ABGLP: Grooming the right talent

The two day Aditya Birla Group organises a successful two-day event for participants of the Aditya Birla Group Leadership Programs (ABGLP)

The two-day ABGLP event, held on 2-3 February 2014, provided 200 young ABGLP managers, from 18 businesses spread across different functions, the opportunity to "learn, connect and build perspectives". This event included sessions with business leaders and turnaround artists of the Group, change makers from outside the Group, a career fair for young talent to seek career opportunities across businesses, and a first of its kind sit-down formal dinner with leaders, some serious networking and much excitement. Indeed, so exciting were the events and the lineup that for the two days no seats went unoccupied and no eyes left the stage and the speaker.

Day one began with a keynote from Mr. H.R Shashikant, Group Executive President, Group HR, who introduced the summit''s theme of ART — ''act, relate, and think''. These oft-repeated words took on a whole new meaning with the three key speakers — Dr. Santrupt Misra, Director — Group HR and CEO — Carbon Black Business, who provoked the audience into thinking differently, Mr. Pranab Barua, Director — Apparel and Retail, who goaded everybody into action, and Mr. Ajay Srinivasan, Director — Financial Services, who spoke on the importance of building relationships. Three distinct approaches came together magically, leaving one with the realisation that to achieve anything of consequence, you have to consciously and carefully blend the three.

To underline the possibilities of ART were two young achievers – one who thought differently (15-year-old Angad Daryani, inventor of a device that converts digital text from Roman to Braille in real time), another who acted courageously (13-year-old Kusum Kumari from the interiors of Jharkhand, who is changing her life through sport), and finally, actor Irrfan Khan, who has honed the art of relating to an assortment of characters into a fine skill.

The words ''think, act and relate'' also tell the story of the evolution of ABGLP — how far the leadership development program has come since its inception in 1997. Mr. Shashikant categorised the growth of ABGLP into three stages — 1997 to 2002 being years of struggle; 2002 onward when individual company hiring schemes stopped and ABG started hiring as a group; and the years 2002 – 2007 when the program grew better and better. The year 2007 was another landmark — with the launch of the true ABGLP in the form of the LEAD/LEAP programs. Yet another milestone was marked in 2012, when HRLP and FLP was launched, which are functional programs to hire HR professionals and CA''s respectively.

What ABGLP offers participants today is a head start, a solid support system and a world of opportunities. Says Mr. Shashikant, "The story of ABGLP is the story of how good strategy and good execution can be combined to deliver great results. Whatever we have achieved has been through the blood, sweat and tears of everybody including participants. The making of ABGLP has been no less challenging and exciting than making a movie, with all the standard elements to keep audiences engaged — action, drama and even romance (Six couples from the scheme have tied the knot!).

But has all the hard work c;reated a world of opportunities for all the stakeholders? The Group and its young leaders certainly believe it has. The ABGLP has given a $40 billion global conglomerate a boost of young talent to set its sights even higher, and it has given a pool of immensely talented and capable people a fabulous opportunity to lead the Group into the future.

Watch Mr. H.R. Shashikant speak about ABGLP and leadership. Visit the Group YouTube channel for videos and reportage of the ABGLP-Leadership and Development event .

Visit www.abglp.com for more information on the Aditya Birla Group Leadership Program. Follow us on twitter.com/abglp and facebook.com/abglp.