Swapnil Kamat doesn’t mince words when he calls some trending “innovative” training methods “nonsense”. Founder of Work Better, he became a prominent corporate trainer with only on-the-job and self-learning. He rubbishes the so-called value of certificates and believes that practical learning hones skills. A Goan, he spent his formative years at Sharada Mandir and went on to complete his BCom from Dhempe College of Arts and Sciences in Goa. He headed to Pune to finish his MBA in marketing at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and thereafter became the brand manager at L’Oreal. Consecutively, Swapnil began a travel website called Trip2Goa.com and ran it for around three years, which earned him the tag of being one of ‘India’s Young Achievers’ by CNBC Young Turks. But he soon realised where his real passion lay — in people development and training.
The 31-year-old says, “Training across all industries is the same — theoretical in nature — and has no impact on real life. I began Work Better five years ago, with my wife, Ruchira Karnik, to make executive training practical and implementable that will have a tangible impact on business and sales.” They concentrate on six verticals — Executive Training, Leadership, Communication, Customer Service, Personal Effectiveness and Innovation. In the five years since its inception, they have trained an average of 25,000 people a year, a figure that speaks volumes for them.
Their workshops are conducted through two-day classroom training sessions twice in six months, interspersed with continuous engagement with participants over emails, messages and teaching calls. They adopt a varied combination of tools, depending on the client requirement — group discussions, role play, simulation and peer learning. With a team of 12 based in Mumbai, Swapnil has recruited around 45 trainers across the country. A workshop can cost anywhere between `15,000-`1 lakh a day. A trainer himself, his pet topic are workshops on Working Better and Leading People Effectively. They have trained people from organisations like HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Essar Group.
A couple of exciting developments include tie-up with National Skill Development Corporation as a training partner for skill development and a tie-up as the India partner for a Google-backed venture, English Central, for e-learning. His love of business helps him constantly “reinvent the wheel”. More at www.workbetterindia.com
— preethi@newindianexpress.com