Philips Medical Systems: Making Things Better

When Philips was constructing its two new buildings at Bangalore, the company

asked all employees for a wish list. They ranged from the hilarious to the

brilliant. Niranjan Nerlige, quality manager, software division, Philips Medical

Systems, (see main story) sent in a long list, hoping at least some of his

suggestions would be accepted. To his surprise, all of them were. The long list

addressed one basic need: he and his wheelchair needed access to the building

and everywhere within the building.

The company did more than fulfill his wish list. "They thought of

everything," says Nerlige. "The way from the parking lot to the lift

is completely flat. In one place inside the building there was a six-inch

difference in floor levels. They made a slope over that. They made sure all

doors, all over the building open so that I can get in easily. What this company

did was truly amazing." His immediate boss, S Bhaskaran, director, software

competency center, Philips, personally measured Nerlige’s wheelchair and

ensured that all doors would allow him entry. When he found that one door was a

little small, he had it broken and rebuilt. "Even now, everyday when I

reach the office, there is a man waiting to help me out of the car."

C Mahalingam, head, HR, Philips, has now authorized a refitting of Nerlige’s

car so that he can drive to work himself and when the quality manager recently

left for an official overseas visit, the company sponsored his wife’s ticket

so she could go with him.

Nor is Nerlige an exception. R Srinath applied to the company for a job two

years ago, mentioning clearly in his resume that he was virtually deaf. They

called him for an interview, checked with their in-house doctor on whether the

problem would interfere with his work and gave him a job. Srinath is now a test

engineer in the company.

Philips is among the few companies that has started putting processes into

place to see that they do not inadvertently reject qualified candidates on the

basis of their disability. Says Mahalingam, "We’ve told our headhunters:

Please don’t disqualify candidates because they are disabled in any way. If

they have the basic professional qualifications, send them to us, we will decide

for ourselves."

More importantly, the company has gone proactive. According to Mahalingam,

"Starting soon, all our recruitment ads will clearly and prominently

mention that qualified, physically-challenged people are encouraged to

apply." These are unusual, if simple things to do. But they have a high

dividend: Commitment from employees and a lot of goodwill from people who hear

of these policies.

Sarita Rani, in Bangalore