Quiet, Best Practices

Some time back, when I casually interacted with Mr Nagesh Adiga Manager HR Ace Manufacturing Systems, Bangalore I was pleasantly surprised to learn about some of the people friendly initiatives that the company has been practicing for years. I had pointed out to him that his company is following a remarkable path quietly,without much fanfare and yet many more would be inspired to emulate such practices if they are shared publicly.

Recently I had the occasion to visit the AMS factory located at Peenya industrial estate while accompanying MBA students whom I teach at the Wellingkar Instiute of Management and research. It was a wonderful opportunity to understand from close quarters, the functioning of a company that had impressed me earlier. We went around the neat and tidy shop floor and rounded off the visit with an interaction with Mr Nagesh, Manager (HR).

Mr P.Ramadas is the Managing Director of AMSL, who along with other founders Mr B.Machado, Mr A.V.Sathe and Mr S.G.Shirgurkar had started AMS in February 1994. The founders with a rich engineering experience behind and between them, adopted a customer centric approach that earned the company popularity, not only among big corporates but also among small and medium scale enterprises. The philosophy of the company also encompasses a people centric approach and adherence to ethical practices. AMSL which specializes in  CNC machining center manufacturing, has supplied over 8000 machines worldwide. The customers are from varied industries such as Automotive, General Engineering, Aerospace, Medical and Dental, Energy, Defence and Education. The company focus is on meeting the unique needs of customers.

During the interaction with the Manager (HR), one question that was asked by the students was "How is it that AMS has run for so many years without the presence of a union ?". The answer was that perhaps the employees did not feel the need for it when working for a company that gives equal importance to its employees and customers. The morning session each day, starts at the shop floor with rejuvenating exercises and reinforcing of ethical values. Safety & health pledges (includes personal safety tips outside factory) and guidelines are read out bilingually in Kannada and English. If it is a birthday of an employee, he is presented a birthday card  by MD and also wished personally by all the 400 employees present in the shift, shaking hands with him. There is a yoga center and a meditation room in the factory premises. Employees can take a break for meditation when they feel the need and compensate by working for an equivalent amount of time. 

The company perceives its employees as a family unit that includes his family members. Before an appointment, the parents of an employee are invited to visit the factory and see for themselves where their son/daughter would be working. The appointment letters are handed over to the parents. In case an employee is not coming to work, it is natural for the MD to telephone his wife and ask" Why is your husband taking so much leave?" An accident in the factory whether it happens to a regular or contract employee is given immediate attention with the person being hospitalized and provided adequate treatment. Another thing that stood out for me was that AMSL treated its suppliers also with care and concern. As for instance, as a matter of policy, company ensures that the suppliers receive timely payment within the committed date.

Mr Nagesh said that performance appraisal was not merely an annual or biannual affair but a continuous process. One to one feedback on how an employee is doing is given to him by the section head/HOD/ MD depending on the level at which he is working. Production data is captured week on week and serves as material for the discussions. He said that 'Punctuality' was a very important value for the company. Those achieving 100% punctuality and their spouses/mothers are honoured at a public event during the annual day celebrations. The attrition in the company is less than one percent (ranges from 0 .42 to 0 .73%) per annum. The corporate office and factory is housed in a ten-acre property amidst a lot of greenery, flowering trees and plants. There are more than 300 varieties/ species of plants in the premises. 

While taking leave, the manager (HR) reiterated the philosophy of the company- "Law of nature is above the law of the land". Nature does not exploit anyone. Similarly, AMS does not exploit any stakeholder be it an employee or a supplier. On the contrary, it seeks to enhance the welfare of all stakeholders including the society at large. 

The Journey to Becoming #1 in the List of "Great Place to Work"

NHRD Bangalore Chapter, for  the monthly meet of September 2018, arranged an interaction with top executives of two organizations who were ranked first in the list of "Great place to work" in India for the years 2018 (SAP Labs India) and 2017 (Intuit India). Dr Shraddanjali Rao, VP (HR), SAP Labs Ltd shared her experience along the journey of reaching the pinnacle in the year 2018 while Mr Somnath Baishya, Head HR, Global development centres, Intuit, discussed insights gained from a 13 year journey that culminated in the top position in 2017 (Intuit India was ranked # 2 in 2018).

"Great Place to Work (Certified TM)’’ certification is the most definitive ‘Employer-of-Choice’ and Workplace quality recognition that an organization can  receive. Great Place to Work® Institute, partners more than 8000 organizations every year around the world to help create and sustain a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture™. In India, Great Place to Work® produces the annual lists of ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’, a study in partnership with The Economic Times.  

Participating  organizations are assessed in two parts – employee survey and people practices assessment. The proprietary and globally-trusted framework, Trust Index© survey is used to survey the employees on 5 dimensions of a great workplace – Fairness, Respect, Credibility, Pride and Camaraderie. People practices implemented in the organization are assessed through a Culture Audit© process which covers 9 distinct practice areas of a great workplace culture.

The steps of the process include administering the Trust index survey, sharing company's policies and programs for evaluation, analyzing of results to determine whether thresholds of certification has been  met by organization, awarding of certificate, obtaining reports and insights for continuous improvement . The certification Program of the institute allows companies to be automatically considered for all its Best Workplaces list competitions for 12 months from the date of evaluation.  

Shraddanjali said that the one thing which provided unflinching light throughout the journey to becoming a "Great place to work" was the clear guiding vision of the company- "Be the most innovative lab". The key success factor was that everyone from the top to the last person in the company related to it. Pick and talk to any employee from any of the 20 labs located in 17 countries the company has presence, and you will find that he/she owns the vision. SAP Lab has its second largest R&D center located in India and employs 7500 employees. She said that the focus has been on people practices and people experience. " How do we become the most innovative lab?" is the question always on the mind of senior executives. 

It is not just about policy making but paying full attention to 'employee experience'.Whether it is a millennial, a working mother or one retiring in a few months, all feel the same warmth towards the organization- " Loyalty is a matter of impact", declared the speaker. The other aspects that are given priority are co-creation and customized employee experience. Efforts are made to understand the unique needs of various categories/layers of employees (women, new recruits/experienced etc.) and after individual discussions and consultation, the benefits package is signed off with them. Empowering your employees could be tough as you would be required to "Let go". Yet, empowered employees who have faith in you as an organization, will go all out to contribute their best. 

As innovation is a top priority in the company, the platform and time is provided for it in full measure. Top six ideas of the employees are supported with investment. Twenty five of the best innovations are awarded every quarter. In order to meet the the need of career development and career conversation of employees, adequate time is provided to them to discuss with trained business leaders of the company over Skype. 

Shraddanjali, then shared some of the initiatives that give a signal to the employee that "SAP cares for me and my family." These include addressing issues faced by the employee as a parent of sick little children, time off , employee assistance, insurance cover, wellness initiatives (facilities at work place for tennis, badminton, gym, yoga), choice & flexibility, long term incentives, celebrating professional & life events, healthy and inclusive work environment, 40% discount for buying company shares, celebrating annual day (Singer Shreya Ghosal was invited to perform for the employees). She said that while extending any benefit, the one question uppermost in her mind is "How to make it customized and better for the employee?" 

The speaker concluded her talk by stating that it is not only about extending a lot of benefits to employees.There is a need to create an awareness about them. The natural human tendency is " I remember a benefit only when it is relevant to me." Therefore, it is most essential to educate your employee about not only the benefit that is immediately relevant to him but the many things he gets in an entire employee life cycle. She said that she was satisfied and elated by the company's achievement, given the fact that 700 companies representing 20 major industries had participated. The response rate to the survey was as high as 87.13% .SAP Labs India has also been recognized in the list of the Best Workplaces – Culture of Innovation 2018. 

The other speaker of the evening, Somnath Baishya then took over and narrated the Intuit India story, moving towards the goal of  becoming a "Great place to work." He said that his company equated employees to air,  meaning you cannot survive without them. The company focuses on a community culture, ensuring that employees felt good working in the company. In this connection, he called attention to the quote of the poet and  social activist Maya Angelou who said " People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." 

The speaker said that for Intuit India, it was a step by step rise to the top of the list of "Great place to work", moving from top 50 to top 10 and then top 5. The company learnt early that what was important was not reaching a position but sustaining it and  working for continuous improvement. Initially, company  had aimed for the top and had got the 8th position. "However, we realized that we had aimed too high, the process of which could not be sustained". The ranking fell to 25 and the focus of the company changed to that of sustaining and consistent improvement/ growth. It was all about building a culture of initially developing (1) engaged employees, followed by (2) nurturing them as  ambassadors and finally  (3) employees as  change agents.

Building the culture of the company by providing employee experience in line with the organizational values was an important goal. Employee advocacy became the voice of the brand. It involved giving up control to create empowerment and ownership. Somnath then shared some live stories of how this was achieved. As a company becomes bigger, there is a possibility of feeling lost in a crowd or having  a feeling of being a cog in the wheel. In order to avoid such a situation, the speaker said that the organization takes inspiration from start ups/small organizations and engage in bite size connects. As for example although the company occupies physical space on a number of floors in the building, meetings and celebrations are done at a floor level in order to have better interaction and connect between employees.  

Another initiative is personalized acknowledgement and celebration of achievements and milestones. For instance, if an employee has completed five years in the company,  colleagues and juniors share simple and candid information about him/her in an open forum.This exercise also serves as a motivation to new employees who know that they would be similarly appreciated for their contribution. 

Family get together is organized in a grand manner in the form of "Little Intuit day" wherein 400 little super heroes are invited to their dad/mom's work place and given a thoroughly enjoyable summer camp like experience comprising of games, fun and competitions.Another interesting development was the graduation of engaged employees to ambassador roles- from social sharing to social ambassadorship. It all started when one employee Shruti, on her own, posted on social media
 " I believe in innovation. I am Intuit"- ranked #1 in India's best companies to work for 2017". More and more employees have slipped into the ambassador role with gusto. From 100 ambassadors in 2016, the number rose to 134 in 2017. 

"Investing in the future" is another important initiative in Intuit wherein the company's NGNers (Next generation network) are encouraged to take the lead for driving the leadership program. The program which includes juniors shadowing seniors in leadership roles, provides opportunity for testing out their skills in leadership situations such as speaking before a large group. Innovation awards, product & tech contests, 24 hour Hackathon are other activities geared to make impact in this direction.

Somnath concluded by stating that the company's culture of building engaged employees  to ambassadors and change agents has meant that HR has a large population in the organization to support and drive their initiatives and is not dependent on a small HR team alone. He said that he perceives the #1 rank as a responsibility and an opportunity for continuous improvement.

The speakers then took questions from the audience. To a question on the challenge of aligning the culture to everyone in the organization who may come from various backgrounds, the answer was  "We keep it simple and honest. All activities are aligned to the values of the company."

In spite of having many reasons to work for the company, people may still leave. How does the company deal with attrition? SAP has an "entrepreneurship sabbatical scheme" wherein employees are provided  opportunity and support to indulge in their passion if bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. They can return to work with SAP after the sabbatical period. At Intuit, the CEO spends quality time with employees every month to understand their concerns, challenges and priorities.

How does the company integrate culture across the organization? Best practices are shared across locations. It is for this reason that an employee moving to a distant location on transfer, feels comfortable as the culture is the same. Reverse mentoring is another mode of integrating culture. Listening to the younger generation, particularly in their strong areas such as on social media helps in reducing gaps in the organization. Employees are encouraged to refer appropriate and suitable friends for vacancies. Persons who have already engaged with them during the hiring process are attached as buddies to new recruits to help them integrate smoothly into the organization.

To a question on employing differently enabled candidates, it was informed that SAP has a scheme for supporting candidates having autism. There are also visually and other differently enabled employees working in the company. Training people in rural areas has been an important CSR activity.   Intuit has experimented with three differently enabled interns and found the exercise quite promising. (Readers may like to read my blog on the unique challenges of Retail industry in becoming a "Great Place to Work"- https://hrdian.blogspot.com/2018/12/building-great-place-to-work-unique.html )

With that, it was curtains for a very informative and rewarding experience for the members who made it to the September monthly meeting. It is not often that we get to listen to learning and wisdom from the experience of companies who between them  achieved the #1 ranking in two consecutive years. Many other companies, I am sure would be motivated to take the plunge and work  towards becoming a ' Great place to work" and figuring high up in the list.