A Strategic Approach to Industry 4.0 Reskilling
UFlex has implemented a dynamic and innovative approach to reskilling its workforce to enable our employees to deliver on the demands of Industry 4.0. The company recognizes the need for continuous adaptation to technological innovations and evolution and to ensure a seamless transition, UFlex has structured its learning and development initiatives with a focus on building a “future-ready” workforce.
The UFlex Learning Academy (ULA) stands out as a recent and significant initiative in the company’s learning and development efforts. ULA serves as a comprehensive platform that brings together a diverse range of digital, blended, and classroom courses covering a wide array of business-focused areas. These courses are delivered through a secure and accessible online platform in addition to a wide range of technical, business, and leadership development facilitators for classroom sessions. ULA plays a crucial role in fostering a culture of learning within the organization with measurable metrics and learning goals for employees across the global organization.
The ULA operates under seven thoughtfully designed pillars, each addressing different aspects of learning and development. These pillars or wings include creativity and innovation, sustainability and business excellence, functional capability building, operational excellence, leadership excellence, sales and marketing, and behavioral capability building. Each wing is led by a Wing Champion who provides guidance and domain expertise. These Wing Champions oversee strategic learning initiatives and share their insights in the form of cross-business workshops and learning programs. The academy also utilizes ‘proficiency partners’ who help them devise ways of better learning for individuals and businesses through a practitioner’s perspective.
Recognizing the diverse needs of its global workforce, UFlex has curated a well-balanced mix of technical, behavioral, and leadership training modules. These modules cater to employees at various levels within the organization, from operators to leadership roles. To address the requirement of specific technical skills, UFlex has developed a unique training initiative called ‘PRASHIKSHAN’. It is a technical training program focussed on bridging the technical skill gaps of its shop-floor employees. The learning programs offered by the company are implemented in other languages, including Arabic, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Russian, based on the geographical locations of the company.
In addition, there is a supervisors’ development program and programs such as ACE and ASPIRE for middle management and a leadership development program called LEAP. This structured approach ensures that the learning and development initiatives at UFlex provide a career-oriented development platform for the entire workforce and are aligned to the requirements of Industry 4.0.
