Studies show that the average age of first-time managers is 30, and the average age of people in leadership training is closer to 42. Studies correlating the dominance of millennial value system with a lack of candidates who seem prepared to take on managerial positions point towards a crisis of training for leadership roles.

While there is no dearth of training available, traditional training methods seem to miss out on seamlessness, scalability, accessibility and objectivity. The gaps arise from how traditional methods are put into practice and the ways in which the transformation of the workforce has affected expectations from learning.

John Cherian, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Enparadigm, talks about people management, soft skills, simulations, blended learning solutions, and the importance of effectively giving and receiving feedback.

Q1. When you say behavioural simulation what does it mean in the context of business?

Success in various functions of a business like sales, operations, strategies, finance, and marketing require hard skills. But, hard skills are only half the story when it comes to employee performance. There are behavioural dimensions to functional performance as well. We leverage behavioural simulations to develop softskills required by the workforce to deliver efficiently.

Q2 Define soft skills?

How do you work with people, how do you handle people, how do you communicate and how do you collaborate. Everything that we do with people management.

Q3. What are the various sectors where you have implemented solutions in people management?

The core industries we are currently working with are BFSI, IT, FMCG, Pharma, Chemical, and Auto.

Q5 Could you tell us about your work in the automobile sector?

In the automobile industry, companies which are manufacturing will have dealerships to sell their range of vehicles. Within the dealership, they are showroom managers, sales managers. These roles can be very stressful. Given how the dealerships perform will have implications on the sales figures of the company. Their ability to perform well under this pressure can make a whole lot of difference to the dealership.So, the branches of the manufacturing company ensure that dealerships are run efficiently and within the brand guidelines. There is an emphasis on registering the best sales figures by adopting the best practices of customer service. Understanding and catering to the customer is crucial to sales role. How does one handle dissatisfied or angry customers? If the salespeople aren’t familiar with the right recourse, dealership may lose customers to competitors.

We help companies by training their people in sales and service. In order to minimize risk and provide experiential learning, we use our proprietary simulations and mobile learning solutions.

Q6. Are you planning to get into education services?

There are four prominent phases of education. There is school education up to K12, followed by a period of university education. Then there is the transitional phase between university and the first couple of years of work life. And finally, career development within the corporate domain. During the transitional phase from university to the first couple of years in a corporate organization is when candidates need to acquire core technical skills. Thereafter, they need add-on skills – this is when soft skills gain relevance. It is during these years that people, functional, and business management skills are developed. Our solutions are focused on tackling the challenges that arise during the last two phases i.e. the transitional phase and the career development.

Q7. How do you price the simulations?

The pricing of our programs depends on the needs of the organization, the period of engagement as well as the volume of participants. As for a simulation program, the prices start between 8 to 10k per participant per day. That’s the most basic unit of price.

Q8. What is the timespan of a training program?

Our training solutions are not limited to a one or two day program. We also do a lot of blended learning programs. These include assessments, simulations within classroom learning, online simulation modules, gamified mobile learning solutions for sustained, bite-sized engagement, as well as coaching and mentorship. We do an integrated program combining these modes of delivery provide an effective experience that embeds learning.

Q9. How do you assess what an organization actually needs? Whether it needs mobile simulation or a behavioural simulation, what is the process?

First, we look at specific industries, we look at roles which are specific to those industries and what kind of training is required for people to be effective in their roles.

At an organizational level, we try to establish where the organization thinks there is a skill gap. Our teams undertake a diagnostic to see where the gaps are. The gaps could be in hard skills or soft skills or both.

We customize our offerings depending on the skill gaps and the organization’s willingness to invest. If there are considerable gaps and the client is willing to invest, we provide in-depth solutions and blended modules that combine coaching, support and simulations. At times, the needs are different. Organizations want to provide people a perspective or create basic awareness regarding a topic which may help their employees in their roles. These are cases where there is very specific, defined need and they require different solutions.

Q10. How long do the blended programs you mentioned last?

Anywhere between 12 to 18 months. This includes 15 days of experiential learning driven simulations, which are spread across a year. The trainings are interspersed with and aided by 10-15 mobile modules that the participants go through. In addition to these, there are pre-assessments and post-assessments. Within the timespan of a training journey, the participants are also brought together in smaller, more focused groups for group coaching for around a month.

Various parts of the training are customizable, and we take into account the specific needs of each business and their workforce to design our programs.

Q11. Who conducts the training sessions?

We have a portfolio of people with industry specific and functional expertise. We look for domain experience in the areas of training. Is the training relevant for sales or is it for people management? There are also considerations about the sector. Is it meant for Pharma or Auto? So, primarily we look at their industry, their domain expertise and their comfort of handling technology. From time to time, we undertake ‘training the trainers’ programs to ensure that these sessions run smoothly and that the trainers are updated accordingly.

Q12. How do you train the faculty ?

There are people who are already working as faculty. We are always on the lookout for people who are good at not only domain knowledge but also are skilled at facilitating. They are trained to facilitate using our proprietary simulations and content to bridge the gaps between their expertise and client needs.

Our emphasis is on content that adds value, and specific methodologies that can be leveraged to structure the training and feedback. Simulations and mobile learning can help immensely to drive learning. For example, in a traditional classroom setup, there is no dependable mechanism to ensure that the learning that has been imparted will be useful down the road. The facilitator has no reference point based on which to understand the gaps, to understand whether the participants have understood enough implement the learning when they go back to their organizations.

With simulations, a facilitator can share a concept with the participants and then depending on how they work through the simulation, the facilitator can consider the result. If the participants do well, the result from the simulation reflects the same. If they don’t, the simulation gives back poor results. There is immediate feedback both for the participants and the facilitator. Feedback is crucial to learning.

Within a day, facilitators can drive 4 to 5 concepts through different rounds of simulations and people learning. This ensures that facilitators have a grip on whether the participants are learning or not