (Economic Policy, 2014).

The visionaries of the country are happy as well as the economists to see this change in favor of the country in the background of the talent hunt all over the world. The attraction of the countries depends on the Foreign Direct Investments of the countries, which in case of India is very high with the 300 million of middle class citizens (Economic Policy, 2014). This in conjunction with the fact that the GDP of India is third highest in the world makes it the one of the best places for foreign investments and creation of jobs that require experienced professionals that are being enticed into the country from their jobs in the foreign countries that is developed(Gupta and Wang, 2009). India is developing at a rapid pace, which was predicted by the India 2020 conference that was held to ensure that the progress rate stays the same in the near future and the country reaches its set goal in the year 2020. This process of reverse brain drain or brain gain is being supported by the government, as they are providing tax and other benefits like cessation, income tax surcharge as well as disbursements to the non resident Indians that are coming back to the country (McCool, 2008). The development of the country and the pace set by the government is self-confident in some ways and traditionalist in other, while the country is struggling to provide employment for all of the individuals. In other cases some specific skills are in high demand so that the professionals are being taken from the talent base of the country as well as the foreign residents who left the country in past for the greener pastures. It is quite relevant that the development of the country  has been helped by the depression in the IT industry in the developed countries that left professionals in the country with fewer choices and many of them chose to return to their home country. There is also the effect of identity crisis or shortage that can be attributed to the change in the mentality of talents that moved to foreign countries (Florida, 2005). However, the main cause of the change was the better opportunities in the industries of India and the help of government policies that help them in starting their own business that has done the impossible by luring back the talents from the developed countries.

Conclusion

In the case of Malaysia, most of the situations that prompted the talent who went to foreign countries in search of a better future to return to their country are similar to that of India. Malaysia in the field of infrastructure is one step ahead of India and so the conception of the idea that they are going to be the next centre for development and excellence is not too farfetched. It is definitely possible in the light of the current economic situation which is leading the economists believing that this century will see the development of Africa and Asia as the new centre for development and economic growth. The development of Malaysia after the independence in the year 1957 has been remarkable to say the least. The Gross Domestic Product of the country from the financial year 2010 is rising each year and unlike other countries in region the industry is not solely dependent on tourism, but the country has made some noticeable development of infrastructure (KasÌŒe, n.d.). The development of the industries in the country is not such a dream anymore and the progress being made by the current government has made the country one of the best spots for industrial development. The policies that are undertaken by the country in terms of promoting development of industries are making sure that there are enough jobs for the talented people and enough reward in the job to lure the talents of the country, who previously left the country for the better economic conditions of the western world. And this change in the policy of the country is a master stroke for sure, as it was being dealt in the time of 2008 global economic meltdown, which made the prospect of having a job in the home country that was more stable enticing rather than the risky situation in the foreign country(Kumar, 2008). The country also has the policies in place to promote the development of the talents of the country by providing good sources of education by providing university lectures and proper nourishment of studies in local schools, which were another result of the brain drain, as the professionals who were trained in foreign countries were accustomed with the techniques employed by them and familiar with the training methods, so it became one more benefit that was gained by the reverse brain drain.

Conclusion

It is clear from the essay that the hunt for talent or the reverse brain drain of the developing countries is a result, not a cause of the economic downturn of the developed markets of the foreign countries. So, the reverse brain drain is the use of an opportunity presented by the change of global economy and the concurrent development of the economic situation of the developing countries. It can be said that the talent hunt is the result of lack of professionals experienced or have the right kind of education to fulfil the needs of the industries in the developed economy (Müller, 2004). It is clear that the development of education and evolution of the training of professionals in the developing countries are making the reverse brain drain is a temporary need and in future the countries will be able to support their country by using native talents alone, as a result of the development in the education and training system.

Concept map

The concept of global hunt for talent has only one concept that anyone can think of and it depends on the situation that prompted the developing countries to attract the lost talent of the country that went to foreign countries that were more developed in search of better job opportunities. So, the first point is the failure of the economy of the developed countries starting from the massive economic downturn in the 2008 which led to many professionals losing their job and remaining ones in the foreign countries doubt the security of their position in their current job. This is the main reason the developing countries have been successful in the retaining of the talents that left the country years ago. But the economic downturn did not last although the effects were long lasting and it made sure that the developing countries seemed like a better prospect with greater job security (Ramakrishna and Ng, 2012).

The other side of the same concept is the economic growth rate of the countries and the lack of experienced professionals to fulfil the positions that were created by the economic growth. It is also to be noted that the economic growth of the developing countries were much greater than the same of the developed countries. So the positions that were generated were numerous and needed more and more talented individuals to fill those positions. The different economic growth rates also made sure that the number of jobs that were being occupied in the developed countries was not so much that a huge influx of talent from the less developed regions was necessary  (Ryan, 2008)  but the need of talent in the developing regions were becoming greater and greater over time.

The global hunt for talent made sure that the talented professionals of some skills were being treated as a valuable commodity and the different countries were scrambling to get as much of the professionals in the field as they could (Veder, 2008). They used it in different ways like retaining the talent in one’s own developing country by providing facilities and rewards and otherwise using the same tack to lure back the professionals that were enticed to leave the country. The concept is that the developing countries provide much better opportunity for the professionals in all the cases where the developed countries have failed them in recent past and the economic condition of the developing countries provide them with a better opportunity and stability that the current market in the developed countries lack (Scullion, and Collings, 2011).

It is clear from the essay topic that extensive research on the matter had to be done before the essay could be written and the different perspectives and policies developed by the different countries searched and analysed before we could find out the different outcomes of the policies and whether the policies were a success or failure.

The first step of the research was to find about the brain drain and what caused the said phenomenon to take place in the 90s. After the reasons of brain drain were discerned then the situation change was to be determined to make sure what factor in the economies of the developed countries forced a stop to the flow of talent and reversed it. What were the conditions of the developed countries and what changed to make them retain the talent and re attain the talent already gone to foreign countries (Zweig, n.d.).

The second step was to find out the situation in the chosen country of India to see what made the economy of the country to make use of the resources of the country and the reversal of the talent drain from them. What policies were taken to help the non resident talent to attain the targets that were beyond their reach in the developed countries where they decided to make their home?

Similarly the situation of Malaysia had to be analysed to find out what did they do similarly with India and what did they do differently to achieve the same goals. The change of the situation did not make sure that the same strategies would be successful in the two countries and there were basic changes that were observed in the strategies used by the two countries(Müller, 2004)..

At last the effect of the reverse brain drain and how it could benefit the countries in question to find out their own talents from the population and nurture and train them was researched. The different ways the talents of the different countries could be used to help develop the process of talent retention even more was researched and it was concluded that the use of western education system brought from the foreign countries was the best use of the talents that had experience in the field were most valuable that they could help the professionals of the country hone their talents and develop.

task	Time(days)
Research Plan	1
Researching brain drain	5
Researching reverse brain drain in India	8
Researching reverse brain drain in Malaysia	8
Researching effectof reverse brain drain on education systems	5

I need to use my skill of observation to discern the truth of the situation that caused the brain drain to succeed in the first place. It is because of this the global hunt for talent began in earnest when the situation of the talented professionals became less favourable in the developed countries.

I have almost completed the research that was necessary to find out the causes of the initial brain drain the worsening of the situation that stopped and reversed the process. And the causes were IT boom in the 90 s and the detriment in the situation was caused by the 2008 economic downturn.

The use of Indians in the talent pool in the UK and US was massive and the situation is changing as the India is becoming one of the most important global powers economically. This reversal of the brain drain process is both the cause and the effect of the talent hunt.

I have almost distinguished the reasons of the Indians who left the country for other countries coming back to India to use their skills for the benefit of the country. The reason of the development is the government policy of welcoming native talents back into their fold and the providing of the reward and other facilities to attract more talent. They are also given tax and other benefits if they choose to start their own business in India.

I need to find out more about the situation in Malaysia, which is making the previously talented individuals left for other countries come back to the country to take positions in the corporations working within the country.

 The difference of Malaysia from the India in the situation of the talent hunt is determined and I also found what were the changes were applicable even though the situation of the two countries were somewhat different. The different strategies taken by the Malaysian government to promote the retention of national talent were also found by me.

I am trying to find out the effect of the return of the native talent in both countries from abroad and how it can help the countries in the future in development and nurturing of their own talent pool. The effect of this is far more than the immediate effect and it can change the future of the developing countries significantly.

I have completed my research on the effects of the retention of talent in the future for the different countries and the effect of the return of the talented individuals in the education and professional training of individuals in the native countries so that they can attain global standard without leaving the country.

The different skills that I would like to develop further and my plans for the said development are given below in an organized format.

Observation skills: the observation skills I would like to develop further to help me distinguish specific causes from a situation by using my skills. I can do this by practicing with the study of different situations in literature and find out specific outcomes and their causes.

Analysis of specific situation: my analytical skills are somewhat lacking as it takes me some time to find out the underlying meaning of some text or some comparison drawn to make the situation more understandable (Improving student learning, 1999).

Use of pertinent facts: in many cases some fact which can be related to some of the statements I deem important are overlooked by me. First I thought that they were the result of my poor observation skills and ignored them but I later found out that I do not retain the facts or relate them with a particular situation in time so this is another skill I have to develop.

Comprehension of convoluted texts: it was clear while doing research that most of the time the meaning of a particular phrase and the situation is misunderstood by me and the metaphors and other similar use of literature taken by me in face value. So, I have to improve my comprehension skills to make better use of the literature available for the research, as it cannot be hoped that I will be given enough time to understand the text every time (Improving student learning, 1999)

References

Anderson, D. (1993). Technology transfer via “reverse brain drain”.

Chopra, S. (1986). Brain drain, and how to reverse it. New Delhi: Lancer International.

Florida, R. (2005). The flight of the creative class. New York: HarperBusiness.

Gupta, A. and Wang, H. (2009). Getting China and India right. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Improving student learning. (1999). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

KasÌŒe, R. (n.d.). The global war for top talent.

Kumar, K. (2008). Reverse brain drain. Hyderabad: Icfai University Press.

McCool, J. (2008). Deciding who leads. Mountain View, Calif.: Davies-Black Pub.

Müller, C. (2004). Entrepreneurship and technology transfer by Chinese return migrants. Köln: Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeograph. Inst.

Ramakrishna, S. and Ng, D. (2012). The changing face of innovation. Singapore: World Scientific.

Ryan, B. (2008). America’s corporate brain drain. Chicago: Sparks Worldwide.

Veder, J. (2008). Reducing human capital risk in a global war for talent. Hamburg: Diplomica-Verl.

Zweig, D. (n.d.). Competing for talent.