1. November 2011
the world of liquor
Easy Job
52
ou might know of the company through brand
names such as Officer’s Choice and Wodka
Gorbatschow, but Allied Blenders & Distillers
Pvt Ltd has now made a name for itself in
the HR department too. Team ABD was
recognized at the second Asia’s Best Employer
Brand Awards 2011 for Talent Management and for Best HR
Strategy in Line with Business.
The awards were meant to recognize how HR has always
been a strategic partner to ABD’s sustainable growth and
how it has ensured the institution’s values and performance
work toward making ABD the “most admired employer”. The
award also indicates to recognise the integrated approach
and practices pertaining to all-round management and
development of talent within the organization.
“This external recognition of Team ABD as a promising
employer brand is a testimony to the collective efforts toward
building a progressive and people-oriented organization,”
says Sanjeev Dixit, Chief people officer, ABD. “It further
reinforces the endeavour to sustain the organisation’s growth
momentum so that it realizes its vision to be the most admired
spirits company and the most admired employer”.
What’s more, Dixit has also featured as a key writer on
internationalcorporatecultureonthewebsiteof DaleCarnegie
Training, talking about the steps being taken by the company
to keep people productive and as well as engaged.
Where employees
Y
love to work
Allied Blenders & Distillers Pvt Ltd is a recognized name in the Indian spirits
industry. But in terms of human resources it was just another company until
recently. A felicitation at Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards 2011 has changed
the scenario altogether.
Sanjeev Dixit
preeja aravind

2. 53
November 2011
the world of liquor
As Dixit writes in his article, “At ABD, we
all are driven and inspired by our vision to be
the most admired spirits company. In order
to live our vision in letter and spirit, we have
taken all-round initiatives to influence heart,
head and soul of our employees so that they
admire ABD as one of the most important
stakeholder”.
According to Dixit, to achieve that vision,
there have been “concerted efforts in the
last many months and years to provide
professionally enriching work environment
to our employees”.
That, in turn, has enabled swift decision
making and also given the employees a sense
of empowerment. It has supported them
with objective processes and policies in order
to not only help develop themselves but their
team members too.
“This has helped us to put in them ‘lead
by example’ motto, which is in-sync with the
overall organizational values and goals. We
aim to convert the values into behaviour;
behaviour into measureable objectives and a
sense of pride, eventually, into admiration,”
he says.
“We strongly believe in the philosophy of
employees coming first. The provision of a
conduciveworkenvironmentwhereeveryone
has an opportunity to get value added
exposure and also learn and develop each
The awards were
organizedbytheEmployer
Branding Institute, a
credible organization
with over six years of
existence that encourages
senior leaders in HR
to connect with each
other to share the best
practices in Employer Branding that contribute to “Talent
Management, Talent Development and Talent Innovation”
across organizations from over 36 countries.
The awards were announced after adjudication by an
eminent jury comprising stalwarts from the industry network
and field of people consultancy at the Suntec Singapore
International Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 22
this year to recognize the organizations that have surpassed
several levels of excellence in benchmarking talent and HR
practices.
A detailed report on the second Asia’s Best Employer
Brand Awards 2011 is available on their official website www.
employerbrandingawards.com for reference. It reflects the
various category nominations and the companies who won
each of these categories.
Some of the key initiatives that were highlighted through
this entry were ABD Academy, ABD Future Leader Program,
Love ABD, ABD Value Star, ABD Employee Referral Program,
among others.
Team ABD during one such fun-filled moment

3. one’s potential. These factors are softer issues that bind a company,”
explains Dixit in his article.
Dixit also reveals that in January 2010, the ‘Core People Vision’
was designed keeping in mind that the HR function would become a
Strategic Business Partner and act as a key contributor to the business
growth agenda of the company.
To overcome the high rates of attrition faced by almost every
industry today, ABD has started various initiatives such as ABD
Academy,ABDValueStar,andABDFutureLeaderProgram,alongwith
the company’s people vision “to be the most admired employer”.
“From 22.8 per cent in 2008-09,the overall attrition has come down
to 11.4 per cent in 2010-11. There is a real feel-good factor across the
organisation about the positive communication and movement in
people engagement which has also reflected in the kind of companies
from which talent has joined us in the last two years,” beams Dixit,
adding “we are confident that these initiatives will eventually grow
into full fledged self-sustainable trees which will bear further fruits of
effective people development and growth in the coming two years”.
We also undertake several organisations-related branding activities
that help position us favourably in the eyes of the talent market. We
showcased our good practices and USPs at Asia’s Best Employer Brand
awards held in Singapore in July 2011. ABD was the proud recipient
of the ‘Best Practices in Talent Management Award’ and ‘Best HR
Strategy in Line With Business award’. These awards are testimony
that we are heading in the right direction, says Dixit.
“It’s our ‘Living Our Values’ in our day-to-day working that
results in very informal, open and friendly work environment where
teamwork is alive and kicking. We make sure that we keep the work
environment exciting for the employee. There is a positive buzz
around due to our growth activities and new brand/products launch,”
adds the chief people officer.
According to Dixit, the company also makes it easy for Gen X and Y.
“We make sure we give them the right training and exposure by
getting them involved in key meetings and industry forums. The idea
is to empower them so that they know that the company values them.
The ultimate approach is to leverage the inherent strengths of both
set of employees and maintain an optimum balance in the overall
composition.”