For a highly diversified group like Sanmar, quality of management is critical.To maintain that quality, we need to match the capabilities of the highly talented individuals we have with the requirements of different businesses from time to time. It is also necessary to plan for the passage of time and face the prospect of our senior and experienced hands retiring.
This exercise is an ongoing one, and re-positioning of people is a natural corollary. After a detailed study of the emerging management requirements of different businesses, and the availability and age profile of our senior executives, the group has made a number of decisions. S Gopal, Chief Executive, has moved to Sanmar Engineering Corporation (SEC). He has the responsibility for a number of the businesses and corporate functions, reporting to M N Radhakrishnan. V Ramesh, Chief Executive, has moved to Chemplast Sanmar Limited reporting to P S Jayaraman.
He has the responsibility for new project activities, Cabot Sanmar Limited as well as the HR and IR functions. P Viswanathan recently took on new responsibilities at Sanmar Shipping Limited, covering the areas of finance, and new projects. He, and K Shankar, Chief Executives both, report to Managing Director B Chakrapani, with Shankar responsible for the technical and operational functions. Matrix talked to Ramesh, Viswanathan and Gopal on their experiences in their different roles in the Sanmar Group. Here are some excerpts from the conversations:
V Ramesh
I
walked into the Karapakkam complex on 17th August 1983, to join SEC and become a part of the Sanmar family. Nineteen years later, I have moved over to the chemical division as part of Sanmar’s ongoing efforts at people development. My first assignment at SEC was to head the technical functions of Flowserve Sanmar Ltd. (then Durametallic India Limited), from which I progressed to be the business manager of the company.My exposure in the group has been
varied,including responsibilities for multiple businesses, mentoring and handling IR-HR and TQM functions. Before joining Sanmar, I spent ten years in the chemical industry, gaining experience in plant design, erection and maintenance. In a way, the wheel has turned full circle! What does the recent move mean to me ? It gives me exposure to new businesses and new and exciting learning experiences, without which professional life can become stale.
It also helps me to unlearn some “axioms” and approaches developed through prolonged exposure to the same environment. It gives me an opportunity to apply the lessons learnt and the insights gained so far, in what is to me a new business. It expands my perspective and helps me forge new professional relationships – within and outside Sanmar. What does the move mean to the organisation? It enables transplantation of the best practices across the group and helps build a learning organisation. The group can maintain flexibility and responsiveness by developing a team of mobile, cross-trained professionals; building a unified culture across the group. Group executives aware of the nitty-gritty and nuances of businesses across the group will be better equipped to provide inputs for decisions on long term strategies, resource allocation across the groups and people policies.
S Gopal
I am an Electronics Engineer by background. My experience prior to the Sanmar Group was in electronics and the textile industry in the functional areas of domestic and international
marketing and sales, setting up greenfield projects (in India and abroad) and general management.
I joined the Sanmar Group to set up a greenfield textile project, which was later dropped due to the Asian flu. I remember the day Mr N Sankar first discussed my movement to the PVC business with me. I was excited and personally extremely confident of handling the challenges. However, I thought it was appropriate to tell Sankar that I had never worked in the chemical industry and was not a chemical engineer bybackground. Mr Sankar’s reply is still vivid in my memory. “Don’t I know? If you are confident, I am confident that you can do it”.
The move gave me the opportunity to learn a new business altogether, a chance to be involved in the conceptualising and planning of a large greenfield chemical project, I have recently moved to SEC, and I have another window of opportunity this time again to learn a new industry. I have enjoyed these opportunities in the Sanmar Group of working in different industries, to adopt the practices of one industry in another, varied experiences and new professional challenges.
P Viswanathan
Retaining talent is a bigger challenge than attracting it. I have been lucky to benefit from Sanmar’s job rotation policy. My journey from properties to financial services to shipping has been like a world trip with different time zones, cultures and languages, yet managing business does not change in its pristine essence, though products and services may differ and the jargon of these trades may vary.
Whether it is the rate per square foot, or margins or rate per day, each constitutes a revenue stream, expressed in a way consistent with the business in question. With the advantage of ignorance, I found the experience of each new business exciting. While the language sounded alien, the culture was not, the products were new, the method of doing business was not, people were strangers, but their customs were not. The new job in the new business made me more versatile and expanded my managerial vistas.
Let me sum up the lessons I learnt in my nomadic existence of the last four years: A company’s commitment to people and trust in individuals can enable them to move mountains. With a common culture, new environs become havens offering new learning experiences. With a common philosophy and well articulated people policy in place, new entrants can concentrate on the business at hand and stay away from the maze of organisational politics. The new entrant brings with him new thinking, challenging established conventions in traditional businesses. The Sanmar culture binds Sanmarians together; for them a new environment is never a problem. Job rotation is a win-win proposition. The employee learns a new business and the business gets new ideas.