The Hindu Business Line : ONGC manages to check high attrition rates

ONGC is finally making some progress in taking remedial measures to reduce high level of attrition in key areas such as drilling, well logging, geo-physics, geologists and other specialist professionals. The company is going to place a final proposal - for creating special career-path for specialists as well as de-layering the organisation - for consideration of its executive committee constituted of the whole-time directors in November.

Following ratification of the executive committee, the proposal would be placed for approval of the board of directors. According to sources, ONGC has lost roughly 1500 employees to its private and MNC competitors in the last two years.

Senior company officials said attrition had taken a serious proportion in various key exploration and production activities. While the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) is yet to give its nod to ONGC's proposal for independence in fixing wages and salaries of professionals, the company has taken steps to ensure "job-satisfaction" and fresh "career improvement opportunities" to its key employees.

De-layering

"By de-layering the organisation, we plan to empower the specialist professionals in junior or mid management level with greater decision-making authority and access up to the director level. Apart from creating fresh career opportunities, the initiative will result free flow of ideas from the grass root level to the board room and reduction in time-gap between planning and implementation in key operational areas", an official said.

Meanwhile ONGC is also planning to play the attrition card to convince the Centre to allow ONGC to offer ESOP (employee stock option scheme). Previous initiatives in this direction did not find much favour either from the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas or the DPE, as ESOP would necessarily require offering shares at a discounted price.

"We have raised the issue at various informal meetings with the Government almost two years back. However, the Government rejected any idea of offering shares at a discounted price," the official said adding that the recent increase in attrition rate has provided the company with a much needed handle to propose ESOP once again.