NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

designing the personnel system. L & T was
very successful company, and there was no
apparent reason for it to think of new system.
But foresighted as the top management was,
they welcome the idea of giving a lead in a
new area. Both the CEO and the top
management were interested and discussed the
proposal in detail.
2. Appointment of High level implementation
Task Force: They promptly appointed a high
level Task force headed by a General Manager
(G. A. Advani) along with some of the top
management team as members. The task force
functioned for nearly three years in introducing
and monitoring the implementation of the
system.
3. Placement of the System at High Level in
the Organization: One of the conditions the
authors stated for the success of the new
function was its strategic placement. Generally
at that time the personnel function was given
low priority and was generally placed at the
lower level in the organizations. We convinced
the management that the function could not
succeed unless it was strategically placed at a
higher level. It was agreed and the position of
Vice President, HRD was created in the
company.
4. The Competent Head of the Function:
While selecting a person to head the new
function, it was strongly recommended that a
very competent person should be given the
responsibility. Fortunately, the CEO agreed to
request S.R. Subramaniam (SRS), highly
respected competent Engineer, to head the
function. Subramaniam ensured
thoroughness and effective implementation of
the various parts of the new system. It may be
mentioned here that later, after the retirement
of N. M. Desai, Subramaniam became the
CEO of the company. The success of the new
function very much depended on the competent
leadership provided in the organization.
5. The Strong Internal Resource: No change
can succeed unless there is strong and
competent internal resource to implement and
monitor the change. It was fortunate to have
Dr. Dennison Pereira as the internal resource.
Dr. Pereira combined his insightful experience
in the organization with his academic
competence and child-like excitement to search
new ways of solving problems. There is no
doubt that the success of the system owes a
great deal to Dennison's role in the beginning
of the new function.
6. Involvement of all Levels of the
Organization: The authors emphasized that
the systems and processes being introduced
must be discussed in various forums of
employees, helping them to raise questions for
any modification in the system as required.
Workshops and seminars were held on the
new systems and procedures. People raised
questions and seem to welcome the various
changes being planned. This facilitated the
success of the system.
7. Developing Internal Competence: The
Company needed several people to help in
implementing the new system. It was necessary
that the system and process were adopted with
the help of key line managers. Therefore, an
extensive training programme was organized
to develop relevant competencies for
implementing the systems. Over a hundred
internal managers were developed to
communicate the system all through the
company. The term L&T University was used
informally by these members to represent the
new education and learning they were
facilitating through the HRD system.
Spread to Other Strategic Organizations
Udai had worked with late Professor
Bhattacharyya on the second reorganization
of the State Bank of India. The new HRD system
was also developed for SBI. Shri R K Talwar,
the Chairman of SBI took personal interest.
102
November 2007 NHRD Journal