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INDIA’S FIRST & ONLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR INDIAN CEMENT INDUSTRY VOLUME 37 • October 2022 • NO 3

Refractories:
‘Tech’ing Up!
Automation, upgradation and robotics are key for
the future development of the segment.

Interview | Sustainability
 Interaction

“Automation will help make the job of

our human resource more productive.”
Poonam Sharma, HR Director, Heidelberg Cement India Ltd. and Zuari
Cement Ltd., sheds light on the human resource factor in the cement
industry, given its labour-intensive nature and safety protocol.

Cement industry being labor intensive

industry where physical presence of the
manpower is required especially at
production sites. How were you able to
manage the availability of manpower during
the COVID times?
As per the government norms and covid restrictions,
initially we allowed only one-third of the total workforce
in the workplace, gradually increasing it to about fifty
percent as restrictions eased up. Eventually when all
covid related restrictions were lifted, plants worked
with full manpower capacity following the safety
measures like wearing masks, making sure that social
distancing was observed by the workforce and moving
to contact-less attendance system. There were regular
temperature checks at the workplace and we regularly
sanitised the workplace and supplied oxygen cylinders
to the hospitals in our colonies. The Organisation
tried to provide as much support as possible to our
employees and their families which helped seamless
operations at the plant and our production output Poonam Sharma, Human Resource Director,
remain unhindered. Heidelberg Cement India

With the easing of COVID outbreak and Post the pandemic, there was a sudden spurt in
economies coming back to normal, is there hiring from all around in the industry. We observed
any change of strategies in terms of driving a that retaining talent became a big issue for the
positive work environment? organisation and hence we started looking at avenues
We were allowed to work from home for almost for employee retention. To begin with, our efforts
a year. This was a new way of working bringing in a focused on providing enhanced opportunities for
realisation that much was possible in the new connected employees to grow and learn. Although the Organisation
virtual world. Many of us became more skilled in always promoted internal talent, we formally launched
the IT world. an internal job portal, giving maximum opportunities
As employees got back to the office, we continued to our in-house talent while promoting them to the
to take covid prevention measures. If there was anyone available vacancies. The capacity expansion and sudden
who was Covid positive or had a family member who transformations in the Indian cement sector created
was Covid positive, we allowed them paid leave. multifold opportunities for talent movement across
This rule applied to all employees including workmen. the industry. It is likely that much exchange of workforce
We created a quarantine facility for our workmen will happen through the pull and push within the
as well. sector, with employees moving to greener pastures

54 | INDIAN CEMENT REVIEW | October 2022 www.IndianCementReview.com

 Interaction

as any given opportunity. We have also been endeavoring disputes and violations?
to provide learning opportunities and hiring fresh Cement is a labor-intensive industry. We have
talent from the campuses as well as laterally as a unions in all the plants. We have installed monitoring
reinforcement strategy. We have not been hiring systems and access control for all those who enter
externally for the key positions, preferring to fill them our units, be it our employees, contract labour or
with people from within the organisation. visitors. We do have to make efforts to maintain a
Another initiative that we took was introducing harmonious environment in the plant; however, we
special sales incentives and reward programs in have been able to maintain peace almost always, we
order to keep our field- force motivated and reward believe in preventive maintenance rather than
the performers. breakdowns and especially in employee relations than
Initially we used to have career planning and Industrial relations. Towards adding value to our
succession planning only for the senior most people. employees, we have been organising shop floor trainings
We now have gone down one level, creating a healthy for Wage board and contract workmen. Last year,
pipeline for talent in place and in our pursuit to create we introduced a pilot program for our workmen where
a positive and motivating work environment. we took them out to an offsite venue for conducting
behavioral training which was very well appreciated
Once the lockdown restrictions were by the workmen. Hence, considering the good response
removed, were there any challenges in we have now been planning more such interventions
bringing back the workforce to office? How for workmen for motivation and skill upgradation.
do you feel the attrition rates have changed We have our quarterly town hall address by our
post COVID? Managing Director for both staff and workmen. It
As mentioned earlier, the opening of offices was helps them understand the direction in which the
a sigh of relief for many of our employees as it was business is headed, the issues that the business is facing
a sign that the world would finally return to normal, which is followed by an open house where they can
and we would regain our freedom to socialise without ask questions directly to the Managing Director. This
fear after all. Those who were afraid of technology, gives them a sense of inclusion and makes them
found themselves discovering how they could achieve understand the areas in which we need their support.
far more, connect to a larger section of teams, save As of now, our workmen are very supportive, and
the traffic snarls and time taken to reach office and we do not have any major issues/disruptions.
still get the work done efficiently. Many Organisations
moved to a permanent WFH policy or the hybrid With Automation and robotics being on the
model, considering the benefits like cost saving without rise, how do you feel it would affect the
losing quality and productivity. workforce in the cement industry?
However, there was also a realisation that the office As of now cement is a very conventional industry
doubled up as our social circle was healthier with where the shop floor is concerned and it is slowly
in-person meetings now replacing the grueling on- getting completely automated, and we have the CCR
screen time. Also, most people felt that they were machinery, which allows computer monitoring and
working longer hours with more screen time when controls to some extent. There are certain areas where
they were working from home and there was a pressure the operations are to a large extent computer controlled
of always being online. Also, there is always that and operated, especially the data collection and updates,
sense of being alone when one is working from home, but the industry at large, is still manual and labour
while in the workplace there is interaction and a sense intensive. Therefore, hopefully the automation will
of normalcy. help make the job of our human resources more
While returning to office physically meant more productive and error free and slowly the dependence
time in traffic and other commuting issues, considering on manpower may get reduced.
the other benefits, employees welcomed the decision While we are looking to expand our capacities
of the organisation to open the offices and there and productivity and make our organisation more
was not much of an effort getting back willing people cost effective, there have been some reductions in
to office. manpower where needed. We have also brought in
some systemic controls for our contract labour as I
Dealing with huge manpower, there are labour mentioned earlier. There are many automation projects
unions at the production level. How do you going on in the Company, which we hope will bring
deal with these challenges like labour in more efficiency and enhance productivity.

www.IndianCementReview.com October 2022 | INDIAN CEMENT REVIEW | 55

 Interaction

As mentioned by you, that the senior

positions of those retiring from the
organisation are being filled by the next
in line hierarchy and new talent in senior
positions is not being hired, does that
mean that the average age of the
organisation is reducing?
Yes, the average age in the last 10 years has gone
down a good five years. This had been done through
concerted efforts to replace the outgoing employees
with younger candidates. Apart from that, we are
hiring from campuses and getting young talent in the
workplace, further reducing the average age.
We had observed in the past that this young talent,
especially from the campuses, left sooner than expected.
In recent years, however, our retention has been much Realignment and restructuring of the organisational hierarchy
better. We have a good no. of management trainees has resulted in lowering high cost manpower.
in the sales team and graduate engineer trainees
in the plants and customer services hired from Is there any role of Heidelberg Cement
premier institutes. Group in the HR policies of Heidelberg
We are sure that this will energise the workforce Cement India?
and bring in fresh perspectives in the way of doing Policies are a mix of both, the group policies, and
business. Our aim is to balance the invaluable experience the local ones. The basic tenets of the policies on an
already existing in the company with young energy. organisation level remains standard, like harnessing,
safely operating electrical equipment etc. Safety training
What are the dynamic policies that are there and norms are observed and policies regarding the
in your organisation to ensure the safety of same are very stringent from the group level as well
your employees and labour? as the local level. There is a lot of support from group
As a principle, we have a very strong safety policy level for implementing and standardising policies,
from the Heidelberg Group in Germany. We cater but also local conditions are kept in mind while
to very high standards of safety and ensure continual formulating policies.
sharing of the same through e-mailers and training.
Some awards have been constituted to promote Working in the core sector, how do you
safety at ground level such as the Golden Helmet promote diversity while hiring employees for
award in the organisation that goes to any person your organisation?
who maintains and observes the most safety measures Cement industry is very labour intensive. In our
or implements something radical to increase the safety corporate office we have some diversity. However, in
standards of the organisation. Some employees of the plants and sales offices, we find it difficult to attract
the month awards have also been given to employees women. Our endeavour has been to stay neutral and
who have shown exemplary conduct towards safety. hire on merit and do our best to create an environment
It has been heartening to see women workmen for comfortable working for women candidates.
also wearing the Golden Helmet. They treat it like a Most women who work in the organisation are
crown, as a symbol of pride and honour that they given an even playing field, and being a woman myself,
have earned in the organisation, thus, keeping I strongly feel that women are not weak in any sense
them motivated to keep taking steps in the direction of the way. All we need to do is not discriminate
of safety. against them based on gender and support them
On one hand we are rewarding safety, on the other fulfilling their family responsibilities. We have hired
hand we are also penalising people for violations even women in the sales and the plants as well. Unfortunately,
to the level of termination if they have a safety violation the labour jobs are very labour oriented and there is
history. We also have a lot of training programs on a lot of physical strain involved. So even though we
safety as a reminder to every employee and contact have been attempting to hire diversity candidates, the
worker of the organisation that safety is of the utmost plant’s retention has been an issue. We will continue
importance in the workplace. to take steps in this direction going forward.

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