Abhijit Bhaduri has some good advice for news media companies looking to make better hiring decisions. Speaking at INMA South Asia Media Festival, the author and management consultant shared his thoughts.

“Start hiring people who are not from the news media,” Bhaduri advised. “Look at talent per se, regardless of B-sector agnostic.”

Companies should also put a disproportionate investment in catching up on skilling talent.

“If you don’t skill up talent, the sector will die,” Bhaduri said, offering two ways to do this:

• Make people move between departments for a cross-functional perspective.
• Give them short projects they can do regardless of seniority.

“My view from the outside is, I think news media is still reasonably hierarchical. Experience matters more than the output or the brand value. I think the world has moved away from that type of hierarchal process.”

Lastly, Bhaduri advised hiring managers to regularly find opportunities to give people something exciting to work on.

“What’s the purpose behind what they are doing?” he asked. “If that is attractive, I think it’s a great place to be.”

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