Meet the SHEROES - Laxmi Mala

“Women were, of course, late to join the corporate bandwagon (especially the engineering filed) but now that they have arrived, they have ‘arrived’!”

Laxmi Mala, Business Partner – HR at Cognizant shares her thoughts on work and life with us today,

Tell us a little about yourself

I love traveling. My childhood as a defense kid game me ample opportunities to see new places. Later in life, work travel introduced me to most, if not all, of India.

All this travel has made me a more accommodating individual, have a larger perspective to life, build the ability to let go of things when we live in a world where change is the only constant.

Regards my professional life, I have worked with TCS and MaFoi. I’m now with Cognizant. All along, I have had the opportunity to work on most spheres available within the field of HR.

What is your current designation and role at Cognizant?

My current role is of Business Partner HR with a team that supports a Business Unit worth $1bn of revenues and 3000 strong employee base in North America.

What are the challenges you face daily in this field of work?

Every day is a new learning, constantly evolving industry and trends in IT, keeps the HR man on alert 24*7

As part of HR for one of the biggest IT companies, what is your observation regards men and women at the workplace today?

Women were, of course, late to join the corporate bandwagon (especially the engineering filed) but now that they have arrived, they have ‘arrived’!

IT is one industry that is constantly innovating & encouraging newer ways of getting work done, flexi timings, work life balance, parental leaves to take time off for the baby, Job share options..

Compared to other countries in the West, where / what do mid to larger companies in India lack in respect to HR standards?

In my opinion, it isn’t so much about the east or west. If you run your business with transparency and integrity rest of the things just fall in place…as HR guardians providing the forum for transparent policies, processes; two-way feedback mechanisms in an ever changing business scenario can be the key to success. 

Also, in the present day we have a large section of ‘Millennial’s’ in our workforce (Recent UN Study, highlights that India has the largest youth population as demographic dividend to reap), hence, the need to have policies, work culture aligned to the mindset of this segment to be able to get the best of them.

What is an average work-day like for you?

It can wary in proportions between associate connect / queries, leader insights / review, lifecycle processes, special HR projects and self-learning.

Can you leave our readers with a few thoughts?

Life is short & valuable, live it on your own terms!