Induction and Training Road-Map

A Report

By

Anushka Bhatia 13PGDMHR08

GENPACT

A Report Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements of PGDM-HR program

International Management Institute

New Delhi 110016

7 July 2014
Acknowledgements
“Interdependence is a greater value than independence”

This project is a synergized effort of various people who have helped me throughout to produce this
report. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the following people for their invaluable support.

My Organisation Guide Aditi Sen-Senior Manager, Controller and initiatives Lead, Commercial
Proposals who patiently guided me during the course of this internship, extended her full support and
continually encouraged me to enhance my output

Anjali Tiwari-Assistant Vice President and Smart Opex Leader, Commercial Proposals for her invaluable
guidance and simulating suggestions for the project

Meghna Arora-Assistant Vice President, Training for helping me understand the nuances of learning and
development which helped me improvise my project at every step

Deepak Goel-Project Manager, Commercial Proposals for his immense help, support and expert advice

Shaveta Dhawan-HR Manager, Commercial Proposals for her assistance at every step during the course
of this internship

All the Professors of IMI for their expert guidance and knowledge sharing

My parents and friends for their constant support and best wishes which helped me to persevere and
accomplish the objectives of this project
Executive Summary
The Summer Internship at Genpact focused on creating and Induction and Training roadmap for Project
Managers in the Commercial Proposal Team. A Project Manager is the one who manages the deal
throughout the deal cycle once a request for proposal (RFP) is received from the client. He is involved in
opportunity identification, scoping, strategy finalisation, proposal preparation, packaging and submission
of the proposal. The Project Managers cater to the Deal Team that is formulated after an RFP is received.
Managing the deal is a complex process and involves driving timelines, managing and highlighting risk
and sharing best practices for knowledge leverage.

At the onset of the internship, the following problem areas were identified:
 The Project Managers (PMs) are unable to deliver consistently due to absence of a clear line of
sight with respect to stakeholder expectations. This is largely driven by the fact that they do not
undergo any formal induction at the time of joining the team and hence the clarity with respect to
expectations, objectives and other important aspects is not established from the beginning.
 There is inconsistency in the project management deliverables and in the management of the deal
cycle by Project Managers as inferred from the variance in the feedback of Deal Team members
and other stakeholders.
 Decline in motivation and engagement levels due to absence of development opportunities and
career path building initiatives.

The project was undertaken with the following objectives in mind:

 Conceptualise and prepare a week long induction plan focusing on the induction and integration
of the new members and clarifying stakeholder expectations
 Conceptualise and create a month long process training deck focusing on providing all the
necessary knowledge that the Project Manager need for effective Deal Management
 Create a competency framework outlining the desired competencies in a project manager and
corresponding behavioral indicators categorised according to levels of proficiency which can
serve as the basis for preparing development roadmap.

The scope of the project was limited to New Project Managers who have been hired into the Commercial
Proposals Team and future joinees. The objective was to create induction and training plans which will
enable the new hire to get anchored to the team and achieve clarity with respect to Deal Management.

To accomplish the three deliverables the following steps were adopted

 Preliminary Research with respect to induction practices, project manager competencies and
designing training plans
 Leveraging existing knowledge base of the organisation by referring to induction plans and
competency frameworks of other businesses as well as the internal knowledge portal.
 Need Analysis
 Setting objectives for every deliverable and preparing timelines
 Content creation for induction training and competency frameworks.
  Structuring the deliverables into the final plan

The following are the recommendations given for implementing the induction and training roadmap

 The allocation of the buddy to the new hire should be according to the plan given in the induction
programme. One primary and secondary Buddy should be allotted so that the new hire can reach
out to the secondary Buddy in case the primary is not available.
 For the induction plan to be successful, the Buddy has to play a key role in driving the process
and the same needs to be owned by the TL
 Although the induction plan requires the new hire to set objectives when meeting with his
supervisor, these objectives will need to be reviewed and revised after the new hire completes
work on an individual deal.
 The different members with whom the new hire is supposed to meet during induction week
should be briefed about the agenda of their meetings specifically so that the value of these
meetings can be enhanced.
 The effectiveness of the induction must be measured with an satisfaction survey
 The effectiveness of the process training should be measured with
o Assessments at the end of each module
o Feedback from deal team members when the new hire works on his first individual deal
o Cycle time- The time it takes or the new hire to start working on an individual deal after
training.
 During the nesting period of the Process Training. The Buddy must give live projects/assignments
to the new hire related to deal management deliverables. This will enable him to be well versed
with them before he starts working on an individual deal.
Table of Contents

Description Page Number

1. Introduction 1
a. About The Company 1
b. Solutions Provided 1
c. Industries Catered To 2
d. Financial Insights 2
e. Organisational and Industry Analysis 3
i. Porter’s Five Forces Model- BPO Industry 3
ii. Swot Analysis 4
iii. Tushman and Nadler Congruence Model 6
f. The Current Gap 7
g. Rationale of the Project 8
h. Problem Formulation 8
i. Objectives of The Summer Internship 9
j. Literature Review 10
k. Theory and Concepts Applied to the Project 12

2. Methodology 13
a. Information Source 13
b. Data Analysis 13
c. General Methodology 14

3. Results 17
a. Induction and Process Training at a Glance 17
b. Components of Each Deliverable 17
c. Recommendations 18
d. Limitations of the study 19

4. References 20
 List of Figures

Description Page Number

Porter’s Five Forces Model- BPO Industry 3
Tushman and Nadler Congruence Model 6
Induction and Process Training at a glance 17

List of Tables

Description Page Number

Theory and Concepts Applied to the Project 12

List of Abbreviations

Abbreviations Full Form

PM Project Managers
TL Tower Lead
CRC Commercial Resource Center
BPO Business Process Outsourcing
PSTS Practice, Solutions, Transitions and Sales
BFSI Banking, Financial Services and Insurance
Introduction
About The Company

Genpact is an organization that helps to design and execute a more agile process and operations journey
for its clients to deliver realistic business impact. It applies industrial engineering best practices to the
broadest range of business processes and operations. Genpact began in 1997 as a business unit within
General Electric. This heritage has contributed to their deep understanding of process. As GE made Lean
and Six Sigma pervasive, Genpact applied this same industrial engineering ethos to business processes
operations for the first time. Built with single-minded passion for process science and operational
excellence, Genpact Smart Enterprise Processes (SEPSM) methodology focused on business impact while
safeguarding costs and limiting initial investment – igniting the global Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) services industry. In January 2005, Genpact became an independent company, bringing their
process expertise and unique DNA in Lean Six Sigma to global clients.

Solutions Provided

 Finance and Accounting

The company provides finance and accounting, or F&A, services. Its finance and accounting services
include transaction services such as accounts payable processing and receivables management; core SEC-
compliant financial statements; core operations services, including cash management, preparation of tax
returns as well as decision support services which include cash flow analysis.

 Collections and Customer Services

The company’s collections and customer services are provided primarily in the areas of consumer
finance, commercial finance and mortgage services. The company’s collections services include a range
of accounts receivable management services, such as early to late stage collections, skip-tracing, refunds,
account reconciliation and other specialized services.

 Banking, Financial and Insurance Services

The company provides analytic, process and technology services to companies within the banking and
financial services market. It covers phases of insurance business processes, including product
development, sales and marketing, policy administration and claims management. It also handles
corporate functions for insurance companies, including reporting and monitoring services for regulatory
compliance, portfolio and performance review services and financial planning and tax services. The
company offers services across three key insurance market segments, including life and annuities;
property and casualty; and health.

 Supply Chain and Procurement

The company’s supply chain and procurement services include sourcing services, sales, inventory and
operations planning services, logistics services and after market services.

1|Page
 Analytics

In addition to incorporating analytics into its other service offerings, the company views analytics as a
service offering. Clients frequently have or can obtain data that can be used to assess business
opportunities, mitigate risks, improve performance or otherwise improve their businesses.

 Re-engineering

Clients engage the company’s re-engineering teams to provide a view of their organization and help
determine business process needs at a strategic level, as well as at the execution level.

 Enterprise Application Services

The company, with its enterprise application services, the company plan, design, build, test, implement,
run and support software solutions for its clients. This include enterprise resource planning, or ERP,
supply chain management, financial management and customer relationship management solutions, as
well as testing, database administration and architecture services.

Industries Catered to

 Automotive Industries  Industrial Manufacturing

 Banking and Finance  Life insurance
 Capital Markets  Life Sciences
 Chemicals  Retail
 Consumer Goods  Media and Communication
 Healthcare  Telecommunication
 High-Tech  Transport and logistics
 Hospitality

Financial Insights

Genpact has registered an 8.3% rise in net income for the January-March quarter in 2014 at $50.6 million
as compared to $46.7 million year-on-year.

It recorded a 4.8% surge in revenue for the quarter ended March 31this year to $528.2 million as against
$503.8 million for the same period in 2013.
The company expects to record 15-15.5% of adjusted income from operations margin along with $2.22-
2.26 billion in revenue in 2014.

2|Page
Organisation and Industry Analysis

I. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis- Business Process Outsourcing Industry

Threat of Substitutes

Clients may choose to do

their function in house-
Clients are themselves
substitutes

Bargaining Power of Buyers Industry Rivalry Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Clients can target multiple firms Existing BPO Human intensive rather than
Low Switching costs companies expanding capital intensive
Reliance on few clients for bulk services Easy to procure standardized IT
revenue. New Players entering supplies
Varied options the Market Abundance of Human Capital

Threat of New Entrants

Existing players are

increasing their size,
offering, credibility etc.
Numerous players in every
market segment

1. Bargaining power of Customers- High

The bargaining power of customers purchasing from Business Process Outsourcing industry is
high due to the following reasons:
 The main reason why consumers outsource is to save costs and the bulk of outsourcing is
done in IT or Business Process. Since a consumer can target multiple BPO firms for the
same, it adds to their power
 The switching costs between BPO firms is low, this gives buyers the flexibility to change
their outsourcing firm
 The large number of ITO and BPO firms present in the market provides buyers the
freedom to chose and adds to their power
 The tendency of BPO firms to rely on a few clients for the major bulk of their revenue
also adds to buyer power

2. Bargaining power of Suppliers- Low

The suppliers have weak bargaining power due to the following reasons

3|Page
  The IT and BP outsourcing industry is a human intensive rather than capital intensive
industry. Mainframe, servers, PC, and mobile devices are the basic equipments required for
an outsourcing company to operate. Because there is a high level of product standardization,
these IT supplies can be purchased from millions of vendors worldwide. As a result, there is a
low level of differentiation of inputs for these products. There are various brands of PCs and
mobile devices, so the cost of switching brand products is also low.
 In addition to the tangible supplies needed by most IT outsourcing companies, the most
important supply for the outsourcing industry is human labor. Most of the IT outsourcing is
done in the emerging countries such as China and India. In India alone, the IT outsourcing
industry is worth about $47 billion dollars and captures more than half of the offshore
outsourcing industry. In countries such as India and China, there is a huge number of
educated people willing to work in the IT Outsourcing industry.

3. Threat of New Entrants- Low to Moderate

 The threat of new entrants is declining rapidly as the larger firms have rapidly increased
their size, market share, and credibility with customers creating high entry barriers.
However, although firms strive to reduce their direct competition through product
differentiation, in each market segment there continue to be numerous players

4. Threat of Substitutes-The threat of substitutes is moderate. The following points illustrate

this fact
 In the case of call centers, claims processing, mortgage processing etc, there are products
available in the market that can substitute for BPO firms since they minimize routine data
entry and make the process simpler.
 However going further up the value chain auditing, analytics, etc require human
judgment and may not be substituted by such products entirely.
 Clients may decide to do the processes themselves. Thus they are also substitutes.

II. SWOT Analysis of Genpact

Strengths

 Past association with GE

 Lean Six Sigma is what defines and differentiates Genpact: Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is embedded
in the DNA of the organization. It is like a value creating engine for them. Genpact uses LSS to
improve the processes of their clients. They do not improve a process in silos; rather, they do it
end to end so as to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness to customers. Genpact is known
for its legacy of LSS and process unique culture because employees at all levels of the
organization need to contribute to various processes. Leaders use it day in and day out so as to
ensure that everyone in the organization speaks the same language and uses the same approach to
problem solving. Genpact defines a transformation roadmap/journey with the client and partners
with them to achieve those goals. Expertise in LSS gives Genpact a competitive advantage
thereby leading to process excellence.
 Focus on Quality: Customer Centricity is one of the important goals at Genpact. Not only
external, but internal clients are also taken care of when it comes to quality. Various processes at

4|Page
 Genpact have metrics so as to measure their contribution to the organization and to the clients.
Hence, there is a focus on continuous process improvement.
Employees at Genpact learn how to live, walk and talk quality. Over a period of time, they realize
that it is passion, curiosity and self starter commitment that is required to drive quality in
everything they do.
 Training and growth opportunities for its employees: Genpact as an organization believes in
taking risks on its people. Genpact believes that domain can be taught; hence it hires people with
the right attitude and values. Once hired, people are trained on the general and specific trainings.
Moreover, employees are allowed career flexibility. They can move within and across domains.
This allows for employees to choose their own career paths with support from the organization in
the form of trainings as well as Education at Work opportunities.

Weaknesses

 Low Payer: Genpact is known for paying medium salaries which might prove to be a
disadvantage over some of its competitors.
 Attrition: Genpact needs to manage its attrition. People often leave the organization for higher
salaries or higher education. In a lot of cases, Genpact has become a training ground for
candidates. People join, get trained and leave for higher salaries.
 Manpower shortage

Opportunities

 Venturing into new market areas or penetrating among existing markets. For example, the
Latin American region is promising for Genpact and it has started strengthening its operations
there
 Making use of acquisitions to broaden service and expertise base. For Example Continuing
with steps such as Acquiring Pharmalink, Collaboration with Markit etc
 With the growing of economy, the buyer power neutralises because they have to meet
increasing demand with supply nearing capacity. Genpact should make use of the positive
upturn in the economy

Threats
 Increasing competition with more number of competitors entering the market and existing
firms venturing into service outsourcing

5|Page
III. Tushman and Nadler Congruence of Genpact

There exists congruency between all the four variables of the Tushman Nadler Model. The
company is well aligned when it comes to work, culture, structure and people.

Culture is highly process driven

owing to the operational
nature of work. It also
promotes learning and mobility
Tasks are highly customer-centric across verticals. Genpact is structured by its
and operations oriented as a BPO different service offerings that
handles customer’s business horizontally cut across
segment. Genpact follows a near- industries and by its industry
shoring model to overcome verticals such as Retail, BFSI,
language barriers and relate better Life Sciences, to name a few.
to customer culture

People capabilities lie in the

areas of Finance & Accounting
and Analytics with a primary
focus on verticals of Retail,
Industrial Manufacturing and
BFSI

6|Page
The Current Gap

The PSTS (Practice, Solutions, Transitions and Sales) is an integral part of Genpact and caters to the
Sales organization. It comprises multiple functions:

 Practice
 Solutions
 Re-engineering
 Consulting
 AXIS
 Commercial Proposals

I worked in close coordination with the Commercial Proposals Team which is an enabling function for the
Sales and Solutions organisation. It comprises of Project managers, Content Team, Packaging Team and
Client Visits Team who work in tandem with each other.

The Project Manager is the one who manages the deal throughout the deal cycle once a request for
proposal (RFP) is received from the client. He is involved in opportunity identification, scoping, strategy
finalisation, proposal preparation, packaging and submission of the proposal. Managing the deal is a
complex process and involves driving timelines, managing and highlighting risk and sharing best
practices for knowledge leverage.

Currently the Project Managers do not have an induction or process training plan in place. The present
procedure is ad-hoc and informal and thus many new members are not able to settle and deliver results
quickly and consistently. There exists a clear knowledge gap and absence of a clear line of sight with
respect to objectives. The induction refers to settling in and getting to know the team whereas the process
training refers to a more detailed knowledge about the work of the PM.
There is also no Competency Framework in place which can provide an objective base for development
of the Project Managers, the training interventions are purely on need basis.

The main agenda was to create an induction and process training plan which can fill the current gap.
Since they have only one or two people joining every six months who are mostly internal hires, there is
no place for having dedicated classroom session on the same. The strict timelines and schedules of this
job requires a self driven induction and training where the new member can himself drive his induction by
having a proper schedule and plan in front of him. Thus we decided on creating an induction deck which
will serve as a repository for all the information that a new member needs to integrate within the team and
to manage a deal effectively. The competency framework which formed another integral part of my
project was designed to provide an objective criterion for creating a development map for them.

Rationale of the project

7|Page
The project comprised three key deliverables: Induction Plan, Process Training Plan and Competency
Framework. The following points highlight the importance of these items and what advantages they will
bring to the team and organisation.

1. Induction Plan: is a critical process which gives an employee an objective view of the company,
organizational culture, and work ethic which allows them to better integrate into the workplace. It
is extremely vital and determines the quality of tenure of the employee at the workplace. After
making an investment in recruitment, it becomes necessary to put in place a well defined and
suitable induction plan to enable the employees get anchored to the role and organization. The
presence of a well thought out and defined induction plan will provide the following benefits and
value addition
 It will enable employees to quickly settle into their positions and deliver results consistently
 It will help the new member to understand the expectations of different stakeholders
(Supervisor, Team members, Team Leaders etc) and perform accordingly
 It will help reduce the uncertainty and ambiguity faced by the new member at the time of
joining by providing a fixed clear agenda

2. The Process Training Plan: The Process training plan for project managers puts in place all the
relevant information that project managers need to for effective deal management. The presence
of such a plan will ensure that there is clarity in what the Project managers have to achieve in the
Deal Management cycle along with necessary tools, resources and risks. This will ensure
consistency across the project management experience and enable faster and efficient outcomes.

3. Competency Framework: The Competency Framework which highlights the desired

competencies of a Project Managers and corresponding Behavioural Characteristics across levels
will serve as the basis for preparing a development roadmap and mapping training and learning
interventions. The formulation of such a development roadmap will increase motivation and
engagement levels of employees since they will have a clear opportunity to up skill and grow. It
will also provide a basis for giving objective feedback to Project Managers by their Tower Leads.

Problem Formulation

Based on studying and analyzing the current gap in the induction and development of Project Managers
and after taking inputs from the team, the following major problem areas were identified.

 The new members who join as project managers are unable to settle and integrate into the team
effectively due to lack of an induction program. Since there is no induction plan in place, the new
members do not get sufficiently apprised on the expectations of different stakeholders, goals,
objectives, working standards, deliverables etc. This leads to inconsistency in their performance
in the future. The current process in place is not formalised and ad-hoc. Also, the buddy program
which is currently in place is not defined properly; the induction plan needs to focus on this
aspect as well.
 The Project Managers lack thorough knowledge about the Deal Management Cycle. They are not
aware of the tools, templates and resource which are in place to manage the deal and this leads to
inconsistency in project management deliverables. Also, the PMs lack sufficient understanding of
the process and phases in the deal management cycle. Their limited knowledge of the

8|Page
 interdependencies in the process and of their role at every step along with insufficient risk
management prevents them from achieving effective outcomes.
 The current training interventions happen purely on need basis and there is no defined
development road-map for PMs. This has lead to a drop in motivation and engagement level of
the members because they do not have opportunities to grow and develop in their role.

Objectives of the Summer Internship

 Conceptualise and prepare a week long induction plan focusing on the induction and integration of
the new members. The intent behind this induction roadmap is to have in place a formal plan which
enables the new member to settle in the new environment, get integrated within the team and get to
know the key people.
 Conceptualise and create a month long process training deck focusing on providing the necessary
knowledge to the Project Manager regarding the Deal Management cycle, tools and resources and
typical risks to ensure consistency in PM’s work along with faster and efficient outcomes
 Create a competency framework outlining the desired competencies in a project manager and
corresponding behavioral indicators categorised according to levels of proficiency. The major intent
is to develop a competency framework which will serve as the base for building a developmental
roadmap and subsequently for evaluation

9|Page
Literature Review

Employees to be a company's greatest asset and they hold in their hands the success and reputation of the
business itself. Recognising this, many businesses go to great lengths to recruit the right person only for
their motivation and potential to be stifled because they are not integrated into the business (Stein, 2013)
Induction refers to the process of combining the people, processes and technology needed to optimise the
effect that a new hire has on business outcomes (Snell, 2006). Induction programmes can either occur as
formal training programmes, informal induction carried out by co-workers and supervisors or a
combination of both (Klein & Weaver, 2000). These programmes can also vary depending on the job
level of the new employee and the variety of programme activities (Wesson & Gogus, 2005). According
to Mestre, Stainer and Stainer (1997), the main aim of induction is to lessen the fear or anxiety
experienced by new employees regarding settling into a job or performance.
Several researchers have indicated the benefits of induction programmes. According to Butler
(2008), Wells (2005) and Wesson and Gogus (2005) new employees are most vulnerable during the first
few weeks of employment and poor induction significantly raises the risk of turnover in this group.
Therefore, it is important that an organisation has a mechanism in place to capitalise on early optimism
and imprint the employer’s brand of how the organisation functions (Derven, 2008). Often the first one
hundred days of a new employee’s career are critical in determining whether he or she will assimilate into
the organisation and thrive, or fail to do so (Fritz & Vonderfecht, 2007). According to Snell (2006),
induction presents significant benefits to organisations such as a reduction in the amount of time it takes
for new employees to adjust in an organisation (Ragsdale & Mueller, 2005) and to reach full working
capacity (Brodie, 2006; Derven, 2008). Successful induction programmes can also lead to cost savings
(Cooper-Thomas & Anderson, 2006). Induction programmes not only benefit organisations, they also
offer significant benefits to employees. According to Derven (2008), induction reinforces a new
employee’s decision to join the organisation and fosters a feeling of belonging. A well-organised
induction programme will aid staff in dealing with anxiety by providing them with coping strategies like
goal setting and planning during one of the most stressful times in their organisational life (Wanous &
Reichers, 2000).
According to Irwin (2012), a high quality induction programme ensures there is a plan for their first day,
first week and first month. If an employee is given an induction booklet with checklist-based tasks to
guide him on his first day, first week and first month, it becomes clear to him what to expect in terms of
his induction, and to be able to tick off tasks as he makes progress. It also works well because it is self-
driven, so he doesn’t need to rely on his manager too heavily.

Bartel (1994) looked at the link between training and performance using around 150
firms from another surveys of employers, the Columbia business school survey. Becker
(1975) defined general training as the type of training that raises performance by equal amounts in the
firm where it was provided and in other firms. In contract, specific training only raises performance in the
firm providing it.
(Puffers and Cohen, 1984) when firm specific skills are needed to conduct work effectively, the firm must
make training investment so worker can develop specific skills.

10 | P a g e
Employee's career planning has recently become one of the important strategic objectives of
organizations. If career is considered to be the process of personal development, authority, power
influence, status, prestige, growth, climbing the ladder of hierarchy, qualification and promotion
(Danilevicius, 2008), the significance of career planning in the organization becomes obvious. A
successful career planning in the organization, according to Lovelock and Wright (2002), helps to satisfy
employee’s' needs for training and professional growth; to use employee's abilities efficiently; to increase
employee's' self-reliance; to form an internal reserve of professional growth. The research in the field
reveals the benefit of employee's career planning to the organization, which ensures employee's loyalty,
attraction of potential employee's, employee's' satisfaction, motivation and efficiency at work. Career
planning in the organization must be associated with employee's competency and its development as
performance is not static; on the other hand, a more complex activity requires higher level competency.

11 | P a g e
Theories and Concepts Applied to the Project

Theory Application

Adult Learning Theory: it is a theory that The induction plan has been designed in a manner which
consists of a set of assumptions on how adults allows maximum interaction at regular intervals between
learn. It emphasizes the learning process‟ value, the Buddy and New hire to facilitate collaboration. Also
and uses approaches to learning that are more the program is self driven which fulfils the learning need
problem-based and collaborative than educational; of adults to be self directed instead of instructed. Also
it also emphasises more equality between the the induction plan has clear goals and targets which is in
teacher and learner. line with the principal of Adults learning by being goal
oriented
Experiences of past employees were included in the plan
to increase engagement and allow new hires to reflect on
their own experiences.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: It is a classification system The Bloom’s taxonomy verbs were used to establish the
used to define and distinguish different levels of objectives in the training plan.
human cognition—i.e., thinking, learning, and
understanding. Also used for writing certain behavioral indicators in
different levels of the competency framework

Competency Frameworks: A competency The characteristics of a good competency framework

framework is a set of behaviours or skills that are and its construction techniques were used for designing
essential for effective performance in an the framework. For e.g. Using verbs to define behavioral
organisation, and that can be measured and indicators, Discreet Levels and Discreet competencies,
observed. Relevant and Flexible etc

Learning Styles: A common and widely-used The intention was to have a mix of all the learning styles
model of learning style is Fleming’s (2001) Visual with focus on Visual and Kinesthetic Learning. Thus the
Auditory Kinesthetic (VAK) model. According to Process Training Plan was made aesthetically appealing
this model, most people possess a dominant or with pictures, charts, flowcharts, maps etc to facilitate
preferred learning style; however some people visual learning. Practice exercises were provided to
have a mixed and evenly balanced blend of the provide a hands on approach to the kinesthetic learner
three styles:

12 | P a g e
Methodology
Information Source
The project was a Greenfield project and involved conceptualizing and creating an induction and training
repository. Thus the focal point was gathering and consolidating qualitative inputs from various
stakeholders in the organization to develop the required plan. The following were the major sources of
information and key inputs:

 Guidance and input given by my Project Mentor

 The Project Managers
 Senior Management People who have earlier been in the role of Project Managers.
 The Training Team
 Preliminary information and research from internet websites and research papers regarding
induction and training
 The Induction Plans of other businesses such as Practice, Transitions, Quality etc
 Commercial Resource Centre which is an in house portal of Genpact related information,
templates, tools, reports, articles etc.
 The Competency Frameworks prepared earlier of Practice and Transition Teams
 Feedback given by the Deal management on PMs to understand the inconsistency in deliverables

Data Analysis
The data collected for preparing the induction and training plan was in the form of qualitative inputs. The
following is a description of the analysis of data for every deliverable.

1. For Induction
a. The new members were not able to deliver consistently due to absence of clear line of
sight with respect to expectations, objectives etc. Any practice of induction was not in
place to guide the employee during his initial days of joining.
b. The present PMs face a lot of difficulties with respect to induction new members in their
team because they did not have proper Buddy Program in place. The Buddy was
allocated on ad-hoc basis leading to insufficient effectiveness.
c. The team did not have a dedicated process trainer and only one two people joined in a
year and are mostly internal hires, thus classroom training sessions were not feasible. The
requirement was to provide a self driven precise induction plan which focuses on basics
and gets the new employee integrated with the team
d. Analysis with respect to IT and access requirements and how to speed up the process
e. It was also found out that the new employee was unable to meet all stakeholders. Thus to
overcome this gap meetings were held with stakeholders to come to a consensus
regarding what they would like to discuss with the new employee once he joins the team
f. Also meetings were held with two prominent people who have had considerable
experience as a PM to understand the role and provide a glimpse into the role to the new
employee.

13 | P a g e
 2. Process Training
a. Detailed analysis was done to find out what are the key areas in which PMs default
during the deal management cycle and four key areas emerged
i. Role in the Team
ii. Tools, resources, templates etc
iii. The Deal Management process and the role of PM in every step and
interdependencies between different entities involved
iv. Risk management
b. Thorough assessment was done regarding what is to be included in each of these four
modules based on current and future requirements
c. With the training team, the data was put into separate modules and timelines and
evaluation criteria defined.

3. Competency frameworks
a. Detailed analysis about the desired competencies of a project manager, the existing
competencies and what is the gap.
b. The frameworks of other businesses like Practice and Transitions were analysed to find
out how to structure the levels of proficiency, behavioral characteristics etc.
c. Regular discussion with team leaders to understand how these competencies can be made
more specific to the role and refining it.

General Methodology
The following is a description of the steps undertaken to put in place every deliverable

1. Induction Plan
I. Preliminary Research: This involved finding out about the major components of an
induction plan and how can it be framed. The main purpose was to prepare an induction
deck that the new member can use as a checklist and which gives him a detailed snapshot
of his first week of joining. This will make the induction very self driven and speed up
the process.
II. Setting Objectives: The following steps were undertaken to understand the need and
determine the objectives of this induction:
o Reference Material: I referred to the induction plan prepared for the Transitions
Team and the New Joiners Requirement List for Commercial Proposals to
understand the major components which are to be covered. I also spoke to the
HR person in the Quality team at Genpact to obtain some information on how
they conduct their induction to leverage the same for Commercial Proposals
o Talking to Project Managers: This involved speaking to the existing Project
Managers who shared with me how the induction is run currently and what are
the challenges. I also understood the work done by a project manager to gain
insight into this role.

14 | P a g e
 o Talking to HR: the HR person for Commercial Proposals gave me some inputs
regarding how to structure my plan, what are the major roadblocks and what are
the requirements from this induction plan.
III. Designing The Plan: The induction plan was designed and different components were
put in place. This step involved creating the content of the induction and structuring it
across one week. The following steps were undertaken to put in place the plan.
o Gathering Material: This involved collecting, sorting and preparing information
about the organisation and team which is to be given to the employee during
induction. The information was sourced from the Commercial Resource Centre,
Genpact Corporate Deck, etc
o Meetings with stakeholders: Meetings with different stakeholders to put in
place an agenda for their meeting with the new employee.
o Discussions with OG: I had in-depth discussions with my OG on a daily basis to
arrive at major components, decide stakeholder meetings, talking points for every
meeting, finalise IT and Access requirements, etc.
o Compilation: This involved compiling all the information together in a
presentation and subsequent alterations and revisions to produce the final output
IV. Evaluation Design: Preparing an induction feedback survey for evaluating the
satisfaction of the induction plan which will be administered to the new hire.

2. Process Training Plan

I. Training Need Analysis: Discussion on challenges, timelines and the components which
are to be included. This was essentially training need analysis. This step also involved
looking feedback given to PMs by the different stakeholders to find out the gaps in
knowledge and performance
II. Discussion on existing project managers: Meetings for gathering more inputs as to how
the process training can be improved and what is it that PMs require to efficiently
manage deal cycle.
III. Setting Objectives: With the help of my Organisational Guide, training Team and Team
Leaders, objectives were set regarding the process training plan. The objectives outlines
what the Project Managers are expected to accomplish in terms of learning by the end of
this training. Milestones for the plan were also set.
IV. Designing The Plan: Constant interaction with the training team to structure the training
plan, prepare toll gates. This step involved preparing the content for the training and
structuring it into modules. The mode of training, time period, instruction strategy etc
was finalised
V. Evaluation Design: This step involved deciding upon how to evaluate different modules.
Short assignments, case study etc were designed for this purpose

3. Competency Framework
I. Preliminary Research: Background search on the generic competencies of Project
Managers across various organisations

15 | P a g e
 II. Deciding desired competencies: Discussion on the desired competencies of the PM with
the organisation guide and with the existing project managers. This step also involved
deciding the various behavioral indicators and breaking them down into levels
III. Creating Levels: This step involved deciding the levels of proficiency and accordingly
determining behavioral characteristics for each level.
IV. Refining: Review and revision of the framework with the Tower Leads and Training
Team
V. Mapping: Mapping the competencies to the Genpact competencies as defined for
different Bands
VI. Further Revision: Revising the framework on making it more specific and concrete
according to the role of PM

16 | P a g e
Results
Induction and Process Training at a Glance
Induction Process Training

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

 Meeting the team  Module 1- Role of  Module 3- Tools  Module 4- Risk

 Stakeholder Project Manager and Resources for Management
Meetings  Module 2- Deal effective deal
 IT and Access Management management
requirements Process

Components of Each Deliverable

1. Induction Plan
 Overview of Genpact and Commercial Proposals
 Snapshot of the five day induction schedule which includes
 IT and Access Requirements
 Key stakeholder meetings
 Agenda for every meeting
 Resource person for every task
 Links to major portals, documents and files
 Two success profiles of people who have been in this position for a considerable period
and their take on their journey to make the presentation more engaging.

2. Process Training Plan

 Role of PM in the pre-sales function
o Organisation structure and where he fits in
o Broad role
o Stakeholders to whom he caters to
 Overview of the Deal Management cycle and PM’s role at every step
 A checklist for PM for Project initiation and Project Closure stages
 Overview of tools and resource
 Typical risks and mitigation measures
 Practice exercises based on understanding of tools
 Case study to evaluate their understanding of the entire material

17 | P a g e
 3. Competency Framework
 Five major competencies with their description
1. Project Management
2. Customer Centricity/Stakeholder Management
3. Change Advocacy
4. Communication and Risk Management
5. Business Acumen and Judgment
 Four levels of proficiency
 Corresponding behavioral indicators

Recommendations

 The allocation of the buddy to the new hire should be according to the plan given in the induction
programme. One primary and secondary Buddy should be allotted so that the new hire can reach
out to the secondary Buddy in case the primary is not available.
 For the induction plan to be successful, the Buddy has to play a key role in driving the process
and the same needs to be owned by the TL
 Although the induction plan requires the new hire to set objectives when meeting with his
supervisor, these objectives will need to be reviewed and revised after the new hire completes
work on an individual deal.
 The different members with whom the new hire is supposed to meet during induction week
should be briefed about the agenda of their meetings specifically so that the value of these
meetings can be enhanced.
 The effectiveness of the induction must be measured with an satisfaction survey
 The effectiveness of the process training should be measured with
o Assessments at the end of each module
o Feedback from deal team members when the new hire works on his first individual deal
o Cycle time- The time it takes or the new hire to start working on an individual deal after
training.
 During the nesting period of the Process Training. The Buddy must give live projects/assignments
to the new hire related to deal management deliverables. This will enable him to be well versed
with them before he starts working on an individual deal.

Limitations of the Study

 Only one or two people join within a year hence classroom induction sessions are not feasible

18 | P a g e
 It is a high pressure, multidimensional job, the induction plan has to be short and crisp so that the
new members are anchored well and can begin working at the earliest.
 Absence of a dedicated Trainer which can take the member through the process of induction and
process training, hence the plan need to be self driven and self explanatory
 Difficult to establish evaluation parameters for different training modules
 Limited time available for doing the project due to which all perspectives could not be explored
 Lack of availability of secondary data due to specific requirements and unique nature of the role
of Project Managers.

19 | P a g e
References

Becker, 1975, Does Training Generally Work? The Returns to In-Company Training: Industrial and
Labor Relation Review, p. 649, Vol. 54, No. 3 (April 2001) By Cornell University

Brodie, J.M. (2006). Getting managers on board. Human Resources Magazine, November, 105–108.

Butler, K.M. (2008). Getting employees to stay onboard instead of jumping ship. Employee Benefit
News, January, 13–14.

Cooper-Thomas, H.D., & Anderson, N. (2006). Organizational socialization. Journal of Managerial

Psychology, 21, 492–516. http://dx.doi. org/10.1108/02683940610673997

Danilevicius, E. (2008). Karjeros pletros modeliavimas. Tiltai, 3, 45-155.

Derven, M. (2008). Management onboarding. Journal of Training and Development, April, 49–52.

Fritz, L.R., & Vonderfecht, D. (2007). The first 100 days. Journal of Healthcare Executive, November, 8–
14.

Irwin, Leanne. Human Resources Magazine. Dec2011/Jan2012, Vol. 16 Issue 5, p14-15.

Klein, H.J., & Weaver, N.A. (2000). The effectiveness of an organizational level orientation training
program in the socialization of new hires. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 53, 47–66.

Lovelock Ch.,& Wright, L. (2002). Principles of service marketing and management, 2nd ed. Uppe
Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Mestre, M., Stainer, A., & Stainer, L. (1997). Employee orientation - the Japanese approach. Journal of
Employee Relations, 19, 443–456. http://dx.doi. org/10.1108/01425459710186322

Puffers and Cohen, 1984, Research Notes and Commentaries, The Impact of Work life programs on Firm
Performance, p. 1225, Vol. 21, No. 12, (Dec 2000 ) John Wily & sons Resource Management
Effectiveness as Determinants of Firm Performance, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40, No.
1, p. 171-188

Ragsdale, M.A., & Mueller, J. (2005). Plan, do, study, act model to improve an orientation programme.
Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 20, 268–272. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001786-200507000-00013,
PMid:15965393

Snell, A. (2006). Researching onboarding best practice. Strategic HR Review, 5, 32–35.

Wanous, J.P., & Reichers, A.E. (2000). New employee orientation programs. Journal of Human Resource
Management Review, 10, 435–451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1053-4822(00)00035-8

Wells, S.J. (2005). Diving in. Human Resources Magazine, March, 55–59.

20 | P a g e
21 | P a g e