The True Sense of Talent Transformation!

Many retail organizations focus on training their employees and ‘Talent Transformation’ is the current buzzword. But only a few organizations perhaps have understood the very meaning and essence of transformation. Those who are serious about developing their employees and would want to engage their people for a longer walk with the organization are committed to fostering transformational learning as part of their manpower development plan; they institutionalize learning practices that would ultimately lead to the transformation of employees.

Bata, as an organization is one that has institutionalized learning practices for its employees worldwide. The company’s programmes have stood the test of time and have helped many retail professionals grow in their careers. Even many modern retail professionals of current times would have come across retail business practices in India transferred from this legendary retailing organization. Only well-established training practices if structured in an organization and systematically marked in enunciation for various levels can result in facilitating talents for transformation. The advantage of following such practices can help employees be engaged productively in the organization. Bata has various programmes developed with utmost care, like that. “A Step Ahead” is a conceptualized weeklong training programme for the front-end sales and customer service personnel and one must have undergone this programme successfully to sit for the store manager’s selection examination. ‘Retailco’ is a conceptualized programme, that prepares a District Manager to perform well on his job. ‘Mermanco’ is a programme for merchandising executives and those aspiring to become merchandising managers or category managers should have done this course. Retail Managers are taken through the company’s most coveted programme called ‘Advanco’.

Every course is entrusted to a competent Course Leader who ensures that the programme is conducted efficiently following the course directive. People to be trained are chosen using objective measures. There is a test conducted at the end of every course and certificates issued to every successful participant. Each course has a scientific approach to it focusing on the relevant intelligences needed for each position and responsibility. The methodology too is a mix of kinesthetic, visual-spatial, verbal and naturalistic deliveries planned meticulously and in the right proportions for each programme.

The hierarchy of functional training programmes delivered by the organization is planned to take the employee from one level to the other. A time tested transformation plan that the organization has, Bata keeps updating the content and the delivery methodology in tune with the need of the contemporary times.

I decided to discuss the talent transformation methodology followed by Bata in this blog because we often see that employee development is not taken seriously in many retailing companies in India. Training tends to be only measured by the number of days a person is trained in a year! In the case of Bata, it has been institutionalized, like helping an employee pass systematically transforming from one stage to the other – say, from high school to undergraduate to postgraduate and then on to professional levels! The many ’home grown’ Country Heads of every Bata Company in the Bata Shoe Organization would bear testimony to their own transformation, having grown in the organization for years, thanks to the organization’s best initiatives!

With patchy training, retailing companies can never associate their efforts with talent transformation!

- Dr. Gibson G. Vedamani