Dear Bhargavi,
thanks for sharing the case , which is a very good lesson for all the HR persons to maintain a good culture in the organization for the fruit full of the company. Any how we have to think about the workers also as they are the peoples who contribute their efforts towards the company.
Regards
Susant
From India, Mumbai
2thanks for sharing the case , which is a very good lesson for all the HR persons to maintain a good culture in the organization for the fruit full of the company. Any how we have to think about the workers also as they are the peoples who contribute their efforts towards the company.
Regards
Susant
From India, Mumbai
Dear Bhargavi,
This is really interesting and useful for the freshers in the field of HR/ HR faternity..........
Thank you very much plz keep updating like this information for us ( freshers) to develop our professionallity...
regards
Anil kakarla
From India, Visakhapatnam
This is really interesting and useful for the freshers in the field of HR/ HR faternity..........
Thank you very much plz keep updating like this information for us ( freshers) to develop our professionallity...
regards
Anil kakarla
From India, Visakhapatnam
Dear Bhargavi,
Thanks for posting this. To many friends, it may seem inappropriate that Maruti Suzuki has been named directly and opinions directed against them. But all these things are already in the public domain and you have only brought it up in this HR Forum. This is welcome. And it may not harm the interests of Maruti Suzuki if all of us patiently follow the threads and gather bits of critical comments for war gaming the turn of events and formalise our way ahead. It can happen in any company, anywhere in the world.
- Pain:Good for health. Every company, worth its name must compile their worst case studies, brainstorm and come to an understanding of what went wrong, where, why, since when!! Getting into a self congratulatory chuckle and a false belief of everything being hunky dory, is a sure sign of the impending storm. Pain is not bad, because it tells us the problem our body has, that needs to be cured. Not having a problem is not ideal for an organization..there are multiferous activities happening in a manufacturing unit...production, security, fire safety, raw materials, logistics etc.etc. and there would be issues that need to be resolved. As managers, we have to identify them fast, try to resolve, escalate it timely and advise the management appropriately, in a forthright manner. For heaven's sake, do not sugarcoat for fear of being blamed for the lapse. A stitch in time....!!
- What is in a name? For us Indians, it is everything. Big names are intimidating for sure. And therein comes an aura of invincibility, impeccability and infallibility. And when the occupants of such titanic ships sleep in a complacent slumber, no one would imagine that an iceberg may be on its way and their master captain may falter in timely course correction. I too was surprised at the turn of events. I had gone through the gruelling spells of TPM and Kaizen to understand the Japanese management methods. Implementation and indigenisation of any and every concept must always follow. We as managers, must understand that, like technology, even concepts become trite and need to be made specific to the current environment.
- Processes and ISO syndrome. ISO certifications are necessary in today's international business. We all know, following the misty and slippery haze of 9000/14000/18000/TSXXXX etc. and keeping pace with the gruelling audit schedules at the cost of productive interventions in the field is not easy. It comes at a huge cost..most of the CEOs are, in their heart of hearts, better without them. Thankfully they have now been integrated. But, they all talk about processes and documented procedures. And all HR managers know, it is not a rocket science. Well developed processes, procedures and systems are the lifelines of any company. What these ISOs do not teach us and cannot fathom is the art of man management. Labour relations is one such aspect. Getting certified and passing the audit muster is no barometer for either spring or autumn in an organization. It lies deep within.
- Managing Labour relations. It is too complex to be fully understood by any one of us. But what is clear is that human beings need to be led and not managed. We lead by personal example, transparency, humanness, shared values, walking the talk, sharing the fruits and respecting the sensibilities of the people we lead. And we manage them through sticks, policies, backdoor negotiations and rules. Managing is easy, leading is not, as leading requires us to let go of our comfort zones, restrict our privileges and devoting more time towards our workers. Leading evokes respect while managing is derogatory. A famous military vow that every army officer has to take goes like this...." safety, honour and welfare of your country ( your company) comes first...always and everytime...safety, honour and welfare of the men you command (workers) come next....your own safety and welfare come last..always and everytime." Can we replicate it for the company that we draw our sustenance from?
Abdul kalam, our ex president, as the boss in DRDO, is believed to have taken the children of a junior officer to a fair himself, as the officer was busy in his work and could not keep his promise of taking his children there...this he did without the officer even knowing about it. This is leadership. Do we remember all our workers...their family issues? Have we got involved in their daily hardships?? I dont know, how many of us do. But, a pat on the shoulder is worth many increments.
- Ownership. Are we ready to acknowledge that our work and hence that company we work for, has only remained a means of our sustenance/livelihood and its well being do not figure into our scheme of things. They remain the ladder through which we negotiate the snakes and reach to a higher position in another company. Instead of having meetings galore, do we spend enough time on factors really pushing productivity of workers rather than making pi charts and presenting them in good english during review meetings!! Are we advising the management correctly even at the cost of earning their ire and disturbing their game of golf or the goblet of chilled wine. As management, are we ready to listen to our line managers, pay heed to the emanating smoke and support them? There is a famous line..." war is too dangerous a matter to be left to the generals". Labour relations are also sensitive and needs a firm grip by the management. If everyone is playing safe and passing the buck - from AM-AGM to VP, who is going to bell the cat?
- Fancy for Cosmetic jargonism. HR seems to have collected such a treasure of fanciful terminologies and OD diagnostics that it has become incomprehensible by the general public, like me. It is scary, to say the least. And the companies, in a bid to outdo the other, compete and rustle after the plethora of such surgeons to get their house in order. Millions spent on such extravaganzas are justified. But, try and take a sanction for some hot water containers or better chairs for the workers rest rooms and you hit a bottleneck!! Spend small amounts in a productive manner for the workers and it yields geometric dividends. Please try it out. How many of us have seen companies spending lakhs on team building events for executives in star hotels but scuttling your bids for a fresh pair of sports uniforms for the cricket team!! Penny wise and .........!! I sometimes feel, like Indian policy makers and the parliament too, let us freeze any more interventions, any new HR policies and get hold of what is alreadepths of oury existing and try to implement it in true spirit. Let our practical approach to problem solving be simple and not become a host to the complex matrices and unfathomable depths as we come across while negotiating the minefield of appraisal forms.
Quality of Leaders. As Bhargavi has pointed out, any mismatch between the workers and their managers is bound to create friction. All our workers come from villages, with poor backgrounds and fixed beliefs. They have their own perceptions and expectations. We can drive our production. But we can not drive the workers. Productivity has to be induced through positive strokes, healthy interventions and good rapport between the managers and workers. Indian workers are not as demanding as their western counterparts and do not wish parity with the managers, as the western workers are entitled too and is permitted by their culture. Thus our managers, can really lead their workers very well, by being a part of them.
I thank you all and wish that such events do not descend in your organizations. Your positive approach would make things easier for future.
Thanks to Bhargavi. It is a problem, relevant for the whole industry and through this forum, lessons must emerge.
From India, Delhi
Thanks for posting this. To many friends, it may seem inappropriate that Maruti Suzuki has been named directly and opinions directed against them. But all these things are already in the public domain and you have only brought it up in this HR Forum. This is welcome. And it may not harm the interests of Maruti Suzuki if all of us patiently follow the threads and gather bits of critical comments for war gaming the turn of events and formalise our way ahead. It can happen in any company, anywhere in the world.
- Pain:Good for health. Every company, worth its name must compile their worst case studies, brainstorm and come to an understanding of what went wrong, where, why, since when!! Getting into a self congratulatory chuckle and a false belief of everything being hunky dory, is a sure sign of the impending storm. Pain is not bad, because it tells us the problem our body has, that needs to be cured. Not having a problem is not ideal for an organization..there are multiferous activities happening in a manufacturing unit...production, security, fire safety, raw materials, logistics etc.etc. and there would be issues that need to be resolved. As managers, we have to identify them fast, try to resolve, escalate it timely and advise the management appropriately, in a forthright manner. For heaven's sake, do not sugarcoat for fear of being blamed for the lapse. A stitch in time....!!
- What is in a name? For us Indians, it is everything. Big names are intimidating for sure. And therein comes an aura of invincibility, impeccability and infallibility. And when the occupants of such titanic ships sleep in a complacent slumber, no one would imagine that an iceberg may be on its way and their master captain may falter in timely course correction. I too was surprised at the turn of events. I had gone through the gruelling spells of TPM and Kaizen to understand the Japanese management methods. Implementation and indigenisation of any and every concept must always follow. We as managers, must understand that, like technology, even concepts become trite and need to be made specific to the current environment.
- Processes and ISO syndrome. ISO certifications are necessary in today's international business. We all know, following the misty and slippery haze of 9000/14000/18000/TSXXXX etc. and keeping pace with the gruelling audit schedules at the cost of productive interventions in the field is not easy. It comes at a huge cost..most of the CEOs are, in their heart of hearts, better without them. Thankfully they have now been integrated. But, they all talk about processes and documented procedures. And all HR managers know, it is not a rocket science. Well developed processes, procedures and systems are the lifelines of any company. What these ISOs do not teach us and cannot fathom is the art of man management. Labour relations is one such aspect. Getting certified and passing the audit muster is no barometer for either spring or autumn in an organization. It lies deep within.
- Managing Labour relations. It is too complex to be fully understood by any one of us. But what is clear is that human beings need to be led and not managed. We lead by personal example, transparency, humanness, shared values, walking the talk, sharing the fruits and respecting the sensibilities of the people we lead. And we manage them through sticks, policies, backdoor negotiations and rules. Managing is easy, leading is not, as leading requires us to let go of our comfort zones, restrict our privileges and devoting more time towards our workers. Leading evokes respect while managing is derogatory. A famous military vow that every army officer has to take goes like this...." safety, honour and welfare of your country ( your company) comes first...always and everytime...safety, honour and welfare of the men you command (workers) come next....your own safety and welfare come last..always and everytime." Can we replicate it for the company that we draw our sustenance from?
Abdul kalam, our ex president, as the boss in DRDO, is believed to have taken the children of a junior officer to a fair himself, as the officer was busy in his work and could not keep his promise of taking his children there...this he did without the officer even knowing about it. This is leadership. Do we remember all our workers...their family issues? Have we got involved in their daily hardships?? I dont know, how many of us do. But, a pat on the shoulder is worth many increments.
- Ownership. Are we ready to acknowledge that our work and hence that company we work for, has only remained a means of our sustenance/livelihood and its well being do not figure into our scheme of things. They remain the ladder through which we negotiate the snakes and reach to a higher position in another company. Instead of having meetings galore, do we spend enough time on factors really pushing productivity of workers rather than making pi charts and presenting them in good english during review meetings!! Are we advising the management correctly even at the cost of earning their ire and disturbing their game of golf or the goblet of chilled wine. As management, are we ready to listen to our line managers, pay heed to the emanating smoke and support them? There is a famous line..." war is too dangerous a matter to be left to the generals". Labour relations are also sensitive and needs a firm grip by the management. If everyone is playing safe and passing the buck - from AM-AGM to VP, who is going to bell the cat?
- Fancy for Cosmetic jargonism. HR seems to have collected such a treasure of fanciful terminologies and OD diagnostics that it has become incomprehensible by the general public, like me. It is scary, to say the least. And the companies, in a bid to outdo the other, compete and rustle after the plethora of such surgeons to get their house in order. Millions spent on such extravaganzas are justified. But, try and take a sanction for some hot water containers or better chairs for the workers rest rooms and you hit a bottleneck!! Spend small amounts in a productive manner for the workers and it yields geometric dividends. Please try it out. How many of us have seen companies spending lakhs on team building events for executives in star hotels but scuttling your bids for a fresh pair of sports uniforms for the cricket team!! Penny wise and .........!! I sometimes feel, like Indian policy makers and the parliament too, let us freeze any more interventions, any new HR policies and get hold of what is alreadepths of oury existing and try to implement it in true spirit. Let our practical approach to problem solving be simple and not become a host to the complex matrices and unfathomable depths as we come across while negotiating the minefield of appraisal forms.
Quality of Leaders. As Bhargavi has pointed out, any mismatch between the workers and their managers is bound to create friction. All our workers come from villages, with poor backgrounds and fixed beliefs. They have their own perceptions and expectations. We can drive our production. But we can not drive the workers. Productivity has to be induced through positive strokes, healthy interventions and good rapport between the managers and workers. Indian workers are not as demanding as their western counterparts and do not wish parity with the managers, as the western workers are entitled too and is permitted by their culture. Thus our managers, can really lead their workers very well, by being a part of them.
I thank you all and wish that such events do not descend in your organizations. Your positive approach would make things easier for future.
Thanks to Bhargavi. It is a problem, relevant for the whole industry and through this forum, lessons must emerge.
From India, Delhi
first, the reason provided here for the latest voilence is that supervisor has made some cast based comment on worker is False, because supervisor is also belong to the same cast.
second this movement is pre-planned because they are well prepared for attack and....
third what ever may be the reason you don't have to become voilent for fullfilling your demands....
may be there is some failur on the part of the management and HR, but the labour politics is also responsible for the same...
i have seen many instance where unions are demands manu things which are not possible or sometimes supporting the worker which have faults on his side....
so this is a good study but i hope that the same also cover the part of HR/ Management that how they are feeling when they are getting blackmail by these unions....
Thanks & Regards
Prakash Rathi
From United States, Ashburn
second this movement is pre-planned because they are well prepared for attack and....
third what ever may be the reason you don't have to become voilent for fullfilling your demands....
may be there is some failur on the part of the management and HR, but the labour politics is also responsible for the same...
i have seen many instance where unions are demands manu things which are not possible or sometimes supporting the worker which have faults on his side....
so this is a good study but i hope that the same also cover the part of HR/ Management that how they are feeling when they are getting blackmail by these unions....
Thanks & Regards
Prakash Rathi
From United States, Ashburn
Dear Bhargavi,
I appreciate the write up and understanding about the matter which give us different perspective about the Incidence.
i am not aware about sources from where you have collected the data but i would like to tell the HR managers are not allowed in most of the organization to do the justice because policies are formed from top management and we have to implement that so we have very limited option to implement things on the ground reality .
I just suggest senior officials of any organization they must understand the ground reality and that can be only done by involving to lower level management.
Regards
Amit
From India, Delhi
I appreciate the write up and understanding about the matter which give us different perspective about the Incidence.
i am not aware about sources from where you have collected the data but i would like to tell the HR managers are not allowed in most of the organization to do the justice because policies are formed from top management and we have to implement that so we have very limited option to implement things on the ground reality .
I just suggest senior officials of any organization they must understand the ground reality and that can be only done by involving to lower level management.
Regards
Amit
From India, Delhi
Thank you Bhargavi,
It was very informative & also enabling HR professionals to take right action, at bad times i.e industrial disputes.The concerns you emphasized is not only happening to MSL but also to its Vendors & ancillaries.
But the case u discussed also has a story of a GM HR, He was known to be very humble, favorable to mainly contract workers & a artist in negotiation skills.
A good labor cant take a live!!!
thank u
Raj
From India, Delhi
It was very informative & also enabling HR professionals to take right action, at bad times i.e industrial disputes.The concerns you emphasized is not only happening to MSL but also to its Vendors & ancillaries.
But the case u discussed also has a story of a GM HR, He was known to be very humble, favorable to mainly contract workers & a artist in negotiation skills.
A good labor cant take a live!!!
thank u
Raj
From India, Delhi
HI Bhargavi Hope it needs to reach each and every HR person to know the management behaviour in respect of handling workers. keep on posting. KHS
From India, Hyderabad
From India, Hyderabad
Thanks, Bhargavi for sharing valuable case study of MSL. But I would like to raise a point here, HR Professionals are just middleman between Board Rooms and Human resource. Even in MSL. gentleman who lost his life was in the same position. Your policies after discussion from Boardrooms do not come out with positive signs. That is the main problem in our country. We talk a lot about betterment of working conditions but all in vain. Our Indian Professionals associated with the MSL have already taught them a lot of things to manage industry here.
Mukesh Sharma
9759093500.
From India, Dehra Dun
Mukesh Sharma
9759093500.
From India, Dehra Dun
Dear Bhargavi,
Thank you so much to share the thinking case study to us, in this case study says to us the importance of relation between the HR and the employees when a problem arise the concern no one can stop the problem so the HR wants to move carefully in the modern business environment we can argue about the topics but one can go deeply the problems it says a big corruption happen in the departmental wise the corruption successfully managed by the top level through the violence,we know clearly employees efforts or skill directly converted the production or profit of the company so the company could not make it an issues from the side of any employees especially the Japaneses firms,why am saying this matter in here because of the Japanese policy of HR not related to this cases They provide a life time employment in the employee then how it match the present situation, Here am once more quoted "we can play with the fire but we cant play with the employees" .
From India, Ernakulam
Thank you so much to share the thinking case study to us, in this case study says to us the importance of relation between the HR and the employees when a problem arise the concern no one can stop the problem so the HR wants to move carefully in the modern business environment we can argue about the topics but one can go deeply the problems it says a big corruption happen in the departmental wise the corruption successfully managed by the top level through the violence,we know clearly employees efforts or skill directly converted the production or profit of the company so the company could not make it an issues from the side of any employees especially the Japaneses firms,why am saying this matter in here because of the Japanese policy of HR not related to this cases They provide a life time employment in the employee then how it match the present situation, Here am once more quoted "we can play with the fire but we cant play with the employees" .
From India, Ernakulam
Dear Bhargavi,
You have unveiled the truth of Industries in our country. It is all same as Britishers were doing, Landlords (Jamindars) had done and are still doing in UP,MP, Bihar, Jharkhand and in many northern and Southern states, and Contractors are doing in our country. This reality of Exploitation, Autocracy is learned from Modern Management sciences developed in USA, Europe (Britain, France, Germany ) like other many countries.
Many Industries/Companies are practicing the same as Management has been practicing in MSL. In Pithampur (Near -Indore) Madhya Pradesh the industry Kinetic Honda Now Mahindra Motors, is doing the same.
Many Industries are preferring to employ contractual labour only but Managers are permanent. The salary/remunaeration given to employees- worker is rarely increased or increased as hundred two hundred only . But for Managers it is 20000, 500000. double trible.
What teh Managers do they suggest that the job which is done in 2 miniutes should be done in one minutes are two jobs in two minutes. To implement KAIZEN or the systems invented in USA, Japan but not the Salary in Japan.
Thankyou Bhargavi
From India, Indore
You have unveiled the truth of Industries in our country. It is all same as Britishers were doing, Landlords (Jamindars) had done and are still doing in UP,MP, Bihar, Jharkhand and in many northern and Southern states, and Contractors are doing in our country. This reality of Exploitation, Autocracy is learned from Modern Management sciences developed in USA, Europe (Britain, France, Germany ) like other many countries.
Many Industries/Companies are practicing the same as Management has been practicing in MSL. In Pithampur (Near -Indore) Madhya Pradesh the industry Kinetic Honda Now Mahindra Motors, is doing the same.
Many Industries are preferring to employ contractual labour only but Managers are permanent. The salary/remunaeration given to employees- worker is rarely increased or increased as hundred two hundred only . But for Managers it is 20000, 500000. double trible.
What teh Managers do they suggest that the job which is done in 2 miniutes should be done in one minutes are two jobs in two minutes. To implement KAIZEN or the systems invented in USA, Japan but not the Salary in Japan.
Thankyou Bhargavi
From India, Indore
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Case Study, Transforming HR Through Technology.doc
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