HR initiates an innovative programme: ‘VisioSpeak – Perspectives from Apeejay Visionaries’

With a perspective to revolutionize the way each department functions as well as to bring them a step closer at Apeejay Education, the Human Resource Department launched an innovative programme – ‘VisioSpeak: Perspectives from Apeejay Visionaries’.

VisioSpeak is a comprehensive initiative designed to enhance collaboration, streamline communication  while further fostering a culture of growth and development. Through this programme, the Apeejay family’s endeavour is to improve efficiency and productivity as well as create a more enjoyable and fulfilling work environment.

Introducing the concept and theme to the audience, Dr Anjana Nath, Chief People Officer, Apeejay Education explained, “In today’s time, we all are busy juggling between our day-to-day work and daily household chores. We hardly get time to introspect and make changes in the way we think or go about managing our lives. The purpose of the VisioSpeak programme is to help employees gain from the vast experience of leaders we have in our system. This would also help foster a positive work environment, imbibe a few good behaviours and help build connect.”

Thus, Apeejay members recently attended the first discourse of VisioSpeak which was themed on, ‘Building Winning Teams: The Power of People’. 

The key resource person for the first talk was Mr Amit Gupta, Chief Advisor Awareness, Outreach and Engagement at Apeejay Education. Mr Gupta, who comes with an extensive professional experience of 27 years, completed his schooling from Delhi Public School R. K. Puram, New Delhi. After school, he went ahead to pursue Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (currently known as Delhi Technological University). Possessing a knack for learning, Mr Gupta then went to pursue his MBA from IIM Lucknow and also completed a Senior Management Programme from University of Cambridge.

Before joining Apeejay, Mr Gupta was the CEO Mail Today, part of India Today Group. In his extensive professional journey, he also held the position of COO – Mint, an Indian business and financial daily newspaper published by HT Media. In his career, he has also worked with brands including Britannia and HDFC Life ( formerly ING Life Insurance ).

The invigorating session formally commenced with Mr N.N. Nayyar, Senior Education Officer, Apeejay Education, sharing his words of wisdom. He opened the platform for discussion seeking blessings of Dr Stya Paul, the beloved Founder Chairman of Apeejay Education and Apeejay Stya Group as well as taking the motivation from Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia, Chairperson of Apeejay Stya Group and Apeejay Svran Group. “This HR initiative is really commendable which has brought together all the leaders to share their valuable experiences.” Shedding light on what leadership is, Mr Nayyar said, “ Leadership is within us only. And the main motive of a leader is to take the organization ahead of every other organization, the absence and presence is synonymous, that hardly makes any difference. It is the light which the leader has, in presence or absence, that matters.”

Mr Gupta began the interactive session by sharing some of his personal experiences with the audience from his professional journey. “This is more of a discussion and the objective is to build collective learning,” he emphasised. “There are many ways to build winning teams. The day to day experiences add in building powerful teams,” Mr Gupta said.

Highlighting on the importance of diversity in an organization and the challenges he faced as CEO of Mail Today, he said that in Mail Today the whole idea was to bring in young managers,  who could share fresh perspectives; people with new thoughts and ideas. He also pointed out that there could be challenges, but  how one can contribute despite the limitations. To which, Mr Gupta shared, “Challenges are natural.”

Subsequently sharing her perspective, Dr Anjana Nath highlighted, “When you say diversity, it also includes age, experience, cross functional teams, knowledge of various industries, cultural backgrounds. And so, diversity varies, the more diverse the team is, then supposedly you will have more knowledge as well as insights and the output will be more defined.”

Adding his thoughts, Mr Nayyar mentioned that the school principal deals with maximum diversity. “Management of diversity is the true leadership,” he emphasized.

Taking the interactive session forward,  Mr Gupta highlighted the power of collaboration while drawing examples from his experience of leading corporate events like Conclaves at India Today & Hindustan Times, in which a lot of work gets outsourced. However, he appreciated how at Apeejay, corporate events are planned and organized “by internal resources and that is very unique”.

Participants at VisioSpeak

Sharing a different perspective, Director Academics – New Initiatives at Apeejay Education Mrs Ritu Mehta highlighted an example of the power of collaboration from a school environment. She said, “In a school, when children are to be dispersed at the end of day, they need to be sent to various vans, buses, handed-over to parents. The idea of collaboration works differently in this situation and the team includes the maids, teachers, peons, bus drivers, transport department, parents and student council. The collaboration here stands imperative as we are dealing with students’ safety.”

While discussing the power of collaboration, Dr Anjana Nath pointed out three critical questions: If I reached out for help, would I be judged? If I reach out for help and get help, does my whole hard work get wasted and the credit is taken by somebody else? Finally, if two people worked collaboratively, and one person fails, but the other takes the brunt of it, where does the collaboration go?

To this, Mr Gupta suggested these could be dealt by taking a simple step that is overcoming that feeling of resistance to seek help. “This is a perception, but the reality may be very different that the other person is very happy to help.”

Sharing an example from his initial years of his professional journey at Britannia, Mr Gupta  also shared that considering the volume of work, no day is similar in any manner. “Just like traffic is very different everyday. What is important is to start and do it.”

The session further rolled on to discuss a key point like clear and impactful communication. Mr Gupta highlighted the importance of “customise and communicate.” The next critical point that Mr Gupta discussed was the ‘Power of Delegation and Empowerment as well as Maximising Team Performance’ while giving different examples. He also emphasized on the importance of “submitting daily reports and in order to reach excellence one will have to try.” Another key point that was touched on was ‘Open and Adaptable and Crisis Management’.

Sharing his final thoughts, Education Officer at Apeejay Education Mr Sharad Tiwari highly appreciated the points that were shared. He emphasized, “The key points like to speak up, to participate, must be part of our lives. One more noteworthy point is, the crisis is not just for the team, but for the entire organization.”  

The leadership talk concluded on a positive note with attendees carrying back valuable key takeaways to reflect on.