Attending the National Seminar of LCCI and Human Resources Conference organized by Growth Sellers, Republica’s Pravat Jung Gurung caught up with Disney to ask about how the vocational trainings are beneficial to students and professionals alike in Nepal and what its future plans are. Excerpts:[break]
Why should one choose LCCI for its training courses?
LCCI has a number of advantages. One of them is that it has a long history of providing vocational skills for white collar workers. LCCI goes back to late 19th century.
The Chamber itself was formed in the 1880s and the very first LCCI International exams were held in Mumbai in 1897. We’ve been around a long time and it’s been consistent and it’s almost a bench mark for white collar vocational skills.
There are more than 80 different qualifications available that can be combined to 30 diplomas and it covers a whole range of office working skills. The other advantage of LCCI is the employability angle. Whenever we conducted surveys in our major markets like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, we have something like a 100% employment rate.
Also, we flatly say it’s a “passport to employment” and I think it’s a fair reflection what the qualifications can offer. And the qualification is internationally recognized and that too is a big advantage.
What, according to you, is the “missing link” in the current scenario in Nepal?
This is just my second visit to Nepal, but there does seem to be issues about soft skills and what we’re hearing is that the students need soft skills to do with communications and a lot of it is to do with confidence also.
The confidence to project yourself in a confident way and I think this is something that is tremendously beneficial to students. The market is flooded with new graduates every year and what we’re hearing from the employers is that most of them lack fundamental work skills.
What makes a good manager?
I think a manager should be able to do everybody else’s job. He should have a solid skills foundation, strong communication skills, especially empathy with employees and a very clear goal and target.
Also, dealing with office politics is a skill or technique, though it’s not discussed very often but it is important, because many people get psyched about how office politics work. A manager should be able to deal with that as well.
What are your plans in Nepal?
We began with employability skills and personal development and these were soft skill programs at preliminary levels and Level 1. We are also very interested in introducing travel and tourism programs into Nepal because travel and tourism is obviously going to be a booming sector here.
Of course, we have a tough competition from other regional destinations like Myanmar, which is going to boom in the next five years and you will see a lot of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) going there and a lot of tourists visiting as well and these are two things, I think, Nepal is also keen to achieve.
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