vishnu-era-14

ISSUE 14 JANUARY 2017
essential. Understanding the bigger picture of
the task and bringing own vision is always
highly encouraged.
What would be your message to the
engineering students who aspire to make
a career in the banking industry?
Banking is a huge domain. Global Markets,
Wholesale banking, Retail banking, Corporate
and Investment banking, Wealth management,
Credit cards, Loans, etc. are various lines of
businesses in banking.
Banking is significantly driven by technology in
the present times. Technical aspects can be
handled by people with strong technical ability
even if they do not have good business
knowledge. Then there is operations part of
banking which deals with all sorts of back-end
processes. This area is more suited to people
who are very sound in the business acumen.
The third aspect is research and analytics in
banking. This can be handled by people with
good technical skills but it does require the
business acumen as well. The fourth area is the
front-end processes which is more related to
the traders and marketing executives. This area
is apt for the people who have gone through
management education. People could choose
from these four streams. But within these
streams again one needs to decide the area that
they want to be in as each one requires a
different set of skills and has a different career
path. Technical banking is quite well paying and
possesses a lot of scope for career growth as
banking is led by technology to a large extent
today.
Could you please tell us the key
differentiators that made BOA, a global
lead in the banking industry across the
world?
I will not be able to share with you some of the
confidential aspects of our Bank operations.
But I can say that product differentiation
(bouquet of services we offer) is one important
factor for BOA. The other differentiators being
using state of the art technology, scale and size
of the Bank. It's not just about what you do but
also how you do (for eg customer service) is the
key. Also, our emphasis is more on customer
service and how quick or fast you respond to the
customer needs or requests. The history of
BOA having been the pioneer in innovating new
products like Credit Cards, ATM etc also drives
the people of this organization to take pride and
look into future.
In your opinion, what is the effect of
demonetization on India in the Long and short
run?
In the short run, it is pain. Any change, in
general, hurts in the beginning. For example,
when we change the residence from one city to
another, for the first few days it's a little difficult
to get adjusted with the new set up. But
eventually, everything settles down.
In the same way, Demonetization is definitely
going to have a significant impact on India. A
decision of this kind carries the pain of
transition. But with this measure by the
government of India, I think India is going to
become a society in the long term with a
certainly better GDP, cleaner ethics, and a
cleaner economy. Also, in the long-term, a large
number of benefits like the spread of cashless
transaction culture, growth of the formal
economy, registration of new income tax
payers, etc will happen.
How hard or easy to witness India as a
cashless / digital economy?
India will never become cashless. The
important part is killing corruption. I cannot
answer whether it is hard or easy because for
me, as a person living in Hyderabad it is easy.
But, for a person living in suburban area or a
village, it is difficult.
How important is it to enjoy and have fun
at work in the corporate world full of
hustle?
It is extremely important because you end up
spending the major part of your day at work.
Enjoy at the work the same way you enjoy at
home because that's where you spend most of
your time, at work. Having said that, there
should be enjoyment but not at the cost of
compromising on your key purpose. I led the
employee engagement initiative for the Market
technology function till a year back. We have all
avenues like outings, team buildings, potluck
lunches, big team outings, family outings,
community services, games and sports
competition, fun on the floor etc.
It is very common today to see people
dissatisfied with their work. What care
should one take while selecting a job?
A lot of times you may not even know what a
company is like from inside. How do you know
that? Unless you know people who work there,
you have to depend on the data points that are
shown by various surveys. The other important
aspect is that how desperate you are for a job. If
you are badly in need of a job and you don't have
a choice then you would go and join at some
place. The other thing that people need to
realize is that the change is always within you.
We always tend to blame the world around us
but the change starts with us. Figure out what
you can do and make that change.
What is the most important aspect every
HR expert should possess?
The ability to empathize with people and have
people's interest is foremost, keeping in view
the organization that you work in. That's the way
I look at it!
One of the key characteristic of your
marvelous career is leadership. What traits
must a leader possess in the 21st century
organizations?
The most important thing is that you should be
an expert in your subject / function. You should
keep improving the required skill set and
updating the knowledge in your area of
influence. The second aspect is the ability to
work in teams. Most of the jobs today demand
multitasking and multidisciplinary approach.
So you cannot do it all alone. The third trait that
is indispensible with the future leaders is being
innovative. Innovative leadership is the key to
accelerate the pace of change in today's global
business environment. The future leaders
should move beyond the focus on traditional
products and services categories to pioneer
innovations in business processes, distribution,
value chains, business models, and even the
functions of management.
Where you draw your inspirations from?
I have multiple sources of inspiration. My
inspiration comes in from my organization,
family environment, books and talks by global
leaders. I take inspiration from the best
practices and experiences.
What is your Philosophy of life? Any
Favorite quotes?
My philosophy of life is:
Building a Core value system
Developing ability to make change
Collaboration in teams
Realization of what to do at any point of time.
I generally don't follow any quotes, but follow
some people closely like Jim Collins, Stephen
Covey, etc.
ENCONIUM
FICCI-Higher Educational
Summit 2016 @ New Delhi
On 10th November 2016, the educational summit was inaugurated by
Honorable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri. N. Chandra Babu Naidu.
The Principal Secretary of A.P. Higher Education
Smt. Sumitha Dawra
visited SVECW stall and was impressed by the way our ATL projects were
developed and exhibited. She was very keen on listening to the process in
which projects were developed.
Smt. Geeta Sree, Manager,Capacity
Building and Campus Interface, AP Innovation Society, Government of
Andhra Pradesh visited the stall and said she would help develop our
projects fast.
Another visitor was the Honorable Vice Chancellor of
JNTUK. Vice Chancellor of Krishna University showed a lot of interest in
knowing about projects. A few other visitors to mention were Professor
from Shiv Nadar University and Mr. Abhinav, CARDEA Biomedical
Technologies, New Delhi
On 11th November 2016, besides delegates of the conference, students from
different colleges in and around New Delhi visited SVECW stall. The
students were infused with the idea of social responsibility and the spirit of
innovation. Mr. Abhinay had a second meeting with SVECW team and was
happy to share some schemes for continuing projects. One such scheme is
Bio Technology Ignition Grant by Department of Biotechnology,
Government of India. The grant is for potential entrepreneurs from
Academia, start-ups or an Incubatee who have an exciting idea that is in the
nascent and planning stage.
On 12th November 2016, delegates from industry as well as from Turkey
University. Mr. Prashant Sivastava, Associate Director of Seneca College,
Toronto Canada visited the stall and he was very much interested in
collaborating with Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women. Even Mr. L.
Raghu Raman, Business Manager of SIM Info systems was another person
to involve in the development of SVECW products. There was a lot of
positive response from these delegates for their technical mentorship in
collaboration with foreign universities in Europe.
The team consisted of Dr. K.Padma Vasavi and Dr. J. Rohith Balaji. The
exhibits were Auto Braille for Visually Challenged & E- Snakes and Ladder
Game for Visually Challenged.
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