As the head of a major business brand, what are the main challenges you face and foresee in your sector?
The HR industry across the globe is undergoing major challenges to find the desired number of work force staff vis a vis high demand across multiple sectors, with construction, facility management, the service industry and hospitality sectors specifically seeing scarce supply. The main reason for this wide gap is that developing countries have multiple home-grown opportunities with hike in minimum wages, reducing the lure for workers to uproot themselves and migrating overseas, and less gap of saving potential.
It’s time for corporates to move from just hiring in numbers to creating workplaces that offer a community feel, as well as long-term employee welfare programmes that infuse much required confidence. This also offers a sense of belonging that not just provides immediate comfort but long-term assurances as well, such as upgrading skills, retirement and pension schemes to secure one’s future.
People learn from their mistakes, more so CEOs and business heads who use this learning to champion growth for their brand and staff. What are some of the learnings you have managed in recent times?
In today’s world, amid the rising cost of running business operations, corporate finance departments sometimes commit the mistake of cutting employee welfare expenses. This is where clients fail to retain the workforce for longer periods than was seen in the past. Facilities once offered when withdrawn not only leads to instability and insecurity but also leads to companies becoming a platform whereby workers are seen to be more keen to change jobs than in previous years.
At Lime Source, we ensure that corporates are counselled. It’s time for corporates to be innovative, as it’s not just the salary that glues workers to an organisation, it’s that bond of trust, community living and that feel of genuine employee welfare that make each staff member feel the company cares and that they are appreciated. As a winning team, Lime Source tries to impart creative ideas to make all this happen.
Our Director, Neetu Gupta deeply feels that gender balance and multilingual staff need immediate attention. If we wish to see the growth of a balanced society, we need to create a platform for balanced gender growth. Women need to be offered more opportunities in the corporate world, which will surely infuse lots of positive energy and lead to the attraction of new talent.
How important is innovation as a facet of your brand’s operations and why?
It’s an old saying that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. At Lime Source, we are blessed to have received compliments across the HR industry worldwide for creating new markets and new resources. Our approach towards innovation helped us win Best Talent Search Consultancy Award from the UK, and our creative efforts not only helped the Lime Source Family but the industry as a whole to reach out to new territories, and we feel immense pride to be successful in opening doors for others to benefit from the same.
How pivotal is CSR to your brand fostering a sense of community within the sphere of your activities?
We take CSR very close to heart, and realised that our workers overseas, especially from the African continent often sell their land or assets to fund their migration journeys and accept job opportunities abroad. We took the initiative and joined hands with the Ugandan royal family to start the Microfinance Banking organisation. This has already started funding workers against a basic guarantors’ system, whereby job applicants can pay back loans from their salaries in six months to a year in easy instalments, and without having to sell their assets. The initiative has not only made the journey easy and hassle-free, but also helped employers and employees reduce gaps in demand and supply in the current market.
Where do you see your brand, and yourselves 5 years from now in terms of growth?
We see ourselves expanding our business operations globally to explore the full potential of both east and west, setting up world-class training facilities across Asia and Africa to benefit and nurture talent worldwide.
We also aim to set up an independent committee that will work towards supporting aspiring entrepreneurs to implement their business ideas, whereby we invest in their ventures to make it happen. We are confident that our three decades of experience and their brilliant ideas shall be a blessing to cherish. The Lime Source Family hopes to leave a prestigious legacy for the next generation to follow.
What is the legacy you would choose to leave behind for your staff and future CEOs and business leaders?
I would advise future business leaders to dream big, follow their inner passion and offer a product or service that adds immense value to society at large. They should never be afraid of failure, and never fail to keep learning. They should focus on building long-term relations, not just project-based ones .
Finally, business leaders should always ask themselves how they wish to be remembered, and focus on not just managing a livelihood but also building a legacy.
