Synopsis of Panel Discussion at NTLF 2020 in Mumbai on February 13, 2020
Velocity of technology and business change is unprecedented, product and technology cycles are becoming shorter, and customer expectations changing rapidly. All these forces at work have made Learning a strategic priority for the IT industry. Every IT company has to focus on continuous learning of its employees and building a learning culture to meet the changing expectations and stay competitive for tomorrow. We explored this topic at a panel discussion at the NASSCOM leadership summit. Our panel included some very experienced industry leaders – Romi Malhotra, MD India for DXC Technologies, Pallavi Tyagi, CHRO for Cap Gemini India, and Peter Kokkinos, MD Asia Pacific for Udemy, and I had the pleasure of moderating this discussion.
Below are key takeaways from our discussion:
- Cannot broad-brushlearning needs for IT companies. We are now a mature industry and there are diverse set of needs. While there is growing demand for new, digital skills (AI, Data Science, Cloud etc), large volume of demand is still there for legacy skills. This calls for a segmented approach
- Increasing focus on Micro Learning or Self-Directed learning– not mandated, creating pull not push
- Focus on content curationover creation
- Need innovative approaches for Millennials. They are more purpose driven so need innovative approaches to engage them. For example, Cap Gemini has set up a “Millennials Garage” that creates opportunities for Millennials to work on additional projects (mostly internal) and learn new skills
- Retraining / Reskillingis a constant process. Upgradation is a must and have to embed mindset of lifelong learning
- Key is to build a Learning Culturein the organization. While many approaches to culture building are top-down, an interesting bottom-up example was shared which involved heavy engagement in learning with the incoming classes.
- When needs are constantly changing, focus needs to be on core competencies– problem solving, communication, leadership – not just skills. These are a harder puzzle to solve, and where more attention needs to go in IT companies on how to build these competencies at scale
- The scale of the learning challenge is so significant that it is not enough for IT companies to focus within. They have to look outwards and engage the academia and the ecosystem, so they can start shaping talent at the source.
While learning is critical to reinvent for tomorrow and there is lot to be done, the positive takeaway from our discussion was that IT industry is alive to the challenge and most companies have adopted proactive and modern approaches to step up their game.
