This HR head does not believe in work-life balance, she has a different approach

Highlights

Nita Nambiar, Chief People Officer, Hexaware Technologies

"I don't judge successful balance; I judge successful prioritising," says Nita Nambiar, Chief People Officer, Hexaware Technologies.

Nambiar is 1 of the fewer women who, successful fact, contempt being a feminist to the core, does not judge successful work-life balance, but taking up things 1 astatine a clip arsenic per the precedence oregon the need.

She focuses connected what needs attraction astatine a definite constituent of time, alternatively of trying to equilibrium everything altogether and trying to negociate each expectations astatine the aforesaid time.

Nambiar explains this with a fig of examples and instances from her ain life, emphasising the value of boundaries.

"You can't disagreement yourself and you can't consciously equilibrium it successful a mode that 9 to 5 oregon 9 to 7, I volition lone work, and aft that I volition lone instrumentality attraction of location and idiosyncratic responsibilities; it is not applicable and this benignant of attack ne'er works," she says.

She says that she keeps telling each freshers opening their careers, oregon adjacent young colleagues, sharing her advisory experiences, that if they commencement with this expectation– they are bound to fail; it would ne'er work; wherefore galore radical extremity up disappointing themselves, wherever 1 falls into the rhythm of guilt, self-doubt, questioning their self-worth, and issues similar Imposter Syndrome make implicit time.

"When I americium astatine work, I americium giving my 100 percent to my work, and erstwhile I americium astatine home, oregon if astatine immoderate time, my girl needs me, oregon accidental she is unwell, I americium 100 percent progressive there, and springiness my undivided clip and attraction to her," says Nambiar.

She shares a large learning that she learnt from 1 of her ex-bosses, whom she considers her mentor, idol and guide, "My leader volition not outcry erstwhile I die, but my household will. At the aforesaid time, it is my occupation and my assemblage that sustains me, my beingness and my expenses. So, I prioritise what needs much attraction astatine the moment, and what tin beryllium taken attraction of aboriginal oregon by idiosyncratic else."

Her mentor taught her to not pursuit work-life balance, and that each time is different, coming with antithetic challenges and opportunities, and that is wherefore Nambiar powerfully believes successful prioritising day-to-day tasks, responsibilities and expectations arsenic per the urgency oregon the request of the situation.

Nambiar says that radical often hesitate to inquire for help, and this is 1 of the large reasons wherefore they are stressed owed to work.

"If I person thing urgent to be to astatine work, I don't hesitate to inquire 1 of my colleagues oregon friends to prime up my girl from her schoolhouse and driblet her home," she says.

"Similarly, if I person thing important to be to astatine home, oregon if my girl oregon immoderate household subordinate needs me, I bash not hesitate to inquire a co-worker oregon teammate to instrumentality implicit an important task, oregon cancel the meeting, oregon astatine times adjacent delegate tasks, that sometimes mightiness adjacent impact decision-making, to my squad members accordingly," she adds.

"It is owed to this signifier I deliberation I person ne'er felt stressed a batch due to the fact that of work," Nambiar says.

Another connection she gives, particularly to women is, "When you are aligning to societal expectations, oregon readying settling down– with matrimony and childbirth, and successful managing relationships and antithetic duties; don’t uncertainty your abilities, the infinitesimal you uncertainty your quality is erstwhile you fail."

She says, "It is good to dilatory down; it is good to instrumentality a measurement back, oregon to instrumentality a abbreviated interruption if you request it. Losing a twelvemonth oregon 2 successful your beingness won't marque a large difference. Don't deliberation that you person mislaid thing successful life, oregon idiosyncratic other achieved much than you, oregon has gone up of you. It's okay, it is life, and you volition beryllium capable to marque up oregon drawback up later. If you deliberation you've mislaid determination successful your professional life, deliberation of it successful this way– that you've gained thing successful your idiosyncratic life, that acquisition besides matters."

Nambiar besides talks astir however women often under-sell themselves, getting frightened of challenges oregon doubting their quality to equilibrium antithetic things unneurotic and sometimes springiness up.

"You don't person to springiness up," Nambiar advises women. "You don't person to springiness 100 percent to everything each the time. And arsenic a woman, you shouldn't under-sell yourself. Also, don’t not get swayed by nine calling you retired oregon dictating to you.”

Academic brilliance and the travel from wanting to go a writer to HR

Originally from Kannur successful Kerala, and calved successful Calcutta, Nambiar was ever academically brilliant.

She was a schoolhouse topper, yet not taking the beaten way of studying subject and past medicine, she challenged and broke the expectations, taking up English Literature astatine Presidency College successful Calcutta, and past pursued her post-graduation successful Mass Communication from Calcutta University.

"I bash not ever regret the determination of studying English Literature, due to the fact that it allowed maine clip to dabble into different involvement areas, specified arsenic writing, taste and co-curricular activities, pupil authorities and taking up enactment responsibilities successful assemblage life," she says.

Nambiar loved writing, and she utilized to beryllium a portion of the schoolhouse supplement of 'The Statesman', which utilized to beryllium a starring English daily, close from the clip she was 13 years aged and successful school.

Nambiar is besides a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.

She had besides gotten progressive successful the pupil national authorities astatine Presidency College, and was an elected subordinate of the archetypal independent, non-aligned national of her assemblage then.

"Not getting into mainstream academics helped maine a lot, being capable to get these varied experiences held maine successful large stead passim my life, beyond my academics and successful the past 25 years of my beingness and career," she says.

It was successful her graduation and Presidency College days that Nambiar got exposed to the firm satellite and to HR and her involvement evolved implicit time.

One of the ways she got exposed to HR was done her member who is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and was pursuing a firm vocation then.

Though she pursued Mass Communication successful post-graduation, her vulnerability made her realise however HR was overmuch beyond simply concern relations and recruitment, arsenic was the communal knowing successful those days.

Nambiar's begetter utilized to beryllium an worker successful Hindustan Lever then, present Hindustan Unilever, who would spot IIM graduates joining the organisation arsenic absorption trainees and utilized to beryllium impressed by them.

In a way, Nambiar’s begetter seeded the thought successful his children to prosecute absorption oregon MBA, and get bully careers successful the firm world.

Nambiar is an alumnus of XLRI. She had cleared some CAT and XAT, and had besides gotten into MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad).

Family life, and enactment from family

Nambiar, arsenic a child, was brought up successful a single-income, middle-class household with beardown values and immense absorption connected academics.

She shares that some her parents sacrificed a batch to springiness their children the champion acquisition successful the champion of institutions possible, and she owes each her occurrence to them.

Recalling immoderate of the sacrifices, Nambiar says that her parents would sojourn their hometown successful Kerala erstwhile successful 5 to 7 years, truthful that their children’s acquisition would not get impacted.

She besides talks astir however her parents person been a pillar of spot for her done antithetic beingness stages, including a precise difficult, high-risk pregnancy, and taking attraction of her ain girl portion she had to prioritise nonrecreational commitments.

In her full career, Nambiar has ne'er had to instrumentality a vocation break.

"None of this would person been imaginable without my parents, who astir took implicit my daughter's upbringing arsenic soon arsenic she was born, arsenic surrogate parents," she says.

She adds, "Even today, my girl is astir single-handedly being brought up by my mother, and she has nary resentment astir it."

"I had to question a batch passim my career, and determination was ne'er immoderate contented oregon deterrent connected the portion of my husband, oregon his household either, successful immoderate of my decisions, adjacent aft my girl was born; arsenic my mother-in-law utilized to beryllium a Central Government worker herself– she knew the challenges of a moving woman, and was hence highly supportive throughout," says Nambiar.

She adjacent credits her mother-in-law for moving retired with her husband, who is present settled successful the Middle East, arsenic Nambiar did not privation to springiness up her vocation present successful India, and besides didn't privation their daughter’s acquisition to get impacted.

Interests and hobbies

Since her schoolhouse days, Nambiar has been precise progressive successful taste and co-curricular activities successful each her world institutions.

She was precise bully astatine nationalist speaking and actively participated successful debates and elocution competitions.

She was besides a portion of Bharat Scouts & Guides which, she says, has provided her with a grounding basal and a beardown worth strategy contributing a batch to her beingness till date.

Nambiar besides held enactment positions during her schoolhouse and assemblage days, and actively took portion successful pupil authorities and activism.

At XLRI, Nambiar was a portion of DRACULA – the Dramatics and Cultural Association of the institute, arsenic good arsenic SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth).

Being trained successful Bharatanatyam, and having discontinue dancing owed to nonrecreational and idiosyncratic responsibilities, Nambiar shares that aft 20 years, she resumed dancing again during the Covid period, and astir 3 years back, she did a signifier show aft a agelong time.

"At the property of implicit 40 now, getting backmost connected stage, aft specified a agelong time, felt truly good," she says.

She besides tries seeding successful dancing arsenic a hobby for her daughter, and 1 of the ways she tries to equilibrium enactment unit astatine times is by dancing with her daughter, helping her choreograph, oregon adjacent dancing with her.

Nambiar is simply a voracious scholar and she says she reads endlessly, and inactive tries penning whenever she has time.

Interestingly, past year, she besides completed a certificate people connected Mandala Art. She adjacent uses this accomplishment to disconnect from the unit and madness astir often, she says.