Learning to a T

Despite the economic downturn, T-Systems says putting more money into L&D will soon pay off. By Lisa Cheong

Singapore – Having spent some years working as an HR practitioner, Uwe Schlager, managing director for T-Systems Singapore, says slashing budgets and salaries will have a long-lasting negative impact on the morale and psyche of employees.

And he would know. When the downturn hit our shores last year, the German information and communication technology provider could have easily slashed its learning and development budget for its 158 employees in Singapore. Instead, it took a different tack and increased the budget by 36%.

Schlager, who has only been at the helm of T-Systems for the last nine months, says the company has ambitious goals. While its stronghold has been mainly with the European sector (it ranks as the number one ICT provider in Germany and number three in Western Europe), Schlager says the company wants to be one of the top five service providers in the world. And in order to do so, it would need to strengthen its foothold within this Asian Pacific region. And that would require having right people with the right tools, skill sets and knowledge at the time, says Schlager.

By investing in people during the downturn, it helps retain workers who foresee a long career with the company and keeps employees’ motivation and morale high as well, adds Schlager.

“There are smarter ways to reduce HR costs than telling an employee that we would cut their salaries by 10% or that we won’t send you for training anymore. The long-term effect [of that] would be very negative.”

With an employee base comprising mainly of IT specialists, engineers and project managers, the company spends approximately 60% of its training budget on technology training, such as SAP training and Cisco Certified courses like CISCO Certified Network Associate (CCNA).

But technical training is not just limited to its engineers alone, as Schlager says sales staff often have to undergo technical training in order to familiarise themselves with the company and its services better. On the flip side, technical engineers also learn communication skills so that they can communicate better with their fellow colleagues. An additional 20% of the training budget is also funneled into project management training with the last 20% into leadership and management training, adds Schlager.

But that isn’t to say that T-Systems, like every other company, did not face pressure on their L&D budgets. Fortunately, the company was boosted by winning several new contracts with companies such as Shell. Furthermore, Schlager says the company’s strategy of focusing on growing its business among Asian and Singaporean companies has also paid off.

At T-Systems, employees’ training plans are based on a two-way discussion and feedback with the employee and his or her line manager at the start of every year. In this annual Employee Development Discussion plan, the employee’s career path is mapped as well as the personal and company goals the employee aims to achieve. After a discussion with his or her superior a plan is then laid containing the development targets and measures for the next 12 months.

This procedure has helped open doors for employees within T-Systems. In 2009, 90% of all the vacancies in Singapore were filled through internal promotions.

In November 2008, T-Systems also launched the Talent Acceleration Programme, which aims to groom women for executive-level positions within three to four years. With only 11 candidates across T-Systems globally selected for this programme, the Singapore office managed to successfully nominate its sales director overseeing business for international customers with the exception of German companies as one of the 11 candidates.

Through this Talent Acceleration Programme, the candidates will receive highest attention from T-Systems’ global CEO, Reinhard Clemens, and will also be provided with coaching, networking events as well as regular discussions with senior management and personal mentoring.

“So based on my background in HR, the first lesson I learned was that people are the most important success factor for each company. When you come to T-Systems or any other company, you can see that it is people who make the difference.”