Mumbai, July 19: The impetus of employee training at the Rs 1,100-crore Asian Paints Limited is to empower the junior management in such a way that the cadre can take on a high order of responsibility successfully.To that end ACE -- a training programme introduced to nurture ace-performers -- which was introduced on a pilot scale for 13 sales staff in 1998, has now been extended to include 20 manufacturing personnel and 16 employees from the sales staff in May 1999. The idea is to consciously link all internal programmes at Asian Paints to the strategic direction the company has taken: To become a market leader in all market segments with a Rs 2,700-crore turnover by 2005.
Explains Asian Paints India Limited's vice-chairman and managing director, Ashwin Dani: ``As the company geared up for accelerated growth it was imperative for our company to develop competencies in our staff.'' Given the long-term goal, maximisation of resources is crucial for the company. The reasoning is sound: given the high costassociated with hiring people at high levels, Asian Paints prefers to groom high-performance leaders from within the company's rank and file.
``ACE gears staff-level employees to take on the responsibilities that management graduates hired by us handle during their first few years with the company. The management graduates can then be released for jobs which require specialised skills, like product profitability analysis or asset effectiveness,'' says Asian Paints Limited's manager human resources, Sudheesh Venkatesh.
According to sources the company has been able to save to the tune of 35 to 40 per cent on a wage bill of Rs 1.5 lakh per employee in the last year. However as Venkatesh insists: ``ACE has been inspired by the fact that the retention of people who have grown from within the organisation is much greater than those hired from the market. The savings that result out of employee loyalty and retention in the long run is much more substantial.''
Already, eight of the 13 participants from thefirst batch of sales staff have been promoted to the officer cadre after ACE. ``The ACE programme has exposed us to a variety of areas which we had little knowledge about so far,'' says Shaji Thomas, Asian Paint's sales officer at the company office at Dadar, Mumbai. A sales supervisor, Thomas was promoted to the rank of a sales officer following the training programme. ``Skills like sales forecasting that ACE introduced us to, are coming in handy on the new job,'' he adds.
Of course, to be nominated for ACE training, you need to already be an ace performer in your existing job. ``To qualify for the programme, a potential participant should have spent at least three years with the organisation besides demonstrating above-average performance consistently,'' says Venkatesh. The participants are chosen jointly by the HR team and the line managers. Training is imparted in three modules spread over the year. These aim at:
Increasing the participants understanding of a wide range of company relatedsubjects. Enhancing communication skills. Improving overall perspective.Three steps to the top
As part of the first module, information about a wide range of company-related areas like financial accounting systems, distribution logistics, cost accounting, balance sheet and pricing strategies are imparted using traditional classroom methods.
``While the subjects covered during the first module are not of immediate relevance to the participants, the perspective is useful as they move on to higher responsibilities,'' says Venkatesh. Hence although understanding the company balance sheet might not help a sales person today, the knowledge helps broaden the perspective and comes in handy once he or she moves up the ladder. In the second module, the participants work on projects which require them to interact with companies other than Asian Paints. For example, one of the projects submitted by the first batch of ACE was on `Rural Marketing', which required the participant to interact withcompanies like Hindustan Lever and Nestle. This with the aim of improving their communication skills.
In the third and the final module, the participants are given books relating to their field of specialisation. They are then expected to review them and suggest ways in which the learnings from the book can be applied to Asian Paints. As part of last year's programme, participants were allotted titles which promoted selling skills: `Ice to Eskimos', `If it is going to be it is up to me', `Only the paranoid survive', etc.
Over and above the module the company organises individual counselling sessions. As part of this, an external counselor discusses individual goals, aspirations, and strengths with each participants. ``The counselling session has been designed to assess the emotional maturity of the participants,'' says Asian Paints Limited's HR Executive, Mayank P Bhatnagar.
Catching the hi-flyer
``Whatever has been learnt in one module is tested as part of the next module,'' says Venkatesh. Oncompletion of the programme, the participants undergo individual discussions with the senior managers and programme coordinators. The promotions of the participants are decided on the basis of the one-on-one session.
While the pilot ACE for the sales staff was spread over 15 days, the ACE for the manufacturing staff in May '99, will take 18 days to complete. The ACE programme for the manufacturing personnel, will include additional inputs like capital and manpower productivity, supply chain management, waste minimisation and environment management as part of the first module.
Investing 4.21 training mandays and a spend of Rs 35,000 per ACE participant, Asian Paints is determined to add value to its junior management. But there is a pay-off. Says Venkatesh: ``The time and effort spent on employees seems to have fostered loyalty and an enduring commitment in them towards the organisation. Programmes such as these help us retain talent as well,'' he says. That's three aces in your hand, straightaway.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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