In a presentation on organisation culture during the recently-concluded Asia Pacific HRD Conclave, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) vice-president HR, S Varadarajan shared the TTL experience and learnings. ``Over the past one and a half years we have endeavoured to work on the shared beliefs, values and norms that have contributed to the effective work culture at Tata Teleservices,'' he said.

The Hyderabad-based company - the first private basic telephone services operator in Andhra Pradesh -began commercial operations in 1999 with a crew of 565 employees in all.

``In the process of creating a culture for a young organisation like ours we have used the same underlying psychology as most organisations. We created situations characterised by strong norms to focus people's attention, provide guidance and focus on what is important and providereinforcement of appropriate attitudes and behaviour,'' said Varadarajan.

The four broad mechanisms used to build the culture within TTL included: participation, symbolic action, information sharing and a comprehensive reward system. As part of the first goal, the company vision and mission were developed on the basis of the shared values arrived at after common consensus from all employees.

Informal and formal meetings of the top management with individual employees were prescheduled for the next one year, a suggestion scheme was floated and finally, cross-functional teams formed to look into areas of improvement.Symbolic personal gestures adopted by the top management at the individual level have helped establish a close-knit informal work place. In the first place, clear visible actions that support the company's cultural values viz, customer focus, integrity, excellence and teamwork were encouraged.

Appropriate use of ceremonies has helped build a personalised, close-knit team-based culture.Varadarajan elaborated: ``Employees across all management rungs can expect to have a cake smashed on their face on their birthdays! The practice created quite a stir when we began, but today it is considered the most accepted thing to do. Small things like these have resulted in a carefully cultivated atmosphere of informality and fun.''.

There are other precedents, a Rs 5 `hundi' or fine has to be paid by any TTL employee who happens to address the boss or superior as `sir' or `Mr'.Communication is endemic. No channel is spared in an effort to `over-communicate' with employees. Finally, rewards and praise are used liberally. ``Rewards are not monetary alone and are given more frequently than money. Our philosophy is to catch people doing the right thing and reward them on the spot,'' says Varadarajan.

What visible benefits has TTL reaped? For one, the employee retention rate hovers at seven per cent in contrast to an industry average of 15 percent. Further the company has reported an employeesatisfaction index of over 70 per cent in the very first year of its operations.

The TTL way
Four steps to managing organisation culture: