The initiative, conducted over Sept, Oct and Nov by Karvy, is
viewed as a great morale booster among employees
The initiative has encouraged a culture of creative thinking,
say some employees
It’s not every day that you are
cherry-picked to become the CEO of a company. Prashant Wagh, vice-president
(VP), wealth management, at Karvy Private Wealth got the chance to
sit—literally—in the top boss’ chair as part of Karvy’s “CEO for a day" initiative.
To make the day memorable, Wagh’s family
received a bouquet, announcing his new designation, at their home in Pune. The
37-year old moved into the company’s guest house a day ahead of the “big
day". The next morning, he was chauffeured to Karvy’s Mumbai head office,
where he spent the day familiarizing himself with the tasks of a CEO.
Ratika Gujral Manjrekar, 32, associate
VP, wealth management, and Naveen Govind, 41, VP, wealth management, were two
others chosen as “CEO". “I thoroughly enjoyed the help and assistance
being provided to me seamlessly. The reporting business analyst kept all the
collated data ready for me before the conference calls with the pan-India teams
and review during the day. The executive assistant to the CEO organized and
kept things handy for me and the chauffeur, who drove me around; all of these
proved to be a great set of helping hands," says Manjrekar.
They were also handed a new set of
visiting cards mentioning their designation as CEO. “It indicated how seriously
this initiative was being taken, not as a feel-good activity," Manjrekar
says.
The initiative, conducted over
September, October and November, is viewed as a great morale booster among
employees. Besides bragging rights, the chosen employees got to attend the
high-level decision-making process and spend time with the CEO, Abhijit Bhave.
The Karvy CEO was keen on receiving feedback and ideas that help the business.
“An employee who wishes to become the
CEO writes down various ideas that help the company achieve its corporate
objectives holistically, and how he/she would implement the same if he/she were
to actually become the CEO. The opportunity to become the CEO for a day and
running an organization in itself was a huge motivator for many colleagues to
give detailed inputs to try and achieve their aspiration," explains Bhave.
Applications were invited, and the three
selected from the 38 who expressed interest.
Getting into the job
For Manjrekar, the day began with a
pan-India conference call with different team leads, followed by a western
region review, where she sat in on performance reviews and in meetings setting
targets for the next quarter with regional head and line managers, including
her immediate boss. The day ended with a meeting with the company’s core team and
a one-on-one chat with Bhave, during which he advised her on ways of achieving
her career goals, how to grow in life, etc. Interestingly, Bhave also had other
advice for Manjrekar. “He called me in the morning and said that as it was
going to be a heavy day, I should take out some time for meditation. And I did.
I picked up some meditation music online and took out half an hour to
meditate," says Manjrekar, who admires Ratan Tata and N.R. Narayana Murthy
for not only making their companies profitable but also giving importance to
corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
For Wagh, the highlight of the day was
being able to share his ideas about each department in detail and explain how
this would benefit the company’s growth. “It’s a brilliant feeling when
everyone listens to you and your thoughts. I enjoyed the Q&A session during
the conference call with employees across centres too, as I was feeling the
heat of reactions on some of the points I made. I really felt the importance as
well as the responsibilities of the CEO’s chair in that one hour and learnt a
lot about leadership. It’s definitely not an easy job when you interact with a
large set of employees with different thoughts and experiences," he
recalls.
Top takeaways
Wagh and Manjrekar have a renewed
appreciation for the role of a CEO, having experienced the challenges it comes
with. “It has changed my approach towards the company’s policies and has been a
big boon to me as I was able to see the CEO’s perspective towards the company’s
functioning. I am now able to convey the organization’s thought process behind
any strategy/product mix to my team effectively and make them understand the
long-term benefits. Front-line employees react to policies, as, most of the
time, they only think about short-term pros and cons, but I was able to curb
that," says Wagh.
Manjrekar believes the experience has
inculcated a “never give up" attitude. “On the professional front, it has
given me a lot of recognition—colleagues, seniors and even employees of other
organizations have inquired about this day."
The learning, though, is not just
restricted to employees alone. The initiative has encouraged a culture of
creative thinking. “Sometimes the top management may lose sight of some
low-hanging fruit, which may be easy wins. We found that all the three
colleagues selected to be the CEO took quick and implementable decisions,"
Bhave said.
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