Ranjit is from the 4th PFM batch (91-93). He holds a basic degree in Agriculture from Orissa University of Aril and Tech (OUAT), Bhubaneswar. He is one of those very few IIFMites who have stuck to one job for over 30 years and has no regrets for that. He joined as a Research Executive in the erstwhile ORG which subsequently merged with MARG (another leading Market research firm) and was renamed as ORG MARG. ORG Marg was bought over by Nielsen in 2000. Over the last 30 years of his career with ORG, ORG MARG, A.C. Nielsen and now NielsenIQ, he has held several positions and roles in research to client servicing to operations. Currently he is the Data Acquisition Quality and Process Lead for NielsenIQ, Asia Pacific Region (APAC).
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. It’s been a wonderful, long and enjoyable journey. Joined with limited knowledge of career opportunities at IIFM as it was in its formative years but soon realized that an MBA degree just helps you get a break through. Once you are in an organization what matters is your performance, your attitude and ability to engage with all those who matter in the organization. As days and years passed by, new opportunities came up and I was ready to try out roles outside my comfort zone. If you have the right attitude, you can be successful. Nothing is rocket science here. Every new role brings with it new teams, new managers, new challenges and opportunities. These changes helped me rediscover my self, made me realize what skills I lacked along with my core strengths and kept me going. The fact that I studied agricultural sciences and forestry but today i hold responsibility of ensuring quality data for a leading market research firm tells you that if you are willing to learn and upgrade your skills, you can excel no matter in which industry you work.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. For me there is only one milestone that I keep track of! All the achievement in terms of meeting revenue and EBIT targets or any other YOY targets are secondary. What matters is:
- Does the organization value you, your expertise and leadership?
- Do you command respect among your team, peer group and senior management?
You need to ask this to yourself every year.
The organization values people who bring in something new to the table every year, people who are constantly challenging status quo and are always look out for ways to improve. This is universal and does not really matter in which industry you work.
Being aware of the changing world and adopting to new technologies in the workspace is key to survival and growth. This requires a fair deal of reading and keeping oneself abreast with the development around you.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. They say change in inevitable. This is true for any organization. While the organization grows in to new businesses, new product lines, adopts new technologies or is constantly bringing process improvement to minimize waste and improve quality, you need to align your goals with the organization. Every 3-4 years I have moved in to different roles and have been reasonably successful in the role. My long 30+ years in the organization is a testimony of that and I think that is quite satisfying.
There have been key moments in my career wherein the organization has truly appreciated my contribution. If I have to pick one then it has to be my US Patent (as an inventor) on real time quality monitoring on data collection. This was transformational as it brought about dramatic shifts in how data quality needs to be managed at collection source on real time basis. Not just it improved quality, it also helped in quelling apprehension on data quality. Needless to say it had a significant impact on our cost as quality is the biggest cost in the research Industry.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Yes, there is no doubt about it. There were several courses in PGDFM which helped in critical thinking (say Managerial Analysis and Comm-MAC). There were also numerous late night sitting with my batchmates which helped broaden my views about everything. We were a quite small group (batch size of 23 only) and hence collective and unanimous decision making prevailed for most of the time. We took some good and some really ugly decisions as a group! But the camaraderie was always there. On a personal level I think I made some great friends and learned more from them than from the course.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. In my 30+ years with the organization, I have had some wonderful managers who helped me in guiding my career. I have also had some good teams to work with. As I said earlier, if you have the right attitude and keep the focus going, success will eventually come.
My advise to young IIFM graduates is to have two things in life to be successful, both at personal and professional level. First, develop a habit of reading, the more you read the better you are equipped to handle different situations in life and secondly, have a mentor. Mentors help you to take a step back and assess your career paths. Have a 30 mins session with your mentor every month. This will help you to take a long term view of your career. And do not forget to enjoy the company of your fellow batchmates at IIFM. Friends are always a great source of inspiration. Make it a point to celebrate each other’s success.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. IIFM has given many memories which will last for a life time. Holi celebration was fun at the campus, evening outings to the New Market during weekends was refreshing and the rock hard idlys of Chandu at the mess 🙂 . The other good memories of IIFM was the mid night birthday celebrations which at time turned wild, but was fun!
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. I think it was a mix of all of them. We were a small group of people mostly cut out of the external world (with very limited excess to Nehru Nagar), no internet and social media, so we had no option but to enjoy what was available in the campus. In our days at the IIFM, we had a very small group of faculties who were young and very friendly and easily accessible. But one thing that stood out for me was that every student was highly ambitious. Each one of us knew that we had go out and do a lot of explanation as to what IIFM was all about to the external world… Is it an MBA or a Forestry..so on and so forth!! So that thinking among the first few batches of going out and establishing one’s own credibility was always there at the back of the mind… Do what you can and don’t expect the Institute to do it for you, that was the mantra. I think that gave everyone a sense of independent thinking of where they wanted to be in future.
Q. The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. So many of them. Difficult to list out everyone here. Dr. Rekha, Dr. Mehta, Dr. Biswas, Dr. Pethia….all of them were great.
Bhinder, Harsh, Vineet, Ajay Rai and their entire batch (90-92) was very friendly. We had some great time with them. The junior batch (92-94) also had some great individuals. Played a lot of cricket in the campus and broke a few glass panes as well. And not to forget a bunch of freak-outs (91-93 batch)!
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. Make use of the library, develop analytical skills and learn to engage with everyone in the campus. These skills will be very handy in your life: both personal and professional.
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. For me every day is a new day. New issues, newer concerns, higher expectations, etc. Being a step ahead helps. I look at key metrics, pre-empt quality escapes and lots of data to investigate. Typically 4-5 hrs. of calls every day with associates across the region (APAC) to review progress of projects/programmes, address quality concerns, etc. and lots of critical assessment of SOPs.
My role entails lots of travel across the South East Asian markets as well. So a fair deal of time goes in its preparation and follow ups post the travel as well.
Q. And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A. Weekends is mostly family time, catching up with old friends over a beer or waiting outside a shopping mall for my wife to finish her shopping!
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. Love Hindi movies, Die hard fan of Amitabh Bachhan. Love reading a few online news papers everyday and follow a few select bloggers on foreign policies.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. Surely, Which ever way possible. Open to discussing it so let me know.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there?
A. Difficult for me to comment. Have not been to IIFM for a while now. Now that Ravi is at helm, it gives us a lot of confidence about IIFM. Advait has seen it through. Both of them are from our batch, so all good luck to them. We are in touch. They can reach out if they need any support from me at an individual or at my professional capacity.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. All of them from our Class of 1991-93, without any exception and then other alumni across batches.