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Neeru Madan is the Managing Director and General Manager of the BioPharma Services Division (BSD) of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ahmedabad. She has been successful in leading, developing and implementing the company's business plan in India, encompassing growth objectives, new project initiatives and operational excellence. Apart from her leadership and team management roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Neeru has been instrumental in building relationships with major pharma, biotech corporations, clinical research organisations, clinical development and manufacturing organisations. Prior to these roles, she was the Director - Human Resources for the APAC region for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Neeru has a Master's degree in labour welfare from Gujarat University and has attended various courses on leadership and general management skills.
ET: The Chief Executive's role is an all-encompassing role. What skills make a good leader in the current business scenario?
NM: In such an influential position, a person has to demonstrate a variety of skills to set themselves apart. One being the ability to communicate openly - you can only run a successful business if you continuously fix your flaws, and the only way your employees will feel comfortable about making these flaws known is when they know you are open for feedback and communication. In today's world, the stereotypical "stern boss" behaviour simply won't work. In keeping with the avoidance of such a characteristic, it is important to create a very inclusive culture in the workplace. For people to give their all they need to be valued and nourished, they need to feel as if they are working with the company not necessarily for it. Constant evolution is necessary for a successful and lucrative business. This idea of evolution applies not only to the way you handle your business but also to employees and yourself and for this you have to drive a culture of continuous learning. The true nature of a business includes upheavals and downfalls, and it is vital to learn from it all, to learn from your successes and failures and evolve as a human being. Apart from this, it is important to collaborate and network with other organisations. Congruent with the idea of evolution, it is important to realize that an outside perspective is important as well. Furthermore we aren't confined to learning from our own successes and failures; we can also evolve by learning from our surroundings.
ET: More companies are embracing the idea of gender diversity in senior management & general management roles. What are your thoughts on the same?
NM: Gender parity is a thing of the past. More and more women are given leadership opportunities especially in the banking sector and multinational corporations are steadily changing the trend as well. Corporations are more inclusive as compared to the past because they've realized the true value that women leaders bring to the table. Women have learned to be more vocal and are more willing to contribute to key decisions. Over the coming years, the concept of gender will blur and opportunities will be made available to talent irrespective of gender. I see millennials contributing heavily to this cause, and bringing in a wave of change on this front.
ET: You are amongst the very few Human Resources professionals who have moved to the corner office and taken charge of a firm that is known for its technical strengths. Please share with us how the transition happened and how have you created your success?
NM: HR is truly the fabric of an organisation. As a leader, I cannot work alone and my background in HR offers me an edge, because I can work with people and produce great results. As an HR professional, I have always invested time into understanding business processes and strategies and subsequently super imposed my HR strategies with them to drive better results. I have always had a keen interest in business development and regulatory affairs. For management positions, the need for a strong leader, at times, supersedes technical expertise and great leaders cannot be limited to functions. I was always looked at as a successor to the MD of the company and when the opportunity presented itself, the organisation was more than willing to offer me the role. To be honest, the transition was tough because I was suddenly accountable for P&L, people, customers, delivery and compliance. But I was committed and persistent to convert this opportunity into a win. It was a huge learning curve full of challenges but with the support of enabling leaders and determination - I was able to make it a success. And my HR background gave me an edge as I was able to understand customers and people dynamics very quickly, and so was able to offer right solutions and build pinpoint strategies.
ET: As a professional, can you please share some nuggets of advice for young managers who intend to create change in their respective organisations?
NM: Always be open to change, the world around you will keep moving and changing and you must inculcate timely and appropriate change within yourself to stay ahead of the pack - enjoy the challenges that change brings. Understand that short term change will bring chaos initially and later clarity and results; always set your eyes on the bigger picture. Be patient and persistent and do not drop the ball. Take it to the finish line.
ET: Can you tell us about your company Thermo Fisher and some of the initiatives undertaken to drive excellence?
NM: Our Practical Process Improvement (PPI) Business System links Customer Allegiance, Quality and Productivity together to help drive continuous improvement and profitable growth. Our customers expect us to be at the leading edge. Through PPI we not only improve operating and process efficiency but also improve customer experience. We get customer feedback through customer allegiance surveys and it is our constant endeavour to work on the feedback and continuously raise our customer experience bar. For us the Customer Allegiance Score (CAS) is the voice of the customer and a very important metric from the excellence perspective. PPI also supports us to improve quality and compliance and bring excellence in what we do. Since our business is to serve the waiting patient at the right time, with the right medicine, in the right condition, we promote a zero error environment and habituate a "right first time" and "every time on time delivery" mind-set within our employees.
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