Employees stay in an organisation when they grow, it's not about perks or pay: Anand Mahindra

New Delhi: Employees stay in an organisation when they grow and it is not about perks or pay but is driven by whether they feel they are becoming better versions of themselves, according to Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra.

An organisation is also better off if it can develop leaders internally and create a system that has very strong interventions and training, Mahindra said in McKinsey's 'Leading Asia' interview.

"I think that if you can develop leaders internally, you're better off' and therefore, you need to create a system that has very strong interventions and training," he said when asked about talent strategy considering his reputation for looking after his employees.


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Initially, this created a very strong trajectory for fast-tracking talented people, he said, adding the process has been fine- tuned by M&M Group CEO and Managing Director Anish Shah.

"Some of our best leaders didn't start in the corner office. People stay when they grow. It's not about perks or pay; it's about whether they feel they're becoming better versions of themselves here," Mahindra said.

When asked what is important when building leadership teams and to what extent he gets involved in the process, Mahindra said, "When you're growing as fast as we were, you have to look outside for talent as well as internally. My favourite part of hiring was the 90-minute, unstructured conversation with anyone we were considering for a top position.

"I wasn't testing them; I was looking for curiosity. When someone's eyes lit up while talking about what they had learned, I knew they belonged here."

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Commenting on what his legacy would be, he said, "... I don't believe in personal legacies. The idea of one person's statue in the town square feels outdated."

Legacy should be institutional -- the values, not the person, he said, adding, "The epitaph on my tombstone should say -- 'He built a company in which people were the best that they could ever be."