Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) soon in Kolkata

Training programme conducted for IGTC Chennai students by Mr. Sivadas at Kodaikanal

The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce announces the launch of its fourth Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) in India, now in Kolkata starting August 2010. After running successfully in Mumbai (since 1991), Chennai (since 2005), Bangalore (since 2008), the training centre is all set to roll out its flagship Post Graduate Program in Business Administration, based on the famed German Dual System in Kolkata this year. Classes will be held at the Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata.

The announcement of the programme was done in a meeting held at the Goethe Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan on the 18th of February, 2010 at 2 pm. In his welcome address Dr. Reimar Volker, Director of Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhavan outlined the industry academia role and the support of the German companies in successful running of this post graduate program. The classes at the Max Mueller Bhavan will have all the support of the Goethe Institute as well as the training in German language course.

Mr. G. Wehrmann, Consul General of Germany in his address said that on German dual system of training that it is on the same line as the Indian way of learning is "go to guru - we Germans have the same tradition. Master craftsman imparting training is a long tradition in Germany". Such a concept will have a tremendous demand by the Indian Industry. While addressing the students and others present, he further said "don't just look at the paper - which gives you the entry to the building but look at the skill of the candidate at the interview". This was an important message to the corporate world.

Mrs. Radhieka Mehta, Director Indo-German Training Centre Mumbai presented the highlights of the Program and generated a great amount of interest amongst the participants. Representatives of a number of reputed companies in Kolkata assured all support to the successful beginning of this Program in Kolkata.

Outbound training @ IGTC, Chennai

The IGTC – Chennai’s maiden Outbound Educational Tour to Kodaikanal, was filled with great learning for our 2009-2011 batch of students. The duration of the program was for six days which was based on in-house class room trainings, workshop sessions, motivational videos (e.g.Pursuit of Happiness), outbound management games & sports activities, and CSR activities.

Sociability is a pertinent required characteristic for any management student. This was inculcated in our students during this trip, by allowing them to gather adequate information from general public, farmers, shop owners, tourists & travellers, small enterprises and then they were required to give presentations based on the collected information. The pertinent up-to-date management topics including Transactional Analysis, Evil HR, Retail Management, Distribution Management and couple of value added games were conducted to provoke the competitiveness of students.

As part of the CSR activity, our students were gracious enough to bring 12 orphanage kids and entertain them with cultural activities, without forgetting to feed them with delicious and sumptuous food at the end. The inter-collegiate meet with Kodaikanal Christian College (KCC) students was immense in terms of socializing, participating in “Paper Tower” management game along with KCC students and developing a business plan to improve the occupancy rate in a five star hotel during the off-peak season.

As a whole, this memorable trip brought great success in terms of learning, fun and sociability – not only to the students, but also to the IGTCians at Chennai.

Practical Training Stint @ Bosch Germany

Sneha Jha at the Porsche Museum in Germany

Ms. Sneha Jha, a student of the Indo-German Training Centre, Mumbai goes down memory lane and narrates her experiences during her stay in Germany. “An experience never to forget………………. I was thrilled on receiving the news that I had been selected by my training company Bosch Limited for a two month training stint at Bosch, Germany. I couldn’t believe that my dream of getting an international exposure in a leading German MNC was about to come true! I was keen to experience the cross cultural work environment, which would broaden my knowledge base.

7th November 2009, I landed at Frankfurt and I was welcomed by the chilly breeze of the approaching winters. I was given accommodation at the Bosch Guest house where I interacted with the other International employees of the company. There were people from Czech Republic, China, Turkey and me from India. We all belonged to different countries and different cultures, yet were all united and tied in the same string as we belonged to the same company, the same “Bosch World”.

At Stuttgart, I was supporting the functions of the Human Resources team of Bosch, Germany Gasoline Divisions. The work culture, style and environment was indeed different. The employees were extremely professional and I must say the punctuality there was something to be adorned. The environment was quite friendly and everyone was treated with the same respect irrespective of their designations and positions.

My training was quite interesting. I was supporting the Human Resources Department to implement a common process for Reorganization at Bosch Worldwide. My project mainly involved creating a Post Merger Integration Checklist and Assessment measure which could be used at Bosch worldwide. I was instrumental in creating the Excel tool for the Employment Measures that Bosch is planning to implement and I translated the guidelines to create Organization Charts for the Gasoline Systems in English. The mode of communication in office was German and since I am familiar with both the languages (German & English) I tried my hand at some English translation of the documents of HR Policies, Guidelines and Standards.

The two months in Germany have been the most cherish able moments of my life. This experience of mine was definitely a stepping stone in my career. There was a lot to learning, both professionally and at a personal level.”

Mira Parekh with her colleagues at Bosch, Germany

Ms. Mira Parekh, another student of IGTC, Mumbai narrates her experience of her three-month training stint at Bosch, Germany. “My training in Germany was a dream come true.In Germany; I was trained at the Corporate Headquarters of Bosch in Schillerhöhe. An Orientation Seminar at Bosch was an eye opener for me. It made me realize how differently the Germans think. The Seminar was specially kept for expatriates in Germany to make them accustomed to the German lifestyle. It was a nice intermingling of Culture and Thoughts.

I worked with the Corporate Human Resources Department (CHM). I was fortunate to work with two separate departments of Human Resources during my three month stint in Germany. One of them was the CHME which is the Corporate Human Resources Executive Department. The main tasks of this department were to perform management potential/ salary reviews and reactive staffing. I was actively involved in the function ‘Rewarding’ which was by way of an Annual Salary Review worldwide. My first set of assignments required me to submit a Status Report on the Annual Salary Review. I was required to know the International Executive Compensation Tool (IEC) and the Management Executive Development Tool (MED).

My second set of assignments required me to use my German Language skills to make a list of all the Personnel Announcements for the Bosch Portal in both the English and the German Language. I was instrumental in developing a manual for the MED Tool users. The 2nd department that I worked for was the CHMI which is responsible for International Assignments. Here I was required to design a Matrix for the Social Security Agreements worldwide. My training here was very fulfilling and gave me a wonderful opportunity to work the ‘German way’ i.e. with Precision, Perfection and Punctuality.

On the personal front, the thought of spending Christmas alone was a bit disturbing but I was lucky enough to be invited by one of my colleague to celebrate Christmas with her entire family. For the first time ever I experienced what traditional German Christmas was like - beautifully decorated christmas tree, singing of carols and hymns, munching on delicacies like “schokolade kuchen” and exchange of gifts at the end. All was simply fantastic.

Traveling was a rejuvenating experience for me. Be it getting the panoramic view of Stuttgart city from the oldest Television tower/Fernsehturm or dreaming of owning a Porsche one day at the uniquely designed Porsche museum. I truly enjoyed my travelling mainly because of the well organized network of trains with not even a minute’s delay in the train timing despite of the bad weather. That’s was sets this country apart from other countries across the Globe.

Overall, my trip to Germany was an experience which would always remain embedded in my mind for the years to come.

Admission Open @ IGTC for Batch 2010 – 2012. Applications welcome from company sponsored candidates.