Synergising industry needs with students’ skill sets for greater employability and job satisfaction
Maruti Suzuki is committed to serving the society through its social initiatives. The Company considers local community and society as a direct stakeholder group. Maruti Suzuki India Limited (‘Company’) has developed its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy (‘Policy’) in accordance with section 135 of the Companies Law 2013 and the rules made there under.
In 2015-16, Maruti Suzuki was able to increase its CSR spend to ` 784.6 million from ` 372.5 million in 2014-15, a growth of110.6%.In 2015-16, the Company not only spent the required 2% as per the requirement of the Companies Act, 2013 but also fully utilised the unspent amount carried forward from the previous year. In 2015-16, the Company spent 2.4% of the average net profit of the previous three years.
The CSR projects of the Company can be categorised into three broad areas namely Community Development, Skill Development and Road Safety. To create a visible and lasting impact, the Company focuses on a few CSR programmes rather than spread resources thin over several projects. It undertakes relevant and effective social projects to have a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of communities around it.
Skill Development: Aligning employer expectations with appropriate skill set
Maruti Suzuki is addressing the mismatch between industry demand and technical training provided in Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) by actively engaging with 131 ITIs across India. The Company is committed to contribute actively to the Government’s vision of Skill India. It enhances employability of underprivileged youth by improving the quality of skill training in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and designing innovative business models that create livelihood for them.
• Upgradation of Government Vocational and Technical Training Institutes – In partnership with the state Government, the Company is working towards improving the quality of training by upgrading infrastructure. Broadly, the Company offers support in infrastructure improvement, faculty training, exposure to manufacturing facilities, training in acclaimed Japanese work practices like 5S, Kaizen and 3G along with soft skills like personality development and teamwork.
• Skill Enhancement in Automobile Trade – To take its skill development initiatives to scale, the Company is setting up Automobile Skill Enhancement Centres (ASEC) at select ITIs. Tripartite partnerships have been forged with ITIs and dealers with an objective to upgrade select courses linked to the auto industry. With the growth in number of vehicles on the roads, quality repair and maintenance offers a major employment opportunity.
The Company is enhancing skills of youth studying in automobile trade at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Polytechnic (Government and private) to enhance their employment opportunities in automobile service workshops. The project includes upgradation of training facilities, training of trainers, provision of study material and practical training.
These ASECs set up by the Company provide hands-on experience to trainees, making them capable of undertaking quality service and repair of vehicles. Each of these centres is equipped with a model workshop, full-time trainers and with tools and equipment. Partnerships are established with local Maruti Suzuki service workshops to upgrade skills of ITI students and make them job-ready.
In 2015-16, the Company started the country’s first auto body denting and auto body painting courses at ITI Pusa, Delhi and ITI Dhoraji in Rajkot.
Paving the way for greater satisfaction and economic wellbeing
Students commanding better salaries: Average starting salaries for auto mechanics, assistants and supervisors that were earlier in the band of Rs. 5000-8000 have seen a spike to Rs. 8000 – 15,000 plus incentives and commissions.
Women storming male bastion of auto mechanics: Seeing the success of the programme along with assured jobs, better pay scales and dignified office jobs for trained female staff at the dealerships, has encouraged more women to enrol for automobile courses at ITIs.
Creating a win-win situation for all stakeholders: 100% placements have been achieved in some of the ITIs, making everyone connected with the ITI rejoice.
Converting Challenges into Opportunities
Bringing all stakeholders on a shared platform: This is a dynamic, multi pronged partnership that requires students, teachers, dealership managers/owners/recruiters to work together as they contribute to the national goal of having a Skilled India.
Having a well organised hierarchical framework: Working at multiple levels across organisations requires detailed planning and execution strategies. Functioning in partnership mode, the Company identifies potential leaders from student and faculty streams of ITIs and trains them. A dedicated Manager for Service Training oversees progress made at ITIs. MSIL representatives work closely with ITIs and MSIL dealers to ensure job fairs are held and other aspects looked into.
Being on top of the learning curve: With the aspirations and hope of thousands of beneficiaries on their shoulders, Maruti Suzuki is acutely conscious of building their own capacities in ways that can add value to students, faculty, dealers and other institutions. They accordingly invest in their core management teams so that benefits can percolate down to the beneficiaries.
Way Forward
The best feedback on the work being done in the area of skill development by Maruti Suzuki is from the kind of placements and jobs that students are offered and the way their career graph evolves. Constant review and brainstorming with faculty and management of the Institutes helps the Company to outline next steps and expand its footprint.
To take some of the tried and tested trainings to a larger audience, select modules will be relayed through Maruti Suzuki Training Academy (MSTA) web studio (web cast). Finally, the Company is also gearing to adopt a Polytechnic Institute and a Teachers Training Institute where it can conduct complete automobile related vocational courses.
