Growing Technical Excellence in India: A Cross-Cultural Development Program
When I first embarked on my journey with the Technical Specialist Development Program (TSDP) at CDM Smith, my goals were to manage a project from the scope, schedule budgets, resource plan, maintain schedules and ultimately interact with clients more as an automation engineer. I didn’t realize until being fully immersed in the program that technical strength is just one aspect in a long list of knowledge and experiences one will gain to feel confident at what they do.
Encouraged by my U.S. mentor and other mentors, I decided to further develop my skills and be a part of one of the greatest investments CDM Smith offers for employees. The TSDP is a two-year program that assists our technical professionals in advancing their career using a rigorous process that includes formal mentoring partnerships between U.S. senior level technical mentors and India mid-level technical mentees and detailed career development plans. Participants are expected to advance their technical expertise, increase technical luminescence and improve networking through this structured program. This sounded like the place for me.
Mentorship is not just one way or another; it's a mutual benefit for both mentors and mentees as well. I strongly believe mentorship gives continuous learning, which helps people to grow and continue the mentorship cycle.
Mentorship is not just one way or another; it's a mutual benefit for both mentors and mentees as well. I strongly believe mentorship gives continuous learning, which helps people to grow and continue the mentorship cycle.
Through this program, I and other India program members have fostered strong, mutual trust with our U.S.-based colleagues. This program has been a catalyst for building trust and understanding across cultures, enriching our professional experiences and expanding our networks globally. CDM Smith strongly believes having a diverse employee base brings fresh, innovative ideas and those thoughts can be brought into any project or any solutions. Of course, cultural nuances exist, but this program has provided invaluable insights into different work styles and the importance of embracing diverse perspectives. The spirit of collaboration was evident during the largest visit of U.S.-based peers to India to celebrate my cohort’s graduation and kick off the next. The opportunity to develop my technical and leadership skills while immersing myself in different business units and cultures is truly unique.
During my time in the TSDP, I also took on new challenges to build my leadership and it has opened doors to some big, game changing opportunities in my role. My India team and mentor supported me as I led a major project and because I took on this new opportunity, I was able to become a regional team leader with a total of 20 direct reports as of today. More recently, I became an office leader, taking care of cultural, social and team building activities across our Chennai office. I believe programs like the TSDP have helped myself and our talented India team grow professionally in more ways than one.
Throughout my 20-year career with CDM Smith, I have received much support from my managers, mentors and the leadership team. While my time as a mentee in the TSDP has ended, I can’t help but feel inspired to continue working on my professional growth, taking up new roles and inspiring my team members so that they may do the same for others. Be it that an employee has been at CDM Smith for 1 year or 20 years, our culture of relationship building between generations across multiple disciplines and cultures is something I want to expand even more within our India team.
Victor Antony is an automation engineer and Regional Team Leader in our Chennai, India office.
The opportunity to develop my technical and leadership skills while immersing myself in different business units and cultures is truly unique.
