Future Leaders in pharmaceutical industry need to challenge the status quo and keep learning

18th Aug, 2020

Being a future leader in today’s pharmaceuticals industry, you need to not only remain sharp but also be willing to take up new challenges. This is vital when you are responsible for 400 employees. “Every day is a brand new day, especially in the new normal,” points out Vibhasha Kumari as she shares her story and the experiences she gathered in the past 2 years. Vibhasha is our HR champion of the month for July, a millennial employee and future leader from the CYLP batch of 2018.

“My journey at Cadila Pharmaceuticals has been a potpourri of experiences. In 2 years of my joining Cadila’s program for young leaders, I am now managing the employee lifecycle of 442 employees, right from recruitment to exit. This kind of opportunity could only be provided through our Young Leadership Program.

I joined Cadila as an HR Management Trainee under the Cadila Young leadership Program (CYLP) in 2018. I had recently completed my MBA in HR from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. When Cadila came on campus for placements, the job profile, the campus and the work culture amazed us all. Hence, when I was selected, I was excited to be a part of this organization. Before pursuing my MBA, I was associated with a tech organization for almost 2 years. Since I was a B.Tech graduate, my experience at the organization was completely different from what I was going to experience here in Cadila.

I realised that we, as an organisation, spend considerable time and effort thinking about the engagement of future leaders and millennial employees. The young leaders are put into different scenarios, given individual projects in order to give them enough exposure to be ready to take up bigger challenges.

As my first project in Corporate HR of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, I was assigned a project where I had to understand the grievances of the field employees. These insights were later used in addressing these problems. Having a strong inclination towards Talent Management, I was then given an opportunity to drive the ‘Cadila Annual Talent Review Process’ under the abled guidance of our CHRO, the Talent Management Head, and the Learning and Development Head. This was the first time this program was launched. Being a part of such a huge project that was organization-wide, helped me tackle multiple challenges and in turn providing me with many learning opportunities. I was also thoroughly involved in other initiatives of ‘Cadila University’, a platform to encourage learning and development amongst employees. I was given a chance to lead many training sessions developing my leadership skills.

Currently, I am working as an HR partner for our sales force in domestic business. I am responsible for 442 employees, which is exciting as well as challenging. The good part about this is whenever I hit a plateau, I am guided by my mentors. This helps me remain on course to achieve our goals.

With only 1 year of experience, I was identified as a change leader and was selected to drive transformation action projects, an initiative aimed towards solving various business problems. I was also given the privilege of facilitating the on-boarding session of the batch of CYLP 2019. This gave me an insight as a trainee and as an organization representative. Some of my key achievements were to increase participation by a significant proportion in all the training sessions. As an HR partner for the domestic business, I have been able to maintain a deployment rate of 98-99% and have been able to keep the attrition rate below the industry levels. All of my achievements were recently recognized when I was adjudged as the ‘HR Champion of the Month’ for July.

CYLP program is an evolving initiative for future leaders. Every year, a new aspect is added to the program in order to nurture young leaders. These aspects are added considering the evolved engagement parameters required for millennial employees.

This program has given me a lot of exposure in terms of job responsibility and given me opportunities to interact with senior leadership. I have always been given the privilege of choosing my projects as per my interest and potential. With the changing technologies and business practices, I feel there is a lot of opportunities for the organization as the new batch of CYLPs comes in with their updated skills who can drive this change.

One other highlight of the CYLP program is that I got a chance to meet other graduate students from different fields and colleges resulting in advanced peer-to-peer learning. I have made some great friends here which adds another flavour to my workplace.

Having said this, it doesn’t mean that my journey was all rosy. I had to face multiple challenges leading to many failures too. There have been times when, as an HR, I would be standing at a crossroad, torn between people and processes and would have to make hard decisions. However, with brilliant mentorship and support, all these opportunities have groomed me into a better professional.

Lastly, I would just say, that it is important to be thorough with your subject knowledge. While everything can be learned on the job, the fundamentals have to be well-understood before you step into a job. The only thing I would advise the future leaders is that they should never hesitate to challenge the status quo. Please speak your mind and ask questions. Look for learning opportunities and you’ll always keep growing.”