The Hindu Business Line : Indian trainers well above the average

"Though the services sector is people-based, it's also a fact that people here tend to deal with the computer rather than their neighbour in the office. This is where such soft skills are important."

It's obvious India is high on the priority list of this oldest and most `global' training company in the world. Dale Carnegie Associates, with 3,400 trainers has a presence in 80 countries and has trained 8 million people worldwide. In India, this global training major has been around for about three-and-a-half years and currently employs 30 trainers across the country. Peter V Handal, Chairman, President and CEO of Dale Carnegie Associates Inc, says that those sitting in the company headquarters in the US have had two surprises from India: "One is the way business is growing here and two the quality of trainers here." In an interview with The New Manager, the Dale Carnegie chief highlighted the organisation's activities in the country's estimated Rs 6,000-crore training industry, which though still largely unorganised, is seeing some big brand players. Dale Carnegie has a significant presence in the pharma and the IT sectors in the country.

You have been talking of the surprises India has been giving you. Can you elaborate on this?

India is currently among the top 10 per cent of Dale Carnegie's businesses in the world and Indian trainers are a good 18 points above the average Dale Carnegie trainer anywhere else in the world.

That's a real credit to Indian trainers. They are more effective and are handling all aspects of training very well.

Training budgets of companies too are increasing. In the US, the training industry is well over $55 billion and here it's about $5 billion which is surprisingly large.

In India, you are present in training classes of most sectors, but pharma and IT are believed to be really large. Some comments on training needs for these two sectors.

Pharma and IT are two of our largest sectors. In the pharma sector, apart from the leadership issue, which we address here, we also have a lot of programmes in the areas of sales and customer service. In IT, leadership training too is in demand, but they want more of team building workshops rather than sales training.

What about the emerging services sector in India... .

Though the services sector is people-based, it's also a fact that people here tend to deal with the computer rather than their neighbour in the office. This is where such soft skills are important.

Is Dale Carnegie's training programme content standardised worldover?

We do business in three different ways: standard courses within a company, public courses and also offer customised corporate solutions. In the standardised courses, our programme content would be the same in Paris, London, Bangalore or Rio De Janeiro. Where we would differ would be around the edges, like tweaking certain things to suit local cultures.

What about communication skills in India?

A major part of business in India is in the communication area. Last year, about 54 per cent of our programmes were for communication skills. That's much higher than the worldwide number. Most of our customers here are in the services industry and they are looking at training in communication for their employees.

Do you have a large presence in China?

China is bigger than India. We have been there 30 years and therefore have had a headstart. But the Chinese surprise is that the youth programmes form one-third of our business there. The Chinese believe in investing in their children's HR skills. In most market, parents would expect the school or the government to do that. The Chinese want Dale Carnegie to give their children vital soft skills.

Do you offer such programmes in India?

In India, we have been conducting programmes for the Gennext, but not on the scale seen in China. We have done it with a management school in Pune and a college in Bangalore. We'll soon tie up with another organisation to bring these programmes here on a large scale. In the US our courses are accredited with most colleges.

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