Trust Yourself
Ms. Sabitha Natraj, General Manager, Indian Oil Corporation Limited
The energy levels rose the minute Ms. Sabitha Natraj walked into the room to address the students of Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) at the Beyond Management Initiative session organised by the Beyond Management Initiative committee in association with Business Standard. “It’s going to be a very interactive session,” said the General Manager, Head of Marketing Division of Corporate Communications, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. In charge of communications, media and stakeholder engagement for the five southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, Ms. Sabitha Natraj brings with her more than two decades of rich experience in the Oil and Gas Industry.
She believes to make challenges into opportunities we need to trust ourselves and stand up for the choices we make. She then highlighted how Indian Oil Corp’s journey began. “ It was actually started out of a service mind-set. We had foreign corporations in the market so that’s when Nehruji along with Mr. K D Malviya brought in major changes to the oil industry in India by starting nationalised oil corporations,” says Ms. Sabitha who’s got an MBA in Marketing from MDI, Gurgaon. She says Indian Oil Corporation has a huge network of 47,180 touch points across India with a well-established R&D in this majorly capital intensive industry.
“This perception of PSUs efficiency levels being low needs to be changed. If you take the time during Cyclone Vardah, it was the public sector that helped the city get back to normal in no time,” explains Ms. Sabitha. She says the younger generation has made it difficult for recruiters these days. She says how to engage young people is the question that runs in every recruiter’s mind and that many students expect they have certain things that they are entitled to as soon as they enter into a job. “This is why the attrition rate is high in any organisation,” explains Ms. Sabitha who believes we need actions that talk for yourself and not just words to prove your abilities. She also highlighted the importance of women in the top management and why women should not take career choices based on their biological clock. She concluded her talk by stressing the importance of having confidence in your choice and sticking it.
Jasmine Sangeetha Jarald – F17026