QUICKER RESULTS: DOUBLING PRODUCTIVITY

Towards a Smoother, More Effecient Job Profile

Takao Kasahara interviewed by Rashna Ardesher

I had heard of Kasahara as a no-nonsense man and a hard taskmaster. But when I shook hands with him and saw his warm and friendly smile, we developed an instant rapport. Funnily enough, walking briskly from one end of the corridor to the other, he got a little confused in locating his room! Once he located it, we laughed and sat down to our question-and-answer session. What was to be a half-hour interview carried on for exactly an hour. He came through as a keen well-wisher of Godrej, rather than a (foreign) Consultant wanting to make a quick buck. When we finished, he kindly asked me: "Do you wish to know anything more?" Feeling rather guilty for hijacking his lunch break, I said No. He expressed his desire to show me the Plants in which he had brought about changes as well as the newly installed Green Corners. Realising that he was already late for lunch, I told him that I’d go on my own. But he insisted on showing me personally so that I understood the basic concept. We went down the stairs and it started drizzling. He ran up again, fetched his umbrella, came down and showed me two Plants and Green Corners. I was delighted to see the transformation.

Mr. Takao Kasahara is a man who has been successful in bringing about real work efficiency and increase in productivity not merely by a few percentages but in big multiples. But the real challenge for him has been to change the mindset of employees. A well-travelled and experienced person, he modestly dedicates his success in Godrej to the efforts of senior managers and workers, apart from his dear wife, Setsuko Kasahara, whom he warmly calls his "major source of inspiration."