LFCE Helps Unleash the Business Potential of IT Professionals at Capgemini in India
Gathered at Capgemini's Global Learning Center in
Pune,
India, are participants in LFCE's Fast Track
Development
Program for Project Leads, including LFCE
faculty member
Donna Steffey and Capgemini client
sponsor Riya Aurora.
When Aarti Gupta, Head of Global Learning and Culture for Capgemini, formerly Kanbay International, visited Chicago from India, she was enthusiastic about the fit she discovered between LFCE’s expertise and Capgemini’s professional developmental needs. “We were looking to retain and develop our project leads by training them in necessary business acumen and leadership competencies. In LFCE, we found a partner that knows Western business practices, understands how technical experts think, and provides recognizable business certification to our project leads,” said Gupta.
Capgemini is an IT services firm that provides an integrated suite of consulting, integration, development, and outsourcing solutions to organizations globally. Capgemini’s large staff in Pune and Hyderabad, India, is a strong asset to the organization. “In India, there’s intense competition for highly qualified technical managers,” explains Kathy Leck, LFCE Executive Vice President. “Capgemini is proactively seeking to develop, promote, and retain their high-potential technical managers.”
Since February 2007, LFCE has provided a development program for Capgemini’s global project leads through a certificate program carefully designed to reach this group with high advancement potential. “Capgemini professionals are some of the brightest in the IT field. What they need is for their associates to build their communication, management, and client-facing skills as well as Western ‘cultural’ business practices,” says Carole Wald, LFCE Capgemini project manager.
LFCE faculty visit India every few months to provide in-person education to a select group of IT managers. In addition, more than 150 other participants receive customized e-learning sessions. Wald explains, “To help Capgemini associates address specific leadership and business competencies, we make sure the material remains relevant to Capgemini developmental needs and actionable in their work situations.”
The program has been highly successful, as participants have already begun to directly apply what they learn to their work. Riya Arora, senior executive of the Development Center in the Financial Services Business Unit, explains, “We already see a shift in how our managers facilitate client and team relationship communications. They have more confidence and new tools to be proactive leaders.”
A few of the solutions participants have developed in their individual learning action plans include:
- A performance-based points system to reward top performers and a technical forum to strengthen individuals’ ownership mentality, facilitate communication among team members, and build presentation skills. This will enhance the quality of project deliverables and allow team members to more easily identify
opportunities to further address their clients’ needs.
- A rotation system within and between projects to offer appropriate levels of intellectual challenge to team members and aid employee retention. Better controlling attrition will enhance team member motivation and the long-term relationship with the client.
- A mentoring approach where existing team members formally serve as mentors to new team members to effectively transfer knowledge. This will minimize project downtime and delay, and enhance the overall productivity of the team.
“It’s clear that LFCE is uniquely suited to help us achieve what we need,” says Gupta. Why? First, LFCE research on transforming IT experts into business leaders (Unleash the Business Potential of Your Technical Experts) gives LFCE direct insights into tailoring business training to the unique needs of highly technical professionals.
Second, US business practices are highly regarded and needed, as many of Capgemini’s clients come from the West. The LFCE faculty members not only know how to teach these business practices, but are practitioners themselves. Capgemini’s managers have had invaluable contact with accomplished business professionals like faculty members Donna Steffey, Renie McClay, and Mike Muldoon.
Finally, LFCE is committed to customizing the learning materials to Capgemini’s IT professionals and to the Indian culture. This level of customization has been an integral aspect of the design, development, and ongoing delivery of the program. Leck sums up the general tone of the effort—“It’s exciting to bring together both our organizations and our cultures to help Capgemini’s IT managers realize their broader business potential.”
