The name of Ratan Tata is a house hold name in India. Being a maverick businessman he is respected the world over. His leadership skills and compassion for the junior staff are well known. This great Leader was put to a real limus test of leaderrship and crisis management during the terror attack during 2009. Many may not be aware about the real human side of this great leader. Recently Tata HR department has revealed a few eye opening facts that every leader of the world need to emulate.
A. Terrorist entry
1. They entered from the Leopold Colaba hotel entrance and also from the northern entrance – spraying indiscriminate bullets on the Taj security personnel and guests in general.
2. Though Taj had a reasonable security – they were surely not equipped to deal with terrorists, who were spraying 6 bullets per trigger.
3. The strategy of the terrorists was to throw chunks of RDX in an open area that will explode and burn – creating chaos so that the guests and staff run helter skelter, so that the terrorists could kill them. The idea was to create maximum casualties.
4. There were several critical gatherings and functions happening in the hotel on that day – a Bohra muslim wedding; a global meet of Unilever CEOs and Board members and two other corporate meetings were in progress in the Hotel – besides the usual regular evening crowd.
5. The firing and chaos began at about 8.30 p.m. and the staff including employees on casual and contract basis displayed exemplary presence of mind, courage and sacrifice to protect the guests who were in various halls and conference rooms.
B. Stories of Staff Heroics
1. A young lady guest relation executive, on duty with the Global meetof Unilever, did not permit any of the guests going out and volunteered 3 times to go out and get stuff such as ice cubes for whiskey of the guests. At this time she was well aware that the situation outside the sound proof conference hall was very explosives. She could have been easily the target of the terrorists bullets.
2. Thomas George a captain, escorted 54 guests from a backdoor staircase and when he was going down last he was shot by the terrorists.
3. There were 500 emails from various guests narrating heroics of the staff and thanking them for saving their lives
4. In a subsequent function, Ratan Tata broke down in full public view and sobbed saying – “the company belongs to these people”. The wife of Thomas George who laid his life saving others said, she and the kids were proud of the man and that she did not know that for 25 years she lived with a man who was so courageous and brave.
5. The episode happened on 26th November 2008, a significant part of the Heritage hotel was burnt down and destroyed – the hotel was partially re-opened on 21st December 2008 and all the employees of the hotel were paraded in front of the guests and were honoured.
6. It was clearly a saga of extra-ordinary heroics by ordinary people for their organisation and in a way for their country. The sense of duty and service was unprecedented.
7. The young lady who protected and looked after the international guests from UNILEVER was amongst management trainees. We often speak of juniority and seniority in the organisation. She had no instructions from any supervisor to do what she did.
a. She maintained her calm and finally took just 3 minutes to rescue the entire team through the kitchen back door to safety out side.
b. Before taking them out she had organised their cars outside the rear service area of the Hotel as per seniority of the members !!!
c. In the peak of the crisis, she stepped out and got the right wine and glasses for the guests to keep them till it was safe to take them out.
8. People who exhibited courage included janitors, waiters, directors, artisans and captains – all level of people
C. The Tata Gesture
1. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed for repairs.
2. Relief and assistance were provided to all those who were injured and killed.
3. The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the VT Railway Station, surroundingareas, including the “Pav-Bhaji” vendor and the pan shop owners. ( Taj Hotel is far far away from Rly Stn)
4. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent my money order to employees who were advised to proceed to their villages.
5. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.
6. The thoughts and anxieties going on in employees & people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided.
7. Employee outreach centres were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. All 1600 employees were covered by this facility.
8. Every employee was assigned to one mentor from other TATA group companies and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.
9. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who were in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.
10. The dependents of the killed/ wounded employees were flown/ transported by fastest means from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks.
11. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.
12. In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the TATAs for the purpose of relief of employees.
13. What is unique is that even the other people, other than TAJ employees, like the railway employees,the police staff, the vendors,passangers in railway station, pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.
14. A four year old granddaughter of a vendor near rail station got 4 bullets in her body and only one had been removed in the Government hospital. When Rattan Tata read about this in news paper, She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her.
15. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts.
16. TATAs have taken over the responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.
17. This was the most trying period in the life of the organisation. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible.
18. The settlement for every deceased member, including who had one day service, ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs, in addition to the following benefits:
a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents.
b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world.
c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life.
d. All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount.
e. Counsellor services for life for each person.
D. Epilogue
1. How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did?
2 The organisation is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behaviour. If someone suggests that – everyone laughs.
3. It has to do with the DNA of the organisation, with the way TATA culture has been cultivated and exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organisation has always been telling the employees that customers and guests are #1 priority
4. The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there, being Indian. He made a world class hotel.
5. He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could then afford fencing of only 400 acres.
6. When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan Tata – he said – do you think we are doing enough?
7. The whole approach was that the organisation would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life?
