The document summarizes a case study of the HR transformation journey of the Piramal Group in India. It details how Piramal partnered with Willis Towers Watson to develop a strategic HR roadmap with four work streams: 1) HR Structure and Governance, 2) Efficient HR, 3) Employer of Choice, and 4) Talent Development. Key activities included streamlining HR processes, implementing performance management and learning systems, developing a talent pipeline through leadership programs, and creating a competitive rewards strategy to attract and retain top talent. The partnership emphasized open communication, co-creation of solutions, and buy-in from senior leadership to ensure HR initiatives drove business results.

1. VOLVII/ISSUE7/JULY2016
Mitigating layoff risks and
optimizing workforce
BIG INTERVIEW
Heather Wang, GE
SPECIAL STORY
Co-creating Success
NEWS FEATuRE
LinkedIn + Microsoft:
What it means to HR!
tailoring
the right
size

2. |JULY 201672 |JULY 201672
sPeCiaLstorY

3. JUly 2016 | 73
the value of partnershIps
Co-CreatIng
suCCess
The first of a two-part series, this special will present case
studies that outline critical enablers and inhibitors to a
successful partnership I By J Jerry Moses
S
ynergy is collaborated effort for a
common motive. When businesses
collaborate to address a challenge,
it is this synergy that fosters
solutions. However, not all part-
nerships manage to do that. It needs more
than just participation to form successful
partnerships and drive business results
– synergy is required at all levels - macro
and micro.
In this special we look at the HR trans-
formation agenda at the Piramal Group.
This in-depth case study outlines chal-
lenges and opportunities that shaped the
company’s partnership with Willis Towers
Watson in building the roadmap for its HR
strategy & transformation. It details the
key work streams and interventions that
the company took on to build a one-Pira-
mal culture; to hire and retain high caliber
talent and create a strong leadership pipe-
line. The HR transformation agenda in
the company was also the foundation upon
which the company’s aggressive business
goals were built.
The success factors that were identified
in the partnership were open communica-
tion and trust. As with any relationship,
driving business results requires partners
to be honest and reliable. Another key
point that was put forth was the need for
‘co-creating’ to solve business problems
– while the service provider brings in the
required subject matter expertise, it is the
client that shapes the intervention accor-
ding to the cultural context within their
own organization. The case study also
projects the imperative of the buy-in and
active participation of the senior leaders-
hip and management, which is crucial to
ensuring that interventions are not perce-
ived as just another ‘HR’ initiative but one
that drives the necessary business results.
In the second part of this series, we will
look at how HSBC and YSC came together
to build their women leadership bench.
JULY 2016 | 73
sPeCiaLstorY

4. |JULY 201674
BuIldIng a
people-CentrIC
organIzatIon
The case study reflects Piramal group’s journey of transforming
the HR function and formulating a HR roadmap in partnership
with Willis Towers Watson
F
or Piramal, it has been a journey
from a manufacturing focused
business to a very knowledge
intensive set of businesses. In
2010, Piramal Healthcare Ltd.’s
domestic formulation business, generic-
medicine unit in India was sold to Abbott
Laboratories for Rs. 20,000 crores, making
it one of the biggest deals in the Indian
pharmaceutical industry and one of the
biggest cash outs in India’s corporate
history.
While continuing to stay in the healt-
hcare business, the decision to invest in
two new businesses was made to bring
in growth for the future along with other
businesses under its fold – from critical
care, glass manufacturing, consumer
products (like Lacto Calamine, Jungle
Magic, and iPill) to consulting and analy-
tics services for pharmaceutical compa-
nies. Piramal’s two new ventures were
Piramal Fund Management business – an
integrated debt and equity platform for
real estate and infrastructure projects; and
Piramal Realty, a real estate development
company, that currently holds 8 projects
under development in the Mumbai metro-
politan area.
For Piramal, a conglomerate of busi-
nesses, the challenges were associated with
the lack of consistency in terms of people
practices and systems, and for building
a cohesive culture & mindset, unique
Piramal culture and a talent pipeline. The
group’s ‘Vision 2020’ articulated the goal
for the company – to become 5 times bigger.
It meant moving from a market capitali-
zation of $4.5 billion to $20 billion, which
demanded streamlining of people practices
and systems across the group’s varied busi-
ness lines. “There were many things that
we wanted to do,” said Nandini Piramal,
Executive Member on the board of the
Piramal Group, “and it included creating
better people systems, infusing a ‘one-
Piramal’ mindset, and attract and retain
high-quality talent” she added. While the
driving vision and a change in the business
mix pushed the need for a cohesive HR
strategy, the company’s wake-up call came
when an assessment of its high potential
talent pipeline revealed that they were not
at the level required by the business. This
spurred a strong business case and created
the buy-in required from business for the
HR transformation journey – transforming
HR structure and efficiency.
Getting the basics right
In the first phase, the HR imperative was
to create credible systems and processes
within the function. Based on employee
feedback, there were two focus areas which
were identified: performance management
and L&D. According to a survey, employees
felt that there was a need for greater clarity
when it came to performance management.
And so the company began sharing infor-
mation about the compensation structure
and variable pay with its employees –
including details about performance levels,
bonus payout and the clauses involved in
it. This step not only enabled awareness, it
created transparency.
Performance management systems
were also enhanced to drive business
results which in turn necessitated the
active participation of the group’s busi-
ness leaders. “Different businesses have
different metrics that are important, for
example, in a pharmaceutical business,
the economic value added (EVA) and
returns on capital (ROC) are important.
For a consumer products business, EVA is
important and for financial services, other
than ROC, the quality of the asset is impor-
tant” stated Srinivas Chunduru, Chief
Human Resource Officer, Piramal Group.
“We got together with business leaders
sPeCiaLstorY
JUst haviNg a ProCess
is Not eNoUgh, YoU
have to make sUre
that there is a
robUst framework
to make the ProCess
work weLL

5. JUly 2016 | 75
and ensured that each of the performance
management systems actually drove the
necessary behavior to drive these results”
he said. So it was not just about creating
transparency, it was also about creating
shareholder value.
For enhancing learning and develop-
ment, the company instituted a university
program, which was the equivalent of a
learning calendar in other organizations.
“We started with six programs and 900
odd people, and now we would have 45+
programs which are unique to businesses
and we will touch at least 10,000 individu-
als,” Srinivas said. Since the group had
varied business lines, the emphasis was
on customization. For example, a manufa-
cturing unit would focus on productivity
with six sigma standards and for the
financial services, it would be customer
centricity. The HR department also took
on the challenge of planning their people
management programs a year in advance.
And when the deadlines were adhered to, it
led to increased credibility of the function
in the system. “By then, we had been in the
transformation journey for about two and
a half years. Since the basics were in place,
we felt a need to align our HR strategy”
Srinivas said.
Transformation agenda
Piramal group’s partnership with Willis
Towers Watson (WTW) began in 2013 with
an employee engagement survey that
covered 6,000 employees. This periodic
listening exercise surveyed the different
HR programs and assessed how satisfied
employees are across employee type, job
level, location etc.,
“What we heard from employees is that
they wanted to know how HR can partner
with them,” Srinivas said. Another key
finding was to do with consistency. Since
the company had a presence in multiple
geographies, the processes and employee
experience needed to be made consistent.
The company also examined key data
points from their previous employee
engagement surveys and collected, for over
two years, information about employee
interests and the direction of individual
businesses.
The primary data and secondary data
bolstered the agenda to create a strong
HR process across the business. And in
the face of a dynamic marketplace and
on-going business model change, there
was a need to re-look at the infrastructure
around which HR operated and the basic
building blocks upon which HR processes
were built. The company reached out to
WTW to help them do this. In December
2014, the company in partnership with
WTW began engaging with various stake-
holders. They conducted detailed intervi-
ews with top management and set up focus
group discussions with employees. The
emphasis in these conversations was to
cull out what the business required from
HR, in order for it to become a true busi-
ness partner. This exercise was followed by
workshops which included both, HR and
business leaders. These workshops were
used as a sounding board to say ‘what is
important and what can be achieved in the
next two years’.
At the end of the 3 to 4-month long
process, four strategic work streams were
identified that formed the HR roadmap.
The work streams were: HR Structure and
Governance, Efficient HR, Employer of
Choice and Talent Development. The work
sPeCiaLstorY
What was strongly displayed
in the project was that there
was co-creation almost on a
day-to-day basis
SHATRuNJAY KRISHNA
Director, Willis Towers Watson
HR IMPERATIVESBUSINESS IMPERATIVES
MAPPInG BUSInESS GOALS TO HR IMPERATIVES
Here’s a snapshot of some of the key imperatives that formed the HR roadmap
Strategic
partner
HR to be
Piramal’s brand
ambassador
Competitive
HR practices
Values
cascade
Change
agent
Responsive
and
trustworthy
Process
driven
Retention
of key talent
Enhance
Piramal EVP
Technology
driven
Informed
decision
making
Build future
ready talent
Make Piramal
‘Employer
of Choice’
Fair and
consistent
Integrate
organization
culture
Strengthen
organization
leadership
sustained growth
higher Customer orientation
New businesses/
New Products
Upgradation of technology
and efficiency
growth through acquisition
geographic expansions
global business orientation

6. |JULY 201676
streams served as a framework to the many
interventions that were to be undertaken.
Describing the need for a framework,
Shatrunjay Krishna, Director at Willis
Towers Watson said “you don’t just have a
process; you make sure the process works
well because you have the right framework.
And so within each work stream, there is a
lot going on."
1) HR Structure and Governance: At
the structure level, the group was a matrix
organization with operations across geog-
raphies and centers of excellence, it was
important that the business interacted in a
regular and dynamic manner. The focus on
streamlining routine work led to moving a
few routine processes out of the HR func-
tion, with a dedicated team within shared
services. A total of 14 HR processes were
moved to the global shared services team.
The company also created a central
sourcing team. While previously, recru-
itment happened at multiple levels, it
was not the best in terms of the process.
Members of this team had previously
worked with executive search firms and
specialized in sourcing.
Another aspect within this work stream
was to do with ‘HR for HR’, in other words,
the development of HR. To reflect on the
opportunities, an HR meet called ‘Neeve’
was organized. So far, there have been five
meets in four years, wherein a specific
theme was identified and a workgroup was
formed. One of the things that the organi-
zation focused on was ‘how to have conver-
sations with the business in a language
that is understood by them?’ As part of the
development exercise, an external partner
was then identified to deliver training. And
the trained participants were attached to
projects that further distilled functional
and behavioral competencies.
The governance piece had to be placed
for streamlining HR processes. As the
company was getting ‘bigger, better and
stronger’, it was important to bring about
the right standards around governance
frameworks so that the service experience
was consistent, whether an employee was
in India, US or the UK. “It was also impor-
tant to find the balance so that HR was not
overly interfering,” Vivek Nath, Managing
Director, Willis Towers Watson said.
The focus for the inter-
ventions in this work stream centered on
service delivery – which involved asking
questions such as ‘how many people does
an HR person serve? What is the turna-
round time? What is the quality of hire?
And what is the performance rating of
people hired last year?’ While these are
some of the parameters, the company is
yet to institutionalize an automatic trac-
king process.
The organization also instituted a
‘Service Efficiency Team (SET)’, which is
the equivalent of six sigma standards that
are used at a manufacturing plant. The
objective of the SET was to take a problem,
create sub-processes and create a tracking
mechanism. The group has 13 SET teams
in HR, out of which six of them have reac-
hed level one, out of a possible four levels.
sPeCiaLstorY
“It could take about four to five years to
reach the top most level” Srinivas said.
The organization has so far identified
a partner for its HRMS implementation
in a six-month long process that included
a detailed review of a number of systems
that also involved business leaders.
The goal
of this work stream was to attract and
retain high-quality talent. “While we had
employees who were old-timers, we also
needed more young and energetic people,”
Nandini said.
In partnership with WTW, a competitive
talent and rewards strategy was formu-
lated. The first step towards accomplis-
hing this was by creating a job-leveling
framework which involved identifying
unique roles, identifying the business unit
size, complexity, and geographical breath;
grading senior and middle management
roles and mapping roles to existing band
structure. The exercise helped bring:
1) Internal equity – across levels/grades
throughout the businesses.
2) External equity – facilitating links to
external market surveys
3) Enabling career movement across the
business units and
4) Enable easier integration and appropri-
ation of roles during M&As
There was a need to understand the
perception of the company in the marketp-
It was not difficult to do the
design, as with any transfor-
mation journey, the change
management implementation
was the most important part
VIVEK NATH
Managing Director, Willis Towers
Watson
it is imPortaNt to briNg aboUt the
right staNdards aroUNd goverNaNCe
frameworks so that the serviCe
exPerieNCe is CoNsisteNt
sPeCiaLstorY

7. |JULY 201678
sPeCiaLstorY
lace. And so the company needed to stan-
dardize its marketing and communication
and work on culture sensitization so that
candidates had a consistent experience of
the company.
The vision
was to create a strong talent manage-
ment program which would encompass a
competency framework, standardized and
scalable job family architecture and career
architecture, so employees can progress
across levels and businesses. WTW partne-
red with Piramal group to code success-
ful patterns of behaviors by creating
and rolling out a group wide behavioral
competency framework. WTW is currently
working with the group to deploy their
scientific job leveling methodology (Global
Grading System – GGS) across business
units. Work is also underway towards
defining a group wide career management
strategy supported by tools and resour-
ces that include career paths, movement
criteria, accelerators, success stories and
employee guidebooks.
A graduation-like HiPo program
for senior and middle management
was created about a year ago called the
“Ascendance” program. It included 15
percent of the high performers, who were
shortlisted at the middle management
level. After reviewing their performance
and taking into account the preferences,
whether it is general management or
specialization, they go through a year
long program, sponsored by senior
management. It includes a six-day program
with Harvard Management Mentor, an
individual development plan and a cross
business project that is closely reviewed by
senior leaders.
Another similar program called
“Summit” is focused on the leadership
team (vice presidents and above). It
includes a six-day classroom learning
session, one business impact project and
access to a development council that
includes four business CEOs, who review
the progress of the participants.
Managing the transformation
The implementation of an HR
transformation at this scale needed
detailed review and follow-up. “For a
firm like ours (WTW), it was not difficult
to do the design, because we embark on
journeys like this a lot. Like with any
transformation journey, the change
management implementation was the
most important part,” said Vivek, “I
think other companies spend a lot of
time on the design, but Piramal Group
was very aware of the need to focus on
implementation and worked closely with
us” he added. Management and review of
the transformation exercise were done on
multiple levels:
A
PMO was constituted which was led by a
WTW consultant for the first six months, it
was then transitioned to the Piramal team.
The PMO consisted of one consultant from
different businesses have
different metrics that are
important… we ensured that
each of performance mana-
gement systems drove the
necessary behavior to drive
these results
SRINIVAS CHuNDuRu
Chro, Piramal group
Project
Leadership/
Steering
Committee
Business and HR leadership
Willis Towers Watson MD
Senior stakeholders to
review project outcomes
WTW Consultant as PMO Lead 1
(for six months)
1 HR professional
(transitioned to PMO lead in six months)
Operationalexcellencemember1
1 Senior line manager
Project Management Office
Project
Management
(Office (PMO
Project Management
(Office (PMO
HR Head
Senior Leadership
Working Committee
(First-level Project deliverable
review)
PMO and Work-stream
Interactions
Overall
Project
Management
Subject
Matter
Expertise
Issue
Resolution
Sounding
Board
Provide
Business
Priorities
Vendor
Selection
Implementation
Support
Success
Measurement
Stakeholder
Management
Contingency
Planning
Change
Management
Quality
Assurance
HR Structure
& Governance
Employer of
Choice
2 to 3 HR representatives
2 to 3 business representatives
Efficient HR
Talent
DevelopmentProject Work-streams
List of key stakeholders
overseeing the
transformation exercise
HR TRANSfOR-
MATION
MANAGEMENT
AND
ExECuTION
sPeCiaLstorY

8. JUly 2016 | 79
WTW (for six months), one dedicated HR
professional (who transitioned to PMO
lead after six months), one operational
excellence member and one senior line
manager. The team was responsible for
working with project representatives of
the different work streams to 1) Finalize
project plan and project charter 2) Provide
project review and update guidelines
(including creating templates, conducting
reviews, presenting updates) 3) Review
solution design and quality and 4)
Review service providers selection and
evaluations.
2) Project work-streams: Each of
the project work streams were made up
of 50 percent HR (2-3 representatives) and
50 percent business representatives. And
their interactions with the PMO spanned
a number of issues: overall management,
subject matter expertise, stakeholder
management, contingency planning,
change management, quality assurance
and so on.
3) Working Committee: A working
committee was formed to review the
first-level of project deliverables. This
committee constituted of the PMO, the
head of HR and senior leaders from the
business.
4) Project Steering Committee: Every
quarter, there was a review of the project
outcomes by the senior leadership team.
This team consisted of the Managing Dire-
ctor of WTW, Chairman of the Piramal
Group, and CEOs from the business and
the HR leadership.
While HR transformation agenda is
still ongoing, from a project perspective,
it is expected to take two-three years to be
completed. But parts of the program will
continue to go on for the next five to six
years, and a few processes would be imple-
mented every year, and there will be a need
to continually make adjustments. There-
fore, consistently tracking the project is
critical to the success of the project.
Challenges and success factors
For a transformation of this scale, the key
challenges were centered on communi-
cation and getting relevant stakeholders
on board. Both WTW and Piramal group
worked towards mapping stakeholders
involved and understood the concerns of
the stakeholders. Some key questions that
they asked were ‘how will the stakeholder
look at this project? What is the benefit
that they are likely to have? What are
some concerns that they will raise?’ This
exercise enabled them to take a pro-active
approach to driving change. “What was
strongly displayed in the project was
that there was co-creation almost on a
day-to-day basis. In fact, the HR blueprint
came about not only because of working
together with HR on a day-to-day basis but
also working with the business on a day-
a ‘Job arChiteCtUre’ framework
shoULd heLP UNderstaNd how Jobs
are orgaNiZed aCross skiLLs aNd
kNowLedge, so that emPLoYees CaN
Progress aCross LeveLs aNd bUsiNesses
Values are deeply personal.
We take decisions based on
our values. Since we have
different kinds of businesses
at different levels of matu-
rity, values are what bind us
together
NANDINI PIRAMAL
Executive Director, Piramal Group
to-day basis” Shatrunjay said. In every
discussion, inputs from the business
leaders were taken. It was ensured that
every work stream was owned equally by
business and HR. The active involvement
of the company’s senior management
team including the Chairman and CEOs
of the diverse business lines immensely
contributed to the smooth execution.
The company’s long-standing
emphasis on values – knowledge, action,
and care was also instrumental in driving
the change agenda. “Values are deeply
personal and so we talk about values and
live them. We take decisions based on
our values,” Nandini said “Since we have
different kinds of businesses at different
levels of maturity, values are what bind
us together” she adds. In the course of the
transformation, the company embarked
on a journey of re-articulating the values
of the company through workshops and
storytelling campaigns. This created
the excitement within the company and
ensured a two-way engagement. As the
results of the HR transformation exercise
are already beginning to be felt, it is
being aligned to the company’s aggressive
goals, and the group has set itself in a
strong place to weather any possible
storm.
sPeCiaLstorY