Encircling the talent pool

Having worked with various organisations in their start up phase, Deepanshu Khurana, CEO, i360 has a pulse on business development, franchise acquisition and operations management. Seen as a good visionary, his detailing and execution skills have taken i360 to a new orbit. 

Jasmeet Sahi (JS): What was the inspiration behind opening a staffing and training solutions company?
Deepanshu Khurana (DK): i360 training and staffing is part of Unicon investment solutions. When we started this organisation we faced a huge challenge of in-house recruitment. Unicon has 4,000 employees on board. That’s when we decided to open i360 to provide manpower from our own company. Unicon was also our first client.  

JS: Why ‘i360’? What does this name signify?
DK: 360 degrees, as one knows, forms an entire circle. This represents what we at i360 strive to achieve, i. e. an overall wholesome training and staffing program, aimed at providing training for each and every sphere; be it for English language fluency, for doctors and nurses, staffing for corporate houses, businesses and much more. The ‘i’ in i360 means ‘me’, myself. To be a one-stop shop for entire training and staffing solutions is the aim of i360. 

JS: Since when has i360 been providing its services to students and the corporate industry?
DK: September 2008 was when i360 started providing staffing solutions for businesses and training services for students. We just celebrated our one year anniversary. Corporate training was started in January this year. 

JS: What kind of training is given to aspirants wanting to be in the retail industry? What is the placement percentage at i360?
DK: There are two kinds of markets in retail, direct and indirect. Direct is where students get trained in many retail related courses and get absorbed in the industry. In the indirect manner, individuals get placed through our placement cell into their desired companies. Placements at i360 have been very successful. Names like Bata India, Spencer’s, Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop amongst many others are companies where i360 has placed aspirants. 

JS: Retail courses nowadays employ consumer-centric approaches to train students. Is i360 also following this trend?
DK: Yes, i360 too follows such a trend. As mentioned earlier, i360 aims at a wholesome training and staffing solution program. So, having a consumer-centric approach both in training and staffing is what we follow. But that does not mean the theory part is totally ignored. A wholesome approach can only be achieved by laying adequate emphasis on both theory and practical (consumer-centric approach), which we at i360 always do. We also provide internship contracts for all those who train with us so as to ensure an industry exposure. 

JS: Which companies has i360 provided staffing solutions to? Do you have tie-ups with companies for placements/staffing?
DK: At i360 we have staffing contracts with Haldiram’s, Lal Mahal 365, Asian Paints etc. We have a dedicated vertical of the organisation, ozone manpower solutions, catering to placements.  

JS: At the time of the meltdown how does a staffing solutions company benefit, especially when the hiring have almost stopped?
DK: Our Company started at a time when the recession had fully set in. This nevertheless did not add any obstacle to our functioning as at that point of time individuals were getting into training modules to enhance their skills. The downturn did not affect us in any major way. Agreed, the hiring had ceased for sometime, but placements at i360 picked up again in the beginning of this year at a time when the meltdown and its after effects had washed out. 

JS: How many i360 centres are there in India? Any future plans?
DK: We have 30 centres all over India. We are hoping to cross the 200 mark by the year 2011.