Thirty-five years back my father moved from a village to the city of Prayagraj to chase his dreams. A city filled with aspirants and a city known to fulfil ambitions. But along with ambitions he had a dream to make this city his own. He had a dream to build his own house on this holy land. After fulfilling his career goals, he built a house and Ultratech cement was his loyal companion. A house which gave me a safe childhood and my life a strong foundation. An Ashiyana which made me the person I am today. Likewise, Aditya Birla Group touches the lives of millions of people. A group dedicated to shaping India and making lives better. It is making our travel safer with its carbon black Nano technology and at the same time making our phones lighter with Hindalco aluminium making mobile cover glass. It is big in our life in more ways we can imagine. I can still remember how the freshwrapp kept my lunch warm or the first Van Huesen shirt my father gifted to me for the first job interview. That sense of support fills you with confidence and pushes you to achieve greater ambitions for greater good and a legacy we carry with ourselves. Today as an MBA student I can relate myself with the values of Aditya Birla Group, whether it is taking decisions with integrity or fulfilling the commitment with passion and speed. I can learn to work in synergy while promoting the organisational unity.
It was a beautiful February morning. I could feel the warm sunrays trying to reach me making their way through the dense fog. I had finished two years in my previous job and was waiting for my next assignment. Being a banker, I got the chance to meet hundreds of people daily from all walks of life. But this would be the first chance to lead a branch and prove my worth. The day arrived and I was asked to lead a branch with a higher profile. It was a rural advance intensive branch without a leader for past one year. With only three staff, branch was in complete mess and due for the central audit in next three months. It was a challenging task, but I knew this was a learning opportunity which would make my personality stand out. I can still remember the day. Even at 9 in the morning I could see hundreds of people lined up for the cash which gave me a clear idea about the daily footfall. Before I could settle down, I was bombarded with the pending complaints of the past 6 months and fresh NPA slippages. I started with a staff meeting making note of all the issues and discussed a strategy to face the upcoming audit. We decided to devote daily one hour for the grievance redressal. With the problem of currency shortage, it was difficult to attract high net worth individuals, thus, hampering the business growth. I made a pact with the two currency deposit branches nearby, thus rectifying the situation. Also, every second day was devoted to field visit to not only promote advances but at the same time tackle the increasing NPA. With the current plan of action, situation started improving. Now, it was the time to focus on audit preparation. There were around thirty thousand customer accounts and fifteen hundred loan documents. Going through all these was a mammoth task, but with a strategy and a team effort we successfully finished the task fifteen days before the due date. We were successful in retaining the branch score. This experience taught me many things and I came out of it as a better person. With the situation now under control, I knew another challenge was waiting down the road. It was September and it was time to gear up for the next journey which was waiting for me- MBA from Indian Institute Of Foreign Trade.