The Hindu Business Line : Keeping talent trained

Sunil Kuwalekar is Senior Vice-President & Head, Global Sourcing & Operations Management, at Patni. In an industry noted for its high rate of attrition, Kuwalekar has been with Patni for over 17 years and heads the company's training function. He shares his insights in a chat with eWorld. Excerpts:

What are the current training initiatives happening at Patni?

Our entire gamut of training is divided into three fundamental blocks: technical training, behavioural training and leadership training.

For any IT company, technical training is the most dominant and important block. The major part of the training happens once the incumbent joins the organisation. For the first 12-15 weeks, freshers are subjected to a rigorous training regime that extends to about 11 hours a day, six days a week. This enables the incumbents to build a robust foundation in technologies that are relevant to Patni's array of offerings.

Once the process is kick-started, training continues at regular intervals even after the probation period is over. As of now, we have more than 125 programmes covering the entire breadth of technical training, which can be taken up at different points in the employee life cycle.

On an average, we have about 8-10 days in a year devoted to learning. Against a total span of 230-240 working days in a year, I think that's a sizeable investment even from an individual's standpoint. Moreover, it enables the employees to keep refreshing their abilities in specific domains and at the same time attain expertise in newer technologies as and when they happen.

The company has PACE, the `Patni Academy for Competency Enhancement, which offers technical and behavioural training on an ongoing basis to its employees.

Behavioural training starts at the elementary level for people who work in teams. We have about 25-30 odd programmes on team building, team works and business etiquette.

The third category is leadership training that is designed for the senior management of the company.

Today, many companies are focusing on recruiting non-IT professionals. What is Patni's approach?

We are also seriously looking at employing non-IT professionals in our ranks. We have a technical induction-training programme, wherein we provide five-and-a-half months' training to working graduates on weekends. We provide about 8-10 courses that encompass the entire gamut of technical education.

This provides them with the flexibility to continue in their existing jobs and at the same time learn a new skill set. Depending on their performance, the students are then inducted into the company in the rank of Software Engineers. For calendar year 2006, about 200 employees joined us through this channel. We expect to recruit about 5,000 people in calendar 2007, of which I believe a significant proportion will come from non-IT sectors.

Every year, you have been adding several thousand people to your headcount. What are the key abilities that you look for in freshers?

More than technical knowledge, we look at the logical ability of the individual. We kick-start the selection process by an aptitude test followed by a group discussion and a personal interview. We don't expect them to be masters in the most recent technology in the industry, but we try to gauge their logical and learning abilities. If the basics are in place, we have the complete infrastructure to groom the individual for the industry.

What is the entry-level salary Patni offers candidates straight out of college?

The starting salaries that we offer depend on the kind of institute that the individual has passed out from. For starters, salaries that are offered on campus depend on the categorisation of colleges; A plus, A, B. (A plus colleges are typically the IITs and regional engineering colleges). The stream that a person comes from is also a major factor in determining the pay package that generally starts between Rs 18,000 and Rs 20,000 monthly.

Which institutes have you tied up with to provide learning initiatives to your employees? What benefits do these tie-ups bring to Patni (in terms of revenue sharing) and to the employees?

We have direct tie-ups with three institutes, BITS Pilani, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Ahmedabad. These tie-ups don't have revenue sharing as part of the plan; Patni as an organisation does not look at it from a revenue generation perspective. Basically we work on a curriculum that will make a lot of sense to our offerings. The fee structure again is the prerogative of these institutes. Collaboration is only in terms of fine-tuning the curriculum according to specific needs.

Could you throw some light on your collaboration with these institutes?

A small percentage of the available engineering graduate pool always aspires for higher education. These collaborations provide an avenue for the individual to continue in the industry, gain experience and at the same time actually enrol for a programme that provides an additional degree. Under the collaboration with BITS Pilani, we currently run two programmes; a two-year master's degree in software engineering and a four-year programme for science graduates. The four-year programme is totally sponsored by the organisation, while the two-year programme fetches sponsorship of between 50 and 100 per cent. We also have a tie-up with IIM Kozhikode for eMBA that is 100 per cent sponsored by the organisation. IIM Ahmedabad provides online content for our leadership programme initiative.

What are your future plans in the education domain? Any plans to enter into mainstream IT education, such as establishing an institute or a university?

We are in active discussions with institutions to offer tailor-made programmes in the embedded space. We have some preliminary thoughts on the table to set up educational institutions. However, our near-term strategy will very much hinge on identifying the right talent at the campus level and grooming it to organisational standards. This calendar year we are looking at employing at least 5,000 people at the entry level.

How many of your programmes are delivered in-house?

The training for leadership programmes is a mixed bag, with about 50 per cent of them being delivered in-house. About 98 per cent of the technical training and 80-85 per cent of the behavioural training happens from within the company. For niche areas such as stress management, lateral thinking and change management, the company has appointed certified trainers.

adith@thehindu.co.in

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