Taking Up the Oars

Milind Apte elaborates upon the company´s successful Career Development Programme. If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. -Anonymous This proverb sums up the journey of an employee at Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL), where career development is all about taking up the ´oars´, or taking charge of one´s own career. GPL, part of the 119-year-young Godrej Industries conglomerate, forayed into the Indian real-estate sector in 1990. Built on a foundation of trust, respect and integrity, and driven by a vision to grow 20 times by 2020, GPL has experienced exponential growth in terms of size, scale and complexity. It was not just about growing from a 200-strong to 1,000-strong family, expanding our footprint from two to 12 cities, and growing our construction count from five to 50 projects û our story goes beyond numbers. As we reflect upon what propelled us on this growth trajectory, one factor stands out: A highly engaged workforce. Our people were motivated, energised about being a part of GPL and became catalysts in making GPL one of the top three listed developers in India. Over the past five years, the company has consistently featured among the best places to work in India, demonstrating its ability to create an engaging and supportive work culture. Today´s ´GPLite´ is getting younger (the average age has dropped from 35+ to under 30) and has strong views about making a difference and creating an impact. With changing demographics like age, we have also witnessed a change in the ´levers of engagement´ for the workforce. A rethink In 2015, we realised that we were at a turning point- the playing field was changing dramatically on the business and people fronts. While real estate became increasingly volatile and competitive as a sector, on the people front, we witnessed changes at the demographic and cultural levels. In essence, there was a need to revisit what makes today´s GPLite ´tick´. Thus, we dove into what drives ´engagement´ for a GPLite in today´s context. We discovered the predominant theme that kept appearing in data and employee conversations: Careers. Traditional indicators, such as grade and promotion, were rapidly losing their value as indicators of a ´successful career´. Instead, factors such as meaning, passion, autonomy and significance were gaining importance. With these changing dynamics, GPL acknowledged that our future success hinged on the ability to provide employees opportunities to have meaningful experiences in line with their career aspirations. From an organisational perspective, a sharper focus on career development would also play an important role in building a strong, future-ready leadership pipeline. An ambitious initiative With this in mind, we launched an ambitious Career Development Programme with the aim to: Provide employees visibility on career opportunities available at GPL across functions and regions. Leverage the group canvas (Godrej Industries Ltd & Associated Companies) and not be restricted to GPL careers. Harness technology to enable employee reflection on career progression and growth. Encourage talent mobility, thereby increasing employee engagement and boosting morale. However, before we started, we had to evaluate our philosophy on career development. Some of our beliefs as an organisation are: Fluidity of career paths: We do not believe in templatising careers and encourage every employee to explore the wide canvas provided by the organisation. Spirit of partnership: While employees are best placed to take charge of their careers and development, the organisation promises an enabling environment supportive of development and continuous feedback. Growth is multi-dimensional: Career development is an iterative and gradual process. We encourage our employees to experience new professional contexts, learn a new skill and develop a broader perspective of their functions and regions. Using these guiding principles, we designed a programme that encouraged reflection, dialogue and learning. We also created a portal for individuals to access all information on the programme, as well as any development opportunities that interest them. All internal job postings (IJPs) within and across group companies were visible on it. The launch Once the framework was ready, an initial element of success rested on the launch campaign and the buzz the programme created. It was essential for employees to understand the value this process would bring to their career. We initiated an intensive, three-month awareness campaign, replete with training sessions for all employees. These sessions focused on the importance of the programme as well as the guidelines and framework. People managers were also taken through a rigorous programme on conducting career conversations and playing a facilitative role in their team member´s development journey. This module lays emphasis upon the leader playing a ´career coach´ and built the skill to have open, honest career conversations that challenge an employee to think progression and growth. The programme The simplicity of the programme played a crucial role in its success. Employees were encouraged to create their Career Development Plans (CDPs) through a series of questions on their current and future direction. This made them reflect on their future focus, keeping in mind current performance, strengths and areas of development. Once the CDPs were complete, career conversations between managers and employees ensued that were future-focused and development-oriented. Managers also sought to evaluate opportunities available vis-a-vis aspirations and co-created a development plan on the basis of the agreed future path. All relevant stakeholders such as the HOD, HR, etc, were clued into the finalised CDP. These development inputs were then evaluated by the learning and development (L&D) team to align the learning interventions with the inputs received from all CDPs. Our L&D interventions are based on our learning philosophy of the ´70-20-10´ principle: 70 per cent of the learning through on-the-job training, 20 per cent through feedback, coaching and mentoring, and 10 per cent through training, executive programmes, books and online learning. A large focus was on the managers to create the environment of learning and stretch. Employees and managers were also encouraged to constantly peruse the IJPs to evaluate opportunities in line with the future direction. This ensured a long-term focus on careers and created a platform for talent mobility. HR teams were also aware of every employee´s CDP and proactively sought to identify suitability of any openings for them. Quarterly reviews were conducted to ensure the development was on track and evaluate any course corrections. In case of any learning stints or lateral roles across other functions, senior leaders were roped in to discuss possible options. In conclusion The programme has enabled a climate of openness and given employees a platform to take charge of their career. It has created a culture that lays emphasis on development and growth. Here are some highlights of the programme: It created a highly energised and engaged workforce; our engagement scores for career opportunities and L&D have seen a steady improvement. It has facilitated internal mobility; our IJPs have increased from 4 per cent to almost 30 per cent since inception. It has encouraged every GPLite to take charge of their development and actively experiment with diverse learning opportunities. A campaign revolving around the trailblazers who have taken development into their own hands has inspired others. It has ensured greater alignment of organisational direction and employee growth, and helped identify and leverage the ´sweet spot´. We strongly believe that developing a strong and fluid career development programme fosters an environment and mindset of growth and impacts our ability as an organisation to attract and engage talent. About the author: Milind Apte, Chief People Officer, Godrej Properties Ltd, and his team have been instrumental in establishing a strong Human Resource team, which plays a vital role in building the organisation for growth and a highly engaged workforce. To share your views, write in at feedback@ConstructionWorld.in