It all began in the previous century, in the late 1960s, when Tata Consultancy Services laid the foundations for an industry that has assured India a prominent place on the global IT map. Over the past three decades, TCS has metamorphosed into a multi-crore company and in 2001 it turned in sales of Rs 3,142 crore for the financial year ended March ’01. Today, it has an impressive client list that includes heavyweights like the $26-bn, US-based Target Corp and the $111-bn General Electric among others.

The company attributes its success to a winning combination of excellent people and cutting-edge technology. TCS employs about 15,000 software professionals, who operate across 50 countries. Most of the professionals — estimated at 7,500 — work at the SEI CMM Level 5, the highest number for any organisation in the world. TCS hunts at the best universities and institutes world-wide. Over 90 per cent of its recruits hold degrees in either engineering, maths or science and more than 50 per cent have a Masters.

Merely taking in the brightest and the best, however, is not enough. For, academia is not fully equipped and in the present set-up has degenerated to the level of training shops. According to FC Kohli, former deputy chairman and presently a TCS board member, "To build people, we should equip them with knowledge and skills and attitudes before they can execute responsibilities."

Referring specifically to the infotech sector, R Narayanan, vice-president (education & training), TCS, says, "Infotech has a wide application. A major problem is developing a standard set of methodologies for a variety of domains. Failures in the IT sector are not due to either a lack of technical expertise or knowledge per se, but inadequate knowledge about a sector. This gets amplified when we deliver a solution." Hence, it’s necessary to train professionals so that they ask clients the relevant questions in order to ascertain what they actually want.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that TCS takes training very seriously. The company invests more than 6 per cent of its revenues in training. Initially, TCS provided skill upgrade facilities at centres in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata. But, with the absence of standardisation and integration, the company felt the need for some level of centralisation. Towards this end, it set up a centre at Thiruvananthapuram, in 1997.

The Rs 20-crore facility polishes more than 3,500 inductees every year. It also imparts knowledge on emerging technologies and global management practices to all its employees through two initiatives: the Individual Learning Process and the Continuing Training Programme. TCS has a well-planned induction programme for new recruits which includes a two months of intensive training at Thiruvananthapuram.

A proactive approach to skill development, it gives every TCS employee 20 days a year to take up any course. Affirming the company’s commitment to training, TCS CEO S Ramadorai, says, "Life-long learning in TCS is extremely important and articulated." The company spends Rs 6,000-7,000 per candidate per day. But, Mr Narayanan says, this is considered "people investment".

Besides sophisticated technology and lab facilities, the Thiruvananthapuram centre has a 300-bed hostel, is equipped to train over 600 people simultaneously in various software subjects and technologies, has a gym and canteen facilities, and is ISO 9001 certified. The centre provides its employees with three kinds of training programmes — technology, attitudes and management. Committed to quality, TCS has teamed up with centres of excellence to create bodies of knowledge in computer engineering. It has tied up with IIT Chennai to create an MTech programme, which is executed for its professionals by the IIT.

Likewise, it has partnered IIT Powai on R&D projects such as micro-electronics and intelligent internet. The attitude programme is designed to improve inter-personal skills and help professionals work in a team. "In college, we have the freedom to choose our associates," explains Mr Narayanan, "but in the workplace, we do not have that leeway. So, we have to learn how to deal with people, and that’s what this programme tries to do." The programme has been developed by a Pune-based free lancer and is so successful that TCS has begun exporting it.

In fact, according to Mr Narayanan, the programme has been well-received in Europe and in France, where TCS has conducted it in French. TCS has long realised that business is not just about people and processes. It’s also about leadership, strategy, information analysis, business results and client focus. With a view to promoting better management practices, the Tata group has adopted the Malcom Baldridge Model.

It is a proven approach to performance management and seeks to promote as well as improve (a) value delivered to clients, (b) organisational effectiveness and (c) organisational and personal learning. Only companies that score a certain minimum within three years can use the Tata name. This model forms the base for the first level of the management programme.