Interview of the Day: ‘We look for
analytical, reasoning, out-of-the-box thinking ability’
Dhivik Reddy, Founder and CEO, Go GreenBOV
Go GreenBOV, a Bengaluru based company, aims to
reduce India’s carbon footprint. In conversation with TimesJobs.com,
Dhivik Reddy, Founder and CEO, shares the talent agenda and future goals…
How did Go GreenBOV happen?
It all started with my father, Ashok Reddy, who was the first
person to bring the LPG conversion kit to India. He was pro green, pro
environment and pro saving on fuel costs. He started out from scratch when he
came to Bengaluru and got involved with the service centers that he set up. At
the time when he started the petrol-gas conversion revolution in India and I
was finishing my Electronics Engineering, he asked me if I wanted to do
something that would bridge the two. The idea of Go GreenBOV was conceived from
the simple idea of making a better environment and to contribute more towards
fuel saving.
How diversified is your team in terms of talent
and skills?
We do have a diversified and focused team. We have seven
engineers, 21 foremen who work in the factory and about another 36 workers and
mechanical workforce. What I know is that 99% of them, when they work, give in
their 110%. One of our engineers has come in to our team simply because he was
engrossed in the going green movement. The team that we have is mostly in
structural engineering, electrical engineering and DSP (Digital and Signal
Processing) as well as mechanical engineers. We also have a marketing team and
finance team who has come to us with over 4-5 years experience.
We have a diverse team with a lot of mechanical engineering
experience, finance, franchisee operations experience and more. We also have a
few retired personnel who hail from backgrounds like BHEL and Pratt &
Whitney. Our board of advisors includes professors from premier science and
technology institutes. For our research and design we have been working with a
lot of institutions and young talent.
What are some of the best practices implemented
by you to attract, engage and retain talent?
Since we’ve been working with a lot of institutions we’ve actually
been attracting a lot of young talent. Since this is a product based company we
have seen a surge in applications to us, but we are being very selective about
whom we hire. We are definitely keeping it very youth oriented when we hire. We
have a hierarchy system where the people need to get approvals from their
higher-ups. As it goes higher the work and selection gets refined – we think of
it like a sedimentation system. Retaining talent depends on how we engage with
our employees. We have training programmes for managers on how to handle their
teams. I know every single person who’s working in the office and who’s working
on what. It’s a great thing when everyone is approachable. Our attrition rate
is really low, it would be too high if I said three people quit every year,
which makes us feel nice that people are here with a mission and a vision.
What are the skills that you look out for in a
candidate while hiring?
Technical is a vast area to cover and this is more specific to
what the candidate has to offer in terms of how he understands the subject
best. In terms of soft skills we look for analytical ability, reasoning,
out-of-the-box thinking and more on product refining. During our interview we
usually give candidates something that is imperfect and ask them to make it
perfect. What they have studied is not absolutely important to us, but what we
look at are reasoning skills and the ability to create and define. We look at
verbal aptitude and do an IQ test and some assessments that we think bring out
the best in candidates.
Where do you generally source your talent from?
We give importance to referrals and skill sets. We don’t look out
for the best grades really. We look at how passionate the candidate is. People
usually write to us on our website to apply for a job and we ask them to come
in for interviews.
Your advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs…
Entrepreneurship is one of the best journeys that anyone can take.
What you learn on running a start-up for two years might be something that you
will learn in 10 years working in a company. I would advise young entrepreneurs
to take that leap of faith, whatever the idea is. You might end up losing
everything that you have or you might gain something out of it but one thing
that can’t be taken away from you is the experience you gain in that process of
losing or gaining.
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