Case: Work motivation for HDFC employees

Abhishek Bhattacharya completed his MBA from ICFAI,Hyderabad in 2009.He got employed
in Coca Cola, Mumbai() as an executive HR trainee. But his Father died on() and as a result he
left Coca Cola and came back to Kolkata. He decided to stay back in Kolkata to support his
family and joined HDFC Standard Life as ().The concepts he had about his job before joining
were :

 Grievance handling
 Motivating people personally
 Supervisory powers
 Maintaining database of the employees

After joining he realized he is nothing but a salesman, selling insurance policies to people. For
every failure in achieving the targets set down he got rebuked by his boss, Ashutosh Tripathy. He
did not listen to his problems and stressed on achieving his target by hook or crook. Abhishek
started looking down upon himself and was very low in confidence. He was totally demoralized
by his boss’s behavior and also dissatisfied with his job profile, the signs of which showed
prominently in his performance. He surfed the internet visiting various websites in search of a
new job. During this troubled times all his colleagues constantly helped him in his job and the
office environment was the only thing on his side. This included personal workstation, air-
conditioned rooms, pure drinking water, clean toilets, large canteen where he could relax with
his colleagues and discuss his problems. Beside this the security of the job interested him which
included pension(),Death Claim of Rs.19 lakhs, Family Insurance of 16 lakhs, family medical
check-up at AMRI, Appolo Glenneagles, Columbia Asia.

The company comes to know about his dissatisfaction in March 2010 when was asked by his
boss to organize a drama for the program Umang(). In spite of being an expert in this field as he
had been involved in dramas from his school days his venture turned out to be a big flop. It was
later noticed that he copied the concept of the drama from a movie. His boss realized something
was terribly wrong with Abhishek as he could not relate his performance to his qualifications.
His boss realized that Abhishek was somehow dissatisfied with his job and hence could not
perform. Mr. Tripathy observed Abhishek from March to June and concluded that he could not
perform no matter how much he tried to help him(). By June he could not fulfill any target set
down for him.Mr. Tripathy sent Abhishek to regional HR-head Probal Moitra for personal
counseling but Abhishek was not satisfied with the meeting.
 Steps taken by HDFC to solve the problem

Mr. Tripathy then informed Aparajit Bhattacharya, the regional manager, HDFC, Kolkata-I. Mr.
Bhattacharya started monitoring Abhishek and also helped him in every task. Mr. Bhattacharya
appreciated Abhishek when he did well and even when he did not, to his surprise. During this
period he got training for any difficulties through the learning and development programs
organized by HDFC. This lead to enhancement and sharpening of his skill set which gradually
increased his work performance. Personalized counseling was also a great help to Abhishek.

On 5th of August, 2010 another program Tarang was organized where the regional manager
asked Abhishek to direct a drama and even permitted him to take a leave for a week so that he
could solely concentrate on his new project. The drama was accepted as the best all over the
country in HDFC circle. Abhishek was flooded with congratulatory remarks from HDFC
employees from different parts of the country. In fact Amitav Choudhary, CEO of HDFC, India
personally appreciated his work and congratulated him.

Abhishek became a famous employee in HDFC circle overnight and his skills got highlighted
much to his liking. This slowly changed his outlook towards the company as he realized that his
company has a lot of expectations from him. This motivated him a lot and he created a bond
between him and the company. He started working industriously for the company as a sense of
responsibility, belongingness and pride grew in him. He started liking his job and the main
features that interested him were :

 Customer interaction- Interacting with the customers ,sharing their emotions and
problems in money matters and a sense of satisfaction in solving their monetary matters
by suggesting various insurance policies.
 Challenging nature of the job- Once he started performing he faced the challenges in his
stride, developed innovative strategies and solutions to attack the problems and liked the
fact that he has to perform here every day and will be appreciated for his efforts

He soon got a promotion in the month of September to the position of Sales Development
Manager which was a result of his high performance. He then got to supervise new employees
under him who were his financial advisors. These employees worked in HDFC as temporary
employees for the purpose of extra income who were not at all bound to deliver. Abhishek
started motivating them to nurture their dedication towards the job to get better performance. He
provided non monetary benefits like:

 Foreign trips
 Continuous recognition of their efforts through appreciation
 Posivtive Effects of Motivation

In the month of September his team does tremendous business by collecting 15 lakhs of
premium. He was awarded the Medal of Honour in October, 2010 and Parambir Chakra in
November, 2010.

The particular branch where Abhishek worked became the numero uno branch in Kolkata and
still continues to be and the major contribution comes from Abhishek Bhattachrya.