Paper Title: Skill Development Programs to increase employability by igniting young minds - Global

Business Foundation Skills Program

Details of Presenter:
Authors:
Name: Reena Ravi
Designation: Principal CSR, Diversity & Office of GRB
Organization: Infosys BPO Ltd
Address: Plot # 26/3, 26/4 & 26/6, Electronics City, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560100
Mobile Number: 9845734139
Email ID: Official: Reena_ravi@infosys.com; Personal: Reenaravi2@gmail.com
Reena leads the CSR & Diversity track and the office of GRB at Infosys BPO. She has been working on
various Education Initiatives to increase employability and skill sets among the student community and
the under privileged. These initiatives are executed through collaborations with multiple Universities,
colleges, NGOs, NASSCOM etc. These programs have helped in reaching out to 100000+ students,
4000+ faculty members, and 1,700+ colleges over the last few years. Reena and her team have been
instrumental in getting many awards for Infosys BPO like:
1. NASSCOM Best Practice Award under Nurturers Category,
2. Diversity Impact Award Asias Best Employer Brand Awards 2012,
3. National Awards for Best Employee with Disabilities
4. Infosys Award for Excellence for Sustainability and Social Consciousness etc...
Reena also works on enhancing inclusion by engaging minority groups (affinity groups) and helping them
participate, develop and contribute equitably by providing a supporting environment. Reena is also
responsible for establishing appropriate networks, conceptualizing and deploying mentoring &
counseling programs and promoting discussion forums & events.
Reena has 17 years of work experience in areas like Service Delivery, Transition, Quality and HR. Reena is
an MBA in HR and also holds a Post-Graduation Diploma in Public Relations.
Name: Vaishali Amrute
Designation: Senior Member CSR & Diversity
Organization: Infosys BPO Ltd
Address: Plot # 26/3, 26/4 & 26/6, Electronics City, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560100
Mobile Number: 9845734139
Email ID: Official: vaishali_amrute@infosys.com, Personal: vaishaliamrute@gmail.com
Vaishali is a Sr. Member of the CSR & Diversity team and is responsible for the implementation of CSR
activities at Infosys BPO. The focus of the CSR committee is skill development especially in Tier II and III
towns and hence works very closely with different universities, colleges and NGOs to ensure that the
benefits reach the intended beneficiaries and also to monitor & report the impact of these activities.
She is also responsible for the implementation of the Diversity & Inclusion practices of Infosys BPO.
Creating an inclusive and accessible environment for employees with disabilities is the focus of the D&I
Team and she is responsible for the entire life cycle from hiring till the exit for employees with
disabilities across India. The other area of focus is Gender Diversity. Vaishali comes with an experience
of 12 years, out of which 7 year in the CSR and Diversity space. Prior to this she was a soft skill trainer
working with industries like Pharmaceuticals, BPO etc.

Summary:
The Global Business Foundation Skills Program, a talent sustainability CSR initiative aimed at aligning
the teaching and course-curriculum at Graduate Schools especially in tier 2 &3 towns to the
industry requirements so the students have an edge as far as employability is concerned. More than
9200+ students have been trained on this course curriculum as on date in FY15 through the 430
academicians trained from 220 colleges.
Background:
The fight for suitable talent at the right cost is now more than ever crucial for any industry. Skills and
knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country. A
recent NASSCOM report states that only 34% of all the graduates every academic year are
employable by the Knowledge Industry. Given the reach and the opportunities available today in the
country, it is disheartening to note this figure against the backdrop of high unemployment in our
country. The crucial missing link here is skill development as India moves progressively towards
becoming a knowledge economy and transforms into a diversified and internationally competitive
economy. Only 10% of the total workforce in the country receives some kind of skill training (2%
with formal training and 8% with informal training). Considering the fact that the academic
curriculum is more or less similar across universities and colleges, graduates from Tier 2 and 3 towns
typically lose out due to lack of exposure and soft skills in the race for employment. All the
stakeholders, the central and state governments need to work in tandem to increase the
employability through skills training. Companies and industry associations across business sectors
are not only creating their in-house training facilities but are also taking steps to make potential
employees job-ready before they join organizations.
Given this background, it was decided that Infosys BPO through its CSR initiatives continued its focus
on Skill Development of the youth in Tier 2 and 3 towns and from the marginalized communities.
While vocational and soft skill training opportunities are available in plenty, their standards leave
much to be desired especially if there is no industry validation of these programs. Hence in
collaboration with NASSCOM and other industry majors, Infosys BPO created the Global Business
Foundation Program. The content of this program was refurbished by Infosys BPO and reviewed and
endorsed by other organizations like Accenture, Convergys, Deloitte, Dell, Genpact and IBM.
Given the scale of graduates in the country, it would have been very difficult for the organization to
train the students on this curriculum directly. Hence to reach the scale, the project has been
designed that Infosys BPO would train the academicians from different colleges and they would
train the students.
The content focuses on the following essential skills required for entry level hiring across various
industries (ITeS/BPM, Retail, Hospitality, Manufacturing etc.).
Last year (Apri14 Mar15), we have worked with various Universities in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
and with Department of Collegiate Education, Gov. of Karnataka, covering various universities in
Karnataka.

Details of the Project:

The importance of soft skills/life skills in building a career is under rated. Students are often not
aware of these skills which are very handy to increase their employability. They have the knowledge
and capability but lose out due to lack of these skills and industry exposure and this is especially true
for students from the marginalized sectors and tier 2 and 3 towns.
The collaborative efforts of industry and academia will only have multiplier benefits for the students
unlike a scenario when they work in silos. The Global Business Foundation Skills program has taken
the hardest first step to build strong industry academia collaboration
The content relied on Adult Learning Techniques and is completely activity based. There has been a
concerted effort to ensure that the training methodology is completely different from the classroom
teaching. The focus is to aid learning through activities and inferences and hence the learning is
largely owned and driven by the individual which makes it more impactful.
The implementation of the GBFS program is done in the following steps:

Conclave/Meeting with the University Officials and the Principals: The Principals and
various officials are given an overview of the program and also the content of the training.
This ensures that we have their buy in for the program and implementation can be planned
at the respective colleges. This would also be instrumental in ensuring that the maximum
number of students benefits from the program

 Faculty Development Programs: Faculty Development Programs were conducted for

different batches of lecturers. These are 10 day residential programs held either in our
campuses or in a host college. The lecturers are taken through the entire content by Infosys
BPO trainers with a special focus on conducting the activities and deriving learnings. The last
day of the program is dedicated to finalizing the roll out plan in the respective colleges.

 Implementation in the colleges: The content has been designed as a 160 hour program to
be rolled out at the convenience of the colleges. Some of the autonomous colleges conduct
this program as a credit course for interested students; some colleges have made it a part of
the curriculum. Many colleges run this program as an additional training for students
especially in the final year of graduation to enable them to be prepared for placement
activities. During this phase, the members of the team travel to as many colleges as possible
and support the training program by either taking some of the sessions or by providing
additional inputs to the trained faculty members. There is also a dedicated portal where
both students and teachers can log in and access more material.

 Connect Programs: Infosys BPO also conducts Student Connect Programs for students from
the partnering universities. These are typically one day events held either on campus or off
campus. The premise is to give the students a flavor of the corporate. The students and
teachers get an opportunity to interact with leaders and have a glimpse of the corporate
culture. Last year we had 6000+ students visiting our campuses as a part of this program.

At every stage of the program, the team has been involved to ensure that the correct message
reaches every stakeholder. The team continuously works with the academia throughout the
year to ensure that the program is monitored and reports collected regularly. The team also
travels regularly to the colleges to interact with the students and teachers to set the context,
offer any support required. There is a portal which has been designed exclusively for the
teachers and students where relevant course curriculum and additional course material is
available. It also serves as a vital link between the teachers, students and the organization.
The GBFS program is the first step in building a bridge between Industry and the academia.
Looking at the relevance of the program, more universities and colleges have come forward and
are asking for support to make courses more job relevant. Discussions are underway to
introduce Data Analytics as a credit course in both UG and PG levels. Similar efforts are being
made in other domains such as Finance and Accounting and Insurance. Such collaborative
efforts will go a long way in increasing the employability of graduate students in Tier 2 and 3
towns and help them find gainful employment

Achievements: The following are the details of our efforts in FY 2015 as on date. The singleminded focus is on training students. 9200+ students have been trained so far in FY 15. This has
been possible through the 430 lecturers from 220 colleges who have participated in the Faculty
Development Programs this year. We continue to receive the data with regard to
implementation.
We have received considerable feedback from the academy on the implementation in colleges
and its usefulness to the students
Please refer to the attached document Testimonials for the testimonials from our stakeholders.

Acknowledgements:

NASSCOM appreciated the program during its 11th Governing Executive Council Meeting.
Bharathiar University has presented the project to the Principal Secretary of Tamil Nadu
Commissioner of Collegiate Education, Karnataka presented it to the Principal Secretary of
Karnataka.

The key takeaways from the implementation of the project can be categorized under:
For the organization:
a. Connect with Academia: Too keep up with the latest trends and curriculum in the academic
world
b. An opportunity to share the industry requirements with a deserving group of candidates
For the Universities and other academic institutions:
a. Opportunity to connect with the industry and collaborate for the benefit of the students.
b. Opportunity to explore feasibility of introducing newer courses which could be very relevant
to the needs of the industry.
c. Opportunity for the students to gain invaluable exposure to corporates and take informed
decisions about their careers
For the Teaching community: An association with the industry and to stay relevant as per the
changing needs of the students. There is an invaluable exchange of knowledge between the
teachers and industry during this process
For society: Alleviation of unemployment which prevails in the society. As more and more
students get opportunities to build careers in different industries, the disparity in income and its
related malaises would in a small way be alleviated.