Moving Beyond Academics (MBA)

Platforms and Skill Building

What’s life but not a series of happy catch ups! So glad to meet Sh Nissar Ahmed ji at Laxmi Misthan Bhandar in Jaipur after 18 years.

Nissar ji as he was popularly called at SobhaSaria Engineering College during early 2000’s when he managed the college mess has been a close friend for close to two decades. Incidentally, there is nothing common in our career and life trajectory other than meeting occasionally during lunch hours. We have kept in touch since 2004 through short phone calls for Deepawali- Eid wishes and to keep track of family well-being.

It is always a pleasure to come to IBS Jaipur campus and to interact with energetic students and faculty. It has been home to me over many summers during the summer internship evaluations for IBS Hyderabad MBA students based in Jaipur. I have had tremendously insightful presentations by summer interns as well as knowledge sharing with industry experts who were mentoring our students.

Looking forward to hearing from you as well super soon. Stay Blessed.

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See you soon in Kolkata over 29-30 August 2022 for the Digital Street Regional Consultation.

DTW

During the Week, I was part of the Digital Street Regional Consultation organised by CeDT- FES India Office at ICFAI University, Jaipur.

We heard inspiring stories of street vendors and students’ own self discovery during documenting these stories. The photos and videos revealed going beyond just the data collection part of the Digital Street Initiatives but a deeper integration into the experiential learning for students. Students got down the street vendor levels, connected with them on a personal level and empathised with their struggles and felt joy in their little success. Some of the students’ teams are planning to get more involved with the street vendors. They would create digital assets like Social Media Channels, GPS location etc through a Digital Literacy campaign. More than that, they are willingly contributing their time to check on them and RISE (Risk mitigation, Income generation, Skill Building and Empowerment.)with them.

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Kahlil Gibran - 1883-1931 on Giving.

Platforms have transformed the world of skills and skill building. I have written about Blue Collar Worker, Creative Class and Work Life Balance in previous editions. Do check them out.

I have always been a proponent of platforms in bringing the best of the world to large mass and of course skill buildings as a segment is ripe for scale. There are multiple small but significant initiatives which provide platforms to either learn a skill or even teach one. Pandemic and subsequent disruption has also brought out the stark reality that our skill development ecosystem would be jolted to a “New Normal”. And of course, the platforms are going to play an extraordinary role in this transformation. Platform Businesses’ role in this once-in-multi-generation-shift plays out in two ways- First, as Skilling platforms; and Two, as enabling the Skilling ecosystem.

Young people coming through the vocational education channel and entering the informal sector would need special focus. According to multiple studies and position papers by UNICEF, school to work transition is not linear in informal sector, as young people may be studying while holding jobs, may go back to school after work, start off in irregular employment and then transition to regular employment etc.

Platforms have served as formalisation and transformation agents for millions of workers in informal sector. Platforms like Betterplace have created solutions for corporates to manage blue collar workers right across hiring, managing and engaging them. They have also designed a collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) titled ASEEM (Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping ) which aims to map supply of skilled workforce with the market demand, thereby facilitating better livelihood opportunities. Platforms like Betterplace have created solutions for corporates to manage blue collar workers right across hiring, managing and engaging them. They have also designed a collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) titled ASEEM (Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping ) which aims to map supply of skilled workforce with the market demand, thereby facilitating better livelihood opportunities. Platforms like MyRojgaar, Majdoor etc have helped internal migrants in India find employment opportunities even during pandemic times.

Skill Building through platforms can help street vendors to improve their business skills, and to help vendors conduct their daily businesses more efficiently. Use of technology in their business processes can help reduce the drudgery associated with many manual processes. For example, Skill India along with Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0 implemented a skill building program for street vendors on health and safety standards, safety provisions under COVID-19 protocols, effective communication techniques with staff and customers, new-age skills such as digital literacy, financial literacy, digital payments and e-selling.

Platforms can help you to manage your career trajectory through skill development by helping you discover, engage, improve and even move on!

OTW

Over the Weekend, we conducted long personal interviews with street vendors across the walled city near Hawa Mahal.

Their stories of resilience and perseverance can inspire all of us. They happen to be the best example of zero waste enterprises and their focus on customer engagement in unparalleled. Sharmaji (Blue Shirt) as he is fondly called by his customers is a second generation vendor who has used the technology support provided for street vendors ecosystem. Even when he was busy serving his customers, he still had the humbleness and gratitude in him to interact with us and share his own digital transformation journey.

Incidentally, the street vendors with their down-to-earth work ethos were more welcoming than the managers at BlackOut in Jaipur where we were subjected to ageism(Men and Women over 40 not allowed) and suspected racism because “there is an objection” over a guest profile as seen by an unknown entity via a camera. Of course, no reason/explanation was forthcoming from “general manager” counting the cash at entry counter. We did manage the over-40 discrimination but there was no getting away with the secret eye/ AI/God’s View.

हज़ारों ख़्वाहिशें ऐसी कि, हर ख़्वाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले

निकलना ख़ुल्द से आदम का सुनते आये थे लेकिन
बहुत बेआबरू हो कर तेरे कूचे से हम निकले

BLACKED OUT.

But all thanks to your love and recommendations for both personal and professional domains of my Jaipur visit, I had an awesome experience. खम्मा घणी.

I Love You.

Shailendra