The joy of facilitating is like no other. The ability to assist and lend ourselves as a tool to individuals, who seek to be triumphant in their pursuits, requires patience, confidence and trust in oneself. This belief is what allows great leaders to go the extra mile.
The desire to work for, and with others is the perpetual driving force that encourages Verticka to strive another day. In organisations, having a clear vision that encompasses its purpose with clarity is what defines its success. Verticka shares this philosophy, and is therefore devoted to helping companies shape this vision with respect to organisational structure, procedure and people. She focuses on productivity, teamed with creativity and utilising human resources to its optimum potential.
Verticka is the founder of Ukaavi Consulting, which she has been running for over the last 7 years. Her areas of expertise include Organisational Transformation, Leadership Assessment and Development, Training Design, Training Facilitation as well as Competency Development and Socialisation. She is certified on various tools and methodologies like DiSC, Lumina Spark, Emotional Competence Inventory, Leadership Styles, Behavioural Interviewing etc. She is an Internationally Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and has worked with Middle, High-Potentials and Senior Level executives across various industries. Her work has panned across geographies like India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, UK as well as USA.
She has conquered not only her professional space, but also motherhood, being a proud parent to two boys. Taking inspiration from her love and passion towards her children, Verticka also conceptulised a business revolving around kids books called “Book-A-Star.” It focuses on assisting parents to handpick book genres according to their needs. Whilst making it a point to maintain a great work-life balance, Verticka is an avid learner, having interests spanning across painting, art and music.
According to Verticka, in a workspace, survival is through adaptability. Being able to cope, as well as come up with solutions on your feet is an important skill that never goes redundant. Learning, unlearning, skill building and upskilling are essentials that converge together to create the recipe to being a competent individual and employee. Great employees nurture great work spaces. Therefore, consistent and continuous evolution in strategies is key to creating a well oiled organisational structure.
Verticka continues to inspire other individuals to think bigger and work harder on and for themselves, while fueling her own aspirations to scale new heights everyday.
Why does Verticka enjoy working at Great Manager Institute®?
“It’s been an absolute delight working with GMI! The camaraderie, willingness to support each other, share insights and learnings in a transparent manner is what sets the team apart here. It’s been a fantastic journey with loads of learnings for me individually and professionally.”
COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on the workforce, careers, and many people’s professional behaviours and productivity outcomes. Find out how Nisha Singhania, Co-Founder and Director at Infectious Advertising and one of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India, made the lockdown period fun and interactive for the employees.
“Make an initiative to have a Fun Friday.”
Nisha took the initiative to start Infectious Game Night every second Friday when they played online games like Dumb Charades and Pictionary, which enhanced engagement among the team members during lockdown when everyone was working from home and missing out on enjoyable culture.
“Feature team members’ talent on social media.”
To increase the confidence of the team members, Nisha established a talent hunt activity and began showcasing the talents on social media. They also produced engaging films to be shared on social media, which gave the team members a sense of accomplishment and motivated them to work hard.
“Reward the exceptional performers.”
They offered monetary prizes in addition to certificates and trophies as rewards which encouraged the team to participate more and acknowledged them internally and on social media.
Great Managers Institute® aims 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 Nisha Singhania’s story:
1. Celebrate your team members on social media 2. Recognize and honour your employees
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
Employee welfare programs foster employee personality development to produce a more effective workforce by producing an organization’s efficient, healthy, devoted, and contented workforce. Find out how Vikas Chadha, MD at GI Outsourcing and one of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India, improved employee’s performance and made them work more efficiently and effectively.
“Willingness to put it all into words is necessary.”
According to Vikas, it’s essential to get appreciation at work since it fosters a sense of worth and motivates employees to perform at their highest level. Therefore, he took some steps to make the employees feel valued, such as giving appreciation cards, sharing motivational stories, and recognizing performances to help with welfare and mental health.
“Treating employees benevolently shouldn’t be viewed as an added cost.”
According to Vikas, employees should be seen as a company’s greatest asset because they have the potential to grow it into something much bigger than any one leader could have imagined. As a result, he has developed welfare programs like mentorship programs for fresh qualified/semi-qualified ACCAs who are provided extensive training on software and processes by in-house seniors who are rewarded for it, continuous staff upgradation and learning with a well charted out training calendar, extensive rewards and remuneration program, merit-based performance linked incentive for performance with immediate cash rewards, trips and picnics including company paid trips for employee of the year and teams of the year, multiple cultural programs for employees where they are encouraged to participate in front of their colleagues and enhance their camaraderie, annual big bang event “GI Gladiator Awards“ where employees display their talent and are rewarded medical insurance, etc.
“Giving a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly.”
Vikas is a believer in meritocracy, in which equal opportunity is essential. GI believes in diversity and has a 60% female population which Vikas believes is crucial to the advancement of his firm. Treating all employees, regardless of gender, equally and without prejudice or other forms of artificial discrimination is integral to the culture which Vikas has built at GI.
Great Managers Institute® is on a mission to bring out the best in industry leaders. In our series “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast and Everything Else for Lunch ”, 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 Vikas Chadha’s story:
1. The practice of treating employees well shouldn’t be considered an additional expense 2. Give equal opportunity irrespective of gender 3. Appreciate the work done by employees
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
Knowing how to enhance the skills we don’t have is critical as working to grow better at what we do. Find out how Tony Joseph Fernandez, DEI Ally and Program Manager at PIT Solutions and one of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India, brought in a more constructive and collegial atmosphere allowing professional development and positive character development.
“I block my teammates’ calendars to end work on time.”
When necessary, Tony urges his team members to stretch and makes an effort to maintain a healthy work-life balance. He claims that maintaining a work-life balance is crucial, and he makes an effort to be a motivator and encouraging presence by setting up calendar blocks that force them to finish work on time in order to build stronger rapport and create a productive workplace.
“Create a friendly environment.”
Tony tries to connect with the entire team to promote a friendly and cooperative environment, which helps foster fun and friendship. He encourages everyone to engage and converse openly since he doesn’t want the day to be all work. Any subject under the sun may be discussed, but undoubtedly not work.
“Maintain an open chat policy.”
Tony makes efforts to constantly be available for the team so that nothing hinders their work. He continues to have an open conversation policy and makes an effort to ensure as much communication as possible using Microsoft Teams, call and WhatsApp. He claims the team can communicate seamlessly and effectively at the most number of touchpoints during this activity.
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 Tony Joseph Fernandez’s story:
1. To finish on time, block your coworkers’ calendars 2. Build a welcoming and cooperative environment 3. Be available for employees
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
How did Mimansa Industries’ (The Baker’s Dozen) business grow by 300% even during COVID-19? Sneh Jain, their Co-Founder and Managing Director, attributes this success to their employee happiness levels. He has taken many initiatives to ensure that his work family is happy. His innovative leadership style got him a spot on the list of the Top 100 Great People Managers of 2021 by Great Manager Institute® published in Forbes India.
“Ensure inter-departmental coordination.”
At Mimansa, Sneh has initiated monthly town hall meetings with themes such as Bollywood or retro, unlike traditional town hall meetings where senior managers speak and the rest of the team listens. Sneh’s town hall meetings are fun events where success stories are shared, ice-breaking games are played, and inter-departmental team engagement is encouraged.
“Build a culture of openness to feedback and change.”
Sneh believes that for a growing company like theirs, leaders need to be open to feedback from their teammates. They do the daily grind, interact with customers, and, more often than not, come up with innovative ideas that can transform the business.
“Always be up for trying new ideas.”
In Sneh’s team, all employees are encouraged to innovate and develop new ideas. Questions such as why can’t we increase shelf life without preservatives, or why can’t we make 1% wholewheat products are regularly asked.
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 Sneh Jain’s story:
1. To keep your employees happy, you need to promote a culture of innovation 2. Encourage inter-departmental coordination 3. Be open to feedback and change
If you believe your leadership skills are at par with the best practices shared in this story, participate in Great People Manager Study and get a chance to feature in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list. We are eager to hear your story. Register here!
