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(GIST OF YOJANA) Capacity Building of PSUs

[December-2021]

Capacity Building of PSUs

Context:

Training and Capacity Building in Public Sector Undertakings is an area that is gaining importance, particularly due to rapid advancements in technology and ‘other’ operational methodologies.
To meet the training needs in’ the current dynamic scenario, it is imperative that there is synergising of resources and a more active exchange of technical knowledge and other related ideas among PSUs.

Key objectives:

There is a need to bring about collaboration between training facilities of various PSUs and create a pool of shared resources This would also be in line with the ‘National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building’ (NPCSCB) being implemented by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Many of these Public Sector Undertakings, especially the larger ones with ‘Ratna status have their own state of-the-art training facilities which are used mainly for Training and Capacity Building of the employees working in these companies. Some PSUs even have more than one such training institute, each with a distinct field of specialisation. While most of these training institutes have some select core competencies in their operational field, some also individually cater to the development of managerial expertise like Leadership, Team building.
Communication, Executive Development, Decision-making and other similar soft skills for their employees. As of now, there is no institutionalised system of collaboration between these training institutes and each one caters mainly to its own employees using in-house resources and some select outside resource persons.

Geographical Clusters:

To begin with, geographical clusters could be identified where, in a single location, several training institutes from separate fields are located. These could be made ‘Centres of Excellence’ wherein institutionalised mechanisms are developed for sharing resource people, experts, R&D, and even the physical infrastructure. Gradually, a pool of master trainers could also be built by these ‘Centres of Excellence’ who could further impart training at various locations.
In these Centres, apart from utilising each other’s core competency areas, the general areas of training like modules, on Management, Preventive Vigilance, and Leadership could be designed and - conducted collaboratively. This will not only prevent duplication of the process but also create uniform modules across institutes and standardise the training process.

Thematic Clusters:

There may be different institutes offering similar core competencies. Tie-ups between such centres could help create Thematic Centres of Excellence. For this, institutes offering similar core competencies in the same specialised field could be brought together to share R&D and Training techniques.
The thematic clusters can also be helpful in the Banking Sector. Most of the Public Sector banks too have premier training institutes located in different stations. These institutes other than having executives/ management modules also impart domain-specific training like interest management, micro-finance, rural banking, credit management, etc. On similar lines for the training institutes of PSUs, the training institutes of banks could come together and provide training to officers and staff across banks.
The domain-specific core competencies of the various banking institutes could be mapped and ensure specialisation of a particular competency by a specific bank. This would avoid duplication of processes and the resources in terms of manpower, infrastructure, and expert faculty could be utilised optimally.

Ethics and Moral Values:

Another area that needs to be given paramount importance specially in training, is the awareness and the understanding that how work and values of organisations such as adherence to Rule of Law, transparency, and efficiency contribute towards the larger objectives of an inclusive, just, and equitable society. Role of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) as agents of socio-economic growth and change, creators of formal and informal economic opportunities, providing social benefits through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities can help in mitigation of poverty, fulfilling the health and education needs of the underprivileged sections of society.
Training inputs can help in developing a sense of responsivity towards nation-building. The ‘Centres of Excellence’ as proposed, could collaboratively tie-up with specialised institutes which provide insights on these issues. Periodical training could be organised by these Centres to any of these selected institutes, to enable the participants to understand the economic and social milieu of the country, and the ultimate goals governance strives at. Goals of growth and development for all, fair and efficacious governance can only be realised if all stakeholders are enthused and trained in ideals imbued with ethics and empathy. In addition, the PSUs could use their CSR activities’ locations and organise field visits to provide a holistic view of the nation-building process to the trainees.
A developing economy like ours simply cannot afford to have its organisations working in silos without sharing resources and drawing upon each other’s strengths and competencies. Training and Capacity Building is an area where a large amount of resources in terms of financial outlays, manpower, material, and other infrastructure is used.

Conclusion and Way forward:

There is a requirement to create and develop an integrated training infrastructure across PSUs of the same sector and also different ones. One of the core guiding principles of the recently launched iGOT portal by the government is to “create an ecosystem of shared training infrastructure including that of learning materials, institutions, and personnel.
On the same lines, the PSUs and Banks need to collaborate on capacity building, share resources, identify and strengthen core competencies This will optimise resource utilisation and have threefold benefits of avoiding duplication of process, standardise training, and creating specialisation.