Switching jobs, not companies

Workplace: The RPG Group is enabling people to change jobs within its fold, instead of having to opt out

As part of a business review, the RPG Group recently put in place an aggressive talent management programme. The aim: to give employees opportunities to change jobs within the group rather than have to look outside.

"Why should people look for jobs outside when our group offers vast opportunities within?" asks Arvind Agrawal, management board member, president- corporate development & HR, at RPG Enterprises. People can now apply for job vacancies in group companies without going through their bosses.

This has begun yielding results: "Twenty-two per cent of vacancies are being filled through this process, while our target is 35 per cent." The group is now firming up a blueprint to market the programme more aggressively.

"It will be driven more through the Net and the idea is to see that applications do not get caught in the maze of bureaucracy and that people do not get caught up with stereotypes about how someone from the tyre division goes to retail," explains Agrawal. People have done that already, only the desired level of change has yet to happen.

He thinks this is not too far away, since the top management has already moved across businesses and is open to change, though the process has to get more streamlined. But that's not the only innovation afoot at the Rs 9,500 crore conglomerate. It has recently also put in place an e-learning programme.

"This is being done with help of SkillSoft, which specialises in providing organisations learning packages that aid development. Already, 247 people have registered themselves to benefit from this," says Agrawal.

The idea was to have a learning programme that was consistent in quality and delivery and open to all, even those based in remote locations.

This has its underpinning in the initiative unleashed five years ago, when the group roped in UK-headquartered Seville and Holdsworth to help the company ensure development for all, and spot high-calibre talent (called hi-fliers) early on in their careers.

The RPG group comprises 20 companies with 2,000 managers, of whom 170 are GMs and above. It spans sectors such as power, tyres, cables, power transmission, plantations, carbon black, pharma, retail, IT and entertainment. And the problem was a lack of 'line-of-sight', where people could not clearly see where the talent was.

Besides, each segment had a unique requirement that needed specific skill sets, grades, remuneration and domain knowledge. However, the flip side was the vast opportunity that the group held"" where it could offer its talent a multiple and diverse industry opportunity.

"We felt it was very necessary for us to work towards a situation where we could fill up our senior management positions from within, build a leadership pipeline by spotting talent early in their career, putting them on a fast track and developing their skill sets," says Agrawal.

For this, the group divided its managers into three groups: managers, senior managers and GMs/VPs. The people put in these were those who had already been rated high (through a performance appraisal based on mutually agreed targets).

There were three distinct development centres for each of these groups. For the hi-flier the agenda was to develop an action plan, introduce a 'one degree' change in job and then put them through a leadership programme at IIM-Bangalore (the drill was the same for all three groups, but of course with a different training requirement for each).

For the hi-flier senior managers, the involvement went a step further and included an interview with the chairman of the group. For the GMs and VPs there was an intensive development action plan.

The tracking progress is taken through a 360 degree orientation. "We track the progress of people identified and have put in place an e-learning management system," says Agrawal, adding: "We find that over time the leadership scores of managers have improved on most parameters."

In effect, the group has come to a situation where there have been career change moves by managers within three years on the job up to 42 per cent.