How HR practices help individuals and the organisation to grow

In today’s world, for surviving cut-throat competition, it is vital for organisations to keep the game up by staying in tune with the latest developments. In this context, an efficient leadership development mechanism within the organisation attains significance. To drive the success of future business operations in today’s volatile environment, leaders need a blend of integrated knowledge, judgment and competencies to lead effectively.

Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil), India’s largest commercial enterprise, fully understands this and uses people development interventions as a strategic imperative to continually upgrade its workforce. Through a well-defined eight-fold leadership competency framework, IndianOil has specified the kind of competencies that the organisation values, and which it seeks in its leaders/budding leaders to help achieve its objectives. The officers undergo regular assessment of their competencies at every transition, from one managerial level to another. On the basis of these assessments undertaken during Leadership Assessment Centres, competency mapping of individuals was done and areas of intervention were identified.

In order to maintain effective leadership competencies, it becomes essential that the officers undergoing transition from one stage of the leadership pipeline to the next are equipped with specific and relevant inputs. IndianOil decided to make a shift from ‘one size fits all’ approach to a ‘made to fit’ approach for developmental interventions.

Towards this goal, Project ‘Saksham’ (meaning ‘Competent’) — a structured Leadership Development Programme — was designed and launched in 2015. Under this, customised and specialised developmental modules on each leadership competency were designed exclusively for IndianOil officers by some of the best B–Schools— IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta and XLRI-Jamshedpur.

These modules were co-created by the IndianOil HRD Group with B-schools, after an in-depth analysis of the competency assessment results. The learning inputs include ‘movie-based’ cases, simulation exercises, business games, role-plays and action learning projects, to cite a few. Officers, based on the need assessment, were imparted competency specific inputs.

After successfully implementing competency-specific intervention for two years, Project Saksham has opened up new vistas. The expectation of ‘need-based’ learning and development at all levels has increased among the employees. This has led to the organisation deciding to embark on a path of carving a succession plan for pivotal roles with emphasis on Individual Development Plans in due course of time. To reach this milestone, as a first step, the scope of Project Saksham, which was hitherto focussed on officers in transition from Middle to Senior Management, has been expanded in 2017. In its new avatar, officers undergoing transition from Junior Management to Middle Management shall be imparted experiential inputs on leadership competencies.

In the next stage, upon their transition from Middle to Senior Management, officers shall be imparted competency-specific input based on the need assessment undertaken in Leadership Assessment Centre. In order to meet the increased coverage, IndianOil has additionally tied up with other IIMs – Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode and Shillong.

This new version has elevated IndianOil’s status as a learning organisation by not just creating a continuous culture of learning but also regular need-based developmental intervention at transition points.

IndianOil takes pride in being an ‘academy company that grows its own timber,’ developing leaders from within. With its strong focus on learning and development, offers not merely a job, but a rewarding career to executives joining the organisation. It handholds an individual growing with the organisation, wherein each of them can expect to don the hat of Chairman or a Director. This, coupled with its‘employee-friendly’ policies and practices, makes the organisation a ‘Great Place to Work.’ No wonder, IndianOil has emerged as the ‘Best PSU to Work For’ in India.

With inputs from Kali Krishna M, Chief General Manager (Corporate Communications), Indian Oil Corporation

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