With people now considered the main source of competitive advantage for companies, the role of training is paramount in giving corporate assets a keener edge. How do companies handle this challenge in the knowledge economy?
Different companies handle it differently. But the basic aim is to make employees well-rounded individuals who understand the businesses their companies are in. Sapient Corporation India, a technology consultancy, has devised its training on the premise that the company must help clients innovate.
Says senior manager- technology Sanjay Krishnamurthy, "Employees need to think in terms like, 'I've devised a solution that will save the client $2.5 million a quarter', rather than, 'I've written a new code in Java'."
Training at Sapient is a mix of online and classroom learning, reinforced by real-life situational learning. At BPOs like Mumbai-based Intelenet Global Services, training needs are rather different. Explains vice-president (human resources) Manuel D'souza, "Our training strategy is built on four pillars— building workforce capability for current roles; training people to move to the next higher level; culture building; and learning while earning."
D'souza explains that associates are taught team leader skills (technical and behavioural) and team leaders are groomed to become team managers, with competencies and skills needed in each role having been mapped. Three or four potential successors are identified for each middle- and senior-level executive, to address the risk of resignations. In the one-year and three-year MBA programmes, faculty from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies conduct classes at Intelenet's facilities.
At KPO companies like WNS, training is still more different. CEO- Knowledge Services, Amit Bhatia, explains that since 80 percent of his staff has advanced degrees (MA, CA, MBA, CFA, PhDs), 'their training is more contextual'.
KPOs, under pressure from clients to rapidly go live, compress this training into just four weeks, compared to six to eight weeks at BPOs. "The remaining training is on the job, and the bigger test is coming up to speed and going up the learning curve," notes Bhatia.
