In the bustling kitchens of Indian homes, the ritual of cooking is a delicate dance between tradition and innovation. So too at Orkla India, where centuries-old spice traditions meet modern corporate governance. The Nordic investment company, which owns heritage Indian brands MTR, Eastern and Rasoi Magic, has crafted a workforce strategy as complex and nuanced as the country’s regional cuisines.
“Orkla has a unique model. It gives direction without dictation,” explains Milan Chattaraj, director – HR and admin. This distinction—subtle yet significant—defines how the company navigates India’s kaleidoscopic cultural landscape whilst maintaining global standards. There is no cookie-cutter replication of Scandinavian frameworks here; strategy is custom-blended to suit India’s diverse consumer behaviours, labour realities and regional nuances.
Decentralised by design
“Orkla ASA is not your typical hands-on conglomerate,” Chattaraj elaborates. “It is a consumer brand legacy with an investment mindset. It believes in active ownership—guiding but not controlling.” The company has developed what he calls a “robust organisation effectiveness frame”—a guiding principle ensuring workforce planning is strategically supported rather than centrally dictated.
“Orkla ASA is not your typical hands-on conglomerate,” Chattaraj elaborates. It is a consumer brand legacy with an investment mindset. It believes in active ownership—guiding but not controlling.”
Milan Chattaraj, director – HR and admin, Orkla India
This decentralised approach allows Orkla’s three distinctive business units—MTR, Eastern and International Business—to tailor their strategies to regional contexts. From MTR’s Karnataka roots to Eastern’s strongholds in Kerala, the company’s people policies mirror India’s market diversity.
“Each of our business units owns their workforce strategy. We only provide the lens and ensure alignment with long-term business goals,” says Chattaraj. This flexibility means hiring, skilling and performance strategies can reflect product categories, automation levels and regional labour laws. What works in an MTR factory in Karnataka may prove ill-suited to Eastern’s operations in Kerala—a reality the company embraces rather than resists.
Consistent amidst complexity
Maintaining consistency across nine manufacturing facilities—ranging from highly automated multi-category factories to smaller volume-led plants—presents formidable challenges. “One of our toughest challenges was ensuring HR consistency in skill standards across this wide spectrum,” Chattaraj recalls. In response, the company benchmarked skill levels across all roles critical to quality and operations, establishing non-negotiable baselines.
To sustain these standards without stifling local adaptability, Orkla has invested in shop floor capability interventions. Visual management tools, factory-level recognition programmes and best-practice sharing have become pillars of a continuous improvement culture. “We bet big on local employment,” says Chattaraj. “In Kerala alone, this allowed us to create fungibility across units, building agility into the system.”
The strategy extends beyond operations to talent development. With structured career pathways, even blue-collar workers can transition into executive roles. A flexible total rewards framework includes tailored incentives, wellness benefits and recognition for critical contributors. Notably, nearly 45 per cent of the company’s blue-collar workforce comprises women, and Orkla has introduced female-centric policies that transcend tokenism.
The results speak volumes: 60 per cent of internal roles and 40 per cent of top leadership positions have been filled from within, many by women. This commitment to internal mobility embodies the company’s employee value proposition, aptly branded “Home to Grow”. As Chattaraj reflects, “This idea of growth is not about promotions alone. It’s about growing as a person, in your profession, in your possibilities.”
Digital transformation with a human touch
If tradition anchors Orkla’s culture, digital transformation propels it forward. Since 2021, the company has invested significantly in upskilling both blue and white-collar workers for an increasingly automated future.
“We established Centres of Excellence focused on analytics and digitisation. We’re not just automating; we’re shaping digital capabilities, especially for our shop-floor talent,” explains Chattaraj. Four of nine factories already operate with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and the company is building digital literacy through initiatives around predictive maintenance, traceability and visual factory solutions.
Line managers learn to own performance metrics, track indicators and communicate outcomes effectively—a comprehensive approach that has accelerated Orkla India’s Industry 4.0 readiness. Most remarkably, recognition extends to workmen on the factory floor, rewarded for digital excellence and performance ownership.
Culture as ingredient, not garnish
In an environment blending traditional manufacturing with modern tech-driven imperatives, employee engagement at Orkla India follows a dual path. It is deeply rooted in values—brave, trustworthy, inspiring—yet flexible enough to embrace change. “Engagement for us is about discretionary effort—that’s the true measure,” Chattaraj notes.
The company builds genuine cultural respect by celebrating Onam, Ugadi and Vishu with equal enthusiasm—not as symbolic gestures but as opportunities to strengthen team bonds. Cross-functional teams maintain collaboration, and the approach to engagement is embedded not in flashy events but in sustained, behaviour-linked recognition, psychological safety and shared ownership of goals.
A recipe for others to follow
If Orkla India’s people strategy were a dish, it would resemble the iconic masala dosa—complex, regionally rooted, yet globally admired for its balance. The company is not attempting to reinvent the human resources wheel but instead fusing it with the flavours of Indian realities.
Talent shortages continue to plague India’s manufacturing sector, particularly in specialist and frontline roles. Yet Orkla’s approach—blending decentralised empowerment with strategic stewardship, cultural sensitivity with operational rigour, and tradition with technology—offers a recipe others might profitably adapt.
In a sector where uniformity often represents the safer path, Orkla India demonstrates that honouring local contexts while maintaining global standards is not just possible—it is essential. As multinationals increasingly look to India not merely for cost advantages but for authentic market engagement, Orkla’s approach offers a blueprint for balancing the soul of culture with the science of systems.