Ericsson prepares its workforce for the future

Many industries are facing digital and technological disruptions, especially the telecom sector in India. To remain relevant, companies need to keep on updating and developing their workforce to stay in the race.

Just like any other company, Ericsson India is also bringing in some interventions in its learning and development department, to make its employees future ready. The Company has stressed upon all the skills to stay relevant in an ever changing and evolving environment.

There are a couple of new interventions that Ericsson India has introduced recently.

Executive development programme

This programme at Ericsson aims to build functional or technical competencies in an individual and also leadership competencies, which focus on building leadership effectiveness.

Like many other organisations in the world, Ericsson has also moved on to building a personalised learning journey for its employees. It provides an online virtual platform, where employees can build their technical skills in relevant streams. Employees can also enrol for courses not only in their core domain but also other domains if they so desire.

At the end of the course, employees receive a certificate of completion. “At Ericsson, we have an open talent market where every single vacancy in the organisation is open to all employees. The goal is to build a personalised learning journey for our employees,” says Priyanka Anand, vice president & head of HR, South Oceania and India, Ericsson.

In addition, Ericsson also has classroom training programmes according to the needs of the business, customer roadmap and the changing technology.

Another part of this programme focusses on developing the employees into good leaders. Ericsson has very recently introduced an initiative called ‘Ericsson on the go’ which focuses on building leadership effectiveness and personal effectiveness in individuals.

“’Ericsson on the go’ is a very cross-hierarchical and cross-functional transformation in our leadership cadre. It focuses on building a customised road map to enhance leadership competence. It stresses on the kind of leadership attitude individuals should have to lead their team and the employees they are responsible for,” shares Anand.

“There are no limited ways to develop employees. At Ericsson, we believe we should continuously re-invent according to what is disrupting the market. And as an employee, if you are working in the telecom sector, you need to accept changes as part of your life to stay relevant”

It includes classroom and virtual interventions, along with workshops and experiential dialogues in the organisation.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

This programme creates cutting-edge CXO-level leadership interventions in collaboration with INSEAD. It is meant for middle and senior-level managers in the organisation.

Fuel programme

The fuel programme at Ericsson is particularly created for women employees in the organisation who return after a long sabbatical or a career break. Under this programme, a certain pool of skills has been built for these women who are put onto a fast-track course and made ready to take up leadership roles in the future.

“For the last few years we have been investing in inclusivity in Ericsson. We also include women coming from the campuses. Through this programme, we want to empower and equip women at Ericsson to take up more complex and diverse roles in the organisation,” asserts Anand.

She explains that all the L&D initiatives at Ericsson are focused on enhancing leadership skills and making employees understand how they can leverage technology as leaders.

“There are no limited ways to develop employees. At Ericsson, we believe we should continuously re-invent according to what is disrupting the market. And as an employee, if you are working in the telecom sector, you need to accept changes as part of your life to stay relevant,” explains Anand.

Such learning and development interventions at Ericsson have significantly reduced the attrition rate. These also act as a great tool for employee engagement. “At Ericsson, we hold the employee-engagement survey every six months and we have been consistent over the years,” says Anand.