Together good things happen - Airtel

Together good things happen
In a high-tech sector like telecom services, Bharti Airtel treats its people as the most valuable asset
and deploys them in staying ahead of its peers and delivering the brand experience to its
customers. By creating a vibrant culture of opportunity and reward, it strives to attract and retain
talent. The Company ensures there is adequate personal recognition and the employee's level of
motivation and commitment is kept up.
In order to facilitate continual training and skill improvements, Excellence Academies were created
in 2009-10. Specific Academies have been formed within Bharti for the purpose – Marketing
Excellence, Network Excellence, Supply Chain Management Excellence and Finance Excellence
Academy. Customised learning programs were created with partners like – IIMs and ISB. These
programs are highly customised for Airtel and built through a rigorous procedure of needs
identification, content scoping, use of the right learning methodologies and integration of
learning inputs with the functional and business specific skill sets.
At Bharti Airtel the thrust is on overall ‘Capability Building’ of its
people where-in, a wide array of programs are designed for
employees across the organisation. Leadership Development
Program (LDP) under Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL),
Leadership in Action (INSEAD), Airtel Emerging Leaders Program
and Future Business Leader Program are some of the programs
for the leadership people in the organisation. For the middle
management people, the programs such as Managing
Partnerships, Building Collaborative Relationship, Achieving
Business Success and Delighting the Customer add to the overall
capability of the people.
Effective people management is identified as a key factor for
employee delight. Bharti Airtel has placed emphasis on
developing People Managers and has devised specific programs
to ensure that its teams can experience the joy of work. Some of
these include:
Winning Through People
People management skill for 1st time managers
Accelerating Performance through People
Effective team management
Interviewing Skills Program
For selecting the right talent
Performance Management Workshop
For effective assessment of Key Result Areas (KRA’s)
There are also unique opportunities for employees to be selected
for a one-on-one interaction with a top management executive
for a couple of hours. It fosters a better understanding and
creates a feeling of proximity across the organisation structure.
“Reverse mentoring” is another such initiative in which top
employees
The company once again won
laurels at the Frost and Sullivan
Asia Pacific ICT Awards, winning
the Service Provider of the year
2009 and Best Wireless Service
Provider. Making this possible is
the training and HR activity
which maintains team spirit and
brings people together.
management gets a chance to learn from a younger manager.
The topics of interest range from dance & music to new
technological developments, selected basis the interests of the
mentor and the mentee. Employee communication is facilitated
through blogs and informal meetings as well.
The awards such as “Best people manager” & “Achievers Club”
for the teams create an environment of healthy competition
among the employees. The Gallup survey principles are followed
rigorously throughout the organisation and prove to be the key
differentiators for high performing teams.
The intensity of belonging to Airtel family gets reflected in the
enthusiasm for CSR activities among the rank and file of the
organisation. People willingly devote their energy and extend
their support to the cause of the underprivileged children's
programmes, and greening of the environment.
Celebrations are a huge opportunity for team bonding. Bharti
Airtel ensures that the achievements are shared and celebrated
among all the teams. When the milestone of 100 mn customers
was crossed, there was a week-long celebration in the Airtel
Centre in New Delhi. It was a toast to the spirit of excellence and
bonded the people together in the joy of a collective
accomplishment. Large-scale participation in the regular Airtel
Half Marathon and the Great Delhi Run (7 km) and other
outdoor activities indicates the energy levels and enthusiasm of
its people to take the field and sweat it out with grit and glory.
The emphasis on camaraderie and goodwill strengthens the
value system to prevail and be in practice in intra-company as
well as customer-facing relationships. It is how the brand sets
store by good vibes happening between individuals and teams.