As new joinees wait near the Main Gate, one or two HR representatives would arrive there around 9 a.m. After a brief introduction to parents and candidates, they guide everyone to the Canteen. As you cross the security guards in uniform, green lawn sprinkled with water, young staff moving around the work entry complex in green overcoat, every scene is new and unseen to you. When you walk down the stairs towards canteen, the sprawling half-white buildings suddenly introduce you to the spread of the factory with surprise.
Those were the days when mass recruitment was in full swing. If am right, 40 candidates joined 15 days before our date of joining. I vaguely remember 23 candidates joined with me. I remember on 3rd Oct 1989, 60 candidates joined.
Once you reach that large 800 seater canteen, you will be signing several forms as part of joining formalities. After that, you will be given a pre-printed A3 size form called ‘All About Me’. You would be prompted to self introduce by filling the boxes that essentially works like an ice-breaker amongst the group. Though some of the new joinees would wonder what to fill, they might copy the contents from others. I have noticed this based on the information pattern that exists in several forms of employees who joined on the same date. You will see the display of such forms in Notice Board or Manithuligal (the famous titan wall paper). Many new joinees used to mention ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ or ‘Mother Teresa’ as their favorite person. For favorite hobbies, most would mention ‘Poem writing, essay writing’ as their hobby. Any one who wrote his hobby as ‘Poem writing’ is sure to receive a phone call from R.Balaji, inviting contributions for Manithuligal.
I am sure you might have ego searched in the internet several times (searching your own name in Google). Similarly, those days many of us were keen to see our ‘All About Me’ form in the Notice Board. Introducing new joinees in an informal manner but making it interesting and vivid was one of the successful and innovative practices of HR. Even today, in many organizations, such practices are quite unheard of.
In later days, when I worked in Wipro, a colleague who was close to me as coffee time companion, never shared that next day was his last day at work. That incident made me feel that only few organizations can successfully bond their employees and Titan is one of them.
Those teens who filled ‘All About Me’ forms are the ones implementing the latest solutions like SAP Adobe Forms in many organizations across the globe.
How did that happen and what’s the role of Titan as an Organization in such (r)evolution?
… to be continued
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Day One Hungama
Fresh in my memories - first day at Titan – Sep 15, 1989. I am sure thousand and odd people might have already had the similar experience. We were at our adolescent age.
When you look at the group of new joinees standing on the side of main gate, you would notice some arrived with their parents to join No. 3, 4, 5 – Sipcot Industrial complex. Few would be in their school uniforms with holy ash in their forehead and rest were near the petty shop with filter cigarettes between their fingers.
Fine, I got a job now, but what’s next? After all, what’s this job all about? How did they select me for this job? When am I returning back to native? – so many unanswered questions running in our mind as our eyes get stuck at hundreds of those same age group employees walking towards the main gate with their identity card hanging in their chest. You may overhear their murmurs pointing at you as ‘New Joinees’.
Some of the new joinees would know their school seniors or locality guys working in Titan. They would have already got ‘insider information’ regarding ‘what is shift, what are the timings for first, second, third or general shifts, how difficult it is to reach at 5:30 a.m. during winter for first shift breakfast’ etc., etc. Those who do not have this information would panic a bit on hearing these unorganized information (like the ones who invest based on NDTV Profit market analyst's recommendation) . Parents would have already started their ‘advice campaign’ to their dear ones on do’s and don’ts.
Over a period of few months, you would notice the guy who came with holy ash in forehead would have picked up a filter cigarette in his hand and the guy who had filter cigarette on the first day has become a fabulous speaker at Hosur Rotaract Club delivering speeches at Victory Shine Hotel. The guy who came in school uniform would have costumed himself with denim jeans and t-shirts, roaming in his Hero Ranger terrain cycle around Dharga streets at 5.30 p.m.
In subsequent posts, am going to share with you, how Titan as an organization, contributed to such transformations for good in these individuals.
… to be continued
When you look at the group of new joinees standing on the side of main gate, you would notice some arrived with their parents to join No. 3, 4, 5 – Sipcot Industrial complex. Few would be in their school uniforms with holy ash in their forehead and rest were near the petty shop with filter cigarettes between their fingers.
Fine, I got a job now, but what’s next? After all, what’s this job all about? How did they select me for this job? When am I returning back to native? – so many unanswered questions running in our mind as our eyes get stuck at hundreds of those same age group employees walking towards the main gate with their identity card hanging in their chest. You may overhear their murmurs pointing at you as ‘New Joinees’.
Some of the new joinees would know their school seniors or locality guys working in Titan. They would have already got ‘insider information’ regarding ‘what is shift, what are the timings for first, second, third or general shifts, how difficult it is to reach at 5:30 a.m. during winter for first shift breakfast’ etc., etc. Those who do not have this information would panic a bit on hearing these unorganized information (like the ones who invest based on NDTV Profit market analyst's recommendation) . Parents would have already started their ‘advice campaign’ to their dear ones on do’s and don’ts.
Over a period of few months, you would notice the guy who came with holy ash in forehead would have picked up a filter cigarette in his hand and the guy who had filter cigarette on the first day has become a fabulous speaker at Hosur Rotaract Club delivering speeches at Victory Shine Hotel. The guy who came in school uniform would have costumed himself with denim jeans and t-shirts, roaming in his Hero Ranger terrain cycle around Dharga streets at 5.30 p.m.
In subsequent posts, am going to share with you, how Titan as an organization, contributed to such transformations for good in these individuals.
… to be continued
Titan – My University
Many of us (ex-Titanians) left Titan at least half a decade back yet when we hear some one around us muttering the word ‘Titan’ or when we read it on the news lines, we mechanically get dragged into our finest days of work life.
Some of the members in this ex-titan group akin to me joined the giant in their teens. We had never expected our life would take these interesting twist and turns in both career and personal life, that we have experienced so far. After spending several years in subsequent organizations, many of us would agree that the learning and experience which we gained during our tenure at Titan is incomparable and difficult to be repeated or simulated in another work place.
We achieved key milestones in life during our Titan days – academic excellence, adolescent to youth or youth to adult evolution, finding our better-half(!), accumulating wealth, career progression, professional acquaintance, etc. After spending 11 years in Titan, I left the organization a decade back. I always love to proudly mention Titan as ‘Not just an organization, it’s my University’. It’s true that we learnt all key skills that we have mastered today only from Titan University.
This is my humble attempt to share with you our collective Titan experience, in my own perspective. My original thoughts usually flow in Tamil (posted at http://youmeandtitan.blogspot.com). English version would hit your mailbox with a delay if you subscribe to guruzinbox@gmail.com. Though it’s not a verbatim translation from Tamil to English, I wish to ensure the essence is not missed. As you might appreciate the fact that Chennai based Mani Ratnam’s Ravanan (Tamil) was rated as better presented than Ravan (Hindi) by his bi-lingual fans, give me that allowance too.
I dedicate this blog to the noble man Mr. Ratan Tata and his colleagues who brilliantly ensured Tata’s corporate objectives were met precisely the way it ought to be. This includes all ex-Titanians and Titanians who still strive for the success of this University.
Some of the members in this ex-titan group akin to me joined the giant in their teens. We had never expected our life would take these interesting twist and turns in both career and personal life, that we have experienced so far. After spending several years in subsequent organizations, many of us would agree that the learning and experience which we gained during our tenure at Titan is incomparable and difficult to be repeated or simulated in another work place.
We achieved key milestones in life during our Titan days – academic excellence, adolescent to youth or youth to adult evolution, finding our better-half(!), accumulating wealth, career progression, professional acquaintance, etc. After spending 11 years in Titan, I left the organization a decade back. I always love to proudly mention Titan as ‘Not just an organization, it’s my University’. It’s true that we learnt all key skills that we have mastered today only from Titan University.
This is my humble attempt to share with you our collective Titan experience, in my own perspective. My original thoughts usually flow in Tamil (posted at http://youmeandtitan.blogspot.com). English version would hit your mailbox with a delay if you subscribe to guruzinbox@gmail.com. Though it’s not a verbatim translation from Tamil to English, I wish to ensure the essence is not missed. As you might appreciate the fact that Chennai based Mani Ratnam’s Ravanan (Tamil) was rated as better presented than Ravan (Hindi) by his bi-lingual fans, give me that allowance too.
I dedicate this blog to the noble man Mr. Ratan Tata and his colleagues who brilliantly ensured Tata’s corporate objectives were met precisely the way it ought to be. This includes all ex-Titanians and Titanians who still strive for the success of this University.
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