A Voice For Whole Industry

Being responsible for efficient functioning and wellbeing of a team that has been at the forefront of the Covid response, Archana Bhaskar, in her role as CHRO of this pharmaceutical major, has proven her mettle in this crisis time. Despite lockdowns, curfews, scarcity of raw materials, transport issues, etc, she is proud that all the teams stretched themselves, and through collaborative and innovative approach, found solutions for prompt responses, so critical in the healthcare crisis.

She remembers, " Once we were past the initial adjustment to the enormity of what was happening, we started to look at how best we could use our strengths and make ourselves useful to society. We formed a team for community outreach measures – supply of medicines, ventilators, tele-consultation, personal protective equipment, oxygen concentrators and even an oxygen plant. During the first and the second waves, our phones rang off the hook. There are patients around the world who depend on our products. With them in mind, we kept our manufacturing plants running round-the-clock."

Driving Force

Freedom to experiment and empowerment is what Bhaskar values most in her organisation. Sharing that the company has institutionalised 'respect for the individual' as a core value, she says, "The company has a well-defined purpose, promises, principles and values. As a people development professional, this balance between integrity and respect for people on the one hand and industry leading ambition on the other has been a very powerful attraction."

Internalising the company's, and industry's goals as her own, she says, "I believe that in my role at Dr. Reddy’s, I carry the responsibility of thinking not just about the company but about the industry. Any leader today must think about all stakeholders – people in the company, our partners, communities that we are a part of, and of course the planet."