Transcript of the Interview with Mr. Ramesh Ramani, Tata AIG

1. After working in a bank for 7 years, you moved into the insurance industry, is there any specific reason for that?

When I was passing out of management school, I had an incline that over the 30-35 years of career that we normally tend to be at, I would like to work in 4/5 different industries, because I felt that once I would be done with my formal career.

I would have seen 4-5 industries a few functions and in the process if someone would have approached me for a consultancy or if I was asked to do a teaching job I think I would be better equipped than if I were to be only in one industry.

So in a very conscious way I decided to do and I kept doing it as I said my first stint was in an IT company, in distribution job, then I joint a sales (credit card) job in a multinational bank and from there moved to credit function which was completely different for me. Sales guys joining credit was unknown in those times. It took me 6 months to know what the business was.

I then got a very comprehensive 360 view of the business. So then when the insurance sector opened up for foreign participation, they approached me to lead a business where you needed to know not just the sales part but also the risk control part.

So this stint that I did in the bank helped me greatly to actually take up the leadership position in the insurance company.

2. What have you learned from your past jobs that helped you reach the position of a Sr.VP?

You know, this might sound very old fashioned, but, things I haven’t chased in money and designation. Its very old fashion to say, Karm karo phal ki chinta mat karo. I think to sum it up, I really enjoyed my work. The secret of my movement is really that I’m enjoying, when you enjoy your work you tend to give your best.

If you grudge(ily) enter the office if you have work to do the result is different. When you come into the office with a spring in your step, because you’re looking forward to doing something, of achieving something, taking up some new challenges it makes a difference.

So when you chase your dreams it’s a different life, if you have nothing purposeful to do in your life and just a 9-5 job it’s not the same. The simple mantra for me is ‘enjoy what you do’.

3. What do you look for in your employees?

I expect them to enjoy the work, I have a style of work where I tend to trust them to begin with. I don’t start with mistrust, I start with trust. So I say you own the piece of job you’re doing, you do what you want. When you have a problem some up to me and

I’ll help you. But by and large I leave them independent, but I expect equally the person to reciprocate the trust that has been given to him. By stretching that extra yard, extra mile, to give off his best, to love challenges. I need them to meet challenges head on.

I need them to be sincere, transparent. Nothing great, just things that you would expect a person to be. I’d expect them to bring those values to the workplace. Nothing beyond that really. Enjoying work has made life really wonderful for me in the corporate sphere.

I’d expect them also to enjoy life. So me and my team have had a rocking time. There are people who have left me about 5-6 years back for whatever reason. They keep calling me every now and then and saying bossy kuch hai kaam? So they’d like to come back.

I’m not doing anything special I’m just being myself. I’m not some senior whatever in the company, I’m just Ramesh to them.

4. What experience can one expect while working with Tata AIG?

First of all we give people lots of freedom. We allow them to do things the way they want. We expect them to take that responsibility, to execute and bring something. So there is some sense of entrepreneurship, and that is what I want.

So people are given freedom, there are people who misuse the freedom. They don’t do anything. They go like mere se koi kuch puch ne wala nahi hai, so they chill out. And then there are people who say that this guy has given me so much freedom, let me reciprocate.

They do wonderfully well. So what base you want to set up for yourself in life is decided by you. Trust is there, empathy is there, freedom to do what they want that’s there. We have found a lot of the employees taking this very positively.

5. What message would you give CFM students, after having interacted with them?

I would like to tell them that first of all be patient. Don’t come to any conclusions very quickly, especially the current GenX or GenY or whatever it is. They come to a conclusion very quicky, yeh meko acha lago, ye meko nahi acha laga.

It takes years to figure out what is good and what is not good. So be patient and don’t be a rolling stone. Don’t keep changing your job very often. Because in the process when you keep moving from company to company, you don’t gather any experience worth its while.

As I also told the students that over a period of time your employer values your experience more than anything else. So be patient spend a number of time with the company you are working with.

Learn! The thirst to learn, the hunger to learn, that should always be there, the child in you. You should be thirsting for knowledge. You do that, enjoy life and them you work sincerely there is no way anyone can stop you from moving to the top.

It’s a two way process, hunger to learn and hunger to give as well. If you have that two way process on all the time life’s lovely and you’ll be in the fast lane all the time. That’s my message to the students.