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Journey of building customer confidence - Mr. Sathyanarayana TK, Vice President - Human Resource


With over 20,000 associates, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in Bengaluru is one of the largest software development center of Bosch with has assimilated German culture in the Indian scenario.  Mr. Sathyanarayana TK, Vice President - Human Resource shares the values and culture that drives the engineering company that is “Invented for Life”. Every invention of Bosch brings about difference in people’s lives. This brings excitement to the work.

Culture as you experience
Mr. Sathya feels that growing a company is akin to raising a child who was a part of building the company from 250 to 20000 employees. This process of evolution needs careful and well-thought out structures to enable growth along with values and principles in the ever-changing business landscape.
While he quotes that human resource and change management is no one person task, communicating the culture of the organization and shared values of individuals is a continuous activity of setting the common vision. To nurture that thought and vision is no ordinary task. It helps employees to relate to the larger Bosch culture and yet act and function as individuals in their own domains and expertise.
While technology and innovation are the core function, it is the people function that has driven the  company this far. At Bosch worldwide, 18 patents get filed on an average every day, it is the personnel development that helps bind the values and culture intact, thereby aiding in growth. 
 
Gift of competence
Employees are key to the growth of any organization and it takes quality efforts to instill a sense of belonging and trust. People oriented initiatives at the company have made employees to stay put for a longer period, helping in maintaining a retention rate well-ahead of the industry average.
If there is a talent that is not needed all day in a particular project, there is system in place to support their participation in a different project, which is beyond their current roles, to fill the time. This gift of competence makes themselves useful and explore newer opportunities within the group. It has also helped employees to change roles within the Bosch group to match their talent and interest bringing about an integration of work-life balance. Such is the freedom and respect for individuals that the company has imbibed as a value in its culture.
Alternatively, to contribute 92% of its profits for charity and social cause is a clear indication of how much the company values its responsibility to the society at large. To this effect, employees at Bosch are encouraged to take up social causes and volunteer in fields that are of interest to them within the organization. This helps employees to identify their inner self by taking a break from their regular work environment. Such initiatives help them relate to the work-life philosophy differently, at different periods of their life.

Conversations and collaborations
For a performance management system to be effective, Mr. Satya expresses concern for frequent conversations with the talent and address the gaps swiftly and efficiently. Also, gone are days when the HR department has been using “Bell-Curve” as the tool to evaluate the performance of its talent. Those industrial era practices have been retired, to make way for a rating mechanism that is focused on peer/team level feedback.
Over the past few years, Bosch has been re-imagining people process to stay relevant to the changes in the industry at large. To this effect, it has instituted a practice of creating collaborative goals in addition to the individual goals that the employees are habituated to. Such conversations and collaboration efforts are tools that are especially relevant for the Gen-Y employee.

Concurrent, relevant and future ready
To help the employee stay motivated, an internal social media site has been made available to help them connect or network with different teams and people within the Bosch group. As an alternative channel of communication, the senior management makes available it viewpoints on the industry and the company through blogs and videos, that are easier to circulate in the online media and enriching from a viewership standpoint. 

With the world moving towards Artificial intelligence and automation, employees are obligated to upskill themselves and be more competent /faster /smarter to stay concurrent, relevant and be future ready. This is in sync with the expectation of ‘responding’ to situation, rather than ‘reacting’.

Mr. Sathyanarayana feels individuals are wholesome packages that are always in the making and the HR function needs to disrupt the old structures and practices, to make it flatter, inclusive and encourage “joy at work” as a workplace philosophy. This will help the workforce to be better prepared for the bigger Innovation in the waiting. 

The momentous insights of Mr. Sathyanarayana have truly made a difference to me as a person and I thank him immensely for this time. Watch this space for more pathbreakers. If you would like to be featured in “joyful-workplaces” blog, do feel free to write to us. Our editorial team would be happy to get in touch. Write to us joyworkshop@hasovan.com
Catch the work-place philosophy of Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in the book “Erupt with Joy” by Savitha Hosamane
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