roles and resPonsiBilitiesI am primarily responsible for managing

finance operations of Birlasoft Europe. My core focus areas are Accounting, Monthly Reporting and Legal & Statutory Compliance. My basket of activities include Payroll Processing for employees based out of UK and continent Europe, Statutory Audit, Legal & Compliance, Financial Planning & Analysis, Monitoring Collections, Banking Transactions, Ensuring accurate day-to-day Accounting & Financial Transactions, Incentive Management of sales people, MIS (Monthly Information System) reports, ORR (Operational Rhythm Review), Vendor Management and Employee Related Function i.e. employee taxation and payroll related query resolution. Amongst these activities, Legal & Compliance of UK and more than 7 European locations remains the biggest challenge because every country has its own laws and requirements and hence ensuring 100% compliance is always a top priority.

how i manage time and Prioritize my work, meetings, etc.

The volume of work, I have to manage, calls for diligent planning and meticulous prioritization. I have to plan for each day, for the subsequent 15 days as well as 1 month, keeping in mind the broader perspective of the tasks in hand. Such long term planning ensures accurate prioritization

of daily activities. Each day, I schedule my time to work and deliver on my top priorities.

something aBout the Boss…I have a dual reporting structure. My functional

reporting is to Anup Chaudhary - Deputy General Manager - Finance and Administrative reporting is to Shantanu Banerjee - Europe Geo Head.

Anup has sound theoretical and practical knowledge about the Finance function. He is an organised individual and possesses excellent analytical skills. I admire his working style… he guides as a leader, supports as a mentor and works as a team member. Even though, I am sitting miles away from him yet there hasn’t been a single instance where I had to wait for long to discuss any transaction with him.

Shantanu Banerjee, Europe Geo Head, is a visionary leader. I admire his focus and strategic approach to deal with various issues. He has a thorough knowledge as to what will work and what can fail in the current market scenario. He encourages team work and emphasizes on team bonding. Working with such learned leaders has brought about an elevation in my career.

Birlasoft organized ‘Solvency II Breakfast Event’ on March 1st, 2011 at Corney & Barrow, London, UK

on the overriding theme of ‘Alternative Perspectives on Solvency II’. The event hosted by Preeti Das, Senior Vice President, Global Insurance (Practice & Sales) and Piyush Nath, Senior Manager – Business Relations, was well attended by CIOs, CTOs, CROs of Tier I & II Property & Casualty Insurance Companies based out of London.

Through this event, we showcased Birlasoft’s offerings on Solvency II as well as Birlasoft capabilities and approach around the 3 pillars of Insurance namely ‘Risk-based Capital Adequacy Engine’, ‘Data Management and Governance’ and ‘Effective Reporting and Managing People’. There were multiple focused discussions on various topics like ‘Effective integration and configuration of existing solutions instead of implementing new systems to address compliance challenges’, ‘Deploying cross

system capabilities to mitigate organizational impact’, etc., giving critical insights into Solvency II issues and solutions.

The focused Breakfast event was supported by Ranjan Roy, Vertical Marketing Manager for Insurance as well as Shival Khetrapal – our Design Specialist. The event helped generate visibility in the London Insurance market and further strengthen our strategic connects in the Industry.

IBM organized ‘IBM Pulse, 2011’ Conference in Las Vegas from February 23rd till March 3rd, 2011 with the aim to demonstrate

how Integrated Service Management can help

organizations design & deliver innovative services across business and IT boundaries. The conference comprised of a wide range of business, technical sessions, and provided unlimited opportunities to hear from industry experts as well as connect with attendees to garner critical insights needed to optimize the organization’s service management strategy.

Narayan Hegde and Kumar Rampura represented Birlasoft by actively participating in multiple open dialogues on technology issues as well as exhaustive exchanges of business ideas. Deriving maximum value from the Pulse 2011 experience, we successfully: g Connected with the IBM Maximo Manufacturing Sales Teamg Connected with the IBM Maximo Manufacturing User Groupg Met Manufacturing prospects who attended the conference and generated leads through networking.

Birlasoft Exhibiting Solvency II Capabilities

Engaging at ‘IBM Pulse, 2011’

April 2011 7

i5 - inForM, inQUire, inViGorAte, initiAte, inVoLVe

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Green Room Heroes

Kumar Rampura Manager - Business Strategy

Ashish Satija Finance Controller - Europe

Narayan Hegde Senior Manager - Business Relations

rOles And resPOnsiBilitiesAs a design specialist at Birlasoft, my

primary responsibility is to add visual meaning to the messages in order to make it more impactful. My basket of activities include designing of e-mailers and leaflets for internal communication, banners and posters for internal as well as external events and campaigns, Softalk – our monthly newsletter, wallpapers, backdrops, collaterals, etc. Successful delivery on each of the design work encompasses a series of steps like: a proper briefing in terms of copy and design from the concerned internal stakeholder, followed by a visual analysis of the design work, the execution and the final review. My work requires me to deal with

all the elements and principles of the creative spectrum like colour, shape, size, texture, space, value, contrast, balance, harmony, alignment, etc. as well as technical continuum like adherence to branding guidelines.

hOw i MAnAge tiMe And PriOritize My wOrk, etc.

The volume of work I have to handle and manage, calls for diligent planning and prioritization. I prepare daily, weekly and monthly work plan to ensure timely delivery but the greatest challenge that I face is to deliver on ad-hoc and time pressing design work that I receive from internal stakeholders. Therefore I have to meticulously balance my work in pipeline as well as deliver on urgent requirements.

My hOBBies, fAvOurite PAstiMesBeing a design person, most of my hobbies

emanate from the creative side like designing, painting and listening to music. I also believe in the power of meditation which helps me remain calm and composed even in adverse situations and help increase my efficiency at work.

key Belief/ leArningsMy association with Birlasoft has brought

about an elevation in my knowledge and experience. I have learnt to be more organized in my work and adopt a practical and a logical approach to deal with the problems and challenges. I believe that team bonding and transparency in roles is quintessential to enhance productivity and achieve team goals.

As part of the Corporate Social R e s p o n s i b i l i t y

(CSR) initiatives, HR Team at Chennai organized a

Blood Donation Campaign in collaboration with the Lions

Club of Madras, on March 24th, 2011 from 11a.m. to 4p.m. Around 35 associates voluntarily participated in this noble initiative and donated their blood to save the lives of their fellow beings and help them lead normal lives. The employees felt great after donating blood.

Through this campaign we also sensitized employees about the need and importance of blood donation through banners, posters and leaflets. We emphasized on the maxim that ‘A single candle can light many others and illuminate life’ and motivated them to partake in such initiatives and causes in future. Towards the end of the campaign, the associates who participated in the blood donation drive were issued acknowledgement certificates and were provided refreshments.

Remember, one unit of blood would save three lives!

-Shubha C, Assistant Manager - HR

APICS in partnership with the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation (SMa, organized ‘Asia Supply Chain &

Operations 2011’ Conference from April 7th- 8th, 2011 at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore. APICS brought exceptional speakers and professionals together from across Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America to discover the latest industry trends, explore the themes of productivity and innovation in supply chain and operations management and understand industry best practices.

Some of the eminent speakers present at the conference were Eric Schaudt, Chairperson – APICS Board, Abe Eshkenazi, CEO – APICS,

Daniel Castle, Chief Quality Officer – Tata Communications, Mahender Singh, Head – Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation, Mark Hardison, Director – Global Supply Chain, Banner Pharmacap, and many other. Ashutosh Raina, Senior Manager – Business Relations (ASEAN) represented Birlasoft in the conference. Capitalizing on the opportunity, he showcased the organization’s capability, addressed the audience on Anti Corruption – one of the 10 principles of Global Compact. Through these sessions and exhaustive exchanges of ideas, he gathered strategic as well as tactical inputs on management themes like ‘achieving a truly lean culture’, ‘successfully implementing sales and operations planning’, etc.

Undoubtedly, the forum gave an excellent opportunity to strengthen our knowledge repository, network with fellow professionals, generate visibility and explore business opportunities.

Lakshman RVS, Center Head – Hyderabad delivering a lecture to the students of Anurag

College of Engineering at their Annual Day function on the industry expectations, how the students need to gear up to meet the same and

the importance of team work

May 20116

...i5 - inForM, inQUire, inViGorAte, initiAte, inVoLVe / BirLAsoFt cAres

Green Room Heroes Drops of Life – Make an Ocean of Kindness

Building FutureLeaders

Leaving Impressions at ‘Asia Supply Chain & Operations 2011’ Conference

Shival Khetrapal Graphic Designer – Marketing

iMPrint...

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Green Room Heroes

One of the key messages of our CEO is to cultivate a performance-driven culture that rewards results.

The Performance Appraisal Team with their outstanding performance manifested this value in true spirit. The team comprising Alok Kumar, Asha Pundir, Pawit Pawar and Sushir Bhatia under the able guidance and leadership of Vijay TS drove the April 2011 appraisal process in India and steered it towards successful completion. Hearty Congratulations to the team!

The entire process involved manifold activities right from planning till execution involving multiple iterations, rigorous follow-ups, employee mobilization, synchronisation with the leaders and strict adherence to

budget and timelines. As a first step, the team underwent meticulous planning of appraisal activities as well as the related timelines and published the same to the organization, emphasizing on strict adherence.

This was followed by a train-the-trainer comprehensive workshop on “Effectively Managing Performance” conducted by an external faculty. It laid the foundation of generating the right understanding and approach towards performance management across all levels of leadership. This was then funnelled down to all levels of management. The respective HR teams then conducted process orientation sessions across locations to familiarize managers and employees alike with the appraisal process flow at Birlasoft.

Subsequent to the launch of the appraisal, the team used all modes of Internal Communication to drive employees and respective managers to complete the appraisal as per schedule. Post closure of the appraisals through PACE (PeopleSoft), the team generated final ratings in co-ordination with leaders in Tower, CoE and Enabling Teams. Post review by the management the increment inputs were finalised. Throughout this, the team was simultaneously working on facilitating promotion reviews. All these inputs were then used to generate the appraisal letters for employees across Grades A1 to A5.

One of the greatest challenges the team faced was to ensure that the employees and managers complete the appraisal on time. Due to the delays in completion, the team worked over many weekends to ensure that the appraisal letters are still issued on time. An additional challenge was that most of the members in this team are new; but with proper planning and perseverance, the team was able to deliver what was committed.

In the words of Vijay TS, Head – Talent Management, “Due to the combined efforts and dedication of the team we were able to issue letters on time inspite of delays at all levels. This has happened for the first time in 5 years.”

- Ebha Agarwal, Global Marketing

Rewards and Recognitions: Salesperson of the Month

Joseph Puthenparampil'Salesperson of the Month' for April ‘11

Rahul Kapoor'Salesperson of the Month' for May ‘11

A challenge that the US Geo took was to have a "Sehwag-like start" in terms of the revenue accomplishment instead of the historic "Hockey Stick" finish. We celebrated the victories of two of our "opening batsmen" for this year.

July 20116