The Hindu Business Line : Redefining corporate training

Transformation in corporate training must focus on developing a roadmap to better standards and values, better in terms of being more useful, rewarding and engaging.

R. Devarajan

Corporate training philosophy and technology require a a transformation in today’s rapidly changing commercial climate. Transformation in corporate training must focus on developing a roadmap to better standards and better values, better in terms of being more useful, more rewarding and more engaging.

Change is a feature of the world of business, government and society. The need for capabilities to countenance the impact of this change and also to take advantage of it underpins the rationale for training individuals and groups of employees in organisations.

While companies may implement training initiatives in different ways, it is vital to address two basic questions relating to this subject.

The first: What prompts companies to allocate their hard-won revenues and resources to the training and development of their employees, especially during difficult times? The second question is: What guarantees are there that such endeavours will succeed in the present and future scenario?

A common answer to both questions is that in the radically transforming and result-oriented commercial climate today, the key to success is the generation of a pool of skilled and knowledgeable employees. This key factor can be created and nurtured by dedicated specialists in the organisation. “We have conjured a name for these key people, these heads of learning. We have called them ‘learning architects’ – individuals managing the design and implementation of the appropriate learning for their organisation,” say David Mackey and Sian Livsey, authors of the book Transforming Training.

Building a sound and proper base of relevant and appropriate knowledge, culling and deriving the quintessential wisdom from such knowledge and applying that wisdom to improve people’s performance are among the critical building blocks for organisational success. The learning architect has the onus for and ownership of this process.

Training per se may not be an adequate input for this purpose. It has to operate in conjunction with four other elements in order to achieve and sustain a high degree of corporate success. Now, how do these factors provide a platform for corporate excellence?

Training is the primary tool and technique in this metamorphosis. It may be redefined as an efficient and effective assimilation of knowledge and skill and their assiduous application by an organisation in a holistic manner. The challenge lies in furnishing the correct input to the correct people at the correct place and time.

Leadership, the second element, is the intelligent application of knowledge in motivating and developing individuals and teams. The fundamental challenge facing a business leader today is to create a corporate climate that enables his employees to operate at their optimum levels of efficiency.

Change must be understood in terms of how to overcome any resistance to its implementation. Organisations and individuals must be well versed in the art of using the power of change in influencing their stakeholders.

Cultural awareness is about knowing, learning and comprehending how an organisation and its cultural constituents coexist and collaborate with each other in the art and science of corporate sustainability.

Client focus deals with the client-centric behaviour of an organisation and its people, which responds to the needs and requirements of their client community with the objective of providing the highest standard of performance.

All five ingredients need to be in their proper place for an organisation to succeed.There is a new urgency to the role of training. It has to be designed quickly and delivered at the convenience of the trainee.

(The writer is a Chennai-based management consultant.)

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