Home >> Insights  >>

The Changing Face Of Corporate Training And Its Implications For The IT Sector

by Pallavi Jha, Chairperson & MD, Dale Carnegie Training India September-2015

Dale Carnegie Training India offers talent development solutions in the areas of Leadership, Communications, Presentations & Public Speaking and several others.

The Indian IT sector is projected to potentially expand to around $300 billion by FY2020. According to a McKinsey report titled Perspective 2020: Transform Business, Transform India,' over 80 percent growth is expected from non-traditional sectors such as the public sector, media and utilities; in addition, strong demand is expected from emerging countries that currently account for only 20 percent of global IT spending. At the same time, the domestic component will contribute $50 billion in revenue by 2020 as India is considered to be the global hub as far as the availability of skilled talent is considered'.

Business environments are ever-evolving due to the fast pace of demographic, technological, economic and political change. Even when we look at the composition of today's workforce, the growing influence of Millennials brings with it demands for flexibility and ownership with expectations of faster growth and learning opportunities. Moreover, because of the slow pace of growth, both in India and globally, companies have a strong need to attract and retain the quality talent they need to survive in an uncertain world. This has required them to invest time and resources in developing future-ready models which can withstand the macro challenges brought about by unpredictability in customer preferences, technological disruption, competitor strategy and workplace demographics. But developing, and more importantly executing these business plans requires a factor that cannot easily be recruited, standardized or developed, but which is the key differentiator in driving performance and results – Employee Engagement.

Over the past two decades, industry efficiency has been driven largely by human innovation, reorganization of processes and the effective use of technology in order to accelerate consistency of activity at a lower per transaction cost. The leaders of these resourceful developments are those who were visionaries as well as technical specialists who were able to put ideas into action. Unfortunately, during this time of significant technological advancement, many technical specialists have become valued only for their technical skills instead of their business perspective and overall contribution. This view of Technology Professionals is beginning to change. Forward-thinking companies are beginning to understand the criticality for "IT departments to understand the larger business challenges that their leaders are facing and to emerge as a strategic partner rather than a cost centre or support function".

This means they must transform themselves from service providers to valued business partners for their internal clients. They must become trusted advisers whose input and insights help shape the direction of their organization before they're ever called on to leverage their vast technical skills.

The Indian IT sector contributes to about 9 percent of India's GDP (in FY13) in terms of net value added and accounts for 25 percent of the total national exports. As an organization in a booming industry with players such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Cognizant just to name a few, what will set one apart from the other? Those organizations which acknowledge the necessity of investing in and engaging their employees as well as the criticality of empowering them with the required soft skills that will enable them to not only transition from technical expert to a business partner but also keep them continuously engaged within the organization, are the ones which will be the frontrunners in the years to come.

 

Facebook