GST will revive job market: Adi Godrej

1.   You run a company which is a century old organization but young at heart. With the evolution of Godrej Group, how you have seen its human resource policies evolving?

We are constantly looking at the evolution of consumers and meeting their needs. Also, we are strictly improving our products in an attempt to keep them relevant.  For this we must work on human capabilities. We are constantly improving the skills of the people. Open mindedness is a biggest asset for an entrepreneur.  We have been accepting the traits of an individual and respect their individuality -- be it the LGBT community or other religion and caste based distinctions.  

2.   What is the status of skill gap in the sectors Godrej Group deals with?

In India, we are not imparting enough training and skills to the workforce. Skills are limited to handling the shop floors and we have a shortage of skilled people in almost every sector. Even the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is not doing enough to meet the shortage. Also, we need to focus on skills of the senior level talent as well. There is no unemployment in India, we suffer from unemployable talent.  

3.   Do you think there is a huge gap in the salary of employees and salary of the executives?

Salary brackets will vary from company to company as they depend on type of people you need to attract. There is nothing wrong having a huge difference in the salaries of highly educated, trained people and salaries of moderately educated people. Salaries would vary according to the supply of that particular talent in the market and there are certain positions based on experience which are difficult to attract with  lower pay.

4.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s electoral promise was to deliver one crore jobs to the youth of India. However, job market is not promising enough.

I am personally convinced that there will be lot of job creation post the introduction of goods and services tax (GST). With GST coming, GDP will get the boost and hence, job creation will increase. Jobs will be created to encourage growth.

5.   Do you also see automation and robotics and artificial intelligence as a threat to the manpower?

No, I have read about this. But as we are a century old firm, I have seen that with every new technology coming, we have habit of over thinking threats.  When banking system started using computers, we anticipated that people will be fired. But it created different category of jobs.

How the world progresses? How does GDP go up?  How do developed countries become bigger? The answer is: When productivity increases. It is a false, if we believe that technology which improves productivity will replace people. They add a lot of value that leads to higher income, higher consumption that leads to higher production. At Godrej, we use automation extensively.

6.   How much gender diversified, the Godrej Group is?

In diversity, we have about 40% of women employees globally.  If we need to make a law to induct women on boards, it is a signal that we are failing somewhere miserably. Every company needs the mindset of females.

I have learnt so much from my mother. She was a very enthusiastic person, a good teacher always encouraging equality. She insisted that I should go to school in a bus, not by car. She gave me a fixed pocket money for which I had to bear all my expenses so that I value money. Strong women participation in company sows the culture of ethics and moral value in the company. That tradition was carried forward by my wife and daugthers.

7.   Godrej Group started ‘Swadeshi’ movement and it was the first one to bring out the patented technology ballet boxes. Do you think today we are doing enough innovations?

India is innovating, but, probably we should be doing a lot more.  But the trouble with Indians is -- if you are successful, you are satisfied.

What should be the top priorities of an organization while designing their human resource policies?

Always encourage supreme performances. Secondly, there is a strong connection between variable remuneration. Always reward talent. Monetary motivation is important. The job of the leader is also to think the future backwards and not just the present. My policy is ‘play to win but don’t play dirty.’