Trajectories Business Solutions: Creating Measureable Business Impact with Custom Made L&D Solutions
Shabeen A Narang & Arvind Kumar Narang
Founder & Co-Founder
In spite of significant investments, the L&D industry continues to be ridden with inadequate soft-skills training that falls short of hard business realities, inefficient classroom learning that is forgotten in 24 hours and multi-media savvy millennials that demand on-the-go learning which is exciting and relevant – a challenge that e-learning is grappling with for the last 10 years! To add to this, the providers market is fragmented and replete with Functional specialists whose narrow focus often misses the deeply interrelated organisational issues or opportunities. Today organizations are in dire need of partners who bring exactly the right skills to the table and use a holistic approach to systemically resolve persistent issues or help tap opportunities.
Trajectories Business Solutions brings this unique capability to address this challenge and deliver ‘measurable value’ through comprehensive & effective customised services. Having worked with corporates for over half a century as combined professional experience of two founders, and extensive cross functional exposure ranging across sales, service, operations and finance to HR, investor relations and strategy, Trajectories’ founders Shabeen A Narang & Arvind Narang have a rich understanding of both people and process levers of performance. Their team reflects a similar well rounded experience. This has helped Trajectorie mark its eminence in the industry as a pioneering force providing end-to-end innovative custom made models built around the unique requirement of every individual client.
Envious Growth
A market of L&D and consulting firms (including some giant ones) touting patented models and proven methods leaves little space for innovation. This is what differentiates Trajectorie - their fresh approach and client relevant customised solution for every requirement. “We’re nimble & flexible. We start with fresh drawing board for every client and then use our experience and deep knowledge of the client to come up with something that would work for them. We just delivered a unique business orientation solution for our client who has over ~1000 employees in 25 states and 2500 cities! And no, it wasn’t just e-learning or blended learning because it would not have worked for them!” says Arvind.
There clearly seems to be a market for freshness! Within five years of inception, Trajectorie revenues have shown an envious 5-fold increase and today they work with several top-notch clients across India, UAE and Vietnam. Their passion for their customers also got them the exclusive ‘Delivery Partner’ status in India for one of the largest U.S. based sales training and coaching firm. This growth is impressive especially considering the fact that Trajectorie has never hesitated to say ‘No’ to clients if it felt that they were not the right fit for them.
They say satisfied clients come back for more: 60 percent of Trajectories revenues are from existing clients! What keeps clients coming back perhaps, more than the value of the project delivered is the experience of working with Trajectorie. A core set of values aligns everyone in the team.
Everyone including the CEO is accessible to their clients at all points of time."Most of our clients mention that they love working with us, because they feel we constantly add value. Perhaps, that is because we do not copy-paste and hence we listen and understand more authentically. Plus we’re always there for any quick help or advice they may want.” recalls Shabeen. Flexibility is another central tenet. This often means looking at alternate delivery techniques to meet client budget constraints without reducing value delivered.
The Innovation Gene
Like many other L&D consulting firms Trajectories provides comprehensive services in the form of corporate solutions, classroom programs, executive coaching, gamified e-Learning and simulations, induction design, market research, and product/process training design. Unlike most L&D and consulting firms they shape innovative solutions that can range from training 10,000 people in one room to speed up the pace of change and create seamless learning, to gamifying training delivered in a distributed delivery architecture, one employee at a time while also assessing current skills before and after the training. “Trajectories delivered a series of interventions over 1.5 years. Not only was each intervention unique but also designed to interlock with one another to drive change. The penultimate Master Chef with a Cause was really the most differentiated program for collaboration, I have ever seen” Shalini Singh (Sandoz Site HR head).
Transformation Projects
Besides offering custom-made instructor-led training, the company also creates real business impact with its transformation projects, the goals for which could range all the way from driving culture change to improve their sales & service levels or improve retention. For instance, Trajectories developed and deployed innovative techniques such as pre-hire orientation, People Manager’s award and a 90-day on-boarding plan to reduce the attrition rate of an ITes organization with 1900 employees from 150 percent to 50 percent whilst increasing their employee satisfaction rate from 50 percent to 80 percent in just 12 months. Talking about another instance, Trajectories helped a banking sector client to increase its customer satisfaction score from 75 percent to 92 percent in just 3 months by identifying structural, process and skill gaps, and filling them rapidly by designing, developing and deploying a program using a large scale interactive process.
Immersive Learning
As opposed to the typical tedious e-Learning approach designed by instructional designers with mostly no experience in engagement principles of classroom training, Trajectories’ immersive e-Learning platform is designed to mirror the classroom training engagement practices. It involves changing pace, using simulations and role plays that enable learners to work in an interactive manner with the learning material.
These simulations magnetize players without fail, since they are designed by classroom training experts using high-engagement principles and graphic & psychology experts to add sensory delight. Players are immersed in real-life situations, where they handle end-to-end communications to improve their interaction skills (sales, collections, service, influencing & complaints handling) as well as thinking skills (prioritization & decision making).
Trajectories’ immersive e-Learning solutions improves user’s many core skills required for highly competitive current business
We’re nimble & flexible. We start with fresh drawing board for every client and then use our experience and deep knowledge of the client to come up with something that would work for them
The Innovation Gene
Like many other L&D consulting firms Trajectories provides comprehensive services in the form of corporate solutions, classroom programs, executive coaching, gamified e-Learning and simulations, induction design, market research, and product/process training design. Unlike most L&D and consulting firms they shape innovative solutions that can range from training 10,000 people in one room to speed up the pace of change and create seamless learning, to gamifying training delivered in a distributed delivery architecture, one employee at a time while also assessing current skills before and after the training. “Trajectories delivered a series of interventions over 1.5 years. Not only was each intervention unique but also designed to interlock with one another to drive change. The penultimate Master Chef with a Cause was really the most differentiated program for collaboration, I have ever seen” Shalini Singh (Sandoz Site HR head).
Transformation Projects
Besides offering custom-made instructor-led training, the company also creates real business impact with its transformation projects, the goals for which could range all the way from driving culture change to improve their sales & service levels or improve retention. For instance, Trajectories developed and deployed innovative techniques such as pre-hire orientation, People Manager’s award and a 90-day on-boarding plan to reduce the attrition rate of an ITes organization with 1900 employees from 150 percent to 50 percent whilst increasing their employee satisfaction rate from 50 percent to 80 percent in just 12 months. Talking about another instance, Trajectories helped a banking sector client to increase its customer satisfaction score from 75 percent to 92 percent in just 3 months by identifying structural, process and skill gaps, and filling them rapidly by designing, developing and deploying a program using a large scale interactive process.
Immersive Learning
As opposed to the typical tedious e-Learning approach designed by instructional designers with mostly no experience in engagement principles of classroom training, Trajectories’ immersive e-Learning platform is designed to mirror the classroom training engagement practices. It involves changing pace, using simulations and role plays that enable learners to work in an interactive manner with the learning material.
These simulations magnetize players without fail, since they are designed by classroom training experts using high-engagement principles and graphic & psychology experts to add sensory delight. Players are immersed in real-life situations, where they handle end-to-end communications to improve their interaction skills (sales, collections, service, influencing & complaints handling) as well as thinking skills (prioritization & decision making).
Trajectories’ immersive e-Learning solutions improves user’s many core skills required for highly competitive current business
environment including cross cultural sensitivity, selling skills, service skills, time management, operations management, grooming skills, negotiation & influencing skills etc. Moreover, they can learn at their own pace and varied styles akin to discovery learning & content-centric learning among others.
Integrating concepts for ‘Measurable Results’
Lifting a page from the simulation based learning concept pioneered by the U.S. army, Trajectories interactive learning platforms not only encourage players with instant feedback, expert tips & PBL (points, badges & leader boards), but also facilitate the HR processes through automated competency & gap reports post learning for coaching purposes. “When we design an intervention we carefully identify all the customers in the value chain – employees, HR, Businees stakeholders… Each one has a different requirement and we bring in concepts from every field of experience to ensure we deliver value to all of them".
Recently while writing a program for Collections for a large south based NBFC, it was discovered that the MIS on which the program was based was not optimal. Trajectorie rolled up its sleeves and as part of the assignment reworked the MIS to improve its quality and then embedded it into their program. Again, while working on developing program for a sceptical business manager, Trajectorie embedded statistical measurement process to assess actual improvement in performance post training.
Pan organisation capabilities
Trajectories’ bring this cross-domain and open approach to all their customized Classroom Programs that cut across organisational levels: Leadership development (Leadership team building, E.Q. in leadership, Hogan assessment, 360o feedback, leadership skills series), Middle management (Operations Management, Sales Management, Managing Managers, Influencing skills, Presentation skills, E.Q., MBTI, Managing Meetings) and Frontline (Sales, Service, Collections, Channel Management, First Line Manager).
Key Management:
Shabeen A Narang, Founder
Shabeen is a firm believer of the de novo perspective (as no two contexts are identical) & passionate about measurable results. With over 25 years of experience in Business and HR & T&D functions, she has worked with leading companies in BFSI, Telecommunications & BPO firms where she has personally led Service, Operations, HR and T&D functions of both small & large teams.
Arvind Kumar Narang, Co-Founder
Arvind is deemed as one of the most progressive Business leaders in corporate India, who has held diverse key positions including Joint President in Reliance Group, CEO of Reliance Digital TV. The prowess he has earned over the past 25 years in assessing risks & benefits and integrating strategy with meticulous execution helped build Trajectories’ strength to deliver extraordinary business results.
Clients: Aditya Birla Group, Barclays, Bajaj Finserv, DBS, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group-UAE, First Gulf Bank-UAE, Goldman Sachs, Intelenet Global Services, Lyondell Basell, Novartis, Network International-UAE & Egypt, Piramal Finance, Richardson-US, Sandoz, TVS credit services, TCS to name a few...
Achievements:
'Innovation in Training & Development through Technology' Indian HR Convention 2016
'Most Innovative HR Practices' Asia Pacific HRM conference 2016
Special Commendation in Golden Peacock Training award for Research based Program Design and statistical validation of results
Awarded ‘HR Problem Solvers’ by (International HR Executive Journal) for the creative solution to Microfinance Training in India
Integrating concepts for ‘Measurable Results’
Lifting a page from the simulation based learning concept pioneered by the U.S. army, Trajectories interactive learning platforms not only encourage players with instant feedback, expert tips & PBL (points, badges & leader boards), but also facilitate the HR processes through automated competency & gap reports post learning for coaching purposes. “When we design an intervention we carefully identify all the customers in the value chain – employees, HR, Businees stakeholders… Each one has a different requirement and we bring in concepts from every field of experience to ensure we deliver value to all of them".
Recently while writing a program for Collections for a large south based NBFC, it was discovered that the MIS on which the program was based was not optimal. Trajectorie rolled up its sleeves and as part of the assignment reworked the MIS to improve its quality and then embedded it into their program. Again, while working on developing program for a sceptical business manager, Trajectorie embedded statistical measurement process to assess actual improvement in performance post training.
Pan organisation capabilities
Trajectories’ bring this cross-domain and open approach to all their customized Classroom Programs that cut across organisational levels: Leadership development (Leadership team building, E.Q. in leadership, Hogan assessment, 360o feedback, leadership skills series), Middle management (Operations Management, Sales Management, Managing Managers, Influencing skills, Presentation skills, E.Q., MBTI, Managing Meetings) and Frontline (Sales, Service, Collections, Channel Management, First Line Manager).
Key Management:
Shabeen A Narang, Founder
Shabeen is a firm believer of the de novo perspective (as no two contexts are identical) & passionate about measurable results. With over 25 years of experience in Business and HR & T&D functions, she has worked with leading companies in BFSI, Telecommunications & BPO firms where she has personally led Service, Operations, HR and T&D functions of both small & large teams.
Arvind Kumar Narang, Co-Founder
Arvind is deemed as one of the most progressive Business leaders in corporate India, who has held diverse key positions including Joint President in Reliance Group, CEO of Reliance Digital TV. The prowess he has earned over the past 25 years in assessing risks & benefits and integrating strategy with meticulous execution helped build Trajectories’ strength to deliver extraordinary business results.
Clients: Aditya Birla Group, Barclays, Bajaj Finserv, DBS, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group-UAE, First Gulf Bank-UAE, Goldman Sachs, Intelenet Global Services, Lyondell Basell, Novartis, Network International-UAE & Egypt, Piramal Finance, Richardson-US, Sandoz, TVS credit services, TCS to name a few...
Achievements:
'Innovation in Training & Development through Technology' Indian HR Convention 2016
'Most Innovative HR Practices' Asia Pacific HRM conference 2016
Special Commendation in Golden Peacock Training award for Research based Program Design and statistical validation of results
Awarded ‘HR Problem Solvers’ by (International HR Executive Journal) for the creative solution to Microfinance Training in India
