Max Life Insurance: Nurturing Meritocracy
From a small organisation with a startup culture to building a process-driven organisation spread across more than 300 locations, Max Life Insurance is the foundation of organisational and HR processes which have helped it grow. Prashant Tripathy, MD of the company, tells BW Businessworld’s Avishek Banerjee that people agenda is not owned by HR only, it is also owned by each and every people leader.
On what makes your organisation a great place to work
At Max Life, we take pride in having created a value-driven culture which has enabled us to foster an environment that is transparent and caring. We are a caring meritocratic organisation which gives space to people to express themselves and grow personally and professionally. This has helped us in creating an organisation where people stay with us for a long time, become well-rounded professionals having exposure to multiple functions, celebrate the successes together and support each other in difficult times. As an outcome, we have one of the most engaged workforces which are of critical importance in the life insurance industry.
On the specific employee requirements of a BFSI company
To keep its large and distributed workforce engaged, supervisor enablement and ownership is imperative to address. The company invests in developing managerial and leadership capabilities such as the ability to inspire the team, inculcate value of accountability, decision-making capabilities, commitment and passion towards work. Its supervisors support their team by bringing out these very traits, setting challenging goals and providing timely and continuous feedback.
On company’s evolution and people practices
We are a 19-year-old organisation and one of the first five to get the license to sell life insurance when the sector was opened up for private investment in 2000. The industry has lived a lifetime in these 19 years, seeing multiple ups and downs, regulatory changes, changes in consumer behaviour and needs. Max Life has been at the forefront of adapting to these changes and coming out as one of the leading Indian life insurance companies. The practice of organisational and talent review, adopted in the last five years, has helped identify its best bets in business and thus have a regular flow of leaders.
On people philosophy
When it comes to dealing with the best human capital, the company truly believes in the credo of “attract, motivate, reward, and retain”. The company cares for its employees and enables them with an ecosystem where meritocracy trumps hierarchy and tenure. It also empowers its employees at all stages to make a difference at the workplace.
On employee retention
Under a stable leadership, the average tenure of an employee at a company ranges between three and three and a half years, with its senior leadership’s average tenure standing at 8.5 years. The frontline attrition, which is an industry wide issue, is what pulls down the average tenure. Last year, around 600 employees completed 10 years of service with the company which indicates the long-term career its employees are able to build working at Max Life.
On brand identity
The company deeply cares about the professional growth of all its employees and strives to be known as an organisation that helps build careers. It aspires to be known as the force that individuals reckon with, when they think of a great workplace. Ultimately, it would like to be known as the employer of choice across industries.
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