As India's largest information technology services company, Tata Consultancy Services has more than 275,000 employees spread across 197 offices worldwide. Many of these associates are deployed in high-security environments at customer sites and other locations where they rely solely on the company's intranet or emails to access learning.

As a result, the learning and development (L&D) function is constantly challenged to create a learning culture in the organization, and to keep its far-flung associates engaged in learning. To address that challenge, the L&D team developed an initiative last year that employs an honored axiom in communication: "Keep it short."

It introduced "Learning Bytes," a written column delivered on multiple platforms that contains quick-read capsules on topics of interest to the general learner. The column addresses a boundless array of topics, including technology, workplace issues, language, culture, and personal behavior. Ranging from 500 to 700 words, each is an anecdotal story written in compelling fashion to address a common problem or situation facing many employees.

"In this program, we leverage all of our resources and reach out to learners in a format that they can appreciate," says Vidyut Navelkar, deputy head of global L&D. "Items are carefully structured around real-life situations that appeal to widespread workers from different countries and cultures," he adds.

Although it might sound like a modest training endeavor at first blush, "Learning Bytes" wins hands down as the department's most innovative initiative of 2012. "The Bytes help to instill a learning culture within the organization, a core value for the L&D organization and one of our top priorities," says Nivedita Kuruvilla, learning manager, corporate L&D, who drives the initiative.

She reports that the new program gained immediate acceptance with employees and quickly began generating contributions from associates eager to share personal experiences. One of the most popular delivery methods is the organization's social collaboration platform.

Navelkar says it's impossible to correlate "Learning Bytes" with employee retention, but the positive feedback attests to the initiative's value in helping associates relate with the organization and their colleagues. That automatically makes it a worthy retention tool in today's competitive climate.

Another popular initiative launched last year is an onboarding program aimed at connecting with new recruits before they join the organization. Called ASPIRE, it is an online interactive learning platform containing a 170-hour learning package. Content includes modules about the organization and its core values, and an introduction to a variety of technical topics.

The program culminates in a formal induction process that assesses all recruits and determines their immediate future with the company. "ASPIRE plays an important role in determining the ultimate career of recruits," says Suresh Panampilly, head of the Initial Learning Program (ILP). In addition, keeping prospective employees engaged at the outset lessens the chance that they might jump to a competitor, he explains.

To date, more than 43,000 associates have been initiated via ASPIRE. To make the learning experience as engaging as possible, content includes enjoyable, interactive resources, including exercises and quizzes at the end of each module. The portal has been redesigned since its unveiling with enhanced features and 24-hour support.

ASPIRE is an important response to one of the most critical issues facing the organization— getting trainees project ready and business aligned from day one. Another is the ILP for trainees in numerous positions, including technology, management, finance, HR, and engineering services. Indeed, this program accounts for almost 50 percent of the entire training budget.

ILP was revamped during fiscal year 2011 to align more closely to the businesses, following four tracks of endeavor. Integrated into the learning are personal skills such as professional grooming, teamwork, speaking, and writing.

The impact of the initiative has become immediately clear. Qualitative data indicate learning effectiveness is upward of 90 percent, while 81 percent of project leaders find the new curriculum an improvement in getting new employees project ready.

The L&D leaders also cite two examples of training's contribution to business performance during 2012. They are PROPEL, a team learning and problem solving initiative that facilitates the informal exchange of ideas, and a new emphasis on return-on-investment that targets niche skill learning programs.

PROPEL helps build a culture of collaboration, creativity, and networking while solving specific business problems. The program's leaders have been trained as change agents who meet challenges by using teamwork in various forms. They include group-led examinations of waste within systems that can be solved systemically. "The program encourages employees to take ownership, and is a major force in keeping them engaged," says Githanjali Chandrasekhar, head of PROPEL.

Addressing the issue of global attrition is one of the areas where L&D has successfully employed PROPEL initiatives across locations. As a result of this and other initiatives for promoting employee engagement and motivation, the average attrition rate reduced from 11.5 percent in 2011 to 9.4 percent in 2012.

The ROI effort, launched last year, seeks to measure the effectiveness of niche technology training programs for high-value employees. The ROI for selected programs is measured by calculating the revenues earned as a result of training, based on billing rates of trained participants who employ their new skills minus the training costs incurred. A learning effectiveness study also is conducted.

The organization reports that the ROI on technical programs is 483 percent, and that billing rates have risen for the newly trained employees. For an investment of about $1.6 million during 2012, the company's projected returns were more than $9.5 million.