Prashant Srivastava, president-group HR, Reliance ADAG is on a writing sabbatical

The former president-group HR and people excellence, Reliance Group, will focus on his book, which is about the employees individual personality which if leveraged can lead to higher productivity.

Prashant Srivastava, president-group HR, Reliance ADAG has stepped down. For the next few months he is on a writing sabbatical.

He intends to complete writing his book, which will chronicle his experiences and work and serve as a guide for managers and leaders. The book will delve into how to get the best out of employees, to ensure high-quality output on a continuous basis. It will analyse various aspects of the employer–employee relationship and reveal how the two parties can make the most of each other.

Srivastava who is a certified Hogan coach, says, “If employees are rationally engaged they can give only one third of the expected output, which may not be enough to produce the desired result for companies or individuals. However, if the employees are emotionally engaged then they can configure the other two thirds that can lead to individual development and ensure success for everyone.” The book will focus on the other two thirds that is employees individual personality which if leveraged can lead to higher productivity.

In this process, employees can create more value for themselves and get noticed by competitors. Unlocking the other two-third of an individual will mean focussing on exciting and engaging employees to produce high-quality output/product services on a continuous basis. It is a two-way process that can help achieve the goals of both the people and the organisation.

“If employees are rationally engaged they can give only one third of the expected output, which may not be enough to produce the desired result for companies or individuals. However, if the employees are emotionally engaged then they can configure the other two thirds that can lead to individual development and ensure success for everyone.” 

Srivastava has spent more than four years at Reliance ADAG. He shares with HRKatha, “My mandate was to develop a customer- and employee-focussed organisation and create a soul in performance management.”

He introduced an initiative called SOUL and ENGAGE at Reliance ADAG.

The SOUL performance programme was focused on LUSO—listening, understanding, sharing resources or information for outperformance. Srivastava realised that while processes and technologies exist to support performance management in companies, belief in goals and objectives was missing. This means, organisations have to convince employees and get them to believe in the goals, through discussions and collaborations. To make this happen, employers need to adopt a feed-forward approach.

Another task for Srivastava at Reliance ADAG was to create a leadership pipeline and reduce the external hiring at senior- and mid-level management. He successfully brought this down by 50 per cent.

The SOUL performance programme was focused on LUSO—listening, understanding, sharing resources or information for outperformance. While processes and technologies exist to support performance management in companies, belief in goals and objectives was missing. This means, organisations have to convince employees and get them to believe in the goals, through discussions and collaborations. To make this happen, employers need to adopt a feed-forward approach.

Srivastava, who started his career with a PSU as sales and distribution officer at HPCL, has acquired some great experiences in the consulting space. He was of Gallup India and also helped companies drive organic growth, through employee engagement, positive leadership disruption, cultural alignment and performance enhancement, when he was at Aon Hewitt. In between he also took a two years break to pursue his studies at IIM Ahmedabad.

He has also worked with the Tata Strategic Management Group, Tecnova India and Nielsen, in various capacities.

In the interim, Srivastava will continue to consult different clients on aspects of human resources.