India is by its very nature an agrarian country. Agriculture may be one of most important professions in India, but it is far removed from the glitzy, aspirational world of Corporate India. It is therefore refreshing to meet a successful corporate leader who is very much in touch with his farming roots. Abhimanyu Singh is not just the VP-HR of Olam, one of the leading agribusiness companies in the world, he also comes from a farming family. Corporate Citizen chats with Abhimanyu on his career, agriculture in India and the challenges facing millennials
When I was graduating, it was a confusing time for me just like it was for other Indian students at that time. It was the year 1993, soon after liberalization, and there was a general lack of clarity about which way students needed to shape their career. I am a science graduate, and popular options for students at that time were banking, UPSE and similar options. Management in India was just taking hold, and there were a few premiere institutes, but the second rung of management institutes was not that flourishing. I got into Delhi University after a one year post-graduation in Chemistry. Around that time, I heard about Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi. The institute is only dedicated to HR management. What I liked about the institute was their purpose, the way they groomed students and their efforts to connect students with society in order to serve it. That excited me, and I immediately enrolled for post-graduation there.
Upon completion of the course, I got a job at Tata Steel. This too was a pro-society and altruistic company. I learnt a lot during those years. Not just about being professional but about how you need to conduct yourself as a grown up in society. Tata Steel is like society in itself. It is a multi-generational workplace where every generation brings something to the table. I worked there for three and a half years and those were very exciting years for me. I then moved to Crompton Greaves. I had the opportunity to move to Mumbai, but I chose Nashik. I chose to go to Nashik and be a part of the ground realities, rather than work in the corporate office in Mumbai. I thought that I would be able to learn more there, and there was also the financial aspect. Nashik is a small city and it was easier to manage with the salary I earned at that time than it would have been in Mumbai.
There were a lot of problems then. There were multiple union issues and a lot of challenges because it was 2003 and Crompton had posted losses that year. We turned around that plant all by ourselves. It was the first plant that we turned profitable for Crompton, and I am very proud of that. Once that was done, I felt I had learnt enough, and I moved to Mumbai. I moved from sector to sector in various roles. From there, I moved to a business which is the backbone of my career-agriculture. I come from a farming background, and the moment I took on that role, I felt immediately at home. That is how I started off at Olam.
Farmers are in crisis because of the structure of Agriculture Farming we have in India. At every stage, the farmer has to go through a struggle. From the time he sows the seeds to the time he sells the proceeds, he has to manage the risk himself. As a farmer myself (I own farming land) farmers are not good at managing risk. The second reason why farmers are in red is because of the infrastructure. Farmers are able to produce crops, but they can’t create the whole infrastructure required to take the crops to the consumer. Farmers are creating value, but are unable to capture it. Middlemen eat away some of the value. That’s where Olam comes in. Our whole business model is to dis-intermediate this value chain. We directly go to the farmers and procure goods. Then we take the produce to places where it is viable to sell it.
We farm in all four seasons. My father takes an active interest in the process.
Students today want a safe education which can help them land a safe job. Students need to see the ground realities in organizations to see how work is done, and organizations should also actively assist the education sector in achieving this
Yes there is a perceived gap, because the pace at which experiences are being provided by institutions and the pace at which the industry is changing is entirely different. Unfortunately, our educational sector is producing very risk averse graduates. Students today want a safe education which can help them land a safe job. Students need to see the ground realities in organizations to see how work is done, and organizations should also actively assist the education sector in achieving this. We need to disrupt the model of project dissertation by having more industry visits and internships every year. These program’s should be undertaken every quarter or preferably every couple of months.
Agriculture is the most important sector of Indian Economy. Indian agriculture sector accounts for 14 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to 50% of the country’s workforce. India is the world’s largest producer of pulses, rice, wheat, spices and spice products.
The net area under cultivation is close to 141 million hectares. However, its immensity diminishes with the fact that a vast number of land holdings are fragmented to an extent of being rendered economically unviable. This is a prime reason that agriculture instruments in India cannot be used effectively. Division of land by the virtue of inheritance has given rise to the problem. Irrigation and mechanized farming is next to impossible on such fragmented farm.
Indian agricultural industry is riddled with bottlenecks at every step. The supply channel is inefficient because of the greedy middlemen involved in the marketing process. It compels the farmers to make distress sale. They have to sell their produce at whatever prices they are offered, which ultimately diminishes their income.
The lack of proper storage facilities results in degradation of the quality of the produce. This, in turn, affects the volume of exports causing loss of potential income. Not to mention wastage of the produce. Estimates say that 9.3% of the produce gets wasted because of improper storage and maintenance.
After China, India has the largest cultivated area that has irrigation facility. However, it covers only one third of the total cultivated area. A major proportion of farming activities still depends on the monsoon. The irregularities of the monsoon can destroy the crops and cause hefty losses to the farmers.
Olam India has grown to become one of the largest and most diversified Agricultural Commoditie companies in the country. Its business includes the processing of nuts – primarily cashews, almonds and peanuts; and spices – including turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and ginger. It are also a leader in cotton, coffee, rice, cocoa products, sugar, oil and oil seeds.
Olam’s teams work directly with thousands of farmers across India. It also employs seasonal workers across India.
Olam also promotes Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in sugarcane and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in chilli, turmeric and cumin. Our coffee has achieved UTZ/Rainforest Alliance (RFA) certification. It aims to be the supplier of choice, from sourcing and processing to logistics and marketing.
There are many problems, but there are not many answers. Like I said, students must visit companies frequently. This creates agility. They need to demonstrate agility. That can solve the problem because when a new skill comes in, students can up skill themselves. If you have an attitude that the skill I learnt in college is permanent and I won’t bother learning new things, you will be left behind. You must be able to not just learn, but learn fast and learn constantly. These are the challenges AI, robotics and Data Analytics are throwing at the young workforce.
I think job hopping is a reality since the days of liberalization. When I was graduating, someone asked me how many years I planned to stick with a job. I said then that I would like to stay with an organization for long, and he said that you must change jobs every three years. So this train of thought was always present. I think it differs from individual to individual. I personally feel there is no formula as such. Although I wouldn’t advocate changing jobs every three years, one must try and understand the motivation of Millennials. People change jobs because they want to grow fast. However, you can’t grow fast without acquiring the depth of skill required for that growth. Instead of changing jobs every few years, youngsters should ask themselves, “Am I acquiring a new learning every year?”
On the other hand, if the organization you are in isn’t providing you opportunities to learn, then I feel sticking there even for three years is a waste. Organizations prefer specialists to generalists, and specialty comes from experience and depth of learning.
Agriculture Industry has a myth surrounding it. People think that women are not involved in agriculture. If you look at my company Olam, almost 50% are women. But we don’t want that number to be crystallized at 50%. Because of the nature of the work, we need more women. But we want them to be at the managerial level, we want them to be at board level, to work on organizational problems. However, right now they are concentrated at manual work or more as an individual contributor. We are confident that women’s roles will only get more enhanced going forward.
I love reading. I’m an avid reader of management psychology, organizational behavior. I read a lot of journals to which I subscribe. I keep myself submerged in it.
I don’t believe in carrying work home. I feel that we should try and manage the work in our offices. There are occasions when you have to carry work home, but when this becomes second nature, you get burned out. What a person needs the most to be productive is to be creative. If you are burned out, your creativity takes a hit. Open yourself to all experiences, and get as much practical experience as possible.
While working in London for Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services UBS, Vineet Ganesh survived the 2008 global financial crisis triggered off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. He was one among eight survivors in his team of 45. Living through the boom and the crash made him reconsider his career. But the entrepreneurial culture of long hours and competitiveness had prepared him to strike out on his own. The result is the dawn of Mumbai- based Imperial India Investment Company
I had started my career as a management trainee at Murugappa Group (Cholamandalam) in Mumbai and was part of the institutional sales team. It is an extremely challenging role for a fresher to present market views and ideas to treasury managers and CFOs who are far more knowledgeable than the average investor. I could cope with the requirements of the role through a lot of reading, self-work, interaction with fund managers and guidance from my seniors.
I undertook a host of new business development and product initiatives which resulted in not only several large new institutional clients but also a more profitable product basket leading to higher return on assets. However, the institutional space was extremely competitive and margins were squeezed which paved the way for my next move towards high net individuals focused wealth management with Standard Chartered. I was managing investment portfolios for four branches in South Mumbai.
During this period, my book grew over seven times as a result of hard work putting in over 70 hours a week, great teamwork and favorable equity markets. At this point, while I was pleased with the growth and value we had added to clients and our organization, I realized that the wealth management industry in India was in a nascent stage with limited products. I had little knowledge of the global wealth management industry which was vast with products and processes developed with decades of knowledge and experience.
After spending four years in India, I got an opportunity to move to Citibank in London which opened my eyes and gave me exposure to products and processes I had never been exposed to before. In 2007, I moved to UBS which was one of the largest wealth managers in the world with over a century of experience in managing high net worth clients and a highly advanced product platform/wealth planning expertise. The approach to wealth management was also very different as compared to other banks wherein they focused on clients’ needs and goals over everything else.
Once the financial crisis hit, the world had changed for good with heavy regulation, volatile markets, growth challenges in Europe and I was one of the eight survivors in my team of 45. At this point, I decided to move back to India and start my own firm in 2013. I have been fortunate with the market and economic revival over the last few years.
We wish to create a reputable wealth management firm which is client focused, knowledge-driven and with strong ethics. We have a fantastic product platform which can meet the needs and goals of our high net individual client base.
I completed my B.Com from Symbiosis in 1999 and schooling predominantly from Delhi. Later, I pursued PGDM from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies in 2001. It has been over 17 years in Wealth Management for me and this field offers continuous learning and knowledge and one has to learn to connect the dots all the time. This field requires a PGDM/MBA in Finance/Marketing as it requires a lot of economic and financial markets knowledge. We also need to continuously innovate in processes, products, solutions and technology. Future leaders should have a sense of planning and strategy and work under good mentors who can develop them into professionals.
I got the entrepreneurial bug after the financial crisis where I realized that even if you are an excellent performer, you can face extreme uncertainty in your job due to external circumstances which are out of your control. Also, in your own firm you can focus more on clients without pressures on the bottom line and snap bureaucracy that exists in a big firm. Our client base is high net worth clients in India and NRIs in Europe and Asia.
Both have their advantages and challenges. A large firm with a brand can acquire clients with relative ease, attract talent too. They are challenged in terms of costs, revenue focus which can lead to a conflict of interest and bureaucracy which can lead to poor client experience. Smaller players can create a more personalized experience for clients, better products which escape the larger players, offer high growth careers to employees and provide better client service.
We have certain products that invest in socially and environmentally responsible businesses. We also work with startups which have a high social impact.
"I got the entrepreneurial bug after the financial crisis where I realized that even if you are an excellent performer, you can face extreme uncertainty in your job due to external circumstances which are out of your control. Vineet Ganesh, Partner, Imperial India Investment Company"
We have raised equity and provided mentoring to certain startups like Origa Leasing. They have provided innovative lending solutions to the healthcare (working towards the provision of quality healthcare services across the country) and manufacturing sectors. They have also funded the making of toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan which has had a high social impact. We are in the process of raising funds for a couple of startups in the healthcare space which will greatly enhance the effectiveness of treatment. There are also some products like Ethical funds which we offer.
Risk-averse investors can consider either liquid/ultra short term mutual funds or bank FDs. However, they are unlikely to build wealth over the long-term with low-risk investments.
From a long-term standpoint, we see increasing adoption of technology where investors will want to execute transactions online seamlessly, have a less cumbersome KYC process, view/manage their entire portfolio online, advanced analytics, AI-based recommendations, innovative and proactive solutions with the aid of technology etc. As wealth managers, the value-addition to clients will come from knowledge sharing, managing their greed and fear, goal planning, portfolio rebalancing and product innovation and monitoring.
The wealth management industry has seen several changes in the last decade all of which benefit the investors. So we don’t have any problem with that. From our interaction with industry colleagues, we think the challenge in the industry is to find good talent, develop them into professionals and to ensure that the knowledge level in the team remains high. This can be overcome over time as more youngsters enter the industry. There is no shortcut for us and we have to painfully invest in developing talent and create future leaders. The industry must also keep costs low as margins will be lower in the future.
India is expected to become a USD five trillion economy by around 2026. This is likely to result in large-scale creation of jobs, industrial and services growth and wealth creation. As a result, we think there will be huge growth over the next five years in our industry as these wealth creators/earners will need quality wealth management services. Our focus has always been high net worth clients and NRIs who require bespoke solutions and innovative products. We hope to capture the opportunity by keeping the client at the center of all our effort.
By Neeraj Varty
