As the world is well immersed in the era of the quantifiable employee, through which employees can be measured and improved, human resources departments are looking into platforms that provide people analytics to engage their best employees.
Various companies understand the benefits of a great company culture, what it brings to an office and how it affects employee happiness. Company culture provides with a solution to creating an employee-centric office is simply finding out weaknesses, addressing them and coming up with solutions.
However, pleasing it may sound, it is easier said than done, which is why it is beneficial to include your employees, so they have a voice during the analysis stage. The pivotal role of the management and HR during the fact-finding stage is to manage the initiative and respond to any requests.
One such company is Lennox India Technology Centre Pvt Ltd (LITC). LITC is part of Lennox International Inc. (LII), a leading provider of climate control solutions for heating, air conditioning and refrigeration markets around the world – built on a heritage of integrity and innovation dating back to 1895. They are dedicated to providing trusted brands, innovative products, unsurpassed quality and responsive service.
Solution provider
Lennox India Technology Centre (LITC) is the global technology and service center for Lennox International (LII) serving Corporate, Residential, Commercial and the Refrigeration business segments. LITC consists of the following functions: Controls Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Technology, Finance, Regional Sourcing and Human Resources. The centre supports LII in its quest for providing innovative and cost effective HVACR systems and solutions to their global customers. LII is headquartered in Richardson, Texas, USA.
LII manufactures air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration systems for residential and commercial uses. Its brands include Lennox, Armstrong Air, Heatcraft, Ducane, Air-Flo, AAC Commercial, Friga-Bohn, and Hearth Products.
Spearheading the Company
Ashwin Upponi (Vice President - Lennox India Technology Centre & Global Program Management) has over three decades of industry experience in diverse domains, Technology management, Program management, Process Re-engineering, Productivity Management, Global Sourcing (Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America) and others. Leveraging this extensive expertise, he has been playing an instrumental role in expanding LITC’s capabilities and competencies.
He leads all of the LITC operations. In addition, as the PMO leader his team is responsible for executing strategic New Product Introduction (NPIs) and Material Cost Reduction (MCR) projects for the businesses with global teams based in the US, India, and China.
Prior to joining Lennox, he was with Trane/Ingersoll Rand as Director of Program Management. He also worked at General Electric in their Medical Systems, Information Systems and Transportation Systems divisions. While at GE he was in leadership roles spanning multiple functions, including Global Service Delivery, eBusiness, Six Sigma Black Belt, Marketing, Global Sourcing, Engineering, Quality and International Programs. He began his career as a manufacturing engineer at BAE Systems.
Client satisfaction
Lennox has worked hard to earn the trust of their customers and partners ever since the world’s first riveted-steel furnace rolled off our assembly lines in 1895 – developing reliable, innovative heating and cooling systems to keep customers comfortable. Over a century later, they continue to provide customers with the most innovative of products and services to meet their HVACR needs. Utilizing cutting edge technologies in various spheres Lennox prides itself with delivering industry leading efficiency, best in class products, solutions and services.
Overcoming hurdles
At LITC they have a robust recruitment and retention process to ensure that they get the right talent who is the best fit for their culture, proactive, multi skilled and keen to learn new technologies and take ownership. Their employee engagement activities are customized based on work groups, teams or a specific business unit to ensure maximum effectiveness.
They even have an Employee Engagement Matrix to understand employees’ concerns, proactively identify potential employee attrition risks and manage it to their mutual benefit.
They face the usual challenges like any company with regards to hiring and retention. However, their differentiated work culture, employee centric programs, strong processes, and an engaged senior leadership team are their core strengths and a significant advantage.
They are a product-based company in which their associates get to have hands-on experience with challenging work content and latest technologies in an empowering work environment. Besides facilitating their people to dabble on latest technologies, they also organize events like LennoJam (all employees attempt to ideate design thinking solutions), Design War (employees redesign an existing product) and facilitate them to collaborate with global stakeholders.
The company supports employee career development with increased responsibilities and scope, internal job rotation, customized learning programs and self-development programs. They also have various clubs (LII Young Professionals Association, LII Women’s Business Council, Society of Women Engineers, Toastmasters, and other clubs of passion) to enable diverse experiences. Their internal portal Career Journey helps employees build and achieve career goals, gain clarity on their development plans, and have development conversations with their managers.
Owing to Covid-19, homes have become the primary workplace for all their employees like in many other organizations. In order to support their employees to have an effective work from home experience, they also provide a “HOME OFFICE ASSISTANCE KIT”, a benefit that enables employees to procure office furniture and or other items to enable a comfortable and safe home office environment.
Divulging creative motivation
At Lennox, it is all about enjoying one’s work with great fun, unlimited creativity, appropriate flexibility, and great team members. It is about being amongst the finest in the field and feeling inspired in their presence. This is a place where employees have the liberty to be their true selves. A place where one can unleash their potential and cherish every moment you are there.
The company conducts FRIYAY events (conducted on last Friday of every month, this event is filled with funny and exciting competitions music and more) and PARIVAAR (Lennox India’s Family Day), which is an annual dinner event with variety of cultural shows put up by their employees and fun games that LITCians along with their family participate in.
Lennox also conducts yearly indoor championships and outdoor interdepartmental matches along with LIIVEWELL, a 100 days fitness program where employees engage in various workshops, competitions and challenges. Last but not least, LITC’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee (consists of nearly 50 employees and conducts around 20 CSR programs annually) is completely employee managed with employee driven campaigns, where employees gather every month to present their ideas for a CSR activity. LITC has been able to support various Covid affected areas and families with their timely CSR programs.
Future Prospects
At Lennox, they recognize that being a good corporate citizen takes more than a pledge on paper.
It takes visible action in the community and significant financial support. Through a combination of corporate contributions and employee volunteer activities, Lennox has gone to great lengths to bring positive change to the communities where they live and work.
Through changes for the better the company expects that they would reach their ultimate in no time.
