Managing Massive Change: THE SATYAM WAY

Training & Development, Oct 2007

Corporate commitment to, and recognition of, employee learning and development has been growing at Satyam, says Cohen, who notes that the company has supported his efforts with some major capital investments in the past year. Total corporate investment in learning has increased by 4 percent as a percentage of payroll, and Satyam has recently constructed a 240,000-square-foot leadership institute.

For a company experiencing such phenomenal growth, many new employees are also new to the workplace. The learning center staff has the job of educating entry-level employees not only about working at Satyam, but also about their duties and responsibilities. The entry-level technology program is a 15-week, residential, technology-training program for new hires, conducted at the learning center's campus. Participants receive baseline training in software engineering as well as technology training based on destination unit, education on company processes, project work in vertical markets, and training on the Satyam Way. The last three weeks are spent working on project teams in various roles. More than 7,000 new employees passed through the program last year.

Asthana says the significant dedication of time and resources is more than repaid in the reduced time it takes employees to gain competence. "This program has resulted in associates who are ready to be deployed on projects in half the time than previously, and who need much less retraining and reorientation once they reach the business units. We can directly tie this program to more than $750,000 in additional revenue each year."