India has a massive challenge in not only creating large number of jobs for employment but also preparing its massive human resources to match it in the next decade. By doing so to global standards, it can prove its worldwide competiveness in manufacturing, avoid risk of disgruntled unemployed youth, grow exponentially in exports and also substitute expensive imports of goods with indigenous manufacturing.While India has the raw human resources due to its natural demography, it has a huge gap in terms of the needed global productivity and quality skill level. Thus, there remains the need to bridge this gap and upgrade skills of the working group in the country for social and economic stability.This gap was perceived well by G.P. Chandra Kumar, an ex-software entrepreneur, who moved out of software in 2006 and wished to contribute to the worker population of India and bring them to international quality levels.
He got involved in Switzerland’s Swiss India Vocational education and training India initiative since 2008 which completed a pilot project till 2011 and later Skillsonics was formed in India and Zurich to expand the success of this pilot. This Bangalore based company was formed with exclusive cooperation from Swiss Partners. The organization emerged as a catalyst in the skill development sector adapting the Swiss Vocational Education and Training model for India and its unique demands.
Giving a world class flavour to Skill Development in India
The skill development sector is still in its infancy in India, but continuous contribution from a few players who embrace global quality can create the momentum needed.Considering the same, the team of Skillsonics started offering solutions in skills consulting, courseware licensing, trainer workshops and assessment/ certification. Detailing the company’s services, G.P. Chandra Kumar, Founder &CEO, Skillsonics says, “We have positioned ourselves as a skills consulting and knowledge partner to our clients. We serve companies or institutes to help create world class skill training centres.
. Skillsonics has longer term courseware for new entrants into the industry and also short upgrade courses for existing employees. The train the trainer, instructor and examiner courses come with certification from its Swiss partners
Gaining from Partnerships
SkillSonics Co-Founder Franz Probst lives in Zurich and ensures that the Swiss partnership is nurtured. With continuous support from Swiss Cooperation Partners and NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation, India), Skillsonicshas made a mark in India with very effective outcomes in line with its vision. With these associations, it invested in creating courseware and building a team of specialists.Emphasis on trainers, competency based courseware and very stringent quality standards of training and assessment are key to reach international standards of outcome. The Swiss way has been to convert trainers to become mentors rather the people who work through knowledge transfer. Skill development is not about knowledge transfer, it’s about empowering the candidates to achieve world class competencies.At present, the organization has a presence across 22 locations with over 50 content specialists, Assessors and master trainers who have all been certified to Swiss methods and processes.The organization counts ABB, ACC, BOBST, BUHLER, DISA, Ambuja Cement, Starrag, BurckhartCompressions,Rieter, Ace Foundation among the companies it has worked with.This are spread across Bangalore, Pune and baroda.
Scaling up across India
With an aim to scale up its operations, Skillsonics plans to reach out to more cities across the country through implementation partners in every district of India. Another focus of the company is to spread its operations to sectors other than engineering. It aims to grow horizontally by expanding to other verticals such as Pharma, Logistics, Commercial, food processing etc. However a clear social vision drives the business to make a lifelong difference to the youth of India.This is by creating a holistic andstrong foundation for youngsters in this country who will continue to excel for life in their careers.
We have positioned ourselves as skills consulting and knowledge partners to our clients/partners