Public-Private retail mission

“Many enterprises, including those which are part of groups listed on the stock markets, feel an association with NSDC enhances the brand equity of their training offerings and, more importantly, the believability in their courses by the student community. The liberal financing terms and the transparent approval and monitoring mechanisms of the NSDC, moreover, make it easy for prospective Partners to enter the training arena and make a business out of it,” says Dilip Chenoy, CEO & MD, NSDC.

 What is the need?

According to leading industry analysts,  the work-force employment in organised retail, as on 2008, was recorded at 0.3 million and the figure is expected to be around 17.6 million by 2022. “We need to create industry-partnership and PPP models for retail education and skill development facilities, to meet the demands for growth and expertise, government aided initiatives and policies to foster and produce retail professionals is very critical,” says D.K. Jairath, CEO, Evok. The foremost criteria for engaging in such a partnership is that there needs to be a guarantee of employability of the individuals that shall be trained, and a proof of employment after completion of training. Programmes aimed at uplifting the rural segment and the society as a whole is what the underlying idea behind this form of government support. The government provides funds for specific machinery, equipment and technology so as to fulfill student requirements. Skill development is not just a theoretical scenario, and today, it is directed more towards the use of machinery. Such funding enables us to train the students in proper technology, machines and materials. This partnership gives the retailer the boost and credibility in the industry. Therefore, having a PPP enables the specific industry body to have a trained, skilled and employable workforce, with support from the government.

How does it work?

Retailer Association of India, in partnership with NSDC, has formed a body, RASCI, which is working on setting a standard for retail training course and it will certify the training course which will be recognised by the retail industry.  “The purpose is the right evaluation of skill in the industry. With contribution from the key members of RAI, including Bijay Sahoo, the Chief People Officer and President, Reliance Retail, RASCI is creating occupancy standard and mapping competency, and at the end of this year it will come in effect. By 2022, 8 million people will be certified by RASCI,” informs Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India.

 Bharti Walmart Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Stores Inc for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India, has formed PPP with the aim of bridging the shortage of skilled workers for cash-and-carry and organised retail formats,

“The retail sector in India is growing at an exponential rate and therefore provides tremendous growth opportunities. The past few years have seen several companies starting their operations in India. However, the industry lacks the talent pool with required skill sets to leverage this huge potential. Bharti Walmart Training Centres aim to bridge this gap by imparting training on various aspects of retailing to under-privileged youth making them job-ready for their first employment in the retail sector,” says Murali Lanka, Senior Vice President, Operations, Bharti Walmart.

Bharti Walmart, under the PPP model, established Skills Training Centres at Amritsar (in December 2008), Delhi (in July 2010) & Bangalore (in March 2011) in Partnership with the Government of Punjab, Government of Delhi and Government of Karnataka respectively. Recently they have launched the fourth training centre in Maharashtra, in a PPP with Government of Maharashtra. To date, over 10,400 students have been certified and nearly 4,000 have been placed in various jobs including in Bharti Wal-Mart’s stores.

The content for this training programme is generated by Centum Learning. Explains Sanjeev Duggal, CEO, Centum Learning “At the Bharti Walmart Training Centre, all students admitted to the various courses receive a 100% scholarship and therefore are not charged a single rupee for the training. While the programme is a three party collaboration between the government who provides the infrastructure, Centum Learning who conceptualises and creates the content and also provides its trainers for the programme. this programme is funded by Bharti Walmart. it is one of their biggest CSR initiatives.”

Bharti Walmart, in partnership with Centum Learning, has also set up three additional training centres inside its wholesale cash and carry ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’ stores in Zirakpur (in May 2011), Ludhiana (in December 2011) and Jalandhar (in December 2011).

Under PPP scheme, the maximum grant available from the government towards the implementation of the training institutes is capped at `2 crore. Since it is a grant, there is no revenue sharing. “Having a PPP enables the specific industry body to have a trained, skilled and employable workforce, with support from the government” says Anant Maloo, CMD, Timbor Home Ltd who is now offering unique skill development courses to provide employment through its Timbor Skillvarsity. This initiative has received support from the Government of Gujarat through the Industries Commissionerate and The Centre for Entrepreneurship Development.

Trainers with right passion

These trainings are meant for employment generation, and are given to those whose qualification can be as low as grade eight, hence it is mandatory for the trainers to have the magnetic power to attract students and inspire them.  Shares Duggal, “Staff that we recruit must have in them passion and the desire to make a difference. We are crystal clear that unless they are passionate about transforming the lives of people, they will have very little impact on the lives of the students who enroll for the programmes. It is very important for organisations like ours to recruit and retain highly motivated and skilled trainers not just for our centres in tier I but also in tier II and III towns as well. This is because as the retail industry moves away from the saturation of tier I cities, the need to have trainers of a certain quality in tier II and III towns become that much more pressing.”