Hyderabad|India|April'2009: Metamorph Learning, who recently launched, R.E.A.C.H (Retail Employability and Careers Hub), a Vocational Training Program for Employment in the Retail Industry – announced the Graduation of its First Batch at Hyderabad, today. The ‘Graduation Ceremony’ was held at the premises of the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, the CSR arm of the Hyderabad based Infrastructure major, GMR Group. All Graduating Students have already been placed with leading Retail Brands; Arvind Group and Spencer’s Retail.

The training program began in February 2009 (the same month that REACH was launched) and students, who enrolled for the program, came in with no prior knowledge of or experience in the retail industry. This program was conducted in association with the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, and targeted the economically and socially disadvantaged among the un-employed youth of Shamshabad, near the new International Airport. All students who enrolled had education only upto SSLC / HHC (10-12) in Telugu Medium Schools and had no exposure to computers.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Yedugireesh, Head- Strategic Training Products & Solutions, Metamorph Learning said, “Our training was delivered through e-learning and given that here we were training a bunch of students with little or no exposure to computers, we could not escape the skeptics who questioned the ability of such youth to learn effectively using computers and the web as a medium. We are delighted to have proved the naysayers wrong. These kids not only rapidly became proficient with this learning methodology, but also found learning in this manner very engaging. The evaluation at the end of the program saw heartwarming results with the highest score being 90 percent and the minimum score being a reasonable 50 percent. Our recruiters also acknowledged that our candidates turned out to be above average. We are thankful to the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation for their support and vision. This, our first batch, is a great example of the difference purposeful education can make to the fortunes of the socio-economically disadvantaged.” he added.

All Graduating Students were presented certificates for having successfully completed the course. They all start their careers as Store Assistants, with a minimum starting salary of Rs.4,000/- and the best performers have the opportunity to become Store Managers, in the next 5 years. This batch of students adds to the more than 300 students that have already been trained by REACH.

About Metamorph Learning and REACH:
Metamorph Learning combines expertise in the Retail Industry with a passion for Training. Metamorph seeks to bridge the gap between unemployed youth and organisations that need jobs filled by employable people. Students are provided with competencies in basic employability in the Retail Sector as well as entry-level retail jobs. Metamorph also serves Corporates in the Retail Industry by making this work-ready pool available to them. All of it accomplished through training programs delivered under the R.E.A.C.H (Retail Employment and Careers Hub) brand. The company is founded by Suki Iyer, an alumnus of IIMC (Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta) and with a goal of contributing to the country’s human capital needs. She brings with her many years of experience in organizations like IBM, ANZ Bank and ING Vysya and was last employed with a US based Human Capital Management Company.

The Leadership team comprises experts from Sales & Distribution, Retail and Training domains. Metamorph also has a power packed Advisory Board with several Leading Senior Management Professionals on it. They include Dr. V. Raghunathan, Chairman GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, Sanjay Kao, Head Consumer Finance RBS Hong Kong, S B Swaminathan, Director Access Atlantech, Ms. Sucheta Govil, Executive Director Innovation, PepsiCo India, Dr. Jacque Bieber, Performance Management Expert, MN, USA and Priti Gulati, Chief Executive, Elements Training & Advisory Services.

Reachout's News Bureau
 April' 2009

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