Channel partners are vouching for the efficacy of the WeP Lyceum workshop, where WeP Peripherals heavily subsidizes the cost of training partners and trains them in two modules -- managing finances and managing people. "I did the finance module of Lyceum in January this year and later followed it up with the HR module as well. I can already see the impact of the little that I have been able to implement in inventory management, " says Pankaj Bandlish, CEO, Compro Computers. 

Satpal Singh, CEO of Chandigarh's Data Spec echoes, "It is an excellent program, especially designed for the channel. After a certain point our growth is dependent on the ability to manage all aspects of the business. I have implemented 15% of what I learnt and the results are marvelous in terms of cash flow and stock management." 

Launched after an in-depth study to understand the training requirements and needs of channel partners, the Lyceum program was initially designed to help channel partners manage the financial health of their organizations. "The pre-launch study included data collation from 75% of the top 50 WeP dealers, 75% of the top 20 vendors and 10% of the remaining dealers," informs Ranbir Singh, General Manager (North & East), WeP Peripherals.

Ranbir adds that Lyceum was later extended to people management module on demand from partners. So far, the company has conducted seven two-day residential workshops on 'Managing Business Agility' covering financial health of organization, productivity of measures, importance of operating margins and debtors and inventory management.

"The participants for each of the sessions are handpicked and the sessions are held in small groups of 10-15 participants," notes Ranbir. The workshop is highly subsidized by WeP only the participants need to qualify on certain parameters and demonstrate seriousness towards the workshop. It has been conduced by WeP senior employees in Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata till date. 

WeP has also conducted four workshops on 'Managing People Performance' focusing on HR aspects of an organization covering recruitment processes and tips, compensation, motivating teams, employee retention, performance evaluation and  appraisals and legal compliance. Partners often admit that the elements of the workshop are difficult to implement, but agree that HR management is critical in pushing the organization to the next level of operation. 

"While the finance module is easier to implement HR has its own set of issues given the people involvement that is required, still when I am hiring people I try to keep in mind the tips from the workshop and I can see the difference," says Pankaj. Vouching for the efficacy of the workshop Bandlish talks of the success he has had with whatever little he has implemented in inventory management. In fact, he believes that increasing the frequency of program with sessions broken into greater detail will be help even more. 

Going back and implementing the learning is the key. However, for organizations in existence for over 10-15 years implementation amounts to a big change which is not easy to bring about. Making his point Satpal says, "I can see the value and have started on it as well but it will take long and even then it will probably not be 100% implementation. But even as little  as 20% implementation has brought in marvelous results. So the incentive to implement is high." 

WeP GM Singh understands the inherent challenges involved in the channel business. However, to grow to the next level in the business it is imperative to learn these skills, he says. According to him, the real impact of the program on the broader landscape of channel business will be visible after layer one of the entrepreneurs are trained and demonstrate its effectiveness in the business growth and Lyceum percolates to layer two.

NANDITA SINGH

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