An Ace with Tremendous Grace: Ruchika Godha

Ruchika Godha, executive director, employee effectiveness at Advaiya, a technology services and marketing company, strongly believes in being professional and marching ahead with dignity

 

Challenges of being a woman executive director

Luckily for Ruchika, the ride has been smooth. People tend to keep distance and give respect if you are a woman in position of power, especially in smaller cities. The challenge, however, is to strike a balance between household and office responsibilities. The busy schedule and high expectations from this role , however, does make her feel at times that maybe she is not giving enough time to her children.

The educational background

Ruchika has done a five years integrated post-graduation course in Management Science (MMS). She had Human Resource Development as specialization.

Your family background

Born in a small town of Maharashtra, Dhule. When she was very young, her parents moved to Indore to set up their own textiles factory. So all her childhood was spent in Indore with two siblings. Ruchika then got married in Udaipur where she lives with her husband, children and in-laws.

Working in male-dominated field of IT

As the head of HR, Ruchika's priority has been to ensure diversity at the workplace. At Advaiya, 30% of employees are women.

Does a Glass ceiling exist?

Women do have to work harder to grow and gain respect at the same position as their male counterparts, feels Ruchika. Also, constraints like socially going out, keeping long working hours, or availability for travel, make executives tend not to prefer women in certain positions. "At Advaiya, we have tried to ensure there is total equality between male and female employees. Support and facilities such as telecommuting/ remote working, child care facilities within premises- are provided to mitigate some of the practical aspects," says Ruchika.

Advice to working women

Keep working is the sincere advice from Ruchika. She says this will save you from watching saas-bahu soaps on TV. It is a quintessential part of being a working woman to strike a balance between home and a profession. Families need to be sensitized to get full support at the same time investment has to be made for professional development. Ruchika's son is very proud that she manages office, house and his studies and that is a great feeling. Also, women should behave professionally - not very chatty, keep respectful distance and must not sound as if they are availing of the privileges while not putting in our due. The demeanor should not be to distract others from treating you as a professional.

Hobbies

Ruchika is fond of cooking. She is also passionate about reading. To de-stress herself, Ruchika loves to take a well-planned, leisurely break.

Future Plans

Passionate about creating a world-class organization where employees are happy and engaged and strive towards excellence. Says Ruchika, "With right organization, culture and people, we would be able to take Advaiya to greater heights. I also think we have been able to mature our HR practices where we would eventually be able to package and provide HR as a service."