Balancing people care and business priorities at popular vehicles and services ltd

Abstract

The success behind any automobile dealership is largely driven by quality of dealer personnel who interface with customers at multiple touch points. At the same time, automobile dealers have to work with thinning margins and operating cost pressures in a competitive and crowded market. Hence, generally automobile dealership companies do not have a large number of permanent employees. Popular Vehicles and Services Ltd, (PVSL) head quartered in Kochi, Kerala is among the top dealerships of passenger cars in India. It is also known for its unique HR practices, having won multiple awards from Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) and outside for dealer performance, including for HR excellence. The company believes that the success of an organization is built upon core values and how the values can be practiced in daily life. The HR department of PVSL has a human touch, as communicated in its tagline, “Popular HR: We care”. PVSL is not driven by giving discounts to customers; but by giving customers a unique car buying experience, fair dealing with all stakeholders and assuring high quality after sales services. The above aspects of PVSL have been recognized by Maruti also. Some of the awards won by PVSL in the last few consecutive years include MSIL Overall Excellence Award, All India Best HR Practices Award, All India Selling Skill competition Award and All India Technical Skill Competition Award. TNS Singapore conducted an “Employee Satisfaction Survey” for MSIL dealerships, and classified PVSL as one of the top dealerships. MSIL also recognized PVSL for “Highest manpower retention in service”. In September, 2011, it bagged the productivity award from Kerala State Productivity Council.