LAHORE: National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) has shifted focus on effective and efficient human resource management (HRM) with a view to completing projects within deadlines while strictly maintaining quality, its top official said on Saturday.
To gain competitive advantage, there is a dire need to capitalise on human resources as this aspect alone plays a key role in timely execution of power transmission infrastructure.
“Hence, besides launching training of existing staff on modern lines, we have decided to hire over 2,000 highly qualified professionals in next four months to jumpstart work on various projects, said Azaz Ahmad, newly appointed Managing Director NTDC while talking to The News.
“This process may continue in future as we have identified total 4,000 posts to be filled,” he added.
Following brainstorming various ideas soon after assuming charge of the company early last month, Ahmad said, “I made up a firm opinion that lack of trained and professional staff had been one of the biggest hurdles in timely execution of electricity transmission infrastructure projects”.
“Hence, a process to hire technically sound personnel through a transparent process of National Testing Services is need of the hour.”
Unlike other so-called ‘outsiders’, Eng Azaz Ahmad, although joined NTDC after resigning from Siemens, a leading global technology giant, has had experience of working atPakistan’s transmission utility for about a decade.
So, he has not been parachuted into the public sector entity’s top office in the sense that he had an experience of working in the NTDC before 2007. Usually, an outsider faces stiff resistance from the local staff. “However, I am fortunate that I won the confidence of company’s human resource in short span of time,” he said.
Ahmad has rich experience in dealing with tight deadlines in challenging situations while executing power projects with world renowned multinational firms.
He especially delivered timely execution of a vital project for the construction of record number of substations in Sindh province within shortest possible time, delivering a pace of work unheard of in a country like Pakistan.
Having Bachelors in Engineering from UET Lahore, Ahmad did his MBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA)-Punjab University in addition to successfully completing Certified Project Management Professional and other multiple training courses from renowned institutes of Canada and Saudi Arabia.
He worked with Siemens for about 15 years, rising to one of the top positions on technical side while fetching highly rewarding remuneration. When he was included in the hiring process of MD, NTDC post, it took about a whole year for the federal government to complete the process. And finally, his services were acquired for a two-year term with monthly salary of about Rs2.5 million.
To a question about his loaded package, Ahmad said, he was getting similar salary and perks at the multinational firm, “so I asked for the same for the post of MD NTDC, reason being I solely want to focus on my job with the foremost aim of delivering work, while adopting a result-oriented approach”.
“I believe a capable and satisfied team of employees is also indispensable to implement recently approved Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) coupled with tasks already in hand,” said Ahmad coming back to his priorities as top manager of transmission utility.
To make IGCEP model a success, MD NTDC opined, “we need to have ample flexibility in the national grid that allows smooth power supplies across the length and breadth of the country on need and least cost basis”.
“Keeping in mind evolving situation, we will massively invest in the human resources of the company.”
Terming human resource management a key interest area for him, he maintained, the company would fully concentrate on realising the potential of making those employees a worthwhile asset for the company who would be fully able to deliver assigned task as per schedule.
“Poor human resource has been a major factor behind cost overruns and delayed transmission line projects,” he said.
In addition to attaching priority to human resource management including recruiting, hiring and deploying one of the best available choices besides managing organszation's employees through robust capacity building process, “we are renegotiating work parameters of certain ongoing projects with contractors in order to complete them within stipulated time”.
“We are also in process of evolving a system to digitally monitor company’s progress. The centralised system will facilitate top management to have a real-time data of each parameter concerning progress of ongoing projects, ensuring timely execution of power infrastructure plan,” Ahmad concluded.