A Fruitful Sunday


Sundays are welcomed like VIP guests. The only DAY which doesn't disturb sleep, which doesn't disturb clock, which doesn't get suffocated in ultra-packed, over-dense crowd of dadar platform No. 2, and which is blessed with calm and peaceful afternoons !!!


I along with 2 of my friends were a bit annoyed on one such Sunday, when we had to go to college to attend an extra lecture (the degree of annoyance was somewhat subsided by the fact that  it was FM lecture, esp. for one of our Finance-savvy friend :P :P ). Also, then we had scheduled an interview of one of the top managers of ONGC. This was a part of our curriculum. The good thing was that the house of that person was near our college, the bad thing was that we would have to sacrifice our afternoon. But our FM lecture in the morning had elevated our energy levels (esp. of our  Finance-savvy friend :P ) , and with pretty good lunch, we were set ready for our afternoon session with Mr. P.S. Chauhan, General Manager, ONGC.


The next one hour was a memorable one. We set all equipment required to shoot the interview. I gave a brief introduction about our project to Mr. Chauhan ('uncle' as we called him then ), and we started with the interview. We had prepared the set of questions, and Uncle was patiently answering all those, very precisely and to the point. We covered various aspects about ONGC, right from company profile, operational details, business model, e-business, online websites, portals to CSR. 


Prima-facie, we were knowing that ONGC is an oil and gas company with prominent presence in oil market. Also its a PSU. But as Uncle was answering our questions, our perception about the company was becoming broader and broader. ONGC is Asia's second largest oil and gas exploration company, has presence in several countries and is NOT a oil-marketing company (like BPCL and HPCL) !


ONGC is one of the few Government organisations which has implemented SAP system for its operations and supply chain processes. It is one of the first companies in India to implement Online performance appraisal system (e-PAR). It spends a lot of money on training and development. The important point in all this was that the ability to respond to a CHANGE,  in which ONGC has proved to be an ACE. Unlike, conventional government officials  (with due respect to them) which are reluctant to change, esp. from offline work to computer work, ONGC employees have grasped the system changes, and are comfortable to use the systems. The Change Management provision of the company seems to be strong. ONGC has dedicated training centres, and it makes sure that employees are trained appropriately for any system change.

Another important point was, ONGC's proactive policy for Climate Change.  The kyoto protocol has laid down caron emission levels on the company, but the company is smart enough to not only keep its emission levels under control but also take advantge of CARBON TRADING on carbon markets. It is aware of its responsibility towards better ecology, and hence a lot of Green initiatives have been undertaken by ONGC.

The most interesting point in the interview was that ONGC doesn't entertain social media. It doesn't have any presence in the sphere of social networking. The company has a strong and robust Knowledge management system, that facilitates healthy knowledge sharing and also builds social bonds within the company. It hardly advertises on Media websites. The employees make effective use of internal online portals which facilitates knowledge sharing.

We ended our interview within 45 minutes, and Uncle was humble and kind to offer us some snacks and tea ! With every sip of Hot tea, i was thinking about my preconceived notion about Government companies, a smile washed away that notion ! With every piece of snack, i was thinking how companies respond to CHANGE, and why is it necessary to change, an eye-wink dragged some determination in my heart.  AND finally with every word of vote of Thanks, i was also feeling sorry to disturb Uncle for his SUNDAY afternoon, a pure wish for his well-being removed that guilt !

However, for us it was really a fruitful SUNDAY. A Sunday that taught us to respond smartly to CHANGE, a Sunday that changed our perceptions and perspectives, and a SUNDAY that was never like ANY OTHER SUNDAY !!!!

- Gaurav