The Hindu Business Line : `Satisfy employees to get good results'

You could start from the present, the past, or the future of his company or his life, the conversation always takes a full circle and brings you back to his core philosophy - `People are the key'.

Yes, for Mr Ajay Shriram, Chairman and Senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL), there is nothing more important than the people who negotiate his business - be it the blue-collar worker on the shop floor, the middle-level supervisor, the top management or the dealer who is the ultimate interface with the consumer.

Born in one of the oldest and largest business families of the country, he's got his fundamentals clear - satisfy your employees and your business will clock satisfactory results.

And this he learnt early, when back from Doon School for his summer holidays his father would send him and his two brothers for a stint at the factory to work shoulder to shoulder with the shop floor workers.

"My father would make us do the morning shift that begins at six o'clock. We used to grumble at that time, but that is what stood us in good stead and gave us tremendous exposure and experience. It's there that I learnt to respect and admire the employee, without whom no business can flourish," says Mr Shriram.

AMICABLE PARTITION

In 1991 when DCM was restructured, he and his brother Vikram found themselves "on the hot seat" as managing directors of the newly formed company. Though both had limited exposure to the quota operations, the mainstay of the business, everything went smoothly and according to Mr Shriram it was the wisdom of the family elders to split Sir Shriram's DCM empire into four amicable entities that paved the way for future relationships. Mr Shriram unassumingly gives the entire credit for the "solid foundations and sound values" of the company to long time Chairman Mr Mantosh Sondhi, "who brought on board people like Mr P.K. Choksey to ensure transparency and openness in the organisation."

However, 1998 saw a major restructuring of the company where the Group went into consumer segments such as its `Fenesta' PVC brand and the `Hariyali' rural retail - the two areas which he thinks show great promise for the future.

Mr Shriram is as upbeat about the company's sugar business, which is handled by youngest brother Ajit, where they are planning to double the number of factories and triple the sugarcane crush output.

On the personal front, Mr Shriram is a die-hard family man who loves holidaying with his family. Often the three brothers "retreat" to discuss issues of family and business. "Our objective is to increasingly benchmark the company's activities to achieve world class standards. Running is not enough... We have to sprint," he says.