Managers are the frontline drivers of learning and development, bridging organisational goals with individual aspirations. However, their role is evolving from being task-oriented supervisors to skill-oriented mentors and collaborators. This transformation requires an intentional focus on coaching, mentoring, listening and creating frameworks that inspire a culture of continuous learning. Bringing together esteemed leaders, the session explored CLO as a Skill Coach: Empowering Managers For Skills Development.
Neelam Ahluwalia, Vice President L&D, Big Basket stated, "Coaching and mentoring often happen unconsciously. Every time you observe a manager working in a certain way, over time, you begin to align with them. That’s essentially unconscious mentoring. At Big Basket, the only thing we did was make this process more intentional and conscious. After all, your team is already looking up to you and following your lead. By consciously engaging in conversations with them, you can guide their actions and growth more effectively.
Now, there are different kinds of people in any organisation—some need mentoring, while others need coaching. And among managers, some are more explanatory in their approach, breaking things down step-by-step, while others have a natural knack for mentoring. The key is to identify the right mix of both styles and tailor it to suit the individual needs of your team. This approach makes a big difference in how effectively you can drive learning and development."
Harish Kumar Subramanian, Assistant Vice President - Learning & Development, RR Donnelley India said, “As managers, it's natural to take a directive approach. I’ve observed this across the board—managers often feel the need to guide their teams, provide strategies, outline actions, and map out the path forward. That’s the prevalent style of managerial communication today. However, listening actively, uncovering ideas from team members, and collaboratively developing strategies isn’t an innate skill for many managers.
This requires a significant emphasis on listening and creating a framework to support this shift. At our organization, we’ve addressed this by developing an Effective Feedback Conversation (EFC) Checklist. This model consists of eight key pointers that anyone—whether giving feedback, addressing a problem, or having a meaningful conversation—can follow to make a real impact.
Since implementing this system, we’ve noticed a remarkable change. Managers are becoming better listeners, and they’ve started adapting to this structured approach, which has led to more effective communication and collaboration."
Prachi Sharma, Associate Director L&D, Myntra emphasised, “As organisations evolve, we are all moving towards becoming multigenerational workplaces. This shift means that our managers need to engage in meaningful conversations across generations. One key mindset we’ve observed is the need to transition from being controllers to collaborators. It’s a significant change, and while it’s easy to talk about, it’s much harder to implement.
At Myntra, we’ve found a framework that works well for us—it focuses on proactively teaching managers how to let go of control and embrace collaboration. To make this shift effective, we’ve designed a series of programs tailored to a manager's journey. These programs include carefully planned touchpoints that address real-life experiences and challenges managers face.
We’ve also developed persona types for our managers to identify potential pain points based on feedback. This helps us create highly curated workshops and initiatives, including coaching, mentoring and other supportive tools, to help managers navigate this transition effectively."
Alka Rai, VP-Human Capital (L&D, TM and OD), Arcesium said, “The role of a people manager has completely transformed over the past five or ten years. Today, information is just a click away—it’s no longer about simply providing information to your team. The focus has shifted to guiding them, identifying those crucial coaching moments and helping them discern and apply information effectively. It’s about enabling them to succeed in their current roles while also building long-term careers.
This evolution has brought about a revolution in the role of people managers. Of course, with any framework, there’s always a fundamental question—‘Why are we doing this?’ And when it comes to coaching, the challenge lies in its authenticity. Coaching can’t start from a place of pretense—it has to be genuine and that can feel a bit nerve-wracking. Before developing any coaching framework, it’s critical to consider how much trust it can hold."
Moderator Rajinikanth U, Group CLO, Adventz said, “I’m excited to dive deeper into the human touch in Learning and Development. Here’s my approach: Model, Empower, and Inspire.
As L&D professionals, it’s essential to model the skills we promote in our forums and meetings. Then, we need to empower our leaders by instilling confidence in them. Finally, we must inspire them to take meaningful action. When you combine these three elements, you create a spark—a fire—that drives transformation and motivation in those you lead.”
