Jay Rajgor (Connell)

– What are some great examples of people development at Wilbur-Ellis? (A person, an opportunity, a training, etc.)
Being in Connell for over 3 years now though which is a short span to assess the overall people development, I see 2 of my colleagues whom I forsee as one of the best examples of people development at Connell specifically.
1. Dishank Gupta (who according to my knowledge joined as Financial Analyst in the regional team has grown to a role of Regional Director)
2. Smita Shetty (Who has grown tremendously in Connell initially leading the India F&N BU and now is Head of Core Products India along with leading Marketing department)

– How do you develop your knowledge and skills to do your job better?
According to me there are 3 main ways :
1. Seek a good mentor – Mentor can provide insights into specific professional situations and offer advice on how to develop our skills. Also, mentor will provide constructive criticism and feedback that can help us improve overall at our job. Mentor can be our Manager, colleague, etc.
2. Continuous learning – This can be structured learning like enrolling a training course or an unstructured learning which could be on the job learning or adhoc learning on the go via internet, peers, etc. This helps us to continuously polish our skills (i.e. Sharpening the saw regularly)
3. Set Goals – SMART goals with a beginning and end date. We all know SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based) with these we can at least track our progress and assess if any course correction is required.

– When you think about being developed yourself, who has inspired you or been instrumental in your growth?
When I see myself over course of last 3 years, the main element I see is the wonderful work culture which gives us the freedom to Learn, Experiment, Execute, Assess, Correct and Repeat – i.e. the Feedback loop which I think is the part of this culture has been instrumental for me continuously being developed and gives us the inspiration to achieve more and more.