Nandini Piramal, daughter of Ajay and Swati Piramal, joined the family's big business group in 2006, with the aim of expanding her knowledge across various genres. In a recent discussion with Entrepreneur, she spoke about her role within the business. Nandini is heavily involved with the Piramal Group's pharma business empire, where she oversees the Human Resources (HR) function. Additionally, she is in charge of strategic planning for all businesses and handles the quality and risk functions at Piramal Enterprises' Healthcare vertical. Having completed her MBA, Nandini utilized this experience by working in the UK for a year to gain operational excellence expertise before returning to her family's business.
After working in the US, Nandini Piramal returned to India in 2009 and has since held various roles in business and operations including supply chain and Over-the-count
...er OTC. She took on the role of HR four years ago. Upon joining the family business, Executive Director of Piramal Enterprises, Nandini Piramal, expressed her desire to do more and experience different roles. She believes that being part of a family business provides a unique opportunity to learn and make an impact that one may not have elsewhere.
According to Nandini, the Piramal family was pleased with her choice to join their business. She attributes her parents' admiration to her unwavering determination in pursuing important matters. Nandini believes that her strength lies in her focus on processes, which she brings to the table.
Nandini emphasizes her focus on creating effective processes and systems, which she learned from her father and honed during her time at McKinsey. She values the importance of quality in this approach, believing that a stron
system leads to good quality results. According to Nandini, leaving things to chance and human error (jugaad) doesn't work, and cannot be easily fixed afterwards.
When there are 3,000 people in OTC, systems must be created because manual work is no longer possible, according to Nandini. She discusses the growth she has brought to the OTC business, stating that they do not focus on numbers but rather on their single-digit crore a month revenue. They have recently made two acquisitions and have been consistently growing over the last four months.
Anticipated growth in sales is expected next year due to the recent acquisitions. Nandini has a passion for travel, reading, and cooking. When discussing her literature preferences, she mentions enjoying both fiction and non-fiction, currently reading a novel by Anne Frank. In terms of contributing more to the business, she desires to expand the OTC business to a larger extent.
The key challenge ahead is to leverage top ideas for improved outcomes by engaging people in discussions about their endeavors. An essential aspect of building a robust team lies in recruiting individuals with varied perspectives and entrusting them to perform their duties. The HR department at Piramal group, which boasts around 6,000 staff members, emphasizes nurturing talent. As part of the family enterprise, Nandini's sibling Anand leads the realty division.
This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (April 2016 Issue). Nandini's husband oversees the critical care business, currently operating in 100 countries. Nandini aims to expand the OTC business, which is performing well and experiencing consistent growth. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve an IPO size and eventually separate it as a distinct entity in
the future.
