What do you hold dear about Biocon?

It is the fact that the company has held true to its values at every step of our journey. I feel we all have an entrepreneurial spirit in us. Ours is a culture primarily built on innovation. We have an open and transparent work environment, one that encourages employees to voice their opinions freely. The company also recognises and rewards high performers who hold true to these core values. Within my very first year at Biocon, I knew I had made the right choice.

How has your role evolved over the years?

Growth has been a constant, since the day I began working at Biocon. I started with policies and templates, and then to automating the attendance and performance management systems and overseeing three HR ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system implementations in the company – from Biocon’s Online Software Solution to Microsoft Dynamix (2009), to SAP (2014) and recently Success Factors (2019). I am happy to say that some of the templates I was responsible for building during my initial years are still in use today, in its evolved format of course! The SAP implementation gave me my first global exposure with the scope extending to Malaysia. Every ERP implementation was an opportunity to automate, revisit our policies, processes and redefine them to be best-in-class across geographies. Biocon Day is another event that I have been handling since 2008. Today it has become a grand scale event with close to 10000 participants.

What stands out for you about Biocon?

The journey has been exciting with each project throwing new challenges and providing the freedom to experiment, innovate, collaborate, fail and restart. This sense of ‘ownership’, taking decisions and learning from each experience is what sets Biocon apart. It has also been my biggest driving force in the organisation. I am extremely proud to be associated with brand Biocon, which is also an emotion shared by my family.

Any particular moment you would like to talk about?

Well, this is not something I talk about easily, but it is something I treasure and I am proud of. In 2018, Biocon identified leaders from within the company to participate in the ‘Great Manager’ awards, an initiative by People Business, a Global HR Management Consulting firm, in partnership with The Economic Times. I was honoured to have been one of the nine Bioconites shortlisted, after an initial screening process from about 2500 High Potential Managers across the country. This recognition meant so much more to me than anything else because candidates chosen were selected based on feedback received from their colleagues and team members, which was then benchmarked at the national level. There really is nothing more rewarding than a validation of one’s efforts from one’s team and a neutral forum!

Any personal work ethic you would like to talk to us about?

I believe that it is important for us to traverse with the organisation we work for. This helps us align and drives us to make the most of every opportunity we have and contribute in a positive way. I look at my team members as people who, just like me, are here to make a difference to their careers, through the larger goals of the organisation. My job as a leader is to set clear goals and expectations, provide opportunities that help them build on their strengths and challenge their potential. I like to encourage them to takes risks and ownership and of course, drive results, while being approachable through individual credibility. I also value being empathetic and respectful to everyone. I firmly believe that a challenging and enabling work environment keeps one motivated. The best part about my role is that I have both responsibility and accountability for a wide range of roles that can positively impact employees.