I've never been an ardent fan of "Alice in Wonderland" but on my first day at Aditya Birla Group (ABG) I couldn't relate more to any other fictional being. I clearly remember my first day of induction at the ITC grand central, Mumbai: anxious, excited and almost out of place. My first tryst with the corporate culture was about to begin. The induction session was off to a thumping start with the Congo (traditional African drum) beating, intriguing management games and some inspiring talk from the top management. But what really got me thinking was "Build your own brand" (BYOB). So off went this proverbial "Alice" to build her own brand in the corporate wonderland. For the next two months I presumed the responsibilities as the new product development manager for Aditya Birla Retail (More stores) and learnt far beyond my expectations. Some of my tangible learnings are mentioned below and others are etched within the subconscious brain. As much as these might look like textual theories, one has to see them in action to believe them.
1. Ownership of work: With great power comes great responsibility. The earlier you start owning up to your work, the better off you will be. It may be the minute details of your project or the major deliverables, you have to embrace your work and workplace with open arms, in order to achieve extraordinary results.
2. Customer orientation: Bosstomer (that's what we fondly call our customers at ABG), is the boss. You have to extensively incorporate the perspective of your customer in your products, to make consequential sales.
3. Interdependency: As a project manager my job was to efficiently keep all the stakeholders aligned with the product development process. This beautifully demonstrated how intricately each function is dependent on the other. You can't reach your sale numbers unless your marketing is in place and so on.
4. Positive reinforcement: Luckily for me, I had a great team and a wonderful boss. I always found myself working harder after some appreciation from the team. At work, even a little positive reinforcement can work wonders.
5. Strategic fit: No matter how hard you work, how much you are being paid for your job, unless you are a fit for your function and your company, the things won't fall in place.
6. Peer networking: There were moments when my project looked far from possible, that is exactly the time when your support system comes into picture: be it friends, colleagues or your higher ups, never shy away from help. It can certainly help you eliminate some mental blocks and in providing a fresh perspective on the task at hand.
7. Decision making under uncertainties: At a real job, you won't find utopian situations where you can apply your classroom learnings. There will be some uncertainties, some grey areas, some unprecedented risks involved. That is when your intuition and experience will guide you towards the best possible alternative.
As my corporate initiation, ABG certainly set the bar quite high. Besides securing a PPO and the best intern award out of 77 interns, across campuses, the experience taught me innumerable lessons and gave me oodles of self-confidence. Indeed my #SummerOf2017 was one of the best ( and most productive) summers of my life.