Following the person beyond the completed field

The reassuring part of the succession sheet was its completeness. Every one of twenty-four lead roles had a deputy's name. I had endorsed that presentation because it suggested the company had considered the absence of each incumbent. We had, but only one absence at a time. Twelve colleagues each appeared twice. The record showed possible relationships without establishing independent capacity. I wanted to understand why our review had accepted those two things as equivalent before asking operations to solve the gaps the corrected account would expose.

I grew up in a Sikh family in Patiala and completed a Bachelor of Arts at the fictional Qarvemi College of Arts in June 1995. The following month I joined Zevqoli Collections Services as an administrative assistant. It was a small enterprise with forty-six employees and₹6.8 crore revenue for FY ending March 1996. I worked in a five-person support group without reports or delegated spending. My assignments concerned records and coordination around collections-service work. I did not assess conservation needs or decide how an object should be handled. I learned to ask which qualified colleague could answer a question rather than make an administrative completion look like a technical decision.

In April 2001 I became employee induction coordinator. Zevqoli employed 102 people and reported₹18 crore revenue for FY ending March 2002. Six colleagues worked through two supervisors within₹38 lakh annual function expense. I reported to the people manager and organised joining, learning records and discussions about deployment. A completed course made the office's account tidy. It did not necessarily explain what a new colleague had practised or what an operating lead was prepared to let them undertake. That distinction became more consequential as I moved closer to specialist exhibition movements.

Nerzemi appointed me as a people partner in August 2007, and I moved to Gwalior. The company had 140 employees, two depots and₹39 crore revenue for FY ending March 2008. Eight HR colleagues worked through two leads with₹82 lakh annual function expense. Exhibition work required attention to journeys, temporary assignments and the people carrying out tasks away from their usual base. A central policy could make an assumption about language, room sharing or availability that sounded ordinary to its author and was difficult for the person receiving the assignment. My role was to bring those consequences into the decision while qualified owners retained control of the technical plan.

I became head of people in October 2014. Nerzemi then employed 290 people across three depots and recorded₹91 crore revenue for FY ending March 2015. Thirteen HR colleagues worked through three leads within₹1.9 crore annual function expense. I wanted stronger development and succession records because a business dependent on experienced people should understand how responsibility can move. The later duplicate-deputy finding showed that the existence of a structured record was not enough. My team had helped make the plan consistent without challenging whether its named resources could satisfy the demands the company might place on them together.

The CHRO appointment began in January 2021. I now lead nineteen colleagues through three leads within₹3.2 crore FY 2026–27 function expense and report to Rohit Qezvanu. Sara Lemqanu leads specialist handling and learning. The company has four depots, 480 direct employees and₹168 crore FY 26 service revenue. Its family investment vehicle owns 43%, employee trust 22% and long-term investor 35%;I hold no personal or trust interest. Our service does not make us a museum owner or a conservation authority, and my title does not give HR the competence to clear an object-handling method.

The succession correction received₹42 lakh for development and review. The resulting record named sixteen distinct deputies for sixteen roles and left eight gaps visible. It did not manufacture twenty-four replacements by counting a person twice. A separate₹28 lakh learning programme kept forty-eight attendees, thirty-six completed assessments and twenty-nine task clearances as different measures. Seven assessed colleagues needed further practice, and twelve had not reached assessment. Those distinctions meant the operating plan had fewer immediately cleared people than a course-completion report might suggest.

Travel policy raised a different issue. Among seventy colleagues consulted, fifty-four preferred their own room and sixteen were willing to share. The old rule made room sharing ordinary for nonexecutives while seniority brought privacy. We introduced an own-room option without requiring a personal explanation, within an additional₹18 lakh annual lodging envelope. That was an approved provision, not a claim of exact expenditure or a universal legal standard. The hiring redesign likewise asked what the role actually required. Twelve of nineteen people previously rejected by an English-fluency screen met the defined technical criteria when the explanation could be given in Hindi or English. That result did not make them automatic hires.

I speak Punjabi, Hindi and English. I hold no statutory directorship and have not yet registered for the IICA databank;assessment preparation remains unfinished and no exemption is asserted. Twenty-four days is provisional. I would bring a board the habit of questioning what a workforce measure claims to represent, alongside preparation for responsibilities beyond my current function. My own succession paper is part of that account. A people leader should be able to describe the assumption she helped introduce before presenting the correction as evidence of her judgement.

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