Saviance brings Disney training programmes to India
Rohit Mahajan, the Texas-based CEO for Saviance Technologies, the US technology products and consulting company, can barely hide his joy at the response that his Disney Institute professional programmes are getting in India.
"We had to refuse registrations for the Chennai workshop since we did not anticipate such a huge response from companies," said Mahajan, who is in India to ensure a smooth take off for the Disney programmes.
The courses are being promoted by the Indian subsidiary of Saviance through its newly set up Human Capital Solutions unit, which is into education and training.
The unit will bring other soft skills programmes into the country, though, for now, the focus is on Disney's world-famous professional development courses including leadership, management, loyalty, service and creativity.
Disney trainers are currently holding workshops in different Indian cities to showcase the strategies and methodologies that have built the Disney Brand.
Mahajan said that the USP of these programmes would clearly be the "Disney best practices for business excellence that cannot be showcased or taught by anyone else".
Incidentally, the Disney Institute was set up as a separate entity some 20 years ago to help organisations inculcate the Disney magic.
Mahajan, who studied the leadership and quality service programmes at the Disney Institute, Orlando, felt that time was ripe to introduce the Indian corporate sector to these programmes. "Indian companies are becoming increasingly global in their presence as well as outlook," he said. Besides, a lot of Indian executives are returning to India and expect higher standards of service from companies.
Mahajan said that companies in the IT, banking and finance, travel and tourism and even the FMCG sectors have attended the ongoing Disney workshops. Participants included companies like GE Money, Yes Bank, Reliance, Wipro, TVS, Tata Group, Tata Motors, Tata Coffee, ITC, the Oberoi Group, TOI, USI (AT&T), LG Electronics, Google, E&Y and Apollo Hospitals, among others.
"We have requests from companies to hold the workshops exclusively for their employees," said Mahajan.
Will Disney Institute set up a full-fledged branch in India? Not really. It sets up a base only where there are Disney theme parks. So after Orlando, it opened in California. It is now said to be moving into Tokyo. The park experience helps people understand the nuances of the professional programmes that are taught in the class rooms.
But Disney is an entertainment company and are its lessons transferable to other sectors? "Disney methods