How, where and when did you start your career, specifically in HR?
I started my core Human Resources journey with Airtel- Port Blair and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Why did you choose HR as your professional field?
The Indian Army taught me lessons in combat where both HR and Material Management are extensively tested in extreme conditions. Since I was dealing with combat talents from all sectors, choosing Human Resources as a future professional path came to me as a natural progression as I believed I can contribute and add value to the HR fraternity.
Could you briefly describe the initial years of your career – what were the challenges you faced, the areas you enjoyed the most, the lessons learnt?
Understanding the business was the key, and that made me sail through managing the human capital. The HR issues in Port Blair were completely different from what is prevalent in other places. The focus was at managing families and their well-being. Owing to frequent earthquake tremors and the fear of other natural calamity, the psychological frame of our employees was quite stressed. They were constantly torn between career and personal responsibilities. Understanding this dilemma, my role as an HR manager was to provide the necessary assurance and comfort at the workspace for all the employees. My wife Aditi was instrumental in connecting with all the families too.
The hiring process and employee engagement was yet another challenge. However, I enjoyed imparting sales training, Six Sigma training and doing hot spot analysis for new markets in North Andaman. A life lesson that I gained from the experience there and continue to practice till date is ‘Think fresh, deliver more’.
What would you describe as the highest point of your HR career?
My first corporate training exposure was in sales. I trained the internal team as well as the distributor’s team on easy recharge for Airtel prepaid. At TATA Telecom, I worked on a special project that required me to design a workshop (outbound) for the PCO division of the Kolkata Circle. The desired outcome of this workshop was to align all the teams including sales, service and installation, customer support, marketing and finance. The teams were used to working in silos and thus faced challenges in achieving desired results. Along with my then colleague Mr. Pallab Mitra, I designed an outbound workshop by the name of “Back to Basics”, which was focused on all aspects of team building, bonding & leadership. This activity received very positive response and the post training intervention results turned out to be commendable. The most flattering response was when some of the participants claimed to have “rediscovered” themselves! This gave me the confidence to extend it to other circles too. The training module, designing, planning and end-to-end execution became the part of my corporate life. The spread of these modules increased from a single topic like communication, interpersonal skills etc. to team building and leadership.
AGS Transact Technologies Limited (AGSTTL) has been a great platform to run all the modules, primarily because it caters to multiple sectors like banking, petroleum, colour, retail and digital payments. It is like training for six different organizations! In such
a structure, it is critical that the HR department becomes a strategic partner to all the six business heads. Additionally, it has to ensure exclusive treatment is given to each because all the verticals have a different DNA and require a different skill set to function together seamlessly.
The exposure to the start-up world in Tikona Digital Networks helped me experience and explore the entire gamut of HR. Mr. Prakash Bajpai, company’s Managing Director, had a clear vision on ramping up of manpower, product stability and expanse of market. Hence, the HR had to be aligned to ensure timely yet systematic delivery. The organization Planman partnered with us during that period to ramp up the sales force on a pan-India basis.
At Tata, what really excited me was “Rock- In-Weekends”, an exercise we had designed & executed in the Kolkata Circle. It encouraged the employees to come together to perform activities and break away from their monotony. The meaning of ‘Engagement’ changed because the outbound training added value to the verticals and their respective teams’ moral!
How did these achievements transform you personally and professionally?
As an army officer I had the discipline and agility running through my veins all the time. The zeal to deliver the best in the field of Human Resource, coupled with targeted results and timelines shaped me into an acceptable corporate HR leader. I firmly believe that the organisations that I have worked for had incredible leaders who believed in what I had designed or wished to execute. It is a great catalyst and enables any creative mind to bring out the best in them.
What are the various initiatives you have taken in AGSTTL and how do you go about framing various HR policies for such a huge corporate group?
At AGSTTL, we started the employeeengagement by organizing festivals, birthdays etc., but with a difference. For instance, we had organized game sessions for the employees. A training division was formed and I ensured that all the modules being run were designed with an objective of benefitting both junior and middle level management. We also ensured a TNA and TNI was documented so that we could prepare budget and training calendars. Subsequently, we took baby steps into organizing “Town Halls”. The first pilot was conducted in Delhi called “The Delhi Chapter”,which was later replicated across other states we have a presence in. The event included key note speakers sharing wise words, stories and experiences about HODs and long term employees in the organization, and most importantly about ‘Rewards and Recognition’. The “Mumbai Chapter” was perhaps a historical Town hall for us, with over 500 employees being addressed by Mr. Ravi B Goyal, Chairman & Managing Director, AGSTTL.
The internal Human Resources department has evolved over the years in AGSTTL and taken shape where each team member aims at ‘optimising cost’. This has been a very healthy culture and brought in great results. The HR department is mapped under a cost centre primarily because they don’t technically ‘bring in’ revenue. I have always believed that the HR fraternity has to believe that contributing ideas in cost optimization is critical. We introduced “Employee Referral” and made a way of life in the talent acquisition vertical. The cost per hire came down rapidly as the cost on consultation charges went down. Another initiative from the HR department was to organize CSR activities ensuring 100 percent involvement from employees. For example, during Diwali, we encourage the employees to interact and meet with underprivileged people across Mumbai and nearby areas, and distribute basic amenities like food, clothing, medicines etc. It is a simple but effective initiative, appreciated by one and all, especially with the spirit of the festival in mind.
Additionally, we often organise interesting events like Sports day and Annual day that not only provides a platform to showcase talent but helped employees connect with their colleagues from other departments. During AGS Swastha, a mini Marathon organised last year, a great amount of energy was seen flowing in from various departments across the organisation.
At AGSTTL, we have been able to take “Engagement” to a different level only because we could visualize the need to reach out to each and every employee across the pyramid.
We have planned and executed strategies which enabled HR to connect with employees individually. We created exclusive IDs for specific queries from employees to ensure quick turnaround resolution; the First Time Resolution (FTR) became the key for eliminating confusions.
Among the key initiatives taken on employee benefits is the re-engineering of the Employee Medical Insurance (GMC) and Group Personal Accident insurance (GPA). This became a crucial strategy for employee retention as the policy is exhaustive and covers the entire family. The GPA was critical as 70 percent of the workforce is always on field and it’s imperative we cover them in case of accidental or fatal cases. We took this initiative to the next level by enhancing the cover and making it powerful against our competitors in similar business. Also, keeping in mind the growing cost of medical services, providing employees with added benefits made more sense.
Another parallel initiative was to protect the employees who fall under a higher bracket of income tax. We introduced “flexi pay”, an initiative that is beneficial for both, employee and the company. Having said this, our CMD Mr. Ravi B. Goyal’s faith in the HR team empowered me & my team to execute policies and processes anchored at employee benefits and engagement. His belief in investing in human capital provides the HR department the strength to ‘Think Fresh & Deliver More’.
What advice would you like to give HR practitioners of the next generation?
I feel it’s crucial for HR professionals to learn and understand the business and the people who are going to run the business. This would help them win half the battle and the rest will depend on creativity and strong engagement plans. Furthermore, Top-Of-The-Mind-Awareness (TOMA) among all employees has to be on a high, given all the HR deliverables to ensure the foundation set in terms of policies and processes, runs smooth and the MVV of the organization is aligned to the last employee standing.
