How, where and when did you start your career?
While pursuing my graduation in management, I used to read a lot about business leaders, industry veterans and their success and challenges. I saw that most of them had one thing in common. They all talked about “people” being their topmost priority. So, while finalizing on a post graduate program out of multiple options in hand, I went ahead with an MBA program in HR from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.
Right after the course, I landed with my first job at Citigroup in the year 2007. Over there, I handled my first full time assignment in the human resources field. Prior to that, in two years of my post-graduation, I had done a few HR projects with different companies, but working with Citigroup was definitely a great exposure and a fantastic start to my career.
How did you come to choose HR as your professional field?
I have been quite sure about one thing right from the start — that talent and people are the only competitive edges an organization can have, which are difficult and almost impossible to imitate in a business environment. You can imitate technology, services or products, but people are your unique assets. And since people are the real force behind innovation, being in HR provides you a great opportunity to facilitate and anchor that competitive advantage.
In today’s times, talk to any successful business leader and you will definitely hear people management being on the top of their corporate agenda. It was largely this strong belief and a natural propensity towards the human resource (compared to other branches in MBA) that steered me towards choosing HR as a profession.
Describe the initial years of your career?
The starting phase of my career was a roller coaster ride; it felt like I’d arrived. Quite naturally, the initial euphoria waned off quickly. I really had to sink my teeth into every aspect of the job and build my expertise from the scratch. The biggest challenge was to generate receptiveness among others towards my ideas and suggestions, getting myself acknowledged as a valued contributor. With time, I also learnt being considerate to other members’ concerns. In hiring for business, I’ve enjoyed scouting for ‘critical talent’ the most. My most important learning out of my initial years was my realization that differences of opinion among team members is not only healthy but crucial to a successful plan. What I mean is, having a diverse set of team members, people from different background and experiences bring multiple thoughts and positive criticism to the table, which is vital for ideating and taking on any initiative.
What would you consider a defining moment in your HR career?
The best moment in my career was when my present organization OSSCube got featured in GPTW India’s list of “Top 100 Best Companies To Work For” in 2014. It’s special because it came as a pleasant surprise. The company’s HR function had got established just two years back, and we were still figuring out ways to make it into a great workplace. Someone suggested the idea of participating in GPTW so we thought of giving it a shot.
And the next thing we knew—we were placed handsomely on the list of top 100 companies in India. I can never forget that moment this came to our knowledge. Post that, a string of recognitions followed, and there was no looking back. Acknowledgments from notable names like SHRM and DMA for our diverse HR Best Practices came as icings on the cake. We now have the honor of featuring in the list of Top100 Places To Work For in India for three consecutive years and all our efforts are directed towards making OSSCube an employer of choice in every country we operate in.
Our people philosophy of “Happy Family, Happy People, Happy Customer,” brings synergies to all our HR initiatives. A few of our ‘out of the box’ initiatives have not only earned us huge appreciation, but have also helped us stay ahead of the curve. These initiatives include the likes of Cubian Camp, Hour of Code, Family and Alumni engagement programs, Annual Conclave, “Dil Se” our CSR & Sustainability Drive, and our power packed sports initiatives.
In what ways has this been instrumental in transforming you, both personally and professionally?
Being in the Top100 Great Places To Work For list in your early years of HR function can also put a lot of pressure on you. Now the need was to not only ensure that we sustained our position, but emerged as a thought leader in the space. This was only possible if we could make sure that what is unique and special about us remained our competitive edge for long; the culture we had created continued to strengthen our organization’s vision. We started focusing on institutionalization of our culture and strengthening our HR programs further. So that first they don’t revolve around “individual heroism” and also that the benefits of those initiatives reach all our members fairly. Working collaboratively with different stakeholders has helped me tremendously in achieving it.
Some key guidance and advice you would like to suggest to HR leaders.
My suggestion to HR leaders is to look for your “WOW” moment in your company’s success. Because, what you can create together with the whole organization will always be much more special, more meaningful and empowering than just achieving one’s personal aims. It brings all key stakeholders together on one platform to achieve a common goal with everyone supporting each other. It’s the best example of teamwork and collaboration as it results in the best kind of success.
