Learning and Development at workplace: Changing Paradigms, Emerging Trends

We have all read numerous articles and heard economists and industrialists suggesting India’s workforce base and population in the right age bracket to lead the country’s growth phase over the next few decades. One often wonders if only the large young population is enough to achieve a growth trajectory which would lead India to a super power status?

When we interviewed India’s largest corporates regarding their growth prospects and the predominant challenge which hinders such prospects, the unanimous answer was availability of skilled workforce. We also heard them talk about the void in white collar workforce. So our logical next question was ‘are the education institutions in India not imparting quality education to create employable workforce?’ We again heard a unanimous answer; ‘we cannot blame the education system of the country, we work in a dynamic environment where technologies and customer needs change rapidly, therefore we need the workforce to constantly update themselves with new concepts, technologies and skills’.

The theme of this paper is to highlight the learning and development concepts and case studies in Corporate India. Grant Thornton India, in collaboration with 24×7 Learning and Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode has conducted primary surveys of large organisations to understand the learning and development initiatives being taken by dynamic businesses in India.

We noticed that technology is the key enabler to assist companies train its people. The use of learning management systems, digitised course content and delivery through computer, tablets and mobile phones has led to a revolution boosting reach, convenience and easing the pressure on bottom lines of companies by reducing training costs.

Companies with large employee base and multiple locations can impart training through the intranet. A repository of training material in digital form can be created and made available to the target audience on ‘anytime/ anywhere’ basis. Even online training can be imparted to the target audience at multiple geographies through satellite mode.

This report has been developed by deriving the responses to an online questionnaire circulated to key L&D professionals at some of India’s premier companies. We would like to thank all those who spared their precious time to contribute to this study.

Click here to download the full report.