At West Coast Paper Mills, employees often perceive the organisation as an extended family where leaders act as mentors who prioritize both well-being and professional development. Here communication culture is open, informal and frequent, fostering transparency and the exchange of ideas. The decision making process is often decentralised, allowing inputs from employees at various levels. ‘‘We are building a culture that supports employee’s ability to move around within our organisation,’’ K. Panigrahi, its Sr. GM-HR (Corporate), shares with Paper Mart.
Paper Mart: Describe your approach to talent acquisition and recruitment. What has helped you attract the right talents?
K. Panigrahi: Our talent acquisition approach is aligned with our business needs and the strategy involves the use of various recruitment methods, technologies and practices. We use various sources of recruitment to attract talent to our organisation which includes using job portals and social media, implementing employee referral programme, checking resumes posted online, considering past candidates and attending industry related meetups, etc. We also take the help of consultants for critical positions whenever required. We treat the candidates like our customers. Creating an employer brand and maintaining a transparent hiring process considering company culture has helped us to attract the right talents.
PM: Given the presence of your mills in rural areas, what are the challenges that you face in drawing talents there and making them stay.
KP: Since our factory is located in a remote area, many candidates are not willing to relocate here. Education, transportation and good housing are the main challenges we are facing in drawing the talents and making them stay.
PM: Help us understand the people-focused culture you have nurtured in your Organisation.
KP: In our organisation, teamwork and collaboration are highly valued with emphasis on mutual support and trust among members. Our employees often perceive the organisation as an extended family where leaders act as mentors who prioritize both well-being and professional development. Here communication culture is open, informal and frequent, fostering transparency and the exchange of ideas. The decision making process is often decentralised, allowing inputs from employees at various levels. We give importance to employee engagement activities. We organise various events to inculcate good employee friendly culture in the organization. With this, we have created a congenial work environment at West Coast Paper Mills.
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PM: Walk us through some of the distinct employee welfare initiatives you have rolled out.
KP: Our employee welfare initiative includes housing facilities, arrangement of transport for the employees to and from the factory, providing subsidized meals through canteen. We organise health camps and annual health check-up plans for our employees. As part of employee welfare, our employees are covered under Mediclaim Insurance, Group Term Linked Insurance and Group Personal Accidental Policy as well.
PM: Please discuss the upskilling programs you have introduced for you mill employees.
KP: We have been conducting various internal and external training programmes regularly as per the annual training calendar as a part of the upskilling programme. We are building a culture that supports employee’s ability to move around within our organisation. We have conducted leadership training programmes for assistant managers and above cadre employees who will be our future leaders.
We give importance to employee engagement activities. We organise various events to inculcate good employee friendly culture in the organization. With this, we have created a congenial work environment at West Coast Paper Mills.
PM: How important is diversity and inclusivity to your organisation? Please explain.
KP: Diversity is very important in any organization. At WCPM, we give importance to diversity and inclusivity. In our organisation employees feel valued, respected and empowered irrespective of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, religious beliefs, disability status and socio-economic background. We give fair treatment to all employees and ensure everyone has equal access to career opportunities, resources and rewards regardless of their background or circumstances. Our employees are from various parts of India and they all are part of our company’s growth journey.
PM: Please elaborate on the initiatives you have taken to help increase women’s participation in your workforce.
KP: Although there are some statutory obligations which the management has to comply with while giving employment to female workmen inside the factory premises, we have taken initiatives to increase women participation in the WCPM workforce. The women workers/employees have been engaged in many areas: finance and accounts, company’s medical, security, canteen and housekeeping department.
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PM: What has made your organisation a fun place to work?
KP: Every employee wants to be appreciated in his workplace and feel happy. In order to make our employees happy, we celebrate employee’s birthdays and work anniversaries and make such events memorable by having a small gift, small team lunch, etc. and make sure that the celebration is fun. We organize many events for our employees through the staff club. We also organise movie shows, Holi, Srikrishna Janmasthami, Dandiya, Diwali Celebration, Garden Party, etc. With these events, we have made our organisation a fun place to work with positive vibrations.
