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Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Driving Change Through Internal Communication
Question No. 1
How it HPCL go about building and reaching a vision to be a
world-class company? What actions and practices were most
important?
In 2003, a wave of extensive changes in the Indian oil Industry drove the
leaders of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited to launch a major
organisational transformation e!ort. It was inevitable for the Company to
build a long term strategic vision to survive and also to be World Class
Company. Instead of focusing the strengths and weaknesses of existing
and potential competitors or to channel resources towards one customer
segment or another company it decided to turn inward. Using a variety of
innovating as well as traditional methods of internal communication, the
company sought to integrate employees into the transformation project
and also to engage them personally in the goal of making it work. Most
interestingly the world class vision was not designed by an external
consultant. Company conducted various “vision workshops” to create this
vision. These workshops were conducted by the people selected from the
company and employees from all segments contributed into this vision.
Connecting the personal vision of the employees with the vision of the
company was the key.
Realisation of the fact that ‘If the corporation grows, I can meet my
personal aspirations’ has really helped the company in creating a vibrant
vision and the employees really owned the vision purely because of the
fact that it was created by them.
A problem solving process was designed by the employees itself wherein
they identi/ed the problems, diagnosed the causes, suggested the
solution and a clear plan to implement the solutions. Through regular
internal communications the top management could reach the bottom of
the pyramid and could make them aware the strategy of the top
management. Since the vision paper was made by the employees the
company could avoid the feeling of unrealistic expectation by the
management. It could also be right in saying that the company could
manage the emotions of the employees more e!ectively. It is worth
mentioning that HPCL could develop a relationship among people wherein
they develop a relationship with one another that enable them to
exchange information and wield influence. Through regular personal
interactions, the top management could convey their body language to
the people visibly. Personal interaction has helped the company to move
from a monologue mode to a dialogue mode. They could create a feeling
among employees that somebody cares for you and that made a
tremendous impact. The top management could create an internal feeling
of satisfaction among employees that they have accomplished meaningful
for the company. All the above contributed and helped HPCL in building
and reaching a vision to be a world-class company and actions taken by
the top management was purely in line with the thought process of the
employees.
Question No. 2
How did employees respond to change and communication
e"orts? Why did they react as they did?
When a monolithic organization with PSU work culture like HPCL thinks about
transformational organizational change, the challenge is not how the outside world views or
accepts the change, rather the bigger challenge is whether the change management concept
itself rises above the scrutiny of ever cynical and chronically skeptical employees of the
large organization. getting the positive buy in of cross section of employees who view such
disruptive changes as a challenge against statuesque mindset was the biggest hurdle before
the leadership of HPCL. That is why the organization turned inward in their change plan
before focusing outward on the customers.
Much against the conventional wisdom, the leadership of HPCL decided to be very
aggressive in charting a robust direct communication exercise with the employees thru
multiple routes.
How did employees respond?
Openness and broadmindedness of employees
The unionized sta)s demonstrated their broadmindedness and sense of purpose by putting
aside trivial local issues while discussing about the company’s future. When sta)s responded
with the comments that the organization should have a vision to become a “global” energy
company, it displayed the deeper desire of the employees to see a prosperous organization
that was brought thru the visioning exercise.
Unity in purpose
The collective thought process of the employees across multiple locations spanning many
cultural diversities was visible when uniform vision statements were coming out during
envisioning exercise.
Experiential change
The response of the employees to adopt a transformational change was ampli-ed when
groups of cross functional employees leaving their comfort zones went and lived in the
market place for a considerable time interacting with not so sophisticated customers to
explore their articulated and unarticulated needs.
Micro level ideation
The success of the communication and change process adopted by HPCL appears to have
been owned by the employees when they suggested some very exciting ideas that had a
bearing on the highway marketing strategy of HPCL. Similarly when the employees
enthusiastically participated in the ICS activities of the intralink application and became
party to Idea generation, it was a re/ection of the employees belief and conviction that such
inputs will be evaluated and considered by the organizations.
Informal communication and interconnectedness
