EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Though the concept of multi skilling seems rosy, the only real drawback is that multi

skilling makes the employees stretch to the limits. Sometimes, there is an undercurrent of

frustration. New jobs, new environment, and new learning can unnerve employees. They

fear about not being able to live up to the expectations. Often, employees are uncomfortable

with the changes and can't deal with the conflict of the role and their personality.

Without proper counseling and training, multi skilling can backfire. Employees need to be

guided and supported through the entire process of multi skilling. Training with feedback is

of paramount importance. Multi skilling is a developmental process; it needs to be handled

with sensitivity.

Organizations which multi skill employees use lateral shifts as a mode of employee training

and development. Cross functional skills are adopted. Employees are given cross functional

training to increase the talent pool. Knowledge sharing is encouraged and formally

acknowledged in these organizations.

Employees have to multi skill themselves to make more talent available to organizations. It

is also a refreshing change of environment for employees who have been specializing in

certain functions. Very often managers have reported an influx of new ideas, out of box

thinking and creative solution generation purely by role reversals and lateral moves. This

helps organizations to gear up for any future personnel requirement.

CONCEPT OF TOPIC
The training of a single employee in multiple skill-sets. Another definition regards labor unions
and their structure, which promotes workers who have a range of skills or knowledge for
working on several different projects, which may or may not be a part of the worker's technical
job description.

Organisations typically multiskill with the intent of removing functional barriers and increasing
the flexibility of the workforce; it is rarely about the ideals of job enrichment and
empowerment as advocated by certain humanistic organisational change specialists. (Economist,
1991)

Multiskilling refers to training workers to be able to undertake a wide range of different

jobs, instead of just one.

COMPANY PROFILE
Dainik Bhaskar is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper that is now the largest circulated
daily news paperof India. It is owned by Dainik Bhaskar Group (D B Corp Ltd.), the largest Print
Media Company of India. Started in Bhopal in 1958, it expanded in 1983 with the launch
of Dainik Bhaskar's Indore edition. Today, Dainik Bhaskar is present in 14 states with 61 editions
in 4 major languages prevalent in India: Hindi, English, Marathi and Gujarati.

Dainik Bhaskar was declared the world's 4th largest circulated daily newspaper in 2013-14.

Dainik Bhaskar was launched in 1956 to fulfill the need for a Hindi language daily newspaper. It
launched under the name Subah Savere in Bhopal and Good Morning India in Gwalior. In 1957,
the paper was renamed Bhaskar Samachar.

In 1958, it was renamed Dainik Bhaskar, meaning "Everyday Sun." This, along with its rising sun
graphic, was meant to represent a bright future.

Expansion

By 1995, Dainik Bhaskar had emerged as the number 1 newspaper in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and
was declared the fastest-growing daily in India by a readership survey. The newspaper decided
to expand outside MP, and identified Jaipur, the capital city ofRajasthan, as the market with the
highest potential.

In 1996, Dainik Bhaskar's goal was to enter Jaipur as the No. 2 newspaper (in terms of
circulation) on its first day, with 50,000 copies. To achieve this target, an in-house team of 700
surveyors surveyed 200,000 potential newspaper households in Jaipur. Based on survey
feedback, they went back to each of the households surveyed to show them a prototype of the
newspaper and gave them the option of an advance subscription. The customers were offered a
subscription price and a refund in case of dissatisfaction. When Dainik Bhaskar launched in
Jaipur on 19 December 1996, it was the No. 1 newspaper by selling 172,347 copies.Rajasthan
Patrika, the former leader had a circulation of around 100,000 copies at that time. Dainik
Bhaskar successfully adopted a similar model in other cities of Rajasthan, including Jodhpur,
Bikaner, Kota, Udaipur, and Ajmer Sikar, becoming the No.1 urban newspaper of the entire state
by 1999.

The next target was Chandigarh. It launched a customer survey in January 2000, covering
220,000 households. At that time, the English language newspapers in Chandigarh outsold the
Hindi newspapers sixfold, with The Tribune as the leader with a circulation of approximately
50,000 copies. Dainik Bhaskar's survey suggested that residents of Chandigarh preferred English
newspapers due to quality perceptions. As a result, the newspaper incorporated the local
Chandigarh dialect in the design, mixing Hindi and English.Dainik Bhaskar launched in
Chandigarh in May 2000 with 69,000 copies sold making it No.1 in the city.

In June 2000, Dainik Bhaskar entered Haryana, with 271,000 copies.

In 2006, Dainik Bhaskar launched in Punjab with the Amritsar and Jalandhar editions and
became the No.1 newspaper on the first day, displacing established legacy players. Later, it
increased its presence in Punjab in Ludhiana and Bhatinda.

In 2010, Dainik Bhaskar entered the Jharkhand market with a successful launch of
a Ranchi edition, followed by Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions, with the objective of capture
the market of the entire state.

In January 2014, Dainik Bhaskar entered Bihar with a successful launch in Patna It followed with
launch of Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya editions in 2015.
VALUES IN ACTIONS

Danik Bhasker is e strongly connected to readers, advertisers and stakeholders with our result-
oriented approach being the key-driving factor in our operations. Its analytical ability and
trendsetting nature form the basis of everything we do. These values translate into their day-to-
day work, thus driving immense value to our readers and business partners.

The Tier II and Tier III cities in India are growing at a much faster space compared to metros. It
will not be out of place to mention that the growth of Indian economy is largely supported by
the growth in these markets.

DB Corp Ltd firmly believes in this growth and have been working along with it and focusing on
all such markets which we call as "The Real Indian".

D B Corp Ltd. is present in 12 states in Hindi Market. Besides we are also present in 2
states in Gujarati language in Gujarat and Maharashtra, 1 state in Marathi language in
Maharashtra. Our other noteworthy newspaper brands are Saurashtra Samachar, DB Star,
DB Post and DNA (on a franchisee basis).
 D B Corp is the only Newspaper Group which has presence in 14 states, in 4 different
languages namely Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.

The Group has soared to the top of the print media industry in India with its flagship
Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar (largest circulated & read Newspaper), the Gujarati
frontrunner, Divya Bhaskar and Marathi newspaper, Divya Marathi. These three along
with Saurashtra Samachar have a combined average daily readership of 19.8 million
readers (Source: IRS Qtr 4, 2012).

D B Corp Limited has launched its Marathi language newspaper, Divya Marathi with 7
editions namely Aurangabad, Nasik, Jalgaon & Ahmednagar in 2011, Solapur in 2012,
Akola and Amravati in 2013.

D B Corp Limited extended its presence to 14th state launch of its 37th edition of Dainik
Bhaskar (its Hindi Daily Newspaper) from Patna, Bihar on 19th January, 2014. Advancing
its operation in 2015 with the launch of additionally 3 main editions namely Bhagalpur,
Gaya and Muzzaffarpur along with 7 district editions namely Hajipur, Purnea, Biharsharif /
Nalanda, Arrah, Chhapra, Samastipur and Darbhanga, thus spreading its complete
presence in Bihar.

Due to our unique launch ability, we became no.1 from the date of our Launch in almost
all places, out placing the decades old local newspaper of that place.

Our Flag Ship Hindi Paper "Dainik Bhaskar" is present in 12 states with 40 editions as per
the following list:
 Dainik Bhaskar
S.N State Name Editions S.N State Name Editions
. name . name
1 Madhya Bhopal 20 Kota
Pradesh
2 Indore 21 Nagour
3 Ujjain 22 Chandigarh Chandigarh
4 Sagar 23 Himachal Shimla
Pradesh
5 Ratlam 24 Uttrakhand Dehradun
6 Chattisgarh Raipur 25 Haryana Panipat
7 Jagdalpur 26 Hissar
8 Bhiali 27 Faridabad
9 Bilaspur 28 New Delhi National Ed.
Delhi
10 Rajasthan Jaipur 29 Punjab Amritsar
11 Ajmer 30 Jalandhar
12 Jodhpur 31 Ludhiana
13 Bikaner 32 Bhatinda
14 Alwar 33 Jharkhand Ranchi
15 Sikar 34 Jamshedpur
16 Bhilwara 35 Dhanbad
17 Sriganganaga 36 Jammu & Jammu
r Kashmir
18 Pali 37 Bihar Patna
19 Udaipur 38 Bhagalpur
39 Gaya
40 Muzaffarpur

We are the only print media company of India which claims leadership in multiple states.
Our Gujarati Newspaper "Divya Bhaskar" is largest Circulated Newspaper of Gujarat and
is present in 2 states with 7 editions; as per the following chart:
 Divya Bhaskar
S.N. State Name Editions name
1 Gujarat Ahmedabad
2 Rajkot
3 Surat
4 Baroda
5 Bhavnagar
6 Bhuj
7 Maharashtra Mumbai
Our Marathi language newspaper, Divya Marathi, which has begun its journey on May
29, 2011 from Aurangabad is present in 1 state with 7 editions as per the following chart.
Divya Marathi
S.N. State Name Edition name
1 Maharashtra Aurangabad
2 Maharashtra Nashik
3 Maharashtra Jalgaon
4 Maharashtra Ahmednagar
5 Maharashtra Solapur
6 Maharashtra Akola
7 Maharashtra Amravati
Besides the above brands, D B Corp Ltd. also publishes English Newspaper "DNA" on a
Franchisee basis from Ahmedabad & Jaipur.
Further, It also Publishes Compact Newspaper "DB Star" from Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior,
Raipur and Jodhpur.
D B Corp Ltd. also publishes Largest Daily Newspaper of Saurashtra "Saurashtra
Samachar".
D B Corp Limited has launched a broadsheet in English language "DB Post" from Bhopal
which is a compact, smart product catering to the youth and English readership.

Editions

Dainik Bhaskar has 5 editions in Madhya Pradesh, 4 editions in Chattisgarh, 12 editions in

Rajasthan, 3 editions in Haryana, 4 editions in Punjab, 7 editions in Bihar and Jharkhand and 1
edition each in Chandigarh, HP, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi.
INTRODUCTION OF TOPIC
All through our life we have heard the popular maxim: "A jack of all trades, but a master of
none." In the old millennium, special skills were given great importance. Don't try your hand in
many occupations, you were told, or you will burn your fingers.

Times changed and so did work systems and business processes. After the industrial revolution
came the electronic revolution. This new era of business saw a significant boom in the service
industry. Soon after came the computer revolution. Now we are witnessing the internet
revolution. Things moved pretty fast. Systems replaced people. Work that used to take months is
now done in minutes. Markets are growing and the world is getting increasingly connected.
Ecommerce is now the preferred destination for most buyers and sellers. Distances have shrunk
and homogeneity of products and services has replaced ethnicity.

In such a fast moving world, people are required to do much more than earlier. Everybody wants
to equip himself with a variety of skills. We want to be adept at driving, skiing, managing people,
organizing parties, raising children, and speaking Hebrew. Time is short, so make hay while the
sun shines. This is the new age mantra. Multi skilling has finally arrived.
In organizations, managers are happy to recruit multi talented employees. Can you handle teams?
Are you competent to organize events? Can you train and motivate your subordinates? Can you
also sell? Well, then walk right in, they say. Multi skilled people seem to be the answer to many
of organizational challenges.

All organizations go through a change process. Dynamic environment and changing market
scenarios force organizations to be flexible. Meeting competition head on requires companies to
always be on the ball. Taller hierarchical structures give way to flatter matrix organizations.
Designations have evaporated with the reduction of organization levels.

Some organizations are spread out across various industries. Mergers and takeovers have made
companies foray in unknown sectors. Given the multi dimensioned nature of organizations,
people also have to make use of multi dimension skills. And hence the entry of the multi skilled
employee.
CHARACTERISTICS

COACHING AND MENTORING

JOB-ROTATION

JOB-SHADOWING

SELF-LEARNING

TEMPING

TEAM-BASED CROSS-FUNCTIONAL PROJECTS

Coaching
Coaching is a corrective measure for inadequate performance. Survey by the
International Coach Federation shows that more than 4,000 companies use a
coach for their executives. This method best suits for the people at the top
because if we see on emotional front, when a person reaches the top, he gets
lonely and it becomes difficult to find someone to talk to. It helps in finding out
the executives specific developmental needs. The needs can be identified through
360 degree performance reviews.

Procedure of Coaching
The procedure of the coaching is mutually determined by the executive and
coach. The procedure is followed by successive counseling and meetings at the
executives convenience by the coach.

1. Understand the participants job, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and
resources required to meet the desired expectation

2. Meet the participant and mutually agree on the objective that has to be
achieved

3. Mutually arrive at a plan and schedule

4. At the job, show the participant how to achieve the objectives, observe the
performance and then provide feedback

5. Repeat step 4 until performance improves

For the people at middle level management, coaching is more likely done by the
supervisor; however experts from outside the organization are at times used for
up and coming managers. Again, the personalized approach assists the manger
focus on definite needs and improvement.
Mentoring
Mentoring is an ongoing relation between senior manager and junior manager for
the purpose of support and guidance. Mentoring provides guidance and clear
understanding of how the organization goes to achieve its vision and mission to
the junior employee.
Some key points on Mentoring

Mentoring focus on attitude development

Conducted for management-level employees

Mentoring is done by someone inside the company

It is one-to-one interaction

It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs

improvement

Job Rotation
Rotation involves a series of assignments to different positions or departments for
a specified period. At the end of the cycle the accumulated evaluations will be
used to determine the preparedness of the trainee and if & where the person will
be permanently assigned. For the executive, job rotation takes on different
perspectives. The executive is usually not simply going to another department. In
some vertically integrated organizations, for example, where the supplier is
actually part of same organization or subsidiary, job rotation might be to the
supplier to see how the business operates from the supplier point of view.
Learning how the organization is perceived from the outside broadens the
executives outlook on the process of the organization. The rotation might be to a
foreign office to provide a global perspective. This approach allows the manger to
operate in diverse roles and understand the different issues that crop up. If
someone is to be a corporate leader, they must have this type of training. A recent
study indicated that the single most significant factor that leads to leaders
achievement was the variety of experiences in different departments, business
units, cities, and countries.

Benefits of Job Rotation

Some of the major benefits of job rotation are:

It provides the employees with opportunities to broaden the horizon of

knowledge, skills, and abilities by working in different departments, business
units, functions, and countries.

Identification of Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) required.

It determines the areas where improvement is required.

Assessment of the employees who have the potential and caliber for filling
the position.

For the managers being developed into executive roles, rotation to different
functions in the company is regular carried out.
 Train on different tasks/positions

Often used to train entry-level managers

Also used to provide back-up in production positions

Job Shadowing
Job shadowing is a career exploration activity that offers an opportunity to spend
time with a professional currently working in a persons career field of interest.
Job shadowing offers a chance to see what its actually like working in a specific
job.

Job shadowing can commence at one of two points in the job training process.
One of the most common is to assign the new hire to an established employee on
the first day. The new hire may spend one to five days following the routine of the
employee, learning general job responsibilities, observing how the tasks are
carried out, and getting some insight into methods that allow for efficient
handling of the job.

Self Learning
In self-directed learning (SDL), the individual takes the initiative and the
responsibility for what occurs. Individuals select, manage, and assess their own
learning activities, which can be pursued at any time, in any place, through any
means, at any age. In schools, teachers can work toward SDL a stage at a time.
Teaching emphasizes SDL skills, processes, and systems rather than content
coverage and tests. For the individual, SDL involves initiating personal challenge
activities and developing the personal qualities to pursue them successfully.

Temping
Temping means working in short employment stints with a variety of clients,
usually through a temping agency or staffing firm. Although temporary, the worker
bases his/her working life around this kind of work as it offers
increased flexibility and variety. It is a tri-party agreement, between the client
company, the third party vendor and the employee (also known as associate or
temp).

Temps or contract workers are on the payrolls of a third-party staffing

organization and as such organizations do not need to worry about employment,
recruitment and even replacements.

They save on the cost of training as the staffing form typically sends in
batches of knowledge workers according to the project.

They can drastically cut down non-productive staff costs especially when
they do not have the visibility of a similar project in future.

They can reduce the number of staff on bench and hence save on salaries.
 They can pay relatively more to contract workers and get work done rather
than recruiting them for long-term and paying perks and retirement
benefits besides huge salaries.

Pros and Cons

Pros

1. Flexibility Workers who are able to perform a large number

of tasks can fill in for other workers,
increasing workforce flexibility.

2. Communication Knowledge of various tasks can increase the

understanding of other tasks and improve
coordination.

3. Effects on innovation The processes of improving design concepts are

easier because of the individuals multi
knowledge.

4. Employment security A multi-skilled workforce is not as threatened if

skills become obsolete because of new
technology.

5. Project efficiency Through increased level of multi-skilling, work can

be re-organized so that it can be performed
most efficiently. Multi-skilled workers carry
 projects through, sometimes all the way from
start to finish often taking project
ownership.

Cons
*
*
*
Types
ROLE IN BUSINESS
1. Improve flexibility

Skill Chaining is the best technique which requires each worker to train in a
unique combination of skills (Brusco and Johns 1998) such that they are the most
productive.

Asymmetric training program is much more conducive to chaining than a

symmetric training program. However, if a training program produces worker skill
sets that are too diverse, it may turn out that too few employees are trained in the
high-workload jobs of the organization.

2. Generalists or Specialists

The more extensive the cross-training program, the more difficult it is for
employees to specialize in specific skill sets (Stanislaw et al. 1994). This problem
can be avoided by separating highly specialized jobs from the cross-training
program.

3. Employee Resistance

Some employees may feel that training, work, and responsibility now required are
not worth the increase in pay being offered. They choose to stay in the positions
they had occupied before the implementation of the initiative. However, as the
cross-training becomes more entrenched in the organizational culture, the
number of employees who refuse to participate begins to decrease.
CURRENT SCENARIO
In an effort to avoid retrenchment, reduce hiring and increase efficiency,
organizations are seeking a multi-skilled workforce.

In an era of specialization, the downturn has interestingly brought into focus the
necessity of having a multi-skilled workforce. Multi-skilling is currently the big
buzzword. The common belief is that a multi-skilled workforce can avoid
retrenchment and can lead to increased productivity for the organization in a time
of increased severity, which can directly impact the companys bottom line.

Some would argue of course that there was always a need to be multi-skilled, but
the current economic turmoil has brought the necessity to the forefront.
Possession of an additional skill goes a long way in opening new channels and
opportunities for professionals, particularly at a time when their particular skill
might not be needed by the organization for its business.

It is a healthy trend from the perspective of the company as well as the employee,
since it allows the company to bring about cost-cutting in various forms and more
importantly, an individual does not become indispensable for the company, or
rather a company need not depend on a particular person for doing a specialized
job in which he is an expert. Such a workforce would be self-managed and flexible
according to the requirements of the company. From the perspective of the
employee, multi-tasking would allow them to become diversified and maintain
high levels of motivation and enthusiasm. It would also allow the employees to
get involved in the various aspects of the functioning, work, etc., of their
company, allowing them to be more involved in the performance of their firm and
contributing in preventing lay-offs as well.

There are many who believe that multi-skilled employees are a great asset to an
organization, irrespective of industry conditions. In leaner times, a multi-skilled
workforce helps bring in operational efficiency and increased productivity, since a
smaller workforce is required to cater to the scaled down demand. But even when
economic conditions are on the upswing, a multi-skilled workforce helps in
addressing customer demand faster and better.

If an employee enhances his skill sets, albeit in a phased manner, he will be far
more valuable to his company and the company will be a more potent force in the
market. Not only is this relevant in a recession, but also in a booming economy
where companies compete to attract and retain the best business.
FUTURE PROSPECTS

Multiskilling of employees is an effective way for future facility management in

companies to organize jobs in way that improves profitability, flexibility and quality of

service.

Multi-skilling will also create a better workplace and enhance job satisfaction.

Multi-skilling design of jobs will enable people to perform two or more traditionally

separate job functions.

Not to be mistaken with multitasking that will simply relate to performing many different

tasks at the same time if a job function requires multiskiling, a degree of training will

be necessary to enable the employee to carry out the job.

LIMITATION

The following are the limitations faced by me during the course of the study

The period of study was very short which is a major constraint.

The study is only confined to Multi-Skilll of workers of the selected organization.

The study cannot be oriented with all HRM practices followed by company because of

the paucity of time requirements.

The confidentiality of the system created some problem in getting information

RECOMMENDATION

Some of the major suggestions made after the project are as follows

Identification of Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) required.

It is needed to determine the areas where improvement is required.

Assessment of the employees who have the potential and caliber for filling the
position.

For the managers being developed into executive roles, rotation to different
functions in the company should regular be carried out.

Train on different tasks/positions

Often used to train entry-level managers

Also used to provide back-up in production positions

Multi-Skilling will provides the employees with opportunities to broaden

the horizon of knowledge, skills, and abilities by working in different
departments, business units, functions, and countries.
CONCLUSION
Multi-skilling ensures that workers are idle only when there are no jobs to
complete, not when there are no jobs that a particular worker can complete. It
therefore allows companies like Peace River Pulp to use a minimum-staffed
strategyto use only the minimum number of employees necessary to
maintain production.

Multi-skilling is particularly suited to the cost-reduction strategy of Peace River

Pulp because it operates a continuous production system, within which it is
very difficult to divide jobs into individual units. The more knowledgeable
workers are about the whole process, the more proficient they become.

Cross-trained employees are less likely to resist technological innovation, since

it is less likely to be perceived as a threat to their job security if they are used
to moving from one skill to another.

The more extensive the multi-skilling, the more difficult it is for employees to
specialize in specific skill sets. Companies must therefore find a balance
between special skills and a general understanding. One solution is to separate
highly specialized jobs from the cross-training program.

Multi-skilling is particularly important in the pulping industry because of

computerized control systems that require operators to have a well-founded
comprehension of the entire pulping process. Cross-training allows employees
to develop the intellectual mastery that has become a key performance factor.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

P. Subba Rao (2007); Essentials of Human Resource Management & Industrial

Relations; Himalaya Publication House; Mumbai; pp 400-405.

C. B. Mamoria, S. V. Gankar (2007) Personnel Management; Himalaya Publishing

House; New Delhi; pp 432-458

WEBSITES

www.dainikbhaskar.com
www.hrindia.com
www.skillmanagement.com