Global Test: LG Makes It A Quarterly Affair  ( November '25,2003, FE)

When was the last time you took a general knowledge test? And that too one which compelled you to think beyond your current area of expertise? The answer may well be: during college days when you appeared for an entrance exam?

But for employees at LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, appearing for such tests is a quarterly affair. And it’s also an integral part of the company’s training and development initiatives. Termed ‘global test’, the company has rolled out this best practice, where employees have to initially undergo an online training that the organisation has launched. And towards the end of this training, all the employees across different branches in India have to appear for an online test. And this test quizzes them on aspects that do not relate to the present job profile or the function to which the employees are attached.

Says LG Electronics India Ltd vice-president HR & management support YV Verma: “This initiative helps our employees gain an understanding on the various facets and functions of the company’s businesses. This is because we believe that modern businesses will survive, only when professionals have holistic knowledge.”

Consultants also suggest certain refinement to this practice. “Such initiatives should become a forum for employees to come together and form a learning community amongst themselves. And such communities should take up a more detailed discussion amongst themselves on how to succeed in the respective projects and profiles that they handle in the organisation. This will also aid cross-functional learning,” says Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences Faculty Personnel Management and Industrial Relations (PM&IR) P Vijayakumar.

Further, in this initiative the top scorer is awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and two runners-up are declared. The individual who tops the test in all the four quarters is then sent for a free holiday abroad.

But the performance in such a test does not become a criterion to assess the capabilities of employees. “We want to convert learning into a fun event and this is one of the reasons why the results are not linked to the performance appraisal. For, doing that would amount to making this initiative a little punitive in its approach,” Mr Verma adds.

The test administers objective-type questions and employees can physically inspect a product or a service before answering a particular question that may relate to any of these areas.

But consultants affirm that such initiatives do not help companies overcome the basic drawbacks that online training confronts. Says Continuing Education & Training Centre consultant Vasudevan Srinivasan, a consultancy that provides training solutions to corporates: “There are some glitches in delivering online training. Indian professionals do not voluntarily identify their weaknesses before approaching the company for a training initiative. And given this reality, employees never make an effort to choose the right kind of courses that are available online.”

“The priority for companies should be to first create a culture among employees whereby every individual identifies his/her weaknesses and then approaches the organisation for a training programme to help overcome the same. Before initiating such a mindset, any effort in e-learning or online training may not fetch the desired results,” adds Mr Srinivasan.

Subsequent to such tests the company also gives the freedom to its employees to move over to other functions. “This happens when employees discover that they have the capability to perform in other areas, apart from the particular department which they are in,” says Mr Verma.