Society
As an industry leader, it’s important to be responsible and committed to the things that matter. Our governance philosophy insists on best practices in Corporate Governance, based on trusteeship, transparency and accountability. Our active, well-informed and independent Board brings in guidance on ethics in every area of our business.
The core values guiding our governance are deeply rooted within our organization: Quality, Trust, Innovation, Excellence and Leadership.
Furthermore, BKT is governed by our family values. Our stakeholders, for example, are key members of the BKT family, including: our customers, employees, vendors, shareholders and investors - and all our global communities. We believe in the importance of mutual growth, so we share information and intellectual resources, as well as our achievements and progress, while simultaneously listening to feedback and ideas, giving all our family members the chance to have their say.
Our Compliance function ensures that all our internal and external corporate activities and plant operations are carried out well within the framework of applicable laws and regulations, and we remain fully compliant.
BKT was the first tire manufacturing Company in India to get REACH certificate in 2009 as per EU standards - a certification which ensures the protection of human health and the environment. Our Governance Policies and Code of Conduct further reflect this, and we are pleased to say that our compliance records are consistently excellent. In fact, in 2021-22 we achieved our goal of 100% compliance and no-violation status. Long may our compliance continue!
While BKT may be a global automotive industry leader, one of our main priorities is people. We pride ourselves on integrating all employees into the BKT family, and ensuring that employee wellbeing is at a consistent high. The result? Our staff turnover rate is one of the lowest in the entire industry ranking, testifying our sustainable workforce.
Our people-centric vision has been the cultural driving force behind all our employee relations so far, underlying all our policies, conduct and relationships. We have built a culture of true respect and genuine care which has stood the test of time over three long decades.
We have realized, in such a sound culture, employee wellbeing occurs as a culturally natural outcome rather than as a strategically strived and calculated result.
A testimony to this truth is the long tenure of our people. Not only do we have an exceptionally low employee turnover rate, but Senior leaders are also here for the longest tenures - with several who have exited and returned to the BKT family’s welcoming fold!
Our belief is that when workers work in a comfortable ambience, it keeps them productive and engaged.
As ambient temperature is a key factor of comfort on factory shop floors, we invest in keeping ambient temperature at a comfortable level. While it adds 20% to our energy cost on the shop floor, our workers’ wellbeing is always our priority.
Our investment in such care has paid off in terms of productivity. We have seen our productivity levels rise gradually over the years - testifying that a happy workforce is a productive workforce.
18 km from Bhuj City, Kutch, Gujarat, BKT has built a modern residential complex for employees of the Bhuj plant. As our largest plant, the Bhuj plant employs a large number of locals - all of whom are key members of our BKT family.
This colony keeps our employees close to our production center, which makes everyone's lives easier. At BKT, we pride ourselves on taking good care of all our employees, and are more than happy to provide a home for our Bhuj community, where quality of life is our key focus.
At present, it is populated with 420 families - yet is set to expand in the near future!
Health and Safety is an area of high material significance in our industry, which employs complex production processes and a significant sized workforce. The wellbeing of our employees is our priority, and we undergo rigorous evaluations of all operations to ensure that they are 100% dependable.
We conduct extensive safety training for all workers, and yet we know we must go beyond and plug gaps in implementation. This is why we design and use a range of communication methods and material (signage, reminders, periodic talks etc) so as to sustain the implementation of our Health and Safety regulations on a continuous basis.
Our industry requires a talent-force with a certain expertise.
We as a business are constantly developing innovative products and a technological edge. With 2700+ SKUs, we have pushed our competence to unsurpassed levels. All this places an enormous demand on the quality and capability of talent - which leads to our intrinsic focus on talent development within our company. What characterizes our expert force is a sense of curiosity, desire to learn constantly, experiment and innovate: all of which are greatly encouraged by BKT.
In light of this, we have continuous programs in place for skilling and upskilling our workforce, and truly believe in nurturing the talent of our BKT family. One such program is our Campus to Corporate Program, which is aimed at the sharp young minds of tomorrow. This program brings in new talents every year, with over 100 young people being introduced to all BKT's functions: Technology, Production, Engineering, Marketing & Sales, HR and Commercial.
This exciting, innovative program helps to coach the younger generation in readiness for the years to come, where they could be the future faces of BKT!
Have you heard our motto "Growing Together"? These two words speak of our love for the BKT community, while also highlighting the importance of inclusion and diversity.
At BKT, we do not tolerate any kind of discrimination in the workplace, across all our operations. We are aware that actions speak louder than words: this is reflected in our Governance Policies and Code of Conduct, as well as in our zero incidence of violation.
How do we achieve this? Well, we believe it is our responsibility to build awareness, which is why each member of our team is well-trained in matters of ethics, integrity, human rights and similar topics. We also undertake continuous evaluation to ensure our vision is being met.
BKT: Growing Together, and building a fairer, more inclusive future.
CSR, otherwise known as Corporate Social Responsibility, is something we passionately believe in at BKT.
Put simply, this means that, as a company, we have a responsibility for the rural health and wellbeing of the communities around us. Our CSR policy brings our intention, agenda and themes to the fore, aligning our organization wide in community care.
Our CSR activities began in 1987 - with financial support of a hospital in Aurangabad. Later, we began supporting the agricultural communities around our Bhiwadi and Chopanki plants. Subsequently, came the birth of the BKT Foundation in 2010: where we strived to proactively better the lives of our surrounding marginalized communities. From 2014 onwards, we became CSR official, creating a board level committee.
The pandemic gave one of the most significant needs for CSR in global history. BKT's family values are at the heart of all we do. We therefore refused to abandon our charitable projects in the face of the pandemic. Instead, we rose to the challenge like any family would, and doubled our efforts. Not only did BKT continue to contribute its CSR funds, but it was heartwarming to see our people coming forward to donate food, time and money from their own pockets. Our BKT partners from 11 countries made significant contributions - and our Founder family doubled this! This proves that, even when faced with adversity, BKT will continue the mantra “Grow Together”.