General Manager- Customer Experience
My education has been from Delhi and my family comprises of my parents who hail from Punjab and two elder sisters. My mother is a housewife, my father is a CA. Since childhood, I had a strong sense of right and wrong. My father was a great influence and he led by example. I learnt the importance of hard work from him.
In college, political science interested me since it helps one understand how one’s activities, actions and decisions impact the well-being of people and society’s future. By studying Political Science, I developed reasoning ability, problem-solving, planning and analytics skills. I also took a diploma in computers.
The first time I heard about Airtel was when it was launched in 1995. A revolution was started in telecommunications. Even though very few people had mobile phones then, I wanted to be associated with Airtel since it was the reason behind a revolution. Airtel’s operations were only in Delhi then and since I stayed near South Delhi, I left my resume there.
On 22 Sept 1997, I joined Airtel. I joined the Delhi circle as a call center trainee. Having worked in various verticals spanning 17-18 years I have worked across self-care, service recovery, call-center, transformation and solutions. My bosses have been my mentors and have given me an unbiased view on my corrections. I strengthened my professional approach, while working with Mr. Raghunath Mandava, Rahul Gupta, Abhilasha Hans and Atul Bindal. Customer Experience transformed the way we work; it was all about efficiency and providing a higher level of service to our customers.
I have never felt differentiated as a woman in Airtel. It has always been easy for me to strike a balance between work and life by ensuring I am on the top of my job and that my commitments are met.
What has driven me all these years is my passion towards my work. I am married and have a family and I have received tremendous support from home by them understanding that there will be times when I will be late, busy or managing a deadline. I can safely say that in my success my partner’s contribution is immense. I am extremely courageous, since it run in our genes.
Millennial mothers should not give up anything that they love, especially work. If you are determined in your head you will be able to strike a balance by keeping faith in yourself.
Young women entering the work force need to be clear about their goals and should be prepared to work hard. Women at the mid-management level should grab the many opportunities that the workplace provides. The culture prevalent within Airtel is that if you have the potential there will be ample guidance and support.
The most important career decision is choosing the right life partner. In times of difficultly you partner should be your strength. Having a belief in self and ownership of ideas is immense. Do what is right, challenge the status quo and keep investing is self-development.
Being an avid reader I recommend the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson because one can learn so much from that person and his passion for perfection. My other suggestion is Fountain Head by Ayn Rand, it is very gripping. Young professionals should follow author Jim Collins.
