HP UNPLUGGED | EP 06 | ft. Mr. K S Shetty | Director - Human Resources |

See, communication they say is the lifeblood of organizations. This is the most important thing in any organization — that communication needs to flow down to all parts of the organization. Be it the communication of a vision, be it the communication of strategies, be it energizing our employees and bringing alignment to those strategies and vision — I think communication is a very key thing. Second, HPCL is also a very large organization. We have many moving parts and not all employees are exposed to various parts of the organization. It's also important for them to know what is happening there, to understand what the leaders in those strategic business units think about the future of their business, and for employees to relate to those changes happening at both a micro and macro level. Fourth and most importantly, I must congratulate you because I've been getting messages from a lot of stakeholders beyond the organization — be it our superannuated employees, our dealers, distributors, people from the general public — they've been very happy that we've been able to get a platform through which communication is happening both ways.

See, change has always been there and it will continue to be there — in the past, present, and future. But what is actually changing is the rate of change. In the last 10 to 20 years, the rate of change has become disruptive so fast in terms of technology and many other things. While this tradeoff will always be there — one side, as a government company, we have regulations and compliances to meet; second, the challenge is how do we absorb the new changes and technologies coming into play — we've been able to do a good balance so far. For example, in talent acquisition: on one hand, you have presidential directives and compliance, and on the other hand, a lot of technology enablement has been introduced. We have digitized the entire application-to-shortlisting process. We've also brought in robotic process automation and digital enablement for payment of fees and other things. Second, in capability building — one side is the compliance of clocking 52 hours of learning, but how do you make it more interesting and enabling? We have introduced platforms like self-paced learning and a new CBMS system, taking classroom content into digital environments — artificial reality, mixed reality, augmented reality, and simulators at our refineries. We're making the learning experience more holistic and interesting. This is where we bring the tradeoff between compliance and technology.

I would say we're living in very interesting times. When I took over as Director HR in May 2023, there was a lot of change happening both externally and internally. Externally, there's disruption around the energy transition space, digital, the Net Zero narrative, and climate change. Internally, the company is looking into new business lines — petrochemicals, LNG, green and renewable energies, alternative fuels like biofuels. So the HR 2.0 strategy meet we held in June 2023 was to bring alignment between our HR challenges going forward and the new, naya HPCL that our Chairman talked of in January 2023. We have now brought eight Centers of Excellence within HR, and we've made our strategy into three buckets — short-term, middle-term, and long-term, where long-term is 18 months. I'm happy to share that most things in the short and medium term have already been achieved, and we're excited to get into the long-term changes we plan to bring.

When you look at the talent acquisition space, there are four important pillars: acquisition of talent, retention of talent, diversity, and inclusion. For acquisition, I break it into three buckets — build, buy, and borrow. Build is taking fresh talent from campuses and through the HPCL Entrance Test, primarily for existing core businesses like refining and marketing. Buy is for new businesses like petrochemicals, LNG, and renewables, where we go to the market for talent we don't have internally — we've been doing that in R&D, petrochemicals, and LNG. Borrow is for leapfrogging into technologies like digital absorption, where we align with big four consultants to fill gaps and scale up rapidly. Overall, retention has not been a problem — our overall turnover is about 3%, including retirement, ERS, and resignations. Within that, less than 1 to 1.5% is attrition from resignations, mostly within the first six months. We're not very worried about exits in those segments. On branding, we've appointed brand ambassadors from our campuses to carry the word about HPCL. For retention, we have curated programs like the MBA Oil and Gas for fresh engineers, and HPUA for identifying early leaders with 7 to 8 years of experience. We also provide vehicle loans and laptops from day one. On diversity, about 23% of our recruits last year were women — our highest ever — but it's work in progress. We're also making policies more women-friendly and our workspace safer. We take diversity seriously, including people with special abilities and affirmative action from backward sections of society. Our SC/ST and OBC associations have received praise from parliamentary committees and the National Commission on SC/ST. A lot of good work has been done, and we have a strong foundation to build on.

I wouldn't bracket our employees only into 25 to 30. We need to engage with employees at all age groups — those who just joined, those 35 to 50, and 50 and above. We have various communities within and beyond the organization, including our superannuated employees. At HPCL, our Chairman laid down a philosophy that we should not work on work-life balance but rather life and work balance — work is only a subset of the entire life. So when we look at HR development, we look at a person holistically — their personal interests, professional aspirations, and growth needs. We focus on processes that bring both organizational and personal value. In professional advancement, we have the MBA Oil and Gas, leadership development programs, and continuous competency building. In the personal space, we have employee wellness initiatives — Young HPG for officers below 35, Reboot for those 35 to 50, engaging platforms for those above 50, and Golden Reunion for superannuated employees. At HPCL and HPHR, we believe engagement is a continuous process from the day someone joins through to after they exit the company.

The theme of our Golden Jubilee celebration is what we call Panch Mahabhoot. Very recently, our company became a Maharatna company, and we're celebrating around these five elements. We have curated exciting events throughout the year in each of these spaces. These are for current employees, superannuated employees, and the extended community — NGOs, dealers, and distributors. We want to engage with everybody who has helped build this company. We are grateful — over the last 50 years, this company has become great not just because of the present management, but thanks to countless people who contributed in different ways and capacities. They laid a great foundation, and the current management's responsibility is to make it grow and pass the baton to the next generation. Our vision is that by 2047, HPCL should be one of the greatest energy companies on planet Earth. That vision fires all of us up to take this company to the next level. That's where in our HR 2.0 strategy meet, we talked not just of transformation, but from transformation to transcendence — taking an escape velocity to a totally new orbit.

A good question. In the morning, I set aside time for yoga. I practice at home and even when traveling — it only requires 6 feet by 3 feet of space. I've been doing this for 10 to 12 years. Second, I enjoy evening walks with my spouse — it's a good time to catch up on our day. And third and most interesting, I spend time with my pet Caesar. He's a big stress buster, eagerly waiting at the door every day to welcome me — whether my wife and children are there or not, Caesar is there. But primarily: yoga, walking, and reading a lot. These are things I love doing in my free time.

My last message is that HPCL has been a great company to work for, it is a great company to work for, and it will always continue to be so. This company has stood for its core values, what we call HP First. These values — being free, frank, and fair; integrity; respect for individuals; sustainable performance; and teamwork — are embedded into our culture. I want to ensure that as we grow larger, these values must be enshrined and reflected in every facet of our business. I want to thank you and the entire team for bringing me on this episode of HP Unplugged. I wish a great year ahead to everybody.