The journey from Chennai city to the village of Kollumangudi took us six hours. On the way, I enjoyed the beautiful eco-system and the spectacular scenery. DesiCrew's Kollumangudi center is nestled in the rural setting of Nannilam Tehsil of Thiruvarur district, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The center is well equipped with computers, internet connection and a back-up power generator with uninterruptible power supply to ensure that work goes on without any hitches. 

The youth at the center are servicing some of the largest companies in the world which requires them to work in shifts in line with the different time-zones of the customer. The centre has employed 168 people from the surrounding villages of which 140 of them are women. This means 83% of the center's workforce are female. DesiCrew is contributing to UN sustainable goals number 5 of gender equality by empowering the girls and women through job creation.

I was impressed by the credentials of the rural workforce at this center. One of them is Mohinder Nag, a 31 year old senior associate manager. He landed the position after seeing an advertisement on a local television channel from his town of Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. It takes him 25 minutes daily to get to work riding on his scooter. 

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bangalore University, India and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. He worked in the United Kingdom for a couple of years in the distribution sector as a production lead. He has also previously worked in the Information Technology Industry in Bangalore before returning to his home town to contribute to rural development. He is single and currently living with his parents. Mohinder has one sister who works in animations in the city of Bangalore, India.

 

Mohinder and his team

With many villages in the world facing the challenge of basic sustainability, India is no exception. Since its inception in 2007, DesiCrew Solutions Limited has been on the forefront of creating non-agricultural jobs in the villages of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states of India. As a manager, Mohinder has observed that the female employees stay longer with the company while the men can easily take up opportunites in other regions far away from their homes.

This is because women are rarely allowed to move from their homes and have to stay with their parents and only move away once they are married. This is evidence of the crucial role that women and girls play in ensuring the sustainability of rural communities and in improving rural livelihoods. 

DesiCrew is helping in rewriting the narrative in the lives of its employees through building a confident and independent workforce. After going through the training, the employees at DesiCrew Solutions are flexible and able to work for any client from any part of the Globe. Part of Mohinder's role is to receive the work and to check whether it meets the customer's quality requirements before submitting it to the customer.

He also ensures that all the critical measures are put in place to ensure efficiency of the processes such as effective shift schedules. DesiCrew also has a disaster recovery system in place to make sure that there is no loss of data for any of the processes. Mohinder believes that passion builds the fastest workers who are able to unlock opportunities as they appear.

Mohinder enjoys working in the Business Process Outsourcing industry due to the opportunity it gives him to improve his skills,  get vast connections and be in an environment to adjust to change. To top it all, he gets to work in the rural setting where he enjoys the quiet environment. Once or twice a month, he likes to unwind by visiting his local beach which is 20 minutes from where he lives.

In India, the pull is strong for people to migrate from their rural communities to cities in search of jobs. Mohinder stands out from the crowd due to his love for his home area and the passion to contribute to rural development. His personal mantra is 'be socially responsible and a good citizen.' 

I believe that leaders should strive to transform their organizations into innovative, efficient and sustainable companies. This can be achieved through cost reduction, productivity improvement, market-share growth, customer retention, cycle-time reduction, defect reduction, culture change and service development.

Mohinder fits the bill of a leader since he is driven to make the customer happy by ensuring that his team is working in a proper environment to maximize their true potential. As a business process outsourcing company, the main question on an employee's mind should be 'How can I make the customer more successful in their business?' Answering that question exhaustively on a daily basis will ensure that the customer stays happy.

The Author of this article is Susan Rujema. She is a Rwandan citizen who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and a Master of Science degree in Procurement and Logistics. She is currently a SITA intern with DesiCrew Solutions working on aligning DesiCrew to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She earlier worked in monitoring and evaluation in Kenya and communications in Rwanda. Her interest lies in entrepreneurship, peace building, gender development, children's advocacy, climate action and human rights.