The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) gave away SAIL HR Excellence Awards to seven Indian manufacturing companies for path breaking contributions in the field of ‘People Management Processes’ on July 9, 2009. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) was the ‘Knowledge Partner’ of the event. Those who received SAIL HR Excellence Awards are Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Moser Baer and Tata Motors (large scale companies category), Castrol and Jindal Steel & Power Limited (medium scale category) and ITW Signode and Honeywell (small scale category).
As a part of the celebration for its 50th year of production, SAIL has initiated activities for providing leadership for the development of Indian manufacturing industries. One such attempt is to institutionalize SAIL HR Excellence Awards in collaboration with IIM-A, for “path breaking contributions in the field of People Management Processes for the Indian manufacturing industries”. The expertise of IIM-A as ‘Knowledge Partner’ was utilized to recognize outstanding work done by companies during the last five years to effectively manage their workforces through innovative and cost-effective talent enhancing practices that contributed to intellectual or other forms of capital formation of the organization, society or nation.
Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh presented the awards – each comprising a trophy, a cheque for Rs 1 lakh and a citation. Other eminent personalities present at the event were IIM-A Director Dr Samir Barua; Minister of State for Steel A. Sai Prathap; National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council Chairman Dr. V. Krishnamurthy; Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal; Steel Secretary PK Rastogi and SAIL Chairman SK Roongta. A book on exemplary HR practices, compiled from the exhaustive data obtained through the application process, was also released by the Steel Minister during the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Guest, said, “No business can flourish unless enough emphasis is given to people and it is because of this reason that HRD had gained a permanent role within organizations, agencies and nations.” He praised SAIL’s initiative to institute awards for recognition in this area. Sai Prathap, the Guest of Honor, in his address, remarked that recognition of talent motivates employees and results in higher productivity, and should be the success mantra of any organization. Referring to the recent global economic downturn, PK Rastogi said, “Only companies that foster all-round excellence in all areas of management will be able to survive in the face of global competition.” IIM-A Director Dr Samir Barua, too, spoke on the issue.
ITW Signode was selected for the award for its well-integrated performance management process that is objective and linked to compensation and rewards, training and career management. Honeywell was awarded for its management review process that is participative, comprehensive and multidimensional, promoting accountability, succession and retention. Castrol’s Ascent program where employees move to higher level roles through exemplary preparation and Jindal Steel & Power’s recognition scheme for employees and efforts to protect and rejuvenate the environment secured them their respective awards. HPCL’s ability to bring about change through people as its partners, Moser Baer’s practice of competency assessment and systematic training and Tata Motors’ benchmarking practices against the world’s best helped them clinch their honors.
