One of the key challenges faced by organisations in today’s dynamic world is to keep pace with changing technologies and systems. Further to this, it is vital that the Intellectual Capital that differentiates one organisation from the other is kept abreast of these changes to retain a competitive advantage. Organisations these days are investing heavily into skilling needs of employees by imparting training of various kinds.
The concept of  training as a serious business is underlined that it is not limited to in-house organisation efforts, but includes tie-ups as well. For instance Tesco Hindustan Service Centre’s (HSC) “Tesco Retail Certification programme”. This is aimed at developing knowledge of contemporary retail management issues among the employees of Tesco HSC. The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore will provide academic input and integrated retail management consulting will conduct workshops to reinforce the learning.

Accenture - XLRI HR Academy is the first of its kind training academy dedicated to the human capital management needs of the growing information technology and business process outsourcing industries. This is a 24-month programme for recent university graduates who have joined Accenture as trainees in the HR department. Trainees who complete the programme will receive the “Accenture and XLRI Certification in Human Capital Management.”  “We also have  a partnership with LIBA and run a two year PG programme, a prerequisite for graduate engineers to join Maveric,” adds Ranga Reddy, CEO, Maveric Systems.

In fact most organisations organise two types of training programmes that can be broadly classified as technical and non-technical. Yahoo offers programmes in 4 key development arenas to hone technical, professional, life and leadership skills. “We have internally designed a leadership programme ‘Leading Big’ as well as a variety of coaching, mentoring and executive development programmes in conjunction with leading Indian Business Schools,” explains Phil Quigley, Manager, Talent Development, Yahoo! India R&D.

Specifics
These courses are both instructor facilitated classroom courses and on the job (OJT) delivered by a manager in the form of coaching. Kotak Mahindra does refresher courses for the mandatory training for product knowledge and positioning, enhancing selling skills, recruitment and selection, goal setting and train the trainer programmes among others.

At Perot Systems, employee training is done through ‘Perot Academy’ that primarily looks into technical and domain specific training, learning and development training, soft skills, compliance and performance management programmes. Says Ashok Waran, Senior VP, Perot Systems and Head, Perot Academy, “These are of various levels to best suit the needs of our associates. Depending on the participant profile and nature of the programme, some are offered in classrooms, while some can be taken through e-learning.”

Accenture uses an internet-based tool called “myLearning”, serving as a starting point for employee’s professional development. Infinite’s mandate is that every employee needs to complete 8 days of training in a year. “Infinite has tied up with various training institutes in line with its requirements and also invites external speakers or industry experts to conduct special sessions on a regular basis,” says Prashanth L J, AVP & Global Marketing Head, Infinite Computer Solutions. The Training and Development activities at Infinite involve both the on-the-job as well as the classroom training. As part of classroom training, we have the “Hire-Train-Deploy” model where  individuals undergo extensive training for a couple of months on generic skill sets. “Our comprehensive training in Monsanto called ‘Building Excellence’ aims at enabling employees with skills and competencies required to compete,” says Ernest Louis, HR Director, India Region.

The training and capacity building at CRY provides opportunities to individuals to realise their full potential. “Experiential training on the other hand helps an individual gain hands on experience. Employees  get involved working in a specific area or a project and learn the job better. In  exploratory learning individuals explore their current personal stances, ideologies, values  and iron out similarities and dissimilarities,” says Shehkar Manelkar, Director, HR & Admin.

Locations
Trainers first do the training in classrooms. Subsequently, the reporting managers along with the trainers do on the job coaching (not training). This is the only combination that works explains Arun Patil, Head - Sales Training & Management Development, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Company Ltd. Mumbai. At Yahoo, teambuilding and specialty courses are also held in offsite locations like Goa, Mumbai and Singapore. In fact sessions out of office have a positive affect, advocates Pramod Jajoo, MD, Xora Software Systems Private Ltd. “These sessions help in bonding of the team and recognise each other's strengths,” he added.

Most organisations use a combination of on the job training and classroom sessions. Says Ravi Shankar, Director, Natural Search Internet Solutions, “The company’s target is to see to it that every employee is involved in training for at least two days every quarter. The resource persons interact with the target group a week before the session and elicit information on the areas that needs to be specifically addressed.”

Classroom sessions are an effective method to introduce a new subject to a participant while on the job training gives the learner the flexibility of exploring any facet of the subject in depth at one's own pace and requirement. Team building types of programmes as well as leadership that are generally outbound. “We have a program called ‘Triumph Through Teamwork’ which is a two day residential programme conducted in the outskirts, places like Banerghatta jungle resort in Bangalore or Corbett Park for Delhi associates,” explains Mr Waran.

“CSR has been driving its training initiatives on both technical and behavioural front. CSR engineers also attend trainings on other sites like for technical seminars given in the UK,” says Saritha Radhakrishnan - Manager HR, CSR.

“We also find outbound training to be very effective when it comes to building better teams or enhancing the interpersonal skills and to empower people to face challenges and increase their risk taking capability,” says G S Ramesh, Sr. VP - HR, Hyundai Motor India Limited. Adds Shankar Narasimhan, Director - HR, Ajuba International, “We have found that classroom training is highly effective when we have to transfer knowledge.  Various tools and methodologies such as, Computer Based Training, instructor led workshops and intranet supplement this. We have our own in-house intranet training portal called Skillworx.”

Training effectiveness
Training can be considered to have been effective if the trained person is able to apply the learning to work. This is measured in several ways like post course evaluations, certifications, follow up at specific intervals and by tying classroom training to the employee’s professional development program as part of his focal review process. Feedback is a measure of “Engagement”, effectiveness can only be measured by change in behaviour. “This is done by observation over a period of time and comparisions,” explains Patil. At Natural Search, they have a programme called Present to Progress where employees regularly share technical knowledge and latest trends in the industry. 

Explains Sachin Bharadwaj - Senior Manager, People Development, HR, Philips Electronics India, “Training effectiveness shall be done after a period of two to three months after the training programme. Feedback is gathered from the participants and the nominating managers through a questionnaire and this feedback is analysed and collated to derive action points for management, training dept, faculty.” Seconding this G Ramesh, Global Head - HR, TAKE Solutions. Chennai adds, “All associates undergo a technical test to evaluate their understanding, followed by post training effectiveness conducted after 45 days from the conclusion of the training. This evaluation is done by the reporting manager, assessing the effectiveness of the training programme attended based on the implementation of the knowledge in the project.”

At times programmes are designed to prepare the participants to take up a set of external certifications. For example, at the end of Maverick’s induction training, the entry level staff would have gained Business English Certification from British Council, ISEB Foundation certification in Testing from British Computer Society (BCS) and Oracle 9i certification (SQL). Says Charu Mohan, Director, HR, FCG Software Services India, “Training effectiveness are measured through Kirk Patrick’s 4 level Model. It measures the effectiveness of the program in terms of Business Objectives and looks at aspects such as increase in productivity, decrease in defects, cycle time reduction.”

Kirkpatrick Model of Training Effectiveness Evaluation
*Level 1 - Reaction Rating - Trainees rate the trainer and the training programme
*Level 2 - Learning Rating - Trainers assess the trainees using written assessments, role plays and rate the trainees on their knowledge, skills and attitude
*Level 3 - Internal Client Rating (Behaviour Rating) - The internal client (the project manager of the trainee) rates the trainees on their exhibited knowledge, skills and attitude as compared to the expected
*Level 4 - External Client Rating (Results rating) - The external client rates the project on a periodic basis on all parameters, including staff quality

It’s all about money
Yahoo spends an average of $ 4,000 per employee while Kotak’s training budget is about Rs 10 crore. For the next 6 months, Natural Search has earmarked an amount of Rs 6 to 10 lakhs exclusively for training. All these obviously mean a lot of money and also speak volumes for the kind of impetus there is on training.
The training budget is dynamic and actual amount varies depending on needs across several organisations. In several organisations, training activities are not constrained by a budget. During the year 2006-07 Maverick’s budget was in the tune of 7 per cent of the revenue approximately Rs 2 crore.