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2000+ organizations participate in the Great Place To Work® Trust Index™ Survey annually. But only the workplaces, that are driven by passion for transforming their culture, excel at turning the survey feedback into transformative action.
Bosch is one such organization that has successfully acknowledged and unlocked the power of diligent actions. The organization first embarked on this journey back in 2019 by partnering with Great Place To Work for an assessment and a people manager intervention program, and there has been no looking back. Over the last 5 years through continuous participation, action planning and commitment to enhance employee experience, Bosch has been able to foster a culture of High Trust and create an environment where employees feel valued and supported. Bosch has witnessed remarkable growth, reflected in a significant 38% increase in their Trust Index Grand Mean score in 2023 since they first began their journey.
Particularly, the story of Bosch Limited Jaipur plant shines through as their journey stands as a testament to the massive potential an organization can yield by simply listening to their employees.
The growth journey of Bosch Limited – Jaipur Plant
Jaipur Plant started its business in the year 1999, with the production of Diesel Fuel Injection Pump (VE Pump). From producing 10 pumps / day to the 2400 pumps / day, the plant is charting an impressive growth story.
The second product was introduced in the year 2016, where the Plant surpassed the quality parameters as well as production numbers in a span of 01 week. The business currently caters to Euro III (BS III) products, and is the sole decision maker for these two products across Bosch globally. The agility within the Plant has, and is, successfully leading the ramp-ups and ramp downs as necessary for market economics.
Commemorating its 25th year of operation in 2024, Jaipur plant has evolved from a modest beginning with minimal manpower and production output to accounting for a significant 10-12% of the company’s total earnings.
However, in 2020, the plant faced a significant challenge with a 56% reduction in its workforce due to restructuring efforts.
Amidst these turbulent times too, the plant witnessed a remarkable improvement in the Trust Index Grand Mean (Employee satisfaction scores), displaying a continuous upward trend from 2019 to 2023.
Notably, Jaipur has witnessed a significant increase of 32% in the Trust Index Grand Mean score for white-collar employees, and an impressive 48% for shop floor employees over the last 5 years, showcasing the commendable investment by the team in enhancing the employee experience and creating a Great Place To Work For All™. In fact, for the past three years, Jaipur plant has seen an attrition of less than 4% for their white-collar workers and 0% for their shop floor workers.
The leaders at the plant recognized early on in the journey that they needed to develop, nurture, and sustain a highly agile, adaptable, and innovative workforce to bring about impactful changes.
“All great achievements are hard won, and our plant leads the way to showcase this. Even with large restructuring, formidable business challenges, and reducing turnover, we stand firm in our commitment to excel, collaborating beyond boundaries, to be the best.” – Tejinder Nath Issar, Plant Commercial.
Integrating Great Place To Work insights with leadership vision
The leaders have consistently demonstrated their unwavering commitment to the following principles:
- The well-being of the employees should go hand in hand with the well-being of the business.
- Prioritizing transparency and open communication during both prosperous times and challenges, offering support where needed.
- Actively acknowledging and rewarding employee efforts, particularly in cases of innovation and sustainability initiatives.
To complement these principles, Jaipur plant employs a systematic approach to action planning, ensuring focused and effective strategies for addressing priority areas.
- Workshops for Leaders: Once the results are obtained, a workshop is conducted involving people leaders, including Plant management, N-1, and N-2, along with the HR team and additional individuals identified as contributors to change.
- Transparent & Open Conversations: Plant results are shared with all participants, highlighting areas of strength and areas of opportunity. This in turn, creates a culture of transparency and open communication.
Jaipur Plant transparently sharing results, discussing focus areas and co-creating action plans
- Group Discussion & Action Planning: Once the results have been communicated, participants are divided into teams for each focus area. Every team discusses and aligns on actions, responsibility, measures of effectiveness, timelines and support needed during the execution & implementation phase.
- Ensuring Consistency of Experience: A similar process is followed for shop floor employees as well, where a specific group of employees along with their supervisors, are invited to discuss and co-create action plans for the year.
- Finalization of Action Plans: Each team presents their action plans and seeks input from the rest of the groups.
- Unveiling Success Stories: Once the action plans are closed, it’s time to shine a spotlight on individuals who have exemplified outstanding leadership & teamwork, basis employee feedback received as part of the survey. By recognizing both leaders and their team members, Jaipur plant fosters a culture of learning and growth, where everyone has an opportunity to share best practices and inspire each other to create an even better work place for all.
Jaipur Plant felicitation ceremony – Recognizing leaders and teams with the highest positive feedback and improvement from the previous year
- Communication: A detailed email communication is rolled out to all employees of the plant, transparently highlighting the specific focus areas along with actionable steps and clear ownership assigned to individuals responsible for each process. The same is also communicated during in-person info-sharing sessions with both sets of groups respectively (white collared & shop floor employees).
Communicating this goes a long way in building Trust and Confidence in employees to keep sharing open and candid feedback which is being heard and acted upon. This also creates a sense of ownership, clarity and openness towards planned actions.
Towards Tomorrow: Action Plans for Sustainable Development
In 2024, key action areas were identified from insights gathered through the Great Place To Work Trust Index Survey. Through strategic initiatives under these areas, the organization aimed to foster a culture of transparency, support, and continuous improvement.
- Mentoring:
In 2023, an initiative was launched with the goal of supporting and guiding aspiring employees in achieving their growth objectives. This initiative encouraged employees to voluntarily nominate themselves either as mentors or mentees. Mentors were then assigned based on the specific goals of the mentee, with the aim of fostering both personal and professional development.
Employee testimonial:
“I found this initiative to be useful and wish to see it continuing. It helps me find a different perspective. I had my mentor from non-technical area, because of which,the insights received were different. This also helped me complete my leadership training well before time.”
– Mr. Arun Kumar Sharma, Manufacturing
- “Aap Ki Aawaz” and skip-level connects:
This initiative has been ongoing for almost a decade, demonstrating its enduring value to employees. Employees engage directly with Plant Management — sharing suggestions, ideas, and concerns enabling a culture of open communication and collaboration. Employee feedback has led to tangible improvements. They appreciate the transparency and responsiveness of the management, enabling them to directly address areas of improvement.
Employee testimonial:
“Aap ki Aawaz “as the name signifies, has lived up to our expectations.
We get a platform to directly interact with the plant management and get our questions cleared without any pre-screening. All our queries are rightly addressed, and at times, succeeded by immediate action. The feedback we receive at the end of these sessions in turn aid us in unlocking our highest potential. My sincerest gratitude to the entire team for organizing this session.”
– Ms. Pallavi Dayal, Manufacturing
The plant stands as a beacon of how organizations can champion change and drive sustainable development. Despite facing challenges like workforce reductions and business restructuring, the plant saw significant improvements in scores. Through transparent communication, systematic action planning, and initiatives like mentoring programs and direct engagement platforms, the leadership fostered a culture of trust, innovation, and resilience. As it commemorates 25 years of operation, the Jaipur Plant is poised for continued success, ensuring an even brighter future for its employees and the organization.
