It was through the dense fog in the early morning hours, the Falaknuma Express meandered through AP. It was obvious that it will be late in reaching the destination.
At the late morning, after 1 hour delay than the usual time, when I stepped into the platform, the scorching heat on my face made me realize where I was ----in the City of Pearls-----herein started my 3rd stint with Hyderabad.
My 1st stint with Hyderabad started way back in 1998 when we (my husband and me) started our career as management Trainees with one of the cement plants of the Birla Group at the Gulbarga district of Karnataka. During those days Hyderabad was our stopover place as we availed Falaknuma while travelling to and from Kolkata. We continued our tete-a-tete with the city after our marriage and after the birth of our daughter-- we used to boil her feeding bottles in the pantry of Falaknuma during our travel. It was on one such rainy morning when I had my first encounter with Pizza in one of the Pizza Hut outlets of the city, before boarding for Kolkata. Hyderabad was our City of Pleasure where we spent our food coupons and hogged on foods (the cement plants are at outskirts).We tasted and loved the biryani of Hyderabad House, on one such expedition of ours, I lost 2 pairs of beautiful new sandals bought from Metro in an auto (no app auto then) in a hurry to take biryani from Hyderabad House.
Thereafter I moved to Kolkata, the City of Joy in 2006 , joined one of the biggest conglomerate in Eastern India, worked under one of the stalwarts of HR fraternity, learnt the corporate ways , loved and respected by the employees, bosses and peers for being people’s HR. My ties with The City of Joy continued for 11 years when I decided to move on.
Therein started by 2nd stint with the City of Pearls. This was the time when I lived to the fullest professionally, heading the HR of one of the Strategic Suppliers of the automobile giant, Mahindra & Mahindra. I learned the Mahindra norms and practices, the intricacies of manufacturing worked with some of the leading consultants, learnt the nuances of LDR (my family was at Kolkata including my daughter who was in class VIII). I used to travel often to Kolkata but was always tensed for my daughter. My husband took all the responsibilities and this helped me to perform professionally. I received the love and respect of the employees, my team and the management, did my best and contributed towards taking the company to the next level in Mahindra assessment.
During Lockdown I was at Hyderabad away from my family, that was the time when I experienced the love of the people of Hyd. My boss , my team and my company stood by me helped me with all amenities, transport etc., during those tiring days. I decided thereafter to shift to Kolkata as my daughter was to appear for her 12th board and my husband got an opportunity to move out of Kolkata.
Started my 2nd tenure with Kolkata in 2021. Joined one on the Edutech companies in the city, learnt the ways of the business, worked hard to get the confidence of the people and the management. However, due to some internal problem decided to move on. It was over whelming to experience the love and respect of not only my team, but of the entire organization when employees have come up to me wished me and said who will listen to us now-- this is my most treasured achievement as HR.
Today I have started my 3rd innings with Hyderabad and my 2nd stint with my earlier manufacturing company --it is nice to see employees coming up to me, welcoming me back and saying that good to have you and we know there is someone to listen to us in HR. It is nice to see that the company has implemented many strategies, feel great to see that HR has stood its ground during the change phase.
I have worked with the Gen X, Millennials and now Gen Z: one thing is common for all generations---- they need a HR who will listen to them, be compassionate (of course by staying within the norms and policies) be the spoke person to the management and give timely delivery .
All we need to do as HR is to understand the problem and give the best possible solution/suggestion (s), within timelines.
