Aditya Birla Group - A Platter of Happiness in everyone's life
"Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land." -Julia Carney
It doesn't require much effort to visualize Aditya Birla Group is compared to the ocean mentioned in this 19th century saying. In fact, if one introspects, one will find Aditya Birla Group in his life every day, every single busy day, right from the morning when one reaches out to dismiss the alarm clock of his cellphone. From the Hindalco's Aluminium contributing to screen glass of cellphones to the fabric of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Aditya Birla group has touched upon our lives some way or the other; and being a common man, I am also not left out.
As a child, I don't remember which day it was, but I remember the astonishment on my face while in a Pantaloons outlet. Fast Forwarding to November 2015, it was the placement season in the college and I was about to appear for an interview, in fact, my first interview of the season. Just a day before, I reached out to none other than a Pantaloons store and got a sparkling white shirt as a part of my formal attire. I guess anyone will agree that when you dress perfectly, you always somehow get that extra boost of confidence; and that extra boost only awarded me with the selection letter in my first interview itself.
Being selected and having completed my degree program, I headed to join that company in 2016 at their Headquarters in Chennai (Take this as Hint!). During the welcome ceremonies and briefing speeches, a slide appeared on the screen where the key events in the journey of that company so far were mentioned. One such key event was the takeover of the cement division of the company and renaming it to UltraTech Cement in 2004. Yes, it is the same company that you guessed; it is Larsen & Toubro Ltd. However, working the Supply Chain Department with the Procurement team of the company, it happened that the cement procurement part was mostly through Ultra Tech Cement as this has been a trusted brand for the major clients like Indian Railways, NHAI, etc. So now, I was associated with Aditya Birla Group in professional front as well.
I was no more a student then, I was earning, and earnings invites tax to pay out; so one of the best way out I discovered was the Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) Mutual Funds. If you visit ‘CRISIL ‘or ‘Moneycontrol' or any other advisory source, Aditya Birla Tax Relief '96 is topping the charts. I have even recommended this to my colleagues as a must-have product in their portfolio. So, here also Aditya Birla Group came to my rescue, not only helping get a tax rebate but also the assurance of growth of the invested money.
The bottom line is, it is easy to assert that given a random person, one must have occupied a place in the complex Venn diagram of the products and services offered by the esteemed Aditya Birla Group like I do, for the fact that the group has its name written in gold in almost every domain that makes up a part of the basic amenities of a common man ("Roti, Kapda, Makaan"), and further, not to forget its contribution to the social infrastructure of the nation by extending a plethora of CSR and Sustainability activities. The umbrella is big enough to cover many in need by extending a helping hand in whatever form it takes. Midday meals in 268 schools, solar lamps for 4,50,000 students, skill training to approx. 1,00,000 people, 5,000 medical camps across the country, and the contributions are ever going. It is hence fascinating to observe that Aditya Birla Group has left no rooms either to grow as an organization or to contribute to mankind.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for " - John A. Shed
You have a give-and-take relationship with the challenges of your life. You face them and they transform you! Since July 2016, fresh out of the college, I was working with the Supply Chain Department of the company. But something tragic happened. My manager was transferred within six months of my joining on the grounds that another manager will be assigned to the project shortly. He was the one who had handled the supply chain of projects of similar magnitude. I was enjoying learning and working with him, and this was a setback for the whole team, especially for me, as I was only one responsible for the procurement related activities Railways Business Unit and I was the youngest in the team as well. I was that ship now, directionless in the ocean but meant to sail anyhow. Although senior management recommended the concepts be understood as soon as possible, but understanding the concepts and then implementing immediately is the beginner level of a game whose pro level is working on the basis of experience gained so far, that too in a project where the cost of material procurement under the scope of a greenhorn like me is close to the smallest eleven-digit number in Indian Rupees. However, I tried to learn the concepts, experiences, and intricacies from him at a galloping pace. Even after his departure, I used to call him up for advice on some critical issues. I also bothered my counterparts at headquarters and other projects as well. I also left no room to learn from my suppliers as, at the end of the day, I was only the jack of trades; the individual suppliers were the masters of their respective domains. If something was still causing ingestion in understanding, I reached out to the manufacturing units and warehouses of the suppliers. The road was definitely not easy. Initially, I found it difficult to negotiate with especially the strategic suppliers, I was not able to make the material reach site on time. Some also reprimanded me for the delays caused due to the unavailability of goods and service. I struggled to imbibe too many techniques and learnings simultaneously. But did I have any other option? I had to perform as my project would have suffered otherwise; moreover, my confidence was at stake. And as they say, time teaches everything. I kept going, I kept working, I kept learning. And I reached a level when the senior management started having confidence in my decisions. I even went on setting out new benchmark prices for some critical components to add to the savings of the project, and this further reinforced seniors' faith in me to such an extent that I didn’t realize that no manager has been assigned even after 3 years. Amidst all this, it is not one, two or three, I was sitting there joining hands with hundreds of suppliers across India; and no two personalities are same. Beyond concepts and techno-commercial terms, it is the psychological and professional approach with which you establish a relationship with your suppliers and partners, it is your network that goes with you in the long run. And this is the area where I strongly feel I have developed myself in the absence of familiar face value of my superior. A single call at times of urgency, and any supplier came running to provide the service/material just by word of mouth, and this is something I consider my reward for the efforts I had been putting since long. Ultimately, it is not the question of to do or not to; it is always about how to.
#VGSoM
#IITKharagpur
#ABGLPWooMee