The latest sensation on Instagram, with over 1.8 million followers (mostly Millennials) gained in just six months, Dr. A Velumani, Creator and Entrepreneur at Thyrocare Technologies Ltd., joined People Matters TechHR India 2024 for a candid conversation with Pushkaraj Bidwai, Chief Business Officer of People Matters. Explaining the concept of the ‘Zero Debt Unicorn,’ Dr. Velumani says, “Entrepreneurship is like pregnancy,” a journey full of anxiety and unpredictability.
His Entrepreneurial Journey…
Dr. Velumani, who was a government officer for 15 years, terms himself an ‘accidental entrepreneur.’ Starting his journey with a series of unemployment and underemployment, he now employs over 35,000 workers. He says, “To truly lead an organisation as a captivating storyteller, it’s essential to understand that while you may not be able to offer good salaries, especially if your people are already working hard, the stories you tell must be compelling and meaningful. People can sense when a narrative lacks substance—they’ll see through it within a year or two. A powerful story draws people into the journey, igniting their passion and commitment. Many of our top leaders, including our CEOs and vice presidents, started their career journeys with us right after graduation, and they are all incredibly happy to be part of this journey. And they know one thing—no one will be over them to command, and they have to rise to the top gradually with their consistent efforts. This knowledge drives them to continuously push their boundaries and strive for excellence.”
The ideology drives the company’s career progression framework as well, giving everyone an opportunity to thrive and attain top-level positions as young as 35 years of age. He says, “If your storytelling is powerful enough, then you don’t necessarily need a business model to promote it. When you start your entrepreneurial journey, be mindful that you equally participate in the organisation’s objectives, and not just sit back to get the work done. Those who just work, Grow Old, and those who go above and beyond, GROW.”
“My company got 75 times oversubscribed, and as all this happened, I always thought – We’re not less than anyone. This ideology, ‘We are no less than anyone’, this is not a thing to speak of, it is a thing to think,”
Vitals of HR..
HR is a unique field, crucial to both operational and intellectual businesses. In operational businesses, tasks are often straightforward and require little knowledge—just following steps one, two, and three. However, intellectual businesses, while they may not demand extensive knowledge initially, require a different approach. If you’re aiming for efficiency, the key is to ensure your pilots are intelligent and the emphasis is on quality. The effectiveness of HR lies in understanding the talent within the organisation and placing individuals in the right roles. People retention is a powerful tool because it empowers individuals. For fresh graduates, providing proper training is essential. Investing 100 business days in training your fresh talent can be equivalent to 1,000 days of staying ahead of the competition. This approach is vital in HR.
One of the major challenges in HR is finding the right talent, and sometimes, you need to develop that talent internally because the market is highly competitive. If you’re concerned that after training, your talent might leave for better opportunities, the solution is simple: offer better opportunities within your organisation. When you value your employees properly, they are less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.”
Business & HR essentials..
Business is not a 100-metre dash; it’s a marathon. If your business is treated like a sprint, you might focus on quick valuation, selling the company, and enjoying short-term gains, but it’s crucial to plan according to your long-term vision. I wasn’t in a hurry, but for those who build a company solely to sell it, they might find that they cannot sell at all. On the other hand, those who aim to build a company for the long haul may eventually find themselves forced to sell.
I must tell you, I faced over 50 consecutive rejections in interviews because HR kept asking the same frustrating question: “Do you have experience?” How can anyone expect a fresh graduate, whose final exams ended just a month ago, to already have experience? This experience led me to make a decision—I chose to hire only inexperienced freshers, valuing basic skills and potential. I didn’t do anything revolutionary, nothing like Elon Musk. I just ran a well-equipped laboratory with trained employees and incorporated some technology. From there, I set up an IT department within the company, which gradually grew. After 28 years, I sold the company, and interestingly, the average age of my employees at the time was also 28—employees who kept the company productive.
The most powerful approach for HR in talent acquisition today is not to judge talent based on grades and qualifications, but on knowledge. Scorecards and knowledge are two different things, and top scores don’t necessarily equate to better understanding or skill.
Every organisation today has underpaid assets and overpaid liabilities. HR leaders must identify and eliminate these overpaid liabilities while elevating and fairly compensating underpaid assets. This is the only way to achieve excellence in HR. If HR is biased and promotes an overpaid liability, it will drive away the underpaid assets from the company. Therefore, HR is everything, and understanding this allowed me to build a wonderful organisation.
I built my business during the era of pagers, and now, in this age of technological transformations, where startups are sprouting everywhere, I’ve finally been recognised as an entrepreneur. This recognition came when my company got listed after 21 successful years, achieving a valuation I could never have imagined when I started out with just Rs 500. I recently asked my accounts department to identify the employees who have been with us since the very beginning, and I decided to declare ESOPs for them because they trusted me and stayed loyal, showing intelligence and commitment.
What matters – Perfomance or Passion?
Performance is obviously important, but what I really looked for was how much my employees loved their jobs. I want HR professionals to look for three things in talent: the ability to focus, which you can’t gauge before someone joins the company; aptitude, which you can’t truly assess until someone has worked with you for at least three months; and intelligence, which needs to be coupled with ability to focus.
I believe I was particularly good at assessing people’s focus. I gave them the time they needed to focus, but I also paid attention to how they handled their priorities. For instance, if I asked someone for data, and they acknowledged it but kept delaying the delivery, that indicated a lack of focus. When I finally said I didn’t need the data anymore, they would deliver it within an hour—that’s an example of misplaced priorities.
For anyone in HR or anyone being managed by HR, the ability to focus is the most powerful tool for succeeding in your career, business, and life is setting your priorities. If you don’t get your priorities right, you won’t achieve your goals. To set your priorities, write down the five most important things in descending order of importance, and then focus solely on the first one. Don’t worry about everything else—just chase that top priority.