Vishesh Kukreja from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Vishesh's set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst incoming MBA graduates to determine the top 50 Most Promising Incoming MBA students of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Vishesh's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his words.
Here is Vishesh Kukreja from Sitapur, UP. I completed my Bachelors in Mech Eng from NIT Srinagar. Through campus placement, I got the opportunity to work as GET (later promoted to Senior Manager) at Tata Motors, Pantnagar Plant. I continued there for 3.5 years, working in Supply Chain Management and Customer Quality Division. Exploring further, I joined Maruti Suzuki and worked as Deputy Manager in the field of New Model Recurrence Prevention and Standards Upgradation for Vehicle Testing and Evaluation. I firmly believe in Giving Back to Society and led the PAN India Team of Bloodconnect Foundation, an NGO working for making India Blood Sufficient.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
- Awarded with 1st Position, Six-Sigma Project Presentation at 15th CII Six-Sigma National Competition'21
- Award of Appreciation from Tata Sustainability Group for Tata-Proengage Projects on Soft Skill Development & mentoring of High school students
- Organised 100+ competitions and training sessions for employees during Quality Month and achieved 'Certificate of Commendation by Quality Council of India.
- Award of Appreciation to lead team to achieve Best Team of the Year 2021 and Best Team of the Year 2020 at BloodConnect Foundation for organising 100+ Blood Donation Camps across 50+ Cities, collecting 4000+ Blood Units enabling the saving of 12000+ Lives in 2 Years of Covid-19 Pandemic
- Received 'Award of Appreciation' for being the Campaign Lead of BloodConnect Annual Fundraising Campaign 2022 which contributed funds worth 7+ Lakhs in 5 weeks to the NGO
- Received Award of Excellence for being the Team Lead of Top 20 Finalists of National Entrepreneurship Challenge, IIT Bombay' 2018 amongst 180 participating teams.
- Successfully attended 7 Days Outbound Training Program ( Includes 12,800 ft Trek to Siyari Top) at Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, Uttarkashi (2019)
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
Back in my days of working at Tata Motors Ltd, I along with two other members participated in an Inter-Tata Motor Plant Project Presentation Competition organized during Quality Month'20. Our project presentation was on 'Reduction of DEF Tank Defective Complaints', where we were presenting the practical prototype solution as well before the judges. On D-day, our main focus was how we were going to present our prototype, and paid little mind to the setting up and testing of our prototype in the competition space. While explaining to the judges due to some glitch in the setup our prototype didn't work and although we explained properly and showed a video of the working of the prototype solution taken beforehand, it didn't create the impact we wanted and, in the end, we didn't win the competition. Even though that day left us feeling sad, looking back, I think I learned the importance of being prepared and practicing prior since, even though ideas have enormous worth, solid execution is what helps people appreciate those ideas. After learning from our previous competition, we continued to compete with the same project in the Six-Sigma Project Presentation at the 15th CII Six-Sigma National Competition'21. This time, we didn't make the same mistake and ultimately won first place.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
The majority of people who know me well refer to me as the "Human Phone Book" and they do so with good reason. I have the unique ability to recall phone numbers quickly and recall them even years later. And this ability has greatly aided me in expediting work, particularly when organizing events.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
In Nov'19, I joined BloodConnect, an NGO working to make India Blood Sufficient. When the world was fighting against Covid, I headed the PAN India team & we worked on the unavailability of blood during a pandemic. It was very challenging to lead the team in the difficult times when volunteers were themselves juggling with their personal life challenges, and each pandemic day was making the conditions worse for blood availability. I along with senior team members motivated the volunteers, and we strategized a well-structured plan which included handling the Blood Requests late at night, convincing the donors to step out while ensuring the precautions from Blood Banks, arranging Covid-Plasma, and organizing blood donation camps & awareness campaigns and all our efforts resulted into great success as we were able to organize 100+ Blood Donation Camps across 50+ Cities, collect 4000+ Blood Units enabling the saving of 12000+ Lives in 2 Years of Covid-19 Pandemic.
During my tenure at Tata Motors Pantnagar Plant in the Customer Quality Department, at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, fulfilling the need of the hour, Pantnagar plant started manufacturing Tata Magic Ambulances. The product was manufactured to cater to the rising needs of patient transport vehicles. Some of these vehicles reported for low power issues and went off-road. I was deployed to resolve the complaints in the Agra region where 25 such vehicles were off road and many unsold vehicles. I was able to identify the problem and made the vehicles on road within two days. With this, I was also able to train the local staff on problem identification for new variant. These vehicles transported more than 60 patients within one day and helped the masses. This is my second biggest accomplishment, in part because I was able to significantly contribute to Tata's commitment to the fight against COVID-19, thousands of lives were impacted, and top management at Tata Motors Ltd. highly valued my efforts.
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
Given the opportunity of being part of two of India's top Automobile Companies Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, I have handled important initiatives and coordinated several central projects. With the experience of almost 4 years in the Operation role, I have been given the responsibility to handle various projects from Warehouse Establishment to Customer Complaint Resolution in the field, non-value activity reduction to TQM Deployment on Shop Floor. While working on diverse projects, I realized that I really enjoy mentoring and leading teams, more than I enjoy working as an individual contributor. So, as I look forward to my career after five years from now, I see myself in the top leading role, devising relevant strategies, being the key decision-maker, and building the base strong enough to provide a wide scope for its future prospect. I see myself working on constructive ideas not only from a single organization perspective but also from a broader economic view. I want to contribute to society in a productive manner and bring about a positive change. My work should contribute in some or another way to the development of our nation and should impact the lives of its citizens.
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
I am an empathetic person, skilled at relating to people and making them feel heard and valued, and being their go-to person. This is a talent that I am incredibly proud of and that has greatly aided me in handling various roles at different stages of my life, be it being the School Head boy, to holding various leadership roles in clubs and societies at NIT Srinagar, then in my professional career, I was leading various projects and given the core responsibilities to handle key initiatives. Managing human resources empathetically, in my opinion, is the most crucial component of any team's success. By building stronger relationships with your team members, you can increase everyone's productivity and effectiveness.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
It is said that a team is a reflection of its manager. A successful manager, in my opinion, is the one who brings up the people around, one who has ways of supporting others and making them more productive and effective. Good communication skills, conveying thoughts, and driving the team are essential aspects of a great manager while putting people in the right place at the right time and motivating them to achieve their goals. Equally important is respect and trust for the team. One who takes care of the team well and identifies the issues before anyone does and influences the flow of ideas, which eventually affects the results of the team. The one who leads by example is approachable and empathetic, is open to suggestions, takes criticism constructively, and values everybody. That, in my view, is a successful manager.
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
In 2018, Tata Motors started its journey to achieve the Deming Award, the highest award given to any organization for following the Total Management Culture. Under the guidance of TQMI and Central TQM team, I along with five other members formed the core team and was given the responsibility for deploying TQM Culture at Quality Division, TML Pantnagar Plant while cascading down the initiates taken by the central TQM team, to various departments in the Quality Division. In addition to this, the core team was given the responsibility for evaluating all the departments on the basis of five parameters, which are Daily Work Management, formulating Management System Charts, the deploying PDCA approach in projects, Total Employee Involvement initiatives like Quality control Circles and Jishu Hozen. We need to give scores to various departments on their performance in each element and the combined score is then calculated for the entire division. This score was then used to compare the deployment status of five plants across Tata Motors and the report is being shared with the Senior Leadership as well as the hired consultancy TQMI for further analysis and to provide opportunities for improvement. When we started evaluating the performance, there were five departments out of twelve, which didn't perform well and were far below the target score, and due to this our combined score of the plant was coming down, below the overall target score. Seeing this picture, I was pressurized by the department coordinators to manipulate the score in such a way that their individual target was achieved, and hence the plant target would be better, and a good picture of our plant will be presented to the senior leadership team. We at Tata are taught to inculcate the values of Integrity, Pioneering, Excellence, Unity, and Responsibility. I found the stated doing unethical and took the decision to depict the actual picture before the management instead of manipulated one, we might appear in red now, but in long run, it will help us to go green, and moreover, it would help us to know about our shortcomings and provide us the opportunities for improvement. I took the step and depicted the actual scores, and as assumed this move was actually appreciated by our plant head and senior management team, to depict the real situation and to have the courage to take challenges to achieve targets in the future.
If you were the CEO of any company of your choosing, which company would you choose and what would your first action be as CEO?
If I get the opportunity to become the CEO of the company of my choice, I would like to lead Tata Motors Ltd as I have been a part of this organization for almost 3.5 years and well acquainted with its structure and culture. The first thing I would like to do in my new role as CEO is to set up skip-level or ground-level interactions to understand the organization's fundamental problems. I agree that organizations grow Bottom-Up; therefore, in order to work on core competencies, it is crucial to understand our fundamental problems in order to enhance employee and customer satisfaction.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself? (TEXTAREA)
Jobs fill your pocket, adventure fills your soul' - With a strong belief in the mentioned quote, I love to travel. If left in a place, I love to explore, especially the unexplored corners, taking the roads less traveled. During my undergrad years at NIT Srinagar, I developed a new interest in Biking and Trekking. Be it biking on the highest motorable road - Khardung La Pass to completing the Leh-Manali circuit, from hiking in Thajiwas Trek to trekking in Aru Valley or spending peaceful evenings on Dal lake to those beautiful serenes of Shalimar Garden, I have been all around. And this passion continued with my job, while successfully completing the Siyari trek with Tata Steel Adventure Foundation to being at Kedarnath Peak on 1 Jan'21 to view the new year's sunrise. The best thing, I like about traveling is it gives a pause to your busy schedule, disconnects from your daily life, and gives you time to introspect. The different and unexpected challenges make you learn at each step. You meet new people around, understand their culture, and increase your network. Each place leaves an imprint, a memory that you remember for a lifetime.