Ms. Saumya Sharma embarked on a career overseas with ANZ Bank, Australia and she is someone who has achieved success on the International fr ont with her acuity in business operations line Business Analysis, Customer Service, Operations, Risk, and Compliance. She was also a part of Planman Consulting in the initial days of her career and was also part of the marketing faculty at IIPM. Ms. Sharma then moved to Australia where she has been an integral part of ANZ Bank since the last six years. She has a very balanced approach towards problem solving and is a go-getter in every sense of the word. Her attitude is magnanimous and her approach clear. Th is clarity is reflected in her thoughts, which always focus on the future, rather than the past. In our correspondence with her, she has always come up as someone very subtle, courteous, helpful and outgoing at the same time. Cult presents her amazing journey through this Q&A in which she expresses her respect and love for the institute and the values that it instills in each student.
Q. Brief us about your career.
A. If you love what you are doing, you will succeed. This was something I have always believed in. I joined Planman Consulting aft er completing my MBA from IIPM and worked under Prof. A. Sandeep in Market Research while also teaching the same subject. In today’s world of increasingly globalised activities it was not long before I realised that my quest for knowledge was yet not complete and decided to gain some experience in a different country – Australia. Having specialised in Banking and Finance there, I joined the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited in 2008 on their Graduate Program.
Q. Explain your current role at ANZ.
A. It’s been over 5 years with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and in that time I have worked on various projects and teams each of which have taught me a lot and made me more equipped for my next move. The last two years I have been looking aft er the Operational Risk & Compliance for a business unit called Investment Lending which is all about using the bank’s money as well as your own to accelerate your potential returns via managed funds or shares.
Q. What are ANZ’s business operations and branding strategies?
A. ANZ aims to become a super regional bank. Th is involves growing our presence in the Asia Pacifi c region and source 25-30% of earnings from our Asia Pacific Europe and America Division by 2017, while also being very focused on growth in our core domestic businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
GEOGRAPHIC
• Balanced exposure to Asia’s growth
• Regional connectivity
• Growing financial services market
• Strong domestic markets
BUILDING SUPER REGIONAL CAPABILITIES
• Bench strength/talent
• Technology operations hubs
• Global core brand
• Governance and risk management
• Building leading product capability
CUSTOMER FOCUS
• Deep understanding of customer needs
• Resources, agribusiness, infrastructure
• Trade and investment flows
• Migration/people flows/education
“IIPM GAVE ME A NEW PERSPECTIVE AND REALISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIQUE CORPORATE CHALLENGES”
Q. What are your most cherished memories from IIPM?
A. What an amazing journey! My first impressions of IIPM was the caliber of lecturers and their lack of arrogance, their willingness to assist, as well as their interest in every student was amazing. It was definitely a great learning experience with the added advantage of a having a group of like minded people embarking on the MBA journey with you.
From serious lectures in marketing & finance to playing cricket during breaks – from weeks of exams to chasing companies for project works IIPM gave me a new perspective and realistic understanding of the unique challenges.
Q. How do you be in touch with your family?
A. It’s never easy staying away from family and friends, leaving them and moving to a whole new country hasn’t been easy. I am generally in India every year to catch-up with friends and spend time with my family. Having my brother in Australia has been a blessing.
Q. How do you spend your free time?
A. Melbourne is all about its cafés and sports. The year starts with the summer of cricket, the Tennis Australian Open and the F1 Grand Prix and ends with the Australian Football League or the footy as the locals call it. Being an avid sports fan I cannot be happier calling this city home.
I am currently reading Steve Job’s autobiography and will share a quote from that for all the young IIPM graduates gearing up to enter the corporate world “I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next”.
Cult wishes that her international success story keeps unfolding by scaling great highs in the world of banking as well as her personal life. This was a delight for Cult to feature her journey.
