A lot has been written and said about ‘training’, the methodologies of training and the gaps in training for the garment export industry. There is no doubt that training is an integral part of ‘growing’ and no company can afford to ignore the importance of up-scaling skills to meet evolving challenges. Today, most of the training efforts are for operators and involve increasing skills and handling of new technologies.
Little effort has gone into sharpening the skills of middle-level and senior executives/managers. Also most of the workshops held in this direction are more of a meeting ground then serious attempts at training. Analyzing why most short-term training workshops fail to yield results, I have come to the conclusion that there is a misfit in what the industry wants and what experts/consultants have to offer.
Sadly, most of the training workshops for middle-level and senior executives fail to inspire the participants, and companies end up gaining little from the process. My team has over the years participated in a number of such workshops and find that one of the most critical elements missing is engagement. In a move to not only bridge the gap, but also give a new direction to the term training, Apparel Resources has initiated a series of workshops with targeted themes relevant to the industry in its various operations.
The effort is to give participants over a period of a day or two a clear understanding of the subject, and through games and interactions, involve the participants to apply their mind and share experiences. The subjects and resource persons conducting the workshops have been put together after much brainstorming with a large section of the industry and a number of consultants.
The idea is not to take away people during work hours but give them an opportunity to upscale their understanding of critical issues over a relaxed and interactive two days; free from the pressure of work.
I am sure the industry will appreciate the thought behind initiating these workshop sessions… The March issue of SW will carry the outcome of our first workshop on TQM and also the reactions of the delegates.
In the meanwhile, this issue has three industry informed persons – Piyush Vyas (Industry Expert), Chandrajith Wickramasinghe aka CJ (Consultant) and Amit Bahl (Architect), talking about the factors that need to be kept in mind while setting up a factory, including a multi-storeyed one. Many frequently asked questions have been answered by these experts in detail. Continuing our series on Industrial Engineering, the topic of discussion in this issue is how to make an operational bulletin.
