Training Through Social Networking
Social networking is becoming more and more popular. Almost everyone we know can be reached on orkut, facebook, myspace and other well known social networks. The idea of social networking is to enable people to keep in touch and share information, pictures, videos and so on even when they are scattered all over the globe. Logging into a social network brings all your friends together at one place and lets you interact with them freely. An extremely effective tool to reach out to a lot of people at one time.
Now think about this from the perspective of a company which wants to train a group of new recruits. How about creating an unique social network for trainees and interacting with them through it. Not only will it solve a lot of problems pertaining to finding training rooms, equipments, trainers etc, but by virtue of being an unique network within the company, no outsider can get access to it. Training involves extensive information sharing, brainstorming by the recruits, feedback and group discussions. All these can be done with the help of a social network. If you have a new idea, put up a post for all to see and comment. If you want a discussion with your trainer or colleagues, initiate a chat session. All you need is a desk and a PC of your own.
Apart from sharing information and discussing, online web tools offer provisions for virtual meeting places/spaces as well. More on this exciting technology later.
Onward to Online Training
For the industry, training is an important aspect alongwith hiring. As educational institutions usually offer nothing more than theoretical knowhow, companies have to take up the responsibility of grooming new recruits and getting them ready for all they have to face in the corporate world. Therefore, on top of the expenses associated with hiring, there comes the additional burden of training expenses. While profile-related specific training can be best learned from seniors and qualified corporate trainers, more and more companies are looking at alternate means of training when it comes to general training such as communication, ways of dealing with clients and using certain popular software.
A solution in this regard is online training which is emerging as a productive as well as cost-effective solution. With the internet becoming an indispensable part of our lives and the multitude of tools available online, it is no wonder that online training is gaining some serious ground. With the advent of online training, the debate that is doing the rounds is whether it will completely replace face-to-face teaching in the long run. Before attempting to answer that question, a thorough examination of the potential of online training is pertinent. More posts to come on this exciting field.
Attrition Rates: Nightmares of the Industry.
If we are to talk about some of the problems ailing the industry in India, one of the first things that come to mind is attrition. Though its presence is felt in every area, the BPO industry is seen to be suffering the most. High attrition rates have become common in BPOs and HRs need to come up with effective solutions to tackle this problem.
When freshers join a BPO, the company has to spend a considerable amount of time and money in training the new recruits. To enable the employees to communicate well with foreign customers, they are provided voice training, accent training and other tips and tricks of communicating over phone. The candidates need to know a lot about the company and its products as well. So after all the training, if employees leave for other opportunities, it’s back to square one for the companies with another bunch of new employees. Thus bringing the attrition rate down is a priority for most players in the industry.
Some effective strategies to tackle this could be to give employees a sense of job-security, offer them attractive rewards for good performance and make the environment of the offices fun. Work can get stressful at times and various recreational activities can be arranged so that the employees can look forward to a lot more other than routine work.
The attrition rates have lessened over the last year (25-28% on an average) compared to earlier years (55-60%) but that’s largely due to recession. The sooner the companies take effective remedial measures, the better.