Meraki n. doing something with soul, creativity, or love — when you put “something of yourself” into what you’re doing, whatever it may be.
Parikshit Waghela Applicant – Expansion Entity President AIESEC in NAGPUR
Letter Of Intent
AIESEC and YOU 1. Present your AIESEC Experience in a chronological order and list your key learning out of each role .
August 2014 – September 2015 | Team Member iGIP – The 1 and a half year of this position taught me about AIESEC and its functioning from inside out, right from Pitching AIESEC to LDM.
2015 Summer/Winter | OC/Onsite OC for Recruitment & LTS – It was the first time I got to take part in an AIESEC forum and it taught me teamwork and importance of following deadlines !! Q4 2015 | Team Leader GCo – This was a defining moment of my AIESEC Journey, something that I will never forget in my entire life. I learnt about basic functionality of GCo as a product but the major learning from this experience was that I got to know about how important Quality Delivery is for an Intern as well as the LC, I felt the change I was creating. I was happy to be a part of change for someone else’s life. 2016 | Vice President GCo – This was the best time of my AIESEC journey, it brought me closer to AIESEC and it’s Vision. I learnt how things happen at the level of a LC, which I didn’t know before this. I also started to take things little more seriously because I got to know how important my decisions can be for others as I was responsible for my members experience. I gained a lot from this position personally too which I can see in myself too !!
2. Provide a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses . Strengths -> Assertive - I am self-aware and I know which way I am going to. I am very confident about the things I know and believe in and can execute it without fail. Analysis - I developed the skill of analysis the pros and cons of situations I am in and get confident with each achievement. Communication Skills – I can talk to people at personal level. I know where to lead a conversation to and where to end it. I understand whom I am talking to and how important it is for me. Calculative – I am very calculative and take rational decisions. Weakness -> Lenient - I sometimes take things for granted and loose opportunities from my hand. Finicky - I like things done in a certain way and get irritated when it doesn’t happen my way. Blunt – I am blunt and not a diplomat. Sometimes it is required to be a diplomat which I don’t. Childish – Still a child by heart, sometimes my mischiefs cause harm to other people.
3. Who is that one person you connect the most with, in your Local
Committee/AIESEC Network? How would these people describe you as an individual? That one person that I connect the most with in Local Committee is Kiran Khemani, Vice President, GTo, AIESEC in Nagpur. Though she is my girlfriend too, but we have always kept our Personal and professional lives apart.
She would describe me as “Parikshit truly believes in himself, his strengths, weaknesses and knows how to overcome a problem and handle situations. He truly understands the value of relations in his life and knows his priorities well. He is clear as to what he wants in his life. He is not a kind of a person who would say that nothing is impossible in life, rather he analyses the pros and cons of a particular thing and then arrives at a conclusion. He takes a lot of pride in being who He is and is a person who always looks upon growth and opportunities. Once he decides to do something then there is nothing and no one who can come between him and his vision. He is highly practical human being and believes in fetching results.”
4. List the Local/ National/ International conferences you have attended and in what capacity. Regional Youth Leadership Conference, Manipal, 2014 – Member, Delegate March National Conference, Khanvel, 2016 – LB, Delegate
5. What aspect of your Leadership Body or Management Body term could you have significantly improved upon? (personally and as a team) Establishing the AIESEC culture and work culture among my members as well as member engagement, during the Leadership Body term is what I would like to improve upon. During the start of the year, when new members were inducted, I didn’t pay much attention on them for work culture related issues like replying on groups and other things because I didn’t feel they were important, I left out my members. Though the targets were achieved it was my duty to engage them and keep them enthusiastic which I didn’t because of my
leniency. Though my term as a VP of GCo still isn’t over, so after taking a note of leanings and the area where I show work upon, I have already started driving down that work culture among members and have taken member engagement seriously from the start of this quarter.
6. Describe your future short-term and long-term career and personal goals. How do you expect an LCP term to help you achieve these goals and why now? Short term goals – Personal – Short term for me is around 5-6 year down the line, so by this time I would have finished my studies and would be starting my professional life. During this time my goal is to learn to the fullest and enjoy life like a king because after this time, a person starts taking up responsibilities and life takes a new road !! Career – This time is very short for me to have any career plan as such, but I wish to have a company of my own, so I would start planning for it somewhere during these years. Long term goals – Personal – Now, this is where it starts getting serious, my personal goal has changed quite a lot during my growing years, as of now it is to be global citizen and to be sustainable, so that our future have a good life too. Career – I want to be a management guy and want to be in the management body of a fortune 100 company and have an established business of my own !!
LCP term, a time of my which I always wanted to experience, before it was a post for me when I joined AIESEC, over the time the meaning has changed for me, It is responsibility now. I understood the change AIESEC can make to someone personally and started realising this after RYLC 2014. I believe this term can give someone a 360 degree experience of the organisation. All the things that I want to learn in life, grow in etc AIESEC would be the first step towards it and being a LCP will give me a first hand experience.
Now is the best time because this would be the last year of my undergraduate studies and then I would be moving out for my graduate studies. Though I was hesitant to do it now because I didn’t want my studies to get hampered, but then one thing struck my mind, my career plan !! I want to be in the management body of fortune 100 companies and at the same time have a company of own, so if I want to do it then, then why not do it know too, so I decided to go for it.
7. What is your Leadership style? Explain with real stories from past leadership experiences. “ Leadership is not about demonstrating power….but having the ability to empower others, leading by setting example and create more LEADERS “ I believe that, it’s quite impossible to follow one style of Leadership in different situations. An ideal leader needs to keep moulding himself according to the situations, and the people he deals with. And that is the way I try to Lead. I always try to lead by example. I portray the traits that I expect my members to have. When members see their leader working hard for the goal, they themselves get motivated to work for the same goal. When my VP Term started, I knew my members were new and needed right direction as well as inspiration to do new things. Hence I always took the first step and then took them along. I never expected them to do anything which I wasn’t able to! At the same time, a Leader is an initiator and an innovator! And he needs to drive down the same. During my VP term, when my TLs were equipped enough with knowledge, I didn’t hold them with my way of things, rather gave them the liberty to take the initiatives they felt were required and implement innovative things! However, if we look at the LC in an overall perspective, our LC in its current state lacks initiatives from the membership. And I believe that AIESEC in Nagpur needs a visionary Leader, who comes to decisions after analysing the situations as par, and does not hesitate to take stern decision when needed. It needs a leader who can empower the membership that provokes them to start taking initiatives, that the members start leading themselves and take ownership and unleash their creativity and innovation. And this is where my Leadership style perfectly fits in the puzzle.
8. How will you make sure you execute your plans as execution is the biggest problem in all the leaders? Execution of plans, this is something for me which depends on situations !! I have come across times in AIESEC when I make plans and then when its time to execute them, the situation changes for which the plans were made, so I need to adapt to the current trend and then redo the whole thing and then execute it ! But suppose if nothing of this happens, then I do make sure the plans are undertaken and my past record says about it too. As a VP GCo, whatever plans I made for the department as a product were executed and where successful !
Situation -> Strategy -> Planning -> Execution This is where I am good at, Strategical Planning i.e planning according to all the needs and keeping all possible conditions and situations in mind. If followed well, the end result, EXECUTION is achieved properly.
STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE is what keeps me motivating and helps me in moving forward and taking my entity to the whole new level in the national plenary.
General Questionnaire
our membership, but we have never created opportunities for our members other than the organisational and functional training, if we do something aligning to this it will be great for our organisation.
Part 1- Organizational Perspective 1) Compare AIESEC to an external organization of similar reach (include similarities, differences, impact, etc.) and elaborate on key strategies or any business practices from that organization which can be implemented in AIESEC to ensure growth, relevance and improvement in what we do every single day. The Junior Chamber International ( JCI ) commonly referred to as JCI can be compared to AIESEC. Both the organisations are similar in terms of their membership and both have youths to drive the organisation ahead. The difference is in the functioning and that is where I think some elements can be taken from and used in AIESEC. They want to change the world and be global citizen but not by doing exchanges, they do it by developing the youth through various trainings and development activities. The impact of JCI has been more because its inception was around 100 years before, unlike AIESEC which was started after world war 2. Since the mission of JCI is to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change, they focus mostly in their city membership and want them to develop through these opportunities. Though it encourages young people to become responsible citizens and to participate in efforts towards social and economic development, and international co-operation, good-will and understanding, it tries to do all this locally and focuses on its membership a lot. If we use this approach in AIESEC too, I think we will take this organisation to the next level as it will ensure rapid growth and relevance in the functioning. Our organisation is known for the products and the learning these products impart indirectly among
2) Keeping the statements of AIESEC 2020 in mind, mention key things that are critical for AIESEC in Nagpur to focus on in 2017, with each statement separately.
Shaping what we do around what the world needs : • We at AIESEC Nagpur should start creating projects for iGV, which our city is in need of rather than creating projects which just align to SGDs. • Like I mentioned in my last answer about membership development, we as an entity should have member centric growth vision too rather just focusing on numbers, because youth is the answer to every question. Growing Disruptively • As an organization AIESEC in Nagpur has still not created a name in the city, many youth is still unaware about it and our products, Marketing is going to be the key in 2017, we will have to focus on smart marketing rather than heavy branding.
• •
Growing in the schools and colleges around Nagpur who are interested for our products. Strong membership development is the key, like a diamond cuts a diamond, one person attracts his personal circle around him and we need to be tapping into this.
Being Accessible to Everyone Everywhere • Coming out with a smart technology that enables us to be present with our anywhere anytime. ( Mobile application, tie-up with Pinnacle teleservices etc)
3) Analyse the year 2016 for AIESEC in Nagpur. What were the strengths and weaknesses? Evaluate the LC based on progress.
Strengths
Weakness
Passionate and Hardworking Leadership Body
oGV VP Mid-Term Leave
Strong Talent Management as function
Talent Management as product
Execution of planning
Missed various dept. timelines due to improper transition.
Better oGV as compared to 2015
Member Induction/Training – oGV
Member Induction/Training – iCX
No proper drop down of AIESEC Culture
Successful Event in terms of market relevance
No operational related events
LC’s performance in 2016 was by far the best performance in terms of Numbers as well as an LC development as a whole. Since the members in LB were in AIESEC from pretty long time, they
were aware about many things which went wrong during the pervious years and they were ready to be the change themselves. They were able to bring down most of the bottlenecks in the LC from previous years and where they lacked was Q2-Q3 dead membership and improper oGV induction and training. I take the blame on myself too as I was a part of the LB too. I would not like to evaluate in terms of member performance as I strongly feel what members do is directly related the way shown to them by the leaders. Based on the progress we made from the previous years, I would rate this a 7/10 year purely based on numbers in all the products.
Part 2- Local Committee Perspective 1) “Leadership is the capacity to translate Vision into reality.” Keeping the above in mind, what is your theme for AIESEC in Nagpur for the year 2017? How does this carry forward from 2016 along with defining our step towards 2020? “ The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been “ “Junoon” meaning “Pagalpan”, “Deewanapan” in Urdu. “Meraki” meaning ‘doing something with soul, creativity, or love — when you put “something of yourself” into what you’re doing, whatever it may be’. My theme for AIESEC in Nagpur for the year 2017 will be “JUNOON” and I envision this by having meraki in the work we do. I want this entity to finds its true colours and move in a direction where everyone gives in their soul, body and mind to ‘WHAT WE DO, WHY WE DO’ and they have their own unique way of working towards it. The day this entity does this and they become passionate to who we are, they’ll get that Junoon to work for it and take it to the next level every damn time and unleash the true potential of this entity.
Kyunki……Pagalpanti bhi zaruri hain !!! I believe 2017, is going to be the year for AIESEC in Nagpur where it should be getting a new vision to move forward and its high time the entity drops the vision of ‘Being an LC by year end’ which has been continuing since 2 years now. By doing this we will stop restricting ourselves and try to look at things beyond the horizon. There have been ample occasions where I thought AIESEC in Nagpur is ready for something new and something big, but the entity never got the
support it required from the members. I have been focusing on HR, since the start of this application and that it because HR is the key for US, it is the future for AIESEC in Nagpur.
2) What do you think are the main priorities for AIESEC in Nagpur for the year 2017 as continuity from 2016? Explain broadly what your Focus Areas and consequent Strategies / Action Steps will be for the same.
Priority
Focus Area
Strategy/ Action step
Evolving market of OGV
UR, Proper Member Training/Induction
Organization culture
To Build an organization culture and Maintain it
- UR – Specific Questions Q6 - Proper training/induction techniques so that members don’t feel like salesman. LC days, LCong, work days or work related events. -
Branding and Outreach
Value Delivery
External Relations
Understanding internal and external realities. - Selection of target market and based programs. - Implementation of customer flow.
GL, GT, GV
- Value delivery should form a culture of the organization and not just a portion of operations. -
IRs
IGV, IGT, OGV
Building contacts with the LCs from the beginning of the year (Based on the stats of exchanges done in the past year by that AIESEC entity). - Taking forward existing IRs and Building official IRs with them.
3) “Culture eats strategy for breakfast, operational excellence for lunch and everything else for dinner.” Define Culture in a creative way you feel fit. Critically analyse the Culture of 2016. What are the elements you would and would not like to take forward from the year? What are the key elements you want in the culture of 2017, and how will you make that happen?
The key elements that I want in the culture of 2017 are as follows:
“ Culture is how organizations do things”. Culture is every small to every big thing that happens in a LC. It can be simply like people listening to music and working or having a networking weekend. “We are what we repeatedly do, feel, think or believe”.
• •
In 2016, the organizational culture we had was that membership was the focus and there are a lot of few things I think could have been thought upon in 2016 are: • TLs should have been trained not to do just team management and member handling but to also fetch results themselves. • Value Delivery wasn't driven down something which is the essence of AIESEC and one of the core value i.e. Living Diversity and not just a part of the department. • A lot of spoon feeding tasks were done for the members making them want to wait for the directions of the superiors and not coming up themselves and wanting to learn. • Taking up leadership positions is a matter of choice and should not be forced. Doing which we loose out on quality though we fetch quantity. • There were a lot of non-operations related events which made members feel at a point like AIESEC is just time pass and there is no work as such. Hence, memebrs lost interest as they were not able to find the WHY of AIESEC (which is hidden in its work) and started taking AIESEC to be as a place to enjoy.
• • •
•
Leading by example: Not just pushing members to do things but first doing it yourself and delegating the tasks. Value Delivery be a culture and promotion of living diversity on a local level should form a part of AIESEC experience of the members. The members who really want to learn and grow should be concentrated upon and not the dead weights. CRM, Client engagement and experience. To drive down a proper work culture in OGV as at one point of time members don't take the work seriously and feel like they are just doing salesman work. To have intense and regular working sessions or events which make members actually think out of the box, do something out of their comfort zone and try to excel in their departmental work!
4) What are the value propositions for each ELD programme? How can you connect them to our local market? Programs iGV
iGT
oGV
GL
Value Proposition
Relevance with the local market
Accommodation system.
-Bringing the world home through hosts and giving them true Indian experience. - Finding an intern house wherein the interns enjoy diversity live together.
Corporate stakeholders- Involving global top talent in improving their processes or growing A cross cultural living and working experience with the organizational goals. professional development of the youth of the world. Professional intern- Professional development by AIESEC’s value based platform. Empowering individuals, communities or organizations. Creating direct positive impact through an Focusing on direct social impact and sustainable international volunteering experience. solutions. -Access to a global network - Creating a positive social impact. -Leadership platform - Personal and professional development.
Specific Questionnaire 1)
What stage of evolution do you think each of our products stand on? a) What is your goal (exchanges and NPS) for all our products? b) What is the impact you want that to create through those experiences and what is the relevance of the same in the External Market of Nagpur? c) Analyse the complete Customer Flow for the Products and what Constraints we are facing; Mention your Front Office and Back Office Strategies for every phase of the Customer Flow for the Products.
For AIESEC in Nagpur, our products have evolved very slowly during the last two years but this year saw a relatively better growth than previous years. At this point of time, all our products in accordance with numbers stand are somewhere between expansions and tier 4 LCs. This is what we need to work on in the year 2017, a strong growth in all the products is going to do wonders. Goals For 2017: OGV : 45 IGV : 60 IGT : 15 ------------------Total : 120 NPS
:
On the range of 7-8 on an average.
AIESEC has been existing in the city for over 3 years now and still it is like strong kept secret in the city! With AIESEC Nagpur growing in a good pace with big educational institutions coming up, corporates expanding and increasing social awareness to improve the standard of living of the people, AIESEC will be revealed as the best kept secret in the city with the level of impact of these experiences. Nagpur becomes recognized by the internationals for the life changing experiences it can provide them and clients look for a long term partnerships. Our LC should nationally contribute to the national association and that is how it gets recognized. The external market of AIESEC in Nagpur i.e. the customers, public opinions, etc. will shape according to the quality of services we provide to our customers and what value we give back to our stakeholders.
Q1 Part C
Programs
Customer Flow
Attract phase/ Stranger
OGV [A person] Consideration phase / Visitor -> Lead
Value Delivery Phase
Brand Advocacy Phase
-
Constraints being faced
Front office and Back office strategies.
No proper marketing and follow ups.
-Focusing online marketing on special occasions for Eg. World peace day, Tourism day, Independence day, etc. to attract the strangers and convert them to visitors. - Establishing Public Relations. - Global Social media and blogs. - On ground promotions (performing skits, flash mob, forums, collaborating with events, capitalizing on Entity’s events, etc.)
Improper and Irregular follow ups No defined selection process of the Leads (which will make them know the worth of ELD programs) Inviting them to events. Contacting all hubspot leads timely and taking a proper follow up.
-Promoting Culture shock me website, powered by AIESEC to display international stories to the visitors and Leads. - This will help strangers to taste the why, how and what of AIESEC. - Providing accessible information to visitors so that they visit the Global website of AIESEC which includes dynamic content making visitor to stay longer on the website. - Using high quality videos and designs. - Building Entity Website templates to edit with our own content.
- Departure and sending sovereigns across for building relations.
-Meeting them in person. - Giving them personalized information and projects suitable to them. - Taking them through a selection process.
Reintegration seminar. Experience showcasing strategies to friends and family.
-
Give and receive feedback. Experience showcasing strategies to friends and family.
Programs
Customer Flow
Attract phase/ Stranger / OPEN
IGV + IGT [An Enabler]
Constraints being faced
Front office and Back office strategies.
- No support from the BOA. - Sales and Marketing.
-Referral Programs (Also through the BOA) - Strategic alliances (By capitalizing on organizations partnered during events, URs, BD partners, etc.) - Using an online platform (Linked in or twitter and using the pull strategy) - Data of Corporate events happening in the city.
-
Consideration phase / Visitor -> Lead / Accepted , In Progress
Matching issues (match breaks and internal marketing) Low client response. (Responding late or not showing interest Eg. Image India and IT Mystics) Low matching knowledge and experience.
Value Delivery Phase
Timely IPS Company preparation booklet (including info. Of company, workplace, accommodation, etc. and pictures of the same if possible.)
Brand Advocacy Phase
-
Experience evaluation
-
-
Agreeing on timelines To streamline the process of interviews, follow ups, selection or rejection.
Company preparation booklet Company or Company’s representative involvement to IPS. Proper Expectation setting. -
Re raising opportunity.
2) On the basis of your above Exchanges Goals and the Strategies, describe the 3 key main Projects that you would like to take up as a priority in the year 2017 and why. (Mention the timeline, front office/back office action steps and strategies) As I also said in the previous question that culture is most important which streamlines everything and hence my concentration will be to create an Ethical, abiding, holistic environment and a healthy working organizational culture where the focus will shift on Actually performing the tasks and doing work rather than just making people find their Why of AIESEC out of something. Hence, a culture where people are less dependent on anyone else for some work and are willing to learn and do new things themselves by being more independent. So, Expecting less and Doing More! There is no specific timeline for the same but I will make sure that this is driven down well from the beginning of the term itself. Since culture is something which starts from the superiors and ends at the subordinates, So, the whole EB will be responsible for the same. Apart from this I think that the second concentration would be to Improvise Operations and make the work more efficient than duplication of tasks. With this I would like to take forward good things happened in the year 2016 and make them more organized and working. Moreover, including innovation from the process of Induction to Brand advocacy and making everything gassed-up so that there is no stagnation at any level of operations at any point. For E.g. Investing a lot of time on new member's induction and training such that the existing operations loose track, Alternatively, delegating tasks on old members to train new members will make the old learn and responsible for the same hence creating a member chain who are more active and knowledgeable.
Thirdly, Branding and Documentation is the general key project which I want to take up. Here, branding is stated in all aspects of AIESEC in the city, be it Brand Value of AIESEC Nagpur or International Internships for the students/Youth and the Enablers. Whereas, documentation is for proper maintenance of experiences of all of our stakeholders. There are a lot of activities which will be taken up in this respect like, Structuring activities and events by identifying the need of the city. Building long term partnerships with videography, photography institutes the events, making videos for city promotion for internal marketing, etc. This will create diverse range of opportunities for the members of AIESEC and quality experience and work for the ER department.
3) Describe your Events plan for the year. Provide details and emphasis on how 2017 will be for events. Some major events that will be taken up are:
EVENT March/October LCong
Youth Speak Forum / EMPOWER / Y2B / Balkalakar
BoA Meeting
Global Village
Objective
Some minor events that will be taken up are:
Timeline
Membership Development March/October LC Review AIESEC Culture Revenue Generation Voicing youth Penetration in March – April / August market September EwA Marketing of oGV/ iGV/ iGT Lead Generation BoA alignment External April Involvement Fund Raising External involvement oGV Marketing Value Delivery to November-December trainees Cross-cultural Branding
EVENT Student Talks
Recruitment
Objective
EwA AIESEC Marketing Lead Generation Recruiting new talent
Timeline Every Quarter
January/ August
All these events will help us boost our programs and establish a brand of AIESEC in Nagpur.
4) Analyze the trends of the past two years (including 2016) of AIESEC Nagpur’s strategic direction (include performance &
culture). How do you see the organizational direction of AIESEC Nagpur shaping up in the coming two years? Also, give a SWOT analysis of the LC for 2016. I would like to use the stats of AIESEC Nagpur of the past 2 years to analyse the trends in terms of Strategic direction and give a forecast for the coming years. Also, I believe that culture is direct driver of performance and growth. Hence, if there is a decline in numbers, the negative culture is one of the main reasons for the same, apart from a few others such as quality, external factors affecting the national exchanges, etc.
• 2015:
oGCDP major contributor. Advent of iGCDP led to increase in exchanges and shaping new culture in AIESEC in the city. Member Engagement and involvement was least. Negligible iGIP. Marketing required a drastic push as AIESEC was getting recognized in the city. No specific work culture of the organization and least interaction between members and a glass ceiling with the leaders. AIESEC was known to be a platform by which people can go on an international internship during vacations.
2016: Growth in GTO and GCS in the first 3 quarters as compared to the previous years. Organizational culture shifted to being member focused and towards exchanges of GCS. Event managed to create a Brand Value of AIESEC in the city because of which we were able to fetch quality for recruitment. New procedure of recruitment was formed which enabled us to deliver to the public 'What actually AIESEC Is?‘ An unsaid culture was formed of the organization making it less work centric. High retention but comparatively low productivity. •
As its seen that there has not been such stability pattern in 2015 the focus was oGCDP and in 2016 the focus was kept to be Membership development. With this I see that AIESEC Nagpur deserves only better, the focus being on culture development and streamlining operations to its fullest efficiency and effectiveness.
I foresee AIESEC in Nagpur in the coming two years
to be as follows:
- ICX value delivery should be taken care of a lot. - AIESEC will purely be known to be a Leadership Organization. - New picture in the minds of people for International exchanges with the influence of proper marketing and Value delivery. - AIESEC being a platform which give people a chance to build themselves and its not a school or a teacher which will change their lives. - Retention with productivity. - Improved culture, increased visibility in the city as well as in the network, improved national contribution and a Brand in the city and network!
Strengths
Weaknesses
Streamlined Talent Management
Match Breaks
Active ER department
No conversions or capitalizations on events
Permanent client base of IGV and IGT (herd, sunway spa, chitnavis, etc.) Growth in iGT with improved culture
Member engagement and enthusiasm in oGV
Media appearances (YSF)
Improper documentation
Improved retention
Client Engagement
Opportunities
UR capitalization
Threats
Strong IRs | Referral raises in all programs
Low matches can reduce the client base
Improving the Youth Brand and outreach!
Members productivity
New streams of Finance generation
Irregular and improper communications with the stakeholders.
URs and BOA | Events iXPs and NEPs | Alumni contribution
5) “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.” Keeping the above mind, review the years 2015, and 2016 for its Marketing and mention how you see Marketing as a function evolving for the year 2017. What would be the top priorities and projects, if any? The previous 2 years of entity from marketing point of view has not been as useful as it should be. In 2015, the AIESEC in Nagpur Facebook page couldn’t get us the needed outreach for our products as well as the events we did. If it had to be rated, I would rate it a 5/10. 2016 was a fruitful year for us in terms of marketing solely because of member involvement i.e most of the membership of the entity used to share the post which gave us the desired outreach. But on the same hand AIESEC in Nagpur FB solely didn’t get us anything. WhatsApp was used in a very effective manner for marketing and other social media came into picture after the YSF. Offline marketing for both the years was negligible and we didn’t tap into that. The way ahead for 2017 would be to undertake smart marketing projects and increase our online footprint as well as focus on offline marketing. Marketing department of any organization is a major portfolio and establishing a brand in the city is what we need. After YSF, we have created a wave in the city but still many people are still unaware about it. My top priorities for marketing as a function for 2017 would be • Increasing the FB outreach by increasing the likes and making sure members share all the post. The page was created in many years back and the people who were interested in AIESEC then are of no use to us now. So this would help as we need to tap into the current market. • Availability on other social media platforms like SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter etc. • The students in 12th Std in 2016 are the future market for us, so I would like to tap into them by offline marketing, through IS in schools. The motive now would be just to tell them about AIESEC so that they know something like this exists in the city and they have opportunities waiting for them.
6) University Relations is a much discussed topic in AIESEC, but nothing has been done about it in Nagpur. What do you feel is the importance of URs and how do you feel it can help AIESEC in Nagpur? Present your plan and timeline to enter into Universities this year, and your outcome for the same. Talking of AIESEC as a whole, University Relations is something which has been driving many entities forward and they have helped them in some way or the other. Seeing the scenario of AIESEC in Nagpur, UR has never helped us in an way, but I think this is where we as an entity lag behind. I haven't come across many entities in AIESEC India who have had this problem. If we capitalize on right institutions in a proper way, even we can tap in the benefits of UR. In 2017, I would like to tap into 5 main student institutions in Nagpur. • • • •
YCCE Raisoni Group of institutions. Tirpude College City Premier College
All these colleges will be the focus for UR for the summer peak. In winter peak only commerce colleges and institutions in Nagpur will be targeted as Nagpur university doesn't have proper winter holidays for engineering colleges.
Timeline January/February
January/February and June/July
Plan / Institution Capitalize on the engineering colleges mentioned above for summer peak Capitalize on the commerce colleges mentioned above for summer and winter peak
Not a plan for a UR, but I would like to tap into the CA CPT/IPCC students for both summer and winter peak as after their exams in May and November these bunch of people have nothing to do for the next 2 months or so, this will boost out Summer and Winter peak if successful. For this the coaching classes will be contacted and some programs can be made accordingly.
7) According to the changing scenario, AIESEC India is moving towards a state where expansions are tier 5 entities. What do you feel about this? I feel this is where we should be going. AIESEC as an organization has to grow exponentially because there is to loose here, all the stakeholders are growing day by day in it along with the growth of this esteemed organization. And I feel proud to be a part of AIESEC India, which is one of the major contributor in the network. Every organization has to change its organizational structure depending on its growth and for effective management of the organization. I feel whatever decision the top management body takes in the organization is for the betterment of its employees, so that the management can have an eye on what is going at its zero level. If expansions are considered to be tier 5 entities then I feel good for it because I know that this has been done because we are growing. The leaders of this organization won’t take wrong decisions for its growing entities. 8) “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” Comment on the importance of Customer Centricity. Analyse Customer Delivery of AIESEC in Nagpur for the year 2016. Describe your steps for each of our Customer’s (All programs) top detractor issues, along with providing a detailed plan for Customer Experience in 2017. Customers are the most important assets of any organization. To become competitive and ensure continued business, it is necessary to develop a customer centric approach touching all points of a customer interaction. A customer centric approach helps an organization to acquire, retain and grow customer base. One of the important ingredients for a customer centric approach is being sensitive to the client needs, the other being proactive interaction with clients. Effective management of customer needs is a key differentiator for businesses today.
Customer Delivery for the year 2016 was very good in all the programs we do. During the start of the year itself with proper customer expectation setting we were able to get one of the detractors on board again. Introspecting all the programs well, I believe the membership of this entity today is the biggest strength we possess now because that was our aim for this year and we achieved it successfully. Member retention was strong and even those who left were because of personal reasons and not because we failed an as organization somewhere. The clients of the 3 products that we do in AIESEC Nagpur were served well and they are positive about AIESEC as an organization. We did face some problems during the year about customer delivery but we somehow managed it and have learned from our previous mistakes to come at this place today.
Program
Detractor issues
Solution
Global Leaders
I don’t think we as an entity have any detractors in this program.
None
oGV
JD not being followed Interns get bored in the city Enabler not satisfied with intern Poor matching, hence the enabler has to wait for long to get interns
Expectation from interns not met Poor matching, hence the enabler has to wait for long to get interns
iGV
iGT
Customer expecting a lot from the internship Low interaction with client after the contract is signed
Proper expectation setting Proper engagement plan with the clients
Proper expectation setting with the enabler Proper value delivery plan and increasing member engagement with the iCX interns Building strong IR partnerships.
Proper expectation setting with the enabler Building strong IR partnerships.
I feel customer delivery cannot be planned it has to come from within, there has to be a sense of client satisfaction among the membership. I believe making the membership understand how important customer service is for us, is going to do the job. There are certain things with respect to this that I need every one to focus on. • Value Delivery with all our stakeholders. • Proper expectation setting with all clients. These things should be made a daily routine for the members rather than a plan or a set of guideline for them.
9) What is the importance of the Board of Advisors in the context of 2017 and what are the ways AIESEC in Nagpur will capitalize much more in the year 2017? Board of Advisors is something that AIESEC in Nagpur has never capitalize on because they are not that much aligned to our organization, except Mr. Sameer Bendre Sir, CPO, PERSISTENT SYSTEMS and Mr. Sanjay Arora, CEO, Shells advertisement. BoA is an integral part of any AIESEC entity because the support they can give is immense, if they align to the organization. In 2017, BoA would play an very important part in the functioning of the entity. I would like to capitalize the board in every possible way, using their contacts and experience, member’s interaction with board for training, motivation etc. The current board has not been helpful in any manner whatsoever. I would like to talk to them once to know their interest with our organization & then take further decision on current board. But as of now I would like to add two more members in BoA • Mr. Sanjay Saraf, MD, FireARCOR INFRA LTD. He is an AIESEC alumnus and held the post of Vice President-AIESEC DI, during its starting years. He has been taking iGT interns from DI too. • Mr. Vilas Kale, MD, conglomerate business group. He is aware about AIESEC and is aligned with our organization. He was contacted by MCP, AIESEC India, some years back for some collaboration. Both these people have helped AIESEC in Nagpur with their contacts and experience in 2016, their inclusion in board will be helpful for us.
10) Talent Management i) What is your understanding of the distinction between TM as a function and TM as a program? Evaluate the performance of both in 2016. ii) Analyse both the recruitment conducted this year. How will you ensure we attract the Best Talent in the city and retain and develop them? What innovations do you propose in the existing processes to make them even more effective for next year? iii) “AIESEC is a storehouse of information. Every year it produces tons of useful and important data, however, it gets lost during transitions and everything starts from scratch every year.” How do you plan to evolve internal communication systems and data management systems into the LC?
TM as Function TM as Program •Tracking Every Member •Global Leaders Program •Tracking Member efficiency and •Tracking Learning Curves of Members learning •Timely Review and performance reports •Fulfilling of talent needs of department. •Tracking members productivity •Performance Evaluation. •Integrate Experience. •Preparing induction Module •TMP and TLP management and tracking •Coaching and Mentoring of TMP and . TLP.
TM as a function and program were a strong hand for AIESEC in Nagpur for 2016. Though there were some place where it lagged. • Induction module should have prepared based upon the membership. • Talent Planning could have been better, as an entity we don’t need the best talent of the city always, people with mediocre talent and high dedication could have worked too. • Integrated experience could have been driven down well. • Coaching and Mentoring of TMP and TLP should have been way more strong with much greater impact.
I believe we shouldn’t be looking for the best talent of the city for our organization, this is where we went wrong after the recruitment. People with best talent don’t stay at one place for a long time, they are looking for more new opportunities always. Even if we as an organization give our 100% for L&D of these members, we will not be able to retain them for long. I don’t know about other entities but this has happened with us in our LC. Keeping in mind the recruitment cycle of this year and how it went ahead, I wouldn’t like to propose any change in this but I would like to change the process of talent selection that we do. For internal communication in LC, I want the membership of this entity to be as transparent as possible and make sure that their leaders should be informed of, be however small it may be. Because if every leader in this entity is aware about his subordinates, we are bound to have effective internal communication as the leaders of this organization know their basic duties which in turn will make them record it and maintain for future. Leadership is the KEY here. Data management in our LC is something we need to work on as none of the data is present in one place and it is scattered in parts here and there. Be it soft copy or hard copy, in every means the data isn’t there in one place. They way ahead with this will be that we come up with a system that enables us to keep the data at one place and in a very informative manner so that even the future leaders can understand it. Streamlining the administration of the entity is also a focus area for 2017.
11) Finance and Legal i) Define a financially sustainable LC. How do you envision AIESEC in Nagpur in 2017 with respect to being financial profitable and investment-friendly? ii) Mention how can Finance as a portfolio provide “Strategic Direction” to the LC? What innovations can be inculcated in this portfolio in 2017? iii) Considering AIESEC in Nagpur has never had a proper financial tracking system. What systems do you plan to introduce for the entity for proper tracking and management? A Financially sustainable LC is one in which every portfolio sustains its expenses from its own income and there is no need of extra expenses from the LCs finances. This is a very critical and required situation, as we cannot run losses in any of the portfolios, being a not-for-profit organization. In order for a secure future of the LC, it is extremely important for all the portfolios to be self-sufficient and sustainable which can allow the LC to invest the finances in the right areas to drive growth. With that state, I’d envision the LC to invest a lot back in the organization to drive more exchanges, develop its membership and thus generate more profit out each and every portfolio!
A proper plan of investment can help the entity to grow and develop. The varied scope of investments for the next year include merchandise, membership funds for personal development, international conference subsidies, ixp subsidies, investments in advertising and marketing tools, etc. Considering the AIESEC Nagpur never had a proper financial tracking system the measures should be implemented are as follows: • Having a track of number of Realizations/ Exchanges and receivables against the same. • Proper file maintenance of contracts and deeds which mentions the finances. • Timely auditing of processes and operations. • Focus on cash less transactions. • Making it mandatory for everyone to provide with bills or counterfoils for the proof of expenses. • Preparing Budgets, plans and tracking the same with actual transactions happened. • Proper Numbering (serializing) of receipts and receivables and keeping a proper track for the same. • Governance and accountability (Legal Responsible of the LC, along with VP F&L) • Ensuring ethics and integrity in the processes of the LC • Reporting of LC operations at national Level • Proper structuring of Recon with the Income and analysing the Income of the entity which should be such that it helps a department/ the entity to sustain in future for its operations.
12) AIESEC in Nagpur has been at an expansion for two years now. What major steps do you plan to take which will take this entity to new heights? The major steps I want to take also co-insides with the key projects that I want to undertake in 2017, additionally the things are as follows: 1. Branding and Marketing 2. IRs and URs 3. Capitalizing from events. 4. Building a working culture in the organization, which is to be done in the following manner: a. Special Work days or events b. Lcong, LC days c. Regular attendance at the office. 5. For oGV: - Capitalizing on all sectors (CA, CS, commerce, dental, photography, etc.) which were untapped and can prove to be highly productive for growth in the number of exchanges, creating project based demand as the youth of Nagpur would prefer to get a quality project experience which will also help them in professional Endeavors. 6. iGV:- Global Village, event integrating the unprivileged children of the society which has a direct social impact, matching process optimization, focus on building IRs. 7. iGT:- BOA reference, re-raising, matching process optimization, focus on building IRs keeping in mind the demand. 8. Promoting oGE more than oGT as people prefer short term professional experiences and hence we can capitalize by creating demand depending on the supply.
YOU and AIESEC
2. As the EEP of AIESEC in Nagpur, you will be the face of AIESEC in Nagpur. You must embody in yourself every aspect that you wish your Local Committee to stand for.’ Comment on this statement while 1. Why have you decided to run for the role of EEP of AIESEC Nagpur focusing on your own personality traits and mention what you believe you need to embody yet? over any other opportunity in or outside AIESEC? The EEP role hasn’t been a post for me, it has been a responsibility to drive the change makers forward and lead them by creating an example. Ever since I joined AIESEC, 2 years back, I always wanted to take this responsibility on me but never in these 2 years I was ready for it. Though I had the necessary organisational knowledge, departmental functioning knowledge but I thought I lacked the necessary leadership skills which is necessary to drive this entity forward. After a year of the VP term and getting hands on experience about “The AIESEC Leadership Model”, I am confident of applying and take up the responsibility and take this entity to next level. When I joined AIESEC, my vision for this entity was always to be a LC by the end of the year. Over the time , I learnt where I was going wrong and where our entity is still going wrong, I evolved myself to a new vision and a new definition growth which helped my break the barriers and move up in the organisation. I think its time we give the GB of AIESEC in Nagpur a new meaning of AIESEC and a new direction for their vision so that they know what AIESEC truly is, which they don’t know it now. At this point, where AIESEC in Nagpur is now, it is necessary that someone who knows this organisation and it functioning well should lead this entity forward and I think I am ready to take this up over any other opportunity in AIESEC.
I agree with the above statement and I think it is true in every sense. If I went on to become the EEP of AIESEC in Nagpur, I think I have the required personality traits but on the other hand I think I should have some more of them which I lack. AIESEC’s fundamental idea of youth is that they should be Solution Oriented, Empower Others, World Citizen and be Self Aware. A person who reflects all these traits should be the face of AIESEC. As an individual I think I possess all these traits but there is something in which I lack and that is empowering others. I never used to believe in my team for the work and used to do many things myself and this is where I lacked as a leader too. Over the time, I understood the importance of empowering my team and that happened because I start to trust them and they showed enough interest in the work which made me delegate the task to them, I still haven’t come over it yet but that is my aim for this year even the change I want to drive down in the GB of AIESEC Nagpur. People outside this organisation should visualise the organisation for what they will get to learn from it rather than what AIESEC will teach them, this is where I want to step in be the face of it because over the time I’ve learnt a lot from this organisation than the things I was told I would learn in it. Like I’ve been saying till now, LEADING BY EXAMPLE.
3. What does a fully functioning self dependent entity mean to
you? How do you see your role in AIESEC in Nagpur becoming that entity?
A fully functioning entity is the one which has high member retention with higher per member productivity i.e where HR is strong. Since we have the 2 basic things in place, because of them we will have high number of exchanges thereby making the LC financially strong. Because of these things we will have proper leadership pipeline in the entity too. A self dependent LC is the one which doesn’t need any kind of support from the parent or other LC and their functioning can happen by themselves without any support. This is what fully functioning self dependent entity means to me. My role in this is to have all this in place as right now we don’t have even the basic things with us. AIESEC in Nagpur has always struggled with its HR and that has been the main cause of it all. My role in this will be to drive down the basic AIESEC culture in their mind and make them experience the change they are creating and the things they are getting to learn out of this wonderful organisation. I know I can do this as my leadership style is this.
4. Mention the key responsibilities of an EEP and how do you plan to discharge the same on a daily basis. The key responsibilities of an EEP are to be an oversight for all teams and maintain goal tracking of team leaders with respect to what has yet to be accomplished. Help guide the local committee towards growth, achievement, and personal development in each member. Keeping the long-term in mind will help keep the perspective of how and what things contribute to this collective goal. As an EEP of any AIESEC entity, the responsibility that I feel most important is to drive the entity forward by being the spark himself
and be the face of it. The person shouldn’t take EEP as a post but as a responsibility and should lead by setting example. Every individual will have his/her own way of achieving this. How I plan to do it is by being myself. I do not have a vision of an ideal leader/EEP, but I do know that I have that aura around me which motivates people to work. The most important thing I want to discharge on daily basis is to have meraki and it can do wonders. The members need to find the “WHY” of this organisation and when they do it, meraki is going to take them ahead and I want them to do it themselves as it cannot be driven down to anyone. Because when they do this, it'll bring numbers for our entity and that will be our way ahead.
5. What according to you is an ideal LB? What are the various initiatives you will take as Team Leader of the Leadership Body to ensure effective team management? What initiatives will you take as the EEP to ensure your team’s personal growth? Be as detailed as you can be. I would like to define what an ideal team means to me as following : • Everyone participates actively and positively in meetings and projects. • Team goals are understood by everyone. • Individual members have thought hard about creative solutions to the problem. • Members are carefully listened to and receive thoughtful feedback. • Everyone takes initiative to get things done. • Each teammate trusts the judgement of the others. • The team is willing to take risks. • Everyone is supportive of the project and of others. • There is plenty of communication between team members. • Team decisions are made using organized, logical methods. • Full team acceptance is expected as decisions are made. A team which follows all the above points by adding the AIESEC Culture to is an Ideal LB.
As a Team Leader of the LB I would take the following initiatives for effective team management: • Work for consensus on decisions • Share openly and authentically with others regarding personal feelings, opinions, thoughts, and perceptions about problems and conditions • Involve others in the decision-making process • Trust, support, and have genuine concern for other team members • “Own” problems rather than blaming them on others • When listening, attempt to hear and interpret communication from other’s points of view • Influence others by involving them in the issue • Encourage the development of other team members • Respect and be tolerant of individual differences • Acknowledge and work through conflict openly • Consider and use new ideas and suggestions from others • Understand and be committed to team objectives • Have skills in understanding what’s going on in the group As an EEP the initiatives I will take for their personal growth will be: • Let them take decisions themselves, so that they know where they are lagging when it is executed • Encourage them to think outside the box, so that they become aware of the various issues • Let them develop their own leadership style There are many things coming to my mind for the LB’s personal growth, but I don’t think a Team Leader has some role in it, it depends on the members flexibility and his nature as well. But there is one thing I strongly believe, which is that every person needs some inspiration and encouragement and proper guidance in his leadership journey and the TL should do that, so Ill be there with my team in every way and every manner I can.
6. You have completed the application. How do you feel? Pheww….it was a pretty long application. Though this process is coming to end now, the excitement is increasing as the time is passing by. When isolation was about to start I never thought it is useful in any way but now my thinking has changed and It has been the most important of EEP application. It gives you the time to think and introspect many things, somewhere it has helped me understand my ‘WHY OF AIESEC’ again. I am going to miss this time for sure and it is something I’ll remember all my life. This time has given me something that I’ll cherish all my life. I think I need to stop typing now and give my fingers and my laptop some rest. With this my manifesto comes to an end and I hope the best person wins and take AIESEC in Nagpur to a whole new level.
Proposing
Seconding
Parent Endorsement