All the projects, which were a part of the ESOPs Awards 2021, showcased the commitment and resilience of Mahindra Group employees and their desire to drive positive change in the community.

The winners

In the Factory Location category, the winner was Auto Division, Kandivali, for the Covid-19 relief project to guard frontline warriors by providing critical PPE. During the first wave of Covid-19 in March 2020, the team at Auto Division, Kandivali, quickly adapted to produce and supply face shields and face masks, which were in acute shortage. The employee volunteers coordinated with multiple vendors and government authorities and managed to supply over 1.97 lakh face shields and over one million face masks to support frontline warriors.

In the Non-factory Location category, the winner was Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd., Naldehra, for the Covid relief project to offer a quarantine facility to the District Administration. During the lockdown, the Naldehra resort was converted into a quarantine care centre to provide shelter to the public returning to their hometowns. This facility was offered for nearly two months and supported 2,700 beneficiaries.

About the ESOPs Awards

The ESOPs Awards were instituted in 2008 to encourage employees to participate in community building and developmental activities by recognising and rewarding their efforts. The annual Awards are classified into two categories — Factory and Non-factory Locations.

This year, 41 locations applied for the ESOPs Awards from across the Group. An internal jury comprising Nozar Bharucha, Head, Corporate Accounts, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.; Shalini Kamath, Chief Ethics Officer, Mahindra Group; and Asha Kharga, Chief Customer and Brand Officer, Mahindra Group, shortlisted six projects each from the Factory and Non-factory locations.

The 12 shortlisted projects were then presented before an eminent external jury, which included:

• Usha Thorat, Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
• Jaivir Singh, Vice Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) India Foundation
• Dr Lidwin Dias, Principal, School of Social Work Nirmala Niketan

The jury members appreciated the commitment and efforts of the ESOPs volunteers, the commitment and courage displayed during the Covid-19 period, the impact created, and the diversity of projects undertaken. All three of them were unanimous in their view that it was a challenge to select only one winner in each category.

The ESOPs Star Performer Awards for both Location and Individual were announced on August 11, 2021.

About the ESOPS Star Performer Awards

The ESOPs Star Performer Awards were instituted in FY 2010-11. The awards were conceptualised to identify and recognise high performing locations and individuals in ESOPs activities in the Mahindra Group. With the launch of the MySeva initiative, the ESOPs Star Performer Awards now considers employee volunteering through both ESOPs and MySeva. The underlying objective has been to retain and increase the participation of employees in volunteering activities year on year.

A tier system was introduced and incorporated in the design of the Awards in order to be able to adequately judge and give equal opportunities to all locations, despite the size, scale, diversity and complexity of businesses in the Mahindra Group. This tier system is based on the employees’ strength of the location. Within the main categories of Factory and Non-factory locations, sub-categories were introduced. There is a four-tier system for Factory Locations and five-tier system for Non-factory Locations. ESOPs Star Performer Award for Location and Individual is selected under these distinct levels.

The winners of ESOPs Star Performer Awards 2021 – Location and Individual were: