Having
answered the questions
- To train whom?
- To train for what?
we
must turn our attention to,
To
train how?
To
train when?
The
answers to these, then, will make up the complete program. Let us attempt to
answer,
To
train when?
If
training and self development are perpetual, it is obvious that the training
will have to be 'on' the job as well as 'off' the job.
without
exception, all supervisors like to think that they spend a good deal of their
time on training their assistants. In reality most of us are trying to impress
our subordinates by telling them how efficiently we would have handled a
particular job, which the subordinate has got all messed up! The man is
obviously not 'getting trained on-the-job' even though he may be listening.
The
few who are trying to do an honest job of training are all too unfamiliar with
the training techniques and the achievements are non-coherent. Besides no line
supervisor can tackle the total training job single-handed. Today's training
needs encompass a vast number of widely varying disciplines which no single
person can be expert in.
This
one person to another person approach then has very limited usefulness and
cannot be the answer.
And
then, as already stated earlier, very few people can be expected to read books
at home and train themselves on a 'do-it-yourself' basis.
The
answer is,
When
and how do we then train people?
We
must have a full-fledged training school at Powai. A self-contained building
having
- a central library of books and
films
- an auditorium
- 10/15 lecture rooms.
The
building must be equipped with all sorts of teaching aids. And then we must
breathe soul into this edifice by recruiting a few full-time and a few part
time professors. The part-time lecturers can be had from
1 the VJTI
2 The Engineering College, Andheri
3 NITIE
4 The BPC
5 The Jamanlal Bajaj Institute of
Management
6 The Central Labour Institute
7 The Indian Institute of Technology, Powai
8 Professional Consultants such as
a BEAM
B IBCON
C BEACONS
D Personnel and Productivity Services
E The British Institute
F ALMECO
The
efforts of the faculty can and must be supplemented by each one of our managers
and departmental heads (all of whom are experts in some or other field)
delivering one lecture every week.
Since
the training is an investment in future by the company as well as by the
employee concerned~, the time for training must be shared by both in equal
proportions. This would mean that if an employee is required to spend a total
of 6 hours/week attending lectures, 3 hours of these would be on· the
company's time i.e. during his normal working hours and the remaining three
hours when he is off-duty. This would mean that a large percentage of the total
number of lectures would have to be arranged after 4 pm as also on Saturday afternoons.
The
training program initially will have to be voluntary. After 2/3 years of
successful operation, a certain amount of indirect pressure can be brought to
bear upon the employees. This can be done. by introduction of ' Qualification
Bars' in salaries and promotion to higher grades, for persons not having successfully
completed a specified training course.
In
the preceding chapter we discussed two types of training needs
- for
technical subjects
-for
business management techniques
Appendix
A gives a comprehensive list of topics which meets both types of training
needs. Appendix B gives a typical management Training Program. Appendix C
furnishes data regarding different curricula.
with
some modifications, a training program to suit )cal needs can be quickly drawn
up.
The
Top Management is then requested
- to recognize the need for and
accept the urgency of a Management Development Program.
- to issue instructions- to our
Training Office to prepare and- submit for MGM approval, a detailed proposal of
capital investment and recurring expenditure.
The
proposal should also include a comprehensive 'Pilot Program' for the switchgear
factory staff.
- to approve the proposal and issue
instructions for implementation. Pending construction of a separate building
for the training school, use may be made of the existing 3/4 conference rooms as well as the welfare centre at Powai.
- until such time that satisfactory
training facilities
are
established at Powai, to issue a directive for an extensive use of the training
courses offered by
1
NITIE
2
VJTI
3
Jamanlal
Bajaj Institute of Management
4
BPC
5
IIM
Ahmedabad
6
IIM
Calcutta
7
Administrative
Staff College, Hyderabad
8
Management
Consultants
The
target for such an external training may be made subject to the following
constraints:
- not less than 10 of the salaried staff be sent
to attend external courses every year.
- a minimum of 3 of the departmental salary bill be
. budgeted towards such external training~ (For switchgear factory this is
less than 1.5 for 1967-68).
It
is, at this point, worthwhile to remember that the amount if not spent ,
would attract an
income-tax rate of 55% on the gross profits.
It is
difficult to sum up this report because summing up denotes the end of a
discussion and training has no end!
