Sanjiv Gupta, Deputy President, Coca-Cola India An ex-Lever alum, Gupta's made it to the #2 slot in the soft drinks major Coca-Cola India

There are two things we tend to take for granted about Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), the Indian operations of Anglo-Dutch foods and consumer products giant Unilever. One, that HLL is actually a multinational corporation, although for all practical purposes, it's more Indian a company than many swadeshi posers. Two, that the entire management is Indian. When you consider that most Indian subsidiaries of MNCs have a sprinkling of foreigners on their boards-if not firang CEOs heading them-HLL's attempt at 'Indianisation' is laudable. What's even more commendable is that this process of developing Indian managers at this soaps marketer began way back in 1942. By 1951, Prakash Tandon had become the first Indian Director and, 10 years later, the first Indian Chairman.

The short point of highlighting the Indianisation-of-HLL-endeavour is that the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major has over the years become a hothouse of luminous talent, as a result of which its managers have gone on to occupy key positions in Unilever's global vista. At last count, 65 HLL managers had graduated to key responsibilities at various Unilever bases across the globe. You'll surely recollect one of those names: former HLL Chairman K.B. Dadiseth, now Director (Home & Personal Care) on the Unilever Board.

Then again, some of that human wealth seeps out into other companies on domestic shores. Not in ones and twos and 10s, but in hundreds. There may be no ready statistics, but estimates indicate that well over 200 ex-HLL managers have gone on to crank up vital growth engines in Indian companies, ranging from FMCG to financial services to consumer electronics to manufacturing to media. And remember, we aren't taking into account the board positions occupied by former HLL brass, which would easily number over 400.

Let's put Muktesh Pant on top of our list of ex-Leverites, arguably HLL's most prominent export. Pant, who did a stint with Pepsi after his HLL tenure, joined Reebok seven years ago. In 2001, Reebok embarked on a worldwide search for a marketing head. The company zeroed in on Pant as Chief Marketing Officer of the Reebok brand last November.

Saurav Adhikari, CEO, HCL Infinet One of many Lever managers who have made their mark in sectors other than consumer goods

Pant may be the most high-profile global ex-HLL manager, but back home two of the biggest industrial groups, the Tatas and the Birlas, have former Leverites at key positions in their management committees. In the August of 1998, after 31 years at Lever, R. Gopalakrishnan hung up his HLL boots (by which time he had risen to Vice Chairman) and headed toward Bombay House, the headquarters of the Tata Group, where he is Executive Director. Gopalakrishnan is also one of the elite four who comprise the Group Executive Office, which is an extension of Ratan Tata's office and responsible for key strategic decisions and investments being made by the group. Then there's Debu Bhattacharya, Managing Director at A.V. Birla Group metals company, Indo-Gulf Corporation.

Gopalakrishnan and Bhattacharya are the best examples of HLL-ites who've successfully made the transition from the FMCG sphere to the manufacturing sector. In newer businesses too, Lever managers have made a mark-there's Rajiv Vij heading Franklin Templeton's Indian mutual funds business, Aniruddha Lahiri, CEO of the Kolkata-based media major ABP, and Saurav Adhikari, Chief at HCL Infinet, the Internet services arm of HCL Infosystems.

Of course, the bulk of the ex-Lever bandwagon has hitched itself to consumer goods businesses, durables and non-durables. Here's a random sample: Utpal Sengupta at Conagra, Raj Jain at Whirlpool, Sanjiv Gupta at Coke, and Ram S. Ramasunder, till recently CEO of Electrolux.

There are many more-too many to fit in this space- which has resulted in HLL becoming famous for attracting and moulding some of the finest talent in India and abroad. The guiding hr principle at Lever is simple, at least on paper: Business growth can only take place if people grow. Conversely, the more HLL is able to leverage the potential of its people, the faster it will grow. And the faster HLL grows-that this isn't quite happening currently is another story-the easier it will be to retain talent.

The biggest success of HLL, however, is that it has gone about the task of collecting consumer insight and understanding needs and aspirations by grooming people who are best placed to perform those tasks-local managers.