How McKinsey India gives back to society with its Generation programme
Alongside the strategic support that it offers in a number of market domains, global management consultancy McKinsey & Company does its part for India’s social development as well, primarily through the India practice of its global Generation programme, which has worked to skill nearly 5,000 graduates so far.
Generation is a global initiative that operates on the principle that skill-development is the key to solving issues around youth unemployment across the globe. As a result, the organisation trains young professionals with basic skills in a number of domains, spanning five countries, namely Spain, Kenya, USA, Mexico and India.
Since launching in India officially in 2015 through its first programme, Generation has been particularly successful in the country. In India, Generation trains professionals in the specific domains of beauty & wellness, healthcare and hospitality, operating across 20 locations across the country’s urban and rural landscape.
Last year, the firm formed a partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation in India to launch a pilot project that aims to train as many as 5,000 candidates in basic skills that would contribute to employability. At the time, the initiative engaged approximately 350 students across India.
Numbers suggest that the initiative has had a strong success rate as well, exemplified by the fact that as many as 72% of the candidates who take part in Generation training programmes have been employed in some organisation or the other within three months of graduating.
More than 75% have subsequently retained their jobs for a period of over three months. Candidates from Generation have been placed in a wide variety of organisations in India, including health centres such as Apex Hospitals, Apollo Cancer Hospital and Batra Hospital, as well as hospitality giants such as The Leela Group and The Umrao.
Skill generation is particularly relevant in India and across the globe at the moment, given that the nature of jobs in any field is set to undergo a comprehensive transformation as a result of digitalisation, automation and artificial intelligence. McKinsey is proving to be a central player in this demand for skills.
The firm has been active in the Indian market in recent years, particularly since Gautam Kumra was appointed as the new Managing Director of the firm early in 2017. By the end of 2017, the firm’s growth rate in the country had entered double digits. Generation represents a way of giving back to the society.
