How Can We Keep Bench Resources Engaged and Punctual for Training Sessions?

Hi, I am working as an HR Executive in a software MNC. Our organization's strength is close to 620 now. We will have a considerable batch size of bench resources who are out of a project, and they will be idle for at least 15 to 20 days. Is there any way to keep them engaged? Also, please suggest any ideas on how to have associates report to a training program within the scheduled time as there is always a delay of 15-20 minutes.

If they will be idle for 15-20 days, then you may ask them how they would like to fill this time gap productively. Let them brainstorm and come up with their own solution. I hope they are all software engineers, therefore graduates in Engineering.

Secondly, a large number of soft skills can be learned on one's own. There is no need to "teach" as such. Given that they are engineers and supposed to have a high IQ level, self-learning is always the best way to learn. You may identify the top 5 behavioral competencies and ask them to master these in 15 days. Let them refer to any book or web resources on their own. The knowledge of the following competencies can be acquired individually:

- Listening Skills
- Questioning Skills
- Decision-Making Skills
- Conflict Handling Skills
- How to give feedback and how to receive feedback
- Interpersonal Skills (with an emphasis on how to criticize and how to accept criticism)

On the 15th day or so, you may conduct a test to determine the extent to which they have mastered these competencies. Even if they have a theoretical understanding of any competency, it is more than sufficient. They can apply this theoretical knowledge when their projects begin.

Alternatively, you may suggest that they go through Stephen Covey's book on the 7 Habits. Conduct a test for each habit. Trust me, if they master these habits, they will bring about significant cultural change in the organization, as changes in their behavior will be quite noticeable. However, do not just ask them to "read." You must conduct a test; otherwise, nobody will show interest in mastering anything.

By employing this method, you will be able to foster a learning culture within the organization, which is far more important. However, to implement all this, you should be competent enough to handle it, lest it causes more harm than good.

If you choose this approach, you will likely find that you have saved a lot of resources in training them.

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Thank you very much, sir, for your valued suggestion. Your point is valid for those who come to the bench for the first time. Maybe after some time, say six months later, the same employee will still be there, and he would have already completed what I had asked him to. My intention was that it would be better if we could have a skilled factory (Technical Group Discussions) happening among them, not limited to a particular organization but open to all IT organizations so that they can improve their skills.

I really like the idea of the 7 concepts; I will try it.

Question on Training Program Reporting

I also have another question: "How to make employees report a training program within the scheduled time (having a normal tendency of 12-20 months delay)? Please suggest."

Regards,
Raghavendra.S

In addition to the valuable tips from Dinesh, you can engage them in brainstorming exercises on the following:

1. **Business Development Ideas:** Explore the possibilities of developing other products with existing software skills available in the company that can complement the main product. For example, an eye hospital can house a lens store on its premises and supply lenses to its own eye patients.

2. **Reviewing the Assembly Line:** Explore the possibilities of reviewing the existing assembly line (timing of supply of content & transforming into technology, etc.) to speed up the delivery system. This can help reduce delivery schedules, making customers happier.

3. **Analyzing Customer Complaints:** Analyze customer complaints about your software in the past and explore ways to minimize the recurrence of such problems.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

My reply is as below:

a) Skill Factory: Take a video recording of the discussion so that it can be used for future reference.

b) Late Reporting for Training: This tardiness may be reflective of your organization's culture. Apart from late reporting for training, assess how punctual other activities are. If there are delays in various aspects, why focus solely on training reporting times? In my experience, this is a common issue in the IT industry where timeliness is often overlooked. Educating software professionals on the value of punctuality is a challenging task best handled by leadership.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar