An interview with Mr Vairamani Pandiyan, Group Vice-President, Cavin Kare Private Limited, Chennai

What was the idea behind establishing Cavin Kare?

We wanted to start an Indian firm in the beauty products segment that could emerge as a major player. We set out with this ambition and right from the first year of establishment the company has grown in terms of revenue, product portfolio, geographic reach and the number of its employees.

What are the levels at which you actively recruit professionals?

For the last few years we have been restricting our recruitments more and more to the entry levels. The two main areas in which we recruit a lot of management students are Marketing and Sales. Most of the recruitment is done through campus interviews.

We outsource our entire manufacturing, so we do not have many people with production or Engineering background on our rolls. We have a Sourcing department where the production planning, sourcing materials, logistics, operations, are done by the people in this department.

What kind of candidates do you look for?

Cavin Kare does respect work experience but more than that we look for tremendous amount of enthusiasm, drive and ambition. When they come into the company they are likely to be overloaded with responsibilities and the work pressure is enormous. So someone who works with us should enjoy this almost "pressure cooker" like environment! Apart from educational qualification we also see whether the candidate has taken part in extra-curricular activities and whether he possesses leadership qualities. For the junior positions we conduct aptitude tests.

Another factor we look at is how good are the candidate's communication skills. As we are a small company, there is greater interaction across levels and various departments so people who communicate freely with an open mind will have better chances.

How active is the company in R&D?

Our company has always had a dedicated interest in the field of research & development. Over the years we have dedicated much to this area and we are in the process of building an R&D centre that would be ready next year.

Even though we outsource manufacturing of the products, all the research and development is done at our own centre. For this we hire professionals from the field of Chemistry, specially post graduates and for senior positions we take in scientists who have done some post-doctoral work.

Can you tell us something about your induction program?

Our company religiously believes that no new recruit should be put to work from day one without going through a thorough induction. We have a structured induction program which every new recruit right from the CEO level to the junior sales person has to go through and this is monitored by the HR department.

The duration of the induction program varies and it consists of multimedia presentations, booklets, case studies, interviews, and checklists to be gone through. At the end of which each one's keys result areas are defined.

What kind of work environment do you have?

Since the work pressure is tremendous, we try to keep our work atmosphere very informal. There is no strict hierarchy and stringent rules to abide by. We have a number of official forums where the employees are encouraged to voice their doubts and opinions and also interact.

Keeping in view the work pressure we are in the process of implementing some de-stress programmes for employee benefit.

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

maalini.mds@cnkonline.com