Skills Mantra: Striving For Excellence With Tech-Enabled Vocational Trainings Assessment
The Indian business ecosystem is standing on several distinctive sectors that are working out their roles in order to take the economy forward. Be it tourism, automotive, or retail, the necessity to have skilled individuals on the ground is the primary aspect to look after for any business. Until now, the education system of the country was bound only to conventional degrees and certifications but with National Education Policy a lot has changed and vocational training is finally getting the much-needed recognition. The National Credit Framework aims at integrating academic education and skilling in India. The Ministry of Education has recently launched the draft report on NCrF. The framework finds its genesis in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which stresses a more holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to education.
It is only here that one can now see the emergence of several third-party solution providers (including schools, colleges, universities, and private institutions) who have taken up the responsibility to provide vocational training to aspiring candidates in different sectors like Electronics, Construction, Healthcare, and more, and making them ready for a successful career in the respective field. Apart from providing training, it is equally important to conduct assessments of candidates trained under vocational training programs. The right assessment of these candidates plays a very important role as the results ascertain if a candidate is job ready or not. Skills Mantra from Indore is one such establishment that has been able to make a mark in vocational training and skill assessments and has been recognized as one of the premier platforms in this sector recognized by corporates & government approved bodies.
Skills Mantra primarily identifies itself as a skill assessment company that conducts various kinds of assessments in the skill domain. The company primarily works for corporate & government clients and has operations all across the country. It is a stand-alone assessment body for conducting quality assessments. Fundamentally, it is the conglomeration of various entities performing designated tasks, directed towards a common goal of delivering certified skilled manpower pan-India. At its operational end, the role of Skills Mantra is not just limited to assessing students but is also responsible for instantly generating detailed performance reports with analytics & results. Skills Mantra also takes care of the learning needs of assessors regularly using a tech-enabled platform.
“The technical end of Skills Mantra offers advanced technology solutions for continually improvising the operational processes thereby assuring quality. While our technology-oriented examination techniques help us conduct assessments with greater transparency, accuracy & speed, our online knowledge-sharing platform helps our subject matter experts to share their views and knowledge on one podium thus maintaining a healthy set of examination patterns & question-banks”, states Ketan Bindra, CEO, Skills Mantra.
Growth Story
CEO Ketan Bindra completed his MBA in HR from the UK and has worked in one of the top MNCs in the UK for years. He came back to his country with the idea of creating platforms that will ultimately help candidates become job ready. He simultaneously started with a recruitment company and as time went by, he joined both activities and came up with Skills Mantra. It was established a couple of years ago and got its first government client from the apparel industry for which the company did 2000 assessments and there has been no looking back since then. There is not even one region left in the country in which the company hasn’t conducted assessments. “Even if it meant that we send a proctor to the most remote location of the country, we never say no to the client. We have gone into underground mines in order to assess practical skills of mine workers in a low oxygen condition and later have been recognized as the best assessment agency by a government body in the sector”, mentions the CEO.
Operational Excellence
The company specializes in various domains and offers assessment solutions to Industries, Corporates, Government bodies & aspiring Candidates in various sectors like plumbing, carpentry, IT, driving, food processing, tourism, mobile repairing, AC repairing, and several others. Owing to its excellence in these areas, the company can be categorized as one of the leading assessment bodies in the country. After getting a client on board, Skills Mantra starts working on the project plan and finally provides them with a tailor-made solution. It also takes care of the training of assessors and developing question banks for various sectors vetted by the industry. Ketan Bindra singlehandedly started with this venture but now the company operates with a team of 40 plus full times employees and has contracts with more than 1000 SMEs spread throughout the country. It has a strong network of more than 1500+ Assessors for conducting assessments and developing content in over 20 sectors like Construction, Electronics & Communication, Banking, IT, Heavy Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Retail, Media & many more. Headquartered in Indore with two offices, Skills Mantra has a dedicated operational presence in other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, and more.
"Skills Mantra is born out of the viewpoint that the quality of assessments sets the first & foremost benchmark of skillsets for its applicants. Hence, we are always on the hunt for dynamic professionals willing to share their knowledge & experience to continually improve the standard of assessments. The industry also plays a significant role here as they are the ones who hire or reject job applicants. We are trying to work with the industry to understand their expectations in terms of competencies in a candidate for any given job.
The company also maintains a database of assessors who are enthusiastic mavens & offers remunerated assignments to conduct assessments. It gives you a great platform to interact with some of the best talents in your domain and enhance your own profile by being a certified assessor. If you are someone who belongs to an industry with over over five years of experience then just drop in with your profiles and be a part of shaping a young skilled India”, states the CEO.
Technology plays a significant role in the company’s operations. The platform uses AI and executes assessments for candidates that need no examiner at all. It offers live video interaction & recording with detailed reports & performance analytics. One other platform created by the company has been successful in ensuring that the right career choice is made by the candidate. Being a client-centric company, it always aims at providing the client with a user-friendly solution and not something with rigid functionalities. Here, it is also worth mentioning that the company has also done gamification of assessments which makes it stand apart in the market. Through this platform, candidates are able to participate in a gamified program and complete their certifications via assessments through games.
Future Endeavours
In its several years of operations, Skills Mantra has conducted over eight lakh assessments and has created a name for itself in the industry. The group company for Skills Mantra has its presence in the international market and has offices in Germany, Bangladesh, and the US. The company has been awarded the best assessment agency by government-recognized awarding bodies in various sectors under vocational programs.
The company has previously primarily focused on government clients, but it is now looking to expand its customer base. It has plans to gain clients in the corporate sector and cater to the growing demands of that market. “We will be shortly launching our advanced recruitment platform. A highly sophisticated platform that will ease out the tedious process to hire for entry levels employers. Last but not the least, we also want to cater to the international demand in the times to come”, concludes the CEO.
It is only here that one can now see the emergence of several third-party solution providers (including schools, colleges, universities, and private institutions) who have taken up the responsibility to provide vocational training to aspiring candidates in different sectors like Electronics, Construction, Healthcare, and more, and making them ready for a successful career in the respective field. Apart from providing training, it is equally important to conduct assessments of candidates trained under vocational training programs. The right assessment of these candidates plays a very important role as the results ascertain if a candidate is job ready or not. Skills Mantra from Indore is one such establishment that has been able to make a mark in vocational training and skill assessments and has been recognized as one of the premier platforms in this sector recognized by corporates & government approved bodies.
Skills Mantra primarily identifies itself as a skill assessment company that conducts various kinds of assessments in the skill domain. The company primarily works for corporate & government clients and has operations all across the country. It is a stand-alone assessment body for conducting quality assessments. Fundamentally, it is the conglomeration of various entities performing designated tasks, directed towards a common goal of delivering certified skilled manpower pan-India. At its operational end, the role of Skills Mantra is not just limited to assessing students but is also responsible for instantly generating detailed performance reports with analytics & results. Skills Mantra also takes care of the learning needs of assessors regularly using a tech-enabled platform.
“The technical end of Skills Mantra offers advanced technology solutions for continually improvising the operational processes thereby assuring quality. While our technology-oriented examination techniques help us conduct assessments with greater transparency, accuracy & speed, our online knowledge-sharing platform helps our subject matter experts to share their views and knowledge on one podium thus maintaining a healthy set of examination patterns & question-banks”, states Ketan Bindra, CEO, Skills Mantra.
Growth Story
CEO Ketan Bindra completed his MBA in HR from the UK and has worked in one of the top MNCs in the UK for years. He came back to his country with the idea of creating platforms that will ultimately help candidates become job ready. He simultaneously started with a recruitment company and as time went by, he joined both activities and came up with Skills Mantra. It was established a couple of years ago and got its first government client from the apparel industry for which the company did 2000 assessments and there has been no looking back since then. There is not even one region left in the country in which the company hasn’t conducted assessments. “Even if it meant that we send a proctor to the most remote location of the country, we never say no to the client. We have gone into underground mines in order to assess practical skills of mine workers in a low oxygen condition and later have been recognized as the best assessment agency by a government body in the sector”, mentions the CEO.
Operational Excellence
The company specializes in various domains and offers assessment solutions to Industries, Corporates, Government bodies & aspiring Candidates in various sectors like plumbing, carpentry, IT, driving, food processing, tourism, mobile repairing, AC repairing, and several others. Owing to its excellence in these areas, the company can be categorized as one of the leading assessment bodies in the country. After getting a client on board, Skills Mantra starts working on the project plan and finally provides them with a tailor-made solution. It also takes care of the training of assessors and developing question banks for various sectors vetted by the industry. Ketan Bindra singlehandedly started with this venture but now the company operates with a team of 40 plus full times employees and has contracts with more than 1000 SMEs spread throughout the country. It has a strong network of more than 1500+ Assessors for conducting assessments and developing content in over 20 sectors like Construction, Electronics & Communication, Banking, IT, Heavy Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Retail, Media & many more. Headquartered in Indore with two offices, Skills Mantra has a dedicated operational presence in other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, and more.
"Skills Mantra is born out of the viewpoint that the quality of assessments sets the first & foremost benchmark of skillsets for its applicants. Hence, we are always on the hunt for dynamic professionals willing to share their knowledge & experience to continually improve the standard of assessments. The industry also plays a significant role here as they are the ones who hire or reject job applicants. We are trying to work with the industry to understand their expectations in terms of competencies in a candidate for any given job.
The company also maintains a database of assessors who are enthusiastic mavens & offers remunerated assignments to conduct assessments. It gives you a great platform to interact with some of the best talents in your domain and enhance your own profile by being a certified assessor. If you are someone who belongs to an industry with over over five years of experience then just drop in with your profiles and be a part of shaping a young skilled India”, states the CEO.
The technical end of Skills Mantra offers advanced technology solutions for continually improvising the operational processes thereby assuring quality
Technology plays a significant role in the company’s operations. The platform uses AI and executes assessments for candidates that need no examiner at all. It offers live video interaction & recording with detailed reports & performance analytics. One other platform created by the company has been successful in ensuring that the right career choice is made by the candidate. Being a client-centric company, it always aims at providing the client with a user-friendly solution and not something with rigid functionalities. Here, it is also worth mentioning that the company has also done gamification of assessments which makes it stand apart in the market. Through this platform, candidates are able to participate in a gamified program and complete their certifications via assessments through games.
Future Endeavours
In its several years of operations, Skills Mantra has conducted over eight lakh assessments and has created a name for itself in the industry. The group company for Skills Mantra has its presence in the international market and has offices in Germany, Bangladesh, and the US. The company has been awarded the best assessment agency by government-recognized awarding bodies in various sectors under vocational programs.
The company has previously primarily focused on government clients, but it is now looking to expand its customer base. It has plans to gain clients in the corporate sector and cater to the growing demands of that market. “We will be shortly launching our advanced recruitment platform. A highly sophisticated platform that will ease out the tedious process to hire for entry levels employers. Last but not the least, we also want to cater to the international demand in the times to come”, concludes the CEO.
