Why Aditya Birla Group Is Big In Your Life
When I first read this question, I felt how can a company impact our lives. I felt, I change the products I use very frequently and hence, I cannot associate with any one firm. I have studied in Jaipur, Kota, Dhanbad, Gurgaon, and worked in Gurgaon, Jamshedpur, and Pune. With such span, it is hard to associate with only one company. As I dove more into the question, I was delighted to discover how wrong I had been. Aditya Birla Group’s products and companies have made my life richer across the cities I’ve lived in.
We are given the idea that a happy individual strives only for roti, kapda and makaan (Food, Clothes, and a house) and not much else. The old wisdom however never specifies the which and the where of these basics. If an individual has to choose between different products to satisfy such basic needs, they would definitely choose the one with the best quality. With this in mind I revisited a large part of my life to understand the presence of the ABG in my life.
ABG was one of the initial companies to bring in the concept of Supermarkets in India. The group provided us with the ability to reach one place to get all the different types of consumables. This made our lives easier and more efficient. My parents could spend more time with me, rather than running from store to store to purchase all the ration. I still remember my joy in going to a More store, with its AC interiors and an almost endless choice of products. The schoolboy I was, I would get the coolest of tiffins, the tastiest snacks and mom’s delicacies wrapped in freshwrapp aluminium foil all under one roof. My Roti was definitely helped by ABG, and post this will be a constant reminder of how many people, often unrecognized, help nourish you and bring you where you are.
ABG also provided the highest quality clothing in the country. With brands like Louis Phillipe, Linen Club, Pantaloons, Peter England, Ralph Lauren, Van Heusen etc. I remember visiting such stores when my father had to make purchases and I was ecstatic when I reached the age when I could actually get something for myself from these brands. I strongly remember that when I first purchased a shirt from Van Heusen, the quality, the smart look, the respect from the people at the store made me feel like I had grown up. This will be constant reminder that an international name often hides the passion and hard work of an Indian, a reminder to be humble despite your influence.
Finally, Makaan (House), this is where every single person knows ABG. I know for sure that my house and more than 90% of the houses in my locality in Jaipur use UltraTech Cement. The company sits on the top of the pyramid of quality in this segment. This is my reminder that foundations are critical to what you become, especially considering the strong foundation I hope to build in the next 2 years.
Sometimes, the society feels that private entities are only established to mint profits and don’t always agree with this thought. Our lives have often been made richer by the brands, companies, groups that we interact with. While we see our lives getting better, we somehow never give credit to all the effort that hides behind each little change.
How Have You Made An Impact
Hero MotoCorp is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer, leading to complex problems being a part and parcel of life for everyone. I learned that any situation can be dealt with in a systematic manner. Rather than, jumping to conclusions and trying to make short term fixes, we should approach problems by breaking them down into simpler tasks and then attacking each task individually. Ensuring that the teams are aligned and work closely together is also critical.
I faced a huge challenge when I was asked to improve the service ratio (customer satisfaction). Being my first major project, It was a very challenging problem that Hero has struggled with for many years. I researched the reasons for the low service ratio and reached a point where the more I researched the more facets and problems I encountered. The service ratio is one quantitative ratio for Hero MotoCorp that compiles performance parameters from across the departments and across the different verticals of Out bound logistics. It is regularly tracked by the upper management and is a key metric to devise new strategies. Failing on a project this critical was definitely not an option.
This extensive stress made me reach a point of break down because I started feeling that the problem was not resolvable and I would fail miserably on my very first major project. This is when I finally decided to seek some mentorship. In hindsight, I feel I made the right choice of asking the right question because instead of asking for a solution to the problem (which would have been highly specific and wouldn’t have helped me much in the future), I asked my superiors how to approach such complex problems. His answer transformed me as an individual. He explained how problems in companies like Hero MotoCorp are created, how they are made of multiple small issues like low efficiency, lack of process adherence, lack of quality checks etc. The solution comes from identifying the most critical issues, figuring out a root cause and then solving them. The idea being to understand that the challenge is big and to remain motivated through the many steps needed to solve it.
Those 2 hours changed me as an individual. I sat down calmly and started breaking down the situation, based on departments and verticals. I was looking at more than 15 areas of improvement. I prioritised the departmental improvements because I believed one needs to clean one’s house before advising other to do so. I endlessly worked on brain-storming sessions with my team and other teams to understand the nitty-gritty of different verticals. I accepted different points of view, so that the new processes would not hurt the proper functioning of the department. After implementing more than 10 process and changes within the department over a period of 2 months, I called a meeting with other departments to discuss the situation with them. To my surprise, every other department at once acknowledged that a change was needed. They accepted that if OBL department was working tirelessly to solve this issue then, as one company, everyone work on it together. After all the process improvements were implemented, we had drastically improved the service ratio, way beyond the expectations of the upper management. While the number improvement was definitely one upside of the project, a bigger one was that I learned how to be a better manager. I learned how important teams are and how to approach complex problems. I went on to become the project lead for the department and worked on various projects spanning across different vertical. To me that project, the approach I took, the coordination and method were the starting point for my growth in Hero.