Minding the Tree ?
For past 3 days, newspapers
are full of reports / articles / debates and interviews re the planned takeover
of Mindtree by L&T
In one report, founders /
promoters have expressed fears about the possible mismatch between the cultures
of Mindtree and L&T
I have no clue about the
culture of Mindtree, but having worked in L&T for over 30 years (
1959-1990 ), I have a fair idea of L&T
culture
Question :
How can one delve deep into
the “ Minds “ of the employees ( Trees ? ) of L&T, in order to
unravel the nature of that culture ?
Answer :
Search for hidden clues in
what they might have written about L&T .
One such source ( although
somewhat superficial ) could be :
But those keen for a deeper
understanding would want to go through :
These are 51 essays ( ?
) written by ex-L&T employees , -
each narrating an “ incidence “ that happened around them , while working for
L&T
Through use of certain words
/ phrases , each of these “ real life incidence “ tells a story about L&T Culture
In the following tabulation,
I have summarized a few of those narratives , listing the words used by those
ex-employee writers and the corresponding “ L&T
Culture “
I urge Mindtree founders
/ promoters and employees , to take out a few minutes to read all the 51
articles , to allay their fears of any perceived “ mismatch “ of the two
cultures
================================================================================
|
Narrative
Title
|
Contributing
Employee
|
Words
found
|
L&T
Culture described
|
Ramesh D Grover
|
H R Shenoy
|
please ,
giving birth to an organization and nourishing
it ,
smile, freshness,
gem of human beings,
solving problems, helping,
|
Helping colleagues,
Collaboration ,
Friendliness
|
Office Stationary & Reimbursement
|
KN
|
controls and restrictions,
art of bypassing control
|
Love for details,
Cost Consciousness,
Tendency to control small
expenses
|
Meeting Larsen and Toubro, in person
|
M Subramanian
|
he fired me for washing my hands well before the
shift time,
“You also look out for this person before leaving
the bus.”
a car was arranged to drop me at Kurla Station,
all the machines in working condition,
if I am somebody it is due my employment with
L&T / proud
of
|
Easy accessibility to Top Management ,
Loyalty,
Pride of Association,
Concern for personal problems of Employees
Recognition of an employee's contribution to
Company's growth
Shop-floor Discipline
|
Forward
|
A Y Divekar
|
suggesting corrections,
not wanting to apply a brake his career
development,
That earned him deserved respect,
|
Suggest - express freely to bosses
Concern for development of
subordinates
Acknowledging contribution of a colleague or
a subordinate
|
Then & Now
|
Arvind Rao
|
uniform clad ,
following road rules,
write all important communications using
duplicate or triplicate books and carbon paper,
no job was ever complete till the paperwork was
done
own up to mistakes,
burning midnight oil,
always answered on first ring,
time for others,
knew our colleagues littlest pains,
shared the jubilations of everyone’s
achievements,
met socially and formally and generally got a lot
more done in less time,
one big happy family with healthy rivalry,
ethics and values dearly upheld,
people who could do the work of four –
|
Hard working
High ethics and values
Family feeling
Performance pressure
Sharing triumphs and tribulations
High level of Efficiency
Prompt response
Long working hours
Admission of mistakes
Emphasis on last mile - no loose ends
Respect for rules
|
A Soft Landing in L&T
|
K Narsaiah
|
We were offered lunch in
the canteen,
He told me to hop in,
That happened to be my best innings
|
Concern for candidates
|
The English Teacher
|
Nattu
Aravindakshan
Jairam
|
he never liked big gathering and wasting time.
but there was one spelling mitake,
perfection,
purity and rigour,
gracious,
complimented me and
acknowledged my evolving skills.
|
Perfection
Love for details
Grace
Acknowledging Merits in others
Complimenting on achievements
|
Never Ending Learning
|
A M Rao
|
not a dot out off place would be tolerated,
crisply worded,
grammatically correct English,
tucking away every paper subject-wise, date-wise,
we used to practice cataloguing
and filing in neat chronological, alphabetical and physical order !
remembering spelling, grammar and basic
courtesies,
|
Courteous Communication
Love for details
Systematic
System Orientation
Methodical
Emphasis on correctness
Intolerance for sloppyness
|
Collect, Store and Recall
|
Kodam Narsaiah
|
efficient and successful ,
neatly dressed
|
To be always presentable and smart-looking
Premium on Efficiency
Penchant to succeed
|
L&T Works , OK
|
R K Seth
|
visionary leadership,
where only L&T-ites' children were allowed to
get admission.
company-wide launch TQM,
giving me opportunity,
TQM initiatives
|
Vision for future
" Forever learning "
attitude
Willingness to experiment
Emphasis on continuous training
Providing opportunities to Employees
Concern for children of Employees |
Leadership Qualities
|
Rishikesh Joshi
|
HHL set it as tradition,
going through shop floors,
The tradition still continues,
Great leaders set great traditions which become
part of culture...
|
Leadership qualities
Setting traditions
Mixing with employees
|
For an “ In Depth “
understanding of L&T Culture, readers may want to look up :
[ A ] L&T Culture
[ B ] Nostalgic Chairman
[ C ] THE NIGHTMARE YEAR
[ D
] L&T Switchgear & Other Stories
=======================================================================
20 March 2019
Rsvp ; hcp@RecruitGuru.com
No comments:
Post a Comment