Cadbury india
In FMCG, companies such as Hindustan Lever have historically had a very strong focus on leadership and growing leaders from within.
Now, we also see companies such as Cadbury India coming up strongly, with enormous emphasis on leadership and talent management. They have done very intense and long-term leadership programmes including one for Next Gen Leadership.
Talent in the middle rungs is put through an 18-month programme, where they work on stretch projects — each of them gets an executive coach, are given internal role models, and inputs to understand who they are today and what it takes to become a leader.
They put 150 people across the Asia Pacific region through such programmes like this.
The entire top management team sits in on some of the workshops; they are very hands on. It's the concept of leaders training leaders.
Cadbury India put an extended management team in place to engage the next rung.
They meet regularly, like once a quarter, and evaluate what the business is doing. They get disproportionate responsibility at a relatively younger age. That helps groom the leadership of the future.
In the last few years, Anand Kripalu and team have taken Cadbury India to a totally different level in terms of size and complexity. It has possibly been the fastest growing FMCG company in the country in the last two years.
He has seen through the entire integration after Kraft came into the picture, and held the organisation together through the transition.
In the past, when Cadbury had tried to enter certain categories — be it with Schweppes or even candy and gum, I don't think they had done too well.
Under Kripalu's leadership, the story has been a good one. Look at the success they have had with biscuits, with Oreo. Kripalu's role has expanded over time. Some of his key deputies are there to hold fort too. This is coming through in the peer ratings.
L&T
They have had a lot of stability when it comes to leadership. There is a very strong sense of direction on where they are headed.
And the leaders have had the tenure to follow through on what they have strategised.
That has made a very big impact.
If we look at where L&T is today compared to 20 years go, you can boil it down to those who have headed it — from A.M. Naik to the CEO and MD-designate Venkataraman to people across the leadership rungs.
These are people who have gone against the tide and made things happen. That is showing in the results.
Leaders have had a disproportionate impact on the company's future.
Gaurav Lahiri , Managing Director, Hay Group India. (As told to The New Manager)