The Acrobatics of Change by Siddiqui Moid;Khwaja R. H.;

Author:Siddiqui, Moid;Khwaja, R. H.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SAGE Publications India Pvt, Ltd.
Published: 2015-06-22T07:18:38+00:00

Source: Scanned copy of the original.

At one point of time, when the management was thinking in terms of constituting a cross-functional team exclusive for this change mission, an employee floated an idea on an almost similar pattern. We decided to give credit to the employee and announced that based on someone’s suggestion a ‘Parivartanam Team’ has been constituted. We inducted the best brains from different disciplines—not the ones who were ‘spareable’ but the ones who were ‘difficult to be spared’! Thus, this empowered team became the nodal agency between KPMG and the Nagarjuna Group. This team was also responsible to remove the bottlenecks, by discussing with the concerned ‘discipline head’. For instance, when I resisted that HRD must be excluded from the ERP process, the team members came to me with a clear mind, ‘either convince or get convinced’. I argued on two issues.

First, the ‘lotus notes’, which were introduced recently did not get fully accepted by people and our ‘paperless office’ plan was passing through a crucial phase. So, it was not an opportune time to introduce another big dose of change. Second, I was not quite satisfied with the then HRD SAP package, as it did not go well with the ‘Indian HR’ pattern—HR with a human face! I was not ready to accept a mechanical system for dealing with people, which was ‘spiritually empty’ and not sensitive to feelings and emotions. I had no objection in putting the routine HR processes such as benefits administration, time management, corporate communication and other administrative areas like guest houses, transport, and so on, on ERP, but not the total HR processes per se.

The same team of KPMG had carried out the ERP project in my earlier organisation, BEML, where I was the HR director on board. I had faced a similar problem there. I had internal information that within a couple of years the ‘India-friendly’ HR model of SAP was likely to be introduced.

‘So, it is better to defer’, I argued. My arguments were taken well by the Parivartanam Team. Once the team was convinced, I did not bother much about the top brass.

Percolation of change through newsletter was not an adequate communication channel. So, I decided to take this major aspect as a part of our training programme. Many training workshops were conducted, associating all those who were affected directly or indirectly. The desired change took place smoothly. As expected, business process re-engineering (BPR) exercises created redundancy, which warranted cutting the fat. Downsizing was not a new exercise for me—I had carried it out in HMT. But this time, being the commander-in-chief, I wanted to deal with it on a different footing. Instead of saying goodbye to the guys whose positions were rendered surplus, I decided to go for ‘mix and match’ principle. I was not convinced that I should blindly say goodbye to all those people whose positions (due to some reason) were rendered surplus.

A highflier is always a highflier. Retention of talents and highfliers was a part of my duty.

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