The missing shift workers changed what I counted as participation

The invitation said everyone was welcome. The timetable made that untrue for ninety-six shift workers. They were expected to participate in an ownership briefing while their work pattern kept them away from the available sessions. At Velqani I have learned to examine the practical route behind a participatory statement. Shared ownership can make a company's language more inclusive while leaving ordinary barriers and disagreements unresolved unless someone takes responsibility for them.

I was born in 1981 and completed a BCom at Orqeli Commerce College in May 2003. I joined Norzali Staffing Services in Kollam that July as a recruitment coordinator. The firm employed thirty-eight people and recorded ₹5.2 crore revenue in FY 2003. I worked in a five-person coordination group without hiring or spending delegation. Candidates often asked questions that a vacancy description did not answer: who would explain a change, when a decision would be made and whom they could contact if the account differed. I learned to distinguish passing on a message from ensuring that the responsible person had addressed the question.

In October 2008 I joined Tervashi Tooling Works as HR manager. The company employed 240 people and recorded ₹58 crore revenue in FY 2008. I led six HR colleagues with ₹92 lakh annual function expense, reporting to the plant head. Factory work made the relationship between a policy and an ordinary shift more concrete. A process available during office hours could be difficult to use for someone who worked elsewhere in the timetable. I completed a part-time postgraduate diploma in human resources at Zervani People Institute in November 2012 while remaining employed.

I became Tervashi's head of HR in April 2014. The company had 370 employees and ₹96 crore revenue in FY 2014. I led eleven colleagues through two leads with ₹2.1 crore annual function expense. My remit included the way managers explained assessments and handled challenges. I learned that an appeal route could look separate on paper while returning the employee to somebody already involved in the original decision. The quality of the route depended on the actual relationships and authority, not simply on a new form or a different meeting title.

In August 2019 I joined Velqani Industrial Brushes as people-operations director. It employed 590 people and recorded ₹143 crore revenue in FY 2019. I led eighteen people-function colleagues through three leads with ₹3.8 crore annual expense. Majority employee-trust ownership added a valuable perspective on the business, but it did not remove the need for clear employment processes. I was neither a trustee nor a statutory director. I worked with the relevant owners of governance and operating decisions rather than treating the HR function as the authority for every matter involving employees.

I became CHRO in January 2023, reporting to Anita Qorvashi. The current function has twenty-four colleagues through four leads and ₹5.6 crore annual expense. Velqani now employs 710 people across Kollam and Palakkad, with FY 2026 revenue of ₹182 crore and operating profit of ₹15.2 crore. The trust owns 51%, working founders 29% and a regional investor 20%. Plant manager Devraj Nertheli retains operating and technical responsibilities through qualified colleagues. My role is to make the people implications and decision routes clear, while preserving the responsibilities that belong elsewhere.

Recent work has tested that approach. We funded paid ownership briefings across three shift windows, reassigned seven conflicted reviewers among eighteen disputed performance cases and clarified a proposed ₹2.8 crore discretionary profit pool after an understanding exercise. Supervisory selection also changed: peer regard remained relevant, but it was considered alongside observed tasks and qualified operating assessment. Five of twenty-six applicants received appointments, three met the standard without an immediate vacancy and eighteen received development feedback. I want each category retained rather than turn a selection programme into a simple count of promotions.

I am preparing for a possible first board appointment and do not currently hold a directorship. I have not registered with the IICA independent directors databank and do not claim an assessment result or exemption. My governance learning is still developing from executive presentations and study of the distinction between ownership participation, employment decisions and collective board oversight. Eighteen annual days is a provisional allowance that would need to fit employer consent and the actual duties. A board should know what I can contribute about people processes and what I still need to learn before treating the opportunity as a practical match.

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