By providing aspiring professionals with hands-on training and supervision, the partnership aims to equip them with the necessary skills to thrive in demanding environments and carve out successful careers.

In an exclusive conversation with HRKatha, Ritu Bhatia, global hiring leader & SVP-HR, Genpact revealed that this apprenticeship programme isn’t just about temporary skills for specific jobs; it’s about instilling life lessons valuable for long-term professional growth. It focuses on soft skills and ensures graduates are not just job ready, but career ready.

The 12-month programme extends the dual advantage of work experience while offering formal education. Additionally, it focuses on developing soft skills such as communication, leadership, time management and so on.

To continuously monitor an individuals’ progress, the company has an internal knowledge-management portal, Genome, which offers a vast library of resources, encompassing emerging technologies such as AI and industry-specific skills.

Presented in bite-sized formats, this content allows apprentices to learn on the go, even during work hours.

Furthermore, it plays a crucial role in this process, enabling ongoing skill enhancement across more than 80 areas and 600 detailed skills. For instance, an apprentice interested in generative AI can utilise specialised resources, while another looking to enhance their skills in finance for the company’s growth can use Genome to develop proficiency in accounting.

Speaking on the initiative, Dhriti Prasanna Mahanta, vice president, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, shared insights on bolstering talent development and creating a skilled workforce through apprenticeship. “In collaboration with Genpact, we understand apprentices’ vital role in bolstering talent development and establishing a skilled workforce, with major cost- and time-saving benefits. We are committed to bridging the skill gap through our organised apprenticeship programmes that provide aspiring professionals with practical, hands-on training and supervision, ensuring they flourish in a tough environment and build successful careers,” he added.

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The Commission will collaborate with the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) of the Indian government, to impart training to a minimum of 5,000 non-teaching employees across these 45 central universities. The initiative is expected to help these employees improve their skills and abilities.

The sessions will cover the role played by technology in processes, the significance of psychology in workflow, management of academics, nuances of higher education ecosystem, finance management as well as project management among other topics.

The employees have been given four months’ time to complete these courses that can be accessed on the iGOT Mission Karmayogi platform. Post completion, they will be given certificates.

These courses will help in the professional development of these employees, improve their productivity at work, and release their creativity and power to innovate.

With the help of the CBC, the UGC was able to assess the employees and identify their specific needs. Accordingly, specific training programmes were created to help fill the skills gap and strengthen the areas in which the employees were lacking.

Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar is the UGC chairman, while the CBC, operating under Mission Karmayogi of the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT) was set up by the Indian government for better coordination across various civil services in the country, and to make civil servants more efficient and skilful.

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Over 52 per cent of frontline workers face a dearth of upskilling opportunities, leading to underutilisation of human capital, which is not good for the Indian economy in the long run. Not only will this upskilling result in better employability, but also better income, as they will be more relevant and in demand in the job market.

Pravin Agarwala, group CEO and co-founder, BetterPlace, says, “Our core priority since day zero has been to improve opportunities, increase the employee competencies and widen the work horizons for frontline workforce in India.”

Agarwala is looking forward to working with the Uttar Pradesh government following a four-step approach wherein skill gaps will be identified, comprehensive training programmes will be created to address the same, and the effectiveness of these programmes will be assessed before assisting the participants with job placements.

He beleives that “by upgrading themselves with the current and future job needs via holistic initiatives like this, more and more frontline workers will be able to become empowered providers for their families, and in turn benefit from the overall development happening in India.”

This tie-up will see BetterPlace providing access to a digital-learning platform where the workers will be able to train and upskill themselves. To foster gender diversity, focus will be on measures to upskill more and more women by creating content specifically designed for them.

M Devraj, principal secretary, Vocational Education and Skill Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, highlighted the fact that this initiative will supply “a pool of skilled individuals who can meet the demands of various industries and are part of the roadmap to make Uttar Pradesh a trillion-dollar economy.” His belief is that “partnering with an industry leader such as BetterPlace for this, will only enable us to accelerate our journey towards eventually making all our citizens upskilled and job-ready.”

Over the last three years, BetterPlace has upskilled over 3.4 million people on its platform. Founded in 2015, it is a full-stack tech platform for frontline workforce management, with over 30 million frontline workers.

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This master class delved into the intricacies of recruitment and advocacy providing participants with invaluable tips on how to optimise talent-acquisition strategies and foster a culture of advocacy within organisations. The speakers shared practical tips and actionable strategies, which empowered the participants to navigate the digital landscape with confidence and drive impactful change within their professional spheres.

The attendees gained insights into the latest trends and strategies in digital innovation and talent development. The speakers engaged in meaningful discussions with the employees of Virtusa even while they leveraged the opportunity to network with co-workers from across various departments of the organisation.

Seetharam L, director of talent acquisition, Virtusa Corporation, highlighted the fact that the company’s tie-up with LinkedIn “has enabled us to empower professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to leverage social content for personal branding. In today’s competitive landscape, a strong digital presence on platforms such as LinkedIn is essential for career advancement and professional success.”

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The company proudly shares that 45 employees have already enrolled. The application fees, admission costs and semester tuition fees are covered by RDC. Employees will only be contributing a minimal monthly fee of Rs 3,000 in exchange for a support system to balance work and studies seamlessly as classes are treated as duty.

This partnership and the programmes being offered therein will be a stimulus for the skill development of the employees, establishing a new standard in the Indian construction industry.

Once employees complete the MBA or BTech programmes, their career progress is assured, as the programmes are customised to industry demands. Therefore, the courses will bring the employees up to date with the market trends and contemporary technologies, building their present existing job capabilities.

RDC Concrete aims to assist students-turned-employees with the means required to obtain higher degrees, that not only upskill the nation’s workforce but also assist their career prospects. After all, through these modules the employees opting for the courses will be exposed to unique management and technical training programmes, seminars, leadership abilities and strategic reasoning.

Anil Banchhor, managing director & CEO, RDC, explains that RDC “aims to design an atmosphere where our staff not only become proficient in their present roles but are also empowered to visualise an optimistic future.” It is hoped that the modules “ will boost the employees’ skills and prepare them for newer opportunities beyond RDC Concrete.”

KS Bhoon, head of HR & business excellence, RDC Concrete, shares that through this collaboration, the company will nurture its in-house talent. The firm plans to do this via “work-integrated learning programmes, to boost India’s productivity” and through extended education opportunities to “enhance employee loyalty, ensuring a dedicated workforce for the long term.”

The tie-up will ensure that “employees stand to gain both professionally and personally, earning and learning concurrently.”

RDC offers “guaranteed admission to our engineering trainees through this collaboration on successful completion of a training period of one year. This guarantee is the first of its kind by any company in India.”

To qualify for these programmes, employees pursuing a BTech degree must hold a diploma. Those keen to do an MBA should have a BTech background with a minimum aggregate of 60 per cent marks. These are also campus entry-level requirements in RDC. Additionally, at least a year’s work experience is needed, which is covered by the training period in RDC. Forty-five employees have already enrolled.

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The Labs, established at the PMC Group of Institutions in Hosur, provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for hands-on experience in renewable energy technologies such as solar and electric vehicles. The curriculum, approved by the Skill Council for Green Jobs, focuses on practical applications in these fields.

Open to final-year students from low-income backgrounds, the programme aims to train 3,000 students annually, with each batch accommodating 30-50 individuals. Successful completion opens doors to interview opportunities in the green sector.

“This initiative empowers disadvantaged youth and women to unlock their potential in green technology,” said Gunjan Patel, Microsoft India Philanthropies. “The Labs bridge the gap between education and industry, creating a more promising and sustainable future.”

Rupa Bohra, managing director, TNS India Foundation, expressed gratitude to Microsoft for their collaboration, stating, “The Green Skills Lab equips underprivileged youth with vital skills for the modern era of sustainable technology.”

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“Today, India stands at the precipice of a technological revolution,” declared Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal. “This fellowship embodies our commitment to cultivating a robust talent pool and pioneering future technologies, not just for India, but for the world.”

This fellowship serves as a platform to identify, support, and mentor promising graduates with exceptional potential. It underscores Ola’s commitment to fostering innovation, diversity, and excellence within the tech ecosystem. The inaugural programme for AI researchers at IIT Bombay is designed to create a nurturing environment, offering students a blend of fundamental research, real-world experience through internships, and exposure to seminars and conferences.

Technology development forms the bedrock of Ola’s DNA, with a vision of building globally impactful businesses. The company’s substantial R&D investments aim to push the boundaries of science and technology. This programme extends this commitment beyond immediate business needs, fostering collaboration with the nation’s brightest minds.

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The first edition of Tata Technologies InnoVent was launched in July 2023 to inspire young engineering students across India to showcase their creativity and innovate solutions for the manufacturing industry, across areas such as electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity, generative artificial intelligence (GAI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Grand Finale Demo Day took place at the global product engineering and digital services company’s headquarters in Hinjawadi, Pune, where the Top 10 teams presented their prototypes. The three winning teams received cash prizes worth Rs 4.5 lakhs, while all the top 10 finalists were offered career opportunities at Tata Technologies.

Subject matter experts (SMEs) from Tata Technologies mentored the teams for over 590 hours via workshops and training sessions to enable them to scale their ideas. This is the company’s way of engaging with the academic community, fostering innovation and creativity among young engineering students and helping them prosper in better careers.

The final evaluations were done by a jury comprising Warren Harris, CEO & MD, Tata Technologies, Ravi Arora, senior vice president & head, group innovation – Tata Sons; Sven Patuschka, CTO – Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility; and Jyotin Kutty Sastabhavan, chief sustainability officer, Tata Motors.

The winning team, Rolex, from Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Erode, was felicitated with a cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs, for their innovation Generative AI for car design – unleashing creativity and efficiency in automotive styling. Team Blitzkrieg from RVCE, Bangalore, won the second prize of Rs 1 lakh for their design and development of an Autonomous Electric Vehicle (AEV) for Indian roads. The 3rd prize of Rs 5 lakh was won by the team ThunderBolt from VIT, Vellore, for their battery system and pumping station for buses using vanadium redox flow battery. Tata Technologies offered 34 team members from the top 10 teams, an opportunity to start their careers with them.

According to Harris, MD and CEO, Tata Technologies, the company’s “vision of engineering a better world embodies our commitment to innovate sustainable eMobility solutions by collaborating with our entire ecosystem, including the academia.”

Harris was “inspired by the way innovators have applied ingenious, frugal solutions to these issues, blending the finest of human creativity with cutting-edge technology.”

Santosh Singh, EVP and global head, marketing and business excellence, Tata Technologies, believes, “The students today will innovate some of the biggest solutions in the next few years. It is important for us to support, mentor and empower these young engineering minds, equipping them with the skills necessary for a successful career.”

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The programme aims to empower workers so that they are able to make the most of better opportunities that will become available to them post training, even globally. This will not only make them more skilled and improve their prospects, but also help the Indian economy to grow.

According to Labour Minister Raaj Kumar Anand, training camps will be arranged at labour chowks and construction sites to impart training to the workers. The workers attending these skill-training camps will not have to worry about losing out on their daily earnings while attending the training sessions. They will be compensated for the loss of wages during the training period.

Meanwhile, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has collaborated with Enable India to conduct a 70-hour interactive employability skills course for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

The course will allow PwDs better access to gainful employment opportunities.

Additionally, the National Council for Vocational Education and Training, has tied up with the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, to launch a comprehensive ‘Guidelines for Accessibility Standards’.

These guidelines are meant to improve the lives of people with disabilities and make customized physical and digital skill-training infrastructure available to them. These guidelines will also ensure that the prescribed standards are adopted nationwide by all government-associated skill-training organisations, giving rise to a more inclusive environment.

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The need to introduce modern technology and courses in the industrial training institutes (ITIs) across the state was felt, so that the youth become more employable in the rapidly-changing tech landscape. This need will be fulfilled with the help of the Tata Technologies’ centres, which will offer courses in industrial automation, electric vehicles (EV) mechanics, robotics manufacturing, advanced CNC machine technology, basic designing and so on at the ITIs.

About one lakh students will benefit from this collaboration between Tata Tech and Telangana government.

This collaboration will see Tata Technologies offering 22 new short-term and five long-term courses to polytechnic and engineering students, via modern technical workshops, making them more employable in the manufacturing sector. Tata Tech will offer support to the ITIs, in terms of training and related infrastructure, for five years. A memorandum of understanding will be signed between the company and the Labour and Employment Department of Telangana.

Two master trainers will be appointed by Tata Tech at each of the 50 ITIs already identified, and the machines and software required will also be provided by the firm.

The courses are expected to help the youth land better jobs and also develop entrepreneurship skills, so that they go on to set up their own businesses or industries.

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Applicants need to be fluent in English. Knowledge of additional languages, such as Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian and Portuguese will be an advantage.

The internship period is May to September.

Along with their curriculum vitae, interested candidates need to upload their statement of interest and proof of enrolment in a graduate degree.

Interns for the operations (field) can expect to work in the areas of economics, finance, human development (public health, education, nutrition and population), social sciences (anthropology, sociology), agriculture, environment, engineering, urban planning, natural resources management, private-sector development and associated fields.

Interns in the corporate-support field can expect to be working in the accounting, communications, human resources management, information technology, treasury and other related services.

Hourly salary is paid to the interns by the World Bank. Up to $3,000 is also paid as travel allowance wherever applicable, depending on the manager’s decision. This allowance will cover the flight tickets to and from the city of duty.

Internship programmes usually last at least four weeks, with most positions being based in Washington, DC and some in other locations.

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These selected trainees will undergo training of 52 weeks at the HAL Management Academy in production, aeronautics, computer science, electrical, electronics, legal, finance, human resources and other disciplines.

The number of applicants seems to have reduced from the whopping 55,000 that had applied in 2022 for the 45th batch of the programme. Last year, only 99 lucky applicants were selected.

In addition to lending support to various defence platforms, HAL manufactures aircraft for the armed forces. The company’s training and learning programmes are ongoing and continue as the employees keep progressing within the company.

Earlier this year, in March 2023, the Ministry of Defence had entered into a formal agreement with HAL to procure 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft at a cost of Rs 6,800 crore after receiving approval for the same from the Union Cabinet. This was part of the Indian government’s ‘Aamanirbhar Bharat’ mission.

In October, HAL was able to hand over the first LCA Tejas twin seater to the Indian Air Force.

In terms of market capitalisation, HAL figures amongst the top 40 firms in India. With several new products being readied for offer, the company expects to report even better growth and performance.

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In a media briefing today, the company revealed that its employees had invested over 3,40,000 hours in specialised training and development.

The training will be delivered in various forms and formats.

The company has curated training modules to address the requisite developmental needs of all — from shopfloor technicians to line engineers, and plant management. These modules deliver relevant technical skills, functional skills, as well as managerial and leadership capabilities. Additionally, each function-specific curriculum of these training modules is complemented by a dedicated programme that unfolds in various stages including self-awareness, digital awareness, sustainability awareness and industry 4.0 awareness.

At the technician level, it has curated a higher education programme designed specifically for shopfloor technicians. The programme will enable them to pursue a ‘Diploma in Engineering’ with a focus on auto electrical and electronics, mechatronics and specialised welding skills. Furthermore, it will equip the staff with necessary qualifications for growth and to meet the evolving demands of the automotive industry.

For Tata Motors’ employees, a certification in Connected, Electric, Shared and Safe (CESS) is available through collaboration with several of its tech partners such as ARAI, Bosch, Mathworks, SAE and Tata Technologies. The employees will be working across various domain expert-level modules on advanced ADAS, battery technology, V2X connectivity, blockchain, cybersecurity, big data analytics, and more.

Furthermore, the company has co-created sponsored programmes with several universities, including BITS Pilani, MIT-ADT University Pune, Institute of Technology Nirma University, Symbiosis International (Deemed Universities), Ganpat University, DY Patil International University, Oxford Polytechnic, ARKA Jain University and Amity University, focusing on providing employees with higher education opportunities including BTech, MTech, and also executive MBA. These specialised programmes will enable the employees to further develop their technical, professional and leadership skills required to excel and optimise the opportunities ahead.

To further ease the learning, the company has also curated functional e-learning and virtual classrooms for all employees.

Strengthening its talent pool, Tata Motors has a flagship full-time ‘Apprenticeship Programme’ that caters to the new generation of talented, adaptable and digitally proficient professionals. This programme places a strong emphasis on cultivating sought-after skills such as mechatronics, IoT, robotics, and AI, providing hands-on training that equips students for promising careers in the automotive sector.

Under this programme, the company offers training to students with ITI or 12th-grade qualifications through an innovative ‘Learn & Earn’ model. Upon successfully completing the programme, apprentices are well-prepared to secure positions within the automotive industry and its supporting ecosystem, facilitating a seamless transition from education to employment.

Currently, more than 13,000 students are actively enrolled in the programme, with over 88 per cent of graduates finding employment opportunities through the company’s channel partners.

Furthermore, the company has also collaborated with Ganpat University in Gujarat to provide skill- enhancement opportunities to its workforce at the Ford India facility in Sanand. The company acquired the facility in January 2023.

The customised training programmes there focus on cutting-edge manufacturing technologies such as Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, advanced control engineering, and advanced manufacturing systems and processes. The training also covers modern automotive systems such as ADAS, connected cars, CESS and control cystems.

These courses are delivered through a combination of classroom sessions and practical training at different levels, including postgraduate (MTech), praduate (BTech) and diploma programmes. Currently, the company has over 820 active participants engaged in the training since its launch in February 2023.

Speaking about upskilling employees and the comprehensive learning programmes, Sitaram Kandi, vice president – HR, passenger vehicles and electric vehicles, said, “Tata Motors has evolved into a learning organisation with a structured and thoughtful approach to upskilling. Collaborating with tech partners and academic institutions, tailor-made training programmes, a nationwide ‘learn & earn’ apprenticeship programme and a sharp focus on diversity and inclusion, is enabling us to develop and nurture a capable, future-ready workforce that is fit to excel. We are doing this not just for ourselves and our channel partners but also for the Indian auto industry at large along with its enabling ecosystem.”

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The programme also provided women entrepreneurs an opportunity to explore business opportunities with P&G. The firm has already spent ?400 crore on working with women-owned and women-led businesses in the last two years, as was committed by the company in 2018.

LV Vaidyanathan, CEO, P&G India believes “this initiative is in line with our global commitment to empower women-owned and women led businesses, which is an important aspect of our citizenship efforts.” The initiative is a “holistic capability platform which will help women entrepreneurs build their businesses sustainably” because “empowering and enabling equal and inclusive business practices will not only stimulate economic growth, but also bring about a long-lasting social change.”

Following the training, P&G India’s flagship External Business Partner Summit saw the firm announcing a ?300 Crore ‘P&G Supply Chain Catalyst Fund’ to collaborate with external partners and innovators, in co-creating solutions that accelerate its journey towards Supply 3.0 – the modern supply chain ecosystem.

The fund is aimed at creating a supply chain that provides greater agility, flexibility, scalability, transparency and resilience.The announcement is in line with the Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti initiative aimed at multi-modal connectivity in the country, that will enhance seamless movement of goods and services through targeted interventions. The strategic investment will ensure supply chain optimisation, digitisation, capacity enhancement and sustainability, all designed to strengthen and catalyse the company’s supply chain.

This new fund is part of the ‘vGROW’ programme that focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals, and large organisations offering innovative industry-leading business solutions.

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As per the survey, almost 62 per cent of the employers in the tech space are relying on ‘quiet hiring’ rather than on fresh talent. That means, companies today are more willing than ever before to invest in the upskilling of their existing employees.

Information technology services firms and startups are more keen to invest in upskilling programmes for their employees.

The skill most in demand is data science/algorithm, with over 72 per cent firms in the tech sector seeking the same. A whopping 91 per cent are keen to hire candidates that have a problem-solving mindset. About 31 per cent believe that it is becoming increasingly challenging to find back-end engineers.

Depending on the role and the candidate’s past experience, about 60.5 per cent respondents are ready to grant 20 to 40 per cent hike in salary on an average.

A significant 76 per cent of the firms in the tech sector are encouraging hybrid work in their respective organisations. Over 71 per cent are of the opinion that employee referrals are the best way to get suitable new hires, because ‘right hiring’ is a major challenge.

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Phase I and II of the Cyber Sangini Programme has already been implemented in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, where about 5,000 are benefitting from the training.

The three-year long partnership of the smartphone brand with TSSC is expected to upskill and train the youth of the country and create a stronger environment conducive to innovation.

Oppo India is clearly trying to uphold its pledge to drive inclusive growth and contribute to the country’s digital transformation.

The two collaborations will make the youth of India more employable in the telecom sector. The training will help reskill and upskill the existing workforce, and at the same time also provide a talent pool for Oppo to fulfil its own workforce needs.

Upskilling will happen through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Programme under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal V Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

The Cyber Sangini Programme, as the name suggests, is aimed at making women more aware of cybersecurity and ensure better cyber safety for the larger community. The women who have already benefitted from the programme can now look forward to being part of the TSSC tie-up and get formal certifications that are recognised by the Indian government.

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Foreseeing the demand for and the need to embrace and take advantage of generative AI and quantum computing solutions, the firm has decided to invest in the learning and development of its employees, so that they are upskilled and reskilled.

Tech Mahindra is looking at focusing on sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), especially in the US. It also realises how important AI is in making growth happen. This makes it essential for it to create an internal pool of talent that not only possesses the required skills but also the much-needed resilience to survive and excel amidst advancing technologies.

In the June quarter, Tech Mahindra reportedly saw a 38 per cent dip in net profit compared to last year. The company had recently said it would delay increments for some of its senior employees by a quarter as its profits and EBIT margins had dipped. The EBIT margins had apparently fallen 1.3 per cent because the firm had granted pay hikes to most of its workforce in the first quarter that ended 30 June 2023.

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These women employees have been selected from all its group companies, which include Mindspace Business Parks, Chalet Hotels, Inorbit Mall, and K Raheja Corp Homes.

The programme includes both onsite and offsite training sessions, group coaching, and application-based assignments. The programme was designed by the internal learning and development team. An external consultant was also roped in. Besides, the training sessions were executed by some experienced and specialised trainers, external speakers, and image consultants.

In an official communique, the company claims that the Sheroes programme was designed to leverage these unique strengths and unlock the potential of women leaders. Urvi Aradhya, CHRO K Raheja Corp, shares, “The Sheroes initiative represents our commitment to building a workplace that celebrates excellence and offers equal opportunities for everyone.”

“By providing women leaders with the necessary skills and experience, we aim to empower them to make a lasting impact not only within our organisation but also in the external business environment,” she adds.

“We believe in constant growth, engagement, and productivity, and this is a tailored initiative to empower our employees to unlock their potential, cultivate leadership skills, and drive positive change. Our commitment to ESG principles goes hand in hand with our dedication to creating an equitable and inclusive workspace for all,” she states in the official communique.

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With this initiative, which will cost millions of pounds, the airline hopes to give more aspiring pilots from different backgrounds and strata of society access to expensive training that would otherwise be far from affordable to many. The objective is to give everyone a chance, and in the process, also ensure that a pool of trained pilots is available to British Airways for the taking.

Given that British Airways offers world-class training, this can be a great opportunity for those who aspire to be pilots. While the airline hires commercial pilots, it also offers opportunities to military pilots to work in the commercial aviation space after their tenure with the UK Armed Forces is over.

Not long ago, there were reports that British Airways is considering expanding in India, considering the increasing demand for air travel. The airline has about 2,000 employees in India.

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The airline had placed an order for 470 A350 aircraft earlier this year. The rather massive order includes six A350-900 and 34 A350-1000 long-haul aircraft.

The regulatory approvals for the same are on the way.

In-house talent / crew are being interviewed as part of the preparation for building internal capabilities for operation and maintenance of the new additions to the fleet. The candidates are reportedly being chosen via internal assessments and tests, based on their merit and performance alone.

Having signed a deal with Airbus for wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, Air India is probably the first carrier in the country to operate an A350.

In February this year, Business Today had reported that Air India had put together a specially-constituted team of top executives, from Tata Group, including N Chandrasekaran, chairman, to oversee the work of transforming the airline. It was aptly called the Air India Transformation Team.

Nipun Aggarwal and Yogesh Agarwal, ex senior executives from Tata Sons were reportedly called in to negotiate with the aircraft manufacturers, that is, Boeing and Airbus. Aggarwal also headed this transformation team. He was instrumental in getting Air India to tie up with Amadeus, the Spanish IT company, to improve customer service on board the airline.

To make optimal use of the existing aircraft in its fleet, Air India has added several more routes / destinations in recent times.

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The objective of the programme is to improve comprehension of artificial intelligence (AI) and offer significant knowledge on AI so that the same is used responsibly and within an ethical framework.

While the courses will initially be available in English, the content will be made available in other languages in the near future.

Those who complete the course will receive a professional Career Essentials certificate, which will be useful in terms of employability amidst the growing demand for AI talent.

Although India has about 4,20,000 specialists in AI, machine learning (ML), and big data analytics, there exists a gap of 51 per cent between the demand for AI talent and its availability within India.

The company realises the need to empower people with knowledge so that they are able to use their skills to effectively harness AI. Microsoft itself has trained about 70,000 women from tier 2 and 3 cities of India. That means, not only is the growing demand of AI professionals being catered to but inclusivity in this domain is also being ensured.

Across companies, AI skills are amongst the top priority when it comes to training strategies, in addition to creative thinking and analytics. With the AI Skills Initiative, Microsoft aims to facilitate the creation of an environment conducive to tech innovation.

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With this tie-up, IBM aims to narrow the gap between military service and civilian employment, by providing veterans with job opportunities for professional growth and personal development.

The two entities will together identify ex-servicemen with skills and aptitude suitable for various open positions within IBM and its affiliates. Once the candidates are assessed and shortlisted, IBM will use its own resources to hire, train and upskill these ex-servicemen for suitable roles.

The Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) operates under the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (Ministry of Defence). It offers training and helps veterans acquire additional skills in alignment with the evolving need of the corporate world and works to resettle them via a second career. To ensure that the Armed Forces maintain a youthful profile, about 60,000 service personnel are retired/released annually at a comparatively young age. It is the DGR that helps these ex-servicemen acquire additional skills and an opportunity to start another career.

According to Maj. Gen. Sharad Kapur, YSM, SM, DGR, this collaboration “will bring in more visibility of our ex-servicemen to the industry and corporates” and offer them a chance at a “dignified second career”.

Sandip Patel, managing director, IBM India, values the “leadership skills and analytical capabilities that are ingrained in the defence personnel” and is confident that this partnership will “create diverse opportunities for India’s ex-servicemen and enable them to build a career beyond their military services”.

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With this training, students will obtain industry-relevant skills, which will increase their chances of employment and connect them to suitable jobs / employers. Students will also get a chance to learn from industry experts and engage in deep-dive sessions and versatile projects. There will be workshops to train the teachers or trainers too so that they become AI fluent and master the basics of cloud computing, web development, Power BI, and soft skills. These trained faculty can then impart training to ITI students. The CyberShikshaa programme is aimed at imparting basic and intermediate cybersecurity skills training to students and educators at 10 NSTIs for women.

The collaboration will help nurture talent and provide Indian youth with easy access to skills that are relevant in this rapidly changing digital era. This is a step in the right direction for India to become a trillion-dollar digital economy over the next three years. This training is expected to churn out skilled youth capable of providing security and protection to the digital systems and network of the country. This collaboration will equip Indian youth with the digital skills that are necessary to ensure economic resilience and a bright future for the country and its citizens.

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Through this six-month internship programme, the interns will undergo a specialised learning plan with identified goals and collaboration opportunities.

While the programme is presently limited to Hyderabad, Deliveroo plans to make the same available in other regions across the country, for which it intends to collaborate with more institutions.

The interns will be selected via a campus hiring programme comprising interviews and assessments to test their technical, interpersonal and prototyping skills. Once selected, the students will be given a chance to work closely with Deliveroo’s engineering teams, focussed on restaurant tech, delivery, consumer tech, finance, as well as care and trust. They will also be able to master various software such as Kafka, Docker, Ruby on Rails, React and Go.

According to Sashi Somavarapu, vice president – engineering and country head, Deliveroo India, the programme will give the students the much needed “practical exposure to disruptive technology that happens at Deliveroo every day”. The company is looking to tie up with various academic institutions across the country, “which will help us eventually create a deeper talent pool for IDC in the coming years”.

The first phase of the programme will see students from Vasavi Engineering College, who are majoring in computer science and information technology, being put on an accelerated career path. This will facilitate their better absorption into a corporate environment.

The exposure at the IDC will help these interns transition smoothly from a college environment to a corporate one. Being amidst skilled and experienced people during the internship will also motivate them to do well and overcome challenges at the workplace.

It is pertinent to mention here that Deliveroo’s IDC is the largest technology hub outside of the UK. About 140 out of Deliveroo’s 600-strong global engineering workforce is based out of this centre, with talent specialising in analytics, platforms, automation and machine learning.

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Through this Contest, team members from the sales function are trained on product know-how, technological advancements within the product, soft skills and understanding customer requirements. The service personnel are taught the fundamental principles for technical problem solving, customer satisfaction and loyalty, thus ensuring that the service advisors and technicians deliver on the Volkswagen promise of enhanced service and peace-of-mind ownership experience.

As part of the training, the teams receive in-depth understanding of vehicle diagnostics and overhauling, technical knowledge, spare parts inventory management, IT and digital systems and processes, as well as soft communication skills.

The top 15 employees who outperform in the areas of customer experience, critical thinking, problem solving, technical skills, future technology readiness, time management and ensuring enhanced customer satisfaction, are rewarded.

The Sarvottam Skill contest offers an opportunity to the employees to apply the knowledge & skills acquired through the extensive training programmes conducted for over 5,000 personnel across the 157 sales, 125 service touchpoints in 117 cities.

The participants include sales consultants, service technicians and advisors, parts managers and customer-care teams. This edition of the contest began in August 2022 through online registration and received over 1500 entries. The entries were filtered to regional rounds where 250 individuals qualified and 52 regional toppers were identified, who then participated in the grand finale at Chakan, Pune.

The 15 national toppers were declared winners and given the recognition they deserved.

Ashish Gupta, brand director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, addressed the winners and said, “At Volkswagen India, ‘people’ are one of the core and main drivers of our business. As a customer-centric organisation, it is our endeavour to offer enhanced customer experience, and hence, through the Sarvottam Skill Contest, we encourage and imbibe a culture of leadership, ownership, team work and innovation.”

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Many companies offer certification programmes and e-learning modules to ensure that their employees keep learning continuously. However, Barco, a technology firm that specialises in digital projection and imaging technology has gone a step further. It has come up with an initiative called ‘Learning Tuesdays.’

Started by Barco during the pandemic in 2021, when most of the workforce was working remotely, the programme, unlike what its name may suggest, involves much more than learning.

Peer-to-peer learning: During the pandemic, a very big challenge for most organisations was ensuring collaboration and bonding between remote workers.

Dimple Rawat, director – HR, Barco, explains that the ‘Learning Tuesdays’ initiative is based on peer-to-peer learning. Any one from across teams and departments may select a topic pertaining to their field, and take a learning session on that topic for all participants.

“‘Learning Tuesdays’ has been a blessing for our freshers. During their onboarding process, it helps them understand the culture of Barco and assimilate with others easily”

Dimple Rawat, director – HR, Barco

Cross-functional learning: A session takes place every Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., which is voluntarily attended by employees from across departments. The name of the person taking the session and the topic are decided a week prior to the session. “We line up the mentors for the whole month, in advance,” shares Rawat.

The beauty of this initiative is that anybody can participate in these sessions regardless of their role. “I am in HR but I participated in a session on Metaverse, which really interests me,” reveals Rawat.

Therefore, this programme also boosts cross-functional knowledge sharing.

“The best part is that the sessions are conducted by subject-matter experts. For similar learning sessions, people usually engage external mentors at a cost, but here we offer such rich content for free!” Rawat asserts.

Bonding: The ‘Learning Tuesdays’ initiative also boosts bonding amongst people, as participants gather together and interactions take place. Though many employees at Barco are working from the office now, there are certain employees who are still working remotely, but they join the ‘Learning Tuesdays’ sessions virtually. Since everyone comes together to learn, there are a lot of opportunities to bond, learn and reflect.

In fact, Rawat shares that more than anything else, “‘Learning Tuesdays’ has been a blessing for our freshers. During their onboarding process, it helps them understand the culture of Barco and assimilate with others easily”.

Even during the lockdowns, Barco made 200 hirings and ‘Learning Tuesdays’ was a great platform for the new entrants to interact and learn together with all.

Confidence building: From the mentors’ point of view too, these sessions are rather beneficial. By taking sessions on topics of their interest and choice, they feel more confident while sharing their knowledge and are more involved in the presentation. “It helps the mentors improve their oratory skills and gain more confidence in public speaking,” confirms Rawat.

Empathy: Rawat feels that ‘Learning Tuesdays’ has been a great success for the firm in generating empathy in people as well. “Through these sessions, we also get to know what it takes to carry out the roles people are in. It builds empathy and understanding,” says Rawat.

There was another initiative called ‘Sales Evangelist’, which has been dissolved now. That too helped Barco build empathy amongst employees. Rawat reveals that the programme was started by the CEO himself. A group was formed of which the sales personnel and engineers were a part.

Many a time, it is difficult for the sales professionals to resolve customer issues as it involves technical understanding. In such cases, an engineer’s intervention becomes necessary to resolve the issue. Therefore, as part of this initiative, the engineers travelled onsite to solve customer issues instead of the sales professionals. “It helped the engineers understand the pain points of our sales professionals and feel empathetic towards each other,” Rawat explains.

Barco has various other learning initiatives such as certifications in different areas of engineering, as well as emerging skills, including cybersecurity.

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The Company has co-created the curriculum along with experts from IMT Hyderabad. The course is aimed at providing mid-level managers with skills pertaining to strategic planning, leadership abilities, building resilience and managerial skills.

Thirty-five candidates from amongst 150 mid-level managers have been shortlisted from across functions, following a structured process that included psychometric and behavioural assessments, business simulations and a series of conversations with heads of departments.

The six-month long Post Graduate Certification in Leadership Programme or CLP will comprise four modules covering, management of self, that is, leveraging core strengths and qualities to inspire other colleagues; management of teams, that is, leading developing and supporting other team members to attain common goals; management of business, that is, a strategic approach with business acumen and financial literacy for the overall growth of the organisation; and management of change, that is, collaboration with various stakeholders and adoption of best practices

According to UNB Raju, senior vice president – corporate HR – Aurobindo Pharma, for an organisation like Aurobindo Pharma, which has over 24,000 employees, “it is imperative for us not just to build a purpose-driven company and culture of trust, but also strongly impart and invest in our talent to make them future-ready and contribute to varied mission-critical operations of the company”.

Venkata Chathurvedula, professor & dean – academics – IMT Hyderabad revealed that the, “programme’s pedagogy entails experiential learning activities such as role-plays, group exercises, games, cases, and simulations so that the participants can assimilate and retain their learnings from these experiences”.

The programme which is jointly designed and delivered by IMT Hyderabad and Aurobindo Pharma, will ensure “individual growth and leadership capabilities” and contribute to the organisation’s overall progress.

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Some common examples of transferable skills include communication skills, leadership qualities, exceptional analytical skills and so on. Unlike technical skills that are always changing, these make one more agile.

These skills not only help in personality development, but are crucial when an individual is looking to fit into a role in a territory that he hasn’t explored before. These also stand one in good stead at the time of changing careers or moving from one industry or domain to another.

“Leadership can be taught via training, but there are some aspects of it are inherent or are deeply rooted in an individual’s personality”

Kamlesh Dangi, group head – HR, Incred Financial Services

For instance, candidates with no prior sales and marketing experience may find the role challenging, but, if they possess excellent communication skills, they may be able to leverage those skills to perform even better than the experienced personnel. Similarly, good communicators armed with exceptional problem-solving and collaboration skills and an effective speaking style can be promoted to lead roles in no time.

However, now that we’re moving into an era where perfectionists are much sought after, how much importance do these skills hold? Do these skills stand a chance against specialised skills?

Transferable skills vs professional skills

Which is more important? Simply put, transferable skills help one fit in, even when one is not the perfect match for the job or role.

Employees who excel in their current department are likely to excel in another department as well. If they possess excellent managerial skills, they will prove to be gems anywhere they go. Hence, it would be right to say that, as long as the role doesn’t require any specialised knowledge, transferable skills are more than enough to ensure success.

Also, one can actually develop these skills only till a certain age. For instance, a highly creative person may be unable to deal with the smallest of complexities, while an out-of-the-box approach has the potential to solve everything. While technical skills can be learned over time, these are not easy to develop. At senior levels, where people are expected to possess technical knowledge, soft skills are also a must.

Tech skills vs soft skills

A good set of transferable skills makes an employee or candidate versatile. In fact, certain skills are more valued by employers. Yet, many roles require technical skills as well. Hence, there’s no ‘fixed formula’.

“It all depends totally on the job,” says Kamlesh Dangi, group head – HR, Incred Financial Services. According to Dangi, it is not right to generalise. If the job requires technical skills, then the specialists would be preferred. At a managerial level, more weightage will be given to the soft skills. “Hence, there’s no universal formula,” asserts Dangi.

While these skills can be imbibed and developed at an entry level, at a senior level, these are a must-have and a pre-requirement!

After all, “ leaders can only lead their teams when they are able to manage them right. If they themselves can’t communicate their thoughts and vision to the team, they can’t expect the teams to achieve their collective/common goals.”

“75 per cent of transferable skills are developed from the experiences that people go through”

Ravi Mishra, senior vice president-HR, advanced materials groups, Aditya Birla Group

Candidate evaluation criteria

These skills are definitely a part of the evaluation criteria. “Morality, strong ethics, and the right attitude are the traits that make a candidate a right fit.” Candidates with good communication skills may clear an HR round, but if these same candidates lack the intelligence to come up with strong points in a group discussion round, they may not catch the attention of the interviewers. A combination of speaking skills, along with the right attitude and morals is what makes a candidate stand out from the crowd.

Entry-level vs mid-senior-level employees

For any entry-level job, transferable skills are beneficial. Technical skills can be learned on the job or improved while essaying the role, but no one can actually be taught to follow work ethics.

At mid-senior levels, these skills become even more significant. “Intent is always much more important than content,” says Ravi Mishra, senior vice president-HR, advanced materials groups, Aditya Birla Group.

Professionals do not remain in the same role for life. Roles and positions keep changing. Hence, employees with the right core skills are highly likely to perform even better in their next role. Unless it’s a new tech role or a role that requires specific technical knowledge, the candidate will be able to justify their selection for the role well.

Are transferable skills inborn?

Do transferable skills come naturally or are they nurtured? Mishra says, “It’s surely a debatable topic, but 75 per cent of these skills are developed from the experiences that people go through. It solely depends on the situational changes, ecosystems and environment”. The rest can be learned over time.

Just as some people are said to be born with confidence, some are born with these skills. However, there’s a certain age when these skills can be successfully developed.

“Leadership can be taught via training, but there are some aspects of it are inherent or are deeply rooted in an individual’s personality,” points out Kamlesh Dangi. For instance, one cannot lecture someone on how to be a good risk taker. Risk taking is not something that can be learned. It is a trait that comes from within. Instincts tell one whether to take a risk or not.

Role of training

Everyone is not born confident. Confidence can be built within a person. Similarly, many traits can be improved or even learned. Some people are definitely born with them, or have these traits as their strengths, while others can develop them over time and improve with practice. So, yes, trainings do help to an extent.

Clearly, both transferable skills and specialised skills are important and required. Both have their advantages and play a significant role in the professional and personal lives of people. While technical skills can be learned any time, transferable skills have to be picked up at the right age or time in life. Additionally, transferable skills are more significant at the senior level, where one is leading a group comprising diverse personalities.

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The CBSE will soon begin the creating a school registry, teacher registry and student registry to track the growth of resources throughout the stages of schooling.

The 5+3+3+4 periodical education system is based on the cognitive developmental stages of the children. The new system comprises three years of pre-school education and 12 years of school education.

Stages of 5+3+3+4 format

The new education format comprises four stages, taking into account the cognitive development that children undergo in various stages of their life. Stage one is the foundational stage, which lasts for five years. Stage two, the preparatory stage, lasts for three years. Then comes the third or middle stage, which lasts three years. The final and fourth stage is the secondary stage, which lasts for four years.

In the first or foundation stage, children in the three to six age bracket will be first nourished and developed in pre-school institutions for three years. They will then be educated and further developed in classes I and II, for two years, that is from age six to eight.

The second or preparatory stage starts when the child turns eight. This lasts till the child attains 11 years of age. This is the stage where the student studies in classes III to V.

The third or middle stage begins at age 11. That is, for three years, the child completes his education in classes VI to VIII. By the time the child finishes class VIII, he/she will be 14 years of age.

The fourth or secondary stage begins at age 14, when the student goes through classes IX to XII.

Inclusion of children in the three to six age bracket in the formal education system is a salient feature of NEP 2020. Since the National Test Agency (NTA) will conduct a common entrance test for admission to higher education institutions, the NEP clearly has lesser focus on board examinations of Class X and XII.

Students of CBSE schools will be able to take the board exams on two occasions during a school year. The main exam will be compulsory, but the improvement exam will be optional.

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The institute in San Francisco is expected to go live this New Year, that is, January 2023. Two new campuses will come up in Delhi and Chennai in India.

Already upGrad has facilities in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore in India, and one each in Singapore and the Middle East.

As expected, technology will be leveraged to ensure seamless integration of these campuses, their faculties as well as corporates in a single ecosystem for which faculty will be hired from across geographies.

Certificate courses, as well as graduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes will be offered in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), quantum computing, cybersecurity, cloud, blockchain, connected devices, IoT, digital management and leadership courses, via a blended mode of offline and online.

This is an attempt by upGrad to make Indian edtech global “by creating the world’s largest institute in emerging technologies” as per the company statement.

Ronnie Screwvala is the co-founder and chairperson of upGrad who believes that UGDX is an extension of upGrad’s goal to be first and largest fully-integrated higher edtech company for students as well as working professionals, whether they are 18 or over 60 years of age.

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Speaking to HRKatha, Gaurav Paruthi, head-L&D, Hero Housing Finance, shares that it wasn’t the usual practice for the Company to hire freshers for front-line sales roles. In fact, Hero Housing Finance was majorly dependant on lateral hiring for front-line sales personnel. Now, however, the Company wishes to hire some fresh talent to bring some newness to the sales team at Hero Housing Finance.

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance, says that the Young Hero Programme will cater to building talent in the organisation. “We have been following the ‘buy’ talent model for a long time. Now, we want to also focus on building talent within the organisation,” he enunciates.

Another primary purpose of the Young Hero Programme is to give opportunities to the youth of the country and make them employable. “We truly believe in the youth of our nation and we want to bring as many of them as possible into the employability bracket by hiring them in their early stages, training them and making them job-ready in the talent market,” tells Nayyar.

Paruthi believes that the quality of talent derived from lateral hiring is not the best. “No star performers would want to leave their company and join another. Therefore, the Young Hero Programme gives us an opportunity to explore new and fresh talent in sales roles,” says Paruthi.

“We have been following the ‘buy’ talent model for a long time. Now, we want to also focus on building talent within the organisation”

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance

Adding a pertinent point here, Nayyar says, “Experienced people come with a lot of baggage from their past assignments. Freshers, on the other hand, bring in newness, innovation and freshness to the whole team”.

That is not all. Hiring freshers from campuses can also result in the grooming of leaders of tomorrow for Hero Housing Finance.

The home-loan providing company has targeted graduation institutes in the northern and western parts of the country, where the firm has a strong presence. Freshers from colleges were selected and hired through a stringent process of psychometric tests and personal interviews.

Hero Housing Finance usually conducts psychometric tests for all kinds of roles in the Company. As part of this, the Company uses a sales tool comprising some competencies required in a sales professional. Paruthi explains that the test analyses and evaluates candidates on competencies such as communication skills, relationship-building skills, go-getter attitude and more.

The threshold for each skill, Paruthi elaborates, is very basic and acts as an indicator for interviewers to probe some areas where the candidates may be lacking.

After a psychometric assessment, the students go through one-on-one interview rounds. The 60 odd students that the Company hired from campuses under the programme, were put through a two-month learning and development journey before they were allowed to actually hit the field.

“No star performers would want to leave their company and join another. Therefore, the Young Hero Programme gives us an opportunity to explore new and fresh talent in sales roles”

Gaurav Paruthi, head-L&D, Hero Housing Finance

The two months of learning was bifurcated into two weeks of classroom learning and five weeks of on-the-job learning. In the classrooms, the participants were taught the ‘Hero way of selling,’ as Paruthi puts it.

Giving further details Paruthi says that the new hires were taught things from ‘how to give your card to having a face-to-face meeting with the client,’ and practising skills repeatedly to master the same. During the on-the-job learning, the new hires were provided coaches and mentors by the learning partner of Hero Housing Finance.

The freshers were trained on the job, under experienced sales coaches to understand and practically master the skills. Post the two-month learning journey, the participants were deployed as relationship managers. As part of this programme, the Company specifically targeted institutes from tier I and II cities as its client base comes from the same background.

The Company has made a two-year career-progression plan for all the new hires. “These freshers can look to make a great career at Hero Housing Finance. Post two years in the role, they can go on to become sales managers and enjoy the opportunity to choose to become team leaders or remain individual contributors in the Company. They can also opt to become direct-selling agents (DSAs),” suggests Paruthi.

As Paruthi explains, DSAs are people who choose to take the entrepreneurial career wherein they can work with different companies as agents.

Given the success of the Young Hero Programme and the way it has benefitted the front-line sales team, Hero Housing Finance is now considering introducing a similar initiative for the credit team as well, reveals Paruthi.

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The pan-India initiative, called ‘XLerate’, supported by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), will impart training in new-age and emerging technologies. The tie-up is aligned with the national vision of providing one crore internship opportunities by 2025.

While byteXL will spearhead the training programme, Microsoft will offer the necessary infrastructure, including sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) Labs that provide contemporary programmes for specialised education.

Students will get Microsoft certifications on completion of the required learning and industry-ready skills. They will also have access to Microsoft Azure and AI certifications, along with industry-approved training modules. byteXL’s role in this collaboration will amplify Microsoft’s global skills initiative, which has already provided digital skills to over 42 million people worldwide.

Indrani Choudhury, chief learning officer, Microsoft India said, “Digital technologies will be key in addressing the skills challenge that we are facing today. Democratising access to skilling with a focus on employability, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities of India, can empower large talent pools for the digital economy.”

Karun Tadepalli, CEO & co-founder, byteXL, calls this MOU “a critical step in enabling a developmental ecosystem for youth in India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities”.

Through this collaboration technical education will be transformed and the skills ecosystem will be reimagined thanks to a “robust and career-intensive curriculum”.

Tadepalli is confident that byteXL’s “in-house futuristic instruction methodology, coupled with Microsoft’s learning infrastructure will surely produce brilliance in employable students”. This collaborative effort will redefine traditional engineering colleges and create “a globally in-demand growth spectrum for the new graduates”.

Students in Tier 2 and 3 cities lack access to quality educational material and exposure to global trends. There is also lack of industry exposure and scarcity of financial means to complete high-quality education. This prevents many bright students from obtaining higher education or moving to Tier 1 cities for better educational opportunities. ‘XLerate’ will address these concerns and ensure that new-age, quality education and required industry exposure are made available at highly affordable costs.

This will enhance the ‘employability quotient’ of students and help in the transformation of the institutes by empowering them to produce quality industry-ready talent in the longer run.

byteXL’s Trends Report – Deep Tech Insights 21-22 based on a large sample size of 55,000 students from 60 Tier 1, 2, and 3 institutes also revealed the changing trends and aspirations of the engineering students. The student enrollment rates for specialised technology courses were witnessed at over 90 and 67 per cent in Tier 3 and Tier 2 cities, respectively as compared to 63 per cent in Tier 1. This is a clear indication of the increasing inclination of Tier 2 and 3 students to move up into the value chain. The trend for upskilling is also gaining momentum in Tier 2 students at 68.81 per cent male students and 43.96 per cent female students. Tier 3 students show a similar inclination to Tier 2 with 57.13 per cent male students and 54.63 per cent female students.

According to various industry reports, in the past 10 years (2012-2022) the employability rate of graduating engineers is less than eight per cent and 93 per cent of the graduating engineers in India lack the required IT skills to work in IT companies.

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Learning forms an integral part of Birlasoft’s core values. The Company believes in cultivating a culture of continuous learning, aligned with the changing business environment. This partnership with the learning platform is expected to create an ecosystem where employees will feel encouraged to learn through structured interventions that cover skills related to technology, behavioural competencies, industry domains, and leadership capabilities.

The platform will help employees build critical digital capabilities with a focus on niche skills aligned with the requirements of the enterprise.

A range of learning opportunities—from hands-on projects and courses, to job-ready certificates and degree programmes will be offered.

All the employees of Birlasoft, will have complete access to the learning platform’s library of over 9,000 courses and guided projects. In addition, the workforce will also be able to access to programmes directly from globally-renowned industry educators and leading universities such as Yale University, University of Michigan and INSEAD Business School. The programmes offered on emerging technology and domain skills will enable the employees to further enhance their knowledge on leading edge domains including blockchain, coud, Internet of Things (IoT), AI/ML, robotic process automation (RPA) and cybersecurity.

The objective of this collaboration, according to Dharmender Kapoor, managing director and chief executive officer, Birlasoft, is “to nurture our people by engaging their minds, providing them with new challenges, and giving them the right opportunities to grow. We want our employees always to stay ahead of the skill curve and to ensure that we deploy various methodologies to enhance the learning experience and to provide targeted development.”

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There is no dearth of films and science fiction blockbusters that portray technology as either a destroyer or a great friend of humanity. This is also the hottest topic of debate in these times when organisations are moving towards automation and digitalisation, and people are apprehensive about the impact of the same on jobs.

The report of the World Economic Forum, ‘Future of Jobs 2020’ states that by 2030, automation will displace 85 million jobs in the world. At the same time, however, new and exciting roles will also emerge.

That means, on the one hand, automation and digitalisation will take away certain existing jobs, and on the other, they will also create new ones. However, as these new jobs emerge, organisations will have to reskill and deploy the existing workforce to keep them relevant. Easier said than done?

“Automation of jobs will only bring in more efficiency and free up transactional bandwidth”

Amit Das, CHRO, Bennett Coleman & CO

While it is simple to say that automation will create more jobs, the fact remains that for people to get redeployed in the future jobs, organisations and the government will have to come together and reskill people. For instance, people performing skill-based jobs across the world, learn and obtain the required skills on the job. They master the skills required to carry out their roles by repeatedly performing the same tasks again and again, over the years.

A journalist or a writer, for instance, may hone his/her skill for 20 years in the industry. One fine day, he or she may be told that their job is getting automated. How will they be able to adapt to new roles?

Jai Balan, senior HR leader and former head-HR, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, says, “Yes, experienced professionals who have been working in a particular profession will find it difficult to shift their career trajectory suddenly”. He further mentions that such people still have the scope to add value to the digitalisation process. They can become digital-transformation specialists, who can guide the organisation on how automation should take place.

“Well, we may not have all the answers right now about how the future jobs may look like, but we can predict the future with the current trends”

Saba Adil, CPO & Chief Risk Officer, Raheja QBE

Talking to HRKatha, Sunil Ranjhan, SVP & director – HR, LG Electronics, predicts, “Tech-heavy functions will be much more complex to reinvent”.

He refers to the job of data scientists who have to keep reskilling themselves on using different applications and new versions of technology to carry out their jobs.

Ranjhan further states that organisations will have to constantly work upon re-deploying and reskilling their workers to ensure their relevance. They will have to analyse and identify the tasks that are likely to get automated in the next five to ten years. Accordingly, they will have to find out which are the jobs that can emerge in the future, where the existing workforce can be deployed. Reskilling people will remain a challenge though.

As Ranjhan points out, though the new generation is still comfortable with adapting to technology, the older generation really finds it difficult to adapt and reskill. “That is why, we need tailor-made solutions to effectively reinvent and reskill people,” asserts Ranjhan.

Saba Adil, chief people & risk officer, Raheja QBE, feels that the challenge that employers face with the workforce is that people are unable to envisage their roles in the future. Therefore, the employers will need to communicate this to the workforce.

“Experienced professionals who have been working in a particular profession will find it difficult to shift their career trajectory suddenly after their role gets automated”

Jai Balan, Senior HR leader

“As employers, we can make our employees envisage their job roles in the future and how they will be redeployed. This will clarify their doubts and reduce their anxiety more effectively,” suggests Adil.

Do employers and leaders have any idea of what the future jobs will look like?

“Well, we may not have all the answers right now, but we can predict the future with the current trends,” Adil responds.

She mentions that in her sector, the needs of the customers are changing. They want digital solutions and virtual interaction. Therefore, the sales team, in particular, will need to reskill themselves to be able to develop relations through digital means and modes. They will have to learn to use face-to-face meetings strategically to build relations with the customers.

Similarly, the marketing team will need to have strong analytical skills. Moreover, the need for big-data specialists and analytical experts will increase in the insurance sector, to understand the needs of customers and pick emerging trends.

Amit Das, CHRO, Bennett Coleman & Company, states that in HR, the areas of talent acquisition and onboarding will be highly impacted. He believes that artificial intelligence, machine learning (AI /ML) and deep-learning automated tools will be widely used to hire and onboard employees.

“Tech-heavy functions will be much more complex to reinvent”

Sunil Ranjhan, SVP & director – HR, LG Electronics

Most companies following a hybrid work environment are experimenting with ‘no see hire’ kind of tools, points out Das. That means, people can be hired for technical roles — based on some simulations that have been tested by companies — without actually asking the candidates to be physically present in person. “This can reduce the dependency on recruiters, and even strengthen the role of recruiters who will be free to focus more on selection rather than screening of candidates,” Das enumerates.

Most HR leaders state that automation will impact almost all roles in the future.

This is not an unknown fact. As Ranjhan mentions, earlier, the blue-collared jobs were impacted and now the next wave of automation will impact the white-collared jobs. No one knows for sure what the future jobs will actually look like. It is only possible to make certain predictions by observing the trends.

The leaders, however, can be certain of one thing — Most of the mundane and transactional work will definitely get automated. “Automation of jobs will only bring in more efficiency and free up transactional bandwidth,” concludes Das.

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This partnership will upskill the youth of Goa with industry-focused, skill-oriented education in software development, making Goa the next Silicon Valley of India.

Given that over 16,000 students graduate in Goa every year, this tie-up is aimed at making Goa a hub for tech advancements. It is hoped that the initiative will lead to growth as more global IT firms are expected to hire students from Goa along with other organisations from across sectors.

The Digital Goa Scholarship Programme will start off with a coding and mindset bootcamp lasting 12 weeks, wherein Goan students from both technical and non-technical backgrounds can enrol. The students will be introduced to the world of computers and trained to develop logical thinking and aptitude required to learn coding. The bootcamp will include sessions by top mentors, instructors, and industry professionals from various software companies around the world, including Netflix, Amazon, Myntra, Unacademy, Google, and Microsoft.

Live classes on a daily basis with experts from the top software companies, mentorship from the best educators of India, resume-building sessions and interview preparation with mock interviewers are other highlights of the programme.

After the bootcamp, students will undergo a six-month certification programme that will make them expert full-stack web developers.

Students need not pay anything till they get placed and start drawing a salary.

The aim of the programme is to provide industry-oriented exposure in software education so that students become employable and earn well.

The collaboration encourages other states in India to adopt an e-learning model and upskill youth through similar partnerships.

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An organisational-level programme, Edge has been devised as part of the Company’s long-term learning and development (L&D) strategy. “Organisational development is one of the key pillars of our five-year business plan. The Edge programme at Crompton will cater to its capability-development needs,” shares Satyajit Mohanty, CHRO, Crompton.

As per Mohanty, Edge has been designed to enhance the capabilities of the people at Crompton so as to give an edge to the Company in the competitive Indian market.

The Company has been working on the Edge initiative for the last eight to nine months, and has recently rolled out the programme at an organisational level.

Preeti Dwivedi, head – L&D, diversity, employer brand & business HR, Crompton, shares that post the introduction of Edge, the L&D strategy has been made more structured and transparent for the employees. “Every employee at Crompton is aware of the basic courses they are required to go through in their respective roles,” she says.

The courses include upskilling people in functional and behavioural skills.

Mohanty mentions that the Company is following a mixed strategy of virtual, digital and face-to-face learning. Dwivedi further elaborates that some courses are first covered through digital media and are further explained through physical learning.

“Organisational development is one of the key pillars of our five-year business plan. The Edge programme at Crompton will cater to its capability-development needs”

Satyajit Mohanty, CHRO, Crompton

As per Mohanty, the new L&D strategy at Crompton emphasises on upskilling its people on analytical skills, which can further improve the Company’s capability to understand the mind and needs of their customers through analytics.

Measurement of the RoI of learning initiatives has remained a challenge for many organisations. A key highlight of Edge is that it facilitates the measurement of all learning initiatives at Crompton. Instead of tracking the number of man hours or learning hours the Company has completed, the return on investment (ROI) of learning will be linked to the business performance of the organisation.

Simply put, instead of following the traditional way of calculating the RoI, Crompton has decided to link it to performance. “It has been linked to the KPIs of employees,” shares Mohanty.

Most of the learning initiatives, which will be driven under the Edge programme, will be designed and developed internally. Not only will it save costs, but it will also help managers at Crompton develop a coaching and mentoring attitude.

Like many other companies, engaging employees to upskill themselves is another challenge Crompton is facing. To tackle this challenge, Crompton has come up with a learning-engagement plan. Dwivedi further shares how Crompton has been making efforts to use gamified solutions, certifications, recognitions and small prizes to encourage employees to take part in learning initiatives. “The goal is to link the learning of employees with their careers,” asserts Dwivedi.

“We are trying to make learning a part of the daily activities of the employees at Crompton,”adds Dwivedi.

“The goal is to link the learning of employees with their careers”

Preeti Dwivedi, head – L&D, diversity, employer brand & business HR, Crompton

The courses under Edge have been designed in a collaborative manner. Dwivedi shares that many courses have been created for the marketing function, with inputs from the R&D division as well as the field workforce.

The Company is following a 70:20:10 model to fulfil the learning needs of employees. Which mean 70 per cent of in on the job learning, 20 per cent peer learning and 10 per cent theoretical learning.

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This month-long programme catered to employees’ career growth and development by providing them with multiple insightful avenues such as expert talks, panel discussions, one-on-one sessions with the leadership team along with in-depth training sessions to help the employees grow and develop #YourDreamCAREer!

The initiative was not restricted to managers alone, it witnessed participation from the entire NIVEA India team across levels and functions in the company.

Combining the energy of a startup with the wisdom of a nearly 110-year-old company, NIVEA India is building careers through the structured development of its employees, and Careers Month is aligned towards achieving just that.

According to George, “These immersive experiences cultivate a strong culture by pushing our employees to attain their career goals. As a company, sustained development continues to be a top priority for us, and Careers Month is an initiative to drive the continued success and growth of our talented and passionate employees”.

Expressing gratitude to the employees for their hard work, NIVEA India continues “to encourage a focus on innovation and embracement of an entrepreneurial mindset”.

Employees across the entire value chain in India including the NIVEA India Production Centre, Distribution Centre, India R&D Hub, and the Beiersdorf global shared service centre participated in the programme. During Careers Month, the Functional Leaders at NIVEA India, through Hot Seat, a series of panel discussions, revealed their personal career secrets and shared what it takes to build a dream career at NIVEA.

About 60 one-on-one sessions were organised over a month, under Leadership Roulette, between employees and leaders of their choice to learn from their career journey and experiences and seek advice on how to plan one’s own development and career path. These included not only the leaders from the India business but also the ones who have now moved to global roles across Beiersdorf.

A special virtual session to provide an external perspective on career choices was also hosted, with Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe sharing insights about his own career choices while providing valuable advice on the importance of taking risks, continuous learning and comfort with failure, amongst other things.

“By anchoring our core values of care, trust, courage, simplicity and quality, Careers Month is our way of pushing the envelope for our employees by giving them first-hand access to internal and external industry leaders and numerous training sessions to help them develop high-quality, actionable and useful development plans,” added Uma Raman, director human resources, NIVEA India.

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Citi will offer these fully-funded programmes in collaboration with partner schools such as Walden University, University of Maryland Global Campus, and Western Governor’s University. It will also offer tuition assistance to employees so that they are able to complete their bachelor’s and master’s programmes and even other certificate programmes.

This initiative will benefit about 38,000 Citi consumer-banking staff.

Citi is not the only organisation to help its employees educate themselves further without any financial constraints.

McDonald’s offers a programme aptly called ‘Archways to Opportunity’ which helps its workers obtain degrees and certifications in the areas they need.

The programme helps the workers at Mcdonald’s outlets address the skill gap. They can easily learn English language via the ‘English Under the Arches’ programme, or obtain a high school diploma, leveraging the Company’s tie-up with Career Online High School or even obtain a college degree by availing tuition assistance and access to academic and career counselling services.

Quite recently, Amazon increased the investment in its education and training initiative for its US employees to about $1.2 billion by 2025. The Company’s ‘Career Choice’ programme allows its employees to enrol for college degrees or obtain high school diplomas and even English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications, while Amazon covers the expenses incurred.

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The success story of this learning platform is rather remarkable. It has only been three to four weeks since the launch of this learning platform, and it is already witnessing almost 90 per cent adoption rate.

“The platform has been loved and received really well by our employees. Just within a month of its launch, almost 90 per cent employees have registered on the platform,” says Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance.

In fact, the internal team shares that at least 90 per cent of the population has no just registered but also completed at least one course using the platform, which is truly commendable.

What makes ILAA a success at Hero Housing Finance?

While many companies still struggle to pull learners to their learning-management systems, Hero Housing Finance has managed to overcome this challenge with the help of innovative technology, better user experience and course content.

Gamification: What has really proven to be a magnet in attracting employees is the ‘gamification of learning’. As Nayyar rightly states, “The main highlight of ILAA is that everything is gamified”.

Post completion of a course, the learners can take gamified learning quizzes. This really makes learning more interactive and fun at the same time. Learners can take these quizzes to complete their courses and get certified instantly.

Engagement: Additionally, the learning platform also has a leaderboard chart. This also keeps the engagement level high amongst the employees and ensures a bit of competitive spirit too.

User-friendliness: While designing the platform, the Company has also given thought to the user interface. The learning platform, which is primarily designed for smart phones, can be accessed on any device.

The access to learning has been made quite simple for all employees. Anyone wanting to use the application can simply give a missed call and all the credentials are sent to them on sms, which they can use to login to the platform. This way, the employees do not have to remember any usernames, keys or passwords.

“Youngsters want to experience learning the way they experience platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. Their attention span is decreasing these days. Therefore, it is essential to rely on bite-sized learning content for better experience”

Paramjit Singh Nayyar, CHRO, Hero Housing Finance

Bite-sized content: Coming to the content part of ILAA, the Company chose to use bite-sized content or what we call ‘microlearning’. None of the videos or learning content on the platform is more than two minutes.

Company studied the demographics of the workforce, most of which comprises youngsters and asked itself, ‘What do GenZ or millennials like?’

Nayyar asserts, “Youngsters want to experience learning the way they experience platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. Their attention span is decreasing these days. Therefore, it is essential to rely on bite-sized learning content for better experience”.

Updation: For further engagement, the Company also decided to introduced ‘Terrific Thursdays’. Under this initiative, every Thursday, updated or new courses are available on ILAA and all employees are notified.

Flexibility: When the world is moving towards flexibility, Hero Housing Finance does not want to lag behind. “At Hero Housing Finance, employees are always on the move, especially the sales workforce. So, we want to offer them the flexibility to learn at their convenient time, place and pace,” shares Nayyar.

No doubt, learning flexibility is required at Hero Housing Finance since the field force makes up 70 per cent of the workforce. In fact, the app was majorly designed keeping the field force in mind. Moreover, an internal council was formed from amongst the field personnel, which did the final testing and feedback of the platform before launching.

The platform consists of all the functional courses the employees can take.

Learning strategy

By launching ILAA, the firm has made its intention clear. Microlearning or bite-sized learning will be an essential part of its learning strategy. However, that does not mean other traditional forms of learning will go out the window.

The Company believes that there needs to be a blend. The classroom learning sessions will happen, but bite-sized learning will help the employees understand the subject well. In the classroom learning sessions, they can move to the practical application of that subject in real time. This will save a lot of time for the learning managers and trainers.

Going forward, Hero Housing Finance will keep on making changes and tweak ILAA as per the needs of its people.

The post How Hero Housing Finance achieved 90% adoption rate for its new learning platform appeared first on HR Katha.

Called the Revolut Ira Scholarship, it comprises an award of Rs 5 lakhs each. The scholarship will be awarded to the best girl students, from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Lucknow, as well as top girl students from XLRI, Jamshedpur and Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.

The initiative is aimed at identifying women leaders of tomorrow. Paroma Chatterjee, CEO, Revolut India, calls this scholarship “a step towards my dream of bringing about a workplace evolution, where I envision an equal number of brilliant men and women occupying the seats in a boardroom”.

Chatterjee is also “encouraging this approach in the hiring we are doing for Revolut in India, and I am delighted we had an equal gender split last quarter” despite a rather “gruelling recruitment process”.

The global financial superapp, which has over 20 million customers, will soon make the scholarship available globally, so that bright girl students can be identified and rewarded early on. This will also ensure that they work on a great career path to become successful business leaders in future.

Being committed to creating a healthy and inclusive working environment, Revolut launched its D&I framework in 2021 in an endeavour to accelerate progress on this subject.

Revolut is probably the first British fintech to set up a large base in India, and it expects to rapidly scale its financial services offerings in the country.

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This collaboration will help engage various stakeholders across sectors to transform job opportunities for PwDs, and make this vast untapped talent pool meaningfully productive.

The tie-up between Microsoft and EnAble India follows the former’s five-year global commitment to reduce the gap that exists in education, employment and access to technology for PwDs, worldwide.

For over two decades now, EnAble India, the non-profit organisation, has been working to make PwDs economically independent and help them preserve their dignity and command respect.

With Microsoft joining its mission, over 100 organisations in India across sectors —financial services, manufacturing, retail and technology — will now be brought together to offer tech skilling, mentorship, internship and employment initiatives to PwDs.

The technical skilling programmes will help PwD candidates enhance their understanding of digital accessibility, which is increasing in importance in the present hybrid work environment.

When the representation of PwDs goes up, there is bound to be inclusive product development, which can, in turn, aid technology users with disabilities.

Additionally, PwDs will also gain access to training curricula on modern workplace applications, which will enhance their productivity.

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During the day, the students got to interact with other senior Amazon India operations leaders too. The initiative also enabled the students to experience Amazon’s innovative and inclusive workplace culture, first hand, and participate in different business meetings. They also visited Amazon’s fulfilment centre.

The two students were selected via a five-day online competition across B-schools in India, wherein students were required to create a one-minute video sharing their views on leadership and what they desired to learn at Amazon. The programme received about 1,300 entries from the top B-schools in the country.

Riya Mehta from IIM Bangalore and Gokul V S from SPJIMR Mumbai, the two students who made the cut, were selected for the tailored programme designed to provide them an opportunity to experience Amazon’s unique culture, the science of perfection and art of empathetic leadership.

The students found it “inspiring to watch these leaders in action and learn from them”. They were able to observed leadership traits that will help them “become more empathetic leaders in future”. They called it an “insightful, inspiring and thought provoking” experience, to be “cherished for a lifetime”.

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That means, present students of Class 12, irrespective of their background, can also apply. However, the course will only begin after they complete their Class 12.

Interested students from any stream can enrol for the programme as long as they have studied English and mathematics in Class 10. The last date to apply (for the 2022 batch ) is 19 August, 2022 on https://onlinedegree.iitm.ac.in

This is a great opportunity for students from the rural areas and from economically backward families to fulfil their dreams. Geographical location is no hurdle either as the classes will be conducted online. There is a provision for deserving but financially weak students to avail a 100 per cent scholarship too.

There are already 13,000 students enrolled in this job-oriented rogramme presently. The initiative will also allow students to choose between an eight-month apprenticeship or a project with various research institutes or organisations.

Exams or assessments are conducted across 111 cities in the country, as well as in Bahrain, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and UAE.

With this programme, IIT Madras hope to create a pool of skilled and job-ready professionals to meet the surging global demand.

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The programme has witnessed 18 skilled professionals being inducted this year. This is a way for Credit Suisse to provide an opportunity to skilled talent to smoothly transition into the workplace and take their careers forward after a break of at least two years.

India is the Bank’s first location in Asia Pacific to roll out the programme and has successfully enrolled more than 100 professionals. Over 80 per cent of the participants will move into full-time employment with Credit Suisse offices in Mumbai and Pune, post completion of the programme.

The programme includes a 16-week paid assignment that allows candidates to work on projects that match their skills and expertise with a support network of like-minded professionals. On completion of the programme, participants are evaluated and helped into permanent roles within the Bank.

Mickey Doshi, country CEO, India, Credit Suisse, considers career breaks as “a reflection of diverse experiences and circumstances in life” and believes that Credit Suisse, can “only gain from the diversity of our teams, and therefore, diversity & inclusion are a strategic business imperative for us”.

The programme not only helps candidates re-enter the workplace, but also empowers them with the necessary training, mentorship and professional network-building to ready them to take on permanent roles within the Bank.

The programme trains the participants to get back into the ever-evolving financial services industry. It encourages them to develop their technology, presentation and networking skills. The participants are assigned a mentor who supports and guides them in re-establishing their career.

John Burns, head of India technology and senior franchise officer, Pune & Powai, Credit Suisse, added: “Real Returns has consistently provided much-needed support to returners at whatever stage they’re at, transcending their diverse backgrounds, ages and levels of experience and enabling them to bridge learning gaps and harness their true potential.”

The Real Returns programme is also proof that the Bank supports women’s representation and advancement at work. It has consistently led to an increased participation of women with mid-career breaks in the workplace, giving them an opportunity to return to work, while enabling Credit Suisse to capture new talent.

First introduced in the UK and the US in 2014, the Real Returns programme was launched in Switzerland in 2015 and India in 2016. It has positively impacted the careers of over 480 professionals, globally.

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These students should have scored at least 60 per cent and studied mathematics or business mathematics in Class 12.

They will be enrolled in the Indian IT services multinational’s TechBee, an early career programme. Interviews for the same are already underway across Karnataka, in the cities of Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Hubballi and Mysuru.

The Company has entered into an agreement with the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC) to help students become employable in the IT sector.

About 8,000 students from across India are already benefitting from the programme.

Once the selected students complete the year-long intensive training, they are given an opportunity to intern with HCL. During the internship, they earn a stipend of Rs 10,000 and get to work on HCL projects. Those absorbed by HCL stand a chance to undergo an undergraduate programme with a renowned institution, such as BITS Pilani, or Amity University, or SASTRA University.

The TechBee initiative was launched about five years ago, in a bid to tap talent from amongst class 12 students, especially from the tier 2 and 3 towns. The objective was to help them become financially independent.

The course, which began with a batch of 80 students back in 2017, has now become so sought after, that last year about 4,000 students were enrolled, and this year, about 8,000.

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The training and orientation programme, in keeping with the Prime Minister’s ‘skill, reskill and upskill’ mantra, has been initiated by CGHS in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), and will benefit the senior medical officers from various CGHS offices and wellness centres.

Starting from 1 August, the comprehensive training will last till 6 August, during which a total of 70 officers will be trained in two lots.

Not only will these officers be able to enhance their administrative and managerial skills, but they will also come out with improved and more humane personalities.

This training programme comes at a time when CGHS is undergoing rapid digitisation of services, and is in the midst of initiating new health modalities.

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya talked about how only those organisations and individuals who are constantly learning succeed in progressing. He stressed on the importance of forever being in the learning mode and being willing to gain knowledge from and share knowledge with one another.

As an organisation, CGHS now has a wide reach with its network covering 75 cities across India and running about 450 wellness centres.

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This is the Indian multinational’s way of supporting the Singapore Government’s employment-generation initiatives for freshers and mid-career professionals. For this exercise, the Company will partner with Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), which is a statutory board, under the Ministry of Communications and Information.

As part of IMDA’s TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) Company-Led Training (CLT) programme, Infosys and iCompaz — a joint venture between Infosys and Temasek Holding — will hire technology professionals, as well as professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) from non-tech backgrounds. Fresh graduates who have passed out of universities and polytechnics will also be hired.

These hires will enjoy the benefits of Infosys’ training and education infrastructure and be able to avail new pathways to transition from conventional jobs to digital jobs of the future.

Shaji Mathew, executive vice president, Infosys, said that this collaboration with the Government of Singapore “underscores our investment and commitment to leverage Infosys’ digital expertise to develop a highly skilled future workforce at a time when the world is trying to embrace digital at scale to navigate the post-pandemic economic reality”.

According to him, Infosys is strengthening its presence in Singapore, “in pace with the digital transformation journeys of our clients” and “the plan to hire 300 locals in Singapore reinforces our commitment to our localisation strategy, at a global level”.

Kiren Kumar, deputy chief executive, IMDA, is also looking forward to Singaporeans getting trained and hired “for in-demand technology roles including cybersecurity, software and cloud engineering”.

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These students will be trained across five automotive job roles — general technician, body and paint technician, service advisor, sales consultants and call centre staff.

The initiative will help generate talented and technically-sound professionals for the automobile industry. Therefore, T-TEP is in perfect alignment with the Skill India Mission. So far, it has been associated with 56 ITI/polytechnic colleges covering 21 states. Currently, more than 10,000 students have been trained and 70 per cent of the students are already employed at various automobile companies.

Union Minister of State for Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar reiterated tha “Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s initiative” will definitely have a big impact in terms of making the students “highly skilled, employable and future ready”. He also said that the “Government is committed to encouraging, supporting and collaborating with industry partners like Toyota by providing them with a platform that will boost their efforts in bridging the existing skills gap and help develop a workforce of global standards.”

Drawing attention to the manner in which the automotive industry has been growing, Ved Mani Tiwari, COO and officiating CEO, NSDC, said, “By partnering with TKM and ASDC, NSDC will not only be able to build a highly skilled technical workforce, with greater career prospects in the automotive service industry, but also enable youngsters earn a decent livelihood by providing them with employment opportunities”.

This takes India a step closer to becoming a “Skill Capital of the World”

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In conversation with HRKatha, Manoj Kumar Sharma, CHRO, Aarti Industries, shares that the special highlight of this initiative is that the Company has onboarded all 260 future leaders in a single event, which is rare, especially in the chemical- manufacturing sector in India.

“This is part of the Company’s efforts to build a talent and leadership pipeline,” says Sharma.

As per Sharma, it took Aarti Industries almost five months to complete the whole sourcing, talent acquisition and onboarding process. All the 260 people— quite a large number by chemical industry standards— have been onboarded in a single shot, through a combined three-day event at the Company.

A combined onboarding process was decided on to ensure that every newly-hired trainee is on the same page.

“We could have chosen to do the onboarding in a segregated manner. However, as a culture, we wanted to make all new recruits understand the ‘One voice, One Team Spirit’ philosophy, right from the very start,” eplains Sharma.

In the three-day onboarding process, all leaders — from the CEO, CFO, business- development leader, to the manufacturing leader and projects leader— will be conversing with the recruits and telling them about all the upcoming opportunities in the Company.

Furthermore, the new hires will get an idea of how they will be trained, coached and mentored in the next one and a half years of their career at Aarti.

“This way, when these new recruits reach the manufacturing sites or the corporate offices, they will already be well aware of how to approach things at work,” enunciates Sharma.

All the new recruits will go through a year’s training in different areas, including functional training, cross-functional training and live assignments. This phase is termed as ‘Aghaas’ at Aarti.

“We are one of the few companies in our sector that do not ask for any returns from the new recruits in terms of performance. They will just be focussed on training. Only after one and a half years will they be expected to deliver. Till then, they only need to hang on and learn at Aarti”

Manoj Kumar Sharma, CHRO, Aarti Industries

“The one-year training will strengthen their problem-solving skills, operational functionality and all the compliance and safety skills,” asserts Sharma.

After a year, these future leaders will be trained on real-time projects and real projects for a period of six months. Post this, they will be deployed in different areas or roles such as technology development, project controllers, shifting charging roles and R&D.

“We are one of the few companies in our sector that do not ask for any returns from the new recruits in terms of performance. They will just be focussed on training. Only after one and a half years will they be expected to deliver. Till then, they only need to hang on and learn at Aarti,” explains Sharma.

Of these 260 students, 85 per cent will go into technical roles based out of the manufacturing plants and the R&D centres. The remaining 15 per cent will go into business-enabling roles.

All these students are campus hires recruited from across the country, including Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya and Manipur. “It is very heartening to see people from the North-East, Jammu and other parts of the country,” admits Sharma.

Initially, about 300 candidates were shortlisted through the application process. Then, all of them went through the technical round, HR round, psychometric tests and finally, personal interviews.

As the Company is building a talent pipeline for future leaders, a psychometric test is done to check for leadership qualities.

“We check for leadership competencies such as team leadership, resilience, courage, strategic mindset and more,” reveals Sharma.

By the end of the hiring process, only 260 out of the 300 candidates could make the cut.

“We have hired people from all IITs, IIMs, TISS and other top technical and management institutes of the country,” shares Sharma.

Aarti Industries currently employs more than 7000 people in the company. In this future leadership lot, women will account for 15 per cent of the talent and most of them will go into technical roles.

“I am very happy to see more women going into technical roles and joining the manufacturing sector, which will further strengthen our diversity goal,” says Sharma proudly.

As per Sharma, even though chemical manufacturing is a niche sector in India, it will see much larger growth in the coming years.

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