Among the Murugappa Group, CUMI was the first unit to adopt the e-recruitment and later the tie-up with Naukri and Murugappa Group got established.

CUMI was the first to establish the e-learning concept way ahead of the other companies. Virtu Versity - a concept developed by CUMI and an external agency scaled new heights in training. This e-learning enabled employees to learn at his/her own pace.

CUMI has redefined its recruitment policy with the inclusion of the psychometric test for the recruitment of management staff. Once the candidates identified for the position clear the preliminary interview, they need to undergo the psychometric assessment tests which is organised through an external agency. The candidates’ key attributes and his potential strengths and weaknesses helps CUMI in making the selection & placement decisions and also the areas for improvement.. The psychometric test covers the personality scales and the ability tests and compares the same with the key attributes of the position identified in CUMI.

The KMC as it is known in CUMI is known for its wide range of initiatives in knowledge management. Some of the efforts are:

• Intranet
• The Managementor.Com
• Knowledge Officer

Knowledge Management was judged as the Winner of the Best Innovation in the Human Resource Category by the Murugappa Group Chairman Mr. P.S. Pai.

CUMI organises an annual Quality Festival, CUFEST, first of its kind in the entire Murugappa Group. This event was started in the year 1999 and held in different locations of CUMI. Every year the grandeur in which the participating units participates and wins is greatly improving. So also the quality of the event. The event captures the pulse of the employee involvement in its full form-with events like SGA, CFT, Kaizen and Suggestion capturing the best improvement initiatives of each division.

CUMI took the initiative way back in 1998, to understand how satisfied its employees are with its existing systems and practices. Feedback from the survey is given to the senior members in the BGMC for implementation of the areas of dissatisfaction, which are identified. The first follow up survey was done in 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the initiatives taken to address the areas of dissatisfaction identified in the previous survey and the second follow up in the year 2003. The survey is designed to cover all categories of CUMI-workmen, staff as well as management staff.

Earlier the workforce was working on the Single man -Single machine concept. And ‘working to the norms’- culture prevailed in the shop floor. The shift from “working to norms “ to “no-norms” was made feasible in the workforce through a continuous amount of training programmes, which emphasised the Change Management. This paradigm shift facilitated the Customer Centric Approach. The workforce is now multi-skilled. This was achieved through the skill-matrix based training initiatives.

CUMI’s policy is to :

• Provide a safe working environment
• Impart continuous education on Safety, Health and Environment hazards with stress on preventive measures and ensure Zero Accidents
• Provide Personal Protection Equipment and ensure compliance to the same.
• Give priority for Safety, Health and Environment considerations while planning for new products / processes
• Adhere to Safety, Health and Environment norms even beyond Statutory Requirements.

The business requirements over the past few years had emphasised the concept of Job enrichment. For eg., TQM initiatives, Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Six Sigma which were brought in as a part of the business requirement not only resulted in enhancement of the knowledge but also on effectively implementing the growing business needs.

CUMI always believes in transparent dialogue with its employees and over a period of time has fine-tuned a formal communication system vertical and horizontal, to support information flow and knowledge management.

Sharing of best practices:

The best practices and knowledge are shared in various forums across CUMI as shown in table.

• Presentation in sales conference
• Annual Group HR & Finance meet
• In-house magazines DART/Red Indian
• Murugappa Group Best Practices
• Sharing session
• CFT/SGA presentations
• Monthly communication meeting