In Pursuit Of The Intangible - Summer Internship Experience At JSPL

JSPL’s visit to the campus

“Industry 4.0, Technological revolution being the last and the most dynamic of the industrial revolutions, altered the way we live, work, and relate to one another.” - The Director Group HR, JSPL

His insights on the VUCA world had formally introduced us to the challenges of the world. The interview experience set the tone for what was awaiting at JSPL. Having been interviewed on the ease of implementation of contemporary tools, a context has been set on the emphasis on technology and the business importance of the projects we would be assigned.

 

Enroute JSPL – First impressions

On the 1^st of April, while I’m fixated on thoughts about what’s in store for me at JSPL, the cab I took had leisurely made its way into sector - 48, Gurgaon. From a distance, I could see a huge Indian flag swaying in grandeur in the early morning breeze. Little did I know that it is where my trip would end. Hoisted to a 100 ft. long pole, the Indian flag felt magnificent.

I was a bit late, and so was welcomed by all the other interns and our POC with a rather ruffled look. We were briefed about the organisation and soon followed by an illuminating session by the HR Advisor to JSPL, my would-be mentor, whose words resonated from his rich experience.

“You, interns, are a team of special forces. JSPL could use the fresh perspectives you bring and do hold-on to the audacity to question the status quo”

Later that day, all the interns across 3 locations interacted with the CEO over video conference. His dynamic personality and his hunch for problem-solving created an impact at the very first interaction. He iterated that these projects were a brainchild of his notion – an intern should get ample opportunities to learn and see to it that the projects are implemented and should add value to the organisation.

“The projects assigned to you are real-life problems and we expect an implementable solution to each one of these problems at the end of the internships”

 

An elusive assignment

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? - Robert Browning

I worked on a project whose horizon could be extrapolated to the whole of the organisation and whose need is felt across the rank and file – The cultural aspects of the organisation.

The culture of any organisation is what the employees perceive it to be. Organisations would want that ideal culture, wherein the business strategy aligns with the organisational goals and the employees are the flag-bearers in the process. Seems simple right! Yet this is the most elusive subject which most organisations rub their noses in.

So, it’s quite uncommon that I wouldn’t find it difficult to swim through the soup. The logical step to take is, I need to understand the problem first. But where exactly do I begin?

 

The problem statement 

“The human mind has the most ingenious of ways to sabotage the things which aren’t in line with its ideology,”

On my 1^st interaction with my mentor, he quoted the above phrase and asked me to take an objective approach to the problem and don’t be bogged down by emotions.

Understanding the two aspects of every business, the restraining forces and their psyche, what fears are they inducing. And the driving forces to foster the change is the challenge I took up. I figured out that the best way to understand these forces is to reach out to the employees who are at the frontline where the effects of these forces are most felt.

The dictionary meaning of ideal is best possible. Since there is no perfect or a precedent to a culture which can be taken as an epitome, finding the right mix possible is my task at hand.

The leadership at JSPL has its vision and an ideal state of culture which it wishes to have. I felt I should be the medium to bridge the gap between the self-perception of JSPL’s culture & the stakeholders’ perception of it.

So, I designed an online survey to understand the stakeholders’ perception of the culture. My mentor is happy with the approach and the questionnaire and I have been given complete autonomy to administer the survey. The results showed an ominous gap in perceptions.

Most of us live our lives dictated by circumstances, the restraining forces as I call them. To understand the circumstances, I wanted to visit the plants and understand the ground realities to which I was readily granted permission.

 

In pursuit of the ground reality 

This experience of my visit to the factories will be etched as the best learning experience I have had. I designed a questionnaire to qualitatively assess the employees’ perception of culture at JSPL. I was personally endorsed by the CEO and my mentor to carry on the exercise and thereby my presence at the plants and my work were considered to be of high importance by the administration. I can never forget the warm reception I received there. The employees viewed me as the messiah, the messenger to the organisation and have poured their hearts out. It was as emotional to me as it is to them, which made me realise the full scale of onus that is on me and the impact this project would create from my findings. Felt the need to defy Murphy’s law.

This realisation made me ponder about a question which the HR Director wanted all the interns to ask their respective mentors after the 1^st week of commencement of the internship.

“Ask your mentor what will success look like. Document it, mail it to them and thank them.” 

Fortunately, he is my mentor. But unfortunately, I never asked him this question! The urge to ask him the question was felt that day.

“You haven’t really earned your salary, if you haven’t done something new in the last 6 months.” A measure to self-introspect, for which I had just 2 months.

With lots of memories to look up to and a lot to deliver at hand, I made my journey back to the corporate office. Invested a lot of time to analyse the quantitative and the qualitative data I have. Made a comprehensive report and a final quote by my mentor to wrap up things before the final project review, “Prepare a story so compelling that the graphs and the histograms would corroborate your findings.”

“Trust comes on foot and returns on horseback.”

 The appreciation I received on multiple fronts from the various people who were part of my 2-month journey made me believe that I had done justice to the trust that has been laid in me.

Adieu

The L&OD Lead, who happened to be the alumnus of my college IIM Ranchi, was the cornerstone during my internship journey. At JSPL, the opportunities to explore are immense and the visibility for value adding work is immediately felt. I miss the staff, the healthy canteen food and most of all the most fulfilling 2 months of my life.