Best Practice 1 – Career Progression Program (CPP)

1. Title of the Practice: Career Progression Program (CPP)

2. Objectives of the Practices
The primary objective and the intended outcomes of this program is governed by the thought that is to get the industry onto campus through recreating actual industry practices.

The specific objectives and outcomes that we intended to achieve were 3 fold

• Let the students substantiate the theory imbibed in the classroom with application in modular simulations.
• Creates an added advantage for the students to bring aboard the experience of having been immersed in actual practices adopted by the relevant industry on to their first job.
• To lend direction and align the thought process of the students to a more application-based practical orientation to successes over a longer horizon.

3. Context:

The challenges that elaborate on the context surrounding which the courses were designed were

• To identify and garner consent from industry delegates involved in the respective profile to design and execute the exercises resulting in an advanced understanding of results expected on the job.
• To conduct thorough research and identify areas and the profiles existing in the industry landscape.
• To gather accurate endorsement of an industry expert as to the competency of the student for having gone through a simulated module.
• To  exact an  opportunity for the student to leverage his or her understanding of the industry expectation on to the final interviews conducted on campus

4. The Practice

• The students undergo 10 modules of their choice from an array of modules.
• An alliance is forged with organizations with appropriate competency in the field relevant to the module.
• An expert from the organization would come on campus and deliver a workshop designed by him or her. For example S.M.A.R.T ( Sales Marketing and Recruitment Training were conducted by KD Sushma of Global Forture Enterprise. To supplement the discourse delivered as part of the basic foundation on field exercises such as creating a brand presence for BHAVNAGRI SWEETS through the general trade channel and direct selling through stalls around gardens for ANANDGHANA Agri. gave the first-hand experience of real-world expectations. To lend credence to the simulated exercise the students earned incentives for any sale that they achieved as is on the job.  Another example was the module of PPC( Production planning and control ) conducted by Mr.Sunil Kasat (Kasat Industries) wherein the documents required at each stage of the production process would be used in the workshop so as to lend an on-the-job simulation to inculcate a clear visualization of the steps followed and the understanding the significance of each document.
• The organization would then conduct an evaluation exercise and  grade the students
• The grade would indicate specific capabilities that the students could shoulder on the job.
• Following the evaluation and the subsequent grading a certificate is awarded to the students jointly by the organization and Lotus Business School.
• The student can then highlight the module of his or her choice in his or her resume to draw the attention of the interviewer towards this proficiency.

This practice unique to our institution would bode well for other intuitions if emulated to create effective employability. Higher education would be able to lend credence to its value by this innovative business practice.

As effective as it is the simulations are to be delivered by individuals nonacademic in nature. Their teaching skills would need to be evaluated, honed, fine-tuned, and validated to ensure the success of the training. Identifying the appropriate instructors with requisite experience willing to allow themselves to scrutiny and spare enough time to the tool and retool themselves to make themselves effective was also a challenge that needed a lot of attention.

5 Evidence of Success

1. The success of the program was abundantly evident with the students being able to streamline their sector and profile priorities and were able to match their expectations with the realistic feasibility of their efforts. They were able to match their skills, interests, and capabilities to specific modules.
2. The outcome of this feature resulted in the students getting placed in placements and internships in their interested areas
3. The on-the-job performance of the students received positive feedback from employers which led to students converting their internships into final placements and first promotions subsequently.
4. The institute received approval to conduct the CPP certification   as an Add On certificate program  from Savitribai Phule Pune university.

6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Resource Required:

The most significant resource required for these simulations were instructors with appropriate experience, a theoretical understanding of the profile, and effective teaching skills.

Problems encountered during the conduct of the program were as enlisted below:

• The entire exercise was to be executed over and above the requirement of the university-mandated syllabus. The students were to be convinced to put in the extra effort by highlighting the enhanced job prospects.
• The identification of the currently relevant job sectors and the profiles that the students should equip themselves with to face the changing industrial landscape took up a lot of dedicated effort on the part of the program director.
• Counseling the students in the selection of modules relevant to their career aspirations and creating a bouquet of certifications that the industry might appreciate needed expert mentors and in some cases training of the mentors by industry delegates to ensure accurate and effective advice was also a time-consuming, intricate and a challenging exercise.

7. Notes (Optional)

The most significant benefit that the exercise unfolded was the enhanced learning of the full-time in-house faculties many of them pursuing their Ph.D.’s to not only stay abreast but forge ahead with current industrial practices. This resulted in not only enhanced classroom training but the ability to further the science behind the curriculum.

Research opportunities were also made available due to enhanced understating of the environment hence benefitting the academic fraternity and the industry at large.

Career Progression Program (CPP) – Add on Certificate Details