In a move to boost the productivity of its 10,000 employees, Tata Motors has decided to dissolve a majority of its designations that form company hierarchy.

The move was facilitated by Gajendra S Chandel, Chief Human Resources Officer, so as to create a flatter organisation. From now on, new business cards will now have the employee name, followed by the function/responsibility. For example, ‘Sales – Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles’.

The rationale being that the employee’s responsibility would be reinforced and this would make the performance tracking process transparent and simple.

Such a concept is familiar in the West, following which designations such as vice-president, general manager, regional sales manager, and area manager in India’s automotive giant will become obsolete.

For example, a person heading a team will simply be called ‘Head’ followed by the function, be it in a plant in the Jharkhand or the paint shop in Maharashtra.

For those who operate alone, their function or their area of specialisation will be their calling card.

The Executive Committee which consists of Guenter Butschek, Managing Director of Tata Motors, will be the only ones to continue with their designations, reducing the number of reporting positions in the hierarchy from 14 to five.

The company is banking on creating optimal employee productivity to stay ahead of competition, locally, where sales are dwindling and worldwide, where Tata faces the likes of Scania, Bharat Benz and Volvo. This can only be done when the workforce focusses on the task ahead instead of constantly wondering on reaching the next rung of the corporate ladder.