GHCL: Navigating the Pandemic

GHCL Ltd. (erstwhile Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited), a large chemical manufacturing publicly listed organization with over 6000 employees, had been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” (GPTW) for four consecutive years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal manufacturing and supply chain operations, impacting cash flows and challenged business continuity. With its working capital under pressure, the GHCL management team faced significant challenges in managing the costs. As a pre-emptive measure to sustain employee morale, the organization had announced that there would be no retrenchment of employees. With a major digitization effort to pivot the organization to Industry 4.0 standards, large investment decisions were planned, including investing in a cloud-based human resource information system (HRIS). Feedback from the previous year’s GPTW survey had thrown up a number of action points that Goswami, the CHRO, wanted to implement. GHCL was focused on sustaining the GPTW accreditation, even during the pandemic. The challenge for Goswami was to work on the various cost levers, minimize HR costs without diluting employee experience and long-term organizational objectives. The virtual environment of working also required higher digitization and stronger communication measures, which were likely to extend even beyond the end of the pandemic. Managing people’s decisions in an uncertain business climate is a key learning objective of the case.