Leadership changes at Mahindra & Mahindra come into force

Mumbai: On Wednesday, Mahindra & Mahindra will see the reshuffle of its top management finally take effect, a transition during a difficult time for a company struggling to overcome a sales slump and mounting competition.

The new leadership structure will ensure more defined responsibilities, sources said.

To start with, the UV and tractor maker has shortlisted four to five key senior strategic positions—head of strategy, IT, customer experience/ brand as well as a CFO — that will be announced shortly.

Some roles are completely new positions. For instance, the current head of strategy Anish Shah becomes the deputy managing director, and the incumbent CFO V S Parthasarathy will now head the new mobility business. As the company looks for a new CFO, and a strategy head, the new positions of brand and customer experience are being created to make the company more market-friendly and open to change.

Mahindra has in the past preferred not to make lateral hiring of top management. Insiders say that while all the recently announced auto and farm sector positions were filled by internal talent, the new positions will be lateral appointments. The move comes when the company is facing challenging times in key segments.

Mahindra is also looking at realigning functions, and in the process working on rationalisation of employees – all of which are part of the BCG-led recommendations of the ‘Simplicity’ project. The implementation of this exercise may speed up once the environment improves.

Even as the management transition is underway, Michael Perschke, stepped down as CEO of Automobili Pininfarina last week. In a Linkedin post he explained he is stepping down from his duties as CEO . “I am taking a break for now,” he said.

People ET spoke to expect the new management may look at a leaner organisation.

The new strategy laid down by the new management will see some headwinds. Sources indicate that the new management will be more aggressive in decision making.

A person in the know, who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity, said that with the change in management will come a change in approach. “A new leader has a new way of working. That does not mean there will be no continuity. Anand Mahindra continues to be the conscience keeper of the company. He will see to it that there is continuity…,” he explained.

M&M declined to comment on a detailed query sent by ET.

“The new management team must always be conscious of the virtues of a decades-old company culture at a company like Mahindra, and that may still be useful to nurture. Picking the right shift levers and going all out with them could help turbocharge the group,” said HR consultant Prabir Jha.

The thinking behind the rationalisation strategy is also to shore up the other group companies besides auto and tractor, which has been the focus over the last two decades. This will ensure a fair valuation in the stock prices, which have taken a beating in the recent past.

Sectors such as hospitality, logistics, finance and the new mobility business will be given importance by the new management.

As stalwarts such as Rajan Wadhera and Rajeev Dubey move on from March 31, with Pawan Goenka due to retire in April 2021, the new management clearly has its task cut out, say experts.