Aiming for Excellence

The path to success is never easy. It takes years of passion, determination and dedication to reach the top. What is perhaps even harder is to maintain humility once a person accomplishes his goals. Perhaps no one better embodies these principles better than Kiran Acharya, Chief Financial officer (CFO) Sandvik Asia Private Limited. At an event in Pune, Corporate Citizen sat down with Kiran as he shared his inspirational journey from the government sector to his 11-year stint in Sweden with Sandvik, and the lessons and experiences he picked up on the way

Take us through your career.

I come from a background of hardcore finance. I am quite fortunate that although my career has predominantly been in the finance sector, I have been fortunate to have worked in almost all functionalities that come in the domain of finance, which includes legal, taxes, operations, etc. I have worked in these domains across India and abroad as well. I hail from Ahmedabad. I did my graduation in Commerce, after which I studied to be a Chartered Accountant. I then became a Company Secretary, and I am also a law graduate.

I started my career with a government organisation. It was entirely different from the corporate culture we see around us today. But it was a good learning, and there are lessons I learnt from that stint that have stayed with me till today. I was keen to go into the Private Sector, that too with a multinational company. After 12 years, my dream came through and I started working at Sandvik in 1997 when the formed a joint venture. I was appointed as a Finance Manager. I worked diligently for seven years and based on my performance, in 2004, I was offered a job in Sweden. I began working on a global level, which was great for my career and I got a global overview of the company and how it is doing. I initially had gone to Sweden for only one year, and that one year became 11 years. I did a lot of global projects there; I worked on the line organisation. Before I came back to India as a CFO for Sandvik Asia, I worked again for about four and a half years and then moved back to Sweden in 2013. I left Sandvik at a point in 2015 and took up the role of a CFO. I did that because I wanted to come back to India after spending 11 years abroad. Sandvik was working on global restructuring later, and it suited both of us for me to come back into the fold, so I am back with the company again. It has been a phenomenal journey vis a vis my career, and I would be hard-pressed to say that I would change anything.

You spent 11 years in Sweden. What is the difference between Scandinavian work culture and the work culture we find in India?

When you talk about the culture in Scandinavia, I think that’s where you truly understand the meaning of the word patience. In India, we are so enthusiastic, that we want to do everything now. There, if you want do something, usually you reflect on it, think it through, take a deeper dive, come up with a plan of action and then go for it. Here, we usually just get going as we want to finish things quickly. In terms of people as well, I never heard someone talk on the top of their tone. This is a quality which I have tried to inculcate in myself in my 11 years that I spent there. I personally feel that when you lead a team, that particular dimension keeps your team highly motivated. Otherwise, the people there are very helpful and very kind, similar to the people here in India. Also, there is a specific word they use in Sweden ‘Lagom’ which means ‘just the right amount’. They are very modest. When you meet a person, it’s very difficult to know who they are. It may turn out that the person you are talking to is the CEO of a big company. But when you talk with them, you would never know. They are very strong on Diversity and Equality. I think it’s safe to say that Scandinavian countries are in the top five in terms of education, per capita income, or environment protection. Sweden is a matured economy with a very low population of nine million. It’s an amazing place to live and work in.

"I come from a background of hardcore finance. I am quite fortunate that although my career has predominantly been in the finance sector, I have been fortunate to have worked in almost all functionalities that come in the domain of finance, which includes legal, taxes, operations, etc.,"

The Indian economy is going through a slowdown. Is that impact being felt?

Sandvik has three main business divisions-Mining, Stainless Steel, and Cutting Tools. India has just started opening up in the mining sector. The growth we are seeing in that sector is phenomenal. Our growth numbers last year were beyond expectations and we are seeing double digit growth this year in the mining sector. In the stainless steel division, we are seeing a good market. In the cutting tools sector,because it is directly related to the auto industry, some softness is seen. It might be the only area where we might not be able to meet our budgeted targets.

Sandvik is at the cutting edge of technology. Do you feel technologies like AI and Robotics will take away jobs in the future?

If you talk about Sandvik, in terms of technology we are very highly R&D oriented. When you talk about AI or Robotics, all these technologies have been implemented. From that perspective, the organisation is always lean. If you talk about the Indian Industry as a whole, there are always opportunities when you see these kinds of technological disruptions coming in. Take, for instance, the 1990s when BPOs were just entering India. With computers coming in, people were afraid that their jobs would go. But the BPO industry evolved in such a manner that it created huge opportunities. We have the right demographics in India. Education levels are going up. There would be many new opportunities going forward which would make up for any potential job losses due to technological disruptions.

What are some of the initiatives that you have taken at Sandvik that you are proud of?

I am a big fan of automation. I introduced a concept in Sandvik a few years back. We used to call it a 'Consolidated Business Approach'. What that means is when there is a transaction happening between two Sandvik companies, a profit in company A or a profit in company B does not add net value for Sandvik when you combine the two. I used to see a lot of debate and dialogue between the companies on pricing. The sales guy said the market rate for X product is Rs.10, so you need to give it to me for Rs.9, and the other guy would say that his costs are not matching. So I came up with a concept that the marketing guys would have no control over what price the production people will supply them. I worked out a mechanism which covered the sales area people and then the production got the rest of it, and the whole tool was captured and automated. What happened was that all the internal focus of the marketing team could now be spent with customers, where the real business is. When I look back, sit and reflect, I feel this is an initiative which I am proud of.

'Societal attitudes were not as open earlier about women pursuing careers. Going forward, I think there will be a more balanced representation in terms of diversity'

Do you think women are adequately represented in Sandvik and the industry as a whole?

If you go back 10-15 years, many companies have taken the right steps to encourage diversity at the workplace. I can give you an example of a company I worked with before joining Sandvik. We had more than 25% representation of female employees. That too, including the shop floor. Secondly, there were several restrictions earlier. The government too was not supportive of women working in night shifts. All this is now changing. Thirdly, societal attitudes were not as open earlier about women pursuing careers. Today, those doors have been opened. Going forward, I think there will be a more balanced representation in terms of diversity. Still, on the engineering front, I feel that there needs to be improvement. I feel confident that the situation will only improve with time.

Do you perceive a gap between industry requirements and the output of the Indian educational system?

I do think that there is a gap. The Indian education system needs to have a more hands-on, practical approach to learning, and more projects conducted in co-ordination with the industry. This can definitely help bridge the gap. In the organisations in which I have worked with in the past as well, they have had tie-ups with educational institutions which would give students the experience of working on the shop floor. In Sandvik too, there are many such initiatives going back multiple years. That cohesiveness and exposure should be given to students so that when they are out with their CV, they also have some practical knowledge of having worked on the floor.

Earlier, if you acquired a skill, there was reasonable certainty that the skill would be relevant for years. Now, students face the challenge of acquired skills becoming obsolete due to fast-changing technology. How do students deal with this change?

I would answer this question in two ways. Many times, we have an apprehension. For example, I am not the best user of the iPhone. After spending a bomb on it, all I do is make calls and send text messages. Whenever a new technology comes, it takes time to settle. Secondly, when you start using a technology, unless you 100% sure you won't be able to catch up, why should you worry? The basic fundamentals will not have changed. Yes, if an activity could be done in 10 minutes, technology may come in which would help you finish the task in five minutes, but that's about it. The input and output will not have changed. The process may change a little, but it’s not something to worry about too much. Once you sit on the chair, you will learn a lot of things. But if a person refuses to sit on the chair saying that he doesn't know anything, then that is a worry. You need to take a step forward. We have been taught to be fairly competitive and tough on ourselves thanks to our education system, and I think anyone can learn new skill if they just have the right mindset.

How do you strike the right worklife balance?

Of late, when I went to Sweden, my perspective towards work-life balance totally changed. When I went there, I saw that people there are able to manage everything within time. Somehow, I was not able to do that for one reason or another. I realised that if you prioritise your activities, you should be able to strike the right work-life balance at any stage of your career. One has to give equal importance to one's personal life as well. Living in India, we tend to sometimes lose out on that. Where I work, I promote this policy that I will not allow anyone to stay beyond office working hours. You have to manage within the specified time. It is doable. If you are, say, working in the finance department, I can understand that the first five days of the month would be quite hectic. But what about the remaining 25 days? If you are unable to finish work in time for all 30 days, that means that either the resource planning hasn't been correct, or your own way of looking at your processes are flawed. The manager should then step in and examine why this is happening.

"I realised that if you prioritise your activities, you should be able to strike the right work-life balance at any stage of your career"

What is your idea of relaxation?

I am a sportsperson. That does not mean that I get to play all the time, but I watch many sports and play many sports as well, whenever I get the opportunity. I also would like to add that you can learn a new sport at any age. For example, I learnt Golf at the age of 45. I learnt swimming after the age of 40. My interest is sports and I am fascinated with sports. I and my wife also like to chat.

What has been your wife's contribution to your success?

Her contribution has been immense. I describe myself as a career-oriented person, and I think we should never undermine the role of a homemaker. We lived in Sweden for 11 years. I and my kids use to leave the home at 8 AM, and none of us got back before 5 PM. It's very difficult to be alone in a different land with an entirely different culture from India's, but she managed very well. If you add all her contributions, only then can you bring a balance to where I am today.