Shree Cement Limited: Cementing the People First Agenda

Shree Cement Limited (SCL) is a unique company that has combined traditional Indian management practices and innovative initiatives based on emerging trends in contemporary management. SCL has always practised a ''people first'' policy that was informed by the ethos of a joint family and community, which is so integral to Indian society. By 2012, SCL was experiencing heady business growth and the top management was very keen to ''cement'' the culture of employee happiness and meaningfulness at the core of its human resource practices to avoid any people-related issues becoming a bottle-neck in the journey of growth. It hired Ernst and Young to conduct and employee perception survey which showed very high levels of engagement but also some areas of concern. Based on an analysis of the responses, and further focus group discussions, 18 improvement projects were initiated under the leadership of senior managers and volunteers from among the employees. Mahendra Singhi, Executive Director (ED) and Vikas Rai Bhatnagar, Chief People and Wellness Officer (CPWO) were examining the recommendations of the improvement project teams. They had to be careful to ensure that they took a holistic look at the implications of all the recommendations and implement an integrative set of initiatives that re-enforced each other's positive effects rather than proceed with a potpourri of recommendations that could potentially undermine each other's influences and worsen rather than improve the existing organizational climate.

• Employee engagement