EMPLOYEES
The workforce at Hindustan Zinc
VEDANTA LIMITED RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE 'TOP COMPANIES TO WORK FOR IN ASIA' IN 2016 BY ACES
Our employees are key to our success and sustainability. Their safety and well-being is our prime responsibility. Above 70,000 workforce across the world is not only our hands and brain, but also our heart and soul. Their depth of knowledge helps us dig deeper and their ambition takes us higher. We, on our part, introduce and enforce future-looking policies and innovative programmes to aid all-round professional development and personal well-being of our employees.
We invest in our employees across every stage of their career, right from induction and on boarding, to training and honing their leadership skills. This not only helps us leverage the power of a dynamic talent pool, but also enables engagement and motivates employees to aspire for more.
OUR PRIORITIES
ORGANISATIONAL GROWTH
While natural resources companies globally have gone through a cycle of downturn, leading to muted hiring in the sector in the recent past, we continued to attract global talent during this time.
WE BELIEVE THAT FOR ORGANISATIONS TO GROW SUSTAINABLY, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ITS PEOPLE GROW PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY. AT VEDANTA, OUR EMPLOYEE-CENTRIC HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES NURTURE CULTURE THAT FOSTERS ENTREPRENEURSHIP, INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, RESPONSIBILITY AND DIVERSITY.
Our operations are spread across four continents and eight countries. At all these locations, we ensure that the ratio of entry level wages meets or exceeds the legal requirements and complies with all applicable laws. With regards to gender, the ratio is 1:1 and we don't discriminate in any way in terms of standard entry level wages.
We are committed to provide equal opportunity to our employees irrespective of their race, nationality, religion, gender or age. Most of our operations are in remote and lesser privileged areas and for our operations, we focus on recruiting the local population.
A significant percentage of the senior management and our employees are recruited from the country in which our operations are located.
Total percentage of locally hired Senior Management Personnel
We invest significantly in developing and retaining key talent to drive innovation and efficiency within the business.
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ATTRITION RATE FY 2016-17
5.34%
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This year, our HR teams across group companies initiated various programmes that included benchmarking processes and policies. We aspire to imbibe best-in-class practices to become a 'great workplace' that attracts and retains talent.
INITIATIVES
ACHIEVING GROWTH AMBITIONS WITH THE RIGHT MANPOWER
THE PEOPLE POWERED PLANT
To keep pace with the growing global demand for Aluminium, Vedanta Ltd. set up two smelting plants at Jharsuguda, Odisha. The expansion of the 1.25 mtpa smelter plant-2 was pivotal to this growth strategy. But while the plant and the required resources were in place, we needed quality manpower to operate it as per the Vedanta quality standards. Finding the right talent is vital for any natural resource industry to implement the task, contribute to our profit as well as benefit themselves.
Taking this challenge head on, the HR team at Jharsuguda devised a comprehensive recruitment process:
Talent Attraction The team conducted recruitment drives and engaged with students across college campuses in India to ensure a skilled and vibrant workforce
Robust Induction The internal Learning & Development team designed a robust induction programme covering topics of Safety, Operations, HR, IT, Finance, Excellence & Innovation initiatives for better and faster assimilation in the organisation.
Buddy Programme All the new recruits were provided with a 'buddy' who would informally guide and support them for the first year.
Engagement In addition to recruiting the right talent, it is important to keep them enthused. Several employee engagement activities; ranging from a welcome party, talent competitions, sports tournaments and cultural events to a platform for interaction with senior management was introduced.
WITHIN A SHORT SPAN OF TIME THE HR TEAM AT JHARSUGUDA HAS BEEN ABLE TO SOURCE A TALENT POOL OF ABOUT 800 EMPLOYEES AND THROUGH FOCUSED EFFORTS HAS ENSURED THAT THE REQUIRED MANPOWER IS THERE TO ACHIEVE THE STATED BUSINESS GOALS.
ENGAGING WITH GLOBAL TALENT
During the reporting period, Vedanta Limited launched its 'Global Internship Programme' (GIP). Through this programme the idea is to bring on board professionals who are currently undergoing courses in Ivy League colleges and who can share fresh perspectives on business, and in the process benefit from the mentorship by leaders, on live projects.
VEDANTA'S GIP ENGAGES WITH PRESTIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS LIKE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, WHARTON SCHOOL AND THE LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALONG WITH OTHER HIGH RANKED INSTITUTIONS.
In this programme, during the year, ten dynamic and diverse students from London Business School were inducted.
The GIP is designed for high achievers to apply their academic knowledge, analysis and business acumen to some of the most challenging projects in a real-life environment. The interns are provided mentorship throughout the internship and their progress monitored.
The first batch of students commenced their projects in June 2016 in the duration ranging from 6 to 12 weeks. Every project had well defined deliverables, targeted outcomes and learning opportunities outlined.
TALENT MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT
At Vedanta, we encourage employee development by providing enriching roles through job rotation, mentoring, coaching and career development opportunities. Over the years, we have deployed a range of talent management programmes and training initiatives and these have evolved over time and have helped us to remain at the top of our game.
During the year, we organised Internal Growth Workshops across the businesses to identify, develop and promote 'New Leaders' both in 'Technical' and 'Enabling' core functions. Our senior-most management team anchored the initiative, where the new leaders were identified through a structured process. These identified leaders were then given accelerated growth opportunities by way of transformational roles for delivering business goals.
EMPLOYEE TRAINING
man-hours
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Full Time Employees
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Contract Employees
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Male
536,837
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Female
82,923
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Male
712,255
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Female
14,499
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AREAS OF EMPHASIS:
| 1 | FUTURE LEADERSHIP | 2 | DIVERSITY & INCLUSION |
Focus Area: Future Leadership
INTERNAL GROWTH WORKSHOPS
Vedanta attracts the best talent given its core strengths of high quality performance, governance and value-based architecture. The challenge is to develop and groom this talent to become highly competent professionals capable of taking up leadership roles in the organisation. We believe that the dynamism, agility and passion of our professionals will take us into the next growth orbit. This led to the inception of Internal Growth Workshops.
Promoting internal talent to leadership roles has been in the DNA of the Vedanta Group since long and has been key to our rapid growth. During the reporting period, Chairman of Vedanta Limited, Mr. Navin Agarwal gave this process a shot in the arm by institutionalising a structured process to identify, nurture and deploy young talent across hierarchies.
OBJECTIVES OF INTERNAL GROWTH WORKSHOPS
Identifying young leaders through a structured process
Developing highly competent leaders
Providing growth & recognition
In each of these workshops there is a panel comprising senior executives from businesses and functions, which evaluates the talent and identifies suitable opportunities and leadership roles within the organisation.
I WAS SELECTED IN THE CHAIRMAN'S WORKSHOP AS ONE OF THE YOUNG HR LEADERS AT VEDANTA AND WAS GIVEN THE CHARGE OF HEAD-HR, SK MINES, BECOMING THE YOUNGEST FEMALE HR HEAD FOR A UNIT. I AM PROUD TO BE A PART OF THE ORGANISATION THAT TRULY BELIEVES IN DEVELOPING YOUNG LEADERS FROM WITHIN.
GUNJAN AGNIHOTRI
GROUP HR
Internal Growth Workshops:
1,200
high performers covered in over 50 workshops
300
new leaders including technical and enabling functions across Vedanta
20%
women professionals selected for higher responsibilities
Focus Area: Diversity & Inclusion
WOMEN-FRIENDLY POLICIES
We believe in collaboration of perspectives and ideas of diverse individuals that can result in superior outcomes for the organisation. We are ever committed to have a diverse workforce and groom our employees to take up leadership roles. The Company's Board has 13% representation of women and has set out a target to reach to 33% by year 2020.
Our progressive women-friendly policies in the areas of internal growth opportunities, leadership development, engagement, women-networking forums and enhanced parental leave policy have made us the one of the top companies to work for. Our support for gender parity has been reiterated by becoming a signatory of the 'CEO Statement of Support' for the United Nations' Women's Empowerment Principles (WEP) - ‘Equality Means Business'
In the reporting year, various Vedanta business launched unique initiatives to help women connect with other women in the organisation to share their experiences, advice and insights.
9.4%
FULL-TIME FEMALE EMPLOYEES
(FY 2015-16: 9.4%)
Networking Forums
We have various networking forums at our business locations. This year, our Iron Ore Business launched Tarang, a developmental initiative for women professionals across functions including Geology, Civil, Mining, Maintenance, Finance and others. Such structured interventions support improvement in gender diversity in our Executive Committee teams.
During this period, TUFemina was launched by Sterlite Copper, where women employees get an opportunity to learn from the shared experiences of Women Leaders.
Parental Leave Policy
Settling at work, post maternity leave, is challenging and often becomes a reason for high women attrition rate across industries. Considering this, a new parental policy was launched by Vedanta that ensures smooth transition.
The progressive and proactively introduced parental leave policy provides paid maternity leave for 26 weeks, adoption leave of 12 weeks and paternity leave of 1 week. For returning mothers, the policy also provides flexibility to move into another job profile to manage work-life balance.
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| No. of employees who have taken parental leaves in 15-16 |
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| No. of employees who returned to work after parental leave and who were still employed next 12 months after their return to work |
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| Retention % |
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Empowering Women
is integral
to corporate
philosophy, culture
and environment of
Vedanta
is integral
to corporate
philosophy, culture
and environment of
Vedanta
Retention % is calculated basis the no. of employees who returned and were in continuous service for next 12 months / no. of people who went on parental leave.
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BEST COMPANIES FOR WOMEN |
| Vedanta Ltd. has been recognised as one of the '100 best companies for women' in India by Working Mother and AVTAR. |
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & RETENTION
Employee Engagement is one of the key pillars for us to drive business performance and productivity. Engagement initiatives are taken every year across geographies, levels and functions to keep our employees enthused and focused.
We understand that collective bargaining offers the opportunity to build a constructive relationship between management and union representatives. Negotiated agreements include clauses on productivity, health and safety, working conditions, remuneration, allowances, incentives and bonuses. We have a collective bargaining mechanism at our HZL (47%), Zinc International (79%), KCM (86%), Sesa Iron Ore (68%), CMT (36%), BMM (86%), Skorpion (79%) and BALCO (57%) operations.
In addition to the engagement modules mentioned in the Stakeholder Engagement section on page 48, some of the major initiatives introduced or taken forward during the reporting period were:
Leveraging technology - Virtual connect sessions
Mr. Navin Agarwal, Chairman Vedanta Limited addressing employees during a town hall
During the year, Vedanta Resources Chairman Mr. Anil Agarwal interacted with more than
5,000
employees across
30
locations |
5
countries
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With a dispersed workforce, like ours, it is important that employees across the organisation understand the larger picture and how they can contribute towards achieving the organisational goals. This year, we organised virtual town hall meetings to share the business priorities and facilitate a two-way dialogue. Impetus was given to initiatives like 'Waste to Wealth' and cascade sustainability thought process across the organisation.
Town hall has also enabled various seamless live sessions between Vedanta Senior Executives and its employees using personal computers, laptops and mobile devices from any location through webcast. Using town hall session, employees have been able to leverage the power of video and PowerPoint slides streaming on demand, question & answer sessions, voting options, and like/comment during a live session in a highly-secured environment.
Fostering Communication through Social Media
Vedanta recognises the growing popularity of social media as a medium for engagement and communication. Our constant endeavour is to foster culture of transparency, collaboration and knowledge sharing in a proactive manner within the organisation.
We partnered with a leading social media platform (also accessible through an application) and introduced 'Workplace' a Vedanta social platform that enables Vedanta employees to share business updates / thoughts using highly interactive and user-friendly tools such as live videos, events, news feed, posts, likes, comments and media upload option. Within a few months of the launch, the platform found wide acceptance amongst the workforce.
INITIATIVES
In what symbolises Vedanta's strong people philosophy, a landmark initiative V-Connect was launched to enable employees make meaningful contribution towards business growth while cultivating an environment of engagement and accountability.
V-Connect is a programme that connects our Talent (high performers) with 'Anchors' (senior leaders) and provides an opportunity for Talent to discuss career aspirations, share their development areas and seek guidance on development journey. In the journey, the aim is to keep the talent engaged and achieve better performance.
This initiative is being program-managed and supported by our consulting partner, Aon Hewitt. An app called 'Aon Lead' connects both the parties seamlessly to share, communicate and track their performance, participate in challenges and offer feedback.
In Phase 1, around 1,000 'Talents' were identified across the Group Companies to be a part of V-Connect. For this talent, we identified a group of 70 'Anchors' including ExCo leaders and our Chairman Vedanta Limited. Each talent has been mapped to an Anchor and interacts on a regular basis - either one-on-one or in a group.
IN PHASE 2, LOOKING AT THE INTERESTS ACROSS THE ORGANISATION, V-CONNECT HAS BEEN FURTHER EXTENDED TO ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL POPULATION OF 12,000 EMPLOYEES.
While recruiting is important, it is equally essential to retain this talent for continuous growth and efficient operations. As Vedanta drives into the next phase of growth, this talent pool will drive excellence and innovation to create sustained, long-term value.
Scorecard for Success
Employee recognition increases performance and is key to retention. To bring out the best in our employees, we have put in place a Performance Scorecard for our employees and are driving this as a project along with Aon Hewitt.
This year we have created around 3,000 Performance Scorecards across Vedanta businesses and functions with clearer goals, measurable targets & defined performance levels. Next year, we aim to extend this coverage to entire professional population.
OUR ASSOCIATION WITH OUR EMPLOYEES GOES BEYOND BEING JUST TRANSACTIONAL. THE WORK DONE BY OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM AT LISHEEN MINES, WHICH CLOSED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD, IS A CASE IN POINT.
| CASE STUDY |
WHEN CLOSURE MEANS A NEW BEGINNING
CHALLENGE All mines have a finite reserve of ore and thus, are destined for closure. This closure also leads to job losses, which can be a very tumultuous experience lest one is prepared for it.
The management at Lisheen Mine recognised that it was critical to prepare its 360 employees for the loss of their job and ensure that they receive adequate training and support to prepare them for life beyond Lisheen Mine.
The workforce at the Lisheen operations has been instrumental in ensuring a positive legacy.
ACTION When the mine closure was around two years away, we made employees aware of the situation and shared all the timelines with them. Monthly communication meetings were held, in which the Life of Mine (LOM) and the probable closure dates were discussed.
Additionally, a comprehensive programme 'Outplacement' was developed and rolled out to all 360 employees over these two years. Under Outplacement, following initiatives were taken up:
Comprehensive training courses were deployed for employees to identify and choose future options, and realise their strengths and skills set. They were also taught to write their CV and prepare for interviews
'Start Your Own Business Bootcamps' were organised which ran several additional courses, ranging from basic computer skills to conversion of existing machinery operation tickets for use outside of Lisheen
All employees were given a grant of €750 to spend on training to enhance career opportunities
Morale committee was established to monitor employee morale and report to the management
Motivational speakers were brought in to speak to employees to boost their morale and achieve better focus
IMPACT
IMPACTThrough 10 phases, starting from March 2015 to December 2016, all 360 employees were covered by the Outplacement programme. It addressed people's concerns and anxieties, ensuring that positive mentality was maintained all thorughout the potentially difficult last few months.
The programme has been quite a success with a majority of ex-Lisheen employees finding alternative work. While some have moved into other industries, some continue to work for other mines in Ireland. Few workers have also chosen to stay within the Vedanta family and have moved to our mines in Africa.
HEALTH & WELL-BEING
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We are living in a fast-paced world, where keeping abreast with the changing times often costs one's health and well-being. Staying healthy infuses enthusiasm and confidence in the team and also boosts the overall productivity of an organisation.
We look at overall well-being of the employee. Therefore, we take immediate and corrective actions against any discrimination which could hamper the personal and business sense of the employee. This year, two such incidents of discrimination were reported in Black Mountain Mines. These were resolved and dismissed by the disciplinary committee.
During the year, our Group Companies initiated a range of employee health and well-being programmes, some of them are mentioned below:
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) launched a 100-day wellness journey, Nchingilile Ubumi, a Zambian phrase which means “I will protect my health”. Under this programme, in addition to walking, a whole host of physical activities like aerobics, soccer, golf, netball, cycling and volleyball were encouraged.
Sterlite Copper's e-clinic provides a telemedicine platform where the employees can get online consultation from an in-house medical team as well as other specialist doctors and counsellors. 2,551 employees have used this facility to get timely medical consultation.
GRIEVANCE
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