'Hindalco: More than Aluminium' - Dev Rungta, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar

Aditya Birla Group is a conglomerate which has its presence across various diverse sectors covering everything from clothing, textile, metals, cement, viscose and what not. It is the third-largest Indian private sector conglomerate behind Tata Group and Reliance Industries. My life has been impacted a lot by Aditya Birla Group life of every other Indian. Talking particularly about HINDALCO Industries Limited, it has played a vital role in my life. There’s a factory of HINDALCO in Muri, Jharkhand. The factory is not more than 13 kilometers from my home. From schooling to working in corporate, HINDALCO has been there. Schooling is stepping stones towards the development of any individual. I have done my primary schooling from Indal High School which was run and maintained by HINDALCO. Many of my relatives are/were indulged with Hindalco and they all praise what Hindalco has done for them. The company provided them with employment and has helped them in their career growth. Hindalco has been providing employment opportunities to the people of rural areas and uplifting their standard of living. This is of great importance because in that area people are generally self-employed and their income levels are quite low as well. Bringing into highlights the CSR activities of the company, it has been organising free medical health camps in my locality. Many underprivileged have reaped benefits from such camps and it has also generated awareness among the people regarding the social aspects on which the company pays attention. For people like me, Hindalco is not just a company or a brand, it is a medium to build myself as a person by getting impacted by its various CSR activities.

 

Overcoming Challenges

“You need to work on your leadership skills if you want to expand the business”, my father would always say this during our dinner conversations. I had the first taste of management while helping my father in his distilled water plant. I enjoyed dealing with various types of clients. I would have to manage my staff while also looking after the supply chain. I always had this problem of not being able to say “No” which many times lead to awkward conversations with my staff as well as the dealers. I wasn’t even able to manage my staff properly. I had this feeling of insecurity because of my stammering problem. I was always self-conscious about my speech. I had to work on myself. I had to overcome my weakness if I wanted to achieve something big in my life. I started watching YouTube videos on how to speak in front of an audience. To improve my stammering I started framing the sentences in my mind before speaking. I would see motivational videos, TedX talks, stand-ups just to improve my articulation abilities. I started speaking in front of the mirror. I noticed my hand movements, my expressions, etc. I started working on my fidgeting. “Slow and steady wins the race” Eventually, I started improving. I have now started managing our business in a better manner. Even my father has said that I have refined my supervising abilities. I now know that I am on the correct path but I still have a long way to go and I am sure this ‘path’ will lead me there. #ABGLP #ABGWOOME #XIMB