Training and Development

Case Study Unit - I

CASE STUDY ON GODREJ AND TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT "Many Indian companies have increased their emphasis on training tremendously. I think it is absolutely essential to spend a lot of money on training and continuous improvement. In our group every employee has to undergo at least five days of training a year." - Adi Godrej, Chairman Godrej Group. Introduction In January 2002, Godrej Industries Ltd. (GIL) bought a 26% stake in "Personalitree Academy Ltd." Personalitree provided interactive soft skills training programmes online to corporates. Personalitree's training modules have since been a part of Godrej's training and development initiatives. It all started in 1996 with the break-up of the joint venture between Godrej Soaps Ltd (GSL) and Proctor and Gamble (P&G). Post break-up, GSL was bereft of a distribution system and had to start from scratch. As part of the rebuilding exercise, GSL recruited about 250 new employees who had to be aligned with its corporate culture. In 1997, GSL conducted a Total Quality Management (TQM) workshop for all its 5000 employees to help them connect to their job. Parivartan was launched in September 2000 in GSL to train new as well as existing employees on various aspects of the business and to motivate them. In 2001, new initiatives like Young Entrepreneurs Board (YEB), Red and Blue Teams, Mentoring and Reverse Mentoring were introduced in the Godrej Group, (Godrej) to encourage the involvement of youth in strategic decisionmaking. In early 2002, a need was felt among the top brass of Godrej to instil a performance- driven culture in the company. In addition to upgrading the talents of existing employees, Godrej had to train new recruits. Thus, Godrej developed a comprehensive and innovative training programme for management trainees and named it Godrej Accelerated Learning Leadership and Orientation Programme (GALLOP). The objective of GALLOP was to develop a newcomer into a professional by giving him or her exposure to various departments and inculcate in him or her,
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sense

of

belonging.

Later, in September 2002, GIL introduced Spark, a training programme for managers to help them become effective coaches. Towards the end of 2002, Egyan was introduced in GIL to increase the learning potential of employees. In January 2003, a special HR programme on honing the interpersonal and negotiation skills of officer- level employees was launched in GIL. Further, in October 2003, an English language training programme was held for floor workers of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd (GBML), so that they could follow all instructions issued in that language independently.

Background Note The Godrej story started in 1897, when Ardeshir Burjorji Godrej (Ardeshir) gave up his legal practice and started manufacturing locks in a small shed at Lalbaug near Mumbai. Thus was GBML born. His brother, Phirozshah Godrej (Phirozshah), carried on the pioneering work and in 1905 GBML built its first safe, thus entering the security equipment business. GBML expanded its range of products by manufacturing office equipment, typewriters, tool-room equipment, etc. In the early 1920s, GBML started making soaps from vegetable oils and incorporated GSL in 1928.
In 1958, GBML started manufacturing refrigerators, its first home appliance product. GSL ventured into animal feed in 1971 to help dairy and poultry farmers rear healthier livestock. Godrej Pacific commenced operations in 1982 as the Electronic Business Equipment (EBE) Division of GBML. In 1985, GBML ventured into Computer Aided Designing services as part of its EBE division. In 1990, Godrej Properties & Investments Limited (GPIL) was incorporated to provide meticulously planned townships. In 1991, the Godrej group entered the processed food and edible oil segment by incorporating Godrej Foods Ltd (GFL).

The animal feed division was spun off into a distinctly focused animal- feed and agricultural input company in 1991-92 and was named Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL). In 1993, GBML entered into a joint venture with General Electric (GE), US and Godrej-GE Appliances was formed. It went on to manufacture washing machines and air conditioners. GE exited from the joint venture in 2001 and the appliances business became a division of GBML. In 1993, Godrej entered into a manufacturing and marketing alliance with Proctor & Gamble (P&G). A new company P&G-Godrej Ltd, with each company holding 50%, was incorporated.
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The entire distribution network of Godrej was transferred to this company and the joint venture was entrusted with the task of marketing both Godrej and P&G's toilet soap and detergents brands. The EBE division was spun off into Geometric Software Solutions Ltd in 1994 to offer complete solutions to customers. In 1994, Godrej ventured into the insecticide market through GSL, which bought 75% stake in Transelektra Domestic Products Pvt Ltd (TDPL), the manufacturer of the "Good Knight" brand. In 1995, Godrej entered into a joint venture with the US multinational, Sara Lee and the new concern was called Godrej-Sara Lee. The venture was the world's largest manufacturer of mosquito repellents. In August 1996, P&G-Godrej Ltd, terminated the arrangement and Godrej re-took charge of marketing its soap & detergent brands but without a distribution network of its own. In 1999, GSL sold 22.5 per cent of its shareholding in Godrej-Sara Lee to the group holding company GBML for Rs 994.7 million. Godrej Infotech Ltd was incorporated in 1999 to offer software solutions. In March 2001, GSL got demerged and its consumer products division came to be known as Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL)... Total Quality Management (TQM) Workshops Godrej started total quality management (TQM) workshops in 1995, to inculcate a `positive work culture' in the company. In 1997, all the 5,000 employees of GSL were put through a three-day workshop as part of the "visioning" session of TQM... 'Parivartan' In 2000, 'Parivartan' was launched in GSL with the objective of motivating employees as well as imparting knowledge about the sales functions of GSL. A team of 18 senior executives from all divisions spanning sales, logistics and HR were called on to provide necessary inputs... Economic Value Added (EVA) Training In 2001, Godrej introduced Economic Value Added (EVA) in all its group companies. An extensive training program was undertaken for various managerial and officer levels. Over 500 employees were trained to manage EVA by making appropriate decisions involving investments and/or trade-offs between the income statement and the balance sheet. This training programme was conducted by Stern Stewart, New York based management consultancy who had pioneered the concept
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of EVA... GALLOP GALLOP was instituted in early 2002 as a structured and organised inductiontraining programme at Godrej. GALLOP aimed at nurturing the new recruits into leaders and dynamic performers through this one-year programme. The programme started with an induction speech by the chairman, followed by the speeches by the CEOs of all the group companies. The trainees were rotated in four departments other than their primary department including a compulsory sales stint. This mandatory rotation in sales enabled the trainees to get a hands-on experience in understanding the market... Spark The objective of the Spark programme, initiated by GIL in September 2002, was to "train the trainers". The training programme was aimed at equipping the managers to become successful coaches. GIL, in association with a Delhi-based HR consultant, conducted a host of workshops to enable the managers assume the role of a coach... E-Gyan E-Gyan was the e-learning initiative of GIL launched in the second half of 2002. It was an attempt to move away from traditional training methods of workshops and help sharpen the intellect of the employees by self- learning initiatives. Initially, Satyam Education Services Ltd was the content provider and rendered the entire gamut of learning resources through its e-learning portal -learnatsatyam.com. Internal communication measures like 'enrolment on a first-come-first-serve basis' and 'be the first e-gyanee' were circulated... Criticisms One criticism against the training and development programs at Godrej was that there were no measurement techniques to judge the effectiveness of the programs. For example, no specific measures were developed to determine the extent to which the interpersonal and negotiation skills training aided the employees to develop a more robust business concept... Troy and Modular Management Development Academy

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Training and Development

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When Nationwide Crash Repair Centres needed to raise the professional standard of the managers running its sites, it turned to Troy Training and Development. Troy provided a modular Management Development Academy which was designed to target the critical business issues faced by Nationwide and enable its managers to concentrate their learning around the real life issues and leadership challenges facing them in the workplace. The Client Nationwide Crash Repair Centres Ltd is the UK's largest group of accident repair centres. The firm has been operating in the motor industry since 1908 when the founder Harold Perry started the Capital Screen, Hood & Motor Accessories Company. Considerable investment in staff, training, equipment and premises has allowed the company to constantly improve capabilities and capacity. With a total of 62 bodyshops, Nationwide is by far the largest group of accident repair centres in the UK and is recognised as the market leader in the UK accident repair market. The Problem Nationwide was faced with increasing demands and requirements on its customer service levels particularly from clients such as insurance companies. In order to maintain its reputation as the market leader, Nationwide wanted a Management Development programme that raised the standard of the managers running its sites. Its 62 sites are found across the country, therefore the training programme needed to be able to take into account a range of diverse experiences. The Solution Troy was carrying out customer satisfaction indices (CSI) for Nationwide when it was appointed to conduct a Management Development programme. The key driver for Nationwide and Troy was to provide a consistent and pragmatic business focussed approach. Troy spent time with both Nationwide's Regional & General Managers to determine the key skills and behaviours that needed developing. Once the situation had been assessed, it was felt by both parties that the best way forward was with the use of a Troy Management Development Academy. The aim of the Academy was to assist individuals in further developing key personal, interpersonal and organisational skills in their role as Managers enabling them to become the Best in Europe.

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To achieve this aim, Troy wrote a ten module Academy programme with each module lasting one day. The specific objectives of the Academy were to:

Clarify and develop the role of a Nationwide Manager Provide a range of people management tools and techniques to support the achievement of Nationwide's corpoarte objectives Enable the use of management skills and knowledge within the business environment Build a continual, self reflective process for professional development within a supportive, learning environment

Throughout this process Troy referenced the original results of the CSI as both a pragmatic and targeted way to move forward and as a benchmark for measuring the success of the Academy. The Benefits Troy's Management Development Academy enabled Nationwide's managers to concentrate their learning around the real life issues and leadership challenges facing them in the workplace. Through the Academy, Nationwide saw the following benefits:

Managers were able to expand on their existing skills The Academy was designed specifically for Nationwide to meet the needs of its managers it was not an off the shelf' training programme The Modular approach helped identify and focus on personal development needs within their individual roles It was business-focused, with the Troy approach ensuring that the training was relevant and timely

This resulted in 60 managers being trained in 10 modules over a 2 year period. Commenting on the Academy, Martin Fletcher, Regional Manager for Nationwide, said: "The Nationwide Academy has been a real opportunity for me to hone my management skills and grow as a manager within the business. Its practical, real life approach means the modules are focused on what's really happening in our business, and not just 'management theory'. One of the advantages of the Academy was that it gave me the opportunity to take time out once every 6 - 8 weeks and really think about my approach to both my team and my customers.

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When I began the Academy last year I was a General Manager of a site, and have now been promoted to Regional Manager." For the Future As a result of its satisfaction with the Academy, Nationwide have now contracted Troy to deliver a 2 day Supervisory Skills course to 54 of its assistant managers, and a 2 day Customer Care course for 164 of its front line staff.

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