Deepali Verdi: The balance of resilience and resplendence

“Emotional intelligence is the ability to use emotion to increase your own and others’ success.” 
These words by Annie McKee, an author, and business advisor, could lead you to think: Is this ever a possibility? Is it fluff that usually floats around in the world of motivational quotes, or can empathy be a catalyst for the success of others as well as oneself? 
This article is a dedication to a mother who is also a loving wife and much beyond. Let’s unwrap the layers of this charismatic persona one by one. A persistent empath who shares her creative prowess with her daughter by reading horror stories and watching horror movies. An avid traveler and a foodie.

A resplendent alumnus from XLRI Jamshedpur with a PGCHRM focused on Human Resources Management and Services. And now, holding the banner as the associate director of Human Resources at Current.org with total exp of 18 years in HR & L&D. Another characteristic that sets her aside from the crowd is her commitment. In the age where surfing from company to company is a norm, The professional life of Deepali Verdi would undoubtedly strike a chord. In the entirety of her career to date, there has only been one shift. She has dedicated about sixteen years to Genpact as a senior human resource manager and a training manager.

A strong-willed committed leader experienced in Human Resources. An L&D Manager who has impacted the field of information technology and the services industry. She has proven her mettle in project management, performance management, employee engagement, performance appraisal, training & development, and team management. Titles cannot capture the commitment that manifested the formation of a culture that spans more than a decade and a half. As mentioned before, Deepali is an embodiment of using empathy as a catalyst of her personal growth and the environment of which she is a part. We’ve had the opportunity to glimpse at few of the tactics she has honed over the years as a talent acquisition professional.

The talent acquisition procedure is somewhat like flying a kite. Amidst the unpredictable gale of candidates, the kite representing the hiring process stays swerving in the air only because it is well-strung by a strong hiring strategy. Coming up with this strategy is one of the challenges Deepali had continually faced. Even with the best strategy in place, candidates shopping and dropping at the end moment pose a challenge. Weeks of plans scrapped in seconds followed by a silent, dejected walk back to the drawing board.

However, with experience comes the proficiency to battle the odds. Deepali’s stronghold in these daunting situations is to stay resilient and unfazed by the unpredictability. Her focus is to train the assessors to hire candidates and also build them to lead perfect interviews. When hiring fresh candidates, aside from the technical know-how, the assessor should also gauge if the candidate has a can-do attitude. The assessors should also keep in mind the organization's culture and whether the candidate can fit within the existing framework.

Gauging candidates through all these different facets is extremely important in the current context. “Stagnating to a single-dimensional approach may lead to one of the most draining liabilities that a hiring manager can create-candidate mishires! The impact of mishires is huge! It's time, money, and most importantly the impact on client experience. It's quite a task to make the candidates understand these difficulties face-to-face. Especially when they are already a part of the work environment. Most of the time the employees do not have a bird's eye view of the situation.”With her experience and perceptual depth, Deepali managed to cap the number of mishires down to just one or two over six months. There is no magic wand that could apparate these splendid results out of thin air. As the stronghold of the company that has seen employees come and go, Deepali feels that DEI is a key organizational strategic priority that keeps these numbers thin. Clear goals and performance measures are reviewed and discussed by the CEO and leadership regularly to help the organization recruit and promote from a diverse POV.

“A diverse palate of candidates is essential, but it is not enough. If you want a truly inclusive workplace that supports DEI. You also need a diverse hiring panel to ensure an objective and fair process.”

To implement this aspect, she ensures that the employees are heard with the help of quarterly and yearly reviews. With new challenges arising in the hiring space, we also inquired about the tactics she employs to help her TA specialists and HR leaders ease the burden. She highlighted the functionality of the tool, "Amber" which is doing unimaginable things in the hiring space. Furthermore, another important aspect she spoke about is having a demand forecasting portal created in the organization. 

This portal should be capable of giving an insight into the deals and the probability of how the sales team is assumed to work on them. She emphasized the importance of this demand and supply platform, as it is easier to map the internal resources available at that point to the businesses where the demand for resources is open. Lastly, she pointed out that the TA team should build itself up internally and focus on cost-saving measures.

With the relentless, cut-throat nature of the corporate environment taming people rigorously, a woman finds added baggage as she makes her way up the corporate ladder. For Deepali, networking was always an issue that she learned to manage. Smoke breaks with leaders and networking with leaders outside of work was difficult as a mother and a family woman. A piece of advice that Deepali wishes to convey is that networking is a very important aspect of an individual's career because it gives them a lot of opportunities that are generally not discussed in larger forums. She added, 

“My advice for women leaders everywhere is to go for what they want in their careers and not to give up. Hone the skills necessary to give you those opportunities, such as your communication skills, leadership development, and emotional intelligence. Raise your hand in meetings. Speak your mind, and be heard.”

As a woman who spoke and was heard by numerous aspirants, it was our privilege to give flight to her thoughts. We surely hope that the learners among us find a fresh perspective with the help of these words.