Commercial vehicle-maker Ashok Leyland has embarked on an inclusive approach to drive efficiency and increase employee participation, a senior official said.
The initiative is part of an integrated action plan to drive its larger business goals, according to N. V. Balachandar, Senior Vice-President (Group HR and Process Excellence), Ashok Leyland.
In an interaction with The Hindu, he said that inculcating a sense of inclusiveness in the organisational structure was critical in the modern context where cost and price pressures had been on the rise. Building such a culture was essential to retain talent and improve productivity, he said. In addition, it was bound to have a positive impact on the business prospects of the company, he added.
Recognition mattersThe Chairman’s Awards, instituted a few years ago, should be read in this context, he said. “These are the highest forms of recognition for teams that have significantly contributed towards the company’s strategy implementation,’’ he said. The Hinduja Excellence Award, he said, recognised teams whose contribution significantly impacted the organisational strategy. The Ashok Leyland Excellence Award, on the other hand, recognised exceptional and functional achievements by teams which had impacted the process of a particular function and, hence, impacted business significantly.
To a question, Mr. Balachandar said manufacturing firms, especially automobile companies, had to discover ways to engage their engineering talent, which had multiple opportunities outside, to deliver.
The challenge was to provide them the opportunity to articulate their skills and progress in the organisational structure, he said.
