Summer Internship with Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited – Shivang Ganatra from IIM Ranchi

Daily Winner for: –  24th August 2013

Weekly Winner (Popular Choice) for – 23rd Aug – 29th Aug 2013

Name of the intern: – Shivang Ganatra

Institute: – IIM Ranchi

Organization interned with: – Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited

Person 1: Hah! Internship? There’s nothing to do in an internship. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy your two months of ‘internship’!

Person 2: You are one of the six students from your college who will be interning with the same organisation? Seems like the company got you on a wholesale deal!

Person 3: The only guy amidst SIX other girl interns from multiple colleges! You are there only for the diversity factor!

These were the reactions I got from people when I got selected for an HR internship with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Initially I was apprehensive whether I will get a good project to work on, whether the learning that I expect to happen will take place and whether I will be able to perform well. All these apprehensions started to fade away once my mentor got the ball rolling one week after my selection for internship – and the noteworthy thing is that my internship was two long months away.

In the very first mail, I was given a brief about the project that my mentor had in mind – ‘Technology in HR’. The best thing that happened was that he asked me about my views on what should be the scope of the project and how should I be going about completing the project. The mentorship was undoubtedly always present but the process was more participative than directive. This was probably my very first hands-on experience on how ‘participative leadership’ and ‘coaching’ can motivate a person to work harder.

THE DAY OF JOINING
The exchange of information on mail continued and the day of joining arrived. On the very first day, I was suggested to set the milestones and timelines for my project. Thankfully the discussions before joining the organisation had led to enough clarity on what all tasks I needed to do to complete my project successfully and on time.

Interestingly, I was informed that I need not be at the office the entire day – I was ‘required’ to be present at the office only from 11 am to 4 pm. I was initially taken aback (we have a catch to it towards the end of the story!) but slowly realized that this will only give me flexibility in planning my daily schedule. I nevertheless used to work in the office during the normal working hours.

NEW OPPORTUNITY
Timely beginning and structured objective setting had streamlined all my activities and within a month of internship, I was almost done with my project. And I made it a point to interact with as many people from the organisation as possible during the month to gain new perspectives about the work processes and more importantly, to understand the work culture. This habit of mingling with people somehow paid off and I was offered an extra project in case I chose to accept it – HR Analytics.

I jumped at the idea of taking up the project as it was a niche field that I hadn’t known much about but had heard a lot of. Another incentive was to make the most of the opportunity given to me.

INSIGHTS INTO THE ORGANISATIONAL WORKING
The best and most interesting part of my internship was the process of learning and understanding the company philosophy. It is always interesting to know why an organization follows certain work practices. The constant interaction with people from various functions – Talent Acquisition, PMS, Corporate, Training and Operations, helped me in gaining valuable insights for my project. This included knowing what the company looks for in a campus recruit, the engagement levels of various levels of employees, the gap areas in the PMS and the position of the organisation’s HR financials vis-à-vis that of other peer organisations.

THE FUN QUOTIENT
Well, if the above description gives you a feeling that it was ‘all work and no play’ for me during my internship, then obviously we are missing a very important aspect of my internship. Being in a city like Mumbai, I simply couldn’t stop myself from exploring the city. The 3 projects which I did, in a well planned manner, in the office hours left me with ample time to travel the length and breadth of the city from Mira Road to Colaba and from Carter Road to Navi Mumbai – not to miss out the get-together with friends and colleagues almost every weekend!

THE ‘IMPLIED’ ANGLE
When I said earlier that I was ‘required’ to be present in the office only from 11 am to 4 pm, it meant that it was the bare minimum expected of me. All my actions, including clocking office hours every day to talking to people to know the organization better to my conduct at the workplace, of course were taken into consideration. This I got to know only on the last day of my internship – during the feedback session.

THE LEARNING
I would say that the entire internship experience was a learning one. As they say, the journey is usually more enjoyable than the outcome – not that we are ruling out the possibility of a pleasant outcome!

FYI! You can view the latest Internships in Mumbai here.

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