NASSCOM’s Guide To Leveraging Occupational Standards To Drive Skilling At Scale

In India, the framework of creating and using occupational standards has been set up and follows some of the best practices from across the world. However, the implementation of NOS across sectors has been slow. One of the key challenges can be the lack of awareness of what these standards are and how they can help. It may also be that in the initial days the rigidity of the process turned some participants away. It is time to re-look at the benefit the standards framework provides to the industry that are still unexplored. 

1. The Ministry of Skill Development (MSDE) and NSDC have created a framework of Sector Skills Councils for each industry that defines job roles and required competencies in consultation with industry practitioners. The structure of job roles i.e. Qualification Packs (QPs) and National Occupational Standards (NOS) or competencies is a flexible framework that companies can use to build their own job roles, competency definitions and proficiency levels. 
2. Every company has a job role that requires a skill set. Each company creates its own job descriptions and evaluation criteria. If these match a job standard, a company could simply hire a person who is certified on that standard. It would create clarity and build common understanding across all companies and academic institutions. Gaps would become easy to identify and market mechanisms could swing into action to fill them. 
3. The implementation of these standards would benefit the entire gamut of industry by a reduction in recruitment efforts and cost, increased mobility within industries, allowing learners to easily move to where market demand is, since it would be clear where demand is high. 
4. The National Occupational Standard framework provides a ready-made ‘kit’ that companies can use to build their own job descriptions and competency definitions. This is backed by training content, assessments and ‘Train the Trainer’ workshops that can jumpstart an organisation’s efforts to build their own talent development framework. 
5. QP/NOS aligned certifications are government approved and eligible for incentives under government schemes and credit equivalence to courses in colleges. 
6. Every country has its own Occupational Standards framework. The Indian National Occupational Standards framework has been inspired by the best in the world. The lack of information about how this framework can support industry is one of the biggest reasons that it is not being adopted widely. The initial rigidity of the framework has been improved upon significantly and the time is right to start taking advantage of it. 

How Can Occupational Standards Be Used In The Industry

While every job requires a certain skill set, where, as per the traditional norms, there were some theory-based practices that ensured practical delivery and assessment that is in sync with the industry requirements. 

There are several schemes like Recognition Of Prior Learning (RPL) that lean on the National Occupational Standards (NOS). It’s noted that RPL is an innovative scheme that entails the recognition of prior learning of the competencies of those that are employed with an organisation. It’s a given that most people learn on the job, and don’t necessarily possess a Government recognised qualification. 

The Takeaway

In India, the framework has been set up and follows some of the best practices from across the world. Stakeholders within the Indian ecosystem are taking initiatives for creating standardized norms for education and occupation. Many studies have been undertaken by the government to assess vocational education & training in the country and a lot of progress has been made with respect to defining and creation of NOS. As of 31 March 2018, 2,226 QPs with a total of 12,250 NOS (of which 5,877 were unique NOS) had been defined.14 The biggest impact of using these standards will come in terms of the common language that industry, government and academia can use to understand each other and align better. The spin off effects in terms of colleges preparing their students better, government aligning its policies better and training providers being able to offer affordable training at scale can be massive. 

National job standards are designed for individuals and organizations to improve their capacity and capability. It helps define job roles, measure staff performance and identify & develop roads for progression and professional development. When qualifications are comparable, companies can conduct efficient human resources recruitment and workers are benefitted with a high degree of mobility.