Understanding the Corporate Learning Landscape in India

Findings of IET survey shows training in mid-sized corporates was seen more as on the job training essential for new product development only rather than skill enhancement.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (the IET), one of world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community recently partnered with Feedback Consulting, an Indian market research firm and carried out an extensive survey on understanding the corporate engineering training landscape in India. Over 120 large and mid-sized companies across 7 major cities including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai participated in the survey.

The survey focused on covering key aspects such as talent gaps, training and development initiatives, decision-making, partnerships with external organisations for training and the future needs of companies.

The key finding from the survey are as follows:

• While both large and mid-sized corporates provide orientation training, 45 per cent of large-sized companies surveyed said that they offer subsequent training opportunities to employees at regular intervals, as compared to 45 percent of mid-sized companies which offer training only at the time of induction.
• With an on-the-job approach to training, about 65 per cent of the mid-sized companies indicated that they focus on imparting soft-skilling training over technical training as against 75 per cent of large-sized companies which focus more on technical skill development.
• When asked about the key drivers for conducting training programs 20 per cent of large-sized companies felt training was the most important tool to keep abreast with industry innovations and up their skills while 23 per cent of the respondents agreed that training is essential to gain insights for better product developments.
• Training in mid-sized corporates was seen more as on the job training essential for new product development only rather than skill enhancement.
• Upon being asked about engaging with external agencies to impart training, all large corporates said they have in house training departments and 29 per cent had tie-ups with external agencies. Whereas in case of mid-sized organisations, only 5 per cent were found to have tie-ups with external training agencies and most of them had HR departments managing the training requirements of the company.
• Large corporates shared that about 23 per cent of the training offered to address need gaps could be attributed to upskilling employees for new product development and another 20 per cent to bring them up to speed with industry innovations as well as to cover up for in-house talent deficits in areas such as Mechatronics, Machine learning, AI, IoT, etc. The need gaps in mid-sized corporates were mostly in terms of matching industry innovations, upskilling and new product development.

Companies also ranked priority competencies they seek in employees where technical knowledge and communication skills took precedence over others. They also value innovation, marketing, management and interpersonal skills. As per industry insights, overall, the corporate training market is estimated to be worth about INR 25,000 million and technical skill development accounts for about 60 per cent of this market. This market is expected to continue to grow as more corporates seek to develop their talent’s technical capabilities.

Shekhar Sanyal, Director and Country Head of the IET, India said, “The IET’s study on corporate training landscape brings to fore some pertinent challenges in the current training landscape. Interestingly, we also find that these challenges are unique to the firm size and priorities. With automation, industry4.0, AI and Blockchain leading the business paradigms, we can’t just stop the conversation at upskilling; neither is upskilling a one-time activity. The only skill that would help organisations and employees excel is ‘ability to un-learn and re-learn’. Within the skills dialogue, we also recognise that as providers of training, employers and trainers need to personalise the training module according to the needs of the employees and industry.  Corporate training is no longer a one-size fits all solution. Customised, personalised learning that accounts for each employees’ learning potential, interests as well as skill-aspirations is the need of the hour. We, as an organisation, are focused towards helping corporate firms upskill their current work force thereby creating a huge pool of talent in India.”