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Indian Billionaire's #4 Tips on How to Win Employees' Trust When the image of a $103 billion business gets dented, it needs plastering.

By Aashika Jain

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Ratan Tata is a household name not only in India but across the world.

Known to have built the Tata Empire constituting of 29 listed business units under the group name Tata Sons, Ratan Tata is an idol to more than 660,000 employees.

In a recent corporate battle, which was sparked with the ouster of former Tata Sons' chief Cyrus Mistry, the group's image took a beating exposing India's first multinational to public scrutiny worldwide.

Public mud-slinging led to the dissection of the company's various businesses running into losses and allegations of the board allowing certain businesses to run on emotions.

On the event of Tata Sons' Group founder Jamsetji Tata's 178th birth anniversary, Ratan Tata took centerstage in winning the trust of Tata's employees via a letter he wrote to the employees.

Assurance

A sudden change of guard at the helm can rattle the belief of employees. Giving assurance about being in safe hands, Ratan Tata showed confidence in the newly-appointed Tata Sons' Chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Tata said the group is in the safe hands of N Chandrasekaran and it was a matter of pride that Chandra being an internal person of the group with an impeccable record had taken over.

'I am confident Chandra would take the group to a new height of growth and progress. The decision to change the leadership of Tata Sons was a well-considered and serious one for its board members. This difficult decision, made after careful and thoughtful deliberation, is one the board believes was absolutely necessary for the future success of the Tata Group,' Tata wrote in the letter.

Grant Ownership

No business can run without its employees. And when the strength is in many thousands, the reins of seamless running of businesses need to be handed over to employees.

In strong words, Tata called the group's employees the inheritors of the Tata Trusts, which own two-thirds or nearly 66 percent of the group.

"You are the inheritors and the custodians of the Trusts and of our belief in making a sustainable change to the society,' the Chairman Emeritus of the salt-to-software conglomerate said

Trust

Tata instilled faith in employees and wrote "hope you are proud of our group's capacity of thinking beyond business. It is this strength and intention that is reflected through the Trusts in their vision and their work,' Tata said.

Gratitude

Tata profusely thanked employees for their diligence.

"You bring your zeal, your vigour, your integrity and most importantly your hard work. It is because of you that we can derive and obtain the opportunity and the privilege to serve our community and through that, our nation," Tata wrote.

Aashika Jain

Entrepreneur Staff

Former Associate Editor, Entrepreneur India

Journalist in the making since 2006! My fastest fingers have worked for India's business news channel CNBC-TV18, global news wire Thomson Reuters, the digital arm of India’s biggest newspaper The Economic Times and Entrepreneur India as the Digital Head. 
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