The Trailblazer

Life is what you make of it. Perhaps no one personifies this philosophy better than Prasad Menon, Chief People Officer at Cleartrip.com. A mechanical engineer by background, he has over 22 years of diverse experience spanning E-Commerce, Product IT, manufacturing, consulting and ITES sectors. What also stands out is the passion he displays for serving the community. Corporate Citizen sat down with Prasad for a heartfelt chat about his fascinating career path, his commitment to giving back, and his idea of relaxation

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a township called Kalpakkam. My father used to work for the Atomic Power project. The good thing about growing up in a place like Kalpakkam is that it is like a rich tapestry representing mini India with people from all over the country living there. The other notable part about this place is the luxury to wake up every day to the sun and the ocean! Over the years, I have come to relate that the cure for everything is ‘Salt Water’: sweat, tears and the sea.

Take us through your career.
I have not taken the beaten path. I am a mechanical engineer by background, with no formal degree in HR. Well, one can say that I engineered my Houdini act by managing to hoodwink the industry for close to two decades now (laughs). But then what has really fascinated me is the most complex machine in the world the indomitable Human Mind.

I started my career with Ashok Leyland, India’s second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer as a Campus Executive. Within six months of my joining, I was posted to lead an exciting charter for the Group company at their Management Development Centre under the tu-telage of a fantastic person Major General Surjit Singh AVSM VSM. They say your first job and your first boss have a major influence on you and it truly had for me. I have been fortunate to get the opportunity to steer the workplace and people agenda in a very diverse set of organisations spanning e-commerce, product IT, travel technology, consulting and ITES sectors with brands like McAfee, 24/7 Customer, Flipkart and Cleartrip now. The journey also gave me the opportunity to serve in two global roles in the APAC and the Middle East Region.As an engineer stepping into the world of HR things look very different for me. I must admit that I had to probe, prod and seek constantly as I did not have a formal base in HR. But I must share that, it has had its advantages too not seeing from the lens of a conditioned mind. The point I want to make is that it is extremely important to stay curious. Always strive to be more interested than interesting. Don’t just see, but feel, experience. This is the one instinct that got me this far, and this will be the one that I hold close to my heart as I march forward.

What is your aspiration in life?

I have come to realise that as a human being we don’t stop after setting and fulfilling our aspiration. Once you reach the goal, you don’t stop there. It’s like the feeling that-‘I didn’t come this far, to only come this far’. And so, a new quest, a new purpose finds its way into your life. Honestly, it is hard to put one single thing to this question. But I can say this that my quest is for continual expansion of my-self, building better consciousness all towards a gratifying life of meaningful contribution.

Earlier, Indians did not travel as much as people from other nationalities. At Clear trip, you have a bird’s eye view of the way India travels. Do you see this trend changing?

Indians are travelling like never before. Earlier, Indian travellers used to plan vacations very systematically and just about a trip or two. Today, travel diaspora is more spontaneous and frequent. Technology has been a big factor in building that ecosystem, creating awareness, and creating possibilities. This shift has been made possible by the fast paced penetration of internet, computers and mobiles in the country. All of this has resulted in a palpable growth and development of the Indian travel space in the last five years, including an acute shift in the way people plan and book travel.

I think with digitalisation and the ease that it allows, the most exciting part is the change in consumer behaviour. The biggest driver for innovation in this space today is led by the emergence of the digitally savvy and demanding consumer base a connected and conscious traveller. Travel is not commoditised, and at Cleartrip we firmly believe that there are still technology disruptions waiting to happen. We’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg. I have clearly observed that even within Clear trip, Cleatrippers have become more wanderlust. I tend to now travel more from an adventure perspective than I did earlier. Clearly, it is the era of travel to fill your soul.

“Changes and time do not carry biases of generations! They impact all the same”

With new technologies like AI and automation becoming mainstream, do you think jobs will be cut in the future?

We have always been on the corridors of concern and uncertainty. When change happens, there is always resistance. We are moving to a phase where the pace of change is far more rapid. The shelf life and cycle times of things have reduced dramatically. When you look at the companies that did well in the past, those were the compnies who had decades of legacy and had built character over time through sustained quality and service. But if you take the list of companies doing great today, it’s hard to point at specific traits that make them successful. It’s becoming far more fluid. With the change that is happening, there will be some discomfort. Wherever automation is taking place, there will be some redundancy. We have to remind ourselves, however, that this is also creating massive new opportunities and new sectors at an unprecedented pace. Today, technology is no longer the domain of the ITeS industry alone. Even if you are a traditional brick and mortar company, today you need to adopt the technology. Not just to create new products but even for existing ones. This is opening many more doors, many more opportunities for job creation and wealth creation. Earlier, people had limited career opportunities,but today technology has created several new career avenues.

If however, people do not evolve with time, and there are social responsibilities which can hinder adaptability, we must show empathy and device ways to skill them. If their journey with you has been completed, you must be able to create the next best opportunity for them. That’s the responsibility with which HR has to work.

Skills are becoming obsolete much faster now. How do millennials deal with the possibility of their learnt skills being redundant in today’s fast changing environment?

I have been privileged to work and learn from the millennials. They are true digital natives, more connected socially and globally than any other prior generations. They don’t question change, they simply learn. They naturally multitask, are curious and they clearly know that they need to prioritise themselves. With these characteristics are wired in their DNA, millennials are natural adaptors, geared to take on the fast changing world today. I would say for the rest, simply soak and learn from them in this aspect. Changes and time do not carry biases of generations! They impact all the same.

The role and responsibility also lie with organ isations to nurture and skill talent, making them fungible and gearing them to be future ready. A proactive nurturing mindset is equally an organisational responsibility.

“The role and responsibility also lie in organisations to nurture and skill talent, making them fungible and gearing them to be future-ready”

What are some initiatives that you are really proud of?

Shunning ‘conventional’ is what I would like to mention here. If I look back and assess the things I have been part of, many of them were industry-firsts, like building a product to scale volume hiring during the sunrise period of ITeS industry formation in India, first to use radio as a channel to attract talent, journeying with probably the first corporate tech enabled wellness platform in ‘McAfee Health Magic’ or being a part of phenomenon like India’s first Big Billion Day! Even as Cleartrip is on a path to become one of the rare new-age homegrown companies to be successful in multiple markets abroad, I feel humbled by the opportunity to amalgamate the diversity of cultures across our eight markets and catalyse the momentum we are seeing. I am glad I have done nothing that is ‘normal’. I thank God that places and people I worked with too enjoyed the streak of fanaticism and goal orientation. (laughs).

I am really proud of the teams I have built and worked with. Time might have taken individual members to different places and other organisations, but the fact that you still remember and cherish the mojo of the togetherness goes to show the quality of that journey. These communities really stand apart and I draw great strength from them.

How do you strike the perfect work-life balance?

To be honest, I didn’t really realise the importance of work-life balance during the early part of my career. I used to come home to sleep, and the rest of the time I was in office. For me, work is meditative; it is my playground, it is my favourite community. But life events like marriage, family and children have evolved my thoughts. Slowly, I learnt that you don’t need to burn the midnight oil all the time and the world still continues to move around. You discover that ‘living’ and ‘life’ are not at two ends of the spectrum but you can make a choice to blend them as I do with my fitness and my work. I complete close to 12,000 steps on most days. I am usually sneaker borne and it is unlikely for people to find me perched at my desk. Most of the time, I am hopping between meetings. Fortunately, my office is also located just next to a huge green park, so no points for guessing where a lot of my call-walks or 1:1 meetings happen. I have also made a choice to not live too far away from where I work.

The bigger realisation was the influence of leadership behaviour in setting the tone of work-life balance with the rest of the team. At Clear trip, our CEO, Stuart, is the biggest driver and believes that ‘YOU’ need to be good to do a good job. We are a quirky tribe and love to have lots of fun at work. Work-life balance is living every moment!

What’s your idea of relaxation?

For me, relaxation is fundamentally about a job well done. A day when you have been able to finish your work satisfactorily is relaxing for me.

Are you a workaholic?

I think workaholic is a wrong term. It’s not about the amount of time you work, it’s about the intensity and impact of your work. A quality of a journey isn’t measured by the length of time, it is measured by the moments that you have been able to create. When you are able to create an impact, you are able to make a difference to your purpose and to the people. That is when I am able to sleep tight, knowing that I have served my purpose. There is nothing as relaxing as the deep slumber you experience after that, even if it is just for a few hours.