Prashant Atre: Customer tops priority during crisis management

Printweek (PW): How have you been leading your organisation through this once-in-a-lifetime crisis? Describe a typical day? How much has been altered?
Prashant Atre (PA): I consider it as an opportunity. To relax (initial two weeks), spend time with family, learn things that you always wanted to, and to put your health on a top priority and actually working towards it. From an organisational point of view we came up with ways to stay connected with our customers and to continue to serve them in a given situation.

Many of our packaging customers were operational from the first week of April and so was our sales service support. Now, with more presses in operational mode, we have stepped-up our service to customers while maintaining the utmost care of our team. Personally, I have been going to office for over three months.

PW: We’re in an extraordinary moment. As a leader what are you telling your team now?
PA: This was perhaps the most difficult part for any leader in a business environment, to get the team out of fear and start working, but at the same time make sure that no one is affected by this deadly virus. It is not easy. On one hand, we have a business to run and on the other hand, team’s health and safety are paramount to us. Toyo Ink Group’s strict guidelines are to maintain safety of employees. There are phases to this journey of over 130 days. During the first lockdown, the major focus was to encourage the team to stay 100% at home.

We also gave them time for themselves and their family (we did not lock them from morning to evening with series of meetings, which I heard many companies did during this period). We connected with team through digital medium and continued our focus on two things; one to keep connected with our customers and support them as much as possible, second to learn new skill sets through training.

Print samples produced using Toyo Ink Arets products

PW: Is it different messaging for different teams? For example, department heads, factory supervisors, admin staff, shopfloor experts, logistics and support staff?
PA: The language could be different for different teams, but the essence of communication remains the same – to be creative in our approach towards our goal of customer servicing and learn to adapt to new normal.

PW: The post-Covid-19 world will need massive HR repair with your entire team. How are you planning to achieve this? 
PA: We really wish that very soon there will be post-Covid-19 world. Honestly, we have not started working out on this direction. But, there could be restructuring of working methods and workplace after the pandemic is over.

PW: Have you been re-negotiating deals with your customers? From a position of strength? Or is it the same old same old?
PA: We are re-negotiating with customers. The response from our customers has been overwhelming, both in terms of business and liquidity. Printers responded positively to our timely services during lockdown.
I can say this because a customer wrote a ‘thank you’ letter to us for something that was merely our job that we did during the first lockdown.

PW: How have you been planning your next step with your banks and financiers when you don’t know what the future will hold? One step that you have taken ...
PA: Bankers are proactive in supporting to the responsible accounts. It is an individual experience for every company. Our customers supported us with timely payments and this has helped us maintain our working capital.

PW: Is your factory ready for what’s next? How have you been empowering your team at the bottom of the pyramid?
PA: We have always been focusing on educating, trainings and self-learning of our team, which are the foundations for decision-making ability. Right degree of empowerment to the team at different levels of pyramid has been our key to success. This helps improve the speed of customer servicing and thus our business.

PW: Any specific steps (sanitisation, plastic partitions, physical distance, air vents, WFH, etc) to keep your office healthy and psychologically safe?
PA: Currently, we continue to operate with 30-40% of capacity of staff in our offices, while the rest continue to work from home. We are maintaining our offices as per the given guidelines of sanitation and hygiene. It is an ongoing process and our HR is working on all aspects that may be needed for future as well.

PW: A personal question: How has Covid-19 changed the nature of what you are working on, your own resilience and self-renewal and how you do it?
PA: Currently, with travelling on hold, I am finding more time for everything. This period has let me work towards my inner self through meditation.

PW: In what way has your team prepared for Webex or Zoom or Skype usage? Any creative ideas?
PA: I personally feel that there cannot be a true replacement to meeting in person. The digital medium came handy to connect with our teams and customers.

PW: Any final predictions about how, as a leader, you can harness digital technology for good...
PA: It is our responsibility to bring a fine balance between technology and human resource.

Artificial intelligence is still far from our current requirements, but use of digital/computing technology is widely used to improve process efficiencies and encourage error-free working.

Technology is a great support to decision making process when data is presented in analytical forms.