Leaders

The pace of change for women in the workforce has been rather gradual, however it's noteworthy to find their accelerating leadership positioning across diverse corporate and business spectrum. A significant example of such leadership advancement is Deeksha Gandotra, Managing Director, Versatile Consultancy, Dubai- a Global HR Company that specializes in prompt completion of required mandates bringing in efficiency & transparency in the expatriate recruitment life cycle.

Deeksha was born and brought up in Delhi in a versatile family of Business and Accounts experts and her roots tied to Jammu & Kashmir. The 29 years old HR professional is a qualified ACCA with her under graduation in Finance and Accounting & Diploma in Finance from London School of Economics, she embarked on her professional career journey entrenching her brainchild Versatile Consultancy in Dubai. It has been her aim to empower women worldwide and innovate human power globally. To know more about her & the company, the Women Entrepreneur India team indulged in an extensive conversation with Deeksha. Here are excerpts from the interview.

What motivated you to establish a recruitment firm? Throw some light on the ideation of versatile consultancy.

I hail from a versatile business family. My mother & aunt are into fashion, grandfather runs a Chartered Accountancy firm (passed on by my great grandfather), and father has been a successful businessman. However, I had a completely different plan for me and that was to become a lawyer. I ended up pursuing BBA in Finance, followed by Diploma in Finance from London School of Economics, and then ACCA.

Looking up to great women like my mother & aunt from a male-dominant era that were successful business leaders, I always wanted to become an entrepreneur just like them. My father has been the MAIN driving factor who led me to this path, instilling within me the desire to be financially self-dependent and always believing in me that I had leadership qualities like Indira Gandhi. I was fortunate to have my family support. We moved to Dubai and I got an opportunity to explore the HR field. I have always been passionate about helping people, it brings me satisfaction when I see people placed in the right roles and them and their families thanking me. That's the real reward for me. Also on the other hand when companies get the right people and their revenues start to grow it's a very fulfilling feeling. Thus, I realized HR was my life's real calling.

Tell us about versatile consultancy and the areas of expertise of the firm.

Versatile Consultancy is a global recruitment platform bringing efficiency, transparency and effectiveness in overseas recruitment life cycle. Today, with focus on Global recruitment, HR consultancy, HR audits, Outsourcing and associated value-added services, we offer an unparalleled personalized HR service. We are working on tech integration to make our platform more robust and upto global standards.

F&B consultancy and Healthcare consultancy has been our new areas of expansion. We specialize in the IT, oil & gas, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing & retail sectors of the industry working with a large number of companies within sectors appointing expertise industry-based recruiters and consultants. We are also working with a lot of start-ups to set up their teams.

Recruiting talents right from the CEO level to helper levels, white collar, grey collar, and blue collar, we have become industry agnostic. We are not only present in UAE but are spread across 53 countries globally. We are working with corporates under various CSR initiatives wherein we bring in deserving people from remote villages in India to the middle east to transform their lives and we do not charge anything for such services .

What were the challenges you faced setting up versatile consultancy amidst an entirely different setup in the middle east recruitment sector? What are the basic life or business lessons you learned?

I have been working since the age of 11 and officially began my professional career later. At the age of 11 I used to design jewelry and sell in local exhibitions. I have worked at my mother's store part time, where I learnt marketing and selling. While I was in University, I worked & trained under my grandfather at his CA firm and to conclude my prior part-time experiences I also did six months training with KPMG.

My real professional journey began with building Versatile Consultancy right from scratch amid a completely new market like Dubai. I faced a fair share of challenges. Being naïve, in the beginning, not having any knowledge about the business world in Dubai, I ended up pursuing BBA in Finance from Amity, followed by Diploma in Finance from London School of Economics, and then ACCA. I didn't understand the dynamics of the market. I learnt from my mistakes and picked myself up.

“My real professional journey began with building versatile consultancy right from scratch amid a com Pletely new market like Dubai”

Building a team and understanding the market, we focused more on the bulk recruitment, diversified into niche recruitment as well as executive search, mid-range recruitment, and more. Today, it is our persistence that has brought us global significance in the industry and we are eternally grateful to God.

How do you keep yourself updated with the changes & evolutions in the recruitment industry and tech world in general?

Networking is an important aspect to grow in any Industry. I am active across various networking groups. I also pay heed to upcoming trends in the technology and in the recruitment industry, meeting people from different regions & nationalities every now and then. I truly believe you learn so much just by interacting with people.

Our F&B and healthcare branch is a result of networking. The branching into F&B is both incidental & magical. I wanted to support Asian restaurateurs and we did so by building a restaurant association for them. We started with just 20 restauranteurs with a vision to support & help them through their issues. Today we are 210+ restaurant owners in that group covering about 800 restaurants.

What advice would you give to the young women entrepreneurs who want to start their careers in this industry?

The minute you think that you want to be an entrepreneur, start networking. It begins right from understanding your business ideas well. The only way to grow is by networking and word of mouth. Look for real long term growth and it happens the moment, you connect with people on a one-to-one basis and make long lasting relations. Of course, social media is there, but they're all support tools. Also, don't fear failures they are the building blocks which make your fundamentals strong. And lastly I would close by writing a motto I live by, "it's a world of collaboration not competition".

Deeksha Gandotra, Founder & Managing Director, Versatile Consultancy

Deeksha is presently the Managing Director of Versatile Consultancy (Human Resources Powerhouse) Partner at IPTER (International Recruitment Organization) Executive Director at Versatile Tourism (Destination Management Company) Consultant and Medsantè (Healthcare Consultancy) and Recruitment Director of Red Elephants Reps (One of the top Hotel representation Companies). She has just been appointed as a mentor with UN Women.