Founder's day

September 28th of every year used to be a date which I remember from 2003 for an additional reason - that it was the birthday of my CMD, BGR.

This year we observed it as the first Founder's day. 

In my wildest of my imagination I could have never thought of participating in one such function. Nevertheless there I was dressed up in simple office attire to participate and drove to the unit, where it all started for BGR in 1985.

The persons on the dais, his wife, children and the fortunate few of my colleagues who had spent more years with him than me, spoke along with a person from the worker group. They shared many tidbits and reminiscences, nostalgic memories. His daughter spoke of the personal side and shared some insight with those gathered.

The function set me off on to my thoughts to write my own tribute to BGR, whom I joined in Sept 2003.

It was a very simple decision for me to join BGR group, then GEA Energy.  The organisation, which I had worked in from 1981 till 2003 had made great strides, building up significant new capabilities and notched up achievements of national importance over the years. In 2003 it was taken over by a promoter group who had different plans. In the brief period that I operated under the promoter group, I learnt what is non professionalism. I also learnt how individual creativity can be effectively killed.

So it was refreshing to see BGR who as the CMD of a company though of much smaller size, speak out what I would later realise as the 'Management Thoughts' which I was missing and wanted at the workplace where I would serve. Added to that there was no locational change and the decision was simple. Encash the service record built painstakingly for over 22 years and move to other pastures. 

I am glad that I took that decision.

Having joined the company, it was clear from the initial days, that there were many people in the organisation, who are dreamers starting with BGR. (Many still continue) We were all employees of a small organisation, but with big thoughts and we always aimed at achieving some thing huge. 

Over time we proved that we can deliver on what we set out to achieve as a sequel to our dreams under the leadership of BGR.

Echoing the thoughts of the speakers at Founders day ceremonies, I believe BGR gave us that freedom, which has helped him shape the organisation he wanted it to be. He has taken it to the heights which we all of us are proud of today. 

Some of the dos and don'ts which reflect the qualities of a great corporate leader which I experienced first hand in the interactions with BGR and the policies he pursued are worth sharing: 

In the 10 years, I have worked with him, he has never ever overruled my decision on recruitment or procurement. If he doesn't agree he will share his views and make me change my recommendation or concur with mine. Never have I been handed down a decision. His resolve to honour commitments especially to the financial institutions is exemplary. He respected his executives, and was willing to reward performance.

Even when I did something which was to his total dislike, he felt it necessary to seek why I did it before reprimanding the action. Even though it was only once, he didn't mention it again. He was though highly opinionated and some of us knew to live with it. This aspect of his tended to favour a few and work to some other's disadvantage; but then it had its virtues as well.

He would expect his executives are respected by every one. Any one who is discourteous to his executive, will be treated as having been discourteous to him as well.

There were many dreams, which he had for the company through the division, which I head. One was to do something in optic fibre. I am glad that I made that happen, with we emerging as one of the preeminent performers in optic fibre installations associated with power lines. We won an award in nuclear project beating an organisation which he considered worthy of beating and that too by a whisker of a margin. He wanted us to bring in niche products, which we are yet to achieve and continue to work on it. 

He wanted the division to achieve at least a ₹1000 crore sales, with a order back log to sustain the operations and scale up. We are far away from that task and I am sure the division will work to achieve this dream also over time. 

The first order, for which we had celebrations in boat club lawns with all the key officers of the company and customer's representatives, was only Rs.30 crore. That was 10 years ago. BGR would now celebrate if we secure orders more than ₹1000 Crore and it will be my endeavour to work for it in the months and years to come. 

And when we do celebrate, which I am sure we will, we will not only miss BGR's physical presence, we will miss the great host in him as well.  Nobody will ever come close to the host BGR was. 

Organization growth and your own agenda

Every employee, when he starts work at a place has his or her own plans for the future. After the initial few months or years they review their goals, modify or reaffirm their beliefs. Such actions have many common threads one of which is continuity and growth at the chosen place This is the accepted norm in the families of middle and upper middle class of working parents. The fresher or junior aspires to reach the levels of their mentor or the top post through diligent and dedicated work.

Growth in itself is gradual and graded. Definition of growth is difficult as it has different notations for each individual. For some it is synonymous with the best that has happened to their peers in other organizations. For some others growth it is to meet their cash needs caused by events at the personal front. May be it is due to life style changes or additions in the family, sudden expenses etc. The most successful career persons are those who do not fall into such traps and stay at the job which they like and manage their expenditure to the extent permitted by the salaries.

There is flip side to this. Management may take such individuals for granted and may try to deny their due. This is rare occurrence in progressive organization, but it will help for one to be vigilant about it.

The organization culture is another important aspect. If it is Multinational Organization, their agenda with respect to the country where you are serving is very important. If they are just willing to push the product manufactured elsewhere, without developing or manufacturing the products locally, it is time you moved on. As a professional one needs to have the larger picture in mind, when they devote their entire life to an organization.

If it is a national organization, owner driven, we need to see for professionalism exhibited in the key decisions taken by them, the consistency in their policies, tuning of the policies with times, and aligning the HR policies in line with the market trends. Lack of any one element is a concern, but manageable. Over time if it is not corrected or more unacceptable practices become the norm, then it is better to look at other better options.

The challenge for organizations, is to stay focussed and be responsive to the employees needs at all levels. Growth in the organization, will bring in many new additions and faces at all levels. While this opportunity will be used by the employer to weed out the non performing elements, the employee needs to be aware of the impact of such additions and additionally qualify himself or work harder or improve the functioning to deliver improved results.

Organisations move in directions in which its key persons direct it. Hence the top management are responsible for steering it propoerly for the benefit of all. Where it gets difficult is when there are major changes in the top management itself. It is at these times, one needs to stay and take a view of the changes (which percolate down due to the change) and then decide. There will be heart burns and individual loyalties which are challenged. But one should not allow such emotions to cloud one's decision.

Challenges at the work place

There are many challenges at the work place which we need to tackle.

Every action, interaction, every new effort which you take, brings with it, its own challenges. If you are lucky you develop a liking to these challenges and that is the best situation. Some times you allow these tendencies to become addictive which turns you to a workaholic. This is another challenge which you need to manage as it may take a toll at the home front.

There are some challenges which makes you tense and if you encounter many of them in a day's work then it is time you realized that you are in the wrong place! As they say the moment the work which you do makes you tense, it is time you changed your work or the work place.

As you move on handling these challenges, certain events bring disappointments and sadness. It is at these times you need to believe in your self and get on with it. If the disappointments are caused by some whose actions you cannot control, then the situation may need a directional shift. Else it could be a simple chemistry issue. Whatever it is, it is must be faced and resolved immediately, lest it becomes a bogey and you start looking at it for excuses.