Hewitt rates Ford as one of best places to work in India

The only Automobile Manufacturer to have featured in Top 25

Ford India has been ranked as one of India's top 25 Best Hewitt's Best Employers' in India 2009, a study that examines people management practices in leading organisations across the country.

Ford India emerged as the only automobile manufacturer in the country to have achieved this feat. More than 230 Indian organisations registered to participate in this year's survey, with 46,000 employees representing a workforce of over 800,000 people.

The Hewitt Best Employers in India 2009 results indicate that Ford is doing a lot of things right. Ford India’s goal oriented business strategy, strong fundamentals in building, recruiting, motivating and nurturing talented human resources made it feature amongst the best employers in the country, and this acknowledgement has come for the second consecutive year.

''I am thrilled that Ford India was named one of the top 25 Best Employers in India, and in fact was the only vehicle manufacturer in the top 25,'' said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. ''We are excited about this recognition, and will continue our efforts to build a great work environment for our people.''

Ford India focuses on career development as a stated objective and follows an open culture. Right from the level of technicians, there are programmes and clearly defined growth paths for everyone. All facets of an employee’s life are taken into consideration, including work-life balance and mental & physical well-being. The company also conducts a week-long internal HR audit where employees discuss their career development issues with their peers and jointly develop a programme to achieve stated goals.

Pandiyan Vairamani, vice president, Human Resources, Ford India asserts, ''Hierarchy is not a barrier for communication and we believe this open culture nurtures talent and supports cross-functional working at all levels. This creates an environment conducive for employee development and satisfaction.''

Hewitt Associates conducts the Best Employers’ Survey every two years. This time around it partnered with Outlook Business and reviewed 230 companies, spanning several industry verticals, including banking and financial services, consumer durables, manufacturing, retail, telecom, IT, ITES and hospitality, which provide the best working environment in the country.

The companies were put through an employee opinion survey, people practices inventory, and a CEO questionnaire. There were parameters such as employee engagement, strong alignment of people practices with business strategy, leadership, ethics and how the company is dealing with the current economic downturn, on which the companies were judged.

Editor's Notes:                          
Established in 1995, Ford India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader. Ford India manufactures and distributes automobiles made at its modern integrated manufacturing facility, at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai. With nearly 2100 employees, the company's models include the Ikon, Fusion, Endeavour and the Fiesta.