Dr M Ayyappan retires as CMD of HLL

Dr Ayyappan infused certain new ethos into the company

Dr M Ayyappan, has retired as the Chairman and Managing Director of HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL). He joined HLL in 1991 before he was appointed as the company’s Marketing Director in 2002. In the field of healthcare, Dr Ayyappan led a mission where indigenous business competed with the private sector even as he took diversification to new heights.

Today, HLL and its subsidiaries are worth an estimated Rs 4,75,000 crore. “HLL can achieve the turnover target of Rs 10,000 crore in four-and-a-half years,” Dr Ayyappan says. “It can generate employment running into lakhs.”

The outgoing CMD notes that absence of a strong recruitment policy is what often weakens a PSU. “In HLL, I never allowed political interference when it came to inducting employees. My way of functioning seldom prompted any leader to do so,” he says.

Dr Ayyappan is happy that he enjoyed the cooperation of HLL employees across grades, boosting the company’s overall performance. “From within colleagues, I got a team that spread awareness about the value of labour,” he notes. “HLL employees know they are doing first-rate job. And that the growth of the company on corporate lines will eventually benefit society.”

As CMD, Dr Ayyappan infused certain new ethos into the company. He introduced a system to allow every HLL employee to present their suggestions directly to the CMD.

Dr Ayyappan can be credited with turning a central public sector enterprise into an efficient global corporate company. He arrived at the then Hindustan Latex Ltd in 1991 armed with 12 years of experience in marketing. He was able to raise the profile of the company as a globally recognised brand by working in the firm belief that as a PSU it could only grow by focusing as strongly on marketing as on manufacturing.

Dr Ayyappan took charge as the Managing Director of HLL in 2002-2003 and was promoted to its Chairman and Managing Director in 2005. Under his stewardship in 2010, the company realised its revenue target of Rs 1,000 crore. He leaves a rich legacy and a word of optimism for HLL’s employees that the next turnover goal of Rs 10,000 crore may only be four years away.