Learning is understandably a high priority for this leading company in the knowledge-based services industry. You could consider it the key to growth, retention, and prosperity.

Like many technology service companies emerging from the recession, Bangalore, Indiabased Wipro Technologies faced two formidable challenges in 2009. It was under pressure by its customers to deliver more for lessto reduce the delivery cost of its IT services and to improve the quality of those services. To help address those issues, it turned to its learning function.

Wipro Technologies, the technology and consulting services division of Indian conglomerate Wipro Ltd., manages some 3,000 projects for 500 global customers. Manpower represents 74 percent of the costs of that delivery.

To lower that figure, the company decided to increase the composition of less expensive recruits as a percentage of billable manpower from 16 percent to 19 percent. The learning function needed to quickly create and deliver training that could transition new graduates from the classroom to the integrated world of software development.

It revised orientation training to include three additional weeks of on-the-job indoctrination called the Real Life Lab. The lab is an intense learning experience about computer programming, problem solving, and the development of analytical skills and other tasks that needed to be honed on actual development projects.

Meanwhile, Wipro also set out to improve the capabilities of the delivery management solution. The learning function created a new Delivery Management Academy (DMA) to increase the proficiency of the individual mid-level executives who typically manage 10 client projects apiece. It examined the work loads, defined frequencies, and looked at gaps.

Both learning projects were enormously successful, says Selvan Dorairaj, senior vice president of talent transformation. The 97 percent rate of repeat business is a testament to the quality of our delivery, Dorairaj adds.

He says Wipro Technologiess talent transformation function launched several other important initiatives last year and measured solid progress on others. One new initiative revised the management of high growth accounts. It targeted 66 accounts for a new elite category of Client Engagement Managers and appointed high-potential individuals to the position. They were given CEO-like authority over the prized profit centers including sales, delivery, quality, and HR.

The new empowerment model with its increased autonomy represents an important cultural shift for the company, Dorairaj says. The designated individuals are the face of the organization for their customer and a single point of contact. The benefits of this new alignment are profound. It is not only an important growth opportunity for managers, its a great retention tool for the company, he explains.

Naturally, the transformation of sales-oriented account managers into de facto CEOs also requires a hefty training component. A comprehensive developmental program involving a leading business school and a new Wipro learning initiative called the Program Management Academy were launched. Leading industry consultants also were engaged to help design and develop the executive grooming program.

Dorairaj considers Wipro Technologiess most innovative learning initiative of 2010 to be its response to the companys chronic need for young and fully prepared engineers. It hires about 7,500 fresh engineering graduates from electrical, electronics, and computer science streams each year.

But these recruits are typically educated within a single-stream approach, he says. They lack the understanding of engineering subjects in an integrated and interconnected fashion. If they are studying microprocessors, they are only taught microprocessors, he says. To bridge that gap, Wipro spends approximately $10 million annually conducting 50-plus days of preparatory training.

A team from its learning organization studied the challenges of training new hires as well as the education they receive. Then it developed an innovative tool called a Unified Learning Kit (ULK), an advanced programmable platform that integrates the latest hardware and software from leading technology vendors. It includes the subjects taught in college in an integrated fashion designed to develop industry-ready skills. The so-called lab in a box enables students to experiment in all relevant engineering subjects, and see how the processes work seamlessly together.

A single portable, laptop-sized ULK can teach more than 10 different technical subjects in both hardware and software across three years of a students engineering education. Dorairaj considers it the ideal platform to bridge the needs of academia and business. Wipro is making it available to engineering colleges so they can produce better prepared graduates who have refined their career aspirations.

Relationships with academic institutions are a high priority for Wipro. For example, it operates a corporate university in collaboration with Indias BITS University to help aspiring employees obtain masters degrees in engineering. At any given time, 5,000 of the companys 72,000 employees pursue degrees under an earn and learn program that is totally reimbursed by the learning function.

Formally known as the WASE (Wipro Academy of Software Excellence) Program, it is made available to staffers with no employment strings attached following completion of the program. Nonetheless, Wipro maintains an attrition rate of less than 1 percent among WASEians, says Sambuddha Deb, executive vice president and chief global delivery officer.

Another innovative program launched last year was designed to extend the reach of learning throughout the enterprise. A group of five instructors was appointed to select 500 subject matter experts from a variety of departments to become part-time certified trainers. Following indoctrination, the individuals were assigned to train almost 10,000 employees on vital subjects based on a curriculum that highlights each trainers personal expertise.

They conducted 618 sessions last year on selected topics from 11 subjects in technical, behavioral, and managerial areas. The program represents a dramatic extension of the learning organizations reach that is accomplished without outsourcing, but instead reinvests in the business, Dorairaj explains. The SMEs are rewarded for their efforts with high visibility within the company, including articles in the employee newsletter and interaction with corporate leaders at certification events.

The learning organization is able to meet these and other diverse challenges because of an optimal organizational structure and the high priority placed on learning within the company (employees are required to spend 5 percent of their time on learning).

Wipros learning function is a three-tiered organization that includes a team of consultants who interface with business units, a content delivery organization, and a services and support function. Strict lines of demarcation separate each activity. The structure ensures that delivery is insulated from the vagaries of the business and can focus entirely on quality, Dorairaj explains.

Part of the delivery team creates capability-building programs aligned to the various roles in the business such as rookie training and the academies, while another group focuses on programs to improve the customer experience. The latter includes quality issues, technical skills, customer management, and similar topics. In addition, learning design strategies are targeted to specific generations in the workforce. But given an average employee age of 29 years, technology-based learning receives the most attention.

Such attention to detail, says Dorairaj, is why Wipro Technologiess learning organization operates at the highest level it possibly can.