In this episode of Tech Café, Vice President for Global Skilling at HCL Technologies Ambika Natarajan shares her thoughts on upskilling and training programmes available at HCL. In her current role, she heads the centre for excellence for skilling, entry-level workforce and alternate talent pool. This episode was part of the Virtual Job Fair conducted by HCL Sri Lanka.

Listen to the full episode on our Podcasts page.

Summary

How is the skilling programme at HCL different from other degrees and vocational programmes?

Ambika: Given the ever-increasing demand for quality talent within HCL, there is a significant need to create a talent pool that will be equipped with the right skills, and be technically and professionally prepared to join our workforce.

Our success has largely depended on the extent to which we reskill our workforce. Our skilling programmes continue to create the much-needed bridge between deserving talent and vacant jobs that are difficult to fill. These are unique training-cum-employment programs aimed at accelerating the career path for aspiring candidates.

In the last four-to-five years, we have increased employee competitiveness and accelerated job creation for over 15,000 employees at HCL Technologies.

We need a growth mindset to address the threat of becoming obsolete. Our employees need to recognise the challenge in entirety, focus on learning, unlearning and relearning so that they remain up-to-date by continuously upgrading their skills.

TechBee is our one-of-its-kind work-integrated learning programme which understands the needs of the gen-next and offers a training pedagogy that will lead to a guaranteed full-time job at HCL Technologies.

Candidates undergo training that prepares them to do jobs at par with students graduating out of a regular university engineering programme. With our prestigious tie-ups with top universities like ESOFT, the students while working at HCL, may also enrol in other programmes without having to leave their jobs. This helps them get gain relevant IT experience while also pursuing higher education degrees.

How does one maintain a work-live life balance during a pandemic?

Ambika: For a long time, the idea behind work-life balance has been the core of employee engagement strategies. But with the current landscape, it seems that this doesn’t work anymore. We live in an era wherein all our life aspects are impossible to separate from one another. Thanks to technology, our career, social, and personal lives are all integrated, and it’s becoming hard to separate them.

But with technology bringing us closer to work even when we’re on vacation, how can companies promote people’s well-being? Work-life blend, instead of balance, may be a better solution. It doesn’t assume a separation between work and life and proposes that people should not have them in equal proportions.