As industries accelerate toward automation, AI, and analytics-led operations, a significant skill gap is emerging across key sectors in India. From manufacturing to BFSI, retail to healthcare, enterprises are grappling with a critical shortage of digital and analytical capabilities. In this scenario, the question is no longer if companies should act, but how quickly and strategically they can close these gaps.
At Practus, skilling is not just about training; it’s a powerful enabler of transformation, a strategy for talent retention, and a key driver of ROI.
Our in-house L&D initiative, Gurukool, was built around the ethos of ‘Student for Life’. We’re committed to upskilling people, not just as an operational necessity but as an essential part of driving long-term business transformation. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, performance, and growth, we focus on creating tangible business impact.
The Strategic Case for Reskilling Investments
Many companies usually turn to hiring as means to bridge the skill gap. While it may appear to be the easier route, recruitment comes with inherent direct costs like agency fees, HR team costs, onboarding efforts and hidden costs which include longer time-to-productivity and potential for cultural misalignment. On an average, it takes at least 3-5 months for new hires to become productive in the roles they have been hired.
Internal upskilling, on the other hand, offers a more agile and sustainable long-term solution. Existing employees, already embedded in the company’s culture and processes, can be upskilled within 1-2 months, often yielding faster, more sustained results. Additionally, upskilled employees are more likely to demonstrate better retention, exhibit higher engagement, and increased discretionary effort, making them more aligned to long term strategic goals.
A Call to Action: Workplace Transformation through Skilling
As digital transformation redefines industries and the way they function, some sectors still need a skilling boost! Manufacturing, propelled by Industry 4.0, and BFSI, which hinges on advanced analytics for risk management, fraud detection, and customer experience, face the sharpest skill shortages. Retail, e-commerce, and healthcare are similarly impacted with data-driven decision making becoming crucial for competitive advantage.
While technology is progressing at breakneck speed, talent readiness need to catch up!
The Practus Approach: Practical, Customized, and Client-Focused
With EmpoweROI we aim to provide our clients with Skilling, Reskilling & Upskilling programs that are customized, hands-on and align directly with our clients’s goals.
We’re not here to train. And we’re not just here to consult. We’re a business transformation partner.
What sets us apart?
- Tailored Content: Our workshops are designed around your data, challenges, and strategic objectives.
- Hybrid Format Flexibility: Our 4-hour × 5-module structure is adaptable to client needs: in-person or virtual, sprint-based or staggered.
- Proprietary Frameworks: We leverage skill maps and performance-potential grids developed through years of experience in strategy, growth, and enablement projects.
- Hands-On Delivery by SMEs: Our workshops are led by internal SMEs who have real-world experience in transforming businesses. Our trainers are practitioners driving measurable impact at Practus and at clients they have been engaged with.
This makes learning not only more relevant but immediately actionable: teams leave workshops with solutions they can apply on the job from day one.
Measurable ROI: Not Just Learning, but Business Impact
A training initiative is only as good as the outcomes it delivers. Our outcomes are real and measurable: - Faster decision-making due to improved data literacy
- Increased productivity through automation and analytics adoption
- 24% higher retention rates (as per industry benchmarks)
- Enhanced internal mobility as employees are upskilled to take on high impact creating roles
The Practus Advantage: Flexibility with a Strategic Lens
Our skilling roadmap provides opportunities to design learning journeys that are relevant to the participants. The 2-week assessment phase helps us assess current capability baselines, skill gaps, and align training goals with business KPIs.
From Week 3 onwards, the hands-on workshops commence, focused on applied learning and measurable outcomes. We use proprietary assessment tools to track learner progress and benchmark results against organizational goals.
Post-session, we track progress and benchmark results against agreed outcomes.
Looking Ahead: Anticipating the Future
While Practus’ current focus is to consolidate expertise within our client base, we are mindful of emerging areas such as Generative AI, algorithmic forecasting, and Big Data.
In a high-velocity, high-stakes business environment, skill gaps are not just an HR issue: they are a strategic liability. Companies that proactively invest in building internal capabilities will not only future-proof their workforce but also drive innovation, agility, and growth. Skilling isn’t a side project. It’s at the core of building resilient, future-ready organizations.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to upskill your teams. It’s whether you can afford not to.
BY Aditi Nair
