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| Sanmar repositions key people |
S Gopal moves to Sanmar Engg., V Ramesh to Chemplast,
P Viswanathan to Sanmar Shipping |
| For a highly diversified group like Sanmar, quality
of management is critical.To maintain that quality, we need to match
the capabilities of the highly talented individuals we have with the
requirements of different businesses from time to time. It is also
necessary to plan for the passage of time and face the prospect of
our senior and experienced hands retiring. This exercise is an ongoing
one, and re-positioning of people is a natural corollary. |
| After a detailed study of the emerging management
requirements of different businesses, and the availability and age
profile of our senior executives, the group has made a number of decisions. |
| S Gopal, Chief Executive, has moved to Sanmar Engineering
Corporation (SEC). He has the responsibility for a number of the businesses
and corporate functions, reporting to M N Radhakrishnan. |
| V Ramesh, Chief Executive, has moved to Chemplast
Sanmar Limited reporting to P S Jayaraman. He has the responsibility
for new project activities, Cabot Sanmar Limited as well as the HR
and IR functions. |
| P Viswanathan recently took on new responsibilities
at Sanmar Shipping Limited, covering the areas of finance, and new
projects. He, and K Shankar, Chief Executives both, report to Managing
Director B Chakrapani, with Shankar responsible for the technical
and operational functions. |
| Matrix talked to Ramesh, Viswanathan and Gopal on
their experiences in their different roles in the Sanmar Group. Here
are some excerpts from the conversations: |
| V Ramesh |
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| I walked into the Karapakkam complex on 17th
August 1983, to join SEC and become a part of the Sanmar family.
Nineteen years later, I have moved over to the chemical division
as part of Sanmar’s ongoing efforts at people development. |
| My first assignment at SEC was to head the
technical functions of Flowserve Sanmar Ltd. (then Durametallic
India Limited), from which I progressed to be the business manager
of the company. |
| My exposure in the group has been varied,
including responsibilities for multiple businesses, mentoring
and handling IR-HR and TQM functions. |
|
| Before joining Sanmar, I spent ten years in the
chemical industry, gaining experience in plant design, erection and
maintenance. In a way, the wheel has turned full circle! |
| What does the recent move mean to me ? It gives
me exposure to new businesses and new and exciting learning experiences,
without which professional life can become stale. |
| It also helps me to unlearn some “axioms” and approaches
developed through prolonged exposure to the same environment. |
| It gives me an opportunity to apply the lessons
learnt and the insights gained so far, in what is to me a new business.
It expands my perspective and helps me forge new professional relationships
– within and outside Sanmar. |
| What does the move mean to the organisation? It
enables transplantation of the best practices across the group and
helps build a learning organisation. The group can maintain flexibility
and responsiveness by developing a team of mobile, cross-trained professionals;
building a unified culture across the group. |
| Group executives aware of the nitty-gritty and nuances
of businesses across the group will be better equipped to provide
inputs for decisions on long term strategies, resource allocation
across the groups and people policies. |
| S Gopal |
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| I am an Electronics Engineer by background.
My experience prior to the Sanmar Group was in electronics and
the textile industry in the functional areas of domestic and
international marketing and sales, setting up greenfield projects
(in India and abroad) and general management. |
| I joined the Sanmar Group to set
up a greenfield textile project, which was later dropped due
to the Asian flu. |
| I remember the day Mr N Sankar first discussed
my movement to the PVC business with me. I was excited and personally
extremely confident of handling the challenges. However, I thought
it was appropriate to tell Sankar that I had never worked in
the chemical industry and was not a chemical engineer bybackground.
Mr Sankar’s reply is still vivid in my memory. “Don’t I know?
If you are confident, I am confident that you can do it”. |
| The move gave me the opportunity to learn
a new business altogether, a chance to be involved in the conceptualising
and planning of a large greenfield chemical project, |
|
| I have recently moved to SEC, and I have another
window of opportunity this time again to learn a new industry. |
| I have enjoyed these opportunities in the Sanmar
Group of working in different industries, to adopt the practices of
one industry in another, varied experiences and new professional challenges.
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| Retaining talent is a bigger challenge than
attracting it. I have been lucky to benefit from Sanmar’s job
rotation policy. My journey from properties to financial services
to shipping has been like a world trip with different time zones,
cultures and languages, yet managing business does not change
in its pristine essence, though products and services may differ
and the jargon of these trades may vary. Whether it is the rate
per square foot, or margins or rate per day, each constitutes
a revenue stream, expressed in a way consistent with the business
in question. |
|
| With the advantage of ignorance, I found the experience
of each new business exciting. While the language sounded alien, the
culture was not, the products were new, the method of doing business
was not, people were strangers, but their customs were not. The new
job in the new business made me more versatile and expanded my managerial
vistas. |
| Let me sum up the lessons I learnt in my nomadic
existence of the last four years: |
| A company’s commitment to people and trust in individuals
can enable them to move mountains. |
| With a common culture, new environs become havens
offering new learning experiences. |
| With a common philosophy and well articulated people
policy in place, new entrants can concentrate on the business at hand
and stay away from the maze of organisational politics. |
| The new entrant brings with him new thinking, challenging
established conventions in traditional businesses. |
| The Sanmar culture binds Sanmarians together; for
them a new environment is never a problem. |
| Job rotation is a win-win proposition. The employee
learns a new business and the business gets new ideas. |
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