Bajaj Finance: ‘One Team One Dream’

‘One Team One Dream’ sums up the philosophy of Bajaj Finance, a financial services and insurance firm with a 15,044- strong workforce, headquartered in Pune. Bajaj Finance managing director, Rajeev Jain, has had stints in global market leaders like AIG and American Express. He talks to BW Businessworld’s Prabodh Krishna about the growth opportunities the company offers its employees

On what sets the company apart
Bajaj Finance has crossed many milestones in the recent past. We have charted out an ambitious growth path for the company. The company is at an inflexion point and has had an exponential growth, from a captive finance company to a foremost diversified non-bank financial services firm in India today.

Our employees are our greatest brand ambassadors and we prefer individuals who are self-motivated and have the ability to deliver. Our cultural anchors are the DNA of our organisation and define ‘our way’ of going about work. We seek individuals who are fit for our roles in terms of their experience and skills and have the ability to align with the culture of our organisation.
Every year, each business and function prepares a long-range plan. This is further divided into the annual plan for each year. Once the strategy is defined, functions are aligned to support businesses with their desired goals. We ensure transparency and idea-sharing via virtual and face-to-face methods, by making important information readily available to employees, defining outcomes as well as their tracking mechanism.

On people management and people practices 
In general, employees at Bajaj Finance get ample opportunities and exposure to learn and develop themselves. Internal Job Posting (IJP) and auto promotion platforms provide growth opportunities. They are supported by their seniors and at the same time they support each other.
Additionally, there are policies like the money-on-call policy, where advance salaries can be availed of by employees in a cash crunch. The objective of this policy is to help employees facing a cash crunch in any month to request for their salary in advance. All employees of Bajaj Finance Limited, with a minimum tenure of six months in the organisation, are eligible to avail of this benefit.

On the people philosophy
Employees are driven by the company philosophy, ‘Do more, earn more’ and are mentored along the way. There is a high premium placed on developing a sense of purpose at work, through sharing of the impact we have made as an organisation. Functions are aligned in helping each other deliver the desired outcomes and understand the enormous amount of opportunity available to learn and grow in this organisation. It is the philosophy of our organisation that allows our employees to grow both vertically and laterally across functions so they may maximise their learning and contribute to the overall growth of the organisation.

Internal Job Posting or IJP is the career growth platform of BFL. All job openings across all verticals in the organisation is opened through IJP so that internal talent is given the first opportunity to grow. All employees who apply for a role, are eligible to go through an interview and selection process. For instance, in the Q3 FY19, we opened 2,000 plus internal job postings and almost 500 positions were filled internally. The average duration spent by these employees in a stint is 18 months, before they change verticals or business lines.