He, however, couldn't shake off the feeling that his role didn't have scope for interaction with people. However, unlike other cases, where employees could not switch roles with ease, Kumar discovered that the company, under its induction programme, was looking out for senior managers to mentor fresh recruits.
A new opportunity
"So far, I have conducted 10 sessions and they have been extremely helpful towards the joinees as well as to me. By doing this, I have come to understand the organisation better. Apart from trying to solve some of the trainee concerns, I have been able to take their issues to their seniors and get them solved," says Kumar.
Kumar dedicates two days each month for this activity. The Blue Opportunities programme thus draws on the talent that the company has in-house to solve regular business and technology issues.
It's an initiative designed to help employees take advantage of a range of experience-based learning opportunities such as stretch assignments, cross-unit projects, job rotations, publications, patents, and more, which will enhance their career and expertise in the long term.
Birth of an idea
Currently, over 1,200 Indian employees are deployed to over 35 countries, such as Austria, Finland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Egypt, under this programme. They are working across domains like petrochemicals, telecom, banking and FMCG.
Globally, IBM employs 386,558 people. IBM India has 73,000 employees. The idea was conceptualised during IBM's WorldJam 2004 programme, a 72-hour online dialogue between senior leaders and all employees.
Post-programme, senior leaders learned that employees want greater access to different work. The same initiative was launched in India in mid-2007.
As pilot, only two to three opportunities were initiated with IBM's software lab. But since then, the number of opportunities has risen to 200. "Today's global economy is a knowledge economy, which requires fresh thinking and innovative approaches to workforce management. In fact, IBM's latest human capital management study reveals that 75 per cent of global business leaders are worried about the ability to build globally aware leaders; 88 per cent of those respondents are from Asia," says David Tai, director (HR learning), IBM India/South Asia.
Attrition control
Tai says the programme was not launched as a means for controlling attrition, which is a big concern in emerging markets.
"We haven't conducted any study since the launch to find out whether the programme has affected attrition levels. But I personally feel that it will certainly be successful in retaining people, especially in India, where we hire in hundreds of young employees . The main concern for them is learning and career opportunities."
Elucidating his point, Tai adds, "The induction programme alone has a contribution of 34 business facilitators. IBM has lots of opportunities, this also helps them to identify and work on them."
IBM will soon be launching a project across emerging markets to develop global leadership. "This programme has been designed in-house and will be rolled out in the third quarter of FY09 in China, Russia, Asian (including India) and Brazil."
Fresh Ideas
IBM has deployed over 1,200 Indian employees to countries like Austria, Finland, Denmark, Costa Rica, under the Blue Opportunities programme
Will launch a project across emerging markets to develop global leadership in the third quarter of FY09
