Interns were quickly off the blocks, shedding off the initial awkwardness as they overcame regional and institutional boundaries to be part of a strong network of well-wishers. These wonderful bunch of people would then go on to support each other for the next 60 days. With project charter as my guidebook, I took a deep dive into the sea of uncertainties. My anchor in this ocean of uncertainties turned out to be my tutor. She fed me with nuggets of wisdom that sparkled my 60 days of learning, unlearning and relearning.
The biggest takeaway for me from my tutor was that despite all theories and frameworks out there, the most efficient way of approaching a problem is to have an open mind and listen to the aggrieved. Experiencing happiness in the voices of those employees who were waiting for somebody to ask them ‘How can I help you to make your life at HUL better?’ was one of the high points of the internship.
My project was on identifying the cultural and structural pain points in HUL finance and implementing feasible solutions for the same. As an organisation that had its core focus on marketing and sales, HUL’s strategic vision was to have leaner support function. In many ways, my project was explorative one as it didn’t have a clearly defined problem statement. The challenge was certainly bigger as it demanded me to navigate the uncertainties without giving a great deal of time to ponder.
Fail Fast!
As the internship progressed, I realised that the idea of failing fast is so ingrained in HUL’s organisational philosophy, they were looking for similar traits in interns as well. The whole process of reaching out for information from project stakeholders, beneficiaries and top management team demanded me to step into the shoes of street-smart T20 cricketer and display the perseverance of a test cricketer. Like a zoo animal released into the wild, I navigated the corporate wilderness with a sense of youthful vigour. My survival toolkit in these unknown territories included an ever-smiling face, willingness to learn and a functional laptop.
Setting the prejudices aside, I met my target group through focus group discussions, interviews and special cutting chai sessions (A crowd favourite at the campus café). As I was completing my laundry list of cultural and structural pain points, employer branding team kept interns’ lives like a good chef who knows the taste of their guests. Us, interns were entrusted with tasks ranging from visiting a research facility to going live on Facebook with an objective for a larger organisational learning. We, interns, were like this army of ants who were running around collecting nuggets of wisdom from those who took HUL into unprecedented heights of business success. With the finesse of a potter, I was able to mould my clay of anxiety into a beautiful pot of confidence and commitment.
Lord of FMCGs: The Two Towers
Once I created my list of structural and cultural pain points, I moved to the ideating and benchmarking phase at which point, I connected with my classmates, alumni, teachers, members of the industry for their perspectives. Perspectives kept flowing in and I felt much like our neighbourhood chaat uncle as I tried to mix ideas into a tasteful bhelpuri.
In addition to my tutor with whom I was reporting on a daily basis, I was also assigned with a mentor who was giving broad guidelines on what the organisation requires from me and how my work would fit into the larger scheme of things. My tutor and my mentor were those pitstops that helped me unclutter myself and inspired me to go beyond making good-looking presentations. The energy and commitment they used to display while work to an extent that they would even turn up for work ignoring family priorities in an organisation which is quite open to the idea of working from home inspired me to push my frontiers.
Game-Set-Match!
Like every other Human Resource Intern in HUL, my primary objective remained fixed at improving employee productivity. The cultural and structural diagnosis was only one of the many paths I was assigned to achieve those objectives. For structural diagnosis, my energies were directed at identifying where the organisational pyramid was found lacking, how those numbers stacked up against other FMCG giants and how it was related to the productivity at a departmental level. Results of cultural diagnosis demanded me to design a capability programme for the target group.
At one point I was even confident about piloting one of the workshops I envisioned in my design. Nevertheless, I was able to create an end to end plan that had answers to a major share of challenges that HUL finance had faced then.
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Time flew by and before I knew, the countdown for final presentation had started. Going into the final few days, I was pretty sure that I should not judge myself based on the outcome of a placement decision. Being a long-distance runner myself, I was able to visualise a brighter future for myself in which I would emerge as a winner even if I am not able to meet short-term expectations. There was an outpour of emotions as internship neared its end. Strangers had already turned friends by then, sometimes over a cab journey back to the guesthouse or sometimes over a drink after office.
The last hurray was memorable by ever-creative employer branding team as they set up a musical evening by inviting in Palash Sen of Euphoria fame along with the unearthing of some serious singing and theatrical talent from the interns. It was carried out through a series of skits that comically depicted how the whole internship turned out from an intern’s perspective.
I spare this moment for those wonderful souls inside and outside of HUL who helped me to shape those two months of my life into a meaningful journey of pushing the limits, touching lives and embracing the spirit of HUL.
Allow me to drift away now with the hope that our paths will intersect once again and recreate the magic that was Summer of ’18.
About the Author
Gautam Jayasurya is currently pursuing Human Resource Management and Labour Relations at TISS, Mumbai.
Ever since his graduation from National Law University, Gautam Jayasurya has made meaningful contributions in the diverse fields of Law, Public Policy and Rural Development. An aspiring HR professional with a penchant for marketing ideas and creative thinking, entrepreneurship, he dons the role of a martial arts practitioner and football player when he's not engaged professionally.
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