Aligning Talent and Business

The monthly meeting of NIPM was held on 11th March 2020 at Hotel Capitol Bangalore. The speaker for the evening Mr Rajnarayan Sr VP & CHRO Titan company Ltd spoke on the very interesting and pivotal topic "Aligning Talent and Business". The speaker started out by declaring that the context is very important  while deciding on a strategy for meeting the needs of talent management- both the context of the business and the context of the organization. He said that talent management is a business process and is to be seen as such by everyone in the organization and not as a HR process.

Mr Rajnarayan said that talent management is crucial and that in the absence of a robust talent management process,  a company would be moving towards disaster. Talent should be developed in advance and be ready for filling positions as and when the need arises. It is precious and needs to be protected. The Titan Group has presence in a number of products such as watches, jewelry, Eyeware, Fragrances(perfume) and  Fastrack helmets that involves activities in the areas of manufacturing, design, retail, distribution, after sales service etc. It is therefore necessary to find and nurture talent in various areas/ disciplines across the value chain of the company.

The strategy of the Titan Group which came into existence in 1984 has been to focus on 'adornment' or lifestyle products with adequate branding. Another strategy is to enter business areas that are unorganized or under serviced and cash in on bringing some order into the business. Appetite for risk and a love for creating brands has been in the DNA of the company. The drive engine has been a culture of collaboration with a healthy balance between processes and uncertainty.

Reinventing the Foundation:  Organizational culture    

The culture of the company build over a period of over 30 years has served it well. The company today has a PBT of Rs 3000 crores. However, many of the seniors started retiring from the year 2019 and soon the entire top team is expected to change. There is a need for a robust pipeline and also a re look on the priorities and the focus areas in the coming years.In this connection the company organized a series of seminars and interactions involving all stake holders- employees, customers, suppliers and came up with 7 elements that are important to the company. It was decided to have a four pronged approach  namely (1) Foreseeing  (2) Dreaming (3) Owning and (4) Acting 

The policy of Titan is to have an unconditional positive regard for its people. This also includes a willingness to share wealth with employees when the company is successful. A "Can Do" DNA is sought to be developed in the employees. In respect of customers, the focus is on understanding the customers' needs, meeting them and rectifying wherever applicable. The Titan Group attaches a lot of importance to its obligation to the society. "Educating the Girl child"  a premier initiative of the company titled "Titan Kanya" aims to support 10,000 children living in urban, semi-urban, rural and tribal areas.

Another initiative of the company is aimed at sustaining the craft of the artisans which is slowly dying away due to the poor prospects and living conditions of these craftsmen. Titan with the twin objective of utilizing their talent for the jewelry business and also giving them a sustainable source of living have invested in over 14 Karigar parks. In these parks/ centers, the artisans are provided  lodging and boarding with recreation and gymnasium facilities. The company provides the equipment, material and training support  to the karigars enabling them to use their skills for producing jewelry of the highest standards and design. In the manufacturing process, the company ensures the best working conditions and safety practices. As a result, the life expectancy of artisans engaged in this tough occupation has gone up from  40 to 60 years and the younger generation are motivated to take up their traditional profession.

The speaker said "we need to get better in innovation, in the way we anticipate change and at being accountable." The challenge is to build leaders for the future around the cultural core of the company viz People, customer and society. In this connection, the company asked itself questions like " What do we need for the future?",  "Who has the potential to take on the needs of the future?" and "What do we want from the Titan leader of the future?"  These were discussed with people across a wide cross section of people including the first MD of the company, Xerxes Desai.

As a result of the deliberations, it was decided to evolve a Leadership competency framework for the leaders of the group. The behaviour in respect of each competency would be defined for various levels of leadership such as Senior executives, Managers, Assistant managers and junior managers. As for example the behaviour for  a competency of being 'Business savvy" would be described differently and appropriately for the various level of leaders. In order to ensure the successful implementation of the Leadership Development framework, a  Leadership sub committee of the board was formed who would oversee all connected subsystems like training and recruitment. All the members of the senior management team went through assessment centre/development centre exercises that included presentations, role plays and other processes of evaluation to identify strengths and three to four big ticket areas of improvement. 

Mr Rajnarayan said that their experience shows that working on strengthening the strengths is more effective than focusing on the weaknesses. The aligning of "development of people" to "the business" of the company  process is extended across the organization for identifying suitable talent. 100% of the top and senior management are covered under it. Potential appraisals are done for identifying the potential of the middle management against the parameters of aspiration, engagement and agility. Around 110 to 120 emerging leaders are identified who go through a eighteen month program. This  includes class room sessions at XLRI and a certification at the end of the program. After the certification, they are taken off from their regular jobs and posted on a project in a different area for a period of one year.

The entire development of people at Titan is based on the company's career philosophy of  2X2X2 +7.  This denotes that in his/her career, an executive should have been exposed to at least 2 businesses of the company, across 2 geographies and in 2 functions. While going about such exposures they should have had 7 different types of experiences across company projects. This equips them for strong inter mobility within the organization. The aim is to have all this happen as part of a co creation involving the employees. This ensures buy in and sponsorship of employees. HR has a big enabling role to play here, facilitating inclusive partnering and getting people involved in the solution. Leaders take on the role of trainers, teachers and coaches. It is important to have  all this  dovetailed to one's particular context and business. 

The speaker said that it is critical to have a succession plan. The strategy of Titan has been to recruit a large number of people as management trainees and groom most of the senior management requirements from within. Although a few are recruited laterally, it is seen that presently, out of seven senior executives five have been with the company for decades. 70% of the leadership team have put in 15 or more years with the company. Mr Rajnarayan said that although developing successors is important, it is not advisable to name a successor too early.  A pool of successors should be developed , giving them individual inputs as well, customized to specific needs. The ones not selected for an identified position can be utilized in other roles which would emerge as the organization grows/ expands.  The person identified is posted six months in advance as an understudy to the incumbent with some of the job duties being passed on to him/her with clear deliverables.

Aligning Performance to Business   

In line with the corporate philosophy of "employee inclusion", the first step of the business planning process is Bottoms up .  Initial planning and goal setting is done at departmental levels with wide consultation of employees.  These inputs and proposals are consolidated and discussed by the board which finalizes the business plan. Thus, what starts as bottoms up, now takes the form of top down goals which are accepted and strived for by everyone in the organization. This process is sharper and more agile than the traditional methods and also supported by goal labs (How to focus on the right goals and make sure the goals are pursued the right way) to make it relevant and sharp.

Goal audits are done from the top - down to the intermediary roles. The company does not have the practice of a mandated Bell curve. Since the last five years a system of calibration is followed wherein performance is discussed and justified. Each store discusses its performance with justification. This requirement of justification gets the manager thinking on the lines "If I am to justify the rating, I need to have the goals sharper."  Titan has always had a combination of group and individual productivity norms as the company believed in the importance of group contribution. However, the individual content has been increasing gradually over a period of time.

It was a very rewarding experience listening to the talent management strategy and initiatives of a very progressive company like Titan which has been following a pro people policy ever since its inception. I was particularly happy to note that the company discusses and involves its employees in the talent management decisions and the day to day operation . By this approach it has been ensuring buy in and engagement of everyone towards the short term and long term objectives.