A consultant is a catalyst who helps organizations transform! They are the ones who work on the shop-floor/ gemba (real place of work) with the client teams to help them transform & grow smoothly. They are on several client sites, from one country to another, from one industry to others. But they never give up on the idea of helping organizations transform, as per the expectations of the management teams. In this edition of Faber, we had a chat with yet another transformation specialist from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Vijay Hondadakatti. He has helped various clients across geographies and industries. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Hondadakatti.
Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you?
Vijay Hondadakatti (VH): I am a Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting and I work with clients in their organizational transformation journey. Every organization that I work with is different, and so are the challenges in the transformation journey. I work with clients to implement various continuous improvement initiatives. A typical day looks like a new game every day. So, being a sportsman if I relate to sports, I know the rules, I know how to play, but the categories are changing as the playgrounds are different and the people along with whom I am playing are different as well. So, for me, a typical day at work looks like a strategic game.
FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile?
VH: The first and the foremost thing is trust that has been put on me by my team and by the client. The trust that I along with my team can change the scenario of the organization, by providing them value addition in tangible terms. This for me is the most rewarding aspect of my job. And also, when the teams implement new improved way of working in their organization and it delivers results, is more rewarding because as an external catalyst we have accelerated the speed of change! So, it is again something that is highly fulfilling. Because it is challenging to work and contribute in an industry, where teams bring domain expertise and experience, and you create an environment of revisiting the processes and defining improved ways, along with taking the client teams into confidence as well. And in return, once the unimagined results are delivered, getting wonderful feedbacks and that sense of satisfaction, is working best for us. It is something you would cross rivers to experience!
FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced, and what did you learn from it?
VH: One of the biggest challenges that I have faced till date is most of the times when we go on a project at client sites, the client expects us to create wonders overnight. They expect us to do everything in just no time. However, one should also understand that the whole point of improvement is not the end result but the process as well. It is due to the systematic process and the tools – techniques, due to which the client will not only reap those phenomenal results but would be able to sustain it after the consulting engagement. But what I learn from this is that clients have trust in us, they expect us to deliver better results in a very short span of time. So, if not on the very next day, but in a short span of time, we show them the desired results.
FI: How has the organization helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role?
VH: See, my point of view towards life is learning new things in each and every step of it. And especially when it comes to your work, I like to learn and practice new things daily and these are the exact goals of Faber Infinite which is implementing new tools under the guidance and support of the mentors. So, whenever I learn something new, I go on the field and implement with the guidance of my mentors, for which I see the results. So, these are also a few of my personal aspirations which are aligned with my role here. As I mentioned earlier, being from a sports background, this is what I have learned from my childhood. Learning new things and implementing them. As you can see here, it is not only about learning but also about implementing. So, it is like, practice what you preach – which is the exact same thing I am able to do here.
FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishments and how was it recognized?
VH: Faber is a very transparent organization. To measure its employee’s performance, it has a monthly performance management system which tracks your monthly performance and productivity. And the best thing about it is, the KPI’s are set on the basis of your job role and department. It measures your performance monthly and you yourself evaluate your score which gives you a chance to see your performance graph which boosts your performance to work even hard and improve from the present. For me, accomplishment is something, I believe, that I get from the client deliverables. Because, when you offer a service, and when the feedback comes directly from the end-user, from the Gemba saying that what you have implemented has changed the scenario of the organization and it never looked like this before. And it is more pleasing when the client says that he is going to teach these tools that he learned to his children as well. So, you see, it is not just the client’s place, the organization that is being affected, but also, the personal life of those people who are getting trained for these techniques. This was from one of the clients from Malawi, saying that my friend, I have never seen this factory in such a wonderful state of operations. So, yes that is one of my biggest accomplishment so far.
FI: Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you at Faber Infinite? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life at Team Faber?
VH: That one person I would like to name is Mr. Vishal Kulkarni (Founding Partner & Director) and the reason behind that is the way he handles the situations, as in whatever work you have done, he never takes that in a negative way and points it as wrong. Instead, he would always say that this is right, but what can we do to make it even better. So, this thing actually puts a great impact on you and inspires you to do better every time. And this doesn’t make you feel that you did something wrong. It always inspires you to do better each and every day. He put things in such a way that helps us see things from a different perspective. And the way he handles certain things and situations make us feel safe. And when I say it feels safe, I mean he allows us to implement and try new things. And this is something that I have never seen before. I have worked with many leaders, but I have never seen somebody so calm and composed.
Thank you, Faber Vijay, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
