A holistic transformation of leadership capabilities, internal talent pipelines, and organization development practices to drive business excellence.
Time to Read: 7 mins
Background
As NRB Bearings accelerated its domestic leadership and international expansion across the US, Thailand, Germany, and UAE, building a future-ready leadership pipeline and strengthening the internal talent ecosystem became mission-critical. Legacy HR systems required modernisation to match the organization’s business aspirations. Simultaneously, digitization and operational excellence initiatives across the company created a strategic inflection point to embed leadership, learning, and development as levers of sustainable growth.
Objective
- To create an integrated, scalable Leadership Development and Organization Development (OD) framework.
- To improve talent visibility, accelerate internal career growth, and future-proof the organization with ready-now leadership.
- To drive a shift from process-driven to purpose-driven performance management.
Actions Taken
1. Performance Management Transformation
- Replaced the traditional 4-point rating system with a 6-point scale.
- Enabled more granular assessment of talent, distinguishing true high-performers and identifying focused development needs.
- Embedded a continuous feedback culture using quarterly check-ins, real-time feedback, and 360° evaluations at leadership levels.
2. Talent Mapping and Succession Planning
- Conducted a critical role identification exercise across business verticals.
- Created talent heat maps with a 3-year succession readiness plan.
- Formalized career conversations for top 10% of employees, ensuring visibility into next-step opportunities.
3. Capability Building and Learning Strategy
- Deployed a competency-driven Learning and Development (L&D) architecture, categorizing learning into technical, behavioral, and leadership domains.
- Rolled out mentorship and sponsorship programs to accelerate leadership readiness.
- Institutionalized a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) framework, using data from performance discussions and succession pipelines.
4. Innovation through New Team Creation
- Built an Automation and Robotics Team from scratch, aligning with the manufacturing digitization goals.
- Delivered 5 AI-enabled robots for manufacturing units at Hyderabad and Waluj, automating safety-critical and repetitive tasks.
Results and Achievements
| Impact Area | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Talent Growth | Internal promotions increased by 7% year-on-year, significantly reducing external hiring costs. |
| Leadership Development | 85% of leadership participated in 360° feedback; 70% reported improved self-awareness and leadership effectiveness in follow-up surveys. |
| Learning Effectiveness | Training and development programs grew by 18%, with a 92% positive feedback rating from participants. |
| Robotics & Innovation | The automation team’s deployment improved plant safety compliance by 22% and increased plant throughput by 15%, setting new efficiency benchmarks. |
| Employee Engagement | Career development scores in the employee engagement survey improved by 11 percentage pointswithin a year. |
| Strategic Alignment | Strengthened succession pipelines covered 85% of business-critical roles, ensuring leadership continuity. |
Additionally, these outcomes contributed to NRB Bearings receiving external recognition, further elevating the employer brand among engineering and manufacturing talent.
"Leadership is not found, it’s built. By investing in our people’s growth and capability, we invested in the future of NRB Bearings."
