Dedicated to Jyothi Ramachandrula Disha 2017 & Priyanka Rastogi Disha 2020
CONCEPT NAZIA MUJEEB EDITORIAL TEAM CHRISTINE CHERIAN JOEL PETER MONTEIRO NANDHINI PRABHA MUNISWAMY FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS ALEX STOLL ANJANA PERUMAL BINU MATHEW CHANDRAKANT PATEL KALYAN NATARAJAN KETAN PATEL MARTIN STIER NANDITHA SEETHARAMAIAH OLGA MARTENS-STUURMAN RAJAT MEHTA SADAT FATIMA SAROJ PATHAK SATHYA RAMANI SATISH BETTADAPUR SUMEER CHANDRA SOWJANYA REDDY YVES CABANAC ALUMNI CONTRIBUTORS AARCHA J S, AJITHA JOSEPH, CAROLINE CRUZ, DEEPA BUDHRANI, LUBNA SAFOORA, MARY TEENA, MEERA SANGHVI, NASREEN BABU, NITHYA SOLOMON, PREETHY VARGHESE, PRIYANKA GUPTA, RASHMI SOMAYAJI, RUBY TOMAR, SHARMAINE DEY, SHWETA SIBAL, SSREE GOMATHI, VIJAYA CHATTERJEE PROGRAM TEAM CONTRIBUTORS ABHINETHRI NAGENDRA, ARCHANAA DIXIT, BEULAH MERCY, CHRISTINE CHERIAN, DHARSHAN RAJ, GEETHA V, KOMALA SEETHARAMAIAH, LIJITHA RAJENDRAN, NANDHINI PRABHA M, NAZIA MUJEEB, NANDITHA SEETHARAMAIAH, NISHA KESHAV, PRAMODH N S, SUNDAR ARUMUGHAM, S SUDHA REDDY, VIKAS SRIVASTAVA, VINAY KUMAR CHANDRASHEKHAR, VINODHINI V
WELCOME Disha Program Lead introduces the exclusive edition that showcases the five-year journey. 8 STORY OF DISHA Nanditha Seetharamaiah shares the story of how Disha came into existence. PERSPECTIVES FROM LEADERSHIP 9 10 11 12 - 13 A NOTE FROM SUMEER CHANDRA INSPIRING WOMEN LEADERSHIP VISION FOR TOMORROW DISHA EXPERIENCE Sumeer Chandra shares his India MD, Ketan Patel talks Binu Mathew shares her Anjana Perumal & thoughts on Disha about how Disha plays a role views on the program. Saroj Pathak talks about the in women leadership. impact of Disha. HP LEADERS TALK ABOUT THE 15 CHANDRAKANT PATEL IMPORTANCE OF DISHA 16 YVES CABANAC 18 MARTIN STIER 19 SOWJANYA REDDY 20 ALEX STOLL 21 SATISH BETTADAPUR IN THIS ISSUE 22 24 30 32 THE FIVE-YEAR JOURNEY DESIGN THINKING PITCH & STORYTELLING SPEED COACHING 38 42 48 52 ACTION BASED LEARNING INSPIRE & INFLUENCE THE PROGRAM TEAM DISHA YEARBOOK
Celebrating Five years of DISHA
Nazia Mujeeb Disha Program Lead Manager, CS Transactional Category Welcome to our 5-year celebratory magazine of Disha! I am thrilled to share with you our journey since conception and to celebrate our accomplishments through the years. Disha aims to increase the readiness of women as leaders to build the leadership pipeline for HP. It enables women to discover self, learn from each other, gain a strong understanding of what motivates them, and help them chalk out their career path. As we build a school for talent, our vision is to encourage women to take on the mantle of leadership to change course for the better. These pages will demonstrate how the participants continued to push boundaries, imagined the future, and made it happen. I trust that you will enjoy this special edition of the Disha magazine that features the gamut of activities & experiences that the program offers to improve confidence, ignite latent potential, take the leap, and much more.
Story of DISHA Nanditha Seetharamaiah How Disha came into HR Business Partner & Co-founder of Disha existence Disha grew to be as we see it today -The heart and 1st November 2015, the day when HP Inc was formed. energy of a startup - Us, brain, and muscle of a We were a new company, smaller in size and Dion Weisler Fortune 500 company – the leadership and growth was our new CEO said, “HP opens a new chapter – mindset playing out every step of the way. The heart & energy of a startup with the brain and muscle of a Fortune 500 company.” WE WERE ENCOURAGED, EMPOWERED, AND HAD ALL The following year, in 2016 ‘Growth Mindset’ was THE RESOURCES AND FUNDING! ALL WE HAD TO PUT IN introduced as training for all employees. It was the first WAS OUR ENERGY. time I had heard of the term and was greatly inspired by its fundamentals. I felt fear at every step and having signed up for this “The power of Yet” was ringing in my ears. self-initiated group, there was no looking back. A small team of 4 people from HP India came together to As Program Lead, I was so nervous. None of us in form the India D&I council chaired by Anjana Perumal. the core team had any prior experience in running a The team put together the D&I charter and took it to program at that scale - every fear was surmounted Rajiv Srivastav – the outgoing MD and Sumeer Chandra – that got converted into new learning! the incoming MD. The charter was a modest summary of ideas that were The first Disha cohort graduated on 15th November presented to the ILT, one of which was about women in 2017 as graced by the then MD, Sumeer Chandra, and leadership. We hadn’t even christened it as Disha. joined by other leaders from HP India. The sponsorship was approved instantly. Coming to the present, Disha is in its fifth stint with The name came later - evolved in partnership with Nazia Mujeeb as Program Lead. She was part of the Kathleen O’Neill, L&D partner, who architected the program first cohort of 2017 and continued to contribute as a to perfectly match Lead@HP principles in its effort to solve core team member in 2018 and 2019. this complex social problem of the gap of women as leaders Nazia was chosen as the natural successor – a unique in the corporate industry. year with a brand-new set of unique challenges, and The Disha core team were from different functions that she has taken it ahead with aplomb especially during collaborated beautifully, and ideas flowed in the pandemic! through the process. Nazia was part of the winning project team of 2017. She moderated Q&A with ILT during Disha Graduation 2018, and that too while she was on her maternity break. She is a true example of resilience and commitment – Disha is in good hands with Nazia leading it! With that, I want to say that this program will remain close to my heart. Someone referred to me as a co- founder recently and I could feel the goosebumps!! I am thankful to HP for providing this platform and opportunity to act and be an entrepreneur! I take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous support we received from the HP leadership team across the globe. Could not have done anything without the relentless contributions of the MOST AMAZING Disha Program Team!! DISHA 2021 | Page 08
What Disha Means for HP Sumeer Chandra, Global Head and General Manager, PS Services I want to congratulate everyone who has been involved in the Disha program over the last 5 years! Developing our people is a top priority at HP and the Disha program plays an important role by helping develop our women employees, especially those in mid-levels of the organization. I am extremely proud of my association with Disha, especially in its formative years, and am delighted to see that Disha is continuing to grow. We live in a very competitive and dynamic world, and one of the key enablers to our success is our people. By providing our women employees opportunities for business and leadership skill development, Disha is playing an important role in strengthening HP’s position in the market and providing a venue for women employees at HP to realize their career aspirations. I wish Disha the very best in the coming years. DISHA 2021 | Page 09
DISHA: INSPIRING A BOLD NEW GENERATION OF WOMEN LEADERS Ketan Patel | Managing Director, India Market The world over, not just in the technology sector, women still don’t make up 50 per cent of the workforce, and the story is no different for India. In such a milieu, Disha’s dream of fostering a new and empowered generation of leaders was a bold and visionary move. Disha embodies the true spirit of HP’s diversity, affirming our focus on empowerment, leadership, and equality. Over the last 5 years, Disha has emerged as a strong platform that has inspired our woman workforce to achieve their full potential through its mentorship programs, cross functional trainings and networking events. I am proud to be part of this great initiative that champions the spirit of womanhood and inspires the next generation of women leaders within the company. I want Disha to grow as an example not just within HP, but for the entire industry. This program can become the guiding light on how organizations should embrace diversity the HP Way. The path forward is clear. As industry leaders we need to take bold steps to nurture, empower and recognize the woman leaders of tomorrow. And together we need to bring about the deep cultural transformation to create a workplace where all women can be the CEO of their careers. You have my unstinted support in your mission because it is my mission too. I salute all the women who held Disha close, nurtured this program and made it what it is today. I have no doubt that among you there are several future leaders of HP. You are the face of Disha’s success, and I am so proud to have been a part of this incredible journey. Here's wishing you all superb success in your future pursuits. DISHA 2021 | Page 10
Vision for Tomorrow Binu Mathew, India Market HR, has been involved with the Disha since its inception. and has been a pillar of support for the program and talks about why Disha program is significant in changing the future of Women Leadership Why is Disha significant? Do you see Disha changing the future of Disha meaning “direction” is an intentional program women leadership at HP; if yes, how? focussed on the development of women at HP India. The impact and the global visibility Disha has Disha has huge significance because it’s this one garnered over the years is a testimonial to the small step, that has led to a giant leap for the program it has evolved to become. women at HP India. To empower women, more power must be given to them. This blended learning program is structured to develop the participants’ management skills, This must be done intentionally by teaching our enhance their leadership capabilities, increase women how to show up and be confident to exposure, and help advance their careers. take on any role. In my view, the program has The focus is on the overall development with a flavour helped in better retention of women as they of cross functional learning. are able to clearly envision a growth path for themselves at HP. What business impacts have you seen through the Disha program? The strength of the program is that we have All the participants of Disha are nominated based on been able to push women to the forefront and talent and they are aligned to specific have given them the confidence to apply for business-critical projects that open enormous bigger roles and that too for cross-functional opportunity for the cohort to drive outcomes open positions. through cross-team collaboration, which not only benefit the Business units with implementable Since the alumni are kept constantly engaged solutions but also provides great learning & visibility and are a community, it helps them to see other for the participants. women from the community take the risk and shine through. This already has and will An affirmation of this partnership is the continue to positively change the future of testimonials and feedback we receive from our women at HP India. Disha participants year on year. DISHA 2021 | Page 11
EMPOWERING WOMEN Anjana Perumal Finance Director, India Controller Chairperson, D&I Council 2017-2019 “Five years ago, the D&I team envisioned a future of strengthening women in leadership positions.” The objective was to support women in At the end of every Cohort, the graduation their career growth by empowering them event was invigorating. with the right skillset and providing a strong platform to network. The coaching and training provided by the brilliant trainers, who dedicated their time The program agenda was laid down and effort in sharing their knowledge with before the India leadership team and we the Cohort had impacted and inspired were amazed by the number of leaders the women to reach their potential and in India and global who came forward to enhance their confidence. support the program. The benefits Disha provides are I have attended all the Disha events and tremendous, what I have personally seen was amazed to see the talent we have through these five years is women scaling in our women - The buzz in the training up their own individual strengths, women rooms, the enthusiasm and fun at supporting and cheering each other and, networking events, the intuitive questions recognizing that every woman has an they ask leaders. innate potential to succeed. Every Cohort had strong women stand out establishing their own identity, voicing their opinion and shinning through the graduation ceremony. DISHA 2021 | Page 12
“Dil se - Direct from the heart” Here’s Saroj Pathak, Chairperson Saroj Pathak of the DE&I Council – India talking to us on the Importance CS Field & Channel | Middle East & Turkey | & Impact of Disha program Hub Delivery Lead & Global CS DE&I-Chair Equity BIN The most satisfying part for any leader is to see The best part about Disha is leadership their team grow horizontally and/or vertically and support from global leadership as well that’s exactly been the objective of Disha - to as sponsorship from all India leadership provide accelerated cross-functional learnings team, structure architected to give an and creating a strong pipeline for women leaders. opportunity to learn, challenge and contribute to solving diverse business Have been fortunate to witness the growth and problems, inspiring stories of cohorts emergence of Disha to be a global brand from the crossing the borders, moving out of first year of inception, in a different capacity as comfort zone, asking for a seat at the WIN leader, Speed coach, Project mentor, Project table more and more. sponsor, and finally as DE&I Chairperson. And of course, the growth that we Disha has been the perfect example for Equity, have seen for most cohorts….instilling with a much-required investment in women talent confidence and encouragement to do to address the gender diversity gap at top of the more every single time and continue leadership pyramid. marching towards the right Disha - the goal of 50%+ gender diversity in Passionate core team led by dynamic Nanditha leadership across HP. and then by equally diligent Nazia has weathered the storm of covid, to continue to make it happen for the determined cohorts…fifth time…so proud of you all! Thank you Sowjanya, Binu & Anjana for being the perfect mentors, India MDs Sumeer Chandra, Vinay Awasthi, and Ketan Patel along with Global Leadership team Lesley, Olga, Beth, Enrique, Alex, Lace for their unconditional sponsorship and support, relentless efforts of speakers, speed coaches, mentors and sponsors of the project. DISHA 2021 | Page 13
HP LEADERS TALK About Disha and its significance towards HP’s Future
Chandrakant Patel “DISHA has the pulse of social, economic, HP’s Senior Fellow & Chief Engineer, HP Labs ecological and technological trends that portend the course ahead for HP cyber physical solutions. In that context, its fora are uniquely suited for HP contributors to learn, teach, guide, solve and grow” Connect session with Chandrakant Patel & Jon Brewster 25 April 2018 - Pritech Park , Bangalore with DISHA Cohort
Changing the Direction of Women’s Careers Yves Cabanac, VP Digital Transformation and Greater Asia Sales Operations at HP As an executive leader, I firmly believe that it’s my responsibility to help every single member of my team reach his or her true potential. I’m also aware that in today’s corporate climate, gender diversity remains an unrealized goal. And that it falls on all of us to help encourage and empower talented women employees to attain deserved leadership positions. Which is why it gives me great pleasure to share with you the story of “Disha” – a leadership programme in India that is doing just that, and with great success. Disha: A story of inspiration and initiative Remarkably, one of our own employees decided to do But what finally motivated her to create Disha were something about it. In 2017, Nanditha Seetharamaiah created the difficulties faced by women in India. a six-month development program named Disha (which means Many Indian women often left their jobs after “direction” or “vision” in Hindi). having children, while some even chose limiting careers that kept them from realizing their full That year alone, this program helped 37 women in HP India potential because of family obligations. strengthen their leadership skills by working on business-critical projects. By 2019, this number had grown to 119 graduates. In addition, quite a few talented, ambitious women at HP India felt that they needed to leave because Disha is a story of inspiration and initiative—and a model for they lacked hands-on opportunities to learn and how to turn an idea into a program with worldwide potential. grow. While this six-month blended learning program was designed to effectively prepare women to take on greater leadership rules, it Although Nanditha had initially started Disha to was about much more than diversity, equity and inclusion. slow down the attrition of this talented pool of women employees, she found that the program It represented an important step as a business imperative to evolved into a personal mission to empower these drive innovation. women. The challenge facing women She discovered an ally and a partner who shared The program recognized one key fact. It was not that HP lacked a her vision in Kathleen O’Neill, a talent program talented pool of women employees. But while these employees architect in HP’s Talent, Learning, and Development had the talent and the capability, what they needed was a organization. clearer direction. Using her 30 plus years of experience in designing successful leadership programs for HP, Kathleen They needed mentoring and guidance, support and created Disha’s structure. encouragement from the company to enable them to compete with their male colleagues for the same leadership positions. Her help proved invaluable in offering clarity on what the actual problem was and how they could The founder of Disha, Nanditha Seetharamaiah was familiar measure the program’s success. with the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in the workplace. Her role as HR Business Partner for Customer Service in Asia Pacific and Japan and a member of her region’s Diversity and Inclusion Council had shown her that only too well. DISHA 2021 | Page 16
A creative solution After a six-month collaboration, they created Disha as a hands-on learning program that emphasized growth mindset, business and financial acumen, design thinking, influence through collaboration and effective communication. The program offered a blended learning approach that combined theory with practical applications. The cohorts enrolled in the program were given an opportunity to apply their theoretical learnings by completing a project at the end of the six months. Handpicked by the executive leadership team, these projects not only gave the women a chance to work on real-world topics but to interact and network with the leaders themselves. The women cohorts were selected based on their sheer capability and talent. Business leaders were tasked with picking the very best female employees to qualify for this leadership learning program. Out of 3,500 women employees there were only 35 cohorts. Disha’s cohorts accomplished the creation of a patent, with 50% of the graduates moving on to different roles, including two international relocations. In addition to developing the leaders of tomorrow, the program provided the alumni with an opportunity to give back to the program and help develop other women leaders. Even the pandemic proved no obstacle to the sheer drive and determination of these talented women. To combat the challenge of the times, Disha went virtual, creating high value content, with workshops split into multiple sessions. They also introduced a virtual avenue for the alumni to connect with the graduates and continue to learn from the best in the industry. Disha 2020 was made possible by the support of several HP leaders, the alumni and the backbone of the program – the core team. Today we look forward to seeing what our 24 new graduates will go on to accomplish. The Future of Disha At HP, it’s important for the top leaders to recognize Disha as more than just a diversity and inclusion initiative. But as a program that is vital to the long-term health of our business, and one that has admirably continued to raise the bar on talent and capability across the gender divide. DISHA 2021 | Page 17
Learn to Lead Martin Stier Disha is a program especially designed to help Global Head of HR, Printing our amazing female talent at HP India to develop and grow their careers and continue DISHA 2021 | Page 18 contributing to our business success. By increasing our female representation and seeing their female confidence increasing and their voice being heard, we drive better outcomes and more innovation. Disha is already changing the present of female talent at HP. I am confident that having a program with the level of reputation and branding as Disha is changing the future of women leadership at HP. Disha’s focus on building confidence, on helping our female talent learn how to engage with executives and on providing them opportunities to work on business projects where they collaborate and show value to the organization is critical to our future success.
Congratulations to Disha on its 5th Anniversary! Kudos to the Disha Program team for conceptualizing, designing and implementing an intervention designed to build a deep bench of diverse leaders across India. By providing the right learning experiences, Disha has enabled women leaders to enhance their leadership capabilities and speed up their readiness to take on critical roles, expanded portfolios and move into next level succession pipelines. Each year, Disha has brought together key women talent to learn from each other in a safe space, grow professionally and personally, build deeper connections within the organization and strengthen their sponsorship and visibility with senior leadership teams. I wish Disha continued success and many more milestones – may Disha continue to lead the way in developing diverse leaders who inspire, shine and help other women rise. SOWJANYA REDDY HR, Greater Asia Market DISHA 2021 | Page 19
Alex Stoll Head of Transactional Category, Customer Support Disha is a standout program that paves the way to a future we all need and aspire to - where leaders bring in their talents and creativity no matter who they are, or what they are. A future where diverse perspectives drive relevant outcomes in the world, we live in. Disha has our HP values as its core and is a premier example for HP’s ambition to be a school for talent. I have seen female leaders successfully leverage their Disha network- an often-underestimated trait to building a career. I also see participants accelerate their growth and confidence tremendously because of the program, so much so that the mention of a successful Disha candidate stands out on a resume. The mix of formal learning, inspiration and sharing of other leaders, pragmatic trial-and-error application of newly acquired skills and behaviors is an effective formula that works in our hectic and ever time-challenged work reality. I continue to be an active Disha supporter. Congratulations HP India team for establishing such a valuable development program.
Satish Bettadapur Head of Bangalore Center Operations, Customer Support Disha is particularly relevant and significant because it typically focuses on women employees more at the mid-management level, so it’s a great way for them to continue on their career journey. The skills and performance that got them the success so far need to be fine tuned to help them continue growing. Disha creates a great platform and provides an understanding to those specific skills needed for the next levels. The exposure and experience that the cohorts have got through the program has helped them develop some excellent skills such as networking, collaboration, leadership skills and most importantly, gives them the confidence that’s needed to grow in their careers. We have had some amazing success stories of women employees whose lives and careers have been transformed, yet, sadly, we don’t always have such a strong pipeline of women leaders at the higher levels. I absolutely look forward to seeing this change as a result of programs such as Disha and the investment we are making to our talented women.
DISHA JOURNEY At HP, encouraging women to grow and progress in their careers is of great importance and this can be seen through the various initiatives and one of them is Disha. Disha which started in 2017 is a part The program spans over six months of the DE&I story at HP India. and uses a blended approach of learning experiences to enhance Disha means “Direction” leadership attributes and expansive thinking. and this program is to elevate, increase readiness and advance During this learning period, the the working women at middle program is structured into various elements that enhance leadership levels for leadership roles. skills, increase exposure and advance careers. DISHA 2021 | Page 22
CLASSROOM To begin with, the participants are The key highlight of the Disha program TRAININGS introduced to the ‘Lead@HP 360’ is to work as a project team to solve a assessment; this helps identify their areas real-time business problem by applying INDIVIDUAL of strength and development. the learnings acquired throughout the DEVELOPMENT program. Using the results of Lead@HP 360, PLANNING participants are encouraged to create goals The project team comes from diverse for development with a plan to achieve the backgrounds which brings in a fresh SKILLS PRACTICE & goals and discuss them with their manager. approach to the business challenge APPLICATION and helps the cohort enhance their The participants are also introduced business acumen in a new area. COACHING & to coaches at HP to help them with NETWORKING ‘Individual Development Planning’. The cohorts apply the skills and knowledge acquired throughout PROJECT After identifying the goals, the participants the program into their projects EXECUTION attend monthly ‘Knowledge & Skill and recommend a realistic and Building’ sessions that are targeted at scalable solution to the business and developing management and implement wherever feasible. leadership skills. The blended learning experience ends The learnings from these events are put with the Graduation ceremony. into application through a business project. Through these learnings, the participants The crux of the graduation ceremony get a deep understanding of business/ was for the cohort teams to be financial insight and develop their design assessed on their projects by an thinking and problem-solving skills. esteemed panel of jury members. Teams that score the highest based on the judging criteria are declared as winners. Overall, Disha is a platform that elevates and builds the confidence in women to push boundaries. The program offers the participants with The results are evident as many of the opportunities for ‘Coaching & Networking’ participants have scaled to greater to broaden the participants’ network and heights in their respective careers. provide access to helpful resources. Here is to Disha giving This helps the participants to hone their Direction and Perspective skills and utilize the guidance from their coaches’ network and create a personal to many more brand for themselves, which could aid in future sponsorship. Women at HP! DISHA 2021 | Page 23
DESIGN THINKING Becoming Customer-Centric with Design Thinking At the heart of our transformation into a customer-obsessed company is a focus on solving problems for our customers. That means zeroing in on the right problems to solve and keeping customers’ needs in view when developing solutions.
Design thinking puts people—customers—at the center of our work. The better we > COMMUNITY VOICE understand and empathize with our customers, the more we’ll be able to provide them with personalized experiences that make HP an essential part of their lives. How did Design Thinking change your perspective on Design Thinking is an iterative Creative Problem Solving? Problem-Solving process where you seek to understand the user (stakeholder), challenge Nasreen Banu: “Every assumptions, and redefine problems. problem has different meaning, and it certainly The workshops are designed around the requires different key concepts of design thinking which are – mindset/approach to Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. tackle to have it solved. The objective is to socialise the design thinking concepts and enable the cohort so that they In addition, with the rapid changes in can use the elements from the designer’s organization, the methods we have toolkit, like empathy and experimentation, to identify previously used to solve many of the alternative strategies and innovative solutions to solve the business challenges. problems we face are no longer effective. We need to develop new ways of thinking Alex Stoll, Head of Transactional Category, Customer Support, in order to design better solutions, stressed on the importance of Design Thinking during the services and experiences that solve our workshop held for the cohort of 2020. current problems. DESIGN THINKNG methodology is He believes it’s a unique and “hot skill” driving an intuitive developed in such a way that it helps us process as opposed to a linear process helping us solve complex radically change how we go about problems effectively. exploring problems and creating solutions. It pushes our limit to work through PROBLEM & DESIGN our process and thoughts in such a way that these are completely eliminated.” Caroline Cruz: Design Thinking was one of the main Criteria that we succeeded. This by far was the best way to move forward, we incorporated all its principles. • Empathy : We had to wear the customer’s hat to understand the problem statement here – Different rounds of interviews/Surveys/ trying ourselves to register as a customer. • Define: Basis all different feedback/ interviews and surveys we drilled down to the main problem statement • Ideate: We started to look at different solutions for each of the different problems and narrowed down to what was more relevant and what practically we could do in the time we have keeping the goal in mind • Prototype: we created a prototype and ran a survey with a group to get their feedback • Test : Our test was successful as we got great feedback and this seemed the best way forward to have an uptick in the registration rate for HP consumer customers. So Using Design thinking helped us to be more relatable to the customer as it had all the elements that were relevant in not only reaching our goal, we were able to achieve it too quicker. DISHA 2021 | Page 25
BUSINESS & FINANCIAL ACUMEN
Disha is all about identifying the areas of focus and Business Acumen session focuses on helping the work towards personal development consistently. cohort understand the company strategy, product portfolio, and markets we play in and how to Business Acumen is a crucial skill that allows leaders connect the dots and envision a holistic impact of to understand the impact of their actions and the events. value they bring to the business. However, many organizations struggle to develop the business The Financial Acumen session covers basic concepts acumen of their employees. of financial acumen such as Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow statement. The business and financial acumen workshop is conducted at the beginning of the program so that The intent of this workshop is to make sure that the the cohort attains a good basic understanding of the cohort is comfortable and confident with business business from a financial standpoint and understand models and their financial impact on the company. how this knowledge and skillset would help advance their careers. DISHA 2021 | Page 27
PRACTISING GROWTH MINDSET \"This growth mindset we've talked a lot about – am I challenging myself enough in how I think about this? Am I pushing myself, not just for today but for tomorrow and 5 years from now?“ - Tracy Keogh, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, HP
In 2016, Growth Mindset was designed to create an environment that fosters both company and individual growth across HP Inc. The foundational belief of Growth Mindset is that skills and intelligence can be developed; that with learning, effort, exploration, and practice, people can always keep growing. This not only helps drive innovation, but it also drives employee engagement and satisfaction. In 2017, when Disha program was designed - Growth Mindset was the building blocks to encourage aspiring women leaders to learn, practice and grow skills in their area of interest. ‘Growth Mindset’ workshop was conducted to help the cohort understand and recognize the barriers that exist in all of us and how to overcome our tendency to remain in a fixed mindset. Lead @ HP Assessment is a feedback process designed to evaluate about the cohort leadership attributes. This is done by collecting feedback from direct manager, peers, people they lead, and others who might have observed their leadership skills. The information collected helps in identifying patterns and themes that confirms strengths and blind spots. It also provides a comparison of cohort’s self-perceptions with others and aids in mould their personal development goals. DISHA 2021 | Page 29
THE PITCH & STORYTELLING
Storytelling and Presentation skills are critical skills The sessions were designed to be interactive and required by leadership. Pitch and Storytelling talk engaging and help the cohort to prepare for their about how to articulate well, seek approval, and final presentation during the Graduation Ceremony. influence the target audience. Satish Bettadapur – Head, Contact Center, The session involves key storytelling techniques emphasized the 3 phases of the Pitch and that could be integrated to create structured and Storytelling during the commencement of the effective presentations. 2021 workshop > Preparation – Understand the purpose and your It was admirable to see how these techniques have target audience well coalesced into the presentations the cohort > Delivery – Effectively communicate your prepared during the workshop to create their initial message to the target audience pitch in real-time. > Reflection – Evaluate yourself and seek feedback DISHA 2021 | Page 31
SPEED COACHING Coaching Is Unlocking A Person’s Potential To Maximize Their Own Growth Speed Coaching is an exclusive & unique event conceptualized specifically for the Disha Cohort. This event gives the cohort an opportunity to connect with remarkable HP leaders who nvested their time to develop the budding women leaders.
SPEED COACHNG A Coach's Perspective Kalyan Natarajan is the Director for Strategy & Global Delivery at Market Controllership Organization (MCO) shares his experience on being a speed coach. Every year the Disha program specifically Speed Coaching Key Takeaways : Every action has an equal and opposite accomplishes new heights. reaction. When you get into a coaching session the opposite From a whirlwind face to face to the current year Virtual reaction for you is immense reflection and learning. coaching event, I see the program growing. Speed coaching to me helps do both this at breakneck speed! The greatest benefit from a participant perspective is the different perspectives that they gain within a short window I love the fact that it forces me to think and step into the of time from people with a varied background. shoes of my audience. The short time window also keeps the coaches on their I see my role as someone who is in the conversation to toes as you must learn to adapt very quickly to different share experiences and hence the learning is immense both styles of sharing perspectives based on the cohort that to reflect and gain insights that you otherwise do not get. you are meeting. The questions are always thought provoking, the reason As HP keeps moving towards customer agility, I think Cohorts spend their intellectual horsepower to maximize speed coaching is a great platform within Disha that their benefit within a very short window of time. prepares both the coaches & cohorts in the core principle of being AGILE. So, if you cannot hit the bull's eye right at the beginning, you have missed the opportunity completely. Being a coach and that too someone who is still getting to Hence, it creates that much intensity and focus within you. know HP culture, this is a great opportunity to meet a wide spectrum of people that you don’t get to meet otherwise. These are qualities that you bring to play every time you are under the pump and prepare yourselves to come out The whole coaching experience becomes enriching from successfully through real-time problem solving and everyone involved. I also need to specifically mention the agility in thinking. team that year after year keeps raising the bar with organizing the event. Its their absolute commitment and This is what every leader must do in every single dedication to the program that makes the experience communication with their team. This helps you grow better for everyone involved. faster in the shortest time. Overall, something that the organization to replicate more You do get out of the session fully satisfied of the value across the board and continue within the Disha program. you delivered and knowing its potentially going to be meaningful for someone else that you just met. DISHA 2021 | Page 33
Sathya Ramani ,Senior Olga Martens-Stuurman, Manager, Global PS Quality Director Work of Future, at Customer Support shares Customer Support shares her his experience on the speed experience from the Disha coaching event. speed coaching events. Very proud to see as many leaders congregate for a common cause to help For me, the DISHA Speed further women in leadership. Coaching event was energizing! The sessions were aptly timed for meaningful For me, the DISHA Speed Coaching event was conversations. It was reassuring to see highly energizing! I met three new, inspiring ladies in competent talent pool of emerging Women leaders a smaller setting, and they told me their stories who had an intellectual humility and a deep sense and ambitions, while I shared my expertise. of curiosity. Speed Coaching is a short, and targeted coaching I am happy to continue the coaching sessions with session designed to address any aspiration or couple of interested participants. concern that a participant may have at that moment. These can be about career planning, Key Takeaways : work-life balance, behavioral changes or other The situations and personalities are quite different development areas. I hope I was able to trigger for a ‘one size fits all’ response to the same query. a lasting positive change by sharing examples, Active Listening and humble inquiry help lot ideas and advice! more than providing solutions or recommendations. Everyone has the answers already within Key Takeaways : themselves, as coaches we only help surface them out. Even in a short meeting you can easily connect and help others to gain more clarity on a goal they want Rajat Mehta, Business Manager – to achieve. By offering specific, and actionable ROA (India, SPAC, SEA), 3D Printing feedback, you can help them to start determining says, “Speed Coaching event actions to make the desired change. There is power organized for Disha participants in small wins, and nothing beats human interaction to bring some positive energy into our lives! was an innovative idea as it allowed Women leaders to interact Leadership team across Ramesh Rajagopalan, various workstreams. Director SC Ops n Analytics says, “Speed coaching was an While the time allocated was short however it opportunity for me to learn a was heartening to see the participant ask relevant different perspective. questions. The participants were well prepared and had crisp questions to ask the coaches. It was refreshing as well. We should do this more often and may be this should be a part I look forward to a future opportunity to coach of people development. some of the leaders.” DISHA 2021 | Page 34
COHORT’S VOICE Nithya Solomon DISHA 2017 Since ours was the first batch of Disha, it was our first ever experience in Speed Coaching. We picked out coaches based on their profile that was shared with us prior to the event. I was personally thrilled to see so many speed coaches available there & pay individual attention to listen to us & share their perspectives. The key learnings were that I got a diverse perspective on how to deal with a particular challenge I had. At the end of the speed coaching session, I was left open with more than one option on how to manage the situation I had in hand which was definitely my biggest learning because we are usually stuck to thinking in one particular direction & when we get diverse options it opens up a whole new angle to approach the challenge in hand. Lubna Safoora DISHA 2021 Disha team has organized highly applicable events for all cohorts to ensure that we are up to date with the latest trends and skills. Speed coaching was one of my favorite events. The speed coaching program provided an invaluable opportunity for me to network and openly exchange ideas with prominent HP leaders. My coaches, Rajeev Nair and Sathya Ramani were very personable and approachable. They both had a holistic business acumen coupled with a strong understanding of leadership development from their own experiences in the industry. This has helped me gain new perspectives and broaden my mind to think long-term. This experience has allowed me to gain a stronger sense of self-awareness and the confidence to charter my own career path at HP. I am thankful for the learning opportunity Disha has given me to prepare myself to face the challenging yet exciting work-life. Both the coaches were super encouraging, and it feels good to have people believing in you. I hope to do the same in the future and help my colleagues discover their career paths! DISHA 2021 | Page 35
MANAGING & LEADING CHANGE As dealing with change becomes a regular activity, leading it becomes a skill to hone, an internal capacity to master. - Arnaud Henneville
“Change Leadership is the ability to influence and enthuse others through personal advocacy, vision, and drive, and get access to resources to build a solid platform for change”. Leading and Managing Change workshop is conducted imbibing change management concepts. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort - but if it is overcome, change can come quickly. The purpose of the workshop is to give the cohort the concepts that would enable them to imbibe and articulate change in a more effective manner within their teams. Leading and Managing Change workshop also focuses on providing the cohort with tools on how to adapt to change themselves and influence their teams to emulate their behaviors and thereby bringing in a culture of growth mindset. These concepts are effectively conveyed through various approaches - Enneagram for self-awareness, the Rider - Elephant - Path analogy (from the book Switch), internal behavioral transformations, and the ability to communicate with passion and purpose. DISHA 2021 | Page 37
ACTION BASED LEARNING Implementing Disha learnings to solve business challenges I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand - Confucius
How Disha Learnings are > SPONSOR & MENTOR SPOTLIGHT applied in real-time “I was the Sponsor and Mentor A focused development opportunity provided to the cohort to work on an HP ‘real life’ project. for Disha 2017. The objective is to get them out of their comfort zone by providing a challenge, a platform to cross I have connected with the collaborate and build their network and achieve tangible outcome. team directly / indirectly since Projects are identified across domains with an then. During the last five years, Executive Sponsor and an SME/ Mentor. Project teams are put together to ensure they I have worked with many come from diverse backgrounds. Disha Graduates and have RAJAT MEHTA The project brief is shared with the respective teams which gives an insight into the problem found that there has Business Manager – ROA and the expected outcome towards the project at been a significant (India, SPAC, SEA) , 3D Printing hand. transformation in these leaders post- The trainings the team receives during the program create avenues for the participants Disha program. to apply the knowledge and skills to their respective projects. I worked closely with a few Disha graduates during The Pitch and Storytelling workshop the Launch of HP 3D Business in India, leading to a is designed to make the cohort learn how to create a hook and grab the quick, successful launch. attention of the audience and tell a powerful and compelling story Disha Project Teams have delivered many projects The cohorts use the concepts learned to create as part of the program. Some of these projects their presentations and pitch their project to the higher management in the most creative manner. have also been implemented by various business The mock presentations are included as part of units and have led to positive outcomes. the program to provide the cohort an opportunity to practice for Graduation Day. HP India has had Diversity imbalances in the past. The Mock Jury provides feedback on how to The Disha program has groomed women leaders improve their presentation content, pitch and and inspired other Women employees to aspire elevate their presentation bringing out their best. for this program. Many of the Graduates have got promoted and taken up much more significant challenges. Overall Disha Program has been a game-changer, indeed the best thought & executed program thus far.” SADAT FATIMA I was one of the mentors for Manager, Experience, one of the initial batches over three to four years ago. Some Training & Quality COE , of my direct reports were also a part of this program and they CS Customer Care Center benefitted immensely. Some strong positives I observed from the program: > Direct time with leadership to get coaching on what skills are important to develop in your career. > Great HR involvement to receive updates on ongoing opportunities and stretch assignments to participate in learning / grooming opportunities. > Networking and learning from each other is the biggest plus. > Getting a platform to present teamwork and getting feedback is on immense value > Excellent Speakers, facilitators and learning material making you a learner for life. DISHA 2021 | Page 39
A Big Thank You! We would like to extend a big thank you to all the Project Sponsors and Mentors for your partnership in this amazing Disha journey. The Action-Based learning journey for the Disha cohorts wouldn’t have been near possible without you. DISHA 2021 | Page 40
WINNING TEAM SUCCESS MANTRAS Ajitha Joseph Preethy Varghese Caroline Cruz Team Sahapada Team The Amazons Team Jedi Disha 2017 Disha 2018 Disha 2019 One of the key reasons that we succeeded is DISHA is a wonderful opportunity and Developed a solid plan together because we were able to leverage each other’s learning experience for the Women in IT. Inspired by various sessions / strengths, value diverse suggestions, and build testimonies throughout our journey on ideas. Active participation and contribution On behalf of the Disha 2018 winning team Supporting/ Learning and empowering from everyone, leveraging networking to ‘The Amazons’, I believe the winning streak each other in the team connect with various stakeholders, out-of-the- was incorporating the concepts from Disha’s Honoured to be part of this program box thinking, and supporting & learning from blended learning workshops around Design Act – success comes only to those who each other throughout the program did make Thinking, Business Acumen, Managing act ,and we stayed focused on our goal us a cohesive team. change and Communicating with Impact. – Better Customer Experience. We were also not limited by the current The team was from diverse business Overall, it was an Honor being a part of constraints and were encouraged to think BIG, functions, and the valuable lesson learnt this program- something that still lives the patent submission for our ‘Impact was understanding where to improve, and feels fresh in our minds. Normalization of Customer issues’, thanks to and using this opportunity to build on our Anu was a key achievement. strength, examine our shortcomings and We surely enjoyed every bit of it and supporting each other, all through the six had blast all through this program. There was no I but WE thought out our months of the program. engagement starting with our team's name It was the right Disha for us. Sahapada’ walk together , growth mindset It was indeed a beautiful journey ! I would was in action without us consciously thinking like to end with these lines of Henry Ford - about it. Out Mentors were very supportive, “Coming together is a beginning. provided us direction, and let us manage the Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” project independently. Nandhini Prabha Shweta Sibal Team Magic Touch Team HERD(ISHA) Disha 2020 Disha 2021 As a team we looked at the problem from customer’s perspective Disha is a unique program that took us through a contrasting and applying the Design Thinking concepts helped us deliver a cycle of learning, unlearning, and re-learning to apply more customer centric solution. critical business thinking skills and has laid a strong foundation of growth mindset. Having a structured approach and paying attention to the details helped us anticipate any challenges and be ready with a plan to Our team comes from varied backgrounds and professional deal with it. experiences; however, this program has been a truly gratifying experience both professionally and personally for all of us. We were a team coming from diverse backgrounds and we played to our strengths and let the diversity bring in fresh Also want to call out Nazia, Vinodhini, Abhinethri and the entire perspectives. With the pandemic we had to adapt to working team for making this a flawless learning experience. All the in the virtual environment and navigate through all the challenges sessions were very well thought of and well planned to it posed. However, we took advantage of the flexibility it offers to ensure optimal learning in the constrained environment of connect with larger group of people. work from home. The key reason we succeeded was our persistence to Never Give Lastly and most importantly, big thanks to our mentors Valli & Up, no matter what challenges and roadblocks we hit. Manoj for sharing their knowledge, experiences and helping us grow in this journey. Big thanks all! DISHA 2021 | Page 41
INSPIRE & INFLUENCE Propelling our Disha talent pool to continue learning and expand their network
Disha creates a platform for the Alumni to continue to learn & motivate from each other beyond the six-month program through regular interactions with leaders. The cohort gains new perspective through interaction with senior leaders and benefits from cross functional experiences. The continued learning opportunities inspire the cohort to push boundaries to boost confidence, discover hidden talents and keep growing. Regular face to face and virtual interactions with leaders were held to fuel connections, drive knowledge and borrow insights. DISHA 2021 | Page 43
> CUSTOMER WELCOME CENTER VISIT Sharmaine Dey Meera Sanghvi DISHA 2018 DISHA 2018 In April 2018, Disha Cohort 2 had an amazing opportunity to visit Disha’s CEC visit was one of the key HP’s Customer Welcome Center, Gurgaon, to meet with then India highlights for me when I look back! MD Sumeer Chandra, to network with senior leaders and to also get The fact we got to see, touch & an up-close personal experience of understanding HP products. feel the HP’s exclusive products made me realize why I admire this The inspiring and empowering company so much. session by Sumeer Chandra and Women Leaders on being I remember at a point looking self-aware of our own values, around to see if I was the only one vision and potential as well as so mesmerized but then realized to take charge and enhance that most of the faces were that our capabilities as a leader, of kids walking into Disney land for manager, and team contributor. the first time, we don’t remember who came in & what we would do To engage in meaningful career development and lead change after, but the sheer joy of being with more conviction and confidence along with sharing personal there took over! experience on how can you best integrate your multiple family and work life commitments. In this field trip we learnt so much about each of these products & We ended our day with our visit how they work to make the world a to HP’s Customer Welcome better place. We walked out feeling Center, Delhi, an interactive prouder than we had when we showroom showcasing the walked in for sure! best of HP products and services in security, mobility, VR/immersive computing, and kiosks, as well as DaaS digitization, workflow, and managed printing and services. As they say - HP Customer Welcome Centre where stories come alive Thank you Disha team for the wonderful experience, it was truly inspiring, loaded with memorable experiences, networking and much more. You made us feel SPECIAL all the way. DISHA 2021 | Page 44
The Way We Work Now With the pandemic, Disha went virtual in 2020 and continued the same approach in 2021. Here’s what our cohort say about how to they adapted to the virtual environment and enhance their leadership skills and build their network When I started my Disha journey, I was It was very challenging in the already adjusted to the mindset of beginning, I soon realized that the working virtually but what I wasn’t only way forward was to change prepared for was the extra hours I had my mindset and look at the to invest for the program. positives it offered. Aarcha J S I must say Prioritization is a key trait which I started appreciating the great Ssree Gomathi Disha 2021 helped me juggle with my daily work flexibility it offered and I didn’t Disha 2020 commitments and make time for Disha. have to choose between spending Its true that no one understands women better than we time on the project or taking care of ourselves. More than taking the tasks as exercise, I enjoyed certain things at home. being part of those meetings and discussions and when I As I’m generally a reserved person, it removed the initial inhibitions that I might have had in reaching enjoy something I make sure to take out time for that. out to people. The virtual environment made it a level playing I must confess though that I would have loved to meet F2F ground with equal opportunities for all. all these amazing women! Further, the workshops hosted by Disha team were real and Finally, though it was virtual, I felt we were thought provoking helping me be more structured in how more connected. I do things – be it through design thinking approach, better story telling. DISHA 2021 | Page 45
Voice of Disha Rashmi Somayaji Country Lead, India Field Operations, Customer Support Alumni share their How did Disha help your career? thoughts on Personally, the sheer exposure to so many leaders, change agents and aspiring and self-motivated young woman leaders under one forum was a “How DISHA big thing in itself. Kathleen, Sowjanya, Shital Mitra, Sundar Arumugham, influenced their Saroj Pathak, Ashok Waran, Chandrakant Patel, Vineet Gupta and Anjana career growth” Perumal were few to remember. What were the key takeaways from the program that led to the success of your career? A Vision, with a great Intent can successfully reap outcomes year-on-year! This program made me realise, consistent execution with conviction will have a positive impact on people! And people with Passion and same ideology can make wonders together. Any inspiring words of wisdom for the future women leaders? Every new opportunity we seek, or we get is just a means to an end (defining the end is on everyone). During the process of learning, one may not pause to internalize what value such program brings, however after 4 years and I look back every opportunity I got was just one-step closer to making a meaningful impact. My closing comment with Disha was what I borrowed from Oprah - “The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance, and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning”. Ruby Tomar Senior Manager - Print R&D How did Disha help your career? Disha introduced me to colleagues from almost all HP India functions, I have leveraged this network in my role to connect to many customers and get firsthand info on a new launched product. By using the skills learned though the program I was able to drive business outcomes leading to 20% productivity improvements with a highly engaged team (consistently high VIA scores) , eventually leading to my promotion as a Section Manager. Foundational sessions like Growth Mindset, Business Acumen, The Pitch to name a few, have influenced the way I have navigated my career. Any inspiring words of wisdom for the future women leaders? Delve into the power of Intentionality: Accurately perceive your own abilities; aim high and set goals that are truly the desires of your heart. Create and nurture a close inner circle of women who provide support and career advice. Choose hope, think big, and most importantly polish your skills and learn new ones. Believe all things are possible. DISHA 2021 | Page 46
Alumni Spotlight Deepa Budhrani Mary Teena Disha 2018 Disha 2019 “Disha gave me a platform to meet colleagues from “My experience on being a part of Disha was quite a various teams and backgrounds expanding my learning journey . Each sessions were powerhouse of knowledge, view and understanding of the various team business knowledge. in HP and what they do. This platform gave me the opportunity to meet few It expanded my network too. I got to experience and influencers and mentors in the organization who helped attend many trainings and workshops expanding my me to grow professionally and gave exposure to robust knowledge in various subjects and meeting experienced suite of tools and experiences. and established people from HP. The project work too gave me insights into other Disha was a wonderful learning experience since we processes and teams on how they work and the issues learnt several new concepts like Design Thinking, they face. Understanding budget and various other finance concepts. The Disha alumni gave me the opportunity to attend sessions like the “Lean In” session which was great Disha gave us an opportunity to work on a cross domain exposure and learning. I also moved into my new role project which was very insightful. It helped us expand recently due to the regular communications to the alumni of our understanding of other HP entities and gain a on the available opportunities.” business understanding while working on the project. “ Vijaya Chatterjee Priyanka Gupta Disha 2020 Disha 2021 “Disha as a leadership program made my belief stronger “Disha is a great learning experience – not only in terms that power of effective coaching can inspire greater of the content of the programme but also because we performance and potential in a team and organization. meet and connect with so many people with diverse backgrounds and different perspective . The whole program was a beautiful culmination of theory and experience. The insights we received as a group I evolved as a person and as an employee with the covering all key areas critical to effective leadership kind of exposure that I got here. have come to use as powerful tools to run day to day operations. The experience of executing a project There was immense support from the trainers and the enhanced my competencies on presentation skills, peers. The sharing of thoughts and collaboration brings storytelling and strategic thinking. alive the spirit and importance of teamwork. Besides, providing the group with focused learning Loved the course and the spirit and enthusiasm of approach, Disha gave me a chance to understand everyone who contributed to its success” my leadership styles by seeking feedback from key stakeholders. This has been personally important to me to gauge areas of strength and improvements and work towards becoming a better leader. I could not be more grateful to HP for giving me this opportunity to learn, experience and practice. “ DISHA 2021 | Page 47
THE PROGRAM TEAM The Backbone of Disha The program has evolved over the years, from periodic updates to learning topics and techniques to going virtual in 2020. Through all the changes, the program team kept Disha's flag flying high, learning from experiences, re-inventing & reconstructing the road to success. Year after year, members from the Alumni, HR - India & the global teams raised their hand to contribute to the program and elevate it by a notch. - Nazia Mujeeb Disha Program Lead
PROGRAM TEAM SPOTLIGHT On their experience on being part of Disha Abhinethri Nagendra Geetha V Manager - Sales Operations India Executive Assistant \"DISHA is truly inspiring , absolutely motivating and a great \"I am so grateful to learn many amazing leader stories blended learning program\" and how they’ve accomplished their career goals through Disha Program. What I loved most Archanaa Dixit about being in this program was the FCM process & capability SME network opportunities. Disha program taught to always take on things I’d never “I was part of Disha in 2017 as the first cohort team. done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.\" I have really enjoyed the programme and is valuable to me. It gave me a good understanding of the perceptions Joel Peter Monteiro of being a woman leader and how we can improve our Financial Analyst, FGO leadership approaches. Next Year I joined as a core team. From discussion to planning, Managing the whole event... \"Being part of the Program team as a Media and Content Was crazy fun. Most of all a great program for full of creator from the initial days has helped me evolve and learning, hands on experience and networking.” unleash my creative side. All these years it has helped me learn how to manage Beulah Mercy time, be the best creative head, accomplish the results, L&D Support Specialist and showcase my talent at HP.\" “Being part of Disha program team gave me a platform Komala Seetharamaiah to challenge myself to venture into unknown realms of FGO Program Manager Learning. It gives me immense joy and satisfaction that I could explore things otherwise would have never even \"Disha provides valuable trainings and blended learning! thought of it. Finance management is one of it. Thanks, I really enjoyed it and appreciated how amazing it was DISHA . Beulah manages the Finance for the Disha team.” to be able to interact with like-minded cohort. Great Projects and presentations bring it all together. Christine Cherian Disha is an amazing opportunity for women who wish Communication Specialist to learn more, do more and be more!\" “As part of the Editorial team, getting to know the Lijitha Rajendran success stories of the Disha Alumni has been motivating Video operation Specialist and encouraging for me. YEN India Chair The opportunity of being a part of the Program Team has been a privilege. Look forward to working closely with \"Disha is an effective Leadership program, with Disha in the future.” impressive support to the next Gen female leaders. The storytelling techniques learned from Disha has helped me build familiarity and trust, Thank you, Disha!!!” DISHA 2021 | Page 49
Nandhini Prabha Muniswamy Pramodh N S Cybersecurity Risk Analyst Program Manager at Global Training CoE “It has been a privilege to be associated with Disha “When you need to know more, when you need to learn – which has provided aspiring women leaders a more and when you need to grow more you need a right platform to learn and apply the skills and build their forum which brings the hungry minds together network. Being part of the Editorial team has given to network, learn and grow. Disha is one such forum me opportunity to augment my creative and program which is enabling networking and growth with positivity management skills.” and enthusiasm.” Nasreen Banu S Sudha Reddy Senior IT Analyst- SOX PMO HR Business Partner “It was great honor to be part of DISHA TEAM & “I would like to share and let you all know that Disha is organizing such a high class & diverse program for a great opportunity and exposure to learn new things developing leadership for great women force of HP. by building network. I appreciate the effort taken by the It gave a me/us a huge potential to Belong, Innovate, team to upskill and enhance women talent. I am glad Grow and to drive impact for HP.” Nasreen managed that I am part of this program team and thank you for overall Project Management with Nazia for DISHA 2019. such a wonderful opportunity.” Nazia Mujeeb Sundar Arumugham Manager Customer Care Strategy CS Transactional Category “It’s been incredible to be a part of this program and “I was thrilled to be nominated to the pilot batch of witness our key talent transform into confident amazing Disha in 2017. I wanted to continue learning and share leaders of the future. my learnings - hence I volunteered to be a part of the This program team is driven by the commitment program team the following year. of the cohort, the support of our leaders and the What started as a stretch assignment turned into one of encouragement of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. council.” Through the years, I’ve learnt and unlearnt leadership Sundar plays the role of advisor in the Disha team. behaviors, skills, and more. It has been an absolute privilege to be a part of and lead a team that enables the Vikas Srivastava women leaders of tomorrow. Communications Lead, Nazia led the Disha Program in 2021 & 2020. She co-led R&D Centre Bangalore Disha Project Management in 2019 & 2018. “Disha is one of the most relevant and value-driven Nisha Keshav learning & development programs. As a part of the HR Business Partner organizing team for over two years, I have observed this meticulous program at close quarters. “Being a part of the Disha Program team has been I admire what the program entails and the passionate a truly enriching experience for me. Meeting and people who drive it. collaborating with colleagues from the various domains Disha has inspired its alumnae to bring about a has really helped me learn and evolve over the years. meaningful difference at work and outside of it.” It has been a privilege to be part of this fantastic core team. Looking forward to many more.” DISHA 2021 | Page 50
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