HPCL- DRIVING GROWTH THROUGH INTERNAL

COMMUNICATION
Managerial Communications II Submission

DECEMBER 18, 2014

SUDIPTA SANFUI
0366/51

Situation Analysis
In 2003 due to major changes in the Indian oil industry competitive pressure
increased in the previously state controlled market. This forced the organisation to
focus on the strengths and the weakness of the existing and the potential
competitors and to channel resources towards one customer segment or another.
Culturally the organisation had to have major transformation after the government
policies deregulated the control thus bringing in the private players. Employees
still had public system mentality and they didnt focus on the customers. For a
long time the employees were used to the customer coming to them rather than the
company going to the customers.

Problem Statement
The organisation had to adapt to a fundamentally altered environment. Due to the
change in the policies of the earlier state controlled industry, the change in the
culture and mentality of the employees were essential to sustain the growth of the
company.

Statement of Purpose
The employees of the organisation are required to focus on the common goal and
vision of the company to sustain the growth and maintain its market share.
The commitment of achieving change through internal communication,
constructing new strategic and cultural vision for the company.

Options

Vision Workshops
Visit Marketplace
Transformational Communication
One-to one communication

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Evaluation of Options
Vision Workshops
In these workshops the employees were able to offer their own opinions and
insights on the current state and future course of the company. Here they were
able to hear their fellow employees views and vision. The workshops helped to
promote trust and collegiality among the workshop participants, it familiarized
them with the speculative, aspirational style of thinking that the vision-making
process required. It set up a dynamic in which they developed and explored the
link between personal aspirations and organisations growth.
Visit Marketplace
Formation of cross-functional teams and assigned them to do the market study
and market research and understand where the customer is. They developed a
good understanding of the views of the customer towards the company as
against competing companies.
Transformational Communication
Here the two-way of communication is given emphasis on which would give
shape to the better understanding of the decisions, policies and vision which in
turn will contribute to better efficiencies and approach. One venue of two-way
communication is MyHPCL, the companys intranet portal.
One-to -one communication
HPCL executives strongly preferred one-to-one communication as the belief is
that if the employee finds that somebody cares about him, then it has
tremendous impact on the on their outlook. The company operates in a large
market and cannot rely too extensively on one-to-one communication between
leaders and employees. HPCL executives hold large scale town hall meetings to
have their relatively physical way of one-to-one communication.

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Conclusion
Behind the vision workshop program was a managerial vision of what the program
could achieve for HPCL, and more broadly a vision of what internal communication
could achieve. In the first conversation they enabled employees to talk with one another
about the core purpose of the company and its place within a larger business context.
The second conversation emerged as HPCL leaders engaged directly with the first
conversation creating an interactive process in which they not only delivered messages,
but also listened to what employees had to say.
The market place visit initiative brought in varied and new ideas which changed the
future brand image and service level of the company. In one such example one female
employee from the finance office suggested that the HPCL outlets on the highways
should have clean ladies washrooms and that is what which gives it the competitor
advantage. In a similar stint another market research team resulted in key insights on
how the company could improve its retails performance by improving its retails
spacing. Taking up these insights HPCL began to modernize a large portion of the
roadside gas stations. Another set was findings that dealt with the opportunity to serve
the rural markets. The employees came up with a plan to place small retail outlets in
the rural areas called Humara Pumps and the performance of these pumps were much
better than expected and returned the investment in 3 years and side by side it
increased the brand insight in rural areas.
The two way communication through platforms like MyHPCL and Coin your idea
are great and robust initiative by the leaders of HPCL. This gave the employees to share
their ideas and views and also get rewarded if the idea was found to be effective and
feasible. By implementing these types of communication and programmes the company
brought win-win situation for all.
The effects of these programmes were tested during a time when in January 2009 the
employees of OIL SECTOR OFFICERS ASSOCIATION called for a strike regarding the pay
scale control by the government. All the employees of other oil companies went on
strike but the employees of HPCL served to meet the surged demand in the market
during these days. Robust internal communication played a key part in enabling HPCL
to stand out amongst its peer companies. As the strike deadline neared, the company
directed appeals to its officers via email and through HPCL intranet. In addition leaders
help one-to one communication with numerous officers, urging them not to join the
planned work stoppage. During these 3 days HPCL served day and night to meets the
demands of the country and brought in the sense of dependability amongst the
customers and also praised by the government for this great deed.

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