Balmer Lawrie Online: Editorial

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Vol.

10 Issue 05 May 2020

BALMER
LAWRIE ONLINE

MONTHLY BULLETIN

EDITORIAL

Life after lockdown will not be easy. Though we have adopted the new ways of life both at home and at
work, we must remember that these new ways will become the 'New Normal'. We have to learn to live
with COVID-19! Many of us have joined back work and are taking all the necessary precautions as per
advisories of the Administrative Ministry and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Our
Company has adopted SOPs to keep the workplace safe and secure and ensure containment of the
disease at all units and establishments pan India.

The world has never witnessed a pandemic like this before. All of us together are fighting this
unprecedented and unimaginable pandemic throwing up new challenges each passing day. If all of us
have to beat COVID-19 successfully, we have to turn this crisis into an opportunity. So, while we adopt
the 'New Normal', we must endeavor to remain physically fit, mentally strong and positive, control our
needs and wants, help the underprivileged and pray for the well-being of all. At work, we have to go
that extra mile for our Company to sustain and survive. In order to stay safe, it is important to
constantly remind ourselves of social distancing, follow basic hygiene, wear a mask and gloves, wash
our hands frequently and use sanitizers.

Please do send your suggestions, feedback and contributions to me at


mukhopadhyay.mohar@balmerlawrie.com.

Stay healthy, stay safe!

Mohar
ADIEU MESSAGE FROM MR. K SWAMINATHAN

Mr. K Swaminathan, Director [Service Business], laid down his office on 29th February 2020 after
successfully completing over 30 years of service. Below is an adieu message from Mr. Swaminathan.

I had spent nearly 32 years in Balmer Lawrie (BL), which obviously is


almost 90% of my total professional career. The learnings from this great
enterprise cannot be conveyed in a para / page. But I am taking this
opportunity to advise all youngsters (including those who feel young) as to
what they should guard against and what they should pursue.

One has to stay up to date in one’s chosen area. As one moves along in an
organisation, typically, good amount of time is spent on so many routine
jobs leaving no time for understanding the monumental changes that are
happening elsewhere in the industry / country. All of us send our junior
team members for courses to hear about the new things because, we feel
we cannot spend two days in one program. We should not make the
mistake of falling behind. I heard one experienced person say like this:
“Lock yourself in a cupboard if you have to… get away from mobile,
WhatsApp, mails and read and learn and listen to keep up to date. Then no
one can touch you. No one can say ‘he is finished’, no one will say ‘he
belongs to yesterday’. Because, you will know as much as they do and
more as you have the experience to go with it”.

BL provides a great environment to think innovatively, to do the jobs in a different way if that’s better
than what was followed for generations. This company has no illusions about its past. It is also
proactive and willing to adapt / adopt.

COVID 19 has taken the sheen out of the performance of many organisations in the last quarter of
2019-20 and BL is no exception. But this is again a learning and we need to be ingenious to still do
better than our peers. This urge to be the best among the peers will help us get the desired level of
satisfaction at the end of the day.

BL is considered as a traditional company with a rich cultural heritage. These aspects should not be lost
sight of in our daily work life:

Customer orientation – maintaining that personal touch – so much essential to be ahead of


competition.

Innovation – thought leadership

Importance of human resources – respecting the views of juniors, provide an enabling environment for
getting the best out of every employee

Swiftness in response – least time delays in dealing with all stakeholders’ queries

Maintaining talent pool – team should comprise of individuals with different skill sets to ensure that
what is required for the organisation to succeed is available in abundance in the team.

Had worked with great individuals in BL in the last 3 decades and learnt a lot from them. The same
responsibility is there in all of you to keep this trend in BL.

I could meet quite a few of you in February 2020 but still I may have missed meeting some. Here I am
wishing you all a great career in BL. Wish BL gets into record books for both longevity and profitability.
BL UPDATES

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to review a lot of things, one major area being how we
learn. Many of us have seen it in our houses with our children. Learning will no longer be the same,
classrooms will barely be there. In keeping with the changes in Balmer Lawrie, the CHRD team has
launched a set of e-Learning programs. The series is titled 'Munchies for Your Mind’.

Launched on 21st April 2020, the series is being made accessible to all personnel in Grade O1/ FTO1
and above. The first course was on Leadership Essentials. The series comprises around twenty
eLearning courses. The courses that have been emailed to all employees till 15th May 2020 cover topics
like Managing Conflict, Delegation Essentials, Stress Management, Presentation Skills, COVID-19,
Building Peer Relationship, Communication Skills, Finance for Non Finance Managers, Listening Skills
and Customer Service Skills.

The team is ensuring that every alternate day a module is made available for learning. The platform is
versatile and one can access the module even on the go through their smart phones as well. A day
after the course is emailed, a snippet on the course module for quick read and recap and a feedback
form is also being sent to all personnel. The information and feedback gathered through post-course
feedback forms will be used to improve future offerings. In days to come learning will not be a matter
of choice, it will be a differentiator which will impact survival and growth. All personnel are therefore
encouraged to make the best use of the opportunity by culling-out learning hours for their self-
development and professional growth.

Leveraging the digital platform in such a scale is a first of its kind initiative in Balmer Lawrie. Director
[HR&CA] and C&MD have appreciated the initiative in their message.
Post Coronavirus pandemic, the business world is going to be different. Business leaders would be
required to lead changes across dimensions. To help our organisation overcome the challenges of today
and tomorrow, and to lead in the times of crisis and beyond, ‘Coaching’ is essential. In the near future,
each Manager in the organisation shall have to coach their critical resources to adapt and adopt to new
ways of doing business for organisational resilience. Considering that Coaching is a skill that can be
learnt, the Company hosted an on-line Learning Initiative for the Senior Leadership (Grade E-7 and
above), which was spread across 3 sessions of 2 hours each. The Workshop was conducted by Dr.
Ashis Sen, who is recognized for his seminal work on coaching Senior Executives in several large and
mid-sized organizations including Fortune 500 Companies.

Coaching is a powerful and meaningful relationship through which managers aim to solve performance
problems or develop employees’ capabilities. It can be best understood as a helping or facilitative
relationship that inspires the one who receives coaching to maximise their personal and professional
potential which is particularly important in today’s complex and uncertain environment.

The various objectives of coaching could be helping a coachee overcome performance problems,
develop people / process skills and capabilities, increase productivity and improve promotability by
leveraging individual’s potential. In the past few years a number of studies have been conducted that
clearly demonstrate the value, efficacy, and impact of coaching in a number of contexts. The benefits
of coaching in organisations are as follows:
• Empowers individuals and encourages them to take responsibility
• Increases employee and staff engagement
• Improves individual performance
• Helps identify and develop high potential employees
• Helps identify both organizational and individual strengths and development opportunities

During his workshop Dr. Sen focused on the FUEL coaching model. The acronym FUEL stands for
‘Frame the Conversation’, ‘Understand the Current State’, ‘Explore the Desired State’ and ‘Lay out a
Success Plan’. It requires the coach to operate with an open-mind and ask open-ended, non-leading
questions to guide the conversation. This is contrary to a framework that involves telling, directing,
instructing, and giving advice and therefore the model is essentially non-threatening and the coachee
finds her/ himself in the role of a decision maker thus leading to greater ownership of outcome. This
model is very versatile as it can be used for both directive (coach initiated) or non-directive (coachee
initiated) conversation.

I am confident that this I am very happy to state that we are


workshop will enhance increasingly turning to virtual learning in
people skills of the order to create a Learning ecosystem in the
Leadership Team of Company for upskilling our employees during
Service Businesses and this lockdown. To drive the business towards
prepare us better to meeting the current economic needs during
combat the challenges these difficult times, we need to embrace
we face, which have coaching approach for our workforce.
only exacerbated owing
to the COVID-19 crisis. It is an established fact that Leaders who coach employees
are able to build more talented and agile teams, which leads
Employees are a company’s most valuable asset to healthy growth of the business.
and if the businesses want to survive and
succeed this crisis, they need to invest in The business environment has turned upside down after the
developing their Managers - who are the first in spread of Coronavirus pandemic. The extent of this crisis has
line to harness the potential of the Employees. been so adverse that the existing business paradigms are
out the window. Coaching can encourage Executives to take
The message that clearly emerged from this advantage of this blank slate to rewrite the rules. The
workshop was how much people value someone situation is ripe to be a first mover (rather than a slow or
listening to them, being interested in them, even a fast follower) and seize a business opportunity such
wanting the best for them and being on their as a different customer, new market or a new organization
side. It essentially, transforms the way you design.
relate to people – particularly how you conduct
difficult conversations, which become more The Workshop on ‘Managers as Coaches’ has highlighted
manageable with the aid of a coaching that Leaders are responsible for development of their people
approach. I am sure that this workshop will go a to a great extent. This is where ‘Coaching’ as a process plays
long way to bring the best out of our teams and an important role in strengthening the communication
bring solutions to the table to tide over the between the Leaders and their team members. It will help in
crisis. build partnerships for continuous improvement and further
Adhip Nath Palchaudhuri, Director [Service contribute to our organisation’s strategic objectives.
Business] Adika Ratna Sekhar, Director [HR & CA]
CSR UPDATE

As part of CSR activities undertaken during the COVID-19 lockdown period, IP – Chittoor distributed
food items to migrants and underprivileged families in villages near the plant on 21st April 2020.
HSE [HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT] UPDATE

Balmer Lawrie is taking all the preventive and protective measures at all units and establishments for
the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company has adopted a Standard Operating
Procedure for resumption of work after the lockdown which states the precautionary measures to be
taken by all employees and other stakeholders, in order to ensure a safe and secure workplace post
COVID-19.

Social distancing is being maintained at all


Tool Box Talk on COVID-19 at IP Chittoor
units of the Company

Regular sanitization is being done at each and every unit / office

Thermal scanning and hand sanitization are a must at the entry point at all Balmer Lawrie premises
PPE Distribution at ICP, Raxaul along with demo on how to wear the same

Fire Mock Drill at CFS, Manali

‘New Normal’ - Philosophy of Life after Lockdown is over

✓ Ensure social distancing in workplace / canteen / public place


✓ Avoid public gathering
✓ Wear mask in public place / office / public transport
✓ Wear hand gloves where necessary
✓ Wash hand with soap / use sanitizer frequently
✓ Download and use Aarogya Setu App
✓ Have healthy, nutritious and readily cooked food
✓ Have food rich in Vitamin C viz. Amla, Lemon, Citrus fruits
✓ Have food rich in Zinc viz. Papaya Seeds, Watermelon Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, nuts, chicken,
eggs, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, kale, garlic
✓ Take ginger, raw turmeric, tulsi (basil leaf), chawanprash or any other similar food to boost
immunity
✓ Have luke warm water / tea periodically during the day
✓ Preferably ensure 8 hours sleep at night
✓ Do simple breathing exercise / pranayama daily
✓ Do simple physical exercise / walk everyday
✓ Maintain joyful and happy life free from greed and anxiety
✓ Check your score in the following chart. If the score is more than 6, seek a consultation with Doctor:

Stay healthy, stay safe!


Personnel Information – April 2020

Farewell

▪ Mr. Shyam Sundar Khuntia, Director [Finance], laid down his office on 30th April, 2020 after
successfully completing 4 years of service.

▪ Ms. Sunita Dua, Manager [HR], Regional HR - Northern Region, Delhi superannuated on 30th April,
2020 after successfully completing around 32 years of service.

▪ Mr. Gautam Chakraborty, Deputy Manager [Operations], CFS - Kolkata superannuated on 30th
April, 2020 after successfully completing around 33 years of service.

▪ Mr. K Narasimman, Officer [HR], Regional HR - Southern Region, Chennai superannuated on 30th
April, 2020 after successfully completing 33 years of service.

We wish you all the best in your future life!

New Members

Mr. Anil Kumar Singh joined Travel & Vacations, Ahmedabad as Senior Manager [Sales]
on 20th March, 2020.

Mr. Raghavendra Sharma joined Regional HR - Northern Region, Delhi as Deputy


Manager [OL & Admin] on 22nd April, 2020.

Mr. Mohammad Danish joined Temperature Controlled Warehouse, Rai as Junior Officer
[Warehouse Operations] on 19th March, 2020.

Welcome you to the Balmer Lawrie family and wish you all the best!

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