Nurturing talent for success at Mahindra BT: Creating a learning organization
| Pages | 32-35 |
| Published date | 01 January 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390580000593 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Author | Anuradha Deb,Andy Ranaweera |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
32 Volume 4 Issue 2 January/February 2005
ODAY’S IT INDUSTRY IS more competitive
than ever. Companies must manage the twin
pressures of globalization and rapid
technological change and, at the same time,
maintain an edge over their competition. In this
environment, the quality of a company’s employees can
be the key differentiator. Nowhere in the world is this
message better understood than India, where the
benefits of providing high-quality education, training
and support to the workforce are widely acknowledged.
The majority of Indian companies see this process in
terms of the personal development of the individual. As
Mahatma Gandhi said, “the purpose of education is to
bring out the best in you.” According to the Indian
philosophy of Upanishads, education is much more
than the transference of knowledge; it is the
development of character. The objective should be to
empower individuals to create new solutions to new
challenges rather than just enabling them to reiterate
existing knowledge. This is a view subscribed to by
Mahindra British Telecom (MBT), one of India’s
leading telecoms solutions providers.
Nurturing talent at MBT
MBT believes that talent should be carefully identified
and nurtured for future leadership roles. It sees this as
particularly urgent because many IT companies are
growing so rapidly that a leadership vacuum is being
created at the highest levels.
To meet these needs, companies need to create
performance differentiators by identifying and
rewarding high achievers. Many leading IT companies
now have systems in place to groom and mentor future
leaders from this batch of high performers. This article
looks at how MBT is approaching this challenge by
fostering a learning culture through training and
development initiatives.
A rich environment for growth
MBT’s Indian base represents a key advantage in its
approach to education. India provides a vast market of
highly skilled and motivated IT staff for companies to
choose from. According to research by Advantage
Offshore Knowledge Services Pvt. Ltd, 35 percent of
India’s population is aged between 15 and 60, a figure
which is expected to grow to 47 percent by 2020 while
the working population of the US, Europe and China
declines.
Estimates also suggest that the country boasts around
5,300 software professionals – a figure which is
growing rapidly. The number of students graduating
with an IT degree every year is approximately 300,000,
largely from educational institutions rated very highly
on a global standard.
This hasn’t happened accidentally. Every level of
educational authority has responded to the calls of
industry and adjusted their curricula to developing
by Anuradha Deb and Andy Ranaweera
Mahindra BT
Nurturing
talent for
success at
Mahindra BT
Creating a learning organization
T
Many companies claim to focus their resources on the
development of their people, but few can match the
learning culture at Indian IT company, Mahindra BT. Its
focus on education and development has led to a
rapidly growing business with enviable employee
recruitment and retention rates.
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2005. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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