The business ecosystem in India has been going through major changes brought about by digitalization. With a mobile phone in every second hand, no business can ignore the way digital technology has become a major driver in business decision-making.As we start using mature technologies for business, the skill requirements in the organization get more diverse and may not always be found in-house.

If we assume that outsourcing core business competencies is not the best idea, and an organization is left with no other option but to upgrade skills, the big question that stares at us is whether we should train our existing team or hire pre-skilled resources.

The decision is never easy as there are many other aspects that we need to look at. An old associate is already in sync with the culture of the organization and has gone through the test of establishing credibility. Budget permitting, training seems the obvious path to making the associate conversant with technological advances. It is much easier to relate the technology training to the core competency.

But retrained associates have to go through a learning curve and take time to deliver at peak performance, while a new recruit with the required skills might be able to implement the technology faster (though some training might also be needed here on the core competency and culture of the organization). It also needs to be borne in mind that not all existing associates can be trained. Unlearning is the toughest part of any learning process and sometimes is the biggest constraint. For example, an associate with a feature phone might not be able to pick up the operations of a smartphone application.

To sum it up, while there is no ready trade-off between training and fresh recruit, there is one aspect that can never be denied. Change is the only constant part of any business and we must embrace it readily.