Among the top ton

Five Zoroastrian founded, owned or managed companies have featured among India’s best 100 companies to work for, in the results of a survey carried out jointly by The Economic Times (ET) and Great Place To Work Institute (GPTWI), in 2015. They are Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), Forbes Marshall, Godrej Properties, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited and Grindwell Norton.
"The survey covered over 700 organizations across 20 industries who applied for assessment,” mentions ET dated July 13, 2015. Over 1,80,000 employees were surveyed, "making this the largest and most comprehensive survey...in corporate India,” states the publication. In a foreword to the publication, Prasenjit Bhattacharya, CEO (chief executive officer) of GPTWI states that there are nine areas that managements should focus on to create a great work place: "hiring, inspiring, speaking, listening, thanking, developing, caring, celebrating and sharing.”

GCPL, standing sixth in the list, has an innovative campus initiative called LOUD (Live Out Ur Dream) to identify staffers who would be the next generation of Godrej leaders, notes the publication. This year the company, which is India’s largest home and personal care products business with investments in Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile and the UK, has started a ‘100 leaders program’ that aims at integrating talent across the globe and has a diversity council to look into various initiatives worldwide. Vivek Gambhir, managing director, is quoted as saying: "We will only grow when our people grow,” adding that one of the key aspects of the company’s vision is to create an inspiring work place where "people should feel excited to come to work on most days.” GCPL improved its ranking by one place in this year’s survey.
Naushad Forbes, director of Forbes Marshall, the Poona headquartered giant manufacturing company ranked 9th in the survey, believes that "we should manage our people the way we would like to be managed.” He states that this philosophy was behind the introduction of flexi-time in the 1980s, a concept that is still unheard of in the manufacturing sector. Like GCPL, Forbes Marshall too places a high value on diversity. Women employees account for 22% of the work force, which is a high number for a manufacturing company, but Forbes is quoted as stating that "this can be bettered.” Among the first companies to recruit interns from Kashmir a few years ago, Forbes states that "we want to recruit the best people ...regardless of religion, gender or which part of the country they come from.”
Godrej Properties, the premier real estate company dealing in residential and commercial properties, and the 48th company in the list, has a unique HR (human resource) practice — annually, all of the 767 employees come together at an off-site conference. A fortnight prior to the event, "the organization is split into five groups, each with a nominated leader, for better communication,” states the publication.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, a company that is in the business of distribution of power to North and North West Delhi, and which is a joint venture between Tata Power and the Government of Delhi, weighed in at No. 61. Grindwell Norton, which pioneered the manufacture of grinding wheels in India in the early 1940s stood 98th in the rankings.
At the head of the list of 100 companies is RMSI, a Gurgaon based IT (information technology) services company that provides GIS (geographical information systems), modeling and analytics services and which is a first time entrant to the list. Chairman and managing director Rajiv Kapoor notes, "Direct communication is an important part of our DNA.” At number two is Google, where "every employee takes ownership of their career and is supported by their managers in the process,” mentions the ET publication. Marriot, which stands third in the list, and which recently opened its 25th luxury hotel in Mussoorie, believes that "every person is an associate not an employee,” and should be made to feel there are no layers within the organization.
The GPTWI, a global research, consulting and training firm that helps organizations identify, create and sustain great workplaces, set up shop in India in 2003 after a quarter century of experience in the United States and other countries and teamed with The Economic Times in 2008 to provide this analysis of HR practices. F. J.