ONGC's New Year gifts to counter poaching of staff
ONGC is also facing a brain drain but is offering attractive New Year cash gifts to stem the flood of personnel to multinational and domestic rivals.
PETROWATCH learns these cash incentives will be available to all categories of employees up to the level of executive director. ONGC’s top management decided these incentives at a review meeting on 30th, 31st December and 1st January and implemented them immediately.
Some of these incentives are brand new, others are already available to staff but their amount has been doubled or trebled. Among the new incentives are: an interest free advance of Rs50,000 ($1100) to all executives up to the level of executive director to purchase a laptop and extra money of between Rs150 and Rs650 per day for all executives, again up to executive director level, subject to a maximum of 15 days for work beyond office hours.
Existing incentives that have been substantially increased are: an education subsidy of between Rs900 and Rs2000 per month per child depending upon the class in which the child is, irrespective of the level of the employee; transport subsidy of up to Rs750 per month per employee up to the level of executive director; merit scholarship between Rs350 and Rs900 per month per child irrespective of the level of the employee, up to executive director level; admission fees of Rs3000 per child limited to two children; and money for mobile phones. Earlier, says an ONGC source, mobile phones were given to employees on a case-by-case basis.
Now, each employee will get between Rs10,000 and Rs20,000 to purchase a mobile phone. In addition, ONGC will reimburse mobile phone charges up to a maximum of Rs10, 000 per month.
ONGC hopes that these incentives will help retain employees. “We have been facing tremendous attrition of staff for the past year,†says an ONGC source.
Besides handing out gifts, ONGC also wants to tempt back employees who have retired. Advertisements have been published asking employees retired from the drilling, geology, geophysics, production and finance disciplines to return.
“No decision has yet been taken how much money will be paid to these returning employees.â€
