KNOLSKAPE is an experiential learning software company focusing on talent transformation.

KNOLYTICS is an analytics engine, which has been integrated, with all of KNOLSKAPE’s experiential learning products. When individuals use these experiential learning products, ‘Knolytics’ captures close to 400 data points in a span of 90 minutes durations. The engine also analyzes the data captured and provides meaningful insights to the stakeholders.

‘CCAT’ is an Assessment toolkit, which is used to evaluate the aspiring consultants on 12 core-consulting skills, which are considered critical for a consultant. The toolkit comprises of 4 different simulations with each simulation focusing on the evaluation of a few skills.

‘First Time Managers’ solution is a capability building program through which the participant will emerge better equipped to handle his role as a manager. This comprehensive program aims at all-round development of the skills of the participant anchored around the 8 key competency indicators.

Key differentiator: Unlike traditional e-learning providers and conventional training organizations, KNOLSKAPE develops gamified learning products and solutions that create a wow learning experience. The key differentiators for KNOLSKAPE are: Immersive Gamification, focus on anytime/anywhere learning and skills analytics. KNOLSKAPE’s ability to quickly customize the learning context for different industries and companies has delivered phenomenal results for the learners.

Source of inspiration: There is a huge gap between knowing and doing the learning process nowadays. KNOLSKAPE’s current learning methodology focuses on efficient transmission of knowledge to the learner and there is very little emphasis on the learners' experience. Rajiv Jayaraman, Founder-CEO, KNOLSKAPE, felt the need to transform the way we learn. “The learner doesn't get a safe learning environment to practice and appreciate the relevance of the concepts being learned. This was the genesis of KNOLSKAPE. Today, our products are used at Global Top 10 B-schools and Fortune 500 companies,” he said.

Spotlight Award to us means: KNOLSKAPE has been at the forefront of innovation in the learning technologies space. Winner of the NASSCOM Top 10 Emerge award, IBM Global Top 5 Entrepreneur award and the Edustars award, KNOLSKAPE has been recognized for introducing revolutionary experiences for the learners. “Winning the Spotlight awards will be an important milestone for us, since this will be a major validation by the experts and the industry stalwarts. The award will further bolster our belief that learning should be fun, empowering and enlightening,” added Rajiv.

Biggest challenges and key learning: According to Rajiv, the initial challenges were around the concept itself. Using games for learning was not a popular concept with companies. Learning was seen as a serious activity and games didn’t seem like a credible methodology for driving learning outcomes. Fortunately, the perception has changed today. Gamification and game based learning have become mainstream and companies are reaping huge benefits in the transforming talent space.

“The key learning in our journey as a start-up is that in order to be successful, teams need to align the head (reason), heart (passion) and hand (skills),” he said.

Future of technology in HR: Technology is going to re-shape HR in fundamental ways. Technology helps organizations engage talent in ways that were simply not possible in the past. Using actionable analytics companies are now able to spot talent, predict attrition and devise tailor made development plans. In the learning space, KNOLSKAPE predicts an increase in the usage of mobile devices, analytics for personalizing learning and social learning.

Message for the HR community: “We are still evaluating success of training academies in companies based on the number of hours of training, number of people that attended and the number of courses offered. I think it is time that we started measuring business outcomes of training programs. We also need to build a learning culture in organizations because out-learning the competition is truly the only sustainable competitive advantage that an organization can build,” said Rajiv.