Nothing grows out of comfort and easy mechanisms
Published on : Monday 01-03-2021
Titli Chatterjee, Senior Lead, Smart Manufacturing Practice, Information Services Group.
You have taken the unconventional career path to technology. What prompted the transition?
I always believed in progressive and continuous learning. While I was pursuing my MBA in HR, the basic purpose was to carry out research work addressing the human interventions in innovation. Though I had secured places from Oxford University and University of Glasgow with a Commonwealth Scholarship, it was left undone. Perhaps, that is when my journey in research started. My inclination towards technology and the curious mind to the man-machine interactions lead me to develop my forte at the factory floor. The most interesting part of my career/job is the upheaval task of disruptive changes and learning something new at the work front.
Having obtained the qualification, what was the experience in getting a job?
Though my goal of researching remained constant, my passion and zeal to take a step-forward drove the transition to consulting and understanding the shop floor or manufacturing complexities. As MBA wouldn’t have sufficed to learn the other technical implications, it was reading and constant endeavour of keeping myself updated that helped.
Is a career in engineering more demanding vis-à-vis other options?
I believe anything should be driven by passion. Irrespective of what one chooses to pursue as a degree/course it is the diligence and love for the job that creates upliftment. Be it any field that one chooses, at the end of the day it is the eagerness to succeed and creating one’s own niche that makes a difference. However, to be on the radar I would still mention being updated on technology, the demand gap and upgrade on the possible digital skills that would rightly fit in the current scenario.
Often projects demand stay away from home. How is that experience?
I have been on-the-go and changing cities for more than a decade now, primarily for the betterment of my career at the job front and move out of my comfort zone, since nothing grows out of comfort and easy mechanisms. Due to this, staying away from my daughter and juggling roles as a single parent was one of the major challenges that I faced sometimes at the receiving end and all other times happier to balance it out with the help of the family. Perhaps, this is how we all end-up building a great ecosystem which comes to the rescue when needed!
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to gender?
Though not particularly on gender biases but missed a lot of opportunities due to different concerns at the corporate level. However, being an optimist, a missed opportunity has always made space for something better. On the other hand, as a spectator I have often realised that extra mile taken by women soaring high. Those shards of glass indeed exist and shattering the glass ceiling will be a lot of emotional, time and moral investments. Of course, let’s not forget to keep a tab on the family as well mentioned by IA, ‘if you educate a woman, you are educating a family’.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than a generation earlier?
Post the ‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’, support for gender equality is strong around the globe. While the people around have been welcoming the idea of gender equality, it is still a thing to ponder on if men generally have more opportunity than women. However, amidst these discussions few of the things should be prioritised at this juncture. Teaching the women their worth, raising voice whatsoever to amplify feminism in the workplace, exercising your political rights, committing to a cause and respecting the choice are what should be part of the norms.
What has been the experience with seniors at works and the management?
Working with seniors has helped me to realise that it’s always worth to be part of a living and learning environment. It has been rewarding at times when I have interacted and worked under notable mentors who helped me shape my graph and figure out the best practices at work. It’s rewarding to bring back something from the past that triggers creativity, refurbishing the existing ideas and work on the drawbacks.
How did the Covid pandemic affect your working routine and what are the learnings?
The unparalleled event of the pandemic pushed all of us to move from conventions. Despite disturbed routines and trying to adapt to the new normal of working style, managing schedules is becoming easier with time. Figuring out from the lessons of my own resilience in the past and working effectively, being able to capture a few things that are joyful to stay home seemed to be a productive step. Balancing out work and family twice or thrice a week as per the priorities looks realistic, maintaining the rhythm altogether.
What would be your message to those seeking career guidance?
Bringing out unique flow of ideas can indeed be a driving force to innovation and overall development of the youth. If networking is not still in the agenda, it should be unless you have reached that helm of your career. Finding a good mentor aligned to your career path and understanding his/her journey and the timeline is something that I have personally mapped with that has helped me to understand my career status and bring in focus. Instead of solely focusing on the personal expectations or outcomes of a job, planning to develop yourself by impacting the next employer is another of the practices in-line. Above all is continuously upgrading yourself, learning and increasing knowledge that would help to go that extra mile.
Would you like to share information about your other achievements?
I have contributed towards various global official and personal research papers, publications, content shared by global industry influencers. Invited as a delegate for the Management Department launch of Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, and acceptance of academic paper as poster for International conference at Beijing, China organised by International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR). I am a professional blogger on contemporary issues and woman empowerment with around 2.5 lakh reader base.
What are the three words that best capture the essential you?
Result-oriented, determined and positive minded.
Titli Chatterjee is part of the Smart Manufacturing Practice working as a Senior Lead at Information Services Group (ISG) primarily focusing on the EMEA region and the Americas. Having experience in research and consulting for more than 11 years now, her focus has been in the areas of manufacturing and Industry 4.0. In her current role she has been closely working with industry leaders, ISG internal stakeholders, ISG partners and manufacturing clients to highlight the technological implications on addressing the manufacturing gap and building a Smart Manufacturing ecosystem leveraging the ISG solutions and practices.
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