How Sanjiv Bajaj plans leadership transition, succession at Bajaj Finserv

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: Succession planning at Bajaj family’s financial services businesses begins by identifying young leaders and grooming them for years so that they can step up in future, Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director, Bajaj Finserv said. “We identify them early.

We move them around various jobs and to various businesses," Bajaj said in an interview at his South Mumbai residence overlooking the Coastal Road. “They move from business to human resources and to operations. So, by the time they come into their 40s, they have a very good experience across multiple areas." Bajaj's idea is to make better leaders out of them.

Interestingly, the financial services group also moves people in its middle management tiers between group companies. That is to ensure they get exposure to more than one type of business, creating leadership for the future, said Bajaj. Bajaj said the group's 100,000-plus employees come to work not to earn daily pay, but because they enjoy being there.

“I have never stopped anybody who wanted to leave the company because I've always believed that those who are there should be there because they want to be there," he said, adding that given the plethora of opportunities one cannot hold people back forcibly and that is not something he wants to do. Also read | Can Bajaj Finserv still dominate the credit game? “What we can do is to create that excitement and empowerment and ownership where the leaders who work with us run those businesses as their own. Now, may be we cannot take that ownership all the way down to the 100,000th employee, but at least we can for senior management and senior leadership." He said that of the top 100 leaders, other than through natural