Attrition a concern, but not a bother: HAL

Bangalore, May 28: Defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited losing skilled manpower to the increasing number of multinationals and private sector, has put in place several innovative measures to arrest attrition.

''Attrition is definitely a concern, but we need not bother about it as we have checked the rate'' Mr Sanjeev Sahi, Director (Personnel) of the Company told UNI adding that mostly staff in lower levels were being weaned away. He, however, would not give the numbers. a growing number of aviation multinationals setting shop in the country with the increasing defence and civil aviation business are hawking on HAL for talent.

Waking up to the reality and despite its constraints as a PSU, HAL had fine tuned its HR policies and practices to retain its valuable staff. Improved compensation package, incentive system, accelerated promotion and sponsoring staff for higher education were some of the new measures taken to keep employees interest in the organisation more focused, he said adding that already some of those who had left the organisation were keen to return.

The Company which had a total staff strength of 46,000 in the 1980s was currently left with 31,000 and there was a manifold increase in the production turnover. This number should be okay, Mr Shahi said considering the huge order book the company had.

He said that instead of sponsoring individuals for higher education, the Company was currently implementing a scheme were in large number of officers are sponsored to several institutes of higher learning as a group to acquire higher qualifications. Talks were on with IIMs, IITs and Management Development Institute.

''The idea is to form 'crack teams' to mull over challenging tasks and problems across various HAL units'' he said adding these teams would form core groups.

''Ultimately we have to have excellent products, on right time and at competitive rates'' he added.

Mr Sahi said that we are shaping future leaders in the sector. Catching up with the time and shedding the typical Public Sector Undertaking outlook to compete in the fierce aviation market, especially in the defence sector, the Company besides rejigging its HR policies has also embarked upon on new processes and tools to not only cut costs, but effectively improve productivity.

''Sampurna Parivartan'' (total transformation) is the buzz word for the officers and employees of HAL as the organisation and its suppliers are taking to the novel concept of lean manufacturing in a big way.

Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) to improve overall customer value. Lean is often linked with Six Sigma because of that methodology's emphasis on reduction of process variation (or its converse smoothness). Lean manufacturing is a set of 'tools' that assist in the identification and steady elimination of waste, quality is improved, production time and costs were reduced.

The Forge and Foundry division is currently exposed to lean manufacturing and the results are amazing, Mr Shahi said adding ''the results are dramatic, not inconsequential''.

The employees have embraced to the new thinking of the company wonderfully and were awestruck by the results. Every one in the shop floor is involved in the transformation as they follow the flow chart of the process, cut down those which did not add value and eliminate unnecessary work. ''we plan to cut down the working time and costs by nearly 50 per cent so that the production can be doubled''. The passion for work among the employees had also enhanced considerably, he added.

UNI