On the Learning Curve

Be it the IT industry or anywhere else, knowledge is a key asset. The more
informed the workforce, the extra value its bring to the industry. Realizing
that, many Indian companies are beginning to accommodate the academic interests
of their employee families

When
Karthik Iyer joined a leading software company in Chennai, he just had a BE in
computer science. He was unable to pursue his masters in engineering due to
financial constraints when he finished his bachelors a few years back. But he
always yearned for a higher qualification to get out of the mould of being
"just an engineering graduate". After taking up his new assignment,
Karthik spoke with the company’s HR head about his academic ambitions.
After a week, to his surprise Karthik received an email from the HR head about
the higher education opportunities available to him. Today after three years
with the company, Karthik has added a MS in Software Engineering to his resume
without taking a break from his job. Neither did he spend huge amounts as
tuition fees for acquiring his dream degree. But this was possible thanks to the
new generation of information technology companies that are taking a pro-active
role in grooming and nurturing their human capital. And Karthik is just one
among the thousands of IT workers who are taking full advan tage of this
knowledge revolution.

"Knowledge is the antidote to fear," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. And
many companies are giving this antidote to its employees. Moreover in a
knowledge intensive industry like IT, Darwin’s theory of the survival of the
fittest is not enough to emerge a winner–only the most skilled can. As Mangesh
Kirtane, director and country head, human resources Cisco India, puts it,
"Higher education adds a lot of meaning and value to the individual as well
as to the company. It enhances ones understanding of the subject and job
performance. It is also a highly motivating factor for the employees".
Agrees A.S.Murthy, director and senior vice president human resources, Satyam
Computers, "IT companies are in the knowledge business, and hence they have
to encourage employees in terms of their academic and professional goals. By
default organizations have to provide financial and moral support and foster the
right kind of climate within the organization for higher education".

"Retainin ghigh performers who have pursued higher education has been quite high. We haven’t a single employee who has pursued a degree at Illinois Institute" Mangesh Kirtane director (HR), Cisco Systems India

Industry-institute partnerships

With the ongoing slowdown in the technology sector, the need for domain
experts has become pervasive in the IT industry. Many experts believe that the
slowdown has exposed the loopholes in the industry. As a result, enterprises
today evaluate the IT solution providers on various parameters before entrusting
projects to them and the kind of skill base a solution provider has tops their
agenda. Hence IT companies are arming their employees with specialized
skill sets, which becomes a unique selling point. In the past, internal training
was the only option. For instance, companies forged tie-ups with IT training
companies and disseminated new skills. But with the credibility of many training
institutes going down the drain, IT companies have started exploring newer means
to expand the knowledge base of their employees. And this gave birth to a new
concept: industry-institute partnerships. This ushered in a new dimension in
grooming human resources. The educational institutes, benefited immensely by
exchanging knowledge. For instance today, many IT companies give huge funds to
various research programs in premier universities and have set up dedicated
labs.

Value creation

Comments R.Chandra Sekaran, senior vice president, Cognizant Technology
Solutions, ‘Higher education brings immense value creation. For instance,
Cognizant, along with BITS Pilani has designed an MS program in e-Business,
thereby helping BITS to offer a focused post-graduate degree in e-Business for
the first time in India. The program has been adopted with some modifications by
BITS and is also being offered as a full-fledged course for students outside of
Cognizant."

"Higher education is not a charitable gesture. It leads value, and that’s why it exists. Business needs do not always allow people interested to pursue studies" Bijay Sahoo V-P (HR), Wipro Technologies

With companies putting their time and money on such initiatives, what kind of
deliverables do they get in return? A lot. For instance Cognizant’s MS
in eBusiness program did favorably affect its business. It enabled the company
to provide superior eBusiness solutions to its clients. A testimony to that can
be seen in the fact that Cognizant has emerged as a leading eBusiness solutions
provider in the industry with more than 25% of its revenue coming from eBiz.

Mangesh Kirtane believes that in addition to value creation and revenue
generation, sponsoring employees for higher education increases the retention of
the workforce. Cisco has some major partnerships with some of the worlds leading
universities. It has put in place a two-pronged strategy towards encouraging
students to pursue higher education. In the first instance, the employee
identifies the educational program he would like to pursue, and informs Cisco of
the same. Based on the performance criteria, the company provides support
sponsorship in the form of tuition fees(in accordance with pre-determined
reimbursement limit) or in necessary circumstances grants short duration leave
of absence. "What needs to be emphasized here is that the tuition
reimbursements are not automatic and are based on the pre-agreed performance
metrics during the duration of the course", adds Mangesh.

Cisco India has a unique value proposition coming through its tie-up with
Illinois Institute of Technology. The employees can pursue a Master of Science
in Telecom and Software Engineering or a MS in Software Engineering. The courses
are highly rated and recognized as some of the best in the course. Cisco has
also provided the institute with network infrastructure that allows it to engage
in virtual classrooms and online exchange of study material. In addition, the
company has negotiated a special fee structure and curriculum modifications for
its employees, who can complete the course from India.

"Associates who manage to pursue higher educational programs are promoted and provided with challenging assignments where they can use their new competencies" AS Murthy senior V-P (HR), Satyam Computers

Unlike regular university degree programs, most of the company-sponsored
courses are highly flexible and focused. Also some companies take care of the
non-engineering graduates to pursue higher qualifications. For instance Wipro
has created a program called WASE (Wipro Academy for Software Excellence). Here
the company selects employees with non-professional qualifications like B.Sc and
puts them through an MS in Software Engineering, an eight-semester course in
alliance with BITS. All the classes take place on Saturdays at the company’s
learning center. Says Bijay Sahoo, vice president, Talent Engagement and
Development, Wipro Technologies, "We make the best efforts to accommodate
everybody’s aspirations. All of our courses are aimed at improving the
competencies of our employees for future roles."

Meanwhile Chennai-based Polaris Software Lab has taken a different approach.
It has evolved an in house entity called Nalanda. It focuses on knowledge
management, training, and e-learning programs. Going one step ahead,
through Nalanda, Polaris also teaches various languages aimed at bridging the
cultural gap and to improve communication of its associates when dealing with
clients from diverse regions.

"Any focussed knowledge addition to our employees rightly affects our business, and our partnerships with premier institutes have got us immense benefits" R Chandra Sekaran senior V-P, Cognizant

The evolution of industry and institute partnership in the realm of IT has
redefined the very fabric of HR. Now it is recognized as one of the best
practices that all IT companies have to follow. HR managers are unanimous in
their view that providing employees opportunities for higher education makes
them feel informed and as a result the overall comfort level on the subject
increases. For instance Bibhas Ray, associate at Cognizant Technology
Solutions, who took the MS in eBusiness through BITS, feels that his
understanding on mainframe technologies and eBusiness greatly increased after
the course. Also he gained valuable knowledge on concepts like data warehousing,
eBusiness architecture and this has enabled him to comprehend eBusiness projects
faster. Ray is also very proud about being a product of BITS and rates the
company very high. Cognizant and other leading IT companies want just that in
return–greater employee satisfaction and a highly capable work force. And this
gives them ample reason to shell out from their coffers. After all an
intelligent workforce is the foundation of a successful organization in these
tumultuous times!

Shrikanth G in Chennai