Armed forces veterans show true mettle as corporate leaders
Indian Army, joined Sodexo as account director for India. Today, he is global strategic account director for Apac, the Middle East and Africa, at the French employee benefits and rewards solutions multinational.
Sharma, who spent over two decades in the area of electronic surveillance during his army days, is not the only retired armed forces personnel who have seen their career put on a fast track in the corporate world. An increasing number of companies in the country, including RPG Group, Renew Power, L&T, and Hero MotoCorp are proactively hiring ex-servicemen in leadership roles, impressed by their discipline, crisis management skills, ability to assess risks and take decisions, process orientation, excellence in service delivery, and communication skills, top company officials said.
And they retire from forces relatively young. «We currently have over 40 such professionals with armed forces background — many of whom are in leadership roles, spearheading profit centres and as heads at supervisory level,» said Pradeep Chavda, director — HR, India at Sodexo.
An estimated 60,000-70,000 armed forces personnel retire or are released from active service every year, with a majority of them being in their early 40s. Tapping the pool of veterans not only adds to the diversity of the workforce but also helps meet shortage of skills in certain areas, company executives said.
«Their unique skill sets in the areas of crisis management, and assessing risks, coupled with their leadership capabilities have helped us immensely in driving a culture of excellence across our project areas,» said Vaishali Nigam Sinha, chairperson — sustainability — at ReNew, the country's largest renewable energy company by operational capacity. ReNew
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