Gyanendra Shukla, President and Director (CEO) of JK Agri Genetics, firmly believes in creating collaborative team-based culture. His leadership practices earned him a spot in the list of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by the Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India, for his transformational leadership style.
“When people ask for my approval, I encourage them to consult with peers who might be able to add value to their decision.”
Gyanendra has inculcated a collaborative culture by creating cross-functional teams based on critical goals and not hierarchy. He ensures that the team is not dependent on him for any critical decisions and he is an optional attendee at those meetings. He encourages his team members to make decisions instead of him making any decisions for them.
“Soon after joining, I noticed that, as a company, we were in the stone age as far as the adoption of digital communication tools and working habits were concerned.”
Gyanendra invested in infrastructure and software to allow maximum participation for all company employees. Digital communication platforms allow team members to do collective problem-solving. This futuristic thinking prepared the entire team to deal with virtual working conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The CEO’s office in the past had closed doors, and people avoided that path to the corner office. I opened the door and allowed people to walk in for any discussion and problem.”
As the company’s leader, everyone looked up to Gyanendra and ensured that all employees felt comfortable walking up to him for any discussion or problem. He collaborated with HR to celebrate festivals and birthdays and he co-created a vision and mission and started several awards and recognitions for individuals and teams.
Great Managers Institute® aims to bring out the best in industry leaders. Our series “Your Business is Built by People You Nurture” shares the best employee engagement practices that India’s Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 follow to achieve business growth.
According to GMI, this is what we can learn from Gyanendra’s story:
1. Inculcate a collaborative and team-based culture 2. Open and fast communication is critical for teams to work together 3. Open the corner office door for everyone
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study 2022 and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
It is vital for leaders to be content and have strong bonds with their teammates in order to increase productivity. They should also all feel appreciated to give them a sense of belonging. Find out how Devesh Chawla, Founder and CEO at Chatur Ideas, and one of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India, made the employees love the firm.
“Compliment each employee for doing a good job.”
When his team accomplishes anything admirable, according to Devesh, they receive an email of congratulations. In order to make the procedure more engaging and enjoyable, he has gamified it. He also grades employees on performance, demeanour, soft skills, etc., and gives monthly prizes and hampers to those who have performed well.
“The ‘United We stand’ motto is instilled in the entire office.”
Devesh assigns team members milestones that are 1.2 times their average performance, and the entire office works together to help each team member reach their milestone. In this approach, the team can celebrate every member’s achievement of a milestone they set for themselves once a year.
Great Managers Institute® is on a mission to bring out the best in industry leaders. In our series “Is Your Work Family Happy”, we are sharing the best workplace practices of India’s Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021.
According to GMI, this is what we can learn from Devesh Chawla’s story:
1. Acknowledge the efforts of each employee 2. Give each employee a buddy 3. The workplace shall adopt the motto “together we stand”
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study 2022 and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
Achieving a state of mindfulness is possibly one of the most revered skills that a great manager can possess. It helps not only perceive one’s life, but also workspace oriented scenarios with clarity and the intent to deliver.
Sonali has always had “living to life’s fullest” as a motivating factor in her life. Being an outdoorsy person, her biggest source of inspiration is traveling. Experiencing different countries, cuisines, cultures and lifestyles enables a journey of self exploration and reflection. Admittedly, she also loves immersing herself in a variety of sports, especially yoga and swimming.
Sonali graduated from Lady Shri Ram college in Delhi, with an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. This further gave leeway to her HR career, wherein she worked with some of the biggest global companies such as Mercedes, EXL Service, Patni Computers and Tata Motors over an expanse of 15 years.
Being an Internationally Certified Coach and a Global HR practitioner, Sonali works as a leadership facilitator with clients in over 70 countries across the globe. She also runs a consulting practise in the field of Coaching, Training, POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at workplace), Diversity and Inclusion. She specializes in Trauma Informed Coaching and integrates several modalities like Somatic Experiencing, NVC,mindfulness, Yoga, Social Presencing Theater in her work.
Sonali also works with multiple women leaders and coaches from organizations to put into context what feminine leadership brings to the table and how diversity inclusion at workplaces is significant for companies.
Through self realization and discovery, one can in turn also help others discover themselves. Being in touch with our inner self and knowing how to tap into our potential, is a tool that helps overcome life’s trials and tribunals. It also helps appreciate others who assist or guide us in this journey called life. Sonali continues to inspire and encourage a multitude of people with her positive can do attitude in life.
“When we become people- leaders, overnight we are expected to develop new skills. CDI gives a simple mantra to become an effective people manager- connect with your team regularly, invest in their growth and appreciate and motivate them often. CDI not only gives what to do but also how to do it.”
Everything at Great Manager Institute ® is done keeping the ‘people manager’ at the center. It’s all about impacting lives one leader at a time, and that has been one of my biggest takeaways while working at GMI. According to her, being a great people manager is not rocket science but is about understanding basic human needs at work. It is the need to build connections, the need to feel valued and the need to grow.
When asked about why she loves working with Great Manager Institute®, she says “I love working with GMI because of its youthful vibrant culture. I learn so much from other facilitators and the GMI team.”
“Focus on uplifting skills for all team members simultaneously.”
For the team to work more effectively, Aseem has focused on simultaneously boosting the skill levels of all team members; this allows them to use the same skill to connect at a greater level. The team recently focused on learning a specific skill related to the Scrum methodology due to the group learning that occurred, which has helped them understand the methodology’s fundamental ideas.
“Give rewards and recognition for every small win.”
Aseem made it a point to celebrate each accomplishment and to publish one excellent accomplishment every quarter in the workplace with the award “You Made a Difference”, which led to the team expressing respect for one another and improved team retention.
“Ensure that all team members have equal opportunities to be promoted.”
He made a conscious effort to provide equal opportunity as a team and ensured no gender bias. He ensured everyone on the team was responsible for the most deliverables while keeping bandwidth in mind. To do this, he gave each team member two goals: the first was to search for issues, and the second was that if any team member leaves, the remaining team members would be expected to take over or share the duty.
Great Managers Institute® is on a mission to bring out the best in industry leaders. In our series “Your Business is Built by People You Nurture”, we are sharing practices that India’s Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute®follow to achieve business growth through employee engagement.
According to GMI, this is what we can learn from Aseem Bakshi’s story:
1. The team should put equal emphasis on developing each member’s skills
2. Reward and recognize each little victory
3. Assure equitable opportunity for promotion for every team member
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study 2022 and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
Why would an entrepreneur who failed twice start again? If you are an entrepreneur, you know the answer! There are no failures for an entrepreneur, only learning.
“I was trying to do what everyone else is doing, there was no differentiation,” says Gagan.
Gagan Arora, Founder and CEO at Vertex Group, started his career as a telephone sales executive in the operations department of a BPO. In 2015, he took a leap of faith to start a BPO of his own. His first venture failed. He started one more. It didn’t succeed either.
Fast Forward. Vertex today has more than 4000 employees in over 7 countries. It is a “one-stop-shop” for businesses and offers services ranging from brand launch, staffing, call centre, outbound sales, automation and smart IVRs.
“If you have a business model, people leadership is the single biggest factor to your success,” says Gagan.
Big words?
Think again. Which other BPM/technology services company has post-COVID attrition rates in the single digit? Despite hiring 1500 new employees in the last three months, Vertex Group has been able to keep attrition remarkably low in the single digit.
Gagan talks passionately about some of his lessons as a people manager:
People work for reputation more than rewards and punishment:
“Reputation drives people more than rewards and punishment,” says Gagan as he implements this insight into recognition and reinforcement programs at Vertex.
A people manager is like a good chef:
“Over a period of time, you know who among your clients like which dish and in what way,” says Gagan referring to the colleagues of the people manager. ““You are not a people manager if you do not know the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for your people.”” But doesn’t this take a lot of time? Not according to Gagan. This is a continuous process, formal and informal. Even a three-minute interaction is good enough to know if your colleague is happy with the dish you have cooked for them.
Tips for people managers:
Gagan has three simple tips to share – listen (communicate), act, and recognise and reinforce. Some managers may have doubts if people will be “spoiled” by too much recognition. According to Gagan, there is no such thing as too much recognition, if what is required to be achieved for the next career goal is known. “Recognise every small achievement and right behaviours, reward for achievement of pre-set goals,” says Gagan.
Before you try to manage others, manage yourself:
Ten years ago, Gagan was clinically obese weighing over 100 kg. Today, he is one of the fittest people spending an hour exercising each day. His secret? A little pocket-book! Gagan meticulously notes down everything he did during the day and his key learning from each interaction. And attempts to do slightly better the next day. “The competition for you as a leader is never someone else, it is you! A Great People Manager is not an award or a destination, it is a beautiful journey.”
We, at Great Manager Institute®, are proud to recognise Gagan Arora as one of the Top 100 Great People Managers.
Gagan gives credit to one of his first managers who inspired him to strive to be a good people manager. Would you like to share your stories of managers who could connect, develop, and inspire you?
About the Author:
Prasenjit Bhattacharya is the Co-Founder and CEO of Great Manager Institute®, and Founder Director of Great Place to Work® India. Views are personal.
