Published on July 14, 2023
Mentors, Team Leaders and Process Consultants involved in the Business Excellence Assessment process attended the Mentors’ Programme 2023 organised by Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG) at Taj President, Mumbai on July 14, 2023. The programme was organised to discuss key updates in the Business Excellence Assessment process and share experiences of CEOs, Mentors and Team Leaders. The session was attended by senior leaders of various Tata group companies, along with Sanjeev Singh, VP & Head TBExG.
Namrata Basnet, Senior Manager, TBExG, who hosted the session, welcomed all the participants and explained the specially curated agenda.
The first session of the day was by Mr. Singh on ‘Business Excellence Assessments - An opportunity to reflect future readiness’. During his address, Mr. Singh went through the highlights of the past year, including feedback and appreciation from CEOs , developmental inputs, key changes in the TBEM process like the inclusion of sustainability, innovation and improvement in score band descriptors. He also extended a warm welcome to the new Mentors and Team Leaders of the BE Assessment 2023 cycle. This year, new Mentors include Ashok Sonthalia from Titan Company; Atrayee Sanyal from Tata Steel; Jayant Balan from Voltbek Home Appliances; Prashant Tandon from Tata 1mg; and Ravi Chidambar from Tata AutoComp Systems. New Team Leaders include Bhavin Shukla from TCS; Buddhiraj Deshmukh from Tata AutoComp Systems; Jaykumar Shah from Tata Capital Financial Services; Jitendra Manghnani from Tata Coffee; and Sabharatnam Narayanan from Titan Company. Mr. Singh concluded by highlighting the critical role played by Mentors in the BE Assessment process, which helps the teams in understanding the company, in collective discovery, and in providing impactful feedback to the assessee company.
An audio visual of CEOs was then played, which contained voices from senior leaders from across the Tata group on how they are drawing immense value from the BE Assessments, and the critical role Mentors play in the teams’ outcomes. Video notes from different CEOs stand as a testament to the movement, and an inspiration for the companies and teams alike.
Sonie Saran, Head of Business Excellence, TCS, shared her views on ‘The value which the team derives from Mentors’, which she had garnered in her experience as a Team Leader. She lauded Mentors as being not just a lighthouse for the teams, but also a sounding board for CEOs, who stand as partners in understanding uncertainties in their business.
Sarosh Amaria, Managing Director, Tata Capital Financial Services, shared his experience as a first-time Mentor, during which he highlighted that although the process was overwhelming for him at first, he recognised the immense potential to gain exposure to a new industry and help a peer company in chasing excellence. Highlighting the Do’s and Don’t’s during his Mentorship last year, he explained some pointed approaches that the team followed.
A fireside chat moderated by Vinod Kumar, AVP, TBExG, turned into an hour of insightful conversations with Peeyush Gupta, Vice President, Group Strategic Procurement & Supply Chain, Tata Steel; Sanjay Banga, President, Transmission & Distribution, Tata Power; and Zarir Langrana, Executive Director and President, Tata Chemicals. Topics like the nature of feedback, building the Mentor’s Note, and advice to Mentors drew valuable insights from all three leaders. The key takeaways from the fireside chat were about working on one integrated story as a business, and working on larger goals not just for one business, but for the group as a whole. The leaders then took questions from the audience before they were felicitated.
The programme culminated with Subhrajit Basu, General Manager, TBExG wholesomely summing up the day’s events while expressing gratitude towards all participants, Mentors and Team Leaders. Mr. Basu closed the session by reading out a personal note from a Tata CEO on the joy of partnership in TBEM and how every year, with a new partner, come new thoughts, enabled by the 3C approach of Customised, Collaborative and Celebrated experience.