In it to win it together: In conversation with the L&D Team at Milkbasket

 Any organization is the sum total of its parts, and its growth is a function of each individual’s development. At Milkbasket, we don’t just look forward to onboarding dynamic new talent that has fire in their bellies but also value the growth of those who have already become a part of our culture & the contributing workforce. Let’s hear directly from the L&D Team at Milkbasket to learn more about the present and the future of the Training and Development of our people.

We grow when our people grow: Milkbasket’s L&D Team

The workforce of today is dynamic, ambitious, and highly innovative. According to a recent report (by TalentLMS, Epignosis, and Society for Human Resources), employees now consider Learning & Development as an essential factor in deciding whether an organization is great for working. With the business landscape quickly changing to favour digitization, companies need to evolve, and their employees with them.

At Milkbasket, we are gearing up to champion the Training & Development of our talent. Here are the highlights from our conversation with the forerunners of the L&D Team at Milkbasket.

Q1: Why is there a need for L&D in any organisation, especially in the context of the current workplace trends?

“Factors such as the reshaping of the business landscape, the rising complexities of the times we operate in, and ever-changing market trends and environments, make it imperative for leaders and associates to evolve,” shares Avinish Jain (Lead, L&D Team at Milkbasket).

He adds, “Situations today are volatile and can alter without predictions. So we’ve learnt from the recent COVID-19 lockdowns and the interesting market trends as restrictions are being lifted. To deal with such vacillating scenarios, it’s important to upskill and re-skill the workforce and build their competencies. This not only builds in them future-ready capabilities to deal with the ever-changing business environments but also enables them to achieve their full potential and contribute purposefully in their lives. It, therefore, leads to increased productivity and builds a culture of constant learning and productive feedback in an organization.”

Q2: What are the most important current goals of the L&D team at Milkbasket?

Jyoti Mishra (DM,  L&D Team) shares, “Milkbasket has grown exponentially, especially in the last 2 years. With a vision of building Milkbasket into a People Capability Capital, one of L&D’s primary responsibilities is to develop our people’s competencies in a way that supports other key business priorities. 

We are working with a vision to build Milkbasket into a People Capability Capital

Jyoti Mishra (DM,  L&D Team at Milkbasket)

We are developing Curricula and Learning Programs that will empower our vibrant workforce to operate with enhanced potential. At the same time, they will also build key soft as well as hard skills that are highly valued. In keeping with the same, some of the key current performance areas for Milkbasket’s L&D Team are:

• Assessing capability gaps (current as well as future)
• Developing people capabilities
• Designing learning journeys
• Creating a culture based on values, and,
• Enabling the building of an employer brand

”

Q3: What are some substantial impacts that an L&D Team has on the organization and its people?

Richa Kumar (Sr. Executive, L&D) says, “The area where we aim to cause the most impact is upskilling employees with the skills that aid their roles as well as align their personal goals with that of the organization’s. Some of the major benefits that an L&D team can bring about are: 

• Employee Retention – because employees value it when their organization invests in them. They are more likely to continue contributing to an organization that is invested in their growth and engagement.

• The second is – Enhanced Productivity. Empowering the workforce with the right technical and behavioural tools & competencies increases their efficiency in their roles.

• The third is, Improved Business ROI. When employees are operating at their peak performance, and are able to troubleshoot through challenges faster and with greater effectiveness, it has a direct impact on the organizations’ bottom line.
• Another benefit is Creating a Futureproof Workplace. Giving employees the right skillset enables an adaptable environment. In an ever-changing business landscape, this is highly important for sustainability. It fosters a mindset of learning on the GO and looking at challenges as growth opportunities.

• Learning & Development initiatives at the workplace also act as catalysts in enabling the workforce to communicate their brand strength explicitly via Employee Value Propositions. Employee satisfaction is generally related to greater employee retention and a consistent growth rate of the organization.
• Also, in today’s professional ecosystem, Mental Health is of great importance to the workforce. So L&D has also been related to an improved health index of the organization”

Q4: What are certain L&D Dos and Don’ts that should be taken into consideration?

Avinish Jain shares, “The fastest way to develop something is to NOT do it all at once. Therefore, it is critical to identify techno-functional and behavioural trends and leverage the same. It is also important to make the learning interventions engaging and sustained rather than singular and short. In my experience, this helps in consistency in participation as well as effectiveness

The fastest way to do something is to NOT do it all at once.

Milkbasket L&D Team

At Milkbasket, the L&D Team is enabling our vibrant workforce to become a better version of themselves. Having said that, bringing an in-depth behavioural enhancement must not be looked at as a pure play L&D exercise. Therefore, the co-ownership between business units and L&D is also of paramount importance.

L&D function also works best when the leadership and the organizational culture are fully committed to the L&D Team’s longer-term vision.”

Q5: Does the L&D Team at Milkbasket have any immediate plans that we can look forward to?

Jyoti Mishra shares, with excitement, “We are currently paving the way to embed our existing curriculum into an online LMS. This will provide unlimited opportunities for our talent force to incorporate learning into the natural lulls in their working days as opposed to dropping everything to be in a certain place at a certain time for a specific learning or upskilling opportunity.”

“We are already conducting workshops for technical as well as functional skill enhancements across all our workforce. The participation has shown real promise, with high levels of employee engagement as well. We have received great feedback in our post-workshop surveys. We are building a culture of learning on the go,” adds Richa.

Interested in joining a workplace that invests in your growth and development? Follow Milkbasket on Linkedin to stay up to date with vacancies at Milkbasket.

Read this blog post about the work-life balance at Milkbasket.