Apitha Iyer & Aruna Iyer : Empowering Growth Through Innovative Learning Solutions
Apitha Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer
Aruna Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer
They have dedicated their careers to empowering individuals and organizations through innovative training solutions. With over two decades of experience, they founded Invicta Learning to address the evolving needs of clients in a dynamic corporate landscape. The organization offers a variety of professional development opportunities by utilizing a network of 173 trainers around India. The key to Apitha and Aruna's success is their creativity and innovation, which enable their team to create powerful programs that go beyond conventional training techniques and produce results that improve organizational performance.
In a recent interview with CEO Insights magazine, Apitha and Aruna shared their strategies, future roadmap, and vision for the company. Let's read about it.
What are some of the milestones that have shaped your growth as a leader?
•Apitha: I began my career as a recruiter at EmmayHR, where I discovered my passion for training. Although I excelled in recruitment, my desire to transition into learning and development drove me to freelance in English training. Establishing Atheya, with Aruna allowed me to explore the training space further, and in 2017, we founded Invicta Learning, where I now serve as Chief Design Officer.
•Aruna: I started my career as a quality analyst in a call center, which sparked my interest in HR and recruitment. This led to co-founding our first HR consulting firm, which we later sold. We then launched Atheya, focusing on HR consulting and training development for the last 14 years. Eventually, we created Invicta Learning, specializing in customizing learning and development and building learning practices within
organizations.
What factors do you take into consideration when sug- gesting your offerings or programs to the clients?
•Apitha: As a process the team starts by evaluating our clients’ present skill sets and talking with the team members to identify the gaps. We also incorporate constructive criticism into our methodology to ensure that our programs promote real learning and development. Curating the content specific to the company, the specific process and the role ask of the employees is our work on the drawing board
•Aruna: we place a high priority on bridging the gap between participants' actual training needs and management's expectations while proposing our offerings. Recognizing these demands at an early stage and making sure that our programs meet management objectives as well as the actual needs for significant learning outcomes.
What distinguishes your leadership style, and could you share the key principles or metho- dologies you follow?
•Apitha: What sets my leadership style apart is my genuine belief in putting people first. Every team member has special abilities, and I work to foster an atmosphere that allows them to flourish. We search for a variety of skill sets in candidates that can complement the qualities of our team as a whole.
•Aruna: Establishing a sup-portive atmosphere where each team member's individuality is valued is what defines my leadership style. We promote a culture of introspection and personal development by enco- uraging people to carve out their niches.
How do you keep yourself up to date with the ongoing industry trends?
•Apitha: We give utmost importance to continuous learning for our workforce. We make time for ourselves as leaders to participate in training sessions, webinars, and seminars. We strive for two certifications per quarter, but each team member must earn at least one, which encourages us to stay even more up-to-date. We have started a knowledge transfer program that allows team members to impart their skills to others after completing new training.
•Aruna: All members of our staff have access to LinkedIn Learning, which makes it simpler for them to obtain certifications without having to worry about the
What factors do you take into consideration when sug- gesting your offerings or programs to the clients?
•Apitha: As a process the team starts by evaluating our clients’ present skill sets and talking with the team members to identify the gaps. We also incorporate constructive criticism into our methodology to ensure that our programs promote real learning and development. Curating the content specific to the company, the specific process and the role ask of the employees is our work on the drawing board
We strive to create customized learning inte-rventions that genuinely address our clients’ requirements
•Aruna: we place a high priority on bridging the gap between participants' actual training needs and management's expectations while proposing our offerings. Recognizing these demands at an early stage and making sure that our programs meet management objectives as well as the actual needs for significant learning outcomes.
What distinguishes your leadership style, and could you share the key principles or metho- dologies you follow?
•Apitha: What sets my leadership style apart is my genuine belief in putting people first. Every team member has special abilities, and I work to foster an atmosphere that allows them to flourish. We search for a variety of skill sets in candidates that can complement the qualities of our team as a whole.
•Aruna: Establishing a sup-portive atmosphere where each team member's individuality is valued is what defines my leadership style. We promote a culture of introspection and personal development by enco- uraging people to carve out their niches.
How do you keep yourself up to date with the ongoing industry trends?
•Apitha: We give utmost importance to continuous learning for our workforce. We make time for ourselves as leaders to participate in training sessions, webinars, and seminars. We strive for two certifications per quarter, but each team member must earn at least one, which encourages us to stay even more up-to-date. We have started a knowledge transfer program that allows team members to impart their skills to others after completing new training.
•Aruna: All members of our staff have access to LinkedIn Learning, which makes it simpler for them to obtain certifications without having to worry about the
cost. Every month, we also have Zoom meetings with all our trainers to talk about fresh subjects and pertinent take aways from their most recent training sessions. We discuss new delivery techniques, exchange insights, and pinpoint our clients' changing demands throughout these sessions.
What is the next chapter you are excited to pursue in your journey ahead?
•Apitha: I am excited to expand our IT training services, which we just launched last year. We have built a solid foundation in soft skills and leadership training, but now we are delving deeper into areas like Java, Python, AWS, and Agile methodologies. Over the next five years, I envision our IT training becoming a significant part of our offerings. We are positioning ourselves as an L&D consultant for organizations without in-house training resources, conducting training needs analyses, and facilitating tailored training programs.
•Aruna:We are collaborating closely with a number of firms to integrate continuous learning into their performance asses- sment systems. In addition, we are creating our own e-learning platform with micro-learning courses that are appropriate, ranging from Entry Level to CXO Level.
Apitha Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer, Invicta Learning
Apitha began her career as a recruiter after completing her undergrad in commerce and a master’s in personnel man- agement. She cofounded Atheya and later established Invicta Learning in 2017, where she serves as Chief Design Officer.
Aruna Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer, Invicta Learning
Aruna holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and a diploma in HR, beginning her career as a quality analyst in a call center before co-founding multiple firms, including Atheya and Invicta Learning.
Hobbies:
•Apitha-Writing, Sketching
•Aruna-Reading, Listening to Music
Favorite Book:
•Apitha-Atomic Habits by James Clear
•Aruna:Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Favorite Travel Destination:
•Apitha:Pondicherry
•Aruna:Ooty
What is the next chapter you are excited to pursue in your journey ahead?
•Apitha: I am excited to expand our IT training services, which we just launched last year. We have built a solid foundation in soft skills and leadership training, but now we are delving deeper into areas like Java, Python, AWS, and Agile methodologies. Over the next five years, I envision our IT training becoming a significant part of our offerings. We are positioning ourselves as an L&D consultant for organizations without in-house training resources, conducting training needs analyses, and facilitating tailored training programs.
•Aruna:We are collaborating closely with a number of firms to integrate continuous learning into their performance asses- sment systems. In addition, we are creating our own e-learning platform with micro-learning courses that are appropriate, ranging from Entry Level to CXO Level.
Apitha Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer, Invicta Learning
Apitha began her career as a recruiter after completing her undergrad in commerce and a master’s in personnel man- agement. She cofounded Atheya and later established Invicta Learning in 2017, where she serves as Chief Design Officer.
Aruna Iyer, Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer, Invicta Learning
Aruna holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and a diploma in HR, beginning her career as a quality analyst in a call center before co-founding multiple firms, including Atheya and Invicta Learning.
Hobbies:
•Apitha-Writing, Sketching
•Aruna-Reading, Listening to Music
Favorite Book:
•Apitha-Atomic Habits by James Clear
•Aruna:Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Favorite Travel Destination:
•Apitha:Pondicherry
•Aruna:Ooty