Page 28 - 10 Futuristic Women Entrepreneurs in India 2022

10 FUTURISTIC WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA
Dr. Ankita Singh
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & GLOBAL HEAD OF HR, IT, TRAVEL & ADMIN – CIGNEX
“My aim has always been to lead through people.
L: LISTEN; E: ENABLE; A: ALIGN and D: DEVELOP”
Corporate Review | Karan Somani
Senior Vice President and Global Head of HR at
CIGNEX, Ankita brings over 22 years of progres-
sive experience in managing and leading
various aspects of Human Resources spanning
across high paced business domains of ITES. In
addition to all functions of HR, Ankita overseas
other enabling functions like Administration,
Travel and Resource Management at CIGNEX.
With a PhD in Management and a Gold Medalist
in BBA as well as MBA, the leading lady has
done HR and Business Strategy related Executive
Management Programmes from IIM-A, ISB-Hy-
derabad and XLRI. She is a certified PPA (Thomas
Profiling) Practitioner. She has excelled in estab-
lishing innovative and competitive initiatives and
institutionalizing a strong performance-driven
culture at CIGNEX Datamatics which has resulted
in the company being certified as a “Great Place
to Work 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21”.
Recently, she has been awarded, for the third
time in a row, amongst Forbes India’s Top 100
Great People Manager by the study conducted
by GMI India. Apart from this great recognition,
Ankita has also successfully completed one of
the most prestigious certifications from Harvard
Business School Online – “Sustainable Business
Strategy”. Her expertise includes transforma-
tional change management and M&A initia-
tives. She has extensively worked in all facets of
HR with a special interest in the field of leader-
ship Development, Organizational Behavior,
Culture Building and Employee Engagement
She has been recognized in different pres-
tigious platforms for her contribution and
excellence in the field of HR and leadership.
She was awarded “CHRO of the Year 2021,
2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017” “Women Personality
of the Year 2019 and 2018 by Femina”, “Busi-
ness Person of the year 2020,. and much more
28| Thecorporatereview.com | India | Vol. 3 | Issue 1 | January 2022
I work hard to achieve a feasible It can’t be generalized. Should be HOW ARE YOU SEEING
THE WORLD CHANGE FOR
promoted, where people still see
blend of personal and profes-
WOMEN
AFTER
THIS
the gap and need to reinforce. It’s
sional life. I may not find the
better to talk, support, and promote PANDEMIC?
balance every day, but I work I think more than the world; I have
whenever and wherever needed.
towards getting the best of every- seen women changing. They have
thing as and when I can. I am a In other places, where the culture started identifying the opportuni-
is more structured, unbiased, and ties. Instead of saying I can’t handle
people person; who believes in
open, we should encourage capa- this much, they came forward and
coexistence over the competition. said that “I might not have 8 hours
DESCRIBE YOUR CORE bility and ability over gender-spe- to give but let me find something
cific norms and initiatives. where I can contribute for 3 to 4
EXPERTISE AND YOUR IN INDIA, THE PROPOR- hours”; they became more adapt-
CURRENT ROLE AT THE TION OF WOMEN IN PAID able to meet the need of the time. I
ORGANIZATION. WORK IS AMONG THE have witnessed women employees
wanting to come back to work
I have been extensively working in LOWEST IN THE WORLD,
HR; my core interest and expertise AT JUST OVER 23%. HOW because of no location barrier
is to enable human capital. I have CAN WE CHANGE IT and WFH opportunities, and the
best part is that the world happily
been part of the same group for FOR THE BETTER IN supports and welcomes them.
the last 17 years. As a Senior Vice THE COMING TIMES? WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE
President and Global Head of We can change by investing more PLANS FOR DEVELOP-
HR and other business-enabling in that direction, creating more MENT?
Lead through people. L: LISTEN; E:
functions, I am responsible for opportunities, and educating more ENABLE; A: ALIGN and D: DEVELOP.
enabling business through people, people. It’s not about equality but
processes, practices, and passion. giving balanced options to individ- WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR
uals considering their current situa- BIGGEST CHALLENGE AND
WHAT WAS THAT tion, challenges, and capability. We SUBSQUENT LEARNING
She believes in driving organizational culture and INTRINSIC FACTOR THAT FROM GROWING THE
values through PEOPLE, not processes alone. LED TO YOUR PROFES- all keep talking about the balance, COMPANY?
Here are some edited excerpts from the interview but that is evidently missing. Even Change! It has been a challenging
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. AT SIONAL JOURNEY? today, we follow the pre-defined journey to reach a level where
Initially independent identity, you can stop for a moment and
THE OUTSET, PLEASE GIVE OUR then the urge to be a part of conventional way of running a say, “Yes, this is what I wanted to
READERS A GLIMPSE OF YOURSELF. family. Can that be changed over- achieve.” Everything around us is
There won’t be the BEST TIME EVER, and that’s a more extensive system and night? No, it will take much longer changing at a pace that’s unman-
why I believe in making every day beautiful by contribute, and later it’s all driven than we think. We should accept ageable and uncontrollable. The
by passion, zeal to learn more,
living to the fullest and making it the BEST TODAY. and giving back to the society. those gaps to stay and focus on only way to sail through this is to
Life so far has been captivating; there was enor- creating opportunities that women stay flexible. Change as many
mous experiential learning at every stage and DO WE REALLY NEED TO can pick up along with the current times as needed. Staying relevant is
facet of my life. I see myself as a person who PROMOTE THE TERM expected role. It has to be a “AND” more important than anything else.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT model, not an “OR” model, for PIECE OF ADVICE
is always passionate, ready to invest in learning Every day will be a new day,
and exploring more—a person who wants to SPECIFICALLY? IF YES, us to see more females working demanding a new YOU;
give back to society and live a meaningful life. THEN WHY? and taking care of the family. stay prepared, stay open!
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