Dr Prince Augustin, Executive Vice President - Group Human Capital & Leadership Development at the Mahindra Group has over three decades of experience in the field of Human Resources. A post-graduate MBA in Human Resources from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in Pune, Prince also holds a degree in Law specializing in Labour Law from the Government Law College, Mumbai and a Doctorate in Management from BITS Mesra, Ranchi. Prince has been associated with leading companies such as the Associated Cement Companies Limited and Castrol India Ltd, in the past, before joining the Mahindra Group in August 2003. He talks to Corporate Citizen about the various HR practices that promote a vibrant corporate culture at the Mahindra Group
See what happens is – like when there is day and there is night, there is sunshine and there is rain. There is winter and there is summer. So likewise, the economy also passes through similar phases. I have seen several cycles like these. In the early 2000s, we found there was a big economic upheaval and massive downsizing. When India got coupled with the global economy, the global upheaval started affecting India as well. So what happened to the US, affected India in 2008-09…and many people thought that we should not hire, but Mahindra was hiring, setting up of plants, and we carried on with other activities too. So when the economy improved, Mahindra was able to capitalize on the upswing. Economic cycles are here to stay and only the innovative will be able to turn the tides into opportunities.
Hence these are pangs of growth which the country is going through, and it’s time to reinvent and relook at ourselves. We need to identify the systems and practices that will help to build businesses that are sustainable and which can manage the upsides as well as downsides. Generally when an upswing happens, people become a little complacent. So I have a philosophy that I have learnt from British Petroleum. What they say is – you should run the business in the best of times as if it is the worst of times. So you therefore manage costs in such a way so that you don’t have to downsize people. In Mahindra we have this philosophy embedded in our Core Purpose which states that “We will challenge conventional thinking and innovatively use all our resources to drive positive change in the lives of stakeholders and communities across the world, to enable them to Rise.”
We are quite optimistic about our hiring plans. Our hiring strategies are based on the nature of our businesses which are very diverse and in different phases of growth. Therefore there would be hiring, but it would be selective. As we have seen big growth, we have created capacities for ourselves and we will ensure that this capacity can be leveraged to manage growth for the next three to five years.
There are a total of over 200,000 people and if you take the ecosystem, it may be over 300,000 to 350,000 employees. We have thousands of stakeholders associated with us. We also have 25 manufacturing plants in India and facilities in China, Europe, Australia, Russia, US and many other parts of the world. So, it’s a huge group which provides employment, not just directly but also indirectly, in dealerships, suppliers, both rural, urban, and if anything goes wrong with it, which means India is going in the wrong direction. The growth of the country and the growth of the group are therefore very closely interlinked.
The first thing that I look for is if the person has curiosity and then I look at his power of observation. I see how creative he/she is. I believe that whatever the job is, curiosity and creativity are absolutely essential. A room can be made differently, can be painted differently, and the pictures can look different and that can make the room distinct and different. Every person has a role to play and the curiosity, power of observation and actions of a person can tell a lot.
We have also identified five leadership characteristics at the Mahindra Group that are critical for influencing a culture of accepting no limits, alternative thinking, and driving positive change. These are:
We look at how people manifest the three pillars of Rise and the five leadership characteristics.
The attrition numbers vary throughout the Group depending on the profile of the employees. For instance, in our IT business, employees who want to experience different roles in a short span of time are highly mobile, while in our manufacturing businesses, employees like to stay longer and build a career. Overall, people like to stay with the Group for a very long time because of the growth opportunities and a culture of empowerment, transparency and trust. We are focussed on the long term growth of our employees. We also encourage people through a lot of training and development programmes. In fact, Anand Mahindra himself spends ten days a year in various talent management processes so as to ensure that we as a Group have talent aligned to our core purpose and values. Each of the business heads spend 40-50 percent of their time on people matters. So enabling our employees to rise is the first priority for us and the Group is known for empowerment and helping people to pursue their interests.
We do have a very positive attitude; diversity is one of our key themes; we have Anita Arjundas who is the Chief Executive for Mahindra Lifespaces, as the Chairman of the Diversity Council. We are looking at various hues of diversity, be it gender diversity, cultural diversity, generational diversity or LGBT so that we have a diverse group of people who will challenge conventional thinking and bring about a positive change in the company. We also have a very caring environment. Our workplace is safe and it encourages growth for people and especially women to pursue opportunities they would like.
We have a very strong employee engagement model, called ‘MCARES’, where M stands for Mahindra, C stands for Career, A stands for Alignment, R stands for Recognition, E stands for Empowerment and S stands for Strive. The MCARES survey is administered annually to our employees and 76867 employees participated in the survey in FY16. Post the survey, senior leaders plan actions based on the insights generated from statistical analysis of the data.
Our hiring process is very strong and we are able to get the right people for the right roles. We have an excellent talent management process which helps people to align their thoughts and aspirations to the goals that they want to pursue. Our reward and recognition policy is also equally good as we follow the best practices globally. We have ‘Shadow Boards’ in Mahindra which give the young managers a voice at the highest levels of decision making. Our approach to development is on a laddered basis with different strokes for different folks. Therefore, we have a plethora of practices by which we connect people. This is what helps in terms of retention, in terms of engagement, and that’s what helps people to contribute their best to the organisation.
"We are focussed on the long term growth of our employees. We also encourage people through a lot of training and development programmes. In fact, Anand Mahindra himself spends ten days a year in various talent management processes so as to ensure that we as a group have talent aligned to our core purpose and values. Each of the business heads spend 40-50 percent of their time on people matters. So enabling our employees to Rise is the first priority for us and the Group is known for empowerment and helping people to pursue their interests"
Yes, we will be opening up an asset management company soon. We will follow a selective hiring process in this area. There will be a lot of opportunities going forward, including for those from rural areas.
Aligned to the ‘Rise for Good’ mission, we focus our CSR efforts on the constituencies of girls, youth, and farmers, by supporting them in education, health and livelihood enhancement, with innovative programmes that harness the levelling power of technology. ‘Rise for Good’ also entails running our business with integrity, responsibility and transparency, caring for the well-being of the planet and striving for the welfare of our employees, customers and the community. As a result of our collaborative efforts in CSR, Mahindra & Mahindra has been ranked number one out of 216 companies in the 2015 Economic Times study on ‘The Best Companies for CSR’
We work with different foundations like the KC Mahindra Foundation, Nanhi Kali Foundation, Tech Mahindra Foundation, where we invest two percent of our profits for CSR activities. Set up by Anand Mahindra in 1996, Project Nanhi Kali supports the education of over 1.2 lakh underprivileged girls in ten states, providing both material and academic support. Mahindra Pride Schools provide livelihood training to the youth from socially and economically disadvantaged communities and have already trained over 16,000 youth so far. M&M also sponsors the Lifeline Express trains that take medical treatment to far flung communities.
Tech Mahindra’s social work is currently focused upon three areas – School Education, Employability and Technical Education. SMART or Skills for Market Training is Tech Mahindra Foundation’s flagship programme in employability, which is built on the vision of an educated, enlightened and employed India, and a belief that educated and skilled youth are the country’s true strength. The programme started with three centres in 2012 and is currently running in 80 centres at 11 locations across India.
We also have a Social Ambassadors Program where we work with schools to run a career counselling program for students. We train our employees on how to have conversations with children, how to do career counselling, and share with the students on how there are over 200 career opportunities in today’s world. Hence, CSR becomes a form of leadership development for our employees, and at the same time, focuses on bettering the lives of the underprivileged students in municipal schools.
"We are quite optimistic about our hiring plans. Our hiring strategies are based on the nature of our businesses which are very diverse and in different phases of growth"
My father was in the Army and so I had a very spread-out education. I initially studied in a village called Omallur in Kerala. Later, I went to Dehradun where I studied for two years. Thereafter, I came to Nasik. I did my schooling from the seventh standard to eleventh in Coimbatore and from there on, I went to St Joseph’s College at Trichy for my pre-university and completed my graduation from Loyola College, Madras. I then pursued my Master’s in Business Administration from SIBM (Symbiosis Institute of Business Management), where I passed out in 1984. Thereafter, I did my law from the Government Law College and my PhD. in general management.
I have worked with organisations like Associated Cement Companies Limited which laid strong focus on industrial relations. I was very lucky to have worked with an excellent boss — Mr GM Govil, who taught me to handle industrial relations in different situations deftly and calmly. I handled very difficult and sensitive issues like strikes, downsizing, restructuring, productivity enhancement, shop floor cultural transformation and so on. At that time, ACC had over one lakh employees. Post that, I had a very good stint with Burroughs Wellcome, where I was looking after industrial relations as well as HR for sales and marketing division. Later on, I moved on to Castrol India Ltd, where I was in charge of both employee relations and management development. I have been associated with the Mahindra Group since the past 14 years and must say it has been a very fruitful career. Here, I have handled various roles such as industrial relations, management development, strategy, transformation, change management and I have been very lucky to work with colleagues who have been very good. When I joined the Group, it was a comparatively smaller group, with a size of less than a billion dollars, employing about 20,000-25,000 people. But today, we are spread over 100 countries, having one of the best people practices in the country with a turnover of nearly $17 billion and over 200,000 employees.
We have a great set of colleagues working together and Anand Mahindra has been extremely supportive. We’ve worked with great leaders like Dr Pawan Goenka, Rajeev Dubey and Anish Shah… the best people in the industry and that has been the secret of our transformation; you get the best people, mentor them and ensure that they are engaged and rewarded. Here, I am responsible for change management, ensuring that we get the best talent from across the country and ensuring that strategic initiatives and policies are aligned and integrated across the board.
"We will be opening up an asset management company soon. We will follow a selective hiring process in this area"
When I started my career, HR was primarily industrial relations. So you manage workmen, manage unions and focus on talent management. However, over a period of time, I have seen that the leadership has become very progressive and the right to employment, right to association, and the right to reward has become very important. Today when we speak of the principles of human relations, we look at the principles of talent management and grooming. They start right at the base and go right to the top. Also India is really going global, so organisations like the Mahindra and the Tatas are setting standards. Last year, the Mahindra Group was recognised as one of the top companies for leaders to work for globally. The list has the likes of the Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, and we feature amongst the top ten companies. Also the leap that we have made year on year in the Great Place to Work Rankings, from 38 in 2013 to 28 in 2014 to 25 in 2015 and finally 19 in 2016, has only affirmed our belief in the external recognition and strength of our employer brand.
Currently, India is really poised for growth. ‘Make in India’ is creating a big brand for India as a whole, and organisations like Mahindra are making it to the top. There is global acquisition, integration of global organisations, and most of our acquisitions have really proved out to be a great value creators. If you take the case of Satyam, everybody thought the company would disappear…but we were able to transform it. We bought a Korean company called Ssangyong and were able to transform and make it profitable. If you take Swaraj of Punjab Tractors, we acquired it and transformed it too. The Mahindra Group is known for acquisitions and transformations. It also creates organic growth. For instance, if you take the case of Mahindra Financial Services, which was started by Ramesh Iyer in 1991, is now a huge financial services corporation today and one of the most profitable companies. Our auto and tractor businesses have grown organically and inorganically. Tech Mahindra has grown both, organically and inorganically. If you look at Club Mahindra, it started with an idea of Arun Nanda that there is an opportunity to build a business out of trust. Mahindra Lifespaces is about affordable housing. So in a period of 30 years, we have caught up with the global standards. Our understanding of people and people development has changed phenomenally. We are able to integrate India ethos and Indian philosophy with global management systems.
I don’t get stressed nor do I have any issues of work-life balance because I believe that if I am able to align my work and life, I will be able to create a perfect work-life balance. That’s the philosophy I have been living with so far. I have a very supportive family. My wife understands that I have to travel extensively and my children have also been very supportive. My mother was with me for a major part of my life and she has given us the best of education, best of opportunities, so I must say God has been very kind.
I have had a very good career, good family, and good society to live and work with and now at the Mahindra Group I have found an organization that blends with my philosophy of life. I have not only grown in Mahindra both personally and professionally but have on my own contributed significantly to build a culture, a journey of transformation and in a small way building the foundation to create a company of tomorrow.
By Mahalakshmi Hariharan
