The third Indo-German HR Forum in 2016 was held on 9th August 2016 at the Schaeffler Group Head Office amidst the picturesque, lush green hills of Talegaon, Pune. Ms. Pallavi Sarkar and Ms. Pooja Velhal from the Human Resources team at Schaeffler did a remarkable job in organizing the meet led by Mr. Santanu Ghoshal, Vice President – Human Resources. The participating companies were BASF Group, Bayer India Limited, Bharat Forge, Bosch Group, Brose India Automotive Systems Pvt. Ltd., Evonik India Private Limited, Häfele India Pvt. Ltd., KSB Pumps Ltd., LANXESS India Private Limited, Man Trucks India Pvt. Ltd., Mercedes Benz India Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Limited, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. and Wacker Chemie India Pvt Ltd.
The HR meet commenced with Mr. Dharmesh Arora, Managing Director of Schaeffler Group, introducing the organization followed by a presentation on ‘Employee Value Proposition’ (EVP) which perfectly set the tone for the theme of the day. He firmly believes that his motto ‘My machine, my cell, and my team development programme’, creates an optimal operative workforce in the organization. And that the success of Schaeffler’s ‘Leadership Development Practices’ are based on 4 very simple words – ‘Empower, Create, Collaborate and Excel. He also spoke on the Change Management initiatives undertaken by Schaeffler which ensures transparency and uniformity in their HR processes and automation of their HR practices. He emphasized on “One Schaeffler India”, an initiative aimed at integrating all three identities of the group. The core idea of this initiative is Customer Centricity – building customer focus both internally and externally.
Mr. Shantanu Ghoshal, Vice President – Human Resource, Schaeffler during his presentation went on to state that EVP should be inspiring, distinctive, authentic and in line with the overall brand. He stressed on the importance of clean and articulate storyline of EVP. It could then be used as a recruitment and employee retention strategy which was defined as ‘Stickyness’. Mr. Ghoshal also shared with the participants the subsequent results of the qualitative research that was conducted by Schaeffler. It identified Working Environment, Career Development and Exposure and Challenging Assignments as the most critical factors perceived by employees. He concluded his presentation by mentioning that there is always a communication gap between what employers want to tell and what the audience wants to hear.
Schaeffler then invited participating companies, Siemens and BASF, to share and explain their EVP strategy. The videos “Ingenuity for Life” and “Sounds at Siemens” showcasing why Siemens felt the need to have an EVP impressed one and all. The Siemens’ team also received a huge round of applause when they announced that Siemens India was chosen as the Pilot Country for the global launch of EVP in the Siemens’ World. The highlight of BASF’s presentation on their successful EVP, strategy, based on their motto – ‘Connecting, Engaging, Caring and Learning’ was their ‘The Power of Connected Minds’ initiative.
The most thrilling part of the agenda then followed – the unique, hands-on driving experience of Concept Cars and Bikes, powered by E-Clutch. This has been developed by the advance vehicle engineering team at Schaeffler! This engaging experience was followed by ‘Life at Capgemini’, a presentation by Mr. Jonas Prasanna, Head – Talent Brand and Social Recruitment, highlighting the importance of understanding EVP. He concluded with the phrase ‘great content makes people want to share, care or swear’.
At the end of the day, everyone was convinced that ’Culture trumps Strategy.’
