Now imagine keeping them sharp, skilled, and hungry for success in a dynamic, ever-changing market. That’s the challenge Alkem faces, and it’s a challenge they’re winning through a training strategy as dynamic as the market itself.

“Equipping our salespeople isn’t a one-time thing,” explains Dr. Rajorshi Ganguli, Alkem’s president and global  HR head. “It’s an ongoing journey.”  That journey starts with a bootcamp. A thorough induction programme followed by the in-depth Basic Training Programme (BTP) equips new recruits with the essentials: product knowledge, core selling skills, and the medical insights crucial for navigating the complexities of the pharmaceutical world.  These immersive programmes, conducted face-to-face, ensure salespeople hit the ground running, prepared to tackle anything the market throws their way.

But the market is a fickle beast. What works today might not work tomorrow. That’s why Alkem prioritises continuous improvement, constantly seeking feedback and refining its programmes. Remember that time doctors had less time for lengthy pitches? Alkem saw the shift and equipped their salespeople to deliver their message effectively in those shortened windows.  Evaluation methods such as video recordings of simulated interactions allow trainers to provide targeted feedback, ensuring every interaction is a masterclass in salesmanship.

“Long-term behaviour change is our ultimate goal. We track engagement and key metrics annually, and every programme undergoes rigorous assessment to ensure it delivers the results we need.”

Dr. Rajorshi Ganguli, president and global HR head, Alkem Laboratories

Alkem understands that classroom sessions can only go so far. Enter ‘Alkepedia,’ a mobile app offering a universe of learning resources at your fingertips. From bite-sized updates to quizzes and even gamified modules, Alkepedia keeps the salesforce engaged and sharpens the skills honed during initial training.

The focus on continuous improvement isn’t just for the new guys. Alkem recognises the importance of strong sales leadership.  That’s why they’ve partnered with SP Jain Institute of Management to offer the Sales Leadership Programme, a rigorous programme designed to transform high-potential sales managers into sales superstars.  This programme caters to specific needs, with first-line and second-line managers getting tailored programmes developed in collaboration with business managers to address real-world challenges faced by their teams.

But Alkem isn’t just about sales. The 20-25 per cent of their workforce dedicated to manufacturing and R&D benefit from a robust training infrastructure as well. New hires undergo Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) training, ensuring they’re compliant with pharmaceutical regulations before they even touch a machine. Refresher programmes further solidify these protocols, guaranteeing consistent and high-quality production.

Alkem’s Technical Training Academy in Daman acts as a central hub for all technical training programmes across their manufacturing sites. This academy offers both on-site and remote training options, catering to diverse skill levels with programmes such as ‘Shop Floor Ki Pathshala’ which provides engineering and production-related training, keeping everyone up-to-speed on the latest digital machinery.

And because the world of work is constantly evolving, Alkem acknowledges the need for continuous skilling and reskilling across all levels.  For senior management, they offer premium executive development initiatives in collaboration with prestigious institutions such as IIMs. These programmes leverage a hybrid model, allowing busy professionals to learn and grow at their own pace. Additionally, Alkem curates personalised online learning opportunities through partnerships with various online platforms.

But Alkem isn’t content with just throwing information at their employees. They’re embracing cutting-edge technology to make learning more engaging and effective.  Imagine interacting with holograms of machinery and simulated shop-floor environments!  That’s the power of augmented reality (AR), and Alkem is incorporating it into its training programmes, fostering self-guided learning and a deeper understanding of complex concepts.

Alkem’s commitment to training doesn’t stop at the end of a programme. They employ a multi-pronged approach to evaluate effectiveness.  Immediate feedback is collected after each session, while some programmes utilise pre-tests and post-tests to assess knowledge acquisition.  Department heads also provide feedback after a set period, allowing the company to gauge the impact of training on identified performance gaps.

“Long-term behaviour change is our ultimate goal,” concludes Ganguli. “We track engagement and key metrics annually, and every programme undergoes rigorous assessment to ensure it delivers the results we need.”  Alkem Laboratories isn’t just building a sales powerhouse; they’re building a future-proof workforce, one skilled, motivated, and ready to take on any challenge the market throws their way.

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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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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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As per the India Skills Report, only 49 per cent of Indian youth currently meet employability standards, underscoring the urgent need for initiatives to bridge the education-employment gap. Therefore, to address this challenge, the UPS India Technology Centres and NSDC will collaborate on skilling programmes and initiatives, with a particular focus on technology, logistics and supply-chain management.

These initiatives will include community boot camps, workshops, career counselling, technical training and management and soft skills training.

Furthermore, the partnership also extends to supporting existing youth initiatives, such as the Tamil Nadu government’s skill development programme, ‘Naan Mudhalvan’. This skill- development initiative was launched by the Tamil Nadu government to provide free training to unemployed youth in the state, in the year 2022.

UPS Technology Centres play a crucial role in advancing logistics and delivery services. These centres are hubs of innovation, focusing on cutting-edge technologies to enhance package handling, tracking and delivery efficiency. They explore advancements in automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to optimise supply chain operations.

Additionally, these centres also contribute to sustainability efforts, implementing eco-friendly solutions and energy-efficient practices. These hubs serve as vital research and development facilities, ensuring UPS stays at the forefront of technological advancements in the rapidly-evolving logistics industry, ultimately improving customer service and overall operational effectiveness.

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With this initiative, Microsoft hopes to address the growing need in India for a skilled workforce capable of using AI to tackle intricate problems and generate valuable solutions. The company acknowledges the fact that AI is transform work and daily lives like never before.

In the initial stage of the programme, participants will learn how to utilise Azure AI services to develop and launch AI solutions for various situations. This includes gaining access to helpful resources, code samples and guides to become proficient in practical AI skills.

The second level will see participants being challenged to showcase their AI expertise by completing an online assessment involving interactive lab tasks. On successful completion of this level, they will get Microsoft Applied Skills credential, which will confirm their capability to solve real-world problems using AI.

The month-long programme is open to anyone in India who is interested in AI, regardless of their experience or background. There are two levels in the programme, and participants must finish them by 31 January 2024.

Artificial intelligence is crucial for future innovations, and India is at the forefront with its talented tech community. The Microsoft Applied Skills credential allows developers to showcase their skills and creativity in high-demand AI areas. Irina Ghose, managing director, Microsoft India, has encouraged all developers to join in and contribute to creating meaningful AI solutions that can positively impact India’s economy.

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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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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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The compnay drew attention to the significant talent pool available in India and how important skills are in making a difference. It expressed delight in collaborating with the Ministry of Education to support skill development, emphasising the power of collaboration in driving positive change.

The programme will offer course content recognised by the National Occupation Standards and relevant to the industry, as stated in a press release from Salesforce.

Additionally, the initiative will involve training sessions for educators, mentorship and connections to job opportunities with Salesforce partners and customers seeking skilled individuals. The programme will also provide students with virtual internship opportunities.

The Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Department is teaming up with Salesforce on the SWAYAM platform to enhance students’ employability. The ministry is confident that the collaborative effort to create a comprehensive programme will empower students with essential job-market skills. It believes this partnership will benefit individuals and contribute to overall personal growth.

As per the company’s official statement, training modules on Trailhead, a free online learning platform of Salesforce, will be tailored to meet the programme requirements outlined by the Ministry of Education, its affiliated departments, organisations and agencies. This customisation is expected to ensure that learners derive maximum benefit from these programmes.

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Through this endeavour, HCCB aspires to support women, enabling them to take charge of their financial independence and embrace the opportunities the government and digital world offer. HCCB has facilitated several women-led self-help groups countrywide, empowering them to run their enterprises today. HCCB aspires to create more entrepreneurs through this drive.

The financial literacy training will cover concepts pertaining to banking basics, account opening procedures, unified payments interface (UPI) training, investment guidance, net banking, and information on various government schemes for women such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Sam Riddhi Yojana Nari Shakti.

The digital literacy training will cover topics such as mobile banking, digital market linkage, and cyber safety and security to equip these women with the tools required to succeed in the digital era.

The women will be divided into groups basis their requirements, needs, digital literacy level and financial knowledge. The effort is aimed at promoting a more concentrated and efficient learning experience.

According to Himanshu Priyadarshi, Chief Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Officer, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, “A key element of the culture at HCCB is to ensure an equitable environment, not only for our employees but also the communities in which we operate. By boosting these women’s financial literacy and digital competence, we hope to contribute to the country’s economic growth.”

It is HCCB’s beliefe “that the financial and digital inclusion of underserved women is essential to unlock the economic potential of India. This effort also aligns with PM Modi’s recent call for women-led development and the importance of technology in fostering inclusivity and driving positive change in his several G20 addresses.”

Gaurav Sharma, chief people officer, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, asserts, “For us, empowering women isn’t confined to HCCB as an organisation but extends far beyond society, thus creating sustainable progress.” He is confident that “The training sessions will work as impactful conduits to uplift and equip these 25,000 women with the required digital and financial skills and create a ripple effect of positive change in the larger community. We’re glad to play a part in creating a more empowered, inclusive and resilient society.”

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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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Presently, the platform has over a 100 employees who are engaged in offering online cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and data courses for the professional development and career training of students. The new hires, it is hoped, will enhance the operations of the firm and help it deliver world-class training.

In May 2022, QwikSkills had managed to raise seed funding of Rs 3.85 crore from various angel investors, including Manish Sinha and Naveen Gupta of Indian Angel Network (IAN). At the time, the firm had revealed its intention to use the raised capital to expand its presence in the business-to-business (B2B) enterprises and business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) space, and reach out to colleges and universities. It had also planned to use the funds to hire more talent for its team of developers, sales and marketing personnel, as well as cloud experts.

The Gurugram-based startup offers monthly as well as annual packages to its users via a subscription-based model. Leveraging these yearly packages, users can practice cloud computing and fulfil the needs of the industry. Students are allowed to hone their technical skills and benefit from hands-on cloud skills practice.

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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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In this era, where generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, how can organisations discard their fears regarding misuse of AI and adopt a proactive approach towards genrative AI technology? Well, instead of imposing bans and restrictions, they can focus on spreading more awareness and educating their workforce on effective utilisation of AI. They have to realise that even employees feel that AI is a threat to their livelihoods.

However it is important to keep in mind that the companies have not banned generative AI entirely but rather certain applications such as ChatGPT, which is why it is essential to recognise the broad spectrum of AI technologies and their diverse capabilities. While generative AI has undoubtedly contributed to various advancements and innovations, the decision to ban ChatGPT or similar tools primarily stems from concerns related to information privacy and security. These concerns revolve around the potential misuse or unintended consequences of AI-generated content.

The unrestricted use of generative AI in chat platforms can pose significant risks, such as the generation of misleading or false information, manipulation of public opinion, or the creation of convincing yet entirely fabricated content. These bans seek to prevent those with malicious intent from exploiting generative AI systems to disseminate misinformation, invade personal privacy, or engage in harmful activities.

That is why, Sumal Abraham Varghese, director and CHRO, Transys Global, rightly believes that it is crucial to raise awareness among employees about the benefits and limitations of generative AI. Organisations can conduct formal training sessions and programmes focused on generative AI to foster understanding and acceptance. Some companies and startups have already taken proactive steps to train their employees in generative AI implementation.

By equipping their workforce with the necessary knowledge and skills, organisations can help their employees overcome this fear and unleash the full potential of generative AI while fostering a culture of innovation.

“While AI has its limitations, such as lacking intuitive decision-making and the ability to influence people emotionally, it is important to recognise that AI is created by humans and should be seen as a complement to human skills.”

Sumal Abraham Varghese, director and CHRO, Transys Global

To empower employees and urge them to embrace generative AI technologies effectively, organisations should focus on educating and training them objectively, suggests Amit Sharma, CHRO, Volvo.

“Providing access to external resources such as online courses and publications helps employees deepen their understanding of generative AI. Making generative AI toolkits and libraries available allows them to experiment and develop generative AI applications. Ensuring access to clean datasets and offering tools for data preparation enhances their ability to work with generative AI,” enunciates Sharma.

Ethics and responsibility: Sharma emphasises that educating employees about ethical considerations and responsible generative AI practices is crucial. Organisations should also consider unique generative AI tools and resources based on their specific needs and goals. By implementing these strategies and providing relevant resources, organisations empower employees to leverage generative AI effectively, contributing to organisational success and innovation in the digital era.

AI literacy: To effectively utilise generative AI, organisations need to establish a foundation of generative AI literacy amongst the employees. This involves providing introductory training programmes that cover fundamental concepts, terminology and potential applications of generative AI. By ensuring that employees understand the basics, organisations can create a common language around AI and foster a collaborative environment for innovation.

“Providing access to external resources such as online courses and publications helps employees deepen their understanding of AI. Making AI toolkits and libraries available allows them to experiment and develop AI applications.”

Amit Sharma, CHRO, Volvo

Tailored training programmes: Every employee’s journey with generative AI will be unique, depending on their specific roles and responsibilities. Organisations should design training programmes that are tailored to address the diverse needs of different departments and job functions.

Hands-on learning and experimentation: Theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient for effective generative AI utilisation. Organisations should emphasise hands-on learning and experimentation by providing access to generative AI tools, platforms and sandbox environments. Hackathons, innovation challenges and cross-functional projects can further promote collaboration and knowledge sharing among employees.

Foundational understanding: Ravi Mishra, SVP-HR, advanced materials business, Aditya Birla Group, says that awareness and training programmes play a crucial role in introducing employees to the concepts and applications of AI. Workshops, seminars and training sessions can be conducted to provide a foundational understanding of generative AI, its benefits, and potential use cases in the workplace.

Internal AI champions: According to Mishra, “To facilitate the adoption of generative AI, organisations should encourage the emergence of internal generative AI champions. These individuals can be identified from amongst the employees who have a keen interest in generative AI and possess relevant expertise. They can serve as advocates, leading initiatives, sharing their knowledge with colleagues and providing guidance on generative AI adoption and implementation. Internal generative AI champions can also collaborate with teams and individuals to identify potential generative AI use cases and develop strategies for their successful implementation.”

Continuous learning and upskilling: The field of generative AI is dynamic and constantly evolving. Therefore, organisations should foster a culture of continuous learning and upskilling to keep pace with advancements. Establishing internal communities of practice, organising knowledge-sharing sessions, and encouraging employees to pursue certifications or advanced courses can ensure that their generative AI skills stay relevant and up-to-date.

Benefits to the organisation

Mishra points out, “Automation of repetitive tasks through generative AI technologies can free up employees’ time and energy, allowing them to focus on more complex and creative work. generative AI-powered data analysis enables organisations to extract valuable insights from vast amounts of data, leading to informed decision-making. Customer service can be improved with the assistance of generative AI chatbots and virtual assistants that can handle inquiries and support, providing quick and efficient responses to customers.”

That is not all. Mishra goes on to add, “Algorithms created by generative AI can also deliver personalised experiences to customers by analysing their preferences and behaviour. Additionally, predictive maintenance powered by generative AI can help organisations detect and address potential equipment failures, minimising downtime and optimising resource allocation”. He appreciates how “Generative AI algorithms can assist in fraud detection by identifying patterns and anomalies in large datasets, helping organisations mitigate risks.”

As organisations navigate this digital era, it is crucial for them to move beyond mere restrictions and prohibitions on generative AI usage. Instead, they should focus on equipping their workforce with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively harness and embrace generative AI technology.

“Automation of repetitive tasks through AI technologies can free up employees’ time and energy, allowing them to focus on more complex and creative work. AI-powered data analysis enables organisations to extract valuable insights from vast amounts of data, leading to informed decision-making”

Ravi Mishra, SVP-HR, advanced materials business, Aditya Birla Group

An area of interest for Varghese is the integration of generative AI into learning management systems or LMS. He points out that “some people are hesitant about generative AI due to the perceived gap between human intelligence and artificial intelligence”. He explains, “While generative AI has its limitations, such as lacking intuitive decision-making and the ability to influence people emotionally, it is important to recognise that generative AI is created by humans and should be seen as a complement to human skills.”

According to Varghese, in the context of LMS, organisations can emphasise that generative AI-enabled platforms, such as the learning experience platform or LEP, enhance existing LMS capabilities. These platforms can help learners select suitable courses, provide coding assistance, explain the practical applications of learned concepts and assess their progress. The key message for organisations is to train and educate employees on how to effectively use generative AI to complement their skills and work.

How some organisations have embraced AI to their advantage

The examples set by industry leaders such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon and Accenture highlight the significance of investing in comprehensive generative AI training programmes.

Google: Renowned technology giant, Google is widely recognised for its comprehensive generative AI training initiatives. The company established the Google generative AI Residency programme, offering intensive training and mentorship to exceptional graduates in the field of generative AI research. By providing hands-on experience and exposure to cutting-edge generative AI projects, Google fosters a culture of innovation and continuous learning among its employees.

Microsoft: Microsoft has demonstrated a commitment to generative AI education and training through its generative AI Business School. This initiative offers online courses, workshops, and resources to empower employees, customers, and partners with generative AI knowledge. The generative AI Business School provides insights into AI strategy, ethics, and implementation, helping participants understand the potential impact and benefits of generative AI adoption.

IBM: IBM has prioritised employee education in AI through its IBM SkillsBuild platform. This comprehensive learning platform offers AI-focused courses and certifications, allowing employees to upskill and re-skill in AI-related domains. IBM’s approach emphasises hands-on learning, ensuring practical application and real-world relevance of generative AI knowledge.

Amazon: Amazon has made significant investments in generative AI education and training through its Amazon Machine Learning University (MLU). This internal initiative provides employees with a diverse range of generative AI learning resources, including online courses, tutorials and workshops. By empowering employees to acquire generative AI expertise, Amazon promotes a culture of innovation and helps drive generative AI adoption across various business functions.

Accenture: Consulting firm, Accenture has embraced generative AI education and training through its Applied Intelligence Academy. This academy delivers generative AI-focused training programmes and workshops, catering to employees at all skill levels. Additionally, Accenture has integrated genrative artificial intelligence (AI) throughout its service-delivery approach, resulting in enhanced efficiency, valuable insights and accelerated value for numerous clients. This has been achieved through the utilisation of cutting-edge platforms such as myWizard, SynOps and MyNav, which have established Accenture as a leader in the market.

These companies and many others like them have shown their commitment to employee education. In doing so they have managed to foster a culture of innovation, drive business growth and stay ahead in the generative AI-driven digital landscape.

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Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer, TCS, reportedly indicated that the IT major will soon announce increments as per its normal practice.

According to Lakkad, the Company has been hiring cautiously and considers it its responsibility to ensure that the people it hires remain productive for the organisation and keep adding value to it. If a skills gap is found the Company ensures that adequate training is provided to bring them up to speed.

The Company is tapping the talent laid off from startups and is looking forward to benefitting from their contribution. Indian employees who may have been laid off by startups in the US or have been driven to consider returning to India can look forward to being picked up by TCS.

The investment made by TCS in hiring and training talent last year is now reportedly bearing fruit, according to the Company. Lateral hiring also continues as per demands of the business.

The workforce strength of TCS was about 6.13 lakh in the third quarter of financial year 2023. This was less than the 6.16 lakh in September 2022. The third quarter witnessed a marginal drop in the attrition, to 21.3 per cent. The Company expects the attrition rate to reduce further in the near future.

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These freshers had apparently performed poorly in the test conducted inhouse by the organisation, despite the training they had received. Business Today reports that the affected employees were sent a termination letter conveying that they actually owe the Company Rs 75,000, which was apparently spent on their training; and that the Company had chosen to waive off that training cost for them.

The termination came as a big shock for some freshers who were onboarded after months of delay post receiving the offer letter.

Wipro, however, maintains that these sacked freshers were let go because they were unable to clear the test, which comprises assessments that evaluate whether the individual will be able to align with the goals of the business. The Company reportedly tries to mentor them and give them training, but if they still fail to improve, they are let go.

Layoffs across the tech space have been grabbing headlines in the past few weeks. With companies realising they have excess staff at hand, and a recession just waiting around the corner, most organisations across the globe are resorting to reducing their team size.

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Having hired about 6,000 freshers in quarter three of 2022-23, the IT major hopes to fulfil its yearly projection during the year, and has no intention of making any changes to its hiring target.

Its freshers’ pipeline is being trained and reskilled as they wait on the bench. Even while organisations, globally, have been laying off employees and looking at ways to cut costs, Infosys has been hiring and training many freshers through the year.

With a significant bench strength, the Company’s utilisation is around 81.7, which according to the Company is quite low.

The Company plans to invest on its freshers and make them ready for the projects that will come their way.

At the end of December 2022, Infosys had over 3.46 lakh employees, while it had about 3,45,218 at the end of September.

About 39.4 per cent of the total workforce comprises women as compared to 39.3 percent in the previous quarter.

The attrition rate, which was 27.1 per cent in September quarter, dropped to 24.3 in the December quarter. During the same time a year ago, it was about 25.5 per cent.

The revenue of the Company, by geography also looked good. In North America, it grew 10.5 per cent and in Europe it grew 25.3 per cent. India, however, registered a 5.4 per cent drop on-year.

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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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The initiative will provide technical skills to 45,000 women and underserved youth over the next three so that they can be employed in the field of cyber security. This will also be a step towards ensuring diversity in the cybersecurity workforce of the country.

The CyberShikshaa programme involves a tie-up with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), Tata STRIVE and the ICT Academy.

The programme will also offer internship or employment opportunities to about 10,000 learners.

Data reveals that in the next three years, about 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs will be available for the taking, worldwide. This is because companies, startups as well as governments across the world are feeling the need to protect their data.

It is predicted that India will witness 32 per cent growth in cybersecurity jobs in about six years time. However, there will not be enough talent available for these jobs as the talent pool will see a shortage of about 42 per cent.

The Cybershikshaa programme has managed to successfully skill 1,100 women and help more than 800 of them find jobs in the last four years.

With further expansion of the programme, with focus on specialised training for particular sectors, the existing skill gap in the cyber security space will be bridged.

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As per media reports, a licensed beautician received a bill for about $1,900 after she left the salon she was working for, towards the training she received during her employment! The concerned beautician never saw this coming, especially since she was already experienced and required no training, and also because the trainings provided were specific to the salon she worked for and were rather basic.

According to Reuters, hapless employees in the retail, healthcare and other sectors are being charged big sums, and as a result, they have approached regulators with complaints about being charged by their employers for training.

It is true that quite a few American employees surveyed about three years ago, did have a training repayment agreement as part of their employment contract. Now, however, this clause, called TRAPs, short for Training Repayment Agreement Provisions, is inviting a lot of criticism.

It is being seen as a way for employers to keep their employees from leaving the job, or to avoid having to raise their wages or better their working conditions.

The practice wasn’t really unheard of, but was believed to have existed only in the high-paying jobs where intensive and expensive training was necessary. However, now, it appears workers even in jobs that do not require high skill levels — such as truckers and those working in the retail space — are being charged for training.

Lawmakers are considering creating a bill to keep this practice in check.

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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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The collaboration will conduct a series of trainings for the capacity building of MSDE officials over a period of five weeks. The officials will be trained on what is a clear definition of ‘sexual harassment’ and increase awareness on how the complaint process works.

The initiative — which is proof of MSDE’s commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment through the creation of a safe work environment — will empower women to become economic agents and equal partners for the inclusive growth of the country, in alignment with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

UN Women will work in tandem with MSDE to increase awareness among both men and women about what can and cannot be construed as sexual harassment and how to escalate or deal with such situations.

The capacity-building training programme which will cover the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) is yet another step towards mainstreaming gender in various policies and programmes.

The Indian government had enacted the POSH Act to provide a safe and secure work environment for women. In addition to broadening the already existing Vishakha Guidelines, it defines sexual harassment, lays down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action required to be taken.

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While women make up 36.1 per cent of its workforce, they also account for 22.2 per cent of its board of directors and 14.8 per cent of its executive committee members.

That the Company is progressing in furthering its D&I agenda is further clear from the fact that the share of women in its leadership ranks has also grown from 7.3 per cent in FY21 to 12.4 per cent in FY22.

The share of women in mid-management has grown from 10 per cent in FY21 to 11.3 per cent in FY22. Similarly, there has been growth in the share of women in junior management too, from 19.1 per cent in FY21 to 21.8 per cent in FY22.

All this has been possible due to Wipro’s capability programmes.

Women are able to stay relevant, competitive and also tackle challenges at the workplace through the Your Career Your Choice (YCYC) and Women in Leadership (WIL) initiatives. Quarterly discussions under the W-Connect Forum, with the CEO and the executive board, allow women to voice their opinions and be heard. These candid conversations help improve our charter and provide for effective two-way communication.

Under the initiative called Enrich, high-potential women employees are sponsored for leadership programmes to strengthen the talent pipeline and create an enabling ecosystem.

The Begin Again programme hires women who have taken a break from their careers and helps them get back to the active workforce. This programme has witnessed about 96 per cent of new mothers returning to work, with a whopping 99 per cent staying on with Wipro for more than a year after returning from their break.

The Refresh programme is designed to help women returning from maternity leave to smoothly transition back to work. These women are not only reskilled but are given support to build their technical and behavioural capabilities and assigned to meaningful projects.

Women techies in India were sponsored for the NASSCOM W2RT (short for Women Wizards Rule Tech) programme in FY2022. This year-long programme trained 10,000 women in the Indian industry on new and emerging technologies.

These initiatives are truly contributing to making Wipro a place, where according to Saurabh Govil, CHRO, Wipro, “everyone feels safe, respected, seen, heard, and understood irrespective of race, demography, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor”. Govil, who announced the release of the Diversity and Inclusion Report on LinkedIn, admits, “We have accomplished significant milestones but know that we have a long way to go. We are confident that our efforts will take us where we need to be”.

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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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The initiative will be able to provide relevant industry training and knowledge, which will further help bridge the skill gap and create employment opportunities in the rapidly expanding supply chain industry in India.

An MoU has been signed by Flipkart and the Bihar State Skill Development Mission to this effect.

Launched in October 2021, SCOA’s specialised and robust training programme has been designed and created by the Flipkart team to provide a holistic experience and training to candidates.

In the first phase of this skilling initiative, students from Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, have already undergon online training followed by the on-the-job training.

During this programme, shortlisted students got to work along with full-time supply chain employees at facilities across India. Earlier, in May, the Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Paschim Banga Society of Skill Development (PBSSD), Technical Education, Training & Skill Development Department, Government of West Bengal to impart relevant industry training and knowledge through SCOA.

The course comprises 15 days of digital classroom training and 45 days of on-the-job apprenticeship at Flipkart’s supply chain facilities. The candidates who qualify for this apprenticeship also earn a stipend of Rs. 17,500.

Through this initiative, knowledge on various facets of the e-commerce supply chain, the roles within the supply chain, soft skills, as well as safety and compliance are imparted. It also includes a 60-day skilling initiative to empower the youth to build careers in various aspects of supply chain management and certify them to increase their employability.

The students will learn via Flipkart’s Learning Management System. The online platform for learning programmes will teach students diverse skills through courses developed by leading industry experts.

Talking of how “skill development and certification of skills are both necessary for securing employment in the formal economy”, Jivesh Kumar, labour & skill minister, Bihar government, appreciated Flipkart’s initiative and highlighted that, “Developing the necessary skill sets to enhance employability can complement the nation’s growth”.

Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer, Flipkart, pointed out that “India can unlock its potential through large-scale skilling and upskilling initiatives to reap the benefits of its demographic dividend. E-commerce logistics, which forms the backbone of the industry, has been a key propeller in the growth of the sector which offers a multitude of opportunities for job seekers, particularly in the supply chain”.

Over the years, the e-commerce company has trained thousands of its supply-chain employees across the country in collaboration with various government bodies.

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Post registrations, the Indian Navy will begin the online application process for recruitment, which will last from 15 to 30 July.

This is a major and progressive step taken by the Indian Navy to deploy women as sailors on its warships as per their requirements.

As per a Navy official, about 30 women officers are already sailing aboard frontline warships. The Navy has decided it is high time to recruit women sailors as well, and in all trades, including those who will go to sea.

The final number of women among the 3000 naval ‘Agniveers’ that the Navy plans to induct this year itself is yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, INS Chilka is being prepared by the Navy to serve as the basic training establishment for sailors of the Indian Navy, starting 21 November, 2022.

According to media reports, this establishment will also offer facilities for training the women sailors.

The Indian government had revealed its intention to recruit 46,000 Agniveers to the Armed Forces this year. The objective is to ensure that the Armed Forces becomes more diverse and comprises younger and more physically fit members.

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Under this programme, PwDs with special abilities will receive mentor-based career coaching, according to their area of specialisation. Microsoft has tied up with various NGOs to train these PwDs in software as well as technical skills, and later place them in jobs, especially in the IT sector, across APAC.

So far, over 7,000 people with special abilities have been successfully trained.

Mentors play a significant role in assigning PwDs roles in various units basis their acquired skill sets over a period of one year. They will also be imparted skills on preparing for and attending interviews, which will help them find jobs, with support from their mentors.

Initially, the programme was tried out in five markets, in collaboration with six non-profit organisations and 14 employer partners in 2020.

Now, the programme has expanded to Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

According to Pratima Amonkar, board chair of Microsoft Diversity & Inclusion, and head of APAC cloud & AI business strategy, “This programme is that crucial next step to improving diversity in hiring across Asia Pacific region and a way to be the voice of inclusion and commit to inclusive hiring at a time when the pandemic has been hardest on marginalised communities.”

So far, more than 7,000 people with special abilities have been successfully trained by Microsoft. The IT company has conducted more than 150 hours of disability-inclusive hiring workshops with the participants.

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The proposal to reserve jobs in the Defence Ministry was given approval by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. All required amendments will be made in the rule book to accommodate this reservation policy.

Age will also be relaxed where required. For instance, relaxation of three years will be given to Agniveers by CAPFs — Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) — and Assam Rifles beyond the maximum age limit. The first batch will enjoy a relaxation of five years.

Agniveers will also be offered jobs in the Civil Aviation Ministry in various areas including aircraft maintenance and repair, air traffic, in-flight safety and so on.

They may even be considered for the lakhs of vacant posts of physical education teachers, provided they are given necessary training for the same. However, no formal announcement has been made yet regarding this.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Shipping under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has also decided to accommodate Agniveers from the Indian Navy in six service areas.

The police forces in various states are also keen to give preference to Agniveers in their recruitment.

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It will tap talent pool of tier-2 and tier-3 cities such as Shirpur, Dhule, Akola, and Jalgaon, in addition to Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin where its key customers across the banking and financial services space exist.

Clover Academy, the training and knowledge arm of Clover Infotech, will be conducting placement drives at various campuses as part of a structured hiring process. The Academy will focus on imparting training to talent in managing mission-critical technology environments in the banking, insurance, and financial services space.

The training programme will include modules on soft skills and interpersonal skills too. The objective is to equip freshers with the necessary technical, functional, and communication skills to enable them to thrive as IT professionals.

Kunal Nagarkatti, CEO, Clover Infotech, reveals how over the years, Clover has “designed intensive training and skilling initiatives to bridge the skill gap that prevails in the technology industry. Following the pandemic, companies across sectors and geographies have increased their reliance on technology to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency”, and therefore, “Clover Academy is committed to providing an excellent learning avenue to freshers to make them industry-ready IT professionals.”

The almost three-decade old serves over 150 customers across India, the Middle East, Europe, and the US.

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The Company is focussing on recruiting primarily across six departments – sales, marketing, quality analysis, learning experience, research and development (R&D), training and mentoring, as well as human resources.

As part of the expansion plans, ITLH intends to expand its territorial reach to tier-1 cities and focus more in the Middle East. It will accept more enrolments from cities such as Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai. In fact, to empower industrial understanding and skills, ITLH has also appointed working professionals to train students on the weekends.

According to Alex George, co-founder & MD, ITLH, “Redefining learning has always been our end-goal as a company. We also believe in proficiency, professionalism, and pragmatism, which are the three pillars of the industry that determine employability for a candidate in the tech tier”.

The organisation will also add more courses “for placements and bulk training in colleges, entrenching professionals with corporate training”.

George feels it is “a great opportunity for several students who want to kick-start their careers with ITLH”.

He revealed that the hiring process is very flexible, and that the interviews are conducted both face-to face as well as through various digital platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, Microsoft Teams, and other live video-conference apps.

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Openings exist at all levels, for freshers as well as experienced professionals, and will be filled by November 2022.

Talent is being sought for positions in sales, collections, operations, credit risk, and internal quality audit (IQA).

There are opportunities available at its Bengaluru head office too, in the areas of human resources, information technology (IT), data science, engineering, data platform, business operations, finance & accounting, marketing, products & strategy and more.

Interestingly, Kinara Capital is amongst the few organisations where women form a majority of the management team. There is gender inclusivity in every department, thanks to the Company’s progressive inclusive culture. The Company currently has differently-abled employees and members of the LGBTQ+ community in its team as well.

Kinara, which primarily serves MSMEs, also offers LEAP, a high-skill training programme for freshers to help jumpstart their careers. The paid, six-month long intense training programme includes rigorous classroom learning followed by hands-on field training. In the last one year, it has already trained over a 100 freshers for the corporate world.

Some of those trained here have gone on to be great problem solvers and taken on the role of hub manager.

Upholding Kinara’s commitment to providing quality customer service to underserved entrepreneurs, Hardika Shah, founder and CEO, Kinara Capital, said, “We are growing our team to support even more MSMEs, especially as we continue to expand in Tier 2 and Tier 3 geographies. Our national hiring drive is with the intent to seek out professionals who wish to lead a purpose-driven life and make an impact on others by furthering our mission of financial inclusion.”

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The MoU has been signed between Subir Verma, CHRO, Tata Power DDL and Kondalarao Bavisetti, business head, Power Consulting, Hitachi Energy India.

The training programmes under the partnership will be designed in accordance with new and emerging technologies and best practices for enhancing knowledge competency. It will aim to bridge the gap between theory and practical, imparting industrial training to students in engineering, technology, science and so on, to make them industry ready. “Tata Power-DDL is focussed on nurturing the talent pool in the power and energy industry, by sharing valuable experience and knowledge. This collaboration with Hitachi Energy is a step in the same direction and reflects our intent to help young talent to achieve their potential and the industry to create skilled manpower,” shares Verma.

As per the MoU, Hitachi Energy will contribute from the technology aspect of training and skilling people, while Tata Power-DDL will contribute in terms of the practical technology deployment experience.

The training programmes under the partnership will be designed in accordance with new and emerging technologies and best practices for enhancing knowledge competency. It will aim to bridge the gap between theory and practical, imparting industrial training to students in engineering, technology, science and so on, to make them industry ready.

“Availability of qualified manpower is a major challenge, especially in evolving fields such as power. There is an urgent need to collaborate in areas of engineering, technology and technology management to support the clean energy transition, ensuring the people of India can enjoy reliable and quality power. We are glad to be partnering with Tata Power Delhi Distribution to train and shape future talent,” says Raja Radhakrishnan, HR director, Hitachi Energy India.

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Since the majority of the Company’s workforce is in India, the new recruits here will also gain from the three-dimensional experience that Accenture aims to provide them through these Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets.

No single company has ever bought these headsets in such big numbers before.

The objective is to let new hires learn about Accenture in a more engaging manner, and make them feel they are physically present in training sessions with other colleagues.

Accenture is not new to VR. In fact, about three years ago, post acquiring Mackevision, the VR company, the tech major had started using VR in its internal processes.

The Company used augmented reality (AR) and VR to assess freshers and test them for their skills and potential before hiring them for its UK office, in 2018.

The VR assessments allowed the Company to see how the candidates would behave and respond in various situations. After all, the candidates got a feel of being within an actual Accenture office while taking the tests. These assessments, some of which required candidates to solve hieroglyphic codes while actually getting a feel of being within an Egyptian tomb, were able to test the candidates’ problem-solving and analytical skills too.

Posts on social media indicate that the Company will invest more on VR/AR-based training in the near future.

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The programme will impart theoretical as well as practical knowledge. The six-month long programme will comprise three months of virtual classroom sessions, which can be attended from home, and three months of professional practice at HCL. The starting salary for the trainees will be about Rs 2.75 lakh per year.

The ‘First Careers’ initiative will equip those who apply with practical skills and relevant technical knowledge required for their first job. It will also help develop their personalities with the help of experienced professionals.

The tech major expects to hire at least 20,000 fresh graduates this year and 30,000 next year.

The applicants will be equipped to not only understand what job suits them, but will ensure that they excel in the chosen area in about half a year’s time and settle into a suitable role by the end of the programme.

Those with BE / B.Tech / MCA / M.Tech / M.Sc (IT/ Computer Science) degrees with 0 to 2 years of professional experience may apply. The applicants should have scored at least 65% marks in Class XII and graduation or postgraduation. Those who have graduated in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 will be eligible.

The selection process will involve registration, online counselling, online aptitude test and virtual interview.

The programme will cost about Rs1,50,000 and taxes.

The training will be imparted by HCL Training and Staffing Services.

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As per the India Skills Report 2021, only 45.9 per cent of the Indian youth is employable, whereas the majority (85.92 per cent) are looking for internship opportunities to kickstart their careers. With competition for jobs increasing, and advanced technology, and new jobs coming into the market, futuristic skills such as AI, digital marketing and cloud computing require to be mastered to fulfil job demands.

Therefore, YES Foundation has partnered with FUEL, to provide career counselling and skills training to youth. On completion of the programme, the students will be awarded certificates by FUEL and YES Foundation, jointly, along with help with job placement. Interested youth can register for the programme on https://bit.ly/fuelmh.

The programme will make youth more self-aware through aptitude and soft skills training. It will better equip them to choose meaningful career paths and learn futuristic skills, and receive help from the collaboration to find jobs.

Through this programme, “we can convert our population into an asset through skilling and contribute to nation building,” said Nawab Malik, Cabinet Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Maharashtra.

Prashant Kumar, MD & CEO, YES BANK, believes, “Skilling youth in futuristic technology will not only offer a steppingstone to rewarding career options of the future, but also go a long way in ensuring sustained economic growth and technological innovation”.

The programme is “aligned with the Bank’s overall CSR strategy and the global sustainable development goals”.

Ketan Deshpande, founder & CEO, FUEL revealed that they had “applied for Private Skill University, and therefore, we invite leading corporates of India to partner with us.”

In addition to Malik, Kumar, and Deshpande, others who were present at the inauguration of the initiative included, Manisha Verma, Principal Secretary, Skill Development Department, Maharashtra and Santosh Huralikoppi, chief mentor, FUEL.

Having already trained 45,000 youth in futuristic skills, FUEL works in the fields of skill development, career counseling, and scholarships for the disadvantaged youth of India under the CSR initiative of various leading corporates. YES Foundation —registered as YES BANK’s ‘Settlor’ — focuses on stimulating employability and entrepreneurship and promoting environmental sustainability, to bridge gaps and act as a force multiplier towards an empowered and equitable India.

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These unprecedented times have paved the way for accelerated adoption of many innovative L&D strategies. One such strategy is microlearning, which has stood the test of time and disruptions, promising a quick and impactful way to skill employees.

Why microlearning is impactful now

Microlearning, as the name suggests, is a way of offering short, crisp and focused content nuggets to learners, at the time and place of their need. While it is hardly a new idea, its power has become increasingly clear during challenging times such as now. When done in the right manner and context, microlearning can be a highly effective method of training.

Today, people check their smartphones every single minute, and Zoom fatigue has become a real thing. Naturally then, the demand for bite-sized digital learning is rising across the business world. Modern learners lead busy lives and are keen to access e-learning courses on-the-go, and at the time of their need/convenience — be it prior to meetings, while travelling, or even over breakfast. In order to gain the right kind of pull for training, L&D needs to target these small windows of opportunity, and microlearning is the perfect fit for this.

Plethora offers a comprehensive library of bite-sized learning and easily consumed courses that drive engagement and achieve optimum learning outcomes for today’s time-deprived millennial workforce. Get in touch to learn more

How microlearning is the right choice to build skills

When it comes to building skills, microlearning offers multiple benefits by helping learners retain information:

1. Suitable for learners with shorter attention spans

Given that remote or hybrid working is the norm in most organisations, employees are multitasking all the time and have shorter attention spans. Always in a rush to meet stringent deadlines, they hardly have the time to attend longer online training sessions. This makes microlearning the best way to offer much-needed skills training to such a workforce.

2. Enables training through mobile devices

The shorter duration of microlearning content makes it a perfect fit for delivery on mobile devices. These bite-sized learning modules can easily be accessed on the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. At a time when remote workers are increasingly relying on mobile learning, microlearning is a great way to deliver skill-development programmes.

3. Imparts varied levels of skills training

When it comes to skills training, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. While some learners may need just basic skills for their roles, others may require advanced skills. It helps if learners can access the skills training programmes that are relevant to their needs and enable them to perform their jobs better, rather than wasting time over training programmes that may not benefit them. Microlearning modules with bite-sized learning curricula can help impart skills training for varying levels. Learners have the option to pick the modules that are the most relevant to them and skip the rest.

Ways in which microlearning can be leveraged to boost skills development

There are several engaging and innovative formats that are multi-device, which can be picked up based on the nature of content to create engaging microlearning:

· Making the best use of bite-sized videos

One of the most effective and engaging ways of imparting skills training is videos. There are multiple ways in which micro e-learning videos can be used to build different skills. For instance, bite-sized videos can be used to offer just-in-time support to service technicians, who can quickly watch a short video on their mobiles on how to service a particular equipment. Bite-sized videos can also be used to enhance communication skills. With the help of videos, learners can be guided on different aspects of communication, such as verbal/non-verbal communication, body language, tone, gestures, and so on.

· Utilising micro problem-based learning modules

Bite-sized learning modules that have problem-based elements, such as scenarios and case-studies, are an effective way to stimulate critical thinking and enhance problem-solving skills. For instance, pharma companies can offer their learners real-life case studies where drug makers were penalised for violating FDA norms. This will help them understand and analyse what went wrong and how to avoid such situations.

· Harnessing the power of gamification

In times of remote learning, when learners are facing a lack of engagement, gamified bite-sized courses are highly effective to impart skills such as leadership abilities, in a fun and engaging manner. Companies can deploy short web-based, gamified business simulations to accompany regular training sessions. These simulations can effectively help learners hone their soft skills, such as decision-making and negotiation.

Takeaway

Microlearning strategies perfectly suit skills development initiatives, as they cater to the varied learning styles of learners with small, crisp content nuggets. At a time when in-person learning and training are not feasible, including microlearning in the L&D strategy can be an impactful solution to ramp up learning at scale.

The author, Amit Gautam is the Founder & CEO of UpsideLMS and Plethora. He is a learning technology enthusiast and a passionate leader. An IIM and NIT alumnus, Gautam is the key idea generator for UpsideLMS & Plethora’s product teams, a Sales and Marketing orchestrator, a learning technology solutions consultant for clients and prospects, and a mentor for all the function heads at his company.

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The hiring is part of its plan to give a push to its retail presence across India in this financial year.

Its multiple outlets in renowned malls, department stores, high streets, and so on, in over 10 countries, are efficiently run by staff belonging to about 14 nationalities and speaking at least 50 different languages. It is looking for talent in the sales, stores operations and accounts departments. At least 50 per cent of the existing vacancies will be filled by women.

The brand is offering internships and training opportunities for freshers (BTech/MBA) to learn jewellery retail sales and operations. In addition to information technology, finance and accounts, it is also hiring for positions in jewellery manufacturing, that is artisans, as well as design and development, digital marketing supply chain management, merchandising, project execution and business analytics.

Malabar Gold & Diamond is aiming to become “the leading responsible jewellery retail brand in the world in terms of both showroom count and turnover.” The brand is committed to fulfilling the learning and development needs of its employees, and is keen to hire skilled talent to be part of its growth journey.

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The speakers for this session were Emmanuel David , director, Tata Management Training Centre; Jayant Kumar, joint president – HR, Adani Group, Tanaya Mishra, global CHRO, Essar Projects and Ravi Mishra, SVP-HR, Global Epoxy Business, Aditya Birla Group.

The ‘Great HR Debate’ has been conceived to discuss the hard-hitting topics of people strategy in India.

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This was the second session which was part of ‘The Great HR Debate’ L&D special sponsored by Harappa Education. It took place on Friday, 19th February, 2021. The speakers who were part of this session were Dileepan Moorkanat, head of learning, HPE India; Nitin Thakur, head of learning, Jindal Stainless; Indraneel Das, global head of learning, Kohler; Shivin Tikkoo, Head – Organisational Development, Mahindra & Mahindra and Rohit Iyer, director, L&D, PWC India.

The session was moderated by Shreyasi Singh, founder & CEO, Harappa Education.

The ‘Great HR Debate’ has been conceived to discuss the hard-hitting topics of people strategy in India.

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Siloes, hierarchies, power distance, command and control have given way to more virtual, inter-dependent, innovative and trust-based ways of working together remotely. Some have coped, some have thrived, while many may have fallen behind.

How can one support people to deliver with accountability and passion in a self-sustaining way during challenging times? One of the solutions may lie in Team Coaching.

International Coaching Federation (ICF),the leading global body for coaches and coaching mentions: “Team Coaching is one of the fastest-growing disciplines in the coaching profession and is becoming increasingly important in organisations, including private corporations, government agencies and non-profits.”

In the past, several companies positioned one-to-one coaching as a white-glove offering for the blue-eyed few. A disadvantage to this kind of exclusive offering is that while it focuses on the individuals, it pays scant attention to the larger teams. There is a need to have a broader and self-sustainable solution during these times. Team Coaching has plenty to offer in this space.

Team Coaching enables teams to perform and build capability by learning to work together and manage their interdependencies well while staying focused on the expectations of their leaders, groups, businesses, clients and stakeholders at large.

The coach, the leader, and the team work together to tap into their collective potential and make more possible, collaboratively and sustainably.

David Clutterbuck, in his book, Coaching the Team at Work, says, “Team coaching is not just about performance. It is also about capability–the ability of the team to perform in the future by growing and adapting to changes in the environment.

Concentrating only on performance now creates a short-term perspective that endangers performance in the future.”

Team Coaching’s power lies in its ability to work with and unleash a team’s potential through reflection, interaction and tangible actions. It can work well when a new team is coming together, or a new leader is taking over, or the team has a challenge at hand, like crucial projects to deliver, new strategies to develop, products to launch and markets to enter, or in helping a team transform into a high-performance unit.

It is essential to be clear on the distinction or boundaries of Team Coaching from Team Building, Consulting and Training.

• Team building is a short intervention focused more on the team getting to know each other and lays the foundations for cooperation.

• Team training is about a trainer imparting specific skills or transfer of knowledge to a team which helps them perform better. In the case of consulting, the focus is on problem-solving, and the consultant tends to be the expert or observer who disseminates knowledge on a specific project.

• Team Coaching, on the other hand, builds capability to deliver on its purpose and mission without losing focus of themselves as a team, the organisation, their stakeholders and the ensuing complexities.

The question that remains is, ‘How does one go about engaging a team coach?

The first step is to get internal buy-in and sponsorship on team coaching being the right intervention.

Such a move would also mean that one has the team aboard as well as the leader on how they could potentially benefit from team coaching, along with their commitment to making it work. Ideally, the team should not comprise more than five to ten people. If there are more than five, it is better to hire an internal or external co-coach to help manage the complexity.

As far as possible, one must select a practitioner team coach who has solid experience working with teams and knowledge of business and team dynamics. Additionally, it is recommended to select a coach who is accredited by a recognised coaching body, such as ICF, so one knows this coach has the right skills and foundation and abides by the standards and ethics of coaching.

ICF recently announced its Team Coaching Competency Model which is a comprehensive resource document for those evaluating enlisting a Team Coach.

Qualities to look for in a coach include self-awareness, presence, empathy, deep listening, dialogue skills and a willingness to provoke conversations that are crucial and sometimes uncomfortable.

Even amidst possible discomfort, a Team coach must be able to hold a very safe, calm and trusting space for the team where psychological safety and confidentiality underpin everything that happens in team coaching.

The coach’s chemistry with the team and the leader would be another vital check point before engaging a team coach. The length of a team coaching engagement should be any where from four to six months and may extend by a month or two depending on complexity.

The coach may need opportunities to observe the team in action during meetings or huddles and have individual conversations with team members and leaders on a need basis.

In some situations, it may be beneficial to use a team diagnostic, such as 360-degree feedback for the team at some stage of the process to get a snap shot of the progress, strengths, perceptions, blind spots, or even dysfunctions of the team.

Given the complexity of team coaching, it is worth checking if the team coach will be taking the assignment to supervision and the confidentiality agreements necessary in that case.

Team Coaching does not work in all situations. It is crucial that the team identified for team coaching is an intact one that works together and has co-dependencies to navigate.

Otherwise, there will be little glue to bind them and keep them committed.
If the group is likely to be restructured or re-organised shortly, it may not be the best time to engage in team coaching. Team coaching works when the team members are together and co-dependent for at least the duration of the coaching. Team coaching may not be the ideal intervention if the team has unhealthy levels of conflict and dysfunction or lacks resources to accomplish the challenges at hand.

Team Coaching is an evolving and promising field with immense potential. The heart of the process is about the team unlocking its capability by raising awareness about their collective behaviours, strengths and weaknesses. They learn and lead themselves, build trust and mutual accountability and can self sustain and not have to depend on a coach in  a few months.

When that transfer of process happens from the coach to the team, one knows that it was a successful engagement for one self, the team and the team coach.

Team coaching holds the keys to several team challenges in a fast-paced and dynamic  world, where individual and team interfaces have tremendous energy that needs to be constructively unleashed for superior performance and business results.

To learn more about professional coaching and its organisational benefits, visit International Coaching Federation.

Professional coaching services can be found using ICF’s directory of credentialed coaches spread all over the world.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the world’s largest organisation leading the global advancement of the coaching profession and fostering the role of coaching role as an integral part of a thriving society. Founded in 1995, its 35,000-plus members located in more than 140 countries and territories work toward the common goals of enhancing awareness of coaching and upholding the integrity of the profession through lifelong learning and maintaining the highest ethical standards. Through the work of its six unique family organisations, ICF empowers professional coaches, coaching clients, organisations, communities and the world through coaching. Visit coachingfederation.org for more information.

In India, ICF is represented by six vibrant chapters, all led by volunteers — ICF Bengaluru, ICF Chennai, ICF Delhi, ICF Mumbai, ICF Pune and ICF Hyderabad.

Latha Emmatty Gupta is an ICF Accredited Coach and Founder of OD Mantra, a boutique coaching, consulting and OD firm. She spent over 25 years with leading corporations at executive and board positions in India, where she was responsible for talent and leadership development. She is an expert on 360-degree feedback tools and a master practitioner for Big Five Personality Assessments.

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Avijit Bhattacharya- CHRO Tata Capital, comments, “The endeavour of the Tata Capital Management Trainee Programme is to induct high-quality talent at the entry level, provide them a wide spectrum of opportunities across functions and projects to hone their skills and nurture them for assuming leadership positions fairly early in their career journey. We also ensure that each cohort adds to the diversity of our workforce, thereby enhancing its dynamism even more.”

Tata Capital and its subsidiary companies provide a wide array of services and products in the financial services sector. The Company’s diverse offerings include retail loans, corporate loans, housing finance, wealth management, cleantech and private equity.

Over the years, Tata Capital has achieved growth and scale by entering new geographies and driving opportunities through innovative digital channels and platforms. Technology plays a key role in re-defining business processes and customer service at Tata Capital. Currently, the company is present in over 160 locations, caters to over 25,00,000 customers and has an employee strength of over 5000 across the country.

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This programme will offer B-school aspirants a chance to shadow and partner with product managers to convert their innovative ideas into actual product features and come up with solutions for real-life problems in business. They will receive guidance, mentorship and recommendations from engineering heads, product leaders, and even the Company’s founders before they begin their MBA course. Once they get admission, they will undergo a 6-8 week pre-MBA product management internship at Dineout, before joining the B-school. This internship will set them apart from the other students while applying for internships or full-time roles post their course.

Amit Bhatnagar, chief product officer – Dineout reveals that the Company realised, “that a large number of bright young techies aspiring to transition into product management or business roles in tech companies lack the critical edge of building real products that support rapid business growth.” Therefore, Dineout’s “dynamic mentor panel” will “help these sharp young minds grasp the tenets of product management, such as first principles problem-solving, customer-focus, data-driven decisions, and stakeholder management” that can be applied in their careers.

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The shift to remote working and online working increased the importance of access to data networks and electronic devices, such as computers, laptops, smart phones and so on. Women ended up spending more time doing domestic chores and caring for the family and elderly, than men. In other words, women spent more time doing work that did not pay them anything as compared to men, reveals the Time Use Survey.

There is an urgent need to provide more protection and security to working women through non-discriminatory policies, in terms of remuneration, compensation, promotions and incentives at work, career growth, medical benefits and social security. However, the report does indicate that there has been improvement in immunisation coverage for kids, the rate of infant mortality, rate of mortality under five, as well as institutional birth.

The Index of Industrial Production or IIP indicates a strong recovery of economic activity, which is apparently moving fast towards pre-COVID levels. Last year, India moved up to 63rd rank in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index from the earlier 77th position. The total FDI equity inflows were US$49.98 billion in 2020 as compared to US$44.37 billion in the previous financial year. The Government has announced a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the 10 key sectors under AatmaNirbhar Bharat to improve the country’s manufacturing efforts as well as exports.

The country’s services sector shrunk by almost 16 per cent, during the pandemic-related lockdown. This sector accounts for over 54 per cent of India’s gross value added (GVA).

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The Flexi-MoU scheme, will see TKM training students at the Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) through its Toyota Koushalya Programme. As an Industrial Training Provider (ITP), TKM will provide skills training to youth from the economically weaker sections from Karnataka’s rural areas.

The ‘Learn and Earn’ approach will ensure that the youth are given theoretical knowledge as well as on-the-job training (OJT), by master trainers in the Toyota Production System (TPS).

The trainees will be required to pass an exam at the end of the training — conducted by the DGT and TKM, in line with DGT guidelines and the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) — following which they will get a certificate. The two-year training programme will impart training in automobile welding, automobile assembly, automobile painting and mechatronic. The initiative will be of immense benefit to students who have passed Class 10 but are unable to study further due to economic constraints. Admissions to the training programme have already begun.

The trainees will receive training in an industry environment in line with market demands and will be made familiar with the latest technology.

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The Centre of Excellence, will train and skill job seekers who wish to join the logistics space. It will focus on augmenting skill development in the logistic industry.

Equipped with modern classrooms, computers and projectors, this CoE covers an area of 1,500 sq ft. The training modules have been developed with help from LSC and KSDC, and will impart knowledge to candidates on various aspects of logistics and supply chain, including storage and distribution, customer management and material handling.

The learners will also be updated about the local transportation laws and regulations and receive an overall knowledge of the end-to-end supply chain. Soft skills training will also ensure that the aspirants are able to interact with customers satisfactorily.

Karnataka Kaushalya Mission, will also actively help in this endeavour, especially by mobilising learners for the CoE.

The 60-day long training session will make the participants job ready, especially in the Indian e-commerce space.

The certificates provided to the learners at the end of the course will be recognised in several countries, such as Australia, Denmark, Germany and Saudi Arabia. The certification awarded under the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSFQ), will be equivalent to an undergraduate degree, and will significantly increase the job prospects of the learners.

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The Company has already offered 250 positions across institutions, such as the IITs of Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee, Guwahati and Delhi, to name a few. The hired trainees will be absorbed across various business verticals. There will be continuous learning opportunities and a good opportunity for growth for these hired engineers.

It has been L&T’s practice to hire more than 1,000 engineers every year from premier institutions, including the IITs and NITs. With remote working becoming the norm, the Company adopted virtual hiring through relying on its unique online internal hiring platform.

The hired talents are put through a three-week internally-developed induction/training programme. For 2020, the whole process was conducted in August itself, with training given through digital and remote modes respectively, over a period of three weeks. This enabled the engineers to acquaint themselves with the core values and strategies of L&T.

The Graduate Engineer Training (GET) programme has alumni and leaders from across various leadership roles in the Company pitching in. This is one of the signature programmes of L&T and an integral part of its rigorous selection process. The GET and Post-Graduate Engineers Training (PGET) programme further impart hands-on experiential learning to the young trainees and give them the chance to interact with senior employees.

The new talent pool will be deployed across its business and functional aspects — business development, design, strategy, project, construction and contract management.

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Aptly called ‘Saksham’, the initiative will train people, empower them and make them employable in various sectors. Not only will the youth participating in the programme be imparted theoretical knowledge, but they will also be given practical experience through on-the-job training, which will then be followed by placements. The programme will offer many job-oriented courses in various sectors. All the courses will be certified by the National Skill development Corporation.

To begin with, in the first phase, the Hyundai Motor India Foundation, which is the CSR wing of HMIL, will focus on Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana. It aims to help 290 people get jobs before moving on to the second phase, which will cover Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.

By the end of the year, the Company hopes to have about 580 people trained and job ready, for various sectors including healthcare. The trained students will be employable as janitors and attendants, and will be capable of working as patient attendants.

Considering that the pandemic has given rise to an urgent need for more hands in the healthcare sector, Saksham aims to first try and fulfil the shortage in that area by skilling and readying unemployed youth for jobs in this sector.

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The aim is to increase women’s workforce participation by providing underserved young women from rural areas the skills to survive and grow in a digital economy. Over 70 hours of course content will be available free of cost, on digital literacy, enhancing employability, nano entrepreneurship, communication skills and other subjects.

The programme will curate a series of live training sessions and digital skilling drives to help create opportunities for young girls and women, particularly first-time job seekers and those who may have lost their livelihood during the pandemic, to join the future workforce. These live training sessions will be delivered online through the Microsoft Community Training (MCT) platform. The trainees will be able to access the content already available on the MCT platform and engage with peers.

This collaboration will witness eSkill India, NSDC’s digital skilling initiative, lending support to building the outreach of this engagement through its skilling ecosystem, including sector skill councils, training partners and training centres.

Microsoft and NSDC will award joint e-certificates to participants on successful completion of the course. Additionally, 20,000 young women from regions with poor women’s participation in the labour force will be selected skilled via a ‘dedicated skills for employability’ training programme for employment in IT/IT-enabled jobs.

Anant Maheshwari, president, Microsoft India, rightly believes that at a time when the pandemic has enhanced India’s digital transformation, a workforce “possessing future-ready skills will be the key to unlocking the country’s next phase of growth.” By providing equal opportunity to underserved young women, along with access to digital skills, the journey to economic recovery will become an inclusive one. The partnership with NSDC will not only “bridge the gender gap” in terms of accessing digital skills, but enable “everyone to succeed in a digital economy.”

Dr Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, points out, “Mainstreaming of content, delivery of training and use of digital platforms are key to increasing participation of women.”

This partnership is an extension of Microsoft’s global skilling initiative to assist 25 million people worldwide obtain new digital skills required for the post-pandemic economy and part of Microsoft India’s ongoing commitment to support young women for a career in technology.

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The Government of Punjab is planning to tie up with training partners who will impart coaching to interested youth, to attempt various state and central-level competitive exams, including those of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), banks, Railway Recruitment Board and other departments.

The Department of Employment Generation and Training has started hiring various training partners across districts. These training partners will screen candidates via tests, to evaluate their aptitude for an exam and coach them accordingly. Minimum qualification for a government job, however, is graduation.

Candidates will be training in two batches daily, with 50 candidates in each batch. The two-hour long sessions will be held six days a week. Half an hour will be devoted to clearing doubts too. The sessions will be held in the District Bureau of Employment and Enterprises (DBEE) premises across Punjab.

The training partners will have to ensure that the trainers are specialised teachers possessing good communication skills and capable of making the candidates familiar with the pattern of exams. The curriculum will cover the syllabus and subjects in Punjabi, English and Hindi. The candidates will be given enough mock tests during the training.

A weekly schedule of classes and session will be conveyed via SMS and WhatsApp. Information regarding upcoming exams will also be provided to students. Counsellors of DBEE will guide the candidates and help them fill out forms too.

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