HR Challenges in Infrastructure: Can Anyone Share Insights on L&T's Approach?

Hello everybody,

I am working on an assignment on HR challenges in the infrastructure industry with special reference to L&T company. Can anybody guide me in this respect?

Thanks a lot.

Dipti D.

Hi Dipti,

Could you please be more specific in your query so that our seniors here can help you.

One of the basic challenges for any HR professional is to recruit, train, groom the right candidates, and retain them.

L&T's HR department is considered one of the top 10 in the world. They have a stringent recruiting method and employ various effective training techniques to groom their candidates to compete and excel in the global workplace. Their screening methods are so strict that the shortlisted candidates are even referred to as champions when they enter on-the-job training. They also utilize effective retention strategies. You may consider reaching out to L&T staff/HR to learn about their transparent best practices and gain some insights.

We hope that the senior members will offer you better ideas. You can also conduct a Google search for additional information.

Hi there,

Thank you for your response. I have an assignment on the topic of HR challenges in the infrastructure industry, and I have been assigned a specific company to study, i.e., L&T. I have reached out to some people working at L&T to gain insights into their HR practices, particularly regarding their appraisal and training processes. However, I am still in need of more information on HR practices and challenges.

Unfortunately, I do not personally know any HR professionals from L&T. Could you please provide me with some links or references where I can gather additional information? Thank you in advance for your help. I have already reviewed the company's website.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Dear Member,

Without any specific reference to any company, I believe that in general, infrastructure companies face the following challenges:

- Talent management: Identifying the right fit for roles; retaining talent; grooming leaders for critical roles; Succession planning up to at least 1 level below critical roles.
- Strategic HR issues for corporate and sites; Managing the contradiction of uniformity and diversity.
- Appraisals and rewards; Measurability of key activities and tying rewards for various milestones; High rewards Vs sustainability.
- Managing separations; outplacements; maintaining a healthy relationship with ex-employees.
- Issues of social infrastructure at sites; schools, education, comfortable living standards for families; entertainment; avenues for social service for spouses; CSR.
- Maintaining a healthy relationship with the society around sites; with opinion leaders; with local leaders; with the administration of the district; with law & order authorities; with concerned statutory authorities for the smooth completion of projects and operations.

I hope this partial list is useful.

Hello,

Thank you very much for your guidance. These points are very helpful for me. I am just having trouble understanding points related to healthy relations with ex-employees and high rewards vs. sustainability. I have also identified some additional points regarding rehabilitation placements, late returns on training of these recruits, and work-life balance of employees.

Regards,
Dipti D.

Hi Dipti,

The infrastructure industry refers to core sectors of the economy: Cement, Oil & Natural Gas, Power, Steel, Petroleum refined products, etc.

The challenges for the sector can be identified during TWO phases: the Project phase and Operation phase.

In the project phase, the likely issues include acquisition of land, identification and establishing linkages for sources of raw material, water, and major markets; identification of technology, equipment vendor, major construction-erection contractor/agency; identifying a host of various agencies for sundry works, establishing a PERT network, and monitoring progress of work; establishing cordial and collaborative relations between various agencies at the work site, etc.

You can get an idea of the magnitude of the work if you imagine up to 10,000 persons working on an infrastructure site, in a precise manner, in a pre-planned way. Here, timely delivery of resources is critical to the completion of tasks, which form input for the next task.

In such a site, skilled manpower is always a scarce resource. As such, skilled persons are always sought after by resourceful organizations/contractors/sub-contractors to complete assignments on time, to avoid heavy penalties as a consequence of delays.

So, in this background, an agency can leverage "HEALTHY RELATIONS WITH EX-EMPLOYEES" by requisitioning their services as a freelancer, at an opportune time, and pay a premium for their time. Since such deployments are for short bouts of time, HR of that establishment needs to trade-off between "High rewards & Sustainability" of such rewards over a period of time.

Hope I have been able to create the scenario...