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The hues to her persona are manifold currently the Vice President and Global Head of HR at CIGNEXD atamatics, she has over 17 years of progressive experience in managing and leading various aspects of Human Resources spanning across high paced business domains of ITES. A PhD holder in Stress Management and a Gold Medalist in BBA, she was recently awarded as the Forbes India’s Top 100 Great People Manager by the study conducted by GMI India. Meet Dr Ankita Singh

Being a single working mother isn’t a piece of cake. But her belief in work like integration makes it easy for her to manage both-her family and her passion-work. For a person for her stature, Dr Ankita Singh exudes nothing but sheer passion for her work and compassion for her peers and subordinates. The driving force behind CIGNEX Datamatics, Ankita overlooks several verticals like Human Resources, Travel, Admin and IT. Ankita has literally grown leaps and bounds since she first joined Datamatics, which was almost 14 years ago. She’s been fortunate to find a profile that her matched her aspirations. Her zeal for life is immense which is why she always believes in turning lemons thrown by her life into lip-smacking lemonades. And she does not forget to serve it with a zing for her own. In conversation with Ankita.

Scrolling through your CV, we are sure that the experience you’ve garnered must have shaped you into a good corporate leader and a better human. So, how would you reflect on your career?

Experience is a form of education, it’s a journey of continuous learning and improvements. It has taught me to move from processes to people. Now I proudly work with a foundation that says all enabling functions are of the people, by the people and for the people. Be it at work or otherwise, value and appreciate people around you. It’s all about people.

Let’s talk about your PhD degree in stress management. How are you inculcating that knowledge at your current job?

Stress is a rising concern in the corporate world. According to a survey by Northwestern National Life, one-fourth of employees consider their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. There could be workplace stress due to real or perceived threats causing serious crisis such as reduction in employee productivity, increase in employee turnover, negatively impact health and safety of employees etc. My profile and life revolve around people so this was the primary reason to pick this as my subject of study. Through counselling and training, I feel we are able to help people. More than that, this extensive journey of PhD and research work really helped in defining a process that helps us in identifying causes and rectify the same before it actually impacts team members. So, it has become more of a proactive than reactive approach. Also, we have been able to take deep dive in this subject to categorise it well and put it in appropriate boxes on the basis of the role, age, profile, level, family background, salary, generation etc. Even the general guideline looks very personalised.

Talk us through some of the challenges you’ve faced so far in the corporate world and how did you manage to overcome it?

We still have a very male-dominated work culture. While the world is evolving, women are still pushing to reach the leadership level. I was fortunate that there were no specific major challenges to my career progression like gender inequality or unfavourable working environment etc. Few minor challenges were there for sure like the assumption that women aren’t ambitious and few regularly challenging a woman’s authority or expertise. Every day has a different challenge and that’s part of the fun. In life and in work, problem solving is a crucial skill. One can’t eliminate these challenges; these will always exist as it’s more individual than a workplace culture. How did I handle? By believing in myself, my work and my capabilities. Be true to everything and everyone, rest will fall in place!

Is storytelling the most important leader-ship skill for today’s leaders?

Absolutely, it’s an extremely important skill for every leader, manager and employee. It is probably the simplest yet most effective way to communicate and connect. All big decisions and cases are assessed through numbers but are finalised on the basis of a story. It’s the tool to explain who you are and what you believe. Cultivating an authentic, true and connecting story is vital to a leader’s success.

"It is essential to understand that leadership is the most essential and crucial part of management. Leadership and management operate hand in hand"

Why is leadership a very important aspect of management? What according to you is the right way to establish yourself as a leader?

It is essential to understand that leadership is the most essential and crucial part of management. Leadership and management operate hand in hand. Creating a clear mission, a vision for the company and the people and a culture condu-cive to success can only be achieved through effective leadership. As a leader, we need to learn to accept, adopt and implement changes in the business model according to changing trends and future requirements. Focus on building an environment model which encourages each and every employee to engage, contribute, develop and excel. Leadership is a mindset. If you view yourself as a leader, you’re already one. You don’t have to be a manager to lead. To lead well we need to learn to be a good communicator, have a common and shared vision, be a team player, be an expert in your field, should exceed other’s expectations, lead by our own example, trust people around you, capitalise on other’s strengths, encourage people to be greater than you, be a good listener and work on yourself every day. To quote John Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” Those are words to live by to establish yourself as a leader.

How has human resources shaped itself in the 21st century?Tell us about the current trend in this field.

The 21st century HR is all about talent, technology and time. It roughly translates to taking care of our talent pool through effective use of technology at the right time, which has indeed become the need of the hour. The role of HR has evolved and transformed noticeably, it has elevated from compensation and appraisal to engagement, diversity, value addition and development. In the fast-changing environment, HR now is primarily working on adding value to the organisation’s success by managing the talent pool to be ready for the future and adapt to the changing times.

Productive employees are what makes a company successful. So, how can HR maximise employee productivity?

The role of HR has expanded exponentially in the last few years, be it a happiness officer, mindset coach, change agent, director of learning or Employee Engagement Manager. All for their greatest asset, the people of the company. There is no perfect productivity plan but these are some of the ways HR can play a role in enhancing productivity:

Dr Ankita Singh (left) with her Rock of Gibraltar, her mother

Also, HR with the help of analytics can help in finding the characteristics of top-performing people and teams and the conditions that facilitate top performance and work around it.

Learning agility is needed to thrive in the future. Despite the recognised urgency, there exists a significant gap between learning and work. So, are HR and L&D practitioners devising relevant strategies to bridge the gap?

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) is the new business reality. Organisations need employees with learning agility in order to move ahead successfully in volatile times. Employees will become incompetent at their current jobs if they don’t learn, adapt and evolve to changing times and needs. Learning agilit isn’t a single skill but a broad area that includes at least five aspects of learning. These categories, which were identified by Korn Ferry after extensive research, include: mental agility, people agility, change agility, result agility and self-awareness.

L&D and managers encourage development in each area while using relative skills and weaknesses to allocate resources more effectively. Learning agility can be developed and enhanced. L&D along with managers together create a conducive environment that gives employees enough space and comfort to experiment through trial and error. They encourage employees to take risks without worrying too much about failure. They train employees to be open to uncertain situations and new ways of doing things or solving problems, where experimentation and uncertainty become exciting, not a fearful, part of work. One way to do this is to put in a situation at work, which they have never experienced before.

L&D can help by designing training programmes that include job shadowing, job rotation, and temporary assignments and offer assistance and guidance to teach them how to logically and systematically solve the problem. This will help them in learning the required skills and ways to deal with uncertainty and prepare them for the real issues and situations.

HR is driven by:

The apple of Dr Ankita
Singh’s eye, her
daughter

Prominent HR trends are:

When the going gets tough, how do you push yourself to do the best? What keeps you motivated when it comes to your work? Who do you look up to in the corporate world and why?

If not for adversities or tough days, one wouldn’t experience things that will make them grow. One needs to emerge from difficult situations much wiser and stronger. I function on the saying, ‘This too shall pass’. Each time I face a situation that isn’t in my control I work harder, I become more determined, hopeful and courageous! And I have bounced back with a bang every time.

I also understand that we aren’t superhumans and there are times when we need guidance, and support and I do have my go to people list. My biggest motivation at work is my team. They are my biggest source of inspiration, success and happiness. They are self-motivated individuals. We work and celebrate together. I constantly keep learning new things, it is another thing that keeps me going. I remember starting with employee engagement in HR and now I handle all enabling functions like HR, Admin, Travel, IT support, RMG, L&D etc. I believe that learning should never stop, reinventing yourself by accumulating whatever apt comes along the way really helps. Lastly, creating a great place to work and a competitive environment for employees.

I look up to Shri Om Prakash Jindal, Founder Chairman of the Jindal Group. He is a visionary who is remembered for his business excellence and social responsibilities. Where others saw walls, he saw doors that is how Shri Jindal’s vision has been expressed. I look up to him for his passion for people.

With the rising work pressure, stress levels are increasing rapidly giving rise to various lifestyle diseases. How do you tackle with pressure? And how do you keep your-self fit in this day and age?

There are things in life which you can control, and unfortunately, there are some which aren’t in your hands. So, for the things that I can manage, I plan well to avoid any such situation that can cause stress. However, not every time things are under your control and unfortunately there is no escape gate and never will be, so you learn to deal with it. Fortunately, there are many things one can do to minimise and cope with stress. I primarily focus on not overdoing anything. I plan my days, hours and tasks. When I get into situations where I can’t do much, I do whatever best is possible and move on. I am not the one who will let other things get impacted negatively because of any single issue or problem. To me, mental fitness is crucial. I am blessed to have a great team and an amazing family that always stays by my side. That is what keeps me motivated and pushes me to achieve the best. When your passion is strong and to add to it you have a great support system, everything in life works out!

Correct, once you plan ahead in time, managing things becomes easy. So, what do you prefer, work-life balance or work-life integration?

For sure work-life integration. It’s more practical, defined, tailored, real and empowering. Today boundaries between an individual’s professional and personal life are constantly fading. When you expected to work around the clock, the only thing that works is integrated and parallel system. Work and life outside work can’t be treated and handled as two different worlds. Work-life integration is the right mix required to balance and manage personal and professional life without compromising much on either front. It’s a much better approach that creates more synergies between the areas that define life like work, responsibilities, family, hobbies, health etc. Trying to balancing work and life is different and the definition varies for each individual, instead, it’s better to focus on integrating work into our lives. In work-life integration our different priorities do not inherently define or disturb our balance, which has always worked for me as well as the organisation.

"This industry has been kind enough to recognise my efforts with more than 60 awards in the last eight years. I scaled up to this level with the help of my parents, mentors and my team members"

Your love for photography is immense. Tell us more about this passion of yours.

Each photo clicked brings back several unforgettable memories. For me, photography is a feeling. My love for photography has taken me to the nook and corner of our country. I love to capture and share stories through my clicked photos. It is magical to see the world through the camera it’s your composition, your frame, your world-crop it, delete it, save it, frame it, live it. To share my experience with others, my friend persuaded to post my work online. And within no time the pictures reached many and currently my page has around 80,000 followers. It’s one of my biggest feats. This motivates me to get better and show the world to people through my eyes, feelings, composition and camera.

There is a list of awards under your name, right? How did you reach so far in life and what do these awards mean to you?

This industry has been kind enough to recognise my efforts with more than 60 awards in the last eight years. I scaled up to this level with the help of my parents, mentors and my team members. They were always there to guide and support. They are part of my every success story. My mother is my biggest source of inspiration. I am a single mother and it’s not humanly possible to handle everything. But I heaved a sigh of relief when my mother came up to me one day and said those three magical words ‘I am here’. When I take my daughter to work, my team members help me. These awards mean the world to me.

Any word of advice for the freshers who are eager to set foot in the industry?

The world is your oyster, guys. You’ve got plenty of options to explore. Opportunities are in abundance; you only need to keep an open eye. Be patient, as there is a dream job for everyone. Believe in yourself, there is no shortcut to success but with determination and perseverance, you will soon be there. I sustain on a simple rule, I live as if I were to die tomorrow, and learn as if I were to live forever. And that’s what I would suggest you guys. No matter where you are in your life, always keep learning. Develop the curiosity in yourself to learn new things in life. This will help you grow. Keep learning, keep experimenting and keep growing.